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· Saturday, September 11, 2010 · 34 topics · 2587193 to 2583199 · 743 members · |
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| Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #321 Saturday, September 11, 2010 |
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| Navigation | |
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| WTC Ship Gives Up Lucky Coin |
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· 09/10/2010 7:06:18 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 8 replies · · Discovery News · · Friday, September 10, 2010 · · James William · |
Lucky coin? Ever since the 2nd century B.C. -- not long after Romans began minting coins -- shipbuilders have been slipping a coin into the structure of their ships. It's a tradition that continues today. In fact, the USS New York -- made partially from steel recovered from the World Trade Center towers -- did it as well (see "What is Stepping the Mast?"). For the ancient Romans it was likely a continuation of religious customs. Now it's just a tradition and done for good luck. So we didn't find it during the five days we were actually excavating it.... |
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| Diet & Cuisine | |
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| Ancient Greek Pill-Poppers Dosed Themselves With Carrots and Yarrow |
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· 09/10/2010 7:30:58 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 39 replies · · Discover magazine 'blogs · · September 10th, 2010 · · Joseph Calamia · |
Pill-popping ancients liked a good dose of vegetables, archaeobotanists have found after analyzing plant DNA in Greek-made pills from a 130 BC shipwreck. Though archaeologists have known about the ship since the 1980s, this is the first time researchers have had a crack at analyzing the drugs found onboard. Using the GenBank genetic database as their guide, they have found that the pills appear to contain carrot, parsley, radish, alfalfa, chestnut, celery, wild onion, yarrow, oak, and cabbage. Geneticist Robert Fleischer of the Smithsonian's National Zoological Park says that many of the ingredients match those described in ancient texts, New... |
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| Catastrophism & Astronomy | |
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| Ancient Greeks spotted Halley's comet |
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· 09/10/2010 5:37:03 AM PDT · · Posted by Palter · · 21 replies · · NewsScientist · · 09 Sep 2010 · · Jo Marchant · |
A CELESTIAL event in the 5th century BC could be the earliest documented sighting of Halley's comet - and it marked a turning point in the history of astronomy. According to ancient authors, from Aristotle onwards, a meteorite the size of a "wagonload" crashed into northern Greece sometime between 466 and 468 BC. The impact shocked the local population and the rock became a tourist attraction for 500 years. The accounts describe a comet in the sky when the meteorite fell. This has received little attention, but the timing corresponds to an expected pass of Halley's comet, which is visible... |
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| Prehistory and Origins | |
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| Timothy Taylor: Humans are products of their own technology |
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· 09/08/2010 8:16:59 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 22 replies · · Sunday, September 5, 2010 · · The Observer · · interviewed by Robin McKie · |
Timothy Taylor is an anthropologist and archaeologist based at Bradford University. In his new book, The Artificial Ape, he argues that the moment our apemen ancestors began chipping at lumps of stone to create their first tools, they released a force -- technology -- that has played a pivotal role in shaping the human species. Such innovations have altered the way we nurture our offspring, prepare our food, use our strength and establish cultures. We did not invent technology, this 50-year-old scientist argues. Technology invented us. "...There is a perception that technology -- from the industrial revolution to the computer... |
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| Helix, Make Mine a Double | |
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| 'Mitochondrial Eve': Mother of All Humans Lived 200,000 Years Ago |
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· 09/04/2010 10:15:45 AM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 66 replies · · ScienceDaily staff · · August 17, 2010 · · materials provided by Rice U · |
The most robust statistical examination to date of our species' genetic links to "mitochondrial Eve" -- the maternal ancestor of all living humans -- confirms that she lived about 200,000 years ago. The Rice University study was based on a side-by-side comparison of 10 human genetic models that each aim to determine when Eve lived using a very different set of assumptions about the way humans migrated, expanded and spread across Earth... "Our findings underscore the importance of taking into account the random nature of population processes like growth and extinction," said study co-author Marek Kimmel, professor of statistics at... |
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| Farty Shades of Green | |
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| First Irish genome sequenced |
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· 09/07/2010 7:49:50 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 32 replies · · BioMed Central · · September 7, 2010 · · Unknown · |
The first entire genome of an Irish individual has been sequenced. The sequence is reported in BioMed Central's open access journal, Genome Biology and provides insight into the evolutionary history of this distinct lineage. Led by Professor Brendan Loftus, the research team from UCD Conway Institute used data from a previous genotyping study to select a suitable Irish male representative for sequencing. Then, using pair- and single-ended Illumina short read sequencing, one of the next generation sequencing approaches, the team created 9 DNA sequence libraries, which were overlaid to generate a high quality genome sequence with 11-fold coverage. Analyses were... |
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| Scotland Yet | |
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| Queen of the Inch to be re-interred [ Inchmarnock in the Firth of Clyde ] |
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· 09/04/2010 11:53:13 AM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 29 replies · · BBC · · August 2010 · · unattributed · |
