Mysterious Structure Older Than the Pyramids Revealed in Wake of Devastating Australian Bushfires

by Svetlana Ekimenko

Raging bushfires in Australia have revealed extra sections of an ancient aquaculture system built by indigenous people in south-west Victoria, Australia thousands of years ago.

The fires, that started back in December and were brought under control only recently, ripped through the state, burning away the thick vegetation in the area to lay bare the remarkable discovery.

The Bent pyramid, listed on UNESCO's world heritage list as part of the Memphis necropolis. 

(AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

The Budj Bim Cultural Landscape, consisting of extensive water channels and dams built by indigenous Australians from volcanic rocks to trap and harvest eels for food, is one of the world's most extensive and oldest aquaculture systems.

Gunditjmara representative Denis Rose, project manager at the non-profit group Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation said the recent discovery revealed the system was significantly larger than previously recorded.

"When we returned to the area, we found a channel hidden in the grass and other vegetation. It was about 25 meters (82 feet) in length, which was a fairly substantial size," Rose told CNN.

According to the official, new structures were now distinctly seen in the burnt landscape, resembling channels and ponds.

Prof. Elizabeth Grant

@DrElizabethGran

The one good news story from the #BushFireCrisisAustralia is that new sites of ancient Indigenous occupation have been found at the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape on Gunditjmara Country #BudjBim #bushfireaustralia #UNESCO 

#Indigenousarchitecture

6:45 AM · Jan 20, 2020·Twitter Web App

• 5 retweet
• 12 Likes

"It was a surprise continually finding new ones that the fires revealed," he said.

Initially, the fire in the vicinity of the national park was caused by a lightning strike in late December. Spreading rapidly, it engulfed an area of around 790 hectares (3 square miles), according to Mark Mellington, district manager for Forest Fire Management Victoria.

Firefighters and local groups, he said, had joined efforts to identify culturally important sites and use "low impact techniques" to replace heavy machinery when dousing the flames.

UVic Anthropology

@UVicAnthro
Fire reveals ancient structures for mass harvesting of eels by the Gunditjmara people in Budj Bim Cultural Landscape, an Australian
@UNESCO
World Heritage Site

https://rnz.co.nz/news/top/407660/victoria-fires-unveil-ancient-lava-channel-eel-farming-system…

Image =A channel and weir at Budj Bim, Victoria. Photo: Tyson Lovett-Murray, Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation
7:58 PM · Jan 20, 2020·Twitter Web App
2 Retweets

14Likes

​The bushfires in this area did not cause the same level of devastation as in other parts of Australia, and locals hope now they will make ample use of this opportunity to further explore the ancient aquaculture system.

"Over the next few weeks, we are hoping to conduct a comprehensive cultural heritage survey to check areas that were not previously recorded. It's important because it provided a rich, sustainable life for the traditional people, and has continued to be an important part of our cultural life," said the Gunditjmara representative.

The aquatic system at Budj Bim has long been known to archaeologists, and was added to UNESCO's World Heritage List last July.
Constructed by the Gunditjmara people more than 6,600 years ago, it is believed to be older than Egypt's pyramids

sophie

@sophieadamsmelb

Well worth the trip to Heywood- Gunditjmara land. World heritage eel traps, homes and the remains of Lake Condah mission. Braydon is a national treasure. #budjbim

9:41 AM · Jan 14, 2020·Twitter for iPhone

• 1 Retweet

• 6 Likes

​Budj Bim or Mount Eccles is an extinct volcano near Macarthur in southwestern Victoria, Australia.
The Gunditjmara name, Budj Bim, translates as “High Head”.

The peak is a scoria hill that was thrown up near a group of three overlapping volcanic craters that now contain Lake Surprise.

The Budj Bim lava flows provided the basis for the complex system of channels and dams developed by the Gunditjmara in order to trap, store and harvest kooyang (short-finned eel – Anguilla australis) from Lake Condah.

This aquaculture system provided an economic and social base for Gunditjmara society for six millennia, believe scientists.
Initially with a population believed to be in the thousands, the Gunditjmara was one of several indigenous groups of people that used to reside in the southern parts of the present-day Victoria state before the European settlement.

Budj Bim is believed to convincingly uproot the myth that all indigenous people were nomadic and not agriculturally inclined.

Budj Bim Cultural Landscape was added to UNESCO's World Heritage List last July, ending a 17-year campaign for recognition.

"The Budj Bim Cultural Landscape bears an exceptional testimony to the cultural traditions, knowledge, practices and ingenuity of the Gunditjmara," says the UNESCO World Heritage Centre site.

{ https://sputniknews.com/ }

23-01-2020 om 22:47 geschreven door peter  

Mythical Benben Stone: The Landing Site of Egyptian God Atum

The Benben stone is an object that is found in the mythology of ancient Egypt. This mythical stone is said to have once been housed in a shrine within the compounds of the temple dedicated to the deity Atum in Heliopolis. The Benben stone is also an architectural term, and is the name given to the tip of an obelisk or the capstone placed on top of a pyramid. This architectural feature is known also as a pyramidion (or pyramidia in its plural form).

In the mythology of ancient Egypt, there are several accounts of the creation of the world. One of these is centred on the god Atum, and had its origins in the city of Heliopolis. According to this version of the creation story, the universe was brought into being by Atum. In the beginning, there was nothing but darkness and chaos. It was out of the dark waters that the primordial hill, known as the Benben stone arose, on top of which stood Atum. As the Benben stone rose from the primeval waters, it has been suggested that this word is associated with the verb ‘weben’, which is the Egyptian hieroglyph for ‘to rise’.

The god Atum, First book of respirations of Usirur

( public domain )

According to another interpretation, the Benben stone was the primeval hill on which Atum first landed. The god looked around, and realised that there was nothing around him but darkness and chaos, and that he was all alone. Desiring companionship, Atum began the work of creation. In some versions of the myth, Atum masturbated, and through this act, created Shu (the god of air) and Tefnut (the goddess of moisture). In other versions of the story, these deities were created by Atum’s copulation with his own shadow. Shu and Tefnut left Atum on the Benben stone, and went away to create the rest of the world. After some time, Atum is said to have grown worried about his children. Removing his eye, he sent it in search of them. Shu and Tefnut returned with their father’s eye, and the deity, seeing his children return, shed tears of joy. These teardrops, which fell on the Benben stone that Atum was standing on, transformed into human beings.

Pyramidion of Hori, New Kingdom 18th Dynasty 1350 BC, Limestone

( Mary Harrsch / Flickr )

The Benben stone is also recorded to have been a sacred object that was once kept in the special shrine known as the ‘hwt benben’, which translates as ‘House of the Benben’. This sacred relic was the innermost sanctuary of the temple in Heliopolis, where Atum once served as its chief deity. The original cult object is said to have been lost at some point of time in history. Nevertheless, based on pictorial evidence, it has been suggested that this was an upright stone with a rounded top. It has also been pointed out that later on, other solar temples would also have their own Benben stones. For example, the temple of Aten in El-Amarna / Akhetaten, that was built by the 18 ^th Dynasty pharaoh, Akhenaten, during the 14 ^th century B.C., is recorded to have possessed a Benben stone of its own.

