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| Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #292 Saturday, February 20, 2010 |
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| Let's Have Jerusalem | |
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| [Israeli] PM's List of Heritage Sites Does Not Include Cave of Machpelah |
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· 02/18/2010 1:06:27 PM PST · · Posted by jjotto · · 3 replies · 186+ views · · Arutz Sheva · · February 18, 2010 · · Gil Ronen · |
(IsraelNN.com) ...In recent days Netanyahu has been proudly touting a new initiative for preserving heritage sites throughout Israel. However, many who read the list of sites promulgated by the Prime Minister's Office were disappointed to find no mention of the two important sites where the nation's forefathers and fore-mothers are buried, and which are specifically mentioned in the Bible. "No one knows better than you that our continued presence on the land depends more than anything on the deep consciousness that this is the land of our forefathers," Dayan wrote Netanyahu. "What better than these two sites for passing on... |
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| Middle Ages & Renaissance | |
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| Netanyahu lobbies Russians for ancient Hebrew texts |
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· 02/17/2010 3:11:23 PM PST · · Posted by Tailgunner Joe · · 12 replies · 337+ views · · haaretz.com · · February 17, 2010 · |
Israel's desire to retrieve the historic Guenzberg collection of ancient Jewish manuscripts from Russia was discussed during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's meeting on Monday with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. .... Netanyahu personally raised the subject of the collection, which is thought to be the world's second-largest anthology of ancient Hebrew literature, after the Bodleian Library in Oxford. .... The Guenzbergs, a Russian-Jewish noble family, acquired their collection over three generations beginning in the 1840s. .... Following the death of Baron David Guenzberg in 1910, Zionist activists, among them Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, sought to retrieve the collection and arrange for its relocation... |
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| Religion of Pieces | |
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| Arabic inscription found under Jewish Quarter home |
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· 02/18/2010 5:12:08 AM PST · · Posted by SJackson · · 26 replies · 748+ views · · Jerusalem Dispatch · · February 18, 2010 · |
A fragment of a marble plaque bearing parts of an Arabic inscription from the beginning of the tenth century CE was discovered in archaeological excavations Israel Antiquities Authority carried out prior to renovation work slated to take place in a private home in the Jewish Quarter. Only three engraved lines of square Arabic script characteristic of the first centuries of the Islamic period survived. Professor Moshe Sharon of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem deciphered the writing based on two similar inscriptions that were previously discovered in the country. According to Professor Sharon, "The inscription that was found now, which dates... |
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| Ancient Arabic inscription found in Jerusalem |
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· 02/19/2010 7:53:45 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 7 replies · 341+ views · · MSNBC · · Wednesday, February 17, 2010 · · Shira Rubin · |
A home renovation in Jerusalem's Old City has yielded a rare Arabic inscription offering insight into the city's history under Muslim rule, Israeli archaeologists said Wednesday. The fragment of a 1,100-year-old plaque is thought to have been made by an army veteran to express his thanks for a land grant from the Caliph al-Muqtadir, whom the inscription calls "Emir of the Faithful." Dating from a time when Jerusalem was ruled from Baghdad by the Abbasid empire, the plaque shows how rulers rewarded their troops and ensured their loyalty, archaeologists said. The Abbasids conquered Jerusalem after numerous wars with the Fatimid... |
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| Egypt | |
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| Strolling on the avenue [avenue of Sphinxes] |
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· 02/15/2010 11:47:54 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 7 replies · 225+ views · · Al-Ahram Weekly · · February 11-17, 2010 · · Nevine El-Aref · |
...The 2,700-metre-long avenue of sphinxes was built during the reign of Pharaoh Nectanebo I of the [30]th-Dynasty. It replaced one built formerly in the 18th Dynasty, as Queen Hatshepsut (1502-1482 BC) recorded on the walls of her red chapel in Karnak Temple. According to this, she built six chapels dedicated to the god Amun-Re on the route of the avenue during her reign... The excavation team unearthed a large number of fragmented sphinxes that are now undergoing restoration in an effort led by SCA consultant Mahmoud Mabrouk. Once restored, they will be placed on display along the avenue... Archaeologists have... |
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| Ancient Autopsies | |
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| DNA studies show a frail King Tut succumbed to malaria and a broken leg |
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· 02/16/2010 7:56:30 AM PST · · Posted by cajuncow · · 28 replies · 584+ views · · Cox News · · 2-16-10 · · Paul Schemm, AP · |
Egypt's famed King Tutankhamun suffered from a cleft palate and club foot, likely forcing him to walk with a cane, and died from complications from a broken leg exacerbated by malaria, according to the most extensive study ever of his mummy. The findings were from two years of DNA testing and CT scans on 16 mummies, including those of Tutankhamun and his family, the team that carried out the study said in an article to be published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. |
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| Frail Boy-King Tut Died From Malaria, Broken Leg |
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· 02/16/2010 9:59:44 AM PST · · Posted by Biggirl · · 19 replies · 565+ views · · Yahoo! · · February 15, 2010 · · Paul Schemm · |
CAIRO -- Egypt's famed King Tutankhamun suffered from a cleft palate and club foot, likely forcing him to walk with a cane, and died from complications from a broken leg exacerbated by malaria, according to the most extensive study ever of his more than 3,300-year-old mummy. |
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| Egypt reveals Tutankhamun's lineage, cause of death |
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· 02/17/2010 5:59:51 PM PST · · Posted by Pan_Yan · · 20 replies · 573+ views · · Xinhuanet · · 2010-02-17 22:50:55 · |
CAIRO, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- A DNA study shows Egypt's famed King Tutankhamun who suffered from a club foot died of malaria and that his father was the "heretic" king Akhenaten, Egypt's antiquities chief Zahi Hawass said on Wednesday. Speaking at a press conference, Hawass said two years of DNA testing and CT scans on Tutankhamun's 3,300-year-old mummy and mummies either known or believed to be members of his immdiate family are helping reveal many of the myths surrounding the boy king's lineage and cause of death. Tutankhamun's father was the "heretic" king, Akhenaten, whose body is now almost certainly... |
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| Prehistoric Europe | |
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| The Egtved Girl |
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· 02/16/2010 5:21:19 PM PST · · Posted by Little Bill · · 46 replies · 1,286+ views · · Gallica Co UK · · 2002 · · Friedman · |
The Egtved Girl In 1921 a burial mound at Egtved was excavated. In it was found a completely preserved coffin, and inside it lay a 16-18 year old girl about 160cm (5'4") tall, slim, with long, loose blonde hair and carefully trimmed nails. For burial she had been laid in the coffin, fully dressed, on top of a cow-skin. Her upper body was clad in a loose bodice with elbow length sleeves and around her hips she wore a knee length skirt of string. On her braided woollen belt were a large, spiral-decorated bronze disk with a spike and a... |
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| Roman Empire | |
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| Valentines in Ancient Rome Were All About Pain |
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· 02/13/2010 7:16:09 AM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 26 replies · 620+ views · · Live Science · · Feb 13, 2010 · · Clara Moskowitz · |
While valentine notes today tend to stress caring and warmth, love letters from ancient Rome often highlighted the wrenching, painful side of romance, historians say. Valentine's Day itself didn't yet exist in ancient Rome, but men still wrote love poems about their sweethearts - often married women, and sometimes men. But where modern declarations of love often involve flattery and gratitude, the ancient Romans wrote more about pain. Unlike what you see in contemporary stores where we have valentines that are all clouds and dreamy and romantic, the Romans had a very different kind of take on love," said Barbara... |
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| Deal or No Deal? | |
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| Why Did Rome Fall -- And Why Does It Matter Now? |
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· 02/12/2010 5:58:58 AM PST · · Posted by Tolik · · 113 replies · 2,207+ views · · pajamasmedia.com · · February 11, 2010 · · Victor Davis Hanson · |
