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| Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #423 Saturday, August 25, 2012 |
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| Catastrophism & Astronomy | |
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| Climate and Drought Lessons from Ancient Egypt |
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· 08/18/2012 11:29:28 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 22 replies · · ScienceDaily · · Thursday, August 16, 2012 · · United States Geological Survey et al · |
Ancient pollen and charcoal preserved in deeply buried sediments in Egypt's Nile Delta document the region's ancient droughts and fires, including a huge drought 4,200 years ago associated with the demise of Egypt's Old Kingdom, the era known as the pyramid-building time... said Christopher Bernhardt, a researcher with the U.S. Geological Survey... "Even the mighty builders of the ancient pyramids more than 4,000 years ago fell victim when they were unable to respond to a changing climate," said USGS Director Marcia McNutt. "This study illustrates that water availability was the climate-change Achilles Heel then for Egypt, as it may well... |
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| Climate | |
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| Ice core shows Antarctic Peninsula warming is nothing unusual --Press release flatly contradicts what boffins said |
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· 08/23/2012 12:47:29 PM PDT · · Posted by Ernest_at_the_Beach · · 16 replies · · The Register · · 23rd August 2012 10:16 GMT · · Lewis Page · |
New ice core data from the Antarctic Peninsula has revealed that temperatures in the region during the past 10,000 years have often been higher than they are today, and that warming of the sort seen there recently has also occurred in the pre-industrial past. The new data are derived from a massive new 364m-long core extracted from the ice sheet lying on top of James Ross Island towards the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula in the freezing Weddell Sea. The core was extracted by scientists from the British Antarctic Survey, assisted by... |
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| Temperatures were warmer than today for most of the past 10,000 years |
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· 08/23/2012 4:16:44 PM PDT · · Posted by gorush · · 10 replies · · http://iceagenow.info · · 25 May 10 · · Robert W. Felix · |
25 May 10 -- The revamped cap-and-trade (control-and-tax) bill that Senators Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.) are trying to foist on the American public is predicated on a flat-out lie. The control-and-tax proponents would have you believe that our planet has been enduring unprecedented global warming (now coyly referred to as "climate change"), but the facts do not bear that out. Facts. Oh, those damnable facts... ...You'll see that today's benign climate is not even close to being the warmest on record. Not even close. Temperatures have been warmer than today for almost all of the past 10,000... |
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| Antarctic peninsula was 1.3°C warmer than today 11,000 years ago |
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· 08/23/2012 5:47:29 PM PDT · · Posted by Ernest_at_the_Beach · · 18 replies · · Watts Up With That? · · August 23, 2012 · · British Antarctic Survey · |
New climate history adds to understanding of recent Antarctic Peninsula warmingResults published this week by a team of polar scientists from Britain, Australia and France adds a new dimension to our understanding of Antarctic Peninsula climate change and the likely causes of the break-up of its ice shelves.The first comprehensive reconstruction of a 15,000 year climate history from an ice core collected from James Ross Island in the Antarctic Peninsula region is reported this week in the journal... |
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| Megaliths & Archaeoastronomy | |
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| The Puzzle Of The 13 Solar Towers of Chankillo |
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· 08/23/2012 4:38:23 AM PDT · · Posted by rjbemsha · · 22 replies · · The Physics arXiv Blog · · 21 Aug 2012 · · Anonymous · |
Chankillo, a Peruvian "Stonehenge", has 13 towers in a straight line. No-one knows why. Now, Amelia Sparavigna at the Politecnico di Torino in Italy ... show[s] that the first tower lines up with sunrise on 21 June and the last tower lines up with the sunrise on 21 December ...[and] the shadows point north for half the year and south for the other half. What's more, when there are no shadows the sun is at its zenith.... [T]his would have been important information for a farming community, which would need to know when to plant seasonal crops.... However, many questions... |
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| Helix, Make Mine a Double | |
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| Scottish people's DNA study could 'rewrite nation's history' |
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· 08/22/2012 7:05:20 AM PDT · · Posted by Renfield · · 131 replies · · The Guardian (UK) · · 8-14-2012 · · Charlotte Higgins · |
Evidence of African, Arabian, south-east Asian and Siberian ancestry in Scotland, says author of book tracing genetic journey A large scale study of Scottish people's DNA is threatening to "rewrite the nation's history", according to author Alistair Moffat. Scotland, he told the Edinburgh international book festival, despite a long-held belief that its ethnic make-up was largely Scots, Celtic, Viking and Irish, was in fact "one of the most diverse nations on earth". "The explanation is simple. We are a people on the edge of beyond; on the end of a massive continent. Peoples were migrating northwest; and they couldn't get... |
