Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Mar 25 - 09:44 PM

How? Walking seems the logical method. Moving over land over time.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 12 Mar 25 - 04:45 PM

Fossil face bones discovered in Spanish cave may belong to first ancient humans in Western Europe
In short:

Facial bones dated to between 1.4 and 1.1 million years old have been found in a cave in the Atapuerca mountains in Spain.

They are the oldest bones of their kind in Western Europe, and researchers say they belong to a species closer to the more primitive Homo erectus.

What's next?

While the discovery provides more evidence on the earliest human species to appear in Europe, more research is needed to settle how they got there from Africa.   (read on)

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Helen
Date: 23 Feb 25 - 12:56 AM

Ah. Mystery solved! :-)

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: JennieG
Date: 23 Feb 25 - 12:11 AM

No, Helen - in Tamworth, but it also had regular floods.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Helen
Date: 22 Feb 25 - 10:48 PM

Were you living in or near Maitland, JennieG? :-)

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: JennieG
Date: 22 Feb 25 - 10:02 PM

I can remember the 1955 floods as I'm a wee bit older than you, Helen!

My parents' house was on a hill. To get to school we walked down the hill - at the bottom was a dip which filled during rain - then a couple more blocks, and we were at school. The dip, of course, flooded, but we didn't get out of school; we had to walk up the hill and go a longer way.

I remember my mother being absolutely mortified when she received a box of clothing from my father's sister and her family, who lived interstate. They had heard about the floods and assumed that we were washed out of house and home, which was not the case at all - we were high and dry.

Except when my brother and I had to walk to school....

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Helen
Date: 22 Feb 25 - 09:48 PM

This anniversary might not quite fit into this thread but....

Hunter Valley remembers 1955 flood that killed 14 and left hundreds homeless

My Mum was five months pregnant with me and she and my sister were evacuated and went to stay at her parents' farm in Newcastle.

Yesterday Hubby and I went to a commemorative exhibition and then a theatre event also relating to the history of the flood.

1955 flood photos taken by Jim Lucey

Most people who lived through the flood and talked about it found the aftermath devastating as well. My family home only had flood waters up to the skirting boards but there was flood mud to be cleared out afterwards, all the way through the house. Other houses were completely washed away or the flood waters reached up to the roof.

At the theatre event we were told that where we were sitting was under a couple of metres of water at the time.

I only found out yesterday that the State Emergency Service (SES) was formed as a result of the Maitland flood in 1955. There was a huge flood mitigation project undertaken in the years afterwards too, so other flood events did not affect the area as badly as the 1955 flood.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 20 Feb 25 - 04:53 AM

Lost Tomb of King Thutmose II Finally Discovered in Egypt - discovered several years ago & now identified

5th Century Byzantine Monk Buried in Chains in Jerusalem Was a Woman

New Study of Ancient Societies Explains Why Money Was Invented

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Donuel
Date: 14 Feb 25 - 07:14 AM

Evidence of human habitation 70,000 years ago is discovered in Australia's northern area now beneath the sea.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Bill D
Date: 09 Feb 25 - 09:38 AM

7th-century pagan cult site in Netherlands


Lots of other articles

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 23 Jan 25 - 05:00 PM

Discovery under floorboards at Hyde Park Barracks paints clearer picture of 19th century women's live ... The barracks were opened in 1819 and initially used as living quarters for convicts ... In 1848, the barracks were transformed into a depot where thousands of immigrant women, some accompanied by their children, stayed in dormitories and sought employment opportunities ... Fourteen years later, the barracks then opened a shelter for "infirm or destitute women" on the top floor
..."While the barracks are most commonly associated with housing male convicts, the bulk of the archaeological collection actually dates from the period of female occupation in the depot and asylum.

Eating in colonial institutions: desiccated plant remains from nineteenth-century Sydney

Way back in 2007 JennieG & I went to a exhibition at the Barracks - a Stitch in Time featuring the textiles needlework tools of the female inhabitants (1848-1886). Participants also gathered with their own needlework & we even got our photo in a Craft magazine. One of the group dropped her needle & it fell thru the floorboards, adding a 21st century item to the 19th & 20th items!

