History

[Toinho]

Sorry for using tribe. Did not know it was offensive. Where is our education around this? I have never heard of this before. 

Edited November 25, 2019 by Toinho

[Toinho]

There we go. All clarified now. 

[CaaC (John)]

Humpback Whale Carcass Mysteriously Discovered In The Amazon Jungle

The 36-foot-long whale was only discovered in the remote jungle when swooping scavenger birds alerted local officials with their screeching.

The whale is 36 feet long and weighs 10 tons.

While it’s no surprise that the Amazon rainforest is teeming with life, one particular discovery last week left even a seasoned team of wildlife experts and biologists in awe — when they came across the carcass of a 10-ton humpback whale in the shrubbery of Brazil’s Marajó Island.

Preliminary theories suggest that the whale washed ashore during a storm or that it was already dead when rising tides carried it on land — but scientists are confused as to how it managed to travel so far inland, or why it was swimming off the Marajó coast at all.

Pará state officials from the health, sanitation and environment department explained that only swooping scavengers hovering above the whale’s decomposing, 36-foot-long body alerted them to its presence, The Independent reported.

One possibility is that the animal was already dead when it washed ashore.

The animal is now being examined by marine specialists from local conservation group Bicho D’agua Institute, with preliminary assessments suggesting that the young whale died a few days before being found some 50 feet from the shore. Project leader Renata Emin, however, is still captivated by the mammal’s discovery and intrigued about its journey.

“We’re still not sure how it landed here, but we’re guessing that the creature was floating close to the shore and the tide, which has been pretty considerably over the past few days, picked it up and threw it inland, into the mangrove,” she said.

“Along with this astonishing feat, we are baffled as to what a humpback whale is doing on the north coast of Brazil during February because this is a very unusual occurrence,” she added.

Humpback whales are typically found in late summer and fall seasons, and much farther south. They have ventured north to the mouth of the Amazon River before — but it’s extremely rare. Emin posited that the young animal was separated from its mother, but the cause of death is still unknown.

“Depending on the state of decomposition, some information may already have been lost,” said Emin. “We are collecting as much information as we can get and identifying marks and wounds on its body to see if it was caught in a net or hit by a boat.”

State department official Dirlene Silva explained that access to the carcass and its region of discovery is so challenging that it has to be examined and pulled apart where it was found.

Experts are taking samples in an effort to narrow down the possible causes of death.

“It’s very difficult to get there and there’s no way we can send a bulldozer because it would not get through,” said Silva. “There is no way to remove it. To get there, we need to cross the swamp.”

As for the whale’s skeleton, however, the plan is to dismantle and preserve it — so that the natural history museum in the nearby capital of Belém can conserve it, study, and learn from it. Hopefully, this will begin to reveal what exactly happened to this baby humpback — so that the same thing might not also happen to others.

https://allthatsinteresting.com/humpback-whale-amazon-jungle?fbclid=IwAR2X5uJwan2tG_zYxWNFZqsVFUsa1LzmFJG-lozseU7MyIS8zd1ztW2B0U4

[CaaC (John)]

Over 1,200-yr-old tomb unearthed in China's Hebei

 崔力,王昆,曹槟

 

 © Provided by Xinhua News Agency

SHIJIAZHUANG, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- An ancient tomb dating back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907) was found in north China's Hebei Province, according to the local cultural relics protection department on Monday.

The tomb, which experts believe dates back more than 1,200 years, was discovered by a villager when digging in Duanying Village under Cixian County.

A tombstone, two porcelains, 12 potteries and some bronze pieces were also unearthed.

The inscription on the square-shaped tombstone measuring 45 cm in length and 9 cm in thickness consists of 323 Chinese characters recording the name, birthplace and life story of the tomb owner, and its inscription year in 733.

The tomb owner was believed to be a respectable man, said Zhao Xuefeng, a cultural relics expert, adding that the findings can serve as a reference for research on funeral customs and the village's history.

The two porcelains, one a bluish-white glazed tripod censer and the other a black glazed jar with two loop handles, are important to the research of the porcelain craftsmanship of Cizhou Kiln from celadon glaze to white glaze, Zhao said. 

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/over-1200-yr-old-tomb-unearthed-in-chinas-hebei/ar-BBXlWWJ

 

[CaaC (John)]

Siberia: 18,000-year-old frozen 'dog' stumps scientists

Researchers are trying to determine whether an 18,000-year-old puppy found in Siberia is a dog or a wolf.

The canine - which was two months old when it died - has been remarkably preserved in the permafrost of the Russian region, with its fur, nose and teeth all intact.

DNA sequencing has been unable to determine the species.

Scientists say that could mean the specimen represents an evolutionary link between wolves and modern dogs.

Radiocarbon dating was able to determine the age of the puppy when it died and how long it has been frozen. Genome analyses showed that it was male.

Researcher Dave Stanton at the Centre for Palaeogenetics in Sweden told CNN the DNA sequencing issue meant the animal could come from a population that is a common ancestor of both dogs and wolves.

"We have a lot of data from it already, and with that amount of data, you'd expect to tell if it was one or the other," he said.

