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Top 10 Discoveries of 2007 (Archaeology magazine)
Archaeology ^ | January/February 2008, v61 n1 | editors

Posted on 12/20/2007 11:52:08 AM PST by SunkenCiv

Hardly week goes by without a major archaeological discovery or the publication of a radical new theory about the human past. Reducing a year's worth of these stories to the 10 most important was a tall order, especially since our intent was to go beyond the headlines and select those we thought made a significant impact on the field--ones that will be talked about for decades.

image

Solar Observatory at Chankillo, Peru

image

Nebo-Sarsekim Cuneiform Tablet

image

New Dates for Clovis Sites

image

Early Squash Seeds, Peru

image

Ancient Chimpanzee Tool Use

image

Urbanization at Tell Brak, Syria

image

Lismullin Henge, Tara, Ireland

image

Polynesian Chickens in Chile

image

Homo habilis & Homo erectus

image

Greater Angkor, Cambodia

Of course, we couldn't agree on our own top ten, and many of us lobbied for stories that didn't make the final cut. So, we have added here nine of 2007's other most important finds...

image

Baby Mammoth, Russia

image

Alexander's Isthmus, Tyre, Lebanon

image

Ötzi's Final Moments, Italy

image

Neolithic Mural, Syria

image

Imperial Standards, Rome

image

Building the Great Pyramid, Giza

image

Paleolithic Tools, India

image

5,800-Year-Old Mass Grave, Syria

image

Polynesian Breakthroughs

What did we leave out? What would you have picked as the year's most important find, whether it's something we picked or something we missed, rounding out the year's 20 most important discoveries?



TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: 2007review; archaeology; cuneiform; godsgravesglyphs; topten
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(count is too high due to the HTML. How does Blam *do* that?)
1 posted on 12/20/2007 11:52:10 AM PST by SunkenCiv
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Okay, even though I remembered to fix the graphic pointers, I forgot to fix the links, so they go nowhere. Fixin' 'em here...
image

Solar Observatory at Chankillo, Peru
image

Nebo-Sarsekim Cuneiform Tablet
image

New Dates for Clovis Sites
image

Early Squash Seeds, Peru
image

Ancient Chimpanzee Tool Use
image

Urbanization at Tell Brak, Syria
image

Lismullin Henge, Tara, Ireland
image

Polynesian Chickens in Chile
image

Homo habilis & Homo erectus
image

Greater Angkor, Cambodia
Of course, we couldn't agree on our own top ten, and many of us lobbied for stories that didn't make the final cut. So, we have added here nine of 2007's other most important finds... image

Baby Mammoth, Russia
image

Alexander's Isthmus, Tyre, Lebanon
image

Ötzi's Final Moments, Italy
image

Neolithic Mural, Syria
image

Imperial Standards, Rome
image

Building the Great Pyramid, Giza
image

Paleolithic Tools, India
image

5,800-Year-Old Mass Grave, Syria
image

Polynesian Breakthroughs
What did we leave out? What would you have picked as the year's most important find, whether it's something we picked or something we missed, rounding out the year's 20 most important discoveries?

2 posted on 12/20/2007 11:54:10 AM PST by SunkenCiv (Profile updated Tuesday, December 18, 2007___________________https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: SunkenCiv
place holder to check each item
3 posted on 12/20/2007 12:04:57 PM PST by HuntsvilleTxVeteran (Rudy,Romney,McCain, Huckabee will send a self-abused stomped elephant to the DRNC.)
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Wow. Okay. I started to compile a list of the same topics from FR, using Google, and this topic we’re in already popped up in their database. Anyway, having done their top ten, I’ve gotten tired of it, and will let you do the nine runners-up. :’)

Towers Point To Ancient Sun Cult (Peru)
BBC | 3-1-2007
Posted on 03/01/2007 4:16:57 PM EST by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1793520/posts

Towers in Peru Called Solar Observatory
South Florida Sun-Sentinel | 02 March 07 | Thomas Maugh
Posted on 03/04/2007 1:00:49 PM EST by ameribbean expat
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1795050/posts

