Gods, Graves, Glyphs
Weekly Digest #68
Saturday, November 5, 2005
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Climate
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Global warming and Vikings
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Posted by MrPiper
On News/Activism 10/28/2005 2:41:42 PM PDT · 40 replies · 828+ views
Archaeological Institute of America | February 28, 2000 | Dale Mackenzie Brown
"An ice core drilled from the island's massive icecap between 1992 and 1993 shows a decided cooling off in the Western Settlement during the mid-fourteenth century."
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Global warming [8000 years old]
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Posted by mathprof
On News/Activism 10/31/2005 9:22:23 PM PST · 22 replies · 520+ views
CBC News | October 25, 2005 | SUMITRA RAJAGOPALAN
Forget Kyoto. By the time Christ appeared on Earth, the planet was already belching enough gas to cause global warming. And we have our ancestors to blame. Or thank. William Ruddiman, a professor of environmental sciences at the University of Virginia, is behind a controversial theory suggesting that humans had a hand in warming the planet nearly 8,000 years ago, and in doing so, might have prevented another ice age. In his new book titled Plows, Plagues, Petroleum: How Humans took Control of the Climate, Ruddiman delves further into the theory that first made waves in the winter of 2003....
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Greenhouse Effect Occurred 5,000 Years Ago: Archaeologists
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Posted by blam
On News/Activism 10/31/2005 3:59:50 PM PST · 32 replies · 736+ views
China View/Xinhuanet | 10-31-2005
Greenhouse effect occurred 5,000 years ago: archaeologists www.chinaview.cn 2005-10-31 19:10:24 JINAN, Oct. 31 (Xinhuanet) -- It is common sense nowadays that excessive carbon dioxide in the air caused by excessive lumbering leads to global greenhouse effects. But a team of archaeologists from China and the United States is saying that the greenhouse effect started about 5,000 years ago, much earlier than people might expect. This is the conclusion reached by a group of Chinese and US archaeologists based on research on the relics excavated from the ruins of a Neolithic site in Rizhao City, east China's Shandong Province, over the...
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Catastrophism and Astronomy
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Scientist: Comets Blasted Early Americans
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Posted by NormsRevenge
On News/Activism 10/28/2005 6:33:11 PM PDT · 38 replies · 908+ views
ap on Yahoo | 10/28/05 | Meg Kinnard - ap
COLUMBIA, S.C. - A supernova could be the "quick and dirty" explanation for what may have happened to an early North American culture, a nuclear scientist here said Thursday. Richard Firestone said at the "Clovis in the Southeast" conference that he thinks "impact regions" on mammoth tusks found in Gainey, Mich., were caused by magnetic particles rich in elements like titanium and uranium. This composition, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory scientist said, resembles rocks that were discovered on the moon and have also been found in lunar meteorites that fell to Earth about 10,000 years ago. Firestone said that, based...
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Chinese Archaeologists Find One Of The World's Oldest Observatories
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Posted by blam
On News/Activism 10/30/2005 12:16:38 PM PST · 5 replies · 221+ views
Yahoo/AFP | 10-30-2005
Chinese archaeologists find one of world's oldest observatories Sun Oct 30, 8:45 AM ET BEIJING (AFP) - Chinese archaeologists claim to have found one of the world's oldest observatories, dating back 4,100 years ago. The observatory was uncovered at the Taosi relics site in Shanxi province, He Nu, a research follow with the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency on Sunday. The observatory "was not only used for observing astronomical phenomena but also for sacrificial rites", said He. The remains, in the shape of a semi-circle 40 meters...
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Copernicus' Grave Found in Polish Church
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Posted by lizol
On News/Activism 11/03/2005 11:46:26 AM PST · 76 replies · 1,482+ views
AP via Yahoo! News | 03.11.2005
Copernicus' Grave Found in Polish Church WARSAW, Poland - Polish archeologists believe they have located the grave of 16th-century astronomer and solar-system proponent Nicolaus Copernicus in a Polish church, one of the scientists announced Thursday. Copernicus, who died in 1543 at 70 after challenging the ancient belief that the sun revolved around the earth, was buried at the Roman Catholic cathedral in the city of Frombork, 180 miles north of the capital, Warsaw. Jerzy Gassowski, head of an archaeology and anthropology institute in Pultusk, central Poland, said his four-member team found what appears to be the skull of the Polish...
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Underwater Archaeology
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Divers Unveil Exquisite Treasure Pulled From The Depths Of Java Sea
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Posted by blam
On News/Activism 10/26/2005 3:53:43 PM PDT · 14 replies · 785+ views
Yahoo News | 10-26-2005
Divers unveil exquisite treasure pulled from depths of Java Sea Wed Oct 26,12:01 AM ET JAKARTA (AFP) - In a nondescript warehouse in Jakarta, treasure-hunter Luc Heymans dips into plastic boxes and pulls out jewels and ornaments that lay hidden at the bottom of the Java Sea for 1,000 years. An ornately sculpted mirror of polished bronze is one masterpiece among the 250,000 artefacts recovered over the last 18 months from a boat that sank off Indonesia's shores in the 10th century. On a small mould is written the word "Allah" in beautiful Arabic script, on top of a lid...
