Ancient History (3500 BC – 499 AD)

Got something to say about the past? Say it here!
Post Reply
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Ancient History (3500 BC – 499 AD)

Post by caltrek »

This Could be the Earliest Evidence of a 260-Day Maya Calendar Ever Found
by Carly Cassella
April 14, 2022

https://www.sciencealert.com/the-earlie ... -guatemala

Introduction:
(Science Alert) Among the fragments of an ancient Mesoamerican mural, archaeologists in Guatemala have uncovered the earliest unequivocal evidence of a Maya sacred calendar.

On one tiny fragment of a mural that once adorned the temple wall, traces of an animal's head can be seen beneath a black dot and solid line – symbols representing '7 Deer', one of the 260 days in the calendar.

Other historic records of this sacred calendar have been found in Central America before, but they have proved difficult to date with any accuracy.

The finding is a very rare example of a clear hieroglyphic day of the year, which was written sometime between 200 and 300 BCE, according to radiocarbon analysis.

That's more than a thousand years older than other calendar hieroglyphs found elsewhere in Guatemala. And given how 'mature' the script appears, researchers suspect the calendar was in use long before this one date was written down.
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Ancient History (3500 BC – 499 AD)

Post by caltrek »

Female Migration to Islands of Orkney Ushered in a Cosmopolitan Era
by Jennifer Walter
April 1, 2022

https://www.inverse.com/science/noltlan ... bronze-age

Extract:
(Inverse) THE REMOTE SCOTTISH ISLANDS of Orkney might not be the first place that comes to mind when you think of a cultural hub. But thousands of years ago, it was home to ancient peoples who built monuments, created art, and even hosted parties.

At the beginning of the Bronze Age, about 4,500 years ago, the islands saw a population shift. Primarily female migrants from other parts of Europe began to make their way to isolated Orkney.

They (researchers) discovered that a wave of people migrated to Orkney during the early Bronze Age — but sex seemed to be a determining factor in who was a newcomer.

Lineages from male individuals appeared to come from Neolithic-era peoples who had lived on the islands for some time. In contrast, female lineages could often be traced back to continental Europe.

That means women were often the ones packing up and sailing to the islands, while men stayed in place. “I think this is due to the inheritance system here,” study co-author Graeme Wilson tells Inverse. “The men wanted to retain control of the farms so [they] sought female incomers.”
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Ancient History (3500 BC – 499 AD)

Post by caltrek »

The Future of Egyptology is in Egyptian Hands
by Ali Abu Dashish

Introduction:
(The National) The major recent archaeological discoveries in Egypt, most notably a series of coffins discovered at Saqqara, just outside Cairo, in May, are evidence of the genius of this generation of Egyptian archaeologists, restorers and Egyptologists. It is fitting that the objects they are unearthing and studying are particularly remarkable. Each new discovery ― and there have been many recently ― sheds more light on how the ancient Egyptians lived and excelled in the sciences, including medicine, engineering, astronomy, arithmetic, pharmacology and mummification, which until now has been a baffling secret.

Discovering burial sites, of course, is nothing new for the country. Even the pharaohs themselves were at points excavating Egyptian antiquities from earlier periods. After all, the term “Ancient Egypt” encompasses a period of more than 3,000 years. And not all of the “excavations” during that time were friendly. For millennia thieves have targeted tombs. This is why the pharaohs were always looking for a safe place to bury their dead, and helps to explain the existence of epic sites such as Saqqara, which was used as a burial site from prehistoric times until the Islamic era.

But the unearthing and preservation of Egypt’s cultural heritage, fortunately, takes far more constructive forms today, thanks to the careful work of the country’s archaeologists, Egyptologists and historians. And keeping the discipline vibrant is in large part about training the right people and generating in-country expertise.

When the Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass took over the Ministry of Antiquities in 2011, his main concern was just that: for Egyptian archaeologists to learn the art of excavation and restoration. He set up excavation schools and taught more than 500 Egyptian archaeologists the arts of research and excavation until they reached the same level of ability as foreign experts, even surpassing them.

The best evidence of this fact is today’s trove of recent discoveries.
Read more here: https://www.thenationalnews.com/weeke ... allenges/
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
weatheriscool
Posts: 12960
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Ancient History (3500 BC – 499 AD)

Post by weatheriscool »

Underwater jars reveal Roman period winemaking practices
https://phys.org/news/2022-06-underwate ... eriod.html
by Public Library of Science
Winemaking practices in coastal Italy during the Roman period involved using native grapes for making wine in jars waterproofed with imported tar pitch, according to a study published June 29, 2022 in PLOS ONE by Louise Chassouant of Avignon University and colleagues.

