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Don Quixote
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Topic: Archaeology news updates Posted: 16-May-2012 at 23:03 |
Photos: "Body Jars," Cliff Coffins Are Clues to Unknown Tribe"... Perched in some cases on precarious cliff ledges, centuries-old log coffins— such as this one, pictured alongside researcher Nancy Beavan— and "body jars" are the only known traces of an unknown Cambodian tribe. Now new dating studies are beginning to assure the unnamed culture a place in history.Ten such burial spots have been found in the Cardamom Mountains (map)
since 2003, and at least one is at least 160 feet high (50 meters)—the
intention apparently being that "anyone trying to disturb the burials
would break their neck," said Beavan, who led the new study. Beavan's
team has radiocarbon-dated wood, teeth, and bones from four of the
sites to between A.D. 1395 and 1650, placing them smack-dab in the
decline of the Khmer Empire, based in Angkor.
However it's unclear what, if any, influence the empire had on these
mountain people, said Beavan, of the University of Otago's Department of
Anatomy in New Zealand. Until now, experts had no idea when the sites had been established or how long they'd been in use, she added...." http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/05/pictures/120515-cambodia-burials-body-jars-log-coffins-science/
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Centrix Vigilis
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Posted: 17-May-2012 at 19:35 |
200-year-old shipwreck found full of bottles, guns and plates
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"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"
S. T. Friedman
Pilger's law: 'If it's been officially denied, then it's probably true'
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Don Quixote
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Posted: 19-May-2012 at 02:29 |
Bronze Age 'Facebook' discovered by Cambridge experts
Leanne Ehren
"...Ancient rock art has been likened to a prehistoric form of Facebook by a Cambridge archaeologist.Mark Sapwell, who is a PhD archaeology student at St John’s College,
believes he has discovered an “archaic version” of the social networking
site, where users share thoughts and emotions and give stamps of
approval to other contributions – similar to the Facebook “like”.
Images of animals and events were drawn on the rock faces in Russian
and Northern Sweden to communicate with distant tribes and descendants
during the Bronze Age.They form a timeline preserved in stone encompassing thousands of years.
Mr Sapwell said: “Like a Facebook status invites comment, the rock
art appears very social and invites addition – the way the variations of
image both mirror and reinterpret act as a kind of call and response
between different packs of hunters across hundreds – even thousands – of
years.”The two sites he is investigating, Zalavruga in Russia and Nämforsen
in Northern Sweden, contain around 2,500 images each of animals, people,
boats, hunting scenes and even early centaurs and mermaids.
He is using the latest technology to analyse the different types,
traits and tropes in the thousands of images imprinted on the two
granite outcrops, where the landscapes of early Bronze Age art stretch
across areas of rock the size of football pitches...."http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/Bronze-Age-Facebook-18052012.htm
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Centrix Vigilis
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Posted: 20-May-2012 at 18:25 |
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"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"
S. T. Friedman
Pilger's law: 'If it's been officially denied, then it's probably true'
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Don Quixote
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Posted: 21-May-2012 at 00:20 |
"...Astronomers discovered ancient Egyptian observations of a variable star The study of the "Demon star", Algol, made by a research
group of the University of Helsinki, Finland, has received both
scientific and public attention. The period of the brightness variation
of this eclipsing binary star has been connected to good prognoses three
millennia ago. This result has raised a lot of discussion and the news
has spread widely in the Internet.
The Egyptian papyrus Cairo 86637 calendar is probably the oldest preserved historical document of bare eye observations of a variable star.
Each day of one Egyptian year was divided into three parts in this
calendar. A good or a bad prognosis was assigned for these parts of a
day.
-The texts regarding the prognoses are connected to mythological and
astronomical events, says Master of Science Sebastian Porceddu.
A modern period analysis revealed that two statistically significant
periods of 29.6 and 2.850 days have been recorded into the good
prognoses. The former is clearly the period of the Moon. The second
period differs slightly from the period Algol. In this eclipsing binary,
the dimmer star partially covers the brighter star with a period of
2.867 days.
