Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Thompson
Date: 21 Oct 23 - 11:14 PM

Amazing discovery in the Orkneys, the far-flung group of islands north of Scotland: a beautifully built tomb from five thousand years ago, containing fourteen skeletons of adults and children, two positioned as if they were embracing. We'll never know the stories of these people who were commemorated with such beauty and such technology.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 29 Sep 23 - 03:09 PM

The comprehensively-discredited politician, Michael Gove, "Britons have had enough of experts..."

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 06 Oct 23 - 12:52 PM

Leonardo da Vinci. Just so.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Helen
Date: 05 Nov 23 - 06:35 PM

Tens of thousands of ancient coins found off the coast of Sardinia

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Helen
Date: 06 Nov 23 - 01:39 AM

Thanks SRS. The country that the coins came from was not stated in the article and the markings on the coins were not legible in the photos.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Helen
Date: 10 Nov 23 - 03:04 AM

This isn't archeological but...

Hexham bunyip folklore continues to intrigue as conservationists work to protect Australasian bittern

"One night well over a century ago three miners headed to Hexham Swamp, between Newcastle and Maitland, for an evening of wild duck hunting.

"But instead of finding ducks, they came across a terrifying creature with a tremendous roar 'like that of a lion' and two eyes like 'golden orbs in the night'.

"And so, the legend of the Hexham bunyip was born.

"That infamous night in 1879 may have become a local legend, but today this swamp creature is now rarer than ever and residents are trying to save it from extinction."

Before you tune out of this article, it relates to a bird which is now close to extinction around the world.

"It turns out the mysterious creature that scared the three miners in 1879 was a bird; the endangered Australasian bittern, also known as the 'bunyip bird'".

...

"The Australasian bittern is globally endangered, with fewer than 2,500 individuals estimated to be left in the world.

"It is also believed that more than 90 per cent of its habitat has been lost in Australia."

There is a dedicated wetlands area at the riverside suburb of Hexham which is about 15 minutes drive north of where I live in Newcastle, NSW.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Donuel
Date: 22 Oct 23 - 09:40 AM

WOW The World’s Oldest Human Statue Discovered at Karahan Tepe dating back 11,400 years may not be a fertility symbol.-insert joke here like it is a towel hook-
Look closer and you will see a woven/knitted sweater but no pants.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Nov 23 - 03:29 PM

I fixed the first link to NatGeo, but as noted, the article is for subscribers only.

Here's one everyone should be able to read: Declassified Cold War Satellite Photos Reveal Hundreds of Roman-Era Forts
Once thought to be defensive military bases, the forts may have supported peaceful trade and travel

The program ran from 1960 to 1972, Cold War spy satellites taking a look at the landscape and recording patterns on the ground that are archaeologically important sites.

Using declassified photos from Cold War-era spy satellites, researchers have identified hundreds of previously undiscovered ancient Roman forts in Iraq and Syria. Their findings, published last week in the journal Antiquity, are changing long-held assumptions about the Roman military’s role in the area.

Previously, historians knew about a smaller number of the forts. Dating to between the second and sixth centuries C.E., they were thought to function as defensive military posts. The new research upends these ideas, suggesting the forts were more likely built to support trade and travel.

As lead author Jesse Casana, an archaeologist at Dartmouth, tells CNN’s Mindy Weisberger, they were “places of dynamic cultural exchange and movement of goods and ideas.”

In the 1920s and 30s, French archaeologist Antoine Poidebard discovered 116 of the forts by photographing them from a biplane. These forts appeared to form a defensive wall that ran from north to south along an eastern boundary of the empire. Poidebard thought this wall likely acted as a Roman military barrier against invaders.

More at the link.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Nov 23 - 10:52 PM

From Helen's most recently linked article:

The coins, dating from the first half of the fourth century AD, were found in seagrass not far from the town of Arzachena.

They were first spotted by a diver who saw something metallic out of the corner of their eye.

The diver alerted authorities, who sent divers from an art protection squad along with others from the Italian cultural ministry's undersea archaeology department.

Exactly how many coins have been retrieved has not been determined yet, as they are still being sorted.

A ministry statement estimated that there are at least about 30,000 and possibly as many as 50,000, given their collective weight.

"All the coins were in an excellent and rare state of preservation," the ministry said.

The few coins that were damaged still had legible inscriptions, it said.

"The treasure found in the waters off Arzachena represent one of the most important coin discoveries," in recent years, said Luigi La Rocca, a Sardinian archaeology department official. . . . Given the location and shape of the seabed, there could be remains of ship wreckage nearby.

