Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 13 Jun 22 - 12:33 AM

Mass frog burial baffles experts at iron age site near Cambridge An unprecedented trove of 8,000 bones presents archaeologists at a road dig with a prehistoric mystery.
Archaeologists working near the site of an iron age home near Cambridge were perplexed when they uncovered a vast trove of frog skeletons. Quite why more than 8,000 bones had been piled up and preserved is a prehistoric mystery.

They were all recovered from a single 14-metre-long ditch, right next to the site of an iron age roundhouse at Bar Hill, where there was a settlement during the middle and late iron age (400BC-AD43). The discovery was made by the Museum of London Archaeology (Mola) Headland Infrastructure, conducting excavations as part of the National Highways A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon road improvement scheme.

Although it is not unusual to find frog bones at ancient sites, archaeologists are baffled by the sheer quantity of those unearthed at Bar Hill. (read on)

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 08 Jun 22 - 10:39 AM

gold again, but not good news

I missed this article when it appeared, but read about the same theft on an archaeology site, so went looking for more info.

‘Ukraine’s heritage is under direct attack’: why Russia is looting the country’s museums

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Raggytash
Date: 08 Jun 22 - 07:28 AM

There is a brief, but fantastic video released showing some footage of the wreck that Sandra so kindly posted.

video

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Donuel
Date: 07 Jun 22 - 10:26 AM

I could use those blue and white dishes, I've found ship dishes are thick.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 07 Jun 22 - 07:32 AM

GOLD!! GOLD!! GOLD!! Two additional shipwrecks found off Colombian coast close to San José galleon. Colombian naval officials conducting underwater monitoring of the long-sunken San José galleon have discovered two other historical shipwrecks nearby. (read on)

Alas they are not gold ships ...

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Donuel
Date: 30 May 22 - 08:18 AM

The Sandra link https://www.smithsonianmag.com/category/archaeology/
is probably the single most interesting link in this thread that could keep the curious busy learning for years. It took 30 minutes just to scroll down the interesting articles.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Donuel
Date: 30 May 22 - 07:30 AM

Bill the hand made construction of Gobekli Tepi is surpassed by the ancient hand burial of the entire site. The site is controversial over an accusation of modern tampering with a bas relief carving of a Stegasaurus.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 30 May 22 - 06:53 AM

Smithsonian archaeology page

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 30 May 22 - 06:19 AM

thanks for the link, Bill

Pompeii victim’s genome successfully sequenced for first time Scientists say man shares similarities with modern Italians and others who lived in region during Roman empire (read on)

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Bill D
Date: 29 May 22 - 07:10 PM

Mentioned by Donuel back in Jan. 2021...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6bekli_Tepe

Really fascinating place..only partially excavated.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 24 May 22 - 10:56 AM

When I was young I wanted to visit UK/Europe & see places like your neighbourhood, Steve, but I bought an apartment instead. Other folks travel in their retirement, but I have too many sore bits (chronic lower back & leg pain, poor me!), so I travel via Google, archaeology magazines & history books.

And this thread!

thanks for your contributions, Steve & Stilly.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 May 22 - 09:40 AM

Nestled on top of a cliff in New Mexico is Acoma Pueblo, believed to be the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in North America. It has been occupied by the Acoma people since 1150 - though today it only has 50 full-time residents, and no running water, electricity or sewage system

A more accurate description instead of "on top of a cliff" would be "on a mesa" (a flat hill - "mesa" in Spanish is "table").

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 May 22 - 08:45 AM

We do have a number of stone circles in Cornwall (the Merry Maidens, the Nine Maidens and the Hurlers spring to mind) and we have lots of Bronze Age settlement remains on Bodmin Moor. Close to us we have the impressive hill fort at Warbstow Bury. Quite a few dolmens too, and there's Men an Tol ,a doughnut-shaped stone ring on its edge accompanied by a somewhat phallic standing stone pointing at it. What COULD it mean.. ;-) I think that most people who go to it crawl through the hole!

