• 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

THE GOBLEKI TEPE CARVINGS

Gobleki Tepe is thought to be the world's oldest temple site.

Estimates suggest it dates back to around 9,000BC.

It is 6,000 years older than Stonehenge.

The carvings found by the team remained important to the people of Gobekli Tepe for millennia.

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

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

They claim that a carving showing a headless man may indicate human disaster and extensive loss of life.

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.

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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)

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

23-01-2022 om 18:30 geschreven door peter  

 New evidence suggests a huge asteroid DID hit EARTH 12,800 years ago causing an ice age, wiping out dozens of species and decimating humans

• A team of scientists discovered a 'platinum spike' suggesting a meteorite had hit

• Found in Wonderkrater in the Limpopo Province, north of Pretoria in South Africa

• Findings could prove mini-ice age Younger Dryas was triggered by a meteoroid

By MILLY VINCENT FOR MAILONLINE

A huge asteroid may have hit the Earth 12,800 years ago causing global climate change and extinction, according to new evidence found in South Africa.

Scientists analysed ancient soil at a site called Wonderkrater and found high levels of platinum - which they say supports the The Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis that a disintegrating meteor hit Earth and caused a mini ice age. 

The resulting ice age is believed by many scientists to have wiped out dozens of mammals species including the Mammoth and giant wildebeest and decimated the human population. 

Scientists believe 'platinum spikes' found in ancient soil samples across the world are evidence of the meteor fragments that crashed into Earth.  

Meteorites are rich in platinum and the Wonderkrater site  in the Limpopo Province, north of Pretoria in South Africa adds to almost 30 other platinum spikes found worldwide, mostly in the northern hemisphere. 

This map shows the locations of platinum spikes which have been observed around the world, suggesting a meteorite may have smashed into Earth and scattered debris everywhere

WHAT IS THE YOUNGER DRYAS IMPACT HYPOTHESIS?

The Younger Dryas impact hypothesis proposes that fragments of a disintegrating comet struck the Earth around 12,800 years ago.

These fragments bombarded North and South America, Europe and western Asia.

This generated a thin layer of detritus covering around 19.3 million square miles (50 million square kilometres).

This layer contained concentrations of platinum, meltglass and nano-diamonds from the impactors. 

Experts argue that this episode saw large-scale biomass burning, an impact-induced winter, longer-time climatic shifts and the extinction of late Pleistocene megafauna.

Until now, proof that meteoroids had impacted during that period and potentially led to a mini-ice age had only been documented across the northern hemisphere.

A total of 28 areas with high levels of platinum had been found. 

The findings from the researchers at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa partially support the theory that a meteorite crashed into earth with global consequences – along with another meteorite site discovered in Chile.

An episode of rapid cooling named the The Younger Dryas is a well documented period believed to have contributed to the extinction of many species of large animals around 12,800 years ago.

Theories previously pointed to this post-ice age cooling as a result of changes in oceanic circulation systems.

Another theory was presented by American scientists in 2007 – that the cooling was triggered by the dust fallout of an asteroid impact.

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Dust circulating in the atmosphere after an impact could have reduced the amount of sunlight reaching the earth, affecting plant growth and temperatures on earth.  

Now Francis Thackeray of the Evolutionary Studies Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa believes a platinum spike found in South Africa proves the extinction of many large animals globally could have been caused by one or multiple meteoroid impacts.

Researchers have discovered their first evidence in the southern hemisphere that a mini ice age almost 13,000 years ago may have been caused by clouds of dust thrown up by an asteroid impact

(stock image)

Dr Thackeray who was working with researcher Philip Pieterse from the University of Johannesburg and Professor Louis Scott of the University of the Free State, said: 'Our finding at least partially supports the highly controversial Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis (YDIH).

'We seriously need to explore the view that an asteroid impact somewhere on earth may have caused climate change on a global scale.

'And [it may have] contributed to some extent to the process of extinctions of large animals at the end of the Pleistocene, after the last ice age.' 

Many mammals became extinct in North America, South America and Europe at the time of the Younger Dryas. 

In South Africa a few extraordinary large animal species became extinct around that period including the giant African buffalo, a large zebra, and a very big wildebeest each weighing around 1,100lbs (500kg) more than its modern counterpart.

Human populations may also have been indirectly affected at the time in question. 

Thackeray argues that a dramatic halt in the development of the use of stone tools by the Clovis people in North America and the Robberg stone artefacts used by populations in South Africa around that period could indicate that an asteroid may have caused global consequences.

Dr Thackery said: 'Without necessarily arguing for a single causal factor on a global scale, we cautiously hint at the possibility that these technological changes, in North America and on the African subcontinent at about the same time, might have been associated indirectly with an asteroid impact with major global consequences.'   

WHEN WERE EARTH'S 'BIG FIVE' EXTINCTION EVENTS?

Traditionally, scientists have referred to the 'Big Five' mass extinctions, including perhaps the most famous mass extinction triggered by a meteorite impact that brought about the end of the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. 

But the other major mass extinctions were caused by phenomena originating entirely on Earth, and while they are less well known, we may learn something from exploring them that could shed light on our current environmental crises.

1. The Late Ordovician: This ancient crisis around 445m years ago saw two major waves of extinction, both caused by climate change associated with the advance and retreat of ice sheets in the southern hemisphere. This makes it the only major extinction to be linked to global cooling. 
2. The Late Devonian: This period is now regarded as a number of 'pulses' of extinction spread over 20m years, beginning 380m years ago. This extinction has been linked to major climate change, possibly caused by an eruption of the volcanic Viluy Traps area in modern-day Siberia. A major eruption might have caused rapid fluctations in sea levels and reduced oxygen levels in the oceans.
3. The Middle Permian:  Scientists have recently discovered another event 262m years ago that rivals the 'Big Five' in size. This event coincided with the Emeishan eruption in what's now China, and is known to have caused simultaneous extinctions in the tropics and higher latitudes.
4. The Late Permian: The Late Permian mass extinction around 252m years ago dwarfs all the other events, with about 96% of species becoming extinct. The extinction was triggered by a vast eruption of the Siberian Traps, a gigantic and prolonged volcanic event that covered much of modern day Siberia, which led to a cascade of environmental effects.
5. The Late Triassic: The Late Triassic event, 201m years ago, shares a number of similarities with the Late Permian event. It was caused by another large-scale eruption, this time of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province, which heralded the splitting of the supercontinent Pangaea and the initial opening of what would later become the Atlantic Ocean.

A meteor glowing as it enters the earth's atmosphere

(stock image)

He added: 'We cannot be certain, but a cosmic impact could have affected humans as a result of local changes in environment and the availability of food resources.'

At Wonderkrater, the team has also uncovered evidence from pollen to show that about 12,800 years ago there was temporary cooling.

This linked up with the 'Younger Dryas' drop in temperature that is well documented in the northern hemisphere, and now also in South Africa. 

According to some scientists, this cooling in widespread areas could have been caused by the global dispersal of platinum-rich atmospheric dust after a meteorite hit. 

Thackeray's team believes their discovery of a platinum spike at about 12,800 years ago at Wonderkrater is just part of the strengthening view that an asteroid or cometary impact might have occurred at that time.

This is the first evidence in Africa for a platinum spike leading to the mini-ice age of the Younger Dryas.

Younger Dryas spikes in platinum have also been found in Greenland, Eurasia, North America, Mexico and recently also at Pilauco in Chile.

Wonderkrater is the 30th site in the world discovered with evidence of platinum spikes.

Thackeray said: 'Our evidence is entirely consistent with the Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis.'

The discovery in South Africa is expected to be analysed in context with those made in other parts of the world.

A large crater 31 kilometres in diameter was discovered in northern Greenland beneath the Hiawatha Glacier last year. 

Thackery recognises that the source of the platinum at Wonderkrater could hypothetically be cosmic dust that was dispersed in the atmosphere after a meteorite impact in Greenland. 

The South African research has been supported by the National Research Foundation and the DST/NRF Centre of Excellence for the Palaeosciences and was published in Palaeontologia Africana.

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

23-01-2022 om 18:09 geschreven door peter  

Asteroid Impact vs. Pole Shift as Cause of Catastrophic Destruction 12,900 Years Ago

I often write about a periodic cycle of pole shift catastrophes that alter the entire surface of the Earth and reduce civilizations to ruins every 12-13,000 years (probably every half-precession cycle of about 12,900 years.) But many researchers, including Graham Hancock, suggest that this (last) catastrophe roughly 12,800 years ago was caused by a comet impact – not a pole shift. Does evidence favor one theory over the other? From a Russian article I found recently:

What was the largest catastrophe in the history of the Earth: theories and facts

Researchers from the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa) have evidence that the Earth was hit by a comet or asteroid almost 13,000 years ago.

“A global catastrophe led to climate change known as the Dryas Cooldown (10730-9700 BC) and also caused the extinction of many animal species. In 2019, South African researchers analyzed rock samples recovered from peat deposits in the Limpopo province of South Africa. As a result, they found a high concentration of platinum, which is also found in celestial bodies.

According to the researchers, this is another evidence in favor of the hypothesis of a large space object colliding with the Earth – a comet or an asteroid, which probably fell in Northern Greenland, where a crater 31 kilometers in diameter and 12,800 years old was discovered under the Hiawatha glacier. Climate change has been caused by the dispersion of dust and soot in the planet’s atmosphere. Platinum has also been found in rocks of the same age in Greenland, Eurasia, North America, Mexico, and Chile.”

The image directly above does not show impact craters under the ice, like the recently discovered Hiawatha Crater in NW Greenland. It doesn’t show the ones in South Carolina or anywhere outside North America. What it does show, however, is that the last ice cap in Pleistocene times was centered near Hudson Bay, not our current North Pole.

Notice most of Alaska and all of Siberia (where so many remains of mammoths – which ate 500 pounds of vegetation a day – have been found) were not covered by an ice sheet but in fact were much warmer – before Asia moved north by 30 degrees of latitude (suddenly freezing the region) and the Americas moved 30 degrees south (thawing eastern Canada) during the last pole shift.

I feel the following adequately sums up the asteroid theory: we found impact craters, and the surface of the entire world shows a layer of dust rich in platinum (and other elements far less common on Earth) covered our world roughly 10,800 B.C. Therefore, the resulting climate changes and mass extinctions were caused by the comet (or fragments) impact.

While there are many impact craters from approximately the first century of the Younger Dryas climate change events, there is massive evidence supporting another cause – the idea that our entire galaxy has a positive and negative side separated not by a flat sheet but by a rippling, wave-like undulation between positive and negative charge. This ripple or wave reaches us roughly every 12,900 years and causes stellar micronovas and planetary pole shifts.

Many nearby stars between our sun and the galactic center have already erupted in recent years. It is only a matter of time before the strength of the incoming galactic wave overpowers and reverses the electromagnetic fields of our sun and our Earth.

