Stuff I've Found

In Archaeology we call this fire-cracked-rock, or FCR. It’s a rock that has been altered and or broken by deliberate heating. The rocks are common in many Archaeology sites, but are particularly prevalent in south central America. In many cases, fire-cracked rock results when stones were used to line hearths or were heated to provide a longer lasting heat source.

 

HISTORICAL DATA SHOWS TRAIL OF TEARS IMPACT ON CHEROKEE SKULL SIZE

Researchers from North Carolina State University and the University of Tennessee have found that environmental stressors – from the Trail of Tears to the Civil War – led to significant changes in the shape of skulls in the eastern and western bands of the Cherokee people. The findings highlight the role of environmental factors in shaping our physical characteristics…READ MORE AT…http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/04/2014/historical-data-shows-impact-on-cherokee-skull-size

Startled tribal men in a remote part of the Amazon basin in Brazil shake their spears as they are pictured from above.

The pictures, shot from a plane earlier this week, were taken of the isolated tribe on the Peruvian border.

It is thought the tribe have had little to no contact with with the outside world…READ MORE AT…http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2592321/Amazing-pictures-deep-Amazon-startled-tribesman-shaking-spears-plane-pictured-sky.html

Were the ancient Greeks and Romans color blind?

Homer left historians with the impression that the ancient Greeks and Romans had an underdeveloped appreciation of color. The ancients, in fact, were a shade more sophisticated than that and understood color in a completely different way to us, argues Mark Bradley…READ MORE AT…http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/bodysphere/5267698

Archaeology Humor

A little dated, but still funny.

Secret desert camp used by First World War hero Lawrence of Arabia is discovered intact with rum jars and a campfire.

A secret desert camp used by Lawrence of Arabia has been found intact almost 100 years after he left it.

The hideout in modern-day Jordan was still littered with spent cartridges and broken gin bottles when a team of archaeologists found it - thanks to an RAF pilot's vaguely-sketched map.

It was used as a vital base by Thomas Edward Lawrence, the British intelligence officer who would pass into legend for his guerilla raids against Turkish forces in the First World War…READ MORE AT… http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2587193/Secret-desert-camp-used-First-World-War-hero-Lawrence-Arabia-discovered-intact-rum-jars-campfire.html

Intimate tattoo of man's name discovered on inner thigh of 1,300-year-old MUMMY

A tattoo of a man's name has been discovered by scientists on the inner thigh of a 1300-year-old mummy.

Egyptologists at the British Museum made the startling discovery while examining the ancient mummified body of a Sudanese woman, thought to have died around 700 AD.

The symbol, tattooed on the skin of the inner thigh of her right leg, spells out the ancient Greek characters M-I-X-A-H-A, which translates as Michael.

But it's not for a secret lover however, as the tattoo is thought to be a protective biblical symbol representing the Archangel Michael…READ MORE AT…http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/egypt-mummy-tattoo-intimate-ink-3274266

Two more colossal pharaoh statues unveiled in Egypt

Luxor (Egypt) (AFP) - Archaeologists on Sunday unveiled two colossal statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III in Egypt's famed temple city of Luxor, adding to an existing pair of world-renowned tourist attractions.

The two monoliths in red quartzite were raised at what European and Egyptian archaeologists said were their original sites in the funerary temple of the king, on the west bank of the Nile…READ MORE AT…http://news.yahoo.com/two-more-colossal-pharaoh-statues-unveiled-egypt-153602577.html

Working in Archaeology is a connection to the past.

One of the greatest joys of Archaeology is unearthing an artifact that may not have been touched for a thousand years or more. You hold history in your hand. At that moment you have an indelible bond with the person who last touched it. Was the piece flaked off as the flintknapping plied their craft; or is it a tool worn to a nub and tossed away? We can all read about the past, but working as an Archaeologist you can experience it.

Above are some of the pieces I've found: 

Back Row: All the pieces except for the big one on the right are flakes. Those are the pieces that break off when the tools or weapons are being formed. The big one is a bi-facial. That’s a piece that has been worked on both sides. The craftsman will hone or smooth a piece to finish their work. We don’t know if this piece was finished or broke while being formed and discarded. 

Second Row: This is a 450 million-year-old Crinoid fossil that had been carefully chiseled out of a probable limestone formation and made into a necklace. 

First Row: The piece on the left was a spearhead. We can determine this by the size of the piece. The one in the middle is an almost formed arrowhead. As it was being worked a small part flaked off and the piece was tossed away. The one on the far right is a scrapper. In fact, it resembles a small wood plane. The type of tool used by woodworkers to extract small slices of wood. This piece would have been used to clean the hides of any fat or muscle still attached to the hide. 

