An eclectic assortment of stuff: food, archaeology, fun, books, history, geekery, etc.
Posted in history & archaeology on Sep 30th, 2008
From The Local (Sweden): Rare knife uncovered from ancient Swedish tomb.
Swedish archaeologists have been captivated by a Bronze Age knife which was uncovered along with other artifacts from an excavation site near Falbygden in central Sweden. (…)
"It’s a knife blade which ends in a handle that looks like the throat and head of a horse," [...]
Posted in DNA, history & archaeology on Sep 30th, 2008
From New Scientist: Polygamy left its mark on the human genome.
Throughout human history, relatively few men seem to have had a greater input into the gene pool than the rest, suggests a study of variations in DNA.
Tens of thousands of years of polygamy has left a mark on our genomes that is a signature that [...]
Posted in religion on Sep 29th, 2008
From the Beeb: An unusual clean-up.
About a dozen men were scrabbling hard at an old, cracked wall. From time to time, they would stab a wooden pick inside the the jammed crevices, as if they were microscopic dental hygienists trying to scrape clean a vast, uneven mouth.
They were in action because this Monday night is [...]
Posted in BC, animals, birds, insects, etc, outdoors on Sep 29th, 2008
If you were here I would take you to the beach in the mornings, right after coffee. In addition to the usual seaside delights, we now have Dead Jellyfish Season: every morning there are dozens of dead Lion’s Mane jellyfish sparkling on the beach. Some are small — just a foot or so across — [...]
Posted in history & archaeology on Sep 29th, 2008
From discovery.com: Fish Sauce Used to Date Pompeii Eruption.
Remains of rotten fish entrails have helped establish the precise dating of Pompeii’s destruction, according to Italian researchers who have analyzed the town’s last batch of garum, a pungent, fish-based seasoning.
Frozen in time by the catastrophic eruption that covered Pompeii and nearby towns nearly 2,000 years ago [...]
Posted in history & archaeology on Sep 29th, 2008
From The Telegraph (India): 1000-year-old quake-proof architecture.
People in one of India’s most earthquake-prone zones had mastered the art of building multi-level buildings resistant to seismic movement about a thousand years ago, an engineering study of the structures has revealed.
Researchers have found that ancient four-storey and five-storey buildings in Rajgarhi district of Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand reflect [...]
Posted in history & archaeology, internet on Sep 29th, 2008
From Ansa: Port of ’second Carthage’ found.
Archaeologists in Sardinia said Thursday they have found the port of the Phoenician city of Tharros, held by some to be the ancient people’s most important colony in the Mediterranean after Carthage.
Researchers from the University of Cagliari and Sassari found the submerged port in the Mistras Lagoon, several kilometres [...]
Posted in science on Sep 28th, 2008
From Science Daily: New Life Found In Ancient Tombs.
Life has been discovered in the barren depths of Rome’s ancient tombs, proving catacombs are not just a resting place for the dead. The two new species of bacteria found growing on the walls of the Roman tombs may help protect our cultural heritage monuments, according to [...]
Posted in history & archaeology on Sep 28th, 2008
From Wired: Kangaroo Bones Could Solve Aussie Aborigine Mystery.
By using kangaroo fossils as archaeological biosensors, scientists could help solve one of Australia’s enduring mysteries.
Aborigines arrived 45,000 years ago, spreading across the continent with startling rapidity. Then, in anthropological terms, they cooled their heels for the next 40,000 years: no significant population expansion. No fundamental changes [...]
Posted in science on Sep 28th, 2008
From National Geographic: Best Science Images of 2008.
Tiny green diatoms create the illusion of a fernlike forest as they attach to their marine-invertebrate hosts. [continue, see photos]
Thanks to Marilyn of Intelligent Travel for writing to tell me about this.
Posted in history & archaeology on Sep 28th, 2008
The Los Angeles Times features a story about traditions in a remote part of Albania, where a centuries-old code of honor survives.
It is in isolated pockets such as these that Albania’s traditions are strongest.
Many still live at least in part by the Kanun, a code handed down through the centuries in which "besa" — loosely [...]
Posted in history & archaeology, religion on Sep 28th, 2008
Our local church is small and ugly. So on Sundays I have to imagine that we have a stunningly beautiful building instead — something classy, perhaps medieval, and made of stone. I’m getting quite good at this imaginary church-swapping, and of course the web is a big help.
Today the featured church in my imagination is [...]
Posted in food, history & archaeology on Sep 26th, 2008
From The Times: City restaurant offers feast fit for a polar explorer.