The authors examined three Roman period amphorae—wine jars—from a seabed deposit near the modern harbor of San Felice Circeo, Italy, about 90 km southeast of Rome. A combination of chemical markers, plant tissue residue, and pollen provided evidence of grape derivatives and pine within the jars. The evidence suggests the amphorae were used in both red and white winemaking processes, while the pine was used to create tar for waterproofing the jars and perhaps also flavoring the wine, as has been observed at similar archaeological sites.

The grapevine pollen matches wild species from the area, suggesting these winemakers were using local plants, although it remains unclear whether these were domesticated at the time. The pine tar, on the other hand, is non-local, and was likely imported from Calabria or Sicily based on other historical sources.

The authors emphasize the benefit of this multidisciplinary approach to characterize cultural practices from archaeological artifacts. In this case, the identification of plant remains, chemical analysis, historical and archaeological records, amphorae design, and previous findings all contributed to the conclusions of this analysis, providing an example of methodology for interpreting a history beyond the artifacts that would not be possible using a single technique.
User avatar
Yuli Ban
Posts: 4631
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 4:44 pm

Re: Ancient History (3500 BC – 499 AD)

Post by Yuli Ban »



And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future
User avatar
Time_Traveller
Posts: 2095
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 4:49 pm
Location: Clermont, Indiana, USA, October 7th 2019 B.C.E

Re: Ancient History (3500 BC – 499 AD)

Post by Time_Traveller »

Earliest Pacific seafarers were matrilocal society, study suggests
Thu 30 Jun 2022

The world’s earliest seafarers who set out to colonise remote Pacific islands nearly 3,000 years ago were a matrilocal society with communities organised around the female lineage, analysis of ancient DNA suggests.

The research, based on genetic sequencing of 164 ancient individuals from 2,800 to 300 years ago, suggested that some of the earliest inhabitants of islands in Oceania had population structures in which women almost always remained in their communities after marriage, while men left their mother’s community to live with that of their wife. This pattern is strikingly different from that of patrilocal societies, which appeared to be the norm in ancient populations in Europe and Africa.

“The peopling of the Pacific is a longstanding and important mystery as it’s the last great expansion of humans into unoccupied areas,” said David Reich, a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School, who led the work.

“Today, traditional communities in the Pacific have both patrilocal and matrilocal population structures and there was a debate about what the common practice was in the ancestral populations,” he said. “These results suggest that in the earliest seafarers, matrilocality was the rule.”

By 50,000 years ago, populations of ancient humans had arrived and spread through Australia, New Guinea and Solomon Islands. But it wasn’t until after 3,500 years ago that people, probably living in what is now Taiwan, developed long-distance canoes and ventured out into open ocean, arriving in Remote Oceania. This expansion included the region called Micronesia – about 2,000 small islands north of the equator including Guam, the Marshall Islands, the Caroline Islands, Palau, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/202 ... y-suggests
"We all have our time machines, don't we. Those that take us back are memories...And those that carry us forward, are dreams."

-H.G Wells.
User avatar
Time_Traveller
Posts: 2095
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 4:49 pm
Location: Clermont, Indiana, USA, October 7th 2019 B.C.E

Re: Ancient History (3500 BC – 499 AD)

Post by Time_Traveller »

In Pompeii, Archaeologists Uncover Ancient Pregnant Tortoise
June 30, 2022

Nearly 2,000 years ago, a pregnant tortoise took refuge in an abandoned home in Pompeii. But then Mount Vesuvius erupted, covering her in volcanic rock and ash. Now, archaeologists excavating the ancient city have found the remains of the 5.5-inch-long Hermann’s tortoise and her egg.

The findings add a new layer of detail to what experts know about the period between 62 C.E., when Pompeii was hit with an earthquake, and 79 C.E., when it was devastated by the volcanic eruption. Archaeologists discovered the remains in a part of the city that was being repurposed for public baths.

Archaeologists think the tortoise made her way into a building that was too badly damaged by the earthquake to be rebuilt, but that she had not yet laid her eggs by the time Mount Vesuvius erupted. If tortoises cannot find a suitable habitat in which to lay their eggs, they can actually retain them—but if they wait too long, they will eventually die, the team explains in a statement.

​​“This lets us reflect on Pompeii in this phase after the earthquake but before the eruption, when many homes were being rebuilt, the whole city was a construction site, and evidently some spaces were so unused that wild animals could roam, enter and try to lay their eggs,” Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Pompeii archaeological site, tells Nicole Winfield of the Associated Press (AP).