Pyramidion of king's writer Pauty, Saqqara

( Rob Koopman / Flickr )

Apart from being the name of a cult object, the Benben stone is also used to describe a type of ancient Egyptian architectural element. To the ancient Egyptians, this was known as a ‘benbenet’ (the feminine form of ‘benben’), whereas for people today, the stone is known also as a pyramidion. This term is used to describe the capstone that was placed either on the top of a pyramid or on the top of an obelisk. It has been said that in the case of the former, the pyramidion is often covered with electrum or gold. Examples of pyramidions have survived, and may be found in museums. One, for instance, is the pyramidion that once topped the 12 ^th Dynasty Pyramid of Amenemhat III, which is today displayed in the Egyptian museum in Cairo.

The golden capstone of an obelisk in Luxor

( public domain )

• Featured image: The Benben stone (pyramidion) from the Pyramid of Amenemhat III, Egyptian museum, Cairo. Photo source: Wikimedia.

By Wu Mingren

{ https://www.ancient-origins.net/ }

22-01-2020 om 21:32 geschreven door peter  

America's Stonehenge - The Stone Ruins That Are Still a Mystery to Everyone

COAST TO COAST AM -

Former airline pilot Dennis Stone, detailed the mystery of America’s Stonehenge, odd stone ruins in Southern New Hampshire, on the 110-acre plot of land his father, Robert Stone, bought back in the 1950s.

Some of the ruins serve a similar astronomical purpose as Stonehenge in the UK, and other megalithic sites in Europe, acting as a kind of calendar/clock, he explained. Formerly known as “Mystery Hill,” the main site of America’s Stonehenge is about one acre of stone ruins, which align with the horizon, and are open for public viewing.

America’s Stonehenge is an archaeological site consisting of a number of large rocks and stone structures scattered around roughly 30 acres within the town of Salem, New Hampshire, in the United States.

{ https://beforeitsnews.com/ }

14-01-2020 om 23:07 geschreven door peter  

Ancient Scythian “Amazon” Women Discovered In Russia Buried Alongside Their Weaponry

A troupe of ancient warrior women buried 2,000 years ago alongside dozens of weapons has been discovered in a Russian cemetery known as Devitsa V, illuminating how Scythian women lived, died, and were celebrated in the afterlife.

Archaeologists with Russia’s RAS Institute of Archaeology have been studying the site since 2010, gradually working toward excavating the 19 massive archaeological mounds that throughout the years have been slowly plowed over for agricultural purposes. It is under one of these mounds – measuring 1 meter high by 40 meters wide  (3.3 feet high by 130 feet wide) – that the Don excavation team discovered a narrow entrance leading to the remains of a tomb made of crisscrossing oak blocks and surrounded by earthen clay.

Buried below the mound were four women of differing ages: a young girl around the age of 12 or 13, a woman in her 20s, another between the ages of 25 and 35, and a woman 45-50 years old. The entrance to the tomb was sealed, leading archaeologists to believe that all four individuals were buried at the same time.

Two untouched skeletons were laid to rest on a wooden bed covered by grass, one of whom was a young woman placed in the “position of a horseman”, which required the tendons of her legs to be cut in order to position her. Under her left shoulder were a bronze mirror and two nearby spears. On her left hand was a bracelet made of glass beads.

Nearby, a middle-aged woman between 45 and 50 years old – a “respectable age” considering the average lifespan was between 30 and 35 – was buried in a ceremonial headdress called a calathos. The jewelry was made mostly of gold with traces of copper, silver, and iron, the rim of which was decorated with pendants in the shape of amphorae, ancient containers used to hold coveted goods. The unique headdress is the first of its kind to be found in this state and of this quality from the region.

"Such head dresses have been found a bit more than two dozen [times] and they all were in 'tzar' or not very rich barrows of the steppe zone of Scythia. We first found such headdress in the barrows of the forest-steppe zone and what is more interesting the headdress was first found in the burial of an Amazon," said Valerii Guliaev, head of the Don archaeological expedition, in a statement.

An iron knife wrapped in fabric and a uniquely forked arrowhead were also placed near the woman, suggesting she was an Amazon – Scythian women-warriors who rode along the nomadic horse-people of Iran and Eastern Europe.

Also found in the tomb were more than 30 iron arrowheads, an iron hook made in the shape of a bird, a horse harness and hook to hang it, iron knives, fragments of pottery vessels, and animal bones.

A reconstruction of the calathos headdress (left) depicts what the headdress may have looked like atop the woman's head. The remains are shown on the right. www.archaeolog.

ru

A general view of the cemetery.

Institute of Archaeology RAS

{ https://www.iflscience.com/ }

12-01-2020 om 22:35 geschreven door peter  

 5000 Year Old Aboriginal Cave Painting of The “Wandjina.” Known As ‘The Sky Beings’

 By Arjun Walia

IN BRIEF

• The Facts:

  5000 year old cave art from Australia depicts strange beings that resemble what many perceive to represent the modern day 'Gray Alien.' These beings were known as Wandjina, cloud spirits and sky beings.

• Reflect On:

  Ancient cave art depicting peculiar beings has been found all over the world, dating back thousands of years. Perhaps these beings weren't really mythical?

Those who have gone deep into the lore associated with the UFO and extraterrestrial phenomenon are no doubt aware just how far back the phenomenon may go. Today, the UFO phenomenon is documented quite well, and it’s taken very seriously as, in the past decade alone, it’s gained a tremendous amount of well deserved credibility. But there is also the fact that the documentation of this phenomenon dates back thousands of years, there are multiple cases outlined throughout history, and many of them you can find in Dr. Jacque Valle’s book, Wonders In The Sky. 

But how far back does “documentation” go? Discoveries of ancient cave art all over the world raise some interesting questions, especially ancient artwork in the form of cave paintings that were discovered in Kimberly, Australia. These specific paintings I am referring to were created approximately 5000 years ago by the native aborigines, and they illustrate entities that they referred to as the Wandjina, or sky beings.

According to Richard Dolan, one of the world’s leading UFO researchers,

In the aboriginal tradition, these beings were part of the beginning of creation and had great power over nature. One of them even became the Milky Way. When looking at the haunting images of the Wandjina, it is easy to think of gray aliens: oversized heads, no hair, large black eyes, no ears, no mouth, and pure white skin.  Until the modern era of UFOs and depictions of ET beings, scholars had no point of reference for the Wandjina, no way to understand why these native Australians would create God beings so radically different in appearance from themselves. (UFOs For The 21st Century Mind)

According to Encyclopedia Britannica,

Wandjina style, also spelled Wondjina, type of depiction in Australian cave paintings of figures that represent mythological beings associated with the creation of the world. Called wandjina figures, the images are believed by modern Aborigines to have been painted by the Wondjinas, prehistoric inhabitants of the Kimberley region in northwest Australia, the only area where cave paintings in the wandjina style have been found. Among the Aborigines, each wandjina image is renovated, or repainted, by the oldest living member supposedly descended from its originator (source)

Based on everything we know now, maybe these beings weren’t quite ‘mythical’ as suggested. Many scholars also emphasize that they were considered “cloud spirits.” (source)

Again, there are many such strange depictions found all over the world. For example, not long ago, more paintings were discovered by scholars in Chhattisgarh, India.

