Secret HistoryS


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Genetic marker discovered for descendants of Robert the Bruce clan

Robert The Bruce
© My Medieval Genealogy - Robert the Bruce
A distinct genetic marker, carried by descendants of Robert the Bruce's close relatives, has been identified by researchers at the University of Strathclyde.

The genealogy researchers have found the marker in male line descendants of the Bruces of Clackmannan, who were related to Robert the Bruce, King of Scots from 1306 to 1329.

It is in the Y chromosome DNA of two different lines of descent from Robert Bruce, 2nd Baron of Clackmannan, who lived in the second half of the 14th century.

One of the descendants who has taken a test is Rollo Bruce, a retired textile research editor from Oxfordshire.

Although there are varying theories about the exact relationship between the Bruces of Clackmannan and King Robert the Bruce, there is a consensus that it was very close. In the Register of the Great Seal for 1365, a charter of King David II confirms a grant of lands in Clackmannan to Robert Bruce, who is described in Latin as dilecto et fideli nostro consanguineo (our beloved and faithful kinsman). This Robert is first mentioned in 1360 as the young heir of his father, Thomas Bruce.

The genetic marker has been given the name FTB15831.

Info

Oldest Buddhist temple discovered in Pakistan

Italian mission discovers ancient Buddhist temples in Gandhara, Pakistan.
An aerial view of the temple
© ISMEO/Ca' Foscari University of VeniceAn aerial view of the temple.
One of the most ancient Buddhist temples in the world has been uncovered during the latest archaeological excavation campaign of the Italian mission in the city of Barikot, in the Swat region of Pakistan.

The findings date back to approximately the second half of the 2nd century BC, though they may be even older and date back to the Maurya period (3rd century BC) — only Carbon-14 dating will provide more solid evidence. This discovery sheds new light onto the forms of ancient Buddhism and its spread in old Gandhara, adding a piece to the puzzle of what we know about the ancient city.

The oldest Italian archaeological mission in Asia was started by Giuseppe Tucci in 1955 and is currently led by Professor Luca Maria Olivieri of Ca' Foscari University of Venice (Department of Asian and North African Studies). Since 2021, Ca' Foscari began a collaboration with ISMEO (the International Association for Mediterranean and Oriental Studies), which is jointly funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums KP Province (DOAM KP) and the Swat Museum.

"The discovery of a great religious monument created at the time of the Indo-Greek Kingdom testifies that this was an important and ancient centre for cult and pilgrimage. At that time, Swat already was a sacred land for Buddhism," says Professor Olivieri.

Info

Comet's fiery destruction led to downfall ancient Hopewell

UC researchers find evidence of cosmic cataclysm 1,500 years ago at 11 ancient sites.
UC Researchers
© Larry SandmanUniversity of Cincinnati researchers take sediment samples at a Hopewell site at the confluence of the Ohio and Great Miami rivers. From left they are anthropology student Louis Herzner, biology student Stephanie Meyers, anthropology professor Kenneth Tankersley and UC geology alumnus Stephen Meyers.
The rapid decline of the Hopewell culture about 1,500 years ago might be explained by falling debris from a near-Earth comet that created a devastating explosion over North America, laying waste to forests and Native American villages alike.

Researchers with the University of Cincinnati found evidence of a cosmic airburst at 11 Hopewell archaeological sites in three states stretching across the Ohio River Valley. This was home to the Ohio Hopewell, part of a notable Native American culture found across what is now the eastern United States.

The comet's glancing pass rained debris down into the Earth's atmosphere, creating a fiery explosion. UC archaeologists used radiocarbon and typological dating to determine the age of the event.

The airburst affected an area bigger than New Jersey, setting fires across 9,200 square miles between the years A.D. 252 and 383. This coincides with a period when 69 near-Earth comets were observed and documented by Chinese astronomers and witnessed by Native Americans as told through their oral histories.

The study was published in the Nature journal Scientific Reports.

Donut

Ancient Maya's sacred groves of cacao trees discovered

maya
© Richard TerryResearcher Chris Balzotti climbs an ancient staircase discovered in a sinkhole near Coba, Mexico.
As much as modern society worships chocolate, cacao — the plant chocolate comes from — it was believed to be even more divine to ancient Mayas. The Maya considered cacao beans to be a gift from the gods and even used them as currency because of their value.

As such, cacao bean production was carefully controlled by the Maya leaders of northern Yucatan, with cacao trees only grown in sacred groves. But no modern researcher has ever been able to pinpoint where these ancient sacred groves were located — until now.