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Asia
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Archaeologists Find Oldest Chinese Dragon Totem
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Posted by blam
On News/Activism 10/31/2005 4:41:39 PM PST · 6 replies · 194+ views
China View/Xinhuanet | 10-31-2005
Archaeologists find oldest Chinese dragon totem www.chinaview.cn 2005-10-31 18:43:01 ZHENGZHOU, Oct. 31 (Xinhuanet) -- A 3,700-year-old antique in the shape of a dragon, made up of over 2,000 pieces of turquoise, is believed by many Chinese scholars as the oldest Chinese dragon totem. The antique was discovered in the Erlitou relics site in YanshiCity of central China's Henan Province. Many Chinese scholars believe that Erlitou is the site of the capital of the Xia Dynasty(2,100 BC-1,600 BC), China's first dynasty. "Although some dragon-shaped relics older than the antique in Erlitou have been uncovered in other places, such as the 7,000-year-old...
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Eastern Zhou Grave Pit Unearthed In Luoyang
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Posted by blam
On News/Activism 10/26/2005 4:27:29 PM PDT · 13 replies · 236+ views
China View/Xinhuanet | 10-26-2005
Eastern Zhou grave pit unearthed in Luoyang www.chinaview.cn 2005-10-26 13:51:52Two worker clear up the relics in the newly unearthed pit. [newsphoto] The horse-and-vehicle pit excavated in this cultural relics discovery [newsphoto] Archaeologists and workers excavate cultural relics from an Eastern Zhou Dynasty grave that was found in Luoyang of Central China's Henan Province on October 25, 2005. Bronzeware, jade, and horse pit unearthed from the burial site are in good shape, which is peculiar in this ancient city of Luoyang, as usually 90 percent of the graves are empty upon discovery. [newsphoto]According to the experts, it is a a scholar-bureaucrat's...
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Central Asia
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Russians claim discovery of ancient "Shangri-La" in Tibet
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Posted by HAL9000
On News/Activism 10/01/2004 1:23:19 AM PDT · 12 replies · 607+ views
AFP via Babelfish translation | October 1, 2004 | Antoine Fettback
Did Russian explorers discover Khyunglung Nulkhar? Russian explorers announced this week to have discovered mid-September of the ruins of Khyunglung Nulkhar (Tibet), mythical capital of the State de Shangshung disappeared in VIIIe century, but the authenticity of this discovery is questioned by a travel agency which affirms y to have organized a trekking last June. "We are the first Europeans to have put the foot" at Khyunglung Nulkhar (money Palate of Garuda), declared Iouri Zakharov, the head of forwarding, at the time of the press conference in Moscow. This member of the Russian Academy of the natural science estimates...
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Biology and Cryptobiology
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Y Chromosomes Reveal Founding Father (Giocangga)
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Posted by blam
On News/Activism 10/25/2005 11:02:09 AM PDT · 26 replies · 937+ views
Nature | 10-24-2005 | Charlotte Shubert
Published online: 24 October 2005Charlotte SchubertY chromosomes reveal founding fatherDid conquest and concubines spread one man's genes across Asia? The Manchu warriors took control of China in 1644. © Punchstock About 1.5 million men in northern China and Mongolia may be descended from a single man, according to a study based on Y chromosome genetics1. Historical records suggest that this man may be Giocangga, who lived in the mid-1500s and whose grandson founded the Qing dynasty, which ruled China from 1644 to 1912. The analysis is similar to a controversial study in 2003, which suggested that approximately 16 million men...
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Mammoth site hearing set
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Posted by ValerieUSA
On News/Activism 10/26/2005 6:11:43 PM PDT · 30 replies · 352+ views
Waco Tribune-Herald | October 26, 2005 | J.B. Smith
The public will get a chance tomorrow to weigh in on a proposal to add the Waco Mammoth Site to the national park system. A team of National Park Service officials is kicking off its study of the mammoth park idea with a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Baylor University's Mayborn Museum. Officials with Baylor and the city of Waco are trying to rally community support for the project. “It's important for us to have a good turnout,” said Mayborn director Ellie Caston. “We need to be able to show the team that the community is concerned about...
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On Human Diversity: Why has the genetics community discarded so many phenotypes?
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Posted by Pharmboy
On News/Activism 10/25/2005 8:03:25 PM PDT · 59 replies · 950+ views
The Scientist | 10-24-05 | Armand M. Leroi
HEAD CASES: The physical phenotypic differences between this Sudanese skull (right) and this European skull (left) are apparent. (From J.L.A. de Quatrefages, E.T. Hamy, Crania ethnica: les Cranes des races humaines, Baillere et fils: Paris, 1882.) Henry Flower became director of the British Museum of Natural History in 1884, and promptly set about rearranging exhibits. He set a display of human skulls to show their diversity of shape across the globe. A century later, the skulls had gone, and in their place was a large photograph of soccer fans standing in their terraces bearing the legend: "We are all...