-These eclipses last about ten hours and they can be easily observed
with bare eyes. Their period was discovered by Goodricke in the year
1783, says docent Lauri Jetsu...." http://phys.org/news/2012-05-astronomers-ancient-egyptian-variable-star.html
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Don Quixote
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Posted: 21-May-2012 at 00:22 |
Archaeologists Explore Ancient Judahite Fortresshttp://popular-archaeology.com/issue/march-2012/article/archaeologists-explore-ancient-judahite-fortress
"...Now, preliminary surveys conducted by a joint Israel-Germany
excavation team in the area of the site have recovered a number of new
tell-tale signs, including pottery shards and, interestingly, a silver
Athenian Tetra Drachma coin which was used as universal currency in the
5th and 4th centuries BCE (very much like the dollar or the euro today).
Heavy for its size, one side of the coin depicts a profile of Athena,
the patron goddess of Athens. The other side depicts an owl, the
goddess’ symbol. Closer examination revealed that the core of the coin
is actually made of bronze. The coin was only silver-plated, creating
the illusion of pure silver. It could be an early example of a
counterfeit coin...."
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Athenian Tetra Drachma coin, showing both faces. Photo Credit: Israel Antiquities Authority
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Don Quixote
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Posted: 21-May-2012 at 00:25 |
Rare Canna stone’s a blessing and a curse
http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/heritage/rare-canna-stone-s-a-blessing-and-a-curse-1-2306186"...AN ANCIENT “cursing stone” used by Christian pilgrims more than a
thousand years ago to bring harm to their enemies has been discovered
on Canna.The round stone with an early
Christian cross engraved on it, also known as a “bullaun” stone, is
believed to be the first of its type to be found in Scotland, and was
discovered by chance in an old graveyard on the island. More
commonly found in Ireland, the stones were used by ancient Christian
pilgrims, who would turn them either while praying or when laying a
curse, and were often to be found on sacred pilgrim routes.
Traditionally, the pilgrim would turn the stone clockwise, wearing a
depression or hole in a bigger “socket” stone underneath.The Canna stone is approximately 25cm in diameter and is marked with a clearly engraved early Christian cross. Derek
Alexander, the head of archaeology for the National Trust for Scotland,
who examined the stone, said: “This is an amazing find. Often it is
usually the socket stones or the dished depressions that are found.“They
are usually associated with holes or worn patches in the ground, as
it’s believed that the convention was for these stones to be turned
multiple times by worshippers when either praying for or possibly
cursing someone.” The stone was found by NTS farm manager
Geraldine MacKinnon in Canna’s ancient graveyard. It was then discovered
that the stone fitted into a larger stone located near the island’s
large sculptured Canna Cross.Canna was known as an early
Christian site and is believed to have been owned by the monastery of
Iona as early as the seventh century...."
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Don Quixote
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Posted: 23-May-2012 at 20:52 |
Black Magic Revealed in Two Ancient Curses
"...Both curses feature a depiction of a deity, possibly the Greek goddess Hekate,
with serpents coming out of her hair, possibly meant to strike at the
victims. Both curses contain Greek invocations similar to examples known
to call upon Hekate.
The two curses, mainly written in Latin and inscribed on thin lead
tablets, would have been created by two different people late in the
life of the Roman Empire. Both tablets were rediscovered in 2009 at the Museo Archeologico Civico di Bologna,
in Italy, and were originally acquired by the museum during the late
19th century. Although scholars aren't sure where the tablets
originated, after examining and deciphering the curses, they know who victims of the curses were...." http://www.livescience.com/20483-black-magic-ancient-curses.html
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Don Quixote
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Posted: 23-May-2012 at 21:07 |
Exploring Pella’s Bronze Age Temple Complex"...At the beginning of the sequence we have exposed fragments of two
small Middle Bronze Age mudbrick temples. The earliest (the Green
Mudbrick temple) was built around 1900 BC. A second temple (the Brown
Mudbrick Temple) was constructed around 1750 BC, slightly larger but on
broadly the same alignment. The two small mudbrick temples were in use
for perhaps 200 years. These small but carefully-constructed mudbrick
structures probably ranged between seven and 10 metres in overall
dimensions, going on contemporary finds at Tell el Hayyat, Tell Kittan
and Nahariyeh, the first two sites close by Pella in the Jordan Valley,
with the third located on the coast.
