[SunkenCiv]

Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #113 Saturday, September 16, 2006
Neandertal
Modern Humans, Not Neanderthals, May Be Evolution's 'Odd Man Out'
	Posted by blam On News/Activism 09/08/2006 10:50:32 PM EDT · 83 replies · 1,325+ views EurekAlert | 9-8-2006 | Neil Schoenherr - University Of Washington Contact: Neil Schoenherr nschoenherr@wustl.edu 314-935-5235 Washington University in St. Louis Modern humans, not Neandertals, may be evolution's 'odd man out'Looking incorrectly at Neandertals Could it be that in the great evolutionary "family tree," it is we Modern Humans, not the brow-ridged, large-nosed Neandertals, who are the odd uncle out? New research published in the August, 2006 journal Current Anthropology by Neandertal and early modern human expert, Erik Trinkaus, professor of anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis, suggests that rather than the standard straight line from chimps to early humans to us with Neandertals off on a side graph, it's...
Anthropologist: Neanderthals More Normal Than We Are
	Posted by ryan71 On News/Activism 09/11/2006 11:17:32 AM EDT · 45 replies · 1,256+ views foxnews.com | Monday, September 11, 2006 | By Charles Q. Choi Neanderthals are often thought of as the stray branch in the human family tree, but research now suggests the modern human is likely the odd man out.
Neanderthals And Humans Lived Side By Side
	Posted by blam On News/Activism 09/13/2006 2:09:49 PM EDT · 64 replies · 1,293+ views New Scientist | 9-13-2006 | Rowan Hooper Neanderthals and humans lived side by side 18:00 13 September 2006 NewScientist.com news service Rowan Hooper Neanderthals were thought to have died out as modern humans arrived in Europe. Now, artifacts found in a cave in Gibraltar reveal that the two groups coexisted for millenia before Neanderthals finally dwindled out of existence. Homo sapiens moved into Europe about 32,000 years ago. But the newly unearthered artefacts shows that a remnant population of Homo neanderthalensis clung on until at least 28,000 years ago, a significant overlap. Clive Finlayson at the Gibraltar Museum, and colleagues, recovered 240 stone tools and artefacts from...
Neanderthals' 'last rock refuge' (survived much longer than previously thought)
	Posted by Mark Felton On News/Activism 09/13/2006 3:25:14 PM EDT · 53 replies · 1,215+ views BBC | 9/13/06 | BBC Our evolutionary cousin the Neanderthal may have survived in Europe much longer than previously thought. A study in Nature magazine suggests the species may have lived in Gorham's Cave on Gibraltar up to 24,000 years ago. The Neanderthal people were believed to have died out about 35,000 years ago, at a time when modern humans were advancing across the continent. The new evidence suggests they held on in Europe's deep south long after the arrival of Homo sapiens. The research team believes the Gibraltar Neanderthals may even have been the very last of their kind. "It shows conclusively that Gorham's...
Neandertals Had Long Childhoods, Tooth Study Suggests
	Posted by billorites On News/Activism 09/14/2006 9:04:20 AM EDT · 39 replies · 761+ views National Geographic News | September 14, 200 | James Owen Our prolonged childhoods make us Homo sapiens unique among primates. Scientists have a theory to explain this lengthy maturation process: Our brains need many years of learning and physical growth before we're equipped for the complexities of human living. Now a new study says we weren't the only humans who took their time growing up. Analysis of Neandertal teeth suggests that the extinct species had similarly lengthy childhoods. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Online Early Edition, compared growth rates of Neandertal front teeth with those of three modern human populations: Inuit (Eskimo), English,...
Ancient Europe
Stone Age female statue unearthed
	Posted by SunkenCiv On General/Chat 09/11/2006 12:12:00 PM EDT · 26 replies · 434+ views ANSA News in English | 9/11/2006 | unattributed The 7,000-year-old stone statuette, discovered during excavations of a burial site near the northern Italian city of Parma, is over 20 centimetres tall, the archaeological monthly Archeo reported. It depicts a woman with an oval face, slit eyes, a prominent nose and long hair. Her arms are bent at her elbows, sticking out at right-angles to her body... Her back is perfectly vertical, leading experts to conclude that she was probably originally carved to sit on a some kind of throne or support made of a material that has disintegrated over the centuries, such as wood. The figure was unearthed...
Megaliths and Archaeoastronomy
Dig unearths evidence of Neolithic partying
	Posted by SunkenCiv On General/Chat 09/11/2006 12:16:22 PM EDT · 10 replies · 207+ views This Is Wiltshire | 9/11/2006 | Corey Ross A team of 100 archaeologists, from various universities around Britain, along with Wessex Archaeology, has been carrying out excavations as part of the seven-year Riverside Project at Woodhenge, Durrington Walls and Stonehenge Cursus to find out more about the sites and their links with Stonehenge in the 26th Century BC... Professor of archaeology at Sheffield University Mike Parker- Pearson is leading the dig: "I think our most exciting discovery is the ceremonial avenue which leads from Durrington Walls to the river." ...The road, which formed an avenue aligned on the Midsummer Solstice sunset, suggested that Durrington Walls and Woodhenge were...
Asia
Stone Age Cave In Central Vietnam Has Neighbor
	Posted by blam On News/Activism 09/12/2006 5:38:59 PM EDT · 12 replies · 332+ views Thanh Nien News | 9-12-2006 | Nguoi Lao Dong - Luu Thi Hong Stone Age cave in central Vietnam has neighbor Vietnamese researchers, studying a grotto discovered a decade ago in which Paleolithic period tools were found, a few days ago stumbled upon another nearby also containing ancient tools. Experts from the Vietnam Archaeology Institute and the Quang Tri Museum in central Vietnam were researching the Hang Doi (bat) cave in Cam Lo districtís Dragon mountain when they found "Hang Doi 2". The grotto is 65 meters underground and its vault is 10-20 meter high. They found 11 stone tools inside. Hang Doi was acknowledged as a provincial relic in 1996 and recently...