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PreColumbian, Clovis, and PreClovis
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Clovis Speakers Discuss Man's Origins In The United States
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Posted by blam
On News/Activism 10/28/2005 11:53:56 AM PDT · 68 replies · 878+ views
The State/AP | 10-27-2005 | Meg Kinnard
Posted on Thu, Oct. 27, 2005 Clovis speakers discuss man's origins in the United States MEG KINNARD Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. - A University of Texas archaeologist opened the highly anticipated "Clovis in the Southeast" conference at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center Thursday by rejecting the premise on which many experts once based their theories on man's North American origins. At the meeting, sponsored in part by the University of South Carolina, Michael Collins called the idea that the first inhabitants traveled by way of a land bridge from Asia "primal racism." Instead, Collins said, they arrived by water, because...
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Recent Landslides In La Conchita, California Belong To Much Larger Prehistoric Slide
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Posted by blam
On News/Activism 10/31/2005 4:20:42 PM PST · 9 replies · 221+ views
Science Daily | 10-31-2005 | UCSB
Recent Landslides In La Conchita, California Belong To Much Larger Prehistoric Slide The deadly landslide that killed 10 people and destroyed approximately 30 homes in La Conchita, California last January is but a tiny part of a much larger slide, called the Rincon Mountain slide, discovered by Larry D. Gurrola, geologist and graduate student at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The slide started many thousands of years ago and will continue generating slides in the future, reported Gurrola at the national meeting of the Geological Society of America today in Salt Lake City. Mudslides at La Conchita. (Image courtesy...
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Ancient Indian Burial Site Found In Riverhead Park (NY)
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Posted by blam
On News/Activism 10/27/2005 5:03:01 PM PDT · 11 replies · 242+ views
Newsday | 10-26-2005 | Bill Bleyer
Ancient Indian burial site found in Riverhead parkBones and artifacts, believed to be from an early American Indian burial site, are discovered in Riverhead county park, near eroded river bank Oct 26, 2005 BY BILL BLEYER STAFF WRITER; Staff writer Mitchell Freedman contributed to this story. October 27, 2005 Last week's stormy weather uncovered what experts said may be an important early American Indian burial site at Indian Island County Park in Riverhead. The site was spotted by a park supervisor after the Peconic River bank was eroded early last week by heavy rains and high wave action, said Suffolk...
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New Digs Decoding Mexico's "Pyramids Of Fire"
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Posted by blam
On News/Activism 10/25/2005 11:14:52 AM PDT · 37 replies · 965+ views
National Geographic | 10-21-2005 | John Roach
New Digs Decoding Mexico's "Pyramids of Fire" John Roach for National Geographic News October 21, 2005On TV: Watch National Geographic Explorer: Pyramids of Fire, Sunday, October 23 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on the National Geographic Channel. Using picks, shovels, and high-tech forensic sleuthing, scientists are beginning to cobble together the grisly ancient history and fiery demise of Teotihuacán, the first major metropolis of the Americas. The size of Shakespeare's London, Teotihuacán was built by an unknown people almost 2,000 years ago. The site sits about 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of present-day Mexico City. Temples, palaces, and some of the...
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The Pacific
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Hawaiian skull taken by California man returned to the islands
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Posted by nickcarraway
On News/Activism 11/03/2005 11:18:50 PM PST · 32 replies · 428+ views
KESQ | 11/04/05
HONOLULU A 200-year-old Hawaiian skull found on Maui decades ago and later advertised on eBay was returned to the islands this week. The skull of a Native Hawaiian warrior was taken from a construction site on Kaanapali in 1969 by a California teenager, who then tried to sell it on the Internet. Jerry Hasson of Huntington Beach, now in his 50s, said he had sneaked onto the beach with friends and found an entire skeleton _ but took only the skull. An undercover agent with the U-S Bureau of Indian Affairs contacted Hasson and bought the skull for 25-hundred dollars....
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Polynesian Cemetery Unlocks Ancient Burial Secrets (Lapita)
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Posted by blam
On News/Activism 10/31/2005 4:06:20 PM PST · 5 replies · 167+ views
ABC Science Online | 10-31-2005 | Anna Salleh
Last Update: Monday, October 31, 2005. 6:03pm (AEDT) Polynesian cemetery unlocks ancient burial secrets By Anna Salleh, ABC Science Online The first people to settle Polynesia went to surprising lengths to honour their dead, archaeologists show. Remains from the oldest cemetery in the Pacific suggest the Lapita people buried their dead in many different ways, some in "weird yoga positions", and removed their skulls for ceremonial purposes. Dr Stuart Bedford and Professor Matthew Spriggs of the Australian National University reported their finds on the Lapita culture in Vanuatu at a recent seminar in Canberra. "We found for the first time...
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Ancient Egypt
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King Tut Drank Red Wine, Researcher Says
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Posted by NormsRevenge
On News/Activism 10/26/2005 3:39:02 PM PDT · 54 replies · 678+ views
ap on Yahoo | 10/26/05 | JENN WIANT - ap
LONDON - King Tutankhamen was a red wine drinker, according to a researcher who analyzed traces of the vintage found in his tomb. Maria Rosa Guasch-Jane told reporters Wednesday at the British Museum that she made her discovery after inventing a process that gave archaeologists a tool to discover the color of ancient wine. "This is the first time someone has found an ancient red wine," she said. Wine bottles from King Tut's time were labeled with the name of the product, the year of harvest, the source and the vine grower, Guasch-Jane said, but did not include the color...
