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27-07-2021 om 22:41 geschreven door peter  

Did Japanese Population Originate with this Minatogawa Man?

A new scientific report published in Nature has concluded that the modern Japanese descended from the Minatogawa people of the Paleolithic era. This is based on a DNA study of a 20,000-year-old human, codenamed Minatogawa 1, who was discovered in a limestone quarry in the Japanese Okinawa Prefecture back in 1970.

Replica of the Minatogawa man’s skeleton with DNA ties to modern Japanese population.

(National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo)

The Origins of Modern Human Japanese Population

Paleoanthropologists have long assumed that modern man ( Homo sapiens ) first migrated east out of Africa and into modern-day China about 50,000 BC. The popular belief is that the first humans on the Japanese Archipelago migrated from somewhere in southeast Asia. According to human migration models and archaeological evidence, people first reached Japan in the late Pleistocene, around 40,000 or 30,000 years ago, at a time when the archipelago was connected to the Asian continent.

• 9,000-Year-Old Human Remains May Shed Light On Prehistoric Okinawa
• Five Bold Navigators Master the Deadly ‘Black Stream’ Migration After 32,000 Years

The frequently told story of human history in Japan claims that the modern-day Japanese descended from two different groups of migrants. These were the historic ancestors of the Jomon people, hunter-gatherers who existed between 14,500 BC and 1,000 BC. Later they were followed by a second wave of farming human migrants from Northeast Asia known as the Yayoi who existed between 1,000 BC and 250 AD. Both cultures have been identified due to their distinctive pottery styles.

Forensic reconstruction and skull of a Jomon person in Japan.

(inazakira / CC BY-SA 2.0 )

Discovery of the Minatogawa

In the late 1960s, amateur archaeologist Seiho Oyama purchased a series of stone blocks in which he observed fossilized bone fragments within. This unexpected discovery led to his near obsession with the Minatogawa quarry in the Okinawa Prefecture, on the Japanese Ryukyu Islands, from where they had been sourced. In 1968 Oyama reported the discovery of human remains to a Tokyo University professor who then proceeded to excavate the site up until 1974.

Digs at the site took place in a 1-meter-wide (3.28 ft) exposed fissure at the quarry. Archaeologists unearthed bone fragments belonging to between 5 and 9 individual skeletons, which they named the Minatogawa people. The Tokyo University professor who led the excavations, Hisashi Suzuki, argued that these Paleolithic individuals had been killed by arrows or spears and were then cannibalized.

The males were about 1.55 meters tall (5 ft) while the women were about 1.4 meters (4.6 ft) tall. “Narrow-shouldered, they had a sturdy lower-body skeletal build, which experts believe made them suited to running on barren land,” explains Archaeology News Network . Minatogawa 1 is the name given to a complete skeleton found at the site, a replica of which is now on display at the Tokyo University Anthropology Museum.

This discovery was very exciting for Japanese archaeology, due to the lack of skeletal remains and DNA unearthed to date on the islands. This is caused by the acidic soil composed of volcanic ash which creates “an environment which is detrimental to the preservation of ancient biomolecules,” explains the report in Nature. The 20,000-year-old remains discovered at the Okinawa quarry “are amongst the few Paleolithic humans whose remains have so far been discovered in Japan,” explains Archaeology News Network .

Reconstruction on display of a Minatogawa man in Japan.

( Tsunagaru Map )

Science Uncovers New Links to Explain the Origins of Japanese Population

Nevertheless, after the excitement subsided researchers were unable to uncover the link between these Minatogawa peoples and the story of human history in Japan as evidenced in the rest of the archaeological record. Were these Minatogawa peoples the ancestors for the Jomon? Had the Minatogawa died out? Or had they simply emigrated somewhere else at some point in ancient history?

Due to a lack of evidence to prove any direct connection, Archaeology News Network highlights that “the issue had remained moot, not least because the facial skeleton of the Minatogawa people bore little resemblance to Jomon people.” That is until a group of researchers from a selection of institutions, including the Graduate University for Advanced Studies and Toho University, came together to look at mitochondrial DNA.

Minatogawa 1, the male Paleolithic human found at the quarry, became the focus of the study after the team managed to extract a complete mitogenome sequence. Their hope was to trace the human origins of Japanese population further back than the Jomon. To understand why this was an important breakthrough, “Mitochondrial DNA is passed down from mothers to their children and contains region-specific vestiges due to mutations, which allows origins of populations to be traced,” highlights Archaeology News Network .

• Here’s How Genetics Helped Crack the History of Human Migration
• Surprise Discovery of 45,000-Year-Old Tools in Mongolia Indicates Early Human Migration

Through analysis of Minatogawa 1’s DNA, the team were able to identify a component common to the Jomon, the Yayoi and modern Japanese humans. While an analysis of about 2,000 modern-day members of the Japanese population did not find any direct descendants, that doesn’t rule out the possibility that Minatogawa direct ancestors will not be discovered in future studies.

In a nutshell, this means that the “modern Japanese likely have distant ancestral ties with Minatogawa people.” Nevertheless, to truly decipher the human history of Japanese populations, archaeology will need to keep digging to find more Paleolithic bones and do more tests on existing human remains. The lead author of the study, Jun Gojobori, stressed that they “hope to study the bones of more Paleolithic people to better understand the origins of the Japanese .”

• Top image: The Japanese population is descended from the Minatogawa man, depicted here in an artistic reconstruction. Source: Teruya Yamamoto / National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo

By Cecilia Bogaard

{ https://www.ancient-origins.net/ }

27-07-2021 om 22:22 geschreven door peter  

An ancient road as well as the remnants of a dock and structures were found submerged in a lagoon located in Venice, Italy. While there is a lagoon there now, this proves that the location once had some dry land. The discoveries were located in the Treporti channel in the northern part of Venice’s outer lagoon.

A research team conducted sonar scans and archaeological dives in the channel and that’s when they discovered several stones that had an ovoid underside and a smooth upper face that were very similar to Roman basoli which were stones that were used to pave the upper surfaces of ancient roads.

Additionally, they found 12 archaeological structures within a distance of 1,140 meters (3,740 feet). They measured as high as 2.7 meters (9 feet) and 52 meters in length (171 feet) and could have possibly been part of a road-bed. Then they located other structures around 9 meters (30 feet) underneath the road that might have been part of a dock.

Remains of an old dock were found.

They even found the remains of what they believe were several settlements that were located along the ancient road such as bricks, roof tiles, and even pottery.

Based on what they found, the researchers think that the road connected the dock and settlements to several additional roads that connected other towns in the southern portion of the now-lagoon to the northern Roman trading center of Altinum. Although there would have been lots of dry land in that area during that time, there would have also been a decent amount of water – the sea coast would have been on the eastern side of the road while an enclosed waterway would have been on the other side.

As for when the road and settlements were constructed as well as how long they were in use for, the researchers aren’t entirely sure but they are hopeful that radiocarbon dating will help to answer those questions. (A reconstructive photo of the road can be seen here.)

(Not the old road found in Venice)

In an email to Live Science, Fantina Madricardo, who is a geophysicist at the Institute of Marine Science (ISMAR) in Venice, stated, “The Venice lagoon formed from the main sea-level rise after the last glaciation, so it’s a long-term process,” adding, “We know that since Roman times — about 2,000 years — that the sea level there rose [up to] two and a half meters [8 feet].”

The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports where it can be read in full.

Figure 1

Figure 2

The Venice Lagoon and the bathymetry of the tidal channels. High resolution bathymetry of the Treporti Channel (DTM horizontal resolution 0.2 m, vertical exaggeration 5 x). The numbers 1 to 12 indicate the alignment of structures whose properties are summarized in Table 1. The letters a to d identify other structures found in the area. The zoom-in pictures show the detail of some of the archaeological structures: the sites 3, 8–9 and 10 (bottom-right) and the structure a (top-left), with the profiles I–II and III–IV, described in the text. The lower part of the picture represents the bathymetric profile extracted along all identified structures (white dashed line).

Figure 3

Stratigraphy of cores extracted below the archaeological layer under the structures 8 and 9 (Fig. 2) and their position on the bathymetric map.

Figure 4

Upper part. Pictures of material discovered in the Treporti Channel in correspondence to the structure 8–9 (Figs. 2, 3) in 1985: (a) Basoli; (b,c) small amphora; (d) basoli on the seafloor; (e) Dressel 6A type amphora; (f) vase discovered in 1985; Lower part. Pictures extracted from the videos recorded by the divers of the Nucleo Sommozzatori della Polizia di Stato during the shooting of a documentary (see Supplementary Material) in different points along the structure 3, depicted in Fig. 3: (g) about 50 cm × 50 cm cubic stone found close to the flat stones; (h) preserved alignment of flat stones (basoli?); (i) inclined flat stone (basolo?) flanked by square stones in alignment; (j) detail of the square stone flanking the (basolo?).

Figure 5

RSL data points (red dots) extracted from the database by Vacchi et al.⁴⁷ and their location in the Venice Lagoon plotted as calibrated age against sea level relative to the present. The error bars represent the elevation and age errors.

Figure 6

The position of the paleobeach ridge in the Treporti Channel in Roman Times (in yellow in transparency over the current satellite data) and the alignment of Roman lithic remains and levee road (red dots and lines), buildings (green squares) and brick walls (white pentagons); the map was modified from the Archaeological Map of the Venice Lagoon¹¹. The pink solid line indicates the position of the structures reconstructed by this study (Fig. 2). Satellite image source: Esri DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, i-cubed, USDA,USGS,AEX,Getmapping, Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, swisstopo, and the GIS User Community, 

https://services.arcgisonline.com/ArcGIS/rest/services/World_Imagery/MapServer.

Figure 7

Reconstruction of the Treporti Channel paleobeach ridge and the Treporti Channel road (TC road)in Roman Times: (a) from an aerial perspective, with the Venice lagoon to the left and the Adriatic Sea to the right. The position of the TC road corresponds exactly to the position of the archaeological structures mapped (Fig 2), whereas the extension of the TC paleobeach ridge is only hypothetical since the area has been radically modified over the centuries; (b) a zoom-in view and (c) section of the TC road based on the stratigraphy of the cores extracted under the basoli (Fig. 3).

Figure 8

(Left) Roman road and waterways network in the Augustan Venetia et Histria Regio in the North-East Italy. (Right) zoom on the Venice Lagoon showing the fossa Popilliola in blue (after Dorigo²²) and the hypothetical path of the Roman road along the littoral in red, with the TC road segment in purple and the segment reconstructed from Canal¹¹ (Fig. 6, 123), in yellow. Satellite image source: Esri DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, i-cubed, USDA, USGS, AEX, Getmapping, Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, swisstopo, and the GIS User Community, 

https://services.arcgisonline.com/ArcGIS/rest/services/World_Imagery/MapServer.

 READ MORE on https://www.nature.com/srep IN 

New evidence of a Roman road in the Venice Lagoon (Italy) based on high resolution seafloor reconstruction

© Federica Foglini Bathymetric map showing the locations of the structures.

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26-07-2021 om 18:53 geschreven door peter  

Denisova Cave DNA: Neanderthals, Denisovans and Humans Lived Together!

The deeply-ancient Denisova Cave in Siberia was at times home to Neanderthals, Denisovans and modern humans “at the same time” based on the latest Denisova Cave DNA research.