• New story for the domestication of dogs
• Study reveals the wolf within your pet dog

Another researcher from the centre, Love Dalen, tweeted a question about whether the specimen is a wolf cub or "possibly the oldest dog ever found".

Scientists will continue with DNA sequencing and think the findings could reveal a lot about the evolution of dogs.

The puppy has been named "Dogor", which means "friend" in the Yakut language and is also the start of the question "dog or wolf?"

Modern dogs are believed to be descendants of wolves, but there is debate over when dogs were domesticated.

A study published in 2017 suggested domestication could have occurred 20,000 to 40,000 years ago.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-50586508

[CaaC (John)]

Can you identify the landmark from its carving?

QUIZ: 1/10 Questions

Edited November 28, 2019 by CaaC (John)

[nudge]

8 minutes ago, CaaC (John) said:

Can you identify the landmark from its carving?

QUIZ: 1/10 Questions

 

 

Got 8 out of 10...

[CaaC (John)]

7 minutes ago, nudge said:

Got 8 out of 10...

I got 7/10

[CaaC (John)]

30 mysterious wonders that are forbidden to tourists

SLIDES - 1/31

 

[CaaC (John)]

The Ingenious Reason Medieval Castle Staircases Were Built Clockwise

If you’re a fan of Game of Thrones or medieval programs in general, you’re probably familiar with action-packed battle scenes during which soldiers storm castles, dodge arrows, and dash up spiral staircases. And, while those spiral staircases might not necessarily ascend clockwise in every television show or movie you’ve watched, they usually did in real life.

According to Nerdist, medieval architects built staircases to wrap around in a clockwise direction in order to disadvantage any enemies who might climb them. Since most soldiers wielded swords in their right hands, this meant that their swings would be inhibited by the inner wall, and they’d have to round each curve before striking—fully exposing themselves in the process.

Just as the clockwise spiral hindered attackers, so, too, did it favour the castle’s defenders. As they descended, they could swing their swords in arcs that matched the curve of the outer wall, and use the inner wall as a partial shield. And, because the outer wall runs along the wider edge of the stairs, there was also more room for defenders to swing. So, if you’re planning on storming a medieval castle any time soon, you should try to recruit as many left-handed soldiers as possible. And if you’re defending one, it’s best to station your lefties on crossbow duty and leave the tower-defending to the righties.

On his blog All Things Medieval, Will Kalif explains that the individual stairs themselves provided another useful advantage to protectors of the realm. Because the individual steps weren’t all designed with the same specifications, it made for much more uneven staircases than what we see today. This wouldn’t impede the defenders, having grown accustomed to the inconsistencies of the staircases in their home castle, but it could definitely trip up the attackers. Plus, going down a set of stairs is always less labour-intensive than going up.

Staircase construction and battle tactics are far from the only things that have changed since the Middle Ages. Back then, people even walked differently than we do—find out how (and why) here.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/the-ingenious-reason-medieval-castle-staircases-were-built-clockwise/ar-BBXJ3Zf

[CaaC (John)]

Britain's largest golden nugget worth £80,000 found in a river by a treasure hunter

A treasure hunter has found the largest gold nugget in Britain - at the bottom of a Scots river.

The diver, who wishes to remain anonymous, discovered the 22-carat lump using a method called "sniping".

It sees the prospector use a snorkel, dry suit and hand tools to search the bed of a river.

Weighing 121.3 grams it is the biggest of its kind in the UK and is thought to be worth £80,000.

It was found in two pieces which fit together perfectly but leave a small hole in the middle, earning it the name the Reunion Nugget.

The exact location of the discovery is being kept under wraps to avoid a Scottish Gold Rush. Lee Palmer, the author of Gold Occurrences In The UK, was approached by the finder of the nugget while researching for his book.

© Paul Jacobs/pictureexclusive.com People panning for gold in the Mennock Water, Scotland in 2017

He said: "This is now the largest nugget in existence in the UK. When you look at it, it's doughnut-shaped.

"There are no impurities in it, it is just pure gold nugget of about 22 carats. It really is a remarkable find."

The nugget was found in May in a location which is being kept a secret by the finder and the land's owner.

The prospector unearthed the larger piece first.

Mr Palmer, 50, said: "The man just threw the bigger piece in his bucket, he knew it was big but didn't realise how big."

He hopes it will be bought by a national museum. 

[CaaC (John)]

Infrared images reveal hidden tattoos on Egyptian female mummies

Thanks to high-tech photography, researchers can now see previously hidden tattoos on ancient Egyptian mummies.

Infrared photography was used to help identify tattoos on seven mummified Egyptians dating as far back as around 1000 B.C. at a site known as Deir el-Medina, according to archaeologist Anne Austin of the University of Missouri-St. Louis, who recently reported her findings at a meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research.

Prior to these discoveries, tattoos had only been found on six mummies over more than 100 years of research at ancient sites in Egypt.

"When I first saw [the tattoos] with infrared, I felt both the thrill of discovery and the magic of this new technology," Austin told Fox News via email. "We were able to identify dozens of tattoos in a previous mummy published in 2017, which showed imagery of religious symbols, floral motifs and important animals like the cows of the goddess Hathor."