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| Prehistory & Origins | |
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| Lao skull earliest example of modern human fossil in Southeast Asia |
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· 08/22/2012 5:41:52 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 9 replies · · Phys.org · · Monday, August 20, 2012 · · U of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign · |
An ancient skull recovered from a cave in the Annamite Mountains in northern Laos is the oldest modern human fossil found in Southeast Asia, researchers report. The discovery pushes back the clock on modern human migration through the region by as much as 20,000 years and indicates that ancient wanderers out of Africa left the coast and inhabited diverse habitats much earlier than previously appreciated. The team described its finding in a paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The scientists, who found the skull in 2009, were likely the first to dig for ancient bones in Laos... |
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| Neandertal / Neanderthal | |
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| Neanderthal and Human Matings Get a Date |
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· 08/21/2012 3:03:26 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 32 replies · · Smithsonian 'blogs · · August 15, 2012 · · Erin Wayman · |
Two years ago the analysis of the Neanderthal genome revealed modern humans carry Neanderthal DNA, implying our ancestors mated with Neanderthals at some point in the past. Scientists only found genetic traces of Neanderthals in non-African people, leading to the conclusion that Neanderthal-human matings must have occurred as modern humans left Africa and populated the rest of the world. A new paper (PDF) posted on arXiv.org puts a date on those matings: 47,000 to 65,000 years ago... To determine what really happened, Sankararaman's team looked at rates of genetic change to estimate when Neanderthals and humans last exchanged genes. If... |
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| Religion of Pieces | |
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| Syrian Conflict Imperils Historical Treasures |
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· 08/18/2012 11:04:45 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 15 replies · · New York Times · · August 15, 2012 · · Patricia Cohen · |
Preservationists and archaeologists are warning that fighting in Syria's commercial capital, Aleppo -- considered the world's oldest continuously inhabited human settlement -- threatens to damage irreparably the stunning architectural and cultural legacy left by 5,000 years of civilizations. Already the massive iron doors to the city's immense medieval Citadel have been blown up in a missile attack, said Bonnie Burnham, president of the World Monuments Fund, an organization that works to preserve cultural heritage sites... President Bashar al-Assad's forces have been shelling the city, and in recent days his army has taken up positions inside the Citadel, trading fire with... |
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| Longer Perspectives | |
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| Are we willing to die to save the past? |
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· 08/16/2012 7:00:18 AM PDT · · Posted by bayouranger · · 5 replies · · meforum.org · · 15AUG12 · · by Alexander H. Joffe · |
Archaeologist Alex Joffe on how Western empowerment of Islamists threatens precious antiquities. Preserving the past has costs. Much of the world shares the belief that the past has intrinsic value, which is encoded into laws and regulations that imperfectly protect, preserve and study historical and archaeological remains. Contributions, admission fees and taxes pay for the upkeep of monuments from the Parthenon to the Liberty Bell. When highways are constructed they are diverted around historical landmarks, or the landmarks are moved. Archaeological excavations slow construction everywhere. But are we willing to kill or die for the past? The question is not... |
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| Middle Ages & the Renaissance | |
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| Two Leonardos found in 'Last Supper' |
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· 08/19/2012 6:32:32 AM PDT · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 53 replies · · upi · · Aug. 18, 2012 · |
ROME, -- A British art expert says two of the figures in Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece "The Last Supper" are actually self-portraits of the artist. Ross King said this week that while not a lot is known about Da Vinci's physical appearance at the time he painted "The Last Supper," he is confident the noses on two of the apostles are a giveaway. King has concluded the long hair, beards and Greek noses on the two matched up with a portrait of the Italian master drawn years later. Greek noses and prominent hair, King said, were "rarities for an Italian... |
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| Doh! | |
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| Elderly woman destroys 19th-century fresco with DIY restoration |