Japan
3,500-year-old stone carving found [ Jomon ]
	Posted by SunkenCiv On General/Chat 09/15/2006 3:04:59 PM EDT · 22 replies · 108+ views Yomiuri Shimbun | Friday, September 15, 2006 | unattributed A 3,500-year-old stone artifact from the late Jomon period (ca. 10,000 B.C.-ca. 300 B.C.) decorated with carved images of three people has been unearthed at the Chikano archaeological site in Aomori... The find is known as a stone crown because of its shape, with the upper part narrower than the bottom. It is rare for a stone artifact with drawings from the Jomon period to be discovered, and it is the first time a stone crown depicting more than one person has been found... The Chikano archaeological site is located near the Sannai-Maruyama dig--the biggest Jomon period village remains... The...
China
Parties To Tackle China's Distortion Of History (Koguryo Kingdoms - Korea)
	Posted by blam On News/Activism 09/09/2006 1:59:39 PM EDT · 10 replies · 117+ views The Korean Times | 9-9-2006 | Lee Jin-woo Parties to Tackle China°Øs Distortion of History By Lee Jin-woo Floor leaders of the governing and opposition parties yesterday agreed to cooperate to address China's distortion of history. The five parties also decided to fully support a resolution unanimously proposed by a National Assembly panel on Thursday. In the resolution, members of the Unification, Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee denounced China for intentionally distorting ancient Korean history. They said the controversial research results of the state-funded Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) are not purely a scholastic product, but the Chinese government's intention to claim ancient Korean kingdoms originated in...
Sole Music
Chinese Archaeologists Discover 2,000-Year-Old Leather Shoes
	Posted by blam On News/Activism 09/09/2006 2:19:11 PM EDT · 17 replies · 349+ views The Hindu | 9-9-2006 Chinese archaeologists discover 2,000-year-old leather shoes Beijing, Sept. 9 (PTI): Six leather shoes, made some 2,000 years ago, have been discovered at a relic site in Dunhuang in northwest China's Gansu Province, taking the Chinese shoe-making industry older by some 1,000 years.The leather shoes, from the Han Dynasty (205 BC-220 AD), are the oldest leather shoes found in China, indicating that the history of China's leather shoe-making is some 1,000 years longer than previously believed, an archaeologist from Gansu Province, He Shuangquan said. The newly found, well-preserved shoes were made for children, aged three to six years old, said He,...
India
Skeletons, Script Found At Ancient Burial Site In Tamil Nadu
	Posted by blam On News/Activism 05/30/2004 6:02:52 PM EDT · 5 replies · 156+ views The Hindu | 5-25-2004 | T.S. Subramanian Skeletons, script found at ancient burial site in Tamil Nadu By T.S. Subramanian An urn containing a human skull and bones unearthed by the Archaeological Survey of India at Adhichanallur, near Tirunelveli town in Tamil Nadu. Twelve of these urns (below) contain human skeletons. Three of them, which may be 2,800 years old, bear inscriptions that resemble the early Tamil Brahmi script. -- Photos: A. Shaikmohideen CHENNAI, MAY 25. In spectacular finds, the Archaeological Survey of India, Chennai Circle, has unearthed a dozen 2,800-year-old human skeletons intact in urns at Adichanallur, 24 km from Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu. Three of...
Ancient Rome
Roman relics found near Elephanta
	Posted by SunkenCiv On General/Chat 09/15/2006 3:58:33 PM EDT · 13 replies · 82+ views Daily News & Analysis | Friday, September 15, 2006 | Ninad D Sheth The marine branch of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has discovered Roman artefacts dating back to the 5th and 6th centuries from the inter-tidal zone (the area between the high-tide and low-tide lines) of Elephanta Island. The find, made last winter, includes artefacts like wine amphorae (vases), pot sheds, storage devices, and stone anchors. The discovery shows that trade between Rome and India continued much later than previously thought... Alok Tripathi, ASI's head of underwater archaeology, said, "The entire Maharashtra coast has evidence of Roman contact on a large scale. We are particularly interested in Elephanta, Sindhudurg, Malvan, and...
The Etruscans
Archaeologists May Have Found What Was Once The Biggest City In Italy
	Posted by blam On News/Activism 11/07/2004 8:27:22 PM EST · 47 replies · 1,395+ views The Economist | 11-4-2004 Scientific treasure hunters Nov 4th 2004 | CLUSIUM, OR POSSIBLY NOT From The Economist print edition Archaeologists may have found what was once the biggest city in Italy REAL archaeology bears about as much resemblance to an Indiana Jones movie as real spying bears to James Bond. Excavation -- at least if it is to be meaningfully different from grave robbing -- is a matter of painstaking trowel work, not gung-ho gold-grabbing. But there is still a glimmer of the grave robber in many archaeologists, and the search for a juicy royal tomb can stimulate more than just rational, scientific instincts. Few tombs would...
Etruscan Holy City Discovered
	Posted by blam On News/Activism 09/08/2006 10:56:21 PM EDT · 18 replies · 631+ views ANSA | 9-8-2006 Etruscan holy city discovered Fledgling Rome 'trembled' when leaders of 12 cities met (ANSA) - Rome, September 7 - Italian archaeologists believe they have found the mysterious sanctuary which was the religious and political centre of the Etruscan civilisation. The Etruscans were an ancient people known to have lived in the area of Italy between Rome and Florence from the 8th century BC until they were absorbed by Rome about 600 years later. For centuries they dominated the fledgling city on the Tiber and even supplied its first kings. But most traces of the Etruscan civilisation, which produced sophisticated art,...
Ancient Greece
Unprecedented mathematical knowledge found in (Minoan) Bronze Age wall paintings.
	Posted by S0122017 On General/Chat 03/02/2006 8:01:38 AM EST · 50 replies · 1,350+ views www.nature.com/news | 28 February 2006 | Philip Ball Published online: 28 February 2006; | doi:10.1038/news060227-3 Were ancient Minoans centuries ahead of their time? Unprecedented mathematical knowledge found in Bronze Age wall paintings. Philip Ball Did the Minoans understand the Archimedes' spiral more than 1,000 years before him? A geometrical figure commonly attributed to Archimedes in 300 BC has been identified in Minoan wall paintings dated to over 1,000 years earlier. The mathematical features of the paintings suggest that the Minoans of the Late Bronze Age, around 1650 BC, had a much more advanced working knowledge of geometry than has previously been recognized, says computer scientist Constantin Papaodysseus of...