Austin explained to Fox News that the more recent finds have established tattoos on other mummies, but they have not yet detected anything identifiable by symbol and place.

"It's highly likely that with more evidence, we'll find clearer patterns to the location and symbolism of these tattoos, but that will have to wait we've conducted more research," she said.

One expert told Science News that the new discoveries could help researchers determine how the markings were used.

“Everything about the new tattoo discoveries is surprising because so little is known about this ancient Egyptian practice,” Egyptologist Kerry Muhlestein of Brigham Young University told Science News.

Experts in the U.K. found figurative tattoos on two ancient Egyptian mummies last year and published their findings in the Journal of Archaeological Science. The world's oldest figurative tattoos were found on Ötzi the Iceman, which is an approximately 5,300-year-old Neolithic mummy that was discovered in Italy in 1991.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/infrared-images-reveal-hidden-tattoos-on-egyptian-female-mummies/ar-BBXIav4

Edited December 5, 2019 by CaaC (John)
Insert

[CaaC (John)]

2000-Year-Old Roman Tweezers and Metal Ear Swab Discovered in the UK

The ancient Romans took hygiene seriously. They pioneered indoor plumbing, deodorant, and the practice of bathing daily. A recent discovery made at a bridge construction site in the UK reinforces just how committed to cleanliness the Roman civilization was. As Geek.com reports, workers unearthed an ear cleaner and a pair of tweezers thought to date back 2000 years to the Roman Empire.

The artefacts were dug up by the Ebbsfleet Development Corporation at the location of the new Springhead Bridge in Ebbsfleet Garden City, a development in Kent. One small tool appears to be designed for pinching and plucking small items just like modern-day tweezers. The other object is thought to have been built for cleaning ears—but instead of cotton, the "swab" is made entirely of metal. They're thought to date back thousands of years, but the scientific analysis will need to be done to determine the exact age.

Grooming items weren't the only artefacts uncovered at the site. Workers also found a piece of timber believed to have been meant for an ancient structure. The Ebbsfleet River, where the new bridge is being built, was once a shipping hub and a Roman settlement called Vagniacis. Historical finds are so common in the area that the Ebbsfleet Development Corporation employs full-time archaeologists.

The personal hygiene tools have been removed from the archaeological site by experts who will study them to learn more about their origins. The fate of the artefacts is unclear, but the construction company behind the discovery hopes they can remain in the same city where they were found

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/2000-year-old-roman-tweezers-and-metal-ear-swab-discovered-in-uk/ar-BBXMuwA

 

[CaaC (John)]

A Celtic warrior from 2,000 years ago buried in a chariot with weapons and ponies hailed as the most important find of its kind in the UK

A Celtic warrior’s grave containing weapons and upright pony skeletons has been described by experts as a unique and significant discovery for the UK. 

A 2,000-year-old shield, which was found next to the ancient Briton’s remains, is “the most important British Celtic art object of the millennium”, said Dr Melanie Giles, of the University of Manchester. 

Archaeologists said that the burial site in Pocklington, East Yorkshire, is the only one in the UK where modern archaeologists have found horses buried in a “chariot grave”.

About 20 humans buried inside chariots have been found in the past 100 years or so, mostly in Yorkshire – although not with horses. 

Paula Ware, the director of Map Archaeological Practice, which excavated the grave, said: “The magnitude and preservation of the Pocklington chariot burial have no British parallel, providing greater insight into the Iron Age epoch.”

The archaeologist called the shield an “incomparable” Iron Age find due to its “previously unknown design feature”.

She said its scalloped border “is not comparable to any other Iron Age finds across Europe, adding to its valuable uniqueness”.

“The popular belief is that elaborate metal-faced shields were purely ceremonial, reflecting status, but not used in battle,” she said. “Signs of repairs can also be seen, suggesting the shield was not only old but likely to have been well used.”

© Provided by The Independent The 2000-year old shield has been hailed as “the most important British Celtic art object of the millennium” (SWNS)

The Iron Age grave, the inhabitant of which is believed to have died between 320BC and 174BC, was initially dug up at a building site in the market town in 2018.

The ancient Briton’s body was placed in the chariot behind the horses, which were placed to look as if they were leaping out of the grave.

“This discovery provides valuable additional evidence demonstrating how the ancient Britons loved their chariots,” Dr Giles, a leading chariot-burial expert and archaeologist, said at the time.

“It is conceivable that the dead man’s family and his community believed that the chariot would help him to reach the next world or would be useful to him when he got there,” she said.

Persimmon Homes Yorkshire, who own the find, said they are planning to donate the discovery to a museum.

Scott Waters, director at the housebuilding firm, said: “The excavation at The Mile development is a truly magnificent discovery for British history and we feel this recognition and find should remain in the local area.”

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/celtic-warrior-from-2000-years-ago-buried-in-chariot-with-weapons-and-ponies-hailed-as-most-important-find-of-its-kind-in-uk/ar-BBXQmfZ

[CaaC (John)]

Lavish Ancient Roman Villa Built With Timber Imported From Over 1,000 Miles Away Discovered Under City

An ancient Roman villa with a portico built from wood imported over 1,000 miles away has been discovered under the Italian city.

