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New fossil human relative found in the Philippines

A handful of teeth and limestone-encrusted hand, foot and leg bones dug out of a cave in the Philippines have been given their own branch on the human family tree.

The new species – Homo luzonensis – is described this week in the journal Nature, and is believed to have lived more than 50,000 years ago on Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines.

Full story: https://cosmosmagazine.com/palaeontology/new-fossil-human-relative-found-in-the-philippines

 

 

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Adorned Ritually Sacrificed Inca Guinea Pigs Discovered

Hannah Osborne

One hundred ritually sacrificed guinea pigs dressed up in jewelry have been discovered at an Inca archaeological site in Peru. The rodents were found to have been adorned with earrings and necklaces, and some of them wrapped up in tiny rugs—the first time such a find has been made.

The Inca civilization is known to have sacrificed animals, and Early Spaniards arriving in South America reported the mass killing of different species, including guinea pigs. Indeed, reports suggest hundreds of guinea pigs would be killed in a single ceremony. However, archaeological evidence of this specific practice has been lacking.

In a study that has been accepted for publication in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, Lidio Valdez, from the Institute of Andean Studies and Acari Valley Archaeological Project, has announced the discovery of two guinea pig burial sites at the Tambo Viejo site in southern Peru. Dating revealed the guinea pigs were killed about 400 years ago.

In total, Valdez found 72 guinea pig remains in one Inca structure and 28 in another. These buildings would have been located next to a plaza—an open space where public activities probably took place, he told Newsweek. After the arrival of the Spanish, these buildings were taken over. The guinea pigs, however, had been buried beneath the floors of the buildings and during excavations, they were uncovered.

The find itself, Valdez said, was not a huge surprise—after all, the early reports from the Spanish indicate it happened regularly.  “However, I was surprised after seeing that a good number of the guinea pigs were adorned with colorful strings that were placed as earrings and necklaces,” he said. “The Spanish never mentioned anything about that.”

The guinea pigs were found to have been dressed up with colorful strings. The strings had been positioned to make them into earrings and necklaces. Others, he wrote, had been “carefully enveloped in a small piece of rug made of cotton fiber.” Valdez said it is difficult to say why some were wrapped in rugs, but it “could be something to do with the desire of particular individuals who perhaps wanted to make the gifts extra special.”

He added: “Adorned guinea pigs similar to the ones found at Tambo Viejo were never found anywhere, making the findings unprecedented.”

Analysis revealed most of the guinea pigs were juvenile: “Humans prefer the meat of young animals because of its tenderness. Humans believed that deities also deserved tender meat,” he said. “We must remember ‘young’ may also mean other things things, such as pure, uncontaminated and so on.”

The guinea pigs showed no sign of external injury, suggested they were asphyxiated. This could have been from being buried alive—something Valdez says is probably the case, but that it is difficult to prove. “A good number of the guinea pigs were found in an excellent state of preservation—naturally mummified. These animals were also found with their heads up. The well preserved guinea pigs do not exhibit any sign of trauma or cuts, suggesting again that they may have been alive when buried.”

Concluding, Valdez said more research will be needed to understand how the animals were killed and why they were adorned in colorful strings. But regardless, this discovery provides the first physical evidence of guinea pig sacrifice from this period. “Although the Spanish mentioned the sacrifice of guinea pigs, never before archaeological [has] research resulted in the finding of large number of sacrificed guinea pigs, thus making the findings from Tambo Viejo unparalleled,” he said.

The guinea pigs showed no sign of external injury, suggested they were asphyxiated. This could have been from being buried alive—something Valdez says is probably the case, but that it is difficult to prove. “A good number of the guinea pigs were found in an excellent state of preservation—naturally mummified. These animals were also found with their heads up. The well preserved guinea pigs do not exhibit any sign of trauma or cuts, suggesting again that they may have been alive when buried.”

Concluding, Valdez said more research will be needed to understand how the animals were killed and why they were adorned in colorful strings. But regardless, this discovery provides the first physical evidence of guinea pig sacrifice from this period. “Although the Spanish mentioned the sacrifice of guinea pigs, never before archaeological [has] research resulted in the finding of large number of sacrificed guinea pigs, thus making the findings from Tambo Viejo unparalleled,” he said.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/adorned-ritually-sacrificed-inca-guinea-pigs-discovered/ar-BBVQcxc

 

 

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Mysterious Alabama cave inscriptions decoded

© Other The inscriptions were found in Manitou Cave in Alabama. Pic: University of Tennesse Knoxville

A team of scholars and archaeologists have decoded Cherokee inscriptions written hundreds of years ago in a cave in Alabama.

The inscriptions inside Manitou Cave near Fort Payne are the first evidence of the tribe's syllabary, which uses symbols to create words.

Experts say one inscription describes a game similar to lacrosse.

They say it details an 1828 match and indicates players entered the cave before the games and during intermission for specific ceremonies.

Jan Simek, co-author of a study on the discovery, published in international archaeological journal Antiquity, said: "It is far more than a simple game.

"It is a ceremonial event that often continues over days, focusing on competition between two communities who epitomise the spirit and power of the people and their ancestors."

Another inscription that was "written backwards, as if addressing readers inside the rock itself" was not translated.

The tribe's syllabary was created in the 1800s by Cherokee scholar Sequoyah, who eventually developed the tribe's official written language.

Ancestors of the Cherokee left figurative paintings inside caves for centuries but scholars did not know they also left written records.

Mr Simek said: "These are the first Cherokee inscriptions ever found in a cave context, and the first from a cave to be translated.

"They tell us about what the people who wrote on the walls were doing in the cave and provide a direct link to how some Native Americans viewed caves as sacred places."

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/mysterious-alabama-cave-inscriptions-decoded/ar-BBVQaUL?li=BBoPWjQ

 

 

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Egypt unveils colourful Fifth Dynasty tomb

Archaelogists inside the newly discovered tomb of Khuwy, who is believed to have been a nobleman during the Fifth Dynasty, which ruled over Egypt about 4300 years ago

In a major archaeological discovery, Egypt on Saturday unveiled the tomb of a Fifth Dynasty official adorned with colourful reliefs and well-preserved inscriptions.

The tomb, near Saqqara, a vast necropolis south of Cairo, belongs to a senior official named Khuwy who is believed to have been a nobleman during the Fifth Dynasty, which ruled over Egypt about 4300 years ago.

"The L-shaped Khuwy tomb starts with a small corridor heading downwards into an antechamber and from there a larger chamber with painted reliefs depicting the tomb owner seated at an offerings table," said Mohamed Megahed, the excavation team's head, in an antiquities ministry statement.

Flanked by dozens of ambassadors, Antiquities Minister Khaled al-Enani said the tomb was discovered last month.

It is mostly made of white limestone bricks.

Ornate paintings boast a special green resin throughout and oils used in the burial process, the ministry said.

The tomb's north wall indicates that its design was inspired by the architectural blueprint of the dynasty's royal pyramids, the statement added.

The excavation team has unearthed several tombs related to the Fifth Dynasty.

The tomb is  mostly made of white limestone bricks, and ornate paintings boast a special green resin throughout

Archaeologists recently found an inscription on a granite column dedicated to Queen Setibhor, who is believed to have been the wife of King Djedkare Isesis, the eighth and penultimate king of the dynasty.

Egypt has in recent years sought to promote archaeological discoveries across the country in a bid to revive tourism that took a hit from the turmoil that followed its 2011 uprising.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/egypt-unveils-colourful-fifth-dynasty-tomb/ar-BBVV6hB

 

 

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This is the face of a dog that lived 4,500 years ago, experts say

© PA A model made from the skull of a dog found in an ancient mound on Orkney

The face of a dog that lived around 4,500 years ago has been reconstructed after a skull was found in an ancient burial mound.

The animal's features were recreated by forensic artist Amy Thornton using a 3D print from a CT scan of the creature's cranium.

The dog's remains were discovered in a neolithic chambered cairn near the village of Grimbister, on the main island of Orkney, northern Scotland.

The site, called Cuween Hill, dates to around 3,000 BC, like many of the famous sites on the archipelago, but radiocarbon dating of the dog skull has discovered it was placed in the site around 500 years later.