Our sun’s magnetic field will eventually be overwhelmed and reversed by the galactic field changes, and our planetary magnetic field is overwhelmed with both the galactic wave (which takes centuries to make the full polarity reversal) and the solar micronova (which is over in hours and is the direct and immediate trigger of the pole shifts on Earth.) This is supported by many ancient myths, legends, and religions – such as Egyptian records of the sun rising in the west and setting in the east prior to the last catastrophe – or the Greek myth of Phaethon failing the handle Apollo’s sun-chariot and coming to close to Earth and scorching it before Zeus intervened by “tilting the table” to flood the burning lands and put out the fires and returning the reins to Apollo – or the description of an intensely brightened sun from Isaiah 30:26 “…the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days…”

As our terrestrial magnetic field weakens to zero and reverses, our protection from cosmic radiation and dust temporarily disappears. The flow of the extended and greatly strengthened solar magnetic field flows right through the Earth, north to south, and carries extra cosmic dust pushed in from the galactic wave and a much greater amount of solar particles blasted out with the micronova. This also explains the high levels of platinum and other elements on the surface of the Earth at the time of pole shift events.

Earth is rarely hit by comets or asteroids, partially because the ones that intersect Earth’s orbit usually hit within the first thousand years of the establishment of such intersecting orbits, followed by long periods of stability and virtually no impacts for many thousands of years (our recent history) because Earth has cleared the path of its orbit by impacting the problems earlier…. Until the next galactic wave and micronova blasts disturb the orbits of everything in the solar system, followed by centuries of newly dislodged objects pushed into new trajectories. This causes at least a few centuries of much more frequent impacts on Earth.

So yes, there are impact craters and high levels of rare elements approximately 12,800 years ago. But I think the evidence suggests that was a result of the galactic ripple, solar micronova, and pole shift which occurred around 12,850-12,900 years ago. If the evidence truly favors a periodic (recurring) cycle of pole shift catastrophes, and not a one-time random impact event for the Pleistocene extinction that happened almost 13,000 years ago – why does our government – which funds the scientific establishment that won’t bite the hand that funds it – not admit or acknowledge the recurring pole shift cycle? (Or any other cyclic theory, such as our sun having a distant binary companion such as Sirius – or even that the sun is in one of the filaments/threads of a galactic rope of Birkeland currents of charged plasma, making it look like we are rotating with another nearby star or two as our filament channels and spirals us around the larger “rope” of entwined filaments?)

Because a one-time impact won’t happen again. Governments often love to incite fear and make the public take the action they want and have planned for. But in this case, they want the public to remain ignorant and take no action beyond continuing to work and pay taxes right up to the end, so that the elite get build, supply, and retreat into their bunkers without millions or billions of informed and angry unselected useless eaters like us banging down their doors or detonating nukes or burying their exits under tons of concrete. To avoid that, they must not teach about recurring cycles of destruction, especially if another event is due within our lifetimes. Instead we are offered distractions and lies.

The next pole shift is due in the 2nd quarter of the 21st century. There are plans to survive it. But you and I are not invited. I can find no acknowledgement of pole shift cycles by the American government. But I did recently find declassified KGB files offering Soviet acknowledgement – and they comment on known American preparations and even the Nazi archives they found on the subject. (The Nazis also expected the next pole shift in the early 21st century.)

If interested in any of these theories, check the links below for what I consider the best sources.

• English translation of over 200 pages of the KGB’s “Project Orion”
• The Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis
• Graham Hancock, Randall Carlson, Michael Shermer, and Joe Rogan discuss the Impact Theory
• Doug Vogt of the Diehold Foundation explains the cycle of Stellar and Solar Novas
• Ben Davidson (Suspicious0bservers channel on Youtube) explains the Solar Micronova cycle

This post, with the links to files and videos above – is in my opinion the best source of information on these subjects except for my last book:

Pole Shift: Evidence Will Not Be Silenced

Thank you for reading this. If you are convinced – please tell others.

{ https://beforeitsnews.com/ }

23-01-2022 om 17:39 geschreven door peter  

The Megalithic Unfinished Obelisk St Aswan In Egypt, Video, UFO Sighting News.

Date of video: January 8, 2022

Location of Obelisk: St Aswan, Egypt

 

This video was taken by the famous Brian Foerster in Egypt. He is a tour guide and history expert who is looking at the unfinished Megalithic obelisk that is still laying in the ground. Although carving this huge megalith would be possible for humans if years of work were put into it...it would however be impossible to move such a massive stone structure hundreds of miles to Cairo which is 650km (404 miles) away. The structure is 137 feet (42 meters) long if completed and would weigh and estimated 1,200 tones. Thats like carrying a cargo ship loaded with containers on it...and carrying it not sailing it...across the mountains, desert, rocks and scorching earth to Cairo 650km away...we cannot even do that today! Its insane! 

 

The only way such a megalithic structure could be moved is by using alien anti gravity technology. Even today, with all our modern equipment, technology and methods of transportation...we could never create and move this structure in one piece. This is 100% proof that aliens were here a long time ago, creating ancient Egypt. 

Scott C. Waring - Taiwan 

RELATED VIDEOS, selected and posted by peter2011

{ https://www.ufosightingsdaily.com/ }

23-01-2022 om 15:17 geschreven door peter  

• Ancient paintings assumed to be animal symbols actually represent star maps

• Humans had a sophisticated knowledge of the stars as long as 40,000 years ago 

• They appear to have kept track of time by watching how stars change position

By HARRY PETTIT FOR MAILONLINE 

Some ancient cave paintings assumed to be animal symbols actually represent star constellations, scientists have claimed.

New research suggests humans had a sophisticated knowledge of the stars as long as 40,000 years ago.

They also appear to have kept track of time by watching how stars slowly change their position in the night sky.

The phenomenon, known as precession of the equinoxes, is caused by the gradual shift of Earth's rotational axis.

Its discovery was previously credited to the ancient Greeks thousands of years later.

Scroll down for video 

Pictured is the Lascaux Shaft Scene in a complex of caves in the Dordogne region of France. The work features a dying man and several animals. According to a new study, it may commemorate a comet strike around 15,200 BC

The cave artists looked to the stars to mark major events such as comet strikes, according to the researchers.

Study leader Dr Martin Sweatman, from the University of Edinburgh, said: 'Early cave art shows that people had advanced knowledge of the night sky within the last ice age. Intellectually, they were hardly any different to us today.'

Teams from the universities of Edinburgh and Kent studied details of Palaeolithic and Neolithic cave art sites in Turkey, Spain, France and Germany.

Animal symbol pictures daubed on the walls of the caves were aged by chemically dating the paints used.

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Computer software was then employed to predict the positions of stars when the paintings were made.

The results showed that what looked like abstract depictions of animals could be interpreted as zodiac signs based on constellations as they appeared at the time.

At every site, the cave artists practised a method of time keeping based on astronomy, the scientists claimed.

This was despite the fact that the paintings were separated in time by tens of thousands of years.

The world's oldest sculpture, the Lion Man of Hohlenstein-Stadel cave in Germany (pictured), an ivory carving almost 40,000 years old, was also found to support the zodiac symbol theory

The world's oldest sculpture, the Lion Man of Hohlenstein-Stadel cave in Germany, an ivory carving almost 40,000 years old, was also found to support the zodiac symbol theory.

Researchers said an ancient carved stone pillar from Gobekli Tepe in Turkey provided them with their 'Rosetta Stone' - the key to unlocking the zodiac code.

It was thought to commemorate a devastating meteor impact in North America 11,000 years ago that led to the Younger Dryas Event, a period of sudden climate cooling that triggered a mini-ice age across the northern hemisphere.

The authors wrote in their paper: 'The date carved into the Vulture Stone is interpreted to be 10,950 BC, to within 250 years.

'This date is written using precession of the equinoxes, with animal symbols representing star constellations corresponding to the four solstices and equinoxes of this year.'

The scientists also decoded what is probably the best known ancient artwork, the Lascaux Shaft Scene in a complex of caves in the Dordogne region of France.

The work features a dying man and several animals.

It may commemorate another comet strike around 15,200 BC, the researchers suggest.

Dr Sweatman added: 'These findings support a theory of multiple comet impacts over the course of human development, and will probably revolutionise how prehistoric populations are seen.'

The study was published in the Athens Journal of History.

WHAT EXAMPLES OF EARLY HUMAN ART HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED WORLDWIDE?

It seems that humanity and its ancestors have been driven to create patterns, abstract images and representations of the world around them for thousands of years.

The earliest known engraving, a zig-zag pattern, incised on a fresh water shell from Trinil, Java, was found in layers of sediment dated to 540,000 years ago.

A recent article proposed that painted representations in three caves of the Iberian Peninsula were 64,000 years old and therefore produced by Neanderthals. 

The oldest known shell (top) to have been engraved by an early human has been uncovered in a Dutch museum collection, where it remained unnoticed since the 1930s. Pictured here is its polished edge (bottom)

Lifelike images found at sites such as the famous Lascaux Cave in south-west France, which date to around 30,000 years ago, are said to demonstrate an ability to depict animal movement superior to that seen today.   

In 2018, experts uncovered evidence of art made by humans dating back 73,000 years in an African cave.

Scientists say the drawing, which consists of three red lines cross-hatched with six separate lines, was 'intentionally created' on a smooth silcrete flake.

That makes the drawing, found in the Blombos Caves site in South Africa, the oldest drawing by Homo sapiens ever found, experts say.

Read more:

• Athens Journal of History | Academic Journals

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

22-01-2022 om 23:23 geschreven door peter  

The first ever pangolin in Europe dating back to the Pleistocene Epoch has been discovered. It is the youngest that has ever been found in addition to being a completely new species.

A humerus bone was unearthed at a rich fossil deposit called Grăunceanu which is located in the Olteţ River Valley of Romania. Grăunceanu and additional sites in Olteţ have been the focus of an international team of researchers for about the last decade. The sites were revealed by landslides that occurred back in the 1960s. Some of the fossils found there over the years include a short-necked giraffe, large terrestrial monkey, saber-toothed cats, and rhinoceroses. And of course, this new pangolin species.

Pangolin

Detailed analysis of a humerus bone revealed that it belonged to a new pangolin species that has been named Smutsia olteniensis. It dates back between 2.2 and 1.9 million years ago during the Pleistocene Epoch. It was previously believed that pangolins left Europe around 10 million years ago during the middle part of the Miocene Epoch in order to travel to warmer climates. However, this new discovery has debunked that theory as pangolins were in fact still in Europe for many millions of years.

Claire Terhune, who is an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Arkansas, noted, “What’s especially exciting is that although some work in the 1930s suggested the presence of pangolins in Europe during the Pleistocene, those fossils had been lost, and other researchers doubted their validity,” adding, “Now we know for sure that pangolins were present in Europe around at least 2 million years ago.”

She went on to describe the bone, “It’s not a fancy fossil.” “It’s just a single bone, but it is a new species of a kind of a weird animal. We’re proud of it because the fossil record for pangolins is extremely sparse. This one happens to be the youngest pangolin ever discovered from Europe and the only pangolin fossil from Pleistocene Europe.” (A picture of the bone can be seen here.)

Pangolin

 newly described specimen for the fossil pangolin species Smutsia oltenien

The now-extinct Smutsia olteniensis shared some similarities with modern members of the Smutsia genus that currently live in Africa. Modern pangolins inhabit Africa and Asia. They are described as being scaly anteaters that slightly resemble armadillos that inhabit in the southern part of the United States. Even though they are full of scales, they are not reptiles and are instead categorized as mammals with close relations to carnivores.

The study was published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology where it can be read in full.

