Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 26 Mar 23 - 05:43 AM

In a Roman Tomb, ‘Dead Nails’ Reveal an Occult Practice Forty-one bent or twisted iron nails, unearthed from a second-century imperial burial site, were meant to keep the deceased in their place.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 21 Mar 23 - 12:58 PM

Yep. Some museums trouble me almost as much as zoos.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Mar 23 - 11:26 AM

Souvenirs and graffiti. Both part of the experience of European travelers. Taking stuff and leaving a mark of our passing.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 21 Mar 23 - 04:02 AM

Spears stolen by Captain Cook from Kamay/Botany Bay in 1770 to be returned to traditional owners Held by Cambridge University for more than 250 years, the spears mark ‘first point in shared history’

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 Mar 23 - 08:30 PM

Yup. :-(

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Donuel
Date: 20 Mar 23 - 08:06 PM

Lets just look at new artifacts. Of the 270 Apollo 11 Moon rocks and the Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rocks that were given to the nations of the world by the Nixon Administration, approximately 180 are unaccounted for. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolen_and_missing_Moon_rocks#:~:text=Of%20the%20270%20Apollo%2011,away%20in%20storage%20for%20decades.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Donuel
Date: 20 Mar 23 - 07:55 PM

Private collections of billionaires would shock you.
Items naturally go to the highest bidders. What you can see in museums is often on a temporary loan privately or from another museum.
I could not say whose collection is larger, billionaires or all museums.

Questionable ownership is an ever-lasting tricky ethical conundrum.

10 years after the Nazi art theft many items ended up in fancy restaurants, not museums. Times are changing and slowly even the Smithsonian is repatriating some artifacts only after a big stink.
Museums that have obviously stolen art use methods to tie up an item until the true owners have died. Of course its a nasty business dealing with 'priceless' things.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 Mar 23 - 06:54 PM

Just noticed that that was post no.79 in the thread!

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 Mar 23 - 06:53 PM

The archaeological museum in Naples is stunning. But it contains many mosaics and frescoes hacked out of Roman ruins in the area. We visited two amazing Roman villas in the ancient Roman town of Stabiae, a few miles from Vesuvius (Pliny the Elder witnessed the eruption from there in 79 AD as the town was inundated by ash - he died there, though probably not from the eruption). As of 2013 when we visited, the villas had not been developed for tourism, though a local man gave the two of us a superb guided tour for a few euros. There were plenty of impressive artefacts, but achingly notable were the dozens of missing frescoes, just huge holes in the plaster left in the walls. There was no doubt that many of them ended up in museums.

And don't get me started on the Elgin Marbles.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 20 Mar 23 - 05:40 PM

I read that article last night - very interesting! Very immoral, but only money counts (counted?) in acquisitions for this young institution.

... New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art opened in 1880, long after it's counterparts in Paris and London ...

sandra

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Mar 23 - 12:56 PM


‘The stuff was illegally dug up’: New York’s Met Museum sees reputation erode over collection practices
An investigation identified hundreds of artifacts linked to indicted or convicted traffickers. What does this mean for the future of museums?

In the village of Bungmati, Nepal, above an ancient spring, stand two stone shrines and a temple. On the side of one of those shrines is a large hole where a statue of Shreedhar Vishnu, the Hindu protector god, used to be.

Carved by master artisans nearly a thousand years ago, the sandstone relic was carefully tended and worshipped by local people. Sometime in the early 1980s that tradition abruptly ended when thieves removed the 20-inch statue. A Bungmati resident, Buddha Ratna Tuladhar, recalls how the community was “overwhelmed by melancholy” over its loss. “We kept hoping the statue would be restored, but it never was,” he said.

About a decade after the theft, and on the other side of the world, a wealthy American collector donated the statue to New York City’s celebrated Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it would remain for nearly 30 years, until an anonymous Facebook account called the Lost Arts of Nepal finally identified it, in 2021. Although the Met has since removed the statue from its publicly listed collection, signaling that it may soon be returned, the damage to the Bungmati community was already done.

