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This week's topics, order added, newest to oldest:

Gods, Graves, Glyphs
Weekly Digest #410
Saturday, May 26, 2012

Central Asia


 4000-year-old rock art discovered in Mongolia

· 05/22/2012 5:21:42 PM PDT ·
· Posted by SunkenCiv ·
· 23 replies ·
· Stone Pages ·
· Saturday, May 12, 2012 ·
· Edited from China Daily ·

Eighteen rock art sites dating back over 4,000 years have been discovered by archaeologists in northern China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region. The prehistoric art was discovered in the Yinshan Mountains in Urad Middle Banner (an administration division of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region), said Liu Binjie, head of the Cultural Relics Bureau of Urad Middle Banner. The rock art is still clear and Liu added that they are the finest of their kind that have been unearthed so far. Among the carvings, seven faces were exaggerated and monstrous, and have been interpreted as the seven stars of the 'Big Dipper'...

Cave Art


 Bronze Age Facebook

· 05/21/2012 6:18:05 AM PDT ·
· Posted by Red Badger ·
· 11 replies ·
· http://phys.org ·
· May 21, 2012 ·
· U of Cambridge ·

Large clusters of rock art spanning thousands of years but located at the same site may hold key to detecting massive cultural changes in prehistoric hunter-gatherers of the north. Updating a virtual wall with details of our lives, and checking it to catch up with others, is part of the daily routine for millions. But imagine a prehistoric version -- with a timeline preserved in actual stone encompassing thousands of years, on which our ancestors used symbolic interpretations of animals and events to communicate with distant tribes and their own descendants -- allowing us to trace societal developments in these...

Epigraphy & Language


 Ancient Clay Tablets Recovered from 9/11 Attack Restored and Translated

· 05/22/2012 1:44:11 PM PDT ·
· Posted by SunkenCiv ·
· 8 replies ·
· Popular Archaeology ·
· Monday, May 21, 2012 ·
· unattributed ·

They were stored in the basement of the Customs House at 6 World Trade Center... when the building was destroyed by the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The ancient, 4,000-year-old cuneiform tablets, 302 in all, were looted from a site in southern Iraq sometime before the attacks. They had been confiscated by U.S. customs while they were in the process of being smuggled into Newark, N.J. and then placed temporarily in the basement of the Trade Center... Scholars now know that the tablets resided in an archive near the city of Nippur, the religious capital of Sumeria, and 145...


 Ancient Clay Tablets Recovered from 9/11 Attack Restored and Translated

· 05/22/2012 1:44:25 PM PDT ·
· Posted by SunkenCiv ·
· 13 replies ·
· Popular Archaeology ·
· Monday, May 21, 2012 ·
· unattributed ·

They were stored in the basement of the Customs House at 6 World Trade Center... when the building was destroyed by the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The ancient, 4,000-year-old cuneiform tablets, 302 in all, were looted from a site in southern Iraq sometime before the attacks. They had been confiscated by U.S. customs while they were in the process of being smuggled into Newark, N.J. and then placed temporarily in the basement of the Trade Center... Scholars now know that the tablets resided in an archive near the city of Nippur, the religious capital of Sumeria, and 145...

Egypt


 Astronomers discovered ancient Egyptian observations of a variable star [ Algol ]

· 05/20/2012 12:29:35 PM PDT ·
· Posted by SunkenCiv ·
· 15 replies ·
· PhysOrg ·
· May 16, 2012 ·
· U of Helsinki ·

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...

Ancient Autopsies


 A Mummy Switcheroo

· 05/20/2012 4:57:31 PM PDT ·
· Posted by SunkenCiv ·
· 9 replies ·
· Discovery News ·
· Tuesday, May 15, 2012 ·
· Rossella Lorenzi ·

Min, the ancient Egyptian god of phallus and fertility, might have brought some worldy advantages to his male worshippers, but offered little protection when it came to spiritual life. Researchers at the Mummy Project-Fatebenefratelli hospital in Milan, Italy, established that one of Min's priests at Akhmim, Ankhpakhered, was not resting peacefully in his finely painted sarcophagus. "We discovered that the sarcophagus does not contain the mummy of the priest, but the remains of another man dating between 400 and 100 BC," Egyptologist Sabina Malgora said. According to the researchers, the finding could point to a theft more than 2000 years...

Curses *Foiled* Again


 Black Magic Revealed in Two Ancient Curses

· 05/23/2012 11:05:52 AM PDT ·
· Posted by Renfield ·
· 23 replies ·
· livescience.com ·
· 5-22-2012 ·
· Owen Jarus ·

At a time when black magic was relatively common, two curses involving snakes were cast, one targeting a senator and the other an animal doctor, says a Spanish researcher who has just deciphered the 1,600-year-old 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 Roman Empire


 ORBIS -- The Stanford Geospatial Network Model of the Roman World

· 05/22/2012 5:33:56 PM PDT ·
· Posted by SunkenCiv ·
· 9 replies ·
· Stanford University ·
· May 2012 ·
· Walter Scheidel & Elijah Meeks ·

In the aggregate, our model simulations make it possible to reconfigure conventional maps of the Roman Empire to express the relative cost of transfers from or to a central point as distance. This perspective captures the structural properties of the imperial system as a whole by identifying the relative position of particular elements of the network and illustrating the impact of travel speed and especially transport prices on overall connectivity. Distance cartograms show that due to massive cost differences between aquatic and terrestrial modes of transport, peripheries were far more remote from the center in terms of price than...

Thoroughly Modern Miscellany


 Italy busts eBay looted artefacts ring

· 05/23/2012 6:42:50 AM PDT ·
· Posted by SunkenCiv ·
· 5 replies ·
· VancouverDesi ·
· May 18, 2012 ·
· AFP str-glr/dt/har ·

Italian police on Friday said they were investigating 70 people for trading thousands of looted archaeological artefacts including ancient coins and vases on Internet auction site eBay. The investigation began when the police found an eBay announcement in 2009 and they tracked down a father and son team of tomb raiders in a village in Calabria in southern Italy who had dug up Byzantine, Greek and Roman burials. Police said in a statement they had seized 16,344 artefacts including bronze and silver coins, rings and ceramic vases, as well as 10 metal detectors. Most of the pieces came from the...