That ship will be a story, if they find it!

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 22 Oct 23 - 10:24 AM

link to 'attack by slavers' doesn't work as the final letter of the URL is missing

A google search on "Can archaeologists solve Sweden's 150 year old mystery" led to the article, but alas, it's only for subscribers

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 23 Oct 23 - 04:41 PM

& I only use your linkifier, Dave!!

testimonial from very satisfied customer

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 01 Nov 23 - 04:30 PM

thanks, Maggie.

another article form my favourite site - Declassified Cold War Spy Satellite Images Reveal Roman Forts In Syria and Iraq
                     
Archaeologists Unearth a Medieval Skeleton with a Prosthetic Hand ...Historically, while this find is exceptional, it's not unique. There are approximately 50 known prosthetic devices from the late Middle Ages and early modern period in Central Europe. They range from rudimentary, non-moving models to intricate devices with mechanical components. The famed knight, Götz von Berlichingen, is a notable figure from this era. He wore an "Iron Hand" prosthetic after losing his right hand during the siege of Landshut in 1530. Unlike the Freising discovery, von Berlichingen's prosthetic was a marvel of engineering for its time, featuring movable parts and a complex design. ...

Origin of Ancient Mummified Baboons in Egypt Found and Points to a Location for Punt

This 15th Century French Painting Features A Precisely Drawn Prehistoric Tool ... he study concludes, that after artistic license is accounted for, it would appear that Fouquet painted an actual handaxe, that perhaps he had seen with his own eyes. Kangas wrote in the study that Fouquet spent a lot of time painting the stone, and this means he had “probably seen one that struck his attention and imagination". ...

before I end up linking lots more articles, here's the source page

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Thompson
Date: 25 Oct 23 - 07:02 AM

Sandra in Sydney, here's the link

https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/history-and-civilisation/2021/10/can-archaeologists-solve-swedens-1500-year-old-murder-mystery

and if that doesn't work, search for the headline or subhead:

Can archaeologists solve Sweden's 1,500-year-old murder mystery?
The remains of 26 massacred men were uncovered at the Iron Age site of Sandby Borg, where a grim tale of societal collapse is revealing itself.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Thompson
Date: 22 Oct 23 - 06:40 AM

And what looks to me like an attack by slavers in Scandinavia during the collapse of the Roman Empire.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Thompson
Date: 10 Nov 23 - 01:11 AM

Danish archaeologists have discovered the importance of a queen long relegated to wifehood: Thyra.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: DaveRo
Date: 23 Oct 23 - 08:11 AM

The Mudcat link maker has a 128 character limit on a URL. If you paste a longer one it gets truncated.

My Simple Linkier has no such limit.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 02 Dec 23 - 03:51 PM

& of course, this link was created using it!!

sandra (Simple Linkifier's No. 1 fan)

Palorchestes was a blind, sharp-toothed creature with a trunk that lived for millions of years in Australia Central Australia's fossil bed at Alcoota holds many mysteries including the story of the extremely rare Palorchestes.

Palorchestes was a strange creature that lived for millions of years in pockets across Australia, but has no living relatives.

Adam Yates, senior curator of earth sciences for the Northern Territory Museum and Art Gallery, said it was one of the weirdest creatures found at the fossil bed.

"It is a distant relative of wombats but it is very un-wombat-like in many respects and it has a number of really unusual anatomical features," Dr Yates ...

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Dec 23 - 05:17 PM

DNA Study Sheds New Light On The Mysterious 9,000-Year-Old Shaman Burial In Bad Dürrenberg (Central Germany)

Jan Bartek - AncientPages.com - The 9,000-year-old shaman burial in Bad Dürrenberg, Germany, is one of Central Europe's most spectacular discoveries.

Discovered in 1934 during construction works, the double burial of an adult woman and an infant has long fascinated scientists and the public. Who was this woman, and what was her relation to the child?

When examining the ancient grave goods, scientists could determine the woman buried in a seated position in Bad Dürrenberg was a shaman.

Genetic research now reveals the relationship between the woman and the child: the boy is not her son but a fourth- or fifth-degree relation. The phenotypic variants analyzed in the woman's genome inform us that she had a relatively dark skin complexion, dark straight hair, and blue eyes.

