Secret HistoryS


Better Earth

Decline of megafauna began 50,000 years ago, humans might be partly to blame

megafauna
© First printed in Bryant & Gay, 1883. Wood carving by E. Bayard.Prehistoric people are attacking an elephant. New research shows that humans and not the climate caused a sharp decline in almost all megafauna on Earth 50.000 years ago.
For years, scientists have debated whether humans or the climate have caused the population of large mammals to decline dramatically over the past several thousand years. A new study from Aarhus University confirms that climate cannot be the explanation.

About 100,000 years ago, the first modern humans migrated out of Africa in large numbers.


They were eminent at adapting to new habitats, and they settled in virtually every kind of landscape — from deserts to jungles to the icy taiga in the far north.

Comment: Could it be that both cosmic catastrophes, in addition to human activity, had noticeable impacts on the populations of megafauna?

There's a variety of evidence showing that cometary bombardment and the accompanying environmental shifts wrought havoc on our planet, and life on it changed (repeatedly) as a result. At the same time, it's likely that human migrations and population centres would have sought to benefit from, and control, their environment; which would have involved hunting, but also possibly alongside other measures - such as controlled culls - that sought to ameliorate living alongside such massive, and potentially lethal, creatures.

It seems that the drastic changes in the environment was the strongest driver behind the megafauna extinctions, but is it possible that this genetic data hints at some of the impact that human activity had?


Blue Planet

How early farmers in Scandinavia dealt with thousands of years of dramatic climate changes

scandanavia
© Quaternary Science Reviews (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108391Radiocarbon-dated settlement sites and summer temperature records across southern Scandinavia, southern Norway and Arctic Norway. The map displays a total of 1,734 settlement sites with a corresponding 6268 reliable 14C dates. Summer temperature records are based on marine, lacustrine, bog and speleothem records.
As the world faces the challenges of present-day climate change, scientific inquiry is, among other objectives, exploring how human societies navigate environmental variations at large. Investigating the past provides valuable insights into this.

A new study, published by researchers from the ROOTS Cluster of Excellence at Kiel University, together with colleagues from Oslo, Tromsø, and Stavanger (Norway), in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews presents an unprecedentedly extensive set of archaeological and environmental data revealing connectivities between climate changes, population dynamics and cultural changes in present-day Northern Germany and Scandinavia during the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age (approximately 4100 to 1100 before common era).

Comment: As revealed above, and in contradiction to the global boiling fanatics, the climate on our planet is cyclical in nature, and periods of warming, including pronounced warming, have a positive effect on population growth.

Unfortunately for us, all the data points to our own era as having left a brief warming spell and that we have now entered a period of cooling. And there is a wealth of evidence already showing that, as a result, the food chain is suffering, civilization is struggling to adapt, and this is alongside a number of other phenomena that often seem to accompany these shifts in climate:


Info

'The Holodomor': How Ukraine distorted the history of a tragic Soviet famine to help build its modern national myth

'The Holodonor'
© RT
Official Kiev has been talking about an alleged "genocide of Ukrainians by Russia" for more than 30 years

At the end of November, Ukraine commemorates the victims of the great Soviet famine of the 1930s. According to different estimates, the tragedy claimed from four to nine million lives throughout the country - in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine.

The exact number of deaths is hard to determine due to a lack of records, but the general Western consensus is that most deaths happened in the Russian and Ukrainian republics, with slightly more overall in the latter. However, per capita, the biggest effect was in Kazakhstan (where it is called the Asharshylyk), which lost over a third of its entire population.

From the very first years of Ukraine's independence, this event - known as the Holodomor (death by hunger) in the Ukrainian language - was politicized and served as a basis for constructing the country's new national identity.

Comment:
Genocide claims and counterclaims is not a new topic, below are other articles, and many more could have been found:

Africa related Africa - Rwanda related Americas Around the world Europe
Armenia related Europe - Britain and France Europe - WW2 holocaust Former Yugoslavia Israel and Palestine The future? Understanding some of the causes of genocides, and what to do about it. A genocide is not something that happened once and will never happen again. History makes this quite clear. What I found interesting while collecting the links is, that the powers that fuel the Western arms and money deliveries to Ukraine have such a rich history of having perpetrated genocides all over the globe, and in fact are very much at ease with having sponsored them since WWII. Moreover, it is ongoing, as we read and write. There is not even a guarantee that some of us will not be next in line.


Colosseum

Ancient Roman home with 'unparalleled' mosaic found near Colosseum

mosaic roman home colosium dicovery
© Italian Ministery of Culture/AFPArchaeologists have uncovered a luxurious Roman home near Rome's Colosseum, boasting an 'unparalleled' mosaic
Archaeologists have uncovered a luxurious Roman home near Rome's Colosseum, boasting an 'unparalleled' mosaic.

The stunning mosaic features shells, marble and precious glass, the culture ministry said.

