Secret HistoryS


Cow

Stonehenge builders and celebrants brought animals from as far away as Scotland for their Neolithic feasts


RT
Thu, 19 Oct 2017 11:48 UTC
Stonehenge
© Kieran Doherty / Reuters
The ancient architects who created Stonehenge feasted on animals brought from as far away as Scotland and took part in lavish midwinter rituals, an analysis of teeth and bones excavated at the site has revealed.

The findings were unveiled by English Heritage to mark the opening of an exhibition at the Stonehenge museum in Wiltshire called 'Feast! Food at Stonehenge.'

Discarded animal teeth and bones excavated at the site suggest that cows and pigs were herded hundreds of miles along ancient byways to Stonehenge, and may even have been brought to southern England by boat.

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Info

Ancient stone structures discovered in Saudi Arabia

Owen Jarus
Live Science
Tue, 17 Oct 2017 07:02 UTC
Stone Structures Saudi Aabia
© Google EarthMysterious stone structures that archaeologists call "gates," due to their loose resemblance to old-fashioned field gates, have been discovered in Saudi Arabia.
Almost 400 mysterious stone structures dating back thousands of years have been discovered in Saudi Arabia, with a few of these wall-like formations draping across old lava domes, archaeologists report.

Many of the stone walls, which archaeologists call "gates" because they resemble field gates from above, were found in clusters in a region in west-central Saudi Arabia called Harrat Khaybar.

The archaeologists involved in the research aren't sure of the purpose, or even the exact age, of these gates. [See Images of the Mysterious Stone Structures in Saudi Arabia]
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Archaeology

The powerful Assyrians: An empire of conquest


Ancient Origins
Mon, 09 Oct 2017 00:00 UTC
Assyrian Lachish Relief in British Museum
© CC BY-SA 4.0Part of the Lachish Relief, British Museum. Battle scene, showing Assyrian cavalry in action. Above, prisoners are led away.
Much of Assyria's history is closely tied to its southern neighbor, Babylonia. The two Mesopotamian empires spoke similar languages and worshipped most of the same gods. They were often rivals on the battlefield for influence in the ancient Middle East.

The history of Assyria spans mainly from about 2000 BC, when the cities of Nineveh and Calah were founded, to the destruction of Nineveh in 606 BC.

Whereas Babylonia is best remembered for its contributions in literature, architecture, and the law, Assyria is chiefly remembered for its military prowess, advances in weaponry, and meticulously recorded conquests.

Geographically, Assyria occupied the middle and northern part of Mesopotamia. It was situated between the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, and its major cities were Calah, Zab, Ashur, and the capital, Nineveh.
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Candle

Evidence found at Viking burial sites suggests link between Nordic tribes and Islam - Update


RT
Thu, 12 Oct 2017 19:02 UTC
ancient Viking clothing
Archaeologists studying clothing worn by ancient Vikings have found evidence of a link between the Nordic tribes and Islam.

Researchers from Sweden's Uppsala University examined garments uncovered at 9th and 10th-century burial sites. They found that what they thought were typical Viking Age patterns in silver bands and embroidered clothing, were actually Kufic characters invoking both 'Allah' and 'Ali,' two central figures in the Islamic faith.

Kufic, an ancient Arabic script dating back to the 7th century, appeared in Viking Age chamber graves and boat graves in areas around the capital Stockholm. Astonishingly, the same characters can also be found in mosaics on burial monuments and mausoleums in Central Asia.

Annika Larsson, researcher in textile archaeology at the Department of Archaeology and Ancient History at Uppsala University, believes that the presence of the Kufic characters at two different grave sites suggests that Viking funeral customs were influenced by Islam.

"Presumably, Viking Age burial customs were influenced by Islam and the idea of an eternal life in Paradise after death,"Larsson told the university's website.

"Grave goods such as beautiful clothing, finely sewn in exotic fabrics, hardly reflect the deceased's everyday life, just as little as the formal attire of our era reflects our own daily lives. The rich material of grave goods should rather be seen as tangible expressions of underlying values."

Comment: RT has updated this story with a rebuttal:
Last week Swedish researchers made a startling claim they discovered the word 'Allah' embroidered into ancient Viking burial clothing. These findings have now been questioned by experts claiming the inscription "makes no sense in Arabic."

Annika Larsson's findings, which concluded that the inscriptions were evidence that Viking "burial customs were influenced by Islam and the idea of an eternal life in Paradise after death," were widely reported last week as a 'historic first'.

Associate Professor of Islamic Art and Architecture at the University of Texas, Stephennie Mulder, however, claims there is a "serious problem of dating."


Mulder explains that the Kufic script didn't exist at the time of the Vikings and that even if it did, the inscription still doesn't mean anything in Arabic.



Mulder adds that Larsson's claim is "based on extrapolation, not evidence," citing a textile specialist, Carolyn Priest-Dorman, who writes that the interpretation is based on "extensions of pattern, not an existing pattern."