Here's an earlier report about the same individual.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Donuel
Date: 06 Dec 23 - 05:03 PM

An outstanding Archaeologist I agree with.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Thompson
Date: 07 Dec 23 - 06:29 AM

A longer piece about the German shaman and her young friend.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Donuel
Date: 07 Dec 23 - 07:58 AM

Between nystagmus and teeth filing she certainly could be dramatic. There could be other explanations for the 600 year younger antlers.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 07 Dec 23 - 04:49 PM

Thompson, thanks for the link - more pics here

latest articles from 'Ancient Origins' for those who want (need) more archaeology!

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 10 Dec 23 - 02:28 AM

On Sunday mornings ABC (Aus. Broadcasting Commission) Radio National has been playing Stuff the British Stole a podcast (& TV series). This morning it was the episode about the Elgin/Parthenon Marbles
Throughout its reign, the British Empire stole a lot of stuff. Today the Empire's loot sits in museums, galleries, private collections and burial sites with polite plaques. But its history is often messier than the plaques suggest.
In each episode of this global smash hit podcast, Walkley award-winning journalist, author and genetic potluck, Marc Fennell, takes you on the wild, evocative, sometimes funny, often tragic adventure of how these stolen treasures got to where they live today. These objects will ultimately help us see the modern world — and ourselves — in a different light.
This is a co-production between the ABC and CBC Podcasts.

“The antidote to A History of the World in 100 Objects. Marc Fennell, fab Aussie podcaster of It Burns and Nut Jobs, investigates a single cultural artefact in each episode of his new podcast, thus exposing what he calls the “not-so-polite history” of the British empire. The latest show uses pekinese dogs to take us to 1860 and the British-Chinese opium wars; previous episodes explain the British theft of Benin’s bronzes, and how Tipu’s Tiger ended up in the V&A. Fennell is immensely entertaining, his podcasts are always gripping and this is an excellent series that uses history, colonialism and art to examine where we are today. Recommended.” — Miranda Sawyer, The Guardian

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via book report) pt 2
From: Donuel
Date: 13 Dec 23 - 07:40 AM

'The Dawn of Everything' fundamentally transforms our understanding of the human past and offers a path toward imagining new forms of freedom, new ways of organizing society. This is a monumental book of formidable intellectual range, animated by curiosity, moral vision, and a faith in the power of individuals.
Drawing on pathbreaking research in archaeology and anthropology, the authors show how history becomes a far more interesting place once we learn to throw off our conceptual shackles and perceive what’s really there. If humans did not spend 95 percent of their evolutionary past in tiny bands of hunter-gatherers, what were they doing all that time? If agriculture, and cities, did not mean a plunge into hierarchy and domination, then what kinds of social and economic organization did they lead to? The answers are often unexpected, and suggest that the course of human history may be less set in stone, and more full of playful, hopeful possibilities, than we tend to assume.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 27 Dec 23 - 04:37 PM

Ancient Origins' Most Extraordinary Archaeological Treasures of 2023

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Bill D
Date: 28 Dec 23 - 01:34 PM

Cache up to 7000 years old from British Colombia

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 28 Dec 23 - 04:09 PM

thanks, Bill, I went looking for more info & found a few articles & a new rabbit hole to travel into!

When It Rains It Pours - Ancient Egyptian law It didn’t rain frequently in ancient Egypt, but when it did, says Sapienza University of Rome archaeologist Aneta Skalec, it could come down so violently that it led to legal quarrels between neighbors. Skalec examined a papyrus known as the Demotic Legal Code of Hermopolis West, which was recorded in the time of the pharaoh Ptolemy II Philadelphus (reigned 285–246 B.C.), although its origins are likely centuries earlier. The document contains the most extensive known collection of Egyptian laws, many of them concerning leasing of property and rules of inheritance. “Among the various regulations, we find those concerning neighborly disputes,” Skalec says. “I was surprised when I came across the regulations relating to rain”

I borrow Archaeology from the library & have now bookmarked it's home page.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Rain Dog
Date: 01 Jan 24 - 11:15 AM

From The Guardian

Another cock-and-balls theory

"Cerne Abbas giant is Hercules and was army meeting point, say historians

Dorset hillside chalk figure was originally a muster station for West Saxon armies fending off Vikings, experts suggest."

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 03 Jan 24 - 03:05 AM

Meanwhile, another set of experts have also been pondering ...Cerne Abbas Chalk Figure Now Identified As the Greek Hero Hercules

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Rain Dog
Date: 03 Jan 24 - 05:21 AM

It is the same two experts. Both links are based on the same source.