Windows on the Past


 Exploring Pella's Bronze Age Temple Complex

· 05/24/2012 9:33:23 PM PDT ·
· Posted by SunkenCiv ·
· 4 replies ·
· Past Horizons ·
· May 2012 ·
· Stephen J. Bourke ·

Pella is located in the eastern foothills of the north Jordan valley, around five kilometres east of the Jordan River in the modern-day Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. It overlooks the north/south road that runs up the Jordan Valley, as well as the east/west trade route west down the Jezreel Valley to the coast at Haifa. Verdant agricultural flatlands stretch away to the north of the site, and broken uplands well suited to horticulture rise sharply to the east. The high cone-shaped largely natural hill of Tell Husn dominates the southern approaches to the site. ... The landscape surrounding the main...

Let's Have Jerusalem


 Archaeologists unearth ancient Bethlehem seal

· 05/23/2012 5:57:37 PM PDT ·
· Posted by SJackson ·
· 22 replies ·
· Fox News ·
· May 23, 2012 ·

Israeli archaeologists have discovered a 2,700-year-old seal that bears the inscription "Bethlehem," the Israel Antiquities Authority announced Wednesday, in what experts believe to be the oldest artifact with the name of Jesus' traditional birthplace. The tiny clay seal's existence and age provide vivid evidence that Bethlehem was not just the name of a fabled biblical town, but also a bustling place of trade linked to the nearby city of Jerusalem, archaeologists said. Eli Shukron, the authority's director of excavations, said the find was significant because it is the first time the name "Bethlehem" appears outside of a biblical...

Facts In the Ground


 Archaeologists Explore Ancient Judahite Fortress

· 05/20/2012 12:45:55 PM PDT ·
· Posted by SunkenCiv ·
· 11 replies ·
· Popular Archaeology ·
· Sunday, May 20, 2012 ·
· with contributions by Shmuel Browns ·

Azekah was an important strategic Judahite border-stronghold during the turbulent times of the Assyrian and Babylonian invasions, which brought destruction on the kingdoms of Israel and Judah centuries before the time of Christ. The mighty Assyrian king Sennacherib called it "an eagle's nest...with towers that project to the sky like swords". The town continued to play a strategic role hundreds of years later during the Hasmonean period, as was evidenced by the the Bliss/Macalister excavations when they uncovered part of a massive fortress built by the Hasmonean king, John Hyrcanus 1. Now, preliminary surveys conducted by a joint Israel-Germany excavation...

Go Tel it on Megiddo


 Unique Gold Earring Found in Intriguing Collection of Ancient Jewelry at Tel Megiddo

· 05/22/2012 1:57:26 PM PDT ·
· Posted by SunkenCiv ·
· 22 replies ·
· American Friends of Tel Aviv U ·
· Monday, May 21, 2012 ·
· Tel Aviv U ·

Researchers from Tel Aviv University have recently discovered a collection of gold and silver jewelry, dated from around 1100 B.C., hidden in a vessel at the archaeological site of Tel Megiddo in the Jezreel Valley in northern Israel. One piece -- a gold earring decorated with molded ibexes, or wild goats -- is "without parallel," they believe. According to Prof. Israel Finkelstein of TAU's Department of Archaeology and Near Eastern Cultures, the vessel was found in 2010, but remained uncleaned while awaiting a molecular analysis of its content. When they were finally able to wash out the dirt, pieces of...

Catastrophism & Astronomy


 Quake reveals day of Jesus' crucifixion, researchers believe

· 05/24/2012 8:35:52 PM PDT ·
· Posted by caldera599 ·
· 26 replies ·
· MSNBC ·
· 5/24/2012 ·
· Jennifer Viegas ·

Geologists say Jesus, as described in the New Testament, was most likely crucified on Friday, April 3, in the year 33. The latest investigation, reported in International Geology Review, focused on earthquake activity at the Dead Sea, located 13 miles from Jerusalem. The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 27, mentions that an earthquake coincided with the crucifixion: "And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open."


 Historical *Evidence* for the Crucifixion Darkness (Solar Eclipse?)

· 04/02/2010 9:27:17 AM PDT ·
· Posted by CondoleezzaProtege ·
· 28 replies ·
· 1,037+ views ·
· biblehistory.net ·

The first reference found outside of the bible mentioning this darkness which fell over the land during the crucifixion of Christ, comes from a Samaritan historian named Thallus, who wrote around 52 A.D. His work was quoted by another early historian by the name of Julius Africanus who researched the topic of this darkness and wrote the following: "Upon the whole world there came a most fearful darkness. Many rocks were split in two by an earthquake, and many places in Judea and other districts were thrown down. It seems very unreasonable to me that Thallus, in the third book...

Oh So Mysteriouso


 The Ark of the Covenant found burred under a trash pile in Jerusalem.

· 02/06/2012 5:49:40 AM PST ·
· Posted by kquinn856 ·
· 27 replies ·
· Ron Wyatt ·
· Dec. 22, 2011 ·
· Kevin Quinn ·

They found the Ark of the Covenant where Moses placed the 10 Commandments, in a cave under Golgotha. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. Who would have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. 1 Tim 2:3-6 Rom 3:28-30 Is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes of the...

Longer Perspectives


 Roots of Racism

· 05/23/2012 2:41:23 PM PDT ·
· Posted by neverdem ·
· 20 replies ·
· Science ·
· 18 May 2012 ·
· Elizabeth Culotta ·

Racial prejudice apparently stems from deep evolutionary roots and a universal tendency to form coalitions and favor our own side. And yet what makes a "group" is mercurial: In experiments, people easily form coalitions based on meaningless traits or preferences -- and then favor others in their "group." Researchers have explored these innate biases and begun to ask why such biases exist. What factors in our evolutionary past have shaped our coalitionary present -- and what, if anything, can we do about it now? Several avenues of research are probing the origins of what many psychologists call in-group love and out-group...

Religion of Pieces


 Mohammed in the "Gospel" of Barnabas - ZOT for the Theologians

· 07/17/2006 9:05:28 AM PDT ·
· Posted by parakletos ·
· 3,619 replies ·
· 13,640+ views ·

The GREAT PROPHET MOHAMMED was mentioned by name in the forgotten gospel of Barnabas,who was one of the disciples of THE GREAT PROPHET JESUS CHRIST. The gospel is here: www.barnabas.net/ in the aforementioned site,make a search for the word "mohammed". heres a sample: from part 97 Then said the priest: -- How shall the Messiah be called, and what sign shall reveal his coming?' Jesus answered: -- The name of the Messiah is admirable, for God himself gave him the name when he had created his soul, and placed it in a celestial splendour. God said: "Wait Mohammed; for thy sake I...