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· 08/22/2012 9:48:26 AM PDT · · Posted by beaversmom · · 85 replies · · The Telegraph · · August 22, 2012 · · Amy Willis · |
Three separate photographs of "Ecce Homo" by painter Elias Garcia Martinez show extensive damage caused by an elderly woman who decided the masterpiece needed a little refurbishment. But in a time of austerity, rather than calling in a professional to complete the job, the unnamed woman attempted to restore the mural herself -- at a devastating cost. |
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| Spanish fresco restoration botched by amateur |
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· 08/22/2012 1:49:28 PM PDT · · Posted by NYer · · 41 replies · · BBC · · August 22, 2012 · |
Elias Garcia Martinez's Ecce Homo (left) and the "restoration" An elderly parishioner has stunned Spanish cultural officials with an alarming and unauthorised attempt to restore a prized Jesus Christ fresco. Ecce Homo (Behold the Man) by Elias Garcia Martinez has held pride of place in the Sanctuary of Mercy Church near Zaragoza for more than 100 years.The woman took her brush to it after years of deterioration due to moisture.Cultural officials said she had the best intentions and hoped it could be properly restored. The woman, in her 80s, was reportedly upset at the way the fresco had deteriorated and took... |
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| Let's Have Jerusalem | |
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| Tracking pages of ancient Hebrew Bible |
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· 09/28/2008 6:21:58 AM PDT · · Posted by PRePublic · · 3 replies · · SF Chronicle · · Sept. 28, 2008 · |
Tracking pages of ancient Hebrew Bible Crusaders held it for ransom, fire almost destroyed it and it was reputedly smuggled across borders in the Middle East hidden in a washing machine. But in 1958, when it finally reached Israel, 196 pages were missing -- about 40 percent of the total -- and for some Old Testament scholars they have become a kind of holy grail. Researchers representing the manuscript's custodian in Jerusalem now say they have leads on some of the missing pages and are nearer their goal of making the manuscript whole again. The Crown, known in English... |
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| Underwater Archaeology | |
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| 'Whale ribs, meteorites and chairs' [ Robert Ballard off Cyprus ] |
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· 08/20/2012 6:07:39 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 20 replies · · Cyprus Mail · · August 19, 2012 · · unattributed · |
Famed explorer Robert Ballard's expedition over the Eratosthenes Seamount is currently collecting images during sweeps of the area using the latest technology to explore the sea floor some 70 miles off the island. After two days of exploring, the team's underwater robots, operating at 800 to 1,000 metres, yesterday reached the summit of the Eratosthenes, going over terrain from a previous sweep and then turned west to head to unexplored territory to the west. On Friday night they came across what appeared to be fossilised rib bones commentators suggested might have come from a whale, perhaps even 40,000 years old...... |
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| Age of Sail | |
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| Stephen Harper renews hunt for Franklin ships long lost to the Arctic depths |
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· 08/24/2012 3:43:20 AM PDT · · Posted by Loyalist · · 17 replies · · National Post · · August 24, 2012 · · Jordan Press and Randy Boswell · |
CAMBRIDGE BAY, Nunavut -- The search for the remnants of an ill-fated British expedition that failed to cross the Northwest Passage -- and a seminal moment in Canada's history on Arctic sovereignty -- will start anew. In the coming weeks, a group of researchers will scour Canada's Arctic waters to find Sir John Franklin's two ships, Erebus and the Terror, led by a ship named for an Arctic researcher who perished in a plane crash last year. The renewal of Parks Canada's search for the lost Franklin vessels, anticipated last week by Postmedia News, follows three recent federal expeditions that... |
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| War of 1812 | |
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| Washington Burning: The 200th Anniversary of The War of 1812 |
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· 08/24/2012 7:21:35 PM PDT · · Posted by kiryandil · · 18 replies · · Washingtonian · · August 2012 · · Adam Goodheart · |
August 24, 1814. "During the War of 1812, British troops burned much of Washington DC. And to think we never had the decency to thank them." ~Larry J Must-watch Youtube video:War of 1812 -- Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie |
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| Old Ironsides sails again: USS Constitution goes to sea |
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· 08/20/2012 3:57:02 PM PDT · · Posted by mdittmar · · 51 replies · · Mail Online · · 8/19/12 · · Associated Press · |
The U.S. Navy's oldest commissioned warship sailed under its own power for just the second time in more than a century to commemorate the battle that won it the nickname 'Old Ironsides.' The USS Constitution, which was first launched in 1797, was tugged from its berth in Boston Harbor on Sunday to the main deepwater pathway into the harbor. It then set out to open seas for a 10-minute cruise. The short trip marked the day two centuries ago when the Constitution bested the British frigate HMS Guerriere in a fierce battle during the War of 1812. It follows a... |
