My friend, Carole, sent me this interesting link about an archaeological find in the Sahara and I wanted to share.
It's amazing to me when we go back through history and realize how different our planet has been from the way we perceive it now.
I just found out about a brand new blog called Stone and Bone. It looks like it will be great to follow if you are an archaeology fan like I am! Check it out!
Stonehenge is magnificent in appearance and steeped in mystery. But maybe, just maybe, an answer has been found. The blocks, may be tombstones, memorials to the dead.
According to National Geographic:
Newly dated human remains unearthed at the megalithic circle in southern England reveal Stonehenge was a place of burial from its earliest beginnings some 5,000 years ago, said Mike Parker Pearson, who leads the Stonehenge Riverside Project.
And if you watch this video, you will learn about other amazing discoveries at Stonehenge.
Isn't it amazing what can be found when digging in the ground?
A patch of prehistoric hair suggests that the first Eskimos in the New World did not descend from Native Americans as previously thought but came directly from Asia.
Previously, there were two main theories to explain the ancestry of the first Eskimos in Alaska, Canada, and Greenland, Gilbert said.
The theories held that they either descended from Native Americans who colonized North America at least 14,350 years ago, or they came from the same source area in Siberia that gave rise to modern Eskimos, such as those who have lived in Greenland for the past 1,000 years.
"Then there is a third idea that they were independent to both—and that's what it turns out to be," Gilbert said.
The new research, which appears tomorrow in the journal Science, suggests that the original Paleo-Eskimos of the New World were replaced by later colonizers, who spread eastward from Siberia.
You just never know what question someone's hair may hold the answer to!
Check out this artist's rendering of a prehistoric bird that is believed to forage on the ground like many modern day birds. While the bird is thought to have stood 16 feet tall (which is scary enough - I mean I don't want to meet a 16 foot tall carnivorous bird, do you?), the artist may have been a bit overzealous...see the hills behind the birds? Anyway, it's interesting stuff!
This is so very cool! Check out the video and story of the remains of the world's oldest known mother which have been unearthed in the Australian outback. I am not sure how they can tell all of that from the bit of bone they have, but they say the specimen is in 3-D and gives them lots of information.
In the first underwater survey of the Nile, archaeologists are locating treasures that before they had only assumed they would be able to locate. It has long been suspected that that due to shifts in the Nile's course over the centuries and due to shipping accidents up and down the Nile that artifacts were just waiting to be discovered.
Below is a picture of a one ton rock found and retrieved from the entryway that once led to the temple of the ram-headed fertility god Khnum, experts say. This stone has inscriptions that could date from the 22nd dynasty (945-712 B.C.) to 26th dynasty (664-525 B.C.).
Who knows what other treasures lie beneath the surface of the Nile...waiting to be discovered.
Last week, to coincide with the opening of the new Indiana Jones movie, a story was released about a 60 year old archaeologist who is known worldwide for his trademark Indiana Jones hat. Zahi Hawass, the head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, believes he has found the tomb of Cleopatra and hopes that MarK Antony may be buried at her side. They have discovered a bust of Mark Antony and tunnels filled with statues and coins depicting Cleopatra. Wouldn't it be cool to find these famous lovers?
As we finished up the first year of History of the World last month, we read the stories of Caesar and Mark Antony and Cleopatra. It is so exciting to read that more may be known about them soon. Unfortunately, excavations had to stop until next November due to the heat. I can't wait to see what they will find!
National Geographic reporting:
A marble bust of an aging Julius Caesar—which may date back to 46 B.C.—has been found by divers in the Rhône River in southern France, officials say. The life-size sculpture (shown in a photo released this week) is etched with deep wrinkles and a balding pate.
The bust may be the oldest known representation of the famous Roman leader. Most known ancient sculptures of Caesar were created after his death.
This was not the only statue found and the others span time as to when they were created. Archaeologists are unsure of why these statues were dumped into the Rhone River...
Cool find though!
While I wouldn't be able to understand or read this scroll, I would love to see it in person. What an amazing piece of history...a copy of the Book of Isaiah written about 1900 years ago!
You can see a video of the scroll here
I am more than a bit behind with my National Geographic feed reading. So I am going to make a big post linking to some of the stories that interested me the most from the past couple of weeks. Hopefully you will find something here that interests you as well!
"Extinct" Plants Discovered Blooming in Australia - these plants haven't been seen since 1891 and were listed as extinct in 1922.
