Author: David.DeMar

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Ancient DNA, Once Helpful, May Now Cause Cognitive Harm

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United Press International, a new research study has revealed how a variant of the gene known as apolipoprotein E (ApoE), long linked to higher risks of cardiovascular disease and cognitive decay in modern urban populations, is likely to have a beneficial, protective effect on non-urban communities in infectious environments. To reach their conclusion, scientists from Arizona State University visited communities in the Amazon to research the impact of the ApoE gene – the first time such a population has been involved in a study of this gene. The study’s lead author, assistant professor Ben Trumble said that studying the Tsimane, an Amazonian community of foragers, presented opportunities to see how the ApoE4 allele would have affected humans in our past, well before industrial development. The tropical environment that the Tsimane live in, which features little in the way of sanitation, electricity, or running water, and a high level of exposure to pathogens and parasites that attack cognition, is akin to the kinds of conditions the earliest of modern humans would have faced, Trumble pointed out. This made the Tsimane an ideal population to study for the effect APoE4 would have had in antiquity. The project subjected many Tsimane community members to a seven-part medical exam and cognitive assessment. The results showed a clear correlation between ApoE4 and cognitive function during parasite infection. ApoE4 carriers within the community that were also infected with parasites demonstrated improved or steady cognitive function. Those without the ApoE4 gene, but who had similar levels of parasite exposure, showed reduced cognition in comparison. Meanwhile, ApoE4 carriers among the Tsimane that had low levels of parasite infections had no protection against cognitive decline. In fact, their rates were similar to those seen in urban, industrialized regions, leaving Trumble to remark that it’s obvious genetic mutations like ApoE4 may help humans survive in more hazardous environments or time periods, but in post-industrial times, which are obviously much more relatively sterile and safe, these same genetic mutations can become a liability. This presents a conundrum – individuals that carry the ApoE4 gene are the descendants of individuals who likely needed the mutation to survive in the face of high levels of parasitic infection. Now that many post-industrial societies have grown beyond the need for such genetic protections, the mutation that once kept their ancestors’ minds safe from cognitive decay might end up causing it – a lesson in irony, to say the least. More research into ApoE4 is being conducted to broaden modern science’s understanding of the gene. Some studies have already shown that APoE4 carriers may benefit from heightened childhood development and protections against some infections like hepatitis and giardia. The research study, appearing in the journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), can be found online here]]>

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Key Discovery of Revolution-Era Pottery Unearthed in Philadelphia

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Ceramics in America. The publication date is listed as March 17th and can be ordered here]]>

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Archaeologist’s 15 Year Fight to Recognize Lost City Pays Off

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Robot Subs Will Aid the Hunt for Ancient Sunken Cities in 2017

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The Guardian has revealed a new archaeological initiative to plumb the depths of the Mediterranean to search out the secrets of cities like Atlit-Yam. The program, called Archaeosub, will be spearheaded by Italian researchers. One of these researchers is Benedetto Allotta, head of industrial engineering at the University of Florence, who claims that there are any number of human settlements to be found not far from the Mediterranean coast – with the possibility of several more Atlit-Yams just waiting to be explored. The Archaeosub initiative is focusing on the construction of advanced underwater vehicles (AUVs) that can be operated remotely – partly in an effort to make it more affordable to access the technology. Many academic research organizations have found it difficult to use expensive technologies developed by the offshore oil industry or the military, which has inspired Archaeosub to create lighter, cheaper robotic submersibles that can be easily deployed without having to rely on large research vessels. The project is an ambitious one, and not just for making marine archaeology more accessible. Plans to create underwater Wi-Fi networks through the use of a number of cheap, small Archaeosub AUVs are in the works as well, making it easier for these unmanned robotic vehicles to communicate with one another and the surface. So far Archaeosub has shown promise. A 2016 trial saw Archaeosub test three of its AUVs off the Sicilian coast to survey a well-known shipwreck at Marzamemi. The so-called “church wreck”, a Roman ship that sunk in the sixth century CE hauling marble parts for an early Christian church, was studied by the AUVs, which passed through the site on a lookout for new clues. The vehicles gathered enough data to do a reconstruction of the area, Allotta reported. The researcher and his team hope to perfect wireless communication beneath the surface in order to create an “internet of underwater things” that can send and receive data to boats above or at the shore. This could be challenging, as traditional Wi-Fi works poorly underwater, calling for new technologies relying on GPS data and embracing acoustic wave or even light beam transmission instead. Relay systems that make use of one AUV sending data to another underwater and then that second robot surfacing to create a satellite uplink to send and receive data are also being considered as a possible solution. Allotta says one of the newest sites the team has on its radar is the Gulf of Baratti, off the Tuscan coast, at the site of a 2000-year-old shipwreck that was originally discovered in 1974. The ship is remarkable because of the plethora of medical supplies it was found to have been carrying; Archaeosub hopes to explore the site of the medical supply ship to further refine its methods. ]]>

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Possible Remains of 17th-Century Fortress Found in Osaka