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Jan 25 - 11:34 AM

Those basic things our ancient ancestors developed that we still use - cooked food, clothing, shelter, art, and writing. All interesting subjects that archaeologists look for in their digs. Drop spindles for making thread and yarn are incredibly simple technology that may not be recognizable unless you're looking for them in a dig. Illustrated here - beads or ballast for a spindle? These Mysterious 12,000-Year-Old Pebbles May Be Early Evidence of Wheel-Like Tools, Archaeologists Say from Smithsonian late last year.

When I was an undergraduate back in the 1970s I house-sat for a friend who had a keeshond dog and a visiting friend told me she used that kind of dog hair in making wool, so for the couple of years I was there I took her bags of hair after brushing the dog. There was probably enough hair off that pooch to knit another dog. :)

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Donuel
Date: 07 Jan 25 - 11:20 AM

My mom was an expert at the spinning wheel. I never got more than a foot or two of perfect yarn. It's really hard to do.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 06 Jan 25 - 07:27 PM

World's oldest cloth - 2010 article

Exploring the Oldest Fabrics in Existence

Scientists find evidence of humans making clothes 120,000 years ago

Textiles - Decay and preservation in Seventeenth-to Nineteenth- Century Burials in Finland

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Helen
Date: 06 Jan 25 - 06:06 PM

This is a bit of a stretch for archaeology but, it's an interesting historical concept with links to the modern technological world.

When I was a librarian I saw a book in the collection, Card Weaving by Candace Crockett. I ordered a copy for myself and played around with various projects over a number of years. I bought two other books as well: Introducing Tablet Weaving, by Eileen Bird, and The Techniques of Tablet Weaving by Peter Collingwood.

A history of card weaving

There is a lot of archaeological history behind card or tablet weaving dating back at least as far as Ancient Egypt or the Bronze Age. You can do an internet search for images of some of the woven patterns, and some patterns are available to download.

Even more interesting is the link to a key idea in computing technology, i.e. punch cards which can be linked also to Joseph Marie Jacquard's brilliant concept of punched weaving cards on mechanical and then electrified looms in France. The punch card concept, based on binary 1's and 0's was used in the development of the Enigma machine. I also learned about punch cards in my librarian course because libraries previously used them too.

A couple of years ago I saw a documentary on the development of computer technology which probably owes a lot to the punch card system. Coincidentally, after emailing some information to my family about it, that very night another documentary showed the Jacquard weaving innovation and referred to the link to computer technology.

If you are wondering why I sent the info to my family, my adult nephew who has two school-age sons, was sitting at the Christmas lunch table trying to get one of those bracelet making gadgets to work, with little coloured rubber bands. It looked a bit fiddly and I was reminded of the card weaving and how easy it was, after understanding the concept and after I created the cards.

I told the family all about card weaving and offered to lend the books and cards to my nephew so that he could try it out. He is a computer engineer by trade, so it seemed like a good fit to me.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 06 Jan 25 - 05:06 PM

I had 4 of her books & they went last year when I downsized my Historic Costume collection. Some of our historic & colonial dancers make & wear perfectly authentic costumes & 4 of them went up & down my stairs removing my books! One looked at the Ladies of Fashion (17 dolls, 1066-1911) & said she'd take them & her daughter collects bears. Dolls & bears are still here but they have a home!

Other collections of course are still here ...

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Jan 25 - 12:03 PM

I just ran that book title/author past my daughter who makes historic garments for SCA and activities at the art museum where she is the librarian. Her texted answer is "Hah yes, I have a couple of her books at home and all of them at work." When she was learning how to make some of the garments they used for anime and other events she would put some pretty obscure and often quite expensive books on her Amazon or other wish list. I may have purchased one for her and don't remember it. :)

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 06 Jan 25 - 08:39 AM

One of my other interests is the history of costume, & in the 60s/70s an amazing researcher took patterns from surviving garments, including those European Royalty & nobility were buried in, see volume 3 - Janet Arnold Patterns of Fashion series Parts of the tomb clothing had rotted over the centuries.

here's one of the garments she measured - scroll down to "Die gruftigsten Klamotten" (Dorothea Sabina von Nuremberg)

Others researchers also did so, but I didn't have their books.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Jan 25 - 12:15 AM

The Notre-Dame Cathedral cleans up nicely, doesn't it? Comparing photos of the cathedral before with all of the black smoke stains till now is remarkable.

