http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/ancient/ en-us Mon, 14 Jul 2008 22:46:24 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2045422/posts (IsraelNN.com) A lifeguard diving at the Yavne-Yam antiquities site next to Palmachim beach, south of Tel-Aviv, unearthed a rare marble discus that was used 2,500 years ago to protect sea-going vessels from the evil eye. To date, only four such items have been found in the world – two of them here in Israel, one recovered from the Mediterranean Sea off the coast at Carmel in addition to the one at Yavne-Yam. The ancient white marble discus, which dates back to 400-500 BCE, was discovered by David Shalom, who handed it over to the Israel Antiquities Authority. Dror Planer, of... Arutz 7 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2045422/posts#comment Mon, 14 Jul 2008 22:46:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2040472/posts Cave Men Loved to Sing Heather Whipps Special to LiveScience LiveScience.com Thu Jul 3, 1:01 AM ET Ancient hunters painted the sections of their cave dwellings where singing, humming and music sounded best, a new study suggests. Analyzing the famous, ochre-splashed cave walls of France, the most densely painted areas were also those with the best acoustics, the scientists found. Humming into some bends in the wall even produced sounds mimicking the animals painted there. The Upper Paleolithic people responsible for the paintings had likely fine-tuned their hearing to recognize the sound qualities in certain parts of the cave and... Yahoo News/Live Science http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2040472/posts#comment Thu, 3 Jul 2008 22:58:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2039571/posts Digging up the past at ancient stone circle Date: 02 July 2008 By John Ross WORK will start next week to unearth the secrets of one of Europe's most important prehistoric sites. The Ring of Brodgar in Orkney, the third-largest stone circle in the British Isles and thought to date back to 3000-2000BC, is regarded by archaeologists as an outstanding example of Neolithic settlement and has become a popular tourist attraction in the islands. It is believed it was part of a massive ritual complex but little is known about the monument, including its exact age or purpose. It is... The Scotsman http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2039571/posts#comment Wed, 2 Jul 2008 03:41:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037062/posts Archaeologists uncover 5,000-year-old jewellery workshop By Jean Christou ARCHAEOLOGISTS have uncovered was appears to have been a jewellery workshop during excavations at the 5,000-year old Souskiou-Laona settlement. According to the Antiquities Department, a dense concentration of the mineral picrolite in the west ridge of the cliff-top settlement indicates that the spot was a workshop for the production of the cruciform figurines and large pendants. “The assemblage mainly consists of the raw picrolite material, possibly quarried from the Troodos Mountains rather than imported in pebble form from the Kouris River valley, many waste chips flaked from that raw material in order... Cyprus Mail http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037062/posts#comment Fri, 27 Jun 2008 01:06:10 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2036505/posts Who Were the Hurrians? Volume 61 Number 4, July/August 2008 New discoveries in Syria suggest a little-known people fueled the rise of civilization Excavations at the 3rd millennium city of Urkesh in Syria are revealing new information about the mysterious people who lived there, known as the Hurrians. This view of the city's royal palace shows the service area (left) and living quarters (right). (Ken Garrett) With its vast plaza and impressive stone stairway leading up to a temple complex, Urkesh was designed to last. And for well over a millennium, this city on the dusty plains of what is... Archaeology Magazine http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2036505/posts#comment Thu, 26 Jun 2008 01:28:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2036465/posts Frozen Siberian Mummies Reveal a Lost CivilizationGlobal warming may finally do in the bodies of the ancient Scythians. by Andrew Curry That the warrior survived the arrow’s strike for even a short time was remarkable. The triple-barbed arrowhead, probably launched by an opponent on horseback, shattered bone below his right eye and lodged firmly in his flesh. The injury wasn’t the man’s first brush with death. In his youth he had survived a glancing sword blow that fractured the back of his skull. This injury was different. The man was probably begging for death, says Michael Schultz, a paleopathologist at... Discover Magazine http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2036465/posts#comment Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:16:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2036242/posts