History

[CaaC (John)]

Scientists Have Discovered Huge Sabre-Tooth Anchovies From Prehistoric Times

Anchovies. You know 'em. Real piscine pipsqueaks. People put 'em on pizza.

Before they were a polarising flavour bomb, though, anchovies used to be a terror of the seas. As fossil records newly reveal, millions of years ago anchovies up to a metre long (3.3 feet) hunted the oceans with gnashing fangs and one single long, curving, sabre-like incisor in their top jaws.

© Joschua Knüppe

Fossils of two different species of predatory fish from the Eocene Epoch 55 million years ago have been identified as closely related to modern anchovies, which forage-feed rather than actively hunt for their prey.

It's certainly a peculiar relationship - but the appearance of both of these long-extinct species, palaeontologists believe, can be linked to the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event that wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs 66 million years ago.

The two fossils were found near Belgium and Pakistan. The former, named Clupeopsis straeleni, was first described in 1946 and came in at just under half a metre long. The latter was excavated more recently, in 1977, but had been tucked away in a museum collection.

Clupeopsis straeleni.

It wasn't until the team made a closer study that they realised it was a previously unknown species. It measured around one metre in length, and its wicked fangs inspired its new name - Monosmilus chureloides, after the Churel, the Urdu word for a shapeshifting, vampire-like demon with big fangs.

Although the two ancient fish differ in size and several minor physical features, they were remarkably similar - not least because of that single giant tooth.

The team, led by palaeontologists from the University of Michigan, made careful comparisons between the two and several modern fish and determined that the fossil finds belonged to a previously unknown clade of clupeiform fishes. That's the order of ray-finned fish that includes herrings and anchovies. And they could even be stem engraulidae - the anchovy family.

But most clupeiformes, including anchovies, are planktivores. They don't have vicious teeth, or snapping jaws of the kind found on C. straeleni and M. chureloides. These indicate a predatory hunting style, with the single large tooth perhaps used to impale or trap their fishy prey.

So what does this mean? Well, after the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction, many ecological niches ertr left empty. The life that remained went through a diversification boom, including a massive expansion of ray-finned fishes.

During the Cretaceous, shark remains dominate the fish fossil record. In the early Paleogene, ray-finned fishes rose to the fore.

But this would have been a highly competitive time, too; not every species was successful. Exactly how and why C. straeleni and M. chureloides then faded away is impossible to know, but it's likely they were out-competed by rival predators.

It just goes to show that survival of the fittest doesn't always mean the most aggressive with the scariest teeth.

Turns out your pizza topping had the best survival strategy all along.

The research has been published in Royal Society Open Science.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/scientists-have-discovered-huge-sabre-tooth-anchovies-from-prehistoric-times/ar-BB149yBC

[CaaC (John)]

For the First Time Ever, You Can Watch the Summer Solstice at Stonehenge via Livestream

Tourists can't experience next month's summer solstice at Stonehenge in person, but in 2020, more people will be able to view the event than ever before. As Matador Network reports, the English Heritage organization will live stream the spectacle for the first time in the ancient landmark's history.

The first day of summer is a very important occasion at Stonehenge. When the Sun appears over the horizon on the solstice, it appears to line up perfectly with the massive stone structure. This has led some to believe that Stonehenge played an important role in druid solstice celebrations when it was erected between 3500 and 5000 years ago.

Under normal circumstances, thousands of people make a pilgrimage to the site at the end of June to witness the event. This year, English Heritage, which manages the landmark, is asking people to stay home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization hopes to make up for this by streaming the solstice at Stonehenge live on social media.

To watch the special sunrise live from home, head to English Heritage's Facebook page the morning of June 21 (or, if you're tuning in from the U.S., the evening of June 20). The sun rises at Stonehenge at approximately 4:52 a.m. local time, so check to see when that is in your area to watch the event live. The page will also stream sunset on Saturday, June 20, at 9:26 p.m. local time.

 https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/for-the-first-time-ever-you-can-watch-the-summer-solstice-at-stonehenge-via-livestream/ar-BB14bdPu

[CaaC (John)]

Elaphrosaur: Rare dinosaur identified in Australia

A fossil unearthed in Australia by a volunteer digger has been identified as a rare, toothless dinosaur that roamed the country 110 million years ago.

The elaphrosaur, whose name means "light-footed lizard", was related to the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Velociraptor.

The five-centimetre (two-inch) vertebrae fossil was discovered during a dig near Cape Otway in Victoria in 2015.

It is the first elaphrosaur bone ever to be found in Australia.

The fossil was discovered by volunteer Jessica Parker, who was taking part in an annual dig led by Melbourne Museum.

At the time, it was thought to be from a flying reptile called a pterosaur. But when palaeontologists at Swinburne University in Melbourne studied the fossil further, they realised it was a delicately-built dinosaur.

• 'Crazy beast' lived among last of dinosaurs
• Boy, 10, spots museum dinosaur error

"Elaphrosaurs had long necks, stumpy arms with small hands, and relatively lightly-built bodies," Dr Stephen Poropat said.

The fossil indicated the animal was about two metres (6.5ft) long. However, other fossils previously found in Tanzania, China and Argentina show that they could reach up to six metres in length.

Adult elaphrosaurs probably didn't eat much meat, Dr Poropat said.

"As dinosaurs go, they were rather bizarre. The few known skulls of elaphrosaurs show that the youngsters had teeth, but that the adults lost their teeth and replaced them with a horny beak. We don't know if this is true for the [Australian] elaphrosaur yet - but we might find out if we ever discover a skull," he said.

Cape Otway, where the fossil was located, is a rich area for discoveries. About a dozen animals and five dinosaur species have been identified there, according to ABC News. Those discovered include a plant-eating dinosaur found in 2018.

You may also be interested in

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-52712005

[CaaC (John)]

Explorers allowed to take Titanic’s Marconi telegraph, cutting into the wreck for the first time

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For the first time in the 108 years since the Titanic sank to the bottom of the ocean, causing the deaths of more than 1,500 people, explorers are set to cut into the ship and remove a piece.

Their target is the wireless Marconi telegraph, one of the first of its kind, which the doomed ocean liner used to contact a nearby ship for aid.

A federal judge in Virginia approved the expedition Monday, calling it “a unique opportunity to recover an artefact that will contribute to the legacy left by the indelible loss of the Titanic.” 

Because of a backlog of personal messages, the wireless operators had ignored ice warnings from other ships. Banal good-wishes soon gave way to increasingly desperate calls for help. Operator Jack Phillips died after refusing to leave his flooded post.

“He was a brave man,” his fellow wireless operator told the New York Times a few days later. “I will never live to forget the work of Phillips for the last awful 15 minutes.”

The company R.M.S. Titanic (RMST) still must get a funding plan approved by the court, a prospect made more complicated by the covid-19 pandemic. It plans to launch the expedition this summer, using underwater robots to carefully detach the Marconi and its components from the ship. 

“If recovered, it is conceivable that it could be restored to operable condition,” they said in one filing. “Titanic’s radio — Titanic’s voice — could once again be heard, now and forever.”