A 4,000-year-old skeleton, known as the Queen of the Inch, is to be re-interred in the tiny island of Inchmarnock in the Firth of Clyde. The grave was found by a farmer in the 1950s as he ploughed a field. Preserved in an ancient cist, the remains included a necklace and dagger. Despite being examined by archaeologists and reburied in the 1960s, the skeleton was recently exhumed and studied using modern research techniques. Scientists have since been able to determine that the woman lived on Inchmarnock and came from the Clyde Estuary and that she did not eat seafood, despite... |
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| British Isles | |
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| Ancient boat discovered on Norfolk Broads |
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· 09/06/2010 5:21:48 AM PDT · · Posted by sodpoodle · · 14 replies · · Eastern Daily Press UK · · 9/4/2010 · · Anthony Carroll · |
A series of scientific tests are now being carried out to find the age of the boat which could be from 1,000BC to 600AD - from the Iron Age to the time of the Anglo-Saxons. After the boat was carefully excavated from 2m of silt clay it was taken to the York Archaeological Trust where preservation work and extensive dating tests, including soil and pollen dating, will be carried out to pinpoint the age of the boat.... The discovery is the third major archaeological find in the region during the last few months, with evidence of a human settlement from... |
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| Saxon boat uncovered in Norfolk's River Ant |
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· 09/08/2010 8:38:38 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 6 replies · · BBC · · September 2010 · · unattributed · |
A Saxon boat has been found during flood defence work on a Norfolk river. The boat, which is about 9.8 ft (3m) long and had been hollowed out by hand from a piece of oak, was found at the bottom of the River Ant. Five animal skulls were found near the boat, which has been taken to York for treatment to preserve it. The Environment Agency had commissioned work to take place between Horning Hall and Browns Hill when the discovery was made last month. Once preservation has been finished the vessel will return to Norfolk, where the Norfolk Museums... |
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| Faith & Philosophy | |
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| Egyptian papyrus found in ancient Irish bog |
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· 09/07/2010 9:05:00 AM PDT · · Posted by Palter · · 25 replies · · AFP · · 06 Sep 2010 · · AFP · |
Irish scientists have found fragments of Egyptian papyrus in the leather cover of an ancient book of psalms that was unearthed from a peat bog, Ireland's National Museum said on Monday. The papyrus in the lining of the Egyptian-style leather cover of the 1,200-year-old manuscript, "potentially represents the first tangible connection between early Irish Christianity and the Middle Eastern Coptic Church", the Museum said. "It is a finding that asks many questions and has confounded some of the accepted theories about the history of early Christianity in Ireland." Raghnall O Floinn, head of collections at the Museum, said the manuscript,... |
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| Egypt | |
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| Ancient city gradually uncovered in Egypt |
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· 09/08/2010 10:09:57 AM PDT · · Posted by wzlboy · · 11 replies · · ajc.com · · 9/8/2010 · · Nasser Nasser / AP · |
An ancient city nearly wiped out by a fourth-century tsunami is being uncovered by archaeologists near the modern Egyptian resort of Marina. Behind the restored Roman pillar tombs is a modern hotel. [IMAGE] |
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| PreColumbian, Clovis, & PreClovis | |
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| Divers find prehistoric artifacts in North Port spring [ 10K yrs BP ] |
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· 09/04/2010 5:41:39 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 31 replies · · Tampa Bay Online · · August 19, 2010 · · Keith Morelli, Tampa Tribune · |
In the pitch-black depths of an isolated North Port spring sits a silt-covered ledge that is revealing secrets about a prehistoric nomadic people, secrets held in murky silence for 100 centuries... This stuff could be as old as 13,000 years old, when wandering tribes traversed Florida. Their travels included stopovers at what is now known as Little Salt Spring, 90 minutes south of Tampa. Artifacts are delicately uncovered from a ledge 90 feet below the surface... John Gifford, an underwater archaeologist with UM's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science along with aquarium divers are working together to gather the... |
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| Red Paint People | |
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| Inconvenient Ice Study: Less ice in the Arctic Ocean 6000-7000 years ago |
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· 09/08/2010 12:13:06 PM PDT · · Posted by Ernest_at_the_Beach · · 19 replies · · Whats up With That? · · September 8, 2010 · · Anthony Watts · |
Since there is so much worry about the Arctic Sea Ice extent this time of year, it is always good to get some historical perspective. According to this study, our current low Arctic ice extents are not unprecedented.From a press release of the Geological Survey of Norway:Less ice in the Arctic Ocean 6000-7000 years ago Written by: Gudmund Løvø 20. October 2008 Recent mapping of a number of raised beach ridges on the north coast of Greenland suggests that the ice cover in the Arctic Ocean was greatly reduced some 6000-7000 years ago. The Arctic Ocean may have been periodically... |
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| Climate | |
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| In Amazon, traces of an advanced civilization |
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· 09/06/2010 8:42:43 AM PDT · · Posted by Palter · · 37 replies · · The Washington Post · · 05 Sep 2010 · · Juan Forero · |
To the untrained eye, all evidence here in the heart of the Amazon signals virgin forest, untouched by man for time immemorial - from the ubiquitous fruit palms to the cry of howler monkeys, from the air thick with mosquitoes to the unruly tangle of jungle vines. Archaeologists, many of them Americans, say the opposite is true: This patch of forest, and many others across the Amazon, was instead home to an advanced, even spectacular civilization that managed the forest and enriched infertile soil to feed thousands. The findings are discrediting a once-bedrock theory of archaeology that long held that... |
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| Arctic | |
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| Arctic in the Holocene, narwhals, and all that |
