Re: Oddities, curiousities and strangness in history [2]

by halfwise Thu Oct 12, 2017 3:08 am

So I just saw a program about Stonehenge (Nova, Secrets of Stonehenge) where by looking at strontium in the teeth of animals in the nearest village to Stonehenge, they say that around the time of the second phase of construction (2500 BC) the animals eaten at feasting came from as far as Scotland! This means that Stonehenge was actually a pan-British site. There's hints of this in that the blue stones came from Wales, but the fact that animals were actually driven all the way from Scotland tells you that people knew about the site all over the island. That amazes me.

by Pettytyrant101 Thu Oct 12, 2017 3:38 am

{{ Stonehenge is a johnny come lately- of course stuff came from Scotland that was the centre of it all- Orkney to be more precise. Predates all the Stonehenge henge stuff by nearly another 2000 years.}}

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ness_of_Brodgar

{{I reckon what happened was when the sea level rises got to be a problem they moved the whole enterprise south. They had already set up an offshoot ritual centre at Stone Henge prior to the big stone one we see now in 2,500bc. 300 years later the Ness gets abandoned and filled in, accompanied by a massive feast- they didn't destroy it, they closed it down respectfully and in celebration. Then the whole enterprise moved to Stone Henge. }}}

by halfwise Thu Oct 12, 2017 6:06 pm

We finally know who the "Sea Peoples" were!

Many ancient sources refer to a mysterious "sea people" who devasted the coasts of the middle east at the end of the Bronze Age. This topic is dear to my heart because in college I got low scores on a term paper by using an outdated (but massive and convincing) source that simply assumed, in the absence of any other candidates, that the sea people were Minoans, from Crete.

http://www.newsweek.com/mystery-lost-biblical-sea-people-revealed-ancient-hieroglyphs-uncovered-turkey-683110

by Eldorion Thu Oct 12, 2017 7:07 pm

Damn, that's huge if it holds up! The Bronze Age collapse was fascinating to me when learning about ancient history.

by halfwise Fri Oct 13, 2017 1:27 pm

A little more detail (some of it different) here: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/3200-year-old-inscription-lost-language-and-lot-doubt-180965244/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20171012-daily-responsive&spMailingID=31006079&spUserID=NzQwNDU4NjU0MTYS1&spJobID=1141597241&spReportId=MTE0MTU5NzI0MQS2

by Pettytyrant101 Thu Oct 19, 2017 2:31 am

{{ I was half joking when I said this above- ' Stonehenge is a johnny come lately- of course stuff came from Scotland that was the centre of it all'- turns out I may have been more right than I knew!

'The "army of builders" of Stonehenge ate animals transported from as far away as the north east of Scotland, according to a new exhibition at the famous Neolithic site in Wiltshire.'- BBC

by halfwise Thu Oct 19, 2017 3:04 am

That's basically what I said! Mad

by Pettytyrant101 Thu Oct 19, 2017 12:55 pm

{{Ah well yes but you failed to include a cool picture like this-

Oddities, curiousities and strangness in history [2] - Page 14 98372046_stonehengeskull

Oddities, curiousities and strangness in history [2] - Page 14 98372046_stonehengeskull

the skull of an auroch from the Stonehenge feast imported all the way from NE Scotland! Imagine chasing a herd of those buggers across the Scottish Highlands for your dinner! affraid

And that was one brave bugger that milked them! Shocked

}}}

by azriel Thu Oct 19, 2017 1:25 pm

That is in dam good condition too. Arent horns/antlers made of keratin ? Hasn't decomposed away. They must have been formidable. The cattle that is ( & probably the little hairy Scots guys that went after them Smile

)

by azriel Fri Oct 20, 2017 3:26 pm

https://www.facebook.com/SteampunkTendencies/videos/1185964948184536/

by halfwise Fri Oct 20, 2017 5:16 pm

That's kind of creepy.

by azriel Sat Oct 21, 2017 8:25 pm

by azriel Sat Oct 21, 2017 8:27 pm

Oddities, curiousities and strangness in history [2] - Page 14 Ice_dragon

Ice Dragon Smile

by David H Tue Oct 24, 2017 10:14 pm

I tried to post this earlier today but the site ate it. Rolling Eyes

https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2017/10/23/Humans-altered-the-evolution-of-crops-10000-years-earlier-than-previously-thought/3981508767201/

Oct. 23 (UPI) -- New research suggests hunter-gatherers began altering the evolution of the first crops some 30,000 years ago, 10,000 years earlier than previously thought.

Wild plants are genetically programmed to spread their seeds in the wild. Their seeds and seed pods break away and the casings become shattered, allowing the seeds to become naturally sowed. But when certain plants were selected on a large scale by early humans, they began the transition from plant to crop and evolved to retain their seeds.

New analysis of this genetic transition from wild to domesticated suggests the evolution of several ancient grain species was impacted by human selection practices as many as 30,000 years ago.

Seems us farmers have been around a lot longer than some folks give us credit for. Nod

by Eldorion Tue Oct 24, 2017 10:53 pm

Thanks for sharing that, Dave! Fascinating stuff. It's exciting to think how much more we might learn about prehistory over the course of my lifetime. So many things seem to have occurred earlier than we used to think.

by azriel Wed Dec 06, 2017 12:56 pm

Oddities, curiousities and strangness in history [2] - Page 14 Corint10

Corinthian helmet from the Battle of Marathon (490 ) with the skull still inside it.

by halfwise Wed Dec 06, 2017 1:07 pm

Can't see that image, Az; even when using Chrome.

by azriel Wed Dec 06, 2017 8:49 pm

Oh I'm sorry Halfy, that's a bugger !

by azriel Wed Dec 06, 2017 8:51 pm

Oddities, curiousities and strangness in history [2] - Page 14 Helmet12

Helmet of a flame throwing soldier from WW1

by halfwise Thu Dec 07, 2017 12:26 am

Jeez!

btw, the helmet with skull appeared. Don't know what changed.

by azriel Thu Dec 07, 2017 12:33 am

We got windy weather here. must have blown it off course Laughing

by chris63 Tue Dec 19, 2017 5:22 am

US military releases classified footage of unidentified flying object tracked by Navy pilots

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/ufo-video-us-navy-tracking-pilots-footage-unidentified-object-a8116356.html

by Forest Shepherd Wed Jan 24, 2018 9:25 am

The U.S. Dollar buys today what cost 4 cents a hundred years ago.
But despite the fact that inflation has increased by a factor of 25, we're still using the same coins and bills as we did back then. In fact, with the exception of the half-penny, the US has the same coins as were set down in the original Mint Act of 1792.

Basically, if we did away with everything smaller than the quarter, we'd have the same base monetary units relative to a hundred years ago, relatively.

I say go for it! I'd love for coins to feel like they are worth something.

https://www.pcgs.com/news/our-pocket-change-has-become-nearly-worthless

by halfwise Wed Jan 24, 2018 1:44 pm

there's been a drive to get rid the penny. Would be nice.

by Forest Shepherd Wed Jan 24, 2018 7:31 pm

Might as well do away with the nickel while you're at it.