“Nepal has a living religion where these idols are actively worshiped in temples. People pray to them and take them out during festivals for ceremonies,” said Roshan Mishra, a volunteer with the Nepal Heritage Recovery Campaign, a coalition formed to restore the country’s lost heritage. “When relics are stolen, those festivals stop. Each stolen statue erodes our culture. Our traditions fade and are eventually forgotten.”

In the antiquities trade, the Met’s reputation has also begun to erode. Over the last two years, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and its news media partners have reported on the Met’s acquisition practices – often in relation to a trove of items obtained from Cambodia in an era when that country’s cultural heritage was sold off wholesale to the highest bidder. A broader examination of the Met’s antiquities collection, conducted by ICIJ, Finance Uncovered, L’Espresso and other media partners over recent months, raises new concerns over the origin of the museum’s inventory of ancient statues, friezes and other relics.

New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art opened in 1880, long after its counterparts in Paris and London. The museum started out with a purchase of 174 paintings, placing it far from the scale of France’s palatial Louvre’s galleries already holding thousands of works, many inherited from the nation’s colonial exploits.

The rest is at the link.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 17 Mar 23 - 06:03 PM

Western Australian archaeological project to connect 60,000 years of desert history Traditional owners and leading archaeologists hope a five-year exploration project will uncover a rich history and find connections between Aboriginal communities across a huge stretch of Western Australia.

Baiyungu elder Hazel Walgar said within her traditional land of the Ningaloo coast there was evidence of trade with groups from other parts of Australia.

"Artefacts from my traditional area, Ningaloo, are found in the Central Australia, artefacts like the marnargee, the baler shell, and we find cutting tools in our area that don't come from here," she said.

"Those artefacts come from inland, from Martu country ...

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Donuel
Date: 16 Mar 23 - 03:25 PM

ancient mudcat tavern

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Bill D
Date: 13 Mar 23 - 01:34 PM

sill more"https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/13/uk/roman-burial-garforth-scn-scli-gbr-intl/index.html

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Mar 23 - 06:33 PM

I went elsewhere to find the story also: Roman shrine discovered near Leicester cathedral graveyard from BBC.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 10 Mar 23 - 04:49 PM

Roman Shrine ... Continue reading Enjoy unlimited digital access. £1 for 6 months. (I do have an Australian £1 note!! My parents found it among stuff when they retired & moved out of Sydney in 1978, tho I don't think it could be used to subscribe, alas.)

Folktale becomes reality as Roman altar unearthed at Leicester Cathedral

thanks for the links, Bill

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Bill D
Date: 10 Mar 23 - 01:02 PM

Ancient Restaurant Highlights Iraq's Archeology Renaissance

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Bill D
Date: 10 Mar 23 - 01:00 PM

Roman ‘shrine’ found in Leicester Cathedral graveyard

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Bill D
Date: 07 Mar 23 - 11:21 AM

Same basic story on CNN

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Raggytash
Date: 06 Mar 23 - 08:12 PM

Minature Sphinx found

An interesting article in yesterdays Guardian

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 05 Mar 23 - 02:03 AM

Well-preserved spices found in 500-year-old Gribshunden shipwreck in Baltic Sea off Sweden

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Bill D
Date: 04 Mar 23 - 10:07 AM

"? Freud's mystic world of meaning needn't have us mystified
It's really very simple what the psyche tries to hide:
A thing is a phallic symbol if it's longer than it's wide
As the id goes marching on
Glory glory psychotherapy, glory glory sexuality
Glory glory now we can be free as the id goes marching on.?"

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Donuel
Date: 04 Mar 23 - 09:44 AM

A tunnel is just now discovered behind the entrance to the Great Pyramid at Giza.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Mar 23 - 04:56 PM

Scientists Map an Unexplored Corridor of Egypt's Great Pyramid Using Cosmic Rays
Thanks to cosmic rays, secrets of the last remaining Wonder of the Ancient World are being revealed.