Three large ships ride waves in the mosaic towards a coastal city, its walls dotted with small towers and porticoes.

This scene suggests the owner of the more than 2,000-year-old home, or domus, had been victorious in battle.

The building, which dates to between the second half of the 2nd century BC and the end of the 1st century BC, is 'an authentic treasure', Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano said in a statement.

Red Flag

Ukrainian trial demonstrates 2014 Maidan massacre was false flag

huddle street
© vrtStreet barricade
A massacre of protesters during the 2014 Maidan coup set the stage for the ouster of Ukraine's elected president, Viktor Yanukovych. Now, an explosive trial in Kiev has produced evidence the killings were a false flag designed to trigger regime change.

Two police officers charged with the mass shooting of opposition protesters in Kiev's Maidan Square in 2014 have been released after a Ukrainian court determined the fatal shots in the infamous massacre were fired from an opposition-controlled building.

On October 18, 2023, Ukraine's Sviatoshyn District Court determined that of the five officers on trial, one would be acquitted outright, while another was sentenced to time served for alleged "abuse of power."

The remaining three, who no longer live in Ukraine, were convicted in absentia on 31 counts of murder and 44 counts of attempted murder. This, under a Supreme Court opinion stipulating suspects can be held collectively responsible for the actions of a group deemed criminal.

The verdict means no one will face jail time, or be in any way punished for their alleged role in the infamous Maidan massacre, which saw over 100 protesters killed, triggered an avalanche of international condemnation and led directly to the downfall of President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled the country mere days later.

Calendar

Volcanoes, plague, famine and endless winter: Welcome to 536, what historians and scientists believe was the 'worst year to be alive'

'destruction'
© Wikimedia Commons
It's only February and already 2022 is shaping up badly. A huge volcanic eruption off the coast of Tonga, the prospect of war with Russia, the ongoing pandemic (and its economic disruptions). And that's even before we touch on Chinese sabre-rattling over Taiwan or Sex and the City's disastrous reboot.

Welcome to the New Year: as ghastly as the old one.

A history of bad times

I write not to make light of our world's very real problems, but rather to put them into some perspective. 2020, 2021 and perhaps now 2022, have all been bad.

But they have not been worse years than, say, 1347, when the Black Death began its long march across Eurasia. Or 1816, the "year without a summer". Or 1914, when the assassination of an obscure Habsburg archduke precipitated not one but two global conflicts - one of which brought about millions of deaths in the world's most horrific genocide.

There have been plenty of other bad years, and decades, too. In the 1330s, famine set in and ravished Yuan China. In the 1590s a similar famine devastated Europe, and the 1490s saw smallpox and influenza begin to work their way through the indigenous populations of the Americas (reciprocally, syphilis did the same amongst inhabitants of the Old World).

Life has often been "nasty, brutish, and short", as the political philosopher and cynic Thomas Hobbes observed in his Leviathan in 1651. And yet historians, even now, sometimes point to one particular year as worse than the others.

Star of David

Revealed: A British charity gave over £1m to 'Israel's largest militia'

climbers
© HaShomer HaChadash/FacebookHaShomer HaChadash volunteers patrol a hillside carrying Israeli flags, October 2022.
HaShomer HaChadash offers 'weaponised volunteering'.

One of the most prominent Jewish charities in the UK donated more than £1m to a group since described by Israel's newspaper of record Haaretz as "Israel's largest militia".

Accounts for the Jewish National Fund (JNF) show that between 2015 and 2018 it donated over £1m to HaShomer HaChadash (HH). JNF's website says it has been supporting HH since 2011, though evidence of its donations to the organisation ends in 2018.

On its website, the Jewish National Fund (JNF UK) is open about providing "capital and operational" support to HaShomer HaChadash (HH), which it describes as "a grassroots organisation helping farmers and ranchers in the Negev and the Galilee safeguard their land". It is less open about what exactly the organisation does.

The new guards

JNF UK is an arm of the JNF, an international organisation established at the turn of the 20th century to buy up and cultivate land in Palestine for Jewish settlement. The charity describes itself as having "supported the Zionist pioneers since the days of the second aliyah"; the umbrella organisation still owns 13% of Israel's public land.

Fireball

Influx of migrants to Bavaria in 500AD early medieval period, analysis of teeth reveals

medeival teeth
© M. Harbeck, Staatssammlung für Anthropologie München (SNSB-SAM)Visible malformations in tooth enamel that occur during dental development and are considered identifiable physiological stress markers.
A team of researchers led by Michaela Harbeck and Maren Velte from the Bavarian State Collection for Anthropology in Munich were able to analyze human teeth from various medieval cemeteries in Bavaria, which is now part of eastern Germany. They mainly come from the period around the year 500 AD.