VIDEO: Terra-Cotta Army Coming to U.S. - This would be very neat to see!
Colossal Squid Thawing; Hints at Even Bigger Beasts A Colossal Squid that was accidentally captured February 2007 is revealing answers to the scientists in charge of thawing it and studying it.
Continue reading "National Geographic News - Animals, Archaeology and Astronomy" »
I was not a big dinosaur fan as a child. I learned about them in school, but I was not that interested in learning extra about them, playing with dino models or pretending to be a dinosaur. Their names were long and annoying. They had lived a long, long, long time ago and well...I was more interested in current day things...like would Shaun Cassidy be coming in concert to Roanoke anytime soon.
Jurassic Park changed that a bit for me. When Dr. Grant and the others first see the dinosaurs while the majestic music played in the background. I was there with them. Hook, line and sinker. I could imagine what it would be like to see these animals first hand. Animals that no longer waled the earth. And it made me a little more interested in dinosaurs, and I couldn't help but notice that there seemed to be more dinosaurs than I remembered studying in school. (I definitely don't remember mention of velociraptors.
What really floored me was when Dr. Grant explained his theory that dinosaurs were really related to birds. I thought 'huh?'. I got the cloning of the dinos from the dino DNA, but dinosaurs related to birds? I had never heard such a thing.
Continue reading "T. Rex Protein Shows Bird-Dinosaur Link" »
Ancient Site uncovered in Bogota, Colombia is revealing information about ancient inhabitants that previously very little was known about them.
1. First Lungless Frog Found The Indonesian frog pictured above respires entirely through its skin and lacks lungs, a new study says. The trait, though rare in nature, may have evolved because of the amphibian's habitat of oxygen-rich, fast-moving water—which might more easily carry away a frog with air-filled lungs.
2. Rare Seahorses Found in the River ThamesShort-snouted seahorses have set up residence in the recovering River Thames, conservationists announced.
3. Alligator Blood May Lead to Powerful New AntibioticsAlligators often engage in violent fights over territories and mates, and scientists have puzzled over why their wounds rarely get infected. Now researchers think the secret lies in the reptiles' blood. Chemists in Louisiana found that blood from the American alligator can successfully destroy 23 strains of bacteria, including strains known to be resistant to antibiotics. In addition, the blood was able to deplete and destroy a significant amount of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Continue reading "National Geographic News - Animals, Archaeology and Astronomy" »
World's Greatest Extinction Not Caused By Toxic Gases The thing I like most about this article is it points out how little we still know....even about things we think we understand!
"Mountains of the Moon" Glaciers Melting in Africa Below you will see the photo that shows the difference between the glacier 50 years ago and today. This shows us how our world is growing warmer. Though I am not convinced that this is not a normal trend for our earth. There are too many conflicting views on that for me to make up my mind at this point.
Wildlife Park Official Arrested in Gorilla Killings Congrats on ferreting out the wolf in sheep's clothing that was guarding these endangered animals. There is a photo on this site of the dead gorillas.
New "Sea Monster" Species Identified - The Cretaceous-period reptile, dubbed Nichollsia borealis, is not only a new species—it represents a whole new genus, scientists announced on March 20. It's also one of the oldest and most complete plesiosaur fossils ever unearthed in North America.
Rare Leatherback Turtles Gain Protection in Costa Rica - these turtles come out of the water to lay their eggs on beaches around the world. Scientists and volunteers now have governmental backing to protect these precious nests from poaching and beach development.
Word War II Ships Finally Found Off Australia - The H.M.A.S. Sydney sank on November 19, 1941, in a battle with a German vessel, the D.K.M. Kormoran. Rudd said he had instructed the Defense Department to contact relatives of the sailors who died aboard the Sydney about the find, and described the wreck as a tomb for Australian sailors that would be protected as a sacred site.
Stone Age Hand Axes Found at Bottom of North Sea An amateur archaeologist has found an unprecedented collection of Stone Age hand axes among material collected at the bottom of the North Sea. Jan Meulmeester of the Netherlands found 28 axes, possibly up to 100,000 years old, in marine sand and gravel scooped up by a British construction materials supplier. During ice-age periods of the Paleolithic era, which ended about 10,000 years ago, sea levels were lower and the North Sea was grassland hunting grounds.
Rome Subway Digs Reveal Medieval, Renaissance Treasures -- It never ceases to amaze me how we continue to find signs of our past even in the seemingly most developed of areas.