Finding well-preserved ancient wood is rare as it degrades and is rarely in good enough condition to analyze—so discovering timber at the site has allowed researchers to better understand the trading routes that existed 2,000 years ago.

The site was found between 2014 and 2016 during an archaeological excavation while construction took place on the Rome Metro. Researchers uncovered a villa and portico that once stood in the gardens of Via Sannio. "The portico was part of a rich Roman villa," Mauro BernabeiI, from the National Research Council, Italy, told Newsweek. "There were mosaics and columns and, as always happens in Rome, many different layers of buildings and constructions."

Bernabeil and his team were interested in studying 24 oak timber planks that were found at the site. Initially, they had just hoped to identify the tree species and potentially how old they were through tree-ring dating, he explained. However, while comparing their tree ring sequences to those from other European references, they realized they were able to find the exact location of where the trees had come from—the Jura mountains in eastern France, over 1,000 miles from Rome. They also found they were cut down between 40 and 60 AD. Findings are published in PLOS One.

"We were extremely excited...when we discovered the origin of the timber. [We were] very, very surprised. This long transportation [of timber] was not known," Bernabeil said. He added that the wood would have had to be moved overland by animals, then across both the Saone and Rhone rivers, then transported across the Mediterranean Sea until reaching the Tiber River and arriving in the centre of Rome.

The construction practices of the ancient Romans are of huge interest. For example, there has been much research into how they used concrete, in which they used volcanic ash to prevent cracking. Their advanced building techniques are why many structures, including the Pantheon and the Colosseum, have survived for so long.

Understanding where wood used for building the city would help researchers understand this vast empire's economy, its trade routes and structure.

Finding that timber used to build a villa in Rome came from so far away shows the huge logistical and administrative efforts that would have been made to get high-quality construction products for buildings in the capital. "Considering the distances, calculated to be over 1700 km [1056 miles], the timber's dimensions, road transport with all the possible obstacles along the way, floating the timber down rivers and finally shipping it across the sea, the logistic organization of the Romans must have been formidable," they said.

Considering the planks were used in the foundations of the portico, rather than being transported for aesthetic purposes, the researchers say the effort is even more surprising.

Bernabeil added: "I hope that this research opens new perspectives to the study of wood in archaeology, in Rome in particular, where the richness of remains left the wood as a neglected material of secondary importance."

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/lavish-ancient-roman-villa-built-with-timber-imported-from-over-1000-miles-away-discovered-under-city/ar-BBXNsrs

[CaaC (John)]

Sulawesi art: Animal painting found in a cave is 44,000 years old

A painting discovered on the wall of an Indonesian cave has been found to be 44,000 years old.

The art appears to show a buffalo being hunted by part-human, part-animal creatures holding spears and possibly ropes.

Some researchers think the scene could be the world's oldest-recorded story.

The findings were presented in the journal Nature by archaeologists from Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia.

Adam Brumm - an archaeologist at Griffith - first saw the pictures two years ago, after a colleague in Indonesia shimmied up a fig tree to reach the cave passage.

"These images appeared on my iPhone," said Mr Brumm. "I think I said the characteristic Australian four-letter word out very loud."

The Indonesian drawing is not the oldest in the world. Last year, scientists said they found "humanity's oldest drawing" on a fragment of rock in South Africa, dated at 73,000 years old.

What do the drawings show?

The drawings were found in a cave called Leang Bulu'Sipong 4 in the south of Sulawesi, an Indonesian island east of Borneo.

The panel is almost five metres wide and appears to show a type of buffalo called an anoa, plus wild pigs found on Sulawesi.

Alongside them are smaller figures that look human - but also have animal features such as tails and snouts.

In one section, an anoa is flanked by several figures holding spears.

• 'Oldest animal painting' discovered
• Red dot becomes 'oldest cave art'

"I've never seen anything like this before," said Mr Brumm. "I mean, we've seen hundreds of rock art sites in this region - but we've never seen anything like a hunting scene."

However, other researchers have questioned whether the panel represents a single story - and say it could be a series of images painted over a longer period.

"Whether it's a scene is questionable," says Paul Pettitt, an archaeologist and rock-art specialist at Durham University told Nature.

How do we know it's 44,000 years old?

The team analysed calcite "popcorn" that had built up on the painting.

Radioactive uranium in the mineral slowly decays into thorium, so the team measured the levels of different isotopes of these elements.

They found the calcite on a pig began forming at least 43,900 years ago, and the deposits on two buffalo were at least 40,900 years old.

There are at least 242 caves or shelters with ancient imagery in Sulawesi alone - and new sites are being discovered annually.

How does it compare to other prehistoric art?

It may not be the oldest drawing, but researchers say it could be the oldest story ever found.

"Previously, rock art found in European sites dated to around 14,000 to 21,000 years old were considered to be the world's oldest clearly narrative artworks," said the paper in Nature.

The Sulawesi drawings could also be the oldest animal drawing ever found.