Though the tortoise could have been a household pet, experts say she was more likely to have been a wild tortoise that made her way into the city from the countryside. After carefully removing the remains from the site, researchers will study them further in the lab.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-ne ... 180980343/
"We all have our time machines, don't we. Those that take us back are memories...And those that carry us forward, are dreams."

-H.G Wells.
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Ancient History (3500 BC – 499 AD)

Post by caltrek »

In Search of the Lost City of Natounia
July 20, 2022

Introduction:
(EurekAlert) The mountain fortress of Rabana-Merquly in modern Iraqi Kurdistan was one of the major regional centres of the Parthian Empire, which extended over parts of Iran and Mesopotamia approximately 2,000 years ago. This is a conclusion reached by a team of archaeologists led by Dr Michael Brown, a researcher at the Institute of Prehistory, Protohistory and Near-Eastern Archaeology of Heidelberg University. Together with Iraqi colleagues, Brown studied the remains of the fortress. Their work provides important insights into the settlement structures and history of the Parthians, about whom there is surprisingly little knowledge, emphasises Dr Brown, even though the annals of history record them as a major power. Furthermore, Rabana-Merquly may be the lost city of Natounia.

Situated on the southwest flanks of Mt. Piramagrun in the Zagros Mountains, the stone fortress of Rabana-Merquly comprises not only the nearly four-kilometre-long fortifications but also two smaller settlements for which it is named. Because of its high position on the mountain, mapping the site was possible only with drones. Within the framework of multiple excavation campaigns conducted from 2009 and most recently between 2019 and 2022, the international team of researchers was able to study the archaeological remains on site. Structures that have survived to this day suggest a military use and include the remains of several rectangular buildings that may have served as barracks. The researchers also found a religious complex possibly dedicated to the Zoroastrian Iranian goddess Anahita.
Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/959116
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Ancient History (3500 BC – 499 AD)

Post by caltrek »

Humans Were Drinking Milk Around 6,000 Years Before Most Evolved to Digest It
by Tom Hale
July 27, 2022

Introduction:
(IFL Science) Prehistoric people acquired a taste for milk thousands of years before humans evolved the genetic trait that allows us to digest it without sore stomachs and gastrointestinal upsets, according to a new paper published in the journal Nature.

It was previously assumed that humans evolved a tolerance to lactose, also known as lactase persistence, because they started to drink milk more and more as agriculture become more prolific across Eurasia. However, to the researchers’ surprise, this was found to be not true.

The study authors analyzed thousands of animal fat residues found on over 13,000 fragments of pottery from 554 archaeological sites across Europe. Microscopic traces of milk on the pottery shards suggests that human consumption of milk was, in fact, high in Neolithic Europe from around 7,000 BCE onwards.

This was a time before the overwhelming majority of the population was able to digest it. The sugar in milk – lactose – is turned into glucose and galactose by the enzyme lactase. Without the enzyme, or with insufficient amounts of it, lactose isn’t broken down and fuels bacterial fermentation in the gut, leading to gas, diarrhoea, and stomach pain.

Unexpectedly, genetic evidence from prehistoric European and Asian people showed that the gene that codes for the production of lactase was not common until around 1,000 BCE, nearly 4,000 years after it was first detected around 4,700 BCE. It then spread across the continent like wildfire within just a few thousand years.
Read more here: https://www.iflscience.com/humans-were ... -it-64626
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
weatheriscool
Posts: 12960
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Ancient History (3500 BC – 499 AD)

Post by weatheriscool »

Medieval friars were 'riddled with parasites,' study finds
https://phys.org/news/2022-08-medieval- ... sites.html
by University of Cambridge

A new analysis of remains from medieval Cambridge shows that local Augustinian friars were almost twice as likely as the city's general population to be infected by intestinal parasites.

This is despite most Augustinian monasteries of the period having latrine blocks and hand-washing facilities, unlike the houses of ordinary working people.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge's Department of Archaeology say the difference in parasitic infection may come down to monks manuring crops in friary gardens with their own feces, or purchasing fertilizer containing human or pig excrement.

The study, published today in the International Journal of Paleopathology, is the first to compare parasite prevalence in people from the same medieval community who were living different lifestyles, and so might have differed in their infection risk.

The population of medieval Cambridge consisted of residents of monasteries, friaries and nunneries of various major Christian orders, along with merchants, traders, craftsmen, laborers, farmers, and staff and students at the early university.
Post Reply