The recovery project has been vociferously opposed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, whose representatives argued in court that the Titanic, sunk off the coast of Newfoundland, should be respected as a grave rather than mined as a museum supply.

At its heart, the years-long legal dispute is an emotional one. Who can claim the Titanic? Should the public have the right to see as many of its treasures as possible, from the comfort of a Las Vegas casino or a Florida interactive museum? Or should the remains of the victims be left in peace, their effects were seen only by scientists underwater?

“Titanic has always been a singular case of passionate, strongly held opinions,” said maritime archaeologist James Delgado, who helped map the ship on a 2010 expedition. “For some, it’s a memorial, for some it’s a historic site, for some it’s where a family member died. For others, it’s an ultimate tourist destination, and for others, it’s a business opportunity. How you balance all of that is very difficult.”

Because of the intricacies of maritime law, the federal court in Norfolk has been tasked with striking that balance. But the Titanic is also a fulcrum for a broader battle over who controls the seas — companies and courts, or governments. 

It’s a fight that has gotten heated, and personal. RMST’s attorneys once compared a British archaeological group to the Taliban. One marine archaeologist working for the company, John Broadwater, quit the project just days before the ruling. Emails show former colleagues at NOAA refused to talk to him about Titanic once he joined.

“I think it would make a wonderful exhibit, but it's definitely a complicated situation,” Broadwater said in an interview.

The government position is that the Titanic site should be protected and preserved where it is, while the Marconi is “standard off-the-shelf” equipment of the time that has little value outside the ship.

“Just like a lion is much better appreciated in the wilds of the African savannahs than it is stuffed in a museum, so too does the Marconi apparatus best tell its story and share its value where it is,” the National Park Service’s Submerged Resources Center chief wrote to the court.

The company responds that NOAA is hardly in a position to act as the gatekeeper, having approved an expedition group last year that accidentally jostled the ship’s rail. It pledges to use underwater robots to carefully extract the Marconi, only if deemed safe.

“RMST is left to wonder why has NOAA gone to such great lengths to raise scores of questions about the competency, plans and equipment of a team that has actually led or participated in numerous successful expeditions to the Titanic, and the recovery of thousands of artefacts from the ship since 1987 when it does not ask the same questions of other rookie expeditioners with no such track record,” the company wrote in a recent filing. 

Moreover, it argued that the Titanic is rapidly deteriorating without any intervention; the ceiling of the room that holds the Marconi may well collapse soon.

“There are places where you can stick your finger through that rooftop,” oceanographer and RMST consultant David Gallo testified at one hearing.

Senior Judge Rebecca Beach Smith agreed, calling photographs of the deterioration “poignant.”

In the past thousand years, the basic principles of maritime law have not changed, and one is that whoever retrieves a wreck gets a reward. Where the wreckage is brought determines control.

It’s a rule meant to encourage clearing the sea of debris and restoring the property to rightful owners. Historic wrecks that are expected to languish underwater forever are an awkward fit. But the same principles still apply.

Within two years of the Titanic’s 1985 discovery by oceanographers, a Connecticut car salesman named George Tulloch had created RMST, made an expedition to the site and wrangled salvage rights by bringing a wine decanter into a Norfolk federal courtroom. The Virginia court became the arbiter of future exploration and recovery.

A salvor who declines to donate their winnings to the poor no longer risks “the curse and malediction of our mother the holy church,” as the law was written in the 1100s. But RMST is legally bound to act with public benefit in mind. The company cannot break up its collection of Titanic artefacts, and it needs permission from the court to touch or take anything off the ship. The only treasure the company can sell is coal (available online as an hourglass, snow globe or keyring).

RMST retrieved thousands of items from the field of debris around the ship — bronze whistles, leather luggage — and set up a touring exhibition. It advertised cruises to the wreck with Burt Reynolds and Buzz Aldrin.

Outside critics called it crass hucksterism; some at the company thought they were being too respectful. In a coup when Tulloch was celebrating Thanksgiving, board members changed the locks on his office, according to media reports at the time. The new leaders declared plans to scour the ship for $300 million in missing diamonds.

“We know there’s an awful lot of money under the water,” one shareholder told The Baltimore Sun.

Alarmed, the court brought in NOAA as a “friend of the court,” one that has viewed the company sceptically ever since.

“It is difficult to envision that, once out in the North Atlantic, contrary voices advocating caution (if any are allowed to be present) will be heeded or heard,” NOAA officials wrote recently.

The company was bought in bankruptcy in 2018; in a conversation several months ago, RMST attorney David Concannon readily called the former owners “dishonest hooligans” but said NOAA can’t recognize that the project is now in responsible hands. He and several others who quit in the coup have since returned. “They’re different,” he said. “They’re taking a measured, considered approach to this.”

Gallo himself testified in court that he used to consider the company’s work “grave robbery” but has since changed his views.

“It wasn’t until I wandered into one of the exhibits with a friend of mine, we wandered in, and it just transformed my feeling about the whole episode, the whole Titanic issue,” he said. “I was able to watch families, children, and approach these artefacts from the front door. … It was an experience for them.”

An international treaty giving the government control over the Titanic was tucked into a 2018 spending bill but has never been ratified, leaving NOAA and RMST at odds over whether the company needs permission to visit the site, and what power the agency has in the court case.

NOAA, RMST argues, wants to wrest control of shipwrecks away from courts and companies.

“NOAA seeks to jettison the law of the sea, developed over centuries,” the company’s lawyers wrote.

The judge sidestepped that question in her ruling.

“The Marconi device has significant historical, educational, scientific, and cultural value,” she wrote.

 

 

 

Edited May 20, 2020 by CaaC (John)

[Stan]

I am greatly satisfied with stuff like this 

 

[CaaC (John)]

Red Hugh: Spanish dig for the bones of 'Fighting Prince of Donegal'

Are the bones of a historic Irish leader entombed below the foundations of a bank in northern Spain?

Archaeologists have dug up a street in the city of Valladolid in a bid to find the remains of a 16th Century Irish chieftain known as Red Hugh.

Red Hugh O'Donnell died in Spain in 1602 while on a mission to ask the Spanish king for military assistance to drive the English army out of Ireland.

He was buried in Valladolid's Chapel of Wonders - the same church where Christopher Columbus was interred almost a century earlier.

The remains of Columbus were later moved to Seville and the ruined building eventually disappeared from view.

However, archaeologists believe they have unearthed the walls of the chapel and are "close" to discovering the remains of Red Hugh.

FULL REPORT

 

[CaaC (John)]

Isaac Newton proposed curing plague with toad vomit, unseen papers show

It is not as bad as suggesting injections of disinfectant. Isaac Newton’s 17th-century prescription for the plague – which blended powdered toad with toad vomit to form “lozenges” to drive away the contagion – has been revealed.

Two unpublished pages of Newton’s notes on Jan Baptist van Helmont’s 1667 book on plague, De Peste, are to be auctioned online by Bonham’s this week. Newton had been a student at Trinity College, Cambridge, when the university closed as a precaution against the bubonic plague, which killed 100,000 people in London in 1665 and 1666.