According to archaeologist JR Bhagat, these paintings depict extraterrestrials. The Chhattisgarh state department of archaeology and culture was planning to seek the help of NASA and ISRO for research regarding the paintings, that’s the last I heard about that.

“The findings suggest that humans in prehistoric times may have seen or imagined beings from other planets which still create curiosity among people and researchers. Extensive research is needed for further findings. Chhattisgarh presently doesn’t have any such expert who could give clarity on the subject. The paintings are done in natural colours that have hardly faded despite the years. The strangely carved figures are seen holding weapon-like objects and do not have clear features. The nose and mouth are missing, and in a few pictures they are even shown wearing spacesuits. We can’t refuse the possibility of imagination by prehistoric men but humans usually fancy such things.” – JR Bhagat (source)

Dolan goes on to describe many other examples in his book.

There are many such ancient paintings on rocks and in caves around the world that depict what look like ET beings. In the northern Italian region of Lombardy, there is a rock painting dating to the Copper age, between 5,000 and 7000 years ago. It depicts apparent priests or God figures. Each of them has what appears to be a halo, except that these halos look rather more like helmets, with straight lines extending out from them.

The Takeaway

Perhaps some of these beings are indeed ‘extraterrestrial?’ Perhaps some of these beings are still visiting us today? The realization of this seems to have occurred throughout human history, but as we discover more and become more technologically advanced ourselves, perhaps some type of global interaction is part of our future? Perhaps it has already been for beings on other worlds? Always interesting to think about, because these realizations do indeed have tremendous implications.

{ https://www.collective-evolution.com/ }

12-01-2020 om 22:13 geschreven door peter  

Anthropologist Russell Ciochon in his lab at the University of Iowa, holding a cast of a Homo erectus skull. The original fossils are in Indonesia.

Image via Russell Ciochon/ University of Iowa.

Scientists have determined the last known dates that Homo erectus, an early ancestor of human beings, walked the Earth. New analysis of a site at Ngandong, on the Indonesian island of Java, indicates that a population lived there as recently as 108,000 to 117,000 years ago. On December 18, 2019, the University of Iowa published a good description of this new study, which was led by Yan Rizal of the Bandung Institute of Technology, located in Bandung, Indonesia. The findings were published the same day in the peer-reviewed journal Nature.

Anthropologist Russell Ciochon of University of Iowa was a co-corresponding author on the study. Ciochon explained:

This site is the last known appearance of Homo erectus found anywhere in the world. We can’t say we dated the extinction, but we dated the last occurrence of it. We have no evidence Homo erectus lived later than that anywhere else.

The approximate location of Ngandong on the Indonesian island of Java in Southeast Asia. (Indonesia is shaded yellow in this map.)

Map of Indonesia via Uwe Dedering/ Wikimedia Commons.

Homo erectus arose in Africa about 2 million years ago, then dispersed throughout Asia and perhaps Europe. By about 400,000 years ago, this early relative of modern humans had largely disappeared. The date range for the last known Homo erectus holdout, in Ngandong, is 108,000 to 117,000 years ago. Around that same time, modern humans were roaming in Africa, and Neanderthals lived in Europe.

The fossils in Ngandong had been discovered in the 1930s by Dutch surveyors. Using notes left by these early surveyors, the researchers on the new study relocated the original bone bed where the Homo erectus fossils (12 skull caps and two tibia) had been found. In 2008 and 2010, the team excavated that site to collect animal fossil fragments for dating.

The new age ranges for the Homo erectus fossils – 108,000 to 117,000 years old – were determined using two strategies; besides dating the animal fossils in the original bone bed, the scientists further constrained the date range by geological dating of river terraces below and above the fossil bed.

Dutch surveyors excavated the original bone bed containing Homo erectus fossils in the 1930s. In 2008 and 2010, researchers led by Yan Rizal located and found the same site, using the earlier study’s notes. Dating of animal fossils at that site were used, in part, to determine the new age of the Homo erectus fossils.

Image via Russell Ciochon/ University of Iowa.

Around the same time that Yan Rizal’s team was excavating its site, another team, led by Kira Westaway of Macquarie University, was independently dating nearby surrounding landforms. Ciochon explained:

It was coincidental. With the data we had, we couldn’t really date the Ngandong fossils. We had dates on them, but they were minimum ages. So, we couldn’t really say how old, although we knew we were in the ballpark. By working with Kira, who had vast amount of dating data for the terraces, mountains, and other landscape features, we were able to provide precise regional chronological and geomorphic contexts for the Ngandong site.

Stalagmites from caves in the Southern Mountains of Ngandong were dated by Westaway’s team to determine when those mountains first rose. That helped them figure out when the Solo River started flowing through the fossil site and when sequences of river terraces were created. Westaway, who is listed as second author on the December 18, 2019, Nature paper, said:

The issues with the dating of Ngandong could only ever be resolved by an appreciation of the wider landscape. Fossils are the byproducts of complex landscape processes. We were able to nail the age of the site because we constrained the fossils within the river deposit, the river terrace, the sequence of terraces, and the volcanically active landscape.

Ciochon commented on the 52 new age estimates arrived at by the team:

You have this incredible array of dates that are all consistent. This has to be the right range. That’s why it’s such a nice, tight paper. The dating is very consistent.

According to previous research by Ciochon and others, Homo erectus arrived at Java, Indonesia, about 1.6 million years ago, and settled across the Indonesian islands. Back then, Ngandong was mainly a grassland with a rich flora and fauna, not unlike Homo erectus‘ original habitat in Africa. But around 130,000 years ago, it changed. Ciochon explained:

There was a change in climate. We know the fauna changed from open country, grassland, to a tropical rainforest (extending southward from today’s Malaysia). Those were not the plants and animals that Homo erectus was used to, and the species just could not adapt.

Ciochon also remarked on a unique feature of the Ngandong Homo erectus population. In a video statement, he said:

We assume that Homo erectus on the island of Java, because it was isolated, continued to encephalize – the brain got bigger. Does that mean that Homo erectus on Java was smarter than Homo erectus in Africa? We don’t know. But we can certainly document that the brain got bigger.

Casts of Homo erectus skulls at Russell Ciochon’s lab.

Via Russell Ciochon/ University of Iowa.

• Bottom line: The last known Homo erectus, a human ancestor, lived in Ngandong, Java, as recently as 108,000 to 117,000 years ago. These findings, published in the December 18, 2019, issue of Nature, are based on dating fossilized animals from the same bone bed in which the Homo erectus remains were found in the 1930s, and also by dating river terraces at the fossil site.
• Source: Last appearance of Homo erectus at Ngandong, Java, 117,000–108,000 years ago
• Via University of Iowa

{ https://earthsky.org/ }

07-01-2020 om 00:54 geschreven door peter  

The Oldest Copy of the First Illustrated Book Has Been Discovered in Egypt

Detail from one of the coffins of Gua, chief physician of Djehutyhotep, governor of Bersha. The paintings recall drawings from the Book of Two Ways. 

Werner Forman/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

It’s always exciting when some kind of human civilizational first is discovered or unearthed by experts, as evidenced by the thrill generated by a recent discovery of cave paintings, thought to be the earliest example of pictorial storytelling, which were uncovered Indonesia. Now, a new study covered this week by the New York Times reports that the oldest copy of the first illustrated book has been found in Egypt by researchers working under the direction of University of Leuven Egyptologist Harco Willems.