Last year, a cave painting in Borneo - thought to be the oldest of an animal - was found to be at least 40,000 years old.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-50754303

[CaaC (John)]

Is this the oldest family photo taken at Stonehenge?

English Heritage says it has unearthed what is believed to be the earliest family photo ever taken at Stonehenge.

The charity had asked the public to send in pictures of the famous neolithic Wiltshire monument to mark 100 years of public ownership.

Among the 1,000 plus snaps are some from 1875, which experts believe are the oldest family photos at Stonehenge.

The oldest picture without a family dates from 1853.

One picture shows the group sitting on the stones - which is now only allowed on special occasions - with a picnic rug and what appears to be a bottle of champagne.

In another, some of them are in a horse-drawn carriage.

"They're wearing fashionable outfits and hats," said English Heritage historian Susan Greaney.

"Right up until the 1920s and '30s people did dress up for days out like this, in their Sunday best, suits and hats."

The pictures will feature alongside more than 140 others, in the Your Stonehenge exhibition which runs from today to late August 2020 at Stonehenge.

Also included will be more modern pictures, such as the snap by photographer Martin Parr of a couple kissing in front of the stones during the 2019 autumn equinox. He now wants to track down the pair.

Ms Greaney said: "The exhibition shows how photography has changed - the rise of the selfie stick and the smartphone and how taking a photograph is a very different thing now.

"The way that people pose - people's faces have got closer to the camera until they are taking a picture of themselves more than they are of Stonehenge."

Of the possibility of finding an older family photograph, she said: "It would be quite nice if somebody comes forward and says 'We've got an earlier one'."

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/is-this-the-oldest-family-photo-taken-at-stonehenge/ar-BBY4cNa

Edited December 17, 2019 by CaaC (John)

[CaaC (John)]

The Story of That Famous Female Physician From Ancient Egypt Is Actually Wrong

Merit Ptah. In recent decades, the name of this ancient Egyptian doctor said to have lived nearly 5,000 years ago, has become a figurehead of women in science, technology, maths, and engineering (STEM).

She is credited as being the "first woman known by name in the history of science". But there's a bit of a problem - Merit Ptah probably didn't exist. Not as described, at any rate.

New historical research has traced the legend of Merit Ptah to its origins and discovered that a lot of the details got mixed up in the 80 years since her name first surfaced in 1938.

In fact, according to medical historian Jakub Kwiecinski of the University of Colorado Anschutz, the entire legend of this ancient Egyptian doctor is almost completely wrong.

"Merit Ptah was everywhere. In online posts about women in STEM, in computer games, in popular history books, there's even a crater on Venus named after her," Kwiecinski said.

"And yet, with all these mentions, there was no proof that she really existed. It soon became clear that there had been no ancient Egyptian woman physician called Merit Ptah."

The legend of Merit Ptah - a name meaning "beloved of the god Ptah" - started with early 20th century Canadian feminist and doctor Kate Campbell Hurd-Mead.

In 1938, she published a book titled A History of Women in Medicine: From the Earliest of Times to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century. In this book, on page 16, Campbell Hurd-Mead described an ancient Egyptian female physician.

"The first woman doctor of 'the old kingdom' in the fifth dynasty, or about 2730 BC, practised during the reign of a queen Neferirika-ra. Her son was a high priest at whose tomb is a tablet describing his mother as the 'Chief Physician'," Campbell Hurd-Mead wrote.

And, "in a tomb in the Valley of the Kings is the picture of a woman named Merit Ptah, the mother of a high priest, who is calling her 'the Chief Physician,' although neither her costume nor her bearing indicates her medical profession or her importance."

In addition to the fact that the Valley of the Kings wasn't in use until over 1,000 years later - from 1539 BCE to 1075 BCE - there are currently no records of any physician named Merit Ptah in the Old Kingdom of ancient Egypt, female or otherwise, Kwiecinski found.

"Merit Ptah as a name existed in the Old Kingdom, but does not appear in any of the collated lists of ancient Egyptian healers - not even as one of the 'legendary' or 'controversial' cases," he said.

"She is also absent from the list of Old Kingdom women administrators. No Old Kingdom tombs are present in the Valley of the Kings, where the story places Merit Ptah's son, and only a handful of such tombs exist in the larger area, the Theban Necropolis."

That does not mean there were no female doctors recorded in ancient Egypt, however. In fact, that's where it seems the mix-up occurred.

Because there was an Old Kingdom female doctor who seems to pretty closely match the details of Campbell Hurd-Mead's Merit Ptah. In fact, it's almost exactly the same in everything but the name.

Her name was Peseshet, and we know about her because she is described in the tomb of Akhethotep - her son, a royal official and overseer of priests, who lived during the Fifth Dynasty around 2400 BCE and was buried in an elaborate tomb in the necropolis of Saqqara.

A false door described both Akhethotep's mother and father. His father was a royal official named Ptahhotep, meaning "Peace of the god Ptah". His mother was Peseshet, and she was named as "Overseer of Woman Physicians."

A book briefly mentioning Peseshet (but leaving her nameless) was found in Campbell Hurd-Mead's personal library. Kwiecinski suggests that Campbell Hurd-Mead confused Peseshet with the wife of the vizier Ramose, who lived around 1350 and was buried in the Valley of the Kings. Her name was Merit Ptah.

