Friday, August 26, 2011

Ancient Egyptians used 'hair gel' : Nature News

Ancient Egyptians used 'hair gel' : Nature News
Some research on hair treatments found on mummies.

Flintknapping: The ancient art of making tools from stone - TehachapiNews.com

Flintknapping: The ancient art of making tools from stone - TehachapiNews.com
Have you ever wanted to learn flintknapping? Here is a guy who will teach you how!

Rabbi Indicted In Torah Scam - The Washington Post

Rabbi Indicted In Torah Scam - The Washington Post
Well, this was a bad thing to do. I remember reading about this guy a few years ago: he claimed to have criss-crossed Europe, digging up Torah scrolls that had been trashed or hidden during World War II. He then restored these scrolls and found homes for them in synagogues. He soliticed a couple of million dollars from donors to support this project. Trouble is, there was no project, no rescued Torahs, no Indiana-Jones-like exploits. Just money going into his bank account. (Unfortunately, a little research could have saved people a lot of money: He claimed to have found a scroll under the floorboards at Bergen-Belsen--but those barracks were burned at the end of the war. No floorboards exist.)

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Black Death study lets rats off the hook | World news | The Guardian

Black Death study lets rats off the hook World news The Guardian
An archaeologist in London claims that if the plague of 1348-49 was spread by rats, he should be finding masses of rat skeletons. Since he isn't, he theorizes that the plague was spread human-to-human. This explains its extremely rapid movement, even in the super-cold winter that year, when fleas should have died. Somehow, I never imagined plague studies could get grosser when rats were taken out of the picture.

Ancient Roman Jar Riddled with Mystery | Roman Britain Artifacts & Museum of Ontario Archaeology | Archaeological Digs | LiveScience

Ancient Roman Jar Riddled with Mystery Roman Britain Artifacts & Museum of Ontario Archaeology Archaeological Digs LiveScience
A small jar, PROBABLY Roman, in the Ontario museum, has small holes all over it, at regular intervals. What would such a jar have been used for? No one knows. One problem: it was "excavated" by soldiers who were cleaning up a bomb crater in WWII, so its context is not really well documented.

Archaeologist digs into grandad's tale to uncover lost Yorkshire amphitheatre | Culture | The Guardian

Archaeologist digs into grandad's tale to uncover lost Yorkshire amphitheatre Culture The Guardian
A Cambridge archaeologist used to visit her grandfather in Aldborough and hear the "legend of the lost Roman amphitheater." Turns out there's one there after all. It is still buried, but scans have detected it.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Saturday, August 20, 2011

BBC News - Roman dead baby 'brothel' mystery deepens

BBC News - Roman dead baby 'brothel' mystery deepens
A Roman villa in Britain, excavated 100 years ago, held the remains of over 100 infants. When these bones recently were rediscovered in storage, the current curator of the local museum theorized that the "villa" was in fact a brothel, and that the women working there disposed of their unwanted children. Skeptics point out that the villa is way out in the middle of nowhere, not prime country for walk-in brothel business. One guy suggests the place was a sort of sanctuary for some mother goddess, which doubled as a lying-in hospital, where ladies went to give birth under the goddess' protection. The bones would then be children who were stillborn or died at birth. But wouldn't the middle of nowhere also be a bad location for a maternity hospital?
Note that this "mystery" will be featured on a new BBC 2 TV show called "Digging for Britain." Link to the show's website at end of article.

BBC News - Italian police arrest 'gladiators' by Colosseum

BBC News - Italian police arrest 'gladiators' by Colosseum
This news is a few days old, but the video here is fun to watch. I'll bet these cops think they are badasses for handcuffing gladiators.
Seems the fake gladiators who urge you to get your picture took with them (for a price) are beating up other would-be gladiators who try to move in on their turf. Tourists also report that the glads like to take the picture with your camera and then hold the camera for ransom.
Personal experience shows that they hate it when you take their picture from afar, without paying; that's probably why the video with this story shows signs of having been shot clandestinely, from crotch level. Once the glads are being arrested, the photographer becomes bolder. There's something Mel-Brooks-esque about the image of gladiators being loaded into tiny Italian cars; I imagine someone saying "Drive me off this picture."
Also, not to quibble, but "by Colosseum" in the headline is misleading. That looks a lot like the Piazza Venezia. And what's this about undercover cops posing as garbage collectors (BBC: "dustbin men")? Those wouldn't stand out on the streets of Rome at all.

BBC News - Oxford Viking massacre revealed by skeleton find

BBC News - Oxford Viking massacre revealed by skeleton find
Apparently King Ethelred the Unready wasn't unready to kill Danes.

AFP: Bulgaria subway expansion digs up Roman city

AFP: Bulgaria subway expansion digs up Roman city
4th-cent. CE remains found underneath downtown Sofia. Subway station will eventually feature a museum.

Sunken Treasure Found in the Seas Of Sicily : Discovery News

Sunken Treasure Found in the Seas Of Sicily : Discovery News
Over 3000 identical bronze Punic coins were found at the bottom of the sea near Pantelleria, a tiny island SW of Sicily. The coins date to the time of the 1st Punic War between Rome and Carthage, around 250 BCE. Pretty coins, with picture of Tanit on one side and a horse's head on the other.

Human precursors went to sea, team says - BostonHerald.com

Human precursors went to sea, team says - BostonHerald.com
Tools dating to 130,000 years ago seem to have been found in Crete. Did Homo erectus make boats? Or has a mistake been made in dating these things?

3,000-year-old bog body is likely to be sacrificed Irish king | Irish News | IrishCentral

3,000-year-old bog body is likely to be sacrificed Irish king Irish News IrishCentral
Oh, Lord, the King Must Die! Also...gross.

Roman artifact helps nuclear storage research | KPLU News for Seattle and the Northwest

Roman artifact helps nuclear storage research KPLU News for Seattle and the Northwest
So if you turned nuclear waste into glass and stored it, say, at the bottom of the sea, what would happen to it after a couple of thousand years? I know, let's check out glass from a Roman shipwreck to find out. Cool. Not sure it's useful in the search for a place to keep nuclear waste...but cool.

Roman Vindolanda and Roman Army Museum, Hadrian's Wall, Northumberland National Park

Roman Vindolanda and Roman Army Museum, Hadrian's Wall, Northumberland National Park
For those of you asking "Vindo-what?"

Ancient Sartorialists: New Finds Point to Roman Fashion Craze - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International

Ancient Sartorialists: New Finds Point to Roman Fashion Craze - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International
I wish this article had some references; I'm not sure about their interpretation of some of this stuff. The "news" is underwear with a gusset in it, which suggest more sophisticated tailoring than we thought Romans were capable of. (Not really ready to go with you on that one.) But it is good to know that bits and pieces of fabric continue to be found at Vindolanda. One more reason to go there!

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Roman 'gladiators' arrested after clash of swords outside Colosseum | World news | The Guardian

Roman 'gladiators' arrested after clash of swords outside Colosseum World news The Guardian
Don't be giving your camera to these bastards to "take your picture." They'll try to hold it for ransom. They were also beating up other fake gladiators who tried to move in on their territory. Years ago, the city announced it was going to license these photo-op reenactors, but never got around to it. Give them a wide berth; don't even try to pirate a pic of them from afar, because they get mad at that.

Monday, August 1, 2011

NASA - The Giant Planet Story is the Story of the Solar System

NASA - The Giant Planet Story is the Story of the Solar System
The "Juno" mission to Jupiter will investigate the magnetic field and atmosphere of Jupiter. Why is it called "Juno"? See the section called "Juno's Mythical Connections." Very clever.