Materials connected with these small temples are very fragmentary but
include many tiny flecks of gold foil, faience and wooden inlays,
fragments of tiny ivory statuettes, and an enigmatic half-sphere of
bitumen with impressions on the flat side suggesting use as a structural
fitting. All these very small fragments may have been offering debris
but equally could be structural residues, as each small temple appears
to have been ‘cut down’, ritually decommissioned and filled in with its
own fabric debris before new structures were built on top of earlier
constructions...." http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/05/2012/exploring-pella-bronze-age-temple-complex Alabaster rams-head handled bowl (1700 BCE)
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Don Quixote
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Posted: 23-May-2012 at 21:13 |
Seal Proves Bethlehem Existed Centuries Before Jesus
"...Israeli archaeologists have unearthed a 2,700-year-old clay seal with
the name of Bethlehem, showing that the town existed centuries before
it was revered as Jesus' birthplace.Discovered during the sifting of debris removed from
archaeological excavations near the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem,
the coin-sized clay seal, or bulla, was imprinted with three lines in
ancient Hebrew script: "in the seventh," "Bethlehem" and "to the king."
"It seems that in the seventh year of the reign of a king (it is
unclear if the king referred to is Hezekiah, Manasseh or Josiah),
a shipment was dispatched from Bethlehem to the king in Jerusalem,"
Eli Shukron, director of the excavation on behalf of the Israel
Antiquities Authority, said in a statement Wednesday.Belonging to the group of "fiscal" bullae, the clay seal was
likely placed on a tax shipment of silver or agricultural produce, such
as wine or wheat, which was sent from Bethlehem to the King of Judah in
Jerusalem in the eighth or seventh century B.C.
ANALYSIS: 'Netanyahu' Seal From Eighth Century B.C. Found
"This is the first time the name Bethlehem appears outside the
Bible, in an inscription from the First Temple period (1006-586
B.C.), which proves that Bethlehem was indeed a city in the Kingdom of
Judah, and possibly also in earlier periods," Shukron said.Located just south of Jerusalem, Bethlehem is first mentioned in the
Bible in the verse "in Ephrath, which is Bethlehem." It was there
that Rachel, the matriarch of the Jewish people, died and was buried.Bethlehem is also the setting for the Book of Ruth, and the hometown
of King David, the most celebrated king in Jewish history. In the New
Testament, Bethlehem is mentioned as the birthplace of Jesus...." http://news.discovery.com/history/seal-bethlehem-jesus-120523.html
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Don Quixote
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Posted: 23-May-2012 at 21:20 |
"...Ancient anchor offers clues to Indo-Arab trade
2,000-year-old artefact found off Kutch coast Panaji: Scientists of the National Institute of Oceanography
(NIO) have found an Indo-Arabic stone anchor off the Kutch coast in
Gujarat that offers significant clues to the Indo-Arabic and
Indo-Persian trade of the first and second century BC. It was found at a
depth of more than 50 metres.
The find has been published in the May issue of the scientific journal Current Science.
"Ancient stone anchors serve to understand maritime contacts of
India with other parts of the world…Arabs and Persians sailed the Indian
Ocean and used the type of anchors under study since the 9th century.
Indo-Arabian type stone anchors have been reported from the western
Indian Ocean countries, namely east Africa, India, Arabian Gulf
countries and Sri Lanka, suggesting close maritime contacts and trade
relations among these countries.