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| World War Eleven | |
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| Spies, Enigma machine and James Bond's creator |
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· 08/19/2012 8:15:22 AM PDT · · Posted by Squawk 8888 · · 21 replies · · Edmonton Journal · · August 18, 2012 · · Kathryn Greenaway · |
Date: Aug. 19, 1942 Time: 5 a.m. Location: A stone beach on the northern coast of France. Operation: More than 6,000 Allied forces infantrymen attempt to penetrate a German stronghold. Outcome: Unmitigated disaster. Less than six hours later, 60 per cent of the infantrymen were dead, injured and/or captured; 907 Canadians died. Why the Allied forces allowed the poorly planned Dieppe Raid to move forward has been a mystery for decades -- until now. Montreal historian David O'Keefe has solved the mystery and, in the process, has rewritten a defining moment in military history. O'Keefe, a military historian by profession,... |
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| Epigraphy & Language | |
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| A Turkish origin for Indo-European languages |
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· 08/24/2012 8:04:40 AM PDT · · Posted by Renfield · · 33 replies · · Nature.com · · 8-23-2012 · · Alyssa Joyce · |
Languages as diverse as English, Russian and Hindi can trace their roots back more than 8,000 years to Anatolia -- now in modern-day Turkey. That's the conclusion of a study1 that assessed 103 ancient and contemporary languages using a technique normally used to study the evolution and spread of disease. The researchers hope that their findings can settle a long-running debate about the origins of the Indo-European language group... |
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| PreColumbian, Clovis & PreClovis | |
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| Archaeological Dig Reveals Causes -- and Possible Cures -- for Diabetes Epidemic |
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· 08/24/2012 11:29:54 AM PDT · · Posted by Renfield · · 16 replies · · Indian Country Today Media Network · · 8-23-2012 · · Eisa Ulen Richardson · |
The future health of Natives may lie in the scatological remains of the past -- a vanguard study of ancient excrement has offered fresh new ways of thinking about the prevalence of diabetes among Native people of the American Southwest. Karl Reinhard, a professor of forensic science and environmental archaeology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, has studied the fossilized feces, or coprolites, of ancestral Pueblo people and documented typical Pueblo diets prior to European contact. He has determined that the overwhelming prevalence of diabetes among Pueblo descendants may stem from their radical departure from the healthy diets of their progenitors. According to... |
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| end of digest #423 20120825 | |
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| Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #423 · v 9 · n 7 Saturday, August 25, 2012 |
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21 topics |
Twenty-one topics, and I'm on dialup now, and it's after midnight.· view this issue ·Stuff that doesn't necessarily make it to GGG here on FR sometimes gets shared here, that's my story and I'm sticking with it: Remember in November. |
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| Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #424 Saturday, September 1, 2012 |
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| Helix, Make Mine a Double | |
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| Asperger's Man- The Search for Multi-Regional Human Speciation |
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· 08/30/2012 10:45:34 AM PDT · · Posted by EveningStar · · 10 replies · · The Freehold · · August 29-30, 2012 · · Jonathan David Baird · |
My first love will always be archaeology and the study of what makes us human.This article is speculation. This is my personal musing on the development of certain psychological and physiological human traits. This is not to be taken as anything but my personal opinion. I have no evidence that there was an Asperger's man. This article was also written several years ago and since then more evidence for the possibility of interbreeding with other hominids has come to light in Russia and in Africa that may support my original idea... Part 1·Part 2 |
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| Neandertal / Neanderthal | |
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| Most Neanderthals Were Right-Handed Like Us |
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· 08/26/2012 9:13:15 AM PDT · · Posted by Renfield · · 54 replies · · Live Science · · 8-24-2012 · · Megan Gannon · |
Right-handed humans vastly outnumber lefties by a ratio of about nine to one, and the same may have been true for Neanderthals. Researchers say right-hand dominance in the extinct species suggests that, like humans, they also had the capacity for language. A new analysis of the skeleton of a 20-something Neanderthal man confirms that he was a righty like most of his European caveman cousins whose remains have been studied by scientists (16 of 18 specimens). Dubbed "Regourdou," the skeleton was discovered in 1957 in France, not far from the famous network of caves at Lascaux.... |
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| Prehistory & Origins | |
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| Neolithic Man: The First Lumberjack? |