I like this quote from Sandra's link:

"It remains to be seen how widely accepted this new theory about the origin and meaning of the Cerne Abbas giant will be. Those who've invested time and energy pursuing other explanations may not be ready to give up just yet. This isn’t the end of attempts to understand the meaning of the Cerne Abbas giant, since conclusive proof that the giant is actually Hercules is lacking, as Drs. Morcom and Gittos concede."

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 05 Jan 24 - 06:53 PM

oops an incomplete link - here 'tis Artifacts Recovered From Antakya’s Earthquake Rubble - Feb 2023 earthquake


The Elusive Quest: The Search for Antony and Cleopatra's Lost Tomb

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 05 Jan 24 - 07:12 PM

sigh, so many things to do, so many rabbit holes to jump into ...

Why Did Ancient Scots Prepare ‘Frankenstein’ Mummies?

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 06 Jan 24 - 04:15 PM

The strange story of the grave of Copernicus

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Donuel
Date: 08 Jan 24 - 07:44 PM

Copernicus deduced the sun was at the center of our solar system after Leonardo DaVinci surmised the same thing. Da Vinci's genius was tempered by procrastination. He never took the time to publish his findings. From the evidence of the notebooks that survive, if even a fraction of Da Vinci's discoveries or insights had made it into the public domain when he was alive, science could have been advanced by an era (i.e., imagine if we had next century's technology today). It was he who first surmised that "The earth is not in the centre of the Sun's orbit nor at the centre of the universe."

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Jan 24 - 06:35 AM

Calling Leonardo "Da Vinci" is like calling me "Of Bude" instead of Steve (I've been called worse). Vinci is merely the town in Tuscany where he came from. In context, "Leonardo" is just fine, in other words as long as you're talking about the great Italian polymath, not "Titanic."

I hadn't heard the story of Copernicus's grave. What a great piece of science.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Jan 24 - 06:52 AM

The only hill figure I've seen close up is the Long Man of Wilmington in Sussex. There's no reference to it in any literature before 1710. It may have been carved out of the grass around that time by an enterprising monk. It's been seriously messed about with down the years (it may never have been originally in chalk, its feet have been altered, headgear removed, its two staves shortened and changed, a massive penis drawn on it, a face mask added, etc.). It's now marked out by white-painted blocks. It's still mightily impressive, and, to see it in correct human proportion, you have to view it from the bottom of the hill. Clever!

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 09 Jan 24 - 07:26 AM

thanks for your report, Steve, this is how I travel.

I never did the big O/S trip when I was young, I bought my flat instead & travelled with books, & later the www. I see the world thru other people's eyes.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Jan 24 - 07:50 AM

Sorry I didn't do a link but it's an immediate google!

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Bill D
Date: 16 Jan 24 - 10:07 AM

https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/ancient-fortifications-revealed-undernea

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Jan 24 - 03:49 PM

A friend posted a photo on Instagram of a re-discovered deep cave community in Turkey that looks interesting but she offered no links and little information so I'll do some digging before I post more about it. I think she did a cut/paste with the text, so that's my starting point.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Donuel
Date: 16 Jan 24 - 07:06 PM

Turkey is known for many ancient underground cities but I think it is this one...https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/inside-turkey-underground-cities#:~:text=Beneath%20the%20streets%20throughout%20parts,

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Donuel
Date: 16 Jan 24 - 07:18 PM

This one is considered to be the biggest https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/derinkuyu-turkey-underground-city-strange-maps

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Jan 24 - 02:32 PM

"Jewels" being decorative things and not necessarily stones, it appears the jewels here are metal, gold and silver, though it lists coral and amber as part of it.

Ancient temple filled with gold and silver jewels discovered in Greece

Archaeologists excavating a sanctuary honoring the ancient Greek goddess Artemis have announced they discovered a significant number of structures, as well as plentiful relics, including gold and silver jewels.

A "monumental building in the heart of the sanctuary" was first found in 2017, according to a recent social media post from Greece's Ministry of Culture. Another temple was found in 2023. Excavating this second temple turned up "rich relics" and jewelry, the ministry said. Other excavations found buildings from the ninth and eighth centuries B.C.

The excavations are conducted annually by a group of Swiss and Greek archaeologists, the Ministry of Culture said in a news release. The research project began about 15 years ago, the ministry said.

A bonus link at the bottom of that story says an ancient aqueduct was uncovered along with a few coins.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Bill D
Date: 21 Jan 24 - 08:18 AM

Rare Crouching Bodies Found Amongst Mass Ancient Burial site in Wales

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 22 Jan 24 - 09:03 PM

Scottish tartan: World's oldest tartan brought 'back to life' ... An original piece of tartan material was discovered in a peat bog in Glen Affric in the Highlands, around 40 years ago.

