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History News of the Week – USS Indianapolis Discovered

USS_Indianapolis_(CA-35)_underway_at_sea,_in_1943-1944_(NH_124466)

USS Indianapolis Shipwreck Discovered 72 years after its sinking, the wreckage of the USS Indianapolis has been discovered 18,000 feet beneath the surface of the Philippine Sea, according to the New York Times. In July 1945, in the final months of the Second World War, the USS Indianapolis was sunk by a Japanese torpedo, as it returned from a secret mission to deliver parts that were used in the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The ship’s sinking was the worst loss of life in the history of the US Navy. Of the 1,196 crew on board, just 316 were rescued. Although somewhere between 800 and 900 people escaped the sinking ship, no distress signal was sent. When the survivors were found by chance four days later in shark infested waters, just a fraction were left alive. On Saturday 19th September, a civilian team led by Paul G. Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft, announced that it had found unmistakable wreckage of the Indianapolis. They had been directed to the site by new research from a naval historian which determined a specific region of the ocean where the ship had been sited the night before its destruction. “To be able to honour the brave men of the USS Indianapolis and their families through the discovery of a ship that played such a significant role during World War Two is truly humbling,” Allen told the BBC. Ancient Pompeii’s Water Supply was Poisonous New research claims that the water transported through the pipelines of the ancient Roman city of Pompeii was probably poisonous on a scale that would have likely led to diarrhea, vomiting and liver and kidney damage for anyone who drank it. Kaare Lund, a chemist from the Southern University of Denmark (SDU), analysed water pipes from Pompeii and found high levels of the toxic element antimony, which he believes may have poisoned the drinking water. Antimony is acutely toxic, meaning it causes a quick reaction in anyone who consumes it. According to a statement from SDU, the element is particularly irritating to the bowels, and the reactions are excessive vomiting and diarrhea that can lead to dehydration. In severe cases it can also affect the liver and kidneys and, in the worst-case scenario, can cause cardiac arrest. Pompeii’s location, close to Mount Vesuvius, likely meant the concentration of antimony was higher there than elsewhere in the Roman Empire, as the toxic chemical element naturally occurs in groundwater close to volcanoes. Lund and colleagues’ findings have been published in the journal Toxicology Letters. Hannibal’s defeat and the rise of Rome written in coins Chemical analysis of Roman coins has found that the defeat of Hannibal led to a flood of wealth through the Empire from the silver mines of Spain. According to scientists, the discovery tracks Rome’s transition from regional power to empire. Regarded as a key event in European history, the Second Punic War saw Hannibal lead his formidable Carthaginian army across the Alps in 218 BCE in a failed assault on Rome. Hannibal’s defeat saw the Romans conquer the Iberian Peninsula, with the Romans slowly gaining control over the region’s lucrative silver mines circa 211 BCE. War reparations from Carthage combined with the revenue taken from the Spanish mines ultimately funded Rome’s rapid territorial expansion. The new geochemical analysis has now provided clear proof of the importance of the Spanish silver in funding Roman conquest. A group of scientists based in Germany and Denmark and led by Prof Fleur Kemmers and Dr Katrin Westner (Institute for Archaeological Sciences, Goethe University, Frankfurt) analysed 70 Roman coins dating from 310-300 BCE to 101 BCE, the period surrounding the Second Punic War. Using Mass Spectrometry, the team determined that the lead in the coins from after 209 BCE had distinctive isotope signatures which identified them as presumably originating from Spain. “Before the war we find that the Roman coins are made of silver from the same sources as the coinage issued by Greek cities in Italy and Sicily2. In other words the lead isotope signatures of the coins correspond to those of silver ores and metallurgical products from the Aegean region”, said Katrin Westner. “But the defeat of Carthage led to huge reparation payments to Rome, as well as Rome gaining high amounts of booty and ownership of the rich Spanish silver mines. From 209 B.C. we see that the majority of Roman coins show geochemical signatures typical for Iberian silver”. “This massive influx of Iberian silver significantly changed Rome’s economy, allowing it to become the superpower of its day. We know this from the histories of Livy and Polybius and others, but our work gives contemporary scientific proof of the rise of Rome. What our work shows is that the defeat of Hannibal and the rise of Rome is written in the coins of the Roman Empire.” ]]>

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History News of the Week – Does an Ancient Petroglyph Depict a Total Eclipse?