Nobody in the world had expected first-contact to come from a tiny, fossilized pinkie bone, but 10 years ago it was the discovery of such a bone that introduced us to the hitherto unknown and now extinct "Denisovans.

A new study of Denisova Cave DNA sampled from the floor of the Russian cave has revealed for the first time that the cave was also used by modern humans. But what was completely unexpected is that the new dating suggests the ancestors of modern humans lived “alongside Denisovans and Neanderthals.”

Researchers Zenobia Jacobs, Bo Li and Kieran O'Gorman collecting soil samples in the main chamber to test for Denisova Cave DNA.

( Professor Richard G. Roberts / University of Wollongong)

Denisova Cave DNA Changes Everything And Proves More

“Aju-Tasch” is more famously known as the “ Denisova Cave ,” and this time capsule of anthropological treasures was found hidden in a cliff face in the Anui River valley in the Altai Mountains of Russia. The cave comprises 20 layers of excavated artifacts indicating occupation by hominins as long ago as 280,000 years before the present, and signs of habitation have been found all the way into the Middle Ages.

• 45,000-year-old Cave Lion Figurine Uncovered At Denisova Cave
• Denisovan DNA in Tibetan Cave Changes History of Early Humans in Asia

Up until recently, according to Britannica encyclopedia , researchers have suspected that the cave was inhabited by early modern humans ( Homo sapiens ) and Neanderthals ( H. neanderthalensis ). However, evidence of a previously unknown group of hominins, the Denisovans, who were neither modern humans nor Neanderthals, was also discovered at the site.

Researchers Zenobia Jacobs, Bo Li and Kieran O'Gorman in the south chamber of the cave taking sediment samples as they search for more Denisova Cave DNA.

( Professor Richard G. Roberts / University of Wollongong)

Scraping Hominin DNA From Prehistoric Soils

The new research was published in the Nature journal and covered as well in a release from the Max Planck Institute . The research study’s lead author, Dr Elena Zavala, a graduate student at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, and her colleagues worked with a team of Russian DNA researchers. The primary goal was to test the soil floor of the three-chamber cave to try and gain a clearer picture of how and when modern humans, Neanderthals and Denisovans lived in the now famous Denisova Cave.

For four decades researchers have been studying artifacts and DNA gathered from soils within the cave. However, according to an article about the new research in Science Mag , only over the last 4 years has anyone found DNA from extinct humans in the ancient cave soil.

A Denisovan tooth found in Russia’s famous Denisova Cave in 2000.

(Thilo Parg / CC BY-SA 3.0 )

Decompressing The Habitation Layers

Previous research highlighted in this Science Mag article stated that “728 soil samples” had been taken in the cave. And now, after almost 24 months, the researchers have published new research about their discovery of “ human DNA in 175 of the samples.”

An article about the paper published by the Max Planck Institute quotes Dr Katerina Douka, an archaeological scientist at the institute who said the new study represents the “largest and most systematic of its kind.”

• Finger Bone Points the Way to Revealing Denisovan DNA Secrets
• A Trove of New Denisovan Discoveries Revealed At A Recent Anthropological Conference

The study concludes that the three different groups “moved in and out of the cave over time.” However, Dr Zavala’s work confirms that Denisovans were the cave ’s first inhabitants about 300,000 years ago and that they disappeared 130,000 years ago. A different group of Denisovans who “likely made many of the stone tools,” then moved into the cave shelter about 30,000 years later. It would be 170,000 years after the first inhabitants that Neanderthals used the cave, at times, “overlapping with the Denisovans,” and the first humans used the cave beginning around 45,000 years ago.

A reconstructed fossil skeleton of a cave hyena (Crocuta crocuta spelaea). Cave hyena bones were also found in the Denisova Cave, and this must have resulted in horrible attacks on the hominins living there.

(Muséum de Toulouse / CC BY-SA 3.0 )

Even Man Eaters Loved The Denisova Cave!

DNA is like any organic matter, and it has a shelf life dependent on the environment in which it found. The Denisova Cave DNA covered all three human groups, and the researchers wrote in their paper that the time periods represented by each soil layer “are quite large.” According to Dr Zavala, this is the first time archaeologists have discovered an ancient site where Homo sapiens, Neanderthals and Denisovans “lived together through time.”

The fossils of many ancient animals were also discovered in the cave which corresponded with times the climate became cooler. Over time, many different species of hyenas and bears use the cave to shelter from the harsh Russian winters, and it was for this reason it is known locally in Altay as “ Aju-Tasch” or “bear rock.”

• Top image: The entrance to the Denisova cave in the Altai Mountains of Siberia where the so-called new “Denisova Cave DNA” has proven, for the first time, the Neanderthals, Denisovans and Homo sapiens occupied the same cave at the same time sometimes!   Source: Professor Richard G. Roberts / University of Wollongong

By Ashley Cowie

RELATED VIDEOS, selected and posted by peter2011

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25-07-2021 om 23:02 geschreven door peter  

The pandemic shutdown has taught us that it’s difficult to stay inside one’s home for an extended period with one’s immediate family. It was more difficult for those living with extended family and/or friends. Now, think of how challenging, frustrating and even murder-enticing it might be to have to live with people of other species – and the offspring of mixed-species marriages. That’s the new story of the famous Denisova cave in southern Siberia, where researchers previously discovered a new archaic hominin species, the Denisovans, living with another archaic hominin species, the Neanderthals, and now have found both shared the cave with a third hominin species – humans. All at the same time! How did they get along? Was the evidence discovered an archaic boxing ring?

“Denisova Cave in southern Siberia is the type locality of the Denisovans, an archaic hominin group who were related to Neanderthals. The dozen hominin remains recovered from the deposits also include Neanderthals, and the child of a Neanderthal and a Denisovan, which suggests that Denisova Cave was a contact zone between these archaic hominins.”

You can stay but you have to contribute.

The determination that Denisovans and Neanderthals occupied the Denisova cave at the same time came from the discovery of just eight fossils – including a Denisovan pinkie, three bones from Neanderthals and one from a child with one Neanderthal and one Denisovan parent. That’s the frustratingly tiny total after archeologists have combed through piles of animal bones and fossils mixed with stone tools and artifacts. As Science Magazine explains, researchers like Elena Zavala, a graduate student at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, turned to analyzing the layers of sediment in the three-chamber cave and looking for DNA. What they found, as explained in a new study in the journal Nature co-authored by Zavala, has added crucial data to the history of humans.

“We detect a turnover in the mtDNA of Denisovans that coincides with changes in the composition of faunal mtDNA, and evidence that Denisovans and Neanderthals occupied the site repeatedly—possibly until, or after, the onset of the Initial Upper Palaeolithic at least 45,000 years ago, when modern human mtDNA is first recorded in the sediments.”

After 2 years of analyzing 728 sediment samples dating to the Pleistocene epoch, they found ancient hominin mitochondrial DNA in 175 of them. Human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is the DNA located in cellular organelles that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use. It’s part of the human genome and recognized by anthropologists as the next best thing to bone samples, and in this case the mtDNA samples far exceed the fossilized bone fragments found.

Yes, this discovery affects human history in a big way. It confirms that a first group of Denisovans occupied the cave about 300,000 to 130,000 years ago. A second came in about 30,000 years later. Neanderthals moved in around 170,000 years ago – again with different groups occupying and leaving the cave. What the newly discovered mtDNA shows is modern humans living there about 45,000 years ago and the soil layer from that period contains DNA from all three human groups. Katerina Douka, an archaeological scientist at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History who was not involved with the research, puts it best:

“I cannot think of another site where three human species lived through time.”

Not only that, the existence of Denisovans was not known until 2010! The ability to identify mtDNA is the game-changer. The study concludes with that acknowledgement.

“High-resolution profiling of sediment DNA can therefore provide an effective means of filling gaps in our knowledge of human evolutionary history and palaeoecology, independent of the discovery of skeletal remains.”

It doesn’t matter what species you are.

Does this change our history? Of course not – our history already happened and there’s nothing we can do to change it. (Keep that in mind during your next political discussion.) All we can do is acknowledge that our records of it have huge gaps of reliable data and we must continue our search for more. Our history books should be looked at as constantly-updated, ever-growing chronicles, not stone tablets.

How long before our ancestry DNA tests go back to the Denisovan cave? It may be sooner than you think.

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

25-07-2021 om 22:35 geschreven door peter  

The pyramids of Nubia are located in the city of Meroë, former capital of the Kingdom of Kush. In these structures there is an old mural where a giant is seen lifting two elephants.

In the royal cemetery of the ancient Kingdom of Kush , there is a group of 50 pyramids made of sandstone and red brick.

Many of these are dilapidated, the fault of time and looters. The decorations on these monuments speak volumes about how global the kingdom was. However, there is one that is especially striking.

The giant of the ancient mural

The different pyramids found in the city of Meroë make it coveted by tourists. Among these are the famous Nubian pyramids .

This deposit was discovered by Europeans in 1821, thanks to the French mineralogist Frédéric Cailliaud. The most interesting of these pyramids is in reliefs and paintings of the burial chambers.

The one that caused the most concern in the experts was the ancient mural that represents a giant of enormous proportions lifting two elephants .

The features of this character are not characteristic of the area, but Caucasian . Many theorists have hinted that this is proof that red and white giants inhabited Earth.

This theory has been around since 79 AD. C., when the Roman historian Josefo Flavio , wrote that the last race of Egyptian giants lived in century XIII a. C. , during the government of Josué.

Flavio wrote that these were huge, their faces evoked fear, as did their thunderous voice, which they compared to the roar of a lion.

This is assumed by the different paintings found in ancient Egypt , where the pyramid builders are depicted as giants.

Experts believe that these people were over 5 meters tall and could lift up to 4 tons of blocks.

Some of those paintings also showed giant kings ruling Egypt. Others show ordinary people, very small in comparison to such characters.

This theory could be confirmed with a discovery in 1988. Gregor Spoerri , a Swiss businessman and passionate about ancient Egyptian history, found a giant finger after meeting with grave robbers.

White giants in other cultures

The appearance of “Caucasian giants”, such as that of the ancient mural of the pyramids of Nibua, is also mentioned in other cultures.

The Paiutes , an ancient North American tribe native to Nevada, have an oral tradition that they related to settlers.

These include a race of giant, white and red-haired individuals known to their ancestors as “Si-Te-Cah”, which inhabited an ancient cave.

The Choctaw Amerindian people also tell legends where their ancestors fought against a race of Caucasian giants that inhabited the territory that is now Tennessee.

Even the first settlers who arrived in South America, said that in the Patagonia region , they saw a town of tall, white and red-haired people.

All these legends, including that of the ancient Nubian pyramid mural, could have a common origin; the Atlantis .

Historians, theorists, and alternative researchers have suggested a hypothesis about the survivors of the cataclysm . These would have fled to different regions of the world, where they settled and created different civilizations, based on the ancient Atlantean knowledge.

The Pyramids of Mero in Bazarwia, Sudan

Is this ancient mural a representation of an Atlantean giant? It’s possible. Historians assure that all these stories are simple mythology, however, it is hardly credible that so many cultures around the world have such similar legends.

