Secret HistoryS


Meteor

3,700 years ago, cosmic airburst may have wiped out part of the Middle East

Owen Jarus
Live Science
Wed, 28 Nov 2018 06:32 UTC
Cosmic airburst
© Shutterstock
Some 3,700 years ago, a meteor or comet exploded over the Middle East, wiping out human life across a swath of land called Middle Ghor, north of the Dead Sea, say archaeologists who have found evidence of the cosmic airburst.

The airburst "in an instant, devastated approximately 500 km2 [about 200 square miles] immediately north of the Dead Sea, not only wiping out 100 percent of the [cities] and towns, but also stripping agricultural soils from once-fertile fields and covering the eastern Middle Ghor with a super-heated brine of Dead Sea anhydride salts pushed over the landscape by the event's frontal shock waves," the researchers wrote in the abstract for a paper that was presented at the American Schools of Oriental Research annual meeting held in Denver Nov. 14 to 17. Anhydride salts are a mix of salt and sulfates.

"Based upon the archaeological evidence, it took at least 600 years to recover sufficiently from the soil destruction and contamination before civilization could again become established in the eastern Middle Ghor," they wrote. Among the places destroyed was Tall el-Hammam, an ancient city that covered 89 acres (36 hectares) of land.
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Whistle

Before Assange, Manning and Snowden, there was Dr. David Kelly

Adam Garrie
Eurasia Future
Thu, 29 Nov 2018 00:00 UTC
Dr. David Kelly
© Getty ImagesDr. David Kelly
Dr. David Kelly was an unassuming man in an age of political grandstanding - a soft spoken weapons expert in an age of weaponized rhetoric. Having worked for both the United Nations and the British government as a high level weapons inspector, he briefly became a household name when after a 2003 visit to Iraq, Dr. Kelly concluded that the government in Baghdad was telling the truth regarding its inability to produce weapons of mass destruction and the non-existence of WMD stockpiles.

In an article published by the Guardian newspaper in 2003, the following was written about what turned out to be Kelley's final weapons inspecting mission to Iraq:
"An official British investigation into two trailers found in northern Iraq has concluded they are not mobile germ warfare labs, as was claimed by Tony Blair and President George Bush, but were for the production of hydrogen to fill artillery balloons, as the Iraqis have continued to insist.

The conclusion by biological weapons experts working for the British Government is an embarrassment for the Prime Minister, who has claimed that the discovery of the labs proved that Iraq retained weapons of mass destruction and justified the case for going to war against Saddam Hussein.

Instead, a British scientist and biological weapons expert, who has examined the trailers in Iraq, told The Observer last week: 'They are not mobile germ warfare laboratories. You could not use them for making biological weapons. They do not even look like them. They are exactly what the Iraqis said they were - facilities for the production of hydrogen gas to fill balloons'".

Comment: PTB: Inconvenient truths = inconvenient lives.

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Info

Extinct Denisovan people may have colonized Earth's highest plateau in Tibet 30,000 years ago

Nick Karne
Cosmos Magazine
Thu, 29 Nov 2018 22:00 UTC
tibet denisovans
© National GeographicA team excavates at the Nwya Devu site on the Tibetan Plateau.
People were living 4,600 metres above sea level on the Tibetan Plateau at least 30,000 years ago, a new study has found.

That makes it the earliest known human occupation at high altitude anywhere on the planet.

Archaeologists have long wondered when humans moved up to the "roof of the world", which also happens to be one of the least hospitable places on Earth, but hard evidence has been scant.

Now researchers from China, the US and Russia have found some.
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Wedding Rings

Inscription on ancient ring confirms that it belonged to Pontius Pilate


RT
Thu, 29 Nov 2018 21:23 UTC
historical site
© Global Look Press / Gil Cohen MagenWorkers from the Israeli Antiquities Authority work in the Herodium fortress.
The name of Pontius Pilate, the Roman official who ordered the crucifixion of Jesus Christ according to Christian scripture, has been deciphered on a bronze ring discovered some 50 years ago near Bethlehem.

The ancient ring was found in the late 1960s during an archaeological dig at the site of the Herodion fortress, built by Herod the king of Judea.