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 24 May 22 - 03:53 AM

The oldest still-inhabited buildings in the world
Matera, an Italian town built into the rocks, dates back 9,000 years and hosts more than 60,000 people today
    Kandovan, more than 800 years old and tucked away in the north of Iran, is the world's largest cave dwelling
    Saltford Manor, built in Somerset sometime before 1150 is England's oldest continuously occupied house

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 20 May 22 - 04:17 AM

oh, pooh!

Stonehenge builders ate undercooked offal, ancient faeces reveals

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 19 May 22 - 05:36 AM

Rare stone circle found at prehistoric ritual site in Cornwall Archaeologists find pits lying in crooked horseshoe formation at Castilly Henge near Bodmin.
A rare stone circle has been found at a prehistoric ritual site in Cornwall, with seven regularly spaced pits mapped by a team of archaeologists.

Bracken and scrub were cleared over the winter at Castilly Henge near Bodmin to allow archaeologists to survey the site. They found the pits lying in a crooked horseshoe formation.

Experts believe the pits may once have formed a complete ring but ground conditions at the time of the survey left archaeologists unable to gather clear data on the northern part of the henge interior.

Some stones had been removed and taken elsewhere, while others were probably pushed face down into the pits in which they once stood upright. (read on)

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 May 22 - 11:04 AM

You can go to PBS and stream the current episodes of NOVA (a two-hour special this week) about the last day for that dinosaur. It really is a remarkable production. And nice that this one happened in North Dakota. So often they have to trek off to China or Chile to find the fossils they need. :)

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 13 May 22 - 07:15 AM

another interesting story - Researcher doesn’t want a war over ancient hand grenade study When Professor Carney Matheson published a paper claiming to have found evidence of a medieval hand grenade, he knew he was himself stepping into an academic battleground.
A large number of rounded containers of a similar shape (referred to as sphero-conical by researchers, with a rounded top and a tapered base) have been found across the Middle East dating from between the 9th and 15th centuries ... The research has been published in the journal PLOS One.(read on)

PLOS one paper - Composition of trace residues from the contents of 11th–12th century sphero-conical vessels from Jerusalem

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Donuel
Date: 12 May 22 - 04:55 PM

Those are remarkable finds!

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 11 May 22 - 05:14 PM

Scientists find fossil of dinosaur ‘killed on day of asteroid strike’ Scientists believe they have been given an extraordinary view of the last day of the dinosaurs after they discovered the fossil of an animal they believe died that day.
The perfectly preserved leg, which even includes remnants of the animal’s skin, can be accurately dated to the time the asteroid that brought about the dinosaurs’ extinction struck Earth 66m years ago, experts say, because of the presence of debris from the impact, which rained down only in its immediate aftermath. (read on)

Ancient cemetery of flying reptiles unearthed in Chile’s Atacama desert. Scientists say remains belong to pterosaurs, who lived alongside dinosaurs more than 100m years ago (read on)

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 May 22 - 07:41 PM

Bronze Age Daggers Were Tools to Butcher Animals, Not Markers of Status

Excavations of Bronze Age “warrior graves” throughout Europe have nearly always led to the recovery of copper alloy Bronze Age daggers. However, their function has been poorly understood. It has long been speculated that they, in fact, didn’t serve any practical purpose and were symbols of status and identity. Now, a new study published in the journal Scientific Reports has suggested that they served a functional purpose and were used to butcher and carve animal carcasses.

Makes sense!

While archaeologists have used a variety of chemical tests to analyze ceramic, stone and shell artifacts , no specific test had hitherto been developed for copper-alloy metals, according to the recent study. And so, the debate around the use of prehistoric Bronze Age daggers made of these alloys has always been speculative.

That was, until now. An international research team, led by Newcastle University in the UK, devised a revolutionary new non-destructive technique for extracting organic residues from copper-alloy metals.