{ https://mysteriousthing.com/ }

24-07-2021 om 01:04 geschreven door peter  

Wedge of Aiud: A piece of a 20,000-year-old ship?

A strange artifact known as the Aiud wedge has become one of the most controversial objects in recent years. This is because it could belong to a 20,000 year old UFO …

The Aiud wedge is a piece of metal discovered in the year 73, about 10 meters deep. Strange mastodon bones were accidentally found . However, what caused the most controversy was a piece of metal.

The strange piece found in the city of Aiud, Romania, was donated to the Transylvanian History Museum and was hidden for years until it was rediscovered.

5 pounds and 20 × 12.5 × 7 centimeters in diameter were its characteristics. But what was that strange thing?1

What is the Aiud wedge?

The millimeter-thick oxide covered the entire block evenly, but this helped date its age to about 400 years .

But the geological layer in which it was found suggests that it must have been in the area about 20,000 years ago , in the Pleistocene .

Florin Gheorghita, a famous historian, managed to examine the analysis carried out on the Aiud wedge, ensuring that the metal alloy that made it up was extremely complex .

Gheorghita assured that the alloy is composed of 12 different elements; 89% aluminum, 6.2% copper, 2.84% silicon, 1.81% zinc, 0.41% lead, 0.33% lagoon, 0.2% zirconium, 0.11 % cadmium, 0.0024% nickel, 0.0023% cobalt, 0.0003% bismuth, 0.0002% silver and gallium in minute quantities.

Why was an object with these characteristics next to mastodon bones? It should be impossible, since aluminum in its pure state is not in nature and humanity managed to reach such a degree of purity only appeared in the nineteenth century .

Added to that are two perfect oval piercings, indicating that the Aiud wedge was undoubtedly made artificially .

The hypotheses behind the mystery

Some experts suggest that it is a man-made tool , which would not make sense at the time.

It has even been compared to the fulcrum of space modules , such as the Viking , but it has not had results either.

This and other reasons have led us to think about the possibility that it was part of some extraterrestrial spacecraft . What function would such a modern piece of technology have in the remote past?

Gheorghita, in an article published in Ancient Skies, stated that he asked an aeronautical engineer about the piece about the artifact and the results of his analyzes.

The engineer replied that, according to its composition and the hole in the jock, as well as a pattern of abrasions and scratches on the metal, it was a piece of an airplane landing gear .

How and why was such an advanced piece of technology found alongside such ancient fossils? How did it get there? It is possible that we are facing the remains of a UFO accident in our remote past or something else.

{ https://mysteriousthing.com/ }

19-07-2021 om 23:58 geschreven door peter  

Atlantis, 75,000 B.C. Archeologists Discover Highly Advanced Civilization Beyond Modern Technology

Atlantis, 75,000 B.C. Archeologists Discover Highly Advanced Civilization Beyond Modern Technology

Rex, man this was a great video! This guy is speaking of things I’ve never heard of. I will have to watch it again and take notes because he has referenced so many things that I want to learn about. Fascinating!!! Thank you Rex. Love you my brother. Rita Mills

{ https://beforeitsnews.com/ }

13-07-2021 om 22:12 geschreven door peter  

A tiny bone is changing how we think about Neanderthals

 By Katie Hunt, CNN

This is the public entrance to the Einhornhöhle cave, the Unicorn cave in English, in the Harz Mountains, Germany, where the tiny piece of engraved bone was found.

(CNN) A tiny piece of bone that once belonged to a giant Ice Age deer is changing how we think about Neanderthals.

Found in Einhornhöhle cave in northern Germany, the decorated deer phalanx, or toe bone, features an engraved geometric pattern and has been dated, using several techniques, to at least 51,000 years old.

It refreshes the debate over to what extent Neanderthals, the heavily built Stone Age hominins that disappeared about 40,000 years ago, were capable of artistic expression and symbolic thought and whether they developed these skills themselves or through interactions with early modern humans, who first arrived in Europe around this time.

"The phalanx from Einhornhöhle with its stacked offset chevrons represents one of the most complex cultural expressions in Neanderthals known so far," according to a study that published Monday in the journal Nature.

The team of German researchers said the small bone appears to be of no practical use, and the chevron design, with its three uniform parallel lines appears to be intentionally created -- perhaps as a personal ornament.

"The choice of material, its preparation before carving and the skilful technique used for the engraving are all indicative of sophisticated expertise and great ability in bone working," said Silvia M. Bello, a researcher at the Centre for Human Evolution Research, Department of Earth Sciences, at the Natural History Museum in London, in a commentary that accompanied the paper. She wasn't involved in the research.

"The presence of incisions artistically arranged in a chevron pattern on the bone of a giant deer, supports the symbolic meaning of this find and raises new questions about how complex Neanderthal behaviour might have been."

The giant deer bone has no practical use and is believed to be purely decorative.

Boiled before decorated

The bone was from a giant deer, an animal that researchers described as "very impressive," but also one that would have been very rare north of the Alps at the time. Choosing the giant deer bone as the raw material emphasizes the special character of the object and supported that it had a symbolic meaning, they said.

The decorated bone was found in the former entrance to the cave about 1 meter behind the person holding the staff in the right of the image.

To understand how the object was made, the researchers made their own versions using stone blades from Baltic flint and carved five bones belonging to Limousin cows. The bones were treated in different ways: one was fresh, another was room dried and a third was dried in the open air, while bone four was boiled once and bone five was boiled twice.

"The fresh bone... it didn't really work out. The bone was really hard. We were constantly slipping with the tools," said Dirk Leder, a research associate at the State Service for Cultural Heritage Lower Saxony, Hannover, Germany, and an author of the study.

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• 

How Neanderthal DNA affects human health -- including the risk of getting Covid-19

Leder and his colleagues found that the boiled bones offered a softer "mellow" surface to make controlled incisions in a way that closely resembled the original item. They said it took around one-and-a-half hours to make the object using a combination of cutting and scraping.

The earliest evidence for cultural innovation and artistic expression among early modern humans emerged in Africa and dates back to around 100,000 years ago -- where we see we see tools made from material other than stone, such as bone, ivory and antlers, shell bead ornaments, and advancements including the use of pigments, cave art and deliberate burials.

Although scarcer, archeologists have uncovered similar technological and cultural innovation at Neanderthal sites in Europe. These include ornaments such as talons from birds of prey, tooth pendants and evidence of funerary behavior. At some cave sites in Spain, there's evidence -- albeit contentious -- that Neanderthals created abstract motifs and hand stencils.

Complex behavior

Homo sapiens are thought to have first arrived in Europe about 45,000 years ago and overlapped with Neanderthals for thousands of years. During that time, the two groups encountered each other -- sometimes having sex and babies, leaving traces of Neanderthal DNA in our genes.

Given its age, the study authors said they believe the engraved deer bone was of "independent Neanderthal authorship" and not linked to any interactions with Homo sapiens.

Computerized topography scans of the engraved bone showed six lines that show the shape of the chevron symbol.

They noted that the earliest evidence of Homo sapiens in central Europe comes from sites in the Upper Danube area of between 43,500 and 38,000 years ago -- several millennia after the engraved bone. They said the earliest evidence of Homo sapiens in Europe -- pendants made from animal teeth from 45,500 years ago is from 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) away in Bulgaria.

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• 

Interactions between early modern humans and Neanderthals were a lot more common than we thought

However, the Natural History Museum's Bello said more recent research had found genetic evidence in a Homo sapien's skull from a site in the Czech Republic -- around 400 kilometers (248 miles) from Einhornhöhle -- that suggested the individual had some Neanderthal DNA, This raises the possibility early modern humans and Neanderthals had interbred more than 50,000 years ago.

"Given this early exchange of genes, we cannot exclude a similarly early exchange of knowledge between modern human and Neanderthal populations, which may have influenced the production of the engraved artefact from Einhornhöhle," she wrote in the commentary.

Sign up for CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.

"The possibility of an acquired knowledge from modern humans doesn't undervalue, in my opinion, the cognitive abilities of Neanderthals," she wrote.

"On the contrary, the capacity to learn, integrate innovation into one's own culture and adapt to new technologies and abstract concepts should be recognized as an element of behavioural complexity."

{ https://edition.cnn.com/ }

08-07-2021 om 23:56 geschreven door peter  

A recent discovery of a bone ornament in Einhornhöhle cave in the northern part of Germany has shed new light on how creative Neanderthals were. An ancient toe bone (also called a phalanx) belonging to a giant deer had geometric patterns engraved into it that date back at least 51,000 years.

It is believed that this is the oldest ever work of art associated with Neanderthals. Other ancient items have been found connected to Neanderthals such as eagle talons that were made into pendants and old cave paintings, but their ages are still being disputed.

This discovery is very significant in regards to learning more information about the creativity of Neanderthals since there has been a lot of debate on this topic. The study read in part, “The phalanx from Einhornhöhle with its stacked offset chevrons represents one of the most complex cultural expressions in Neanderthals known so far.” Since the chevron design on the bone also contained three uniform parallel lines, it is believed that it was intentionally created as a possible ornament.

The ornament was created from a deer bone.

In order to get a better understanding of how the ornament was created, the researchers attempted to make their own version of it. The first thing they did was attempt to recreate the ornament with stone blades from Baltic flint and carved five Limousin cow bones that were all treated differently (fresh, room dried, air dried, boiled once, and boiled twice).

Dirk Leder, who is a research associate at the State Service for Cultural Heritage Lower Saxony, Hannover, Germany, explained that the fresh bone was extremely difficult to work on as the tools were always slipping off of it. They realized that the boiled bones provided a much softer “mellow” surface to carve with the finished product looking quite similar to the original. Furthermore, it took them approximately 1.5 hours to complete the engravings by scraping and cutting the bone.

Silvia M. Bello, who is a researcher at the Centre for Human Evolution Research, Department of Earth Sciences, at the Natural History Museum in London but was not involved with the study, described the intention behind the creation, “The choice of material, its preparation before carving and the skillful technique used for the engraving are all indicative of sophisticated expertise and great ability in bone working,” adding, “The presence of incisions artistically arranged in a chevron pattern on the bone of a giant deer, supports the symbolic meaning of this find and raises new questions about how complex Neanderthal behavior might have been.”

Even though Homo sapiens arrived in Europe at the same time that Neanderthals were there and they did interact with one another, it is believed that the carved deer bone was of “independent Neanderthal authorship” and had no link to Homo sapiens. (A picture of the bone ornament can be seen here.)

The giant deer bone has no practical use and is believed to be purely decorative.

The study was published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution where it can be read in full.

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

08-07-2021 om 23:39 geschreven door peter  

Andean Gods Emerge From the Rock in Peru’s Mythological Sculpture Park!

A sculptor in Peru has assured the future for a range of ancient Andean gods, spirits and myths, by carving them into the face of a mountain just north of the famous ancient tourist city of Cusco.

Cusco near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range in southeastern Peru, is the ancient capital of the “ Tahuantinsuyo,” or ancient Inca Empire. While this legendary high altitude stone city attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists from all over the world to see its magnificent buildings and streets, it now has a new attraction in the making: Apukunaq Tianan or the " Abode of the Andean Gods .”

Located in Senk, a community of the Poroy district, about 40 minutes by car from Cusco, Apukunaq Tianan features sculptures of Andean gods and figures from various Inca creation myths. While the new attraction is still under construction the public are already flocking to what  The Vale Magazine  call “a fun and fascinating outdoor recreation space.”

