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Decoding the Boar in ancient stone sculptures

Dr. Martin Sweatman
Prehistory Decoded
Fri, 27 Dec 2019 21:05 UTC
Hybrid human-fish sculpture
© Prehistory DecodedCommon Lepinski Vir stone sculpture, often interpreted as representing a human-fish hybrid.
I think the boar has finally been decoded, at least in Neolithic and Iron Age Europe. First see the ancient site of Lepinski Vir, a Neolithic site on the Danube in Serbia - part of the Danube Gorges cultural complex.

Lepinski Vir is best known for being a gateway site between Neolithic Anatolia and Mesolithic Europe. Essentially, the 'Anatolian farmers' who migrated or invaded Europe after the 8.2 kiloyear event (around 6200 to 6300 BC) appear to have used this route. It is one of the very first European sites to have adopted agriculture, thereby entering the Neolithic age.

Before the main phase of occupation at Lepinski Vir, from 6200 to 5900 BC, a few small Mesolithic settlements on this site are known over the preceding few thousand years.

However, the main phase of occupation is quite different to these earlier settlements. Apart from adopting agriculture, they built trapezoidal plan, or 'fan' shaped, houses with stone floors in which various animal remains have been found. These are usually interpreted as grave goods, accompanying burials under the floors of houses, like at Catalhoyuk.

The most interesting thing for us are the species used in these graves. According to a paper by Vesna Dimitrijevic in 2008, the most common animal species remains found inside these houses are: boar, deer and dog. Fish remains are also common, but these are harder to quantify. However the other thing Lepinski Vir is known for are its fish sculptures - see image left. So we can presume that the fish was an important symbol, and not just an important food source, for these people.
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Wine

Large-scale feasts at ancient capital of Ulster drew crowds from across Iron Age Ireland


Archeology News Network
Thu, 26 Dec 2019 13:49 UTC
iron age ireland
© Dr Richard MadgwickOne of the analysed pig jaws for the study
People transported animals over huge distances for mass gatherings at one of Ireland's most iconic archaeological sites, research concludes.

Dr Richard Madgwick of Cardiff University led the study, which analysed the bones of 35 animals excavated from Navan Fort, the legendary capital of Ulster. Researchers from Queen's University Belfast, Memorial University Newfoundland and the British Geological Survey were also involved in the research.

The site had long been considered a centre for ritual gatherings, as excavations found a huge 40m diameter building and a barbary ape cranium, likely from at least as far as Iberia. Results suggest the pigs, cattle and sheep were brought from across Ireland, perhaps being reared as far afield as Galway, Donegal, Down, Tyrone and Antrim. Evidence suggests some were brought over more than 100 miles.

Dr Madgwick, based in Cardiff University's School of History, Archaeology and Religion, said: "Our results provide clear evidence that communities in Iron Age Ireland were very mobile and that livestock were also moved over greater distances than was previously thought.


Comment: According to Wikipedia, "the Iron Age of Prehistoric Ireland begins around 500 BC, when the Greek Iron Age had already ended, and finishes around 400 AD. "


Comment: It's fascinating that similar findings have also been reported at Bamburgh Castle in England, which was noted by researchers as the center of a 'Northumbrian enlightenment', hosting visitors from as far as North Africa. It would appear there are some interesting similarities shared between the two societies from the organisation and possible societal structure organization, over vast distances, and, although the dating is not completely clear, it is possible they were extant at the same time. It's particularly notable that, despite leaving a mark in the archeological record, we otherwise know very little about them.

See also:

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Hourglass

Mexico: New Mayan palace discovered in Yucatán


The Yukatan Times
Thu, 26 Dec 2019 11:53 UTC
The Mayan palace was discovered in the archaeological zone of Kulubá, Yucatán. The construction, located within this pre-Hispanic Mayan city, is approximately 55 meters long (180.5 ft) by 15 meters (49.2 ft) wide and 6 meters (19.6 ft) tall.
Kulubá Yucatan, Palace
© INAHKulubá Yucatan, Palace
37 kilometers southeast of the city of Tizimin in Yucatan, Kulubá is located. It is quite an interesting Mayan archaeological site since everyday something new shows up.

The name Kulubá, according to the Maya language specialist William Brito Sansores (La escritura de los mayas, 1981), is allegedly formed by the words "K'ulu", which refers to a kind of wild dog, and "ha", water.

The archaeological zone of Kulubá, in Yucatán, is home to a 55-meter-long palace, according to the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).

