Archaeological News

[bd1]

[X-Files]

[T19]

What kind of plane was thatÉ

[bojan]

Looks like An-12.

[X-Files]

AN-12, I think.

 

[bojan]

CGIed, as one pilot told "If An-12 engines are not smoking they are not working"...

Real An-12 on takeoff - EPA would get heart attack...

[X-Files]

Very interesting shot, because this aircraft became famous some time before it was destroyed in a crash... This AN-12 received a new registration "9Q-CIH" and could be seen in the movie "Lord of War" with "Nicolas Cage"... It crashes killing the 6 crew members in Uganda in january 2005 because of an engine failure.

 

http://www.airliners.net/photo/644434/M/

[bojan]

I don't doubt it is real aircraft, just landing ain't as engines produce a lot of smoke during landing and take off.

Real landing, note how much smoke is there:

http://youtu.be/PXkdvEWkwUE

http://youtu.be/B1CWGNQ1RT0

Edited January 9, 2014 by bojan

[X-Files]

Bulgaria's newest archaeological complex consisting of a tomb of an Ancient Thrace aristocrat and displaying a uniquely preserved Thracian chariot has been opened in the village of Karanovo Saturday. - See more at: http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=117538#sthash.ZAfFTu8Y.dpuf

Edited January 10, 2014 by X-Files

[X-Files]

Mystery of Alexander the Great's death solved? Ruler was 'killed by toxic wine' claim scientists

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/mystery-of-alexander-the-greats-death-solved-ruler-was-killed-by-toxic-wine-claim-scientists-9054625.html

[Colin]

B.C. coin renews interest in 'secret voyage'

Discovery adds to evidence that Sir Francis Drake came to Vancouver Island, says historian

BY RANDY BOSWELL, POSTMEDIA NEWS JANUARY 13, 2014

The discovery of a 16th-century coin buried in clay on a Vancouver Island shoreline is rekindling interest in a controversial theory that English explorer Sir Francis Drake made a secret voyage to Canada's Pacific Coast in 1579 - two centuries before Spanish sailors and the legendary British navigator Capt. James Cook made their famous "first" European visits to the future British Columbia in the 1770s.

Former B.C. cabinet minister Samuel Bawlf, the leading proponent of the Drake theory and author of a 2003 book on the subject, says the discovery of the coin by a Victoria metal-detector hobbyist adds to the substantial documentary evidence that Drake - well known to have reached California during his 1579 expedition - actually sailed to Vancouver Island and well beyond, but was ordered by Queen Elizabeth I to hide the true extent of his northward travels to protect England's strategic interests in the New World.

And one of the province's top archeologists, Royal B.C. Museum curator Grant Keddie, told Postmedia News that he's made plans to examine the 460-year-old shilling, noting that "this now makes three coins from the 1500s" that have been found along the B.C. coast.

"I am encouraging (relic hunters) to take another look at things they may have found here that are not identified - such as ceramics or glassware - that might date to the same time period as the coin," added Keddie, who has described Bawlf's theory as compelling and worth continued investigation by scholars.

The newly discovered coin bears marks indicating it was produced between 1551 and 1553 during the reign of King Edward VI, the son of Henry VIII and half-brother of Elizabeth I. It was found in December by retired security specialist Bruce Campbell, who told Postmedia News he initially had no idea the centuries-old bit of silver could help rewrite the early history of Canada.

"I made an offhand comment that everybody I hunt with finds all the goodies and I don't," said Campbell, 59, recalling the Dec. 13 outing with friends. "So I said I'm going where no one else is and walked down and into the high-tide line."

Over the next hour, in the fading light of what would become Campbell's luckiestever Friday the 13th, he repeatedly hit pay dirt: first a rare 1891 nickel, then an interesting dime from the 1960s, then a large penny from 1900.

Finally, as dusk was setting in, his detector turned up an old, encrusted piece of metal

from under eight centimetres of blue clay.

"It was all black and crusty and full of gunk from being in the water," said Campbell, who described how some careful cleaning with soap and water and a soaking in lemon juice revealed clear details of an English shilling with Edward VI's portrait.

"It turned out to be very nice underneath," he said, noting that he initially had "no idea" that unearthing a 16th-century coin in B.C. could have implications for the history of the province, the country and whole grand saga of New World discovery.

"I just thought it was a cool coin to find," said Campbell. But fellow members of an online forum for metal detector enthusiasts soon informed him of the potential link to Bawlf's tantalizing theory about Drake.

"I ended up with the find of a lifetime," said Campbell. "It definitely does deserve further research."

Bawlf bases his theory on encrypted maps and other British archival documents from the late 1500s that suggest Drake was directed to safeguard his first-hand knowledge of the Pacific Northwest from England's Spanish enemies.

Other finds hinting at a possible 16th-century English presence along the B.C. coast include a 1571 sixpence dug up in 1930 in the backyard of a Victoria home and another Tudor-era coin unearthed on Quadra Island.

"The documentary evidence is compelling in and of itself," said Bawlf, who helped construct B.C.'s heritage-protection regime when he was a provincial cabinet minister in the 1970s.

His theory about Drake, he insisted, doesn't hinge on discovering coins or other objects left behind by the explorer during an officially unrecorded voyage to the future Canada.

"But now we're getting corroborating evidence. And two of the three coins were found long before I put pen to paper, so this is just further impetus for the documentary proof," said Bawlf.