Created by Cusco sculptor  Michael de Titan  the new artworks are similar to the Mt. Rushmore monument in the United States, just much smaller in scale, with each sculpture work ranging from between 49 and 56 feet (15 and 17 meters) in height.

Two of the sculptures in the process of being created on the mountainside at Senk, near Cusco, Peru.

( Corporacion Monteagudo )

Apukunaq Tianan: A Modern Home For Andean Gods and Myths

Michael de Titan’s celebration of  Andean culture  merges art and nature “just like the ancient Inca did.” Therefore, Apukunaq Tianan is like a royal palace of Andean deities and spirits with its own private library of creation stories.

Pachamama or “Mother Earth” is represented at the new site, who was/is the deity who presides over agriculture, controlled earthquakes, and rain. This god was associated with feminine principals relating to the spirit of the Earth.

• Study of Ceramics Provides New Thinking on Origins of First Peruvian Empire
• Peruvian Archaeologists Unearth Silver Artifacts, a Massive Temple and an Astronomical Observatory Near Cusco

The Chinese music band Laguna Pai on their visit to the Apukunaq Tianan Andean gods sculpture park, north of Cusco.

( Apukunaq Tianan )

While Pachamama was associated with the fertile field and rivers on the sides of mountains, the mountains god, or “ Apu Guardian ” governed mountain tops and consorted with the sky gods. A stunning Apu cliffside sculpture is naturally featured in the new sculpture park.

Also represented at the majestic new tourist attraction is  Puma, one of the sacred animals of the  Andean trilogy  of the condor, the puma and the snake or serpent. Puma represented Earth while the serpent represented the underworld, and the condor was associated with the heavens.

The Andean creator god Viracocha is also immortalized in stone at Apakunaq Tianan. This chief deity of Inca mythology is believed to have emerged from  Lake Titicaca  where he created the entire universe, and everything in it, before vanishing to the east.

Also chiseled in stone in Apakunaq Tianan’s hall of Inca mythological fame, is the last Sapa Inca, " Tupac Amaru ," and mixed in with these massive sculptures are smaller carvings made of wood and stone.

Another of the fantastical Andean god sculptures at Apakunaq Tianan with a log house gallery on top.

( Apukunaq Tianan )

The Ayar Brothers And The Golden Rod Of Cuzco

It is hoped that Apukunaq Tianan will be completed later this year to coincide with the bicentennial year of Peru ’s independence. While each of the sculptures described so far are exceptionally esoteric in nature, there is one that penetrates the veil more so that all the others.

This work represents the myth of the  Ayar Brothers . Inca legends in Cusco say that at the end of the great flood which devastated the land of the mountain  “Tampu Tocco, ” four young brothers with their wives, and ten  “ayllus” (Inca family groups) ventured in search of fertile lands where they could settle.

• Ancient Andean Genes Reveal DNA Continuity Amid Cultural Clashes
• Beyond the Mists of Time: The Mysterious Timoto-Cuica Culture of the Venezuelan Andes

After a series of tribulations, the only survivor of the Ayar brothers was Ayar Manco who managed to reach the aforementioned fertile land. There, he took the golden rod that the  sun god Inti  had given him, and sank it into the moist earth, where it immediately vanished. Such an occurrence could only mean that the sun god had chosen a special spot and it was there that the city of Cusco was founded.

From this ancient Andean center of agriculture, the “Tahuantinsuyo,” would later expand and become  the Inca Empire .

• Top image: One of the Andean gods at the  Apukunaq Tianan sculpture park, featured on a publicity poster from the site.             
• Source: Apukunaq Tianan

By Ashley Cowie

{ https://www.ancient-origins.net/general }

06-07-2021 om 23:42 geschreven door peter  

Andean Gods Emerge From the Rock in Peru’s Mythological Sculpture Park!

A sculptor in Peru has assured the future for a range of ancient Andean gods, spirits and myths, by carving them into the face of a mountain just north of the famous ancient tourist city of Cusco.

Cusco near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range in southeastern Peru, is the ancient capital of the “ Tahuantinsuyo,” or ancient Inca Empire. While this legendary high altitude stone city attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists from all over the world to see its magnificent buildings and streets, it now has a new attraction in the making: Apukunaq Tianan or the " Abode of the Andean Gods .”

Located in Senk, a community of the Poroy district, about 40 minutes by car from Cusco, Apukunaq Tianan features sculptures of Andean gods and figures from various Inca creation myths. While the new attraction is still under construction the public are already flocking to what  The Vale Magazine  call “a fun and fascinating outdoor recreation space.”

Created by Cusco sculptor  Michael de Titan  the new artworks are similar to the Mt. Rushmore monument in the United States, just much smaller in scale, with each sculpture work ranging from between 49 and 56 feet (15 and 17 meters) in height.

Two of the sculptures in the process of being created on the mountainside at Senk, near Cusco, Peru.

( Corporacion Monteagudo )

Apukunaq Tianan: A Modern Home For Andean Gods and Myths

Michael de Titan’s celebration of  Andean culture  merges art and nature “just like the ancient Inca did.” Therefore, Apukunaq Tianan is like a royal palace of Andean deities and spirits with its own private library of creation stories.

Pachamama or “Mother Earth” is represented at the new site, who was/is the deity who presides over agriculture, controlled earthquakes, and rain. This god was associated with feminine principals relating to the spirit of the Earth.

• Study of Ceramics Provides New Thinking on Origins of First Peruvian Empire
• Peruvian Archaeologists Unearth Silver Artifacts, a Massive Temple and an Astronomical Observatory Near Cusco

The Chinese music band Laguna Pai on their visit to the Apukunaq Tianan Andean gods sculpture park, north of Cusco.

( Apukunaq Tianan )

While Pachamama was associated with the fertile field and rivers on the sides of mountains, the mountains god, or “ Apu Guardian ” governed mountain tops and consorted with the sky gods. A stunning Apu cliffside sculpture is naturally featured in the new sculpture park.

Also represented at the majestic new tourist attraction is  Puma, one of the sacred animals of the  Andean trilogy  of the condor, the puma and the snake or serpent. Puma represented Earth while the serpent represented the underworld, and the condor was associated with the heavens.

The Andean creator god Viracocha is also immortalized in stone at Apakunaq Tianan. This chief deity of Inca mythology is believed to have emerged from  Lake Titicaca  where he created the entire universe, and everything in it, before vanishing to the east.

Also chiseled in stone in Apakunaq Tianan’s hall of Inca mythological fame, is the last Sapa Inca, " Tupac Amaru ," and mixed in with these massive sculptures are smaller carvings made of wood and stone.

Another of the fantastical Andean god sculptures at Apakunaq Tianan with a log house gallery on top.

( Apukunaq Tianan )

The Ayar Brothers And The Golden Rod Of Cuzco

It is hoped that Apukunaq Tianan will be completed later this year to coincide with the bicentennial year of Peru ’s independence. While each of the sculptures described so far are exceptionally esoteric in nature, there is one that penetrates the veil more so that all the others.

This work represents the myth of the  Ayar Brothers . Inca legends in Cusco say that at the end of the great flood which devastated the land of the mountain  “Tampu Tocco, ” four young brothers with their wives, and ten  “ayllus” (Inca family groups) ventured in search of fertile lands where they could settle.

• Ancient Andean Genes Reveal DNA Continuity Amid Cultural Clashes
• Beyond the Mists of Time: The Mysterious Timoto-Cuica Culture of the Venezuelan Andes

After a series of tribulations, the only survivor of the Ayar brothers was Ayar Manco who managed to reach the aforementioned fertile land. There, he took the golden rod that the  sun god Inti  had given him, and sank it into the moist earth, where it immediately vanished. Such an occurrence could only mean that the sun god had chosen a special spot and it was there that the city of Cusco was founded.

From this ancient Andean center of agriculture, the “Tahuantinsuyo,” would later expand and become  the Inca Empire .

• Top image: One of the Andean gods at the  Apukunaq Tianan sculpture park, featured on a publicity poster from the site.             
• Source: Apukunaq Tianan

By Ashley Cowie

{ https://www.ancient-origins.net/general }

06-07-2021 om 23:42 geschreven door peter  

Sacrifice and Destruction: The Apocalyptic Aztec Creation Myths

Many ancient cultures around the world have their own creation myth to explain their origins, and how the universe came into being. But few are as vivid, or as apocalyptic as the creation myth of the Aztecs. This myth has been referred to as the “Five Suns” wherein the world is created and destroyed again and again.

As the name given to this myth suggests, the current world is the fifth one, preceded by four cycles of creation and destruction. Whilst the Aztecs believed that we are now living in the fifth cycle of creation, they also believed that destruction would ensue if they neglected their duty of nourishing the sun god.

Different Accounts

Before going into the details of the  Aztec creation myth itself, it should be mentioned that there are various versions of the story. In some instances, these different versions even contradict one another. One of the reasons behind the multiple versions of the myth is the way it was transmitted. Since the creation myth was originally passed down orally, different versions emerged. Another reason for this is that the Aztecs incorporated the  gods and myths of the peoples they encountered and conquered, thereby modifying the myth.

Interestingly, the Aztec creation myth shares similarities with that of the  Maya, which is found in the  Popol Vuh , their foundational sacred narrative. For instance, both creation myths are cyclical in nature, though the Maya version has four, instead of five, cycles. It may be added that although both myths are cyclical, each cycle is not a mere repetition of the previous one, but rather, an improvement.

The Mayan “Hero Twins” of the  Popol Vuh  show clear parallels with Aztec mythology

(Lacambalam /  CC BY-SA 4.0 )

It is believed that the Aztec and Maya creation myths share a common source, and the former has been used to shed light on the latter. A key reason for this is that the Aztec creation myth is much more complete, whereas the Maya one has survived only in fragments.  

The Aztec Pantheon

The Aztec creation myth begins with a pair of  creator gods known collectively as Ometecuhtl (meaning ‘Two Lords’ in the Aztec language of Nahuatl). Ometecuhtl consisted of Ometecuhtli, the male deity, and Omecihuatl, his female counterpart. The pair of gods are known also as Tonacatecuhtli and Tonacacihuatl.

The Aztecs believed that Ometecuhtl resided in Omeyocan (meaning ‘Two Place’ or ‘Double  Heaven’), the 13th and highest heaven in the belief system of the Aztecs. Incidentally, Ometecuhtl was the only Aztec deity with neither a  temple dedicated to him, nor any formal cult in his name. Apparently, the Aztecs reasoned that since the deity lived so far away from them, he would never interact with them directly. In spite of Ometecuhtl’s remoteness, the Aztecs believed that he was omnipresent, being in every act of ritual, and in every rhythm of nature.

Ometecuhtl

(Unknown Author /  Public Domain )

According to the Aztec creation myth, Ometecuhtl created themself, after which, being both male and female, the god produced four children – Huizilopochtli, Quetzalcoatl, Tezcatlipoca, and Xipe Totec. These four gods represented, amongst other things, the four cardinal directions – south, east, west, and north, respectively.

Gods and Monsters

These four gods existed for some time, 600 years, according to one version of the myth, before they began to create the universe. They created cosmic time, the world, and all the other deities.