Count the ways: A German scholar twenty years ago listed, I recall, some 210 reasons for the collapse of the Western empire. Readers, you have heard many of them, plausible and otherwise -- corruption, civil strife, Germanic barbarians, Christianity, lead in the pipes of the elite, etc.Any such discussion is also predicated on two other twists: the Eastern Empire at Constantinople went on for nearly another 1,000 years until the 1453 sack by the Ottomans. And for the last twenty years, revisionists have disputed Gibbon's notion of a dramatic "fall" in the West, and argued instead that it was a "transition" as the... |
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| The Phoenicians | |
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| Pitt-led study debunks millennia-old claims of systematic infant sacrifice in ancient Carthage |
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· 02/17/2010 10:10:18 AM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 35 replies · 527+ views · · University of Pittsburgh · · Feb 17, 2010 · · Unknown · |
Researchers examined 348 burial urns to learn that about a fifth of the children were prenatal at death, indicating that young Carthaginian children were cremated and interred in ceremonial urns regardless of cause of death -- A study led by University of Pittsburgh researchers could finally lay to rest the millennia-old conjecture that the ancient empire of Carthage regularly sacrificed its youngest citizens. An examination of the remains of Carthaginian children revealed that most infants perished prenatally or very shortly after birth and were unlikely to have lived long enough to be sacrificed, according to a Feb. 17 report in PLoS ONE.... |
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| Navigation | |
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| On Crete, New Evidence of Very Ancient Mariners |
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· 02/17/2010 7:15:26 AM PST · · Posted by Palter · · 25 replies · 403+ views · · The New York Times · · 15 Feb 2010 · · John Noble Wilford · |
Early humans, possibly even prehuman ancestors, appear to have been going to sea much longer than anyone had ever suspected. That is the startling implication of discoveries made the last two summers on the Greek island of Crete. Stone tools found there, archaeologists say, are at least 130,000 years old, which is considered strong evidence for the earliest known seafaring in the Mediterranean and cause for rethinking the maritime capabilities of prehuman cultures. |
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| Greece | |
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| Bronze Age shipwreck found off Devon coast [UK] |
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· 02/15/2010 11:05:23 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 32 replies · 547+ views · · Telegraph · · Saturday, February 13, 2010 · · Jasper Copping · |
...Archaeologists have described the vessel, which is thought to date back to around 900BC, as being a "bulk carrier" of its age. The copper and tin would have been used for making bronze -- the primary product of the period which was used in the manufacture of not only weapons, but also tools, jewellery, ornaments and other items. Archaeologists believe the copper -- and possibly the tin -- was being imported into Britain and originated in a number of different countries throughout Europe, rather than from a single source, demonstrating the existence of a complex network of trade routes across... |
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| British Isles | |
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| New Battle of Bosworth Field site revealed [along with site of Richard III's murder] |
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· 02/19/2010 7:43:21 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 36 replies · 539+ views · · BBC · · Friday, February 19, 2010 · · unattributed · |
The true site of one of the most decisive battles in English history has been revealed. Bosworth, fought in 1485, which saw the death of Richard III, was believed to have taken place on Ambion Hill, near Sutton Cheney in Leicestershire. But a study of original documents and archaeological survey of the area has now pinpointed a site in fields more than a mile to the south west. A new trail will lead from the current visitor centre to the new location... The traditional site has a flag at the crest of the hill, a stone to mark the spot... |
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| Forensics is Ten | |
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| UK scientists say find cheap, fast gene test method |
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· 02/16/2010 5:41:48 AM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 10 replies · 170+ views · · Reuters · · Feb 16, 2010 · · Kate Kelland · |
LONDON (Reuters) -- British scientists say they have developed a way of pinpointing variations in a person's genetic code using a chemical test on saliva, meaning quick, cheap DNA tests for risks of certain diseases may be around the corner. Researchers at Edinburgh University said their technique, based on chemical analysis, can deliver reliable results without the need for expensive enzymes used in conventional DNA testing. Juan Diaz-Mochon of the university's School of Chemistry, who led the research, said the chemical method was able to detect genes linked to cystic fibrosis in laboratory experiments using synthetic DNA. With funding from... |
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| PreColumbian, Clovis, PreClovis | |
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| Dorset explorer Col John Blashford-Snell identifies link between Pacific and Atlantic |
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· 02/17/2010 7:31:23 AM PST · · Posted by Palter · · 8 replies · 435+ views · · Daily Echo · · 14 Feb 2010 · · James Morton · |
A NORTH Dorset explorer has discovered evidence of an ancient water route connecting the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Col John Blashford-Snell made the breakthrough on his recent trip to the Central American country of Nicaragua. It is believed the route, which encompasses rivers, a lake and flood plains, would be more ancient than the Panama Canal. The research focused on the strip of west-coast land separating Lake Nicaragua from the Pacific. A local fisherman told how he managed to cross the strip on a temporary lake created during wet season floods. "It seems likely that even if early cartographers did... |
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| The General | |
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| George Washington's Tear-Jerker |
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· 02/15/2010 4:21:18 AM PST · · Posted by Pharmboy · · 52 replies · 786+ views · · The New York Times · · February 14, 2010 · · John R. Miller · |
CIVILIAN control of the military is a cherished principle in American government. It was President Obama who decided to increase our involvement in Afghanistan, and it is Congress that will decide whether to appropriate the money to carry out his decision. It is the president and Congress, not the military, that will decide whether our laws should be changed to allow gays and lesbians to serve in our armed forces. The military advises, but the civilian leadership decides. Yet if not for the actions of George Washington, whose birthday we celebrate, sort of, this month, America might have moved in... |
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| Mighty Washington: The greatest President |
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· 02/15/2010 6:03:52 AM PST · · Posted by Colonel Kangaroo · · 20 replies · 314+ views · · Union-Leader · · 2-15-2010 · · Union-Leader Editorial · |
Today is not Presidents' Day. The holiday's official title is George Washington's Birthday. It is a day for celebrating the Father of our Country, whose greatness is often forgotten. Few Americans know that George Washington never received more than elementary-level schooling. But he was a whiz at math, and his sharp mind and appetite for adventure led him to surveying, then to the Army. Incredibly, in his first military adventure, the totally untrained soldier led an attack on a French force near the Ohio River, killing a French ambassador. Thus began the French and Indian War. Washington was captured and... |
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| Where Have you Gone George Washington? |
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· 02/15/2010 2:34:35 PM PST · · Posted by Mobile Vulgus · · 7 replies · 214+ views · · Publius Forum · · 02/15/10 · · Warner Todd Huston · |
I don't celebrate "President's Day." I celebrate the presidents individually, not the whole gaggle of them at once. But I most certainly don't celebrate George Washington, the father of our country, as just another president. These days, George Washington has been relegated to that "truth telling guy" to be seen on the one dollar bill and on TV commercials at the end of February or that guy lumped in with Lincoln on "President's Day." And that is a shame, indeed, for, without George Washington, our presidency and nation might have had a far different attitude. But, what made Washington such... |
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| Founding Father |
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· 02/17/2010 9:30:22 AM PST · · Posted by molybdenum · · 9 replies · 141+ views · · The American Spectator · · 2-15-10 · · John Berlau · |
February is an important month in the history of American commerce. In this month is the birthday of one of the country's earliest business innovators and large-scale entrepreneurs. During a time period of America's existence as an English colony and then a young nation -- when, to put it mildly, communication and transportation faced challenges -- this businessman's enterprise processed 1.5 million fish per year sent throughout the 13 American colonies and the British West Indies. The mill he... |