Experts doubt Clovis people were first in Americas
yahoo...Reuters | Feb 22 | Will Dunham
Posted on 02/23/2007 12:34:17 PM EST by george76
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1789921/posts

Tiny Tablet Provides Proof For Old Testament
The Telegraph (UK) | 7-10-2007 | Nigel Reynolds
Posted on 07/10/2007 8:48:08 PM EDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1863897/posts

Ancient Document Confirms Existence Of Biblical Figure
The New York Sun | July 11, 2007 | Nigel Reynolds
Posted on 07/11/2007 12:39:39 PM EDT by Sopater
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1864272/posts

Museum’s tablet lends new weight to Biblical truth
Times Online | July 11, 2007 | Dalya Alberge
Posted on 07/13/2007 1:19:37 PM EDT by GodGunsGuts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1865478/posts

Squash grown 10,000 years ago in Peru
Yahoo | Thu Jun 28, 6:09 PM ET | By Randolph E. Schmid, AP Science Writer
Posted on 06/28/2007 9:39:04 PM EDT by Fred Nerks
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1858039/posts

Trying To Fathom Farming’s Origins
The Columbus Dispatch | 8-14-2007 | Bradley T Lepper
Posted on 08/15/2007 1:42:04 PM EDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1881608/posts

When animals show signs of a mind
Source: The Detroit Free Press
Published: February 14, 2001
Author: Robert S. Boyd — Free Press Washington Staff
Posted on 02/14/2001 15:06:30 PST by Willie Green
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3a8b0f764389.htm

Monkey say, monkey do
(wild chimps teach others to use tools, probably planning takeover)
SMH | May 25 2002
Posted on 05/24/2002 11:01:45 AM EDT by dead
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/688904/posts

Spear-wielding chimps snack on skewered bushbabies [ chimps suck ]
New Scientist | February 22, 2007 | Rowan Hooper
Posted on 02/23/2007 3:41:24 AM EST by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1789678/posts

Recent Work on Middle Eastern Chronology
Source: Velikovskian Journal
Published: 5/14/2001 Author: self
Posted on 05/14/2001 20:11:37 PDT by medved
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3b009e6920a9.htm

New Discoveries In Syria Confirm Theory On Spread Of Early Civilization
Newswise.com | 6-2-2002 | Carrie Golus
Posted on 06/03/2002 4:42:03 PM EDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/694010/posts

Investigating Canals Across Time, From Space
The Gazette - Harvard | 3-17-2006 | Alvin Powell
Posted on 03/17/2006 3:28:23 PM EST by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1598328/posts

Ruins in Northern Syria Bear the Scars of a City’s Final Battle
New York Times | January 16, 2007 | John Noble Wilford
Posted on 01/16/2007 10:36:52 AM EST by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1768351/posts

Burial Clue To Early Urban Strife
BBC | 8-31-2007
Posted on 08/31/2007 6:25:13 PM EDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1889597/posts

Huge Temple Found Under Hill Of Tara (Ireland)
Irish Examiner | 11-12-2002 | Evelyn Ring
Posted on 11/12/2002 5:58:27 PM EST by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/787663/posts

Ancient “Royal Temple” Discovered in Path of Ireland Highway
National Geographic | 5-15-2007 | James Owen
Posted on 05/16/2007 3:53:52 PM EDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1834693/posts

Polynesians Beat Columbus To The Americas
New Scientist | 6-4-2007 | Emma Young
Posted on 06/04/2007 8:58:20 PM EDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1844873/posts

First Chickens in Americas Were Brought From Polynesia
(came before Columbus)
NYT | 06/05/07 | JOHN NOBLE WILFORD
Posted on 06/04/2007 9:55:26 PM EDT by TigerLikesRooster
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1844910/posts

Chicken bones show Polynesians went to Chile (Told ya so!)
Reuters | 5 June 2007 | Maggie Fox
Posted on 06/05/2007 8:31:36 AM EDT by DieHard the Hunter
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1845088/posts

Finds test human origins theory
BBC News | James Urquhart
Posted on 08/08/2007 1:58:39 PM EDT by Domandred
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1878232/posts