In one version of the myth, the four gods created a giant  sea monster  called Cipactli, which was part crocodile and part fish. As the children of Ometecuhtl continued to create the universe, this great monster became a source of trouble. Cipactli lived in the water, and had an insatiable appetite. For one reason or another, the creations of the gods would fall into the water, and they inevitably ended up being devoured by Cipactli.

{ https://www.ancient-origins.net/general }

06-07-2021 om 23:28 geschreven door peter  

Eleven New Neolithic Hill Sites Discovered Near Göbeklitepe, Turkey

The Turkish government has just announced a major archaeological discovery that could have a serious impact on the study of Neolithic Era culture in the region. On June 27, Turkey’s Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Ersoy  told reporters  gathered in the southeastern Turkish city of Sanliurfa that several new sites had been found in the vicinity of Göbeklitepe, the world’s oldest prehistoric stone monument site. Also written as Gobekli Tepe, the site name translates into "belly hill" in Turkish.

"We have [discovered] 11 more major hills on a 100-kilometer line around Göbeklitepe,” Ersoy declared. “Here, we will give the details for the first time, and now call it 12 hills.” 

In fact, Ersoy offered few details about what had been found at these new sites. He explained that a “major study” was on the verge of being completed and said the results of that study would be released in September 2021.

Engaging in what may or may not have been hyperbole, Ersoy said that people may soon be describing the monuments found in the Sanliurfa region as “the pyramids of southeast Turkey.” 

If these new sites are on a par with the spectacular remains uncovered at Göbeklitepe, their discovery would represent a significant milestone in prehistoric archaeology in the Mesopotamian region.

An example of one of the many circular stone monolith formations unearthed at Göbeklitepe, Turkey.

( muratart / Adobe Stock)

The Meaning of Göbeklitepe: What We Know So Far . . . 

First unearthed in 1995 by German archaeologist Klaus Schmidt, the Neolithic excavation site at  Göbeklitepe has produced the most stunning and impressive collection of standing stone pillar  monoliths ever found on Earth.

• Ancient Mesopotamia and the Rise of Civilization
• Scrutiny of Göbekli Tepe’s Construction Reveals Celestial Secrets

The biggest monoliths at Göbeklitepe are as tall as 20 feet (six meters) and are estimated to weigh between seven and ten tons (7.7-11 US tons). They were arranged in large circles, with a pair of heavy T-shaped pillars placed in the center of each arrangement. Some were decorated with carved images of animals, and others with obscure shapes and images that have no clear real-world references.

Neolithic hunter-gatherers  working in teams built and inscribed these stone circles, over a period of perhaps 1,000 years. The oldest construction work at Göbeklitepe has been dated to about 9,000 BC, meaning that some of the monoliths found there were carved and erected 6,000 years before the rock pillars at Stonehenge. 

It is important to realize this feat was accomplished by individuals who had no access to metal tools or wheeled transport carts. They used stone / flint hand tools to carve out and shape huge slabs of limestone from nearby quarries. The massive pillars would then be levered out of their places in the quarry rock walls, and somehow hauled, dragged, or lifted to the Göbeklitepe construction site.

In some instances, the builders placed the circles alongside each other. In other instances, they put them one on top of the other, after the circle on the bottom had been buried. Sometime after construction stopped the entire complex was buried, creating a low-topped  artificial mound  or hill that was 50 feet (15 meters) high and 1,000 feet (300 meters) in diameter.

The seemingly forgotten landscape around the Göbeklitepe site and likely where the latest 11 hills or artificial mounds have recently been discovered. So far photographs of the newest discovery area have not been released.

(Zhengan /  CC BY-SA 4.0 )

Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Ersoy’s statement about the “12 hills” implies that new monolithic sites have been found buried beneath similar artificial mounds. If stone pillar circles have been unearthed at these locations, it remains to be seen if they were built to the same specifications and in the same style as the circles at Göbeklitepe, or if they are as old (or even older).  

Archaeologists have already found other sites in the region where stone pillars have been carved out of quarries and arranged in standing circles. None of the other sites are as ancient as Göbeklitepe, however, which was apparently in use 11,000 years ago. They do all feature the distinctive T-shaped central pillars found at Göbeklitepe, a type of monolith that has only been discovered in ancient sites built close to the city and province of Sanliurfa.

This suggests they all were created by the same stone-monument-building culture, which presumably would also be responsible for making whatever has been found during excavations at the 11 newly discovered hills.

A Neolithic totem pole from Göbeklitepe from Layer II, dated to 8800-8000 BC.

(Cobija /  CC BY-SA 4.0 )

Uncovering the Many Remaining Secrets of Göbeklitepe

Unsurprisingly, Ersoy’s primary interest in the new discoveries is how they might affect tourism in the region. 

"When you look at  Mesopotamia, this region has a unique culture,” the Minister said at his press announcement. “It has its own registered gastronomy. It has many products. And when you combine that with its unique archaeological value, it's a wonderful thing.”

The Turkish government’s priorities are understandable. But the interests of the archaeological community are quite different.

• The Secret of Gobekli Tepe: Cosmic Equinox and Sacred Marriage - Part 1
• Was Göbeklitepe An Ancient Temple of Sacrifice?

With respect to the incredible monuments at Göbeklitepe, perhaps the biggest question left unanswered is, why were they built?

The general consensus is that Göbeklitepe was a religious or spiritual mecca, sought out by ancient worshippers looking to commune with their gods or with the spirits of their ancestors. The site has often been referred to as the world’s oldest temple. Schmidt, the site’s original discoverer, believed that one day graves would be found beneath the monolithic circles, proving they were built as monuments to the dead.

This monolithic pillar at Göbeklitepe is decorated with pictograms of animals. Surprisingly, the meaning of these pictograms is still a mystery that archaeologists and anthropologists are hoping to solve.

( mknisanci / Adobe Stock)

Pictograms were carved into many of the pillars. But unfortunately, scholars have been unable to interpret them, as either pictures or as symbols. Many of the pillars are decorated with images of animals, of dozens of different species including gazelles, lions, bears, foxes, bulls, snakes, birds, spiders, and a variety of insects. While arid now, during the Neolithic era Turkey was part of the  Fertile Crescent , a region blessed with abundant rainfall, fertile soil, dense grasslands, and wildlife of all types.

The imagery on the pillars may relate to worshipping practices or religious rituals in some way. The same can be said about the shapes of the stone circles, which may have been arranged to reflect  astronomical alignments . But since Göbeklitepe was constructed by prehistorical peoples, there is no written record to guide archaeologists and historians in a useful direction, as they attempt to comprehend what they’ve found.

Assuming they were built by the same ancient people, the remains at the newly discovered sites will likely be similar to those found at Göbeklitepe. If so, their ultimate purpose may be just as mysterious. 

But if the stone pillars in these new locations contain different imagery than those at Göbeklitepe, or if they feature clearer pictograms that can be successfully interpreted, their discovery may be a game-changer. Having more remains to examine may increase understanding about the motivations of the builders. It could reveal whether they were inspired by religious sentiments, or by some other type of ancient or universal motivation.   

• Top image: Göbeklitepe is so important that it has been completely covered to protect it from rain. To date, it is the oldest place of worship ever found on Earth, dating to 12000 BC. Archaeologists are expecting more amazing finds and insights from the recently discovered 11 new hills (or artificial mounds) near the site for which details will be released in September 2021.                 
• Source:  Cihangir Zeybek  / Adobe Stock

By Nathan Falde

{ https://www.ancient-origins.net/ }

06-07-2021 om 22:55 geschreven door peter  

Star Maps: “40,000-Year-Old Paintings Reveal Advanced Knowledge in Astronomy”

Some 40,000-year-old rock paintings with star maps reveal a superb use of advanced astronomy in ancient times, according to a scientific study.

What was originally believed to be symbols of prehistoric animals turned out to be an ancient star map.

New research has revealed that in early rock art , our ancestors are shown to have advanced knowledge in astronomy. This indicates that the knowledge between the ancient ice age and today was not that different.

Ancient star maps

Scientists revealed that ancient humans had superb control over the passage of time , observing how the stars changed their position in the sky.

This has been shown through the art found in many places in Europe , which are not simple representations of animals, as previously believed.

And it is that these figures are actually the representation of constellations of stars in the night sky. They were used to represent, date and mark important events .

Scientists at the University of Edinburgh suggest that ancient peoples fully understood the effect of gradual change in the Earth’s axis of rotation .

This phenomenon called precession of the equinoxes was previously attributed to the ancient Greeks .

Researcher Martin Sweatman stated that these findings support the theory of multiple comet impacts during human development. So it is likely that they revolutionize the way of seeing prehistoric civilizations.

The study was based on the investigation of caves in Turkey, Spain, France and Germany and the dating of the art was achieved by chemically dating them.

Sophisticated knowledge of constellations

Thanks to the application of computer software, the scientists predicted the position of the stars at the time the paintings were made.

This revealed that it is about the interpretation of constellations, as they appeared in the distant past.

It was concluded that these cave paintings are, in fact, clear evidence that ancient humans practiced a sophisticated method of timekeeping , based on astronomical calculations.

All this was possible, even though the cave paintings were separated in time by tens of thousands of years .

For example, scientists concluded that the oldest sculpture in the world, the Lion-Man from the Hohlenstein-Stadel Cave, is from 38,000 BC. C. This is compatible with the old timing system.

The statuette is a commemoration of the catastrophic impact of an asteroid that occurred 11,000 years ago , initiating the Younger Dryas Event . A period of sudden cooling of the weather.

How is it possible that early humans have developed such advanced knowledge of constellations? It remains a mystery. Without current technology and instruments, it would seem illogical.

{ https://mysteriousthing.com/ }

05-07-2021 om 23:13 geschreven door peter  

Earth’s Largest-Ever Lake Engulfed Europe and Asia 12 Million Years Ago

In-depth research has shed new light on the astonishing and awe-inspiring history of the Paratethys Sea. This 12-milion-year-old megalake was formed in Eurasia by the same tectonic shifts that created many European and Asian mountain ranges. It was the Earth’s largest lake, covering more area than the modern-day Mediterranean Sea .

Until now, not much was known about the lake’s geological history, or about its relationship to the surrounding environment. But two new studies have revealed some fascinating information about how the Paratethys Sea was created, how it disappeared, and how its fluctuations in size and shape ultimately influenced the evolution of modern animal species.

Chart showing the comparison between the water volume of the Paratethys Sea and that of other water bodies. 

Utrecht University )

The Rise and Fall of the Earth’s Largest Lake

Under the leadership of paleo-oceanographer Dan Palcu from the University of São Paulo in Brazil, an international team of geologists, geographers, and evolutionary biologists performed a detailed analysis of fossils and geological samples taken from the area that was once covered by the Paratethys Sea. They recently disclosed their mind-blowing discoveries in the journal Scientific Reports , and it seems their work has solved many of the mysteries involving the life and death of this massive inland body of water.

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At its peak size, the Paratethys Sea covered an area of approximately 1.7 million square miles (2.8 million square kilometers), the researchers report. It bisected the Eurasian continental mass, flooding the lands of what is now Central Europe and creating a watery border that separated northern from southern Asia. Before climate change caused it to shrink, the Paratethys Sea extended from the eastern Alps to what is now the nation of Kazakhstan.