"The ports in the Gulf of Kutch have contributed significantly to
maritime trade since ancient times, and such trade was extensive
between Gujarat and the Arab world even during the medieval period," the
study reported...."http://gulfnews.com/news/world/india/ancient-anchor-offers-clues-to-indo-arab-trade-1.1026534
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Don Quixote
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Posted: 24-May-2012 at 21:07 |
"...Oldest Art Even Older: New Dates from Geißenklösterle Cave Show Early Arrival of Modern Humans, Art and Music
Jewelry.
Geißenklösterle Cave is one of several caves in the Swabian Jura that
have produced important examples of personal ornaments, figurative art,
mythical imagery and musical instruments. (Credit: Image courtesy of
Universitaet Tübingen) ScienceDaily (May 24, 2012) —
New dates from Geißenklösterle Cave in Southwest Germany document the
early arrival of modern humans and early appearance of art and music.The new dates use improved methods to remove contamination and
produced ages between began between 42,000 – 43,000 years ago for start
of the Aurignacian, the first culture to produce a wide range of
figurative art, music and other key innovations as postulated in the
Kulturpumpe Hypothesis. The full spectrum of these innovations were
established in the region no later than 40 000 years ago.
These are the earliest radiocarbon dates of Aurignacian deposits, and
they predate Aurignacian dates from Italy, France, England and other
regions. These results are consistent with the Danube Corridor
hypothesis postulating that modern humans migrated to Europe and rapidly
moved up the Danube drainage. Geißenklösterle Cave is one of several
caves in the Swabian Jura that have produced important examples of
personal ornaments, figurative art, mythical imagery and musical
instruments. The new dates from Geißenklösterle together with existing
dates using thermoluminescence confirm the great antiquity of the
Swabian Aurignacian...." http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120524092226.htm
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Don Quixote
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Posted: 24-May-2012 at 21:55 |
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-18172598"..Archaeologists are to
exhume and analyse human bones found under a prehistoric monument only
recently identified as a burial site cap.The Trefael Stone in Pembrokeshire was thought to be just one of many linked to nearby Bronze Age locations.But it has now been reclassified after a survey established it as the capstone of a Stone Age ritual burial chamber.The survey revealed the location, near Nevern, has been used for ritual burials for at least 5,500 years.
An archaeological team from the
University of Bristol has been given permission to examine the human
bones found there along with beads and shards of pottery.The importance of the stone has been overlooked since it first appeared on maps in 1889.The first suggestion it may be more significant than one of
Wales' many prehistoric standing stones was in 1972 when archaeologist
Frances Lynch suggested it could be a dolmen, or burial chamber...."
The Trefael Stone, seen here with a metre-long measuring stick, is probably the capstone of a Stone Age burial chamber
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Centrix Vigilis
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Posted: 26-May-2012 at 20:31 |
Mexican archaeologists find 2,500-year-old altar
Edited by Centrix Vigilis - 26-May-2012 at 20:32
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"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"
S. T. Friedman
Pilger's law: 'If it's been officially denied, then it's probably true'
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Don Quixote
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Posted: 26-May-2012 at 22:22 |
http://www.sci-news.com/archaeology/article00343.html"...Earliest Musical Instruments Date Back 42000 Years
Oxford and Tübingen scientists have identified what they believe are the world’s oldest known musical instruments.
Mammoth-,
left, and bird-bone flutes from the site of Geißenklösterle in Germany
(Tom Higham et al / Oxford University / Tübingen University)
In their paper in the Journal of Human Evolution,
the scientists report new results of radiocarbon dating for animal
bones, excavated in the same archaeological layers as the musical
instruments and early art, at Geißenklösterle Cave in the Swabian Jura
of southern Germany.
The musical instruments take the form of flutes made from the bird
bones and mammoth ivory. The animal bones bear cuts and marks from human
hunting and eating. They were excavated at a key site, which is widely
believed to have been occupied by some of first modern humans to arrive
in Europe.
The researchers suggest that the Aurignacian, a culture linked with
early modern humans and dating to the Upper Paleolithic period, began at
the site between 42,000 and 43,000 years ago...."