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| George Washington's Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior |
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· 02/18/2010 4:16:48 PM PST · · Posted by La Enchiladita · · 29 replies · 397+ views · · Foundations Magazine · · Circa 1748 · · George Washington · |
By age sixteen, Washington had copied out by hand, 110 Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation. They are based on a set of rules composed by French Jesuits in 1595. Presumably they were copied out as part of an exercise in penmanship assigned by young Washington's schoolmaster. ...These rules proclaim our respect for others and in turn give us the gift of self-respect and heightened self-esteem. |
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| The Framers | |
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| How Christian Were the Founders? |
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· 02/12/2010 10:01:44 AM PST · · Posted by Steelfish · · 78 replies · 629+ views · · NYTimes · · February 12, 2010 · · Russell Short · |
Last month, a week before the Senate seat of the liberal icon Edward M. Kennedy fell into Republican hands, his legacy suffered another blow that was perhaps just as damaging, if less noticed. It happened during what has become an annual spectacle in the culture wars. Over two days, more than a hundred people -- Christians, Jews, housewives, naval officers, professors; people outfitted in everything from business suits to military fatigues to turbans to baseball caps -- streamed through the halls of the William B. Travis Building in Austin,... |
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| James Madison describes our current "Jobs" problem |
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· 02/14/2010 7:09:04 PM PST · · Posted by 4Speed · · 11 replies · 250+ views · · Federalist Papers #62 · · February 27, 1788 · · James Madison · |
As for Creating Jobs, even James Madison knew about our Present Unemployment Problems, and in his Federalist #62 describes our current "Jobs" problem... The want of confidence in the public councils damps every useful undertaking, the success and profit of which may depend on a continuance of existing arrangements. What prudent merchant will hazard his fortunes in any new branch of commerce when he knows not but that his plans may be rendered unlawful before they can be executed? What farmer or manufacturer will lay himself out for the encouragement given to any particular cultivation or establishment, when he... |
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| The Civil War | |
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| A journey through hallowed ground |
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· 02/13/2010 1:41:13 PM PST · · Posted by Pharmboy · · 21 replies · 346+ views · · Alexandria Times · · Friday, February 12 2010 · · Jeanne Theismann · |
From Thomas Jefferson's beloved Monticello to the sacred battlefield where Abraham Lincoln delivered his immortal Gettysburg address, one road meanders through a region where 17 presidents carved out their lives, shaped their legacies and made their homes. Spanning three states -- Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania -- Route 15 is a 180-mile long stretch of highway that bisects a 75-mile-wide region that is said to hold more historic sites than any other in America, including the largest collection of Civil War sites in the nation. Recently designated as The Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Scenic Byway by U.S. Secretary of Transportation... |
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| The Great War | |
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| Black Soldiers From Clarksville Went 'Over There' in WWI |
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· 02/14/2010 6:20:59 PM PST · · Posted by nickcarraway · · 5 replies · 220+ views · · The Leaf Chronicle · · February 14, 2010 · · Alane S. Megna · |
Black soldiers from Clarksville went 'over there' in WWI |
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| World War Eleven | |
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| Iwo Jima Vets Observe Battle's 65th Anniversary |
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· 02/19/2010 4:54:14 PM PST · · Posted by Dubya · · 20 replies · 583+ views · · American Forces Press Service · · Lisa Daniel · |
TRIANGLE, Va., Feb. 19, 2010 -- Dozens of veterans of the Battle of Iwo Jima and their families gathered at the National Museum of the Marine Corps here today to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the iconic World War II battle. The battle for Iwo Jima -- the first U.S. attack on Japanese soil -- is memorialized worldwide by the famous Joe Rosenthal photo of five Marines and a Navy corpsman raising the U.S. flag on Mount Suribachi. Three of the six later were killed in battle. "Iwo Jima was not the bloodiest or the longest battle" of World War... |
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| Commanders in Chief | |
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| U.S. presidents: In [armed] service to this nation |
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· 02/19/2010 6:58:22 AM PST · · Posted by Pharmboy · · 34 replies · 413+ views · · Enid News and Eagle (OK) · · February 18, 2010 · · David Christy · |
-- In November 2008, the United States elected just its 44th president. It wasn't until I started researching this column I found the full extent of military influence on our nation's highest office. Fully 31 of the 44 men who have taken the oath of office to the highest post in the land have served in some capacity in this nation's military. Of the 31 who have donned either an Army, Navy, Guard or militia uniform, 12 achieved the rank of general during their term in service. Of course, none will ever be higher ranked than our first president -- ... |
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| Longer Perspectives | |
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| The Velvet Philosophical Revolution |
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· 02/15/2010 4:18:12 PM PST · · Posted by Lorianne · · 2 replies · 238+ views · · City Journal · · Winter 2010 · · André Glucksmann · |
As the philosopher Josep Ramoneda has observed, the whole world -- Communists, anti-Communists, and those in between -- took it as given that the Soviet Union and its satellites could not "return" to capitalism. So when, during the Velvet Revolution, demonstrators posed exactly this question -- How can we go from socialism to capitalism? -- there was no ready answer. As Western intellectuals watched Berlin in November 1989, they reconsidered their long belief that the world was fated to be Communist -- but retained their belief in fate. Providence had at last spoken, chance was abolished, the terrible parenthesis of the twentieth century had closed. Forgotten, erased, transcended, surpassed were... |
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| Faith and Philosophy | |
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| Sussex University: Where You Earn A New Kind of Bachelor's Degree |
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· 02/14/2010 6:10:00 AM PST · · Posted by mattstat · · 13 replies · 351+ views · · Briggs' 'blog · · William M. Briggs · |
In a cost-cutting move, the University of Sussex will largely scrap its History programme. European history will start with 1900. "The university said the cuts were part of a plan to save £3 million, and were in response to a lack of student demand. It added that courses in "film, music, media and global studies' would continue to grow." The 2011 University of Sussex Course Catalog Sussex University: Where you get your degree™ The Sociology of Facebook Who should you "friend' and who should you ignore? What is the best way to "un-friend' a person without hurting her or his... |
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| Hope and Change | |
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| 21st Century Skills--a quick look at the newest education fad |
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· 02/19/2010 2:31:47 PM PST · · Posted by BruceDeitrickPrice · · 13 replies · 356+ views · · California Chronicle · · Jan. 29, 2010 · · Bruce Deitrick Price · |
Here's a short blog entry I can't improve. It's a tease for a longer article (see link) but almost complete in itself: "21st Century Bull Okay, here's the last century of American education summed up in a sentence: the Education Establishment pretends to care about education, knowledge, basics, all that stuff, even as they undercut them at every opportunity. That's it. A century of disingenuousness. Every single pedagogy and method was a con. New Math and Whole Word, most spectacularly so. The others less blatantly so but just as subversive....It's as if we're dealing with drug addicts here. They say... |
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| How U.S. History is taught could change in N.C. |
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· 02/10/2010 6:38:48 AM PST · · Posted by NCDragon · · 26 replies · 594+ views · · WRALNews.com · · February 10, 2010 · · Bruce Mildwurf · |
Raleigh, N.C. -- A new proposal for the history curriculum in North Carolina public schools is causing uproar. Among the biggest concerns is covering U.S. history only from 1877 to the present in the 11th grade. "There's nothing on the Confederacy, nothing on Robert E. Lee, nothing on Abraham Lincoln, nothing on any battle, nothing on reconstruction, nothing on the causes of the war, nothing on slavery. Nothing on slavery anywhere in the curriculum," said Dr. Holly Brewer, associate professor of Early American History at North Carolina State University. Brewer opposes the curriculum change and says students would not learn... |
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| North Carolina Schools May Cut Chunk Out of U.S. History Lessons |