Possible Eclipse Petroglyph in Chaco Canyon

Chaco Canyon Petroglyph Could Depict Total Eclipse A petroglyph carved into a rock face by the ancient Pueblo people could depict an ancient eclipse, according to a professor from the University of Colorado at Boulder. The carving depicts a circle that resembles the sun’s outer atmosphere known as the corona, with tangled protrusions looping off the edges. According to Professor Emeritus J. McKim Malville, the image, which was first unearthed in 1992, may illustrate the total eclipse of the sun that occurred over the region on 11th July 1097. “To me it looks like a circular feature with curved tangles and structures,” said Malville of CU Boulder’s astrophysical and planetary sciences department. “If one looks at a drawing by a German astronomer of the 1860 total solar eclipse during high solar activity, rays and loops similar to those depicted in the Chaco petroglyph are visible.” Malville and colleagues used several sources to assess the activity of the sun around the time of the eclipse, to confirm if the image corresponded to how the sun would have looked at the time. This included looking at tree rings, which can provide an insight into the number of cosmic rays hitting the earth’s surface, and records of naked eye observations of sunspots dating back thousands of years in China. “This possible eclipse petroglyph on Piedra del Sol is the only one we know of in Chaco Canyon,” Malville said. “I think it is quite possible that the Chacoan people may have congregated around Piedra del Sol at certain times of the year and were watching the sun move away from the summer solstice when the eclipse occurred.” The Battle of Lewisham 40 Years On 13th August marks the anniversary of the Battle of Lewisham, a violent clash between a far-right march and counter-protestors in the south London borough. The right wing National Front organised a national march through Lewisham in the southeast of London, calling members from across the country to take part in the protest which they claimed was directed at a rise in crime in the area. At the time, Martin Webster, an organiser for the National Front, told the press: “We believe that the multi-racial society is wrong, is evil and we want to destroy it.” Huge swathes of the local community opposed the march, with Lewisham Council and the Bishop of Southwark leading thousands of peaceful demonstrators in holding a counter march close to the site of the National Front’s. At the same time, another group of counter-demonstrators, comprised of anti-fascists and members of progressive and radical left groups, sought to take more direct action, determined to block the National Front march itself. Violence erupted on the streets of London as the demonstrators and counter-demonstrators met. National Front members clashed with the protesters who then clashed with police as running battles took place through the area. Ultimately, the National Front were forced to abandon their demonstration, and were escorted to trains by the police. In total, 111 people were injured, including 56 police officers, and 214 were arrested. The event was a humiliation for the National Front, revealing the massive, determined opposition to their beliefs, and tarnishing their tough image with well documented reports of police having to usher them to safety. At the same time, the event was significant in the history of policing in the UK. Tactics were used which had never been seen before in England, with baton charges and mounted police used to disperse crowds, and riot shields on display for the first time outside of Northern Ireland. On 13th August a plaque was unveiled in New Cross, close to the site of the clash, to commemorate the community’s stand against fascism and racism. Humans Arrived in Asia Thousands of Years Earlier than Thought Humans may have left Africa and arrived in Asia up to 20,000 years earlier than previously thought, according to new research published in the journal Nature. The same study, led by Macquarie University, also suggests that humans arrived in Australia significantly earlier than is generally accepted. Dating of a cave site in West Sumatra, named Lida Ajer, has provided the first evidence for human rainforest use. It is this that has led to the rethink on the history of human migration. “Rainforests aren’t the easiest place to make a living, especially for a savannah-adapted primate, so it suggests that these people were ahead of the curve in terms of intelligence, planning and technological adaptation,” said Dr. Gilbert Price, from the University of Queensland’s School of earth and environmental sciences. Dutch paleo-anthropologist Eugene Dubois, renowned for the discovery of ‘Java Man’, visited a series of caves in Sumatra in the late 1800s, discovering human teeth there. Price said he and his colleagues are building on Dubois’ work, finally determining the significance of those teeth. “Fast forward over 100 years later, both the team of lead author Dr Kira Westaway of Macquarie University and my crew (separately) were lucky enough to re-discover and visit the caves. “It was quite an adventure. We ended up sharing notes and the collaboration was born.” Through thorough analysis of the teeth and dating of the sediments in the caves, the team determined not only that the teeth belonged to anatomically modern humans, but that they date back to as far as 73,000 years ago. Southeast Asia was a key region in the human dispersal out of Africa and through to Australia. However, until now most archaeological evidence has shown no sign of anatomically modern humans reaching the region earlier than 60,000 years ago. Feature image: A petroglyph of what may be a total solar eclipse in the year 1097 as recorded by the Chaco Canyon, New Mexico Pueblo people. Courtesy of University of Colorado]]>

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History News of the Week – Where the Minoans and Mycenaeans came from

