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The evolution of the 21st century 'nation' and why it matters

Julian MacFarlane
News Forensics / Substack
Wed, 09 Aug 2023 06:42 UTC
Uncle Sam wants You
© News Forensics
When was Poland Poland?

Recently I wrote an article on the possibility of war between Russia and Poland and I said that Poland had not really existed as a nation until the end of WWI.

One of my contributors correctly pointed out that what we call "Poland" has a long history going back to the Kingdom of Poland in 1035.

For this intelligent commenter, "nation" means one thing; for me — when I wrote my article at least — it means, or meant, another. We are/were both right — from different perspectives.

For me, history is important. But events in the distant past are of less importance to what is happening today than those most recently. It is the chain of causation that matters. As far as "nations" are concerned — they are all different — and certainly not today as they once were.

The word "nation" comes from the Latin "natio" which means "breed" or "race", not as we define such things now — but in terms of a world that in 100 BC was mostly tribal.

In other words, the core meaning of "nation" has to do with tribalism, which is very clear when we look at the Polish example.

On the other hand, past history tells us much about human nature, which, of course, can inform us as to why things happen as they do in the here and now.

Tribalism, for example has not gone way — just transformed.
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Bone discovered in cave in France could indicate the presence of a previously unknown lineage of Homo sapiens

Oğuz Büyükyıldırım
Arkeonews Net
Wed, 09 Aug 2023 00:16 UTC
Grotte du Renne cave
© Arkeonews Net
Grotte du Renne cave.
A bone discovered in the Grotte du Renne cave in France may represent the existence of a previously unknown lineage of Homo sapiens. The bone, specifically a hip bone called an ilium, was excavated from the cave several decades ago.

The cave is considered as one of the most fascinating Paleolithic sites in Europe, with Neanderthal remains. The Grotte du Renne cave has been a site of archaeological research for many years, revealing layers of historical significance. The lower layers indicate the time when Neanderthals occupied the cave, while the upper layers represent the period when anatomically modern humans (AMHs) inhabited it. The team discovered an intermediate layer that suggests the co-existence of both hominids.

Researchers identified an ilium (one of the three bones that make up the human pelvis) belonging to a newborn (AR-63) whose morphology required a thorough analysis to compare it to that of 2 Neanderthals and 32 recent individuals deceased during the perinatal period (the period around the time of birth) to explore their morphological variation.

The bone, determined to be from a newborn baby, was found to be neither Neanderthal nor entirely anatomically modern human. By comparing it with other Neanderthal and modern baby bones, researchers noted that its shape differed from both species. This suggests that the bone represents a distinct lineage of Homo sapiens with slight differences from AMHs.
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Info

Missing 'body' of ice age animal carving finally found — but nobody knows what the animal is

Laura Geggel
Live Science
Mon, 07 Aug 2023 15:55 UTC
The long-lost 'body' of mysterious ice age animal carving was discovered in German cave, but archaeologists aren't sure if it's a cave lion or cave bear.
enigmatic animal carving
© Ria Litzenberg/University of Tubingen
The enigmatic animal carving, as seen from the front left.

Archaeologists in Germany have discovered the missing piece of an ice age carving deep in a cave. But the new addition of the ivory carving, originally thought to depict a horse, has actually complicated matters: Now, researchers aren't sure if it portrays a cave lion or a cave bear.

Researchers previously found the head of the 35,000-year-old figurine in the cave Hohle Fels in the mountainous Swabian Jura region in the southern part of the country. The cave, which translates to "hollow rock" in German, is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is well known for its Upper Paleolithic (about 50,000 to 12,000 years ago) artifacts. At the time, the carved head was the first known ivory carving from the cave.

But the newfound "body" part of the carving has thrown the equine interpretation out the window. "We still cannot identify the animal species depicted with certainty," Nicholas Conard, a professor in the Department of Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology at the University of Tübingen in Germany, said at the "Find of the Year" news conference on July 27, according to a translated statement.
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Precious Roman gem engraved with mythological figure discovered in Italian lagoon

Leman Altuntaş
Arkeonews Net
Mon, 07 Aug 2023 23:44 UTC
Rare Gem
© Ca’ Foscari University of Venice
During excavations at Lio Piccolo (Cavallino-Treporti), conducted by Ca' Foscari University, a precious agate stone carved with a mythological figure was found in the flooded site from the Roman period.

Researchers found the ancient piece of jewelry during an excavation dive in Lio Piccolo, a village just north of Venice city.

The cut agate gem is engraved with a mythological figure and is considered an unusual artifact, particularly in an underwater environment. The high quality of the jewelry suggests that wealthy Romans visited the area.