"We do know from numerous recorded circumstances, as Drake made his way around South America, that he made a genuine effort to befriend (aboriginal inhabitants) and present gifts and so on," Bawlf said.

© Copyright © The Vancouver Sun

http://www.vancouversun.com/coin+renews+interest+secret+voyage/9379544/story.html

[Panzermann]

did the natives have already set up gift shops for the expected explorers?

 

 

seriously:

Why and how did they leave coins there? I mean there was nothing to buy so pretty useless IMHO to bring money ashore.

Edited January 15, 2014 by Panzermann

[X-Files]

AIUI, novelty factor - if you could trade a silver Shilling to Chief Wheredafukarwe for your weight in beaver pelts, because his senior squaw thought it was cool, then everyone had a win-win.

 

http://www.theorderoftime.com/politics/cemetery/stout/h/pbb-24.htm

 

Also, there was practical value for the natives -

 

Armor vest of caribou skin covered with Chinese coins

http://trailtribes.org/fortclatsop/maritime-fur-trade.htm

[Ivanhoe]

 

Yep. A universal trait of the female is the need to self-decorate, plus in Stone Age tribal societies, there are social forces that cause the menfolk to do likewise.

 

And if you think we've advanced beyond that sort of thing, take a stroll through a nearby parking lot and inspect the embellishments that guys of all stripes put on their cars and trucks. And in a direct Stone Age/Internet Age parallel, next time you're at the gun show, go to the guy selling the upscale long arms and check out the custom engraving, figured walnut stocks, etc. No different from a Native American decorating his tomahawk or spear.

 

---

 

The question I have is, who brought the coins to BC? I think its a harder sell to say that the coins were minted in Blighty, paid to Drake, who then sailed all the way round to BC and traded them for whatever (quite possibly sex, that's a long sail!). Cash money being what it is, I'd be more inclined to believe that Drake received said coins, spent them in Central America, where they traded hands a few times, then ended up in some sailor's pocket whose travels are not known to posterity. He sails to BC, gets laid, goes his merry way without any record of having visited BC.

 

And if you're a trader, there's kind of a strong disincentive to record your trades and travels. Some d-bag customs guy or port official "inspects" your ship, pores over your charts and logs, and makes detailed notes on where you made trades and the transaction details. If Barnacle Bill the Sailor has found a hidden gem of a coastal tribe where he can trade 10 quid of silver coins for 5000 quid of pelts or whatever, knowing that exchange rate and location is in itself information worth millions.

[X-Files]

CAIRO — A previously unknown pharaoh and his burial place have been unearthed amid the tombs of other Egyptian kings, and archaeologists say the find could lead to still more royal discoveries.

 

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/mystery-pharaoh-his-tomb-identified-egypt-2D11934339

 

Post your best Billy Zane pics below.

[Ivanhoe]

[X-Files]

 

Poor safety protocol.

 

[toysoldier]

 

CAIRO — A previously unknown pharaoh and his burial place have been unearthed amid the tombs of other Egyptian kings, and archaeologists say the find could lead to still more royal discoveries.

 

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/mystery-pharaoh-his-tomb-identified-egypt-2D11934339

 

Post your best Billy Zane pics below.

 

 

Contrary to popular believe, Billy Zane never played The Mummy, although i bet he regrets missing that audition.

Meet Arnold Vosloo:

[X-Files]

 

Contrary to popular belief, Billy Zane never played The Mummy, although i bet he regrets missing that audition.

Meet Arnold Vosloo:

 

 

 

Meanwhile, have a two-fer - Weird. Archeology.

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2014/01/new-search-for-extraterrestrial-archeology-cosmos-detectives-probe-kepler-mission-data-todays-most-p.html

Edited January 16, 2014 by X-Files

[toysoldier]

damn homophones always get the best of me.

[Archie Pellagio]

I was wondering what the link between Egyptian pharoh's and Billy Zane was, the closest I could think of was the big budget telemovie Cleopatra where he played Marc Antony.

[X-Files]

The heads of Gladiators brutally killed for the amusement of Roman audiences may have been fed to dogs, it has been revealed.

Skulls discovered within the boundaries of ancient London a quarter of a century ago are now believed to be those of gladiators - and the first results from the analysis of them has uncovered shocking new details.

 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2543659/Did-Romans-feed-severed-heads-gladiators-fought-City-London-DOGS.html#ixzz2r9WKcS34

[toysoldier]

http://news.sciencemag.org/archaeology/2014/01/how-farming-reshaped-our-genomes

 

 

 

[X-Files]

A church which dates back to the year 500 CE was unearthed during excavations conducted under in the depths of Lake Iznik in Turkey's western province of Bursa.

 

http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=127746

[Ivanhoe]

This is pretty much abovetopsecret level of news, but enjoy it anyways;

 

http://csglobe.com/underwater-pyramid-found-near-portugal/

 

Portuguese news reported the discovery of a very large under water pyramid first discovered by Diocleciano Silva between the islands of São Miguel and Terceira in the Azores of Portugal.

 

According to claims, the structure is said to be perfectly squared and oriented by the cardinalpoints. Current estimates obtained using GPS digital technology put the height at 60 meters with a base of 8000 square meters. The Portuguese Hydrographic Institute of the Navy currently has the job of analyzing the data to determine whether or not the structure is man-made.