After testing by The Scottish Tartans Authority, it was confirmed to be the oldest in the world, dating from around 1500-1600 AD.

Now, a team of fashion designers from the House of Edgar, alongside a tartan historian, have recreated this special tartan, for anyone to wear.

Peter E. MacDonald, a historian at at the Scottish Tartans Authority, who helped with the research said: "It is quite special to see the tartan remade as it could have been 500 years ago." ...

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Jan 24 - 11:42 AM

I played detective this morning to track down a sharable version of this story from 2020. Journals like Science and Nature have a hefty paywall, but sometimes you can get one or two articles free a month. Were humans living in a Mexican cave during the last ice age?
Startlingly early dates for stone tools could upend ideas about peopling of the Americas

It has to do with finding stone tools in a cave in Mexico, but since the cave doesn't also have a fire pit area (classic in human habitation) they can't be sure if the stones are tools or just naturally occurring fragments.

At first glance, Chiquihuite Cave in Mexico's Zacatecas state is an unlikely place to find signs of early humans, let alone evidence that might change the story of the peopling of the Americas. It sits a daunting 1000 meters above a valley, overlooking a desert landscape in the mountains north of Zacatecas. Getting there requires a 4- or 5-hour uphill scramble over a moonscape of jagged boulders.

But in the soil below the cave's floor, a team led by archaeologist Ciprian Ardelean of the Autonomous University of Zacatecas, University City Siglo XXI, dug up almost 2000 stone objects that researchers think are tools. By combining state-of-the-art dating methods, the team argues that humans were at the site at least 26,000 years ago—more than 10,000 years before any other known human occupation in the region. "Chiquihuite is a solitary dot" of human occupation, Ardelean says.

The dates place humans there during the height of the last ice age, when ice covered much of what is now Canada and sea levels were much lower. To have settled in Mexico by then, Ardelean says, people must have entered the Americas 32,000 years ago or more, before the ice reached its maximum extent.

That's a sample from the article, but if you can't open that, this via Google Scholar. It's just the abstract, but it has a lot of the author names you can use to track down other stuff along these lines.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Jan 24 - 11:49 AM

This paper was also referred to in the one above about Chiquihuite Cave in Mexico's Zacatecas state:
Earliest Human Presence in North America Dated to the Last Glacial Maximum: New Radiocarbon Dates from Bluefish Caves, Canada

The Mexican site seems to be on a par with a Canadian site age-wise. From the Bluefish paper:

Introduction
Beringia, a vast region stretching from the Lena River in Siberia to the Mackenzie River in the Yukon Territory [1, 2], is thought to have played a pivotal role in the initial dispersal of human populations from Asia to North America. The exact timing of the initial dispersal remains uncertain, however. Recent genetic and palaeogenetic analyses [3–10], as well as dental morphological evidence [11], confirm that human populations migrating into North America originated in Siberia. They also suggest that dispersing groups reached Beringia during the LGM (dated to ca. 18,000–24,000 cal BP) where they were genetically isolated for up to 8,000 years before moving south of the ice-sheets into North America [3–11]. Unfortunately, archaeological support for the standstill hypothesis is scarce [12]. Recent archaeological discoveries prove that humans were able to adapt to high-latitude, Arctic environments by at least 45,000 cal BP [13]. The Yana River sites, in Siberia, demonstrate that modern human populations had reached Western Beringia by 32,000 cal BP [14, 15], i.e., well before the LGM. Human activity is not recorded again in Western Beringia until the post-LGM period, however, with occupations of two open-air sites, Berelekh and Ushki, dated to ca. 14–13,000 cal BP [16–18]. In Eastern Beringia, the oldest currently accepted human occupations occur in the Tanana valley (interior Alaska) at Swan Point, Broken Mammoth and Mead [19–21], and at the Little John site, located 2 km east of the international border in the Yukon Territory [22]; these sites are no older than ca. 14,000 cal BP, however [19–22]. The only potential candidate for an earlier, LGM occupation of Beringia is the controversial Bluefish Caves site.