View from the Canopy Floor in the Cloud Forest Sanctuary, Xalapa, Mexico

Minoan and Mycenaean Origins Revealed The ancient Minoans and Mycenaeans were genetically similar, with both peoples descended from early Neolithic farmers, according to new DNA research. Dating back to the Bronze Age, the archaeological remains of both the Minoans and Mycenaeans show they were culturally, artistically and technically advanced. The Minoans flourished on Crete, beginning around the third millennium BCE, while the Mycenaeans developed on mainland Greece from the second millennium BCE. The origins of these two remarkable Greek cultures has remained a mystery, but the new analysis is providing fresh insights. Published in the journal Nature, the new findings point to the Mycenaeans’ and Minoans’ origins being in Neolithic Farmers who migrated from Anatolia to Greece and Crete thousands of years prior to the Bronze Age. “Minoans, Mycenaeans, and modern Greeks also had some ancestry related to the ancient people of the Caucasus, Armenia, and Iran. This finding suggests that some migration occurred in the Aegean and southwestern Anatolia from further east after the time of the earliest farmers,” said Iosif Lazaridis, a scientist from Harvard Medical School who worked on the study. The research results also show that modern Greeks are largely descendants of the Mycenaeans. For the study, an international group of researchers from Harvard Medical School, the Max Planck Institute and the University of Washington, as well as a range of universities in Greece and Turkey extracted tooth DNA from the remains of 19 ancient individuals who archaeological evidence revealed as Minoans of Crete, Mycenaeans of mainland Greece, and people who lived in southwestern Anatolia. These samples were then analysed, with scientists from the Max Planck Institute and Harvard Medical School comparing Minoan and Mycenaean genomes with each other, 330 other ancient genomes and over 2,600 genomes of modern day humans from around the world. The study itself can be found here Tropical Forests have felt Human Touch for over 45,000 years A pioneering study of the global impact of humans on tropical forests shows that mankind has been altering these environments for over 45,000 years. The findings challenge the widely held view that tropical forests were pristine, untouched environments prior to the advent of agriculture and industrialisation. Looking at distinct phases of human impact on tropical forests, the scientists from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Liverpool John Moores University, University College London, and École française d’Extrême-Orient found evidence of techniques such as controlled burning of sections of forest, plant and animal management, and clear-cutting dating back thousands of years. The three phases focused on by the study correspond to hunting and gathering activities, small scale agriculture and large scale urban settlement. The hugely significant findings have the potential to change attitudes to conservation. By showing that an untouched forest ecosystem doesn’t exist, and hasn’t existed for thousands of years, it suggests there is no ideal forest environment that conservationists can use as a basis when setting conservation standards. The authors argue that instead modern efforts should be informed by a past understanding of how forests have been manipulated by humans. “Indigenous and traditional peoples – whose ancestors’ systems of production and knowledge are slowly being decoded by archaeologists – should be seen as part of the solution and not one of the problems of sustainable tropical forest development,” said Patrick Roberts of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, lead author of the paper. Published in the journal Nature Plants, the study is available here: Forgotten Trenches Unearthed in England A new archaeological survey has revealed for the first time the true extent of the network of trenches and fortifications built to defend England during the First World War, according to the Guardian. The new study aimed to detail the concentration of resources along England’s eastern and southern coasts, the region anticipated to receive the brunt of the German forces in the event of an invasion. Cutting edge LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data gathered by the Environment Agency were used in conjunction with more traditional methods – analyses of periodicals and local history, to plot the defensive network, the Guardian reports. Revealing trenches, gun batteries, and fortified naval bases among other defences, the scientists behind the new research say the biggest surprise was the extent of the defence network uncovered. Titled First World War Fieldworks in England, the findings have been published by Historic England as part of its contribution to the national Centenary Partnership programme about the First World War. Image courtesy of Patrick Roberts ]]>

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History News of the Week: The Biblical Canaanites' Modern Descendants

Bronze Age Iberia Received Fewer Steppe Invaders Than the Rest of Europe

Present day Lebanese are descendants of Biblical Canaanites A new genome study of ancient remains from the Near East suggests that present day Lebanese people are direct descendants of the Biblical Canaanites. The research, which has been published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, sequenced the entire genomes of 4,000 year-old Canaanites who inhabited the region during the Bronze Age, and compared them to other ancient and present day populations. Despite the Canaanites creating the first alphabet and establishing colonies throughout the Mediterranean, historians and archaeologists only have a limited knowledge of them. They are mentioned several times in the Bible, as well as in ancient Greek and Phoenician texts, but experts know little about their genetic identity, who their ancestors were, and if they have any descendants today. The study by the researchers from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute determined that more than 90% of present Lebanese ancestry is likely to be from the Canaanites, with a small proportion coming from a different Eurasian population. The researchers estimate that new Eurasian people mixed with the Canaanite population about 2,200 to 3,800 years ago at a time when there were many conquests of the region from outside. Details about the Canaanites own ancestry have also been revealed. The study claims that they were a mixture of local people who settled in farming villages during the Neolithic period and eastern migrants who arrived in the area around 5,000 years ago. “For the first time we have genetic evidence for substantial continuity in the region, from the Bronze Age Canaanite population through to the present day.” Dr Claude Doumet-Serhal, co-author of the study and Director of the Sidon excavation site in Lebanon, said. “These results agree with the continuity seen by archaeologists. Collaborations between archaeologists and geneticists greatly enrich both fields of study and can answer questions about ancestry in ways that experts in neither field can answer alone.” Meanwhile, Dr. Chris Tyler-Smith, lead author from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, said: “Genetic studies using ancient DNA can expand our understanding of history, and answer questions about the likely origins and descendants of enigmatic populations like the Canaanites, who left few written records themselves. “Now we would like to investigate the earlier and later genetic history of the Near East, and how it relates to the surrounding regions.” Bronze Age Iberia spared the brunt of Steppe invaders New DNA analysis of people who lived in the Iberian Peninsula during the Bronze Age has revealed that they received only minor genetic input from Steppe invaders, suggesting the Steppe migrations played less of a role in the cultural and genetic makeup of Iberian people than they did in populations elsewhere in Europe. Between the Middle Neolithic (4200-3500 BCE) and the Middle Bronze Age (1740-1430 BCE), Central, Northwestern and Northern Europe received a massive influx of people from the Steppe regions of Eastern Europe and Asia. Archaeological digs have gained insights into some of the impacts of these influxes on Iberia, in the form of changing cultural practices and funeral rituals, but the genetic effect has remained hitherto unexamined. The genomes of fourteen people who lived in Portugal in the Neolithic and Bronze Age were sequenced for the study, which has been published in the journal PLOS Genetics. These genomes were then compared with other ancient and modern genetic data, revealing only subtle changes between the Portuguese Neolithic and Bronze Age DNA, suggesting a minor genetic influence from the Steppe. Surprisingly, the changes were significantly more pronounced in paternal lineage. “It was surprising to observe such a striking Y chromosome discontinuity between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age, such as would be consistent with a predominantly male-mediated genetic influx” says first author Rui Martiniano. Height was also estimated from the samples, based on relevant DNA sequences, revealing that genetic input from Neolithic migrants decreased the height of Europeans, which subsequently increased steadily through later generations. By showing that migration into the Iberian Peninsula occurred on a much smaller scale than elsewhere in Europe, the study raises questions about the impact this had on language, culture and technology. For example, the fact that the Basque region of Spain speaks a pre-Indo-European language could be explained by these findings. The discovery also supports a theory which says Indo-European languages spread through Europe from the Steppe heartland. The study was carried out by Daniel Bradley and Rui Martiniano of Trinity College Dublin, in Ireland, and Ana Maria Silva of University of Coimbra, Portugal. New project aims to highlight importance of The Indian Army in the First World War In the UK, The Soldiers of Oxfordshire (SOFO) Museum and Oxford University’s History Faculty have received a £12,000 grant from the Arts & Humanities Research Council ‘Voices of War & Peace’ WWI Engagement Centre, for their project titled: The Indian Army in the First World War: An Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Perspective. The project aims to shed new light on the British Indian Army’s role in the war on the Eastern Front in Iraq through an outreach programme and touring exhibition. Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus of all ages in the local community are being called upon to engage with researchers by sharing stories, experiences and memorabilia. The touring exhibition will then showcase the findings in November. Photographs that have never been displayed before will explore the experiences of British and Indian soldiers in the conflict, as well as the Iraqi prisoners. Featured image: Archaeological remains of individual MC337 excavated from the site of Hipogeu de Monte Canelas I, Portugal, and analysed by the archaeologist Rui Parreira and the anthropologist Ana Maria Silva. Courtesy of Rui Parreira ]]>