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· 02/16/2010 5:00:56 AM PST · · Posted by Halfmanhalfamazing · · 26 replies · 553+ views · · Fox news · · February 3rd · · Molly Henneberg · |
He may be the president who governed during the Civil War, freeing the slaves, but under a new curriculum proposal for North Carolina high schools, U.S. history would begin years after President Lincoln, with the presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes in 1877. State education leaders say this may help students learn about more recent history in greater depth. "We are certainly not trying to go away from American history," Rebecca Garland, the chief academic officer for North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, told Fox News. "What we are trying to do is figure out a way to teach it where... |
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| Thoroughly Modern Miscellany | |
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| The End of Intelligent Design? |
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· 02/09/2010 3:15:53 PM PST · · Posted by cornelis · · 94 replies · 1,205+ views · · First Things · · February 9, 2010 · · Stephen Barr · |
It is time to take stock: What has the intelligent design movement achieved? As science, nothing. The goal of science is to increase our understanding of the natural world, and there is not a single phenomenon that we understand better today or are likely to understand better in the future through the efforts of ID theorists. If we are to look for ID achievements, then, it must be in the realm of natural theology. And there, I think, the movement must be judged not only a failure, but a debacle. Very few religious skeptics have been made more open to... |
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| Catastrophism & Astronomy | |
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| Mass Extinctions: 'Giant' Fossils Are Revolutionizing Current Thinking |
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· 02/15/2010 11:29:02 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 26 replies · 717+ views · · ScienceDaily · · February 11, 2010 · · Adapted from CNRS · |
Large-sized gastropods (up to 7 cm) dating from only 1 million years after the greatest mass extinction of all time, the Permian-Triassic extinction, have been discovered by an international team including a French researcher from the Laboratoire Biogéosciences (CNRS/Université de Bourgogne), working with German, American and Swiss colleagues. These specimens call into question the existence of a "Lilliput effect," the reduction in the size of organisms inhabiting postcrisis biota, normally spanning several million years. The team's results... have drastically changed paleontologists' current thinking regarding evolutionary dynamics and the way the biosphere functions in the aftermath of a mass extinction event...... |
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| Agriculture & Animal Husbandry | |
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| Scientists in aurochs genome sequence first (wild cattle) |
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· 02/18/2010 3:33:47 AM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 10 replies · 276+ views · · BBC · · Feb 17, 2010 · · Steven McKenzie · |
Scientists have analysed the DNA of ancient giant European wild cattle that died out almost 400 years ago.They have determined the first mitochondrial genome sequence from aurochs (Bos primigenius) from bone found in a cave in England. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is passed down from a mother to her offspring. One of the researchers involved, Dr Ceiridwen Edwards, has previously investigated the remains of a polar bear found in the Scottish Highlands. The work was carried out at the University College Dublin's Animal Genomics Laboratory and Conway Institute using new technology that allows billions of base pairs of DNA to be... |
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| Africa | |
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| Steak Dinners Go Back 2.5 Million Years |
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· 02/15/2010 11:21:59 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 35 replies · 490+ views · · Discovery News · · Tuesday, February 9, 2010 · · Larry O'Hanlon · |
The discovery of a new "missing link" species of bull dating to a million years ago in Eritrea pushes back the beef steak dinner to the very dawn of humans and cattle. Although there is no evidence that early humans were actually herding early cattle 2.5 million years ago, the early humans and early cattle certainly shared the same landscape and beef was definitely on the menu all along, say researchers... "This means that the humans have been eating Bos since the beginnings of the genus Homo," said Martinez, referring to the genus to which humans belong. The million-year-old skull... |
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| Neandertal / Neanderthal | |
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| What Happened to the Hominids Who May Have Been Smarter Than Us? |
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· 01/05/2010 12:54:26 AM PST · · Posted by Bobalu · · 59 replies · 1,917+ views · · Discover · · December 28, 2009 · · Gary Lynch and Richard Granger · |
Two neuroscientists say that a now-extinct race of humans had big eyes, child-like faces, and an average intelligence of around 150, making them geniuses among Homo sapiens. The history of evolutionary studies has been dogged by the intuitively attractive, almost irresistible idea that the whole great process leads to greater complexity, to animals that are more advanced than their predecessors. The pre-Darwin theories of evolution were built around this idea; in fact, Darwin's (and Wallace's) great and radical contribution was to throw out the notion of "progress" and replace it with selection from among a set of random variations. But... |
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| Helix, Make Mine a Double | |
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| Tigers evolved with snow leopards, gene study reveals |
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· 02/14/2010 11:27:58 AM PST · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 12 replies · 259+ views · · news · · 12 February 2010 · · Matt Walker · |
The tiger may be more ancient and distinct than we thought. Tigers are less closely related to lions, leopards and jaguars than these other big cats are to each other, according to a new comprehensive study. The genetic analysis also reveals the tiger began evolving 3.2 million years ago, and its closest living relative is the equally endangered snow leopard. The discovery comes as the BBC launches a collection of intimate videos of wild tigers and the threats they face. Despite the popularity and endangered status of tigers, much remains to be discovered about them, including how they evolved. It... |
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| Biology and Cryptobiology | |
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| Amazon Monster Is Only a Myth. Or Is It? (Bigfoot sightings in Brazil) |
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· 07/08/2007 1:52:43 PM PDT · · Posted by Clintonfatigued · · 26 replies · 1,013+ views · · AOL News · · July 8, 2007 · · Larry Brother · |
Perhaps it is nothing more than a legend, as skeptics say. Or maybe it is real, as those who claim to have seen it avow. But the mere mention of the mapinguary, the giant slothlike monster of the Amazon, is enough to send shivers down the spines of almost all who dwell in the world's largest rain forest. In some areas, the creature is said to have two eyes, while in other accounts it has only one, like the Cyclops of Greek mythology. It's said to be more than seven feet tall and covered in thick, matted fur. The folklore... |
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| end of digest #292 20100220 | |
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| Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #293 Saturday, February 27, 2010 |
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| The Facts Are IN the Ground | |
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| Hebrew University archaeologist discovers Jerusalem city wall from tenth century B.C.E. |
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· 02/22/2010 4:34:40 AM PST · · Posted by SJackson · · 72 replies · 851+ views · · Hebrew Univ of Jerusalem · · 2-22-10 · |
Jerusalem, February 22, 2010 - A section of an ancient city wall of Jerusalem from the tenth century B.C.E. - possibly built by King Solomon -- has been revealed in archaeological excavations directed by Dr. Eilat Mazar and conducted under the auspices of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The section of the city wall revealed, 70 meters long and six meters high, is located in the area known as the Ophel, between the City of David and the southern wall of the Temple Mount. Uncovered in the city wall complex are: an inner gatehouse for access into the royal quarter... |
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| Archaeologist Sees Proof For Bible In Ancient Wall |
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· 02/22/2010 5:58:22 PM PST · · Posted by Pharmboy · · 52 replies · 1,063+ views · · AP via NPR · · February 22, 2010 · · Anon · |
An Israeli archaeologist said Monday that ancient fortifications recently excavated in Jerusalem date back 3,000 years to the time of King Solomon and support the biblical narrative about the era. If the age of the wall is correct, the finding would be an indication that Jerusalem was home to a strong central government that had the resources and manpower needed to build massive fortifications in the 10th century B.C. That's a key point of dispute among scholars, because it would match the Bible's account that the Hebrew kings David and Solomon ruled from Jerusalem around that time. While some Holy... |