"Unfortunately, Hurd-Mead in her own book accidentally mixed up the name of the ancient healer, as well as the date when she lived, and the location of the tomb," Kwiecinski said.

"And so, from a misunderstood case of an authentic Egyptian woman healer, Peseshet, a seemingly earlier Merit Ptah, 'the first woman physician', was born."

But this confusion shouldn't detract from the fact that women were working as physicians in ancient Egypt thousands of years ago, nor the importance of what Merit Ptah represents.

"While Merit Ptah is not an authentic ancient Egyptian character and not a good symbolic founding figure, she is a real symbol of the collective effort to write women back into history," Kwiecinski wrote in his paper.

"She is a genuine hero of the modern feminist struggle."

The research has been published in the Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/the-story-of-that-famous-female-physician-from-ancient-egypt-is-actually-wrong/ar-BBY5ikC

[CaaC (John)]

DNA from Stone Age woman obtained 6,000 years on

This is the face of a woman who lived 6,000 years ago in Scandinavia.

Thanks to the tooth marks she left in ancient "chewing gum", scientists were able to obtain DNA, which they used to decipher her genetic code.

This is the first time an entire ancient human genome has been extracted from anything other than human bone, said the researchers.

She likely had dark skin, dark brown hair and blue eyes.

Dr Hannes Schroeder from the University of Copenhagen said the "chewing gum" - actually tar from a tree - is a very valuable source of ancient DNA, especially for time periods where we have no human remains.

"It is amazing to have gotten a complete ancient human genome from anything other than bone,'' he said.

What do we know about her?

The woman's entire genetic code, or genome, was decoded and used to work out what she might have looked like. She was genetically more closely related to hunter-gatherers from mainland Europe than to those who lived in central Scandinavia at the time, and, like them, had dark skin, dark brown hair and blue eyes.

She was likely descended from a population of settlers that moved up from western Europe after the glaciers retreated.

How did she live?

Other traces of DNA gave clues to life at Syltholm on Lolland, an island of Denmark in the Baltic Sea. The DNA signatures of hazelnut and mallard duck were identified, showing these were part of the diet at the time.

"It is the biggest Stone Age site in Denmark and the archaeological finds suggest that the people who occupied the site were heavily exploiting wild resources well into the Neolithic, which is the period when farming and domesticated animals were first introduced into southern Scandinavia," said Theis Jensen from the University of Copenhagen.

The researchers also extracted DNA from microbes trapped in the "chewing gum". They found pathogens that cause glandular fever and pneumonia, as well as many other viruses and bacteria that are naturally present in the mouth but don't cause disease.

Where did the DNA come from?

The DNA was stuck in a black-brown lump of birch pitch, produced by heating birch bark, which was used at that time to glue together stone tools.

The presences of tooth marks suggest the substance was chewed, perhaps to make it more malleable, or possibly to relieve toothache or other ailments.

What does the information tell us?

The researchers said the information preserved in this way offers a snapshot of people's lives, providing information on ancestry, livelihood and health.

DNA extracted from the chewing gum also gives an insight into how human pathogens have evolved over the years.

"To be able to recover these types of ancient pathogen genomes from material like this is quite exciting because we can study how they evolved and how they are different to strains that are present nowadays," Dr Schroeder told the BBC. "And that tells us something about how they have spread and how they evolved."

The research is published in the journal Nature Communications.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-50809586

[CaaC (John)]

Israelis find rare Roman fish sauce factory

Israeli archaeologists have discovered the well-preserved remains of a 2,000-year-old factory for making garum, the fabled fish sauce that the Romans took with them on all their journeys of conquest.

The Israel Antiquities Authority came across the small cetaria, or factory for making the prized sauce, while inspecting the site of a planned sports park on the outskirts of the southern city of Ashkelon, Israel's Kan public broadcaster reports.

The dig was funded by the local authorities, and young people and school children from the Ashkelon area came to help out.

It is one of the very few garum factories found in the eastern Mediterranean, despite the Romans' long presence in the area and the premium they put on the pungent fermented sauce.

Most surviving examples are to be found in the Iberian Peninsula and southern Italy.

"We have something really unusual here," Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist Dr Tali Erickson-Gini told The Times of Israel, as the Romans added garum to almost all their dishes to give them a salty savoury kick.

"It's said that making garum produced such a stench that cetaria were located some distance from the towns they served, and in this case, the factory is about two kilometres from ancient Ashkelon," Dr Tali Erickson-Gini said, according to Kan.

Although the garum factory was gradually abandoned after the Romans left, later rulers found the site was also suitable for cultivating grapes.

In the fifth century CE, a local Byzantine monastery made a living from producing wine there, and the remains of three winepresses have also been discovered at the site.

Anyone curious to see what a garum factory looked like is welcome to visit on the afternoon of 22 December, when the Israel Antiquities Authority will open the site to the public free of charge.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-50825512

[CaaC (John)]

Russia searches for Napoleon's gold

A Russian historian has come up with a new theory about the legend that the French Emperor Napoleon hid wagonloads of stolen treasure during his disastrous retreat from Moscow in 1812.