Neanderthals could speak like modern humans, study suggests

An analysis of a Neanderthal's fossilized hyoid bone - a horseshoe-shaped structure in the neck - suggests the species had the ability to speak.

This has been suspected since the 1989 discovery of a Neanderthal hyoid that looks just like a modern human's…READ MORE AT…http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-25465102

Statue of pharaoh's daughter unearthed in Egypt

A statue of the daughter of King Amenhotep III, grandfather of Tutankhamen and ruler of Egypt around 3,350 years ago, has been unearthed by a team of Egyptian and European archaeologists…READ MORE AT…http://news.yahoo.com/statue-pharaohs-daughter-unearthed-egypt-131416131.html

CLOVIS GENOME SETTLES DEBATE ON INDIGENOUS AMERICAN LINEAGE

Inhabiting what is now North America around 12,600 years ago the Clovis people (named after the type site in New Mexico) were not the first humans to walk this land, but they do represent the first widespread occupation of the continent – until the culture mysteriously disappeared only a few hundred years after its origin…READ MORE AT… http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/02/2014/clovis-genome-settles-debate-on-indigenous-american-lineage

10 Coolest Archaeology Discoveries of 2013

Archaeologists dig through the faint traces of the past to learn more about human history. And 2013 was a big year for new archaeology finds.

From royal tombs to the mysterious vanished inhabitants of Europe, here are some of the strangest and most exciting archaeology finds of the year.

Read more at: http://www.livescience.com/42257-2013-big-archaeology-stories.html

Two Men Accused of Stealing Artifacts From the Great Pyramid

CAIRO, EGYPT—Two German men described as amateur archaeologists have been accused of entering the pyramid of Khufu without permission and stealing samples of the king’s cartouche from a compartment near his burial chamber. 

The two men reportedly smuggled the artifacts out of Egypt and conducted tests on them at Dresden University. The case has been referred to Egypt’s prosecutor-general and the names of the two men have been handed over to Interpol. The German embassy in Cairo has denounced the actions of the men, who were not affiliated with the German Archaeological Institute. 

450 Million Year Old Fossil Used to Make a Native American Necklace

This a 450 million years Crinoid fossil that Native American's turned into a necklace. I was working on a deep auger, Geo-Morphology project and found about fifty of these. They varied in size from about 3 cm to 1/4 cm. In the middle of each of them was a carefully drilled hole. 

I also found two pieces of twisted bone. Both measured about 8 cm in length. After doing some research I discovered this would have been the centerpiece. The Crinoid beads would be arranged from widest in the center and smallest near the shoulders. 

The area I was working in had been a mound but an idiot farmer bulldozed it. He decided he needed a new metal barn and didn't give a crap about the history he was destroying.

Mystery of Tut's Father: New Clues on Unidentified Mummy

Egyptologists have uncovered new evidence that bolsters the controversial theory that a mysterious mummy is the corpse of the heretic pharaoh Akhenaten, husband of Nefertiti and, some experts believe, the father of King Tut.

The mummy's identity has generated fierce debate ever since its discovery in 1907 in tomb KV 55, located less than 100 feet (30 meters) from King Tutankhamun's then hidden burial chamber.

Read More At: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/07/070710-king-tut.html

Ancient City Discovered Beneath Biblical-Era Ruins in Israel

Archaeologists have unearthed traces of a previously unknown, 14th-century Canaanite city buried underneath the ruins of another city in Israel.

The traces include an Egyptian amulet of Amenhotep III and several pottery vessels from the Late Bronze Age unearthed at the site of Gezer, an ancient Canaanite city.

Read more at: http://www.livescience.com/41143-city-found-under-canaanite-city.html

Egypt: Israel has returned 90 stolen antiquities: Collection had been put on block by Jerusalem auction house

Israel has returned a collection of 90 antiquities after discovering that the artifacts – presented for sale at auction - had been stolen, Egyptian authorities said on Monday.

The collection reportedly included clay vessels and vases, stelae and cultic figurines.

Antiquities theft is a huge problem for archaeologists…

Read more at:  http://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/1.557448

King Tut's Sister Stolen in Massive Museum Heist

PRETORIA, South Africa - King Tut's sister is missing and Egypt has issued an international alert for her return.

UNESCO and Interpol are working with Egyptian authorities to recover the priceless artifact, a limestone figurine of the young pharaoh's sister from the 14th century BC. The young girl holds a piece of fruit and her hair flows loosely on one side-a symbol of her youth-but her head is held high, a decidedly regal look on her face.