Climate
Eureka! Quarry near oilsands full of ancient artifacts [ Quarry of the Ancestors ]
	Posted by SunkenCiv On General/Chat 09/15/2006 3:52:39 PM EDT · 21 replies · 169+ views Hamilton Spectator | Friday, September 15, 2006 | Bob Weber / Canadian Press Oilsands activity has uncovered vast wealth of a different kind -- a 10,000-year-old quarry rich with tools and weapons from some of the first Albertans, including a pristine spearpoint still smeared with the blood of a woolly mammoth... The so-called Quarry of the Ancestors, which scientists suspect may be one of the first places where humans put down roots in northern Alberta after the retreat of the glaciers, is found on an outcrop of hard, fine-grained sandstone adjacent to the Albian Sands oilsands lease about 75 kilometres north of Fort McMurray... The quarry was discovered in 2003 when Birch Mountain...
Epigraphy and Language
Oldest writing in the New World discovered
	Posted by flevit On News/Activism 09/14/2006 4:09:26 PM EDT · 90 replies · 1,554+ views NewScientist.com | 14 September 2006 | Jeff Hecht A slab inscribed with the oldest writing yet discovered in the New World has been discovered in the Veracruz lowlands in Mexico. The writing dates back nearly 3000 years to the height of the Olmec culture that was the first Mesoamerican civilisation, Mexican archaeologists report. Called the Cascajal slab, it had been rescued along with other artefacts from a quarry at Lomas de Tacamichapa, in 1999, where it had been destined for use in road fill. Isolated symbols have been found on a few Olmec artefacts, but the slab is the first solid evidence of a true written language, says...
'Oldest' New World writing found
	Posted by Jedi Master Pikachu On News/Activism 09/15/2006 12:39:19 AM EDT · 19 replies · 315+ views BBC | September 15, 2006 | Helen Briggs Ancient civilisations in Mexico developed a writing system as early as 2,000 years ago, new evidence suggests. The discovery in the state of Veracruz of a block inscribed with symbolic shapes has astounded anthropologists. Researchers tell Science magazine that they consider it to be the oldest example of writing in the New World. The inscriptions are thought to have been made by the Olmecs, an ancient pre-Columbian people known for creating large statues of heads. The finding suggests that New World people developed writing some 400 years before their contemporaries in the Western hemisphere. ...... "I think it could...
PreColumbian, Clovis, and PreClovis
Mayan Ruins Said Center Of Mysterious Civilization
	Posted by blam On News/Activism 09/09/2006 1:42:41 PM EDT · 15 replies · 503+ views Reuters | 9-8-2006 | Science News Mayan ruins said center of mysterious civilization Fri Sep 8, 2006 11:43pm ET TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (Reuters) - Experts are examining the ruins of a pre-Columbian culture in an area of Honduras where there had been no previous evidence of major indigenous civilization. The site, discovered earlier this year, consists of 14 mounds that form part of what are believed to be ceremonial grounds, the Honduran Institute of Anthropology said. "They are part of a very important site, a governing center of a pre-Columbian civilization," Oscar Neils, the institute's head of research, told Reuters. "We had no idea that there was...
Middle Ages and Renaissance
Skeletons Of Bloodiest Day (Towton - 1461AD)
	Posted by blam On News/Activism 09/12/2006 5:45:57 PM EDT · 66 replies · 1,679+ views The Press | 9-12-2006 | Nadia Jefferson-Brown Skeletons of bloodiest day By Nadia Jefferson-Brown SKELETONS bearing marks of horrendous sword injuries have been unearthed beneath a North Yorkshire hall. The victims of a medieval battle were discovered beneath the floor of the dining room of Towton Hall, between Tadcaster and Sherburn-in- Elmet, dating from the Battle of Towton in 1461. The discovery was made as part of a ten-year investigation into the archaeological evidence of the longest and bloodiest battle ever fought in England. Taking place on Palm Sunday, March 29, 1461, the Lancastrian army was handed an enormous blow with its leader, King Henry VI, forced...
British Isles
Black music from Scotland? It could be the gospel truth
	Posted by Between the Lines On News/Activism 09/01/2003 8:57:11 PM EDT · 57 replies · 416+ views Scotsman | Sun 31 Aug 2003 | BEN McCONVILLE THE church elderís reaction was one of utter disbelief. Shaking his head emphatically, he couldnít take in what the distinguished professor from Yale University was telling him. "No," insisted Jim McRae, an elder of the small congregation of Clearwater in Florida. "This way of worshipping comes from our slave past. It grew out of the slave experience, when we came from Africa." But Willie Ruff, an Afro-American professor of music at Yale, was adamant - he had traced the origins of gospel music to Scotland. The distinctive psalm singing had not been brought to Americaís Deep South by African slaves...
Medieval Scotland
DNA Test Can Detect Picts' Descendants
	Posted by blam On News/Activism 08/14/2006 9:17:14 PM EDT · 48 replies · 1,161+ views The Telegraph (UK) | 8-14-2006 | Auslan Cramb DNA test can detect Picts' descendants By Auslan Cramb, Scottish Correspondent (Filed: 14/08/2006) A geneticist has created a DNA test for "Scottishness" that will tell people whether they are direct descendants of the Picts. The test, expected to cost about £130, checks a sample of saliva against 27 genetic markers linked to some of the earliest inhabitants of Scotland. Dr Jim Wilson, of the public health sciences department at Edinburgh University, said: "We started this work a few years ago, looking at the Norse component, and we proved that a large proportion of people on Orkney are descended from Vikings....