Professor Carlo Beltrame, who led the excavation alongside Dr. Elisa Costa, said in a statement that it was a rare find, especially in an underwater environment.

"In a lagoon environment it is a rather rare find, to date we have news of two other precious gems found in Torcello and at Barena del Vigno," Beltrame said.
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Family

Kinship among European settlers, African slaves, at Delaware site revealed in DNA study

Kimberly Phillips, University of Connecticut
Phys.org
Mon, 07 Aug 2023 17:40 UTC
settlers
© Donald E. Hurlbert, Smithsonian Institution
Archaeologists have uncovered a 17th-century burial site west of Rehoboth Beach, and the earliest African-American gravesites known in Delaware. Shown here are two of 11 people found at Avery's Rest.
Early colonial settlers likely survived the harsh frontier conditions of 17th-century Delaware because they banded as family units to work alongside enslaved African descendants and European indentured servants, according to a new study published this summer in Current Biology.

Anthropological geneticist Raquel E. Fleskes, who was a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in UConn's anthropology department the last two years, authored the study, along with colleagues from the Smithsonian Institution, Archaeological Society of Delaware, University of Tennessee, and University of Pennsylvania who have been studying the Avery's Rest archaeological site near Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, for decades.

Avery's Rest, a former tobacco farm owned by John Avery and his family from roughly 1675 to 1725, was discovered in 1976, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, and excavated in the early 2000s. Human remains were found in 2013: seven men, two women, and two children.

Comment: See also:

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Comet

The Cosmic Context of Greek Philosophy, Part Three

Laura Knight-Jadczyk
Sott.net
Sat, 05 Aug 2023 00:18 UTC
Terracotta

Terracotta sculpture found on the site of Lefkandi (Euboea), dated to c. 950 BCE (Archaeological Museum of Eretria). Reminds one of the many tales of monsters after cosmic catastrophes.
Following the previous post, I am going to include here a little table that lists the dates of the various cosmic catastrophes on Earth based on the four main sources discussed. There are other scientists who research and write on this topic that I discuss elsewhere, but I'm trying very hard (it's difficult) to keep this review as condensed as possible.

Below the table is a short list of comet sightings mostly from the Chinese records. These sightings could, possibly, be associated with a destructive event somewhere on the planet. This list is derived from Yeomans, Donald K. (1991), Comets: A Chronological History of Observation, Science, Myth, and Folklore, Wiley Science Edition.
table
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Blue Planet

Remains found in China may belong to third human lineage, traits suggest modern human features date back 300,000 years

Bob Yirka
Phys.org
Fri, 04 Aug 2023 12:00 UTC
china human
© Wu Liu et al. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2019). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1902396116
The virtually reconstructed HLD 6 skull.
A team of paleontologists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, working with colleagues from Xi'an Jiaotong University, the University of York, the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National Research Center on Human Evolution, has found evidence of a previously unknown human lineage. In their study, reported in Journal of Human Evolution, the group analyzed the fossilized jawbone, partial skull and some leg bones of a hominin dated to 300,000 years ago.

The fossils were excavated at a site in Hualongdong, in what is now a part of East China. They were subsequently subjected to both a morphological and a geometric assessment, with the initial focus on the jawbone, which exhibited unique features — a triangular lower edge and a unique bend.

The research team suggests that the unique features of the jawbone resemble those of both modern humans and Late Pleistocene hominids. But they also found that it did not have a chin, which suggests that it was more closely related to older species. They found other features that resemble hominins of the Middle Pleistocene, which, when taken together, suggested the individual most resembled a Homo erectus species. And that, they conclude, suggests a hybrid of modern human and ancient hominid.

Comment: See also: Ancient Chinese relics point to unbroken cultural links that began a million years ago, further discrediting Out of Africa theory say researchers

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Ice Cube

Ice Age cave entrance found in Germany

oguz kayra
Arkeonews Net
Fri, 04 Aug 2023 17:29 UTC
Ice Age cave
© Tagesschau
Researchers report they have discovered the official entrance to an Ice Age cave near Engen, Germany, that nobody has entered for 16,000 years.

Although the cave was already known since the 1970s to archaeologists, until now, they had not discovered the original entrance. At that time, a hole was accidentally blasted into the cave ceiling during the construction of a sewage pipe, but the cave was not explored further.

New excavations began in 2021 and during six weeks of work archaeologists gathered more data but the original cave entrance remained undiscovered.