 Secret £14million Bible in which 'Jesus predicts coming of Prophet Muhammad' unearthed in Turkey

· 02/29/2012 9:13:30 AM PST ·
· Posted by SeekAndFind ·
· 50 replies ·
· 1+ views ·
· Daily Mail ·
· 02/28/2012 ·

A secret Bible in which Jesus is believed to predict the coming of the Prophet Muhammad to Earth has sparked serious interest from the Vatican. Pope Benedict XVI is claimed to want to see the 1,500-year-old book, which many say is the Gospel of Barnabas, that has been hidden by the Turkish state for the last 12 years. The £14million handwritten gold lettered tome, penned in Jesus' native Aramaic language, is said to contain his early teachings and a prediction of the Prophet's coming. The leather-bound text, written on animal hide, was discovered by Turkish police during an anti-smuggling operation...


 Iran: Discovery will collapse Christianity [Barf Alert}

· 05/24/2012 8:35:47 AM PDT ·
· Posted by Gamecock ·
· 46 replies ·
· WND ·
· May 24, 2012 ·
· Reza Kahlili ·

Iran's Basij Press is claiming that a version of the Gospel of Barnabas, found in 2000, will prove that Islam is the final and righteous religion and the revelation will cause the collapse worldwide of Christianity Turkish authorities believe the text could be an authentic version of the Gospel of Barnabas, one of Jesus' apostles and an associate of the apostle Paul. This version of the Barnabas Gospel was written in the 5th or 6th century and it predicted the coming of the Prophet Mohammad and the religion of Islam, the Basij Press claims. The Christian world, it says, denies...

Agriculture & Animal Husbandry


 West Bank barrier threatens villagers' way of life

· 05/22/2012 3:48:08 PM PDT ·
· Posted by Eleutheria5 ·
· 8 replies ·
· BBC ·
· 10/5/12 ·

Israel is being urged to reroute its controversial West Bank barrier away from the lands of an ancient Palestinian village with a unique agricultural system. The BBC's Wyre Davies visited Battir, whose inhabitants fear their traditional way of life will disappear. In this part of the world, the supply and control of water is a major logistical and political issue. Yet the quaint village of Battir must be one of the luckiest and most blessed communities around - because Battir has water in abundance. For more than 2,000 years, seven natural springs have given life to the village and its...

Farty Shades of Green


 Dublin patron saint's heart stolen from Christ Church Cathedral

· 03/05/2012 5:43:29 AM PST ·
· Posted by Renfield ·
· 12 replies ·
· BBC News ·
· 3-3-2012 ·

The preserved heart of Dublin's patron saint has been stolen from the city's Christ Church Cathedral, officials say. The thief would have needed metal cutters to prise open the iron bars protecting the wooden heart-shaped box holding St Laurence O'Toole's heart. Police believe it happened some time between Friday night and about 12.30 GMT on Saturday. "They specifically targeted this, they wanted the heart of St Laurence O'Toole," a church spokeswoman said....

Scotland Yet


 Rare Canna stone's a blessing and a curse [ Scotland ]

· 05/20/2012 12:25:11 PM PDT ·
· Posted by SunkenCiv ·
· 5 replies ·
· The Scotsman ·
· Sunday, May 20, 2012 ·
· Emma Cowing ·

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...

Paleontology


 Discovered: The turtle the size of a SmartCar..

· 05/18/2012 6:35:17 AM PDT ·
· Posted by C19fan ·
· 28 replies ·
· UK Daily Mail ·
· May 18, 2012 ·
· Eddie Wrenn ·

Picture a turtle the size of a Smart car, with a shell large enough to double as a children's pool. Paleontologists from North Carolina State University have found just such a specimen -- the fossilised remains of a 60-million-year-old South American giant that lived in what is now Colombia. The turtle in question is Carbonemys cofrinii, which means 'coal turtle', and it is part of a group of turtles known as pelomedusoides. The specimen's skull measures 24 centimeters, and the shell, which was recovered nearby and is believed to belong to the same animal - measures 172 centimeters, or about...


 They didn't mess with ancient turtle the size of a car

· 05/19/2012 8:12:59 AM PDT ·
· Posted by Renfield ·
· 10 replies ·
· MSNBC ·
· 5-17-2012 ·
· Jeanna Bryner ·

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 Thursday 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...

Ursa Major


 Biggest Bear Ever Found -- "It Blew My Mind," Expert Says

· 05/20/2012 8:01:48 PM PDT ·
· Posted by SunkenCiv ·
· 22 replies ·
· National Geographic News ·
· February 3, 2011 ·
· Christine Dell'Amore ·

There's a new titleholder for the biggest, baddest bear ever found. A prehistoric South American giant short-faced bear tipped the scales at up to 3,500 pounds (1,600 kilograms) and towered at least 11 feet (3.4 meters) standing up, according to a new study. The previous heavyweight was a North American giant short-faced bear -- a related extinct species -- that weighed up to 2,500 pounds (1,134 kilograms). The largest bear on record in modern times was a 2,200-pound (998-kilogram) polar bear shot in Alaska in the 19th century. The South American giant short-faced bear roamed its namesake continent about 500,000...

Biology & Cryptobiology


 Bigfoot and Yeti DNA Study Gets Serious

· 05/22/2012 6:44:00 PM PDT ·
· Posted by Theoria ·
· 47 replies ·
· LiveScience ·
· 22 May 2012 ·
· Jeanna Bryner ·

A new university-backed project aims to investigate cryptic species such as the yeti whose existence is unproven, through genetic testing. Researchers from Oxford University and the Lausanne Museum of Zoology are asking anyone with a collection of cryptozoological material to submit descriptions of it. The researchers will then ask for hair and other samples for genetic identification. "I'm challenging and inviting the cryptozoologists to come up with the evidence instead of complaining that science is rejecting what they have to say," said geneticist Bryan Sykes of the University of Oxford. While Sykes doesn't expect to find solid evidence of a...

Prehistory & Origins


 Preview: Were mermaids aquatic apes?