When the polymath returned to Cambridge in 1667, he began to study the work of Van Helmont. Newton’s analysis of De Peste is the most substantial written statement he is known to have made about the plague, according to Bonhams, who said the papers were of “profound importance to the Newton body of work, as well as deeply meaningful within the present context”.

The auction house’s books specialist, Darren Sutherland, said: “Newton’s running notes represent the only significant writings on the subject by the world’s greatest scientific mind that we have been able to trace. A timely reminder, perhaps, that there is nothing new under the sun.”

The notes include the case of a man who touched “pestilent papers, immediately felt a pain like a pricking needle, and developed a pestilent ulcer in the forefinger, and died in two days”, and his observation that “places infected with the plague are to be avoided”.

Some of Newton’s potential cures recorded are unlikely to be taken up today, however. He writes that “the best is a toad suspended by the legs in a chimney for three days, which at last vomited up earth with various insects in it, on to a dish of yellow wax, and shortly after died. Combining powdered toad with the excretions and serum made into lozenges and worn about the affected area drove away the contagion and drew out the poison.”

Van Helmont, a renowned physician, had been a practising doctor in Antwerp when the city was hit by plague in 1605.

Despite Newton’s standing, the papers have never previously been included in any collected works. When Newton died in 1727, his huge archive was left to his niece, Catherine Conduitt. It remained in the family until 1872, when his descendant, Isaac Newton Wallop, Fifth Earl of Portsmouth, donated his writings to Trinity College. Cambridge kept only the mathematical and scientific papers and returned Newton’s more controversial writings on alchemy, theology and philosophy. These papers, including Newton’s notes on Van Helmont, were sold in 1936 to private collectors, among them John Maynard Keynes.

“There was never much interest in his ‘other’ writings until recently,” said Sutherland. “So it really is a case of cometh the hour, cometh the man – with his remedies to ward off a virus that’s causing a pandemic.”

The pages will be auctioned by Bonhams for an estimate of $80,000-$120,000 (£64,000-£96,000) as part of its online-only Essential Genius: Ten Important Manuscripts sale, which runs until 10 June. The auction also includes an autographed and a signed draft of the last lines of Walt Whitman’s final poem, A Thought of Columbus.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/isaac-newton-proposed-curing-plague-with-toad-vomit-unseen-papers-show/ar-BB14VxPw

[CaaC (John)]

Massive 3,000-year-old ceremonial complex discovered in 'plain sight'

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(Video by GeoBets)

An enormous 3,000-year-old earthen platform topped with a series of structures, including a 13-foot-high pyramid, has been identified as the oldest and largest monumental construction discovered in the Maya region, according to a paper published today in the journal Nature. It’s the latest discovery to support the emerging view that some of the earliest structures built in the Maya region were significantly larger than those built more than a millennium later during the Classic Maya period (250-900 A.D.) when the empire was at its peak.

The discovery took place in Mexico’s Tabasco state at the site of Aguada Fénix, about 850 miles east of Mexico City. It is in a region known as the Maya lowlands, from which the Maya civilization began to emerge.

In 2017, researchers conducted a LiDAR survey that detected the platform and at least nine causeways leading up to it. The groundbreaking laser technology typically is used from aircraft to “see” structures beneath dense tree canopy below, but in this case, it revealed a stunning discovery sitting unnoticed in plain sight in Tabasco’s semi-forested ranch lands for centuries, if not millennia.

So why was such a big monument at Aguada Fénix not identified earlier?

“It’s fairly hard to explain, but when you walk on the site, you don’t quite realize the enormity of the structure,” says archaeologist Takeshi Inomata of the University of Arizona, the lead author of the paper. “It’s over 30 feet high, but the horizontal dimensions are so large that you don’t realize the height.”

“Rituals we can only imagine”

The initial construction of the platform is believed to have begun around 1,000 B.C. based on radiocarbon dating of charcoal inside the complex.

But the absence of any known earlier buildings at Aguada Fénix suggests that at least up until that period, the people living in the region—likely the precursors of the Classic Maya—moved between temporary camps to hunt and gather food. That has researchers speculating over how and why they suddenly decided to build such a massive, permanent structure.

Inomata estimates that the total volume of the platform and the buildings on top is at least 130 million cubic feet, meaning it is bigger even than the largest Egyptian pyramid. He also calculated that it would have taken 5,000 people more than six years of full-time work to build.

“We think this was a ceremonial centre,” Inomata says. “[It’s] a place of gathering, possibly involving processions and other rituals we can only imagine.”

No residential buildings have been found on or around the structure, so it is unclear how many people may have lived nearby. But the large size of the platform leads Inomata to think that the builders of Aguada Fénix gradually were leaving their hunter-gatherer lifestyle behind, likely aided by the cultivation of corn—evidence of which also has been found at the site.

“The sheer size is astonishing,” says Jon Lohse, an archaeologist with Terracon Consultants Inc. who studies the early history of the area and was not involved in the report. He does not think, however, that the structure itself is evidence of a settled lifestyle. “Monumental constructions by pre-sedentary people are not uncommon globally.”

What it does unmistakably show, Lohse adds, is an advanced ability for people to collaborate, probably in the strongly egalitarian fashion that he believes was typical of early societies in the Maya region. Inomata agrees and thinks the platform was built by a community without a strong social hierarchy.

As potential evidence, Inomata points to the even older ceremonial site of San Lorenzo, 240 miles to the west in a region that was settled at the time by the Olmec people. Built at least 400 years earlier than Aguada Fénix, San Lorenzo features an artificial terraced hill that may have had a similar function. But it also has colossal human statues that may indicate that some people held a higher status in society than others.

It may seem likely that the people who built Aguada Fénix were inspired by San Lorenzo, but archaeologist Ann Cyphers of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, who has worked at San Lorenzo, considers the sites “quite distinct,” adding that the pottery found it is also very different from that found at Aguada Fénix.

A checkerboard of coloured soil

So what might have been the purpose for undertaking such a massive communal building project? Study coauthor Verónica Vázquez López of the University of Calgary believes that it might have been a statement of intent: a formal collaboration designed to bring different groups of people together over the course of several generations.

Some features at Aguada Fénix could suggest this collaboration, such as a cache of precious jade axes that may have symbolized the end of the collaborative construction project. Archaeologists also have noted that some of the layers of soil used to build the platform were laid down in a checkerboard pattern of different soil colours, which may have symbolized the contribution of different groups.

“Even today, people who live in different quarters of some Mexican towns each clean their part of the central church plaza,” Vázquez López observes.

By 750 B.C., the monumental structure at Aguada Fénix was abandoned, and by the Classic Maya period more than 1,000 years later, people in the region were building higher pyramids that became accessible only to the elite atop much smaller platforms with less space for broader communities to gather.

“In the early period, people got very excited,” Inomata says. “Later on, they became a bit less enthusiastic.”

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/massive-3000-year-old-ceremonial-complex-discovered-in-plain-sight/ar-BB150mSY

 

 

Edited June 5, 2020 by CaaC (John)

[CaaC (John)]

Thomas Edison’s First Patented Invention—a Voting Machine for Congress—Was a Total Flop

On June 1, 1869, Thomas Edison patented his very first invention: a voting machine meant for Congress.