Read more at: http://news.yahoo.com/king-tuts-sister-stolen-massive-museum-heist-161842178--abc-news-topstories.html  

Nevada petroglyphs the oldest in North America

Ancient rock etchings along a dried-up lake bed in Nevada have confirmed to be the oldest recorded petroglyphs in North America dating back 10,000 years,  Read more at http://news.yahoo.com/nevada-petroglyphs-oldest-north-america-215350914.html

 

Ancient Roman Shipwreck May Hold 2,000-Year-Old Food

The ship is believed to 2,000 years old and is buried in the mud off the coast of Varazze, Italy...to read more visit...http://news.yahoo.com/ancient-roman-shipwreck-may-hold-2-000-old-173924008.html
 

Did Neanderthals Teach Modern Humans How to Make Tools?

Neanderthals apparently created the oldest known examples of a kind of bone tool used in Europe...to read more visit...http://news.yahoo.com/did-neanderthals-teach-modern-humans-tools-191040382.html
 

Ancient 'Hall of the Dead' Unearthed in England

Archaeologists have unearthed two nearly 6,000 year old burial mounds and the remains of two massive buildings in England.

The two wooden long-buildings or, halls, were burnt to the ground and the ashes shoveled back in to make it  into burial mounds.

Excavations at Dorstone Hill in the UK reveal nearly 6,000 year old burial mounds;
Credit University of Manchester

To read more go to:
http://www.livescience.com/38546-hall-of-dead-unearthed-england.html

Jamestown Colonists Resorted to Cannibalism

Archaeologists have discovered the first physical evidence of cannibalism by desperate and starving English colonists driven by hunger during the starving time of 1609-1619 at Jamestown, Virginia.

Shallow chops, top, on the victim's skull. Photograph courtesy Don Hurlbert, Smithsonian

The above picture of a skull which show signs of butchering. The slash marks indicate someone either didn't know what they were doing or someone hesitant about the work. The below picture of forensic facial reconstruction shows what she may have looked like.

Photograph courtesy Don Hurlbert, Smithsonian; art by StudioEIS

Read the whole article at the National Geographic:  http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/13/130501-jamestown-cannibalism-archeology-science/

Who is the Kennewick Man

The skull depicted below may change what is to believed the history of the United States. Found along the Columbia River in 1996 in Kennewick, Washington, first the skull and then most of the skeleton remains date from 8500 B.P. to 4500 B.P. but is not Mongoloid, the typical Native American ancestor. The finding caused a furor among the Native American community, so much so it took the Ninth Circuit United States Court of Appeals to keep in the possession of  the US Department of the Interior; instead of being skirted away and immediately buried as the Native Councils wanted to do. Why did the ancient bones of one person cause such a problem? Because if analyzed to be of non-Native descent then the term Native American would no longer apply. In fact those of Western Europe would be the Native American's.

I conversed with the Laura Phillips the Archaeology Collections Manger at the Burke Museum of Natural History, where the remains resides about what testing has been done since the court's decisions and she said we recently asked the same question. She referred to their blog for the answer: http://burkemuseum.blogspot.com/2011/07/ask-burke-kennewick-man-updates.html

  To read one of the original investigators, James Chatters, findings click here: http://www.mnh.si.edu/arctic/html/kennewick_man.html

Primate Hibernation More Common Than Previously Thought

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130502094759.htm - Science Daily

Until recently, the only primate known to hibernate as a survival strategy was a creature called the western fat-tailed dwarf lemur, a tropical tree-dweller from the African island of Madagascar…CLICK LINK TO READ MORE…

Frontier fort from Revolutionary War found in Georgia

http://news.yahoo.com/frontier-fort-revolutionary-war-found-ga-145450206.html - Yahoo News

Less than two months after British forces captured Savannah in December 1778, patriot militiamen scored a rare Revolutionary War victory in Georgia after a short but violent gun battle forced British loyalists to abandon a small fort built on a frontiersman's cattle farm…CLICK LINK TO READ MORE…

World's First Know Book on Training Horses

http://www.lrgaf.org/Peter_Raulwing_The_Kikkuli_Text_MasterFile_Dec_2009.pdf



With the Kentucky Derby today I thought I would link to the first known book on training horses. Written by the Hittite's on cuneiform tablets, the Kikkuli Text describes how they trained their horses for chariot duty...CLICK LINK TO READ MORE...

http://sciencenordic.com/what-vikings-really-looked - ScienceNordic

There’s no shortage of myths about the appearance of our notorious Viking ancestors. To find out more about these myths, ScienceNordic’s Danish partner site, videnskab.dk, asked its Facebook readers to list their favorite myths about what the Vikings looked like…CLICK LINK TO READ MORE…