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

14-01-2022 om 22:18 geschreven door peter  

Thousands of rare and prehistoric fossils have been found in the now-dry “dead heart” of Australia. These fossils, which include spiders, small fish, and plants, date back between 16 and 11 million years ago during the Miocene Epoch when the region was full of rainforests.

The discoveries were made at a new fossil site called McGraths Flat in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales (close to the town of Gulgong). The field belonged to a farmer who reported that he found fossilized leaves and that’s how the discoveries began. This location is one of very few fossil sites in Australia that are referred to as a Lagerstätte which means that the fossils are of incredible quality.

(Not the fossils mentioned in this article.)

The rock layer that contains the fossils measures between 11,000 and 22,000 square feet (1,000 to 2,000 square meters). Paleontologists have excavated a little more than 500 square feet (50 square meters) so far, so there is a lot left to uncover. The reason why the fossils are so well preserved is because they are surrounded by goethite (iron-rich rock) on top of a sandstone layer. The fossils were in a now-dry pool and surrounded by iron and additional minerals that would have fallen into the pool from basalt cliffs (this is called a billabong).

Previous fossil findings in Australia from the Miocene Epoch were mostly teeth and bones belonging to larger animals, but the new discoveries were very significant as they were much smaller creatures like insects and tiny fish, as well as rainforest plants. In an email to Live Science, Matthew McCurry, who is the curator of paleontology at the Australian Museum, stated, “This site gives us unprecedented insight into what these ecosystems were like.” “We now know how diverse these ecosystems were, which species lived in them and how these species interacted.”

The fossils were analyzed with scanning electron microscopes (SEM) which allowed the experts to see them in incredible detail, such as the subcellular structures and single cells. What’s even more amazing is that the SEM revealed what the creatures ate prior to dying (these meals included larvae, fish, and a dragonfly wing that was partly digested). The SEM revealed other interesting features like pollen grains that were attached to the bodies of insects, and a freshwater mussel that was holding onto the fin of a fish.

(Not any of the fossils mentioned in this article.)

Additional fossils include fungal spores, pollen, flowering plants, a feather belonging to a sparrow-sized bird, and over a dozen fish specimens, as well as “a wide diversity of fossilized insects and arachnids”. There had only been four fossilized spiders found in Australia and thirteen have been discovered so far at this new fossil site. Pictures of the spider and feather fossils can be viewed here.

Exceptional fossils of a spider and a feather from the Australian site are between 16 million and 11 million years old. 

(Image credit: Michael Frese)

Millions of years ago, this site was a lush rainforest ecosystem that washome to diverse plant and animal species. 

(Image credit: Alex Boermsa)

Based on analysis of the fossilized leaves, the experts were able to calculate that the average temperature during that time period was approximately 63 degrees Fahrenheit (17 degrees Celsius). Their study was published in the journal Science Advances.

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11-01-2022 om 22:41 geschreven door peter  

New Denisovan Fossils From Siberian Cave Are The Oldest Ever Found

Researchers from the Max Planck Society and the Universities of Vienna and Tübingen have found new fossilized human-like remains mixed in an assortment of bone samples taken from Siberia’s famed Denisova Cave. This includes three fragments that belonged to actual Denisovans, the much-speculated-about species that gave the cave its name. These bones will be added to the growing collection of Denisovan fossils connected to the most intriguing of all the extinct human species, which lived on the Earth at the same time as Neanderthals and early modern humans yet left such a light footprint as to be virtually undetectable.

Remarkably, these Denisovan fossils were recovered from a deep excavation layer that dated to 200,000 years in the past. These are the earliest Denisovan remains ever found, and they prove that Denisova Cave was occupied by archaic humans more than 150,000 years before modern humans reached the Siberian region following their migrations out of Africa. The analysis results of the newly discovered Denisovan fossils have been published in a study in the Nature Ecology & Evolution journal.

The latest Denisovan fossils were found in a deep layer of Denisova Cave in Siberian Russia and proven to date back about 200,000 years, making them the oldest Denisovan remains ever found.

(Демин Алексей Барнаул / CC BY-SA 4.0 )

Evidence Found In a Haystack of Denisovan Fossil Fragments

Science first learned of the existence of the Denisovans in 2008. That’s when a small number of fossilized bones and teeth were recovered from an isolated cave in the Altai Mountains in southern Siberia.

Unfortunately, the Denisovan fossil fragments found at the Denisova Cave were few. They revealed scarce details about this long-lost Homo sapiens cousin, which is believed to have died out approximately 50,000 years ago. In the years that have passed since, archaeologists and anthropologists have been frantically searching for more remains left behind by this elusive species. They’ve been searching primarily in northern, central, and eastern Asia, where traces of their DNA have been found in indigenous residents.

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Archaeologists and anthropologists have been optimistic about eventually finding Denisovan fossils in these other locations (a fossilized Denisovan jawbone found in a cave in Tibet generated much excitement). But many scientists have continued to focus their search on Siberia’s Denisova Cave, where the ancient Denisovan presence has been most firmly established.

In this extraordinarily successful new study, scientists working under team leader Katerina Douka, an assistant professor in the University of Vienna’s Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, spent several years analyzing ancient DNA samples and assorted proteins extracted from approximately 3,800 bone fragments taken from the cave. As they explain in a new article in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution , these bones included a diverse mixture of animal and human fossils, and it would have been impossible to identify anything visually.

Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry or ZooMS was used to analyze the recently discovered Denisovan fossils, which are now the oldest ever!

( protocols.io)

For a Positive ID Researchers Relied on Peptide Analysis

To make a positive ID, the researchers only option was to use a technology known as Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectroscopy, or ZooMS. This high-tech tool can identify peptides (strings of amino acids) that are found specifically in the human body, and in the body of human ancestor species as well.

With this reliable technology at their disposal, the scientists concentrated on fossils excavated from the cave’s most ancient layer, which had been dated back 200,000 years. The bones collected from this layer were truly a fragmented and haphazard jumble, and that’s why little work had been done on them in the past. But with ZooMS, there was an opportunity to search for Denisovan fossils in a collection of bones that had not been fully examined before.

Team member Samantha Brown, a doctoral student at the University of Tubingen, was assigned the task of performing the actual analysis of the approximately 3,800 previously unidentified bone fragments. The vast majority of these fossil bones had belonged to animals, making the search for human remains the equivalent of looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack.

With enough time and diligence, even the smallest needle can be found eventually, and Brown’s research ultimately proved successful. Aided by the precise ZooMS technology, she found five bones with collagen profiles that matched those of humans.

But which types of humans? Certainly not modern humans ( Homo sapiens ), which would not arrive in Siberia until much later. That left Neanderthals and Denisovans as the two possible candidates.

To solve this mystery, the scientists turned to another high-tech innovation that has revolutionized archaeological and anthropological practice: DNA analysis. Out of the five human bones Brown identified, four contained significant enough traces of genetic material to allow for a mitochondrial DNA reconstruction. These tests showed that one of the bone fragments had belonged to a Neanderthal, while the other three were all Denisovan.

At an age of 200,000 years, this DNA typing officially established the three bone samples as the oldest remains of Denisovans ever found.

"Denisova is an amazing place for DNA preservation, and we have now reconstructed genomes from some of the oldest and best-preserved human fossils," Dr. Diyendo Massilani, a genetic researcher from the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, explained in an Institute press release announcing this amazing discovery.

The Denisova 3 fifth distal finger phalanx of 13.5-year adolescent Denisovan female, the first bone fossil uncovered at Denisova Cave in 2008.

(Thilo Parg / CC BY-SA 3.0 )

Finding New Denisovan Fossil Bones and Lithic Stone Tools

There is no underestimating the impact and importance of this discovery. "We were extremely excited to identify three new Denisovan bones amongst the oldest layers of Denisova Cave," Katerina Douka told Live Science . "We specifically targeted these layers where no other human fossils were found before, and our strategy worked."

"Finding one new human bone would have been cool, but five? This exceeded my wildest dreams," Samantha Brown added.

The discovery of the age of the 200,00-year-old Denisovan bones was exciting. But there is another part to the story that is perhaps even more significant.

Inside the deep layer of the cave where the fossils were found, archaeologists also unearthed a large number of lithic stone artifacts dating to the same time period. These included several scaping tools, which presumably were used to process animal skins.

Notably, none of these tools were similar to any that had been found in central or northern Asia before.

"This is the first time we can be sure that Denisovans were the makers of the archaeological remains [the stone tools] we found associated with their bone fragments," Douka confirmed.

Previously discovered Denisovan fossils had either been found separate from artifacts, or alongside artifacts that were suspected to have been left by Neanderthals. The two ancient species frequently occupied the same caves and territories and were known to have interbred .

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There were also thousands of pieces of animal bones found in the oldest layer of Denisova Cave. They have now been identified as belonging to such species as deer, wild horses, bison, gazelles, and wooly rhinoceroses, all of which could have been hunted by Denisovans 200,000 years ago. Many of the bones contained marks consistent with butchering, while others had been damaged by fire (meaning the flesh of the animals had been cooked).

"The site's strategic point in front of a water source and the entrance of a valley would have served as a great spot for hunting," Douka noted.

If Denisova Cave contains more Denisovan bones or artifacts, the researchers intend to find them. Katerina Douka confirms that her team is continuing its search at the cave, while also carrying out excavations at several other Asian sites where they are hopeful Denisovan fossil remains might be found.

• Top image: Denisovan fossils look a bit unremarkable, but these bone fragments, mostly from animals, were perfect for Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectroscopy and DNA analysis, which were used in the recent study .
• Source: Samantha Brown / Nature Ecology & Evolution

By Nathan Falde

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07-01-2022 om 22:42 geschreven door peter  

Ten Enduring Mysteries of China’s Longyou Caves

Located near the village of Shiyan Beicun in Zhejiang province, China, lie the Longyou Caves - an extensive, magnificent and rare ancient underground world considered in China to be “the ninth wonder of the ancient world.” Thought to date back at least 2,000 years, the Longyou Caves, also known as the Xiaonanhai Stone Chambers, represent one of the largest underground excavations of ancient times and are an enduring mystery that have perplexed experts from every discipline that has examined them. 

Scientists from around the world in the fields of archaeology, architecture, engineering, and geology have absolutely no idea how the Longyou Caves were built, by whom, and why. First discovered in 1992 by a local villager who set out to drain some ponds which locals believed to be bottomless, to date 24 hand-carved caves have been discovered covering a massive 30,000 square meters (322,917 ft sq).

Carved into solid siltstone, each grotto descends around 30 meters (98 ft) underground and contains stone rooms, bridges, gutters and pools. Within the Longyou Caves there are pillars evenly distributed throughout the caves which are supporting the ceiling, and the walls, ceiling and stone columns are uniformly decorated with chisel marks in a series of parallel lines.

Carvings discovered within the Longyou Caves.

(Zhangzhugang / CC BY-SA 4.0 )

1. How Were the Longyou Caves Constructed?

A rough estimation of the workload involved in building the Longyou Caves is awe-inspiring. The quantity of rock that would have been removed in the overall excavation of the grottoes is estimated to be nearly 1,000,000 cubic meters (35,314,666 cu ft). Taking into account the average digging rate per day per person, scientists have calculated that it would take 1,000 people working day and night for six years to complete.