Medieval Ireland
The scale and nature of Viking settlement in Ireland from Y-chromosome admixture analysis
	Posted by CobaltBlue On News/Activism 09/10/2006 8:44:28 AM EDT · 62 replies · 1,025+ views European Journal of Human Genetics | September 6, 2006 | Brian McEvoy, Claire Brady, Laoise T Moore and Daniel G Bradley The Vikings (or Norse) played a prominent role in Irish history but, despite this, their genetic legacy in Ireland, which may provide insights into the nature and scale of their immigration, is largely unexplored. Irish surnames, some of which are thought to have Norse roots, are paternally inherited in a similar manner to Y-chromosomes. The correspondence of Scandinavian patrilineal ancestry in a cohort of Irish men bearing surnames of putative Norse origin was examined using both slow mutating unique event polymorphisms and relatively rapidly changing short tandem repeat Y-chromosome markers. Irish and Scandinavian admixture proportions were explored for both systems...
Navigation
The Nitrogen The Vikings Left Behind
	Posted by blam On News/Activism 09/11/2006 5:55:50 PM EDT · 24 replies · 748+ views New Scientist | 9-11-2006 nitrogen the Vikings left behind 11 September 2006 From New Scientist Print Edition. Discovering ancient settlements is often rather hit and miss, but the odds would be improved with a bit of chemical analysis. Plants growing over old sites of human habitation have a different chemistry from their neighbours, and these differences can reveal the location buried ruins. Plants mostly take in nitrogen from the soil as the isotope nitrogen-14, with just a dash of nitrogen-15. Plants growing above archaeological sites in Greenland, however, seem to have absorbed a larger dose of nitrogen-15. Rob Commisso and Erle Nelson from...
Vikings In South America?
	Posted by SunkenCiv On General/Chat 09/15/2006 5:11:03 PM EDT · 9 replies · 87+ views Science Frontiers | Science Frontiers #62, Mar-Apr 1989 | William R. Corliss [T]he latest number of the Belgian journal Kadath is devoted entirely to Viking (hyperboreene) contacts in South America! Now that's a far piece from Greenland. This long article (40 pages) is replete with photographs, interpretations, and translations of runic inscriptions found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. It is impossible to do justice to this mass of inscriptions here, but we will reproduce one of the figures below. (de Mahieu, Jacques; "Corpus des Inscriptions Runiques d'Amerique du Sud," Kadath, no. 68, p. 11, 1988.) Comment. To American anomalists, the frustrating part of this whole business is the need to go to...
Faith and Philosophy
In The Towers Of Silence, An Ancient Ritual Of Death Comes Under Threat
	Posted by blam On News/Activism 09/11/2006 11:20:59 PM EDT · 35 replies · 878+ views The Telegraph (UK) | 9-12-2006 | Peter Foster In the Towers of Silence, an ancient ritual of death comes under threat By Peter Foster in New Delhi (Filed: 12/09/2006) The viability of the centuries-old Zoroastrian custom of allowing vultures to consume the corpses of its devotees has been called into question after a relative of one of the dead discovered piles of rotting bodies lying almost untouched by the birds. Dhun Baria, a member of Bombay's Zoroastrian community, known as Parsis, was shocked to be told that the body of her mother had lain untouched for nine months after she was laid to rest at the Towers of...
Biology and Cryptobiology
Melungeon descendants celebrate their mysterious heritage
	Posted by hispanarepublicana On News/Activism 08/02/2005 1:20:13 PM EDT · 177 replies · 3,739+ views Biloxi Sun Herald (Knight Ridder) | 7/30/05 | Steve Ivey FRANKFORT, Ky. - (KRT) - When S.J. Arthur started tracing her lineage more than 20 years ago, a fellow researcher stammered as she noticed recurring family names. Was she connected to a unique group of people known as Melungeons, the researcher timidly asked, afraid Arthur might slap her. The reference was once considered a racial slur. "I could be," Arthur replied. "I just don't know yet." This weekend Arthur was one of dozens of Melungeon descendants who gathered in Frankfort, Ky., to shed the stigma that plagued their ancestors and try to grasp their mysterious heritage. The Melungeons have been...
Oh So Mysteriouso
Myths & Mysteries: The pharaoh's daughter who was the mother of all Scots
	Posted by martin_fierro On General/Chat 09/15/2006 5:08:29 PM EDT · 16 replies · 160+ views scotsman.com | Thu 14 Sep 2006 | Diane Maclean Myths & Mysteries Thu 14 Sep 2006 The pharaoh's daughter who was the mother of all Scots Diane Maclean "From various writings of ancient chroniclers we deduce that the nation of the Scots is of ancient stock, taking its first beginning from the Greeks and those of the Egyptians." - Walter Bower, Scotichronicon WALTER Bower wrote his compendium of Scottish history, Scotichronicon, in the 1440s. This sweeping Latin text aimed to set down the history of the Scottish people from the earliest times ñ and by so doing to show what race of people we were. He referenced his chronicle...
Thoroughly Modern Miscellany
Sons of American Revolution welcome Gates
	Posted by Pharmboy On News/Activism 09/14/2006 7:38:49 PM EDT · 19 replies · 257+ views Harvard University Gazette | 9-14-06 | Anon Gates learned of the Revolutionary War veteran in his lineage while filming his PBS documentary, 'African American Lives.' (Staff file photo Justin Ide/Harvard News Office) Henry Louis Gates Jr., W.E.B. Du Bois Professor of the Humanities and director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard, was inducted into the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) on July 10 at the societyís 116th annual convention, held in Addison, Texas. Gates learned of the Revolutionary War veteran in his lineage while filming his PBS documentary, "African American Lives," a program that used innovations in...
Longer Perspectives
Bernard Lewis. Race and Slavery in the Middle East
	Posted by Bad~Rodeo On News/Activism 07/26/2006 2:16:33 AM EDT · 10 replies · 596+ views fordham.edu | Oxford Univ Press 1994. Chpt. 1 Slavery In 1842 the British Consul General in Morocco, as part of his government's worldwide endeavor to bring about the abolition of slavery or at least the curtailment of the slave trade, made representations to the sultan of that country asking him what measures, if any, he had taken to accomplish this desirable objective. The sultan replied, in a letter expressing evident astonishment, that "the traffic in slaves is a matter on which all sects and nations have agreed from the time of the sons of Adam . . . up to this day." The sultan continued that...
end of digest #113 20060916

[SunkenCiv]

A bunch of Neandertal topics to lead off, then swooping down through prehistory, clockwise through Eurasia, into historical times, then a leap back into ancient America, back toward the present, etc. Enjoy.

