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Gods, Graves, Glyphs
Weekly Digest #435
Saturday, November 17, 2012 |
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| Let's Have Jerusalem |
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8,500-Year-Old Well Unearthed in Israel, Mystery Surrounds Two Human Skeletons
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· 11/17/2012 1:11:55 PM PST ·
· Posted by SunkenCiv ·
· 1 replies ·
· Science News ·
· Thursday, November 8th, 2012 ·
· Sergio Prostak · |
Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority have unearthed an ancient well dating to the Neolithic period some 8,500 years ago in the Jezreel Valley. "The impressive well that was revealed was connected to an ancient farming settlement and it seems the inhabitants used it for their subsistence and living. The upper part of the well was built of stones and its lower part was hewn in the bedrock. Two capstones, which narrowed the opening, were set in place at the top of the well. It is about 8 m deep and its upper part measures about 1.3 m in diameter,"... |
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| Helix, Make Mine a Double |
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Life Drains Away From Lost Tribe Of Mountain Jews
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· 04/27/2003 4:47:57 PM PDT ·
· Posted by blam ·
· 7 replies ·
· The Telegraph (UK) ·
· 4-27-2003 ·
· Tom Parfitt · |
Life drains away from lost tribe of Mountain Jews By Tom Parfitt in Azerbaijan (Filed: 27/04/2003) One of the most isolated Jewish communities in the world is struggling for survival as its young people leave in droves seeking a better life in the West. The population of Krasnaya Sloboda in northern Azerbaijan has fallen to 4,000 from the 18,000 who lived here during the Communist era. Lured by the prospect of better wages and an easier life, young Jews are fleeing abroad, raising fears that the community could dwindle and die. "Soon there may be no one left," said God... |
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| Religion of Pieces |
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Arabs Burning First Temple Pillars
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· 11/04/2012 10:57:46 PM PST ·
· Posted by Dogbert41 ·
· 46 replies ·
· Israel National News ·
· 11/04/2012 ·
· David Lev · |
A group of Jews that ascended the Temple Mount Sunday were shocked to see that ancient beams of wood that had apparently been used during the period of the Holy Temple were being used as firewood by Arabs on the Mount, and off it. Archaeologists have dated the wood as far back as the First Temple period, and appear to be among the celebrated "Cedars of Lebanon" mentioned in the Tanach. |
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| Epigraphy & Language |
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Dead Sea Scrolls and Masada Scrolls Written by Same Scribe
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· 11/16/2012 8:22:25 AM PST ·
· Posted by Renfield ·
· 17 replies ·
· Popular Archaeology ·
· 11-7-2012 · |
Israeli paleographer Ada Yardeni has recently identified 50 Dead Sea scrolls found near Qumran in Israel as having been penned by the same scribe, a scribe who also penned scrolls that have been found at the Herodian mountain-top fortress of Masada, where Jewish rebel zealots made their last suicidal stand against the Romans in 73 A.D.The subject scrolls were previously discovered in six different caves in the area of the Qumran site. In an article authored by Sidnie White Crawford and published in the November/December 2012 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, Crawford writes that documents penned by the same scribe and found... |
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| Egypt |
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"Destroy the idols,' Egyptian jihadist calls for removal of Sphinx, Pyramids
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· 11/12/2012 7:52:09 AM PST ·
· Posted by Nachum ·
· 68 replies ·
· Al Arabiya ·
· 11/12/2012 ·
· By AL ARABIYA · |
An Egyptian jihad leader, with self-professed links to the Taliban, called for the "destruction of the Sphinx and the Giza Pyramids in Egypt," drawing ties between the Egyptian relics and Buddha statues, local media reported this week. Murgan Salem al-Gohary, an Islamist leader twice-sentenced under former President Hosni Mubarak for advocating violence, called on Muslims to remove such "idols." "All Muslims are charged with applying the teachings of Islam to remove such idols, as we did in Afghanistan when we destroyed the Buddha statues," he said on Saturday during a television interview on an Egyptian private channel, widely watched by... |
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| Ancient Autopsies |
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Who stabbed Ginger in the back? Scan reveals 5,500-year-old murder mystery...