Called the Book of Two Ways, the extraordinary narrative told in the tome is about what happens to the soul after death. It’s been dated to be approximately 4,000 years old and at least 4 decades older than any of the other known copies, of which there are approximately two dozen. The text was discovered in a village on the eastern side of the Nile river after Willems’ decision in 2012 to reopen and study the contents of a burial shaft once looted and long abandoned. A detailed report of the findings were published in The Journal of Egyptian Archeology’s September edition.

• SEE ALSO: Caribbean Treasures Long Hidden in Caves Go on View in ‘Arte del Mar’ at the Met

The fragments of the text were discovered within a tomb, atop the coffin of a woman named Ankh. The cemetery in which the tomb was found is a necropolis and quarry called Deir el-Bersha. Ancient Egyptians have always been famously known for their extensive preoccupations with the afterlife, as evidenced by the text The Book of the Dead, which provides readers with incantations and instructions about how to successfully navigate an underworld ruled by the god Osiris and ultimately become a god themselves.

05-01-2020 om 18:06 geschreven door peter  

Some of the best mysteries are those shrouded in the mists of time, from cultures long gone and little-understood. In the days of ancient Iraq there existed a pre-Sumerian culture known as the Ubaidian culture, which dates back between from 5,500 to 4,000 BC in ancient Mesopotamia and which is thought to have sort of kicked off the Sumerian civilization. The sites related to this ancient culture, known for their groundbreaking use of unwalled city layouts, distinct style of pottery, unique food processing tools, impressive architectural skills for the time, including their complex multi-room rectangular mud houses, paved streets, surprisingly advanced irrigation systems, and elaborate temples, as well as for their advanced agricultural know-how, have become meccas for archeologists, especially the site called Tell Al’Ubaid, first excavated by Harry Reginald Hal in 1919. It is here where a very strange and baffling series of findings has been made over the decades that have made this already mysterious and little-known culture all the more enigmatic, among these figures of some unknown race of reptilian humanoids.

Here among the ruins and various intriguing artifacts left behind from this once great culture have been found an assortment of decidedly odd figurines that are unique in that they seem to depict reptilian humanoids of some sort, both male and female, often wearing padding in the shoulders and hats or helmets, and featured in a variety of poses holding various objects such as staves, scepters, and in the case of female figures even suckling babies that are just as lizard-like as the mothers. The figures are unlike anything else uncovered in the region, and feature elongated heads, pointed, muzzled faces, and slanted, almond-shaped eyes, all of them being unambiguously decidedly not human and displaying mostly very reptilian features. The thing is, since their discovery in the 20th century no one has really been able to figure out what they are supposed to be or what their significance is.

Ubaid figurines

It was at first thought that these might be stylized representations of gods the people worshiped, not completely unusual as there are many cultures that have worshiped serpents and reptilian deities, including the Sumerians themselves with their serpent god Enki, but archeologists and historians have doubted this origin for a few reasons. One is that the figures are never really made out to be decked out in opulence or particularly grand clothing, which one would expect if they were almighty gods, and another is that the poses they are found in, including nursing infants, tend to be mundane, unceremonious, and nonreligious, further pushing away the idea that these were revered deities. They seem to be non-ritualistic in nature, yet they nevertheless still seem to have been important in some way to those who created them. So if they were not worshiped as gods then why did this 7,000 year-old civilization make all of these meticulously crafted figures of reptilian humanoid creatures? That largely depends on who you ask.

One idea is that these were just decorative pieces or abstract works of art, the resemblance to reptilian humanoids merely coincidental or an aesthetic design choice, yet is that is the case then why make so many of them with the same basic appearances, clothing, and items? There is also the idea that the Ubaidian culture might have practiced some sort of body modification such as skull elongation, seen in some other cultures around the world, and that these figures are depictions of these individuals, but if so why? There is also the notion that these figures represent some sort of hoax and were planted there, but modern day analysis seems to date them as indeed being from the Ubaid culture, so what is going on here?

Yet another, more fringe idea is that the figurines could possibly been depicting some real race of aliens or reptilian beings of some sort that were then made into these figures. Could there have been a race of reptilian humanoids roaming about and even interacting with this ancient culture, who were then immortalized in these strange figurines? There is really no way to know, the Ubaid culture in and of itself is already quite the impenetrable mystery, and in the end we can only guess at what these figures signify or what they really meant.

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

03-01-2020 om 21:55 geschreven door peter  

The Amazon everyone knows today is in Seattle, Washington. The REAL Amazon flows through South America. The Amazons — the mythological tribe of warrior women believed by ancient Greeks to be the daughters of Ares (the Greek god of war, appropriately) and Harmonia (a nymph of the Akmonian Wood in Anatolia) lived in Anatolia, better known as Asia Minor, the large peninsula that is the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent making up most of modern-day Turkey. The REAL Amazons lived in Russia. Wait … what? Wonder Woman is Russian? This changes EVERYTHING!

Russian? You’ve got some explaining to do!

“Such head dresses have been found a bit more than two dozen and they all were in ‘tzar’ or not very rich barrows of the steppe zone of Scythia. We first found such head dress in the barrows of the forest steppe zone and what is more interesting the head dress was first found in the burial of an Amazon.”

In a recent press release, Valerii Guliaev, the head of the Don River archeological expedition, described what he announced in greater detail at the December 2019 meeting of the Academic Council of IA RAS. The Don River runs from Novomoskovsk south for 1,870 km (1162 miles – making it Russia’s fifth-longest river) to the Sea of Azov, a northern extension of the Black Sea. His team has been digging in Cemetery Devitsa V (Devista is a village on the Don) since 2010 and has found 19 mounds covered burial sites. One in particular, called Barrow 9, recently revealed an ancient tomb from when the ancient Greeks referred to the area as Sythia, home of a nomadic culture of Scythians from the 11th century BCE until the second century CE.

In Barrow 9, Guliaev’s team found the graves of four women of various ages — 20-29, 25-35, 12-13 and 45-50 years old. All were buried at the same time and the grave robbers had broken into the part holding two of the younger women, but the others were untouched. In them, they found “more than 30 iron arrow heads, an iron hook in the shape of a bird, fragments of horse harness, iron hooks for hanging harness, iron knives, fragments of molded vessels, multiple animals’ bones.” One was buried in a “position of a horseman” with the tendons of her legs cut to allow them to be bent. The ceremonial headdress was buried with the oldest woman along with an iron knife wrapped into a piece of fabric and a rare iron arrow head with forked end. These and other artifacts identified the women as Amazon warriors and this as a very unique find, according to Guliaev.

“The Amazons are common Scythian phenomenon and only on Middle Don during the last decade our expedition has discovered approximately 11 burials of young armed women. Separate barrows were filled for them and all burial rites which were usually made for men were done for them. However, we come across burials with four Amazons of such different age for the first time.”

Not only that, two of the women – the oldest and the youngest – appear to have died at the same time. There are no indications of injuries or fatal contagious diseases, so their simultaneous deaths are a mystery still waiting to be solved. As is the mystery of how and why these nomadic Scythian women became the real Amazons of Greek legends – mythical warriors who were tied to what is now Turkey or, in the tale of Wonder Woman, to Paradise Island in the middle of an ocean.