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King Tut liked Red Wine Best
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Posted by nickcarraway
On News/Activism 10/30/2005 2:38:20 AM PST · 16 replies · 294+ views
Middle East Times
LONDON -- A University of Barcelona research team has discovered Egypt's King Tutankhamen was partial to wine, preferring red over white. The mystery of exactly what was kept inside jars found in the tomb of the Egyptian king (1336-1327 BC) was solved by the Spanish scientists who analyzed scrapings from eight jars found in Tutankhamen's tomb. They presented their findings on Wednesday at the British Museum in London, The Times of London reported. "Wine jars were placed in tombs as funerary meals," Maria Rosa Guasch-Jane, a master in Egyptology at the university, told The Independent. "The ... wine jars were...
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Africa
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Stone Age Cemetery, Artifacts Un Earthed In Sahara
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Posted by blam
On News/Activism 10/23/2005 4:56:10 PM PDT · 13 replies · 661+ views
National Geographic | Brian Hanwerk
Stone Age Cemetery, Artifacts Unearthed in Sahara Brian Handwerk for National Geographic News October 21, 2005Archaeologists have excavated a trove of Stone Age human skeletons and artifacts on the shores of an ancient lake in the Sahara. The seven nearby sites include an extensive cemetery and represent one of the largest and best preserved concentrations of ancient skeletons and artifacts ever found in the region, researchers say. Harpoons, fishhooks, pottery, jewelry, stone tools, and other artifacts pepper the ancient lakeside settlement. The objects were left by early communities that once thrived on the former lake's abundant fish and shellfish. "They...
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Ancient Europe
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Experts Excavate Oldest Worked Metal In Europe
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Posted by blam
On News/Activism 10/24/2005 5:02:52 PM PDT · 12 replies · 387+ views
BNN | 10-24-2005
Experts excavate oldest worked metal in Europe SOFIA (bnn)- Archaeologists found the oldest worked metal in Europe while excavating an early Neolithic village near the village of Dzhulyunitza in central Bulgaria, state TV reported Sunday. The 3 metal finds are 8,000 years old. The experts found signs of cold treatment during which the metal pieces were transformed into beads. The extraordinary find gives a new direction in the research of the prehistoric people who lived on Bulgarian territory. Only the worked metal pieces found in Anatolia, which is the Asian part of Turkey, is older (11,000 years) than the find...
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Excitement At Neolithic Site Find
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Posted by blam
On News/Activism 11/02/2005 3:19:35 PM PST · 28 replies · 577+ views
BBC | 11-2-2005
Excitement at Neolithic site find Archaeologists say it will improve understanding of the Neolithic period Archaeologists have unearthed what is thought to be one of the largest Neolithic settlements in Britain. The discovery, which includes buildings, a human burial pit, tools, pottery and ritual objects, was uncovered at a Northumberland quarry. It is hoped it will boost understanding of the period, which dates back thousands of years. The discovery was made during routine archaeological investigation of the quarry, which is run by Tarmac. The settlement, near Milfield Village, Northumberland, includes at least three buildings dating to the 4000 BC Early...
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Huge Hoard Of Iron Age Coins Found
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Posted by blam
On News/Activism 11/04/2005 2:47:31 PM PST · 19 replies · 772+ views
Isle Of Wight County Press | 11-4-2005 | Gavin Foster
HUGE HOARD OF IRON AGE COINS FOUNDBy Gavin Foster THE LARGEST hoard of Iron Age coins ever found on the Island has been unearthed by metal detectors. The haul of nearly 1,000 base silver coins was dug up over two weeks at a secret West Wight location by members of the IW Metal Detecting Club. But this week it also emerged the find is unlikely to be bought by the IW Museums Service for local display. County museums officer Dr Mike Bishop said his budget was empty and unless new funding was found, the service could not afford the many...
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Stone-age colony discovered at Lake Bracciano (9,000 Year Old Canoe)
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Posted by nickcarraway
On News/Activism 10/24/2005 3:34:36 PM PDT · 31 replies · 724+ views
Archaeo News | 22 October 2005
In early August, underwater archaeologists excavating at Lake Bracciano, north of Rome (Italy), brought up a nine meter-long dugout canoe hewn from a massive oak trunk. Some 9,000 years old, buried under three meters of mud and eight meters of water, this was the fourth canoe excavated at a Neolithic colony discovered near the shores of Anguillara in 1989. Unique in Neolithic archaeology, no other sites have been discovered in central Italy, and never at the bottom of a lake. It is located in La Marmotta Bay, at the foot of Anguillara's promontory. Discovered under unusual circumstances in 1989, when...
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Mesopotamia
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Babylonian Doctors Way Ahead of Greeks
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Posted by nickcarraway
On News/Activism 10/30/2005 2:41:20 AM PST · 28 replies · 748+ views
Middle East Times | October 25, 2005
CHICAGO, IL, USA -- An expert on cuneiform and a doctor have teamed up to find that medicine 4,000 years ago in Mesopotamia was sophisticated and effective. In fact, patients in Assyria probably got more useful treatment than anyone in Europe before the nineteenth century, JoAnn Scurlock and Burton R. Andersen told the Chicago Tribune. Scurlock, who holds a doctorate in Assyriology from the University of Chicago, and Andersen, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Illinois, examined the available medical texts in cuneiform. They found descriptions of procedures still performed, like draining pus from the lungs and chest...