New Tech Finds Animal Residues On Bronze Age Daggers!
The team selected and analyzed 10 daggers recovered in 2017 from Pragatto, a Bronze Age site in Italy . The new analysis “enabled the world's first extraction of organic residues,” which revealed “for the first time, how these objects were used, for what tasks, and on what materials,” said the research team in the Newcastle University press release.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 04 May 22 - 05:21 PM

Stonehenge exhibition explores parallels with Japanese stone circles Objects never before seen outside Japan will be part of show on site’s similarities to Jomon monuments.
They were separated by thousands of miles and the two sets of builders could not conceivably have met or swapped notes, but intriguing parallels between Stonehenge and Japanese stone circles are to be highlighted in an exhibition at the monument on Salisbury Plain.

The exhibition will show that ancient people in southern Britain and in Japan took great trouble to build stone circles, appear to have celebrated the passage of the sun and felt moved to come together for festivals or rituals.

Circles of Stone: Stonehenge and Prehistoric Japan will flag up similarities between the monuments and settlements of the middle and late Jomon period in Japan and those built by the late neolithic people of southern Britain – and point out some of the differences.

The exhibition will feature 80 striking objects, some of which have never before been seen outside Japan. Key loans announced on Wednesday include a flame pot, a highly decorated type of Jomon ceramics, its fantastical shape evoking blazing flames. Such pots were produced in Japan for a relative short period, perhaps only a few hundred years ...

Among the Japanese sites that will be in focus is that of theWikipedia - Oyu Stone Circles in northern Japan

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 28 Apr 22 - 07:26 AM

Steve, thanks for sharing your memories, I hope you can return sometime soon.

WOW!, thanks for the link, Donuel

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: DaveRo
Date: 28 Apr 22 - 07:16 AM

We've yet to visit the ruins at Agrigento. Could be the next stop!

And after that, Selinunte - though it's a bit out of the way.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 28 Apr 22 - 07:02 AM

We've been to Sicily a number of times, but always to the east side of the island because we generally have to get off at Catania airport, as that's the only airport we can even remotely conveniently fly to from the Westcountry. We love Sicily and we want to get there again now that this disease is somewhat losing its grip. There are Greek/Roman remains everywhere, a positive cornucopia of ancient riches. We have a favourite hotel (and restaurant just up the road from it) on the hillside above Taormina which both have the most amazing view of Etna at sunset, with nearby Castelmola perched further up the hill and the grand sweep of the bay below down to Giardini Naxos. Taormina has an ancient Greek amphitheatre which still puts on plays. Further down the east side there's Siracusa, which has an archaeological park with both Greek and Roman amphitheatres, the Greek one especially stunning. Our best friends are currently staying in nearby Ortigia, where we stayed in 2016, an incredibly beautiful tiny island connected to Siracusa by two bridges. We've yet to visit the ruins at Agrigento. Could be the next stop!

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 28 Apr 22 - 04:54 AM

Rewriting history: Phoenician ‘harbour’ revealed to be religious site that aligns with the stars Off the west coast of Sicily lies the remains of the ancient city of Motya. There, a compound of temples and shrines offers a window into the life of Phoenicians settlers who journeyed from Lebanon across the Mediterranean in the first millennium BC.

While it has been studied for a century, the site is still giving up new secrets. Earlier this month a rectangular basin, long-believed to have served as an artificial harbour for protecting naval ships and participating in trade, was revealed to be something else entirely – a religious site, designed and constructed to perfectly align with the stars.

The basin, larger than an Olympic-sized swimming pool, was rebuilt in 550 BC along with Motya after it was destroyed in an attack by Carthage, another Phoenician colony from across the sea. The city was then abandoned in Roman times. (read on)

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Mar 22 - 09:19 PM

This is a video from my weather channel and it feeds into another one (a whole series). It's just the first about the shipwreck that I'm posting about.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 27 Feb 22 - 04:49 PM

Doomed ship of gold’s ghostly picture gallery is plucked from the seabed Eerie photographs recovered from the 1857 wreck of the SS Central America are now being published for the first time ...“Glass plate photos had preserved the faces of miners, merchants and their families, staring up at the living from the seabed.”
The portraits are eerie, but beautiful. These were the loved ones of those who had been on a ship that sank 150 miles from the Carolina coast with the loss of 425 lives. A judge and a comedian were among the passengers ...