Ancient Australia not written in stone Has the life of Australia's Aborigines remained unchanged for 45,000 years? A new approach to archaeology challenges us to rethink prehistory. By Fran Molloy Some archaeologists argue that physical remnants such as this chert knife found in Djadjiling in WA give a more accurate view of life in ancient Australia than re-interpreting post-European contact history. (Source: Ho New/Reuters) Aboriginal people are thought to have inhabited the Australian continent for around 45,000 years before European contact, and are frequently cited as the oldest continuous living culture on Earth. However, written records of their lives exist... ABC Science http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2036242/posts#comment Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:00:10 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2035358/posts Ancient Eclipse Found in "The Odyssey," Scientists SayRichard A. Lovett for National Geographic NewsJune 23, 2008 "The sun has perished out of heaven, and an evil mist has overspread the world." With those words in The Odyssey, Homer laid down not a prophecy of doom but a description of a real-world total solar eclipse, scientific sleuths announced today. It has been known for decades that there was only one such eclipse during the time period Homer wrote about in the ancient Greek poem—on April 16, 1178 B.C. The blackout even occurred at noon, as described in the epic poem. But... National Geographic News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2035358/posts#comment Tue, 24 Jun 2008 00:36:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2035236/posts Evidence of ancient farming found By Jeff Nagel - Burnaby NewsLeader June 20, 2008 A 3,600-year-old native village site uncovered during road work for the new Golden Ears Bridge is being hailed as a globally significant find that suggests aboriginal people here were CanadaÂ’s first recorded farmers. The ancient discovery has electrified archaeologists who say it may help reverse long-held notions of pre-contact natives as hunter-gatherers who didnÂ’t actively garden or otherwise manage the landscape. It also shines a new spotlight on the accelerating loss of First Nations heritage sites in the Lower Mainland to make way for new highways,... BC Local News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2035236/posts#comment Mon, 23 Jun 2008 20:30:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2034935/posts Link hytaipan http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2034935/posts#comment Mon, 23 Jun 2008 03:27:33 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033416/posts Ancient stone tools discovered in South Carolina Finds at Savannah River site could rewrite America's history By LIZ MITCHELL McClatchy NewspapersPublished on: 06/17/08 HILTON HEAD, S.C. — A local man has unearthed two ancient stone tools in an archaeological dig in Allendale County, S.C., a rare find that could provide more information about how early Americans lived. And if more evidence proves the artifact is a new type of tool and one archaeologists haven't found before, it could be named after Matthew Carey of Hilton Head Island. The 22-year-old University of South Carolina anthropology major volunteered at the Topper Site... Atlanta Journal Consitiution http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033416/posts#comment Thu, 19 Jun 2008 17:25:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2027763/posts Cat-sized reptiles once roamed what is now the icebox of Antarctica, snuggling up in burrows and peeping above ground to snag plant roots and insects. The evidence for this scenario comes from preserved burrow casts discovered in the Transantarctic Mountains, which extend 3,000 miles (4,800 km) across the polar continent and contain layers of rock dating back 400 million years. "We've got good evidence that these burrows were made by land-dwelling animals rather than crayfish," said lead researcher Christian Sidor, a vertebrate paleontologist at the University of Washington and curator at UW's Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture. Ancient... LiveScience.com on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2027763/posts#comment Sun, 8 Jun 2008 02:53:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2026870/posts Ancient "Human Sacrifices" Found in Peru, Expert SaysKelly Hearn for National Geographic NewsJune 4, 2008 Three possible human sacrifice victims have been found at a 4,000-year-old archaeological site in Peru, an archaeologist says. The apparently mutilated, partial skeletons (see photos) could overturn the peaceful reputation of the Pre-Ceramic period (3000 B.C. to 1800 B.C.) in the Andes mountains—a time generally seen as free of ritualized killing and warfare. Alejandro Chu Barrera, who