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Gravetop sundial reveals lost civilization's tech savvy

Sundial
© Larisa VodolazhskayaArchaeologists pose with a Bronze Age sundial dating back more than 3,000 years.
A carved stone found marking a Bronze Age grave in the Ukraine is the oldest sundial of its kind ever found, a new study reveals.

The sundial may have marked the final resting place of a young man sacrificed or otherwise marked as a messenger to the gods or ancestors, said study researcher Larisa Vodolazhskaya of the Archaeoastronomical Research Center at Southern Federal University in Russia. Vodolazhskaya analyzed the geometry of the tire-size stone and its carvings, confirming the stone would have marked the time using a system of parallel lines and an elliptical pattern of circular depressions.

The elliptical pattern makes the carving an analemmatic sundial. A traditional sundial marks the time using a gnomon, a fixed vertical that casts a shadow. An analemmatic sundial has a gnomon that must move every day of the year to adjust to the changing position of the sun in the sky. [See Images of the Ancient Sundial]

Sherlock

Rare discovery: human brain boiled in its skull lasted 4000 years

preserved brain
© Halic University IstanbulNo burnt log
Shaken, scorched and boiled in its own juices, this 4000-year-old human brain has been through a lot.

It may look like nothing more than a bit of burnt log, but it is one of the oldest brains ever found. Its discovery, and the story now being pieced together of its owner's last hours, offers the tantalising prospect that archaeological remains could harbour more ancient brain specimens than thought. If that's the case, it potentially opens the way to studying the health of the brain in prehistoric times.

Brain tissue is rich in enzymes that cause cells to break down rapidly after death, but this process can be halted if conditions are right. For instance, brain tissue has been found in the perfectly preserved body of an Inca child sacrificed 500 years ago. In this case, death occurred at the top of an Andean mountain where the body swiftly froze, preserving the brain.

However, Seyitömer Höyük - the Bronze Age settlement in western Turkey where this brain was found - is not in the mountains. So how did brain tissue survive in four skeletons dug up there between 2006 and 2011?

Meriç Altinoz at Haliç University in Istanbul, Turkey, who together with colleagues has been analysing the find, says the clues are in the ground. The skeletons were found burnt in a layer of sediment that also contained charred wooden objects. Given that the region is tectonically active, Altinoz speculates that an earthquake flattened the settlement and buried the people before fire spread through the rubble.

The flames would have consumed any oxygen in the rubble and boiled the brains in their own fluids. The resulting lack of moisture and oxygen in the environment helped prevent tissue breakdown.

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'Largest Corinthian capital' unearthed in Turkey

Corinthian capital
© Today’s Zaman newspaperArcheologists have unearthed a 20-ton colossal Corinthian capital at the site of Kyzikos Hadrian Temple in Western Turkey.
A group of archeologists have made a significant discovery in Turkey, unearthing an ancient Roman column piece touted as the largest of its kind. Ataturk University's archeology team brought to light on Friday a colossal Corinthian capital measuring 1.9m in diameter and 2.5 m in height in Erdek district.

"This is the largest and most exquisite Corinthian capital built within the territory of the Roman Empire," said team head Nurettin Kochan. The piece is crafted in the Corinthian order, chronologically the latest of three recognized ancient Roman architectural styles. It was found at the site of Kyzikos Hadrian Temple where excavation work has continued since August 15. Kochan said the discovery bore significance on a global scale and would contribute to Turkey's tourism sector.

He said the dimensions of the capital surpass those at the world-renowned Baalbek Temple in Lebanon, among the best preserved Roman temple sites.

"There's no other capital of this size in the Corinthian order," he said. "Kyzikos Hadrian Temple outshines even the Baalbek Temple of Jupiter in Lebanon, considered the largest and most spectacular Corinthian temple in the world."

Kochan said they have also found large pieces of frieze decorated with reliefs featuring larger-than-life representations of human, eagle and bull figures. Hadrian Temple is similar in size to the Temple of Artemis in the ancient city of Ephesus and the Temple of Apollo in Didim, both located in Turkey's Aegean region.