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Ancient Greece
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Tests of Fabled Archimedes Death Ray Fail
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Posted by NormsRevenge
On General/Chat 10/22/2005 9:14:50 PM PDT · 34 replies · 383+ views
ap on Yahoo | 10/22/05 | RON HARRIS
SAN FRANCISCO - It wasn't exactly the ancient siege of Syracuse, but rather a curious quest for scientific validation. According to sparse historical writings, the Greek mathematician Archimedes torched a fleet of invading Roman ships by reflecting the sun's powerful rays with a mirrored device made of glass or bronze. More than 2,000 years later, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Arizona set out to recreate Archimedes' fabled death ray Saturday in an experiment sponsored by the Discovery Channel program "MythBusters." Their attempts to set fire to an 80-year-old fishing boat using their own versions...
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Ancient Rome
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Apart from vomitoriums and orgies, what did the Romans do for us?
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Posted by nickcarraway
On News/Activism 10/30/2005 1:05:06 AM PDT · 94 replies · 1,715+ views
Guardian (U.K.) | Saturday October 29, 2005 | Mary Beard
Ancient Rome provides a handy non-offensive stereotype for us to define ourselves against The best way to judge a modern recreation of ancient Rome - in film or fiction - is to apply the simple "dormouse test". How long is it before the characters adopt an uncomfortably horizontal position in front of tables, usually festooned with grapes, and one says to another: "Can I pass you a dormouse?" The basic rule of thumb is this: the longer you have to wait before this tasty little morsel appears on the recreated banquet, the more subtle the reconstruction is likely to be....
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Giant Crabs Colonize Rome's Ancient Ruins
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Posted by blam
On News/Activism 10/28/2005 3:29:13 PM PDT · 49 replies · 1,271+ views
Italy Magazine/ANSA | 10-28-2005
Giant crabs colonise Rome’s ancient ruins By Web Editor. Filed under Generalon October 28th, 2005 (ANSA) - A rare species of crab has taken up residence in one of the city’s most important archaeological sites and is not only thriving but also growing to abnormal proportions. The freshwater crab ‘Potamon fluviatile’ was already known to survive in small numbers in rivers and waterways from Sicily to Tuscany, where it generally grows to a length of about 4 cm. But according to three zoologists at the Roma 3 university, an isolated colony of the crabs is also doing very well in...
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Ancient Roman Navy Soldier Surfaces
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Posted by blam
On News/Activism 10/23/2005 4:42:46 PM PDT · 29 replies · 1,036+ views
Archeobo | 10-23-2005
Ancient roman navy soldier surfacesRavenna Classe site yields his first-ever image of imperial officer The first-ever image of a soldier in the Ancient Roman navy has surfaced on 17th September 2005 at the major imperial naval base at Ravenna Classe. The armour-clad, weapon-bearing soldier was carved on a funeral stone, or stele, in a waterlogged necropolis at Classe ('Classis' in Latin means Fleet), the now silted-up Ravenna port area where Rome's Adriatic fleet was stationed. Previous finds at the site have only shown people in civilian garb (toga). An inscription on the soldier's funeral slab says he was an officer...
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Cremona Digs Confirm Tacitus Story
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Posted by blam
On News/Activism 10/23/2005 4:30:34 PM PDT · 32 replies · 759+ views
Ansa | 10-23-2005
Cremona digs confirm Tacitus storyNew evidence comes to light of ancient city's destruction (ANSA) - Milan, October 19 - Excavations in Cremona have confirmed a legendary description of the city's destruction in December 69 AD by the Latin historian Tacitus . Archaeologists working in the area of Piazza Marconi believe they have found evidence of the northern Italian city's brutal pillage following a clash between the forces of Emperor Aulus Vitellius and his challenger, Vespasian . Tacitus's graphic description of the rampage by Vespasian's troops is famous among scholars but there was no way to prove it actually happened ....
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Roman Ruler's Head Found in Sewer
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Posted by uglybiker
On General/Chat 10/31/2005 7:36:11 AM PST · 32 replies · 1,326+ views
Seoul Times | October 31, 2005
Roman Ruler's Head Found in Sewer Lief of "Saint Constantine" Who Cristianized Rome A 1,700-year-old carved marble head of Emperor Constantine has been found in a sewer in central Rome. Archaeologists found the 60cm (2ft) head while clearing an ancient drainage system in the ruins of the Roman Forum. Eugenio La Rocca, superintendent of Rome's artefacts, described the head as a rare find and said it was possible it had been used to clear a blocked sewer. Constantine, who reigned from 306 to 337, is known for ending persecution of Christians and founding Constantinople. Although most of his subjects remained...