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| Dig Supports Biblical Account of King Solomon's Construction |
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· 02/22/2010 7:32:11 PM PST · · Posted by bogusname · · 8 replies · 305+ views · · Israel National News · · February 22, 2010 · · Maayana Miskin · |
(IsraelNN.com) Even as Muslim spokesmen try to deny Jewish claims to the Holy Land, archaeological discoveries have recently been coming in fast and furious proving the veracity of the Biblical account of history. Hebrew University archaeologists have revealed an ancient path in Jerusalem believed to date back to the time of King Solomon, along with structures including a gateway and the foundation of a building. Dr. Eilat Mazar, the leader of the archaeological dig, said the findings match finds from the time of the First Temple. Arutz Sheva TV's Yoni Kempinski visited the archaeological dig where the ancient wall was... |
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| Let's Have Jerusalem | |
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| Patriarchs' Cave in heritage plan-PM gives in to pressure |
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· 02/21/2010 10:16:52 AM PST · · Posted by SJackson · · 6 replies · 160+ views · · Jerusalem Post · · 2-21-10 · |
PM gives in to pressure from Shas ministers, right-wing groups, lobbyists. The Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron and Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem will be included on the list of heritage sites marked for state renovation and preservation, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu declared at Sunday's cabinet meeting. The announcement came following pressure from Shas ministers as well as from Infrastructures Minister Uzi Landau and right-wing groups. Earlier on Sunday, the Knesset Lobby for Greater Israel planned to visit the cave to protest the site's previous exclusion from the heritage plan, which marks 100 historic, religious and cultural sites for preservation... |
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| Palestinian objection to Israeli "Heritage" ties to biblical sites illustrates absence of pluralism |
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· 02/22/2010 3:50:26 PM PST · · Posted by SJackson · · 6 replies · 188+ views · · IMRA · · 2-22-10 · |
Document: Palestinian NGO's objection to Israeli "Heritage" ties to biblical sites illustrates absence of pluralism Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: Here is where we are: 1. There are numerous places in the "Holy Land" beyond the "Green Line" that are intimately linked to Jewish history and thus to Jewish identity and heritage. Recognizing these historical links in now way rules out a priori that some of these places may not be under Israeli control in a final status arrangement. 2. There are numerous places in "Historical Palestine" within the "Green Line" that are intimately linked to the history of Arab... |
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| US slams Israel over designating heritage sites |
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· 02/25/2010 9:28:21 AM PST · · Posted by Never A Dull Moment · · 93 replies · 1,903+ views · · ynet · · Feb 25, 2010 · · Associated Press · |
The Obama administration criticized Israel for designating two shrines on Palestinian territory as Israeli national heritage sites. The criticism came as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday she hopes long-stalled peace talks between Israelis and the Palestinians will resume. Clinton told a congressional committee that groundwork is being laid to restart the talks with the help of US envoy George Mitchell. Toner said US displeasure with the designations of the Cave of the Patriarchs in the flash point town of Hebron and the traditional tomb of the biblical matriarch Rachel in Bethlehem had been conveyed to senior Israeli... |
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| What The Press Isn't Telling You About the "Unrest" in Hebron |
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· 02/24/2010 7:38:32 AM PST · · Posted by Shellybenoit · · 11 replies · 264+ views · · The Lid/Various · · 2/24/10 · · The Lid · |
For the past three days the Palestinians have been protesting in the city of Hebron (Chevron in Hebrew). The reason, Israel added two West Bank sites to their "Heritage Sites" list, The Tomb of Rachel and the Cave of the Patriarchs. This designation means that resources would be invested in infrastructure and in making holy sites more accessible to more worshipers. Israel would continue to uphold its policy of freedom of worship for all faiths. Hamas and Fatah are using the move to rile up the public saying that it is an Israeli takeover of their land. The Mainstream Media... |
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| The Exact Replica of the 3rd Temple is Being Built (YouTube) |
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· 02/15/2010 3:13:56 PM PST · · Posted by GiovannaNicoletta · · 269 replies · 2,378+ views · · YouTube Video · |
Jews in the town of Mitzpe Yericho are taking practical steps to prepare for the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem, by preparing descendents of Cohanim (priests) and Levites for service. At the Mitzpe Yericho school, Temple priest hopefuls learn exactly how to conduct the daily Temple service and offer the required sacrifices. "Today is really a historical event for the Jewish people, organizer Levi Chazan said as another part of the school was completed. It is the beginning of the work for the Third Temple. The school will include an exact replica of the Temple. The latest addition to... |
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| Epigraphy and Language | |
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| Ancient Bible Manuscript Fragments Reunited [Song of the Sea] |
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· 02/26/2010 7:58:57 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 3 replies · 180+ views · · Discovery News · · Friday, February 26, 2010 · · Karoun Demirjian, Associated Press · |
Two parts of an ancient biblical manuscript separated across centuries and continents were reunited for the first time in a joint display Friday, thanks to an accidental discovery that is helping illuminate a dark period in the history of the Hebrew Bible. |
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| Greece | |
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| First Minoan Shipwreck: An unprecedented find off the coast of Crete |
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· 02/23/2010 5:38:02 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 19 replies · 513+ views · · Archaeology Magazine · · January/February 2010 · · Eti Bonn-Muller · |
Depictions of ships abound on Minoan seals and frescoes. They are detailed enough to show that the vessels were impressive: generally, they had 15 oars on each side and square sails, and were probably about 50 feet long. But little more was known about actual Minoan seafaring--until Greek archaeologist Elpida Hadjidaki became the first to discover a Minoan shipwreck... For nearly a month, she and a team of three sponge and coral divers aboard a 20-foot-long wooden fishing boat trolled up and down the island's shores. Together with George Athanasakis of Athens Polytechnic University, they used side-scanning sonar and detected... |
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| Roman Empire | |
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| Prince's Palace Found in Volcanic Crater [where Romulus and Remus were educated] |
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· 02/26/2010 7:50:53 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 10 replies · 237+ views · · Discovery News · · Friday, February 26, 2010 · · Rossella Lorenzi · |
The residence of Sextus Tarquinius, the prince who sparked the revolt that led to the foundation of the Roman Republic, may have been found. The palace was found at the site where, according to legend, Romulus and Remus were educated... The building dates to the sixth century B.C and boasts the highest intact walls from the period ever found in Italy, standing at around 6.56 feet high... Fabbri and colleagues from Rome's Archaeological Superintendency believe that the residence was furiously demolished, probably during the Roman revolt in 510 B.C. that ultimately led to the foundation of the Roman Republic. The... |
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| Golden Bough from Roman mythology 'found in Italy' |
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· 02/23/2010 6:45:35 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 16 replies · 517+ views · · Telegraph · · February 18, 2010 · · Nick Squires · |
In Roman mythology, the bough was a tree branch with golden leaves that enabled the Trojan hero Aeneas to travel through the underworld safely. They discovered the remains while excavating religious sanctuary built in honour of the goddess Diana near an ancient volcanic lake in the Alban Hills, 20 miles south of Rome. They believe the enclosure protected a huge Cypress or oak tree which was sacred to the Latins, a powerful tribe which ruled the region before the rise of the Roman Empire. The tree was central to the myth of Aeneas, who was told by a spirit to... |
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| Ancient Autopsies | |
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| Microbes Leave Gold on Corpses, May Complicate Forensics |
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· 02/25/2010 9:11:57 AM PST · · Posted by cajuncow · · 15 replies · 331+ views · · Yahoo News · · 2-25-10 · · Charles Q. Choi, LiveScience Contributor · |
