Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 01 Jan 26 - 05:06 PM

Walking with Moai: Unlocking the mysteries of Easter Island stone statues The extent of Te Tokanga’s monolithic dimensions and the social organisation of the people who created it have been revealed for the first time, researchers say.

Landmark three-dimensional mapping of an Easter Island quarry has also shed more light on how researchers believe hundreds of other similar statues came to be.

An island dotted by sculpted heads (read on!)

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Donuel
Date: 03 Jan 26 - 01:42 PM

Evidence of a 7 million year old bi-pedal primate has beem discovered, doubling the previous bi pedal ancester.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Beer
Date: 09 Jan 26 - 05:11 PM

A large fossil footprint, estimated to be 290 million years old, was recently discovered on the shore of Hillsborough Bay, Prince Edward Island. The find is significant because it is believed to be the oldest known example of its type globally and could potentially rewrite the timeline of evolution for certain animals.
https://youtu.be/AMmoCnqiz5U?si=9gr60Ov_Ti4d94pX

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Jan 26 - 06:34 PM

That's quite a find! I like the complimentary attitude toward "citizen scientists" - a stark contrast to the folks in the US known to raid historic sites to grab stuff to sell.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 21 Jan 26 - 02:51 PM

Hand stencils discovered in an Indonesian cave are oldest-known rock art Hand stencils found in an Indonesian cave have been dated to back to at least 67,800 years ago, making it the world's oldest-known rock art.   

The team behind the discovery suggest the location of the find provides more evidence that Australia's first people arrived around 65,000 years ago.

What's next?

As there is limited evidence of humans in the area during that time period, the team are investigating other limestone caves to gather more evidence of occupation ...

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Helen
Date: 21 Jan 26 - 03:12 PM

Thanks Sandra. You beat me to it again!

I have been watching a documentary series on ABC (Oz) TV over the last couple of weeks: Human presented by Ella Al-Shamahi

Ms Al-Shamahi has mentioned Australia briefly a couple of times but I suspect that that might be the extent of the Australian connection in these five episodes. (FYI, Sandra: The most recent episode is repeated on Saturday arvo and Tuesday morning, and the next new ep is Tuesday night.)

The interesting thing about the last episode I saw was that an area of Indonesia was investigated and the date of human occupation was similar to the estimated time of Australia's first people arriving.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Helen
Date: 21 Jan 26 - 03:15 PM

Also Sandra and other Aussies, I was briefly tempted to post my comment about Greensleeves History of in this Archaeological thread but it was a bit of a stretch.

You may have some "archaeological" insights to add to my comment in re-opening that thread. LOL

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 23 Jan 26 - 02:04 AM

DNA found in an ancient Colombian skeleton may hold answers to origin of syphilis A previously unknown strain of syphilis bacteria has been discovered in human remains in Colombia, dating back 5,500 years.

The ancient sample is more than 3,000 years older than the earliest known record of Treponema pallidum, the bacterium responsible for syphilis ...

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Donuel
Date: 26 Jan 26 - 08:07 AM

It is a spirochete bacteria. Even Lyme disease is a spirochete.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Feb 26 - 12:24 PM

Archaeologists Discovered the ‘Holy Grail’ of Shipwrecks a Decade Ago. Now, They’re Finally Beginning to Unravel the Secrets of the ‘San José’
A new book by author Julian Sancton explores the lengthy quest to find the Spanish galleon—and the political firestorm that has engulfed the wreck ever since

Part of the article:

But one of the most notable traces of Cartagena’s history remains hidden underwater: the San José, a Spanish galleon often referred to as the “world’s richest shipwreck.” Resting some 12 miles offshore at a depth of nearly 2,000 feet, the vessel was once the flagship of a Spanish Empire Tierra Firme fleet. In June 1708, the San José ran afoul of an English warship while transporting silver, gems, up to eight tons of gold and other precious cargo back to Spain.

The galleon sank with a payload of roughly 7 million to 12 million pesos on board. Its wreckage was only discovered in the Caribbean Sea in November 2015, under secretive circumstances involving an English hedge fund manager and a former employee of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. The ship has rested on the seabed ever since, ensnared in a tug of war over its ownership and fate.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Bill D
Date: 10 Feb 26 - 02:05 PM

Right.. everyone who was vaguely connected to that gold & silver...etc. wants to claim it. Right now it seems Columbia has the inside track, but is slow about proceeding.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Feb 26 - 12:29 PM

A shift to a more modern day artifact - a story about the invention filed by Abraham Lincoln. The only president to have a patent.