· 05/23/2012 3:28:13 PM PDT ·
· Posted by Theoria ·
· 28 replies ·
· Fox News ·
· 22 May 2012 ·
· Hollie McKay ·

In the two-hour CGI Special "Mermaids: The Body Found," Animal Planet dives deep into the idea that mermaids may have been real, and, even better -- related to humans! "It's a very radical theory on human evolution, but we have approached an age-old myth and really chased its origins," Animal Planet honcho Charlie Foley told FOX411's Pop Tarts column. "It has been compiled in a way that is very compelling, making us think that mermaids might not just be mythical creatures." The show unravels mysterious underwater sound recordings and presents a bone-chilling argument for the Aquatic Ape Theory, which suggests...

Sunken Civilizations


 Atlantis: The Evidence [ Thera, Crete, the usual modern myths ]

· 05/20/2012 5:46:36 PM PDT ·
· Posted by SunkenCiv ·
· 59 replies ·
· Watchumentary ·
· January 1st, 2011 ·
· BBC, Timewatch, Natalie Maynes, Bettany Hughes ·

In this Timewatch special, historian Bettany Hughes unravels one of the most intriguing mysteries of all time. She presents a series of geological, archaeological and historical clues to show that the legend of Atlantis was inspired by a real historical event -- the greatest natural disaster of the ancient world. She is tracing the origins of the Atlantis myth and presenting evidence that the Thera eruption inspired Plato's account of the mystical land. 2,400 years ago Greek philosopher Plato wrote of an ancient island civilization of unparalleled wealth and splendor, which was struck by earthquakes and floods and was swallowed...

Navigation


 Suppressed By Scholars: Twin Ancient Cultures On Opposite Sides Of The Pacific

· 05/19/2012 8:28:22 AM PDT ·
· Posted by Renfield ·
· 34 replies ·
· Frontiers of Anthropology ·
· 5-14-2012 ·
· Dale Drinnon ·

One of the greatest archaeological riddles -- and one of the grossest academic omissions -- of our time is the untold story of the parallel ruins left by two seemingly unrelated ancient civilizations: the ancient Mayans on one side of the Pacific Ocean and the ancient Balinese on the other. The mysterious and unexplained similarities in their architecture, iconography, and religion are so striking and profound that the Mayans and Balinese seem to have been twin civilizations -- as if children of the same parent. Yet, incredibly, this mystery is not only being ignored by American scholars, it's being suppressed. What does archaeology have to do...

Australia & the Pacific


 Thousands of rubber ducks to land on British shores after 15 year journey(E Pacific to N Atlantic)

· 06/28/2007 7:57:54 PM PDT ·
· Posted by TigerLikesRooster ·
· 33 replies ·
· 3,511+ views ·
· Daily Mail ·
· 06/27/07 ·
· Ben Clerkin ·

They were toys destined only to bob up and down in nothing bigger than a child's bath - but so far they have floated halfway around the world. The armada of 29,000 plastic yellow ducks, blue turtles and green frogs broke free from a cargo ship 15 years ago. Since then they have travelled 17,000 miles, floating over the site where the Titanic sank, landing in Hawaii and even spending years...


 Rubber Duckies to Help Track Speed of Melting Glaciers

· 11/23/2008 1:47:48 AM PST ·
· Posted by JoeProBono ·
· 28 replies ·
· 533+ views ·
· foxnews ·

Challenged to probe under Greenland's glaciers, NASA robotics expert Alberto Behar wondered what mechanism might endure sub-zero cold, the pressure of mile-thick ice and currents that sometimes exceed the flow rate of Niagara Falls. As Dr. Behar at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory soon discovered, though, there isn't much money for global-warming experiments in Greenland... Unfazed, he thought of one device that might survive such extremes at a cost his field expedition could readily afford -- a two-dollar rubber duck. Each duck was imprinted with an e-mail address and, in three languages, the offer of a reward.

PreColumbian, Clovis & PreClovis


 Prehistoric Texans May Have Been First Humans in U.S.

· 03/24/2011 5:55:11 PM PDT ·
· Posted by decimon ·
· 50 replies ·
· Live Science ·
· March 24, 2011 ·
· Unknown ·

Humans camped by the shores of a small creek in Texas possibly even before the Clovis society, classically regarded as the first human inhabitants of the Americas, settled in the West. The site, located in central Texas on the bank of Buttermilk Creek, has produced almost 16,000 artifacts, including stone chips and blade-like objects, in soil dating up to 15,500 years old, more than 2,000 years before the first evidence of Clovis culture. Many of the items are flakes from cutting or sharpening of tools, but the research team also found about 50 tools, including several cutting surfaces -- including...

Helix, Make Mine a Double


 Spectacular Tomb Containing More Than 80 Individuals Discovered in Peru

· 05/24/2012 8:28:44 AM PDT ·
· Posted by SunkenCiv ·
· 6 replies ·
· ScienceDaily ·
· May 22, 2012 ·
· AlphaGalileo ·

A team of archaeologists from the UniversitÈ libre de Bruxelles (ULB) has discovered a spectacular tomb containing more than eighty individuals of different ages. This discovery -- provisionally dated to around 1000 years ago -- was made at the site of Pachacamac, which is currently under review for UNESCO World Heritage status. Pachacamac, situated on the Pacific coast about thirty kilometres from Lima, is one of the largest Prehispanic sites in South America... It was here -- directly in front of the Temple of Pachacamac -- that the most important discovery was made. A scatter of later period burials was...

Middle Ages & Renaissance


 Archeologists to Study Pre-Settlement Hut in Iceland

· 05/22/2012 1:52:27 PM PDT ·
· Posted by SunkenCiv ·
· 5 replies ·
· Iceland Review ·
· Sunday, May 20, 2012 ·
· ESA ·

The first archeological research in Iceland this year will begin at Hafnir in Reykjanes, southwest Iceland, on Monday. Archeologists will continue their study of a hut which may originate from 770-880 AD, the latter part of the Iron Age, and predate the historical settlement of Iceland in 874. Excavation has been ongoing in the area around the hut, which has been given the name Vogur, with intermission since 2003, Frattabla reports. Last summer archeologist Bjarni F. Einarsson revealed that carbon age analysis indicated that the hut may have been constructed in the aforementioned period, which garnered considerable attention. Archeologists now...