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 25 Feb 22 - 05:50 AM

see my post 20 Feb 22 - 03:59 AM

Australia - Brisbane’s convict past unearthed during busway excavations

Brisbane is the 3rd oldest capital city in Australia & was settled in 1824, 36 years after Sydney was settled.

5 days later - Remnants of Brisbane’s convict era lasted centuries, gone within days Archaeological remnants of convict-era Brisbane were allowed to be excavated this week for a $1.3 billion busway project to proceed ... By Thursday afternoon, however, they were removed by a small bulldozer, which pried out every piece of stone to be carted away ... The stone stairs, 190-year-old stone wall and foundations will not be returned to Adelaide Street, despite providing a rare glimpse of Brisbane’s early convict days.

“Opportunities are under consideration for people to physically see the items in the future,” the lord mayor’s spokeswoman said, while ruling out the original site ...

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 23 Feb 22 - 06:09 AM

Remains of ‘world’s largest Jurassic pterosaur’ recovered in Scotland ... Fossil hunters in Scotland say they have recovered the remains of the world’s largest Jurassic pterosaur, adding the creature – known informally as a pterodactyl – also boasted a mouthful of sharp teeth for spearing and trapping fish.

With a wingspan of about 2.5 metres or larger – around the size of the largest flying birds today, such as the wandering albatross – the creature sheds new light on the evolution of pterosaurs, given they were not thought to have reached such a size until about 25m years later.

“When this thing was living about 170m years ago, it was the largest animal that had ever flown, at least that we know of,” said Prof Steve Brusatte, a co-author of the research from the University of Edinburgh.

“We’ve really dragged back in time the evolution of large pterosaurs,” he said ...

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Feb 22 - 03:48 AM

I meant Mary Anning, not her fictitious sister May... :-(

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 22 Feb 22 - 06:32 PM

A bit too ancient to be archaeological, but a fantastic fossil of a Jurassic pterosaur (I think we used to call them pterodactyls) has been found on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. It has a wing span of about two metres and is really well-preserved. It's being lauded as one of the best dinosaur fossils found in Britain since May Anning did her stuff. It would take me until at least three in the morning to create a link, so you'll have to rely on Dr Google!

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 22 Feb 22 - 06:14 PM

In 2004 we visited the Ancient Greek/Roman site at Kourion in Cyprus. We came across mosaics that were completely open to the elements and which you could actually walk all over! (I hasten to add that we didn't). It was a stunning site which included the "earthquake house," very poignant. I sort of like the freedom to wander all over amazing historical sites unencumbered. When I was in my teens we could wander all over Stonehenge without paying a penny and without being shut out by fences. It's a magical thing to be able to do. Sadly, I can also see the need to be very protective of these treasures, so mixed feelings...

The mosaic in London is absolutely stunning.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 22 Feb 22 - 04:46 PM

Lavish Roman mosaic is biggest found in London for 50 years Archaeologists say ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ finds near London Bridge are from heyday of Londinium. The largest expanse of Roman mosaic found in London for more than half a century has been unearthed at a site believed to have been a venue for high-ranking officials to lounge in while being served food and drink.

Dating from the late second century to the early third century, the mosaic’s flowers and geometric patterns were a thrilling, once-in-a-lifetime find, said Antonietta Lerz, of the Museum of London Archaeology (Mola).

It was discovered about a month ago at a construction site near London Bridge. The mosaic, which is eight metres long, will be lifted later this year for preservation and conservation work, with the eventual hope of it being publicly displayed ...