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· 08/27/2012 3:38:18 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 10 replies · · Terra Daily · · Wednesday, August 15, 2012 · · Staff Writers · |
The use of functional tools in relation to woodworking over the course of the Neolithic period has not been studied in detail until now. Through their work at the archaeological site of Motza, a neighbourhood in the Judean Hills, Dr. Barkai and his fellow researchers, Prof. Rick Yerkes of Ohio State University and Dr. Hamudi Khalaily of the Israel Antiquity Authority, have unearthed evidence that increasing sophistication in terms of carpentry tools corresponds with increased agriculture and permanent settlements. The early part of the Neolithic age is divided into two distinct eras - Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) and Pre-Pottery Neolithic... |
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| Climate | |
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| Greenhouse theory smashed by biggest stone |
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· 03/30/2006 4:58:23 PM PST · · Posted by haole · · 57 replies · · PhysOrg · · 14 March 2006 · · Vladimir Shaidurov · |
A new theory to explain global warming was revealed at a meeting at the University of Leicester (UK) and is being considered for publication in the journal "Science First Hand". The controversial theory has nothing to do with burning fossil fuels and atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. According to Vladimir Shaidurov of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the apparent rise in average global temperature recorded by scientists over the last hundred years or so could be due to atmospheric changes that are not connected to human emissions of carbon dioxide from the burning of natural gas and oil. Shaidurov explained how... |
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| Catastrophism & Astronomy | |
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| New paper finds deep Arctic Ocean from 50,000 to 11,000 years ago was 1-2°C warmer ...... |
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· 08/31/2012 2:10:24 PM PDT · · Posted by Ernest_at_the_Beach · · 20 replies · · Watts Up With That? · · August 29, 2012 · · Anthony Watts · |
Reposted from the Hockey SchtickA new paper published in Nature Geoscience finds "From about 50,000 to 11,000 years ago, the central Arctic Basin from 1,000 to 2,500 meters deep was 1-2°C warmer than modern Arctic Intermediate Water." This finding is particularly surprising because it occurred during the last major ice age. Horizontal axis is thousands of years ago with modern temperatures at the left and 50,000 years ago at the right. Temperature proxy of the Intermediate Water Layer of the Arctic Ocean is shown in top graph with degrees C anomaly noted at the upper right vertical axis. Note... |
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| Megaliths & Archaeoastronomy | |
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| Ancient Town Found Near Stonehenge |
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· 01/30/2007 10:28:33 AM PST · · Posted by Froufrou · · 15 replies · · woai.com · · 01/30/07 · · Unknown · |
Evidence of a large settlement full of houses dating back to 2,600 BC has been discovered near the ancient stone monument of Stonehenge in southwest England, scientists said on Tuesday. They suspect inhabitants of the houses, forming the largest Neolithic village ever found in Britain, built the stone circle at Stonehenge -- generally thought to have been a temple, burial ground or an astronomy site -- between 3,000 and 1,600 BC. "We found the remains of eight houses," Mike Parker Pearson, a professor of archaeology at Sheffield University, said in a teleconference to announce the discovery. "We think they are... |
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| Orkney | |
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| Third 5,000-year-old figurine found at Orkney dig |
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· 08/31/2012 6:15:12 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 16 replies · · BBC · · August 2012 · · unattributed · |
A third 5,000-year-old hand-carved figurine has been discovered during excavations on Orkney. Archaeologists had previously unearthed two ancient figurines in 2009 and 2010 at the dig at Links of Noltland in Westray. All three will go on display at the Westray Heritage Centre. Alasdair McVicar, chair of the Westray Heritage Trust, said: "The discovery of these figurines has really put Westray and the heritage centre on the map." Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: "There was understandable excitement when the first figurine, believed to be the earliest artistic representation of the human form ever found in the UK, was found in... |
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| Scotland Yet | |
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| Roman Gask Project archaeologists look to uncover Stracathro site's secrets |
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· 08/31/2012 6:27:25 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 4 replies · · Courier UK · · August 28, 2012 · · Graeme Bletcher · |
A team of archaeologists has arrived in Angus to survey the world's most northerly Roman fort. Directors of The Roman Gask Project, Dr David Woolliscroft and Dr Birgitta Hoffmann, are at the ancient site near Stracathro, which was part of a line of Scottish watchtowers believed to be the oldest Roman frontier. Despite being discovered from the air almost 50 years ago, little is known about the structure of the fort near Brechin, which makes up part of the Gask Ridge frontier system. Assisted by volunteers from Liverpool University, the experts will use non-invasive survey techniques such as magnetometry and... |