The Great Pyramid of Giza, the largest of Egypt's famous landmarks, has stood tall for around 4,500 years. But the 2 million blocks that make up the tomb and fortress have not been impenetrable. Looters robbed the structure of its ancient treasures thousands of years ago and scientists have probed its interiors either by studying its corridors or with more advanced measuring techniques like thermal scanners.

The structure still holds many secrets, but since 2015 an international team of scientists, the ScanPyramids team, has been using subatomic particles to probe the unknowns of the monument. In 2017, they revealed a huge void -- creatively dubbed the Big Void -- situated above the pyramid's gallery, though the purpose of this void remains unknown.

On Thursday, in a study published in the journal Nature Communications, the team characterizes the structure of this corridor by taking advantage of the cosmic rays that constantly smash into the Earth.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 28 Feb 23 - 04:48 PM

yet another interesting article - Australia's most intact Cooyoo australis fossil discovered in Richmond with specimen in its belly ... about 1.6 metres long ...

see also the pic of the 2.6m specimen!

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 26 Feb 23 - 04:24 PM

further to my post of 20 Feb 23 - 05:11 AM

It’s not a Roman dildo, it’s a drop spindle

Linsey Duncan-Pitt offers another explanation for the 2,000-year-old artefact that’s being touted as a sex toy

As an avid spinner of yarn who uses a drop spindle, a dildo was not the first explanation that came to mind when I perused your article and the accompanying image (It’s not a darning tool, it’s a very naughty toy: Roman dildo found, 20 February). The artefact looks very much like the dealgan or farsadh, a type of drop spindle.

The tip looks a little glans-like, but it is also like the notch at the pointed end of the dealgan, used to secure the spun fibre with a half-hitch. The spindle is then rotated to add twist to the drafted fibres, and the spun fibre is wound around the shaft. The base of the artefact is wider than the tapering shaft; that would help stop the fibre slipping off. Some dealgans have a notch on the base, but not all.

Given that it was found among other crafting materials, this would seem to be a much more feasible explanation for this object than a dildo. It’s a bit understated as a dildo, and would no doubt make for a more satisfying spin than anything else.

Modern spinners like me love a decorative and unusual spindle, and so it seems more logical that this was a cheeky Roman design.

Linsey Duncan-Pitt
Telford, Shropshire

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Antique French drop spindles see 3rd image

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Feb 23 - 11:28 AM

There are 3 job openings at Vindolanda Trust in the UK for our readers in that area. In case you're interested!

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 25 Feb 23 - 06:17 AM

How an Unorthodox Scholar Uses Technology to Expose Biblical Forgeries Deciphering ancient texts with modern tools, Michael Langlois challenges what we know about the Dead Sea Scrolls

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Feb 23 - 06:50 PM

Modern and ancient simultaneously. Nashtifan, Iran: The Ancient Windmills That Have Stood the Test of Time

Deep in the desert of Iran, there is a small town called Nashtifan. What makes this town unique is that it is home to some of the world’s oldest windmills, dating back over a thousand years. These vertical-axis windmills, also known as panemone windmills, have been used for centuries to grind grain and pump water in the arid region.

Despite their age, the windmills in Nashtifan are still in use today. The locals have maintained and preserved the structures, recognizing their value not only as a piece of history, but as a crucial part of their daily lives. The windmills continue to harness the power of the wind to grind grain and pump water, just as they have done for centuries.

Don't ask how I landed on this - the serendipity of the Internet!