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Feb 22 - 10:34 AM

I saw that program also, Don. Fascinating! One wonders if there are chipped up fossils in the roadbeds and building foundations in the region or if those big pieces were all discarded in past years of quarrying. (They did show a piece of bone that was discarded, hence the question. There might be a real interesting tailings pile somewhere around there.)

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 20 Feb 22 - 03:59 AM

Australia - Brisbane’s convict past unearthed during busway excavations

Brisbane is the 3rd oldest capital city in Australia & was settled in 1824, 36 years after Sydney was settled.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Donuel
Date: 19 Feb 22 - 07:12 AM

https://www.livescience.com/ice-age-mammoth-graveyard-uk

I watched an extended Richard Attenborough show about Mammoths in Southern England. I used to live near a mass graveyard of Mammoths in Batavia NY.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 17 Feb 22 - 05:00 AM

Why Archaeologists Love Digging Up Privies

Discovery of 2,700-year-old toilet in Israel delights researchers The simple square block with a hole in the middle would have been a rare luxury item at the time it was in use
Clay pots and animal bones were also found, giving scientists a potential glimpse into what people from the period ate, and the diseases that plagued them ...

Treasure hunters privy to an outhouse's buried secrets

So many articles!

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Feb 22 - 09:11 PM

Ancient Toilet Unearthed in Jerusalem Shows Elite Were Plagued by Intestinal Worms
Mineralized feces chock-full of parasitic eggs indicate that it wasn’t the lower classes alone who suffered from certain infectious diseases

About two years ago, while building a new visitor center in Armon Hanatziv Promenade, an outlook in Jerusalem known for its beautiful vistas, construction workers dug up remains of a fine ancient structure. After examining fragments of exquisite balustrades and elegant window frames, archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority determined that they once belonged to a palace or a luxury villa built in the mid-7th century B.C.E. “The fragments were of the finest quality ever found in Israel,” says Ya’akov Billig, who leads the excavation efforts at the Antiquities Authority. But as they dug further, the team was in for an even greater treat—a prehistoric latrine. And even more excitingly, the researchers’ newfound archaeological gem held what the ancient toilet-goers left behind: mineralized poop.

The Iron Age toilets are indeed a rare find, in part because few families had them—most individuals did their business in the bush—and in part because these usually simple structures did not survive very long. But those that stood the test of time are a trove of information about our ancestors, including their diets, health problems and potentially even their medicinal substances, says microarchaeologist Dafna Langgut of Tel Aviv University. She studies microscopic remnants the naked eye can’t see. After peering into the prehistoric poop for cues about the individuals who produced it, she came up with a curious conclusion: While the palace residents lived in a luxury villa surrounded by a lush garden, they suffered from debilitating parasitic infections that gave them stomach aches, nausea, diarrhea and other ills. Langgut’s team described their findings in the International Journal of Paleopathology, along with a theory of why these infections may have been so widespread that everyone was affected.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 15 Feb 22 - 04:12 PM

‘Every year it astounds us’: the Orkney dig uncovering Britain’s stone age culture

The world of Stonehenge

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Donuel
Date: 14 Feb 22 - 04:16 PM

NIH did give ancient tarter research a small grant a couple years ago.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 14 Feb 22 - 05:22 AM

good article, Donuel

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Donuel
Date: 13 Feb 22 - 11:58 AM

I recently discovered a ancient dna controversy in European vs. American scientific strategies. Because of poor funding Americans are not dna testing the tarter from ancient teeth but Europe is.
Eoropean discoveries of ancient 'meals' has far out paced the US.
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/03/ancient-tooth-tarter-provides-glimpse-into-early-trade-and-menu-items/

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 12 Feb 22 - 01:07 AM

Ancient crocodile's last meal may have been a dinosaur Australian scientists say they've discovered a new species of crocodile, and its last meal may have been a dinosaur.

The crocodile, called a Broken Dinosaur Killer, was recovered on a sheep station in outback Queensland, and is believed to be more than 95 million years old.