The Paratethys Sea was created through the collisions of moving tectonic plates, explains Sid Perkins in Science. These movements created huge mountains that thrust up and through the existing prehistoric ocean and enclosed one section of it, trapping a massive quantity of ocean water inland. The researchers estimate that the lake’s volume surpassed the astonishing figure of 1.1 cubic miles (1.77 cubic kilometers), which is 10 times more than the volume of water held in all of today’s fresh and saltwater lakes combined.

The remnants of the Earth’s largest lake include Bulgaria’s Cape Kaliakra cliffs (above) overlooking the Black Sea.

( ValentinValkov / Adobe Stock)

How Climate Change Affected the World’s Largest Lake

During the Miocene Epoch, which lasted from 23 million years ago to about five million years ago, the Eurasian climate gradually became dryer. Rainfall levels fell, and the Paratethys Sea was significantly affected by the ongoing climate change. This drying of the climate was not steady, but was instead marked by a series of long-term droughts.

Palcu and his team identified four separate drying events that caused the Paratethys Sea to shrink in size, with the most dramatic shift occurring in the period between 7.9 and 7.65 million years ago. Over this time span the lake lost one-third of its volume and two-thirds of its surface area, with water levels falling by up to 250 meters (820 ft) at areas of greatest depth.

These catastrophic changes caused the salinity of the lake to increase dramatically. This decimated many of the unique species that had evolved there over the nearly five million years the lake had been separated from the world’s larger oceanic ecosystem. "It must have been a post-apocalyptic prehistoric world, an aquatic version of the wastelands from Mad Max," explained Wout Krijgsman, a geologist and study co-author in a Utrecht University press release .

Smaller versions of dolphins, seals, and whales were among the creatures known to have lived in the Paratethys Sea. Spikes in salinity caused these mammals to go extinct, creating evolutionary dead ends. Only a few of the hardiest species (like certain types of mollusks) were able to survive the changes the lake underwent as its size decreased.

The end came for the Paratethys Sea between 6.9 and 6.7 million years ago. Erosion caused a massive breach in its southwest coastline, forming a rampaging river that eventually drained the lake’s remaining water into the Mediterranean.

Based on the fossil record, scientists know know that the Paratethys Sea was once home to unique species, such as the Cetotherium riabinini, the smallest known whale on record.

( Pavel Gol’Din / Lena Godlevska )

How the Paratethys Sea Shaped the Evolution of African Wildlife

Research by another team of scientists, published in May 2021 in  Communications Earth & Environment , has helped publicize the surprising connection between the Paratethys Sea and the evolution and eventual migration of African wildlife.

Fossil finds have shown that the ancestors of giraffes, elephants, and other large mammals that reside on the African savannah originally lived along the southern shores of the Paratethys Sea. They survived by grazing on the grasslands that were formed when the lake’s water levels declined, carving out a niche in a unique ecosystem.

At some point, these large mammals left the area and migrated to the southwest. They eventually settled in Africa and evolved into their modern forms after that. The reason why this migration took place has never been clear, and that motivated evolutionary biologist Madelaine Böhme, from the University of Tübingen in Germany, to launch a study designed to solve this enduring mystery.

{ https://www.ancient-origins.net/ }

03-07-2021 om 23:54 geschreven door peter  

Chichen Itza: Ancient Maya City Built Above A Gateway to the Underworld

Chichen Itza is an ancient Mayan city located in the northern part of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. The city is though to have been founded around the 6th century AD. Nevertheless, it only rose to prominence several centuries later. Chichen Itza dominated the Yucatan Peninsula during the early part of the postclassic Mayan period, from about the 10th to 13th centuries AD. The supremacy of the city during this period is reflected by the great monuments that were constructed by its rulers. By the time the Spanish arrived in the 16th century, Chichen Itza had been largely left abandoned. Since the 19th century, the site has been explored and excavated by archaeologists. Apart from being an active archaeological site, Chichen Itza is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Mexico.

Where does the name Chichen Itza come from?

The name Chichen Itza comes from a combination of three separate Mayan words. Chi means “mouth” or “edge”, chen means “well,” and Itza is the name of the Mayan ethnic group that settled at the site. Therefore, the name of this ancient city may be said to mean “the mouth of the well of the Itzas.” The word Itza can also be translated to mean “magicians of the water”. This is because Itza itself is a combination of two words, itz, meaning “magic”, and a, meaning “water”.

Chichen Itza is thought to have been founded during the 6th century AD, presumably by the Maya peoples who had occupied the Yucatan Peninsula since the preclassic period, which lasted from around 1500 BC to 300 AD. There is evidence that during the 10th century the city was invaded by foreigners. It was around this time that the Maya cities of the southern lowlands were collapsing. The identity of these invaders, however, is not entirely clear. Some scholars, for instance, believe the invaders were the Itza, whilst others believe that they were Maya who were influenced by the Toltecs of central Mexico, or even the Toltecs themselves. There is also a suggestion that the Itza came to occupy the site, though only two or three centuries after this initial invasion.

Relief sculpture in the Great Ball Court at Chichen Itza showing sacrifice by decapitation.

( CC BY-SA 3.0 )

Interestingly, there is evidence in the Books of the Chilam Balam (“Chilam Balam” meaning “Secrets of the Soothsayers”) that Chichen Itza had a different name prior to the arrival of the Itza. Since there is no single standard of orthography for the Yucatec Maya, the original name for the site has been represented in different ways, including Uuc Yabnal , Uuc Habnal , Uuc Hab Nal , or Uc Abnal . Whilst Uuc or Uc means “seven”, the meaning of the second word varies. Yab, for instance, means “many”, whilst an ab is a type of fruit.

The Sacred Cenote: Ritual Sinkhole Becomes Treasure Trove for Archaeologists

One of the factors that led to the establishment of a settlement at Chichen Itza is the presence of several cenotes at the site. These are large, natural sinkholes that serve as a source of water. Considering that the northern Yucatan is arid, and that its interior has no above-ground rivers, cenotes would have played an important role in the survival of the people who lived there. The most famous cenote at Chichen Itza is the Cenote Sagrada or Sacred Cenote, which was formed by a collapsed cave in the limestone bedrock.

The Sacred Cenote is considered one of the largest repositories of offerings in the Americas.

( Subbotina Anna /Adobe Stock)

As its name suggests, the Sacred Cenote was not just a source of water, but was also a place of ritual significance. According to sources written during the Spanish period, the Maya deposited luxury goods, and made human sacrifices at cenotes as a means of worshipping Chaac, the Maya rain god. Over time, researchers have found truth in these claims, as a variety of luxury goods have been found deposited in the cenote. As a matter of fact, the Sacred Cenote is considered to be one of the largest repositories of offerings found in the Americas during the pre-Columbian period.

During the 20th century, the Sacred Cenote has been investigated by archaeologists. Between 1904 and 1910, for example, a controversial dredging project was undertaken by the American archaeologist Edward Herbert Thompson. The project recovered a large quantity of artifacts, including pottery, gold objects, and goods made of jade. In addition, human remains, which displayed wounds consistent with ritual sacrifice, were found.

Deciphering History Through Architecture at Chichen Itza

As mentioned earlier, Chichen Itza was established during the 6th century AD, but was later captured by foreign invaders. This change in the city’s occupants is physically visible in the structures that have survived. Before the coming of the Itza, the inhabitants of Chichen Itza constructed their buildings in an architectural style known as Puuc. This style is named after the Puuc Hills to the southwest of Chichen Itza, and may be identified by several characteristics. For instance, Puuc buildings normally face inwards towards the city’s ceremonial plaza, and are grouped around a general north-south axis. Apart from that, Puuc buildings consist of a solid core of stone and plaster, covered by well-cut, worked stone that serves a purely ornamental function.

Aerial view of Chichen Itza, UNESCO World Heritage site.

( CC BY 3.0 )

The buildings of Chichen Itza that were constructed in the Puuc style are located to the south of the main plaza, in the area known today as Chichen Viejo , or Old Chichen. The structures of Old Chichen are considered to be the oldest in the site, and include el Caracol , la Iglesia , and the Akabtzib. El Caracol , which means “the snail”, named as such after the stone spiral staircase within it. The structure consists of a round building (where the staircase is found) on a square platform, and it served as a sophisticated astronomical observatory. La Iglesia , meaning “the church,” is a small temple decorated with elaborate masks of Chaac, whereas the Akabtzib, which is Maya for “House of the Dark Writing’, was the home of the city’s administrator. The name of the latter is derived from the intricately carved glyphs found on the lintel above one of the structure’s doorways. Incidentally, the building was once known as “The Flat House with the Excessive Number of Chambers.”

Temple of Kukulcan: The Mesoamerican Step-Pyramid at the Heart of Chichen Itza

The most famous monuments at Chichen Itza, however, were only built after the arrival of the foreign invaders. These include El Castillo , the Great Ball Court, and the Temple of the Warriors. El Castillo, meaning “the castle,” is arguably the most recognizable monument of Chichen Itza. This structure, known also as the Temple of Kukulcan, is situated at the center of the city. The prominence of the temple is enhanced by the fact that it is the tallest structure at the site. The pyramid itself is 24 m (78.7 ft.) in height, whilst the temple on the platform is 6 m (19.7 ft.). Thus, the entire monument is 30 m (98 ft.) high. In addition, the Temple of Kukulacan is the largest temple in Chichen Itza, having a base measuring 53.3 m (174.9 ft.) on all four sides.         

El Castillo, know as the Temple of Kukulcan, at the center of Chichen Itza.

( CC BY-SA 4.0 )

The Temple of Kukulcan is not only impressive for its size, but also for the mathematical brilliance of its architects. According to legend, twice a year, when day and night are in balance, Kukulcan (the Maya version of Quetzalcoatl) would visit this temple. The god would commune with his followers, give them his blessings, and continue into the sacred waters. After taking a bath there, he would continue his journey to the Underworld. The architects of the Temple of Kukulcan designed the pyramid in such a way that during the equinox, those who came to the temple would be treated to a magical spectacle of light and shadow. For five hours on those days, the shadow of seven triangles would appear on the side of the staircase, starting from the top, and making its way down to the giant stone head of Kukulcan at the bottom. The top and the bottom of the pyramid are connected by the shadows for 45 minutes, before it slowly descends, and disappears. For the ancient Maya, this must have been proof of the legend. Interestingly, this phenomenon has been recreated artificially in modern times on a nightly basis, so that tourists need not wait for the equinox to see it.

Great Ball Court and the Temple of a Thousand Warriors

To the northwest of the Temple of Kukulcan is located the Great Ball Court. Although seven ball courts have been discovered at Chichen Itza, this one is considered to be the most impressive. The Great Ball Court measures 166 m (544.6 ft.) by 68 m (223.1 ft.), making it the largest ball court in Mesoamerica. The walls of the court are 12 m (39.4 ft.) high, on the top of which are rings carved with intertwining serpents. The walls are also decorated by sculpted reliefs. One of these reliefs has been interpreted as depicting the victors of a game holding the decapitated head of a member of the losing team.