His name was deciphered on the ring after it, and thousands of other finds, were handed over to the team currently working on the historical site. Pilate was an infamous Roman governor of Jerusalem in the years 26 to 36 who also allegedly ran Jesus' trial.
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Archaeology

Eight colorful mummies discovered near the White Pyramid at Dahshur, Egypt

Kristin Romey
National Geographic
Wed, 28 Nov 2018 00:00 UTC
The roughly 2,500-year old mummies were buried near the White Pyramid at Dahshur, built by a pharaoh who reigned 3,800 years ago.
mummies dashur
In blue, brown and green tones the cardboard of the sarcophagus still kept intact the face of the person who inhabited the coffin for nearly three millennia. Egyptian archaeologists have found eight graves with their respective mummies housed in boxes that have retained the vivacity of the original colors.
Eight mummies were discovered during excavations near a pyramid in Dahshur, Egypt, the country's Ministry of Antiquities announced today. Dating from the Late Period (664-332 B.C.), the mummified remains were each covered in painted cartonnage (a sort of paper-maché made from plaster and papyrus or linen) and buried in a limestone sarcophagus.

Only three of the mummies were in good condition, according to Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities.

The discovery was made during excavations near the White Pyramid of Amenemhat II, a 12th Dynasty pharaoh who died in the early 19th century B.C. The pyramid, one of several built at the necropolis at Dahshur, has been mined for its white limestone blocks and heavily looted, and little of the monument remains today.
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People 2

Study suggests multiple episodes of inter-breeding between Neanderthal and humans

Bob Yirka
Phys.org
Tue, 27 Nov 2018 12:00 UTC
Comparison of a Neanderthal skull (left) with that of a Homo sapiens.
© Nathan HoltonComparison of a Neanderthal skull (left) with that of a Homo sapiens.
A pair of researchers at Temple University has found evidence that suggests Neanderthals mated and produced offspring with anatomically modern humans multiple times-not just once, as has been suggested by prior research. In their paper published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, Fernando Villanea and Joshua Schraiber describe their genetic analysis of East Asian and European people and how they compared to people from other places. Fabrizio Mafessoni with the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology offers a News and Views piece on the work done by the pair in the same journal issue.

In recent years, scientists have discovered that early humans moving out of Africa encountered Neanderthals living in parts of what is now Europe and Eastern Asia. In comparing Neanderthal DNA with modern humans, researchers have found that there was a least one pairing that led to offspring, which is reflected in the DNA of humans-approximately 2 percent of the DNA in non-African humans today is Neanderthal. In this new effort, the researchers have found evidence that suggests there was more than one such encounter.

Comment: Recent studies show that humans also interbred with Denisovans as well as an unknown species.

See also:

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Info

New Roman history revealed under world's 1st cathedral


Newcastle University
Wed, 28 Nov 2018 16:13 UTC
Layers of Roman history
Archbasilica of St John Lateran
© Newcastle UniversityConstruction of the Basilica was a potent symbol of the military making way for religion, and the birth of modern Rome.
Supported throughout by the British School at Rome the team - drawn from Newcastle University and the universities of Florence and Amsterdam and the Vatican Museums - have been able to bring the splendour of successive transformations of the ancient city to life.

The church, the Pope's own cathedral, was originally built in the 4th century AD by Constantine - the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. Positioned on the Caelian Hill, the church would have dominated the Roman skyline at the time.

As research reveals, however, the site had already been in use for centuries. To build his magnificent cathedral, Constantine swept away the Castra Nova (New Fort), the lavish headquarters of the imperial horseguard constructed over a century before by the Emperor Septimius Severus. In much the same way, Severus had previously destroyed the palatial houses of some of Rome's most powerful residents to make way for the horseguards' impressive new home.