Researchers at Brigham Young University, including professor emeritus Richard Terry and graduate students Bryce Brown and Christopher Balzotti, worked closely with archaeologists from the U.S. and Mexico to identify locations the Maya used to provide the perfect blend of humidity, calm and shade required by cacao trees. While the drier climate of the Yucatan peninsula is inhospitable to cacao growth, the team realized the vast array of sinkholes common to the peninsula have microclimates with just the right conditions.

Comment: It brings to mind a reference Graham Hancock makes in his book America Before that in the Amazon rainforest food crops like the Brazil nut and the ice cream bean tree are in such abundance when compared to other species of plant that researchers believe that they must have been intentionally cultivated: Also check out the MindMatters podcast on the book mentioned above: MindMatters: America Before: Comets, Catastrophes, Mounds and Mythology




Pharoah

18,000 inscribed sherds documents life in ancient Egyptian city of Athribis

The temple of Athribis
© IDW OnlineThe temple of Athribis
Egyptologists have recovered more than 18,000 inscribed sherds in ancient Athribis - the remains of vessels and jars that served as writing material some 2,000 years ago. The sherds, known as ostraca, document lists of names, purchases of food and everyday objects, and even writing from a school, including lines written by pupils as a punishment. It is very rare to find such a large volume of ostraca. They were recovered during excavations led by Professor Christian Leitz of the Institute for Ancient Near Eastern Studies (IANES) at the University of Tübingen in cooperation with Mohamed Abdelbadia and his team from the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

In ancient times, ostraca were used in large quantities as writing material, inscribed with ink and a reed or hollow stick (calamus). Such a large quantity of finds has only been made once before in Egypt, in the workers' settlement of Deir el-Medineh, near the Valley of the Kings in Luxor. The ostraca now recovered provide a variety of insights into the everyday life of the ancient settlement of Athribis, nearly 200 kilometers north of Luxor.

Around 80 percent of the pot sherds are inscribed in Demotic, the common administrative script in the Ptolemaic and Roman periods, which developed from Hieratic after 600 BC. Among the second most common finds are ostraca with Greek script, but the team also came across inscriptions in Hieratic, hieroglyphic and - more rarely - Coptic and Arabic script.

They also discovered pictorial ostraca - a special category, says Christian Leitz. "These sherds show various figurative representations, including animals such as scorpions and swallows, humans, gods from the nearby temple, even geometric figures."

Star of David

New Anne Frank book sparks scandal in Netherlands: Claims family was betrayed by Jewish collaborator

anne frank house book
The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam
The Dutch publishers of a new book about the betrayal of Anne Frank have delayed a decision about a second print run pending 'answers from the investigative team to questions that have arisen' following the publication earlier this month.

Ambo Anthos said in a letter to its authors that it apologised to everyone who felt offended by the book, which claims a Jewish notary was 85% certain to have handed the Frank's secret address to the Nazis.

The publisher, which bought the Dutch rights to the book four years ago, now says it should have been more critical about the book Who Betrayed Anne Frank? and that it had been caught up in the momentum toward its international unveiling.

The book was launched to a highly orchestrated publicity onslaught, including very strict rules for journalists given an advance copy.

Info

Researchers discover locations of ancient Maya sacred groves of cacao trees

Findings show links among cacao cultivation, religion, power in region.

Researcher Chris Balzotti
© Photo by Richard TerryResearcher Chris Balzotti climbs an ancient staircase discovered in a sinkhole near Coba, Mexico.
For as much as modern society worships chocolate, cacao — the plant chocolate comes from — was believed to be even more divine to ancient Mayas. The Maya considered cacao beans to be a gift from the gods and even used them as currency because of their value.

As such, cacao bean production was carefully controlled by the Maya leaders of northern Yucatan, with cacao trees only grown in sacred groves. But no modern researcher has ever been able to pinpoint where these ancient sacred groves were located — until now.

Researchers at Brigham Young University, including professor emeritus Richard Terry and graduate students Bryce Brown and Christopher Balzotti, worked closely with archaeologists from the U.S. and Mexico to identify locations the Maya used to provide the perfect blend of humidity, calm and shade required by cacao trees. While the drier climate of the Yucatan peninsula is inhospitable to cacao growth, the team realized the vast array of sinkholes common to the peninsula have microclimates with just the right conditions.

As detailed in a study newly published in the Journal of Archaeological Science Reports, the team conducted soil analyses on 11 of those sinkholes and found that the soil of nine of them contained evidence of theobromine and caffeine — combined biomarkers unique to cacao. Archaeologists also found evidence of ancient ceremonial rituals — such as staircase ramps for processions, stone carvings, altars and offerings like jade and ceramics (including tiny ceramic cacao pods) — in several sinkholes.