Gods Graves Glyphs Digest #113 20060916

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Topics 1702363 through 1698191.

[SunkenCiv]

Three that I missed! [blush]

Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #113a Saturday, September 16, 2006
Ancient Egypt
Neferititi was actually a 'fascinating' aging beauty
	Posted by SunkenCiv On General/Chat 09/15/2006 6:58:12 PM EDT · 3 replies · 17+ views New Kerala | September 6, 2006 | unattributed Discovered in 1912 at Tel-El-Amarna in what used to be the workshop of the sculptor Thutmose, the bust - depicting a woman with a long neck, elegantly arched brows, high cheekbones, a slender nose and an enigmatic smile played about red lips, has become the international symbol of beauty. However, a new examination of the famous bust has revealed visible wrinkles running down her slender neck, and puffy bags circling, leading experts to now believe that Nefertiti was an aging beauty. Dietrich Wildung, director of Berlin's Egyptian museum, who is part of the investigation, revealed that signs of aging had...
Ancient Rome
Romanian archaeologists discover Roman stronghold
	Posted by SunkenCiv On General/Chat 09/15/2006 7:08:38 PM EDT · 1 reply · 1+ view People's Daily Online | September 14, 2006 | Xinhua Romanian archaeologists have unearthed an unknown Roman stronghold dating back more than 2,000 years in the southwest Mehedinti County, Romanian Rompres news agency reported on Wednesday. The archaeologists discovered that the fortification, in the Izvoarele locality, was from the time of the Roman emperor Diocletian, showing that it was built after the Romans withdrew their armies from Dacia (271-274 BC). The fortification was one of the strongholds in the defence system built by the Romans along the Danube. Manager of the local Iron Gates Region Museum Ion Stanga said the discovery was very important for Romanian history, "as it proves...
A Unique 'Two-Faced' Roman Mosaic from Pomezia, Italy
	Posted by SunkenCiv On General/Chat 09/15/2006 6:51:04 PM EDT · 2 replies · 4+ views Minerva | Issue 1705 | Dr Mark Merrony (I think) Viewed one way is an image of a bald old man with a beard; from the opposite perspective the face appears as a beardless youth. This bizarre face is thought to depict Bacchus, the Roman god of wine and fertility, because of the association in the same panel with three of his cult objects, a two-handled drinking bowl (skyphos), a rattle (sistrum), and a wand (thyrsus). This unique optical illusion, which may allude to the 'trickery' practised by the god, would also have neatly freed the ancient spectator from viewing the representation from a fixed perspective, which was a major...
end of digest #113 20060916

[SunkenCiv]

Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #114 Saturday, September 23, 2006
Elam, Persia, Parthia, Iran
Red floor unearthed in Persepolis treasury
	Posted by SunkenCiv On General/Chat 09/21/2006 3:08:52 PM EDT · 13 replies · 199+ views Mehr News Agency | September 20, 2006 | unattributed A red floor which dates back to the reign of Darius the Great was recently unearthed in the treasury of Persepolis, the Persian service of CHN reported on Wednesday. Archaeologists working on Persepolis were not informed about the floor, which was discovered while gardeners worked on the green area over top of one section of the treasury... [C]urator of the Persepolis site-specific museum Mohammad-Taqi Ataii said... the discovery confirms the view of German archaeologist Erich Frederich Schmidt about the dimensions of the treasury at the time of Darius I. Schmidt excavated Persepolis in the mid 1930s. Archaeological studies show that...
Vandals Pour Paint On Elamite Bas-Reliefs In Southern Iran
	Posted by blam On News/Activism 09/18/2006 1:58:43 PM EDT · 16 replies · 602+ views Tehran Times | 9-18-2006 Vandals pour paint on Elamite bas-reliefs in southern Iran Tehran Times Culture Desk TEHRAN -- Unidentified men have poured paint on the bas-reliefs of the Elamite Tarisha Temple in the Izeh region of Khuzestan Province, the Persian service of CHN reported on Sunday. In response, the Izeh Cultural Heritage Lovers Society has asked Iranian cultural officials to mobilize security guard teams for the Tarisha Temple, which is also known as Eshkaft-e Salman, and for the nearby Kul-Farah site. The security detail for Izeh's ancient sites has no means to defend themselves or the ancient sites, society chairman Faramarz Khoshab told...
Destruction of Historic Sites in Iran Taliban Style
	Posted by freedom44 On News/Activism 09/16/2006 6:05:13 PM EDT · 24 replies · 504+ views RoozOnline | 9/16/06 | RoozOnline With the launching of Chinese style cultural revolution by the president of Iran and following the clashes between professionals and government officials over the protection of Isfahan's historic sites, news reports indicate that similar quarrels are heating up now in Kermanshah province over its historic sites. By recalling the events that took place in Isfahan, archeology experts argue that planning the underground metro system in Kermanshah on the regions that are registered as national historic sites is not an accidental event. It is completely planned and derives from the perspective that views all focus on pre-Islamic events in the region...
Herodutus Life Situation Affected his History
	Posted by F14 Pilot On News/Activism 10/02/2005 4:59:19 AM EDT · 8 replies · 713+ views Cultural Heritage News Agency | 10/1/2005 How the life Herodotus lived affected his history writing is a subject of dispute among many experts The question of how social conditions affecting Herodotus's personal life affected his writing history may raise many disputes among historians. "The state where Herodotus was born in was under Persian Empire at that time; it was governed by Lygdamis, who put to death the poet Panyasis, a relative of Herodotus, for opposition and riots against Persia. Following this event, Herodotus had to leave his native city and went to Samos Island in Athena, and ever since he inhabited in Greek lands. But since...