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History News of the Week – A Cover-up of a Nazi Plot, a Ghost Species, and a Rethink on Australia

Winston Churchill at Potsdam Conference

Churchill Tried to Cover-up Nazi Royal Plot Newly released papers from the UK’s National Archives have revealed that Winston Churchill wanted to “destroy all traces” of telegrams about a Nazi plot to reinstate the abdicated King Edward VIII to the throne in return for his support during the Second World War. According to the Guardian, the telegrams reveal a plan to kidnap the Duke of Windsor – as the abdicated monarch was then known, and his wife Wallis Simpson, in Portugal in 1940. The Cabinet Office papers released by the National Archives reveal a 1953 appeal from Churchill to US president Dwight D Eisenhower and the French government to prevent publication of the telegrams for at least “10 to 20 years”, the Guardian reports. Churchill believed the telegrams were likely to give the misleading impression that the duke was in regular touch with German agents, and open to ideas which were disloyal. The prime minister’s appeal was made after he’d learnt a microfilm of the documents had fallen into the hands of the US State Department, and were being considered for inclusion in the US’ official history of the war. Although Churchill succeeded, and publication of the telegrams was delayed by a few years, they still eventually came to light in 1957. “Ghost” Species Points to Interbreeding Between Humans and Other Hominins Through studying saliva, scientists have discovered clues to a “ghost” species of archaic humans that may have contributed genetic material to the ancestors of people living in Sub-Saharan Africa today. The new findings add to growing evidence that sexual relationships between different species of archaic humans might not have been unusual, and in fact the norm. Previous research has already concluded that the ancestors of modern humans interbred with other hominin species, such as Neanderthals and Denisovans, in Asia and Europe. The latest research, published in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution, adds to other recent genetic analyses indicating ancient Africans also interbred with other early hominins. “It seems that interbreeding between different early hominin species is not the exception — it’s the norm,” said Omer Gokcumen, PhD, an assistant professor of biological sciences in the University at Buffalo College of Arts and Sciences. “Our research traced the evolution of an important mucin protein called MUC7 that is found in saliva,” he said. “When we looked at the history of the gene that codes for the protein, we see the signature of archaic admixture in modern day Sub-Saharan African populations.” The MUC7 protein gives spit its slimy consistency, as well as binding to microbes, which may help the body get rid of disease-causing bacteria. The team of scientists were researching the purpose and origins of the protein by examining the gene in more than 2,500 human genomes, when they discovered that one group from Sub-Saharan Africa had a significantly different version to that found in other humans. “Based on our analysis, the most plausible explanation for this extreme variation is archaic introgression – the introduction of genetic material from a ‘ghost’ species of ancient hominins,” Gokcumen says. “This unknown human relative could be a species that has been discovered, such as a subspecies of Homo erectus, or an undiscovered hominin. We call it a ‘ghost’ species because we don’t have the fossils.” The study was led by Gokcumen and Stefan Ruhl, DDS, PhD, a professor of oral biology in UB’s School of Dental Medicine. Humans May Have Arrived in Australia 10,000 Years Earlier than Thought Newly discovered artefacts suggest humans arrived in Australia 10,000 years earlier than previously believed. Exactly when Australia was first settled by humans has long been shrouded in ambiguity, with recent studies seemingly pushing the approximate date further and further back in time. A team of researchers led by the University of Queensland, and including scientists from the University of Washington, found and dated artefacts from Madjedbebe, Northern Australia that suggest humans arrived there 65,000 years ago. A paper detailing the artefacts and the dating method has been published in the journal Nature. The new findings could have a significant impact on theories about the emergence of early humans and how they coexisted with their environment. In particular, according to the researchers it throws serious doubt on the idea that humans caused the extinction of megafauna such as giant kangaroos, wombats and tortoises. “Previously it was thought that humans arrived and hunted them out or disturbed their habits, leading to extinction, but these dates confirm that people arrived so far before that they wouldn’t be the central cause of the death of megafauna,” co-author and UW associate professor of anthropology Ben Marwick said. “It shifts the idea of humans charging into the landscape and killing off the megafauna. It moves toward a vision of humans moving in and coexisting, which is quite a different view of human evolution.” Among the artefacts discovered were ochre crayons and other pigments, as well as objects believed to be the world’s oldest edge-ground hatchets, potential evidence that these ancient humans ground seeds and processed plants. The artefacts were dated using radiocarbon dating and optical stimulated luminescence (OSL) – a technique used on minerals that can reveal a variety of things, such as the last time a grain of sand was exposed to sunlight – useful for determining when an artefact was buried. Featured Image courtesy Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-14059-0005 / CC-BY-SA 3.0 [CC BY-SA 3.0 de (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons ]]>