That lead sarcophagus has been featured on a couple of programs I've seen recently. All of the stuff going on in nooks and crannies and under the floors is equally interesting.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 05 Jan 25 - 08:47 PM

A look at the newly-restored Notre-Dame Cathedral mentioned the sarcophagus so I went looking for more info

Archaeologists unearth Sarcophagus beneath Notre Dame Cathedral

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Dec 24 - 11:51 AM

You should have pulled up a couple of links. Canopus looks interesting.

An article from MIT.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Donuel
Date: 24 Dec 24 - 03:14 PM

What I call the Los Vegas of ancient EGYPT was Canopus. It was a diverse wild Greek, Roman, and Egyptian sacred city. Over time the land around Canopus was weakened by a combination of earthquakes, tsunamis and rising sea levels. The eastern suburbs succumbed to liquefaction of the soil. The western suburbs eventually became the present day Egyptian coastal city of Abu Qir. The city survived through the reign of Cleopatra but its demise was sudden enough to leave nearly all the artifacts intact despite the disruption of being underwater. It is a wet Pompeii in some ways. It was a fashionable place of hedonism and healing.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 14 Dec 24 - 06:19 PM

I also posted this on the "D'ye Ken John Peel" thread as one of the coffins held the remains of John Woodcock Graves, author of the song.

Archaeologists complete largest mass exhumation in Australian history from old cemetery under The Hutchins School

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Thompson
Date: 08 Nov 24 - 04:42 PM

Pompeii's diversity shown in DNA results.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 02 Nov 24 - 05:18 AM

Sacred Tunic of Alexander the Great Found in an Ancient Macedonian Tomb? ... The team of archaeologists uncovered a cotton textile dyed in purple that aligns with ancient accounts of the sarapis, a ceremonial garment worn by Persian kings, which Alexander adopted after his victory over Darius III ...

New Clues Finally Unravel Mysteries Surrounding Christopher Columbus’ Origins and Remains

Maya Storm God Huracán Taught That When We Damage Nature, We Damage Ourselves

Cannibalized Sailor From Doomed Arctic Expedition Identified Through a DNA ... While the wrecks were only recently found, the remains of crew members were discovered much earlier on the southwest coast of King William Island in Nunavut. Search teams came across boats tied to large sleds, seemingly in preparation for a journey toward the Back River ... Fitzjames is the second crew member to be positively identified. The first was John Gregory, an engineer on the Erebus, whose skull yielded a DNA match in 2021 ...

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Donuel
Date: 24 Oct 24 - 06:01 AM

Here is the best discussion of the current state of archeology I have heard in a long time. Enjoy in two or three sittings, it is very inclusive.   Ed Barnhardt with Lex Fridman
source
https://youtu.be/AzzE7GOvYz8

While Egypt has 140 pyramids the Americas have thousands.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Bill D
Date: 18 Oct 24 - 08:42 AM

Not a new discovery, but fascinating link to Neolithic sites in Scotland

Skara Brae

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 16 Oct 24 - 10:19 AM

thanks for posting the story

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Bill D
Date: 16 Oct 24 - 08:49 AM

Archaeologists discover 12 skeletons at a buried tomb in Petra, Jordan

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Sep 24 - 12:57 PM

I've started reading a book called So Much Stuff by Chip Colwell, and it begins with an analysis of creatures around the world using tools, either opportunistic or crafted, and then into the wide range of humanoid ancestors over the last seven million years and their stone cutting tools. He has references and notes and citations, and from where I am in chapter one I can project that he will soon be talking about modern era archaeology and our looking back at what our ancestors chose to carry around and keep. (I think I bought this via Bookfinder.com, and though Amazon owns Bookfinder, you can still find new and used books much cheaper there because they have charity shop listings and such.)