Skin as Art and Anthropology

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/11/1113_021113_Skin.html -National Geographic

Some people think of it as the body's major organ—which it is. Others look at skin as a biological map of the history of early human migration patterns—which it could be…CLICK LINK TO READ MORE…

Gene Mutations Associated With Nearsightedness Identified

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130502131710.htm -Science Daily

People have long taken for granted that glasses and contact lenses improve vision for nearsightedness, but the genetic factors behind the common condition have remained blurry. Now researchers at Duke Medicine are closer to clearing this up…CLICK LINK TO READ MORE…

'Starving Time' Shows Jamestown Residents Resorted to Cannibalism

http://www.scienceworldreport.com/articles/6572/20130501/starving-time-shows-jamestown-residents-resorted-cannibalism.htm  - Science World Report

Archaeologists just released some shocking new information. Jamestown's colonists may have resorted to cannibalism during the "starving time" winter of 1609-10. In a presentation at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, archaeologist Doug Owsley presented the reconstructed skull of a 14-year-old English girl "Jane" discovered at the site of the fort bearing the marks of butchery…CLICK LINK TO READ MORE…

Book of the Dead

Found by Djedefre the son of the Pharaoh Khufu, The Book of the Dead, has been both deified and vilified. Read it for yourself and decide who is right...CLICK LINK TO READ THE TEXT...

http://www.sacred-texts.com/egy/ebod/

Six inch tall alien like skeleton poses medical mystery

http://news.yahoo.com/alien-looking-skeleton-poses-medical-mystery-201222636.html - Yahoo News

A teeny skeleton with a squashed alien like head may have earthly origins, but the remains, found in the Atacama Desert a decade ago, do make for quite a medical mystery…CLICK LINK TO READ MORE…

Scientists find ancient fossils in Panama

http://www.newsdaily.com/article/84a49e96673a31bda5ef5f4502fe4673/scientists-find-ancient-fossils-in-panama - Science Daily

PANAMA CITY (AP) — U.S. and Panamanian paleontologists have discovered fossils of several species that lived in Panama more than 20 million years ago…CLICK LINK TO READ MORE…

Side Scan Technology Finding the Hidden Past

Developed in the early 1960's by Dr. Harold Edgerton at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Edgerton found that applying the electronic principles from the flash tubes of high speed flash photography to acoustics that "flashes" of acoustic energy could be sent into the water and then record the reflections. Edgerton could then tow his sonar device behind a vessel and create a continuous image of the sea floor.

Original Images on Paper

The original technology produced images on paper rather than a computer screen. These early paper records were produced by a thermal plotter that burned the sonar image onto a scrolling paper record. By the 1980's commercial systems using newer cheaper computer systems could convert the analogue scan into a digital scan displaying the images on a computer screen and storing data on computer hard drives.

Used to find the Titanic

By 1985 advances in submersible, video and side scan technology helped Dr. Robert Ballard discover the wreck of HMHS Britannic's legendary sister ship RMS Titanic at a depth of 3,800 meters (12,467 feet).

http://www.planet-science.com/categories/over-11s/technology/2012/04/finding-the-titanic.aspx

Modern Side Scan Sonar

Used for both exploring and mapping of lakes, rivers and the ocean floor the modern side scan sonar works similar to low illumination angle aerial photography (but with pulses of sound rather than light). It is useful for locating shipwrecks, downed aircraft, drums, tires, pipelines and other "targets".

  

You Don't have to Be Wealthy to own one

Basic lake and river models can be purchased for around a thousand dollars and ocean ready models for under three thousand. All you need is a boat and a little disposable income and you can let the adventure of a life time begin. 

New Evidence Unearthed for the Origins of the Maya

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/13/130425-maya-origins-olmec-pyramid-ceibal-inomata-archaeology-science/ - National Geographic

Photograph courtesy Takeshi Inomata

Civilizations rise and fall, often in dramatic fashion. Their origins, though, are subtler and tend to be overlooked or poorly understood. In the case of the Maya, a new paper in Science magazine sheds surprising light on that murky early period…CLICK LINK TO READ MORE…

Scientists can bring extinct specifies back to life...but should they...