The excavations, carried out by a team consisting of university professors, grad and undergrad students and dozens of workers, will continue until October 8.

Black Magic

The Bari report: Hypocrisy and War Crimes - The Western Imperium

The U.S. has a long history of unleashing chemical and biological warfare against civilians both abroad and at home, primarily as an experiment but also to get rid of outdated stockpiles while inventing a villain to crucify. Canadian author Robert Rodvik rips into Barack Obama for hypocritically warning Syria against its alleged use of chemical weapons and lambastes his own country which, from a potential U.S. target, turned into a U.S. accomplice in the chemical warfare waged against the Vietnamese people.

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Toxic Chemical Workers perform a meticulous inspection of chemical weapons stockpiles.

Palette

Possible Leonardo da Vinci painting lost for centuries found in Swiss bank vault

It was lost for so long that it had assumed mythical status for art historians. Some doubted whether it even existed.
da Vinci lost painting
The painting appears to be a completed, painted version of a pencil sketch drawn by Leonardo da Vinci in Mantua in the Lombardy region of northern Italy in 1499
But a 500-year-old mystery was apparently solved today after a painting attributed to Leonardo da Vinci was discovered in a Swiss bank vault.

The painting, which depicts Isabella d'Este, a Renaissance noblewoman, was found in a private collection of 400 works kept in a Swiss bank by an Italian family who asked not to be identified.

It appears to be a completed, painted version of a pencil sketch drawn by Leonardo da Vinci in Mantua in the Lombardy region of northern Italy in 1499.

Sherlock

Medieval treasure trove unearthed in central Russian city

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© RIA Novosti. Vladimir FedorenkoRyazan Kremlin
A stash of jewelry predating the 13th-century Mongol invasion has been discovered at an excavation site in the central Russian city of Ryazan, an archeologist said Wednesday.

The treasure trove, unearthed in an old artisan district, contained 80 pieces of jewelry - including bracelets, necklaces and tiaras - as well as jewelry-making tools and raw gold and silver ingots.

"It is the 17th such treasure trove found in Old Ryazan," said Igor Strikalov of the Russian Institute of Archeology.

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Ancient kingdom discovered beneath mound in Iraq

Ancient City
© Cinzia PappiA domestic structure, with at least two rooms, that may date to relatively late in the life of the newfound ancient city, perhaps around 2,000 years ago when the Parthian Empire controlled the area in Iraq.
In the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq archaeologists have discovered an ancient city called Idu, hidden beneath a mound.

Cuneiform inscriptions and works of art reveal the palaces that flourished in the city throughout its history thousands of years ago.

Located in a valley on the northern bank of the lower Zab River, the city's remains are now part of a mound created by human occupation called a tell, which rises about 32 feet (10 meters) above the surrounding plain. The earliest remains date back to Neolithic times, when farming first appeared in the Middle East, and a modern-day village called Satu Qala now lies on top of the tell.

The city thrived between 3,300 and 2,900 years ago, said Cinzia Pappi, an archaeologist at the Universität Leipzig in Germany. At the start of this period, the city was under the control of the Assyrian Empire and was used to administer the surrounding territory. Later on, as the empire declined, the city gained its independence and became the center of a kingdom that lasted for about 140 years, until the Assyrians reconquered it. [See Photos of Discoveries at the Ancient City of Idu]

Sherlock

Mystery AD1257 eruption traced to Lombok, Indonesia

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© Petter LingrenThe bowl that is today Segara Anak Crater Lake formed after the eruption
Scientists think they have found the volcano responsible for a huge eruption that occurred in AD1257.

The mystery event was so large its chemical signature is recorded in the ice of both the Arctic and the Antarctic.

European medieval texts talk of a sudden cooling of the climate, and of failed harvests.

In the PNAS journal, an international team points the finger at the Samalas Volcano on Lombok Island, Indonesia.

Little remains of the original mountain structure - just a huge crater lake.