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History News of the Week – New Insights on the fate of the Rapa Nui

New Isotopic Analyses of Bones

Easter Island mystery – ‘Ecocide’ didn’t lead to the Rapa Nui’s demise New scientific research is challenging the popular belief that the ancient inhabitants of Rapa Nui, aka Easter Island, were wiped out due to over exploitation of natural resources. It is often proposed that the Rapa Nui islanders cut down giant forests of palm trees on Easter Island, leaving them without wood to build canoes for fishing. The theory states that the absence of fish forced them to eat chickens, rats and agricultural crops. The island’s climate and infertile soil meant crop productivity started to decrease as the island’s inhabitants ate more and more. Conflict erupted as competition arose over the dwindling resources, and the population essentially wiped itself out through having destroyed the island’s ecosystem, a theory of their fate dubbed ‘ecocide’. New research from scientists at the University of Bristol, published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, is throwing the ecocide theory into question, showing through isotopic analysis of bones, soils and plant remains from Rapa Nui that the population had a diet of equal parts seafood and terrestrial food. Catrine Jarman, lead author of the study and PhD student at the University of Bristol’s Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, said: “We also discovered that agricultural crops consumed must have been planted in soils that were deliberately managed and manipulated to provide better yields. “Previous work has shown that plants of Rapa Nui were grown in rock mulch gardens and planting enclosures known as manavai. These had been carefully constructed and deliberately managed, and our study showed that the islanders may have added fertilisers.” Put simply, the new results suggest the Rapa Nui islanders adapted to the island’s harsh environmental conditions by managing their gardens and manipulating soils for better crops. Contrary to the idea of this ancient people recklessly wiping out the environment that had sustained them, it shows they demonstrated astute environmental awareness and stewardship to overcome nutrient poor soils. Jarman concluded: “This research highlights the unique and varied environmental adaptations that Pacific Islanders have shown through time. “Polynesians developed sustainable economies in ways that we are now better understanding through interdisciplinary research. Lessons from the past and from traditional island societies have value and relevance today.” Ancient Greek theatre had a wooden stage thousands of years ago An investigation by a Japanese architectural researcher suggests a high possibility that a wooden stage existed in the theater of the ancient Greek City of Messene during the Greek Classical period (ca. 369 BCE). During the Messene theatre’s 2007 excavation, a large storage room and three stone rows were discovered beside the stage by a group from the History of Western Architecture Laboratory of Kumamoto University. Similar features had also been discovered in Ancient Greek theatres at Megalopolis and Sparta. After studying the three sites in depth, a Kumamoto University researcher determined the stone rows remaining in the Megalopolis theater would have been used to set up wooden background picture panels, and the stage storage room would have likely been the custodian of such panels. In Hellenistic theatre, a one-story construction known as a proskenion was installed on the stage as background, behind which was another two story construction known as a skene that served as both a dressing room for actors and additional stage background. Traditionally, it’s been assumed that the skene and proskenion were wheeled around the stage as a single, large construction. The new research however, suggests they might have been moved separately. “A large force would have been required to move stage equipment as large as the proskenion and skene,” said Associate Professor Ryuichi Yoshitake who led the research project. “In previous studies, there was a theory that the proskenion and skene were simultaneously moved along just three stone rows, but I think it is more logical that the proskenion and skene each had their own set of two stone rows to move along. I came to this conclusion due to the positions of three stone rows and the fact that it would have been quite difficult to move the heavy proskenion and skene together using a single axle with three wooden wheels.” The findings have been published in the German language science journal Archäologischer Anzeiger. A new method to chart humans’ domestication of seeds Scientists from University College London have used synchrotron light to document for the first time the rate of evolution of seed coat thinning, a major mark of crop domestication, from archaeological remains. It marks the first-time scientists have been able to measure coat thickness throughout an entire seed. Published in the journal Science Reports, the authors present evidence for seed coat thinning between 2,000 BCE and 1,200 BCE in the legume horsegram (Macrotyloma uniflorum), a bean commonly eaten in southern India. “Seed coat thickness is a great indicator of domestication, as thinner coats will mean faster germination of a seed when it is watered,” explained Dorian Fuller, co-author on the paper. “But conventional methods of looking at the seed coat require breaking and destroying archaeological specimens.” “Being able to look at the seed coat thickness without breaking the sample is possible by other methods, but you can only look at a spot on the seed,” added Charlene Murphy, co-author on the paper. “The beamline at Diamond has allowed us to look at the entire seed, and has shown considerable variation within individual specimen’s seed coat thickness.” The team’s results suggest that domestication of horsegram took place during the second millennium BCE, with seed coats fairly fixed in thickness by the early centuries CE. The findings also suggest that the high-resolution X-ray computed tomography method could be used to study a variety of domesticated grains and pulses. Featured image: New isotopic analyses of bones, soils and plant remains from Rapa Nui, Chile (Easter Island) provide evidence contrary to the widely-held belief that the ancient civilization recklessly destroyed its environment. Courtesy of Terry Hunt ]]>