According to Rutgers University’s Thomas A. Edison Papers Project, the 22-year-old inventor might’ve been inspired to design the device after newspaper reports announced that both the New York state legislature and the city council of Washington, D.C., were investigating means of automating their ballot process. At the time, legislators voted by calling out “Yea” or “Nay” (or something of that nature), and a clerk jotted down their responses one by one.

Edison’s “electrographic vote-recorder” had the names of all the voters listed twice: in a “Yes” column on one side, and a “No” column on the other. When a person flipped a switch to indicate their vote, the machine would transmit the signal through an electric current and mark their name in the corresponding column, while keeping track of the total tally of votes on a dial. After everyone had voted, an attendant would place a sheet of chemically treated paper on top of the columns and press down on it with a metallic roller, imprinting the paper with the results.

Thomas Edison electrographic vote-recorder patent 1869

A telegraph operator named Dewitt Roberts invested $100—about $1754 in today's dollars, according to Tech Times—in the device and set off for an exhibition on Capitol Hill. Alas, members of Congress were completely uninterested, and the committee chairman in charge of deciding its fate declared that “if there is any invention on earth that we don't want down here, that is it.”

The committee didn’t think the vote-recorder streamlined the process enough to be useful, but it’s possible they weren’t too keen on speeding things up in the first place. If the officials didn’t voice their votes aloud, there wouldn’t be any opportunity to filibuster policies or persuade each other to switch their stances—an integral part of congressional proceedings.

Edison, of course, recovered from his first flop. He went on to invent (or at least improve upon) the light bulb, create the cat video, and devise many more notable creations.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/thomas-edisons-first-patented-invention—a-voting-machine-for-congress—was-a-total-flop/ar-BB158SEo

[CaaC (John)]

This May Have Been Earth's First-Ever Land Animal

The first creepy crawlies to climb out of Earth's ancient lakes and make their way on land may very well have done so with hundreds of tiny feet.

After carefully dating the earliest bug fossils ever discovered, scientists now think an extinct genus of myriapod, a relative of modern millipedes, represents the earliest direct evidence of an animal living and breathing on land.

Life on Earth started in a primordial soup, and bugs - or more specifically arthropods, including insects, spiders and centipedes - are thought to be some of the first animals to leave this comforting bath for good.

In fact, other types of insects are suspected to have beat myriapods to land. But we only have indirect evidence of their soil-based forays through tracks and trails, and these may only represent fleeting excursions to the world above, rather than making it their permanent home, like myriapods did.

Discovered for the first time in 1899 on a Scottish isle, the fossil of the myriapod Kampecaris obanensis has now been radiometrically dated to roughly 425 million years ago.

If the new date is correct, these ancient many-legged ones would be the oldest land animals to have lived out of water. And their journey was pioneering.

Just 20 million years after Kampecaris, the fossil record reveals bountiful bug deposits, and 20 million years after that, spiders and insects appear to be thriving in forest communities.

"It's a big jump from these tiny guys to very complex forest communities, and in the scheme of things, it didn't take that long," says geoscientist Michael Brookfield from the University of Texas, and the University of Massachusetts in Boston. 

"It seems to be a rapid radiation of evolution from these mountain valleys, down to the lowlands, and then worldwide after that."

This is, of course, only based on the fossils we have found so far, but researchers say the fact that there are no other discoveries out there, despite looking at some of the best-preserved sediments from this era, could indicate the end of the road.

If the team is right, and this ancient species was indeed the first of all water-to-land pioneers that we know of, then it looks like we've been seriously underestimating how quickly this transition occurred.

According to a technique called molecular clock dating, which is based on the mutation rate of DNA, fossils of stemmed plants in Scotland have also turned out to be roughly 75 million years younger than we once thought, coinciding with the Kampecaris timeline.

Not only were bugs in Scotland adapting to life on land at a rapid pace; this finding implies forests were doing so at much the same rate, and it's very likely the two are somehow connected.

Given how important these bugs are thought to be in our planet's history, Brookfield was surprised to find this fossil hadn't been dated before, although he admits it is time-consuming and delicate work.

When analysing these ancient rocks, scientists must extract microscopic inclusions of zircon, which can be used to accurately date sediment. 

This practice requires an eagle eye and a careful hand, and given how quickly these zircons can be accidentally flushed away, there's not a lot of room for error.

Geoscientist and co-author Stephanie Suarez has been mastering this technique since her undergraduate years, and she's used it in the past to prove a different millipede specimen (Pneumodesmus newman) was not the oldest bug on land but was actually 14 million years younger than we thought.

After years of careful work, she now gets to crown a new victor. Who knows if we'll get to dethrone it one day, too.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/this-may-have-been-earths-first-ever-land-animal/ar-BB15anFF

[CaaC (John)]

Archaeologists may have uncovered London’s earliest playhouse

London’s earliest playhouse, which “marked the dawn of Elizabethan theatre”, may have been found at a site in Whitechapel, archaeologists have said.

The Red Lion playhouse is thought to be the earliest known purpose-built theatre of the Elizabethan era, but its exact location has long been debated.

Discoveries of timber structures, artefacts and buildings that could indicate the playhouse has been found were made by Archaeology South-East, part of UCL’s Institute of Archaeology, ahead of a housing redevelopment.

The Red Lion playhouse was set up by John Brayne, who went on to construct The Theatre in Shoreditch with his brother-in-law, James Burbage, father of famed Elizabethan actor Richard Burbage.

The Theatre was the first permanent home for acting troupes and a venue for Shakespeare’s plays in the 1590s, as drama flourished in Elizabethan London.

All that is known of The Red Lion is from two lawsuits, the first of which dates from 1567, the year the playhouse is thought to have been built, describing the timber scaffolds or galleries around the stage.

A second lawsuit from 1569 mentions a “farme house called and knowen by the name of the Sygne of the Redd Lyon”, as a site with an outdoor stage and seating.

It includes a description and dimensions of the stage as 40ft (12.2m) north to south by 30ft (9.1m) east to west and a height of 5ft (1.5m).

Experts said analysis of historic mapping and land deeds relating to the Red Lion suggested it was on or near the Whitechapel site, but before the excavations, there was no physical evidence of the playhouse or farm.

Archaeological excavations in January 2019, ahead of housing redevelopment in Stepney Way, started to uncover an unusual rectangular structure with 144 surviving timbers and dimensions that closely matched those of the stage in the lawsuits.

Postholes around the timber structure appear to correspond with “scaffolds” or galleried seating, archaeologists said.

In the north-east corner of the site, excavations revealed 15th or 16th-century buildings that developed into a sprawling complex in the 17th century, which could be the Red Lion inn itself.

Farmsteads of the time were known to serve beer, and the uncovered site was established enough to have had a prototype playhouse on its land by the late 16th century, the archaeologists said.

The buildings that have been uncovered include two probable beer cellars, while glass and pottery find include beakers and drinking glasses, ceramic cups and a late 17th-century tavern mug with a royal medallion of Charles II – suggesting the development into a more formal inn.