He was the very model of the Edwardian gentleman explorer: the heroic trailblazer of the polar south and inspiration to generations of intrepid spirits. Sir Ernest Shackleton has never, however, provided much in the way of inspiration for London’s chefs.
To the men who followed [...]
Posted in environment on Sep 26th, 2008
From the Globe and Mail: Montreal rolls out bike-sharing plan.
Paris has Vélib, Barcelona has Bicing, and as of today, Montreal will start to showcase its own European-style bike-sharing program with a fetching name: Bixi.
The city better known for Grand Prix racing and automobile worship rolled out a green, two-wheeled alternative that civic officials hope will [...]
Posted in environment on Sep 24th, 2008
From The Guardian: Isle of plenty.
Jorgen Tranberg looks a farmer to his roots: grubby blue overalls, crumpled T-shirt and crinkled, weather-beaten features. His laconic manner, blond hair and black clogs also reveal his Scandinavian origins. Jorgen farms at Norreskifte on Samso, a Danish island famed for its rich, sweet strawberries and delicately flavoured early potatoes. [...]
Posted in books & lit, food on Sep 23rd, 2008
Now this is the kind of thing that makes the Internet worthwhile. From the Guardian: Library to share 14th-century royal cookbook online.
A rare medieval cookbook is to be digitally photographed page by page and the results uploaded to the internet for gourmands around the globe to study.
Forme of Cury, a recipe book compiled by King [...]
Posted in food, gardening, history & archaeology on Sep 23rd, 2008
From the Beeb: Romans ‘brought leeks to Wales’.
The Romans gave us roads, plumbing, wine and irrigation and now it seems they may have also introduced Wales’ unofficial icon — the garden leek.
The National Museum of Wales says the Romans probably planted domesticated varieties to flavour their stews. [continue]
Posted in history & archaeology on Sep 23rd, 2008
From The Guardian: Neanderthals had a taste for seafood.
The last of the Neanderthals feasted on warmed mussels, baby seals and washed-up dolphins, according to fossil hunters working in ancient seaside caves in Gibraltar.
Excavations in the giant Gorham’s and Vanguard caves on the Rock’s eastern flank unearthed flint stone tools and remnants of seafood meals alongside [...]
Posted in animals, birds, insects, etc on Sep 22nd, 2008
From NewScientist: Wasps have a good memory for a face.
Wasps can remember each other after a busy week apart, according to new research. It’s a level of social memory never seen before in insects, which were long thought to be too small-brained for such a feat. [continue]
Posted in history & archaeology on Sep 22nd, 2008
From the Beeb: Dig pinpoints Stonehenge origins.
Archaeologists have pinpointed the construction of Stonehenge to 2300BC – a key step to discovering how and why the mysterious edifice was built.
The radiocarbon date is said to be the most accurate yet and means the ring’s original bluestones were put up 300 years later than previously thought.
The dating [...]
I bet Anna Garforth has more fun making graffiti than anybody else; certainly she has more impressive results. For her Mossenger project (Mossenger part one, Mossenger part two) Anna made letters out of moss, then affixed them to a brick wall. She sprays the text with water to keep it alive.
Erasmuspc.com includes Anna’s explanation:
Being [...]
Posted in DNA, history & archaeology on Sep 21st, 2008
From Boston.com: DNA indicates humans in N. America 14,300 years ago.
…a few years ago, University of Oregon archaeologist Dennis Jenkins and his students started digging where no one had dug before. What the team discovered in an alcove used as a latrine and trash dump has elevated the caves to the site of the oldest [...]
Posted in food on Sep 21st, 2008
From the Univesity of Toronto’s alumni magazine: Lunchtime Express.
Students living in residence often reach year’s end with unused credit on their meal plans. Students Against Hunger (SAH) converts donated meal credits into bagged lunches for the homeless in Toronto.
Olivier Sorin, a former don at the Margaret Addison residence, recalls the meeting in fall 2003 when [...]
Posted in food, history & archaeology on Sep 20th, 2008
I happened to notice this in one of our cookbooks, A Mediterranean Feast.
A medieval instrument for forming macaroni is still used today in Calabria. Ferrassoli or ferrazzuoli is a kind of pasta made with a device called a ferreti, a thin iron rod. A ball of dough is rolled as thick as a pencil and [...]
Posted in history & archaeology on Sep 20th, 2008
From Bloomberg: Discovery of Bronze-Age `Refrigerators’ Expands Homer’s Troy.
The remains of two outsized earthenware pots, a ditch and evidence of a gate dating back more than 3,000 years are changing scholars’ perceptions about the city of Troy at the time Homer’s "Iliad" was set.
The discoveries this year show that Troy’s lower town was much bigger [...]