Priest-Dorman and Mulder's analysis details how the texts say 'Allah' only if you presume that the embroidered fabric was originally twice as wide as it is now and that the pattern was replicated in specific ways, leading Mulder to say that "Larsson's extensions are entirely conjectural."


Speaking to RT.com, Annika Larsson, a researcher in textile archaeology at the Department of Archaeology and Ancient History at Sweden's Uppsala University, contested her critics' claims, saying that there is a "misunderstanding" from Mulder about the images.

"The scripts on the ribbons are like secret messages. First I thought they were copied by someone who didn't understand the message. But the patterns in the ribbons are like a puzzle or a rebus to read," she said.

"I have spoken to Muslims that tell me that even today sometimes you don't want to say/write/depict the Gods name clearly, so then you can make it like a puzzle, and even mirror it. I think that is what they have done on these ribbons.

"The project is represented in an Exhibition at Enköpings Museum not far from Stockholm, where we have reconstructed two ribbons.

"In this specific case we see a puzzle of two patterns - then mirrored. It is like a hidden or secret message, that is still sometimes used in the Muslim tradition when writing the name of God," she added.


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Brick Wall

Jerusalem: Sections of Western Wall uncovered, hidden for 1700 yrs, includes Roman theater


RT
Tue, 17 Oct 2017 08:36 UTC
Wall excavations
© Ronen Zvulun / ReutersIsrael Antiquities Authority archaeologist Dr. Joe Uziel stands inside a theatre-like structure during a media tour to reveal the structure which was discovered during excavation works underneath Wilson's Arch in the Western Wall tunnels in Jerusalem's Old City.
Archaeologists have discovered an eight-meter-high section of the Western Wall and a subterranean Roman theater, which haven't been seen by human eyes for almost two millennia.

The Israel Antiquity Authority announced the discovery on Monday following a two-year excavation of the site. "From a research perspective, this is a sensational find," archaeologist Joe Uziel said at a press conference on Monday morning in Jerusalem's Old City, as cited by The Jerusalem Post.

"The discovery was a real surprise. We did not imagine that a window would open for us onto the mystery of Jerusalem's lost theater. Like much of archeological research, the expectation is that a certain thing will be found. But at the end of the process, other findings - surprising and thought-provoking - are unearthed," Uziel added.

Archaeologists have searched for the ruins for 150 years, according to The Times of Israel, and their discovery is already altering their perceptions of Roman-occupied Jerusalem after the fall of the Second Temple and destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 CE.
Ceiling restoration
© Menahem Kahana / AFPWorkers restore a ceiling of the Western Wall tunnels near the site where Israeli Antiquity Authority recently discovered an ancient roman theatre in Jerusalem's Old City.
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Pharoah

The weird ideas and behaviors of the Habsburg royal family come out of the closet

Natalia Klimczak
Ancient Origins
Mon, 09 Oct 2017 00:00 UTC
Habsburg Family
The Habsburg family is one of the most important royal families in the history of Europe. This may be somewhat surprising, as many of the rulers from this family behaved strangely, had some weird ideas, and were apparently mentally ill. A mysterious mental illness may actually have been one of the reasons for the fall of their dynasty.

The Habsburgs started to rule in Europe during the 11th century. The dynasty's name comes from the name of a fortress built around the 1020s in the territory of modern Switzerland. The first king in this family was Rudolph of Habsburg who became the king of Germany in 1273. In 1438, the Habsburgs took the throne of the Holy Roman Empire and they kept it until 1740.

The rich family history was created around the thrones of countries like Croatia, Ireland, the Kingdom of Bohemia, England, France, Germany, Russia, Poland, Hungary, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, and many others. They created a hermetic reality based on people of Habsburg blood - a royal blood empire which was thought to be perfect. However, their story contains many shameful and weird episodes.
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Microscope 1

Experts say some Dead Sea Scrolls displayed at DC Museum of the Bible are fakes

Paul Seaburn
Mysterious Universe
Mon, 16 Oct 2017 18:18 UTC
Dead Sea Scrolls
© Pinterest
Are the Dead Sea Scrolls historical documents or collectible items? How you answer that question may determine how you feel about new revelations that fragments of scrolls in private collections that their owners have paid millions for are probably fakes ... well-made forgeries, but fakes nonetheless. One of the victims of these frauds is the Museum of the Bible, which is scheduled to open in Washington DC in November 2017. In a new article in Dead Sea Discoveries by paleographer and Dead Sea Scrolls expert, Dr. Kipp Davis, many of the "scrolls" to be displayed in that facility are questionable at best, fakes at worst.