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· 09/08/2010 1:00:01 PM PDT · · Posted by Ernest_at_the_Beach · · 10 replies · · Whats up With That? · · September 7, 2010 · · Anthony Watts · |
UPDATE: Apparently Joe Romm can't handle this information. Ecotretas records the action here. Readers may have seen this BBC story:BBC -- Earth News -- Climate change threatens slow swimming narwhals "That places them at high risk from climate change, as narwhals will not be able to cope with shifting, highly mobile ice floes caused by warmer seas." As explained below, a narwhal fossil find suggests that the Arctic may have been more open and warmer in the past. Guest post by Ecotretas (visit his blog here)In early August, an ice island calved from Greenland's Petermann Glacier. Later in the month,... |
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| Antarctic | |
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| A climate warning from the deep ( a sea passage once divided Antarctica 125,000 years ago. ) |
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· 09/08/2010 12:35:57 PM PDT · · Posted by Ernest_at_the_Beach · · 17 replies · · The Observer · · Sunday 5 September 2010 · · Robin McKie · |
Bryozoans found in the Ross and Weddell seas were almost identical, meaning the ice sheet that separates them isn't as ancient as once thought. Photograph: British Antarctic Survey -- Bryozoans make unlikely prophets of doom. Nevertheless, scientists believe these tiny marine creatures, which live glued to the side of boulders, rocks and other surfaces, reveal a disturbing aspect about Antarctica that has critical implications for understanding the impact of climate change.British Antarctic Survey researchers have found the dispersal of these minute animals suggests a sea passage once divided Antarctica 125,000 years ago. |
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| Mongolia | |
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| Prehistoric bone hats found in Inner Mongolia |
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· 09/08/2010 8:09:06 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 26 replies · · People's Daily Online · · September 6, 2010 · · Wang Hanlu · |
Recently, archaeologists found prehistoric hats of human beings who lived 4,600 years ago from an ancient tomb site at Tongliao City of Inner Mongolia. Experts said it was the first time this kind of hats, which were made from bones, have been found in the same period of prehistoric culture. As of now, archaeologists have found and cleared near 400 ancient tombs dating back 4,500 years ago around the site, and more than 1,500 objects of pottery, jade stone, horn and clam shell were excavated. The newly-found bone hats were tightly cramped on dead bodies' heads and had the obvious... |
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| China | |
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| Statues older, more numerous than terracotta warriors found in Hunan |
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· 09/04/2010 6:34:44 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 16 replies · · People's Daily Online · · August 18, 2010 · · unattributed · |
The group of stone statues is located at the worship site of Guizai Mountain, which is 1 kilometer to the south of Tianguangdong Village, Xianglinpu Town, Dao County in Hunan Province, and is part of the Nanling Mountains. A large cache of ancient stone statues outnumbering the Qin Terracotta Warriors was found in the depths of the Nanling Mountains located in Dao County of Yongzhou City... The group of stone statues is located at the worship site of Guizai Mountain, which is 1 kilometer to the south of Tianguangdong Village, Xianglinpu Town, Dao County in Hunan Province, and is part... |
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| Elam, Persia, Parthia, Iran | |
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| Cyrus the Great's cylinder returns to Iran |
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· 09/11/2010 3:31:21 AM PDT · · Posted by BlackVeil · · 11 replies · · Australian Broadcasting Commission · · 11 Sept 2010 · · anon · |
A clay cylinder dating from the time of one of Persia's greatest rulers, Cyrus the Great, has been returned on loan to Iran following a prolonged dispute with the British Museum in London. In February Iran threatened to cut ties with the British Museum in protest to what it called politically motivated delays in returning the cylinder. However the museum says the delay occurred so that the cylinder could be compared with two stone tablets that were recently discovered. British Museum director Neil MacGregor says the cylinder has plenty of historical significance. "It's about Cyrus's respect for different peoples and... |
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| Epigraphy and Language | |
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| Archaeology Series Opens with Talk on Roman Map-Making [ Valparaiso U, Indiana ] |
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· 09/10/2010 7:02:12 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 10 replies · · Valpo Life · · September 2010 · · Valparaiso Univ · |
The annual Valparaiso University Archaeological Institute of America lecture series will begin Sept. 21 with a discussion of Roman cartography and the creation of a map that would influence Christian mapmaking for centuries. Richard Talbert, professor of history at the University of North Carolina, will discuss "The Magnificent Peutinger Map: Roman Cartography at Its Most Creative" at 8 p.m. in Harre Union Brown and Gold Room. The lecture is free and open to the public. Talbert will discuss how the ancient Romans came to realize that maps are not mere factual records, but also value-laden documents, focusing on the powerful... |
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| Roman Empire | |
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| Gibbon- Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Chapter XVII |
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· 09/04/2010 2:34:07 PM PDT · · Posted by hc87 · · 23 replies · · Project Guttenburg · · 1781 · · Edward Gibbon · |
A people elated by pride, or soured by discontent, are seldom qualified to form a just estimate of their actual situation. The subjects of Constantine were incapable of discerning the decline of genius and manly virtue, which so far degraded them below the dignity of their ancestors; but they could feel and lament the rage of tyranny, the relaxation of discipline, and the increase of taxes. The impartial historian,who acknowledges the justice of their complaints, will observe some favorable circumstances which tended to alleviate the misery of their condition. The threatening tempest of Barbarians, which so soon subverted the foundations... |
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| Ancient Autopsies | |
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| CCU Ethno-archaeologist Gives Talk On Child Sacrifice [Coastal Carolina University] |