Age of Sail


 Flinders finds clues to early Dutch postal system

· 05/19/2012 3:40:11 PM PDT ·
· Posted by SunkenCiv ·
· 7 replies ·
· PhysOrg ·
· May 17, 2012 ·
· Flinders U ·

Ancient maritime inscriptions dating back to the early 1600s have been found on the coast of Madagascar by Flinders University researchers. The team of researchers, including Flinders archaeology research associate Mark Polzer and Jane Fyfe, a PhD candidate and rock art specialist from the University of Western Australia, discovered the messages carved into rock outcrops and boulders on an island in the Bay of Antongil, on the northeast corner of Madagascar. While some of the inscriptions were originally found in the 1920s, researchers have always believed there were no more than a dozen "postal stones". Dr. van Duivenvoorde said the...

Early America


 Government by Gentry in Colonial Virginia

· 05/20/2012 11:17:50 AM PDT ·
· Posted by Jacquerie ·
· 11 replies ·
· class="attrib">1958 ·
· Daniel J. Boorstin ·

It would be a great mistake to assume that the cozy, aristocratic character of Virginia society had nothing to do with its civic virtues. Only a perverse hindsight has made the political institutions of colonial Virginia a leveling democracy in embryo. When George Washington feared for the preservation of self government and the rights of Englishmen, it was the political customs of mid-18th century Virginia that he must have had in mind, for he knew no others. Those customs were the representative institutions of a Virginia-bred aristocracy, whose peculiarly aristocratic virtues nourished American representative government at its roots. And those...

The Revolution


 Like namesake, Dublin park rises to little fanfare [new Ohio RevWar Memorial]

· 05/21/2012 9:22:26 AM PDT ·
· Posted by Pharmboy ·
· 13 replies ·
· AP via Columbus Dispatch ·
· May 21, 2012 ·
· Lisa Cornwell ·

Land awarded to a Polish freedom fighter more than 200 years ago by a grateful United States has been turned into a park bearing the name of the man who spent his life championing liberty and equality in America and Poland. The 36-acre Thaddeus Kosciuszko Park in Dublin, which opened this month, was part of a grant of 500 acres awarded by Congress for Kosciuszko's contributions as a military engineer and Continental Army colonel during the Revolutionary War. Alex Storozynski, president and executive director of the Kosciuszko Foundation based in New York, said Kosciuszko was ahead of his time in...

Underwater Archaeology


 Underwater archaeologists searching for lost village [ Empire, Michigan ]

· 05/19/2012 3:34:18 PM PDT ·
· Posted by SunkenCiv ·
· 23 replies ·
· UpNorthLive.com ·
· Friday, May 18, 2012 ·
· Lauren Amstutz ·

A group of underwater archaeologists are preparing for a project off the shores of Empire. The goal is to discover clues about the village's booming history, a history that currently lies several feet below Lake Michigan. The action will begin on June 8th, when a team of divers will employ the latest electronic and underwater sonar technology to find evidence of a once thriving lumber town. More than 100 years ago, the small village of Empire boasted one of the largest hardwood millis in the state of Michigan. Dave Taghon, with the Empire Museum built a scale model of the...


end of digest #410 20120526


1,414 posted on 05/25/2012 5:49:00 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (FReepathon 2Q time -- https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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Gods, Graves, Glyphs
Weekly Digest #410 · v 8 · n 45
Saturday, May 26, 2012
 
39 topics
2842957 to 2885668
814 members
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Welcome to the recent newbies.

Issue #410 has a lot of Roman Empire stuff, but also a startling variety -- 39 topics, including some archival stuff.

Troll activity has been on the increase again these past couple of weeks, new nicknames, same tired old thread hijacks. If you received this ping message, this isn't directed at you -- the trolls are *always* people who emerge from under the bridge on their own. Anyway, stop by a few topics, spot some trolls, point and laugh!

I may be out of contact a lot this week, don't worry, I'll be back.
· view this issue ·
Stuff that doesn't necessarily make it to GGG here on FR sometimes gets shared here, that's my story and I'm sticking with it: Remember in November.
  • "'The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism' by Emmanuel Goldstein... Chapter I. Ignorance is Strength. Throughout recorded time, and probably since the end of the Neolithic Age, there have been three kinds of people in the world, the High, the Middle, and the Low. They have been subdivided in many ways, they have borne countless different names, and their relative numbers, as well as their attitude towards one another, have varied from age to age: but the essential structure of society has never altered. Even after enormous upheavals and seemingly irrevocable changes, the same pattern has always reasserted itself, just as a gyroscope will always return to equilibrium, however far it is pushed one way or the other. The aims of these groups are entirely irreconcilable..." [George Orwell, "1984" chapter 17]
 
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1,415 posted on 05/25/2012 5:54:02 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (FReepathon 2Q time -- https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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This week's topics, order added, newest to oldest:

Gods, Graves, Glyphs
Weekly Digest #411
Saturday, June 2, 2012

Prehistory & Origins


 Earliest music instruments found (42,000 year-old flutes)

· 05/25/2012 6:43:09 AM PDT ·
· Posted by LibWhacker ·
· 30 replies ·
· BBC ·
· 5/25/12 ·

Researchers have identified what they say are the oldest-known musical instruments in the world.The flutes, made from bird bone and mammoth ivory, come from a cave in southern Germany which contains early evidence for the occupation of Europe by modern humans - Homo sapiens. Scientists used carbon dating to show that the flutes were between 42,000 and 43,000 years old. The findings are described in the Journal of Human Evolution. A team led by Prof Tom Higham at Oxford University dated animal bones in the same ground layers as the flutes at Geissenkloesterle Cave in Germany's Swabian Jura. Prof Nick...

Cave Art


 Decoding the Ancient Secrets of White Shaman

· 06/01/2012 5:35:27 PM PDT ·
· Posted by SunkenCiv ·
· 13 replies ·
· Discover magazine ·
· May 2012 ·
· Will Hunt ·

Rock paintings near the Rio Grande contain hidden messages about a mysterious 4,000-year-old religion. Now one archaeologist has learned to read them. The figures at the White Shaman rock shelter seem to depict a journey through the spirit world... The region known as the Lower Pecos is an arid 21,000-square-mile expanse of southwest Texas and northern Mexico surrounding the confluence of the Pecos River and the Rio Grande. The land is barbed with cacti, teeming with rattlesnakes, and riven with impassable canyons. But more than 4,000 years ago, these barrens were home to a flourishing culture of hunter-gatherers, creators of...