The team has tied sulphur and dust traces in the polar ice to a swathe of data gathered in the Lombok region itself, including radiocarbon dates, the type and spread of ejected rock and ash, tree-rings, and even local chronicles that recall the fall of the Lombok Kingdom sometime in the 13th Century.

Phoenix

What did cause the mysterious fire which destroyed America's greatest ancient city?

A mysterious fire which destroyed North America's greatest ancient civilization has led to fascinating discoveries about social tensions, violent tendencies and religious practices within the society.

The city of Cahokia, whose secrets lie underneath where St Louis, Missouri now stands, was ruined by a huge blaze around the year 1170 CE.

Following the disaster, the Native American city changed dramatically - defense walls were built, buildings fortified and a sun symbol incorporated into designs.

The significant changes have led to one nagging historical mystery - just how did the fire start?
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© Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, painting by William R. IsemingerThe illustration is an aerial perspective of Cahokia Mounds circa AD 1150-1200 which was destroyed by a huge blaze
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© WikipediaSecrets of the past: Monk's Mound in Colinsville, Illinois is believed to have been built as a place of worship in ancient cultures
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© WikipediaAn 1887 illustration of Monk's Mound blown a little out of proportion. However the ancient civilizations have long been of interest to history buffs
Cahokia, pictured in this illustration, was originally a vast city encircled by 120 pyramids, stretches of farmland and wealthy communities.

Those who built the model city were known as the Mound Builders because of the earthen structures similar to Mayan Temples.

Snowflake Cold

Ancient muddy memories?

ice age ancient legends
© Marinus Anthony Van Der SluijsEchoes of a primordial landscape? Þingvellir, Iceland.
Many cultures recalled a period of unbearable cold, which they associated with a distant mythical age of 'creation', when the sun did not yet shine or fire had not yet been obtained.

Such tales are hardly surprising for higher latitudes, such as the Viking sagas of Iceland, but present a palaeoclimatological puzzle elsewhere.

For example, the Cherokee (originally along the Tennessee), who should be quite accustomed to climatic extremes, claimed that the first fire was confined to a special tree - arguably an axis mundi - at a time of lasting cold:
'In the beginning there was no fire, and the world was cold, until the Thunders (Ani´-Hyûñ´tikwalâ´ski), who lived up in Galûn´lati, sent their lightning and put fire into the bottom of a hollow sycamore tree which grew on an island. ... This was a long time ago. ... still there was no fire, and the world was cold ...'
Eventually, mythical beings succeeded in acquiring the fire. At tropical latitudes meanwhile, the Quiché Maya (Guatemala) related that their first ancestors were overcome by circumstances most peculiar for central America:
'After that a great downpour began, which cut short the fire of the tribes. And hail fell thickly on all the tribes, and their fires were put out by the hail. Their fires didn't start up again. ... And so again the tribes arrived, again done in by the cold. Thick were the white hail, the blackening storm, and the white crystals. The cold was incalculable. They were simply overwhelmed. Because of the cold all the tribes were going along doubled over, groping along ...'
And the Bibbulmun nation (southwestern tip of Australia) referred to the 'Dreamtime' or the 'ancestral' time (Demma Goomber) as the 'Nyitting times, the cold, cold times of long ago'. As the name says, the Bibbulmun qualified this past era as one dominated by unprecedented cold - and, consequently, by a savage mode of living:

'In that far-off time Australia was not so warm and congenial as it is to-day. It was cold and bleak, and great glaciers of ice covered many of its hills and valleys. ... "the icy cold (nyitting) times of long, long ago". Now, in an icy cold country one must have fires, but there was a time when the Bibbulmun people had no fires, and they had to eat their meat raw and drink the blood of the animals they killed to warm their bodies.

The theme of a cold epoch meshes with the notion of 'primordial darkness' reported universally to have preceded the formation of the present natural environment. Another associated motif is that the embryonic earth was excessively muddy and wet, a necessary consequence of the earth's putative original submersion in primeval waters. In addition, the moist earth is often linked with the aftermath of the deluge and the first appearance of humans and the sun. Though scholars never seem to have compiled the material, let alone considered it, the literature is awash with examples. A selection follows.