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· 09/10/2010 6:59:40 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 13 replies · · South Carolina Now · · September 07, 2010 · · CCU press release · |
Sharon Moses, an ethno-archaeologist on the Coastal Carolina University faculty, will give a talk titled "Baby's Breath to God's Ears: Child Sacrifice in the Ancient World" at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 14. The talk, sponsored by the Waccamaw Chapter of the Archaeological Society of South Carolina (ASSC), will be held in the E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration building, Room 225, on the CCU campus. The event is free and open to the public. Moses' presentation is based on research she has conducted on child sacrifice in ancient times. Her studies have taken her to the site... |
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| Underwater Archaeology | |
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| Archaeologists attack BP's drilling plans [ Libya ] |
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· 09/08/2010 8:35:15 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 3 replies · · The Art Newspaper · · Thursday, September 9, 2010 · · Emily Sharpe · |
From Greek and Roman shipwrecks to 20th-century warships; from ancient streets with intact buildings and mosaics to amphorae and ingots, the Mediterranean is a subaqueous treasure trove. So BP's plans to drill exploratory oil wells off Libya has raised serious concerns among archaeologists, historians and heritage preservation organisations. The global energy giant says that it will begin the $900m project to drill five exploratory wells in the Gulf of Sirte "before the end of this year" despite the fact that the cause of the blowout of its Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico has yet to be determined. The... |
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| Religion of Pieces | |
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| Garden Tomb Threatened by Muslim Construction |
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· 09/06/2010 11:01:15 AM PDT · · Posted by Blogger · · 58 replies · · Prophecy News Watch · |
More than a quarter of a million Christians visit Jerusalem's Garden Tomb every year. The holy site is believed by many to be the place where Jesus rose from the dead. But now, the sacred ground is in danger of being damaged by a Muslim construction project. Garden Tomb Director Richard Meryon showed CBN News the 15-foot wall being built above the tomb. "In the last few weeks the cemetery above has built this wooden construction into which they are now ready to pour hundreds of tons of concrete on top of our wall," he explained. Jerusalem's Islamic waqf is... |
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| Amidst Shrapnel in Afghanistan, an Archaeology Discovery |
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· 09/04/2010 5:13:43 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 14 replies · · Fox · · Tuesday, August 17, 2010 · · Reuters · |
Archaeologists in Afghanistan, where Taliban Islamists are fighting the Western-backed government, have uncovered Buddhist-era remains in an area south of Kabul, an official said on Tuesday. "There is a temple, stupas, beautiful rooms, big and small statues, two with the length of seven and nine meters, colorful frescos ornamented with gold and some coins," said Mohammad Nader Rasouli, head of the Afghan Archaeological Department... We need foreign assistance to preserve these and their expertise to help us with further excavations." The excavation site extends over 12 km (7.5 miles) in the Aynak region of Logar province just south of Kabul,... |
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| Let's Have Jerusalem | |
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| Computer expert nails down Jewish New Year |
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· 09/09/2010 8:02:41 AM PDT · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 12 replies · · upi · · Sept. 8, 2010 · |
SAN FRANCISCO, - A San Francisco-based computer scientist says he has solved the mystery of dating Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. Year 5771 begins at sundown Wednesday. Steve Morse's interest in the Jewish calendar began when he was a teenager, more than 50 years ago, The Denver Post reported. He tried to figure out his grandmother's birth date in the Gregorian calendar -- the one commonly used in most of the world now -- from the one in the Jewish calendar used on her records from Europe. The Jewish calendar is a difficult one, based on the movements of... |
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| Longer Perspectives | |
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| FReep this Poll: Greatest Military General in History |
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· 09/08/2010 2:09:37 PM PDT · · Posted by therightliveswithus · · 138 replies · · Right Handed Pitcher · · 9/8/10 · |
Vote in our poll: the Greatest General in History |
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| Thoroughly Modern Miscellany | |
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| Dutch history student finds world's oldest share |
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· 09/10/2010 8:25:34 AM PDT · · Posted by James C. Bennett · · 13 replies · · Reuters · · Sep 10, 2010 · · Reuters · |
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A Dutch history student has unearthed the world's oldest share, dating back to 1606 and issued by the sea trading firm Dutch East India Company. Locked away in forgotten city archives, the share was made out to Pieter Harmensz, a male resident of the Dutch city Enkhuizen who served as an assistant to the city's mayors. After his death in 1638, Harmensz left the share to his widow and their daughter Ada and the document eventually ended up in Enkhuizen archives, kept in the northwestern city Hoorn. As the Netherlands' largest trading company in the 17th and... |
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| The Revolution | |
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| The American Rifleman in the Revolutionary War |
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· 09/04/2010 5:07:20 PM PDT · · Posted by Palter · · 40 replies · · The New American · · 03 Sep 2010 · · Roger D. McGrath · |
"When the resolution of enslaving America was formed in Great Britain, the British Parliament was advised by an artful man, who was governor of Pennsylvania, to disarm the people; that it was the best and most effectual way to enslave them; but that they should not do it openly, but weaken them, and let them sink gradually." -- George Mason of Virginia, 1788 Our Founding Fathers were absolutely adamant about the right of the people to keep and bear arms. They were students of history and understood that from classical antiquity forward, an armed citizenry was essential to the preservation... |