© Getty Dogs may have had a special significance for farmers in the area

The later placing of the bones suggest the animal's burial had ritual value, archaeologists believe.

Steve Farrar, interpretation manager at Historic Environment Scotland, which commissioned the reconstruction, said: "Just as they're treasured pets today, dogs clearly had an important place in neolithic Orkney, as they were kept and trained as pets and guards and perhaps used by farmers to help tend sheep.

© PA Cuween Hill Chambered Cairn, Orkney, where a dog skull was discovered and a model made from its head

"But the remains discovered at Cuween Hill suggest that dogs had a particularly special significance for the farmers who lived around and used the tomb about 4,500 years ago.

"Maybe dogs were their symbol or totem, perhaps they thought of themselves as the 'dog people.'"

The dog skull was one of 24 discovered when the site was excavated in 1901, as well as the remains of eight humans.

The dog that has been reconstructed was alive roughly the same time as Stonehenge was at its height in southern England and the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt was being built.

© Other One of the ancient stone circles on Orkney

It was about the size of a large collie and looked similar to a European grey wolf.

More recent excavations have found evidence of a settlement downhill from the tomb, from the same period, which may be where the dog's owners lived.

At the time the dog was alive, there were dozens of settlements housing several thousand people on Orkney, which was one of the outstanding religious and cultural centres of Europe.

The neolithic sites of Skara Brae and the Ness of Brodgar are among the oldest stone buildings on the continent.

Evidence has been found of links between prehistoric Orkney and Stonehenge, with communities travelling between the two and exchanging ideas.

The domestication of dogs is believed to have occurred at least 15,000 years ago, with rock art and archaeological evidence in later millennia revealing they were often valued by hunting and farming communities.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/this-is-the-face-of-a-dog-that-lived-4500-years-ago-experts-say/ar-BBVWtHa

 

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Remains That Fell Out of a Cliff Are 2,000 Years Old

Aristos Georgiou

In the 19th century, the remains of a woman deposited inside a hollowed-out wooden log as part of an ancient burial ceremony were discovered, by chance, on a beach near the tiny village of Bagicz in north-western Poland.

Now, a team of researchers from the University of Szczecin and the University of Warsaw have dated the remains and the log—which are thought to have fallen out of a cliff overlooking the beach as a result of erosion—casting new light on the mysterious find, the Polish Press Agency (PAP) reported.

Using radio carbon dating and bone analysis, the scientists found that the woman likely died around 30 A.D., making the remains roughly 2,000 years old—around 100 years older than previously estimated.

Furthermore, analysis of isotopes in her teeth indicated that the woman’s diet did not include sea fish—unusual for someone who lived by the coast—although it did contain many other animal products, and she could potentially have eaten fish from lakes and inland rivers, according to the researchers.

"We thought that the dating discrepancy might be a mistake related to the measurement—the results can be different when the deceased’s diet is rich in fish,” archaeologist Marta Chmiel-Chrzanowska, project leader of the latest research from the University of Szczecin, told PAP. “It could be similar in this case.”

Analysis of the skeleton revealed that the woman also may have suffered from osteoarthritis in the lower spine—which could be a sign that she performed hard work during her life.

"Interestingly, this condition usually affects the elderly, while the deceased from Bagicz was 20-35 years old at the time of death,” said Rafał Fetner from the University of Warsaw.

When the remains were first discovered, locals found numerous bronze ornaments inside the log—including a clasp, bracelets, a bead necklace—as well as a bone pin, a wooden stool, fragments of leather and woolen clothing. While little is known about the woman, these items suggest she was of high status from an affluent clan, The First News reported.

“The burial is often described as a princess burial due to its rich equipment,” Chmiel-Chrzanowska told PAP.

The researchers say that they will continue to investigate the remains to see what else they can find out about the life of the enigmatic woman.

In recent years, several other mysterious burials have been discovered in the area—although, at present, it is unclear whether there is any connection to the woman. It’s possible that further erosion on the cliff could reveal more graves, the researchers say.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/remains-that-fell-out-of-a-cliff-are-2000-years-old/ar-BBVZNWk

 

 

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Baby T rex goes on sale on eBay, sparking paleontologists' outcry

Sam Wolfson

You wouldn’t normally associate the world of dutiful natural history preservation with sporadic bursts of all-caps letters and exclamation points – or at least not until last month, when the fossil of an infant Tyrannosaurus rex, potentially the only in existence, went on sale on eBay for the “buy it now” price of $2.95m.

The listing reads: “Most Likely the Only BABY T-Rex in the World! It has a 15 FOOT long Body and a 21” SKULL with Serrated Teeth! This Rex was very a very dangerous meat eater. It’s a RARE opportunity indeed to ever see a baby REX…”

The skeleton, estimated to be 68m years old, was first discovered in 2013, on private land in Montana. It became the property of the man who discovered it, Alan Detrich, a professional fossil hunter. In 2017, Detrich lent the fossil to the University of Kansas Natural History Museum, where it was still on display when Detrich made the surprise decision to put it up for auction.

Analysis of the skeleton may help to settle a  major debate in palaeontology  over whether small Tyrannosaurs from North America are infants or should have the separate classification of Nanotyrannus. Such research may now be impossible with the fossil likely to end up in a private collection.

The Society of Vertebrate Palaeontology (SVP) has criticised both Detrich, who will be taking an important specimen  outside the reach of scientific study, and the university, for helping to inflate the price of the fossil, acting as a shop window for professional buyers.

In an open letter published last week, SVP’s members said that it was regrettable that the fossil was exhibited before it could be studied. “That action, which brought the fossil to the attention of hundreds or thousands of visitors, potentially enhanced its commercial value,” they wrote. “Museums seldom have the budget for purchase of increasingly expensive privately collected specimens.”

The University of Kansas has subsequently said they were unaware of Detrich’s plans to put the skeleton up for auction. In a statement the museum’s director, Leonard Krishtalka, said the exhibit has now been removed and returned to Detrich, and they have asked for any association with the museum to be removed from the listing.

So far no one has expressed interest in paying the asking price, although there is the option to make an offer, and the item has more than 100 people “watching” it. Any museums hoping they might be able to shell out for a quick study and then send it back will be disappointed – Detrich has specified a no returns policy.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/baby-t-rex-goes-on-sale-on-ebay-sparking-paleontologists-outcry/ar-BBW0DhN

 

 

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One of these cars was not one of yours was it @Bluebird Hewitt?  

 

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Steer clear! Haunting photos reveal mysterious car crash graveyard hidden deep inside Welsh cave

Ed Riley

Car graveyard

Eerie photographs capture the wreckage of old cars piled high on top of each other in what has been dubbed the 'Cavern of Lost Souls' beneath a Welsh mountain.

Explorer Gareth Owen decided to explore the disused slate mine below Ceredigion, Wales, that has turned into an underground junkyard some 60 years after it closed.

Incredible images show a singular beam of light hitting the vehicles above the still blue water, with a Ford Cortina balanced on the top.

© Provided by Associated Newspapers Limited The remains of cars and household appliances lie in a huge pile inside the cavern that was reportedly used by locals as a dumping ground when it closed in the 1960s

Despite the surprising beauty of the images, the photographer was shocked by the hundreds of cars stashed away in the 'unrecognisable rubbish tip'.  

Gareth, an electrician, from Llanberis in North Wales, said: 'Once your eyes adjust to the sudden beam of light you realise the sheer scale of the place. 

'There are hundreds of cars on top of each other.

'They are mostly unrecognisable by now but then front and center of the pile is a Ford Cortina - it was the only real colour on the pile.

'I guess being so used to photographing the natural landscapes and their beauty, photographing this spot was bittersweet for me.

'As eye-catching as it is, at the end of the day it is a rubbish tip from a time when the environment was not in the forefront of our minds.

© Provided by Associated Newspapers Limited The photographs capture the wreckage of old cars piled high on top of each other in what has been dubbed the 'Cavern of Lost Souls' beneath a Welsh mountain

But it is also a great reminder of how far we have come as a country to doing what we can to protect nature from now into the future.