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· 11/17/2012 6:45:28 AM PST ·
· Posted by SunkenCiv ·
· 23 replies ·
· Daily Mail ·
· Friday, November 16, 2012 ·
· Mark Prigg and Damien Gayle · |
Daniel Antoine, the museum's expert on human remains, told The Times: ..."The force is such that the blade would have penetrated through his lung." ...Examinations also showed he was a young man, aged between just 18 and 20 when he was killed, and impressively muscled. Mr Antoine said he believes a lack of defensive wounds suggest Ginger was the victim of a surprise attack. A blade of copper or sharpened flint at least 5in long and 0.7in wide made the injury, he said... Professor Anders Persson of the Center for Medical Image Science and Visualization (CMIV), a Forensic Radiology expert,... |
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| The Iceman |
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Iceman Mummy Finds His Closest Relatives
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· 11/11/2012 12:44:27 PM PST ·
· Posted by Renfield ·
· 37 replies ·
· Live Science ·
· 11-9-2012 ·
· Tia Ghose · |
SAN FRANCISCO --- ÷tzi the Iceman, an astonishingly well-preserved Neolithic mummy found in the Italian Alps in 1991, was a native of Central Europe, not a first-generation ÈmigrÈ from Sardinia, new research shows. And genetically, he looked a lot like other Stone Age farmers throughout Europe. he new findings, reported Thursday (Nov. 8) here at the American Society of Human Genetics conference, support the theory that farmers, and not just the technology of farming, spread during prehistoric times from the Middle East all the way to Finland. "The idea is that the spread of farming and agriculture, right now we... |
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| Oh So Mysteriouso |
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"Vampire" Skeleton Rediscovered in Britain
(Skeleton from 550-700 A.D. Was Unearthed in 1959)
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· 11/14/2012 3:25:38 PM PST ·
· Posted by DogByte6RER ·
· 10 replies ·
· Discovery ·
· November 8, 2012 ·
· Rossella Lorenzi · |
Vampire Skeleton Rediscovered in Britain Photo: The Southwell deviant burial (left) as it was found in 1959 alongside further disarticulated human remains. Credit: Charles Daniels. Details of one of the few "vampire" burials in Britain have emerged as a new archaeological report details the long forgotten discovery of a skeleton found buried with metal spikes through shoulders, heart area and ankles. Dating from 550-700 A.D., the skeleton was unearthed in 1959 in the minster town of Southwell, Nottinghamshire, during excavations in preparation for a new school. The dig also turned up Roman remains. Archaeologist Charles Daniels immediately recognized the skeletal... |
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| Prehistory & Origins |
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Anthropologist suggests Mediterranean islands inhabited much earlier than thought
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· 11/16/2012 8:16:41 AM PST ·
· Posted by Renfield ·
· 3 replies ·
· PhysOrg ·
· 11-16-2012 ·
· Bob Yirka · |
Modern science has held that islands such as Cypress and Crete were first inhabited by seafaring humans approximately 9,000 years ago by agriculturists from the late Neolithic period. Simmons writes that research over the past 20 years has cast doubt on that assumption however and suggests that it might be time to rewrite the history books. He cites evidence such as pieces of obsidian found in a cave in mainland Greece that were found to have come from Melos, an island in the Aegean Sea and were dated at 11,000 years ago as well as artifacts from recent digs on... |
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| Africa |
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Archaeologists identify spear tips used in hunting a half-million years ago
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· 11/15/2012 12:05:23 PM PST ·
· Posted by Red Badger ·
· 42 replies ·
· Phys.Org ·
· U of Toronto · |
A University of Toronto-led team of anthropologists has found evidence that human ancestors used stone-tipped weapons for hunting 500,000 years ago -- 200,000 years earlier than previously thought. "This changes the way we think about early human adaptations and capacities before the origin of our own species," says Jayne Wilkins, a PhD candidate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Toronto and lead author of a new study in Science. "Although both Neandertals and humans used stone-tipped spears, this is the first evidence that the technology originated prior to or near the divergence of these two species," says... |
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| PreColumbian, Clovis & PreClovis |
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Authorities: vandals buried objects at Ohio mound (A real tin-foil alert)
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· 11/15/2012 5:52:16 AM PST ·
· Posted by xzins ·
· 22 replies ·
· WKBN Radio ·
· 11/06 10:22 am · |
Authorities are seeking people they say vandalized an ancient snake-shaped Serpent Mound by burying what may be hundreds of small muffin-like resin objects at the southern Ohio earthworks. The Columbus Dispatch reports that the objects buried at the 63-acre Native American site in Peebles were embedded with aluminum foil and quartz crystal. Three have been found so far. The Ohio Historical Society says a YouTube video posted by a group calling itself Unite the Collective shows people running across the earthworks. It includes comments by individuals describing themselves as "light warriors" who say they planted the objects to "help lift... |
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| Biology & Cryptobiology |
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5 Reasons Mars May Have Never Seen Life
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· 11/17/2012 11:13:21 AM PST ·
· Posted by LibWhacker ·
· 29 replies ·
· Forbes ·
· 11/15/12 ·
· Bruce Dorminey · |