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| Early America | |
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| Today In History, September 9,1776: Continental Congress changes "United Colonies" to "United States" |
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· 09/09/2010 4:20:43 PM PDT · · Posted by mdittmar · · 10 replies · · Journals of the Continental Congress · · September 9,2010 · · Continental Congress · |
"Resolved, That in all continental commissions, and other instruments, where, heretofore, the words "United Colonies" have been used, the stile be altered, for the future, to the "United States." |
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| The Framers | |
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| The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation's Call to Greatness |
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· 09/07/2010 6:09:32 PM PDT · · Posted by dajeeps · · 7 replies · · amazon.com · · 2009 · · Harlow Giles Unger · |
Product Description In this lively and compelling biography Harlow Giles Unger reveals the dominant political figure of a generation. A fierce fighter in four critical Revolutionary War battles and a courageous survivor of Valley Forge and a near-fatal wound at the Battle of Trenton, James Monroe (1751-1831) went on to become America's first full-time politician, dedicating his life to securing America's national and international durability. Decorated by George Washington for his exploits as a soldier, Monroe became a congressman, a senator, U.S. minister to France and Britain, governor of Virginia, secretary of state, secretary of war, and finally America's fifth... |
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| The Civil War | |
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| Democrats expel African-American state legislators |
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· 09/03/2010 10:44:09 AM PDT · · Posted by Michael Zak · · 9 replies · · Grand Old Partisan · · September 3, 2010 · · Michael Zak · |
On this day in 1868, the Democrat majority expelled all 28 African-Americans from the Georgia state legislature. The ousted legislators, all Republicans, had offended the neo-Confederate establishment by supporting the civil rights of emancipated slaves. Henry Turner (R-GA), an AME bishop and state legislator, was one of the most influential African-Americans in the 19th century. In his last speech before being expelled, he said: |
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| World War Eleven | |
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| Rare Color Video Found of World War II "London Blitz" Aftermath -- Raw Video |
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· 09/07/2010 11:54:37 AM PDT · · Posted by Federalist Patriot · · 20 replies · · Freedom's Lighthouse · · September 7, 2010 · · Brian · |
Here is rare color video showing the bomb damage aftermath of the German Blitz of London that began 70 years ago today -- September 7, 1940. Hitler's Luftwaffe continued bombing for 76 consecutive nights, killing more than 43,000 people and destroying more than a million homes and buildings in London alone. This video was reportedly found in an attic recently. |
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| Dinosaurs | |
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| Hump-backed dinosaur may yield clues to origin of birds |
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· 09/09/2010 5:30:31 PM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 12 replies · · BBC · · September 8, 2010 · · Katie Alcock · |
Spanish palaeontologists have uncovered a new dinosaur with what may be the earliest evidence of feather follicles.The researchers, whose findings are published in Nature, located the fossils near Cuenca, central Spain. They named the reptile Concavenator corcovatus, meaning "meat eater from Cuenca with a hump". The type of dinosaur that was found is known as a theropod. Theropods are mainly known from the ancient southern landmass, Gondwana. Over time, Gondwana and other ancient landmasses broke up, forming the continents we see today. |
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| end of digest #321 20100911 | |
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· Saturday, September 11, 2010 · 34 topics · 2587193 to 2583199 · 743 members · |
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Saturday |
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| Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #322 Saturday, September 18, 2010 |
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| Diet & Cuisine | |
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| New study finds milk drinkers may have a healthy weight advantage |
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· 09/15/2010 1:37:56 PM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 42 replies · · Weber Shandwick Worldwide · · September 15, 2010 · · Unknown · |
Research suggests boosting key milk nutrients calcium and vitamin D could aid weight lossNow there's a new reason to grab a glass of milk when you're on diet, suggests a new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. In a 2-year weight loss study, milk drinkers had an advantage over those who skipped the milk. Israeli researchers found that adults who drank the most milk (nearly 2 glasses per day) and had the highest vitamin D levels at 6 months, lost more weight after 2 years than those who had little or no milk or milk products --... |
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| Alexander the Great | |
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| Laminated Linen Protected Alexander the Great |
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· 09/16/2010 5:17:28 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 19 replies · · Discovery News · · September 11, 2010 · · Rossella Lorenzi · |
A Kevlar-like armor might have helped Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.) conquer nearly the entirety of the known world in little more than two decades, according to new reconstructive archaeology research. Presented at the annual meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America in Anaheim, Calif., the study suggests that Alexander and his soldiers protected themselves with linothorax, a type of body armor made by laminating together layers of linen. "While we know quite a lot about ancient armor made from metal, linothorax remains something of a mystery since no examples have survived, due to the perishable nature of the material,"... |
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| Experts question claim that Alexander the Great's half-brother is buried at Vergina |