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History News of the Week – Roman Construction Lessons

Formations of Aluminum Tobermorite Crystals

Building Lessons from the Romans New research is providing insights into how Roman harbours that are thousands of years old have withstood the ravages of time. Scientists from the US Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkley National Lab used x-rays to study samples of Roman concrete – from an ancient pier and a breakwater, to learn more about the make-up of their mineral cements. Having previously found that crystals of aluminous tobermorite, a layered mineral, played a key role in strengthening the concrete as they grew in relict lime particles, the team’s latest research is piecing together how, when and where these crystals formed in the long history of the ancient structures. The research may ultimately influence modern construction techniques. It could lead to a wider adoption of concrete manufacturing processes with less environmental impact than those used for modern Portland cement, while the researchers also claim that an updated version of Roman concrete could be tested for applications such as seawalls and other ocean facing structures. The concrete could even be useful for safeguarding hazardous wastes. “At the ALS we map the mineral cement microstructures,” said Marie Jackson, a geology and geophysics research professor at the University of Utah who led the study. “We can identify the various minerals and the intriguingly complex sequences of crystallization at the micron scale.” “Contrary to the principles of modern cement-based concrete, the Romans created a rock-like concrete that thrives in open chemical exchange with seawater,” she continued. The research has been published in the journal American Mineralogist. Breakthrough in dating Viking fortress Archaeologists have made a breakthrough in dating the mysterious Viking fortress in Borgring, south of Copenhagen, which was first discovered in 2014. Ever since the fortress was first unearthed, a great deal of curiosity has surrounded the life, function and fate of the Viking structure. Researchers had speculated it dated to the tenth century, possibly to the reign of Harold Bluetooth (958 – 987), but it couldn’t be proven. In June of this year, archaeologists opened new trenches in a meadow next to the fortress, uncovering in situ some 2.5m beneath the surface a roughly 1m long piece of carved oak wood with drilled holes and several wooden pegs. A specialist in dendrochronological dating, Associate Professor Aoife Daly from the University of Copenhagen said the conserved part of the tree trunk was grown in the years 829-850 in the Danish area. “Since no splints have been preserved, it means that the tree has fallen at some point after year 966” Daly said in a press release. “The wood piece was found on top of a peat layer, and is fully preserved as it is completely water-logged. We now have a date of wood in the valley of Borgring, which corresponds to the dating from the other ring fortresses from Harold Bluetooth’s reign. With the dendrochronological dating, in conjunction with the traces of wear the piece has, it is likely that the piece ended as waste in the late 900s, possibly in the early 1000’s.” said research leader Jens Ulriksen. “In the coming week, the National Museum’s environmental archaeologists will take samples of wet depositions in the valley with the aim of uncovering how the layers have evolved from the earliest strata we have dated to the Bronze Age and over time,” said excavation leader Nanna Holm. The team hope that this will reveal exactly where the nearby river was when the fortress was built in the Viking Age. Funded by a grant from the A.P. Møller Foundation, the team included researchers from the Museum of South East Denmark and Aarhus University, as well as leading experts from the Environmental Archeology and Materials Research department at the Danish National Museum and the National Police Department’s Section for arson investigation. Poland seeks extradition of man accused of heading an SS unit Prosecutors in Poland are seeking the extradition of a 98-year-old man accused of being the former commander of an SS led unit that slaughtered civilians and burnt Polish villages to the ground during World War Two. Michael Karkoc has repeatedly denied the charges leveled against him, according to the Independent. Officials from the National Remembrance Institute in Warsaw accuse Karkoc of commanding a unit of Ukrainian nationalists responsible for mass killings in villages along Poland’s eastern border during World War II. The extradition request has been handed to the Polish embassy in Washington. According to the Independent, an inquiry by the Associated Press (AP) into Karkoc triggered the IPN investigation. The AP piece pointed out that Krakoc did not have a direct role in the atrocities, but was present and witness to them as a company leader. Whether Krakoc will be extradited will be governed by the EU – US extradition treaty. Krakoc is said to be suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, the Independent article states, raising questions over whether he’d be fit to stand trial. Earlier this year, his son Andriy Karkoc, fervently denied the charges leveled against his father. Image is from a scanning electron microscope, shows formations of aluminum tobermite crystals in a volcanic ash sample from the Campi Flegrei Volcano in Italy. X-ray experiments at Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Light Source have helped researchers to understand how these crystals develop over time to strengthen ancient Roman concrete structures. The scale bar at lower right represents 20 microns, or 20 millionths of a meter. Courtesy of University of Utah ]]>

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History News of the Week – An Aztec Tower of Skulls