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| Roman Empire | |
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| Emperor Caligula Gold Coin Found Underwater Near Cyprus |
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· 08/27/2012 7:05:53 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 13 replies · · Greek Reporter (Source: onair24) · · August 21, 2012 · · Marianna Tsatsou · |
A significant archaeological finding, a gold coin, has been reported discovered underwater in the area between Limassol and Larnaca by a local amateur fisherman. According to Cypriot authorities, the coin is of great value. Cypriot media reported that it dates back to the first century A.D. and depicts the third Roman emperor called Caligula, well-known for his fierce and brutal policy during his reign. On this coin, Caligula is sacrificing an animal before the Temple of Augustus, which is constituted by six pillars. Many coins of the same age have been found over the course of time, but this one... |
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| Epigraphy & Language | |
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| Ancient poem deifies wife of brutal Roman emperor Nero |
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· 08/26/2012 8:21:11 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 21 replies · · MSNBC · · 8/23/2012 · · Owen Jarus · |
A just-deciphered ancient Greek poem discovered in Egypt deifies Poppaea Sabina, the wife of the infamous Roman emperor Nero, showing her ascending to the stars. Based on the lettering styles and other factors, scholars think the poem was written nearly 200 years after Nero died (about 1,800 years ago), leaving them puzzled as to why someone so far away from Rome would bother composing or copying it at such a late date. In the poem, Poppaea ascends to heaven and becomes a goddess. The ancient goddess Aphrodite says to Poppaea, "my child, stop crying and hurry up: with all their... |
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| Byzantium | |
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| Bulgarian archaeologist discover necropolis of ancient Apollonia in Sozopol |
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· 08/31/2012 6:22:29 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 8 replies · · FOCUS News Agency · · 29 August 2012 · · unattributed · |
Bulgarian archaeologists discovered a necropolis of ancient Apollonia in the coastal town of Sozopol, Director of the Museum of History in Sozopol Dimitar Nedev announced for FOCUS News Agency. In Nedev's words, the burial was found in the northern part of the narthex of the three-naved basilica under the levels of the two churches. "The situation is the following: two churches -- one from VI and another from the VII century, with equal period of construction, and another one of the X century, existing until XVII century. In the outlines of the northern part of the narthex, we found the... |
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| Greece | |
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| The Greek Crisis: Palaeoanthropology and Archaeology |
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· 08/31/2012 6:42:42 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 5 replies · · Heritage Daily.com · · August 29, 2012 · · Charles t. g. Clarke · |
Greece has been in the grip of a financial crisis for the last few years now and Greek heritage sites are hit the worst. There is however, an unseen, less well known crisis and it involves Greek palaeoanthropology -- the study of hominin evolution. It is not so much a crisis as a metaphorical drought of artefacts and fossil evidence, which remains the best way to understand human evolution in Greece. An understanding of tectonic activity and the ever changing relationship between the Aegean Sea and mainland Greece are crucial to understanding why so little Lower Palaeolithic Hominin material has... |
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| Paleontology | |
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| Prehistoric tiny bugs found trapped in amber |
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· 08/28/2012 8:29:13 AM PDT · · Posted by null and void · · 26 replies · · WTOP · · 8/28/12 · · Seth Borenstein · |
This undated handout photo provided by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and the University of Göttingen shows photomicrographs of the two new species of ancient gall mites in 230-million-year-old amber droplets from northeastern Italy. The gall mites were named: Triasacarus fedelei, left, and Ampezzoa triassica. (AP Photo/A. Schmidt, University of Göttingen, Proceedings of the National Academy) -- WASHINGTON (AP) -- Scientists have found three well preserved ancient insects frozen in amber -- and time -- in what is Earth's oldest bug trap. The discoveries of amber-encased insects in Italy may sound like something out of "Jurassic Park"... |
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| Middle Ages & the Renaissance | |
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| Shakespeare's Richard III Buried in a UK Parking Lot? |
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· 08/26/2012 5:30:48 PM PDT · · Posted by nickcarraway · · 21 replies · · The Times of India · · Aug 27, 2012 · |