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· 09/12/2010 5:48:55 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 14 replies · · Eurekalert · · September 8, 2010 · · Hannah Johnson, U of Bristol · |
The tomb was discovered during the excavation of a large mound -- the Great Tumulus -- at Vergina in 1977. Along with many treasures including ceremonial military equipment, bronze utensils, silver tableware, and gold wreaths, the tomb contained two sets of skeletal remains. Those of a man were found in a gold casket in the main chamber and those of a woman in a smaller gold casket in the second chamber. Both individuals had been cremated and evidence of a wooden funerary house containing a pyre was also found near the tomb. Dr Jonathan Musgrave of the University of Bristol's... |
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| Catastrophism & Astronomy | |
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| 2 Billion Year Old Nuclear Reactors Found In Africa |
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· 09/15/2010 3:31:11 PM PDT · · Posted by Dallas59 · · 54 replies · · NASA · · 9/12/10 · · NASA · |
Oklo: Ancient African Nuclear Reactors Explanation: The remnants of nuclear reactors nearly two billion years old were found in the 1970s in Africa. These reactors are thought to have occurred naturally. No natural reactors exist today, as the relative density of fissile uranium has now decayed below that needed for a sustainable reaction. Pictured above is Fossil Reactor 15, located in Oklo, Gabon. Uranium oxide remains are visible as the yellowish rock. Oklo by-products are being used today to probe the stability of the fundamental constants over cosmological time and distance scales and to develop more effective means for... |
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| Prehistory & Origins | |
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| Research shows radiometric dating still reliable (again) |
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· 09/16/2010 3:35:58 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 36 replies · · NIST · · September 16, 2010 · · Unknown · |
Recent puzzling observations of tiny variations in nuclear decay rates have led some to question the science of using decay rates to determine the relative ages of rocks and organic materials. Scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), working with researchers from Purdue University, the University of Tennessee, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Wabash College, tested the hypothesis that solar radiation might affect the rate at which radioactive elements decay and found no detectable effect. Atoms of radioactive isotopes are unstable and decay over time by shooting off particles at a fixed rate, transmuting the material into... |
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| Agriculture & Animal Husbandry | |
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| Taking molecular snaps of ancient crops |
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· 09/16/2010 3:04:27 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 8 replies · · Nature · · September 13, 2010 · · Ewen Callaway · |
Archaeologists interested in the genetics of ancient organisms have a new molecular tool at hand -- RNA. Two teams of scientists have decoded RNA from ancient crops in the hope of understanding the subtle evolutionary changes that accompanied the process of plant domestication. Unlike DNA, which remains largely unchanged throughout the life of an organism, RNA molecules offer a snapshot of the activity of a cell, indicating which genes are turned on and off, and to what extent. "With ancient DNA you can see what an ancient organism might have looked like. With ancient RNA we can see what it... |
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| PreColumbian, Clovis, & PreClovis | |
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| Undersea Cave Yields One of Oldest Skeletons in Americas |
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· 09/15/2010 12:56:28 PM PDT · · Posted by nickcarraway · · 27 replies · · National Geographic · · September 14, 2010 · · Ker Than · |
Apparently laid to rest more than 10,000 years ago in a fiery ritual, one of the oldest skeletons in the Americas has been retrieved from an undersea cave along Mexico's Yucat·n Peninsula, researchers say. Dating to a time when the now lush region was a near desert, the "Young Man of Chan Hol" may help uncover how the first Americans arrived -- and who they were. About 80 miles (130 kilometers) south of Canc˙n, the cave system of Chan Hol -- Maya for "little hole" -- is like a deep gouge into the Caribbean coast. In 2006, after entering the cave's opening, about 30 feet (10... |
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| Peru & the Andes | |
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| History Of Peru Series Part 5: The Pucllana Period |
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· 09/14/2010 5:39:58 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 15 replies · · Peruvian Times · · Monday, September 13, 2010 · · Paul Goulder · |
In this Peruvian Times tour of early Peru we are now visiting the fourth site, Pucllana or the Huaca Juliana, part of the "intermediate" Lima Culture. Please see Part 2 for map and Part 3 for aerial views and context. I hope that during the course of the next five parts of the series -- which all have to do with the same time period as Pucllana, approximately 200-800 AD -- a more intimate understanding of this remarkable era in Peru's development will emerge. It is remarkable also because of the "flowering" of two neighboring cultures: those of the Moche... |
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| Navigation | |
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| A Medieval Coin in New England Soil |
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· 09/12/2010 3:35:25 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 21 replies · · Beachcombing 'blog · · September 11, 2010 · · eponymous blogger · |
It was only when the coin was later identified as Viking that the game heated up. By then poor Mellegren -- who, Beachcombing must say was someone with a reputation for integrity -- had passed away. Beachcombing has no illusions about much of the nonsense written about pre-Columbian visits to North America. But in this case he would give a thumb and a half followed by two cheers and three quarters. There is a good chance that this really is what it seems: A European coin that found its way to North America in the twelfth century. Minted in Norway,... |
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| Climate | |
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| Home of "Ice Giants" thaws, shows pre-Viking hunts |
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· 09/14/2010 1:49:49 PM PDT · · Posted by NormsRevenge · · 30 replies · · Reuters on Yahoo · · 9/14/10 · · Alister Doyle · |