'The reaction to the photo itself has been immensely positive.'

It became an underground junkyard after mining operations came to an end in 1960.

A small hole was reportedly used by locals as a dumping ground, swallowing up household appliances and cars. 

Mr Owen added: 'The subject matter has had a mixed response with some people not quite happy about the fact these cars were dumped underground and others seeing beauty in the carnage.

'I have done a number of underground explorations including natural caverns to old mines.

'I really enjoy exploring the unknown beneath our feet, so having seen an image online I went on a hunt for the 'Cavern of the Lost Souls', as it is known.

'The pleasures I get from exploring underground are amazing and it's amazing to think what is right under our feet.' 

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/travel/tripideas/steer-clear-haunting-photos-reveal-mysterious-car-crash-graveyard-hidden-deep-inside-welsh-cave/ar-BBW25o8?ocid=chromentp

 

 

Edited April 17, 2019 by CaaC - John

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Funnily enough, I was down towards that end earlier today. 

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This new species of ancient carnivore was bigger than a polar bear

Catherine Zuckerman

The handful of mysterious fossils sat unstudied for decades, tucked safely in a drawer at the Nairobi National Museum in Kenya. But now, analysis of the ancient remains has revealed that they belonged to a giant meat-eating mammal larger than a polar bear, a newly described species that’s been dubbed Simbakubwa kutokaafrika.

Reported this week in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, the powerful predator prowled the Earth some 22 million years ago. Although Simbakubwa translates to “big lion” in Swahili, this behemoth was not a big cat. Instead, it is the oldest known member in a group of extinct mammals called hyaenodonts, so named due to their dental resemblance to hyenas, even though the groups are also unrelated.

The discovery helps connect some of the evolutionary dots for this group of massive meat-eaters, which were near the top of the food chain in the same African ecosystems where early apes and monkeys were also evolving. The fossil may also help scientists better understand why these apex predators ultimately did not survive.

The find “is a good chance for us to bring these other lesser known carnivorous predators to the surface,” says Jack Tseng, an evolutionary biologist and vertebrate paleontologist at the University at Buffalo who was not involved in the study. “Before the predecessors of modern carnivorans that we’re so familiar with—lions, hyenas, wolves—before they ever evolved, the global scene of predators was essentially dominated by these hyaenodonts."

 

In 2013, paleontologist Matthew Borths was doing research at the Nairobi museum for his dissertation on the hyaenodonts, and he asked a curator if he could look at their specimens. There, he found the unusual fossils in a cabinet that was part of a collection marked “hyenas.”

The fossils had been excavated between 1978 and 1980 at a site in western Kenya called Meswa Bridge. So Borths reached out to University of Ohio paleontologist and National Geographic grantee Nancy Stevens, who had discovered an important fossil site in Tanzania that’s only a couple of million years older. Their fate was sealed when Stevens told Borths that she had opened the exact same drawer while working in Nairobi and had wondered about its contents.

“It was like the two of us could commiserate, like, Isn’t this amazing, we should do something!” Borths says. Stevens later asked Borths to join her lab as a postdoctoral researcher, and together the two returned to the Nairobi National Museum in 2017 to begin analyzing and describing the specimens, which included most of the animal’s jaw as well as bits of skeleton, skull, and teeth.

Carnivores are often noted for their front canine teeth, which help grab prey, but their back teeth are important, too.

“It’s in the back of the head that this business of slicing through meat takes place,” Borths says. All modern carnivores—including cats, dogs, racoons, wolves, and bears—have one pair of these meat-slicing teeth. Hyaenodonts had three pairs.

“This animal had lots of blades,” Borth says.

Aside from their fear factor, the teeth were key to helping the duo grasp the full picture of an extinct species. Without good teeth to study, Borths says, “it’s like having pieces from different sides of the puzzle, and nothing to connect the pieces in between.”

Simbakubwa “brings together tooth information, a little bit of skull information, and a little bit of skeletal information to help unite a lot of this material that’s been floating around. It really helps contextualize this whole group of giant meat-eaters,” he says.

“The science is definitely very impressive,” Tseng adds. “Any time you have a new record of something this large in the fauna and ecological food web, it makes you reconsider exactly what the interactions were like between predator and prey.”

Adapt or die

One of the goals of the research, which was partially funded by the National Geographic Society, was to put Simbakubwa in its family tree, Borths says.

“Once you figure out the relationships between these animals, you can start to do things like estimate how big do you think the common ancestor of these creatures was, what was the world like when that theoretical common ancestor might have been alive?” he says. “You can experiment with the data a little bit to figure out how these big evolutionary changes map onto other changes, like climate change and continental drift.”

As Africa got closer to Eurasia 20 million years ago, animals began to mix across continents, creating an ecological exchange that “raises all kinds of hell,” Borths says. And as the continents shifted and the East African rift began to rise up, ocean currents shifted, too.

“All of those pieces are really fascinating natural experiments in how different groups adapt,” Borths says.

Despite being large and in charge, Simbakubwa did not make it and even its relatives were extinct by the end of the Miocene epoch, roughly five million years ago. But why?

The animal “was not built for failure,” Borths says, and it survived for a long time after hyaenodonts evolved in Africa and spread to Asia and Europe. But as a hypercarnivore, which by definition is an animal that gets more than 70 per cent of its calories from meat, it seems the predator was likely a casualty of rapid environmental change.

Modern hypercarnivores, such as lions, hyenas, tigers, and wolves, “are among the most endangered mammals we have, and part of the reason for that is they’re so sensitive to environmental disruption,” Borths says. Because hypercarnivore populations are relatively small compared to other organisms, they suffer most when the food chain begins to destabilize.

“Something put [Simbakubwa] over the edge,” Borths says. “Things changed too quickly, the prey species population didn’t come back fast enough, and these things ultimately went extinct.”

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/this-new-species-of-ancient-carnivore-was-bigger-than-a-polar-bear/ar-BBW3Fzw?ocid=chromentp

 

Edited April 18, 2019 by CaaC - John

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'Lost' book of exquisite scientific drawings rediscovered after 190 years

Czerne Reid

1/3 SLIDES >> https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/lost-book-of-exquisite-scientific-drawings-rediscovered-after-190-years/ar-BBWcBwI#image=BBWcBwI_1|1

© Photograph by Robert Clark

Caesalpinia pulcherrima is a species of flowering shrub found in the tropics and subtropics of the Americas. This drawing of the plant, seen in the archives of the Rare and Manuscript Collections of Cornell University Library, is the work of Anne Wollstonecraft, who created volumes of detailed botany illustrations in 19th-century Cuba. Rediscovered after almost 200 years, her work includes historical facts, indigenous applications, poetry, and personal observations about more than a hundred plant types

Lost for 190 years, a three-volume manuscript blooming with vivid colour drawings of Cuban flora has resurfaced in upstate New York.

Nondescript marbled cardboard covers and a title page in cursive handwriting announce Specimens of the Plants & Fruits of the Island of Cuba by Mrs A.K. Wollstonecraft. This simplicity belies the contents of the slim, well-worn volumes. Pages and pages contain 121 illustrated plates showing plants such as red cordia sebestena, deep purple Lagerstroemia, and white angel’s trumpet in consummate detail.

Accompanying them are 220 pages of English-language descriptions relating historical facts, indigenous applications, poetry, and personal observations. Hewing faithfully to scientific conventions, the illustrations show vegetation, life cycles, and dissections of reproductive parts. Some pressed plant material is taped in. The author writes that she did not consult botanists or receive any help with her work.

“A jewel of botanical literature in Cuba,” is how Cuban botanist Miguel Esquivel describes the work, classifying it among the greatest discoveries of its kind in recent times. (Also find out how historians rediscovered an alchemy manuscript by Isaac Newton.)

“I think the manuscript by Anne Wollstonecraft is of great importance,” says ethnobotanist Paul Cox, executive director of Brain Chemistry Labs in Jackson, Wyoming. “Although the plants that she profiles in her drawings and descriptions are generally common, the detailed notes she makes of indigenous uses add a whole new dimension to understanding their possible utility, and could be used today to guide researchers in discovering new pharmaceuticals.”