Forgeries have been a problem with the Dead Sea Scrolls since the first ones were found in 1947 by Bedouin shepherds in a cave near what is now known as the Qumran site. Eventually, 11 (some say 12) caves were found housing some 900 manuscripts and up to 50,000 fragments in forms ranging from full scrolls to minute pieces. As they contain the contents of the Hebrew Bible, competition between scholars and collectors to possess the scrolls was immediately fierce, costly and fraught with frauds. Eventually, carbon dating of the leather they were written on eliminated fakes that weren't around 2,000 years old.
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Info

Oral accounts of Aboriginal Australians referenced red giants

Javier Barbuzano
Sky & Telescope
Fri, 13 Oct 2017 23:46 UTC
Milky Way
© SKA Organisation/Alex Cherney/terrastro.comView of the Milky Way over one of the Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder antennas, in the Australian outback.
Australian Aborigines probably observed the cyclical changes in the brightness of pulsating red giant stars such as Antares, Betelgeuse, and Aldebaran. They integrated their observations into their oral traditions - cultural narratives that served as a system of laws, social rules, and general knowledge transmission.

European astronomers realized that red giants changed in brightness in 1596, when David Fabricius registered the variability of the star Mira. Johannes Hevelius went on to calculate the amplitude and periodicity of Mira's changes in 1662. But the oral traditions of Australian Aborigines could go much further back in time: they have inhabited the fifth continent for more than 65,000 years. Research examining oral tradition for geological events, such as volcanic eruptions or meteorite impacts, have shown that such oral traditions can survive for thousands of years.

Duane Hamacher (Monash University and University of Southern Queensland, Australia), found new references to variable stars after reinterpreting the accounts of 19th- and 20th-century anthropologists and ethnologists, who recorded some of the Aboriginal oral traditions. His results are being published in a new study in the Australian Journal of Anthropology.

According to Hamacher, anthropologists sometimes misinterpreted Aboriginal accounts in the past, wrongfully assuming them to refer to planets in the solar system rather than stars.

"Many anthropologists had limited training in astronomy, so misidentifications, conflated terminology, and errors were not uncommon," Hamacher says. "Mars and Antares are often mixed up because of their comparable brightness and occasional close proximity."

Hamacher found two oral traditions that referenced the variable stars Betelgeuse, Antares and Aldebaran. Their changes in brightness carried important weight in the narratives and helped encode certain social rules, such as signaling to the tribe when to celebrate initiation rituals.

This is the first clear evidence of indigenous peoples observing and recording stellar variation in oral traditions. The only widely accepted record of a pulsating variable comes from an Egyptian papyrus called the Cairo calendar, which predicted good and bad luck periods throughout the year, dated around 1200 B.C. A statistical analysis of those periods revealed that they followed the variation of the eclipsing binary star Algol.
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Cloud Grey

Ancient Pacific Northwest volcanic eruption had the effect of blocking out the sun and cooling the planet

Anthony Watts
Watts Up With That?
Wed, 11 Oct 2017 00:00 UTC
The Palouse River
© Dean Hare, WSU Photo ServicesThe Palouse River in southeastern Washington State drops nearly 200 feet through cliffs of basalt created by scores of lava flows 10 to 16 million years ago. Washington State University researchers have determined that one flow constituted one of the Earth’s largest known volcanic eruptions, a millennia-long spewing of sulfuric gas that blocked out the sun and cooled the planet.
WSU researchers document one of planet's largest volcanic eruptions

Gases from Inland Northwest blocked out sun, cooling planet

Washington State University researchers have determined that the Pacific Northwest was home to one of the Earth's largest known volcanic eruptions, a millennia-long spewing of sulfuric gas that blocked out the sun and cooled the planet.

Only two other eruptions - the basalt floods of the Siberian Traps and the Deccan Traps - were larger, and they led to two of the Earth's great extinctions.
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Gear

Mysterious bronze disc discovered near Greek shipwreck could be a missing piece of the Antikythera Mechanism

Brett Tingley
Mysterious Universe
Thu, 05 Oct 2017 00:00 UTC
Antikythera Mechanism
The enigmatic Antikythera Mechanism.
The Antikythera mechanism was for years one of the world's greatest unsolved mysteries. The strange, intricate device was found in 1902 in a shipwreck off of the Greek island of Antikythera. For over a century, the device's construction and intended use puzzled historians and archaeologists. Coins and other artifacts found at the shipwreck were dated to the first century, but the Antikythera mechanism's construction appeared to be far more advanced than any other technology known from that time.

In the last decade, new 3D scanning technologies have allowed researchers to peer into the inner workings of the device like never before. It is now believed the device was one of the world's first analog computers and was used to chart astronomical events like lunar and solar cycles and eclipses. The shipwreck on which the device was found is still the subject of scrutiny, with new discoveries being made. Last year, bone fragments belonging to the human occupants of the ship were located and are still undergoing DNA testing to determine their ancestry. Now, researchers from the Greek Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities and Sweden's Lund University have made another groundbreaking discovery among the Antikythera shipwreck that could revolutionize Greek history.

Comment: More information about the amazing Antikythera mechanism:

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