led the dig, said: "We found two pairs of legs—probably young females around their 20s—and the decapitated body of a young male in his 20s." "They appear to... National Geographic News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2026870/posts#comment Fri, 6 Jun 2008 03:11:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2025534/posts Ancient skeletons unearthed at Reepham 02 June 2008 A glimpse of mediaeval life - and death - in the heart of Norfolk has been revealed after more than 60 skeletons were found under a town centre street. Contractors charged with laying pipelines in part of Reepham, in north Norfolk, made the grim discovery as they opened a trench in the town's Church Street. But the road's name gave some clue to the fate of the bodies. Archaeology work carried out since the discovery last year has found that underneath Church Street there was part of an old graveyard. Just 70cm... North Norfolk News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2025534/posts#comment Tue, 3 Jun 2008 23:11:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2022997/posts CAIRO: Egyptian archaeologists have discovered what they say was the ancient headquarters of the pharaonic army guarding the northeastern borders of Egypt for more than 1,500 years, the government said on Wednesday. The fortress and adjoining town, which they identify with the ancient place name Tharu, lies in the Sinai peninsula about 3km northeast of the modern town of Qantara, Egyptian archaeologist Mohamed Abdel Maksoud said. The town sat at the start of a military road joining the Nile Valley to the Levant, parts of which were under Egyptian control for much of the period, the government's Supreme Council for... REUTERS via. The Times of India http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2022997/posts#comment Thu, 29 May 2008 15:48:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2022428/posts Introduction. Who were the Apostolic Fathers? They were some of the first church leaders after the Apostles, whose lifetimes overlapped those of the Apostles, who at least in part had personal contact with Apostles, and whose writings have at least in part survived. They formed the connecting link between the Apostles and the church history which followed, which should be of real interest to us. These Apostolic Fathers include Clement of Rome, Ignatius, Polycarp; and in a broader sense Papias and the uncertain or unknown authors of The Shepherd of Hermas, The Epistle of Barnabas, The Epistle to Diognetus, The... GospelPeddler http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2022428/posts#comment Wed, 28 May 2008 13:49:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2020725/posts Ancient poem found on wood strip The Yomiuri Shimbun NARA--A wooden strip unearthed in fiscal 1997 from remains of the eighth-century Shigarakinomiya palace in Koka, Shiga Prefecture, was found to be inscribed with a pair of waka poems, one of which is included in "Manyoshu" (The Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves), Japan's oldest existing collection of poems, a board of education announced Thursday. It is the first time that a wooden strip inscribed with a poem from the collection has been found. On one side of the strip is a poem about Mt. Asaka, in present-day Fukushima Prefecture, while the... Yomiuri http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2020725/posts#comment Sat, 24 May 2008 15:46:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2018509/posts Ancient Deep-sea Coral Reefs Off Southeastern US Serve As Underwater 'Islands' In The Gulf StreamThe brisingid sea-star (Novodinia antillensis) perches high in the coral branches of Lophelia pertusa to filter feed. This photo was taken off the North Carolina coast in about 370 meters (roughly 1,200 feet) of water, far north of the normal range of this species. (Credit: Ross et al, NOAA, HBOI) ScienceDaily (May 20, 2008) — Largely unexplored deep-sea coral reefs, some perhaps hundreds of thousands of years old, off the coast of the southeastern U.S. are not only larger than expected but also home to commercially... Science Daily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2018509/posts#comment Tue, 20 May 2008 05:34:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2016537/posts Al Goodyear and the Secrets of the Ancient AmericansUSC Professor Discovers 50,000 Year-Old Artifacts in S.C. BY RON AIKEN It was the summer of 1998, and University of South Carolina archaeologist Al Goodyear had a problem on his hands. Fourteen years of digging at an ancient chert quarry outside Allendale had begun to bear fruit: At a site called Big Pine Tree, Goodyear was well on his way to establishing that a substantial Clovis population lived here. If you’ll recall your history lessons from high school, the Clovis people — named such because the first evidence of them was