For example, she notes that roots from the soursop tree were used as a fish poisoning antidote and its leaves as an antiparasitic and antiepileptic. She also suggests that "soursop" comes from a phonetic approximation of the island’s indigenous inhabitants’ name for the tree, suir sach, which could help explain a paradoxical moniker for a fruit described as sickly sweet.

But if not for historian Emilio Cueto, a retired attorney and self-described collector of all things Cuban, Wollstonecraft and her work may have remained in obscurity.

Word of mouth

In 1828, Cuban exiles and human rights advocates Father Félix Varela and José Antonio Saco mentioned an American woman in Cuba drawing Cuban plants in their periodical El Mansajero Semanal. Almost a century later, in 1912, Cuban scholar and thinker Carlos M. Trelles cited the work, sight unseen. The citations said that New York Horticultural Society members had likened the work to that of respected naturalist Maria Sibylla Merian, whose legendary 1705 work Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium is considered seminal to the field of entomology.

“That comparison triggered my belief that this was important,” Cueto says. “People exaggerate, but not that much.”

Thus began his quest.

Following Trelles’ lead, Cueto included Wollstonecraft’s work in the catalogue bibliography for his own 2002 HistoryMiami Museum exhibit on Cuban flora and fauna without having laid eyes on it or knowing whether it had even survived.

“This was the reality of scholarly networks at that time,” says Anne Sauer, director of Cornell’s Rare and Manuscript Collections. “Part of the scholarly record included a scholar saying, I haven’t seen this thing, but I have heard that it exists and that it is important. You’re sort of bleeding into the realm of oral history in some cases, even.”

Each documentation of the manuscript and historical mention of the author seemed to bring a different spelling of her last name. Some use her maiden name, Kingsbury, and her first name was alternately reported as Anne and Nancy—which Jane Austen fans will recognize as a diminutive of the former.

Cueto had searched for the manuscript perhaps a hundred times or more in online library catalogues to no avail, but in March 2018, it finally popped up. The author’s name was misspelt as “Wollstonecroft,” reflecting the ambiguous last cursive vowel on the manuscript’s title page. Still, Cueto knew what he had found.

“I said, Oh my God! This is that lady. This is what I’ve been looking for. This is what everybody has been looking for!” Cueto says. “It was covered by a series of unfortunate misspellings and access to catalogues.”

After his Archimedes moment, however, he couldn’t find the actual manuscript; the catalogue didn’t show him where it was. That’s when he called on University of Florida Library Dean Judith Russell, with whom he had collaborated for Cuba exhibits. She figured out that it was at Cornell University, which received it in 1923 from a faculty member, the author’s descendant. Having caught Cueto’s infectious excitement, Russell joined him on a field trip to Ithaca to see the volumes.

“Both of us tried to moderate our expectations,” Russell says. “We get there, and, My God, they are full botanical drawings with pages of narrative. And they’re exquisite.”

Women in 'stem'

Based on some genealogy sleuthing, Russel reports that Wollstonecraft died in 1828 at age 46, leaving incomplete entries, untranscribed notes and loose draft paper among the volumes.

“She was not finished,” Russell says. “It gives you goosebumps, you know, how close we came to losing it.”

Cueto is now working to introduce Wollstonecraft, the sister-in-law of famed women’s rights advocate Mary Wollstonecraft, to new generations. He has travelled to her adopted hometown of Matanzas in search of her grave and contemporaneous mentions in local newspaper archives, and he surmises that she was among the U.S. citizens who flocked to the Caribbean island in the 19th century for health reasons.

His many-splendored vision includes having the newfound manuscript on display at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., where it could be seen by millions who traverse the nation’s capital. He also envisions the manuscript finally published as a book, with a foreword recounting how this lost work came to light. And he wants a Spanish translation, to make it more accessible to Cuban audiences.

So far, the manuscript has been digitized and is available for all to experience online.

“We have uncovered a new American scientist and artist who has been forgotten by those disciplines,” Cueto says. “Had she lived further, she would have been a major force in illustration.”

[CaaC (John)+]

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/thousands-year-old-egypt-sarcophagus-to-be-opened-on-live-tv/ar-BBVDyhr

 

Ancient Egyptian Tomb Found With Dozens of Mummies

Katherine Hignett

Archaeologists have discovered an ancient tomb containing dozens of mummies at a site in the south-east of Egypt. Cut into rock and hidden behind a stone wall, the tomb contained the bodies of both adults and children stored across multiple burial chambers.

As well as human remains, Egyptian and Italian researchers found artifacts including vases, coffin fragments, intricately decorated masks, cartonnages and a statuette, Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities reported Tuesday.

© Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities

The main room of the tomb contained about 30 mummies, including the remains of several young children tucked into a recess on one side of the chamber.

Archaeologists also found tools of the funerary trade in the room, including a mummy-transporting stretcher made from palm wood and pieces of linen, several jars of bitumen, a lamp and a painted statuette of the “Ba-bird”: a part-bird, part-human figurine depicting the “soul of the deceased,” the Egyptian ministry explained.  

The room was also home to several painted and unpainted cartonnages and partial funerary masks. Similar to papier-mâché, ancient Egyptians made funerary masks and cartonnages from layers of papyrus and plaster. They painted these decorative items with bold, colorful designs.

© Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities A painted fragment of cartonnage discovered at the Aswan West Bank, Egypt.

The researchers found more mummies elsewhere in the tomb, two of whom were concealed in a painted cartonnage. Archaeologists think these could be the bodies of a mother and a child. The team also found four other mummies in a structure containing several jars still holding food.

© Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities Two ancient Egyptian mummies discovered in a tomb near the Mausoleum of Aga Khan, Aswan West Bank, Egypt.

Fragments of painted wood from coffins indicated the tomb belonged to someone called Tjit, who lived around the end of the time of the Pharaohs and the start of the Graeco-Roman period (332 B.C.E-395 C.E.). Painted wooden coffin fragments revealed the name of the owner and honoured certain gods, the Ministry reported.

The tomb is located near the Mausoleum of Aga Khan on the Aswan West Bank, an area home to dozens of gravesites. The Egyptian-Italian mission has mapped about 300 tombs, 25 of which have been excavated over the last four years, lead archaeologist Patrizia Piacentini said in a statement.

© Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities An ancient statuette found in a tomb near the Mausoleum of Aga Khan, Aswan West Bank, Egypt.

Egypt has been keen to share news of recent archaeological discoveries in an effort to entice visitors back to the country in the wake of the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 and subsequent political unrest.

Recent announcements have included the discovery of a palace dedicated to Ramesses the Great, several intricately-decorated sarcophagi and a massive haul of about 800 tombs at a large grave site to the south of Cairo.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/ancient-egyptian-tomb-found-with-dozens-of-mummies/ar-BBWe3nn?ocid=chromentp

Edited April 24, 2019 by CaaC - John

[CaaC (John)+]

Royal Vase Gives Clues to the Collapse of Maya Civilization

Hannah Osborne

 

Scientists have discovered a vase at an ancient royal palace in Belize with hieroglyphic text that gives an insight into the mysterious collapse of the Maya civilization. The stories on the vase relate to its owner—a King of Komkom—and a series of martial actions relating to him, including a “frog-like turtle dance” he performed after a military victory.

The vase, which dates to around 800 AD, was found in the Maya archaeological complex of Baking Pot by researchers led by Julie Hoggarth, assistant professor of anthropology at Texas’ Baylor University. She noticed one of the pieces had a hieroglyph referring to Yaxha, a Maya ceremonial center in Guatemala.

The vessel had been smashed into bits, so the team had to piece the 82 fragments they found together—eventually assembling what they believe to be about 60 per cent of the original. It measured about nine inches in length and, in its entirety, would have been made up of 202 hieroglyphic blocks—unusually long for Pre-Columbian texts found in Belize.

After deciphering the text, Hoggarth and colleagues realized it provided an unusual insight into a period where there is little remaining written information. Hoggarth has now published details of the vase in a book, A Reading of the Komkom Vase Discovered at Baking Pot, Belize.