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Feb 23 - 10:22 PM

Bows Were Being Used in Europe 40,000 Years Earlier Than We Thought (here's part of the story)

A cave in southern France has revealed evidence of the first use of bows and arrows in Europe by modern humans some 54,000 years ago, far earlier than previously known. The research, published on Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, pushes back the age of archery in Europe by more than 40,000 years. The use of the bow-and-arrow in Africa has been documented to date back some 70,000 years. But the oldest previous evidence of archery in Europe was the discovery of bows and arrows in peat bogs of Northern Europe, notably Stellmoor in Germany, dating back 10,000 to 12,000 years.

The new research comes from the Mandrin rock shelter overlooking the middle valley of the Rhone River in southern France. The Grotte Mandrin site, which was first excavated in 1990, includes layer upon layer of archaeological remains dating back over 80,000 years. The researchers who conducted the latest study have documented previously that Neanderthals and their modern "cousins" – Homo sapiens – alternated in inhabiting the Mandrin cave. A level known as the "Layer E" has been attributed to the presence of Homo sapiens some 54,000 years ago and is interposed between layers of numerous Neanderthal occupations.

The researchers conducted a functional analysis of flint artifacts found in Layer E that were more finely executed than the points and blades in the layers above and below. Tiny flint points were the key because other elements of archery technology such as wood, fibers, leather, resins and sinew are perishable and rarely preserved in European Paleolithic sites.

The article is made of teeny-tiny single-sentence "paragraphs" combined here so it looks somewhat normal. The rest at the link.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 23 Feb 23 - 04:15 PM

Russian scientists dissect nearly 3,500-year-old bear discovered in Siberian permafrost A brown bear that lay almost perfectly preserved in the frozen wilds of eastern Siberia for almost 3,500 years has undergone an autopsy by a team of scientists after it was discovered by reindeer herders on a desolate island in the Arctic.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 23 Feb 23 - 02:54 AM

Evidence of Bronze Age neurosurgery found in remains of wealthy brothers buried in Israel

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Donuel
Date: 20 Feb 23 - 03:25 PM

India

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 20 Feb 23 - 05:11 AM

It’s not a darning tool, it’s a very naughty toy: Roman dildo found Two thousand-year-old object found at Roman fort in Northumberland in 1992 has been reassessed by archaeologists

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 19 Feb 23 - 02:22 AM

interesting story, thanks for posting it

sandra

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Feb 23 - 10:33 PM

There's a glitch right now and Mudcat isn't allowing for multiple paragraphs so I'll keep it all here. From the Seattle Times: Dennis Parada waged a legal battle to force the FBI to turn over records of its excavation in Dents Run, Pennsylvania, where local lore says an 1863 shipment of Union gold disappeared on its way to the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia. The FBI, which went to Dents Run after sophisticated testing suggested tons of gold might be buried there, has long insisted the dig came up empty.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Feb 23 - 10:33 PM

This is a baby in terms of history, but it's something a lot of people have probably wondered about. FBI records deepen mystery of dig for Civil War-era gold

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 17 Feb 23 - 05:33 PM

Discovery of 4,500-year-old palace in Iraq may hold key to ancient civilisation Sumerian Lord Palace of the Kings found in archeological collaboration with British Museum

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 12 Feb 23 - 04:31 PM

I knew I had a few interesting article just waiting to be posted - however these have been waiting for 12 months (well, 11 months & 3 weeks to be exact) I really must clear up my email drafts! Some are actually real emails addressed to someone, others are just info.

Has The “Red Bag” That Once Held Sir Walter Raleigh’s Decapitated Head Been Discovered At An Old Family Manor? ... But, But… How does leather transform into velvet?

Bedsheet Lovingly Embroidered With Hair Likely From A Severed Head

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 12 Feb 23 - 04:24 PM

interesting article, thanks for posting it.

I wonder if the Hollywood Vikings will stay blond, or will diversity come into casting! And will audiences accept it?

