Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 13 Aug 26 - 05:33 PM

ps. thanks, Mudelf. I always use DaveRo's Simple linkifier but don't always check it (oops)

hmmm, oysters with teeth ...

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Donuel
Date: 14 Aug 26 - 04:57 PM

The Chesapeake Bay was initially formed by an asteroid impact. Many people display the gigantic white shocked quartz boulders from the impact.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Aug 26 - 06:08 PM

I didn't know that about an impact crater there. Interesting! From a USGS Fact Sheet (049-98):

Analysis of 1,200 km of profiles shows that the crater is 85 km in diameter and 1.3 km deep; an excavation twice the size of Rhode Island and as deep as the Grand Canyon. It is three times larger than any other U.S. crater and is the sixth largest crater known on the planet.

Around here the main geologic features are limestone with shell and coral fossils. I have driven past signs pointing to the impact crater near Odessa and just found another called the Sierra Madera south of Fort Stockton. A third Texas much smaller one is closer to me called the Marquez crater. That Sierra Madera one sounds like it's worth a side trip.

Going to an event this evening at the museum where I volunteer and I've found an old t-shirt with the event theme. It's in the dryer now and if I have time I'll do some sewing machine mending then wear a jacket-like blouse over it so only the front symbol shows, not the fixed spots.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 14 Aug 26 - 11:33 PM

Mummified Remains Trade Sparks Health Warning


A new website now bookmarked -
A Medieval Ship Hull Was Hiding in a Cellar Ceiling for Nearly 800 Years

The Emperor’s Revenge? Roman Villa Bones Hint at a Fourth-Century Massacre in Britain

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 22 Aug 26 - 11:26 PM

Roman Mass Grave Beneath Vienna Soccer Field Reveals Unusual Concentration of Pelvic Wounds A Roman mass grave discovered beneath a soccer field in Vienna is revealing new details about a violent clash that killed scores of young men nearly 2,000 years ago. An updated analysis has found that injuries were unusually concentrated around the pelvis, where projectile wounds appear far more frequently than researchers would normally expect.

The discovery, made in Vienna’s Simmering district, has already been linked to the Roman military through weapons and equipment recovered among the bodies. Yet one of the biggest questions remains unanswered: what battle left so many men dead in a single pit on the outskirts of ancient Vindobona? (read on)

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 08 Sep 26 - 01:23 AM

Roman Pet Mosaic Names Emerald the Cat and Ocean the Dog Archaeologists have discovered a vividly colored Roman pet mosaic in Adramytteion, Turkey that contains the names of two animals: a cat named Emerald and a dog named named Ocean. The mosaic is 1,800 years old and dates back to the time when it decorated the reception hall of a wealthy abode. The pair of animals are placed among fish, birds and mythological characters, according to an exclusive report by The Independent.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Sep 26 - 12:19 PM

Sandra, I've just done a deep dive via Google Earth to look at the area of Lake Constance. I didn't know anything about it (large lake!) and from it the Rhine certainly travels a long distance.

That tracking of the river course brought me to the North Sea and all of the mudflats and reminded me of the Erskine Childers story Riddle of the Sands set in the East Frisian Islands (I first saw the wonderfully evocative film and then went looking for the book).

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 10 Sep 26 - 06:21 PM

tiny feather - about an inch long!

Fossilised dinosaur poo contains stunningly preserved feather Palaeontologists have discovered an extremely well-preserved feather from an extinct bird in fossilised dinosaur faeces.

The researchers said the fossil could help explain why ancestors of modern birds survived the mass extinction 66 million years ago.

The researchers said the discovery was a "call to action" for scientists to scan other fossilised faeces to look for feathers. (read on)

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Sep 26 - 07:41 PM

You'd think every castle in the UK would have long since been identified, but apparently there is a site that was previously unrecognized that 30 years of research have fleshed out.

Three Decades of Research Reveal a Forgotten Medieval Castle on a Scottish Island
Archaeologists say Finlaggan was the seat of power for the Lordship of the Isles. Before that, a previously unknown castle stood at the site during the 12th and 13th centuries

This was published last year but a search here doesn't come up with a similar post.

Finlaggan, the historic site of the castle, sits on Islay, an island off the western coast of Scotland. The book analyzes the major archaeological research that took place at Finlaggan between 1989 and 1998.