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Anyone watching ROME on HBO? (HBO HD showing episodes 4 and 5 tonight)
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Posted by DCBryan1
On General/Chat 10/25/2005 4:36:38 PM PDT · 71 replies · 482+ views
HBO | 25 OCT 05 | DCBRYAN1
Episode 4 and 5 tonight in HD! Episode 4: Stealing from Saturn: Here we are, refugees in our own land," Cicero says to Pompey and his supporters, anxiously settling into their makeshift camp south of Rome. "We are not refugees, we are maneuvering," Pompey responds sharply, before explaining his strategy to the men: without gold, Caesar will have to resort to violence, and once the blood starts to spill, the people will turn on him with a vengeance. "While he is fighting mobs in the forum, I will be gathering an army the like of which he has never seen!"...
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HBO-HD shows "ROME", Episodes 6, 7, 8 tonight in prelude to new episode "UTICA" 30 OCT.
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Posted by DCBryan1
On General/Chat 10/28/2005 6:35:34 PM PDT · 8 replies · 104+ views
HBO | 28 OCT 05 | DCBRYAN1
Tonight, HBO-HD (HBO 1) shows Rome Episodes 6, 7, 8 in a run up to the new episode "Utica". Episode 6: Egeria Synopsis With Caesar chasing Pompey in Greece, Mark Antony is in Rome pushing through laws on his behalf - insisting that the few remaining senators agree to anoint the general "co-Consul," free more slaves and create more jobs for the populace. The senior senator protests, arguing that such efforts would be too expensive. "Only to those few rich men that own all the land," Antony replies, "and they will have the consolation of doing something eminently patriotic." Niobe...
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Vanity: New episode of "ROME" on HBO-HD tonight (Episode 9: UTICA)-GGG Ping!
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Posted by DCBryan1
On General/Chat 10/30/2005 5:31:07 PM PST · 24 replies · 242+ views
HBO | 30 OCT 05 | dcbryan1
Episode 9: Utica With Scipio and Cato defeated, Caesar returns home to a hero's welcome. Vorenus and Pullo's showdown with local thug Erastes gets an unexpected reprieve from Caesar. Servilia's plan to use Octavia to unearth a secret about Caesar backfires. Don't miss the all new episode "Utica", Sunday, October 30th at 9PM ET.
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Elam, Persia, Parthia, Iran
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3,000-Year-Old Warrior Still Fighting At Gohar-Tappeh
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Posted by blam
On News/Activism 10/30/2005 12:32:37 PM PST · 12 replies · 457+ views
Mehr News | 10-30-2005
Tehran: 19:39 , 2005/10/30 3000-year-old warrior still fighting at Gohar-Tappeh TEHRAN, Oct. 30 (MNA) -- A team of archaeologists working at the 3000-year-old site of Gohar-Tappeh in Iran’s northern province of Mazandaran have recently unearthed a skeleton of a warrior buried in an attacking pose with a dagger in his hands, the Persian service of the Cultural Heritage News (CHN) agency reported on Saturday. “He is holding a 26-centimeter dagger and appears to be making a forward thrust. The evidence shows that he was originally buried in this pose,” the director of the team, Ali Mahforuzi, said. This is the...
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Khajeh Mountain, Biggest Unbaked Mud Architecture Of Parthian Era
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Posted by blam
On News/Activism 11/04/2005 3:08:13 PM PST · 16 replies · 235+ views
Payvand | 11-3-2005
11/3/05 Khajeh mountain, biggest unbaked mud architecture of Parthian era Zahedan, Sistan-Baluchestan prov, Nov 2, IRNA-Khajeh Mountain Complex, the biggest model of unbaked mud architecture remaining in Sistan area, is one of the most remarkable relics of the Parthian, Sassanid and Islamic eras. It is the only natural height left behind in Sistan area, where a palace, fire temple, pilgrimage center called Khajeh Mehdi and graveyard reminiscent of the past are still in good condition. The trapezoid-shaped basalt lava, situated 609 meters from the sea level, with a diameter ranging from two to 2.5 kilometers stands 17 kms to the...
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Let's Have Jerusalem
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Biblical Pool Uncovered in Jerusalem
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Posted by monkeyshine
On News/Activism 08/09/2005 9:37:16 AM PDT · 54 replies · 1,638+ views
L.A.. Times | August 9, 2005 | Thomas H. Maugh II
Workers repairing a sewage pipe in the Old City of Jerusalem have discovered the biblical Pool of Siloam, a freshwater reservoir that was a major gathering place [a mikvah, where Jews do a ritual cleansing] for ancient Jews making religious pilgrimages to the city and the reputed site where Jesus cured a man blind from birth, according to the Gospel of John. "Scholars have said that there wasn't a Pool of Siloam and that John was using a religious conceit" to illustrate a point, said New Testament scholar James H. Charlesworth of the Princeton Theological Seminary. "Now we have found...
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Raiders Of The Lost Pool (New finds bolster the historicity of John's gospel)
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Posted by blam
On News/Activism 10/27/2005 5:26:15 PM PDT · 12 replies · 644+ views
Christianity Today | 10-26-2005 | Gordon Govier
Christianity Today, October 2005 Raiders of the Lost PoolNew finds bolster the historicity of John's Gospel. by Gordon Govier | posted 10/26/2005 09:00 a.m. The Pool of Siloam, considered a metaphor in John's Gospel by some New Testament scholars, was in fact a huge basin at the lowest point in the city of Jerusalem. Recent excavations have uncovered two corners and one side of the pool that stretched for half the length of a football field. "It's very exciting," James Charlesworth, a professor of New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary, told CT. "It's very important for the study of the...