Time for a new movie?

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

02-01-2020 om 22:09 geschreven door peter  

02-01-2020 om 22:00 geschreven door peter  

Unsolved Archaeological Mysteries That Will Creep You Out!

Strange archaeological discoveries that are still unsolved mysteries to this day. Unexplained artifacts, creepy mummies, ancient mysteries, strange and incredible fossils with unbelievable stories. History can be downright weird and scary!

{ https://beforeitsnews.com/ }

02-01-2020 om 01:19 geschreven door peter  

Archaeological Discoveries Are Occurring Faster Than Ever

In 1924, a 3-year-old child’s skull found in South Africa forever changed how people think about human origins.

The Taung Child, our first encounter with an ancient group of proto-humans or hominins called australopithecines, was a turning point in the study of human evolution. This discovery shifted the focus of human origins research from Europe and Asia onto Africa, setting the stage for the last century of research on the continent and into its “ Cradles of Humankind.”

Few people back then would’ve been able to predict what scientists know about evolution today, and now the pace of discovery is faster than ever. Even since the turn of the 21st century, human origins textbooks have been rewritten over and over again. Just 20 years ago, no one could have imagined what scientists know two decades later about humanity’s deep past, let alone how much knowledge could be extracted from a thimble of dirt, a scrape of dental plaque or satellites in space.

Human fossils are outgrowing the family tree earliest hominin 

In Africa, there are now several fossil candidates for the earliest hominin dated to between 5 and 7 million years ago, when we know humans likely split off from other Great Apes based on differences in our DNA.

Although discovered in the 1990s, publication of the 4.4 million year old skeleton nicknamed “Ardi” in 2009 changed scientists’ views on how hominins began walking.

Rounding out our new relatives are a few australopithecines, including  Australopithecus deryiremeda  and Australopithecus sediba , as well as a  potentially late-surviving species of early Homo that reignited debate about when humans first began burying their dead.

Fossils like that of Australopithecus sediba, discovered in South Africa by a 9-year-old boy, are reshaping the human family tree. 

Photo by Brett Eloff. Courtesy Prof Berger and Wits University,  (CC BY-SA / The Conversation )

Perspectives on our own species have also changed. Archaeologists previously thought  Homo sapiens  evolved in Africa around 200,000 years ago , but the story has become more complicated. Fossils discovered in Morocco have pushed that date back to 300,000 years ago , consistent with  ancient DNA evidence. This raises doubts that our species emerged in any single place .

This century has also brought unexpected discoveries from Europe and Asia. From enigmatic  “hobbits” on the Indonesian island of Flores  to the  Denisovans in Siberia, our ancestors may have encountered a  variety of other hominins when they spread out of Africa . Just this year, researchers reported a  new species from the Philippines .

Anthropologists are realizing that our  Homo sapiens  ancestors had much more contact with other human species than previously thought. Today, human evolution looks less like Darwin’s tree and more like a muddy, braided stream.

The rise of biomolecular archaeology means new opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration among field- and lab-based scientists. 

Christina Warinner,  CC BY-ND / The Conversation

Ancient DNA reveals old relationships

Many recent discoveries have been made possible by the new science of ancient DNA .

Since scientists fully sequenced the first ancient human genome in 2010, data from thousands of individuals have shed new insights on our species’ origins and early history.

One shocking discovery is that although our lineages split up to 800,000 years ago, modern humans and Neanderthals mated a number of times during the last Ice Age. This is why many people today  possess some Neanderthal DNA .

The 2010 excavation in the East Gallery of Denisova Cave, where the ancient hominin species known as the Denisovans were discovered. 

Bence Viola. Dept. of Anthropology, University of Toronto,  CC BY-ND

Ancient DNA is how researchers first identified the mysterious Denisovans, who interbred with us  and Neanderthals. And while most studies are still conducted on bones and teeth, it is now possible to extract ancient DNA from other sources like cave dirt and  6,000-year-old chewing gum .

Genetic methods are also reconstructing individual and family relationships, and connecting ancient individuals to living peoples to end decades long debates.

The applications go far beyond humans. Paleogenomics is yielding surprising discoveries about plants and animals from ancient seeds and skeletons hidden in the backrooms of museums.

Natural history museums hold a wealth of information, some of which can only be tapped through new biomolecular methods. Scientists analyze modern and fossil animal skeletons to ask questions about the past using ancient proteins. 

Mary Prendergast at National Museums of Kenya,  CC BY-ND / The Conversation

Biomolecules are making the invisible visible

DNA is not the only molecule revolutionizing studies of the past.

Paleoproteomics, the study of ancient proteins, can determine the species of a fossil and recently linked a  9-foot tall, 1,300-pound extinct ape  that lived nearly 2 million years ago to today’s orangutans.

Dental calculus – the hardened plaque that your dentist scrapes off your teeth – is particularly informative, revealing everything from who was drinking milk 6,000 years ago to the surprising diversity of plants, some likely medicinal, in Neanderthal diets. Calculus can help scientists understand ancient diseases and how the human gut microbiome has changed over time. Researchers even find cultural clues –  bright blue lapis lazuli  trapped in a medieval nun’s calculus led historians to reconsider who penned illuminated manuscripts.

Scientists unexpectedly found lazurite pigment in calcified plaque clinging to a 11th- to 12th-century woman’s tooth, challenging the assumption that male monks were the primary makers of medieval manuscripts. 

Christina Warinner,( CC BY-ND / The Conversation

Lipid residues trapped in pottery have revealed the origins of milk consumption in the Sahara and showed that oddly shaped pots found throughout Bronze and Iron Age Europe were  ancient baby bottles .

Researchers use collagen-based “barcodes” of different animal species to answer questions ranging from when Asian rats arrived as castaways on Africa-bound ships to what animals were used to produce medieval parchment or even to detect microbes left by a monk’s kiss on a page.

Big data is revealing big patterns

While biomolecules help researchers zoom into microscopic detail, other approaches let them zoom out. Archaeologists have used aerial photography since the 1930s, but widely available satellite imagery now enables researchers to discover new sites and monitor existing ones at risk. Drones flying over sites help investigate how and why they were made and combat looting.

Archaeologists increasingly use technology to understand how sites fit into their environment and to document sites at risk. Here, a drone captured a tell (a mound indicating build-up of ancient settlements) in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. 

Jason Ur,  CC BY-ND / The Conversation

Originally developed for space applications, scientists now use LIDAR – a remote sensing technique that uses lasers to measure distance – to map 3D surfaces and visualize landscapes here on Earth. As a result, ancient cities are emerging from dense vegetation in places like Mexico, Cambodia and  South Africa .

Technologies that can peer underground from the surface, such as Ground Penetrating Radar, are also revolutionizing the field – for example, revealing previously unknown structures at Stonehenge. More and more, archaeologists are able to do their work without even digging a hole.

• Five Things We Learned About Our Human Origins in 2018
• Were Other Humans the First Victims of the Sixth Mass Extinction?
• World’s First Human-Monkey Hybrid Created In China

Geophysical survey methods enable archaeologists to detect buried features without digging large holes, maximizing knowledge while minimizing destruction. 

