Secret HistoryS


Cut

Oldest ever piece of string was made by Neanderthals 50,000 years ago

Michael Le Page
New Scientist
Thu, 09 Apr 2020 12:00 UTC
string
© M-H MoncelThe string is extremely fine but can be seen under the microscope
A piece of 50,000-year-old string found in a cave in France is the oldest ever discovered. It suggests that Neanderthals knew how to twist fibres together to make cords - and, if so, they might have been able to craft ropes, clothes, bags and nets.

"None can be done without that initial step," says Bruce Hardy at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. "Twisted fibres are a foundational technology."

His team has been excavating the Abri du Maras caves in south-east France where Neanderthals lived for long periods. Three metres below today's surface, in a layer that is between 52,000 and 41,000 years old, it found a stone flake, a sharp piece of rock used as an early stone tool.

Comment: Whilst in recent years evidence has come to light showing Neanderthals to have been slightly more sophisticated than once thought by mainstream science, it would seem they never came close to humans in terms of innovation, creativity and social cohesion, and so it's highly unlikely that, as stated in the article, Neanderthals taught humans how to make string. As Laura Knight-Jadczyk writes in The Golden Age, Psychopathy and the Sixth Extinction:
We can examine the society of Neanderthal to see what Cro-Magnon was distinctly not! Proto-human gangs - Neanderthals - were small, cohesive bands dominated by violence. The strong dominated the weak, but they needed to be cohesive to survive. It was rude and vulgar competition and conflict for resources, both food and females. The cohesion was enforced, a sort of rule by thuggery. Such an environment is not conducive to any kind of innovation such as the creation and development of tools or the ideas that would lead to tools. Studying the history of Neanderthal man suggests that this was, indeed, life in the Neanderthal camp. Two hundred thousand years of the same old recycled tool kits with never an innovation.

Innovative individuals, as we know them in our own societies, are very often not physically strong or aggressive. Perhaps they think because they are less able to act in the world physically or perhaps they become less aggressive because they think so much. Either way, such individuals would not survive in a rule-by-thugs society because the thugs would not only steal their innovations from them, (and be unable to reproduce them themselves) but would not feed them either, so such a dog-eat-dog society is not a place where creativity and innovation can flourish.

Cro-Magnon societies included communal hearths, communal activities, and the sites show that areas were set aside where groups of people performed different tasks for the good of the group as a whole. And thus it is suggested by Marxist social anthropologist, Yuri Semenov, that communism (the real kind as practiced by the early Christians, not the Soviet version which was totalitarianism with the name of 'communism' attached) was something practiced by the earliest true humans - the thing that made them human, or at least expressed their humanity - and something which was the essence of life itself.
See also:

Read More...
Blue Planet

5,000-year-old "luxury" ostrich eggs reveal unknown interconnectedness of ancient world


University of Bristol
Thu, 09 Apr 2020 17:59 UTC
ostrich egg
Decorated eggs from the Isis Tomb
An international team of specialists, led by the University of Bristol, is closer to cracking a 5,000-year-old mystery surrounding the ancient trade and production of decorated ostrich eggs.

Long before Fabergé, ornate ostrich eggs were highly prized by the elites of Mediterranean civilisations during the Bronze and Iron Ages, but to date little has been known about the complex supply chain behind these luxury goods.

Examining ostrich eggs from the British Museum's collection, the team, led by Bristol's Dr Tamar Hodos, were able to reveal secrets about their origin and how and where they were made. Using state-of-the-art scanning electron microscopy, Dr Caroline Cartwright, Senior Scientist at the British Museum was able to investigate the eggs' chemical makeup to pinpoint their origins and study minute marks that reveal how they were made.

Comment: See also:

Read More...
Info

Early Amazonian humans created 'forest islands'


University of Exeter
Wed, 08 Apr 2020 19:44 UTC
Forest Islands Amazon
© Umberto LombardoForest islands seen from above.
The earliest human inhabitants of the Amazon created thousands of artificial forest islands as they tamed wild plants to grow food, a new study shows.

The discovery of the mounds is the latest evidence to show the extensive impact people had on the area. From their arrival 10,000 years ago they transformed the landscape when they began cultivating manioc and squash.

This led to the creation of 4,700 of the forest islands in what is now Llanos de Moxos in northern Bolivia, the team has found. This savannah area floods from December to March and is extremely dry from July to October, but the mounds remain above the water level during the rainy season allowing trees to grow on them. The mounds promoted landscape diversity, and show that small-scale communities began to shape the Amazon 8,000 years earlier than previously thought.