Viacheslav Ryzhkov says treasure-hunters have been looking in the wrong place for 200 years and told his local Rabochy Put newspaper that they should turn their attention to his home town of Rudnya, near the border with Belarus.

There have been persistent rumours for over 200 years that Napoleon's defeated Grande Armée made off with 80 tonnes of gold and other valuables that his soldiers had looted in Moscow and buried it en route back to France when the going got too tough.

No trace of it has ever been found, but Philippe de Ségur, a member of Napoleon's staff, said the treasure was dumped in Lake Semlevo in Smolensk Region.

The site appeared credible, as the French army abandoned large amounts of arms and ammunition nearby. Various Russian officials, archaeologists and treasure-hunters have searched the lake since the 1830s, to no avail.

But other historians think General de Ségur's account was an attempt to divert attention from the treasure's real resting place, and have suggested the River Berezina in Belarus as a likely site. A Franco-Belarusian expedition in 2012 found nothing.

Viacheslav Ryzhkov's theory made it to the Russian national media in the New Year, attracted as it was by his colourful account of what might have happened.

'Decoy convoy'

He believes Napoleon sent a decoy convoy to trick Russian spies into thinking the loot was in Lake Semlevo, while the emperor himself and the real treasure slipped away south towards Rudnya and the nearby Lake Bolshaya Rutavech.

There he had a causeway built into the middle of the lake, and the gold and jewels carefully hidden in a mound of silt at the bottom.

In support of his theory, Mr Ryzhkov cites local accounts of the causeway, which gradually eroded after 1812, and a 1989 analysis that showed unusually high concentrations of silver ion in the water.

Reporters have seized in particular on his claim that "with the right equipment and specialists, the treasure can be salvaged from the mound on the lake bed".

Not everyone is convinced. Professional treasure-hunter Vladimir Poryvayev is the Russia media's go-to expert on Napoleon's gold, having spent years on its trail, and his verdict is crushing.

"This is fiction. For centuries historians and archivists have documented Napoleon's daily progress on the Russian campaign... It is completely improbable that he could abandon his army and take off with a 'gold train' of 400 horse-drawn carts," he told the Moskovsky Komsomolets tabloid.

'Pure fantasy'

As for the lake causeway theory, Mr Poryvayev is equally dismissive: "It took a few hundred French cavalrymen just a matter of days to build an impressive dam in the freezing late autumn, then construct an 'underwater crypt' for tonnes of treasure? Did they have scuba gear? It's pure fantasy."

The treasure-hunter asked when Mr Ryzhkov was going to provide some documentary evidence for his theory beyond silver ion levels, given that Lake Semlevo also has high concentrations as a result of the natural soil conditions in Smolensk Region.

Another consideration is that Bolshaya Rutavech, along with five other lakes in the same system, has enjoyed special environmental protection since 1975. Motorboats are banned, and even anglers have to stick to the shore, so a major excavation of the lake bed would cause an uproar.

Vladimir Poryvayev says people come to him with novel ideas about the location of the gold several times a year, although not all the theories are as eye-catching as the Rudnya decoy.

But he isn't a complete sceptic and told the paper that Napoleon's treasure might well exist. "When it's found, it will most likely be by accident," he concluded.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-46745792

[CaaC (John)]

US archaeologists discover two ancient Greek tombs hidden for thousands of years

A team of U.S. archaeologists from the University of Cincinnati (UC) have discovered two royal tombs from the Bronze Age in a find that promises to shed light what life was like in ancient Greece.

The two tombs were discovered in Pylos, Greece last year, but the discovery was only announced on Tuesday after more than 18 months of excavation and documentation.

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The tombs contained items of jewellery, including a gold ring engraved with two bulls flanked by sheaves of grain and a pendant engraved with the likeness of an ancient Egyptian goddess which the researchers say could help tell stories of life in Greece from 3,500 years ago.

The team, led by Jack Davis and Sharon Stocker from UC’s Classics Department, came across the new tombs while investigating the grave of an ancient Greek, nicknamed the ‘Griffin Warrior,’ which they had discovered nearby in 2015

The beehive-shaped tombs had been long-hidden by an estimated 40,000 stones which had collapsed in on the tombs thousands of years ago, filling the interiors with rubble.

The rarity of the discovery was not lost on the researchers. “It soon became clear to us that lightning had struck again,” Davis said.

The tombs’ walls were marked with flakes of gold leaf, which would have once covered the walls entirely, indicating that the tombs belonged to two families from the highest echelons in Ancient Greek society.

“I think these are probably people who were very sophisticated for their time,” Stocker said. “They have come out of a place in history where there were few luxury items and imported goods. And all of a sudden at the time of the first tholos tombs, luxury items appear in Greece.”

“You have this explosion of wealth. People are vying for power. It’s the formative years that will give rise to the Classical Age of Greece,” she added.

The team will continue working at the site for the next two years, and hope to discover more ancient treasures.

“It has been 50 years since any substantial tombs of this sort have been found at any Bronze Age palatial site,” Davis said. “That makes this extraordinary.”