Mary Prendergast and Thomas Fitton,  CC BY-ND / The Conversation

Teams of archaeologists are combining big datasets in new ways to understand large-scale processes. In 2019, over 250 archaeologists pooled their findings to show that humans have altered the planet for thousands of years, for example, with a  2,000-year-old irrigation system  in China. This echoes other studies that challenge the idea that the Anthropocene, the current period defined by human influences on the planet, only began in the 20th century.

New connections are raising new possibilities

These advances bring researchers together in exciting new ways. Over  140 new Nazca Lines , ancient images carved into a Peruvian desert, were discovered using artificial intelligence to sift through drone and satellite imagery. With the wealth of high-resolution satellite imagery online, teams are also turning to crowdsourcing to find new archaeological sites.

Although new partnerships among archaeologists and scientific specialists are not always tension-free, there is growing consensus that studying the past means reaching across fields.

The Open Science movement  aims to make this work accessible to all. Scientists including archaeologists are sharing data more freely within and beyond the academy.  Public archaeology  programs, community digs and digital museum collections are becoming common. You can even print your own copy of famous fossils from freely available 3D scans, or an archaeological coloring book in more than 30 languages.

Archaeologists are increasingly reaching out to communities to share their findings, for example at this school presentation in Tanzania. 

Agness Gidna,  CC BY-ND / The Conversation

Efforts to make archaeology and museums more equitable and engage indigenous research partners are gaining momentum as archaeologists consider whose past is being revealed. Telling the human story requires a community of voices to do things right.

Studying the past to change our present

As new methods enable profound insight into humanity’s shared history, a challenge is to ensure that these insights are relevant and beneficial in the present and future.

In a year marked by youth-led climate strikes and heightened awareness of a planet in crisis, it may seem counterproductive to look back in time.

Yet in so doing, archaeologists are providing empirical support for climate change  and revealing how ancient peoples coped with challenging environments.

As one example, studies show that while industrial meat production has serious environmental costs,  transhumance – a traditional practice of seasonally moving livestock, now recognized by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage – is not only light on the land today, but helped promote biodiversity and healthy landscapes in the past.

Archaeologists today are contributing their methods, data and perspectives toward a vision for a less damaged, more just planet. While it’s difficult to predict exactly what the next century holds in terms of archaeological discoveries, a new focus on “ usable pasts ” points in a positive direction.

• Top image: Oldupai (Olduvai) Gorge in Tanzania, one of Africa’s ‘cradles of humankind’.  Source: CC BY 2.0

This article was originally published under the title ‘ Archaeological discoveries are happening faster than ever before, helping refine the human story’ by Elizabeth Sawchuk and Mary Prendergast on The Conversation , and has been republished under a Creative Commons License.

Videos, peter2011

{ https://www.ancient-origins.net/ }

01-01-2020 om 18:16 geschreven door peter  

NASA satellite shares a new image of Marree Man, an Australian carving that has puzzled scientists for decades

By Lauren M. Johnson, CNN

It is unclear who created the giant geoglyph or why, but the large earthen figure has drawn attention to a remote part of South Australia for two decades.

(CNN) - NASA confirms one of the greatest modern art mysteries is still going strong in Australia.

A pilot discovered the mysterious 2.6-mile-long geoglyph of an aboriginal hunter in 1998, etched into the earth, and to this day no one knows how it got there.

The Marree Man gained new life in 2016 when a group from the figure's namesake town of Marree plowed the lines to keep the man from fading due to erosion. Now, NASA is sharing an image taken in June showing the success of their efforts.

So far, the restoration team's belief that their preservation will last longer than the original holds up. They created wind grooves, designed to trap water and encourage the growth of vegetation, according to NASA. They hope that eventually the man will turn green.

Many have tried to discover the origin of the Marree Man.

CNN previously reported that Dick Smith, founder of Dick Smith Electronics and Dick Smith Foods, decided to tackle the mystery in 2016, and for two years his team pored over all the evidence to see what they could find.

He believed it was professionally done, so in 2018 he offered a reward of $5,000 Australian dollars ($3,712) for anyone with information regarding its existence.

No one has come forward, but several believe it was made by an artist living in Alice Springs, though other clues suggest the creator may have been an American.

Regardless, the Marree Man mystery lives on.

{ https://edition.cnn.com/ }

01-01-2020 om 17:05 geschreven door peter  

There has been a long debate on whether brains can be fossilized and that question may finally have an answer. Scientists claim to have discovered incredibly well preserved fossilized brains in 500-million-year-old bug-like creatures.

The inky stains were found in fossils from an arthropod called Alalcomenaeus that lived during the Cambrian period – between approximately 543 million and 490 million years ago. The bug-like creature’s exoskeleton was well preserved in addition to the soft tissue from the brain and nerves. In their study, which was published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B (and can be read in full here), researchers described finding two Alalcomenaeus fossils in which the brains were still preserved.

Co-author of the study, Javier Ortega-Hernández, who is an invertebrate paleobiologist at Harvard University and curator of the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, explained, “What we are dealing with in the fossil record are exceptional circumstances. This is not common — this is super, super rare.”

Alalcomenaeus had a nervous system similar to scorpions.

Paleontologists previously found one Alalcomenaeus fossil which was believed to have had preserved nervous tissue; however, there was much controversy over the discovery. But now with two more specimens, it’s pretty convincing proof that nervous tissue in arthropod fossils from the Cambrian period can indeed be fossilized. In fact, all three specimens were discovered buried in similar deposits which allowed the brain tissue to fossilize.

The two Alalcomenaeus fossils were found in the Great Basin in Utah. Ortega-Hernández and his co-authors described the fossils as having symmetrical stains that were found along its mid-line that looked like the nervous system that’s found in modern arthropods like spiders, scorpions, and horseshoe crabs. Additionally, the stains contained carbon which is an important element found in nervous tissue. “The nervous system and the gut kind of cross each other, which is really funky but common in arthropods nowadays,” Ortega-Hernández told Live Science.  Pictures can be seen here.

But not everyone is convinced that they in fact found a fossilized brain. Jianni Liu, who is a professor at the Early Life Institute in the Department of Geology at Northwest University in Xi’an, China, wrote an email to Live Science and argued that the inky stains found in the fossils could have been a “slightly random effect of the decay process” instead of being brain tissue.

Liu and her colleagues studied around 800 fossilized specimens and discovered that almost 10% of them had inky stains around the head. They found that while nervous tissue decays quite rapidly, bacteria from the gut can persist and “produce these so-called biofilms as radiating [stains] which look a bit like parts of a nervous system,” they wrote in a 2018 study.

Nicholas Strausfeld, who is a regents professor in the department of neuroscience at the University of Arizona, explained that when the creatures are buried underneath strong pressure, the remains become flattened out. And since there is a lot of fat found in nervous tissue, it repels water and “have some resistance against decay”.

There is still a lot of work and studying that needs to be done in regards to brain and nervous tissue fossilizing, but these are definitely interesting developments.

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

29-12-2019 om 15:41 geschreven door peter  

Het paleis werd ontdekt op de archeologische site van de oude stad Kuluba, vlak bij Cancún, in het uiterste oosten van het schiereiland Yucatán. Het was een belangrijke plaats tot de komst van de Spaanse ontdekkingsreizigers. De afmetingen zijn indrukwekkend, het paleis was maar liefst 6 meter hoog, 55 meter lang en 15 meter breed. 