At the time the vase was created, the Maya civilization had started to collapse. Cities were abandoned and by around 900 AD, they had stopped building monuments. Reasons for this are unclear, although experts believe multiple factors likely combined, resulting in a breakdown of the political system.

“Population growth at the end of the Classic period also meant that the Maya were clearing more of the landscape to grow food, which may have contributed—in some cases—to environmental degradation,” Hoggarth told Newsweek. “On top of all of this was a series of severe droughts that date to the mid-to-late ninth century (around AD 820-900) that likely impacted agricultural production. Since Maya divine kings were considered intermediaries with the gods, you can imagine how if they did not bring the rains that their legitimacy could have been diminished and the populace likely voted with their feet and left those cities.”

The story on the Komkom vase focuses on the warfare that was taking place during the period—providing a peek into the propaganda that was being sold to society at the time. “We know that the Classic Maya did not typically write about mundane topics,” Hoggarth said, adding that they normally focused on political histories, including births, deaths, ascensions, alliances and rituals. Few mention droughts or trade problems. “The unique aspect of the Komkom Vase is that it was written during this period of instability, and gives a perspective by the Maya themselves of the escalation of warfare during this time.”

© Baylor University The Komkom vase, pieced together.

The text on the vase provides information on the royal owner. While he is not named directly, it says his father is Sak Witzil Baah, the King of Komkom, and his mother is a royal from the kingdom of Naranjo. This suggests the owner was a later king of Komkom.

The story provides information about a series of martial actions led by the king. It says that in July, 799 AD, he “axed the middle of the Yaxa’ cave.” The cave, Hoggarth said, probably refers to the polity or settlement of Yaxha. “The text goes on to describe how the king of Yaxha, K’inich Lakamtuun, now powerless, fled from the city to a place ‘where mosquitos/flies abound.’  The text later describes how the owner of the vase performed a ‘frog-like turtle dance’ to celebrate the victory over Yaxha.”

She said it is hard to distinguish between political propaganda and fact—as, with all written sources, history is recorded by the victors. “One interesting aspect of the Komkom Vase is that many of the events that are described on the vase are also detailed in written texts on carved monuments from the site of Naranjo,” Hoggarth said. “In those accounts, it is the rulers of Naranjo who led the martial attacks on Yaxha. Naranjo was a larger and a more powerful kingdom than Komkom, but the parentage statement describes the mother of the owner of the Komkom Vase with a royal title from that site, so there were clearly political and marriage alliances between the two kingdoms.

“The accounts in the Komkom Vase make it appear that the owner of the vase, assumed to be the King of Komkom, led the attacks against Yaxha. So, you can see here how easily historical accounts can be slightly changed as a form of political propaganda to enhance the reputation of the protagonist of the story.”

© Baylor University A fragment of the Komkom Vase.

Elizabeth Graham, Professor of Mesoamerican Archaeology at the UCL Institute of Archaeology, U.K, who was not involved in the research, said the length of the text and the dating—at the time of the Maya collapse—means it provides an interesting insight into the period: “One ‘minute’ they are painting beautiful texts in the Classic tradition, and the next, collapse,” she told Newsweek.

“Much more can be learned from the vase,” Graham continued. “Translation of clauses in the text are aided by the fact that the same events or titles are recorded at other sites—in the case of the Komkom vase these sites are Naranjo, Tikal, and Yaxha.”

Hoggarth is now looking to develop a precise chronology in order to reconstruct the breakdown of political systems and the abandonment of Maya centers. At the moment, she is using radiocarbon dating to find out when royal palaces were abandoned and when ceremonial centers stopped being used. Her team is also looking at how the collapse corresponds to the severe droughts recorded at this time.

“In the past, archaeologists have noted how the timing of political and demographic changes broadly correlate with these climatic changes,” she said. “However, until recently we have been limited by imprecise chronologies based on ceramic phases that typically span several hundred years. This poor temporal resolution has made it difficult to identify clear relationships between drought and societal impacts. High-precision radiocarbon chronologies are now allowing us to identify the timing of political and demographic changes at finer time scales.”

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/royal-vase-gives-clues-to-collapse-of-maya-civilization/ar-BBWfCu4

[CaaC (John)+]

Scientists discover the 'strangest crab that has ever lived'

Dan Satherley

 

A newly discovered crab-like creature is so strange, the scientists who discovered it have literally named it "perplexing".

"Callichimaera perplexa is so unique and strange that it can be considered the platypus of the crab world," said Javier Luque, who first found a fossil of the "beautiful nightmare" in 2005 and led the study into just what on Earth it was.

Its name also references the chimera, a hybrid creature from Chinese mythology made up of a lion, goat and snake.

© Oksana Vernygora/University of Alberta Callichimaera perplexa - a 'beautiful nightmare' of a creature.

Callichimaera, which lived in the Americas and western Africa about 90 million years ago, had a shrimp-like mouth, lobster-type shell and socket-less eyes so big they'd be the equivalent of soccer balls on a human face.

"It looked like a crab, but I thought it was more like a spider," Luque told Live Science, calling it the "strangest crab that has ever lived".

After collecting more than 70 specimens from across the Atlantic, Luque said he realised he'd uncovered an entirely new branch of the crab family tree.

"Usually we think of crabs as big animals with broad carapaces [shells], strong claws, small eyes in long eyestalks, and a small tail tucked under the body. Well, Callichimaera defies all of these 'crabby' features and forces a re-think of our definition of what makes a crab a crab."

Callichimaera perplexa - which literally translates as 'perplexing beautiful chimera' - was unveiled in journal Science Advances this week, alongside a number of other ancient sea creatures new to science, mostly shrimp.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/scientists-discover-the-strangest-crab-that-has-ever-lived/ar-BBWhnPU

 

[CaaC (John)+]

Oldest human footprint found in the Americas confirmed in Chile: researcher

© Reuters/Handout . Ancient footprint pictured in Osorno

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - A 15,600-year old footprint discovered in southern Chile is believed to be the oldest ever found in the Americas, according to researchers.

The footprint was first discovered in 2010 by a student at the Universidad Austral of Chile. Scientists then worked for years to rule out the possibility that the print may have belonged to some other species of animal, and to determine the fossil's estimated age.

© Reuters/HANDOUT Ancient footprint is pictured in Osorno

Karen Moreno, a paleontologist with the Universidad Austral who has overseen the studies, said researchers had also found bones of animals near the site, including those of primitive elephants, but determined that the footprint was evidence of human presence.

Moreno said this was the first evidence of humans in the Americas older than 12,000 years.

"Little by little in South America, we're starting to find sites with evidence of human presence, but this is this oldest in the Americas," she said.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/oldest-human-footprint-found-in-the-americas-confirmed-in-chile-researcher/ar-BBWl6BS

 

[CaaC (John)+]

404-year-old 'priceless' Bible stolen from Carnegie Library found in the Netherlands

N'dea Yancey-Bragg

© Keith Srakocic FBI supervisory special agent Shawn Brokos, right, shows the theft recovered 1615 Breeches Edition Bible during a news conference, Thursday, April 25, 2019, in Pittsburgh. The Bible was stolen from the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh in the 1990s. It was traced to the American Pilgrim Museum in Leiden, Netherlands.

A 404-year-old Bible stolen decades ago from the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh is finally being returned, the FBI announced.

The Geneva Bible, published in 1615, was one of more than 300 items including rare books, atlases and maps worth an estimated $8 million that were discovered missing in 2017, according to Robert Jones, special agent in charge of the Pittsburgh FBI office.

“This Bible is more than a piece of evidence in a case,” Jones said at a press conference Thursday. “It is a priceless artefact of religious significance to people of many faiths."

The stolen book is commonly referred to as a “Breeches Bible” because its Genesis chapter describes Adam and Eve sewing fig leaves together to create breaches, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Historians believe Pilgrims who arrived in Massachusetts on the Mayflower in 1620 carried Geneva Bibles, the newspaper reported.

© Provided by USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, Inc.

Gregory M. Priore, a former Carnegie Library archivist, and John Schulman, a rare book dealer, are accused of stealing and selling the items over the course of about 20 years, the Post-Gazette reported.