JUVFONNA, Norway (Reuters) -- Climate change is exposing reindeer hunting gear used by the Vikings' ancestors faster than archaeologists can collect it from ice thawing in northern Europe's highest mountains. "It's like a time machine...the ice has not been this small for many, many centuries," said Lars Piloe, a Danish scientist heading a team of "snow patch archaeologists" on newly bare ground 1,850 meters (6,070 ft) above sea level in mid-Norway. Specialized hunting sticks, bows and arrows and even a 3,400-year-old leather shoe have been among finds since 2006 from a melt in the Jotunheimen mountains, the home of the... |
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| Roman Empire | |
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| New finds suggest Romans won big North Germany battle [ Maximinus Thrax ] |
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· 09/15/2010 8:16:18 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 37 replies · · Monsters and Critics (DPA) · · Wednesday, September 15, 2010 · · Jean-Baptiste Piggin · |
Until only two years ago, northern Germany was believed to have been a no-go area for Roman troops after three legions were wiped out by German tribesmen in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in AD 9. The revelation that two centuries later a Roman force mounted a punitive raid deep inside the tribal areas in AD 235 has changed all that, suggesting that a soldier-emperor, Maximinus Thrax, seriously attempted to subjugate the north of Germany. The debris from the battle is scattered over a wooded hill, the Harzhorn. An archeological dig there this summer turned up 1,800 artefacts. A... |
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| Rome's Ancient Aqueduct Found |
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· 09/17/2010 7:54:05 AM PDT · · Posted by wildbill · · 34 replies · · Discovery News · · 9/17/10 · · Dislcovery News Staff · |
The long-sought source of the aqueduct that brought clean fresh water to ancient Rome lies beneath a pig pasture and a ruined chapel, according to a pair of British filmmakers who claim to have discovered the headwaters of Aqua Traiana, a 1,900-year-old aqueduct built by the Emperor Trajan in 109 A.D. |
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| British Isles | |
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| Treasure hunter finds rare antique in Cumbria (Roman helmet with mask) |
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· 09/13/2010 5:41:22 PM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 34 replies · · BBC · · September 13, 2010 · · Unknown · |
A metal detector enthusiast in Cumbria has discovered a rare Roman bronze helmet complete with face-mask. It is believed to be one of only three of its kind to be found in Britain. The helmet would have been worn, possibly with colourful streamers attached, as a mark of excellence by Roman soldiers at sport parades. Described as a "hugely important discovery", it is now expected to fetch £300,000 at Christie's Antiquities auction in London on 7 October. The Crosby Garrett Helmet has been named after the hamlet in Cumbria where it was found in a field in May. |
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| Ancient Autopsies | |
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| Hadrian's Wall child murder: estimated time of death pre-367AD |
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· 09/16/2010 7:59:09 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 24 replies · · Guardian · · Wednesday, September 15, 2010 · · Martin Wainwright · |
The murderous reputation of one of Britain's best-known Roman towns has been raised by the discovery of a child's hastily buried skeleton under a barrack room floor. Archaeologists at Vindolanda fort near Hadrian's Wall are preparing for a repeat of a celebrated coroner's inquest in the 1930s that concluded two other corpses unearthed near the site were "victims of murder by persons unknown shortly before 367AD". The latest discovery at the frontier settlement in Northumberland is thought to be the remains of a girl aged between eight and 10 who may have been tied up before she died. Her burial... |
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| Africa | |
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| British archaeologist finds cave paintings at 100 new African sites |
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· 09/18/2010 2:55:15 AM PDT · · Posted by Islander7 · · 17 replies · · Guardian UK · · Sept 17, 2010 · · Dalya Alberge · |
Striking prehistoric rock art created up to 5,000 years ago has been discovered at almost 100 sites in Somaliland on the Gulf of Aden in eastern Africa. A local team headed by Dr Sada Mire -- of the Institute of Archaeology at University College London (UCL) -- made the finds which included a man on horseback, painted around 4,000 years ago -- one of the earliest known depictions of a mounted hunter. |
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| China | |
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| Kenya: National Museums Defends the Digging Up of Ancient Kingdom |
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· 09/16/2010 8:42:51 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 9 replies · · All Africa · · 13 September 2010 · · Mazera Ndurya · |
The National Museums of Kenya has defended archaeological work to locate the ancient settlement of Malindi Kingdom. A press release by the joint Sino-Kenya archaeological team said digging at the ancient sites in Mambrui Village in Magarini District was legal and all procedures had been followed. The head of the Chinese team, Prof Qin Dashu and his Kenyan counterpart, Dr Herman Kiriama of the NMK, said the sites were selected on the recommendations of Kenyan scholars. "The sites are not in the burial sections and the team tried to strictly adhere to Islamic laws where graves are not supposed to... |
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| India | |
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| India's lost university to rise from ashes |
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· 09/13/2010 10:39:27 AM PDT · · Posted by James C. Bennett · · 34 replies · · AFP · · 12 September, 2010 · · AFP · |
NEW DELHI -- Indian academics have long dreamt of resurrecting Nalanda University, one of the world's oldest seats of learning which has lain in ruins for 800 years since being razed by foreign invaders. Now the chance of intellectual life returning to Nalanda has come one step closer after the parliament in New Delhi last month passed a bill approving plans to re-build the campus as a symbol of India's global ambitions. Historians believe that the university, in the eastern state of Bihar, once catered for 10,000 students and scholars from across Asia, studying subjects ranging from science and philosophy... |
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| Paleontology | |