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Feb 23 - 04:15 PM

Myth-Busting Study Reveals Vikings Were More Genetically Diverse Than We Thought

Over a period of six years, the study authors sequenced the genomes of 442 Viking age skeletons, dating from 2400 BCE to 1600 AD. In doing so, they shed new light on the genetic origins of the Viking populace, while also revealing how different factions within the Viking world spread through Northern Europe.

“We found that Vikings weren't just Scandinavians in their genetic ancestry, as we analysed genetic influences in their DNA from Southern Europe and Asia which has never been contemplated before. Many Vikings have high levels of non-Scandinavian ancestry, both within and outside Scandinavia, which suggest ongoing gene flow across Europe,” explained study author Martin Sikora in a statement.

What it also suggests is that their women went along on the ships or they brought back women from other countries. At the very least.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Donuel
Date: 09 Feb 23 - 04:51 PM

Paleo religion, acheo pharmacology and chromospectography to identify the residue in archeologic cups are subjects that you might expect I would broach.
Brian Muraresku wants to be very clear: the book 'immortality key' is not about psychedelics per say, nor has he tried them.. He’s referring to the concept of “dying before dying,” a mystical, near-death state spiritual experience.
-during a recent interview,
“Certainly, psychedelics seem to be an awfully fast-acting, reliable way to enter into that state—that state between life and death.
But it’s not the only one, and I want to be very, very clear about that.”

Still, “The Immortality Key: The Secret History of the Religion With No Name” is kind of about psychedelics. The main thesis of Muraresku’s exceptional investigative work: the modern Eucharist is a placebo variation of a psychedelic brew that originally represented the body and blood of Christ, as was likely practiced during the secret Eleusinian Mysteries. Unlike other religions and mythologies (which acknowledge prior influences), Christian leaders have remained steadfast in the assertion that Christianity emerged whole-cloth as a unique (and, in the eyes of believers, true) faith.

That’s just not how religion works. Nothing is created in a vacuum.

What are the foundations of Western civilization to Christianity? The real lineage belongs to Greece. Muraresku, who holds a degree in Latin, Greek,and Sanskrit, spent 12 years investigating this book due to his longstanding love of the Classics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c-bWymbT04 This link is a discussion among classicists on the subject of psychedelics.

The shamanic journey is a religious experience that will expose most modern western concepts of God as ridiculous and replace them with mysteries that are profound..
Being an initiated enlightened person will make them an atheist to current western religion but replace that religion with a far more spiritual understanding.
The Dionysian journey and the Elesian mysteries are being found to be from 200 million year old fungi, like Ergot rye in which beer and wine were 'dosed' as well as with psilocybin mushrooms. The ancient Greeks h ad more experience and influence from an altered state of consciousness than mere imagination and curiosity. There is a certainty in discovering who you are in the shamanistic experience that without the experience a life is only half lived. It is the experience of the God within, which has nothing to do with an egotistical view. It is not just the Mayans but it is western civilization itself that has visionary roots going back to the ancient Greeks and perhaps the Egyptians. A way to see the difference between people who have had visionary experiences and those who have not
is to compare Carl Jung and all his works and Freud. Carl Jung spent an undocumented year in Taos where he discovered psilocybin and Freud
was hung up on cocaine.
Pre Greecian civilization that has known this transcendence go back as far as Gobekli Tepi which was not a farm or temple but may have been a a brewery that made beer with rye. Was it ergotized beer? Beer residue has been found.
THERE HAS ONLY BEEN A DECADE OF ARCHEOCHEMISTS LOOKING AT ANCIENT DENTAL CALCULUS TO SEE WHAT DIET WAS EATEN. Only a few dozen are doing research. It is a new window in the archeological spectrum.

more on Brian Muraresku and Dionysian sacrements. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYQh1ZNkC70
At minimum, Brian has a hypothesis worth a second look.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 09 Feb 23 - 04:40 PM

Discovery of 3m-year-old stone tools sparks prehistoric whodunnit Presence of teeth from extinct hominin challenges view that only members of Homo genus used complex tools.
The discovery of stone tools dating back nearly 3m years has raised questions about which hominin species was behind the ancient technology.