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Asahi Shimbun, the Sanada Maru Excavation Promotion Council has announced the discovery in the Tennoji Ward of Osaka’s Esahi-machi district. The private organization recounted how they had found a layer of artificially filled soil at the site, lending weight to their hypothesis that the rectilinear fortress would have been larger than was previously thought. Sanada Maru was a branch of Osaka Castle that would have projected from the south side of the castle’s general frame moat, or Sogamae. The moat would have otherwise defined the furthest border of the castle, built and maintained by the Toyotomi clan. Sanada Nobushige, who also went by the name Sanada Yukimura, was an ally of the Toyotomi during the winter campaign of 1614 at the Siege of Osaka, defending the fortress from the forces of Shogun Tokugawa through 1615 until a peace accord was reached. For many years, the shape of the fortress was thought to have been a semicircle, based on historical drawings. However, Nara University archaeology professor Yohihiro Senda, the leader of the research group, says that he and his colleagues have determined that Sanada Maru could have been square. Senda remarked that the impetus behind this new theory is from not just other drawings but also historical topographic charts as well as aerial photos and additional evidence. The layer of artificial fill was discovered during an excavation across 70 square meters of area near the northern end of the plot, close to what resembled the remains of a moat on an ancient map. A moat-like depression also remains on the southern area, providing indications that there may have been earthworks surrounding the ancient fortress – and researchers feel that the filled-in layer may be evidence of these earthworks. The terrain surrounding Sanada Maru was likely not changed significantly during its demolition, Senda remarked, pointing out that the fill layer was found above natural ground. The professor added that this makes it possible to make estimations as to the size and shape of the fortress by drawing from present-day topographical features. While the site in large part comprises the grounds of the Osaka Meisei Gakuen secondary school, there’s enough leftover evidence to reconstruct Sanada Maru in a rectangular shape, Senda commented. The walls would have run around 300 meters east-to-west and 350 meters from north-to-south, which would have included the breadth of the moat, according to the professor. Senda and his team plan on presenting the entirety of their findings by either February or March of 2017 in a session that will be open to the public. The findings are timely, as the NHK’s annual televised historical drama for 2016 was based on the Siege of Osaka and was in fact called Sanada Maru. Nobushige is of course a central character in the series, portrayed by Japanese television and film actor Masato Sakai. ]]>

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Archaeologist May Get to Return to 30-Year-Old Hawaiian Dig Site

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Denisovan DNA May Be Behind Inuit’s Cold Tolerance

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here]]>

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Manhattan Carpet Store May be Selling Reconstructed Tudor-Era Carpet

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New York Post, University of Cambridge professor Mary Beard discovered the tapestry at the Persian Gallery in the midst of her research into images of Julius Caesar. The composition of the tapestry, which features images of the Roman Emperor, matches those that would have been commissioned by the Tudor king during the later years of his reign in the 1500s. Henry VIII commissioned a set of ten of these tapestries, each nine feet tall and depicting the life of the ancient Roman ruler, ostensibly to connect his reign to that of Caesar’s – though seemingly without spending much time thinking of how the emperor came to such a grisly and violent end. Beard says that at the time they were made the tapestries were of immense value to the royal household and would have been its most prized possessions. In fact, in the wake of the execution of Charles I, the tapestries were listed as the second most valuable objects in the entire royal collection during an inventory of the beheaded royal’s property. The original tapestries have long vanished – and the one found in the Manhattan gallery is not one of these originals, the professor remarked. However, the designs used to create the originals were used to reconstruct these tapestries in the late sixteenth century. Many of these tapestries, like the one found in the Persian Gallery, are valued at $50,000 or more based on their age, their condition, and the royal design from which they are copied. If one of the original ten royal tapestries were ever recovered, its value would likely be even more immense, if not incalculable. Beard commented that the designs of these tapestries are intriguing. Pulled from Suetonius’ “Life of Caesar”, the images showcase both the rise and fall of the ruler, up to and including his death at the hands of his assassins in the Senate. The university professor remarked that the idea that the walls of the Tudor king’s palace were adorned with one of the most obvious critiques of autocratic power during the classical period might be high irony indeed, considering the rule of Henry VIII was rife with behavior such as splitting with the Roman Catholic Church in order to create his own, all to facilitate his constant marriages and annulments in search of a bride who would provide him a male heir. The particular tapestry spotted by Beard is 14-foot by 15-foot, created from wool and inlaid with silk, depicting Caesar crossing the Rubicon River, the famous act that marked the point of no return in his successful attempt to seize control from his rivals Pompey and Crassus, the other members of the First Triumvirate. The term “crossing the Rubicon” has since passed into modern parlance, indicating when someone has taken an irrevocable step forward in a serious matter. More information about the discovery, as well as images of the tapestry, can be found on Prof. Beard’s blog: A Don’s Life]]>

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Banquo’s Walk May Not Have Shakespearean Roots After All

Macbeth seeing the ghost of Banquo

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Newgrange Sun Trap May Be Only 50 Years Old, Scientist Says

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The Irish Times, is that Newgrange would have been a significant “Hiberno-Roman cult site” during the Iron Age. These findings are supported by “underplayed” discoveries made at the location by O’Kelly, Gibbons states. This overlooked or underplayed material includes valuable Roman coins, a gold ring, a bracelet, pendants, and torcs. Additional evidence of horses and dogs was likewise found, as well as signs of elks or stags, dating to the late seventeenth century and later. Scientists have commented on Gibbons’ new research with mixed remarks, on the one hand agreeing that O’Kelley had downplayed the evidence at the site of activity during the Iron Age; on the other finding the idea that the roof box was a modern construct hard to swallow. Dr. Richard Hensey, the author of a recently published study on Newgrange, says that several studies have indicated the extreme age of the roof box, placing it at 5,000 years old.]]>