Posted on 10/19/2009 2:35:26 PM PDT by Daffynition
ScienceDaily (Oct. 18, 2009) Norwegian scientists have found mummified pine trees, dead for nearly 500 years yet without decomposition.
Norways wet climate seems perfect for encouraging organic matter to rot particularly in Sogndal, located on Norways southwestern coastline, in one of the most humid, mild areas of the country. In fact, with an average of 1541 millimetres of rain yearly and relatively mild winters, Sogndal should be an environment where decomposition happens fast. Not so.
We were gathering samples of dead trees to reconstruct summer temperatures in western Norway, when our dendrochronological dating showed the wood to be much older than expected, says Terje Thun, an associate professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technologys (NTNU) Museum of Natural History and Archaeology. Thun conducted the work with his colleague Helene Løvstrand Svarva.
From a time before the Black Death
We were astounded to find fresh wood in trees that started to grow in the late 1200s and had died almost 500 years ago, which is much older than we originally expected. Somehow they have kept from decomposing for several centuries in this humid climate, Thun says. This is quite extraordinary - I would go as far as to call it sensational.
[snip]
Used in mummification
Resin was one of the ingredients used in Ancient Egypt for mummification, so its conservation abilities have been known for millennia. However, that trees could self-mummify in such a humid climate for centuries was new to the NTNU scientists.
Many of the trunks we dated turned out to have seeded in the early 1200s, and had lived for more than 100 years at the time of the Black Death around 1350, Thun says.
[snip]
It seems there truly is something good about Norwegian wood.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
She asked me to stay and she told me to sit anywhere, So I looked around and I noticed there wasn't a chair.
I sat on a rug, biding my time, drinking her wine, We talked until two and then she said: "It's time for bed"
She told me she worked in the morning and started to laugh. I told her I didn't, and crawled off to sleep in the bath
And when I awoke, I was alone, this bird had flown So I lit a fire, isn't it good Norwegian wood.
McCartney said the final line of the song indicates that the singer burned the home of the girl. As he explained:
After a studio recording of the song (George Martin can be heard saying 'Take four' at the beginning), Lennon can clearly be heard saying 'I showed her!'. This would support McCartney's explanation of the lyrics being revenge-based. This can be heard on 'Beatles Artifacts Disc 2: Ticket to Ride'.
This exchange took place in a press conference in Los Angeles on 24 August 1966:
Hey, you took my leaf!
She showed me her room, isn’t it good Norwegian wood?
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