Excavated from 1977 to 1987 under the direction of Jacques Cinq-Mars (Archaeological Survey of Canada), the Bluefish Caves site (northern Yukon Territory, 67°09’N 140°45’W) occupies a unique place in Eastern Beringian prehistory. The site is comprised of three small karstic cavities, not exceeding 30 m3 in volume, located in the Keele range about 54 kilometres southwest of Old Crow village. The caves are situated at the base of a limestone ridge about 250 meters above the right bank of the Bluefish River [23–27]. All three cavities contain a loess layer (Unit B) up to one meter thick, deposited on bedrock (Unit A) and overlain by a humus layer mixed with cryoclastic debris (Unit C) and finally, a modern humus layer (Unit D) [25, 27]. The loess deposit (Unit B) can be differentiated into three sub-layers based on granulometric and sedimentological examinations and was excavated in 5 cm spits [23]. Small artefact series were excavated from the loess in Cave I (MgVo-1) and Cave II (MgVo-2) and rich faunal assemblages were recovered from all three caves [23–27]. The lithic assemblages (which number about one hundred specimens) include microblades, microblade cores, burins and burin spalls as well as small flakes and other lithic debris [23–26]. Most of the artefacts were recovered from the loess of Cave II at a depth comprised between about 30 to 155 cm. The deepest diagnostic pieces–a microblade core (B3.3.17), a burin (B3.6.1) and a core tablet (B4.16.4) found inside Cave II, as well as a microblade (E3.3.2) found near the cave entrance–derive from the basal loess at a depth of about 110 to 154 cm below datum, according to the CMH archives [28]. While the artefacts cannot be dated with precision [24, 25, 29], they are typologically similar to the Dyuktai culture which appears in Eastern Siberia about 16–15,000 cal BP, or possibly earlier, ca. 22–20,000 cal BP [30]. There are no reported hearth features [24]. Palaeoenvironmental evidence, including evidence of herbaceous tundra vegetation [31, 32] and vertebrate fauna typical of Pleistocene deposits found elsewhere in Eastern Beringia [27, 33, 34], is consistent with previously obtained radiocarbon dates which suggest that the loess layer was deposited between 10,000 and 25,000 14C BP (radiocarbon years Before Present), i.e., between 11,000 and 30,000 cal BP [23–27, 35] (Table 1).

And if you haven't flogged this topic enough, Wikipedia has an entry about the Mexican cave and the controversy.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Jan 24 - 12:58 PM

Why Did Champagne Bottles On The Titanic Not Implode?
Titan imploded, so why not champagne bottles at lower depths?

When the doomed submersible the Titan imploded as the crew attempted to explore the wreck of the Titanic in June 2023, people began asking a lot of questions about implosions, including why the Titanic itself didn't implode despite being at a lower depth.

One such question, asked a number of times over the last year, is why champagne bottles found on the Titanic did not implode. Instead, there are bottles that appear to be largely intact.

It is possible to find the location on Google Earth, but I can't get it to give me a link to the coordinates. Google Maps will give one.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Jan 24 - 02:57 PM

Sandra, that revived/recreated tartan is beautiful.

The first mention of tartan was in 1538, but now there are thought to be around 7,000 unique tartans in the world - even former US President Obama and Hello Kitty have their own tartan!

The first mention - I wonder what kind of document houses that mention? And I wonder if there are paintings of tartans that far back?

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 26 Jan 24 - 07:08 PM

I'm involved in a project making wallhangings for the Museum of Australian Democracy & City of Sydney Council to commemorate the South Sea Islanders brought to Australia as slaves (oops, fancy typing that, they really signed work agreements!!) in the 19 & early 20th century.

Info on the project here https://www.instagram.com/helenfraser_artist/ under Yumi Olgeta (= 'you & me together' in Bislama language) - scroll down to pic of 2 metre long wallhanging on the floor. I'm not on instagram so can't look at the pics.

I originally saw a workshop on Council's What's site on so went along & started learning about the Blackbirding days & started sewing islander motifs. Aunties from the community talked about their ancestors & their own ives - 12 & 14 year old boy & girl taken from 2 islands certainly did not sign anything. The first Blackbirder, Ben Boyd had a tartan & we were given printed reproduction pieces of this pattern to use!

turning this into a music thread, here's one of Phil d'Conch's contributions - Note: Fijian shanghai.
“...Other plans have also been adopted. One of the best known is perhaps that of counterfeiting a missionary ship. A white macintosh coat has done duty for a surplice, the ship's log-book for a Prayer Book; and as no one could sing a hymn, the sailors joined in chanting that impressive ditty, 'Give me some time to blow the man down.' The natives were then invited below to prayers, and a barrel of biscuit left open as if by accident. Many went down to the hold, but on attempting to return found the hatches had closed over them….”
[Two Years in Fiji, by Litton Forbes. London, Longmans,1875]