An eclectic assortment of stuff: food, archaeology, fun, books, history, geekery, etc.
Posted in history & archaeology on Jun 27th, 2009
From the Telegraph: First Europeans were cannibals with taste for children.
Early Europeans were cannibals with a particular taste for the flesh of children, archaeologists have claimed.
The claim has come after bones of the ancestors of Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens who first settled in Europe around 800,000 years ago were unearthed in the Atapuerca caves in [...]
Posted in history & archaeology on Jun 27th, 2009
From the Wall Street Journal: A New Way to See Ancient Athens.
As building locations go, it is unmatched. What could present more of a challenge than to design a major new structure to stand at the foot of the Acropolis, revered as one of the great architectural achievements of western civilization.
That new structure is the [...]
Posted in history & archaeology, music on Jun 25th, 2009
From the New York Times: Flutes Offer Clues to Stone-Age Music.
At least 35,000 years ago, in the depths of the last ice age, the sound of music filled a cave in what is now southwestern Germany, the same place and time early Homo sapiens were also carving the oldest known examples of figurative art in [...]
Posted in history & archaeology on Jun 21st, 2009
From the Jerusalem Post: Huge Roman-era cave found by Jericho.
An artificial underground cave, the largest of its kind in Israel, was discovered in the Jordan Valley during excavations by the Haifa University’s Department of Archaeology.
Prof. Adam Zertal, who headed the dig, assessed that the cave was used as a quarry in the Roman era. Various [...]
Posted in history & archaeology, religion on Jun 13th, 2009
From the Beeb: Students unearth Saxon nunnery.
Archaeologists believe they could have found the first-ever excavated Saxon nunnery, on a dig in Gloucestershire.
The annual dig, by the University of Bristol, has unearthed remains of a Saxon building in the grounds of the Edward Jenner Museum, Berkeley. [continue]
Posted in history & archaeology on Jun 7th, 2009
From National Geographic: Ancient Death-Smile Potion Decoded?.
Thousands of years before the Joker gassed comic book victims into a grinning death, Phoenician colonists on the island of Sardinia were forcing smiles on the faces of the dead.
Now scientists say they know just how the ancient seafaring traders created the gruesome smiles some 2,800 years ago — [...]
Posted in history & archaeology on Jun 5th, 2009
From Al-Ahram: A beacon’s rebirth.
Since its construction between 285 and 246 BC on the island of Pharos off the Eastern Cape (which was connected to the mainland by means of a man-made dyke seven stadions long and hence known as the Heptastadion — thus giving Alexandria city a double harbour) the lighthouse built by the [...]
Posted in history & archaeology on Jun 1st, 2009
From The Telegraph: Shipwreck found by divers ‘was vessel sent to help Bonnie Prince Charlie’.
Divers believe they have found the wreck of a vessel that may have been sent to relieve Bonnie Prince Charlie after his defeat at the Battle of Culloden in 1746.
The team has recovered artefacts off the Anglesey coast that suggest the [...]
Posted in history & archaeology on May 31st, 2009
From the Beeb: Roman era reveals expenses claims.
Ancient Roman writing tablets suggest public officials were involved in expenses scandals 2,000 years ago.
Writing tablets uncovered near Hadrian’s Wall detail hundreds of expenses claimed by Roman officials, Hadrian’s Wall Heritage Ltd said.
Five of the translated tablets contain 111 lines detailing entertainment claims at the Roman camp of [...]
Posted in history & archaeology on May 29th, 2009
From ANSA.it: Remains of Temple of Isis Found.
Workmen inside Florence’s courthouse have stumbled across a spiral column and hundreds of multicoloured fragments that experts believe may have belonged to a Roman temple dedicated to the Egyptian goddess Isis.
Dating to the second century AD, the remains were discovered as the men dug a five by three [...]
Posted in Canada, history & archaeology on May 28th, 2009
From the Ottawa Citizen: Vikings visited Canadian arctic, researcher suggests.
One of Canada’s top Arctic archeologists says the remnants of a stone-and-sod wall unearthed on southern Baffin Island may be traces of a shelter built more than 700 years ago by Norse seafarers, a stunning find that would be just the second location in the New [...]
Posted in health, history & archaeology on May 25th, 2009
From Science Daily: Historical Anecdote Of Jordan’s Red Soils May Offer New Antibiotic.
Historical anecdotes of the red soils from the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan tell of people using the soils to treat skin infections and diaper rash. A multinational group of researchers suggest the healing power may be due to antibiotic-producing bacteria they have found [...]
Posted in history & archaeology on May 24th, 2009
From iol.co.za: Scientists battle to reproduce ancient glue.
It was a sticky solution that helped bring down massive horned buffaloes, and proves that men from the middle Stone Age were a lot smarter than previously thought.