Foto's van het eeuwenoude paleis. Bron: Mauricio Marat, INAH.

MAUMARAT

Een archeologe aan het werk.

Bron: Mauricio Marat, INAH

{ https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/ }

28-12-2019 om 20:48 geschreven door peter  

Kulubá Yucatan, Palace Photo: INAH

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.

YUCATÁN, Mexico (Times Media Mexico) – 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.

The construction, located inside this pre-Hispanic Mayan city, is approximately 55 meters long by 15 meters wide and 6 meters high.

The construction materials indicate that there were two phases of occupation: one in the Late Classic period (600-900 AD) and another in the Terminal Classic period (850-1050 AD).

“In the Terminal Classic is when Chichén Itzá became a prominent metropolis in the current Yucatán,–and– it extended its influence over sites like Kulubá,” explained archaeologist Alfredo Barrera.

Along with this palace, the experts explored four other structures in the plaza of the so-called architectural Group C: an altar, two vestiges of living spaces and a round construction that is believed to have been an oven.

Kulubá is an archaeological zone located 37 kilometers from the municipality of Tizmín that is still being studied and recovered.

The people in charge of the work of the multidisciplinary project are specialists in archaeology and restoration.

“Throughout the 20th century, Tizimín ceded most of its forest land to agricultural and livestock use. This means that the experts who are now restoring the Mayan buildings to their former glory not only live alongside spider monkeys and other species of flora and fauna, but also give priority to the fact that the archaeological zone is distinguished by its natural and cultural balance” said INAH.

“All these exploratory and conservation actions are the beginning of the work that the INAH carries out to recover, research and disseminate among the public the cultural and natural heritage of Kulubá, a place that increases its heritage attraction and regional sustainability” concluded the INAH.

{ https://www.theyucatantimes.com/ }

28-12-2019 om 18:20 geschreven door peter  

Archaeologists found an ancient Mayan palace that was probably used by elite members of society over 1,000 years ago. The palace was discovered in the ancient city of Kuluba which is not far from Cancun, Mexico.

The large structure was found in the eastern part of the Kuluba archaeological zone which is a pre-Hispanic site located in the Yucatán state. Excavations at the site revealed the large palace that measured 180 feet long by 50 feet wide and 20 feet in height. According to the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), it was inhabited by locals during two lengthy time periods between 600 and 1050 A.D.

In addition to the palace, four other structures were discovered. They found an altar, remains of two residential buildings, and a round shaped structure which they think was an oven. There is still much more work that needs to be done, though. “This work is the beginning, we’ve barely began uncovering one of the most voluminous structures on the site,” archaeologist Alfredo Barrera said in a video statement.

Chichen Itza

According to the INAH, conservationists are looking to reforest certain parts of Kuluba in order to protect the site against sun and wind damage.

The ancient city of Kuluba had very important connections with other Maya cities like Ek’ Balam and Chichen Itza as it was part of their network of trade and territory.

The Mayan civilization prospered in Central America for approximately 3,000 years – reaching their peak between 250 and 900 A.D. Today, their descendants still live throughout different Maya areas. The Mayans created very advanced architecture and art in addition to having the only completely developed written language in that area during that time.

Mayan calendar

They are also famously known for their astronomical and mathematical systems. In fact, they had extensive knowledge of the stars and relied on astrological cycles in order to figure out when to plant their crops. It is believed that they even built their cities to coincide with the stars. The pyramid at Chichen Itza, for example, was constructed in accordance to the position of the sun during the spring and fall equinoxes. When the sun sets on those two days, the pyramid casts a shadow upon itself which aligns perfectly with the head carving of the Mayan’s serpent god. The serpent’s body is created by the shadow which makes it look as though it’s crawling towards the ground during the setting of the sun.

This new discovery of a Mayan palace is just one of the many astonishing remains that have been found throughout the years created by an incredibly fascinating civilization. Pictures of the palace can be seen here.

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

28-12-2019 om 18:03 geschreven door peter  

Randall Carlson is a master builder and designer, a geologist, anthropologist and historian. He specializes in sacred geometry, ancient civilizations, climate and 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.

Dailygrail explains that 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.

For the reasons he outlines in the lecture, this means that we today are walking around amongst the ruins of many lost civilisations.

We literally have built our own world in our own social system on top of and out of the wreckage of former worlds.

Videos, selected by peter2011

{ http://ufosightingshotspot.blogspot.com/ }

27-12-2019 om 15:00 geschreven door peter  

Indonesian Cave Art Demands Human Cultural Evolution Overhaul

A major discovery has been made in a limestone cave in Sulawesi, Indonesia - the earliest known hunting scene in the world has been identified on a hard to reach cliff face. At least 43,900 years ago someone decided to climb up into the cave and depict a group of human-like figures hunting pigs and buffaloes. Unlocking the meaning behind the artist’s symbolic system is near-impossible without access to a time machine, but there is much that can still be learned from the Indonesian cave art .

The panel of art was discovered in the Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4 cave and the researchers wrote in the journal Nature that “This hunting scene is—to our knowledge—currently the oldest pictorial record of storytelling and the earliest figurative artwork in the world.” That means it’s a pretty big discovery for people interested in human cultural evolution.

Sulawesi hunting scene.

(Credit: Ratno Sardi)

Human-Like Figures on a Hunt

What they found is a 4.5-meter-wide (14.76 ft.) panel of cave paintings depicting eight small human-like figures armed with spears or ropes accompanied by two Sulawesi warty pigs and four dwarf buffaloes known as anoas, which the researchers have described as “small but fierce bovids that still inhabit the island’s dwindling forests.” It appears to be a hunting narrative. All of the beings seem to have been painted with the same artistic style and technique and dark red pigment.

• Ten Amazing Caves of the Ancient World
• Archaeologists Identify First Prehistoric Figurative Cave Art in Balkans - It’s Symbolic!
• Did Humans Speak Through Cave Art? Ancient Drawings and Language's Origins

When Ancient Origins contacted Adam Brumm, study co-author and associate professor from the Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution (ARCHE), to find out more about the discovery and what it may have meant to the prehistoric artist or artists who created it, he stated that there are indications that the cave art “could reflect the handiwork of a single artist, but we can’t intuitively rule out the involvement of other individuals at this stage.”

The anthropomorphic figures are referred to as therianthropes because they have some animalistic features such as long lower faces which resemble snouts or muzzles. One of the researchers, PhD student Adhi Agus Oktaviana, explained their appearance in more detail in a Griffith University press release , stating, “The hunters represented in the ancient rock art panel at Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4 are simple figures with human-like bodies, but they have been depicted with heads or other body parts like those from birds, reptiles, and other faunal species endemic to Sulawesi.”

Cave Art for Ritual or Spiritual Purposes?

When asked about the significance of the location of the painting, Brumm said:

“The cave itself shows no other signs of human habitation apart from the paintings. This observation, and the fact that it is located in a difficult-to-reach spot in a cliff face several metres above the ground. This could possibly suggest the cave site itself (and/or the act of creating art in what would appear to be a liminal location) had some sort of special cultural/ritualistic significance and meaning.”

The cave art panel.