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Rare Jewish artifacts remain in soggy limbo
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Posted by SJackson
On News/Activism 05/02/2005 4:37:37 PM PDT · 9 replies · 240+ views
Cincinnati Post | 5-2-05
WASHINGTON - A damaged Torah, a centuries-old Bible and other rare documents important to Iraq's few remaining Jews were rescued from a flooded cellar in Baghdad, only to remain in limbo here. Their restoration, like so much else these days, awaits the emergence of a new Iraq. Historians at the National Archives, which preserves such priceless artifacts as the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, are examining the treasure trove of materials found in the basement of the headquarters for Saddam Hussein's secret police. The materials are in moderate to poor condition - they remained wet for several weeks after being...
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Searching For The Queen Of Sheba
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Posted by nickcarraway
On News/Activism 05/19/2005 7:03:27 PM PDT · 12 replies · 483+ views
Science Daily | 2005-05-18
The queen of Sheba was once one of the most powerful leaders in the world but there are few clues left anywhere about this woman who ruled a rich and powerful nation somewhere in Africa -- perhaps, as some archeologists maintain, in what is now southwest Nigeria. Now, in what may be the site of her last home and gravesite, a University of Toronto professor is trying to unearth the queen's story -- partially told in the Old Testament -- as well as honouring her in the form of a new Nigerian museum and interpretive centre. "Each year both Muslim...
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The End of the Assassins
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Posted by RippleFire
On News/Activism 09/12/2001 8:07:41 PM PDT · 4 replies · 326+ views
Storm from the East: From Genghis Khan to Khubilai Khan | 1993 | Robert Marshall
The Assassins "had emerged because of a schism in the Shia Muslim sect and established themselves in northern and eastern Persia by taking and controlling a series of mountain fortifications. Behind their walls they lived a contemplative life, producing beautifully wrought paintings and metalwork, but beyond their retreats they terrorized those civilizations they deemed heretical and so earned the enmity not just of the rest of the Islamic world but eventually of Europe. The local Ismaili leader had done little to enhance their reputation. Rather than confront his enemies in open combat he preferred to sponsor a campaign of ...
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Anatolia
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Ancient Armenia gave faith an alphabet
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Posted by Lorianne
On News/Activism 10/30/2005 9:34:29 PM PST · 13 replies · 288+ views
Boston.com | 29 October 2005 | Rich Barlow
Few birthdays are cause for a global scholars' conference at Harvard, but they're raising a metaphorical glass in Cambridge to toast the Armenian alphabet. It's not just that at 1,600 years old the alphabet makes Methuselah look like a youngster. These three dozen letters gave a written language of faith to a pivotal country in Christian history. Years before the Roman emperor Constantine's famous conversion, Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its state religion, in the year 301. At the time, Armenian was a spoken tongue only, meaning worshipers relied on translators during services to interpret a...
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Epigraphy and Language
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Antique urn with writing on it - Any FReepers with expertise in deciphering (Oriental?) writing?
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Posted by HairOfTheDog
On General/Chat 11/04/2005 3:06:15 PM PST · 101 replies · 616+ views
HairOfTheDog
My mother bought this big clay pot years ago at an antique store somewhere. She said it was an urn. The top, which was once sealed, has been cut open, and she put decorative grass in it. I was dusting it off today, and became interested in finding out what the writing on it says. I don't know its origin or what it might say. I have often thought perhaps it is the name or information about it's original occupant. I don't know its age or country of origin, I only guess that it appears to be Asian lettering. Anyone...
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Oh So Mysteriouso
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3-Billion Year Old Manufactured Spheroids? Even NASA is baffled)
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Posted by The Loan Arranger
On News/Activism 03/04/2005 6:47:53 PM PST · 204 replies · 6,195+ views
Private Web Site
At least 200 have been found, and extracted out of deep rock at the Wonderstone Silver Mine in South Africa, averaging 1-4 inches in dia. and composed of a nickel-steel alloy that doesn't occur naturally. Some have a thin shell about a quarter inch thick, when broken open are filled with a strange spongy material that disintegrates into dust upon contact with air. A complete mystery according to Roelf Marx curator of the South African Klerksdorp Museum, as the one he has on exibit rotates on its own, locked in a display case, free of outside vibrations. The manufactured metallic...
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NBC 4 - Irresistible Headlines - Researcher Says Balkan Hill Is Pyramid
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Posted by Buddy B
On News/Activism 10/26/2005 8:35:54 PM PDT · 28 replies · 913+ views
NBC4.tv - Los Angeles, CA | October 26, 2005 | n/a
Researcher Says Balkan Hill Is Pyramid Visocica Hill Is 2,300 Feet High SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina -- A Sarajevo-born researcher said he has discovered an ancient pyramid in the hills of central Bosnia.