Stephen White, who directed the excavation for UCL Archaeology South-East, said the site is one of the most extraordinary he has worked on.

“After nearly 500 years, the remains of the Red Lion playhouse, which marked the dawn of Elizabethan theatre, may have finally been found.

“The strength of the combined evidence – archaeological remains of buildings, in the right location, of the right period, seem to match up with characteristics of the playhouse recorded in early documents.

“It is a privilege to be able to add to our understanding of this exciting period of history.”

Emily Gee, from government heritage agency Historic England, said: “This tantalising find follows the exciting recent discoveries of The Theatre and The Curtain playhouses in Shoreditch, and of the Boar’s Head in Aldgate, which together has immensely improved our understanding of the beginnings of English theatre.

“We will continue to work closely with the developer to interpret these archaeological remains and display them so the public will be able to understand them within the finished development and appreciate the rich history of this site.”

https://www.itv.com/news/2020-06-10/archaeologists-may-have-uncovered-londons-earliest-playhouse/

[CaaC (John)]

13,500-year-old bird figurine discovered in China is a game-changer for prehistoric art

A Stone Age bird figurine uncovered in China could be a "missing link" in our understanding of prehistoric art, according to research published Wednesday.

Dating back almost 13,500 years, the sculpture is now the oldest known example of three-dimensional art in East Asia, preceding other discoveries in the region by nearly 8,500 years.

Described as being in "an exceptional state of preservation," the figurine was found at an archaeological site in Lingjing, in central China's Henan province. It was hand-carved from burned animal bone using stone tools.

Researchers say the sculpture depicts a bird on a pedestal, pointing to deliberate marks where the creature's eyes and bill would be. It is believed that the bird's oversized tail was made to prevent the figurine from tilting forward when laid on a surface.

Significantly older artefacts have been discovered in Europe, with mammoth ivory figures from the Swabian Jura region of southern German believed to be more than 40,000 years old. But much less is known about the emergence of sculptural representations in other parts of the world.

"This discovery identifies an original artistic tradition and pushes back by more than 8,500 years the representation of birds in Chinese art," the authors said in a press release. "The figurine differs technologically and stylistically from other specimens found in Western Europe and Siberia, and it could be the missing link tracing the origin of Chinese statuary back to the Palaeolithic period."

Analyzing techniques

As well as using radiocarbon dating to ascertain the object's age, scientists used CT scans to reveal the carving techniques used by the Paleolithic sculptor. They found evidence that abrading, gauging, scraping and incising with stone tools were all used to produce the figurine.

The excavation was led by researchers from East China's Shandong University, alongside experts from colleges in France, Israel and Norway. Li Zhanyang, who led the study, has been excavating the site since 2005. Other discoveries there include shards of pottery, burned animal remains and an ostrich egg pendant.

Li has contributed to other archaeological findings in Lingjing, including a variety of ancient tools and two skulls belonging to an extinct species of early human. In 2019, he led a study into two engraved bones, also found in the region, that may date back 125,000 years.

CNN

Edited June 11, 2020 by CaaC (John)
Amend Link

[CaaC (John)]

Fossil tracks left by an ancient crocodile that 'ran like an ostrich'

Scientists have been stunned to find that some ancient crocodiles might have moved around on two feet.

The evidence comes from beautifully preserved fossil tracks in South Korea.

Nearly a hundred of these 18-24cm-long indentations were left in what were likely the muddy sediments that surrounded a lake in the Early Cretaceous, 110-120 million years ago.

The international team behind the discovery says it will probably challenge our perception of crocodiles.

"People tend to think of crocodiles as animals that don't do very much; that they just laze around all day on the banks of the Nile or next to rivers in Costa Rica. Nobody automatically thinks I wonder what this [creature] would be like if it was bipedal and could run like an ostrich or a T. rex," Martin Lockley, an emeritus professor at the University of Colorado, US, told BBC News.

The study is sure to provoke a lively debate. Not all researchers will necessarily accept the team's interpretation.

FULL REPORT

[CaaC (John)]

Roman city revealed in ‘astonishing level of detail’ by radar technology

Archaeologists used ground-penetrating radar technology (GPR) to map the entire Roman city Falerii Novi dating back to the 3rd Century.

Archaeologists have used advanced technology to map out an entire ancient Roman city buried deep underground without any digging.

For the first time, archaeologists at the University of Cambridge and Ghent University in Belgium have used ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to create a complete and detailed map of the Roman city of Falerii Novi in Italy.

The team discovered a baths complex, a market, a temple and a public monument, as well as the city’s sprawling network of water pipes dating back to the 3rd Century.

Archaeologists believe GPR technology could revolutionise our understanding of ancient settlements, making it possible to explore larger areas in higher resolution, including those that cannot be excavated because they are trapped under modern structures.

Professor Martin Millett, from the University of Cambridge’s Faculty of Classics, said: “The astonishing level of detail which we have achieved at Falerii Novi, and the surprising features that GPR has revealed, suggest that this type of survey could transform the way archaeologists investigate urban sites as total entities.”

A map of the Falerii Novi site as it would have looked in the 3rd Century

Working in a similar fashion to regular radar, GPR technology bounces radio waves off objects and uses the “echo” to build up a picture at different depths.

While traditionally archaeologists would dig in the ground to unearth new discoveries, the team surveyed 30.5 hectares (75 acres) within the city’s walls – just under half the size of Pompeii – by towing GPR instruments behind a quad bike.

The theatre at Falerii Novi visualised via GPR

Located 50km (31 miles) north of Rome and first occupied in 241 BC, Falerii Novi survived into the medieval period until around 700 AD.

Prof Millett and his colleagues have already used GPR to survey Interamna Lirenas in Italy, and, on a lesser scale, Alborough in North Yorkshire, but they now hope to see it deployed on far bigger sites.

Quad with GPR array and researcher Lieven Verdonck on Falerii site

“It is exciting and now realistic to imagine GPR being used to survey a major city such as Miletus in Turkey, Nicopolis in Greece or Cyrene in Libya,” said Prof Millett.

“We still have so much to learn about Roman urban life and this technology should open up unprecedented opportunities for decades to come.”

https://www.sciencefocus.com/news/roman-city-revealed-in-astonishing-level-of-detail-by-radar-technology/

[CaaC (John)]

Tiny 13,500-year-old bird statuette shows origins of Chinese art

© Reuters/HANDOUT A miniature bird sculpture carved of burnt bone from China's Henan Province dating to about 13,500 ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A tiny statuette of a bird carved from a burnt bone about 13,500 years ago reveals the origins of Chinese art, embodying a style different from prehistoric three-dimensional artwork by people in other parts of the world, researchers said on Wednesday.

The figurine, found at a site called Lingjing in Henan Province in central China, depicts a standing bird on a pedestal and was crafted using stone tools employing four sculpting methods - abrasion, gouging, scraping and incision, the researchers said.

It is the oldest-known three-dimensional art from China and all of East Asia by 8,500 years, although there are primitive abstract engravings on bone and stone and personal ornaments made of animal teeth and shells predating it.

The bird sculpture, the product of an Ice Age hunter-gatherer culture, is six-tenths of an inch (1.5 cm) long, apparently representing a songbird.