"Monstrous" Robot to Be Assembled in Space -- it would be really cool to watch this be assembled and even cooler to visit the space station. And isn't it wonderful to see nations working together for a common goal?
Pygmy Hippo Caught on Camera - This photograph shows that the pygmy hippo is still surviving in war torn West Africa.
Continue reading "National Geographic Headlines Week of March 10: Archaeology, Astronomy, Animals" »
If you have read my blog for any length of time, you know that i love learning about animals, space and anything to do with archaeology. I have been so busy with cleaning and homeschooling and life, that I am a bit behind with sharing the interesting things from National Geographic. I have over 90 stories to wade through. I only share the ones most interesting to me here, and currently, I don't link to the videos because my computer is getting a tad ancient and I can't watch the videos anymore (there is a new laptop in my future...probably April), but I don't want to link to videos when I don't know what is in them. Anyway, since I don't want to right up a kazillion posts to catch up, I am going to briefly share links that interest me in this post in order to get caught up. And maybe some photos to.
1. Mysterious Pyramid Complex Discovered in Peru - what fascinates me about stories like this is the fact that we find pyramid and pyramid shapes all over the world. This vast ceremonial site is believed to have been used by a little known ancient culture, Vicus.
2. Ancient Maya Used "Glitter" Paint to Make Temple Gleam - A new study of paint flakes taken from masks on the temple's exterior found that the Maya used mica to make the temple's colorful paint glimmer in the sun. It appears, glitter paint has been around for a long, long time! We love glitter paint in our house. We used it on our snowmen, our pine cones and whatever else we want to give an extra sparkle!
Continue reading "National Geographic Headlines: Archaeology, Astronomy, and Animals" »
An unrobbed middle-class tomb dating back to the Old Kingdom in Egypt has been discovered.
Archaeologists have unsealed the intact burial chamber of an ancient Egyptian official, providing a rare glimpse into the burial customs of the Old Kingdom's middle class.
The relatively modest tomb, belonging to a fifth dynasty priest and politician named Neferinpu, was discovered in 2006 at Abusir, the ancient necropolis of the fifth and 26th dynasties, located near modern-day Cairo.
Now that's what I call a time capsule!
A time capsule was found atop a bell tower at México City's Metropolitan Cathedral, where it was placed in 1791 to protect the building from harm, researchers said.
I have always thought time capsules are so cool. In 1976, my elementary school buried a time capsule. Someday someone will open that up and see what we were doing in 1976. An easy archaeological dig!
I have been so busy with the holidays and my mother-in-law's visit and sickness that I hve gotten a bit behind on reading my National Geographic stories. So here are some that I perused today that have to do with prehistoric findings which I thought were interesting.
Giant Dino Discovered in Antarctica
Continue reading "Prehistoric National Geographic Headlines" »
The map you see above is part of a map created in 1507 by German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller. He created this map after researching notes from explorers Christopher Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci, as well as other unknown Portuguese and Spanish sources, according to a statement from the Library of Congress. However, it is not clear how he could have drawn such an accurate picture of South America nor how he knew there was a separate body of water on the west side of America based on his research. According to experts, he couldn't have drawn this map based on Vespucci's descriptions.
Another matter of interest is that in later versions of this map, Waldseemuller no longer used the name America. For more information, visit National Geographic.
A mummified Hadrosaur was discovered in North Dakota by a teenager in 1999. On December 9th, 2007, at 9 pm, EST, National Geographic Channel will air Dino Autopsy. This show will detail the dig and subsequent CT scans of this 67 million year old dinosaur.
The fact that this dino was found with skin, tissues, ligaments and tendons intact has led scientists to change their ideas about dinosaur appearance and movement.
With the aid of a large-scale CT scanner, researchers determined that Dakota had a more muscular rear end and more powerful legs than previously believed, according to Manning.
To become mummified, first the dinosaur body had to escape predators, scavengers, and degradation by weather and water. Then a chemical process must have mineralized the tissue before bacteria ate it. And finally, the remains had to survive millions of years undamaged.
This beautiful vase was discovered in Honduras in the 1,400-year-old grave of a member of the Maya elite. The vase is carved with sculpted scrolls, overlapping tiles meant to resemble serpent scales, and handles fashioned into the shape of bats' heads.
Studies of the soil in and around the vase contained traces of things like pollen from corn, false ipecac, and cacao. These trace particles have helped the archaeologists to solve some mysteries regarding the use of these vases. For more information, read the rest of the article at National Geographic.