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/04/125-species-revival/zimmer-text - National Geographic

Photograph by Robb Kendrick

On July 30, 2003, a team of Spanish and French scientists reversed time. They brought an animal back from extinction, if only to watch it become extinct again…CLICK LINK TO READ MORE…

Ancient DNA Reveals Europe's Dynamic Genetic History

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130423134037.htm - Science Daily

(Credit: © lily / Fotolia)

Ancient DNA recovered from a series of skeletons in central Germany up to 7,500 years old has been used to reconstruct the first detailed genetic history of modern Europe…CLICK LINK TO READ MORE…

Ancient Europeans Mysteriously Vanished 4,500 Years Ago

http://news.yahoo.com/ancient-europeans-mysteriously-vanished-4-500-years-ago-151646349.html - Yahoo News

DNA taken from ancient European skeletons reveals that the genetic makeup of Europe mysteriously transformed about 4,500 years ago, new research suggests. Here, a skeleton, not used in the study, but…CLICK LINK TO READ MORE…

King David Era Find ‘Buried’ by Authorities for Political Reasons

http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/king-david-era-find-buried-by-authorities-for-political-reasons/2013/04/19/ - Jewish Press

The initial discovery was made by Benjamin Troper, the training coordinator of the Kfar Etzion field school, who suddenly, while aiding a troubled tourist down a deep cave south of Jerusalem, turned to look at the nearby wall and saw an ancient stone column. “I had gone down that hole dozens of times,” Tropper told Makor Rishon, “but this was the first time, because I was helping the tourist, that I came down looking in that direction.”..CLICK LINK TO READ MORE…

Towards the Origin of America's First Settlers

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130417092013.htm - Science Daily

Professor Daniel Turbón, a co-author of the study, is expert on on molecular and forensic anthropology and the origin and evolution of hominids. (Credit: Image courtesy of Universidad de Barcelona)

The international scientific community faces the exciting challenge of discovering the origin of America's first settlers. A new publication shapes some alternatives to the hypothesis of a single migration movement, as a model to describe the origin of America's population…CLICK LINK TO READ MORE…

New Carnivorous Dinosaur from Madagascar Raises More Questions Than It Answers

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130418214043.htm - Science News

The first new species of dinosaur from Madagascar in nearly a decade was announced today, filling an important gap in the island's fossil record…CLICK LINK TO READ MORE…

For 40 Years, This Russian Family Was Cut Off From All Human Contact, Unaware of WWII

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/For-40-Years-This-Russian-Family-Was-Cut-Off-From-Human-Contact-Unaware-of-World-War-II-188843001.html  - Smithsonian.com

Karp Lykov and his daughter Agafia, wearing clothes donated by Soviet geologists not long after their family was rediscovered.

Siberian summers do not last long. The snows linger into May, and the cold weather returns again during September, freezing the taiga into a still life awesome in its desolation: endless miles of straggly pine and birch forests scattered with sleeping bears and hungry wolves; steep-sided mountains; white-water rivers that pour in torrents through the valleys; a hundred thousand icy bogs…CLICK LINK TO READ MORE… 

SUMATRAN CAVE YIELDS ANCIENT ART AND 66 HUMAN BURIALS

http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/04/2013/sumatran-cave-yields-ancient-art-and-66-human-burials - Past Horizons: Adventures in Archaeology

Rock art and human burials found in a Sumatran cave will allow a better understanding of the prehistoric human occupation of Southeast Asia…CLICK LINK TO READ MORE…

Maya Long Count Calendar Calibrated to Modern European Calendar Using Carbon-14 Dating

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130411194926.htm - Science Daily

(Credit: Courtesy of the Museum der Kulturen)

The Maya are famous for their complex, intertwined calendric systems, and now one calendar, the Maya Long Count, is empirically calibrated to the modern European calendar, according to an international team of researchers…CLICK LINK TO READ MORE…

Scientists Provide a More Accurate Age for the El Sidrón Cave Neanderthals

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130402091145.htm - Science Daily

(Credit: University of Oviedo)

A study has been able to accurately determine the age of the Neanderthal remains found in the El Sidrón cave (Asturias, Spain) for which previous studies had provided inexact measurements. The application of a pre-treatment to reduce contamination by modern carbon has managed to lower the margin of error from 40,000 to just 3,200 years…CLICK LINK TO READ MORE…

King Arthur's round table may have been found by archaeologists in Scotland

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/8724183/King-Arthurs-round-table-may-have-been-found-by-archaeologists-in-Scotland.html - The Telegraph

The King's Knot, a geometrical earthwork in the former royal gardens below Stirling Castle, has been shrouded in mystery for hundreds of years…CLICK LINK TO READ MORE…

SEVERAL LINES AT NAZCA SUFFER IRREPARABLE DAMAGE

http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/04/2013/several-lines-at-nazca-suffer-irreparable-damage - Past Horizons: Adventures in Archaeology

According to reports from the Peruvian newspaper El Comercio, serious damage to elements of the outer boundary of the world famous Nazca lines has been caused by heavy machinery belonging to a quarry firm removing limestone from the area…CLICK LINK TO READ MORE…