"Examining this figurine under the microscope and looking at its high-resolution 3D reconstruction is a moving experience. It opens a window on micro-gestures made by a great artist," said archaeologist Francesco d'Errico of the French National Centre for Scientific Research, who is also attached to the Universities of Bordeaux and Bergen.

Humankind's earliest-known three-dimensional carvings, made of mammoth ivory, date to 40,000 years ago from southern Germany.

The bird was so expertly crafted from the bone of an unidentified mammal that the artist made the tail slightly oversized so the figurine would not fall forward, indicating an understanding of achieving balance, said d'Errico, a senior author of the research published in the journal PLOS ONE.

It is still unclear whether three-dimensional artwork arose independently in various locales or by diffusion from a prehistoric centre of origin. The figurine differs in size, style and technology from older and contemporaneous carvings from Europe and Siberia, d'Errico said, suggesting it belongs to a distinctive Chinese artistic tradition.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/tiny-13500-year-old-bird-statuette-shows-origins-of-chinese-art/ar-BB15jHRv

[CaaC (John)]

Revealed: the last supper of an armoured dinosaur

You might find this one hard to stomach. Scientists have analysed the fossilised guts of a 110-million-year-old dinosaur, revealing the beast’s final meal.

The football-sized stomach forms part of an incredibly well-preserved fossil of a stocky, heavily-armoured dinosaur known as a nodosaur, discovered in a Canadian mine in 2011.

After eating its final meal, the dinosaur, Borealopelta markmitchelli, died and got washed out to sea – perhaps during a flood. It sank to the seafloor and was quickly entombed by mud, where it remained for millions of years.

By the time it was uncovered, its seafloor burial site had become part of a mine in Alberta.

“The finding of the actual preserved stomach contents from a dinosaur is extraordinarily rare,” said team member Dr Jim Basinger at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, “and this stomach recovered from the mummified nodosaur … is by far the best-preserved dinosaur stomach ever found to date.”

It appears that this dinosaur had a particular fondness for ferns.

“When we examined thin sections of the stomach contents under a microscope, we were shocked to see beautifully preserved and concentrated plant material,” said team co-leader Dr David Greenwood at Canada’s Brandon University.

“The last meal of our dinosaur was mostly fern leaves – 88 per cent chewed leaf material and seven per cent stems and twigs.”

This is the first definitive evidence of the diet of a large, plant-eating dinosaur. This dino seems to have been a fussy eater, choosing to eat particular ferns over others, and turning up its nose at cycad and conifer leaves, which would have been common in its Early Cretaceous habitat.

Its stomach also contains charcoal from burnt plant fragments, indicating that the animal was grazing in a burnt landscape, perhaps taking advantage of the first flush of ferns following a wildfire.

Now, researchers will continue to analyse Borealopelta’s fossil, which promises to offer many more insights into the dinosaur’s environment and behaviour.

https://www.sciencefocus.com/news/revealed-the-last-supper-of-an-armoured-dinosaur/

 

[CaaC (John)]

DNA study reveals Ireland's age of 'god-kings'

DNA has been used to confirm the existence of an elite social class in the Stone Age inhabitants of Ireland.

It's one of the earliest examples of such a hierarchy among human societies.

A key piece of evidence comes from an adult male buried at the 5,000-year-old Newgrange monument; his DNA revealed that his parents were first-degree relatives, possibly brother and sister.

He was one member of an extended "clan" that was buried at impressive stone monuments across Ireland.

The Irish elites were established during Neolithic times when people first started farming. The researchers extracted DNA from 44 ancient individuals from across Ireland and sequenced their genomes (the full complement of genetic material contained in the nuclei of cells).

Evidence of incestuous unions like that found at Newgrange are rare in human history; they are taboo for inter-linked biological and cultural reasons. Where they do occur, it is often within royal dynasties that have been granted divine status.

FULL REPORT

[CaaC (John)]

Mystery egg likely belonged to giant sea reptile, scientists say

Scientists in the US have uncovered the mystery of a giant egg discovered in Antarctica almost a decade ago.

For years researchers could not identify the fossil, which resembled a deflated football, leading it to gain the sci-fi nickname "The Thing".

But now, scientists say the egg probably belonged to a giant sea reptile that lived around 68 million years ago.

It is believed to be the world's largest reptile egg.

The fossil - which measures 11 by 7 inches (28cm by 18cm) - was found by researchers from Chile in 2011, but it was only in 2018 that a scientist from the University of Texas at Austin recognised it could be a deflated egg.

While the size of the egg suggested it belonged to an animal the size of a large dinosaur, its soft shell was "completely unlike a dinosaur egg", Lucas Legendre, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Texas at Austin, said.

"It is most similar to the eggs of lizards and snakes, but it is from a truly giant relative of these animals," he said.

By comparing the size of hundreds of reptiles alive today and their eggs, researchers say the animal that laid the egg would have been at least seven metres long.

Other fossils found at the same site suggest the egg could have belonged to a giant marine reptile called a mosasaur, although it is unclear whether the egg was laid on land or at sea.

The study was published in Nature this week.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-53085318

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Ancient 'volcano map' discovered carved into a large volcanic rock

When archaeologists examined the rock, they found maps were carved into it. In a statement, INAH explained that the maps were used to manage the land in that area and also to pass knowledge from one generation to another.

By studying the carving techniques used on the stone, experts say that the work likely took place between 200 B.C. and 200 A.D.

Different engraving techniques were used to represent the volcano’s southern slope, which is furrowed by features such as rivers, runoffs and ravines, according to INAH. On the main surface of the rock, small cavities were carved to represent local communities. 

Mexico continues to reveal new aspects of its rich history. INAH, for example, recently released new details of a mysterious 18th-century shipwreck discovered off the Mexican coast.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/ancient-volcano-map-discovered-carved-into-large-volcanic-rock/ar-BB15CWGq

Edited June 18, 2020 by CaaC (John)

[CaaC (John)]

This Football-Sized Fossil Egg is the First Found in Antarctica, and It May Have Belonged to a Mosasaur

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In 2011, Chilean scientists discovered a football-sized fossil off the coast of Seymour Island, near the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. Though they didn’t know what it was at the time—and simply called it “The Thing”—new research shows that not only is it the first fossil egg ever found in Antarctica, it’s also the largest soft-shelled egg ever found anywhere.

In a study published today in the science journal Nature, researchers from the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Chile dated the nearshore rock formation where the fossil egg was found to be from the Late Cretaceous period—about 68 million years ago—and measured the fossil itself to be roughly 11.4 inches by 7.9 inches (29 centimetres by 20 centimetres).

This empty partially collapsed egg is smaller only than that of the elephant bird, an extinct, flightless species from Madagascar whose eggs averaged about 12 inches by 8 inches.

But beyond their size, the eggs don’t have much in common; an elephant bird egg is about five times thicker than this fossil egg, and its hard shell has distinct pores and a prismatic layer that the fossil egg lacks.

In other words, an elephant bird egg resembles a giant chicken egg. (And the giant is no exaggeration—an elephant bird egg could hold the contents of about 150 chicken eggs.)