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/us-archaeologists-discover-two-ancient-greek-tombs-hidden-for-thousands-of-years/ar-BBY8ZLV?li=BBoPWjQ#image=2

Edited June 27, 2020 by CaaC (John)
Restore Video

[CaaC (John)]

Hernan Cortés: Conquistador anchors found off Mexico Gulf Coast

Two 500-year-old iron ship anchors have been discovered on Mexico's Gulf Coast, potentially offering an insight into the Spanish invasion.

Archaeologists say they may have belonged to the fleet led by Spain's Hernán Cortés, who conquered the Aztec empire in the 16th Century.

Last year another anchor was discovered nearby, containing wood originating from a Spanish tree.

All three were found on the coast just north of the port city of Veracruz.

Originally known as Villa Rica, this was where Cortés' fleet landed in 1519. It became a bustling harbour town in the years following Spain's conquest over the Aztecs in 1521.

Divers located the anchors 10-15m (33-49ft) below the sea, under a thick layer of sediment.

Archaeologists hope the latest discovery will lead to the unearthing of more marine artefacts that can illustrate the history of the Spanish invasion. A further 15 potential sites containing anchors have been identified.

"The Conquest of Mexico was a seminal event in human history, and these shipwrecks, if we can find them, will be symbols of the cultural collision that led to what is now the West," said marine archaeologist Frederick Hanselmann.

Cortés is thought to have destroyed the ships - either by burning, deliberate sinking or beaching - in order to prevent his men from abandoning the voyage.

Earlier this year, Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador asked Spain to apologise to indigenous Mexicans for abuses committed during the invasion.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-50835844

[CaaC (John)]

World's oldest fossil trees uncovered in New York

The earliest fossilised trees, dating back 386 million years, have been found at an abandoned quarry in New York.

Scientists believe the forest they belonged to was so vast it originally stretched beyond Pennsylvania.

This discovery in Cairo, New York, is thought to be two or three million years older than what was previously the world's oldest forest at Gilboa, also in New York State.

The findings throw new light on the evolution of trees.

What did they find?

It was more than 10 years ago that experts from Cardiff University, UK, Binghamton University in the US and the New York State Museum began looking at the site in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains in the Hudson Valley.

Since then, they have mapped over 3,000 square metres of the forest and concluded the forest was home to at least two types of trees: Cladoxylopsids and Archaeopteris.

The third type of tree has yet to be identified.

Palaeobotanist Dr Chris Berry from Cardiff University is a co-author of the study in the journal Current Biology.

"This is the oldest place where you can wander around and map out where fossil trees were standing back in the middle part of the Devonian era."

Researchers say they also discovered very long, woody roots that transformed the way plants and soils gather water.

"It's a very ancient forest from the beginnings of the time where the planet was turning green and forests were becoming a normal part of the Earth's system," said Dr Berry.

It's understood the forest was wiped out by a flood. The researchers have found fish fossils on the surface of the quarry.

How does this help us understand the planet's past?

The point in time that the fossil trees date to marks a transition between a planet with no forests and a planet that is largely covered in trees.

Dr Berry says studying the site can give us a better understanding of how trees evolved and how they draw down carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere.

"We're well aware at the moment that having forests is a good thing and burning down forests and deforestation is a bad thing.

Prof Howard Falcon-Lang from Royal Holloway, London says there's no doubt this is the earliest fossilised forest that we know of.

"It may well be that in the future, something even older pops up - palaeontology is full of surprises!

"But for the time being, this is incredibly exciting."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-50840134

[CaaC (John)]

Archaeologists discover ancient Mayan palace in eastern Mexico

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Archaeologists have discovered a large palace likely used by the Mayan elite more than 1,000 years ago in the ancient city of Kuluba, near the modern-day tourist hot spot of Cancun in eastern Mexico, Mexican anthropology officials said.

The remains of the six-meter high building, 55 meters (180 feet) long and 15 meters wide suggest the palace was inhabited for two long periods between 600-1050 A.D., the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) said in a statement.

The Mayan civilization reached its peak between 250 and 900 A.D. when it ruled large swaths of what is now southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras.

The palace was discovered in the east of the Kuluba archaeological zone, a key pre-Hispanic site in Mexico's Yucatan state.

"This work is the beginning, we've barely begun uncovering one of the most voluminous structures on the site," archaeologist Alfredo Barrera said in a video shared by INAH.

Kuluba had important ties with the Maya cities of Ek' Balam and more crucially, Chichen Itza, falling under its influence and becoming part of its network of trade and territory.

Along with the palace, Mexican experts are exploring four other structures in the area known as "Group C" in Kuluba's central square, including an altar, remnants of two residential buildings and a round structure believed to be an oven.

Conservationists are exploring reforesting parts of Kuluba to protect the historical site from wind and sun damage, INAH said.

The site should be opened to the public in the medium term, the institute added.

(Writing by Drazen Jorgic; Editing by David Gregorio)

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/archaeologists-discover-ancient-mayan-palace-in-eastern-mexico/ar-BBYneQP

 

Edited June 27, 2020 by CaaC (John)