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 23 Sep 24 - 07:58 AM

right on!

checking out a site I bookmarked sometime back & forgot about - it's too interesting to ignore

17th c. gallows yields bone pits, revenant and suicide burials

Dig uncovers 200-year-old message in a bottle from archaeologist it was written in 1825.

Edfu temple restoration reveals original inscriptions, colors, gold

Brain and skin remains found in Bronze Age burials

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Thompson
Date: 18 Sep 24 - 07:18 AM

All we know is they were able to speak
Really, someone should tell the Neanderthal people who model for those photos to comb their hair!

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 18 Sep 24 - 05:57 AM

thanks for the links

How Reliable are Computer Reconstructions of Ancient Faces?

Cícero Moraes: Insights into the Fascinating World of Forensic Facial Reconstruction

The Origins and Development of Alphabets in Ancient Cultures

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Bill D
Date: 17 Sep 24 - 01:17 PM

All we know is
they were able to speak

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Thompson
Date: 17 Sep 24 - 06:31 AM

Meant to say, I wonder what kind of songs the Neanderthal had - were they beautiful musicians?

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Thompson
Date: 17 Sep 24 - 06:29 AM

They may have found where some of our earliest ancestors
- Neanderthal and Homo Sapiens - got together: the range of mountains that runs along Iran, Iraq and Turkey.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 06 Aug 24 - 06:10 PM

Smallest adult human arm bone fossil so far discovered points to origins of 'hobbit' In short:

The remains of the smallest adult arm bone in the fossil record and two teeth, found on the Indonesian island of Flores, were dated to be 700,000 years old.

According to a new study, the discovery sheds light on how the tiny, now-extinct human Homo floresiensis, dubbed the "hobbit", evolved.
What's next?

Archaeologists hope to find further fossils to explain why this ancient hobbit individual was so small.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 26 Jul 24 - 08:52 AM

wow!!!

It's one thing to kneel on solid earth to retrieve &/or put together ancient stuff on land, but to do so underwater is another matter!

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Jul 24 - 09:56 PM

Sandra, I did a Google search for other version of the image and found this.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 25 Jul 24 - 07:14 PM

I can't read the article cos I use an ad blocker - & even if I knew how to turn it off I certainly wouldn't, but an image search on "discovery of ancient mosaic in sea off Italy" showed me lots of pics.

Some were not about this site, but also interesting - Rome’s hidden mosaics which also has some interesting links.

sandra (contemplating another rabbit hole, maybe a warren!)

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Jul 24 - 04:54 PM

Isn't that gorgeous! Thanks, Bill!

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Bill D
Date: 25 Jul 24 - 04:45 PM

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/italy-archaeologists-discover-underwater-ancient-mo

World Archaeologists make stunning underwater discovery of ancient mosaic in sea off Italy

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 04 Jul 24 - 10:48 AM

I was reading about it - wow!

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Bill D
Date: 04 Jul 24 - 09:58 AM

Oldest known cave painting

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 28 Jun 24 - 06:26 PM

I do like pics of sunrises/sunsets! I've taken lots of sunsets, fewer sunrises cos I'm not an early riser

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Jun 24 - 09:07 AM

There is an older article about Berenike (the first photo is missing - I went with Internet Archive to see it - it's not a photo I would have put on the head of an article). Photos further down give you a look at a few of the trenches they've dug as they work.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Jun 24 - 07:03 PM

A Buried Ancient Egyptian Port Reveals the Hidden Connections Between Distant Civilizations
At the site of Berenike, in the desert sands along the Red Sea, archaeologists are uncovering wondrous new finds that challenge old ideas about the makings of the modern world

On Google Earth it shows up as Berenice Troglodytica.