Dyed textile at Timna

Aztec Tower of skulls discovered in Mexico A tower of human skulls discovered in Mexico could lead to a rewrite of Aztec history, according to the Independent. Following an eighteen-month investigation, archaeologists unearthed more than 675 skulls of men, women and children. It is believed the structure could be a part of the Huey Tzompantli, a legendary rack of bones described by the Conquistadors as they made their way through what is now Mexico. Traditionally, it was believed the Huey Tzompantli was made from the skulls of soldiers killed in inter-tribal conflicts before the arrival of Europeans to the New World. The discovery of female and child skulls in the tower has therefore perplexed archaeologists. “We were expecting just men, obviously young men, as warriors would be, and the thing about the women and children is that you’d think they wouldn’t be going to war,” Rodrigo Bolanos, a biological anthropologist investigating the find, told the Independent. “Something is happening that we have no record of, and this is really new, a first in the Huey Tzompantli,” he added. The structure lies close to Templo Mayor, a major Aztec temple which was used for human sacrifices. Archaeologists are continuing to investigate the site, and are still finding new remains as they try to work out the significance of the tower of skulls. The changing colour of the Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty is one of the most iconic symbols of New York City and the United States, but the 305-foot-tall statue hasn’t always been its distinct blue-green colour. When the copper statue, a gift to the US from the people of France, arrived in New York harbour in 1886, it was a reddish brown. The colour change through the years is largely down to a series of reactions as the Statue of Liberty’s copper skin has come into contact with chemicals in the air of New York Harbour. Now, a video from the American Chemical Society and PBS Digital shows the changes in the epic monument’s skin, from penny red through chocolate brown to its current liberty green. Available to view on Youtube, the video is part of the Reactions series, aiming to show the chemistry present in everyday life. Evidence of chemical dyeing from the time of David and Solomon 3,000-year-old cloth samples found in Israel’s Arave Desert are the earliest evidence of chemical dyeing ever found in the region, researchers say. According to a press release from American Friends of Tel Aviv University, the wool and linen pieces point to a sophisticated textile industry and reveal details about a deeply hierarchical society dependent on long-distance trade to support its infrastructure in the harsh desert. “This was clearly a formative period, with local kingdoms emerging and replacing Egyptian hegemony in Canaan,” Dr. Ben-Yosef, a co-author of a study in the journal PLOS ONE detailing the find, said. “These beautiful masterpieces of weaving and dyeing — the first evidence of industrial dyeing at the time, of wash-resistant color on textile — support the idea of a strong, hierarchical Edomite Kingdom in Timna at the time. “It is apparent that there was a dominant elite in this society that took pains to dress according to their ‘class,’ and had the means to engage in long-distance trade to transport these textiles — and other materials and resources — to the desert.” After radiocarbon dating the textile pieces and using gas chromatography to identify the cloth’s organic materials, the researchers found “red” molecules produced from the madder plant and “blue” molecules from the woad plant. “Both plants were known in antiquity as sources of organic dyes,” said Dr. Ben-Yosef. “We know that these plants were used to create elaborate costumes during the Roman period, more than a thousand years later. Now we have evidence in the region of an Edomite society wearing textiles produced the same way, versus an earlier ‘primitive’ smearing of color on fabric.” “We can make many inferences according to this discovery,” Dr. Ben-Yosef continued. “To force a large group of people to work in dangerous mines in the desert, you need a strong ruling party — an elite that probably wore exquisite clothes to further distinguish themselves. The smelters, working in furnaces, were considered ‘magicians’ or even priests, and they probably wore fine clothing too. They represented the highest level of society, managing a sensitive and complex process to produce copper from rock.” Fascinatingly, the artefacts provide evidence of long distance trade in the region. The plants used to create the dyes most likely originated in the Mediterranean area. The dyeing process itself meanwhile, required specialist crafts people, an industry that could not have subsisted in the desert. “If Jerusalem was indeed opulent in the time of King Solomon, and the Temple covered in copper, we can assume a link to that kingdom”, explained Ben-Yosef. Image by Clara Amit, courtesy of the Israeli Antiquities Authority.]]>

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History News of the Week – Ancient Egyptian Prosthesis Studied

prosthesis

New insights into remarkable Ancient Egyptian prosthesis Egyptologists from the University of Basel have been examining a 3,000-year-old prosthetic big toe from Ancient Egypt. Discovered in a female burial from the necropolis of Sheikh Abd el-Qurna close to Luxor, the prosthesis had been studied before, but the Swiss team have now examined it using the most cutting-edge techniques, such as modern microscopy, X-ray technology and computer tomography. It’s been revealed that the remarkable artefact was refitted several times to its owner, a priest’s daughter. The researchers have also reclassified the materials used in the wooden toe’s construction, and determined how the prosthesis was made and utilised. The new analysis has revealed the skill involved in the toe’s construction, particularly in the mobility the prosthesis would have offered, and the intricately designed belt strap which would have fastened it to its wearer. Together with experts from ETH Zurich, the scientists from Basel are assessing the natural and man-made structures of the tomb and its surroundings. According to a statement from the University: “The specialists are currently developing geometric precise digital elevation, landscape, and architecture models for this area. These will then be combined to an archaeological and geological 3-D map that will illustrate the morphology of the terrain as well as the investigated subterranean structures. On that basis, the researchers want to reconstruct and simulate the development of the cemetery and its use phases.” Water Bottles used by Native Americans could have been poisonous A new study suggests that the water bottles manufactured by Native Californian Americans could have been detrimental to their health. Scientists recreated the Native American water bottles to gain insights into the manufacturing process. In particular, they wanted to see if bitumen, a material derived from petroleum, could have had an impact on the indigenous Californians’ health. The team made two types of ancient water bottle using traditional Native American methods. One of the bottles was lined with soft bitumen, known as ‘malak’, which washes ashore after seeping through the ocean floor, and one was lined with hard bitumen, known as ‘woqo’, typically found in land deposits. “In accordance with historical records, we used a Monterey chert flake and a bird bone awl to weave baskets from soft rush plants from California. We sourced abalone shells to use as mixing dish and heated the bitumen with metavolcanic pebbles before applying to the basket by hand using a sea mammal bone,” said Kevin Smith, co-author of the study and a PhD student from the University of California. Bitumen consists of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are linked with health problems such as cancer, hormone imbalances, organ damage and developmental impairments. After studying the recreated bottles, the scientists behind the study found that although storing water in the bitumen lined bottles didn’t cause dangerous levels of PAHs to leech out – even after two months, olive oil quickly became contaminated, suggesting the storage of fatty foods could have been a health risk. Dr Sabrina Sholts, lead author of the study from the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History, said: “To our knowledge, this is the first time that experimental archaeology has been used to quantify PAH exposure in an ancient population. We believe that our research provides a deeper temporal context for understanding health impacts and evolutionary changes related to harmful chemical exposure caused by human technology.” The study has been published in the journal Environmental Health. Nazi artefacts found in Argentina could be fake On 20th June, the New York Post reported a “a trove of original Nazi artefacts” had been discovered in Argentina. Among the objects were an original bas relief of Hitler and a medical device used for measuring heads. The collection of 75 objects was found hidden in an art collector’s home, just outside the capital city of Buenos Aires. According to the Associated Press, the objects are believed to have belonged to high-ranking Nazis in Germany. “Our first investigations indicate that these are original pieces,” Argentine Security Minister Patricia Bullrich told the Associated Press On 24th June, the Washington Examiner reported that the objects could be fake, citing a leading auctioneer of Nazi artefacts, Bill Panagopulos, president of Maryland-based Alexander Historical Auctions. Panagopulos said the items were ‘obvious replicas’, after seeing video footage and pictures of the artefacts. The art collector whose home the objects were discovered in is still under investigation. Image courtesy of University of Basel, LHTT. Image: Matja� Kačičnik ]]>