Longer Perspectives


 Inequality Dates Back to Stone Age

· 05/30/2012 4:40:43 AM PDT ·
· Posted by Makana ·
· 20 replies ·
· Science ·
· May 28, 2012 ·
· Professor Alex Bentley ·

Hereditary inequality began over 7,000 years ago in the early Neolithic era, with new evidence showing that farmers buried with tools had access to better land than those buried without.

Climate


 Huge Ancient Civilization's Collapse Explained

· 05/29/2012 5:32:20 AM PDT ·
· Posted by Renfield ·
· 42 replies ·
· LiveScience ·
· 5-28-2012 ·
· Charles Choi ·

The mysterious fall of the largest of the world's earliest urban civilizations nearly 4,000 years ago in what is now India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh now appears to have a key culprit -- ancient climate change, researchers say. Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia may be the best known of the first great urban cultures, but the largest was the Indus or Harappan civilization. This culture once extended over more than 386,000 square miles (1 million square kilometers) across the plains of the Indus River from the Arabian Seato the Ganges, and at its peak may have accounted for 10 percent of...

Let's Have Jerusalem


 Bible-era earthquake reveals year of Jesus' crucifixion

· 05/25/2012 8:42:58 PM PDT ·
· Posted by NYFreeper ·
· 47 replies ·
· Discovery News ·
· May 24, 2012 ·
· Jennifer Viegas ·

Jesus, as described in the New Testament, was most likely crucified on Friday April 3, 33 A.D. The latest investigation, reported in the journal International Geology Review, focused on earthquake activity at the Dead Sea, located 13 miles from Jerusalem. The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 27, mentions that an earthquake coincided with the crucifixion.


 Archeologist Says New Finds Support Bible's Accuracy

· 05/28/2012 11:45:52 AM PDT ·
· Posted by GiovannaNicoletta ·
· 4 replies ·
· Israel Today Magazine ·
· May 15, 2012 ·
· Ryan Jones ·

A Hebrew University archeologist says finds at a new dig site near Jerusalem are backing up the biblical narrative of an Israelite kingdom centered on Jerusalem in 1000 BC, around the time of King David and his son, King Solomon. Professor Yosef Garfinkel has been digging at Khirbet Qeiyafa near the Jerusalem suburb of Beit Shemesh since 2007. Carbon dating of unearthed olive pits has put the period of activity at Khirbet Qeiyafa at 1020 BC - 980 BC, almost exactly the period of time the Bible says David and Solomon were active in the region. The dating, together with...


 What's the Oldest Hebrew Inscription?

· 05/28/2012 9:24:09 AM PDT ·
· Posted by SunkenCiv ·
· 22 replies ·
· Biblical Archaeology Review ·
· May/Jun 2012 ·
· Christopher A. Rollston ·

Four contenders vie for the honor of the oldest Hebrew inscription. To decide we must determine (1) whether they are in Hebrew script and/or language and (2) when they date. Not easy! The first contender, the already famous Qeiyafa Ostracon, was discovered only in 2008 at Khirbet Qeiyafa, a site in the borderland of ancient Judah and Philistia.a The five-line ostracon (an ink inscription on a piece of broken pottery) is not well preserved and is subject to varying readings. As the Qeiyafa Ostracon is a recent find, so the Gezer Calendar is an old one. It was discovered exactly...


 Century-old Archaeological Find [Gabriel's Revelation tablet]

· 03/22/2012 7:09:22 AM PDT ·
· Posted by marshmallow ·
· 8 replies ·
· La Stampa-Vatican Insider ·
· 3/15/12 ·
· Giacomo Galeazzi ·

[Full title: Century-old Archaeological Find Could Prove Authenticity of Jesus' Prophesy of the Resurrection] Gabriel's Revelation tablet (on show in the "Verbum Domini" exhibition in the Vatican) has been said to be an important piece of evidence for the authenticity of Jesus' prophesies on the resurrection -- Vatican Insider spoke to Biblicist and writer, Professor Simone Venturini on the subject. Professor Venturini works in the Vatican Secret Archives and teaches Biblical Science at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. He is also the author of a number of works, including Il libro di Gesu Segreto (The secret book of Jesus) published by Newton Compton. Professor, what is the Gabriel's Revelation stela on show in the...


 More Observations on the Stone Dead Sea Scroll Text

· 07/16/2008 1:19:17 AM PDT ·
· Posted by Oyarsa ·
· 13 replies ·
· 179+ views ·
· Bock's Blog ·
· 7/08/2008 ·
· Darrell L. Bock ·

(from Taiwan) ... am writing from Taiwan, but I am not immune to the news about the new Stone "Dead Sea Scroll". I have made available by link in the News We Are Watching window Time's latest article on this. Thanks to Craig Blomberg for noting where access to the text can be found. The BAR site also in the News We Are Watching window gives access to both English and to the Hebrew text. Now you do not have to...

Facts In the Ground


 "Castle of the Slave" -- Mystery Solved [ Jordan ]

· 05/28/2012 8:45:07 AM PDT ·
· Posted by SunkenCiv ·
· 15 replies ·
· Biblical Archaeology Review ·
· May/Jun 2012 ·
· Stephen Rosenberg ·

One of the most dramatic archaeological monuments in Jordan -- an admittedly Jewish one -- has been repeatedly misidentified. French historian Ernest Will called it the "Finest Hellenistic monument in the Near East" and considered it a chateau. The structure is known locally as Qasr al-Abd, or "Castle of the Slave (or Servant)." It is part of a 75-acre estate called Airaq al-Amir (also spelled 'Iraq el-Emir), lying 12 miles southwest of the Jordanian capital, Amman. The site was entered via a monumental gateway, much of which remains in a ruined state and hidden by undergrowth. The glory of the...

Epigraphy & Language


 Oldest Jewish archaeological evidence on the Iberian Peninsula

· 05/27/2012 8:31:50 PM PDT ·
· Posted by SunkenCiv ·
· 4 replies ·
· Eurekalert ·
· Friday, May 25, 2012 ·
· Friedrich-Schiller-Universitaet Jena ·

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 new discovery might be a tomb slab... "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... ...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...

