Mali relics recovered in France

BBC ^ | Tuesday, January 20, 2007

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

1. not a million years old.
2. even if they were going to American buyers, the actual thieves don't seem to be American.

[FreedomNeocon]

I love that the 'million year old' relics can be dated to a period that is defined as between 200,000 and 1,000,000 ago.

Thats one hell of a range, and poor reasoing for the headline.

[kinoxi]

Million year old artefacts headed for the US. Hmmm.

[econjack]

Isn't is a shame the Americans can't afford to buy new stuff...

[GSlob]

Well, when one does not have a pre-history, one has to invent or purchase it.

[Vicomte13]

I want to see a picture of a one million old artifact.

(And yeah, I know what's coming. Sorry.)

[Sols]

Well, essentially the Acheulean period is just a way to express how early humans worked stone into tools. The stone is worked with a hammerstone, shaped with slightly more specialized hammers made of other materials, and shaped on both sides rather than one side. Handaxes were made in this way for a very, very long time, as long ago as ~1.5 million years, and this level of 'technology' was not significantly improved upon for quite some time.

Anyhow, that's why the range is so long.

[Continental Soldier]

Artefacts a million years old? Huh? Oh, yeah, right, they must be from early alien landings on planet Earth.

[gcruse]

Hominids go back four million years, so a million year old artifact doesn't seem unlikely.

[TXnMA]

By definition, the Acheulean period spanned from 1.5 million to 200,000 years BP.

I agree that the article is over-simplified, but, it did say, "some may be up to one million years old". Unless you are an expert in lithic technology -- and have examined all of the artifacts in question, you have zero factual basis for making your categorical statement,

1. not a million years old.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

[ViLaLuz]

"I want to see a picture of a one million old artifact."

Here you go... (you knew what was coming)

[Vicomte13]

I did.
And you did not disappoint.
Doesn't she look CUTE like that?

[UpAllNight]

Are you English?

[kinoxi]

Not directly, American mutt.
:)
Why do you ask?

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

This type of traffic was unheard of a few years ago, an airport customs official told the AFP news agency.

That is nonsense. Artifact trafficking has a very long history.

The countries change as do the era and culture that is fashionable at the moment but the trade remains the same.

[UpAllNight]

A while back there was a thread on "artefacts" written from India. A whole bunch of posters had fun about how the '3rd' world couldn't spell.

[MichiganMan]

Aw geez, for the love of God, can't we have some sort of moratorium on that beast's picture so I don't have to see it anymore? I clicked in looking to see million year old tools, not million year old monkey a##. Yeesh!

[kinoxi]

Well I spell it (aluminium) aluminum if that helps. :)
It's my understanding that both spellings are correct so I used the article's spelling.

[UpAllNight]

I wasn't being critical. Just making the posts so we don't get a few idiots thinking there is only one way to spell words. I find that behaviour appalling.