Comment: It brings to mind a reference Graham Hancock makes in his book America Before that in the Amazon rainforest food crops like the Brazil nut and the ice cream bean tree are in such abundance when compared to other species of plant that researchers believe that they must have been intentionally cultivated: Also check out the MindMatters podcast on the book mentioned above: MindMatters: America Before: Comets, Catastrophes, Mounds and Mythology




Books

How the English failed at stamping out the Scots language

poster scots language
© Atlas Obscura
Over the past few decades, as efforts to save endangered languages have become governmental policy in the Netherlands (Frisian), Slovakia (Rusyn) and New Zealand (Maori), among many others, Scotland is in an unusual situation. A language known as Scottish Gaelic has become the figurehead for minority languages in Scotland. This is sensible; it is a very old and very distinctive language (it has three distinct r sounds!), and in 2011 the national census determined that fewer than 60,000 people speak it, making it a worthy target for preservation.

But there is another minority language in Scotland, one that is commonly dismissed. It's called Scots, and it's sometimes referred to as a joke, a weirdly spelled and -accented local variety of English. Is it a language or a dialect? "The BBC has a lot of lazy people who don't read the books or keep up with Scottish culture and keep asking me that stupid question," says Billy Kay, a language activist and author of Scots: The Mither Tongue. Kay says these days he simply refuses to even answer whether Scots is a language or a dialect.

What Scots really is is a fascinating centuries-old Germanic language that happens to be one of the most widely spoken minority native languages, by national percentage of speakers, in the world. You may not have heard of it, but the story of Scots is a story of linguistic imperialism done most effectively, a method of stamping out a country's independence, and also, unexpectedly, an optimistic story of survival. Scots has faced every pressure a language can face, and yet it's not only still here — it's growing.

Bizarro Earth

Death, pain and injustice: How British soldiers massacred scores of civilians in the UK - Bloody Sunday

bloody sunday
© Getty Images / William L. RukeyserFILE PHOTO. Thousands march with the Northern Irish Civil Rights Assn. in Newry during a civilian protest organised in response to the shooting of 14 civilians by British paratroopers the week before, 2nd February 1972.
For the first time in 50 years, the crowds gathering in Derry this weekend to remember the events of the day forever known as Bloody Sunday will have some certainty. Certainty that the innocence of the 13 men and boys murdered on January 30, 1972 has been acknowledged, but also certainty that true justice has eluded them.

But that won't stop the families of those killed and wounded by trigger-happy British Parachute Regiment soldiers in half an hour of bloodshed from celebrating what they've achieved in the years since. And it hasn't stopped Enniskillen-born actor Adrian Dunbar, star of the hit TV police drama 'Line of Duty' from accepting an invitation to talk to his fellow Northern Irishmen and women on Sunday as they meet together to remember the past and pray for the future.

Comment: See also: And check out SOTT radio's:


Star of David

Al Tantura: The memory of colonization

Dor Beach building
© Dr. Avishai Teicher PikwikiA building still standing from Al-Tantura at Dor Beach near Kibbutz Nahsholim
"We don't need their acknowledgment," says Salah Abu Salah, a survivor of the Al-Tantura massacre. "The land will testify one day and tell what happened."

In the early stages of 1948, the village of Al-Tantura was targeted by Israeli militaries; its houses were looted, its Arab Palestinian inhabitants expelled, and others massacred by the Israeli defense forces Alexandroni Brigade. Israel denied the existence of the massacre for years despite the testimonies of its original inhabitants until recently; a 2021 Israeli documentary revealed testimony from several Israeli veterans affirming that a massacre involving more than 200 Palestinian victims had taken place at that time.

The original inhabitants of Tantura were forced to move to different places; most of them had relatives 50 km away in a town called Fureidis (which translates as "Paradise"), and they had no choice but to live with them. While revisiting the story of Tantura, Salah Abu Salah, who was 8 years old at the time, told me how his family and other families had to move to Fureidis seeking shelter.

In recounting his story Abu Salah told me that after the Israeli defense forces took their homes, "They put us all on a bus and took us to a nearby village and left us there." For his luck, Abu Salah's mother had family that lived in Fureidis and they welcomed them to stay with them; other families had nowhere to seek shelter, so they were forced to leave to other areas, and some even fled to Jordan. The mukhtar (the head of the village) of Fureidis was from the Bariyeh family and had no choice but to open the town to Tantura refugees and urge people to shelter them.