The research confirms this part of the Amazon is one of the earliest centres of plant domestication in the world. Using microscopic plant silica bodies, called phytoliths, found well preserved in tropical forests, experts have documented the earliest evidence found in the Amazon of manioc -10,350 years ago, squash - 10,250 years ago, and maize - 6,850 years ago. The plants grown on the forest islands were chosen because they were carbohydrate-rich and easy to cook, and they probably provided a considerable part of the calories consumed by the first inhabitants of the region, supplemented by fish and some meat.

The study, in the journal Nature, was conducted by Umberto Lombardo and Heinz Veit from the University of Bern, Jose Iriarte and Lautaro Hilbert from the University of Exeter, Javier Ruiz-Pérez from Pompeu Fabra University and José Capriles from Pennsylvania State University.
Read More...
Blue Planet

Complex brain surgery found in "spectacular" high status ProtoByzantine grave site

Adelphi University
Eureka Alert
Tue, 07 Apr 2020 12:00 UTC
trephination
© Anagnostis P. Agelarakis/Adelphi UniversityEctocranial view of palaeopathological specimen: a) red arrow points to orifice on the mastoid process, and b) surgical preparation dimensions peripheral to trephination.
New research from Adelphi University has revealed the first forensically-assessed archeological discovery of remains of a group of domineering mounted archer-lancers and their kin of the Eastern Roman Empire from the turbulent ProtoByzantine period, which spanned the fourth to seventh centuries.

Ten skeletal remains -- four women and six men likely of high social standing -- were discovered in the Paliokastro site on Thasos island in Greece. Their bones illuminated their physical activities, traumas, and even a complex form of brain surgery.

"The burial place and architecture of the funerary monumental church and the construction of the graves is spectacular," said lead researcher and anthropologist Anagnostis Agelarakis, PhD, who added that it indicates the high social standing of the individuals buried there.

Comment: See also:

Read More...
Blackbox

'Serpent Mound' in Peru?


Sputnik News
Thu, 09 Apr 2020 19:29 UTC
Snake Mount Peru
© Twitter/@NewsBop
Southern Peru is famous for UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site the Nazca Lines, which represent a group of giant and ancient geoglyphs. However, something even more mysterious and unexplainable have now been spotted close to the site by one curious Google Earth user.

Some cryptic shapes and patterns were spotted by Google Earth enthusiast 30-40 kilometres North East from the famous Nazca Lines in Peru. The user published a video of his mysterious discovery on YouTube, and the image immediately attracted thousands of views in just several days, with observers rushing to express their astonishment with the finding.

The patterns spotted by the Google Earth admirer included strange "football pitch"-sized circles in a deserted mountain ridge nearby Uchumarca, as well as a cryptic snake-like structure, which he described as a "serpent". He also noted in the video that it was difficult to understand whether the pattern was occurring naturally or was a human-designed structure.
"The 'serpent' just really jumped right out at me", the Google Earth user wrote on YouTube after his video was published. "It's either a very large natural formation or a manmade artificial site like the serpent mound in Ohio. Other than that - I got nothin'. Very interesting".
Read More...
Comet 2

The Younger Dryas Impact - Armageddon at 10,000 BCE

Javier Barbuzano
EOS Org
Mon, 30 Mar 2020 18:37 UTC
Fragments of a comet likely hit Earth 12,800 years ago, and a little Paleolithic village in Syria might have suffered the impact.
The Paleolithic settlement of Abu Hureyra
© Jennifer Rice, CometResearchGroup OrgThe Paleolithic settlement of Abu Hureyra, in what is now Syria, may have been destroyed by the airburst of an impacting comet about 12,800 years ago.
Abu Hureyra is an important archaeological site in Syria, known for artifacts documenting early adoption of agriculture in the region. It may also be recognized as the only known human settlement to have been hit by a fragment of a comet.

The site, now under the waters of Lake Assad, was quickly excavated between 1972 and 1973 before construction of the Tabqa Dam flooded the area. During the excavation, archaeologists realized that there were really two sites, one on top of the other. The first was a Paleolithic settlement of hunter-gatherers, and the second was a farming town, with new buildings of a different style.

A new analysis of samples of soil and artifacts salvaged from the original excavation has revealed a surprising finding: The Paleolithic village at Abu Hureyra was indirectly hit and destroyed by fragments of a comet that slammed into Earth about 12,800 years ago.

The researchers think that upon entering Earth's atmosphere, the already-fractured comet likely broke up into several more pieces, many of which didn't reach the ground. Instead, they produced a string of explosions in the atmosphere known as airbursts. Each airburst was as powerful as a nuclear blast, instantaneously vaporizing the soil and vegetation underneath and producing powerful shock waves that destroyed everything for tens of kilometers around. The village at Abu Hureyra was hit by one of these shock waves.
Read More...
Black Magic

Yale professor admits he planted stories so that NATO could bomb Serbia in 1999

Tanjug
britic
Sun, 05 Apr 2020 12:00 UTC
Samuel Moyn
One of the most influential contemporary historians and professor at Yale University, Samuel Moyn, says that during the bombing of Yugoslavia, he worked at the White House as an intern and “planted” stories that were published in the Washington Post.
"It was about selling the war and explaining its virtues. My moment of clarity came a little later", says Moyn.