In a cave in KwaZulu-Natal, scientists believe they have found the earliest examples of superglue, more than 70 000 years old. [...]
Posted in history & archaeology, religion on May 18th, 2009
From JTA.org: In rare ceremony, Jews redeem donkey in Australia.
It took nearly two years, cost more than $7,500, and involved two donkeys, one sheep, a case of mistaken sexual identity, several DNA tests and the unwavering faith of two fervently Orthodox Jews in Australia.
On Sunday, more than 1,500 mostly Orthodox Jews in Melbourne witnessed what [...]
Posted in history & archaeology on May 18th, 2009
From the Egypt State Information Service: July 26ths marks uncovering one of biggest secrets of Khufu Pyramid.
July 26 will mark the uncovering of one of the biggest secrets of the Great Pyramid of Khufu in Giza, Secretary General of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities Zahi Hawwas said Saturday 16/5/2009.
Addressing a symposium held within the [...]
Posted in history & archaeology on May 4th, 2009
From the Beeb: Shedding light on the Catacombs of Rome.
Rome’s underground Christian, Jewish and pagan burial sites, the Catacombs, date back to the 2nd Century AD.
There are more than 40 of them stretching over 170km (105 miles).
But, until now, they have never been fully documented, their vast scale only recorded with handmade maps.
That is now [...]
Posted in history & archaeology on Apr 28th, 2009
From the Ma’an News Agency: Roman-era catacombs unearthed near Bethlehem University.
Roman-era catacombs were unearthed in Bethlehem Saturday during construction in an empty lot beside Bethlehem University.
The small underground cave system opens facing north, and held four stone coffins with engravings on each, housed in two separate dug out burial areas.
Head of Antiquates department in Jericho [...]
Posted in history & archaeology on Apr 28th, 2009
From the (Portsmouth, England) News:Researchers solve Malta teaser.
Researchers at the University of Portsmouth believe they have solved an ancient Mediterranean mystery.
The mystery of how 2ft deep tracks were cut into the rock of Malta has been a puzzle for years.
Now Professor Derek Mottershead, of the university’s geography department, has followed generations of scholars to unravel [...]
Posted in history & archaeology on Apr 18th, 2009
From The Independent: The jousting accident that turned Henry VIII into a tyrant.
Henry VIII became the tyrannical monster remembered by history because of a personality change following a serious jousting accident, according to a new historical documentary.
After the accident – just before he became estranged from the second of his six wives, Anne Boleyn – [...]
Posted in history & archaeology on Apr 14th, 2009
From archaeology.org: How an archaeologist learned to stop worrying and love eBay.
A little over a decade ago, archaeologists experienced a collective nightmare — the emergence of eBay, the Internet auction site that, among other things, lets people sell looted artifacts. The black market for antiquities has existed for centuries, of course, with devastating consequences for [...]
Posted in history & archaeology on Apr 5th, 2009
From The Independent: After 650 years, the wisdom of the Alhambra is revealed.
Visitors to the Alhambra fortress-palace in Granada have for centuries fallen into a reverie before its intricately carved medieval walls, wondering at the meaning of the Arabic inscriptions that adorn them from floor to ceiling. The script that winds round the filigree arches [...]
Posted in history & archaeology, religion on Apr 3rd, 2009
From The Jerusalem Post: The monastery of the Gerasene swine.
On the east side of the Sea of Galilee lay a Jewish fishing village of pre-mishnaic times, at the mouth of Nahal Samak, the upper reaches of which were overlooked by the synagogue of Umm el-Kanatir. The village’s name was Kursi, and today it would have [...]
Posted in DNA, history & archaeology on Apr 2nd, 2009
From the BBC: Clues to ancient invasion in DNA.
Scientific evidence of an ancient invasion of Scotland from Ireland may have been uncovered by DNA techniques.
Researchers from Edinburgh University said studies of Scots living on Islay, Lewis, Harris and Skye were found to have strong links with Irish people.
Early historical sources recount how the Gaels came [...]
Posted in food, history & archaeology on Mar 23rd, 2009
From the Times Online: Old beer’s secret is ale at sea.
A Scottish brewery claims to have produced the first authentic India pale ale (IPA) in almost 200 years by ageing the beer aboard a trawler in the North Sea.
BrewDog, a Scottish micro-brewery based in Fraserburgh, has used an original recipe to produce the ale, which [...]
Posted in art, history & archaeology on Mar 11th, 2009
From The Telegraph: Caravaggio used ‘photography’ to create dramatic masterpieces.
The 16th century master used modern darkroom techniques to create his masterpieces, more than 200 years before the invention of the camera.
Italian researchers claim the technique explained why many of his subjects were left-handed – the image projected onto the canvas had been reversed.
Art historian Roberta [...]