The artefacts, found at a site in Kenya, are thought to be the oldest known example of a specific set of stone tools used for butchery and pounding plant material. The emergence of the so-called Oldowan toolkit is viewed as a milestone in human evolution and was assumed to be an innovation of our ancestors.

However, the latest excavation revealed a pair of massive molars belonging to Paranthropus, a muscular-jawed hominin on a side branch of our evolutionary tree, alongside the tools. (read on)

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Donuel
Date: 07 Feb 23 - 07:12 AM

Such is the nature of the narcissist expert who claims the authority of the past and declares the impossibility of anything new. The enemy of discovery or invention is a bevy of Ph.D. status quo experts compared to open minded researchers.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Feb 23 - 10:24 AM

That is a rather fraught story, isn't it? Thanks, Sandra!

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 05 Feb 23 - 09:52 AM

I haven't checked Sandra's link (the Grauniad web site gives my browser indigestion), but Sir Arthur Evans also did damage to the understanding of Linear B, by insisting it was a native Cretan language; such was his authority that nobody dare contradict him. Only in the 1940s, after Evans was long dead, did Alice Kober get hold of samples and start cracking Linear B from scratch; Michael Ventris then found it to be Greek after all.

Reference: Simon Singh: The Code Book, ch 5 ("The language barrier"). Read the whole saga (pp 217--242) for the connection with Bletchley Park.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 04 Feb 23 - 04:46 PM

Half–bull, half-truth… How English archaeologist claimed credit for discovering home of the minotaur Oxford museum aims to ‘set the record straight’ about the discovery of Knossos Palace in Crete.
Sir Arthur Evans, the renowned English archaeologist, stands guilty of pouring concrete into what he claimed was the lost palace of Knossos on Crete, of spinning the story of the Labyrinth, and of cutting out the local man who first discovered the famous site.

Yet today he is widely admired in Greece, by contrast with Lord Elgin, the Scottish nobleman whose seizure of part of the Parthenon’s marble frieze has long branded him an enemy of Greek culture.
Knossos locator map

Now the full history of Knossos, reputed home of the minotaur – the half-man, half-bull monster of legend – is to be displayed for the first time in a major British exhibition. While it will acknowledge Evans’s positive legacy, it belatedly gives full recognition to Minos Kalokairinos, the Cretan businessman and scholar who originally found the famous ruins. (read On)

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Feb 23 - 11:05 AM

The Oldest Door from the Association of English Cathedrals (link to Facebook page)

The oldest door. It has lasted pretty well.

Hidden away in Westminster Abbey is Britain's oldest door in the passage leading to the Chapter House.

Dated for the first time in 2005 by the process known as dendrochronology. It showed that the wood was felled after 1032 AD and that the door was constructed sometime in the 1050s. This was during the reign of King Edward the Confessor, who built the Norman Abbey which was consecrated in 1065.

The ring-pattern of the timber indicates that the tree grew in eastern England, most probably coming from the extensive woodland owned by the Abbey in this area, and possibly from Essex.

The door is made of five vertical oak planks held together with three horizontal battens and iron straps. Most unusually the battens are recessed into the planks so that the door is flush on both sides. Normally medieval doors have a flat front and the back has projecting ledges and braces. The construction of this door is unique and shows that it was intended to communicate between spaces of equal importance in the Abbey. But its original position is not known. The boards are from a single tree and rings on them show growth during the years from AD 924 to 1030. As the bark was trimmed when the planks were made into a door it means the exact year of felling cannot be known.

Source - Westminster Abbey

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Black belt caterpillar wrestler
Date: 02 Feb 23 - 07:33 PM

I remember reading an account of the time that stated that the Dodo was actually not that tasty, just easy to catch.

Robin

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 02 Feb 23 - 05:31 PM

I wonder how old the image is