Comment: It's likely that this wave of migration is related to: 536 AD: Plague, famine, drought, cold, and a mysterious fog that lasted 18 months


Teeth are formed during childhood and are characterized by little or no remodeling during lifetime. This developmental quality makes them an ideal "archive of childhood." Strontium isotopes, for example, indicate a person's geographical origin, while analyses of carbon and nitrogen provide information on diet. Serial isotope analysis shows the course of nutrition from birth to around 20 years of age. This method reveals the transition process from breast milk feeding in infancy to the inclusion of solid food during early childhood.

Comment: Regarding the Britons of this period, Laura Knight-Jadczyk in Meteorites, Asteroids, and Comets: Damages, Disasters, Injuries, Deaths, and Very Close Calls writes:
Until that point in time, the Britons had held control of post-Roman Britain, keeping the Anglo-Saxons isolated and suppressed. After the Romans were gone, the Britons maintained the status quo, living in towns, with elected officials, and carrying on trade with the empire. After AD 536, the year reported as the "death of Arthur", the Britons, the ancient Cymric empire that at one time had stretched from Cornwall in the south to Strathclyde in the north, all but disappeared, and were replaced by Anglo-Saxons. There is much debate among scholars as to whether the Anglo-Saxons killed all of the Britons, or assimilated them. Here we must consider that they were victims of possibly many overhead cometary explosions which wiped out most of the population of Europe, plunging it into the Dark Ages which were, apparently, really DARK, atmospherically speaking.
Also, as noted on SOTT radio's Behind the Headlines: Who was Jesus? Examining the evidence that Christ may in fact have been Caesar! numerous disasters were documented across the planet:
540: Cometary bombardment (according to the Chinese historical record); Gildas reports cometary bombardment up in the northern regions of the U.K.; there was a collapse of the great dam of Mareb in Yemen, the country of Sheba...so that was an interesting year, 540...

541: The plague began in Egypt; there was a comet in Gaul; earthquake occurred in Kyzicus...there was a comet, there was drought, earthquake, earthquake, blah-blah-blah...so I'm getting this from all these different chroniclers...

542, the sun appeared at noon day...plague began in the east...

543: Plague in Mesopotamia...

544: Plague in Italy, southern France, Spain...

545: Plague in Persia; famine; plague (Mesopotamia 546)...

547: Tremendous thunder and lightning...

549: Flood in Cilicia; plague in the British territories (according to the Bishop of Llandaff)...

551: Another Beirut earthquake and tsunami; earthquake over the Middle East; "the sea retreats" (John Malalus)...

553: Earthquake, terrible thunder, and lightning (from Chronicle of Theophanes)...

554: Earthquake in Constantinople; the destruction of Baalbek (now that's interesting...wait till you read the next book and hear about Baalbek--that's very, very interesting)...

555: There's another earthquake in Constantinople and plague...

556: Famine [in] Constantinople, plague, ashes fell from the sky...
and that's just a snippet. Check out the show for all the gory details.

See also: Who were the Picts?


Info

Oldest fortresses in the world discovered in Siberia

Archaeologists from Freie Universität Berlin together with an international team confirm ancient prehistoric fortifications in Siberia. Research results published in the scientific journal Antiquity.

Fortified settlement
© Nikita GolovanovThe fortified settlement sits atop a section of land overlooking the bountiful Amnya River.
In a groundbreaking archaeological discovery, an international team led by archaeologists from Freie Universität Berlin has uncovered fortified prehistoric settlements in a remote region of Siberia. The results of their research reveal that hunter-gatherers in Siberia constructed complex defense structures around their settlements already 8000 years ago.

This finding reshapes our understanding of early human societies, challenging the idea that only with the advent of agriculture would people have started to build permanent settlements with monumental architecture and have developed complex social structures. The study, "The World's Oldest-Known Promontory Fort: Amnya and the Acceleration of Hunter-Gatherer Diversity in Siberia 8000 Years Ago," was published in the journal Antiquity at the beginning of December.

The article can be accessed here: https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2023.164.

Info

5700-year-old monumental Dolmen of Menga reveals it as one of the greatest feats of Neolithic engineering

Dolmen of Menga
© Spain.infoDolmen of Menga
A new investigation tracing the source of the gigantic stones that make up the Menga dolmen in southern Spain reveals that it is one of the greatest achievements of Late Neolithic engineering.

In their study, published in Scientific Reports, the group used new technology to learn more about the stone that was used to create the ancient burial site and to explore how wood and rope would have been used in its construction.

Located near Antequera in Malaga (Andalucia, Spain), Menga is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site consisting of three dolmens constructed between 3800 - 3600 BC. It is one of the largest megalithic structures in Europe and was built on the top of a hill with giant rocks. It is renowned for its enormous orthostats or vertical stones, one of which weighs nearly 150 tons.

For many years, researchers have been haunted by the question of how the ancients, who possessed primitive tools, were able to process and move such large building blocks. A new study was designed to find the answer.