Rewriting Victors' View of Persian History
	Posted by F14 Pilot On News/Activism 09/17/2005 7:48:03 PM EDT · 10 replies · 582+ views NY Times Via Iranian.com | September 14, 2005 | By ALAN RIDING An early reference to Alexander of Macedon is the first hint of where the British Museum is heading in its new exhibition, "Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia." After all, to Persians then and Iranians now, there was nothing great about the Alexander who crushed the largest empire the world had yet known. Indeed, his burning of Persepolis in 331 B.C. was considered an act of vandalism. But the show, which runs through Jan. 8, goes further, challenging the version of history that ancient Greece, starting with Herodotus, bequeathed to the West. Put simply, in that version Greece heroically...
Modern Iran unveils marvels of Ancient Persian Empire
	Posted by Khashayar On News/Activism 09/08/2005 12:09:47 AM EDT · 12 replies · 514+ views Reuters | Wed Sep 7, 2005 LONDON (Reuters) - Iran, at loggerheads with the West over its nuclear ambitions, has put tension to one side and lent a treasure trove of artefacts from Ancient Persia to a new exhibition at the British Museum. Organisers were concerned the exhibition may not happen at all after hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected the Islamic state's president in June. "We certainly were worried for a time that we wouldn't receive any objects," said curator John Curtis. "But happily that wasn't the case, and everybody decided to go ahead with the exhibition." "Forgotten Empire: the world of Ancient Persia," which opens...
Your signature is needed to save History of Persia!
	Posted by F14 Pilot On Bloggers & Personal 08/31/2005 8:08:22 PM EDT · 24 replies · 419+ views self SIGN HERE PLEASE The Mullahs of Iran are about to destroy the ancient persian monuments in south of Iran by submerging them. Please sign the petition to help save the history of Persia. Please forward the link to your friends & relatives and those who are interested for more signatures! Your help is appreciated...
Cyrus the Great in Biblical Prophecy
	Posted by freedom44 On News/Activism 10/13/2004 3:49:51 AM EDT · 27 replies · 944+ views Iranian Cultural Heritage | 10/13/04 | Iranian Cultural Heritage One of the truly astounding prophecies of the Bible is found in the last verse of Isaiah 44, together with chapter 45:1ff, (an unfortunate chapter break). It has to do with Cyrus, king of Persia. According to the historian Herodotus (i.46), Cyrus was the son of Cambyses I. He came to the Persian throne in 559 B.C. Nine years later he conquered the Medes, thus unifying the kingdoms of the Medes and the Persians. Cyrus is mentioned some 23 times in the literature of the Old Testament. Isaiah refers to Cyrus as Jehovah's "shepherd," the Lord's "anointed," who was providentially...
Celebration of 2,500 years of Monarchy in Iran (History w/pics)
	Posted by freedom44 On News/Activism 01/03/2004 10:15:05 PM EST · 21 replies · 826+ views Arheman | 1/3/04 | Arheman Shah greeting the leaders Shah leaving to meet world leaders at the airport for the ceremonies. Imperial Pahlavi family arrives to celebrate 2,500 years of Iran's monarchy. Achaemenid Soldiers March The opening March of the 2500 Years Celebrations was the Eye Catching and Glorious Achaemenid Soldiers March. Viewing the ceremonies Alahazrat and Oliyahazrat viweing the opening parade of the ceremonies hosted by the Shah and Empress of Iran. The Persian Navy March Simulation of Achaemenid's Glorious Navy represented by Grand Admiral Artemisia, Commander in Chief of The Persian Navy and her soldiers, presented as an interesting part of the...
Iranians going back to pre-Islamic Days
	Posted by freedom44 On News/Activism 06/08/2003 10:36:40 PM EDT · 15 replies · 371+ views Associated Press | 6/8/03 | ALI AKBAR DAREINI KISH ISLAND, Iran (AP) -- It started small -- a few babies named after the pre-Islamic heroes Darius or Cyrus, a bit more government money for preserving ancient sites, advertisers using the image of the ruins of Persepolis to sell salad dressing and motorbikes. Now comes modern Iran's most audacious salute yet to a Persian past that Islamic fundamentalists would rather forget. It's a $125 million hotel built in the style of Persepolis, all graceful columns, statues of winged bulls with human faces and bas reliefs showing envoys bearing gifts for ancient Achaemenian kings -- decorations that violate Islam's ban...
Anatolia
Ancient Hittite Dam Inaugurated After 32 Centuries
	Posted by blam On News/Activism 09/20/2006 2:11:24 PM EDT · 27 replies · 644+ views Turkish Daily News | 9-20-2006 Ancient Hittite dam inaugurated after 32 centuries Wednesday, September 20, 2006 ANKARA - Turkish Daily News A Hittite-era dam located in the central Anatolian province of «orum and believed to be one of the oldest in the world to have survived to date has been restored and is once again serving as a source of irrigation for local residents. The dam, located at the Alacahˆy¸k archaeological site, was built by the Hittites in 1240 B.C. The dam's inauguration was marked with a ceremony over the weekend attended by Professor Aykut «´´naro?lu, who heads the team excavating Alacahˆy¸k, Ankara University Rector...
Ancient Egypt
The Queen Who Would Be King [ Hatshepsut ]
	Posted by SunkenCiv On General/Chat 09/18/2006 1:27:52 AM EDT · 16 replies · 115+ views Smithsonian Magazine | September 2006 | Elizabeth B. Wilson Hatshepsut seems to have idolized her father (she would eventually have him reburied in the tomb she was having built for herself) and would claim that soon after her birth he had named her successor to his throne, an act that scholars feel would have been highly unlikely... [I]t was the accepted New Kingdom practice for widowed queens to act as regents, handling the affairs of government until their sons -- in this case, stepson/ nephew -- came of age... says Peter Dorman, an Egyptologist at the University of Chicago and a contributor to the exhibition catalog. "But it's also...
Ancient Rome
Greek language engravings discovered in Alexandria
	Posted by SunkenCiv On General/Chat 09/22/2006 1:49:40 PM EDT · 11 replies · 113+ views Hellenic News | September 2006 | Deutsche Presse-Agentur The engravings, which were discovered close to the Amoud al-Sawari monument, are said to date back to the times of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (ruled 161-180 AD.)... are six lines long and were found etched on an artefact measuring 50 centimetres long and 36 centimetres wide, which may perhaps be part of an ancient altar. The engravings are said to be writings glorifying the supreme ancient Greek deity Zeus along with several other Greek gods. The Amoud al-Sawari monument - also known as the Column of the Horsemen, or Pompey's Pillar - is located in the Karmouz district, which is...