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These calculations are based purely on hard labor, but what they haven’t taken into account is the incredible care and precision of the sculptors, meaning that the actual workload would far surpass the theoretical estimation. As for how they were constructed and what tools were used, it is still unknown. No tools have been found in the area, and, as we will explore later, scientists still don’t know how they achieved such symmetry, precision, and similarity between the different caves.

2. No Traces of Construction

Despite their size and the effort involved in creating them, so far no trace of their construction, or even their existence, has been located archival sources. Although the overall excavation involved almost a million cubic meters of stone, there is no archaeological evidence revealing where that quantity of stone went, and no evidence of the work. Moreover, there is not a single historic document that refers to them, which is highly unusual considering the sheer scale of the project. The origin of the Longyou Caves is a complete and utter mystery.

Experts wonder why the walls at the Longyou Caves in China are covered in chiseled parallel lines.

(Zhangzhugang / CC BY-SA 4.0 )

3. Why Were the Walls Chiseled?

Every single one of the Longyou Caves is covered, from floor to ceiling, in parallel lines that have been chiseled into virtually every surface. The effect is a uniform pattern throughout the caves, which would have required immense manpower and endless hours to create. The question is why? Was such labor-intensive work purely for decoration? Are the lines or patterns symbolic in some way? All that is currently known is that the markings are similar to those found on pottery housed in a nearby museum, which is dated between 500 and 800 BC.

4. Lack of Fish in the Longyou Caves

When the caves were first discovered, they were filled with water, which presumably had been there for a long period of time. They had to be pumped out in order to realize that these were not just like the other “bottomless ponds” found within the area, but rather man-made structures. Most villages in southern China contain very deep ponds, which have been called "bottomless ponds" by generations of villagers. These ponds teem with fish, which are easily caught. However, after the first cave was pumped dry, not a single fish was to be seen, or any other sign of life.

5. How Did the Longyou Caves Remain So Well Preserved?

One of the most interesting and challenging questions is how the Longyou Caves have been able to keep their structural integrity for more than 2,000 years. There are no signs of collapse, no piles of rubble, and no damage despite the fact that in some areas the walls are only 50 centimeters (20 in) thick. Over the centuries, the area has gone through numerous floods, calamities and wars, the mountains have changed their appearance and exposed stones have been weathered, but inside the Longyou Caves, the form, patterns and markings are still clear and precise – it is as though they were built yesterday.

6. How Did the Builders Work in the Dark?

Due to the great depths of the caves, some areas at the bottom, which are not exposed to the opening above, are pitch-black. Yet even those dark areas are decorated with thousands of parallel lines on the walls, columns, and ceiling. So how did ancient people work in the dark? 

According to Jia Gang, a Tongji University professor specializing in civil engineering: "There should be lamps, because the cave's mouth is very small, and the sunbeam could only shine in the cave at a certain angle during a certain period of time. As one goes deeper into the cave, the light becomes dimmer. At the cave's bottom, which is usually dozen of meters from the mouth, one could hardly see anything." However, this was at least two millennia ago and nothing that could have been used for lighting has been found.

7. Were the Longyou Caves Meant to be Connected?

All of the Longyou Caves are distributed across an area of only one square kilometer (0.38 sq mi). Considering such a high density, one cannot help asking whether some grottoes were meant to be connected. What would be the purpose of making so many separate caves in such a tight area without connecting them? In many areas, the walls between the caves are very thin, only 50 centimeters (20 in), but they were never linked so it appears they were intentionally kept apart. What’s more, many of the Longyou Caves are almost identical to each other.

Geological cross-section of cave 3 (left) and photo showing rock pillars in cave 3 (right).

(Yang et. al. / CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 )

8. Who Built the Longyou Caves?

Nobody has any idea who built the caves. Some scientists have claimed that it was not possible or logical for such as mammoth job to have been undertaken by regular village people. Only the emperor and the leaders could have organized such a huge project, like the construction of the Great Wall , which was built to defend against invasion from the outside world. But if it was commissioned by an Emperor, why are there no historical records of its construction?

9. How Did They Achieve Such Precision?

The scale of the Longyou Caves is magnificent and momentous, the design was delicate and scientific, the construction was sophisticated, and the precision is indicative of superior craftsmanship. The model, pattern and style of each cave is extremely similar. Every grotto is like a grand hall. One side is steep and another side is 45% inclined. The four walls are straight; the edges and corners are clearly demarcated. The chiseling marks within the Longyou Caves are uniform and precise.

"At the bottom of each cave, the ancient [builders] wouldn't be able to see what the others were doing in the next grotto,” explained Yang Hongxun, an expert at the Archaeological Institute of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Nevertheless, “the inside of each cave had to be parallel with that of the other, or else the wall would be holed through. Thus the measure apparatus should have been very advanced. There must have been some layout about the sizes, locations, and the distances between the caves beforehand."

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With the help of modern equipment and methods, the investigators measured the sizes of the walls, and surprisingly found that the overall construction is extremely accurate. The walls between the caves are of the same thickness in different sections. So how did they achieve this precision? What were their methods?

Stairs leading down into one of the once-submerged Longyou Caves.

(Zhangzhugang / CC BY-SA 4.0 )

10. What Were the Longyou Caves Used for?

Following extensive investigations and study, scientists and scholars have attempted to put forward explanations for the grottoes, but none so far provide a convincing explanation for why they were built and what they were used for.

Some archaeologists have suggested that the grottoes were the tombs of old emperors, emperor halls, or places for storage. But this interpretation is far-fetched. No funeral objects or tombs have been found and no artifacts left behind. If it were used like an emperor’s palace, the caves surely would have been designed differently, with separate rooms for different purposes like entertaining, meeting, and sleeping. But no evidence can be found of this and no traces of habitation have been found.

Another hypothesis is that the Longyou Caves were used for mining and extracting some type of mineral resource. However, mining operations would have required equipment and apparatus to extract the rocks and transport them. Again, no traces of this have been found, nor any evidence of where the rocks were taken. And of course, if the caves were just for mining, why create such intricate decorations on the walls, columns and ceilings?

Finally, some have suggested that these caves were the places for troops to be stationed and that an emperor of the past wanted to keep his soldiers out of view in order to keep his war preparations secret. However, these caves could not have been built in a short period of time. They would have taken many, many years to build so it is unlikely to have been done in preparation for war, which tends to come about much more quickly. Furthermore, there are no signs of people having stayed in the caves.

Despite decades of research, very few answers have emerged to explain the enigma of the Longyou Caves . Our ancient ancestors have achieved many wondrous things throughout history, but this discovery from China is truly an unsolved mystery which has yet to be cracked.

• Top image: In China the Longyou Caves are known as the ninth wonder of the ancient world.
• Source: Zhangzhugang / CC BY-SA 4.0

By April Holloway

RELATED VIDEOS, selected and posted by peter2011

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07-01-2022 om 00:46 geschreven door peter  

The Walls of Benin: Four Times Longer Than The Great Wall of China!

The Kingdom of Benin was an important African kingdom that flourished between the 13th and 19th centuries AD. Benin was located in the southwestern part of modern-day Nigeria, with Benin City as its capital. Benin City is perhaps best-known for a group of artefacts collectively known as the Benin Bronzes. These objects looted by British forces during their expedition against Benin in 1897. Whilst a large number of these artefacts ended up in the British Museum, others were dispersed amongst museums in the West. A lesser-known accomplishment of the Kingdom of Benin is the so-called Walls of Benin, which surrounded Benin City. The Walls of Benin were damaged by the British during their expedition and deteriorated further in the decades that followed. Parts of the walls are still visible today, though they are still facing the threat of destruction.

A closeup of one of the many Benin Bronzes that speak for the legendary Kingdom of Benin and its famous Walls of Benin earthworks.

( Historical Association )

From the Benin Empire to the Walls of Benin

The Kingdom of Benin is known also as the  Benin Empire or the Edo Kingdom. According to one oral tradition, the Edo people, the original ethnic group of the Kingdom of Benin, were once ruled by a line of semi-mythical kings known as the Ogisos (meaning “Kings of the Sky”). There were about 36 Ogisos who ruled over the Edo people. During the reign of the last Ogiso, his son and heir, Ekaladerhan, was banished, as punishment for an offence committed by one of the queens. The queen had changed the message from the oracle to the Ogiso.

Following his banishment, the prince travelled to the land of the  Yorubas, another ethnic group in the western part of modern-day  Nigeria. The oracle of the Yorubas prophesied that a king would come out of the forest. Therefore, when Ekaladerhan arrived at the Yoruba city of Ife, he was welcomed, and appointed king. Ekaladerhan changed his name to Imadoduwa, meaning “I did not misplace my royalty”

After some time, Imadoduwa’s father died, and the throne of Benin was left vacant. A delegation of Edo chiefs came to Ife to ask Imadoduwa to return to their lands and take the place of his father as Ogiso. Whilst he had been a prince, Imadoduwa was well-loved by the Edo people.

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Imadoduwa, however, would not abandon his new subjects. Instead, he told the Edo delegation that he had seven sons and was willing to send one of them to rule as king. The prince chosen to return with the delegation was Oranmiyan, who spent the next few years living amongst the Edo people. When Oranmiyan’s wife gave birth to a son, Eweka, Oranmiyan returned to Ife. Eweka became the first oba (roughly equivalent to king) of Benin.

According to another version of the oral tradition, the Edo people had become dissatisfied with the rule of the Ogisos during the 13th century. Therefore, they invited Oranmiyan from Ife to rule over them. In this version of the story, Oranmiyan is not related to the Ogisos of Benin. This version of the story also has Oranmiyan’s son, Eweka, becoming the first oba of Benin.

The Walls of Benin in a drawing from the 19th century.

( Nigerian Embassy )

Benin City is Rebuilt and the Walls of Benin Begin

In the late 13th century, royal power was firmly established in the Kingdom of Benin. This contributed towards the kingdom’s rise as a regional power in the 15th century. Oba Ewuare, who reigned between 1440 and 1480, was arguably the most famous ruler of the Kingdom of Benin. Ewuare is said to have been a  powerful warrior and magician . During his reign, the hereditary succession to the throne was established.

Additionally, Ewuare conducted numerous military campaigns that served to enlarge his kingdom. At its maximum extent, the Kingdom of Benin stretched from Onitsha (in present-day Nigeria) in the east, through the forest region of southwestern Nigeria, and into modern-day  Ghana in the west.

Ewuare is also credited with the rebuilding of Benin City, known also as Edo. According to tradition, Benin City, was founded in 1180, and was known originally as Ibinu. Benin City is situated on a plain on a branch of the Benin River and served as the capital of the Kingdom of Benin. It is believed that the Walls of Benin were constructed during Ewuare’s reign.

These walls consist of two parts, a moat and a  rampart. A ditch was dug to form the inner  moat, and the excavated earth was used to form the outer rampart. The Walls of Benin no doubt contributed towards the defense of the city. Additionally, the walls may be viewed symbolically as a representation of the kingdom’s power.  

According to the 1974 edition of the  Guinness Book of Records , the Walls of Benin were the “world’s largest earthworks carried out prior to the mechanical era.” Elsewhere, it is claimed that they were “four times longer than the  Great Wall of China  and consumed a hundred times more material than the Great Pyramid of Cheops.” Furthermore, it is asserted that the walls “extended for some 16,000 km [9,942 miles] in all, in a mosaic of more than 500 interconnected settlement boundaries,” and that it covered an area of 6,500 square kilometers (2,510 square miles). This grand project is thought to have been carried out completely by the Edo people, and it took an estimated total of 150 million hours to complete.