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| CT scan for 50 million year old snake |
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· 09/14/2010 7:22:42 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 15 replies · · PhysOrg · · Monday, September 13, 2010 · · Methodist Hospital System · |
Clarisse is a snake, found in the Fossil Butte region of Wyoming, perfectly fossilized in limestone and the only one of her kind known to be in existence. Palentologist Hussan Zaher found her, and he brought her to Houston in hopes of learning more about her. He brought his precious find to The Methodist Hospital and subjected her to a detailed CT (computerized tomography) scan in hopes of finding where Clarisse fits along the timeline of evolution. [You need Flash installed to watch this video] ...CT scan technician Pam Mager conducted the scan on a 64-slice scanner that is capable... |
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| The Civil War | |
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| This Day in Civil War History September 13th, 1862 The Union Discovers "Lost Order" |
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· 09/13/2010 5:01:47 AM PDT · · Posted by mainepatsfan · · 13 replies · · History.com · |
Sep 13, 1862: The Union Discovers "Lost Order" Union soldiers find a copy of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's orders detailing the Confederates' plan for the Antietam campaign near Frederick, Maryland. But Union General George B. McClellan was slow to act, and the advantage the intelligence provided was lost. On the morning of September 13, the 27th Indiana rested in a meadow outside of Frederick, Maryland, which had served as the site of a Confederate camp a few days before. Sergeant John Bloss and Corporal Barton W. Mitchell found a piece of paper wrapped around three cigars. The paper was... |
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| The Great War | |
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| Communists Lured To Their Deaths By MI6 With Promise Of Sex |
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· 09/17/2010 9:04:21 PM PDT · · Posted by fight_truth_decay · · 12 replies · · Telegraph · · 7:10PM BST 17 Sep 2010 · · Duncan Gardham · |
Sidney Reilly, nicknamed the 'Ace of Spies,' planned to kill the whole of the Soviet leadership during a meeting at the Bolshoi Theatre in 1918 An MI6 agent became a serial killer as he used pretty young women to lure Russians to their deaths with the promise of sex, new documents reveal. A Cossack colonel called Mohammed Bek Hadji Lashet, and his gang used the women to attract communists to a lakeside villa where they were tortured and then killed, according to a new history of the intelligence service. The book, Six, by former military intelligence officer Michael Smith, reveals... |
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| Thoroughly Modern Miscellany | |
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| Diaries of a 19th Century Military Wife Uncovered |
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· 09/12/2010 10:29:28 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 22 replies · · Live Science · · September 11, 2010 · · Jeremy Hsu · |
Modern military wives typically don't ship out alongside their husbands, but the young wife of a British naval officer did just that during the Napoleonic Wars of the 19th century. Now a historian who tracked down 40 unpublished volumes of her diaries has gotten the go-ahead to write a book investigating her life. Elizabeth "Betsey" Wynne accompanied her husband aboard his warship during a disastrous British assault on the Spanish Canary Islands. She spent the voyage home-nursing the wounded Rear-Admiral Horatio Nelson, whom lost his right arm during the attack and would go on to become one of England's greatest... |
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| Arctic | |
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| Russia finds last-days log of famed 1912 Arctic expedition [ Georgy Brusilov ] |
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· 09/14/2010 6:51:23 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 4 replies · · PhysOrg · · Monday, September 13, 2010 · · AFP · |
For decades mystery clouded the fate of the adventurer Georgy Brusilov -- captain of the first Russian crew to seek the elusive Arctic trade route from Asia to the West -- inspiring a generation of books and films. But the famed voyagers' remains and a journal -- dated to May 1913 from aboard their vessel, the Saint Anna -- were found this summer on the icy shores of Franz Josef Land, Europe's northernmost land mass... Midway into its epic journey along the Siberian coast, after navigating the perilous Vilkitsky Strait into the Kara Sea, the expedition ran aground on thick... |
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| Pages | |
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| The Collapse of Complex Societies, Joseph A. Tainter PhD |
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· 09/13/2010 4:15:07 PM PDT · · Posted by Lorianne · · 17 replies · · Financial Sense · · 13 September 2010 · · Joseph A. Tainter PhD · · interviewer Jim Paplava · |
Political disintegration is a persistent feature of world history. The Collapse of Complex Societies, though written by an archaeologist, will therefore strike a chord throughout the social sciences. Any explanation of societal collapse carries lessons not just for the study of ancient societies, but for the members of all such societies in both the present and future. Dr. Tainter describes nearly two dozen cases of collapse and reviews more than 2000 years of explanations. He then develops a new and far-reaching theory that accounts for collapse among diverse kinds of societies, evaluating his model and clarifying the processes of disintegration... |
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| Longer Perspectives | |
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| Amazing Photo's of Ten Little Known Ancient Ruins. (Must See Photo's) |
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· 09/16/2010 2:50:54 PM PDT · · Posted by Proud Socialist · · 82 replies · · 9/16/10 · · ??? · |
Many places like the Gaza Pyramids, Taj Mahal, Machu Picchu, Angkor Wat, and the ruins of ancient Greece, all seem to get the publicity and headlines for the beauty and history, but have you ever wondered about the places you never heard of but you know they exist if for no other reason then it's a big world that has existed a long time? Sometimes these unheard of ancient ruins offer even better images than the ones we know about, just because they are rarely seen by the eye if the general public.Well for the viewing pleasure of all freepers,... |
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| end of digest #322 20100918 | |
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