Led by archaeologist David Caldwell, the research suggests that Finlaggan served as a hub of power for the Lordship of the Isles, a “quasi-independent state of political and cultural importance in the 14th and 15th centuries,” per a statement from the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. The Lords of the Isles ruled for many years “with royal pretensions, treating ... English and Scottish kings as if they were on a par with them.”

Further down

No medieval documents refer to Finlaggan as a site of importance. But through the archaeological record, Caldwell’s team found evidence that it was the kingdom’s administrative, judicial and ceremonial center between 1300 and 1500 C.E.

During this period, a palatial complex stood on a small island in Loch Finlaggan. People used cobbled paths to reach central buildings, including a dining hall and a chapel, while a causeway led to a council house on a second island nearby.

The puzzling part of the headline is explained further down, that during these research they also found evidence of an earlier castle that they were unaware of. It isn't the clearest summation of the work, so get your hands on the book if you're really curious.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Helen
Date: 25 Sep 26 - 03:54 AM

This isn't archaeological, but it is celebrating David Attenborough's 100th birthday in a fun way, which can only be truly seen and appreciated from above:

Pumpkin mosaic of David Attenborough breaks world record

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 25 Sep 26 - 06:18 AM

wot fun!

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 27 Sep 26 - 09:47 AM

Meet Apollo, the First AI That Reads Ancient Greek

hmmmmmmm, do I also post this in the AI thread?

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Sep 26 - 02:01 PM

A Smithsonian article published in July this year: Students in Florida Discovered a 400-Year-Old Intact Pot That Reveals Conflict Among Indigenous, Spanish and English Powers
Archaeology students at the University of Florida discovered the rare vessel at the site of the former Mission San Francisco de Potano, established in 1606 when Florida was under Spanish rule

In 1585 tribal Potano people in Florida were pushed off of their lands and settled in this spot. In 1606 the Spanish established a Catholic mission there. (Those missions pretty uniformly were toxic to the indigenous people of the region, wherever they were established.)

The Mission San Francisco de Potano was briefly abandoned in 1656 after the Timucua people launched a rebellion against Spanish colonial rule. However, once the Spanish quashed the uprising, they re-established the mission a few years later. The site was abandoned for good in 1706, when it was destroyed by English raiders. . . . For centuries, Mission San Francisco de Potano was largely lost to history—until artifacts began resurfacing in the 1950s. Modern excavations have been underway since 2006.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Donuel
Date: 05 Oct 26 - 11:43 AM

Never open to the public there are 37,000 year old cave paintings in the Chauvet cave. There are very beautiful.

select your own film https://www.google.com/search?q=Chevaugx+cave&sca_esv=5defce9e8cee4e33&sxsrf=APpeQnuNB1QBIAsdjR9U84Z9NoXrJXMqXA%3A1791214405964&

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Donuel
Date: 05 Oct 26 - 11:55 AM

Stoneage Masterpiece is the hour long NOVA presentation season 53 episude 11 about this impressive cave.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 14 Oct 26 - 05:36 PM

Newly discovered underwater sites off WA's Burrup Peninsula give clues to ancient ways of life Two new underwater archaeological sites have been discovered off the Burrup Peninsula, in WA's Pilbara region.

Indigenous rangers worked alongside archaeologists to provide knowledge about country to the project.

Researchers believe there are potentially thousands of underwater sites in the area to explore.

Secret treasures uncovered beneath the water off Western Australia's Pilbara coast are telling stories of how life was lived thousands of years ago.

A newly published paper documents two recently discovered sites off the Burrup Peninsula, or Murujuga as it is known by traditional owners, 1,250 kilometres north of Perth, and builds on underwater research that began in 2019.

Flinders University lead researcher Jonathan Benjamin said more than 20 stone artefacts were found across the new sites, which would have been submerged 9,000-10,000 years ago when sea levels rose after the last ice age.   (read on)

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Oct 26 - 06:21 PM

WA being "Western Australia." I grew up in WA being Washington State. :) Where there are some interesting archaeological digs and sites.

Researchers believe there are potentially thousands of underwater sites in the area to explore.

That's quite an oral history, if 9000 year old sites are still spoken of.

Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 15 Oct 26 - 01:38 AM

lost, unmarked graves - more Australia articles with lots of links to click on

Outback council uncovers hundreds of unmarked burials with help of Dave 'the Grave' Hunter The Central Darling Shire Council has discovered more than 600 unmarked graves in far-west New South Wales.

They found them without disturbing the earth, using ground-penetrating radar.

Efforts to identify those buried are ongoing ...