Before the earthwork and stone walls of Benin the ancient city was still walled off using wood and brush.

( Nigerian Embassy )

Trade Begins with Portugal and the Stories of Benin Begin

Although the Walls of Benin are certainly monumental achievements, much more can be said about the urban nature of Benin City as well. Around 1485, shortly after the end of Ewuare’s reign, the Kingdom of Benin had its first contact with Europe. It was the Portuguese, who were sailing along the coast of Africa, who first encountered the Kingdom of Benin. Consequently,  trade between the Portuguese  and the Edo people developed. In exchange for tropical goods and slaves later on, the Portuguese provided their African counterparts with European products and  guns.

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It is also from these Portuguese explorers and merchants that descriptions of Benin City were brought back to Europe. For instance, the Portuguese were surprised to find a great kingdom in the middle of the  African jungle  and called the kingdom’s capital the Great City of Benin. Additionally, the Portuguese considered Benin City as one of the best-planned and most beautiful cities in the world.

To put this into perspective, at that time, the Portuguese, and other Europeans, by extension, regarded few settlements in Africa as cities. A more detailed description of the city is provided by a Portuguese ship captain by the name of Lourenco Pinto in 1691, and is as follows:

“Great Benin, where the king resides, is larger than Lisbon; all the streets run straight and as far as the eye can see. The houses are large, especially that of the king, which is richly decorated and has fine columns. The city is wealthy and industrious. It is so well governed that theft is unknown and the people live in such security that they have no doors to their houses.”

Another 17th century account, this time by a Dutch visitor named Olfert Dapper, describes the houses at Benin City like this:

“Houses are built alongside the streets in good order, the one close to the other,… Adorned with gables and steps … they are usually broad with long galleries inside, especially so in the case of the houses of the nobility, and divided into many rooms which are separated by walls made of red clay, very well erected.”

Dapper goes on to note that the wealthy inhabitants of the city would keep these walls “as shiny and smooth by washing and rubbing as any wall in Holland can be made with chalk, and they are like mirrors. The upper storeys are made of the same sort of clay. Moreover, every house is provided with a well for the supply of fresh water”.

Apart from these accounts by early European travelers, the planning and design of Benin City has also been a subject of investigation by modern scholars. It has been argued by Ron Eglash, an ethno-mathematician, that Benin City was planned according to fractal design. This means that the planning of the city involved “careful rules of symmetry, proportionality and repetition.” Eglash pointed out that “the city and its surrounding villages were purposely laid out to form perfect fractals, with similar shapes repeated in the rooms of each house, and the house itself, and the clusters of houses in the village in mathematically predictable patterns.”

At the very center of Benin City was the court of the oba king, from which the city’s main streets radiated. There were 30 of these streets, each being about 37 meters (120 feet) wide. The streets ran at right angles to each other and were equipped with an underground  drainage system  that served to channel storm water away from the city. Many side streets extended from these 30 main streets.

Benin City was divided into 11 divisions. Since the city was planned according to fractal design, each of these divisions was a small replication of the oba’s court at the center of Benin City. These divisions consisted of several compounds containing houses, workshops, and public buildings. Indeed, during its heyday, Benin City was a highly sophisticated urban center.

One of the earliest photographs of the Wall of Benin earthworks in present-day Nigeria.

( Nigerian Embassy )

The Slave Trade Made Benin Very Rich!

The Kingdom of Benin continued to flourish in the centuries after its first contact with the Europeans. In particular, the slave trade with Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries brought immense wealth to the kingdom. During the 19th century, however, the Kingdom of Benin began to decline. The kingdom’s fortunes were revived in the following century. In addition to slaves, palm oil and textiles became the kingdom’s main trade products.

During the 1880s and 1890s, the British were trying to turn the Kingdom of Benin into a protectorate. They were, however, unsuccessful, as the kingdom managed to resist these attempts, thereby maintaining its independence.

In January 1897, a British force was ambushed whilst on the road to Benin City, resulting in the deaths of eight Britons. Consequently, the British sent a punitive expedition in the following month. The expedition was led by Sir Harry Rawson, and involved 1,200 British soldiers, several hundred locally recruited African troops, and thousands of African porters from the British military base at Sierra Leone.

A three-pronged attack was launched by Rawson on Benin City. On each front, the people of the city offered fierce resistance. But the British persisted and Benin City fell on 18 February 1897. Having captured Benin City, the British began looting, and set fire to the city. This resulted in the destruction of much of the city. Particularly lamentable is the destruction of the city’s beautiful carved woodwork. A group of artefacts known as the Benin Bronzes, however, were seized by the British, and therefore was spared from this destruction.

Despite its name, not all the Benin Bronzes are made of bronze. Some of them, for instance, are made of brass, whilst others are not metal at all. The Benin Bronzes number in the thousands (estimated to be over 3000), though the exact total is unknown. This group of artefacts include plaques, figurines, and sculptures of the obas. After Rawson’s punitive expedition, 900 of the Benin Bronzes found their way into the British Museum. Others were sold to different European museums, supposedly to defray the cost of the expedition.

A display of Benin Bronzes at the British Museum.

(Joyofmuseums /  CC BY-SA 4.0 )

From the Walls of Benin to the Benin Bronzes

The Benin Bronzes have become a hot topic in recent times, due to growing calls for their repatriation. The British Museum, which houses the largest collection of the Benin Bronzes, however, is still resisting these calls for repatriation. Nevertheless, some of the artefacts are being returned.

All the returned Benin Bronzes will be housed in Nigeria’s Edo Museum of West African Art. This proposed museum is to be designed by David Adjaye, a famous British-Ghanaian architect, and its construction is estimated to take five years to complete.

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Whilst the Benin Bronzes have garnered a lot of attention, other aspects of Benin City have not had so much coverage. This is noticeable, for instance in the Walls of Benin City. Although the walls were damaged by the British, they were not completely destroyed.

Though, the influences of modernization have caused portions of the walls to disappear over time some significant stretches of the walls have remained. The Walls of Benin have been protected by law since 1961. Nevertheless, a management plan and public awareness campaign was only put in place in 2002, after the walls were included in the World Monuments Watch. According to the World Monuments Fund, “Emergency conservation work is still desperately needed.”

• Top image: This is what the Walls of Benin once would have looked like in Benin, Nigeria, the capital city of the Kingdom of Benin. 
• Source:  Nigerian Embassy

By Wu Mingren

{https://www.ancient-origins.net/ }

06-01-2022 om 23:57 geschreven door peter  

Titanoboa: The Monster Snake that Ruled Prehistoric Colombia

You may not want to read about this frightening creature if you suffer to any degree from ophidiophobia, or even if you are about to embark on a camping trip. Titanoboa fossils show it was the largest snake in the world. It lived during the Paleocene epoch, about 60 million years ago, so you are safe from its bone crushing grip now, but the image of the huge prehistoric snake slithering around South America is still a terrifying one.

So far, the South American country of Colombia has the only known fossils of the huge serpent. It is through these few fossils that paleontologists were able to estimate the size of this prehistoric creature. This estimation was then used to create a life-size model of Titanoboa, which was exhibited in 2012 in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal as a promotion for the Smithsonian Channel documentary entitled Titanoboa: Monster Snake.

The "Titanoboa: Monster Snake" exhibit from the Smithsonian at the Natural History Museum.

(Ryan Quick/ CC BY 2.0 )

A Titanic Boa

Titanoboa simply means ‘titanic boa’ and is an apt name for this prehistoric snake. According to estimates made by paleontologists, it could have grown to a length of between 42 feet and 49 feet (between 12.8 meters and 14.9 meters) and weighed up to a massive 2500 pounds (1134 kg). In addition, the thickest part of the snake’s body is reckoned to have had a diameter of 3 feet (0.9 meters).

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As a comparison, the anaconda, one of the largest snakes today, is known to reach lengths of over 20 feet (6.1 meters) and weigh more than 500 pounds (227 kg). Titanoboa was obviously a giant compared to the largest snakes we have today.

Artistic representation of Titanoboa.

(tuomaskoivurinne/ Deviant Art)

Discovering Titanoboa

The discovery of Titanoboa was made during the first decade of the 21st century in Cerrejón, a coal mine in the northern part of Colombia. The campaign that led to the discovery began in 1994, when the Colombian geologist Henry Garcia found an unfamiliar fossil which he labelled as ‘Petrified Branch’ and placed it in a display case of the coal company.

In 2003, a Colombian undergraduate geology student by the name of Fabiany Herrera was at Cerrejón for a field trip when he discovered fossilized plant remains . As the area had not been explored previously by paleontologists, an expedition was soon organized. One of the researchers invited to join the expedition was Scott Wing, the curator of fossil plants at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.

A Titanoboa vertebra dwarfs that of a modern 17-foot anaconda

( Brian Tietz )

It was Wing who realized that Garcia’s fossil was not from a plant. He sent photos of it to another expert, Jonathan Bloch, a paleontologist at the University of Florida. Bloch identified the fossil as part of a jawbone of a land animal.

This was exciting news, as fossils of terrestrial vertebrates from the Paleocene epoch had not been found in that part of South America before then. It was believed that more fossils of such animals were to be found at the site, and this proved to be true.

Identifying the Monster Snake

It was not until 2007, however, that the vertebra of a Titanoboa was identified, when a shipment of fossils labelled ‘crocodile’ was being inspected. When this discovery was made, fresh expeditions were conducted in the hopes of finding more vertebrae of this animal. Eventually, a total of 100 snake vertebrae from 28 animals were collected. With the vertebrae, the paleontologists were able to make estimations as to the size of the prehistoric snake.

Titanoboa with a dyrosaur and a turtle.

( Jason Bourque/University of Florida )

In 2012, another important discovery about the Titanoboa was made. This time, a snake skull was found. Such a find is extremely rare, as snake skulls are very fragile and usually fall apart after the animal dies.

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What Did Titanoboas Eat?

One of the peculiarities of this skull is that it has closely packed teeth, even more than modern day boas. This has led experts to speculate that Titanoboa was a specialized fish-eater. Still, considering its size, Titanoboa could have easily preyed on prehistoric turtles and crocodiles, which lived in the same habitat as this snake.

Titanoboa.

(darkwaterlilly/ Deviant Art )

These later discoveries prompted the 2012 creation of a life-size model of Titanoboa exhibited in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal to promote the Smithsonian Titanoboa documentary. Some people also believe that Titanoboas still live deep in the Amazon.

• Top Image: Titanoboa. Source: Michael Rosskothen /Adobe Stock

By Wu Mingren  

RELATED VIDEOS, selected and posted by peter2011

{ https://www.ancient-origins.net/ }

06-01-2022 om 23:37 geschreven door peter  

Scientists Can’t Explain These Findings – It Is Beyond Our Understanding

Archeological discoveries are made on a regular basis, and that is a reality, but the issue is that many of them are truly unfathomable from a scientific standpoint.

No matter how much study tries to demonize theorists and label them as lunatics, the truth remains that the theories they generate are riddled with contradictions and holes.

They’d rather imagine 100 crippled slaves lifting 50-ton boulders about 100 feet in the air with little more than pure muscle power, acquiring some technological advancement from an ancient alien life form.