Metals found in the hair of corpses have solved all kinds of mysteries. For instance, high levels of arsenic found in Napoleon's hair suggest the former emperor of France might have been poisoned to death, intentionally or unintentionally. However, scientists now find that bacteria can sprinkle gold dust onto the hair of corpses, which suggests microbes could deposit arsenic and other poisonous metals on bodies as well, potentially complicating criminal and archaeological investigations. |
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| Egypt | |
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| Ancient Egypt Rises Again as Water Recedes |
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· 02/23/2010 6:52:38 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 7 replies · 391+ views · · FrontLines · · December 2009-January 2010 · · Analeed Marcus · |
Medinet Habu lies miles away from the more famous Luxor and Karnak Temples but, unlike these two World Heritage Sites on the Nile's East Bank where a USAID-funded dewatering project has slowed the rate of deterioration, the West Bank temple continues to decay due to groundwater intrusion. Building structures become porous and cracked by rising groundwater levels. The wall surfaces where hieroglyphics and drawings are etched have begun falling away. "The surface is sloughed off the stone, like skin," Johnson said. Though some buildings have stood since 2000 B.C., neighboring sugarcane irrigation has caused water levels to rise and bring... |
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| Faith and Philosophy | |
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| Putative Skull of St. Bridget Probably Not Authentic |
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· 02/23/2010 7:02:12 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 4 replies · 204+ views · · Archaeology Daily · · Monday, February 22, 2010 · · Science Daily · |
"One skull cannot be attributed to Bridget or Catherine as it dates back to the period 1470-1670. The other skull, thought to be from Saint Bridget, is dated to 1215-1270 and is thus not likely to be from the 14th Century when Bridget lived. It cannot, however, be completely excluded that the older skull is from Bridget if she had a diet dominated by fish, which can shift the dating results. But this is unlikely," says Göran Possnert. "The results from both methods support each other. Our DNA analyses show that we can exclude a mother and daughter relationship. This... |
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| British Isles | |
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| Woman who found coin ... in garden becomes first to be prosecuted for not reporting treasure [UK] |
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· 02/26/2010 3:55:33 PM PST · · Posted by Daffynition · · 97 replies · 1,856+ views · · Daily Mail · · 26th February 2010 · · Andy Dolan and Dalya Alberge · |
A woman who found a 700-year-old silver 'coin' whilst digging in her garden as a child has become the first in the country to be convicted of failing to hand in suspected treasure. Kate Harding, 23, was prosecuted under the Treasure Act after she ignored orders to report the coin-like artefact to a coroner. A court heard the silver piedfort marking Charles IV's ascension to the French throne in 1322 was discovered by Miss Harding 14 years ago as she worked in the garden with her mother at their home in Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire. Following her mother's death a short... |
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| Africa | |
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| China, Kenya to search for ancient Chinese wrecks |
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· 02/26/2010 9:33:12 AM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 10 replies · 214+ views · · Associated Press · · Feb 26, 2010 · · Unknown · |
China and Kenya plan to search for ancient Chinese ships wrecked almost 600 years ago off Africa's east coast. Between 1405 and 1433, Zheng He -- whose name is also spelled Cheng Ho -- led armadas with scores of junks and thousands of sailors on voyages to promote trade and recognition of the new dynasty, which had taken power in 1368. |
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| China | |
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| China Discovers Old Bricks Made 7,000 Years Ago |
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· 02/23/2010 5:42:17 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 4 replies · 226+ views · · CRIEnglish / Xinhua · · February 20, 2010 · · Web Editor: Zhang · |
Bricks dating back 5,000 to 7,000 years have been unearthed in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, adding between 1,000 to 2,000 years onto Chinese brick-making history, archaeologists claimed Saturday. "The five calcined bricks were unearthed from a site of the Yangshao Culture Period dating 5,000 to 7,000 years ago. Previously, the oldest known bricks in the country were more than 4,000 years old," Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology researcher Yang Yachang said. The bricks, including three red ones and two gray ones, all uncompleted, Yang said. The site under excavation is located at Liaoyuan Village of Baqiao District, and Huaxu Town,... |
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| Prehistory & Origins | |
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| How a hobbit is rewriting the history of the human race |
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· 02/23/2010 5:47:15 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 10 replies · 423+ views · · The Guardian (UK) · · Sunday, February 21, 2010 · · Robin McKie · |
The bones of a race of tiny primitive people, who used stone tools to hunt pony-sized elephants and battle huge Komodo dragons, were discovered on the Indonesian island of Flores in 2004... These remains came from a species that turned out to be only three feet tall and had the brain the size of an orange. Yet it used quite sophisticated stone tools. And that was a real puzzle. How on earth could such individuals have made complex implements and survived for aeons on this remote part of the Malay archipelago? Some simply dismissed the bones as the remains of... |
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| PreColumbian, Clovis, PreClovis | |
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| Scientists turn migration theory on its head |
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· 02/26/2010 10:41:37 AM PST · · Posted by Palter · · 16 replies · 418+ views · · The Vancouver Sun · · 26 Feb 2010 · · Randy Boswell · |
U.S. anthropologists hypothesize that ancestors of aboriginal people in South and North America followed High Arctic route Two U.S. scientists have published a radical new theory about when, where and how humans migrated to the New World, arguing that the peopling of the Americas may have begun via Canada's High Arctic islands and the Northwest Passage -- much farther north and at least 10,000 years earlier than generally believed. The hypothesis -- described as "speculative" but "plausible" by the researchers themselves -- appears in the latest issue of the journal Current Biology, which features a special series of new studies... |
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| PreColumbian Middle Ages | |
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| Copper men: Archaeologists uncover Stone Age copper workshop near Monk's Mound | |
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· 02/23/2010 6:07:26 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 12 replies · 417+ views · · News-Democrat · · Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010 · · George Pawlaczyk · |
But there is something unique about a particular excavated area beside a rather plain looking mound -- Mound 34 -- that lies about 200 yards east of the world famous and huge Monk's Mound at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site. The carefully sifted soil at this excavation has revealed evidence of the only known copper workshop from the Mississippian-era, a culture that peaked about 1250 A.D. throughout the middle and southern portions of America. The overall Illinois state site was the location of a large, prehistoric city of perhaps 20,000 that archaeologists call Cahokia... ...the bits and pieces of the... |
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| The Andes | |
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| Secrets of the Lost City of Z |
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· 02/23/2010 8:16:55 AM PST · · Posted by Palter · · 15 replies · 637+ views · · CBS · · 21 Feb 2010 · · Anthony Mason · |
Since the dawn of the modern age, the notion of a pre-historic world, hidden deep in the jungle and untouched by the passage of time, has captivated our imaginations. Before "Jurassic Park," before "King Kong," there was "The Lost World." Written in 1912 by Sherlock Holmes' creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, "The Lost World" was in turn largely inspired by the real-life adventures of one remarkable man: Col. Percy Harrison Fawcett. David Grann, a staff writer for The New Yorker magazine, says in his time Fawcett was a larger-than-life figure: "Oh, he really was. I mean, he was the last... |
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| Paleontology | |
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| Ancient Human Ancestors Faced Fearsome Horned Crocodile |
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· 02/24/2010 5:14:22 AM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 14 replies · 773+ views · · Live Science · · Feb 23, 2010 · · Charles Q. Choi · |
A newfound horned crocodile may have been the largest predator encountered by our ancestors in Africa, researchers now suggest. Scientists have even found bones from members of the human lineage bearing tooth marks from this reptile, whose scientific name, Crocodylus anthropophagus, means "man-eating crocodile." This predator, which lived some 1.84 million years ago, possessed a deep snout that would have made it look more robust than modern crocodiles. It also had prominent triangular horns. "They would have been visible mostly from the side as projections behind the eye," said researcher Christopher Brochu, a vertebrate paleontologist at the University of Iowa.... |