Great Ball Court at Chichen Itza

( CC BY-SA 3.0 )

As for the Temple of a Thousand Warriors, this is a large, stepped pyramid with rows of carved columns portraying warriors. The columns are located in front and on the side of the temple. Similarities in design have been noted between this temple and Temple B at Tula, the Toltec capital. This has led to the suggestion that there were cultural contacts between the peoples of the two cities.

Decline of Chichen Itza and the Spanish Conquest

Scholars believe that Chichen Itza dominated the Yucatan Peninsula between the 10th and 13th centuries. According to written sources, a revolt and civil war broke out about 1221 in Chichen Itza, leading to the city’s decline. This is corroborated by the archaeological evidence, as the wooden roofs of the Temple of the Warriors and the Great Market were found to have been burned around this time. In more recent years, however, archaeologists have suggested that Chichen Itza went into decline around the 11th century, 200 years earlier than originally thought.

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• Advanced Engineering Discovered at the Maya Observatory at Chichen Itza
• Kukulcan, the Snake God of the Maya, Remains as a Legacy of the Once-Powerful Civilization

After its decline, Chichen Itza was replaced by Mayapan, a neighbouring city to its west, as the dominant power on the peninsula. For a period of time, Chichen Itza joined Mayapan and Uxmal to form a political confederacy called the League of Mayapan. The league, along with the supremacy of Mayapan, came to an end around 1450. During the 16th century, the Spanish arrived on the Yucatan Peninsula, and began their conquest of the Maya. Chichen Itza was claimed by the conquistador Franciso de Montejo in 1531. Although de Montejo intended to make the city the capital of Spanish Yucatan, he failed to do so, as the Spanish were driven out by a native Maya revolt several months later.

Page from the illustrated book Incidents of Travel in Yucutan by John Lloyd Stephens.

( Metropolitan Museum of Art / CC0 )

Forgotten Maya Ruins Capture the Imagination

In any case, by the time of de Montejo’s arrival, Chichen Itza had been largely abandoned, as its inhabitants had moved to smaller towns. The situation remained as such in the centuries that followed, and the site was gradually reclaimed by the jungle. Although Chichen Itza remained sacred to the Maya, it was slowly forgotten by the rest of the world. The site, however, entered popular imagination during the 19th century. In 1843, Incidents of Travel in Yucatan was published by the American explorer, John Lloyd Stephens. As a result of Stephens’ book, which recounted his journey in the Yucatan Peninsula, other explorers began to visit the ancient Maya city.

In the decades that followed, various archaeological excavations were conducted at Chichen Itza . As a result of these investigations, the site’s ruins were mapped, and some monuments were restored. The archaeological work at the site has also led to a greater understanding of Chichen Itza. Archaeologists continue to work at Chichen Itza even today, on the hunt for new discoveries. In 2019, for instance, archaeologists were searching for a sacred well under the city. Instead, as they were exploring the Balamku, or ‘Jaguar God’ cave system, they stumbled upon a trove of over 150 ritual objects.

Chichen Itza has become an extremely popular tourist attraction. Stephens’ book not only prompted archaeologists to explore the site, but tourists were not far behind. In the early 1920s, for example, Yucatan’s first official tourism business was established. In recent years, it has been estimated that up to two million tourists visit Chichen Itza annually, which makes it one of the most visited archaeological sites in Mexico. Chichen Itza is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site . In 2007 it was voted as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in a global survey of more than 100 million people.

• Top image: The Maya pyramid of Kukulcan at Chichen Itza in Mexico.
• Source: IRStone /Adobe Stock

By Wu Mingren

{ https://www.ancient-origins.net/general }

01-07-2021 om 22:28 geschreven door peter  

Hyperborea: Mythical Land That Fascinated Writers of the Ancient World

Hyperborea is a location in Greek mythology. The inhabitants of this mythical land are known as Hyperboreans, whom the ancient Greeks believed enjoyed extremely long lives. Hyperborea is mentioned by a number of Greek and Roman writers, including Herodotus, Pliny the Elder, and Pindar. Although Hyperborea is a mythical land, there has been speculation over the ages that it is a real place on earth. This has led to a number of theories about its exact location. In addition, attempts have been made to connect the Hyperboreans with real, historical peoples.

The name ‘Hyperborea’ may be translated to mean ‘Beyond the North Wind’, which is an indication of where the ancient Greeks thought this land was located. According to Greek mythology, the North Wind, personified by the god Boreas, lived in Thrace. Therefore, Hyperborea would logically be placed to the north of Thrace. Hyperborea, however, was one of the terrae incognitae (Latin for ‘unknown lands’) of the ancient Greeks and Romans. These were regions which have neither been mapped nor documented. In other words, Hyperborea might very well be a place that exists only in myth. And many of the stories told about Hyperborea and the Hyperboreans are quite unbelievable.

Hyperborea Mentioned Repeatedly by Herodotus

One of the ancient writers who mentions Hyperborea many times in his work is the Greek historian Herodotus. The so-called ‘father of history’ wrote about the Hyperborea in Book IV of his Histories. In one part of this book, Herodotus writes:

“Aristeas the son of Caystrobus, who came from Proconnesus, claimed in a poem that he visited the Issedones in a state of inspiration by Apollo, that beyond the Issedones lived a one-eyed race called the Arimaspians, beyond them there is the land of the gold-guarding griffins, and beyond them the Hyperboreans, all the way to the sea. All these people, from the Arimaspians on, except the Hyperboreans, are constantly attacking their neighbors.”

Ancient north pole map of mythical lands including the central continent of Hyperborea.

(Abraham Ortelius / Public domain )

Herodotus seems to be skeptical about the existence of Hyperborea, but nevertheless informs his readers that this mythical land has been mentioned by two of ancient Greece’s most revered poets, Hesiod and Homer:

“None of the tribes living there, including the Scythians, have anything to say about the Hyperboreans. Perhaps the Issedones do, but I do not think so, because if they did the Scythians would have stories about them too, just as they do about the one-eyed people. Hesiod, however, has mentioned the Hyperboreans, and so has Homer in the Epigoni (if indeed Homer is the author of this poem).”

Herodotus then points out that most of the stories about Hyperborea are told by the inhabitants of the sacred island of Delos, “The overwhelming majority of the stories about the Hyperboreans come from Delos.” The historian goes on to relate some of the tales about the Hyperboreans, in which Delos, as one might expect, plays a prominent role. One of these, for instance, relates to the way sacred objects were transported from Hyperborea to Delos:

“The Delians say that sacred objects are tied up inside a bundle of wheat straws and are transported from the Hyperboreans first to Scythia, then westward as far as possible – that is, to the Adriatic – through a chain of successive neighbouring tribes, then south to Dodona (which is the first Greek community to receive them), then to the Gulf of Malia, where they cross over to Euboea, where they are passed from town to town until they reach Carystus, at which stage Andros is omitted, because the Carystians are the ones taking them to Tenos, and from Tenos the objects are conveyed to Delos. So this is how these sacred objects are said to reach Delos.”

The next story provided by Herodotus explains why the sacred objects were delivered in such a manner. According to the historian, the first time the sacred objects were sent to Delos, they were carried by two Hyperborean women, Hyperoche and Laodice (according to the Delians). The women were accompanied by five Hyperborean men who protected them and served as their escorts. These envoys, however, never returned home, causing the rest of the Hyperboreans to worry that the people they sent to deliver sacred objects in the future would not come back either. Therefore, they devised the method in which the objects were passed from one group of people to another, until they arrived in Delos.

Herodotus states that Hyperoche and Laodice accomplished their mission, and stayed in Delos, rather than returning home. After their deaths, the women were worshipped by the Delians and commemorated in a special ritual:

“Now, the death of the young women who came from the Hyperboreans is commemorated on Delos by a hair-cutting ritual performed by the girls and boys of the island. Before they get married, the girls cut off a lock of hair, wind it around a spindle and put in on the tomb (which is inside the sanctuary of Artemis, on the left as one enters, and an olive-tree has grown over it), and the Delian boys wind some of their hair around a twig and put it on the tomb as well. So that is how these Hyperborean women are worshipped by the inhabitants of Delos.”

Herodotus’ last story about the Hyperboreans is that of Arge and Opis, a pair of women who also travelled from Hyperborea to Delos. The women are said to have made the journey before Hyperoche and Laodice, though for a different purpose. Arge and Opis went to the island in order to pay tribute to Eileithyia, the Greek goddess of childbirth, in exchange for a quick and easy labor at childbirth.

According to Herodotus, the Delians claimed that the two women were accompanied by the gods themselves, and received different honors when they came to Delos. The women of the island begged gifts for Arge and Opis, whilst calling on the pair by name in the words of the hymn composed by Olen of Lycia in their honor. This practice has spread from Delos to the other Aegean islands and Ionia. Like Hyperoche and Laodice, the tombs of Arge and Opis are also found on the island: “This tomb of theirs is situated behind the grounds of the sanctuary of Artemis, facing east, right next to the banqueting-hall of the Ceans.”

Head of Herodotus, the “father of history” who wrote the most about Hyperborea.

(© Marie-Lan Nguyen / Public domain )

Before ending his discussion about Hyperborea, Herodotus mentions in passing a figure called Abaris. As the historian says that he was not going to repeat the story of Abaris, it may be assumed that Herodotus’ readers were familiar with this tale. In any case, we learn from Herodotus that this Abaris was believed to be a Hyperborean, and that he “carried an arrow all the way around the world without eating anything.” Herodotus ends this section with a playful suggestion about people living beyond the South Wind, “But if there are Hyperboreans, there should also be Hyperenotians, people living beyond the south wind.”

Pliny The Elder and Hyperborea

Although Herodotus provides several stories related to the Hyperboreans, he does not talk much about Hyperborea itself, apart from its general location. Therefore, one has to rely on other ancient sources to fill in the gaps left by Herodotus. One such source is Natural History , written by Pliny the Elder, the Roman naturalist and natural philosopher. Pliny mentions the Hyperboreans in Book IV of his work, and begins with the general location of Hyperborea:

“Along the [Black Sea] coast [of Europe], as far as the river Tanais [known today as the Don], are the Mæotæ, from whom the lake derives its name, and the last of all, in the rear of them, the Arimaspi. We then come to the Riphæan mountains, and the region known by the name of Pterophoros, because of the perpetual fall of snow there, the flakes of which resemble feathers; a part of the world which has been condemned by the decree of nature to lie immersed in thick darkness; suited for nothing but the generation of cold, and to be the asylum of the chilling blasts of the northern winds.

Behind these mountains, and beyond the region of the northern winds, there dwells, if we choose to believe it, a happy race, known as the Hyperborei.”

Pliny the Elder of Rome who also wrote a lot about Hyperborea

(Wolfgang Sauber / CC BY-SA 3.0 )

Like Herodotus before him, Pliny seems to express his doubts about the existence of the Hyperboreans. Unlike the Greek historian, however, Pliny does not go straight into Delian-related Hyperborean stories. (Incidentally, the story about the Hyperboreans sending sacred objects to Delos via neighboring tribes can be found at the end of Pliny’s account of Hyperborea.) Instead, Pliny provides his readers with more details about Hyperborea itself:

“At this spot are supposed to be the hinges upon which the world revolves, and the extreme limits of the revolutions of the stars. Here we find light for six months together, given by the Sun in one continuous day, who does not, however, as some ignorant persons have asserted, conceal himself from the vernal equinox to autumn. On the contrary, to these people there is but one rising of the sun for the year, and that at the summer solstice, and but one setting, at the winter solstice. This region, warmed by the rays of the sun, is of a most delightful temperature, and exempt from every noxious blast.”