This ongoing process of construction on the site meant that over centuries layers of Roman history were laid down, much of it reflecting the changing fortunes and priorities of the Empire.
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Comet

Prehistoric cave art study reveals ancient people had complex knowledge of astronomy and were tracking catastrophic meteor showers

University of Edinburgh
Science Daily
Tue, 27 Nov 2018 12:00 UTC
gobekli tepe astronomy
© Martin SweatmanAs far back as 40,000 years ago, humans kept track of time using relatively sophisticated knowledge of the stars,
Some of the world's oldest cave paintings have revealed how ancient people had relatively advanced knowledge of astronomy.

The artworks, at sites across Europe, are not simply depictions of wild animals, as was previously thought. Instead, the animal symbols represent star constellations in the night sky, and are used to represent dates and mark events such as comet strikes, analysis suggests.

They reveal that, perhaps as far back as 40,000 years ago, humans kept track of time using knowledge of how the position of the stars slowly changes over thousands of years.

The findings suggest that ancient people understood an effect caused by the gradual shift of Earth's rotational axis. Discovery of this phenomenon, called precession of the equinoxes, was previously credited to the ancient Greeks.

Around the time that Neanderthals became extinct, and perhaps before humankind settled in Western Europe, people could define dates to within 250 years, the study shows.

Comment: The study provided in the link above is only 17 pages and it's a fascinating read.

For more on the ancient knowledge and recent revelations about our planet's history with cyclical catastrophes, check out: Also check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Who was Jesus? Examining the evidence that Christ may in fact have been Caesar!

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Boat

Ostia Antica: The harbor city of ancient Rome digitally reconstructed

Dattatreya Mandal
Realm of History
Wed, 27 Jul 2016 12:00 UTC
Ostia Antica: The harbor city of ancient Rome
Ostia Antica: The harbor city of ancient Rome
Ostia Antica (derived from os, the Latin for "mouth") was the preeminent harbor city of ancient Rome, with its geographical location being around 19 miles from the 'eternal city'. And while in modern circumstances, the site lies around 2 miles away from the sea, due to silting, the area is still home to a flurry of well preserved ancient Roman architectural specimens, frescoes and mosaics. Taking advantage of these extant 'legacies' of Roman history, the resourceful folks over at Altair4 Multimedia have digitally reconstructed the ancient harbor city of Ostia Antica - and the glorious result is there to behold.

Another nifty reconstruction video made by Colonia Ostiensis, also captures the sheer scale of this ancient harbor city, which possibly reached its peak population of around 50,000 by 2nd century AD, at the apical stage of the Roman Empire.

Comment: And for some insight into the cataclysmic events that brought the port's use to an end, see: Also check out SOTT radio's:

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Bulb

Ancient American farmers supplemented poor diet with corn fungus

Andrew Masterson
Cosmos Magazine
Tue, 27 Nov 2018 08:48 UTC
Ustilago maydis corn smut
© Carmen Hauser / Getty ImagesCorn smut: disfiguring but delicious.
Ancient American farmers supplemented poor diet through fungus infection Eating only maize leads to disease, and why the Basketmaker II people didn't fall ill has long been a mystery. Now it's been solved. Andrew Masterson reports.

A mystery concerning how some of North America's first farmers survived on a diet that appears manifestly inadequate may have been solved.

The ancestral Pueblo people who lived in what is now known as the Four Corners region of the southwestern United States shifted from a nomadic to a settled lifestyle centred on crop-growing around 400BCE.

The primary crop cultivated was maize (known in the US as corn), which accounted for an estimated 80% of calorific intake.

During the ensuing 800 years - a stretch known as the Basketmaker II period - the settlers' diet contained very little meat. This was perhaps a cultural choice. Basketmaker II people became efficient turkey farmers, but the birds were raised primarily for their feathers, used in the manufacture of blankets, and for certain ritual purposes. They were not eaten.

Comment: Since there's evidence that these ancient farmers would eat rabbit, one would assume they weren't 'culturally' against eating meat per se. Rabbit is often consumed when other food sources are scarce, because relying elusively on rabbit leads to protein poisoning, also know as rabbit starvation, due to the absence of fat on the animal. While it could be that they simply discovered an optimal source for their nutrition, could it instead be that, as has been documented to have occurred in the area at later times, there were climatic conditions or catastrophic events that meant they needed to turn to a more reliable source for their nutrition?

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