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| Giant predatory shark fossil unearthed in Kansas |
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· 02/24/2010 9:51:06 AM PST · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 60 replies · 1,270+ views · · bbc · · 24 February 2010 · · Matt Walker · |
The fossilised remains of a gigantic 10m-long predatory shark have been unearthed in Kansas, US. Scientists dug up a gigantic jawbone, teeth and scales belonging to the shark which lived 89 million years ago. The bottom-dwelling predator had huge tooth plates, which it likely used to crush large shelled animals such as giant clams. Palaeontologists already knew about the shark, but the new specimen suggests it was far bigger than previously thought. The scientists who made the discovery, published in the journal Cretaceous Research, last week also released details of other newly discovered giant plankton-eating fish that swam in prehistoric... |
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| Dinosaurs | |
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| New species of dinosaur found in eastern Utah rock |
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· 02/23/2010 2:19:37 PM PST · · Posted by Free ThinkerNY · · 22 replies · 525+ views · · Associated Press · · Feb. 23, 2010 · · Mike Stark · |
Fossils of a previously undiscovered species of dinosaur have been found in slabs of Utah sandstone that were so hard that explosives had to be used to free some of the remains, scientists said Tuesday. The bones found at Dinosaur National Monument belonged to a type of sauropod -- long-necked plant-eaters that were said to be the largest animal ever to roam land. The discovery included two complete skulls from other types of sauropods -- an extremely rare find, scientists said. |
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| Anatolia | |
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| History in the Remaking |
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· 02/23/2010 8:21:35 AM PST · · Posted by Palter · · 30 replies · 630+ views · · Newsweek · · 19 Feb 2010 -- · · Patrick Symmes · |
A temple complex in Turkey that predates even the pyramids is rewriting the story of human evolution. They call it potbelly hill, after the soft, round contour of this final lookout in southeastern Turkey. To the north are forested mountains. East of the hill lies the biblical plain of Harran, and to the south is the Syrian border, visible 20 miles away, pointing toward the ancient lands of Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent, the region that gave rise to human civilization. And under our feet, according to archeologist Klaus Schmidt, are the stones that mark the spot -- the exact spot -- where humans... |
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| Middle Ages & Renaissance | |
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| Perperikon Reveals Its Epigraphic Mysteries |
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· 02/23/2010 6:15:18 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 8 replies · 256+ views · · Standart News · · February 13, 2010 · · Irina Angelova · |
The first epigraphic monuments in Perperikon were discovered. They are dated back to the second half of 3rd century AD. All of them are in Latin, according to Prof Vassilka Gerassimova, one of Bulgaria's outstanding experts in ancient monuments. The archeological team of Prof Nikolay Ovcharov ran across the written monuments during the excavation works in Perperikon near the Roman road which was discovered last summer and branching towards the Rock Town. "Thus the Roman necropolis of Perperikon has been localized and will be studied," Ovcharov said. "Thanks to the decoded epigraphs, we now have the names of people... |
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| DHARMA Wine Hatch Discovered in Israel |
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· 02/20/2010 5:40:31 AM PST · · Posted by mom4kittys · · 19 replies · 766+ views · · thefoodsection · · 2/18/10 · · Posted by Josh Friedland · |
You may have hard the news that archaeologists have discovered a 1,400-year-old wine press in Southern Israel -- 25 miles south of Jerusalem -- an area which was once part of the Byzantine Empire. According to the scientists, the exceptionally large size of the press -- measuring 21 feet by 54 feet -- suggests that it was used to produce wine for export to Egypt, or Europe. But, could these archeologists have the story all wrong? To any "Lost" devotee, the unique octagonal shape of the press and its proximity to Egypt and Tunisia will bring to mind the work... |
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| Agriculture & Animal Husbandry | |
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| Ancient giant cattle genome first |
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· 02/20/2010 5:30:54 PM PST · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 28 replies · 742+ views · · bbc · · 17 February 2010 · · Steven McKenzie · |
Scientists have analysed the DNA of ancient giant European wild cattle that died out almost 400 years ago. They have determined the first mitochondrial genome sequence from aurochs (Bos primigenius) from bone found in a cave in England. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is passed down from a mother to her offspring....... One of the researchers involved, Dr Ceiridwen Edwards, has previously investigated the remains of a polar bear found in the Scottish Highlands.... The species became extinct when a female animal died in a forest in Poland in 1627. Roman general and dictator Julius Caesar was said to have been impressed... |
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| Leaf Her Alone | |
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| This Tree's a Lady! |
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· 02/20/2010 2:46:11 PM PST · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 37 replies · 720+ views · · livescience · · 04 February 2010 · |
Scientists have discovered the female sex hormone progesterone in a walnut tree, shaking up what's known about the different between plants and animals. Until now, scientists thought that only animals could make progesterone. A steroid hormone secreted by the ovaries, progesterone prepares the uterus for pregnancy and maintains pregnancy. A synthetic version, progestin, is used in birth control pills and other medications. "The significance of the unequivocal identification of progesterone cannot be overstated," write Guido F. Pauli and colleagues in the American Chemical Society's Journal of Natural Products. "While the biological role of progesterone has been extensively studied in mammals,... |
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| Epidemics, Pandemics, Plagues, the Sniffles | |
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| Study shows how viruses changed human evolution |
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· 02/19/2010 4:51:16 PM PST · · Posted by cajuncow · · 9 replies · 195+ views · · Yahoo News · · 2-18-10 · · Reuters · |
LONDON (Reuters) -- Italian scientists said on Friday they had found evidence of how viruses helped change the course of human evolution and said their discovery could help in the design of better drugs and vaccines. They found more than 400 different mutations in 139 genes that play a role in people's risk of catching viruses -- a finding that may also help explain why some people sail through flu season unscathed while others seem to catch every bug around. Researchers from the Scientific Institute IRCCS, Milan University and the Politecnico di Milano analysed the genomes of 52 populations from... |
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| The Revolution | |
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| The dark hours for Thomas Jefferson |
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· 02/23/2010 11:24:57 AM PST · · Posted by Palter · · 37 replies · 605+ views · · Boston Globe · · 23 Feb 2010 · · Michael Kranish · |
MASSACHUSETTS FACED a crisis in 1778. In the midst of the Revolutionary War, some 4,000 British and Hessian prisoners were living in miserable conditions in camps around Boston. Rumors surged that a British force would try to free them by force. The cry went up: get these prisoners out of Massachusetts. Enter Thomas Jefferson and his Virginia neighbors. Thinking like a current-day congressman, Jefferson regarded the prisoners as an economic opportunity for the remote valley near his home at Monticello. The prison camp would pump money into his hometown of Charlottesville, along with much-needed craftsmen and laborers. It would be... |
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| Letters shed new light on British despair during the American War of Independence |
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· 02/19/2010 2:17:25 PM PST · · Posted by bruinbirdman · · 56 replies · 1,067+ views · · The Telegraph · · 2/19/2010 · · Philip Sherwell · |
Remarkable archive of letters has thrown new light on the despair of British commanders during the American War of Independence Their downbeat perspective contrasts dramatically with the exhortations of George III and his ministers in London who come across as hopelessly out-of-touch and absurdly optimistic. The letters show how British generals despaired at the hopeless optimism of King George III, left The documents, part of a collection that have been in private possession for more than two centuries, reveal a much gloomier analysis by British generals than previously believed. According to the collection which goes on sale at Sotheby's in... |
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| The Framers | |