Archaeologists may have solved the puzzle of where the English king Richard III, immortalized by Shakespeare in his play is buried as they have started digging a car park in Leicester for his lost remains. The University of Leicester, Leicester City Council and the Richard III Society have joined forces to search for the grave of Richard III, thought to be under a parking lot for city council offices. The team will use ground-penetrating radar to search for the ideal spots to dig. "This archaeological work offers a golden opportunity to learn more about medieval Leicester as well as about... |
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| PreColumbian, Clovis & PreClovis | |
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| Pictures: Mass Sacrifice Found Near Aztec Temple |
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· 08/31/2012 6:18:21 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 21 replies · · National Geographic · · August 2012 · · A.R. Williams · |
Sixteen feet (five meters) below street level in Mexico City, archaeologists have found a jumble of 1,789 bones from children, teenagers, and adults along with the complete skeleton of a young woman. The burial, dating to the 1480s, lies at the foot of the main temple in the sacred ceremonial precinct of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, founded by the Aztecs in 1325. The Aztecs dominated central Mexico until falling to Spanish conquistadores in 1521. Although several burials with multiple remains have been uncovered previously in this precinct, this is the first that includes human bones from such a wide span... |
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| The Revolution | |
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| Seeking Brooklyn's Lost Mass Grave |
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· 08/25/2012 7:23:53 AM PDT · · Posted by Pharmboy · · 45 replies · · The New York Times · · August 25, 2012 · · Justin Burke · |
Confident Bob Furman suspects that up to 256 Revolutionary soldiers lie under this lot in Gowanus.Dave Sanders for The New York Times NOTHING is visible at the intersection of Third Avenue and Eighth Street in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn to indicate that anything extraordinary is there. The artisanal-pie place on one corner and the auto body shops across the way suggest it is merely another spot in the city where grit is giving way to gentrification. But if a small group of history enthusiasts are right, this particular corner of Kings County is hallowed ground. HEROIC Kim Maier,... |
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| Age of Sail | |
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| USS Constitution Sails For First Time Since 1997 |
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· 08/20/2012 11:21:06 AM PDT · · Posted by moonshot925 · · 25 replies · · NAVY · · 19 August 2012 · · Kathryn E. Macdonald · |
CHARLESTOWN, Mass. (NNS) -- USS Constitution departed her berth from Charlestown, Mass. Aug. 19, to set sail for the first time since 1997, during an underway demonstration commemorating Guerriere Day. The underway honored the 200th anniversary of Constitution's decisive victory over the HMS Guerriere during the War of 1812, marking the first time a United States frigate defeated a Royal Navy frigate at or nearly equal size. It's also the battle in which Constitution earned her famous nickname "Old Ironsides." The ship got underway at 9:57 a.m. with tugs attached to her sides and 285 people on board, including special... |
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| The Civil War | |
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| 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Antietam |
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· 08/26/2012 6:52:09 PM PDT · · Posted by PaulZe · · 37 replies · · 150thAntietamReenactment.com · |
The 150th Antietam-Sharpsburg Reenactment is pleased to announce we will be hosting a Remembrance Illumination scheduled for Saturday evening, September 15th at 7PM. The Antietam Illumination Committee in conjunction with Michael Wicklein will be placing 3654 (Union KIA 2108, Confederate KIA 1546) candles on the reenactment battlefield in remembrance of the number killed in action on September 17, 1862 at the Battle of Antietam. Lasting approximately one hour, the program will include an artillery salute. |
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| Back to the Future | |
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| Sci-Fi writers of the past predict life in 2012 |
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· 08/28/2012 12:09:46 PM PDT · · Posted by EveningStar · · 16 replies · · Gizmag · · August 5, 2012 · · David Szondy · |
As part of the L, Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future award in 1987, a group of science fiction luminaries put together a text "time capsule" of their predictions about life in the far off year of 2012. Including such names as Orson Scott Card, Robert Silverberg, Jack Williamson, Algis Budrys and Frederik Pohl, it gives us an interesting glimpse into how those living in the age before smartphones, tablets, Wi-Fi and on-demand streaming episodes of Community thought the future might turn out. |
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| Thoroughly Modern Miscellany | |
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| Mythical Dragon Gate Protects Home |
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· 08/26/2012 1:29:19 PM PDT · · Posted by EveningStar · · 11 replies · · My Modern Metropolis · · November 9, 2011 · · Pinar · |
