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New research suggests Polynesians discovered Antarctica over 1,300 years ago

George Dvorsky
Gizmodo
Fri, 11 Jun 2021 19:37 UTC
Ross Ice Shelf
© A short scan of Māori journeys to Antarctica / Journal of the Royal Society of New ZealandA Māori carving with the Ross Ice Shelf in the background.
A review of literary and oral history suggests Polynesians, and not Europeans, were the first to explore Antarctic waters and possibly even spot the frozen continent itself.

European explorers are typically credited for discovering Antarctica 200 years ago, but new research published in the Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand reminds us of a neglected account in which Polynesians are described as sailing through Antarctic waters in the 7th century CE.

This may be news to many people, but it's "a known narrative," as Priscilla Wehi, the lead researcher on the new study and a conservation biologist at Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, told the New Zealand Herald. That Polynesians may have visited Antarctic waters so long ago will hardly be a revelation to the Indigenous Māori of New Zealand, as their legends make note of this account.

Indeed, connections between Indigenous peoples and Antarctica "remain poorly documented and acknowledged in the research literature," as the scientists write in their study, adding that the new "paper begins to fill this gap."

To that end, the team, which included researchers from Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu (a group representing the Māori people of the southern islands of New Zealand), analyzed literary accounts, oral history, and also representations made on carvings and weavings, to "construct a richer and more inclusive picture of Antarctica's relationship with humanity," as Wehi explained in an press release. In so doing, the team sought to build a "platform on which much wider conversations about New Zealand relationships with Antarctica can be furthered," she added.
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Rare 1181 supernova left behind a 'zombie star' remnant

Paul M. Sutter
Universe Today
Fri, 11 Jun 2021 19:24 UTC
1181 Supernova
© Universe Today
In 1181 CE, Chinese and Japanese astronomers noticed a "guest star" as bright as Saturn briefly appearing in their night sky. In the thousand years since, astronomers have not been able to pinpoint the origins of that event. New observations have revealed that the "guest star" was a supernova, and a strange one at that. It was a supernova that did not destroy the star, but left behind a zombie that is still shining.

"Guest stars" are what modern astronomers now call novae or supernovae, and the brightness of the event in 1181 CE (described as being as bright as Saturn) and its longevity (visible to the naked eye for 185 days) means that it was almost certainly from a supernova. For decades, a pulsar wind nebula in the same region of the sky was thought to be the remnants of that supernova, but new estimates have placed the age of that nebula to be around 7,000 years old, far too old to account for the records from 1181.

Searching through the archives from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, a team led by astronomers at the University of Hong Kong have found an alternate, and much stranger, possible origin story. Their work recently appeared in the preprint journal arXiv.
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Large residential area discovered at 'German Stonehenge'


Heritage Daily
Thu, 10 Jun 2021 18:29 UTC
Ringheiligtum Pömmelte
© Foto Community Germany
Ringheiligtum Pömmelte is a late Neolithic, Early Bronze Age henge monument from the late third millennium BC. The site was discovered in 1991 through aerial photography near the present-day village of Pömmelte in the district Salzlandkreis, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.

The monument consists of seven rings of palisades, ditches, and raised banks, in which a series of wooden posts were positioned. Archaeologists suggest that Ringheiligtum Pömmelte was an astronomical observatory and ritual centre, serving a similar function to Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England.

Previous excavations discovered the dismembered bodies of children and women in situ, some of whom sustained severe skull trauma and rib fractures near the time of their deaths. It was always assumed that Ringheiligtum Pömmelte was a seasonal ritualistic site, or used to commemorate religious events and funerary rites, with no evidence of permanent occupation within the vicinity.

In the latest series of excavations starting in May 2021, archaeologists discovered two house dwelling, along with 20 ditches and two burials. As the excavations progressed, this led to the discovery of further burial sites and over 80 complete house plans, with a total of 130 dwellings identified.
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The Etruscan Pyramid


Heritage Daily
Mon, 07 Jun 2021 01:27 UTC
Etruscan Pyramid
© Alessio Pellegrini – CC BY 2.0
The so-called Etruscan Pyramid is a megalithic rock-cut monument, located in the Tacchiolo valley near the city of Viterbo, Italy.

The monuments name is owed to its lateral pyramidal shape carved from natural magmatic rock, whilst its construction is probably first attributed to the Rinaldonian Civilisation that preceded the Etruscans. The Rinaldonian Civilisation emerged between 4000-2000 BC, and were highly skilled in working stone to construct complex ceremonial monuments, such as the Poggio Rota Stone Circle in Tuscany.