Kenyan Fossils May Add New Branch to Human Family Tree
National Geographic | 8-8-2007 | John Roach
Posted on 08/08/2007 6:50:18 PM EDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1878391/posts

Evolutionary Theory Challenged By Fossils
CBS News | 08/09/2007
Posted on 09/18/2007 11:47:54 AM EDT by SirLinksalot
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1898410/posts

Climate Change Ended Angkor - Report
The Age | 3-14-2007
Posted on 03/14/2007 8:52:02 PM EDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1801010/posts

Revealed: Australia’s raiders of the lost wat
Canberra Times | 14 August 2007 | Rosslyn Beeby
Posted on 08/13/2007 7:55:10 PM EDT by BlackVeil
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1880693/posts

Sprawling Angkor Brought Down By Overpopulation, Study Suggests
National Geographic | 8-13-2007 | Susan Brown
Posted on 08/13/2007 11:23:51 PM EDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1880781/posts

Map reveals ancient urban sprawl (bad enviro-policy blamed).
BBC | August 14, 2007
Posted on 08/14/2007 7:44:29 AM EDT by Jedi Master Pikachu
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1880891/posts


4 posted on 12/20/2007 12:17:13 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Profile updated Tuesday, December 18, 2007___________________https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: blam; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 24Karet; 3AngelaD; 49th; ...

· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic ·

 
Gods
Graves
Glyphs
Blam, I think we need our own Top Ten lists. :')

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
GGG managers are Blam, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
 

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5 posted on 12/20/2007 12:18:32 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Profile updated Tuesday, December 18, 2007___________________https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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Some of my list. These aren't necessarily from 2007 (you'll probably have noticed that not all of theirs were, either).
  1. The Neandertal Enigma
    by James Shreeve
    Frayer's own reading of the record reveals a number of overlooked traits that clearly and specifically link the Neandertals to the Cro-Magnons. One such trait is the shape of the opening of the nerve canal in the lower jaw, a spot where dentists often give a pain-blocking injection. In many Neandertal, the upper portion of the opening is covered by a broad bony ridge, a curious feature also carried by a significant number of Cro-Magnons. But none of the alleged 'ancestors of us all' fossils from Africa have it, and it is extremely rare in modern people outside Europe." [pp 126-127]
  2. The Cycle of Cosmic Catastrophes: Flood, Fire, and Famine in the History of Civilization The Cycle of Cosmic Catastrophes:
    Flood, Fire, and Famine
    in the History of Civilization

    by Richard Firestone,
    Allen West, and
    Simon Warwick-Smith

6 posted on 12/20/2007 12:31:28 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Profile updated Tuesday, December 18, 2007___________________https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: Coyoteman
Archeology Ping
7 posted on 12/20/2007 12:45:41 PM PST by ASA Vet (Does Hillary share Huma with Bill?)
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regarding their #19:

Early Polynesians Sailed Thousands Of Miles For Trade
National Geographic | 9-27-2007 | Dave Hansford
Posted on 09/27/2007 6:46:25 PM EDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1903226/posts

2007 - Year Of The Lapita? (Polynesian Breakthroughs)
Archaeology Magazine | January/Febuary 2008 | Mark Rose
Posted on 12/13/2007 4:03:09 PM EST by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1939091/posts


8 posted on 12/20/2007 1:04:20 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Profile updated Tuesday, December 18, 2007___________________https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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Frozen baby mammoth to be sent to Japan for research
(near-perfect preservation: photo)
Kyodo News | 07/06/07
Posted on 07/10/2007 4:48:34 AM EDT by TigerLikesRooster
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1863471/posts


9 posted on 12/20/2007 1:06:00 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Profile updated Tuesday, December 18, 2007___________________https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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The 5,800 year old massacre at Tell Majnuna was covered in one of the Tell Brak topics linked above. :’)


10 posted on 12/20/2007 1:08:04 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Profile updated Tuesday, December 18, 2007___________________https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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Super-Eruption: No Problem (Toba)
Nature | 7-6-2007 | Katherine Sanderson
Posted on 07/06/2007 12:02:21 PM EDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1861776/posts