1. Maya Rituals Caused Ancient Decline in Big Game. It turns out that even though the Mayans were seen as overall environmentally friendly, that the search by the elite for large game(status symbol) decimated the population in Mesoamerica. This hypothesis has come about through exhaustive research by Kitty Emery who studied some 80,000 bones found in a Mayan trash dump. Seems like even 1800 years ago, man was capable of hunting animals close to extinction. Want to teach your children more about the Mayans? Check out MayanKids.com!
2. Ancient "Fire Temple" Found in Peru. A massive clay temple with colorful paintings and an altar for fire worship has recently been unearthed in northern Peru, archaeologists announced Saturday. The temple dates back 4,000 years and is among the oldest sites discovered in the Americas, said archaeologist Walter Alva, who led the team that made the find. The temple was built by an "advanced civilization" that predated the Inca by several centuries, Alva told the Reuters news service. For more information about the Inca, check out CyberSleuthKids
Ever since King Tut was found in 1925, he has fascinated the world. People have flocked to see his tomb. They have crowded museum exhibits to peruse his possessions. They have read stories about mummy's curses and speculated on the deaths of so many who discovered King Tut's tomb. But very few people have seen King Tut's remains. The 350 daily visitors to his tomb were creating changes in the environment which led to a change in humidity and temperature and CO2 levels in the tomb. Tut's body has deteriorated 70% and it was predicted that if he was placed in a protective environment immediately that his remains would be completely gone in 50 years!
He was carefully moved into a special box which will control the humidity surrounding his body. The box is also filled with a nitrogen-rich gas that kills bacteria and mold. These same display cases currently protect the Magna Carta, a copy of the Declaration of Independence and the Abraham Lincoln family bible.
The added bonus is that now visitors will actually be able to see Tut's body themselves while he is being protected in ways that he wasn't when his body was hidden from the world.
At the risk that some people may hurl insults at me, I am sharing this interesting news story. By using 1,677 digital pictures that give high resolution images of DaVinci's Last Supper, there is no sign of facial hair on the Apostle John/Mary Magadalene. The images are clear enough that it looks as it would if you were standing only a few inches away from the painting. And it is helping to provide an image of the painting before it deteriorates any further in the polluted air of Milan. The resolution is so amazing that you can even see peacocks painted on the table cloth. I never knew they were there. Did you?
Anyway...I don't have a problem with the possibility that Mary Magdalene and Jesus were married. It would make more sense for him to be married than not, given that day and age. And did not God send Jesus to experience life as a human? Being married would certainly be part of that. And it would make Jesus' sacrifice even more amazing. I can also see the disciples wiping out all records of Jesus' family to protect them because the people of the time had a mentality that if you were offended by someone or found them to be bad, you wiped out the whole family.
The possibility of Mary Magdalene doesn't change my faith that Jesus is my savior, it just means there is more to the story that I don't know. It would just go in the category of things to be explained when I sit at Jesus' feet. I have so many questions. Thank goodness, I will have an eternity to get the answers.
Hat tip: National Geographic
As the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers was in the process of building a dam in Puerot Rico that would help protect the region from flooding, they happened on a wonderful archaeological find. At first, they didn't realize the significance of the area, but continued excavation by a private American company has uncovered what is probably the largest Taino site ever found.
There has been controversy in the past whether there is a connection between the Taino population and the Mayan population. Perhaps the artifacts will help archaeologists to come up with an answer.
The U.S. Army Corps have been able to reroute their dam project so as to have minimal impact on the site.
Hat tip: National Geographic.
Canal Linking Ancient Egypt Quarry to Nile Found
It has long been suspected that some of the buidling blocks for the pyramids and other great stoneworks in Egypt were floated to their destination instead of moved across the land.
Ancient artwork shows Egyptians using boats or barges to move large monuments like obelisks and statues, and canals have also been discovered at the Giza pyramids and the Luxor Temple.
Experts have discovered a canal at an Aswan rock quarry that they believe was used to help float some of ancient Egypt's largest stone monuments to the Nile River.
Ancient Cataclysm Rearranged Pacific Map, Study Says
I have always found plate tectonics fascinating. The thought of rock moving over pools of lava to form mountains and canyons or rifts. A new theory is evolving about changes that occured in the Pacific Ocean Basin 50 million years ago.