With its soft shell and oblong shape, the new fossil egg, from the new taxon Antarcticoolithus bradyi, is more similar to a lizard or snake egg, which suggests it could’ve been laid by a large reptile. To test that theory, the researchers compared it to the egg traits of 259 species of lepidosaurs—a subclass of reptile that includes snakes and lizards—and surmised that the egg-layer may have been a marine reptile that measured roughly 23 feet (7 meters) or longer.

The researchers believe this mystery mother might have been a mosasaur, a type of large marine lepidosaur whose remains have also been discovered in the area. During the Late Cretaceous period, mosasaurs were among the most fearsome predators in the ocean. They had strong flippers and sharp teeth, and some species grew as long as 50 feet (though that’s still a good 10 feet shorter than the fictional mosasaur depicted in 2015’s Jurassic World).

Fossilized contents of their stomachs show they feasted on a variety of wildlife, including fish, seabirds, turtles, plesiosaurs, and more—one mosasaur had even eaten a few other mosasaurs. And although mosasaurs did live in Antarctica, the continent during the Late Cretaceous period looked nothing like its current frigid landscape.

“Antarctica was rich in life,” Dr Julia Clarke, a professor in UT Austin’s Department of Geological Sciences and co-author of the study, tells Mental Floss. “Temperate forests diverse in plant species covered exposed land. Giant marine reptiles and much smaller coiled ammonites and relatives of living birds hunted in the seas, while on land, mid-sized non-avian dinosaurs ambled.”

Since scientists have uncovered the remains of mosasaurs and plesiosaurs of all ages in the rock formation where the fossil egg was found, some think it may have been a popular place for creatures to hatch and raise their young.

“Many authors have hypothesized that this was sort of a nursery site with shallow protected water, a cove environment where the young ones would have had a quiet setting to grow up,” Lucas Legendre, a postdoctoral researcher and the lead author of the study, said in a press release.

If the fossil egg really did belong to a mosasaur, it could alter our understanding of how mosasaurs gave birth. In South Dakota during the 1990s, scientists unearthed the skeleton of a lizard-like mosasaur called a Plioplatecarpus with five unborn offspring preserved in its abdomen.

Because they weren’t in eggs, it was generally thought that mosasaurs gave birth to live young. The existence of Antarcticoolithus bradyi, however, suggests the possibility that some mosasaurs laid soft-shelled eggs that hatched immediately after.

According to Clarke, the discovery of the fossil egg is especially exciting because it demonstrates “how much we have yet to learn about the evolution of eggs, from the first egg-layers that moved away from water to the immense diversity of eggs and reproductive strategies we see today.”

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/this-football-sized-fossil-egg-is-the-first-found-in-antarctica-and-it-may-have-belonged-to-a-mosasaur/ar-BB15EYmL

Edited June 20, 2020 by CaaC (John)
Spacing correction

[CaaC (John)]

Stonehenge: Neolithic monument found near a sacred site

Archaeologists have discovered a ring of prehistoric shafts, dug thousands of years ago near Stonehenge.

Fieldwork has revealed evidence of a 1.2 mile (2km) wide circle of large shafts measuring more than 10m in diameter and 5m in depth.

They surround the ancient settlement of Durrington Walls, two miles (3km) from Stonehenge.

Tests suggest the groundworks are Neolithic and were excavated more than 4,500 years ago.

Experts believe the 20 or more shafts may have served as a boundary to a sacred area connected to the henge.

A team of academics from the universities of St Andrews, Birmingham, Warwick, Glasgow and the University of Wales Trinity Saint David worked on the project.

Dr Richard Bates, from St Andrews' School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, said: "Remote sensing and careful sampling is giving us an insight to the past that shows an even more complex society than we could ever imagine.

"Clearly sophisticated practices demonstrate that the people were so in tune with natural events to an extent that we can barely conceive in the modern world."

His colleague Tim Kinnaird said sediments from the shafts that were tested "contain a rich and fascinating archive of previously unknown environmental information".

He said studying the finds allowed archaeologists to "write detailed narratives of the Stonehenge landscape for the last 4,000 years".

Dr Nick Snashall, National Trust archaeologist for the Stonehenge World Heritage Site, hailed the "astonishing discovery".

She said: "As the place where the builders of Stonehenge lived and feasted Durrington Walls is key to unlocking the story of the wider Stonehenge landscape, and this astonishing discovery offers us new insights into the lives and beliefs of our Neolithic ancestors.

"The Hidden Landscapes team have combined cutting-edge, archaeological fieldwork with good old-fashioned detective work to reveal this extraordinary discovery and write a whole new chapter in the story of the Stonehenge landscape."

The announcement of the discovery comes after the Summer Solstice, which took place online this year as the annual gathering at Stonehenge was cancelled due to coronavirus.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-53132567

[Stan]

Ha, drove past that literally about half an hour ago.

I remember seeing Stonehenge on the way to Cornwall but I must have been about 5 or 6 so it's sketchy. I think in my mind it was massive. Seeing it today was a bit surreal given its history and reputation. 

[CaaC (John)]

48,000-year-old arrowheads found in Sri Lankan cave

Researchers say the arrowheads were likely used to hunt difficult-to-catch rainforest prey such as monkeys and squirrels.

An international team of researchers have found a cache of immaculately preserved bone arrowheads in the cave of Fa-Hien Lena, deep in the heart of Sri Lanka’s rainforests. The find is evidence of the earliest use of bows and arrows anywhere outside of Africa, they say.

The team, made up of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (MPI-SHH) in Germany, Griffith University in Australia and the Department of Archaeology, Government of Sri Lanka, say the bone arrowheads are around 48,000 years old and were likely used to hunt difficult-to-catch rainforest prey such as monkeys and squirrels.

The bone tools and the animals they were made from © Langley et al., 2020

“The fractures on the points indicate damage through high-powered impact – something is usually seen in the use of bow-and-arrow hunting of animals,” said lead author Michelle Langley of Griffith University. “This evidence is earlier than similar findings in Southeast Asia 32,000 years ago and is currently the earliest clear evidence for bow-and-arrow use beyond the African continent.”

The arrowheads were found alongside a host of other tools may have been used for freshwater fishing in nearby tropical streams, as well as the working of fibre to make nets or clothing, and other decorative items. Together, the finds point to the development of a complex, early human social network in the tropics of South Asia.

“We also found clear evidence for the production of coloured beads from mineral ochre and the refined making of shell beads traded from the coast, at a similar age to other ‘social signalling’ materials found in Eurasia and Southeast Asia, roughly 45,000 years ago,” said Langley.

The findings highlight the fact that archaeologists can no longer link specific technological, symbolic, or cultural developments in early humans to a single region or environment, the researchers say.

Manufactured beads and decorative ochre found at the site © Adapted from Langley et al., 2020

“Humans at this time show extraordinary resourcefulness and the ability to exploit a range of new environments,” said co-author and Director at the MPI-SHH Nicole Boivin.