The Bible was found in the Netherlands, and the FBI worked with officials at the Leiden American Pilgrim Museum, the District Attorney’s office and the FBI’s art crime team to secure its return, Jones said.

“From a dollar-figure sense, it is not priceless,” Jones told the Associated Press. “From a history perspective, it is priceless.”

The Dutch museum had paid $1,200 for the Bible, according to District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr.

Jeremy Dupertuis Bangs, the director of the Leiden museum, told CNN that he bought the Bible from what he thought was a "reputable dealer in antiquarian books” and was planning to display it in an exhibition celebrating the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower landing.

Suzanne M. Thinnes, a spokeswoman for Carnegie Library, issued a statement thanking authorities for ensuring the book was returned, according to the Post-Gazette.

“The news that two people who were close to the library broke the public’s trust by not treating our collections with the respect and care they deserve has been absolutely devastating for all of us,” her statement read. “We look forward to invigorating community interest in our unique collections over the next year as we move toward restoring public access to the rare book collection.”

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/404-year-old-priceless-bible-stolen-from-carnegie-library-found-in-the-netherlands/ar-BBWo94k

Edited April 29, 2019 by CaaC - John

[CaaC (John)+]

  

 

Indian Army says it has spotted Yeti’s giant footprints in the Himalayas, tweets proof

Niharika Sharma

 

The Indian Army has said that its mountaineers have sighted giant footprints of the “mythical beast Yeti.”

Late yesterday (April 29) night, the army’s additional directorate general of public information (ADGPI) said its mountain expedition team had made the sighting near the Makalu base camp in eastern Nepal. The official Twitter handle of the ADGPI also posted photographs of the footprints. The sightings were made on April on April 09, the army said.

 

The “Yeti’s” footsteps measured 2.6 feet, the ADGPI tweet said. A footstep is the distance between one footprint and the next during a normal walk. The average length of the footstep of an adult male human being is said to be around 2.5 feet.

The tweet claimed that “Yeti” had been sighted at the Makalu-Barun National Park in the past, too.

For decades, the mysterious giant snowman has fired the imagination of adventurers and mountaineers venturing into the Himalayan slopes.

In Nepali folklore, particularly, this mythical creature has loomed large. Many have in the past claimed to have seen one, often depicting it as half human-half ape.

In 2014, a controversial study created quite a flutter by claiming to have collected two Yeti fur samples from Bhutan and northern India. It said that a creature—a hybrid between a polar and a brown bear—could be very much alive still.

The scientific community has, however, not bought into these claims.

An associate professor at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore gathered a total of 24 samples from Asian bears and purported Yetis to only discover that the samples largely belong to Himalayan and Tibetan bears. Another DNA sample study conducted by Proceeding of the Royal Society B in 2017, too, showed that stories on Yeti so far have been based on the Himalayan black and brown bears.

The Indian Army’s claims could potentially fire another round of debate over the mystical Himalayan giant.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/indian-army-says-it-has-spotted-yetis-giant-footprints-in-the-himalayas-tweets-proof/ar-AAAIRf5

 

[CaaC (John)+]

Fossil of an 85-foot blue whale is largest ever discovered

Tim Vernimmen

© Photograph by Flip Nicklin, Minden Pictures

An aerial view of the Sea of Cortez reveals an 80-foot blue whale gliding through the waves. A fossil found in Italy shows that blue whales reached these behemoth sizes as far back as 1.5 million years ago.

The blue whale is not only the largest animal alive today, it is the largest one that has ever lived. Now, analysis of a fossil found on the shore of an Italian lake hints at when, and perhaps how, the blue whale became such a behemoth.

The beast’s very large skull, described today in the journal Biology Letters, confirms that this ancient blue whale is the largest known in the fossil record, reaching a whopping 85 feet long. That’s just shy of the largest modern blue whales on record, which reach up to a hundred feet. Perhaps even more surprising to scientists, though, is the fact that a whale of this size swam the seas around 1.5 million years ago, during the early Pleistocene—far earlier than previously thought.

© Illustration by Alberto Gennari

An illustration shows how a modern human diver would have measured up to the ancient whale.

“The fact that such a large whale existed that long ago suggests that large whales had been around for quite a while,” says study coauthor Felix Marx, a paleontologist at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels. “I don’t think species can evolve to such a size overnight.”

 

A whale of a find

Figuring out how blue whales came to be so big has been a challenge, as large whale fossils from the past 2.5 million years are rare. This is likely because the planet went through a number of ice ages during this period when plenty of water froze into ice and sea levels dropped dramatically. The remains of whales that died in those days, even if they stranded on land, may now be many dozens of feet below sea level. (A 27.5-million-year-old fossil recently found in New Zealand belongs to one of the oldest known ancestors of baleen whales.)

In 2006, a farmer near the southern Italian town of Matera saw some very large vertebrae sticking out of the clay on the shore of a lake he uses to irrigate his fields. Over the course of three fall seasons, when it was possible to lower the water level without ruining the harvest, Italian paleontologist Giovanni Bianucci of the University of Pisa and his team dug out the remains.

The team at the time thought the fossils might belong to a blue whale, and the new anatomical studies have now confirmed it.

The new fossil might also help reveal that the rise of giant whales has been more gradual than previously believed, argues Marx. In 2017, a study analyzing the body size of all known baleen whale species, many of them only known from fossils, suggested an increase in body size may have happened rather suddenly, likely some 300,000 years ago but possibly as far as back as 4.5 million years.

When Marx included the new fossil in this analysis, however, “the most probable date was pushed back to 3.6 million years, and likely even further, possibly as far back as six million years.”

Surplus of small fossils

Graham Slater of the University of Chicago, who did the original analysis, points out that 3.6 million years still fits in the rather large time window he had found. And even if the most probable date for the size jump is pushed back that far, he says, the revised date of 3.6 million years ago makes sense.

Around that time, a global decrease in ocean temperature likely changed the availability of food to whales, creating patches of very high prey density where there was upwelling of cold water from the deep, which he believes was “important for supporting really large whales.” Slater does not agree with Marx that the new analysis favours an even older origin for blue whale bigness. (See a prehistoric “sea monster” that lived about 200 million years ago and was about the same size as this fossil whale.)

It is true that the analysis as such does not directly confirm that scenario, Marx admits. But his point of view is informed by what he believes is yet to come. Because large whale fossils are difficult to collect, study, and describe, our view of body-size evolution in whales may be distorted. Marx is involved in a project in Peru that has found multiple whale fossils that have not been recovered yet. Although the data is preliminary, including them in the analysis further weakens the impression of a sudden shift, he says.

“I’m aware of multiple large whales of at least the same age that haven’t been described yet” in the scientific literature, he says. Every additional large whale fossil we find and document, he thinks, will make the idea of a gradual change more likely.

Paleontologist Cheng-Hsiu Tsai of the National Taiwan University described the sparse remains of what was likely the second-largest fossil whale found so far, a fin whale from California. He has been arguing for a while that baleen whales became big much earlier than was generally believed, and he largely agrees with Marx’s conclusions.

“To be honest, this fossil does not surprise me at all,” Tsai says. “I expect that we should find something bigger and geologically even older soon.”

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/fossil-of-85-foot-blue-whale-is-largest-ever-discovered/ar-AAALiDH

[CaaC (John)+]

Ancient tomb discovered in Egypt dating back 4,500 years

Archaeologists have uncovered part of a cemetery thousands of years old near Egypt’s famed pyramids on the Giza plateau near Cairo.

The cemetery houses burial shafts and tombs of top officials.

The most significant artefact uncovered was a limestone statue of the tomb’s owner, his wife and his son dating back to the fifth dynasty (2465-2323 BC), officials said.

File Video Egypt unveils 'one of a kind' ancient tomb, expects more finds (Reuters)

Ashraf Mohi, head of the archaeological site, said it was known that the cemetery had been reused extensively in the Late Period (664-332 BC), as archaeologists found painted and decorated wooden anthropoid coffins, and wooden and clay funerary masks from that period.

Egypt has touted a series of archaeological finds recently, hoping such discoveries will spur tourism, which suffered a major setback during the unrest that followed the 2011 uprising.

Secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Dr Mostafa Waziri, said the tomb belonged to two men.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/ancient-tomb-discovered-in-egypt-dating-back-4500-years/ar-AAAU6P4?li=BBoPWjQ

 

[CaaC (John)+]

Elephant Man: Joseph Merrick's grave 'found by author'

The unmarked grave of Joseph Merrick - who is better known as the Elephant Man - has been traced after nearly 130 years, it has been claimed.

Merrick had a skeletal and soft tissue deformity which saw him as a freak show attraction, then a medical curiosity.

His skeleton has been preserved at the Royal London Hospital since his death.

But author Jo Vigor-Mungovin says she has now discovered Merrick's soft tissue was buried in the City of London Cemetery after he died in 1890.

After a miserable adolescence and time as a travelling exhibit, Leicester-born Merrick ended up at what was then called the London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London, where he surprised staff by proving to have an intelligent and sensitive personality.

He became a minor celebrity and in May 1887 was visited by Alexandra, Princess of Wales, who afterwards sent him Christmas cards.

After his death, Merrick's body was dissected and his skeleton preserved as an anatomical specimen.

Joseph Merrick

Mrs Vigor-Mungovin, who has written a biography of Merrick, said a story about his soft tissue being buried had not been followed up due to the number of graveyards in use at the time.

"I was asked about this and off-hand I said 'It probably went to the same place as the [Jack the] Ripper victims', as they died in the same locality.

"Then I went home and really thought about it and started looking at the records of the City of London Cemetery and Crematorium near Epping Forest,  where two Ripper victims are buried

"I decided to search in an eight-week window around the time of his death and there, on page two, was Joseph Merrick."

The detailed Victorian records make it "99% certain" this is the Elephant Man, said Mrs Vigor-Mungovin.

"The burial is dated 24 April 1890, and Joseph died on 11 April.

"It gives his residence as London Hospital, his age as 28 - Joseph was actually 27 but his date of birth was often given wrong - and the coroner as Wynne Baxter, who we know conducted Joseph's inquest.

"Everything fits, it is too much to be a coincidence."

Initially, the area was narrowed down to a communal memorial garden, but Mrs Vigor-Mungovin said a specific plot had now been identified.

"The authorities said a small plaque could be made to mark the spot, which would be lovely.

"Hopefully, we can soon get a memorial in his hometown of Leicester."

The City of London Cemetery has been unavailable for comment.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-48149855

[CaaC (John)+]

T-rex's tiny cousin which shows where it got its killer bite is unearthed by scientists

Alex Matthews-King

Scientists have unearthed a tiny cousin of the Tyrannosaurus rex – whose height was only slightly greater than the length of a T-rex’s skull.

The new species, named Suskityrannus hazelae or the “coyote tyrant”, would have stood just 3ft tall at its hip, and measured 9ft from snout to tail.

Compared to the tyrant lizard king’s 40ft nine-tonne bulk, Suskityrannus would have been a paltry 90 pounds (41kgs).

Scientists aren’t sure what exactly it was hunting when it stalked the earth 92 million years ago.

While the T-rex would rise to become undisputed king of the food chain, Suskityrannus would have lived under the reigning apex predator of the time – the Allosaurus.

“Suskityrannus gives us a glimpse into the evolution of tyrannosaurs just before they take over the planet,” said study author Dr Sterling Nesbitt of Virginia Tech University, describing the discovery in Nature Ecology and Evolution.

© Provided by Independent Digital News & Media Limited

Dr Nesbitt found one of the fossils more than 20 years ago while on an archaeological dig in New Mexico as a high school student – but for decades it was not clear that they had a new tyrannosaur on their hands.

“Suskityrannus has a much more slender skull and foot than its later and larger cousins, the Tyrannosaurus rex,” Dr Nesbitt said. “Essentially, we didn’t know we had a cousin of Tyrannosaurus rex for many years”.

However, despite their slender form, it is the earliest specimen to exhibit the adaptations that allowed tyrannosaurs to take over.

© Provided by Independent Digital News & Media Limited Sterling Nesbitt and fossil remains of Suskityrannus hazelae, which he found at age 16 in 1998 (Virginia Tech)

“Suskityrannus is a key link between the enormous bone-crunching dinosaurs like T-rex and the smaller species they evolved from,” said Dr Steven Brusatte of the University of Edinburgh, another of the authors.

“The new species shows that tyrannosaurs developed many of their signature features like a muscular skull, broad mouth, and a shock-absorbing foot when they were still small, maybe as adaptations for living in the shadows.”

However, it is unclear exactly why the animals were changing so rapidly during the mid-Cretaceous, the authors said.

The discovery also demonstrates an evolutionary link between the older tyrannosaurs of North America and China and the much larger species, who dominated until a meteor strike 66 million years ago.

Piecing together the evolution of the tyrannosaurs in the mid-Cretaceous period is complicated by near-record high sea levels at the time, which split the east and west coasts of North America.

Specimens have been found across two archaeological sites – including one in the Zuni Basin, of New Mexico. The sites are in the ancestral lands of Zuni Native Americans, who granted permission for their word “suski” to be part of the new name.

Palaeontologists have yet to find any specimen with arm bones, so it remains a mystery as to whether Suskityrannus shared T-rex’s least impressive feature.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/t-rexs-tiny-cousin-which-shows-where-it-got-its-killer-bite-is-unearthed-by-scientists/ar-AAB0t6u

Edited October 19, 2019 by CaaC (John)
Spelling corrections

[CaaC (John)+]

We lived in this neck of the woods and drank in the pub years ago and near where the tomb was found, I could have been walking over a grave of a Pharaoh and didn't bloody know!!  

 

Inside ‘British version of Tutankhamun’s tomb’ discovered between a pub and an Aldi

 

Archaeologists have recreated in painstaking detail what they called the UK’s answer to Tutankhamun’s tomb – a royal burial site dating back to Anglo-Saxon times discovered by the side of a road in Essex.

They believe the burial chamber, unearthed near a pub and an Aldi supermarket, may have held the remains of Seaxa, brother of King Saebert.

Scientists have spent 15 years excavating the site in Prittlewell, Southend-on-Sea. They have pieced together artefacts, some of which are 1,400 years old, to build a new picture of how the chamber looked when it was first created.

Newly analysed objects suggest the tomb is older than previously thought, ruling out a previous hypothesis that it housed the deceased king himself.

© Press Association Handout photo dated 20/02/19 issued by MOLA of archaeologists excavating the burial chamber in Prittlewell, Essex, believed to be that of Seaxa, brother of King Saebert

Researchers at the Museum of London Archaeology (Mola) estimated the structure took 113 working days to build, representing “a huge investment in skilled labour, as well as materials”. 

The site was the earliest Christian Anglo-Saxon princely burial found in the UK, said research director, Sophie Jackson.

She added: “I think it’s our equivalent of Tutankhamun’s tomb. Getting an intact version of this and seeing how everything is positioned and what he’s got with him. I think the thing that’s so strange about it is that it was such an unpromising-looking site. It’s between a bit of railway and a bit of road, essentially a verge. It’s not where you’d expect to find it.”

© Press Association Handout photo dated 23/04/19 issued by Joe Giddens of a royal burial site discovered beneath a roadside verge in Essex believed to be that of Seaxa, brother of King Saebert

Work began on the site in 2003, and among the items discovered were a painted box, drinking horns and a flagon originating from the Byzantine empire, as well as gold foil crosses, suggesting the dead male had converted to Christianity.

The box is the only surviving example of painted Anglo-Saxon woodwork in Britain.

The male, believed to have been at least adolescent in age, would have stood about 5ft 8in when he died around the year 580, researchers said. Missionaries sent by Pope Gregory I to convert the Anglo-Saxons only landed in Kent in 597.

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Saebert died in about 616, meaning the tomb cannot be his. Experts used organic material from drinking horns found inside for radio-carbon dating.

A team of 40 worked on the project, funded by Southend-on-Sea Borough Council and Historic England.

The find and subsequent research has helped “transform our understanding of [Anglo-Saxons’] early history”, Professor Simon Keynes of Trinity College, Cambridge, told The Independent.