Using geophysical data gathered by scientists from Australia and Russia, the team confirmed that the ridge plunged underneath a plate of Earth's crust that stretches between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
The Japanese landmass then acted as a vast plug in the crack between the plates, changing their movement and rearranging the geography of the Pacific, the team found.
Australia would have been an icy piece of property had this event not occured (I am sure the Australians are happy that they were spared that).
Here are some interesting stories from National Geographic:
80 Cloud Warrior Skeletons were found in a fort in Peru. These bodies look like they were left where they fell which leaves current historians, archeaologists and scientists trying to figure out if they died from violent acts or disease. This find will hopefully give tons of new information into a culture we know relatively little about.
What amazes me about this story is that a group of experts from different fields examined the human remains discovered two years ago buried inside an iron coffin. The coffin was discovered by utility workers in Washington.
The body was that of 15-year-old William Taylor White, who died in 1852 and was buried in the Columbia College cemetery, they announced Thursday.
To determine who was buried in this coffin, information was gathered and analyzed by forensic anthropologists, pathologists, DNA specialists, and clothing historians. Besides the physical attributes of the coffin, information about they coffin and when it was available, information from newspapers and other historical documents came into play. It took more than three dozen people two years to identify this body. For more information, check out the Discovery Channel.
Amazingly the iron coffin made it such that the body was practically mummified as if it had been embalmed in Ancient Egypt.
May he rest in peace.
From the Discovery Channel:
Mexican archaeologists using ground-penetrating radar have detected underground chambers they believe contain the remains of Emperor Ahuizotl, who ruled the Aztecs when Columbus landed in the New World. It would be the first tomb of an Aztec ruler ever found.
The find could provide an extraordinary window into Aztec civilization at its apogee. Ahuizotl (ah-WEE-zoh-tuhl), an empire-builder who extended the Aztecs' reach as far as Guatemala, was the last emperor to complete his rule before the Spanish Conquest.
This guy sounds positively fascinating and what insight this will give us into the Aztec civilization! A great find for archaeologists!
Hatsheput's remains have been identified due to a combination of technology, detective work and the Egyptian's mummification process which required that they keep all of the person's parts on hand. When Hatsheput's tomb was discovered, it was empty, but later, another tomb was discovered directly underneath with two bodies inside. One was a thin body in an open sarcophagus, the other was a heavier body which was lying on the floor.
Hatsheupt's Facial X-ray
Continue reading "Queen/King Hatshepsut's Remains Identified" »
Today I was reading about all of the events occuring in Jamestown this week as part of the beginning of their 400th anniversary celebration. Along with the opportunity for visitors to watch archaeolgists at work, the chance for people to tour the reconstructed town and a large variety of other events including a speech by President Bush, there is a crew that set off yesterday to follow Captain John Smith's trail of exploration around the Chesapeake. They are sailingin a boat designed like his and made by many of the same tools. They are going to attempt to complete the 121 day journey using only sails and oars. And they will be christening the first National Historic Water Trail. It sounds like a great adventure!
So I read to the bottom of the article and there at the end was a blurb about 70 protestors outside of Jamestown shouting "Black Power" and "Red Power" and protesting the fact that we were 'celebrating' the anniversary of a town that was the beginning of the decimation of Native Americans and where the first slaves in the United States were brought to.
Above is a picture of one of 55 murals found in a cave complex in Nepal. These stunning murals depict the life of Buddha. The shepherd actually made the discovery decades ago when sheltering in the caves during a storm. But he only recently realized their importance when mentioning them to a scientist in the area.
"What we found is fantastically rich in culture and heritage and goes to the 12th century or earlier," U.S. writer and conservationist Broughton Coburn told the Associated Press.
Included among the sprawling complex are manuscripts written in Tibetan, pre-Christian artifacts, pottery shards, and a number of smaller paintings.
The above photo and information are from National Geographic Website.
In spite of the fact that no inscriptions have been found, the location and style have led archaeologists to believe that it is indeed the tomb of King Herod that was discovered a few weeks ago on the West Bank. This is a very interesting archaeological even as it adds to the hsitorical fact found in the Old Testament.
Giulio Magli has published a book, Secrets of the Ancient Megalithic Towns. In his study, he studied 38 Italian towns that date back to Roman times. He studied the orientations of their streets and has come to the conclusion that Romans used Astronomy when laying out their towns. By determining this fact, then it will enable scientists and archaelogists to learn more about what the Romans knew about astrology.