"This work has confirmed the existence of a palace to the east of the main square of Group C, through the liberation and recognition of the base, the stairways and a crossing with pilasters, at the top, which would have been used by the elite of the place," the INAH explained in a statement.
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'We are living upon the wreckage of former worlds' - Randall Carlson

Greg
The Daily Grail
Fri, 06 Dec 2019 22:30 UTC
Underwater Ruins
© Flickr
Most Grailers would be familiar with the work of Randall Carlson, a polymath whose research on the ancient world integrates sacred geometry, geology, environmental change, myths, legends, cosmic cycles and catastrophes. He is a proponent of the Younger Dryas impact hypothesis, and has theorized about the extinction of historical advanced human civilizations.

The video below takes the audio (and some video) from one of Randall's lectures, and combines it with illustrations and stock video footage to bring what he's saying to life. In the lecture Randall discusses the fact that there have been many 'apocalyptic' events over the last 150,000 years - the period of 'modern humans' - and that they appear to happen in a regular, cyclic manner.
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Bad Guys

Laos: Ghastly legacy of American 'freedom and democracy'

Drago Bosnic
Fort Russ
Thu, 26 Dec 2019 19:26 UTC
US cluster bomb
The American bombing of Laos, which lasted full 9 years (1964-1973), was part of a CIA operation to seize power from the Soviet Union-affiliated Pathet Lao movement. Formally a neutral country during the Cold War, Laos unwillingly became part of a global confrontation between the USSR and the US.

US bombers dropped more than two million tons of cluster bombs on the country - more than the total number of bombs dropped during World War II (nuclear weapons included), according to History. The proximity of Laos to Mao Cedung's China made the country very much relevant in Dwight Eisenhower's "Domino Theory".

"If we lose Laos, the rest of Southeast Asia will follow," said Eisenhower, who gave the green light for CIA's training of anti-communist forces aimed at destroying communist supply lines through Ho Chi Minh's Vietnam.
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Bug

The rise and fall of Nicolae Ceausescu, "the Romanian fuehrer"

Doug Bandow
Foundation For Economic Education
Wed, 25 Dec 2019 00:00 UTC
Ceausescu
© The National History Museum of RomaniaCeausescu is pictured on the right.
As we approach a new year, we should remember that eternal vigilance truly is the price of liberty.

Traditionally, Christmas is a time of peaceful reflection and restful appreciation of the fast disappearing year. In 1989, there was much to contemplate.

The most dramatic symbol of totalitarian tyranny, the Berlin Wall, fell dramatically. The Evil Empire, as Ronald Reagan memorably described the Soviet Union, was dissolving. The Soviet satellites were gone: Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and Bulgaria all defenestrated their communist rulers. Even the Soviet republics were restless, headed out of the Russian-dominated union. Indeed, Lithuania was just a couple months away from declaring independence.

Even the ruthless totalitarian state created by Romania's dictator and dictatress, Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu, was gone. And they were subjected to justice after 34 years in power. It was imperfect, but it was justice nonetheless.

The Rise of Ceausescu

Nicolae was a member of the communist youth movement. He was arrested and imprisoned multiple times. His 1936 mugshot at age 18 still haunts the internet. His country passed from traditional monarchy to troubled democracy to royal dictatorship to military control to occupied territory. In World War I, Bucharest had gained territory seized from the disintegrating Austro-Hungarian and Russian Empires. As World War II approached, Romania lost those lands. First allied with the Nazis, Bucharest switched sides in 1944 but was still dominated by the conquering Soviet Union, which established a communist government.
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Dig

5,000-year-old human skeleton found in China with 'extremely rare' form of dwarfism

Nicoletta Lanese
Live Science
Mon, 16 Dec 2019 12:00 UTC
dwarfism
© Halcrow et al. 2019A skeleton found in China belonged to an individual with a rare form of dwarfism.
An ancient human skeleton uncovered in China belonged to an individual with the rare condition of "proportionate dwarfism." Archaeologists made an "extremely rare" find in China when they found a human skeleton with an uncommon form of dwarfism, according to a recent news report.

The skeleton was originally recovered from a burial site near the Yellow River in east-central China, along with other remains of people who had lived between 3300 and 2900 B.C., Forbes reported. All the skeletons were found with their hands placed on top of their bodies, except for one, whose hands were tucked behind its back. The bones of this skeleton appeared short and weak compared to the other skeletal remains; on closer inspection, the archaeologists diagnosed the young adult with skeletal dysplasia, also known as dwarfism.