He said he wanted internationalism to coincide with the awakening of progressive policies, but that it was only after the Iraq war that he realised that his actions in his twenties would have dire consequences.

"My writing on human rights is also a way of self-reflection on all these events," says Moyn, who has written four books on human rights.

He states that, at the time of the bombing of the FRY, he had the task of "public diplomacy" - to serve up some facts to the media about the war.

Comment: See also: The Weight of Chains: US/NATO Destruction of Yugoslavia (Documentary)

Read More...
Archaeology

Mexican archaeologists discover Mayan treasures and giant sloth fossils in vast underwater cave system


Archaeology World
Wed, 01 Apr 2020 20:35 UTC
underwater cave mexico mayans
© Gran Acuifero MayaThis undated photo released by Mexico's National Anthropology and History Institute shows divers from the Great Mayan Aquifer project (L) exploring the Sac Actun underwater cave system, where Mayan and Pleistocene bones and cultural artefacts have been found submerged, near Tulum, Mexico.
Following 10 months of intensive exploration, Mexican scientists discovered the largest flooded cave system - and it's truly an underwater wonderland.

This sprawling, sunken labyrinth, stretching an astounding 347 km (216 miles) of subterranean caverns, is not only a stunning marvel but also a significant archaeological find that can uncover the forgotten mysteries of the ancient Mayan civilization.

"This enormous cave is the world's leading archaeological submerged site," said Guillermo de Anda, an underwater archaeologist at the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico.
Read More...
Attention

Ten presidents or politicians who said a 'secret government' controls the world and what they revealed

Arjun Walia
Collective Evolution
Tue, 15 Sep 2015 00:00 UTC
puppeteer
© unknown
"The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of."
- Edward Bernays ("the father of public relations"), Propaganda, 1928 (note that Bernays' book, Propaganda, begins with the above quote).
If you told somebody 10 years ago that there existed some sort of secret group or "secret government" pulling the strings behind the scenes of government policy, international law, various global rules/regulations, and more, they would have called you a "conspiracy theorist." Today things have changed, largely as a result of information leaked by Edward Snowden, Julian Assange, and various other whistleblowers and activists in recent years. Their bravery has shed light on the world of secrecy that's been blinding the masses since its inception.

I've mentioned this before, and I'll mention it again, did you know that the U.S. Government classifies more than 500 million pages of documents each year? Did you know that the United States has a history of government agencies existing in secret? For example, the National Security Agency (NSA) was founded in 1952, but its existence was hidden until the mid 1960's. Even more secretive is the National Reconnaissance Office, it was founded in 1960 but remained completely secret for 30 years. Then we have the entire black budget world*, a world dominated by secrecy that was officially revealed by Edward Snowden a couple of years ago. This deals with what are known as "Special Access Programs."

It's not just statements that these "high-level" people are making. It's all of the proof and evidence that goes along with it.
Read More...
Sherlock

The NSA paradox exposed - Why does such a smart intel agency keep getting outsmarted by the Russians?

John Helmer
johnhelmer.net
Mon, 06 Apr 2020 17:05 UTC
helmer
Now for a psycho-shocker of a spy story in which the National Security Agency's (NSA) chief of the Research Directorate goes head to head with Russians whom his research proves tried "to change the outcome of our presidential election", and then tried to kill Sergei Skripal to "serve as a warning to Russia's adversaries".

The psycho-shock has already happened to the NSA chief and storyteller, Eric Haseltine (lead images), so he is paralysed by a Russian weapon that's about to psycho-shock the reader. That's you.

After you read this, you will never again be able to type on a keyboard without anticipating that the "diabolically clever" Russians are reading every word. But maybe you are suspicious the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) might be doing the same thing? "Naw", says Michael Arneson, Haseltine's hero and NSA engineer from a dirt poor Minnesota family with no more than a high school diploma, and whose favourite drink is Mr Pibb. "The CIA is way too incompetent to create something this good." In this tale, American heroes fit to fight the Russians and save you from your keyboards, talk like that.

Haseltine, 68, has made a lifetime career out of inventing electronic warfare devices to fight someone. He has grown rich at it, too.

He began at the Hughes Aircraft Company which produces cruise missiles, satellites, radars, air surveillance and control systems. He then worked for Walt Disney Imagineering, the research branch of the entertainment group, which developed fiber-optics, audio and other special effects for mass deception. Electronically engineered by inventors like Haseltine, he holds dozens of patents himself for devices still too secret to explain. In 2002 he was recruited to become the head of the NSA's research directorate.
Read More...