(Credit: Kim Newman)

This idea is further promoted by the depiction of therianthropes, which the study authors suggest in the press release “may also be the oldest evidence for our ability to imagine the existence of supernatural beings , a cornerstone of religious experience.” Or, the archaeologists suggest the images show the artist was probably pondering the human-animal connection, possibly in a spiritual frame of mind.

In the press release, Brumm explored this notion even further, “The images of therianthropes at Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4 may also represent the earliest evidence for our capacity to conceive of things that do not exist in the natural world, a basic concept that underpins modern religion,” he said and continued:

“Therianthropes occur in the folklore or narrative fiction of almost every modern society and they are perceived as gods, spirits, or ancestral beings in many religions worldwide. Sulawesi is now home to the oldest image of this kind – earlier even than the ‘Lion-man’ from Germany, a figurine of a lion-headed human, which, at 40,000 years old, was until now the oldest depiction of a therianthrope.”

Therianthrope figure of a human with a tail.

(Credit: Ratno Sardi)

In the Nature article the authors reject the suggestion that the human-like figures were meant to depict camouflaged hunters because “this would have the improbable implication that hunters were disguising themselves as small animals such as birds.” Instead they write:

“The conspicuousness of therianthropes in the oldest recorded hunting scenes also offers hints at the deeply rooted symbolism of the human–animal bond and predator–prey relationships in the spiritual beliefs, narrative traditions and image-making practices of our species.”

Cave Popcorn for Painting Dates

Brumm informed Ancient Origins that while the cave art’s location itself wasn’t appropriate for archaeological excavations, “There is not anywhere to excavate inside the cave art site Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4 as an archaeological deposit did not form within it,” he said “But we have excavated some other cave art sites in the nearby region. Unlike Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4, these sites are located at ground level and our excavations have revealed abundant archaeological evidence dating back to the time of the earliest rock art .”

Hollow bone tube (top) with red and black pigments, made from the long bone of a bear cuscus, may have been used as an ‘air-brush’ to create human hand stencils on rock surfaces (bottom). 

( (Top) Michelle Langley (bottom) Yinika Perston )

That means that there were no artifacts to use to help date the cave art which was discovered in 2017 but is appearing now in the Nature article. However, they had another method – and it involved something the researchers refer to as ‘cave popcorn.’

The Griffith University press release states that the researchers used Uranium-series analysis to date the ‘mineral growths (‘cave popcorn’) that had formed on the cave painting ’ and obtained results ranging from 35,100 to 43,900 years ago. As a comparison, the dates for Upper Paleolithic cave art in Europe are generally given as between 21,000–14,000 years ago.

Professor Aubert expressed the importance of thinking about how artistic culture evolved in the press release, “The cave painting from Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4 suggests that there was no gradual evolution of Palaeolithic art from simple to complex around 35,000 years ago –at least not in Southeast Asia. All of the major components of a highly advanced artistic culture were present in Sulawesi by 44,000 years ago, including figurative art, scenes, and therianthropes.”

Therianthrope – human figure with bird features.

(Credit: Ratno Sardi)

Local Views and Next Steps

Professor Brumm also worked with fellow Griffith University archaeologist Professor Maxime Aubert, and Sulawesian archaeologist and Griffith University PhD student Basran Burhan. Brumm told Ancient Origins a little about the local perspective on the caves where the paintings are located, he said:

“The local Bugis-Makasar people are generally all devout Muslims but they still have a rich and presumably centuries-old folklore associated with the many limestone caves and rock-shelters in this part of Sulawesi. Most often the caves are viewed as the abode of ghosts or spirits and many people avoid entering them if possible. Local religious specialists (dukun) are often still called in to conduct rituals in the caves to ward-off spiritual dangers before we excavate or do other scientific research in them.”

• Were the Chislehurst Caves Originally Created By Druids?
• Krubera Cave - Journeying to the Depths of Georgia in One of the World’s Deepest Caves
• What Really Went on in the Sculptor’s Cave Where Hundreds of Bronze Age Child Remains Were Unearthed?

Brumm told Ancient Origins that there are plans to continue exploring the area around where the cave art was discovered “this Maros-Pangkep limestone karst region is a very rich rock art province and it is likely there are many more spectacular cave paintings awaiting discovery,” he said.

Maxime Aubert and Adam Brumm with the Indonesian cave art.

(Kinez Riza)

As is the case in many areas in the world, the archaeologist also expressed concern that the team is racing against time in their search. In this situation it’s the natural elements and their role in deteriorating the cave art which is the main source of worry. But Brumm expressed the hope “to learn as much as possible about the people who created it, through careful study and dating of the imagery itself and also by excavating the cave art sites to further unlock the mysteries of this ancient artistic culture ” by continuing to explore the rich prehistoric art which may still be awaiting discovery in the region.

Top Image: The Indonesian cave art hunting scene panorama. Source: Credit: Adam Brumm, Agus Oktaviana

By Alicia McDermott

{  https://www.stellanovus.com/ }

26-12-2019 om 23:38 geschreven door peter  

Scientists Uncover World’s Oldest Forest

Scientists have discovered remnants of the world’s oldest fossil forest in a sandstone quarry in Cairo, New York.

It is believed the extensive network of trees, which would have spread from New York all the way into Pennsylvania and beyond, is around 386 million years old.

This makes the Cairo forest around 2 or 3 million years older than what was thought to be the world’s oldest forest at Gilboa, also in New York State and around 40 km away from the Cairo site.

All these trees reproduced using only spores rather than seeds.

The team also reported a ‘spectacular’ and extensive network of roots which were more than eleven meters in length in some places which belonged to the Archaeopteris trees.

It is these long-lived woody roots, with multiple levels of branching and small, short-lived perpendicular feeder roots, that transformed the interactions of plants and soils and were therefore pivotal to the co-evolution of forests and the atmosphere’, the researchers state.

Until this point in time, trees such as the cladoxylopsids only had ribbon-like and mostly unbranched roots which had to be constantly replaced as the plant above ground grew.

They believe the forest was eventually wiped out by a flood due to the presence of many fish fossils that were also visible on the surface of the quarry.

“It is surprising to see plants which were previously thought to have had mutually exclusive habitat preferences growing together on the ancient Catskill delta,” said co-author of the study Dr Chris Berry from Cardiff University’s School of Earth and Ocean Sciences.

“This would have looked like a fairly open forest with small to moderate sized coniferous-looking trees with individual and clumped tree-fern like plants of possibly smaller size growing between them.”

The research team say that the Cairo forest is older than the one at Gilboa because the fossils were lower down in the sequence of rocks that occur in the Catskill mountains.

“In order to really understand how trees began to draw down carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, we need to understand the ecology and habitats of the very earliest forests, and their rooting systems.” continued Dr Berry.

“These remarkable findings have allowed us to move away from the generalities of the importance of large plants growing in forests, to the specifics of which plants, in which habitats, in which types of ecology were driving the processes of global change. We have literally been able to drill into the fossil soil between the trees and are now able to investigate geochemical changes to the soil with our colleagues at Sheffield University.

“We are really getting a handle on the transition of the Earth to a forested planet.”

Contacts and sources:

• Dr Chris Berry
• Cardiff University

{ https://beforeitsnews.com/ }

26-12-2019 om 20:35 geschreven door peter