Lincoln's patent, No. 6,469, was granted on May 22, 1849, for a device for "Buoying Vessels Over Shoals," when he was back in Springfield practicing law after one term as an Illinois congressman in Washington. His idea, to equip boats with inflatable bellows of "india-rubber cloth, or other suitable water-proof fabric" levered alongside the hull, came as a result of river and lake expeditions he made as a young man, ferrying people and produce on the Mississippi and the Great Lakes. At least twice his boats ran aground on sandbars or hung up on other obstacles; given the Big River's ever-shifting shallows, such potentially dangerous misadventures happened often. Freeing a beached vessel usually involved the laborious unloading of cargo until the boat rode high enough to clear the snag. According to Harry R. Rubenstein, chair of the Division of Politics and Reform at NMAH, Lincoln "was keenly interested in water transportation and canal building, and enthusiastically promoted both when he served in the Illinois legislature." He was also an admirer of patent law, famously declaring that it "added the fuel of interest to the fire of genius."

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 17 Feb 26 - 03:59 PM

thanks, stilly

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 27 Feb 26 - 05:38 PM

Archaeologists relocate lighthouse keeper's wife's remains on remote Qld island Celeste Jordan is among a group of archaeologists delicately sifting white sand looking for human remains.

They're looking for Jane Ann Owen, who died on the remote northern coral cay almost 150 years ago.

Waves lap at the shore, not too far from turtles and blacktip reef sharks swimming nearby in the shallows, reminding the team of archaeologists of how fragile and exposed Low Isles is.

"There was a lot of logistical planning for this because we were working on a remote island," Ms Jordan said.

She's part of a team of experts, led by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, who have worked to save Mrs Owen's body from rising sea levels on the western side of the island. (read on)

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 27 Feb 26 - 05:43 PM

Everyday items from ancient Greece and Rome in the spotlight at ANU Classics Museum It doesn't look like much from the outside, but the inside of the Australian National University Classics Museum is akin to peering into the cupboards of a kitchen from 2,000 years ago.

The collection has all the latest interior decor, gadgets and gizmos for living during ancient Greek and Roman times — a sieve used to make cheese, a plate, a bottle for oil, and something that looks remarkably like a Pyrex pie dish.

The ordinary nature of these everyday objects is extraordinary ...

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Helen
Date: 11 Mar 26 - 11:03 PM

This doesn't count as archaeology in the traditional sense, but then maybe old tech is archaeological, historically speaking.

This article was in the news today on ABC (Oz) - Iconic Australian-made pinball machines preserved for generations to come

A few years before I met my Hubby, although we were at Uni at the same time, he left in his last year of his Electronics Engineering degree to start working there. The job lasted a few years and then he went on to work at other IT/computer companies before spending his last few working years as a computer guy for the local schools run by the state Dept of Education. He is now retired.

When the pinball machines from that company are on display later this year at the National Film and Sound Archives in Canberra, I think we will travel down there to see them.

Interestingly, there are a lot of Oz folk and traditional music files in those archives as well, including John Meredith's sound files of interviews with Oz folk musicians. He wrote the books called Folk Songs of Australia and the Men and Women Who Sang Them, volumes 1 & 2 based on those interviews. And, archives are right up my ex-librarian alley as well so I think we will both enjoy the trip.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 12 Mar 26 - 02:40 AM

Helen - before you head to Canberra check out the Bush Music Club blog for information about Merro & other BMC members & the people they collected. I also have lists of NLA oral histories

sandra

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Helen
Date: 12 Mar 26 - 03:07 AM

Thanks Sandra. I'll make a note of that. The news article gave no clues on when the pinball machines will go on display apart from saying it would be sometime this year, so I'm guessing I have some time to swot up on the music beforehand. :-)

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Donuel
Date: 12 Mar 26 - 07:35 AM

Also not under the topic of archeology is what ancient people were doing, which is what we are doing here today, which is gabbing. For more than 10,000 years, oral traditions were telling stories that were only transcribed in cuneiform about 3,000 years ago. The great flood was a most popular story and resembled the biblical version we have today. Even Neanderthals must have had some form of oral language.

Cuneiform is basically syllabic and was reserved for the elite and not considered to be taught to anyone but talented scribes. If it were not for King Darius, we would not have a rossetta stone of sorts that allowed us to decipher cuneiform texts in the 19th century. Two forms of cuneiform evolved together, Sumerian and Semitic.

When symbols stood for the sounds of speech, the written language became highly complex, with many similar sounds that depended entirely on context. The British Museum has several hundred thousand cuneiform clay tablets. They offer a window into ancient thought. Also board games were extremely popular.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Mar 26 - 12:44 AM

I used to love to play pinball in college and a few years after. The only trace of it over the years was when the washer would go out of balance and I remember telling the kids it had gone "tilt" - and had to explain the reference.

This may have already passed through this thread, I just noticed it's from 2024, but I don't remember reading it (so it would be quite embarrassing if I posted it before!)
Archaeologists Recover 900 Artifacts From Ming Dynasty Shipwrecks in South China Sea
The trove of objects—including pottery, porcelain, shells and coins—was found roughly a mile below the surface