Faith & Philosophy


 Babylonian Talmud Translated into Arabic

· 05/28/2012 9:46:19 AM PDT ·
· Posted by SunkenCiv ·
· 23 replies ·
· Bible History Daily (BAR website) ·
· Thursday, May 17, 2012 ·
· Staff ·

After a controversial six-year-long translation project, a Jordanian think tank based in Amman published an Arabic translation of the Babylonian Talmud. After gaining enthusiastic responses to the project from the Arab League, 96 scholars began work on the translation. The editors are happy with the project, stating that the lack of an Arabic Talmud "has always been an obstacle to understanding Judaism." Despite some polarized and politicized responses, most have adopted a positive impression of the massive scholarly work. Dr. Raquel Ukeles of the Israeli National Library states that the project stemmed from scientific curiosity, and the introduction discusses the...

Religion of Pieces


 Indiana Jones meets the Da Vinci Code

· 01/14/2008 12:56:52 PM PST ·
· Posted by rellimpank ·
· 33 replies ·
· 40+ views ·
· Asia times ·
· 14 jan 08 ·
· Spengler ·

Islam watchers blogged all weekend about news that a secret archive of ancient Islamic texts had surfaced after 60 years of suppression. Andrew Higgins' Wall Street Journal report that the photographic record of Koranic manuscripts, supposedly destroyed during World War II but occulted by a scholar of alleged Nazi sympathies, reads like a conflation of the Da Vinci Code with Indiana Jones and the Holy Grail. The Da Vinci Code offered a silly fantasy in which Opus Dei, homicidal monks and twisted billionaires chased after proof that Christianity is a hoax. But the story of the photographic archive...


 Coast-to-coast AM 01.18.08.(2am EST) Glenn Kimball will discuss history of the Koran

· 01/19/2008 10:41:22 PM PST ·
· Posted by Perdogg ·
· 9 replies ·
· 212+ views ·
· C2C AM ·
· 01.19.08 ·

Expert in ancient manuscripts, Glenn Kimball will discuss new information on the history and origins of the Koran and ancient libraries.

The Roman Empire


 Lead poisoning in Rome: The skeletal evidence

· 05/31/2012 5:10:10 AM PDT ·
· Posted by Renfield ·
· 14 replies ·
· Past Horizons ·
· 2-24-2012 ·
· http://www.poweredbyosteons.org/ ·

A recent article in the online publication io9, "The First Artificial Sweetener Poisoned Lots of Romans" provided a (very) brief look at some of the uses of lead (Pb) in the Roman world, including the tired old hypothesis that it was rampant lead poisoning that led to the downfall of Rome - along with gonorrhoea, Christianity, slavery, and the kitchen sink. The fact the Romans loved their lead is not in question, with plenty of textual and archaeological sources that inform us of the uses of lead -- as cosmetics, ballistics, sarcophagi, pipes, jewellery, curse tablets, utensils and cooking pots,...

Ancient Autopsies


 Uncovering the Great Theater of Apamea

· 06/02/2012 7:48:25 PM PDT ·
· Posted by SunkenCiv ·
· Popular Archaeology ·
· Thursday, May 31, 2012 ·
· Cynthia Finlayson ·

The Great Theater at Apamea in northern Syria vies with the Large Theater at Ephesus, Turkey for the honor of being the largest extant Roman edifice of its type to have survived the ravages of time. Both buildings are estimated to have held audiences of over 20,000 persons, and both may have had their origins in an earlier Greek Hellenistic structure that was overbuilt in the Roman Era. Only one other theater, the Theater of Pompey in Rome, is known to have been larger. However, Pompey's lavish building is buried under the modern streets of the city, and its surviving...

PreColumbian, Clovis & PreClovis


 Mexican archaeologists find 2,500-year-old altar

· 05/28/2012 7:23:38 AM PDT ·
· Posted by SunkenCiv ·
· 14 replies ·
· Fox News Latino ·
· May 25, 2012 ·
· EFE ·

An altar and a stela estimated to date from as early as 800 B.C. were found at the Chalcatzingo archaeological site in the central state of Morelos, Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History, or INAH, said. The altar is rectangular and covered with engravings representing rain. A few meters (yards) away from the altar was an unfinished stela standing 1.7 meters (5 feet 6 inches) tall. The pieces are thought to have been made between 800 and 500 B.C., about the same age as another altar and a relief depicting three cats that archaeologists from INAH's Morelos Center found...

Helix, Make Mine a Double


 DNA study seeks origin of Appalachia's Melungeons

· 05/27/2012 4:49:30 AM PDT ·
· Posted by Renfield ·
· 64 replies ·
· MSNBC ·
· 5-25-2012 ·
· Travis Loller ·

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- For years, varied and sometimes wild claims have been made about the origins of a group of dark-skinned Appalachian residents once known derisively as the Melungeons. Some speculated they were descended from Portuguese explorers, or perhaps from Turkish slaves or Gypsies. Now a new DNA study in the Journal of Genetic Genealogy attempts to separate truth from oral tradition and wishful thinking. The study found the truth to be somewhat less exotic: Genetic evidence shows that the families historically called Melungeons are the offspring of sub-Saharan African men and white women of northern or central European origin.....

Epidemics, Pandemics, Plagues, the Sniffles


 Ancient Mummy Child Had Hepatitis B

· 06/02/2012 7:34:31 PM PDT ·
· Posted by SunkenCiv ·
· 4 replies ·
· LiveScience ·
· Tuesday, May 29, 2012 ·
· Staff ·

A mummified child in Korea whose organs were relatively well preserved has produced the oldest full viral genome description. A liver biopsy of the mummy revealed a unique hepatitis B virus (HBV) known as a genotype C2 sequence, which is said to be common in Southeast Asia. The first discovery of hepatitis in a Korean mummy came in 2007. The new work provided more detailed analysis... Carbon 14 tests of the clothing of the mummy suggests that the boy lived around the 16th century during the Korean Joseon Dynasty. The viral DNA sequences recovered from the liver biopsy enabled the...

Not-so-Ancient Autopsies


 Skeletal Trauma from Medieval Oslo

· 05/31/2012 5:21:03 AM PDT ·
· Posted by Renfield ·
· 11 replies ·
· Bones Don't Lie ·
· 5-1-2012 ·
· Katy Meyers ·

The Medieval period is one characterized throughout the Western world as one of violence. Artwork from this era shows not only violence done towards other cultural groups, but dangers and suffering from daily life. Historical texts document the violence of heroes and villains, their phrases often loaded with drama. Scholars have argued that this violence was part of the social environment and to some extent was institutionalized. However, judgements from text and art alone are limited by individual perception and bias. Human remains have been vital in understanding the extent and manner of violence in the Medieval period. While they...