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| The Classical Education of the Founding Fathers |
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· 02/21/2010 10:56:00 AM PST · · Posted by Lorianne · · 23 replies · 356+ views · · Memoria Press · · Spring 2007 · |
"Americans view the Founding Fathers in vacuo, isolated from the soil that nurtured them," says Traci Lee Simmons in his book, Climbing Parnassus: A New Apologia for Greek and Latin. For the Founders, says Simmons, these virtues came principally from two places: "the pulpit and the schoolroom." We are already fairly familiar with the explicitly Biblical influences on America's founding, but we are far less familiar with the classical influences on the Founders -- and how these two influences worked in concert to mold their education and their thinking. It is a well-known fact that literacy was prevalent in colonial times. "A... |
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| The General | |
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| Geo. Washington Presidential Library: $38 million gift to build library at Mount Vernon |
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· 02/20/2010 7:57:16 PM PST · · Posted by HokieMom · · 40 replies · 445+ views · · Washington Examiner · · 2/19/10 · · Matthew Barakat · |
There were no presidential libraries in the days of George Washington, so his papers and writings are scattered around the world. Some are lost forever -- Martha Washington, for instance, burned nearly all of her personal letters from her husband shortly before she died. But an unprecedented $38 million donation will allow George Washington's Mount Vernon estate to establish a library dedicated to scholarship on the nation's first president, in many ways filling the role of the modern presidential library. The Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington is expected to open... |
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| The Example of Our First President |
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· 02/22/2010 9:31:27 AM PST · · Posted by Ed Hudgins · · 18 replies · 212+ views · · The Atlas Society - The Center for Objectivism · · 2/22/2004 · · Edward Hudgins · |
From the Archives:The Example of Our First President By Edward Hudgins February 22, 2004 -- George Washington unfortunately has become a clichÈ. For an older generation, he was too often treated as such a mythic figure that it was difficult to appreciate his true importance. In today's politically correct society many treat him as a white, male oppressor. Most of us celebrate his birthday by shopping the sales at the mall. This is not a bad use of our time, but it is appropriate to take a moment to reflect on the real greatness of the real Washington and the... |
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| The Civil War | |
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| Amazing Original Photographs from the Civil War |
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· 02/24/2010 10:13:37 AM PST · · Posted by navysealdad · · 59 replies · 2,322+ views · · Angelfire · |
Whether you like history or not... These are pretty amazing considering they were taken up to 145 years ago: A compendium of photos from the Civil War era. Truly fortunate that so many of these have survived. Probably a million wet plate photos were made during the civil war on glass plate. |
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| Thoroughly Modern Miscellany | |
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| Video: 140 Year Old Hot Dog Found On Coney Island |
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· 02/25/2010 8:32:23 AM PST · · Posted by AtlasStalled · · 59 replies · 1,856+ views · · Friends of Ours · · 02/25/10 · · Friends of Ours · |
A 140-year-old hot dog has been discovered with a contemporaneous receipt encased in ice under one of the old buildings on Coney Island which formerly housed a restaurant operated by Charles Feltman who is credited with inventing the tasty treat. |
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| Between the Wars | |
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| 'Metropolis' Now |
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· 02/23/2010 4:53:09 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 13 replies · 354+ views · · WSJ · · February 11, 2010 · · A.J. Goldmann · |
83 years after its Berlin premiere, "Metropolis" can finally be seen as Lang originally intended it. Well, almost. A restored version that incorporates over 20 minutes of newly discovered footage was screened last Friday at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival. Tickets to the gala, featuring the original score performed by a live symphony orchestra, sold out quickly. But throngs of cinéphiles braved subfreezing temperatures to congregate at Pariser Platz, where the film was beamed onto a screen set up at the Brandenburg Gate. Since the 1980s, there have been multiple attempts to reconstruct the film using imperfect sources. Until... |
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| Longer Perspectives | |
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| The Crusades: When Christendom Pushed Back |
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· 02/20/2010 6:35:24 PM PST · · Posted by ventanax5 · · 37 replies · 1,383+ views · · New American · · Selwyn Duke · |
he year is 732 A.D., and Europe is under assault. Islam, born a mere 110 years earlier, is already in its adolescence, and the Muslim Moors are on the march. Growing in leaps and bounds, the Caliphate, as the Islamic realm is known, has thus far subdued much of Christendom, conquering the old Christian lands of the Mideast and North Africa in short order. Syria and Iraq fell in 636; Palestine in 638; and Egypt, which was not even an Arab land, fell in 642. North Africa, also not Arab, was under Muslim control by 709. Then came the year... |
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| Biology and Cryptobiology | |
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| Vampire Squid Turns "Inside Out" |
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· 02/23/2010 9:01:20 AM PST · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 27 replies · 833+ views · · National Geographic · |
The vampire squid can turn itself "inside out" to avoid predators -- as seen in a video just released by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute to emphasize the need to protect deep-sea species from the effects of human activities. This menacing looking squid is just one of many species "out of sight and out of mind" that could be threatened by human activities far away from the part of the ocean in which they live. The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute has released this video of the vampire squid to emphasize a report that raises a red flag about the earth's... |
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| Helix, Make Mine a Double | |
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| Small Dogs Originated in the Middle East |
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· 02/23/2010 5:26:03 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 18 replies · 372+ views · · Discovery News · · Tuesday, February 23, 2010 · · Jennifer Viegas · |
Small dogs the world over can all trace their ancestry back to the Middle East, where the first diminutive canines emerged more than 12,000 years ago. A new study, which appears in BMC Biology, focused on a single gene responsible for size in dogs. Researchers found that the version of the gene IGF1 that is a major determinant of small size in dogs probably originated as a result of domestication of the Middle Eastern gray wolf, which also happens to be smaller than many other wolves. In terms of which came first, big dogs or small dogs, the answer is... |
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| Australia & the Pacific | |
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| Megalithic site found in South Sumatra |
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· 02/23/2010 6:56:23 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 8 replies · 335+ views · · Jakarta Post · · Wednesday, February 17, 2010 · · unattributed · |
PALEMBANG, South Sumatra: A megalithic settlement has recently been unearthed at Skendal village, 10 kilometers from the town of Pagaralam in South Sumatra. Irfan Wintarto, an official at the Lahat Culture and Tourism Agency's Historical and Archeological Preservation Department, said local residents had discovered around 36 types of rocks on a 150-by-300-meter plot in the middle of a 2-hectare coffee plantation. The site is currently being investigated by the Archeological Region Conservation and Heritage Center (BPPP). "The findings are believed to date back to around 5,000 B.C.," Irfan said. "The types of rocks and megaliths found are quite diverse." Among... |
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| Oh So Mysteriouso | |
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| A Millennium Conundrum [Indus Valley Script] |
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· 02/23/2010 5:55:43 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 6 replies · 221+ views · · Asian Age · · 2010 · · Latika Padgaonkar · |
In what appears to be a new ground-breaking study, Unsealing the Indus Script: Anatomy of Its Decipherment released in November last year, author Malati J. Shendge claims that the riddles of the Harappan graphs which have bedevilled archaeologists, palaeographers and linguistic and other scholars for nearly a century have been largely deciphered. Shendge has decoded many of the seals, and the field is now open for a further understanding of a civilisation that came to an end with the invasion by the Indo-European peoples... Scholars tried to read linguistic elements into it; at times, the script was regarded as... |
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| end of digest #293 20100227 | |
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