found... Free Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2016537/posts#comment Thu, 15 May 2008 22:25:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2014891/posts LU lab called on again to check ancient DNA Tuesday, May 6, 2008 Kathryn Reuseh uses a pipette during the first day of the Paleo DNA ancient DNA training program Monday at Lakehead University. A Thunder Bay DNA expert was in New York City on Monday to discuss findings that could help researchers prove that Jesus did marry Mary Magdalene and that they had children. >br> Lakehead University‘s Paleo DNA Laboratory operations supervisor Renee Fratpietro joined English filmmaker Bruce Burgess in the Big Apple to discuss his film “Bloodline”, which follows a three-year investigation led by Burgess and his American... The Chronicle Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2014891/posts#comment Mon, 12 May 2008 19:13:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2014095/posts 1,000 Ancient Tombs, Unique Remains Found ColombiaJosé Orozco in Caracas, Venezuela for National Geographic NewsMay 9, 2008 Builders clearing land for a housing project in Colombia have uncovered an ancient burial site containing nearly a thousand tombs linked to two little-known civilizations. The site covers some 12 acres (5 hectares) in the impoverished Usme district in southeast Bogotá (see map) and includes one set of remains that some researchers believe could be a victim of human sacrifice. The possible victim is a young woman who seems to have been buried alive, said Ana Maria Groot, one of the lead anthropologists... National Geographic News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2014095/posts#comment Sat, 10 May 2008 17:55:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2013793/posts Modern subdivision is home to ancient villageDavid Davis Managing Editor Thursday, May 08, 2008 Upon entering Princeton Hills subdivision off Freewill Road, visitor's see a wide expanse of green space bordered by a circular drive. Large, expensive homes surround the green, grassy mound in an arrangement akin to a prehistoric village. In a sense, that is exactly what the mound represents. It is the five-acre site of the Candies Creek Village Archaeological Preserve owned by the Archaeological Conservancy. It contains the remains of houses, human burials and pit features. Developer Jim Sharp sold the site to the Conservancy in 2001... Cleveland Daily Banner http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2013793/posts#comment Fri, 9 May 2008 22:41:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2013387/posts Jiroft is the ancient city of Marhashi: U.S. scholarWednesday, May 7, 2008 Tehran Times Culture Desk Jiroft is the ancient city of Marhashi: U.S. scholar TEHRAN -- Piotr Steinkeller, professor of Assyriology in Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations of Harvard University, believes that the prehistoric site of Jiroft is the lost ancient city of Marhashi. He developed the theory in his paper during the first round of the International Conference on Jiroft Civilization, which was held in Tehran on May 5 and 6. Marhashi, (in earlier sources Warahshe) was a 3rd millennium BC polity situated east of Elam,... Tehran Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2013387/posts#comment Fri, 9 May 2008 01:25:35 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2012792/posts Did Comets Cause Ancient American Extinctions?Anne Casselman for National Geographic NewsMay 6, 2008 Debate has heated up over a controversial theory that suggests huge comet impacts wiped out North America's large mammals nearly 13,000 years ago. The hypothesis, first presented in May 2007, proposes that an onslaught of extraterrestrial bodies caused the mass extinction known as the Younger Dryas event and triggered a period of climatic cooling. The theory has been debated widely since it was introduced, but it drew new scrutiny in March at the annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology annual meeting in Vancouver, Canada. Stuart... National Geographic News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2012792/posts#comment Thu, 8 May 2008 01:40:10 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2012027/posts 45-Foot Ancient Canoe Stuck In The Muck Of Weedon Island Tampa Bay Online updated 3:10 p.m. CT, Mon., May. 5, 2008 By KEITH MORELLI of The Tampa Tribune ST. PETERSBURG - Stuck somewhere in the muck of Weedon Island is a significant piece of history. A 45-foot canoe, buried for more than a thousand years and used by a long-dead culture of Native Americans, worked its way to the surface, and now authorities are trying to figure out how best to preserve it. The vessel is carved out of a single pine tree, and archaeologists say it was used to... MSNBC - Tampa Tribune http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2012027/posts#comment Tue, 6 May 2008 17:48:16 GMT