Ancient Greece
An Empire's Epidemic (Justinian Plague)
	Posted by blam On News/Activism 09/18/2006 7:38:39 PM EDT · 37 replies · 623+ views UCLA | 5-6-2002 | Thomas H Maugh II An Empire's Epidemic Scientists Use DNA in Search for Answers to 6th Century Plague By THOMAS H. MAUGH II, Times Staff Writer By the middle of the 6th century, the Emperor Justinian had spread his Byzantine Empire around the rim of the Mediterranean and throughout Europe, laying the groundwork for what he hoped would be a long-lived dynasty. His dreams were shattered when disease-bearing mice from lower Egypt reached the harbor town of Pelusium in AD 540. From there, the devastating disease spread to Alexandria and, by ship, to Constantinople, Justinian's capital, before surging throughout his empire. By the time...
Asia
FReeper Canteen ~ Alexander The Great: Conquest of Syria, Phoenicia, Egypt ~ January 6, 2004
	Posted by LaDivaLoca On News/Activism 01/06/2004 6:57:57 AM EST · 490 replies · 1,259+ views Alexander The Great of Macedon | January 6, 2004 | LaDivaLoca † † For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday... Thank the Veterans who served in The United States Armed Forces. † † Looking forward to tomorrow's freedom? Support The United States Armed Forces Today! † † ANCIENT WARFAREPart III: Ancient Greek Military: †Continuation: Alexander The Great † Conquest of Syria, Phoenicia and Egypt332BC With the intention to isolate the Persian fleet from its maritime bases and so to destroy it as an effective fighting force, from Issus Alexander marched south into Syria and Phoenicia. The Phoenician cities Marathus and Aradus came over to Alexander with no resistance. In reply to...
China
German art student poses as terracotta warrior, confounds police
	Posted by martin_fierro On General/Chat 09/17/2006 6:39:01 PM EDT · 19 replies · 368+ views AFP/Yahoo | 9/17/06 German art student poses as terracotta warrior, confounds police 1 hour, 26 minutes ago BEIJING (AFP) - A German art student hoodwinked police in northern China's famed terracotta warrior museum by disguising himself as a clay soldier among a forest of ancient statues, state media said. Pablo Wendel jumped into an archaeological pit showcasing several thousand terracotta soldiers, found a spot to stand and frustrated police who had difficulty finding him amid the 2,200-year-old warriors, Xinhua news agency said. After finally locating the art student, Wendel refused to budge and police at the museum near China's ancient capital of Xian...
German Joins China's Ancient Warriors
	Posted by The G Man On News/Activism 09/19/2006 12:46:27 PM EDT · 10 replies · 447+ views Yahoo | 9/19/06 Back to Story - Help German joins China's ancient warriors Mon Sep 18, 10:27 PM ET A German art student tried to join a Chinese dynasty's army ó but he volunteered centuries too late. The 26-year-old man ó identified only as "Pablo" or by his Chinese name "Ma Lin" ó made a dusty brown suit of armor, a tunic and a helmet, and attempted to blend in with the ancient warriors of the terra cotta army in the western city of Xi'an, the Hong Kong newspapers Ming Pao Daily News and Wen Wei Po reported on Monday.The outfit matched...
Faith and Philosophy
Imaging Technology Restores 700-Year-Old Sacred Hindu Text [ Sarvamoola granthas ]
	Posted by SunkenCiv On General/Chat 09/19/2006 12:13:54 PM EDT · 8 replies · 90+ views RIT University News Web | Tuesday, September 19, 2006 | Susan Gawlowicz Scientists who worked on the Archimedes Palimpsest are using modern imaging technologies to digitally restore a 700-year-old palm-leaf manuscript containing the essence of Hindu philosophy. The project led by P.R. Mukund and Roger Easton, professors at Rochester Institute of Technology, will digitally preserve the original Hindu writings known as the Sarvamoola granthas attributed to scholar Shri Madvacharya (1238-1317). The collection of 36 works contains commentaries written in Sanskrit on sacred Hindu scriptures and conveys the scholar's Dvaita philosophy of the meaning of life and the role of God... "It is literally crumbling to dust," says Mukund, the Gleason Professor of...
India
Archaeologists dig up 'monastery' at Kapileswar
	Posted by SunkenCiv On General/Chat 09/22/2006 11:54:30 AM EDT · 4 replies · 75+ views Newindpress | Friday September 22 2006 | unattributed Archaeologists have dug up remnant seems to be of Buddhist era at Kapileswar on the City outskirts which can throw light on hitherto unknown aspects of Lord Buddha. The new findings can either put to rest the long-drawn debate about his birthplace, early life and the life and culture of that period or add more fuel to the controversy. The excavation work for 10 days in this village by a team of the State Museum has thrown up remains, which experts believe belong to the Buddhist era. The findings would help trace the existence of a Buddhist centre there, believe...
Epigraphy and Language
Script Delivery: New World writing takes disputed turn [ from 2002 ]
	Posted by SunkenCiv On General/Chat 09/17/2006 3:51:29 PM EDT · 8 replies · 74+ views Science News; Vol. 162, No. 23 , p. 355 | Dec. 7, 2002 | Bruce Bower Inscriptions on the seal and plaque display important elements of later scripts employed by civilizations in Mexico and Central America, the researchers say. These include a mix of language-related symbols and drawings, as well as references to a sacred calendar and specific kings. According to the scientists, the seal carries two sets of symbols emanating from the beak of a bird to show that the signs represent spoken words. Pohl and her coworkers interpret these hieroglyphics as representing the name "King 3 Ajaw." ...The researchers couldn't translate the two complete hieroglyphic signs and two possible partial ones on the plaque...
