April 18, 2006
They're very excited about this
Discovery Channel :: News :: Prehistoric Worm Droppings Found
Half-billion year old fossilized worm poop. How can they tell that it was poop?
The shape of the fossil, its clear demarcation from surrounding rocks, its density, and high phosphorus content all suggest that it is excrement, Terfelt added.
However, after 200 million years or so, it doesn't smell so bad.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 11:20 AM | Comments (0)
March 21, 2006
Neat news, bad story
CNN.com - Scenes from Homer found in Cyprus 'warrior tomb' - Mar 20, 2006
1. You can't actually say that these scenes are necessarily from Homer. The description of the blinding of Polyphemos is detailed enough for me to say that it's likely that it's from the Odyssey, but two warriors in chariots, that could be anything. Even if they're at Troy, it need not be from Homer -- there were lots of stories of Troy not included in the Iliad. That there were other scenes in the grave not from Homer (or from any recognizable myths) argues that the scenes may not be linked.
2. The story uses the Latinized garble "Ulysses" for the hero of the Odyssey which is just pathetic.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 06:24 PM | Comments (2)
November 03, 2005
Also, little fossilized saxophones
Scientists Find Fossils in Sexual Union
So they say. I think that they may have been looking through microscopes too long. Anyway, Indian scientists say that they've found... well...
The fossils are tiny swarm cells, a stage in the development of the fungus myxomycetes, also known as slime molds.The cells reproduce by "fusing," Ranjeet Kar of the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany in Lucknow reportedly told PTI. Once the cells fuse, long, threadlike appendages known as flagella, are lost, he said.
Finding the fossils in a fused position and with their flagella shed, is evidence that the two cells were having sex, Kar said.
I don't know anything about slime mold sex, and frankly any information is Too Much Information. But I know a little bit about fossilization and some pretty weird things can happen in the process.
(Thanks to Meryl.)
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:15 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 27, 2005
Call animal control
Dinosaur seen at McWane Center
A fossil, of course, of a sort of mini-tyrannosaur called Appalachiosaurus montgomeriensis -- the appalachian lizard from Montgomery County.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:00 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
December 30, 2004
Don't say you haven't been warned!
CNN.com - Museums warned on Bible-era relics - Dec 29, 2004
Four collectors and dealers in Israel have been charged with forging "some of the most important artifacts of recent decades". One of these is the purported burial box of Jesus' brother. For me, this is a very personal find because when I wrote about it on the older version of the site that post became a forum for troll poetry.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 04:02 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
December 05, 2004
It just gets worse
CNN.com - Tomb of headless bodies at Mexican pyramid - Dec 3, 2004
2,000 years ago, people were sacrificed at the Pyramid of the Moon at Teotihuacan. Today, Wal-Mart wants to build near there. Will the horrors never cease?
Posted by Mac Thomason at 03:08 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 15, 2004
Not very surprising, really
al.com: NewsFlash - Indian pottery dating to 700 B.C. found at Panhandle condo site
Considering there's something called an "Indian Temple Mound Museum" across the street. Still, up will go the condos. A haunting is probably too much to hope for.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 12:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 27, 2004
Frodo, fossilized
CNN.com - Scientists uncover possible new species of human - Oct 27, 2004
Not one that's around now. But they're claiming it was still around 18,000 years ago on the island of Flores, in Indonesia. It is actually described in the story as "hobbit-sized".
It would be neat if proto-humans (some side-branch of Homo erectus, maybe) were still around that recently, even in some isolated area. But these finds have a way of not working out to be as big as initially thought, and maybe the creature doesn't belong in genus Homo after all. The archaeologists say that they found stone tools with the skeleton, but sometimes what are identified as "tools" turn out to be rocks that just happened to flake that way. Charred bones of animals suggest cooking, but maybe there was just a fire. It's a volcanic island, after all. Still, it would be neat.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 02:10 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
September 27, 2004
Buffed
al.com: NewsFlash - History buffs hope to raise CSS Tuscaloosa from watery grave
Despite my habitual shunning of all things Confederate (All Things Confederate is the afternoon show on Evil NPR, which is what the public radio stations broadcast down here) this is just neat. A group from here in Tuscaloosa intends to raise the CSS Tuscaloosa from where it lies in the Spanish River near Mobile. Then they're going to bring it up the Tombigbee and the Black Warrior to here, where they're going to put it on display.
That being said, I'm doubtful of the prospect. The Tuscaloosa is an ironclad, and it's been sitting in the bottom of a river for nearly a century and a half now. You'd have to bring it up in one piece, then once you brought it up you'd have to keep out the rust. It's a tall order.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:25 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Dig that sucker up!