The cave is much larger than previously thought, the researchers discovered during geophysical measurements of the underground in April of this year, which were done in collaboration with the University of Heidelberg. It is thought to be several meters high and twenty meters deep. The research team managed to locate the entrance to the cave, which was previously underground.

Dr. Yvonne Tafelmaier of the University of Tübingen describes the find as a sensation. According to Tafelmaier, it is a unique situation. To find a site that researchers have hardly explored is a rare experience.
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Blue Planet

Exquisite, 7,000 year old necklace found in child's grave in Jordan reveals complexity of its neolithic culture

Public Library of Science
Phys.org
Wed, 02 Aug 2023 12:00 UTC
neolithic
© Alarashi et al., 2023, PLOS ONE, CC-BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Final physical reconstruction of the necklace, today exposed at the new museum of Petra in Jordan.
A single accessory — an ornate necklace from a child's grave in ancient Jordan — provides new insights into social complexity of Neolithic culture, according to a study published August 2, 2023 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Hala Alarashi of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Spain, and the Université Côte d'Azur, France and colleagues.

Body adornments are powerful symbols that communicate cultural values and personal identities, and they are therefore highly valuable in the study of ancient cultures. In this study, Alarashi and colleagues analyze materials that adorned the body of an eight-year-old child buried in a grave at the Neolithic village of Ba'ja in Jordan, dating to between 7400 and 6800 BCE.

The materials in question comprise over 2,500 colorful stone and shell, two exceptional amber beads — the oldest known thus far in the Levant — along with a large stone pendant and a delicately engraved mother-of-pearl ring.

Comment: See also:

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Blue Planet

Shift in East-Central Europe Bronze Age population revealed in DNA study

Bob Yirka
Phys.org
Wed, 02 Aug 2023 15:04 UTC
bronze age
© Nature Communications (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-40072-9
The geographical and temporal context and genetic affinities of the analyzed Bronze Age individuals. A) Maps showing the locations of samples published in this study and the geographical range of their associated cultural entities; the size of the marker corresponds to the number of samples from each site. The map was created using QGIS 2.12.2 and basemap from NOAA National Geophysical Data Center. 2009: ETOPO1 1 Arc-Minute Global Relief Model. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Accessed 2013. B) The age of the newly generated genomes (calculated as an average of 2σ BCE dates) corresponding to the temporal range of the archaeological cultures they are associated with.
A team of researchers with a wide variety of backgrounds from institutions in Poland, Sweden, the U.K., Czech Republic and Ukraine has learned more about the demographic history of people living in East-Central Europe during the Bronze Age by studying the genes of people living during that time. For their paper published in the journal Nature Communications, the group conducted genetic analyses of temporal bones and/or tooth remains of 91 people.

As the research team notes, most demographic research focused on early Europe has been quite generalized, spanning from the postglacial spread of hunter-gatherers to the growth of migration by farmers. In this effort, they sought to better understand such demographic events in better detail. To that end, they obtained and studied teeth and bones from people who lived in different parts of East-Central Europe during the Bronze Age.

Comment: For insight into the environmental shift that was occurring likely alongside these migrations, Laura Knight-Jadczyk in The Cosmic Context of Greek Philosophy, Part One writes:
[...]
One scenario is that the sun is being 'grounded', possibly by a massive oppositely charged object such as a companion star that could even be dark, i.e. a Brown Dwarf. If a companion star is approaching our solar system it could be responsible for both the increased meteor activity (because it propelled asteroid bodies from the Oort cloud towards our solar system) and also for the decreased solar activity ('grounding'). Keep in mind that solar activity is one of the main phenomena that allows the destruction of incoming asteroid bodies by exerting intense electric fields upon them. In this way, such a companion star could pose a major threat to life on earth by both sending comets towards the earth and deactivating the 'protection system' (increased solar activity in response to interlopers) against the threat of cometary impact.

As already noted, Anthony L. Peratt and his colleagues at Los Alamos Research Laboratories conducted plasma experiments and discovered that powerful plasma discharges take on some amazing shapes, including humanoid figures, humans with bird heads, rings, donuts, writhing snakes and so forth. It just so happens that these kinds of shapes have been recorded by ancestral humans the world over, most particularly in rock carvings known as petroglyphs. He writes:
The discovery that objects from the Neolithic or Early Bronze Age carry patterns associated with high-current z-pinches provides a possible insight into the origin and meaning of these ancient symbols produced by man. ...
A discovery that the basic petroglyph morphologies are the same as those recorded in extremely high-energy-density discharges has opened up a means to unravel the origin of these apparently crude, misdrawn, and jumbled figures found in uncounted numbers around the earth. [...]


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