Other sources still suggest that the pyramid was an Etruscan construction, or was adapted from Rinaldonian construction from around 700 BC to 400 BC, which has some weight as a theory, as there are several other Etruscan ruins in the vicinity.

The Etruscans emerged around 900 BC and established three confederacies of cities, until they were succeeded by the rising Roman Kingdom that spread to dominate the region in the 5th and 4th century BC.
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New insights into survival of ancient peoples in Australia's Western Desert

Kelly Brown
University of Adelaide
Mon, 07 Jun 2021 19:24 UTC
Western Desert
© W. Boone LawLand systems of the Western Desert include (A) stony plains, (B) sand plains, (C) sandridge desert and (D) montane desert uplands. These coarse-scale geographical units feature prominently in past ecological and archaeological models of precontact Aboriginal land use. Recent satellite modelling depicts the highly varied suitability of foraging habitats within these arid land systems.
Researchers at the University of Adelaide have used more than two decades of satellite-derived environmental data to form hypotheses about the possible foraging habitats of pre-contact Aboriginal peoples living in Australia's Western Desert.

As one of the most arid and geographically remote regions of Australia, the Western Desert has always presented severe challenges for human survival. Yet despite the harsh conditions, Aboriginal peoples have maintained an enduring presence, continuously adapting to environmental variations through complex socioeconomic strategies.

In the study published in Scientific Reports , the researchers used Earth Observation data to model the most suitable habitats for traditional foraging activities, identifying where surface water was most abundant and vegetation was greenest to infer which areas of the landscape past Aboriginal peoples were likely to have utilised. The study also drew on previous research into traditional subsistence and settlement practices, enabling researchers to estimate daily foraging range in proximity to water.

Lead author of the study, Postdoctoral Researcher Dr Wallace Boone Law, says the fine scale of the satellite model developed enabled the team to depict the highly variable nature of environmental and hence potential foraging habitats in the Western Desert.
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Treasure Chest

2,500-year-old Bronze Age treasure trove found in Swedish forest by map maker


Science Alert
Thu, 03 Jun 2021 10:12 UTC
bronze age treasure
© (Adam Ihse/TT News Agency via AFP)
A Swedish orienteering enthusiast working on a map earlier in April stumbled across a stash of some 50 Bronze Age relics dating back over 2,500 years, authorities said Thursday.

Mainly consisting of ancient jewelry, the find outside the small town of Alingsas in western Sweden represents one of "the most spectacular and largest cache finds" from the Bronze Age ever in the Nordic country, the County Administrative Board said in a statement.

Among the relics, believed to be from the period between 750 and 500 BCE, are some "very well preserved necklaces, chains and needles" made out of bronze.

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Aurochs found next to the Elba shepherdess opens up a new enigma for paleontology

Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT)
Phys.org
Thu, 03 Jun 2021 20:20 UTC
Elba aurochs
© José Antonio Peñas (SINC)Artistic reconstruction of the Elba shepherdess, accompanied by the three aurochs found at the site, whose mitochondrial DNA has been analyzed.
Research involving scientists from the University of A Coruña has succeeded in sequencing the oldest mitochondrial genome of the immediate ancestor of modern cows that has been analyzed to date. The remains, some 9,000 years old, were found next to a woman. Why were they with her if cattle had not yet been domesticated? Do they belong to ancestors of today's Iberian cows?

Humans have maintained a very close relationship with aurochs (Bos primigenius) since their beginnings, first by hunting them and then by breeding and selecting them. This extinct species of mammal is little known in the Peninsula because its skeletal remains are difficult to distinguish from bison. In fact, there have been references to the presence of "large bovids" in many sites because they cannot be differentiated. At a European level, there is also a lack of genetic data.

Comment: See also:

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SOTT Focus: MindMatters: Matthew Ehret: Technocracy's Seeds of Transhumanism

Elan Martin, Adam Daniels, Harrison Koehli
Sott.net
Sat, 05 Jun 2021 00:00 UTC
ehret
The 're-organization' of the world's societies, cultures, economies and politics seem to be occurring at an ever rapid clip. Groups like the WEF, UNESCO, the WHO and other hugely influential and interconnected bodies all seem to be telling us, and the governments of the world, 'how it's going to be', and why it is 'all for our own good'. A relatively small group of individuals are actually redefining what healthy means, how we should think about money, food, technology, ideologies, the weather, and even each other. These people have formed a technocratic infrastructure with a reach and a wrongheadedness that boggles the mind, and when the implications of their policies are realized, it terrorizes the heart.