They’d like to believe that these “out of timeline” objects are nothing more than rocks and stones, despite the fact that they’re clearly valid and make no sense from a timeline standpoint, such as 400,000-year-old light bulbs and toy spaceships that are well over 6,000 years old.

Aliens’ carvings have arrived on Earth to rule over humans.

Ancient bunkers that show the existence of nuclear technology a million years ago, as well as evidence of the nuclear fallout that melted the earth into glass.

Humans self-mutilate their bodies to imitate the travelers’ elongated, egg-shaped heads, and so on.

There’s so much we don’t understand out there, and though ignoring them may be science’s way of coping, we’d rather be believers than liars.

VIDEO:

{ https://ancientblog.net/ }

04-01-2022 om 22:26 geschreven door peter  

Machu Picchu – everyone’s favorite Inca site high in the Andes mountains of Peru – is one of those onion-style archeological sites that keeps revealing new features as mysterious layers are peeled away. The year 2021 ended with a major ‘peel’ for the site as LiDAR-equipped drones helped find 12 previously unknown small structures in Machu Picchu National Park which help identify the caretakers of the complex back in the 15th century. The LiDAR also revealed previously unknown canals that show how the Incas controlled water – a feat they believed was a ‘superpower’ granted to them by the gods.

Looking for something?

“The Chachabamba archaeological site contains a unique water complex erected and modified by the Incas. Based on archaeological investigations within the ceremonial sector, it has been established that the function of this water complex was strictly ceremonial.”

As described in a new study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, a team of researchers from the Center for Andean Studies at the University of Warsaw and the Wroclaw (Poland) University of Science and Technology focused new efforts on Chachabamba, a ceremonial water complex surrounding the Machu Picchu citadel that both demonstrated the power of the Inca peoples and offered pilgrims ritual baths, gardens and fountains. Using data from drones with lidar (light detection and ranging) systems flying very low over the dense vegetation covering much of Chachabamba, they found 12 small structures that appeared to be homes of those who were responsible for the amenities of Chachabamba.

“There are indications that it was mainly women who looked after the complex. as suggested by objects discovered during previous excavations by a Polish-Peruvian team.”

Dominika Sieczkowska from the Center for Andean Studies told Heritage Daily that despite the ornateness of Machu Picchu and Chachabamba, the homes of the female caretakers were plain … some things never change. The hydraulic systems of Chachabamba were functioning until mudslides destroyed part of it in 2012 and the area became overgrown. The LiDAR drones and computer simulations from their data helped the researchers see just how sophisticated the system was when operational and impressing the enemies of the Incas.

“Part of the system was destroyed, and the current study was conducted to answer such unknowns as how much water flowed through the system, which watercourse flowed into the system, and how fast. The light water flow evinced in the researchers’ lidar images is part of the basis for their conclusion that the site’s use was ceremonial rather than functional, supplying residences with water.”

Artnet News explains that researchers now know the power water played in the reputation of the Incas as they conquered other cultures from Argentina to Ecuador – and Chachabamba was the center of that power. And yet, we now know the caretakers of such power were women, not men. This fits in with the belief of some historians that men and women held equal stature and equal responsibilities in Inca society – a practice looked down upon by the invading Europeans because women had no such stature in their societies.

One wonders how different things might have been if the Europeans tried to learn from the Incas rather than conquer them.

Inca site of Chachabamba

Image Credit : Ivo Antonie de Rooij - Shutterstock

One of the structures detected by LiDar

Image Credit : Dominika Sieczkowska

Chachabamba

More:

• https://www.heritagedaily.com/2021/12/archaeologists-reveal-unknown-structures-in-the-machu-picchu-national-park/142317

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

04-01-2022 om 18:39 geschreven door peter  

Four new dinosaurs including the 'horned crocodile-faced hell heron' are among 550 new animal and plant species discovered by Natural History Museum staff this year

• Over the last 12 months, Natural History Museum staff have described a total of 552 species new to science

• This includes four dinosaurs from the UK, one from China and one from Middle Atlas Mountains of Morocco

• There's also a newly-found beetle from India named after Larry the cat, Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office

By JONATHAN CHADWICK FOR MAILONLINE 

Four new dinosaurs including the 'horned crocodile-faced hell heron' are among more than 550 new animal and plant species discovered by staff at the Natural History Museum (NHM) this year.  

The museum's annual round-up of newly discovered species range from some of the smallest invertebrates swimming in the oceans to ferocious predators that stalked the land millions of years ago. 

By far the biggest and most fearsome new species to have been described this year are a pair of giant carnivorous dinosaurs known as spinosaurs, discovered from remains on the Isle of Wight.

The predators were named the 'riverbank hunter' and 'horned crocodile-faced hell heron' after the swampy environment they would once have lived and hunted in. 

The more ferocious of the two, the 'horned crocodile-faced hell heron', was named due to a series of low horns and bumps across the brow region and its 'heron-like' hunting style. 

Both are thought to have roamed land that is now the the Isle of Wight around 129 million years ago. 

Artist's depiction of the two new species of spinosaurid dinosaurs discovered on the Isle of Wight, named ‘Hell heron’ (foreground) and ‘Riverbank hunter’

Silhouettes showing the bones discovered. Ceratosuchops inferodios (hell heron) in the foreground, Riparovenator milnerae (riverbank hunter) in the background

Remains from Rhomaleopakhus turpanensis, a 'chunky' sauropod which had an unusually large funny bone, uncovered in China

The museum's total new species for discovered by staff this year – 552 – is despite international travel to field sites or other museum collections having remained largely off limits due to Covid-19 restrictions.    

'It's been a fantastic year for the description of new dinosaurs, especially from the UK,' said Dr Susannah Maidment, a senior researcher in paleobiology at the NHM, who helped describe some of these new finds.

'Although we've known about the UK's dinosaur heritage for over 150 years, the application of new techniques and new data from around the world is helping us to uncover a hidden diversity of British dinosaurs. 

'These specimens are parts of a vast palaeobiological jigsaw puzzle that allows us to understand environments of the past and how they changed over time.' 

Riverbank hunter and hell heron were huge carnivorous dinosaurs that most likely walked upright. Their massive, crocodile-like jaws show that they mostly ate fish and possibly other dinosaurs too.  

The two spinosaurs – already detailed in a paper in Scientific Reports earlier this year – were just two of six new dinosaurs to have been described by NHM staff in 2021.

In total, four of these were from the UK, one was uncovered in China and the other from the Middle Atlas Mountains of Morocco.  

Rhomaleopakhus turpanensis, from China, was a 'chunky' sauropod with an unusually large funny bone.

Meanwhile, Spicomellus afer from Morocco was an ankylosaur and had an odd series of spikes attached to the rib. 

Ankylosaurs were a diverse group of armoured dinosaurs related to the stegosaurs, which were present throughout the Cretaceous period from 145 to 66 million years ago. 

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A bizarre armoured spike fossil, found in Morocco, belonged to a new species of dinosaur that was 'unlike anything else in the animal kingdom,' NHM researchers found

Artistic reconstruction of Brighstoneous simmondsi, a new igaunodontian with an unusual snout found on the Isle of Wight, UK

Artistic reconstruction of the 'small-bodied' Welsh theropod Pendraig milnerae, the earliest carnivorous dinosaur from the UK

NHM made a number of other fossil finds this year, including algae, arachnids trapped in amber and fossil bryozoans – microscopic aquatic invertebrates that live in colonies, also known as moss animals.

The museum also found two ancient mammals – Megalomys camerhogne, which belonged to a group of rodents which once lived scattered across the Caribbean, and Borealestes cullinensis, a 'Jurassic mouse' from the Isle of Skye, Scotland that would have scurried around the feet of dinosaurs 166 million years ago.  

Many of the new species described this year have been crustaceans, in particular 291 species of copepods – small, shrimp-like creatures that are found near water. 

Despite their small and unassuming appearance, they are critical to our planet's ecology and carbon cycle, according to the NHM, and form the major component of zooplankton.  

'Copepods are not only free-living but many are parasites, and they can be found living in virtually every other major animal group,' said Professor Geoff Boxshall, researcher in the department of life sciences at the NHM. 

'I have been focusing my research on these parasitic copepods from fishes and marine invertebrate hosts.'

Museum scientists have also described 52 species of wasps, 13 moths, seven crabs, six flies, five amphipods and 90 beetles. 

The moths includes Wallace's sphinx moth, which has the longest tongue of any insect, according to the NHM, used for reaching the bottom of the nectar tubes.

The moth is notable for having been predicted to exist by Charles Darwin, the father of the theory of evolution, some 40 years before it was recorded in the wild. 

The beetles included a pair of glitteringly purple and green metallic beetles from India, a chunky monochromatic beetle with a large pair of jaws from the Philippines and Caccothryptus larryi, a minute marsh loving beetle named in honour of Larry the cat at 10 Downing Street. 

A beautiful green Donaciolagria regia beetle from India. This is the female of the species which is a different colour from the male (below)

Donaciolagria regia female. Note the striking differences in colour between the male and female of this particular Indian species

Caccothryptus larryi - a minute marsh-loving beetle from India named after Larry the cat, Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office 

There were also 10 new species of reptiles and amphibians, including five snakes. One of these new snake species, called Joseph's racer, was described with the help of a 185-year-old painting. 

There's also Rhabdophis bindi, a new species of snake from India and Bangladesh that lives in tropical evergreen forest. 

Rhabdophis bindi has a red spot on the nape of the neck, 'reminiscent of the red beauty spot adorning the foreheads of Indian women', according to a paper describing the species.  

Three new species of lizards have also been described, including a fan-throated lizard and a gecko from India, as well as one new species of frog from Vietnam. 

There has also been a new species of caecilian, a type of snake-like amphibian which lives primarily underground and in the water. 

Rhabdophis bindi - a new species of snake from India and Bangladesh that lives in tropical evergreen forest. Note the red spot on the nape of the neck, 'reminiscent of the red beauty spot adorning the foreheads of Indian women', according to a paper describing the species

Pictured here is impatiens versicolor - one of five new species of jewelweeds, or touch-me-nots, described from eastern Africa

NHM also found five new species of plants from eastern Africa. Known as jewelweeds or touch-me-nots, they usually produce delicate pink or white flowers, except for a few species which have switched to producing red flowers. 

Rather than being pollinated by butterflies, these red flowers are visited by birds, which find it easier to pick the colour red out from amongst green foliage.    

NHM staff were also involved in classification of a piece of space rock that fell to Earth in a blazing fireball in February this year. 

The space rock burnt through the atmosphere before coming to a sudden stop on a driveway in the Gloucestershire town of Winchcombe. 

Winchcombe meteorite. A piece of the meteorite which fell to earth during lockdown in February, the first observed meteorite fall to have been recovered in the UK in 30 years

Hundreds of people spotted the fireball streaking across the night sky, and within a matter of hours researchers were able to get out and recover over 600 grams of the meteorite that had travelled billions of kilometres. 

Now officially classified as the Winchcombe meteorite, it is one of only 603 approved meteorites classified as carbonaceous chondrites. 

Each official meteorite becomes its own type specimen, which is roughly analogous to being a new species. 

'The Winchcombe meteorite is the first meteorite fall to be recovered in the UK for 30 years,' said Dr Helena Bates, a researcher at the museum who was involved with recovering the Winchcombe meteorite. 