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Don Quixote
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Posted: 27-May-2012 at 20:03 |
"...On a marble plate, measuring 40 by 60 centimetres, the name "Yehiel"
can be read, followed by further letters which have not yet been
deciphered. The Jena Archaeologists believe that the new discovery might
be a tomb slab. Antlers, which were found very close to the tomb slab
in the rubble gave a clue to the age determination. "The organic
material of the antlers could be dated by radiocarbon analysis with
certainty to about 390 AD," excavation leader Dr. Dennis Graen of the
Jena University explains. "Therefore we have a so-called 'terminus ante
quem' for the inscription, as it must have been created before it got
mixed in with the rubble with the antlers."
The earliest archaeological evidence of Jewish inhabitants in the
region of modern-day Portugal has so far also been a tomb slab with a
Latin inscription and an image of a menorah - a seven-armed chandelier -
from 482 AD. The earliest Hebrew inscriptions known until now date from
the 6th or 7th Century AD.
For three years the team of the University Jena has been excavating a
Roman villa in Portugal, discovered some years ago by Jorge Correia,
archaeologist of the Silves council, during an archaeological survey
near the village of São Bartolomeu de Messines (Silves). The project was
aiming at finding out how and what the inhabitants of the hinterland of
the Roman province of Lusitania lived off. While the Portuguese coast
region has been explored very well, there is very little knowledge about
those regions. The new discovery poses further conundrums. "We were
actually hoping for a Latin inscription when we turned round the
excavated tomb slab," Henning Wabersich, a member of the excavation
reports. After all, no inscriptions have been found so far and nothing
was known about the identity of the inhabitants of the enclosure. Only
after long research the Jena Archaeologists found out which language
they were exactly dealing with, as the inscription was not cut with
particular care. "While we were looking for experts who could help with
deciphering the inscription between Jena and Jerusalem, the crucial
clue came from Spain" Dennis Graen says. "Jordi Casanovas Miró from the
Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya in Barcelona – a well-known expert for
Hebrew inscriptions on the Iberian Peninsula – is sure that the Jewish
name "Yehiel" can be read, - a name that is already mentioned in the
Bible."
Not only is the early date exceptional in this case, but also the
place of the discovery: Never before have Jewish discoveries been made
in a Roman villa, the Jena Archaelogist explains. In the Roman Empire at
that time Jews usually wrote in Latin, as they feared oppressive
measures. Hebrew, as on the re-discovered marble plate, only came back
into use after the decline of the Roman supremacy, respectively in the
following time of migration of peoples from the 6th or 7th century AD.
"We were also most surprised that we found traces of Romans - romanised
Lusitanians in this case - and Jews living together in a rural area of
all things," Dennis Graen says. "We assumed that something like this
would have been much more likely in a city."..." http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-05/fj-oja052512.php
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tjadams
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Posted: 28-May-2012 at 20:23 |
Archaeologists find ancient jewelry near site of biblical Armageddon
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tjadams
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Posted: 28-May-2012 at 20:28 |
Auctioned Tyrannosaur Skeleton Possibly Smuggled
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tjadams
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Posted: 28-May-2012 at 20:42 |
Bible-era Earthquake Reveals Year of Jesus' Crucifixion
Believe it or not. It is up to you.
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Posted: 28-May-2012 at 20:52 |
Ancient Turtle Was as Big as Small CarBy Jeanna Bryner|Published May 19, 2012|LiveScience
A turtle the size of a small car once roamed what is now South America 60 million years ago, suggests its fossilized remains. Discovered in a coal mine in Colombia in 2005, the turtle was given the name Carbonemys cofrinii, which means "coal turtle." It wasn't until now that the turtle was examined and described in a scientific journal; the findings are detailed online today (May 17) in the Journal of Systematic Paleontology. The researchers say C. cofrinii belongs to a group of side-necked turtles known as pelomedusoides. The turtle's skull, roughly the size of an NFL football, was the most complete of the fossil remains. |
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/05/19/ancient-turtle-was-as-big-as-small-car/#ixzz1w7Zh3Xjk
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