On Aug. 28, 2012, during the 22nd Martian day, or sol, after landing on Mars, NASA's Curiosity rover drove about 52 feet (16 meters) eastward. The drive imprinted the wheel tracks visible in this image. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech After decades of following the water, the reality that "life as we know it" may never have gotten a foothold on Mars' surface, at least, has arguably taken root within the planetary science community. If life ever was or is lurking on the Red planet, it's been extremely coy about revealing itself. The recent news that the Mars Curiosity rover has thus far... |
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| Climate |
Droughts steady since 1950s
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· 11/17/2012 5:39:34 AM PST ·
· Posted by Renfield ·
· 13 replies ·
· Daily Telegraph (UK) ·
· 11-14-2012 ·
· Nic, Collins · |
According to a commonly used model of drought patterns, researchers had previously assumed that higher global temperatures were causing greater evaporation of water, and therefore more droughts. But a more detailed analysis of weather data, including wind speed, humidity and radiation levels, found that in fact there has been "little change" in drought over the past 60 years. Researchers from Princeton University and the Australian National University said drought was "expected to increase in frequency and severity" in the future, but added that currently used prediction methods are inaccurate..... |
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| Australia & the Pacific |
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New Study Reveals First Polynesians Arrived in Tonga around 826 BC
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· 11/16/2012 9:18:49 AM PST ·
· Posted by Theoria ·
· 5 replies ·
· Sci-News ·
· 09 Nov 2012 ·
· Sergio Prostak · |
Archaeologists, using new high-precision techniques, have come to the conclusion that first settlers arrived in Polynesia almost 2,900 years ago.This is a view on an island in Tonga (thekingdomoftonga.com) Polynesia was one of the last places on our planet to be settled by humans. In 2008, Prof David Burley of Simon Fraser University in Canada and his team claimed that Tonga was the first group of islands in the region to be settled by migrants -- the Lapita people -- some 3,000 years ago, and that Nukuleka, a small village on the coast of the Tonga's Tongatapu Island, was their... |
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| Paleontology |
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30,000-year-old DNA preserved in poo a window into the past
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· 11/16/2012 8:08:30 AM PST ·
· Posted by Renfield ·
· 18 replies ·
· Murdoch University (Australia) ·
· 11-16-2012 · |
Murdoch University DNA scientists have used 30,000-year-old faecal matter known as middens to ascertain which plants and animals existed at that time in the hot, arid Pilbara region of North Western Australia.To date, this is the oldest environmental sample from which DNA has been obtained in Australia. It had previously been considered unrealistic to extract DNA from hot, arid zone samples due to the extreme heat.PhD candidate D·ithÌ Murray from Murdoch's Ancient DNA Lab said that comparing the genetic signatures obtained from old material such as middens to present day plant and animal surveys would allow for an exploration... |
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| India |
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Is the Harappan civilisation 2000 years older?
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· 11/14/2012 12:03:35 PM PST ·
· Posted by Renfield ·
· 8 replies ·
· Past Horizons ·
· 11/14/2012 · |
The recent International Conference on Harappan Archaeology produced an unexpected announcement from archaeologists BR Mani and KN Dikshit, both of the Archaeological Survey of India, who claim that new dates from excavations show the Harappan culture began around 2000 years earlier than previously thought.The ruins of the Harrapan city of Mohenjo-daro remained undocumented for over 3,700 years, until their discovery in 1922 by Rakhaldas Bandyopadhyay, an officer of the Archaeological Survey of India. He was led to the mound by a Buddhist monk, who reportedly believed it to be a stupa. Image: Wikimedia commons Redating of Harappan culture Based on... |
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| Dinosaurs |
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Flying Dino Too Weak to Lift Off?
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· 11/10/2012 11:58:31 AM PST ·
· Posted by SunkenCiv ·
· 41 replies ·
· Discovery News ·
· Thursday, November 8, 2012 ·
· Larry O'Hanlon · |
A new analysis of the largest of pterodactyls suggests they were too big and their muscles too weak to vault into the air and fly. Instead, they were right at the upper limit of animal flight and needed a hill or stiff breeze so they could soar like hang gliders. The new analysis was done on the enormous pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus from Late Cretaceous rocks of Big Bend, Texas. Quetzalcoatlus had a wingspan of about 35 feet (10.6 meters), or about the wingspan of a F-16 fighter. It was among the last pterodactyls to look down on dinosaurs 65 million years... |
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| Thoroughly Modern Miscellany |
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Right-wing group's theft of Palestinian heritage outlined in new study (Smell the bias)
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· 11/16/2012 6:45:30 PM PST ·
· Posted by 2ndDivisionVet ·
· 7 replies ·
· The Electronic Intifada ·
· November 12, 2012 ·
· Charlotte Silver · |
Yesterday, the alternative archaeology group Emek Shaveh published its most recent report on the extent to which Elad, the ultra-nationalist settler organization, has control over the presentation, excavation and development of archeology in Jerusalem, specifically in occupied East Jerusalem. The report outlines each of Elad's six sites, emphasizing that "visitors are told an exclusive story of Jewish heritage and Israeli connection to the site, whilst other periods and cultures are almost entirely ignored." The report is welcome, as this time last month Israeli and Zionist media spun itself into a frenzy when a French consul general, FrÈdÈric Desagneaux, dared to... |
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| end of digest #435 20121117 |
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