PreColumbian, Clovis, and PreClovis
Eagle Mountain: Ancient rock art found at building site [ 6K BP petroglyphs ]
	Posted by SunkenCiv On General/Chat 09/17/2006 3:38:51 PM EDT · 13 replies · 158+ views Salt Lake Tribune | 9/16/2006 | Todd Hollingshead "It is some of the oldest rock art in Utah," Nina Bowen, archivist for the Utah Rock Art Research Association, said in a news release. "Its style is very unique." ...The most compelling piece at the undisclosed site shows what appears to be three figures holding hands and dancing, said Utah Rock Art Research president Troy Scotter... Scotter said the region boasts quite a bit of rock art - ranging from archaic (2,000 to 6,000 years old) to younger creations by the Fremont people (A.D. 500 to 1300). He said the dancing-figures petroglyph is likely Fremont art - although more...
Africa
'Lucy's baby' found in Ethiopia
	Posted by aculeus On News/Activism 09/20/2006 1:26:20 PM EDT · 135 replies · 2,573+ views BBC News on line | September 20, 2006 | Unsigned The 3.3-million-year-old fossilised remains of a human-like child have been unearthed in Ethiopia's Dikika region. The female bones are from the species Australopithecus afarensis , which is popularly known from the adult skeleton nicknamed "Lucy". Scientists are thrilled with the find, reported in the journal Nature. They believe the near-complete remains offer a remarkable opportunity to study growth and development in an important extinct human ancestor. The skeleton was first identified in 2000, locked inside a block of sandstone. It has taken five years of painstaking work to free the bones. "The Dikika fossil is now revealing many secrets about...
Helen Thomas Convinced Fossil Remains of "Lucy" Are Her Long Lost Daughter
	Posted by StoneGiant On Bloggers & Personal 09/22/2006 6:57:47 PM EDT · 4 replies · 97+ views The Nose on Your Face | 9/22/2006 Helen Thomas Convinced Fossil Remains of "Lucy" Are Her Long Lost Daughter White House Correspondent Helen Thomas reportedly erupted in a startling orgy of joy yesterday when she saw the recreation of "Lucy," a 3.3 million year old skeleton discovered in Ethiopia. According to insiders who were able to decipher Ms. Thomas' grunts and squeals, Lucy is the spitting image of a baby the famed reporter gave up for adoption when she was a teenager. "I've never seen Helen quite like this," said one anonymous colleague. "She was squatting in her chair and pointing at her computer screen, yelling, 'LUCY...
Biology and Cryptobiology
Seeds 200 Years Old Breathe Again
	Posted by blam On News/Activism 09/22/2006 7:13:40 PM EDT · 17 replies · 558+ views BBC | 9-22-2006 | Richard Black Seeds 200 years old breathe again By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News website The unknown acacia species is now half a metre tall Seeds which have been stored away since the time of George III have been persuaded into new life. Scientists from the Millennium Seed Bank, operated by the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, have induced seeds from three species to germinate. They had been brought to Britain from South Africa by a Dutch merchant in 1803, and were found in a notebook stored in the National Archives. Given this history, the team said it was surprised by...
Middle Ages and Renaissance
The Arab Drift Into Scientific Obscurity
	Posted by SJackson On News/Activism 12/21/2005 6:30:55 PM EST · 48 replies · 1,007+ views Arab News | 12-21-05 | Faisal Sanai In this era of globalization, a nation's growth within the maturity module is determined by its scientific progress. Scientific progress in turn, is measured by the nation's overall research publication in key peer-reviewed journals. This, to put it metaphorically, is the "Holy Grail" of the research community. While recently attending a medical conference in France, I noted that there was a sizeable attendance from Saudi Arabia. Buoyed by the scientific interest that my fellow countrymen seemed to be exhibiting, I scanned the huge list of research trials being presented in the conference and, to my utter dismay, realized that not...
Longer Perspectives
Thieves of Time--France remains the greatest looter in the Middle East
	Posted by SJackson On News/Activism 04/14/2003 8:28:38 AM EDT · 35 replies · 389+ views FrontPageMagazine.com | April 14, 2003 | Lowell Ponte "WE WERE READY FOR THE BOMBS, NOT THE LOOTERS," said Nabhal Amin. As Deputy Director of Iraq's 70-year-old National Museum of Antiquities, Amin had just watched more than 7,000 years of collected history destroyed or stolen by the storm of lawlessness that swept through Baghdad. The wind tore down Amin's gates last Thursday. "The several acres of museum grounds were overrun by thousands of men, women and children, many of them armed with rifles, pistols, axes, knives and clubs," wrote John Burns of the New York Times. "The crowd was storming out of the complex carrying antiquities on hand carts,...
Navigation
White House loot anchors fight over sunken bounty [War of 1812]
	Posted by 1rudeboy On News/Activism 09/22/2006 8:15:39 PM EDT · 32 replies · 786+ views The Hamilton Spectator | 22. September 2006 | Alison Auld By Alison AuldThe Canadian PressHALIFAX (Sep 22, 2006) A stash of loot possibly stolen from the White House in the early 1800s is at the centre of an international dispute over who owns the bounty that now rests in a watery grave off the Nova Scotia coast.A U.S. exploration company has laid claim to the bounty on what it suspects is the HMS Fantome, a navy brig that was loaded with goods British and Canadian soldiers made off with after ransacking the White House and Capitol buildings during the War of 1812.The company, Sovereign Exploration Associates International Inc., has...
Thoroughly Modern Miscellany
Map thief resented prestigious libraries [ "sense of entitlement" ]
	Posted by SunkenCiv On General/Chat 09/22/2006 1:42:00 PM EDT · 10 replies · 143+ views Yahoo! | Thursday, September 21, 2006 | Jason Szep (Reuters) A dealer of antique treasures who admitted stealing more than $3 million (1.6 million pounds) in rare maps was resentful of the world's top libraries and acted to finance his rich tastes and rising debt... Edward Forbes Smiley III stole 98 of the world's most precious maps over seven years... said he initially acted because he felt he had been wronged and slighted. "Although he had a large degree of access to many libraries for his research and used such access, he did not steal maps from every library that he visited," prosecutors wrote... "He explained that his initial thefts...
end of digest #114 20060923