| A composite photograph of the front and back of the jade gouge shown with a centimeter scale. CREDIT: Les O’Neil, University of Otago
|
|
|
Posted on 01/31/2012 8:11:46 PM PST by Theoria
CREDIT: Les O’Neil, University of Otago
A composite photograph of the front and back of the jade gouge shown with a centimeter scale.
The discovery of a 3,300-year-old tool has led researchers to the rediscovery of a "lost" 20th-century manuscript and a "geochemically extraordinary" bit of earth.
Discovered on Emirau Island in the Bismark Archipelago (a group of islands off the coast of New Guinea), the 2-inch (5-centimeters) stone tool was probably used to carve, or gouge, wood. It seems to have fallen from a stilted house, landing in a tangle of coral reef that was eventually covered over by shifting sands.
The jade gouge may have been crafted by the Lapita people, who appeared in the western Pacific around 3,300 years ago, then spread across the Pacific to Samoa over a couple hundred years, and from there formed the ancestral population of the people we know as Polynesians, according to the researchers.
Jade gouges and axes have been found before in these areas, but what's interesting about the object is the type of jade it's made of: it seems to have come from a distant region. Perhaps these Lapita brought it from wherever they originated.
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
'Researchers are now investigating those samples to see if modern techniques can prove that the tool came from Indonesia.'
Or
The only chemical match the researchers knew of was a site in Baja California Sur, Mexico.
Modern science: Conclusion first, then we begin the hunt for evidence.
Dharma Initiative?
Shoreline ship-trade from Thailand via the Indus Valley-. Where else,
Look!
``BBC - Primary History - Indus Valley - Trade and Travel
1300 BC. 2350 BC. Indus Valley traders travel to Mesopotamia and other lands ...
Jade came from China and cedar tree wood was floated down the rivers from ...``
www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/indus.../trade_and_travel/
Interesting, there have been so many odd little things I have read about that get pushed aside over time. If there is not enough evidence to base a working theory on, they end up as an obscure footnote.
-OR- it could have fallen off a boat going from point A to point B.. (at some point in history)
|
|
|
| GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach | |
|
|
Thanks Theoria and dog breath. |
|
|
|
|
Horse pucky. You're all too ready to believe Mexico is the source. What they're saying is there's now reason to think the jadeite *may* have come from Indonesia, and that casts doubt (given the unlikely geography of the find) on Mexican origin.
We moderns are just beginning to understand the geological resources of Indonesia. That violently volcanic island chain could easily harbor unknown jadeite sources. I've seen many newly-discovered Indonesian gem materials just coming to market in the past 10 years. Who knows what "stone" age people discovered? We moderns are just beginning to look for them.
Consider that the source of Olmec "blue" jadeite was not re-discovered until the 1990s. But 2500 years ago the Olmecs knew very well it comes from the Motagua Valley in Guatemala -- although those weren't the names they used.
"Staring out from an ancient piece of pottery, the mysterious face of a bearded man has given scientists a unique glimpse of what the first settlers of Fiji may have looked like. "
"Preliminary analysis shows that the eerie-looking face consists of a prominent raised nose, the left eye and what might be eyelashes, said Roselyn Kumar of the University of the South Pacific's Institute of Applied Sciences. "
Let’s see now ... an island probably had fishermen ... and the fishermen had nets ... and the nets needed to be repaired ...
Clearly they are press on nails.
IBTAAG
Well....how do I say this?.... let’s see....overall combined length is about 10 CM....about 4 inches....depending on where it came from, ease of use, convenience, etc....it </i>could </i> be about right...dunno....</i>
My question is: Did they find the batteries with it?
Assistant Attorney General?
I always wondered what happened to the other half of the that thing I bought in Cabo....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.