A wide range of conditions fall under the umbrella term "skeletal dysplasia," but in general, these conditions tend to disrupt bone development, causing individuals to grow to shorter-than-average stature, the authors noted in a report published Dec. 13 in the International Journal of Paleopathology. Skeletal dysplasia is fairly rare in modern humans, occurring in about 3.22 out of every 10,000 births, but the condition crops up even less often in the archaeological record — to date, fewer than 40 cases have been discovered. Of these, most cases represent a relatively common form of dwarfism called achondroplasia, which causes the limbs to grow disproportionately shorter than the head and trunk.

Comment: See also:

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Info

Massive magnetic anomaly discovered near ancient stone circles in Scotland


Sputnik News
Wed, 25 Dec 2019 05:55 UTC
Magnetic Anomaly
© CC0/Pixabay
The monuments created thousands of years ago in what is now known as the Outer Hebrides have stunned researchers and history fans for decades. Traces of a massive lightning strike or smaller ones might give scientists a clue as to the origins of this enigmatic creation.

A team of researchers from the University of St Andrews and the University of Bradford has stumbled upon the evidence of a massive magnetic anomaly near one of the Outer Hebrides' main stone circles, known as the Tursachan Chalanais, located on the Isle of Lewis.

Studying the nearby satellite sites in the search for lost circles concealed in the peat, they noted the abnormality near Site XI, or Airigh na Beinne Bige, with a lone-standing stone facing the main site. They suggested that this is the result of a massive lighting strike or many smaller strikes, as the outlet Phys.org reports.
"Such clear evidence for lightning strikes is extremely rare in the UK and the association with this stone circle is unlikely to be coincidental. Whether the lightning at Site XI focused on a tree or rock which is no longer there, or the monument itself attracted strikes, is uncertain," project leader Dr. Richard Bates from the University of St Andrews told the outlet.
According to the researcher, this "evidence suggests that the forces of nature could have been intimately linked with everyday life and beliefs of the early farming communities on the island."
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Magnify

Poland wanted to 'erect magnificent monument' to honor Hitler's plan to send Jews to Africa - Putin cites WWII archives


RT
Tue, 24 Dec 2019 17:30 UTC
Hitler
© Global Look Press / Knorr + HirthHitler greets troops after the 1939 invasion of Poland
Some nations in Europe that colluded with Adolf Hitler and applauded his anti-Semitic crusade, now demolish Soviet war memorials and seek to equate the USSR with Nazi Germany, the Russian president noted, during a formal speech.

Vladimir Putin recalled the vicious developments that preceded the Second World War, in an address to the Defense Ministry board on Tuesday, telling his audience there was one particular fact in the archive files that touched him the most. Back in 1938, Adolf Hitler hosted the Polish Ambassador to Germany Jozef Lipski and shared with him a plan to send European Jews to Africa where they would surely perish, Putin said.

"The Ambassador in Poland replied, and then wrote it down in his cable to the Polish Foreign Minister: 'I told Hitler that, if he does, we will erect a magnificent monument to him in Warsaw'," the President quoted from the archive data, before turning somewhat emotional.
He was a bastard, an anti-Semitic pig, there's no other way of saying it. He fully agreed with Hitler in his anti-Semitic sentiments and, moreover, promised him he'd erect a monument in Warsaw to his abuse of the Jewish people.
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Christmas Tree

Fossilized roots are revealing the nature of 385-million-year-old forests

Jessica Leigh Hester
Atlas Obscura
Thu, 19 Dec 2019 00:00 UTC
River bed fossils
© WILLIAM STEIN & CHRISTOPHER BERRYFrom the air, the Archaeopteris root system (left) and possible Stigmarian Isoetalean lycopsid system (right) look like long-dry rivers.
Welcome to the ancient woods of Cairo, New York.

If you woke up one day and found yourself rocketed back to the dawn of the Devonian period, more than 419 million years ago, you would encounter a forest-free world. Before there were leaves and woody trunks, there were other things, like carpets of fuzzy green mosses and ferns, unfurling their fronds. Trees arrived a little later.

Scientists want to understand the earliest forests, including one that sprouted in present-day Cairo, New York, by the mid-Devonian, about 385 million years ago. But today, the landscape is full of the usual suspects of an Eastern hardwood forest: maples, oaks, beeches, and birch. Modern-day trees bear little resemblance to the plants that could have survived there when the climate was much different, and the region was a temperate wetland that sometimes flooded.

What researchers do have at their fingertips at the Cairo site, an abandoned quarry, is roots — massive, sprawling systems of them, preserved in fossil soil. In a new paper in Current Biology, a team led by William Stein, an emeritus biologist at the State University of New York's Binghamton University, point to the root systems as proof that the some of the plants that one sprouted on this site were important precursors to modern forests.
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