11 posted on 12/20/2007 1:09:12 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Profile updated Tuesday, December 18, 2007___________________https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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Architect claims to solve pyramid secret
Yahoo News | March 30, 2007 | Laurence Joan-Grange
Posted on 03/30/2007 7:57:51 PM EDT by Man50D
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1809556/posts

Architect Says Pyramid Built Inside Out
AOL News | March 31, 2007 | Tim Hepher
Posted on 03/31/2007 12:48:03 PM EDT by Clintonfatigued
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1809827/posts


12 posted on 12/20/2007 1:11:03 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Profile updated Tuesday, December 18, 2007___________________https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: SunkenCiv
I've been waiting for you to post this. I subscribe to this magazine and read this a week or so ago. My favorite is Polynesian Breakthroughs or Polynesian Chickens In Chile.
13 posted on 12/20/2007 1:13:40 PM PST by blam (Secure the border and enforce the law)
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How Alexander The Great Used ‘Mother Nature’
The Telegraph (UK) | 5-15-2007 | Roger Highfield
Posted on 05/15/2007 7:39:17 PM EDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1834168/posts

Secrets Of A Stone Age Rambo (Otzi, The Iceman)
The Observer (UK) | 5-4-2003 | Robin McKie
Posted on 05/05/2003 8:29:12 PM EDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/906181/posts

Prehistoric iceman “Otzi” died from arrow wound
Reuters | 6-6-07 | Anon Science Stringer
Posted on 06/06/2007 12:43:47 PM EDT by Pharmboy
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1845869/posts

Otzi’s violent world
National Post | 2007-06-11 | (editorial page)
Posted on 06/11/2007 7:57:26 AM EDT by Clive
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1848235/posts

‘Oldest’ Wall Painting Looks Like Modern Art
The Telegraph (UK) | 10-11-2007 | Roger Highfield
Posted on 10/11/2007 4:31:49 PM EDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1909902/posts

Emperor Maxentius insignia found in Rome
AP on Yahoo | 12/3/06 | Marta Falconi - AP
Posted on 12/03/2006 2:57:26 PM EST by NormsRevenge
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1747883/posts

Rome’s Palatine Hill shows new treasures
AP via Yahoo! | 1-23-07 | Ariel David
Posted on 01/23/2007 8:07:37 PM EST by Dysart
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1772564/posts

Emperor’s Treasures Found (Maxentius)
The Times Online | 1-31-2007 | Richard Owen
Posted on 01/31/2007 5:21:08 PM EST by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1776985/posts

Sceptre from Roman emperor exhibited
The Telegraph | 2-27-07 | Malcolm Moore
Posted on 02/27/2007 3:34:23 AM EST by dbehsman
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1791794/posts


14 posted on 12/20/2007 1:21:15 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Profile updated Tuesday, December 18, 2007___________________https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: blam

So, you outwaited me, eh? ;’) There’s another topic or two I’ve not posted yet. Today was supposed to be the day I didn’t park my keister in front of the technipple. I guess I screwed that up.


15 posted on 12/20/2007 1:22:53 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Profile updated Tuesday, December 18, 2007___________________https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: SunkenCiv
"So, you outwaited me, eh? ;’)"

Well...I did post this one.

16 posted on 12/20/2007 1:31:42 PM PST by blam (Secure the border and enforce the law)
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To: blam

Yeah, I wish I’d followed the link at that time. :’) I either never saw it, or saw it at work and forgot to go back when I got home.


17 posted on 12/20/2007 1:33:40 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Profile updated Tuesday, December 18, 2007___________________https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: SunkenCiv; blam

With all the Mammoth stories we’ve noticed this year (we’ve had a trunk full of them)it’s only right that the Baby Mammoth make the final cut by a nose.


18 posted on 12/20/2007 2:41:54 PM PST by wildbill
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To: wildbill

[sigh]


19 posted on 12/20/2007 2:44:45 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Profile updated Tuesday, December 18, 2007___________________https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: SunkenCiv
Hey, you left out this amazing archaeological find:


20 posted on 12/20/2007 6:12:55 PM PST by JewishRighter (Anyone But Cankle (ABC))
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