'Winchcombe is thought to come from an asteroid that has remained largely unchanged since the birth of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago.'  

Tabwecala robinsoni. This rather striking new moth from Vanuatu is one of 14 new species of moths and butterflies described this year

Xanthopan praedicta. This species of moth was predicted to exist by Darwin and Wallace, and was finally recognised as its own species this year

Neanthes goodayi. A new species polychaete worm found to live within the polymetallic nodules which are being eyed up for deep sea mining

Eurythenes atacamensis. One of two colour morphs of giant isopod from the Atacama Trench off the coasts of Peru and Chile

Crinitostella laguardai. It is a deep-sea wood-dwelling seastar from the Gulf of Mexico which feeds on wood at the bottom of the ocean

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

02-01-2022 om 23:12 geschreven door peter  

It was a very busy and productive year for the Natural History Museum as their experts described 552 new species that included dinosaurs, crustaceans, plants, and even a meteorite.

The majority of the new species described by the museum were a group of crustaceans called copepods. Wherever there is water, you’ll find the small shrimp-like creatures. “Copepods are not only free-living but many are parasites and they can be found living in virtually every other major animal group,” stated Professor Geoff Boxshall. A total of 291 copepods species were described in 2021.

A total of 52 wasps, 13 moths, 7 crabs, 6 flies, and 5 amphipods were described as well. Additionally, 91 new beetle species were described that included a couple of green and purple glittering metallic beetles that were from India.

There were 10 new species of amphibians and reptiles that included five snakes. The other five included a fan-throated lizard and a gecko found in India; a frog from Vietnam; another frog that is categorized as likely extinct; and a snake-like amphibian called a caecilian. Eight algae species, six parasitic worms, and three diatoms were described as well.

(Not any of the frogs mentioned in this article.)

Five new plants species from the eastern part of Africa were described which included jewelweeds that have white or pink flowers (very few have red flowers).

Six new dinosaur species – four which were found in the United Kingdom – have been described by the museum. Two of them were large carnivorous spinosaurs that were found on the Isle of Wight. The other two that were discovered in the UK were a dinosaur with a huge nose called a Brighstoneus simmondsi (also found on the Isle of Wight); and the Pendraig milnerae which was the earliest ever carnivorous dinosaur found in the United Kingdom. The two species that were not found in the UK were the Spicomellus afer which was the first ever ankylosaur discovered in Africa; and a sauropod from China named Rhomaleopakhus turpanensis.

Other discoveries included fossil bryozoans (also called moss animals), algae, arachnids, and brachiopods that were trapped inside of amber. An ancient relative of crocodiles was described as well. There were two prehistoric mammals – Megalomys camerhogne from the Caribbean, and the Borealestes cullinensis which was a “Jurassic mouse” that lived about 166 million years ago in Scotland.

(Not the mouse mentioned in this article.)

A very interesting discovery was made in February of 2021 when a fireball flew through the sky before landing in a driveway in the town of Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, England. More than 600 grams of the meteorite were located in the driveway. It was revealed that the space rock had come from billions of kilometers away and was heated to more than 1,600 degrees Celsius (2,912 degrees Fahrenheit) when it streaked across the sky. This meteorite, which has been classified as being a carbonaceous chondrite, was the first to have been found in the United Kingdom in the last 30 years and is believed to date back 4.6 billion years when our Solar System first formed.

Pictures of some of the creatures and of the meteorite can be viewed here.

Another new species from the deep is the giant amphipod Eurythenes atacamensis, found to be living in the depths of the Atacama Trench. 

Image © Weston et al. 2021

This image depicts beautiful metallic beetles, with the male (left) and female (right) side by side, discovered in India.

(Telnov, 2021 via CNN)

{https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

02-01-2022 om 22:40 geschreven door peter  

Because of its connection to so many of the world’s religions, there are many stories in the Hebrew bible that are familiar to most people – even atheists. The Book of Exodus story of the burning bush – the original ‘call waiting’ sign of a bush in flames yet not being consumed that let Moses know he was about to receive an important message, is a good example. While few of these incidents have been proven by historians – even biblical one – the ‘burning bush’ may have roots based in a natural phenomenon, according to The New York Times. However, as in so many of these cases, the truth about one aspect may refute another. Finally, this new revelation once again links modern religions to practices and belief of previous non-Christian religions – a repurposing to help convince others to join voluntarily … before being dragged in by force. All of that is part of this new story of the burning bush.

“At midday, with the sun low in the sky on one of the shortest days of the year, he peered across a deep ravine and spotted a strange aura of light, flickering like flames, emanating from a spot on a sheer rock face.”

That’s not a modern translation of Hebrew text on a Dead Sea scroll but a 2003 event that begins the quest to explain the burning bush. According to The New York Times, a tour guide walking on Mount Karkom (Har Karkom or ‘Mountain of Saffron’) at the time of the winter solstice saw a glare of light reflected from the sides of a cave that the Israeli television quickly deemed the “burning bush” even though there was no bush and it occurred on the wrong mount – the mountain of the biblical version was Mount Sinai, whose real location remains disputed but is most often thought to be Mount Horeb. Did a guide just rewrite biblical history?

“At the base of Mount Karkom, named in Hebrew for a desert crocus, there is evidence that ancient migration trails converged here and that cultic rituals took place in the area. Mr. Anati identified what he thought was a sacrificial altar with the remains of 12 pillars of stone that could conceivably correspond to the one described in Exodus 24 that Moses built, representing the 12 tribes of Israel.”

Actually, he added credence to a theory proposed nearly 50 years earlier by Italian archeologist Emmanuel Anati, who found thousands of rock carvings and rock circles on a plateau of Mount Karkom, about 2,500 feet above sea level – including scenes some claimed matched stories in the Hebrew bible. Anati eventually propose that Mount Karkom “should be identified with the sacred mountain of the biblical narrations.” However, other scholars dispute that claim – pointing out that the carvings were made in the third millennium BCE while biblical scholars put the dating of the unproven historical exodus between 1600-1200 BCE.

Was is just a calendar error?

“Without binoculars or biblical vision, it was possible to make out a strange, if faint, glow, though some visitors expressed disappointment that the aura around the cave mouth was not more fiery.”

However, that didn’t stop a crowd from gathering on the 2021 winter solstice for a new tradition – the observation of the burning bush/cave on Mount Karkom. The New York Times reports that this year’s event included the man who started it all – Professor Anati, now in his 90s. (Photos here.)

The “Burning Bush” phenomenon, occurring on the winter solstice, at Mount Karkom in the Negev Desert in southern Israel, Dec. 21, 2021. It is actually sunlight reflecting off the sides of a cave.

(Amit Elkayam/The New York Times)

 Scores of people fanned across the edge of a ravine to see the “Burning Bush” phenomenon for themselves in the Negev Desert in southern Israel, Dec. 21, 2021. On the year’s shortest day, hundreds of Israelis ventured deep into the desert to witness a strange natural phenomenon atop an ancient pilgrimage site that some argue is where God spoke to Moses.

(Amit Elkayam/The New York Times)

 The Negev Desert, with Mount Karkom in the distance, in southern Israel, Dec. 21, 2021. On the year’s shortest day, hundreds of Israelis ventured deep into the desert to witness a strange natural phenomenon atop an ancient pilgrimage site that some argue is where God spoke to Moses.

(Amit Elkayam/The New York Times)

 An ancient burial site constructed by nomads in the Negev Desert in southern Israel, Dec. 21, 2021. On the year’s shortest day, hundreds of Israelis ventured deep into the desert to witness a strange natural phenomenon atop an ancient pilgrimage site that some argue is where God spoke to Moses.

(Amit Elkayam/The New York Times)

He again witnessed the ‘glow’ but admitted he can’t prove this is what inspired the biblical story or that Mount Karkom is the true biblical Mount Sinai. He’d rather “bring all the opinions and evidence and let the reader decide for themselves.” That’s a noble cause, but he also refers to the area as “story of the history of humankind” – conveniently ignoring the histories going on at the same time (and long before) in the Far East, Africa, Australia and the Americas.

Gathering all of those cultural and religious histories together and THEN letting the reader decide for themselves would be an event worthy of a burning bush.

{https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

02-01-2022 om 22:18 geschreven door peter  

Researchers analyzed dinosaur footprints dating back more than 200 million years and now their findings have been revealed. The footprints, which were found on a beach in Penarth, Wales, were discovered in 2020 and experts have been studying them ever since.

Researchers believe that the footprints were made by a group of sauropodomorphs that were traveling through the region sometime between 237 and 201 million years ago during the Triassic Period. Sauropodomorphs were huge quadrupedal herbivores that had very long necks and tails. They were divided into two groups – prosauropods and sauropods (these included Diplodocus and Apatosaurus among others).

It’s unclear as to which sauropodomorph species left the tracks, but it may have been a dinosaur like the Camelotia which was an herbivore that lived in England during the late part of the Triassic Period and was estimated to have measured about 10 meters in length (33 feet).

Professor Paul Barrett went into further details about the footprints by explaining, “We think the tracks are an example of Eosauropus, which is not the name of a particular dinosaur species but for shape of a type of track thought to have been made by a very early sauropod or a prosauropod.” “We know these kinds of dinosaur were living in Britain at the time, as bones of the sauropod Camelotia have been found in Somerset in rocks dated to the same age.” “We don’t know if this species was the track maker, but its presence nearby was another smoking gun which suggested something like it could have made these tracks.”

(Not the footprints mentioned in this article.)

He went on to say that it is thought that the location was a place where numerous sauropod dinosaurs once gathered, “There are hints of trackways being made by individual animals, but because there are so many prints of slightly different sizes, we believe there is more than one trackmaker involved,” adding, “These types of tracks are not particularly common worldwide, so we believe this is an interesting addition to our knowledge of Triassic life in the UK. Our record of Triassic dinosaurs in this country is fairly small, so anything we can find from the period adds to our picture of what was going on at that time.” Their study was published in the journal Geological Magazine where it can be read in full.

Pictures of some of the dinosaur footprints can be viewed here.

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

31-12-2021 om 20:30 geschreven door peter  

Almost a quarter of a billion years ago in the state of Nevada, a massive sea monster inhabited the area. Named Cymbospondylus youngorum, the huge fossil of this new ichthyosaur species was found back in 1998 in rocks from the Augusta Mountains.

However, it took until 2015 and with help from a helicopter for all of the fossils to be removed from the site. The remains were then brought to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County where experts have since been studying them.

Their detailed analysis revealed that the creature was massive with a skull that measured 6.5 feet in length (2 meters), meaning that the entire body of the Cymbospondylus youngorum would have been more than 55 feet long (17 meters) and weighed about 45 tons. In an email to Live Science, Lars Schmitz, who is an associate professor of biology at Scripps College in Claremont, California, described the species, “Imagine a sea-dragon-like animal: streamlined body, quite long, with limbs modified to fins, and a long tail.”

A drawing of a Cymbospondylus. (Via Wikipedia)

It lived about 247 million years ago during the Triassic Period. It would have occupied the Panthalassic Ocean off the western coast of what is now North America when the land was the supercontinent of Pangaea. It is believed that the Cymbospondylus youngorum would have feasted on ichthyosaurs that were smaller than itself, as well as fish and perhaps squid.