In Dublin, Ireland, stands an estate reminiscent of old folklore, complete with its own dragon! Of course, dragons are mythical creatures, so this home only has a dragon made of steel which acts as its gatekeeper. The property, known at Harlech House, was originally built in 1798 by a Welsh immigrant. (The estate is actually named after a town in Wales called Harlech and the national flag has a dragon on it.) Harlech House sits on less than an acre of land but is full of enchantment. It features religious iconography and fairy-tale motifs throughout the seven-bedroom home, but it's... |
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| World War Eleven | |
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| The Amazing Saga Of Two-Gun Cohen |
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· 08/29/2012 2:50:59 PM PDT · · Posted by Zionist Conspirator · · 11 replies · · The Jewish Press · · 8/29/'12 · · Steven Plaut · |
In November 1947, the United Nations was considering the creation of a Jewish state in parts of Western Palestine and a new Arab state in the other parts. The hopes of the Jews rested in large part on China. The five-member Security Council had to approve putting the resolution before the General Assembly, but China, one of the five, was threatening to veto it. The head of the Chinese delegation was approached by a hero of the Chinese campaign against the Japanese during World War II, a man who had been a general and senior adviser to President Sun Yat-sen.... |
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| Let's Have Jerusalem | |
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| Israeli Archaeologist Excavates Sobibor Death Camp To Reveal The Nazis' Buried Secrets |
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· 08/28/2012 7:11:00 PM PDT · · Posted by DogByte6RER · · 45 replies · · Haretz · · August 21, 2012 · · Associated Press · |
Israeli archaeologist digs into Sobibor death camp in search of Nazi killing machines Yoram Haimi's biggest breakthrough yet: mapping of what the Germans called the Himmelfahrsstrasse, or the 'Road to Heaven,' a path upon which the inmates were marched naked into the gas chambers. When Israeli archaeologist Yoram Haimi decided to investigate his family's unknown Holocaust history, he turned to the skill he knew best: He began to dig. After learning that two of his uncles were murdered in the infamous Sobibor death camp, he embarked on a landmark excavation project that is shining new light on the workings of... |
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| Longer Perspectives | |
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| While digging a highway, Israeli archeologists find two figurines from the New Stone Age |
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· 08/31/2012 6:33:37 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 10 replies · · Art Daily · · Saturday, September 1, 2012 · · unattributed · |
Two figurines from the New Stone Age (Pre-Pottery Neolithic B) were discovered in excavations the Israel Antiquities Authority is currently conducting at the Tel Moza archaeological site, prior to work being carried out on the new Highway 1 from Sha'ar HaGai to Jerusalem by the National Roads Company. According to Anna Eirikh and Dr. Hamoudi Khalaily, directors of the excavation at the site on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, "The figurines, which are 9,000-9,500 years old, were found near a large round building whose foundations were built of fieldstones and upper parts of the walls were apparently made of... |
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| Religion of Pieces | |
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| Turkey Lobbies Museums Around World to Return Artifacts |
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· 08/31/2012 7:11:20 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 13 replies · · Voice of America · · Friday, August 31, 2012 · · Dorian Jones · |
Turkey is following an increasingly aggressive policy of getting top museums around the world to return its heritage. Minister of Culture and Tourism Ertugrul Gunay says that in the last decade, more than 4,000 artifacts had been brought back to Turkey from world museums and collections... Gunay says when you visit the world's big museums in the US, England, France, Germany, you see that most of the precious artifacts came from Turkey, Italy, Egypt and Greece. Some of these, he says, were looted, and he is fighting to get back historical artifacts that went to the big museums of the... |
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| '1001 Muslim Inventions' Fantasy Comes to DC: The Presentation of Legend as History |
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· 08/26/2012 4:59:28 PM PDT · · Posted by YankeeReb · · 114 replies · · vinienco.com · · 8/26/2012 · · J. Christian Adams · |
National Geographic Explorer's Hall in Washington D.C. has hosted some of the most prestigious exhibits in America. Previous exhibits have included the Chinese terracotta warriors, as well as the James Caird, the lifeboat Sir Ernest Shackleton miraculously sailed from Antarctica to South Georgia Island in 1916. Currently it is hosting a curious exhibit through February 2013 entitled "1001 Inventions: Discover the Golden Age of Muslim Civilization." This high tech, slickly produced exhibit explicitly seeks to debunk the "myth" that the dark ages were dark. The exhibit purports to provide examples of innovations from Muslim civilization, and some of the... |
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| end of digest #424 20120901 | |
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