Pliny continues his account with information about the Hyperboreans themselves. Apart from referring to the Hyperboreans “a race that lives to an extreme old age,” earlier on, Pliny also wrote the following:

“The abodes of the natives are the woods and groves; the gods receive their worship singly and in groups, while all discord and every kind of sickness are things utterly unknown. Death comes upon them only when satiated with life; after a career of feasting, in an old age sated with every luxury, they leap from a certain rock there into the sea; and this they deem the most desirable mode of ending existence.”

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From Pliny’s work, it is clear that even in ancient times the exact location of Hyperborea was a puzzle. Several competing hypotheses about Hyperborea’s actual whereabouts are mentioned by the Roman writer. For instance, Pliny mentions some ancient writers claimed that Hyperborea is located on the edge of the shores of Asia. These writers argued that a people called the Attacori, who resemble the Hyperboreans, lived in that region, which has very similar conditions to Hyperborea. Other writers argued that the region lies “midway between the two suns, at the spot where it sets to the Antipodes and rises to us.” Pliny discounts this hypothesis, considering the “vast tract of sea which there intervenes” A third hypothesis states that Hyperborea is located “nowhere but under a day which lasts for six months,” and that the Hyperboreans sow in the morning, reap at mid-day, gather the fruits of the trees at sunset, and conceal themselves in caves at night.

Bust of the lyric Roman poet Pindar whose poems mention Hyperborea

(Stas Kozlovsky / CC BY-SA 3.0 )

Other Talk of Hyperborea

Hyperborea is also mentioned in works by ancient poets. These poetic works provide us with more information about this mythical land. The Hyperboreans, for instance, appear in Pindar’s Olympian Ode III . In his poem, Pindar claims that Heracles had travelled to Hyperborea to obtain an olive tree from its inhabitants. The hero begged for the tree “to make shade for all men to share, and for brave deeds of valorous spirits, a crown.” In another poem, Pythian Ode X , Pindar places the slaying of Medusa by Perseus in Hyperborea, and paints the region as a place of great happiness:

“The Muse is not absent from their customs; all around swirl the dances of girls, the lyre’s loud chords and the cries of flutes. They wreathe their hair with golden laurel branches and revel joyfully. No sickness or ruinous old age is mixed into that sacred race.”

Herodotus, Pliny the Elder, and Pindar were not the only ancient authors who wrote about Hyperborea. Other well known figures who mention this mythical region include Pausanias, Diodorus Siculus, Ovid, and Strabo.

The large amount of work written about Hyperborea by these ancient authors shows that there was a great fascination with this land. As a matter of fact, this fascination has survived till this day, as some have sought to identify the location of Hyperborea, which may help to prove its existence. Nevertheless, there is still no consensus to the location of Hyperborea, assuming this paradise even exists in the first place.

• Top image: Boreas, Greek God of the North Wind, who is strongly connected with the mythical land of Hyperborea, abducting Oreithyia.   Source: Giovanni Francesco Romanelli / Public domain .

By Wu Mingren

RELATED VIDEOS, selected and posted by peter2011

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01-07-2021 om 22:05 geschreven door peter  

Beetles are everywhere—and new members of Earth’s most diverse group of organisms are being discovered nearly every day. Now, for the first time, scientists have found a new species in an unusual place: the fossilized poop of a dinosaur ancestor. Found whole and remarkably intact, the 230-million-year-old beetle, named Triamyxa coprolithica, is the first insect to be scientifically described from fossilized feces, also known as coprolites.

“This is very exciting research,” says Spencer Lucas, a paleontologist at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, who was not involved in the work. “This study is cutting edge and explores a whole new area of paleontology that has only been understood in the last decade.”

Coprolites are abundant in museum and research collections around the world. But until recently, Lucas says, few scientists examined these “little capsules of incredible fossil record” for their content, largely because researchers did not think small insects could successfully pass through a digestive system and end up in a recognizable form. Instead, paleontologists got most of their information about insect evolution from unlucky ones trapped in amber, or fossilized tree resin. But these fossils aren’t very old, geologically speaking: The most ancient ones date back to about 140 million years ago.

To discover whether coprolites could indeed preserve insect remains, Uppsala University paleontologist Martin Qvarnström and colleagues examined fossilized droppings from Poland that has previously been associated with the Triassic period, some 230 million years ago. They selected a coprolite fragment nearly 2 centimeters long that, based on its broken ends, suggested it was part of a much larger piece that might be more likely to contain things inside it. Then, they subjected the whole specimen to an intense x-ray beam at a synchrotron. By rotating the coprolite in the beam, they created 3D reconstructions of the coprolite’s contents. What they saw astounded them: incredibly preserved, nearly complete insects just 1.4 millimeters long, as well as fragments like heads, antennae, and legs, they report today in Current Biology.

The new species came from dung presumed to have been excreted by Silesaurus opolensis, a beaked dinosaur ancestor about 2.3 meters in length. The beetles were well preserved because coprolites act as microenvironments that can preserve organic material, including soft tissues, without any of the flattening that comes with other fossil types.

This extinct beetle likely belonged to a group known as Myxophaga, small beetles that thrive on algae in wet habitats, says study co-author Martin Fikáček, an entomologist at National Sun Yat-sen University. The team categorized it taxonomically by noting shared characteristics, like the number of abdomen segments or the position of the antennae, to modern Myxophaga, of which four lineages still survive today. The find is remarkable, Qvarnström says. “We have found bits and pieces [of insects in fossilized feces] before, but not enough to describe a new species, genus, and family,” like this.

These reconstructed images and models (see video above) not only reveal the new beetle species, but also offer information about the diets and environments of the animals that ate them, Qvarnström says. Such analyses can help scientists understand ancient food webs and how the dinosaur ancestors lived and interacted in this ancient ecosystem. By scanning coprolites from earlier and later in the Triassic period, the team also hopes to learn about insect evolution. 

As for T. coprolithica, researchers say there is no way of knowing why it went extinct while its cousins survived into the modern era. Fikáček says it is likely to have been a combination of random events and sheer bad luck. “Extinction is always the trickiest part out of all these things to understand,” he says.

Related information about fossil discovery is shown on Blast World Mysteries' YouTube video below:

{ https://science.sciencemag.org/ }

01-07-2021 om 21:02 geschreven door peter  

The violent birth of modern man: The incredible ancient stone carvings that reveal how a devastating comet impact 13,000 years ago killed thousands, altered the climate and triggered the rise of the first civilisations

• Scientists were analysing symbols carved on pillars at Gobekli Tepe in Turkey

• Using memorial carvings they pinpointed a comet impact to around 11,000BC

• The comet triggered a mini ice age that lasted 1,000 years

• This ice age forced humans to develop farming techniques to grow their crops

By HARRY PETTIT FOR MAILONLINE 

Ancient symbols carved into stone at an archaeological site in Turkey tell the story of a devastating comet impact that triggered a mini ice age more than 13,000 years ago, scientists believe.

Evidence from the carvings, made on a pillar known as the Vulture Stone, suggests that a swarm of comet fragments hit the Earth in around 11000 BC.

One image of a headless man is thought to symbolise human disaster and extensive loss of life. 

The devastating event, which wiped out creatures such as woolly mammoths, also helped spark the rise of civilisation.

Scroll down for video 

Ancient stone carvings confirm that a swarm of comets hit Earth 13,000 years ago sparking the rise of civilisations and wiping out the woolly mammoth. Pictured are the stone carvings used in the team's research, found on pillar 43 or 'the Vulture Stone' at Gobekli Tepe in Turkey

Scientists have speculated for decades that a comet could have caused the sharp drop in temperature during a period known as the Younger Dryas.

The Younger Dryas is seen as a crucial period in humanity's history as it coincides with the beginnings of agriculture and the first Neolithic civilisations.

Scientists were analysing the mysterious symbols carved onto stone pillars at Gobekli Tepe in southern Turkey to find out if they could be linked to constellations. 

Engineers from the University of Edinburgh studied animal carvings made on a pillar – known as the vulture stone – at the site.

By interpreting the animals as astronomical symbols, and using computer software to match their positions to patterns of stars, researchers dated the event to 10,950BC.

It probably resulted from the break-up of a giant comet in the inner solar system. 

This is around the time the Younger Dryas period began according to ice core data from Greenland, which pinpoints the event to 10,890BC.

Before the comet strike, large fields of barley and wheat had allowed roaming hunters in the Middle East to set up permanent base camps.

Evidence from the carvings, made on a pillar known as the Vulture Stone, suggests that a swarm of comet fragments hit the Earth in around 11000 BC. The different symbols, said to tell the story, are labeled in the graphic above

But the ice-cold conditions created by the impact forced these hunters to band together and find new ways to grow crops.

They developed watering and selective breeding to help their crops last against the harsh climate, forming modern farming practices.

The carvings appear to have remained important to the people of Gobekli Tepe for millennia, the Edinburgh researchers said. 

This suggests that the event and cold climate that followed likely had a serious impact.

The comet's impact killed thousands of people and triggered a mini ice age that lasted more than 1,000 years. Pictured is a replica of the Vulture Stone at Sanliurfa Museum in Turkey

By interpreting the animals as astronomical symbols, and using computer software to match their positions to patterns of stars, researchers dated the event to 10,950BC. This image shows the position of the sun and stars on the summer solstice of 10,950BC

The team suggest the images were intended as a record of the cataclysmic event.

A further carving showing a headless man may indicate human disaster and extensive loss of life, they said.

Furthermore, symbolism on the pillars indicates that the long-term changes in Earth's rotational axis was recorded at this time using an early form of writing.  

The symbolism suggests that Gȍbekli Tepe was an observatory for meteors and comets.

The find supports a theory that Earth is likely to experience periods when comet strikes are more likely, owing to Earth's orbit intersecting orbiting rings of comet fragments in space.

Stone pillars at Gobleki Tepe, thought to be the world's oldest temple site. Scientists have speculated for decades that a comet could have caused the sharp drop in temperature during a period known as the Younger Dryas around 11,000BC

More stone pillars found at the Gobleki Tepe temple site. The Younger Dryas is seen as a crucial period in humanity's history as it coincides with the beginnings of agriculture and the first Neolithic civilisations

Dr Martin Sweatman, of the University of Edinburgh's School of Engineering, who led the research, said: 'I think this research, along with the recent finding of a widespread platinum anomaly across the North American continent, virtually seal the case in favour of (a Younger Dryas comet impact).

'Our work serves to reinforce that physical evidence. What is happening here is the process of paradigm change.

'It appears Göbekli Tepe was, among other things, an observatory for monitoring the night sky.

'One of its pillars seems to have served as a memorial to this devastating event – probably the worst day in history since the end of the ice age.'

Scientists were analysing the mysterious symbols carved onto stone pillars at Gobekli Tepe in southern Turkey to find out if they could be linked to constellations

The find supports a theory that Earth is likely to experience periods when comet strikes are more likely, owing to Earth's orbit intersecting orbiting rings of comet fragments in space (stock image)

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01-07-2021 om 18:32 geschreven door peter