Egypt


 Burial site revealing ancient Egyptian funerary rites uncovered [ Middle Kdm Egypt ]

· 06/02/2012 7:17:37 PM PDT ·
· Posted by SunkenCiv ·
· 1 replies ·
· Al-Ahram ·
· Wednesday, May 30, 2012 ·
· Nevine El-Aref ·

The well preserved coffin of an unidentified Middle Kingdom provincial governor was found in the Deir Al-Barsha necropolis near the upper Egyptian city of Minya In the course of routine excavation work at the tomb of the first Middle Kingdom governor of the Hare Nome or province, the nomarch Ahanakht I at the Deir Al-Barsha site in Minya, Belgian archaeologists from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven stumbled on what is believed to be an important burial going back to the beginning of the Middle Kingdom... Harco Willems, field director of the Belgian mission, told Ahram Online that the coffin remains discovered...

Underwater Archaeology


 Deepest Roman shipwrecks found near Greece

· 05/30/2012 6:18:13 AM PDT ·
· Posted by C19fan ·
· 18 replies ·
· UK Daily Mail ·
· May 30, 2012 ·
· Rob Waugh ·

Two Roman-era shipwrecks have been found in deep water off a western Greek island, challenging the idea that ancient shipmasters stuck to coastal routes. The merchant ships were sunk nearly a mile deep between Corfu and Italy - proving that ancient traders didn't 'hug the shore'. Greece's culture ministry said the two third-century wrecks were discovered earlier this month during a survey of an area where a Greek-Italian gas pipeline is to be sunk.

Biology & Cryptobiology


 Discovered: The 128million-year-old grandfather of the modern squid..

· 06/01/2012 6:42:36 AM PDT ·
· Posted by C19fan ·
· 16 replies ·
· UK Daily Mail ·
· June 1, 2012 ·
· Eddie Wrenn ·

Scientists have managed to re-create the appearance of a previously unknown fossil - a spiky creature thought to be the ultimate ancestor of the modern-day squid and octopus. The Austria National History Museum team used 3D scanning technology to unearth the fossil of 'Dissimilites intermedius' a layer at a time, and then created a video of how the creature lived and moved. The ammonite was discovered in sediment which formed at the bottom of the ocean during the Cretaceous period - on a surface which, 128 million years, later would lie at the top of the Dolomite mountains in the...

Catastrophism & Astronomy


 It Took Earth Ten Million Years to Recover from Greatest Mass Extinction

· 05/28/2012 7:25:47 PM PDT ·
· Posted by SunkenCiv ·
· 42 replies ·
· ScienceDaily ·
· May 27, 2012 ·
· U of Bristol ·

It took some 10 million years for Earth to recover from the greatest mass extinction of all time, latest research has revealed. Life was nearly wiped out 250 million years ago, with only 10 per cent of plants and animals surviving. It is currently much debated how life recovered from this cataclysm, whether quickly or slowly. Recent evidence for a rapid bounce-back is evaluated in a new review article by Dr Zhong-Qiang Chen, from the China University of Geosciences in Wuhan, and Professor Michael Benton from the University of Bristol. They find that recovery from the crisis lasted some 10...

Middle Ages & Renaissance


 Israeli researchers find American Indians with Jewish genetic markers

· 05/30/2012 5:51:03 PM PDT ·
· Posted by SJackson ·
· 143 replies ·
· Xinhuanet ·
· 5-30-12 ·

JERUSALEM, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Geneticists at an Israeli hospital said they have found a unique Jewish genetic mutation among an American Indian tribe, indicating that they are descendants of Jews expelled from Spain 600 years ago, local Haaretz daily reported on Wednesday. The findings of the study, conducted at the Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv, show that a group of Indians from the State of Colorado bear the so-called "Ashkenazi mutation," on the BRCA1 gene - a marker unique to European Jews. While such so-called "secret Jews," or "Anusim" in Hebrew, whose families assimilated into various north and...

Early America


 Our Forgotten Fallen, from an earlier war.

· 05/28/2012 12:01:06 PM PDT ·
· Posted by SES1066 ·
· 8 replies ·
· 05/28/2012 ·
· Self ·

Today is Memorial Day, once also known as Decoration Day, hallowed to honor our military dead. Started to honor our Civil War dead, it has been expanded to honor all of our military dead of the United States from the Revolutionary War on (1775 to present). Yet in doing so, we still leave some out unless we become more expansive yet and include the 10,000+[1] of an even earlier conflict. I request those who read this, cast their minds back to a war that too many have forgotten but that forged an unbreakable mold upon our continent, "The French and...

The Revolution


 The Lesson of Alexander Hamilton

· 05/28/2012 3:36:36 AM PDT ·
· Posted by afraidfortherepublic ·
· 141 replies ·
· The American Thinker ·
· 5-28-12 ·
· Jeremy Meister ·

How many things are in a person's pocket that they don't even know about? We take money for granted -- most people can't tell us which way George Washington is facing on the quarter. They can tell us that Ben Franklin is on the front of the hundred, but they can't tell us that Independence Hall (where he helped draft the Constitution) is on the back. One might think that as denominations get smaller and more common, the pictures on them would become more famous and well-known. The ten-dollar bill features Alexander Hamilton on the front. Since he was never...

Thoroughly Modern Miscellany


 America's 21st-Century Population Edge
  (The 21st century will still be the American Century)


· 05/27/2012 6:05:58 AM PDT ·
· Posted by SeekAndFind ·
· 35 replies ·
· WSJ ·
· 05/24/2012 ·
· Ben Wattenberg ·

Look around you. For most nations of the world, birth and fertility rates have never fallen so far, so fast, so long, so surprisingly, all across the globe. Except for America. Seen globally, the population explosion -- or what Stanford's Paul Ehrlich called "the population bomb" in the 1960s -- is now stone-cold dead. The ramifications are enormous economically, geopolitically, culturally and personally. For one, the United States will become stronger than ever in the games nations play. Every other major modern nation and every developing country has low or falling birth rates. Japan and Poland see 1.3 children per woman, Brazil and China...


end of digest #411 20120602


1,417 posted on 06/03/2012 4:56:20 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (FReepathon 2Q time -- https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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