Archaeological News

[X-Files]

They have their own website.

http://www.azores-pyramid.org/

[mnm]

The pyramid was hard to detect as it lay behind the ziggurat. First time I heard of this, but a quick google search on the local lingo shows a general lack of credit awarded to the news. Slow day in the news room syndrome. In any case a fine place worth the sightseeing

[Corinthian]

The pyramid was hard to detect as it lay behind the ziggurat. First time I heard of this, but a quick google search on the local lingo shows a general lack of credit awarded to the news. Slow day in the news room syndrome. In any case a fine place worth the sightseeing

 

 

[X-Files]

Archaeologists who for months have been uncovering mounting evidence of an ancient and extensive Native American village in the middle of downtown Miami have concluded it’s likely one of the most significant prehistoric sites in the United States.

The archaeologists, under the direction of veteran South Florida archaeologist Bob Carr, have so far painstakingly dug up eight large circles comprised of uniformly carved holes in the native limestone that they believe to be foundation holes for Tequesta Indian dwellings dating as far back as 2,000 years.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/02/03/3911049/prehistoric-village-found-in-downtown.html#storylink=cpy

 

http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/02/03/3911049/prehistoric-village-found-in-downtown.htmlhttp://www.miamiherald.com/2014/02/03/3911049/prehistoric-village-found-in-downtown.html

[toysoldier]

Bit old, a few days.

The stuff nightmares are made of:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/01/29/267598868/ancient-plagues-dna-revived-from-a-1-500-year-old-tooth

Ancient Plague's DNA Revived From A 1,500-Year-Old Tooth

Scientists have reconstructed the genetic code of a strain of bacteria that caused one of the most deadly pandemics in history nearly 1,500 years ago.

They did it by finding the skeletons of people killed by the plague and extracting DNA from traces of blood inside their teeth.

This plague struck in the year 541, under the reign of the Roman emperor Justinian, so it's usually called the . The emperor actually got sick himself but recovered. He was one of the lucky ones.

Housing developers outside Munich found skeletons of people killed by the Justinian plague during the 6th century.

M. Harbeck/University of Munich

"Some of the estimates are that up to 50 million people died," says evolutionary biologist at Northern Arizona University. "It's thought that the Justinian plague actually led partially to the downfall of the Roman Empire."

[Corinthian]

These days, though, antibiotics can quickly stop plague outbreaks in their tracks.

[Ivanhoe]

 

These days, though, antibiotics can quickly stop plague outbreaks in their tracks.

 

 

Almost as good as flamethrower AFVs...

[X-Files]

Vikings, huh?

I think they got the first word slighty wrong

[mnm]

[X-Files]

Photo shows the skulls' comparison of newly found ancient Qiang people and modern people. Recently, archaeologists have discovered an ancient tomb in Alaer, Southern Xinjiang, China. The finding shows that the skeleton of the Qiang people 4,000 years ago was nearly 2.3 meters long. Also, the Qiang people's front teeth are vertically grown, unlike modern people's teeth which are horizontally generated.

http://english.people.com.cn/202936/8536329.html

[JWB]

More on the Giang...

 

http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-evolution-human-origins/qiang-people-had-vertically-grown-teeth-092312

[Colin]

Old fortress found under Alcatraz

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-26233170

 

[X-Files]

For a lucky California couple, their $10 million pot of backyard gold came with a shadow, not a rainbow.

While walking the dog last February, the couple stumbled across a treasure of 1,427 gold coins from the mid- to late-19th century buried in eight cans in the shade of a tree on their property in the state's famous Gold Country, according to Kagin's, the numismatic firm representing the anonymous finders.

Dubbed the Saddle Ridge Hoard, it is believed to be "one of the greatest buried treasures ever unearthed in the United States," the trade journal Coin Update writes.

 

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/02/25/california-gold-coins-buried-treasure/5817179/

 

A $10 MILLION gold coin stash in California isn’t the only treasure trove uncovered in recent weeks.

A Roman gold hoard in Germany and a cache of medieval silver coins in Scotland have also been unearthed.

 

http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/a-series-of-finds-in-the-past-month-has-uncovered-lost-roman-artefacts-and-a-hoard-of-medieval-silver-coins/story-fnjwl1aw-1226838044639

[Colin]

Interesting comments in an Arch report for a proposed LNG plant in Prince Rupert

 

 