Now 72, Sidebotham knew he wanted to be an archaeologist from the age of 14. When his father, who was in the U.S. Army, was posted in Turkey, the family moved to Ankara, and the teenager spent his free time photographing ruins and collecting Roman coins. After training in Cairo, Athens and the United States, he excavated sites in Italy, Greece, Libya, Tunisia and elsewhere before working on the Red Sea coast for the first time in 1980. “I just fell in love with this place,” he says. “I love the desert, the Bedouin, the sites, everything about it.” He became friendly with the local tribespeople, who showed him ruins that archaeologists didn’t know existed. “They’ll take you to places—the last Westerner was some Roman guy,” he jokes.

If you find the area on Google Earth, then scroll a bit south of the named location - there is a harbor near the modern site, than kind filled in or shallow, but clearly two older harbor sites south of it. Between the two you'll notice a tiny W for the Wikipedia page you can click on for that archeological site. I can't seem grab that link from Google Earth.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 13 Jun 24 - 06:17 AM

Slain Woman Warrior Amongst a Large Burial of Medieval Knights in Guadalajara

Face of Killed Pharaoh ‘Seqenenre the Brave’ Revealed

Children’s Graffiti Reveals Witnessing of Gladiatorial Violence in Pompeii

Greek Marines Prove Mycenaean Suit of Armor Was Fit for Battle

enough! I'll let you read the other articles ...

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 May 24 - 09:57 PM

A different kind of ancient history: 50,000-Year-Old Neanderthal Bones Have Remains of Human Viruses, Scientists Find
The preliminary analysis is a first step in testing the theory that infectious diseases played a role in Neanderthals’ extinction

Scientists have detected remnants of three types of viruses in 50,000-year-old Neanderthal bones. The findings, researchers say, are a first step in testing the theory that viral infections could have played a role in the extinction of Neanderthals.

In a paper posted to the preprint site bioRxiv, the researchers detected fragments of adenovirus (which causes cold-like illnesses), herpesvirus (linked to cold sores) and papillomavirus (HPV) in Neanderthal genome data. The findings have not yet been peer reviewed.

If confirmed, the new findings would be the oldest human viruses ever recovered, setting a record previously held by a 31,000-year-old adenovirus, reports New Scientist’s James Woodford.

“This DNA contains… a mixture of various DNAs, from the Neanderthal individual themselves, plus bacteria, fungus and viruses that might have infected this individual,” Marcelo Briones, a co-author of the new study and a genome researcher at the Federal University of São Paulo in Brazil, writes in an email to Gizmodo’s Isaac Schultz. “We show that the degree of such changes in the viral genome reads recovered are consistent with the age of the Neanderthal bones, thus showing that they are not present-day contaminants.”

“Taken together, our data indicate that these viruses might represent viruses that really infected Neanderthals,” he tells New Scientist.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 May 24 - 04:44 PM

Ancient Chesapeake site challenges timeline of humans in the Americas
An island eroding into the bay offers tantalizing clues about when and how humans first made their way into North America.

People should be able to read this, I used one of my gift articles for the link. Here's a bit of it:

Lowery’s site and others like it could revise the story again, pushing back the timeline earlier than most experts thought possible. In total, Lowery and a motley crew of collaborators have discovered 286 artifacts from the site on the island’s southwestern edge. The oldest, they reported, was embedded with charcoal dated to more than 22,000 years ago, a time when much of the continent would have been covered in ice sheets.

If Lowery is right, Parsons Island could rewrite American prehistory, opening up a host of new puzzles: How did those people get here? How many waves of early migration were there? And are these mysterious people the ancestors of Native Americans?

New claims of sites dated this far back face a wall of skepticism, rooted in legitimate scientific scrutiny and in the threat they pose to long-entrenched views.

To complicate matters, Lowery — who has been affiliated with the Smithsonian but does much of his work independently — presented the results of his study of Parsons Island in a 260-page manuscript posted online rather than in a traditional peer-reviewed journal.

The peer-review process is designed to help validate scientific claims, but Lowery argues that in archaeology it often leads to a circle-the-wagons mentality, allowing scientists to wave away evidence that doesn’t support the dominant paradigm. He says he isn’t seeking formal publishing routes because “life’s too short,” comparing this aspect of academic science to “the dumbest game I’ve ever played.”

If you're interesting this links to his ms.