© Press Association Handout photo dated 20/02/19 issued by MOLA of gold coins discovered in the burial chamber in Prittlewell, Essex, believed to be that of Seaxa, brother of King Saebert.

“Prittlewell was from the moment of its discovery in 2003 seen to be something very special, which would do for the East Saxons what Sutton Hoo has been doing since 1939 for the East Angles: cast new light on the elite, as shown by their burial customs, during the period of their conversion to Christianity in the late sixth and early seventh centuries," he said. 

© PA Decorated glass beakers were found whole in the site

He added: “We know the basic story from Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People, written in 731, but Sutton Hoo and Prittlewell give us the material evidence, in the form of the elite or princely burial rituals, which take us closer to the material realities at this elevated level of society. Finds like Sutton Hoo, Prittlewell, and the Staffordshire Hoard add the dimensions which only material evidence of this kind can provide.”

© Press Association Handout photo dated 23/04/19 issued by Joe Giddens of the remains of the only surviving example of painted Anglo-Saxon woodwork in Britain

Sutton Hoo in Suffolk is a hugely significant archaeological area where a trove of Anglo-Saxon artefacts and graves have been found since its discovery in 1939. The Staffordshire Hoard, unearthed near Lichfield in 2009, is the largest-ever find of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver artefacts, numbering some 4,000.

 

© PA A gold belt buckle discovered in the burial chamber in Prittlewell, Essex, believed to be that of Seaxa, brother of King Saebert, who died between 575AD and 605AD

Objects from the Prittlewell site are due to go on permanent display at Southend Central Museum from 11 May, having previously been shown around the world.

© PA The remains of a wooden drinking vessel, with a decorated gold neck

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/inside-british-version-of-tutankhamuns-tomb-discovered-between-a-pub-and-an-aldi/ar-AAB5Yni

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Archaeologists discover 2,000-year-old 'Sphinx Room' hidden in Emperor Nero's Golden Palace

Adam Forrest

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Archaeologists attempting to restore Emperor Nero’s palace in Rome have accidentally discovered a secret underground room decorated with colourful animal frescoes.

The walls of the chamber in the bowels of Domus Aurea – the Golden House – was found adorned with depictions of panthers, centaurs and a sphinx.

Experts stumbled upon the space quite by chance while mounting scaffolding late last year, according to Italian news agency ANSA.

Alfonsina Russo, the head of the Colosseum archaeological park in which the Golden House resides, said it was “an exceptional and thrilling find”.

© Provided by Independent Digital News & Media Limited One of the centaur frescoes in the newly-discovered chamber (EPA)

He said the restoration team had decided to call the chamber the “Sphinx Room” after one of the most striking frescoes, although the walls also feature aquatic creatures, exotic birds and the god Pan.

Mr Russo described the moment of discovery after he and his colleagues spotted an opening in the corner of an adjoining chamber.

“Lit up by the artificial light, there suddenly appeared the entire barrel vault of a completely frescoed adjacent room,” he said.

Nero’s immense palace was built almost 2,000 years ago when the emperor ordered its construction following the fire of 64AD. The devastating blaze destroyed large parts of Rome, including the aristocratic villas on Palatine Hill.

Following the discovery of the Sphinx Room, Mr Russo’s archaeologists began basic salvage and restoration work at the start of 2019.

Yet much of the room is still buried by tonnes of earth, and the team fears it will remain so because any further work could jeopardise the stability of the whole palace.

Alongside the Sphinx and the centaurs, the frescoes also feature garlands of flowers, leaves and fruit in line with architectural motifs of the time.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/archaeologists-discover-2000-year-old-sphinx-room-hidden-in-emperor-neros-golden-palace/ar-AAB9l18?li=BBoPWjQ

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A bird that went extinct 136,000 years ago comes ‘back from the dead’ after evolving again

Andrew Griffin

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A bird that previously went extinct rose from the dead after it evolved all over again, scientists have found.

The last surviving flightless species of bird in the Indian Ocean, a type of rail, has actually been around before, the research found. It came back through a process called "iterative evolution", which saw it emerge twice over, the researchers found.

It means that on two separate occasions – tens of thousands of years apart – a species of rail was able to colonise an atoll called Aldabra. In both cases it eventually became flightless, and those birds from the latter time can still be found on the island now.

Iterative evolution happens when the same or similar structures evolve out of the same common ancestor, but at different times – meaning that the animal actually comes about twice over, completely separately.

This is the first time it has been seen in rails, and one of the most significant ever seen in a bird of any kind.

White-throated rails are roughly the size of a chicken. They come from Madagascar, but repeatedly colonise other isolated islands, growing in number and then heading out of the island where they began.

Many of those that left to go north or south either died or were eaten. But some of the ones that headed eastwards went to live on the other ocean islands in the area, which includes Aldabra.

Aldabra does not have predators, and so the rails gradually lost the ability to fly. But then the island completely disappeared when it was covered by the sea, and the rail was wiped out, along with everything else on the island.

But after that event, some 100,000 years ago, the sea levels fell again and the atoll was once again taken over by flightless rails. By comparing the bones of those after and the ones before, researchers found that the evolution happened twice over a few thousand years ago.

"These unique fossils provide irrefutable evidence that a member of the rail family colonised the atoll, most likely from Madagascar, and became flightless independently on each occasion," said lead researcher Dr Julian Hume, avian palaeontologist and Research Associate at the Natural History Museum.

"Fossil evidence presented here is unique for rails, and epitomises the ability of these birds to successfully colonise isolated islands and evolve flightlessness on multiple occasions."

There is no better evidence of such a process happening to a bird, the researchers said.

"We know of no other example in rails, or of birds in general, that demonstrates this phenomenon so evidently. Only on Aldabra, which has the oldest palaeontological record of any oceanic island within the Indian Ocean region, is fossil evidence available that demonstrates the effects of changing sea levels on extinction and recolonisation events," said co-author Professor David Martill, from the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Portsmouth.

"Conditions were such on Aldabra, the most important being the absence of terrestrial predators and competing mammals, that a rail was able to evolve flightlessness independently on each occasion."

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/environment/bird-that-went-extinct-136000-years-ago-comes-back-from-the-dead-after-evolving-again/ar-AABbnvo?li=BBoPWjQ

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A New Zealand man found 12-million-year-old footprints left by an extinct 500-lb bird

Natasha Frost

When New Zealand’s first settlers arrived in the country in around 1300, they found a series of islands with lots of seafood, not much by way of edible plant life, and some of the most extraordinary flightless birds the world had ever seen. 

Over millions of years, New Zealand had developed a unique ecosystem. It has almost no native mammals and is instead home to a vibrant array of avian life—at most recent count, some 378 species, many of which cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Without the risk of mammal predators, a striking number are shockingly defenceless, and spend their lives trotting sweetly—and vulnerable—along the forest floor.

Moa should not have been at risk. These enormous birds stood twice the height of an adult man and weighed nearly three times as much. They had few natural predators, beyond the now-extinct Haast’s eagle, with their size weapon enough against almost anything. But they were slow, unwieldy, and possibly quite delicious. With few alternative sources of food, New Zealand’s newly-arrived Maori people quickly grew accustomed to killing and eating them. Within a century, the birds were gone forever.

Earlier this year, however, a New Zealand tractor driver had an exceptional brush with some of these long-dead giants. While taking his dogs for a swim in a river in a remote area of New Zealand’s South Island, Michael Johnston noticed some unusual markings in the clay and contacted the local Otago museum. Days later, museum experts used snorkels and underwater cameras to find seven moa footprints preserved in the river’s hard clay, beneath about three feet (one metre) of water. They are the first tracks from the bird ever found on the island and believed to be as much as 12 million years old.

Recent wet weather in the area seems to have eroded the bank, exposing the clay slab below, with its seven footprints. Each is roughly a square foot (30 cm) in size. Museum experts are now extracting the footprints from the clay, with a view to eventually making them available for researchers to study.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/a-new-zealand-man-found-12-million-year-old-footprints-left-by-an-extinct-500-lb-bird/ar-AABgU5N