“These skills enabled them to colonise nearly all of the planet’s continents by about 10,000 years ago, setting us clearly on the path to being the global species we are today.”

https://www.sciencefocus.com/news/48000-year-old-arrowheads-found-in-sri-lankan-cave/

[CaaC (John)]

First Viking ship excavation in a century begins in Norway

Archaeologists in Norway have begun the first excavation of a Viking ship in more than a century.

The vessel was discovered in a burial site in Gjellestad in the south-east of the country two years ago.

Although it is believed to be in poor condition, the find remains significant as only three other well-preserved Viking ships have been discovered in the country.

The excavation is expected to last five months.

How a climate crisis helped shape Norse mythology

Knut Paasche, an expert from the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research said that only part of the ship's timber appeared to have been preserved, but added that modern techniques could allow archaeologists to discover its original shape.

The ship, which is about 20m (65ft) long, was discovered by experts using ground-penetrating radar in 2018.

A large number of burial mounds and longhouses were also found at the same time.

"The Gjellestad ship is a discovery of outstanding national and international importance," Norway's Culture Minister Sveinung Rotevatn said, according to the AFP news agency.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-53204948

[CaaC (John)]

Giant wombat-like creatures, the size of black bears, once walked the earth

Scientists from the University of Salford discovered the new family of marsupial after studying the partial skull and most of a skeleton collected on an expedition during the 1970s.

London (CNN) - A wombat like a creature the size of a black bear and weighing 330 pounds, roamed the earth some 25 million years ago, scientists have discovered.

A team led by researchers from the University of Salford in the UK discovered the new family of marsupial after studying the partial skull and most of a skeleton that had been collected from Lake Pinpa, in northeastern South Australia, on an expedition during the 1970s.

'Crazy beast' fossil discovery shows the evolutionary weirdness of early mammals

Researchers named the animal "Mukupirna," meaning "big bones" in Dieri and Malyangapa, the indigenous languages spoken in the region of South Australia where the fossil was first discovered.

A team led by researchers from the University of Salford in the UK discovered the new family of marsupial after studying the partial skull and most of a skeleton that had been collected from Lake Pinpa, in northeastern South Australia, on an expedition during the 1970s.

Researchers named the animal "Mukupirna," meaning "big bones" in Dieri and Malyangapa, the indigenous languages spoken in the region of South Australia where the fossil was first discovered.

In a paper published in Scientific Reports on Thursday, researchers confirmed that the mammal belonged to a new family of marsupials -- mammals characterized by premature birth and the continued development of the newborn while latched to the nipples on the mother's lower belly.

From studying the creature's fossilized teeth, bones and cranium, experts concluded that the animal, which would have weighed up to 330 pounds, would have engaged in "scratch-digging" but was unlikely to have burrowed.

From studying the creature's fossilized teeth, bones and cranium, experts concluded that the animal, which would have weighed up to 330 pounds, would have engaged in "scratch-digging" but was unlikely to have burrowed.

"It is surprisingly large, particularity for that time period," lead author Robin Beck, from the University of Salford, told CNN. "It was one of the largest animals in Australia at that time."

Beck said that while the creatures most closely resemble wombats, they were about five times the size.

Scientists studied how body size has evolved in vombatiforms -- the group that includes Mukupirna, wombats, koalas and their fossil relatives -- and found that body weights of 220 pounds or more evolved at least six times over the past 25 million years.

The largest known vombatifom, named "Diprotodon," weighed more than 2 tonnes and survived until approximately 50,000 years ago.

"About 23 million years ago, the environment changed to become more like a rainforest in Australia, and so there were environmental changes that possibly may have driven it extinct," he suggested.

"Mukupirna reveals a fascinating mix of characteristics and provides evidence of a close link between wombats and an extinct group of marsupials called wynyardiids," report co-author Pip Brewer, of London's Natural History Museum, added in a statement.

"It suggests that adaptations for digging for food may have existed in the very earliest members of the wombat family and likely led to their eventual survival to the present day. Although suggested previously, it had not been possible to test this, as the oldest fossil wombats discovered are only known from teeth and a few skull fragments," Brewer said.

"About 23 million years ago, the environment changed to become more like a rainforest in Australia, and so there were environmental changes that possibly may have driven it extinct," he suggested.

"Mukupirna reveals a fascinating mix of characteristics and provides evidence of a close link between wombats and an extinct group of marsupials called wynyardiids," report co-author Pip Brewer, of London's Natural History Museum, added in a statement.

"It suggests that adaptations for digging for food may have existed in the very earliest members of the wombat family and likely led to their eventual survival to the present day. Although suggested previously, it had not been possible to test this, as the oldest fossil wombats discovered are only known from teeth and a few skull fragments," Brewer said.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/25/australia/giant-wombat-intl-scli-scn/index.html

[CaaC (John)]

Archaeologists in Turkey Have Uncovered a Mysterious Ancient Kingdom Lost in History

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It was said that all he touched turned to gold. But destiny eventually caught up with the legendary King Midas, and a long-lost chronicle of his ancient downfall appears to have literally surfaced in Turkey.

Last year, archaeologists were investigating an ancient mound site in central Turkey called Türkmen-Karahöyük. The greater region, the Konya Plain, abounds with lost metropolises, but even so, researchers couldn't have been prepared for what they were about to find.

A local farmer told the group that a nearby canal, recently dredged, revealed the existence of a large strange stone, marked with some kind of unknown inscription.

"We could see it still sticking out of the water, so we jumped right down into the canal – up to our waists wading around," said archaeologist James Osborne from the University of Chicago earlier this year.

"Right away it was clear it was ancient, and we recognised the script it was written in: Luwian, the language used in the Bronze and Iron Ages in the area."

With the aid of translators, the researchers found that the hieroglyphs on this ancient stone block – called a stele – boasted of a military victory. And not just any military victory, but the defeat of Phrygia, a kingdom of Anatolia that existed roughly 3,000 years ago.

The royal house of Phrygia was ruled by a few different men called Midas, but the dating of the stele, based on linguistic analysis, suggests the block's hieroglyphics could be referring to the King Midas – he of the famous 'golden touch' myth.

The stone markings also contained a special hieroglyphic symbolising that the victory message came from another king, a man called Hartapu. The hieroglyphs suggest Midas was captured by Hartapu's forces.

"The storm gods delivered the [opposing] kings to his majesty," the stone reads.

What's significant about this is that almost nothing is known about King Hartapu, nor about the kingdom he ruled. Nonetheless, the stele suggests the giant mound of Türkmen-Karahöyük may have been Hartapu's capital city, spanning some 300 acres in its heyday, the heart of the ancient conquest of Midas and Phrygia.

"We had no idea about this kingdom," Osborne said. "In a flash, we had profound new information on the Iron Age Middle East."

There's a lot more digging to be done in this ongoing archaeological project, and the findings so far should be considered preliminary for now. The international team is eager to revisit the site this year, to find out whatever more we can about this kingdom seemingly lost in history.

"Inside this mound are going to be palaces, monuments, houses," Osborne said. "This stele was a marvellous, incredibly lucky find - but it's just the beginning."

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/archaeologists-in-turkey-have-uncovered-a-mysterious-ancient-kingdom-lost-in-history/ar-BB165GCt