In a time span of about 2.5 million years, ichthyosaurs grew to massive lengths. Interestingly, it took almost 55 million years for whales to reach their sizes – the same size that it took ichthyosaurs just 1% of their 150-million-year history to achieve.

Schmitz explained this further, “We have discovered that ichthyosaurs evolved gigantism much faster than whales, in a time where the world was recovering from devastating extinction [at the end of the Permian Period].” “It is a nice glimmer of hope and a sign of the resilience of life — if environmental conditions are right, evolution can happen very fast, and life can bounce back.”

An ichthyosaur but not the Cymbospondylus youngorum.

As for why ichthyosaurs grew to such massive sizes in such a short time period, it may be partly caused by feasting on large amounts of marine mollusks called ammonoids and eel-like jawless conodonts that grew in population numbers after the mass extinction event. Two studies in relation to the Cymbospondylus youngorum have been published in the journal Science – they can be read here and here.

A picture of the fossil and an image of what the Cymbospondylus youngorum would have looked like can be seen here.

An illustration of Cymbospondylus youngorum in a Triassic ocean teeming with life. Ammonites and squid were abundant in this open ocean environment. 

(Image credit: Illustration by Stephanie Abramowicz, courtesy of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM).)

The size of the new ichthyosaur is perhaps best illustrated with a human for scale. 

(Image credit: Photo by Martin Sander)

A direct comparison of two ocean giants from different epochs side by side: The Triassic Cymbopsondylus youngorum (the new species described in the paper) vs. today’s sperm whale, with a human for scale. 

(Image credit: Illustration by Stephanie Abramowicz, courtesy of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM).)

The skull of the new ichthyosaur species, Cymbospondylus youngorum, is nearly 6.5 feet (2 meters) long and very well preserved. 

(Image credit: Photo by Natalja Kent, courtesy of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.)

The skull of the new ichthyosaur species, Cymbospondylus youngorum, dates to the early Triassic. 

(Image credit: Photo by Stephanie Abramowicz, courtesy of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM).)

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

29-12-2021 om 18:09 geschreven door peter  

Mummy of Amenhotep I is 'digitally unwrapped' for the first time: CT scans reveal the Egyptian Pharaoh was some 35 years old, 5'7" and circumcised when he died 3,000 years ago

• Amenhotep I ruled Egypt from around 1525 to 1504 BCE, during the 18th dynasty

• He was later unwrapped and carefully restored by priests in the 11th century BCE

• Modern Egyptologists have never dared open him, as he is so well-preserved

By IAN RANDALL FOR MAILONLINE

In what is less of a Christmas present and more of a macabre past, the mummified remains of the Egyptian Pharaoh Amenhotep I have been digitally 'unwrapped'.

Amenhotep I — the second ruler of Egypt's 18th Dynasty — is thought to have died around 1506–1504 BCE, at which point he was painstakingly preserved.

Unlike all the other royal mummies unearthed in the 19th and 20th centuries, that of Amenhotep I has never been unwrapped by modern Egyptologists.

This is not in fear of a curse, but because the specimen is so beautifully preserved — decorated with floral garlands and an exquisite facemask inset with precious stones 

University of Cairo-led experts, however, were able to use computed tomography (CT) scans to create 3D reconstructions of the man underneath the bandages. 

They found that the beloved pharaoh was 35 years old, 5 feet 7 inches tall and circumcised when he died some three millennia ago.

This is not the first time Amenhotep I has been 'opened', however — he was actually  unwrapped, restored and reburied in the 11th century BCE by 21st dynasty priests.

They reburied him at Deir el-Bahari in southern Egypt, where he was discovered along with a number of other restored royal mummies in 1881.

In what is less of a Christmas present and more of a macabre past, the mummified remains of the Egyptian Pharaoh Amenhotep I have been digitally 'unwrapped' (left). Unlike all the other royal mummies unearthed in the 19th and 20th centuries, that of Amenhotep I has never been unwrapped by modern Egyptologists. This is not in fear of a curse, but because the specimen is so beautifully preserved — decorated with floral garlands and an exquisite facemask inset with precious stones (right)

Amenhotep I — the second ruler of Egypt's 18th Dynasty — is thought to have died around 1506–1504 BCE, at which point he was painstakingly preserved. Pictured: his mummy

This is not the first time Amenhotep I has been 'opened', however — he was physically unwrapped, restored and reburied in the 11th century BCE by 21st dynasty priests. They reburied him at Deir el-Bahari in southern Egypt, where he was discovered along with a number of other restored royal mummies in 1881.

Pictured: Deir el-Bahari

'The fact that Amenhotep I's mummy had never been unwrapped in modern times gave us a unique opportunity,' explained paper author and radiologist Sahar Saleem of Cairo University and the Egyptian Mummy Project.

It allowed the team, he added,' not just to study how he had originally been mummified and buried, but also how he had been treated and reburied twice, centuries after his death, by High Priests of Amun.

'By digitally unwrapping of the mummy and "peeling off" its virtual layers — the facemask, the bandages, and the mummy itself — we could study this well-preserved pharaoh in unprecedented detail.

'We show that Amenhotep I was approximately 35 years old when he died. He was approximately 169cm [5'7''] tall, circumcised and had good teeth.'

'Within his wrappings, he wore 30 amulets and a unique golden girdle with gold beads,' Professor Saleem continued.

'Amenhotep I seems to have physically resembled his father — he had a narrow chin, a small narrow nose, curly hair and mildly protruding upper teeth.

'We couldn’t find any wounds or disfigurement due to disease to justify the cause of death, except numerous mutilations post mortem, presumably by grave robbers after his first burial. 

'His entrails had been removed by the first mummifiers, but not his brain or heart.'

University of Cairo-led experts, however, were able to use computed tomography (CT) scans to create 3D reconstructions of the man underneath the bandages

The team found that the beloved pharaoh was 35 years old, 5 feet 7 inches tall and circumcised when he died some three millennia ago. Pictured: a statue of Amenhotep I in life

Amenhotep I was the second pharaoh of Egypt's 18th Dynasty and ruled from around 1525 to 1504 BCE. Pictured: CT scans revealed that his mummy had a full set of healthy teeth

Records in the form of hieroglyphic writings have indicated that its was common during the later 21st dynasty for priests to restore and re-bury mummies from earlier dynasties in order to repair the damage done to them by grave robbers.

Professor Saleem and her Egyptologist colleague Zahi Hawass of Antiquities of Egypt, however, had speculated that these 11th century BCE priests had an ulterior motive in opening centuries old mummies — to re-use royal burial equipment.

However, their latest findings seem to counter that hypothesis. 

'We show that — at least for Amenhotep I — the priests of the 21st dynasty lovingly repaired the injuries inflicted by the tomb robbers,' said Professor Saleem.

In fact, the restorers appeared to have returned the mummy 'to its former glory and preserved the magnificent jewellery and amulets in place.'  

'Amenhotep I seems to have physically resembled his father — he had a narrow chin, a small narrow nose, curly hair and mildly protruding upper teeth,' said Professor Saleem. 'We couldn’t find any wounds or disfigurement due to disease to justify the cause of death, except numerous mutilations post mortem, presumably by grave robbers after his first burial'

Pictured: a CT scan of Amenhotep I's lower torso. The team believe that he was originally buried with his arms crossed in front of his body, however it appears that damage by grave robbers has dislocated his right arm and broken two fingers from his left hand. These can be seen inside his abdomen (long arrow), while a pin (short arrow) has been used —presumably by 21sy dynasty restorers — to hold the left arm in its new position

Professor Saleem and Dr Hawass have studied more than 40 royal mummies dating back to ancient Egypt's New Kingdom (16th–11th centuries BCE) as part of an Egyptian Antiquity Ministry Project launched back in 2005.

'CT imaging can be profitably used in anthropological and archaeological studies on mummies, including those from other civilizations, for example Peru,' the duo said.

The full findings of the study were published in the journal Frontiers in Medicine.

Amenhotep I was found in a cache at Deir el-Bahari in southern Egypt in 1881, alongside a number of other royal mummies restored during the 21st dynasty 

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

28-12-2021 om 23:37 geschreven door peter  

With the holidays over, some parents may be reviewing the experience and planning ahead for ways to better hide presents from their inquisitive children. If your kid is a budding archeologist … good luck. The mummified body of Pharaoh Amenhotep I had been hidden for thousands of years in Egypt, then locked up for decades away from those who wished to unwrap it because of its beautiful yet fragile flower garlands and lifelike facemask inset with colorful stones. That changed recently when Egyptian archeologists and scientists used three-dimensional medical CT (computed tomography) scanners to ‘digitally unwrap’ the mummy of Amenhotep I and reveal contents that were better than they ever expected.

Pharaoh Amenhotep I with his mother Queen Ahmose-Nefertari.

(Public domain)

“This fact that Amenhotep I’s mummy had never been unwrapped in modern times gave us a unique opportunity: not just to study how he had originally been mummified and buried, but also how he had been treated and reburied twice, centuries after his death, by High Priests of Amun.”

In the press release announcing the scan, whose details were published in Frontiers of Medicine, Dr. Sahar Saleem, professor of radiology at the Faculty of Medicine at Cairo University and radiologist on the Egyptian Mummy Project, first reminds us that Amenhotep I had been unwrapped and rewrapped in the 11th century BCE, possibly because the tomb had been looted by grave robbers. That was 400 years after his reign from 1525 BCE to 1504 BCE. His original tomb was eventually destroyed for renovations to his mortuary temple and has never been positively identified. The mummy was found in 1881 with other reburied royal family members and has been kept safe and unwrapped ever since.

“We show that Amenhotep I was approximately 35 years old when he died. He was approximately 169cm tall, circumcised, and had good teeth. Within his wrappings, he wore 30 amulets and a unique golden girdle with gold beads.”

They could see he had been circumcised! That’s a tribute to the priests who performed the mummification, those who did the restoration, and the power of modern CT scanning. Saleem says Amenhotep I physically resembled his father, Ahmose I – bearing his narrow chin and nose, curly hair and protruding upper teeth. The scan showed post-mortem mutilations possibly made by the grave robbers but no cause of death at age 35. The scan showed him buried with 30 amulets and a unique golden girdle with gold beads befitting his status in death as a god. The fact that the priests who reburied Amenhotep I with his jewels in place was both a tribute to his status and a tribute to the priests, who many archeologists thought had repurposed such burial items for other later leaders.

An image of Amenhotep I from his funerary cult.

(Public domain)

Are your packages safe from budding young Egyptologists? Dr. Saleem doesn’t think so.

“We show that CT imaging can be profitably used in anthropological and archeological studies on mummies, including those from other civilizations, for example Peru.”

Do you own a lead closet?

RELATED PHOTOS AND VIDEOS, selected and posted by peter2011

The mummified wrapping of ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Amenhotep I

Dr Saleem says the scans of the body did not show any wounds or disfigurement due to disease 

PA MEDIA

EGYPTIAN MINISTRY OF ANTIQUITIES HANDOUT

An image of the head of King Amenhotep I created using CT scanning

DR SAHAR SALEEM/UNIVERSITY OF CAIRO

Golden beaded jewellery with a snail amulet hidden beneath Amenhotep I's wrappings

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

28-12-2021 om 23:21 geschreven door peter