Researchers say while piecing together the fossilised croc, they made a startling discovery — the partial remains of a young ornithopod dinosaur inside its stomach. (read on)

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: FreddyHeadey
Date: 08 Feb 22 - 10:40 AM

Remember before 8th February 2005 ??

Happy Birthday Google Maps

BBC World Service
Witness History
The invention of Google Maps

In 2005, a revolutionary online mapping service called Google Maps went live for the first time. It introduced searchable, scrollable, interactive maps to a wider public, but required so much computing power that Google's servers nearly collapsed under the strain.

Lars Rasmussen, one of the inventors of Google Maps, talks to Ashley Byrne.



https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct1x6n
9 minutes

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 01 Feb 22 - 05:47 PM

Archaeologists uncover ancient helmets & temple ruins in southern Italy inds date to sixth-century BC Battle of Alalia, in which the Greeks defeated Etruscans and Carthaginians. Two ancient warrior helmets, metal fragments believed to have come from weapons, and the remains of a temple have been discovered at Velia, an archaeological site in southern Italy that was once a powerful Greek colony.
Experts believe the helmets, which were found in good condition, and metal fragments date to the sixth-century BC Battle of Alalia, when a Greek force of Phocaean ships clinched victory over the Etruscans and their Carthaginian allies in a naval battle off the coast of Corsica. One of the helmets is thought to have been taken from the enemies ...

photo of helmet
another photo of helmet

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 22 Jan 22 - 03:57 AM

Excellently preserved, complete crossbow from 2,200 years ago found at Terracotta Warrior site ... Reported by news site China.org to be the most complete crossbow found to date at the site, it has a 145 centimeter (57 inch) arch and, incredibly, the bow string remains intact and measures 130 centimeters (51 inches) long. Researchers believe the string is made of animal tendon rather than fabric, which would have degraded and disappeared long ago.

Featured image: Bronze crossbow similar to one recently excavated from the terra cotta army pit at Xi’an, Shaanxi province. This weapon was from a war chariot excavated from the Tomb of The First Emperor, Lintong, Shaanxi Province Qin Dynasty, circa 210 B.C. Representational image only. Credit: Oberlin College of Arts & Sciences

The pic of the bow as found in the site is not quite as beautiful as the featured image, but it's even more interesting.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 17 Jan 22 - 04:57 PM

added to my bookmarks, thanks Rain Dog.

love these quotes - Scepticism of secret tunnels is not even a recent phenomenon. In 1913, whilst discussing the rumoured tunnel between Dover Castle and St Radegund’s Abbey, a writer for the Invicta Magazine for the Homes and People of Kent pulled no punches when they stated that ‘the cellars and drains of this old abbey provide food for those superstitious people who love underground passages to furnish with phantoms and ghosts and other disembodied creatures’ (Fielding 1913, 196-201).

A few years later S. E. Winbolt was a little more generous when he said that: ‘Underground passages are of course, always ‘intriguing’, and until the pick, shovel and the light of an electric lamp are brought to bear on them, extravagant legends persist… Drainage is the less romantic explanation of many of them’ (Winbolt 1935, 195).

Perhaps Jeremy Errand put this more poetically when he concluded that ‘a large proportion of stories of secret passages contain more moonshine than a fisherman’s boast’ (Errand 1974, 156).

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Rain Dog
Date: 17 Jan 22 - 12:03 PM

Thanks for mentioning that link Sandra.

A little searching led me to the following article on a site you might find of interest.

Mediaeval Mythbusting Blog #5: The Tintern Tunnels

I was amused to see a reference in the article to "the rumoured tunnel between Dover Castle and St Radegund’s Abbey". Even now locals talk of
a tunnel between the castle and the fortifications on the Western Heights. There are indeed a lot of tunnels and manmade caves under the castle and in other areas of the town. The chalk does lend itself to tunneling. During the 2nd World War the military expanded the facilities under the castle and a number of caves in the town were used as air raid shelters.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth)
From: Donuel
Date: 17 Jan 22 - 09:33 AM

edit: Missing are the n in paleontology and the word remains.