But this juggernaut of pathological group-think did not spring up overnight, and did not come from nowhere. Someone, and their groups, had to have come up with the "scientific" and philosophical doctrines that dictated the "logic" and "reasoning" behind such transhumanist, socialist, authoritarian and eugenic policies and developments as we're seeing today. And who better to point out such information and make the connections than researcher and journalist Matthew Ehret (Canadian Patriot, Rising Tide Foundation). Join us this week on MindMatters as Matthew puts some giant historical figures in a whole new light, and shows how these famous personalities' thinking and huge influence have shaped an agenda for control that is as pervasive as it is monstrous.

MindMatters on LBRY

Running Time: 01:44:07

Download: MP3 — 116 MB


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Star of David

New investigation reveals role of Israeli operatives in Colombia's 'political genocide'

Dan Cohen
MintPress News
Wed, 02 Jun 2021 00:00 UTC
montage Colombia
© Antonio CabreraKnown as the “Red Dance,” the systematic murder of the Patriotic Union remains one of the most extreme cases of political violence in Latin America and new evidence suggests that it was concocted by one of the most decorated spies in Israeli history.
On April 6, 1984, a group of men dressed in police uniforms arrived at the home of Milcíades Contento in the town of Viotá, Colombia. Contento was a peasant, communist and member of the Patriotic Union (UP), a newly-formed experimental political party born out of the 1985 peace negotiations between the conservative President Belansio Betancourt and the guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. The men seized Contento, tied him up and dragged him away. The next day, his corpse was found in a nearby village.

The murder of Milcíades Contento marked the beginning of a nearly two-decade extermination campaign. From 1984-2002, at least 4,153 UP members - including two presidential candidates, 14 parliamentarians, 15 mayors, nine mayoral candidates, three members of the House of Representatives and three senators - were murdered or disappeared, in what a Colombian court deemed was a "political genocide." According to data presented to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the purge claimed more than 6,000 victims through murders, disappearances, torture, forced displacement and other human rights violations. From May 1984 to December 2002, not a month passed without a murder or disappearance of a UP member. In the 2002 elections that brought Álvaro Uribe to power, the Patriotic Union had been so thoroughly wiped out that it failed to meet the electoral threshold and the government removed the party's legal status.

According to a recent investigation by renowned Colombian journalist Alberto Donadio, the extermination of the Patriotic Union was devised by Betancourt's successor, President Virgilio Barco Vargas, implementing a plan concocted by of one of the most decorated spies in Israeli history, Rafael 'Rafi' Eitan.
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Fish

90% of sharks were mysteriously wiped out and never recovered, scientists find

Becky Ferreira
Vice
Thu, 03 Jun 2021 21:38 UTC
Sharks swimming
© Rodrigo Friscione via Getty Images
Sharks have survived in Earth's seas since before the age of dinosaurs, but this ancient and diverse lineage has suffered serious blows over the past 20 million years, a new study has found. In fact, humans are right now coexisting with only a fraction of the sharks that used to exist on the planet.

Not only are many sharks at risk of extinction due to the activities of a far younger species — our own — they also experienced a devastating evolutionary bottleneck some 19 million years ago that reduced their numbers by a staggering 90 percent. This "previously unknown major extinction event in sharks" occurred in the early Miocene, a murky period in geological history, and its root causes remain unexplained, according to a paper published on Thursday in Science.

"Sharks have been around for 400 million years of Earth's history," said lead author Elizabeth Sibert, a Hutchinson Postdoctoral Fellow at the Yale Institute for Biospheric Sciences at Yale University, in a call. "They've weathered almost all of the big mass extinctions. They made it through the end-Permian that wiped out 95 percent of all species, they made it through the asteroid impacts, they've made it through global warming, global cooling, and all sorts of things."

"And yet here, this event that we didn't know about wiped out 90 percent of them," she added.

Sibert first discovered evidence of this cataclysmic die-off while studying ichthyoliths, tiny fossils of fish scales and teeth, as a Junior Fellow in the Harvard Society of Fellows at Harvard University. Using trace fossils extracted from a deep-sea sediment core from the South Pacific Ocean, she was able to reconstruct a record of fish and shark abundances that covered the past 80 million years.
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