No archaeological materials recovered on the mainland north coast predate 5,000 years ago. The
reason for this lack of early materials is not clear, particularly in light of much earlier sites located in
the surrounding coastal areas (in southern Alaska to the north, on the Queen Charlottes to the west,
and on the central coast of BC to the south). Fladmark et al. (1990) list a variety of possible reasons
for the absence of recorded early sites in the area:
 Sites may be submerged.
 Sites may be elevated and obscured by dense forest cover.
 Sites may be missed due to the archaeological sampling techniques employed.
 The north coast may not have been inhabited at this time.
The ability to predict the location of early sites along this part of the coast is complicated by the
poorly understood history of environmental change linked to fluctuating sea levels in the last 10,000
years. Geological information regarding sea levels is particularly scarce and is further complicated by
differential degrees of land mass rebound in the north coast region as melting reduced the weight of
the 2 km thick Cordilleran ice sheet. As an example, 10,000 years ago the sea level in the Queen
Charlottes, which were never fully glaciated, was 30 m below its present level. In contrast, the
Skeena River estuary indicates that sea level was as much as 200 m above the present level 10,500
years ago (Fladmark et al. 1990; ). Geological evidence indicates that the sea may have achieved its
present level in the Skeena River Valley as early as 8,000 years ago. It is relatively certain that the
mainland coast achieved sea level stability by at least 5,000 years ago and that this part of the north
coast has unquestionably been continuously occupied since that time.

[Ivanhoe]

My theory is that areas with woods and relatively wet climates had lots more habitation than we'll ever know, simply due to predominant use of wood for structures and its natural decay.

 

For example, the archaeological record in the southeastern US comes largely from burial mounds. Of course, since there were natives living here when Euros showed up, it was easy enough to just ask them who lives where. But for Stone Agers, the habitat is pretty ideal. There had to have been millennia of habitation for which we'll never find physical evidence. The west coast of Canada seems to present an identical situation, more so since its closer to the land bridge.

[Colin]

Yes the Potlatch concept works well with a culture based on items with a limited lifespan, amassing a wealth of ceder boxes that might last 20-30 years is pointless, but by throwing a large gift giving party and creating a web of commitments of a return gifts at a later date makes perfect sense. within the study area referenced for this project, large numbers of "Culturally modified trees" exist, some of the marks predate contact, although most are after contact. Needless to say the claims of the 3 First Nations is quite strong and they will do well out of the benefit agreements. Currently 130% of this Province is claimed by First Nations

[T19]

I am really getting fed up with this claim BS, how can nomads claim land

 

Lets just close the book on these first immigrants, and move on. I am really fed up with the waste and corruption that are the so called native bands. They got here first, they were conquered either by sword, gun or red tape.

 

Settle up one last time, your now a citizen, move along nothing to see

[Panzermann]

So they have assimilated perfectly. The white man likes to go to court with bull shit claims to gain wealth without own efforts, too.

[MiloMorai]

I am really getting fed up with this claim BS, how can nomads claim land

 

Lets just close the book on these first immigrants, and move on. I am really fed up with the waste and corruption that are the so called native bands. They got here first, they were conquered either by sword, gun or red tape.

 

Settle up one last time, your now a citizen, move along nothing to see

 

Ah, the First Freeshitters.

[Colin]

I am really getting fed up with this claim BS, how can nomads claim land

 

Lets just close the book on these first immigrants, and move on. I am really fed up with the waste and corruption that are the so called native bands. They got here first, they were conquered either by sword, gun or red tape.

 

Settle up one last time, your now a citizen, move along nothing to see

The problem is there was no "conquering done" and many loose promises or even treaties signed and then ignored. The courts have said time and time again that the governments have a duty to the FN whether they like it or not. So we are bound to consult and deal with impacts as they arise. Having been deeply involved in this stuff since 1998, I will say the BC bands have come a long way and many of them support and want to benefit long term from the projects. Some bands are quite progressive, others still grappling with the same issues that T19 speaks of.

[T19]

Yes I think the west coast bands have a good graspe of the new reality as do the Cree of Quebec.

It's the ones in northern Ontario expecting to all have new homes free education and no taxes that piss me off

[Colin]

I can imagine their ancestors not being terribly impressed with many of their current lifestyles.

[R011]

Yes I think the west coast bands have a good graspe of the new reality as do the Cree of Quebec.

It's the ones in northern Ontario expecting to all have new homes free education and no taxes that piss me off

 

By "new" they tend to mean "habitable with drinkable water in places that do not flood every spring". We've turned them into wards of the state, including directing where their homes are to be biult, the least we can do is give them the bare necessities of life.

 

Now the issue of why they should be wards of the state and the problems that has created is a different matter.

[T19]

New means that you cannot claim to want to live like your forefathers yet insist on living in places only accessible in winter but wanting your Cadillac Esc to drive up and down your 2 mile strip of road. And go hunting with Ski Doos and ATVs.

 

The Indian act is crap, designed at a time where whites would have stripped the natives of everything. But today, the act impede the natives ability to control their own destiny. There are now lots of well educated lawyers etc in the native bands, yet they still want to keep were the money goes (chiefs pocket) a secret. You cannot have it both ways

 

settle up and cut the apron strings in 2 years

[R011]

You mean they're reluctant to abandon the communities they've lived in from time out of mind and become ghetto rats in the city? To be immigrants in their native country?

 

Mind you, you're quite right about how the Act is crap. It's turned them into wards of the state with all the negative connotations and issues that brings. Local leadership is often corrupt while government bureaucrats, the usual alternative, tend to live down to expectations. Be cheaper to pay every status Indian a million dollars each and end all this stuff.