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Composer cracks Rosslyn's musical code
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Posted by uglybiker
On News/Activism 10/24/2005 12:29:16 PM PDT · 60 replies · 2,009+ views
The Scotsman | Sat 1 Oct 2005 | ANGIE BROWN
A MUSICAL code hidden in mystical symbols carved into the stone ceiling of Rosslyn Chapel has been unravelled for the first time in more than 500 years. Scottish composer Stuart Mitchell took 20 years to crack a complex series of codes, which have mystified historians for generations. His feat was hailed by experts as a stroke of genius. The codes were hidden in 213 cubes in the ceiling of the chapel, where parts of the film of Dan Brown's best-seller The Da Vinci Code were shot this week. Each cube contained different patterns to form an unusual 6?-minute piece of...
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Templar Architecture: Practicality and Praise
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Posted by Hacksaw
On News/Activism 10/30/2005 7:43:57 AM PST · 8 replies · 311+ views
TemplarHistory.com | undated | By Alan Butler
Within a very short period of the formation of the Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon, a new style of church architecture began to spread across Western Europe. The first examples of this are to be seen in France, where great Cathedrals such as that of Chartres sing loud the praise of what became known, much later as 'Gothic'. Whether or not the Knights Templar had any direct part in the creation of this revolution in religious building has always been something of a bone of contention, though it is clear that the fledgling organisation had...
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Get Medieval
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On This day In History: The Great Lisbon Earthquake
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Posted by Valin
On News/Activism 11/01/2005 6:26:07 AM PST · 17 replies · 384+ views
National Information Service for Earthquake Engineering | Jan T. Kozak, Charles D. James
Although not the strongest or most deadly earthquake in human history, the 1755 Lisbon earthquake's impact, not only on Portugal but on all of Europe, was profound and lasting. Depictions of the earthquake in art and literature can be found in several European countries, and these were produced and reproduced for centuries following the event, which came to be known as "The Great Lisbon Earthquake." The earthquake began at 9:30 on November 1st, 1755, and was centered in the Atlantic Ocean, about 200 km WSW of Cape St. Vincent. The total duration of shaking lasted ten minutes and was comprised...
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Prehistory and Origins
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Generosity Is No Monkey Business, Study
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Posted by blam
On News/Activism 10/27/2005 5:45:09 PM PDT · 9 replies · 197+ views
Physorg. Com | 10-27-2005
Generosity Is No Monkey Business, Study General Science | October 27, 2005 Given the opportunity to spread random acts of kindness, chimps would just as soon pass, finds a new UCLA-led study. The study, published in the Oct. 27 issue of the journal Nature, suggests at least one way in which humans differ from their closest living relatives in the animal kingdom. "Because chimps participate in collective activities such as cooperative hunting and food sharing and they console injured group members and human caregivers, their capacity for empathy and altruism has been an object of considerable curiosity," said UCLA anthropologist...
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Thoroughly Modern Miscellany
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Art dealer sentenced to 20 months
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Posted by afraidfortherepublic
On News/Activism 11/01/2005 2:20:39 PM PST · 12 replies · 317+ views
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | Nov. 1, 2005 | GRAEME ZIELINSKI
Before sentencing a Whitefish Bay art dealer on her second conviction stemming from an initial crime, a federal judge said Monday he hadn't really seen a "clear portrait" of the defendant and that what he did see was "impressionistic." But U.S. District Judge Charles N. Clevert Jr. said he had enough perspective to throw the book at Marilyn Karos, concluding that she had once more thumbed her nose at the law in the case that comprised a Libyan businessman, Renaissance-era astronomical devices, a hidden-camera videotape made at the Pfister Hotel and a Mob-style beat-down in the North Shore. Clevert sentenced...
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The History Of Halloween
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Posted by Dallas59
On General/Chat 10/22/2005 5:32:51 AM PDT · 12 replies · 243+ views
History Channel | 10/22/2005 | History Channel
Ancient Origins Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31,...
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Lessons From our Ancestors About the Countryside (Five Experts Ran a Welsh farm using 17th C methods)
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Posted by nickcarraway
On News/Activism 08/20/2005 9:03:36 PM PDT · 171 replies · 2,100+ views
BBC | Friday, 19 August 2005 | Megan Lane
For a year five experts ditched theory for practice, running a Welsh farm using 17th Century methods. What lessons for modern living did they learn? The BBC series Tales from the Green Valley follows historians and archaeologists as they recreate farm life from the age of the Stuarts. They wear the clothes, eat the food and use the tools, skills and technology of the 1620s. It was a time when daily life was a hard grind, intimately connected with the physical environment where routines were dictated by the weather and the seasons. A far cry from today's experience of the...
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Trash found may be linked to Vikings boat party
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Posted by Rakkasan1
On News/Activism 11/04/2005 7:16:22 AM PST · 75 replies · 1,946+ views
KSTP.com | 11-4-05 | 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS
One week after several Vikings players held a lewd party on a Lake Minnetonka boat, two players were seen throwing trash in a dumpster at a construction site in Eden Prairie. 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS obtained exclusive access to the trash - and the information it revealed. Bryant McKinnie and Mewelde Moore were seen throwing bags of trash in the dumpster. The eight bags contained what appeared to be remnants of a party, including aluminum tins of food, beer and champagne bottles, fireworks, disposable camera boxes, hallowed out cigars, something that looks like a marijuana bud, sexual and feminine hygiene products...
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end of digest #68 20051105
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