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History News of the Week: Did the Nazis Tolerate Lesbians?

ostracon-inscription

Limited toleration of Lesbianism in Nazi Germany A new study claims that the Nazi regime, infamous for its discrimination and oppression, had some toleration for Lesbians. Samuel Clowes Huneke, a doctoral candidate in history at Standford University in the USA, analysed police examination files from the 1940s related to alleged violations of same sex relations laws. His findings have been published in the Journal of Contemporary History. “These files add a new level of nuance to existing scholarship,” Huneke said in a statement from Stanford. “They hint at a more normal existence that was the daily experience of some lesbians in the Third Reich.” The Nazi regime’s persecution of homosexual men is well known, with homosexual acts between men explicitly criminalised. Somewhere between 5,000 and 15,000 alleged homosexual men were incarcerated in concentration camps under the Nazi regime, with up to 60% of them dying in the camps. The experience of homosexual women in Nazi Germany however, is much more ambiguous, especially because women were excluded from the laws that made homosexuality illegal among men. Huneke argues that Nazi officials didn’t view lesbians as a threat, as women were banned from most spheres of politics and public life “In light of both the fearsome persecution of homosexual men and scholarship that places it in the context of National Socialist pronatalism, the regime’s seeming lack of interest in female homosexuality is startling, for in other respects the government placed considerable burdens on women,” writes Huneke, who is working on a dissertation about the history of homosexuality in postwar Germany. Files Huneke discovered in 2015 show that Nazi authorities investigated eight women in Berlin, all denounced for violating same sex laws. In each case, authorities determined the women could not be prosecuted for same-sex relations under the criminal code. “To scholars accustomed to seeing in the Nazi state a jungle of overlapping jurisdictions, personal initiative and law based solely on the Führer’s wish, this is a curious portrait of the Nazi justice system, one marked by an unexpected concern for the strict interpretation of statute,” Huneke writes in his article. Invisible Hebrew inscription revealed Tel Aviv University (TAU) researchers have discovered and deciphered an invisible inscription on the back of a pottery shard which has been on display in the Israel Museum for over 50 years. The ostracon – an ink inscribed pottery shard, dates back around 2,600 years, to the period just before the destruction of the kingdom of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar. An inscription on the ostracon’s front side was noticed when the object was first unearthed in 1965, and has been thoroughly studied by scholars. Opening with a blessing by Yahweh, it also discusses money transfers. The back of the shard had been considered blank however, until now. “Using multispectral imaging to acquire a set of images, Michael Cordonsky of TAU’s School of Physics noticed several marks on the ostracon’s reverse side. To our surprise, three new lines of text were revealed,” said Arie Shaus of TAU’s Department of Mathematics and one of the principal investigators of the study published in the journal PLOS ONE. Deciphering 17 words on the object’s reverse, the researchers concluded it was a continuation of the text on the front side. “The new inscription begins with a request for wine, as well as a guarantee for assistance if the addressee has any requests of his own,” said Shaus, in a statement. “It concludes with a request for the provision of a certain commodity to an unnamed person, and a note regarding a ‘bath,’ an ancient measurement of wine carried by a man named Ge’alyahu.” Tel Arad was a military outpost at the southern border of the kingdom of Judah, stationing 20 to 30 soldiers. One tonne World War Two bomb exploded at Sevastopol Explosive experts in Sevastopol have successfully destroyed a one-tonne World War Two bomb, according to the Daily Mail. The parachute mine was found seventeen metres under the surface, in the bay of Sevastopol, on the Crimean Peninsula. It seems likely that the massive bomb was dropped in 1941 as part of a Nazi campaign to block the entrance to Sevastopol’s port – in turn disrupting shipping to and from the city. According to the Daily Mail, the bomb had to be destroyed due to its proximity to a gas pipeline, hydraulic engineering facility and a shellfish farm. The delicate operation took nine hours, and saw divers move the bomb into open sea, before it was detonated remotely using a robot submarine. The ferocious detonation included a massive amount of seawater being blown some 100 feet (30.5 metres) into the air. ]]>