Archaelogists have discovered a camp on the track of the proposed "northern beltline" highway, which would finish the circuit of I-459 around Birmingham. The camp has been dated to 8000 BC to 1000 AD, which really doesn't narrow it down a whole lot. Presumably they haven't carbon-dated yet. Anyway, the find isn't supposed to delay the highway. The archaeologists will take what they can from the site, then re-bury it.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:35 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
July 02, 2004
Common sense wins out
Fossil-rich coal mine site saved from reclamation
A strip mine turned fossil trove was supposed to be destroyed as part of Federal "reclamation" law. That won't happen now, as the state has taken ownership of the mine and will preserve it for study. They have 40 years to get a Federal law passed to exempt the site, or for Republicans to destroy all Federal environmental regulation, whatever comes first.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 11:10 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 18, 2004
Sutton Too
CNN.com - Treasure hunters find possible Viking burial boat - Feb. 18, 2004
Bear with me, but I think this sort of thing is just neat. "Amateur metal detector enthusiasts" -- is there any other kind? -- found a few little ninth-century artifacts in Yorkshire. Some of the findings were nails normally used to build boats; archaeologists think it's the site of a longship burial.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 12:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 04, 2004
More ruins of Tuscaloosa
This is roughly 150, 160 degrees clockwise from the other picture, showing the other side of the old capitol's mini-rotunda. (I'm standing roughly five feet in front of where the front door -- or possibly the back -- was.) This side's plastered and painted kind of a peach or beige color, presumably for preservation. (I couldn't find any reason for this on the site, but any original paint would be long gone in this climate.) Through the doorway you can see one of the more intact of the building's Greek columns.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 06:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 03, 2004
Ruins of Tuscaloosa
Went out with the digital camera this afternoon, took some pictures, mostly at Capitol Park. Tuscaloosa was the state capital in the 1830s and 1840s, and the park holds the remains of the capitol building. It's kind of weird living in a city with ruins. Eventually, I'll try to get all the pictures up, but here's one:
On the right is the outside of the northern part of the old central chamber, facing towards the river. The low wall on the left front must be the outside wall of the building. The building was a small place, but it was a small state.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:37 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
January 28, 2004
This could be big
Forbes.com: Ancient Manuscripts Found In Egyptian Monastery
I wouldn't call them ancient. The oldest identified so far is about 1500 years old. Which is really old, of course, but not quite ancient. Anyway... An awful lot of what we know now of Christian origins came out of similar findings in Egypt. A lot of early works -- especially "heretical" works -- are known only from Egypt. Church orthodoxy made sure that only "acceptable" works were transmitted, but sixth and seventh century libraries might be early enough to hold works that hadn't been supressed yet.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 08:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 09, 2003
God had a message for them
Rome Journal: An Obelisk Is Going Home; a Bolt of Lightning Helped
I'd forgotten about this... Mussolini plundered Ethiopia in 1937, carrying off a bunch of the nations' archaeological treasures, including a 200-ton obelisk from Axum. The Ethiopian government in recent years had been trying to get Italy to send it back -- in accordance with the post WWII peace treaty -- but the Italians were claiming that the obelisk was safer in Rome (with its smog) and basically acting like the self-righteous Europeans they are:
Vittorio Sgarbi, a former under secretary in the Ministry of Culture, said the obelisk should remain in Italy, because Italy "had colonized Ethiopia during the years of the object's transfer, and so this really can't be considered a theft."Mr. Sgarbi also said the obelisk could not be as effective an advertisement for Ethiopian achievement once it went back to Aksum — which is far from Addis Ababa and near Ethiopia's border with Eritrea — because that area has a tiny fraction of the tourists that Rome receives.
We stole it fair and square! "Colonized", indeed.
Finally, God had to take a hand in the matter and smote the obelisk with a bolt of lightning, knocking a block of it off. The Italians got the message and now, finally, are sending it back.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 01:26 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
November 10, 2003
Blame the environmentalists
Rare fossil discovery threatened by federal law
I think I wrote on this story a long time back, but it's come up again... An Alabama science teacher found a major lode of Carboniferous Era fossils at a coal strip mine in Walker County. However, there's a law in place that once a company is done with a strip mine it's supposed to return the land to its previous condition. That's a good law, but in this case it would destroy the site.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 02, 2003
What tipped you off?
ajc.com | News | Experts say mummy is not that of Nefertiti
Probably the fact that it's the body of a man was their first clue, huh?
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:02 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 26, 2003
Time to break out the explosives!
Buried Structure Resembles Hindu Temple
In Ahodhya, there's a site that's claimed as holy as both Muslims and Hindus. A Hindu mob tore down a 16th century mosque on the site -- which they say is the birthplace of Rama -- in 1992. As it turns out, there is a structure under the ruins of the mosque, and it sure looks like a Hindu temple.
Muslims, of course, disagree. But considering the longstanding Islamic tradition of building on top of other religions' holy sites (hey, Christianity does that too, at least as late as the 16th century in Latin America) this can't be a surprise. Of course, Muslims can't even admit the well-documented presence of the Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount, so it's no surprise they can't admit this too.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:10 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 30, 2003
That's the Pentagon for you
Pentagon balking at historic ships funding
They're supposed to provide $600K a year for recovery of artifacts from the Confederate ship Alabama, sunk off the coast of France. Apparently it's mandated by law (i.e. Richard Shelby snuck in a line-item). They're only offering $156K.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 02:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 18, 2003
I thought it probably was
Biblical Inscription Ruled a Forgery
The Israel Antiquities Authority says that the inscription on an ossuary reading "James, son of Joseph, Brother of Jesus" is a forgery, probably done in two stages. That was always the most likely explanation.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 08:19 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 12, 2003
Chinese Geraldo
Archaeologists Open Coffin on Live TV
Chinese archaeologists opened a 1,000 year old coffin containing the remains of a Mongol nobleman. They discovered that he was, in fact, dead.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 02:10 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
April 22, 2003
Going too far
AP Wire | 04/22/2003 | Judge rules work can start at Indian burial site
What is this "work"? An office building? No, worse. A parking lot? No, worse. A golf course? No, worse. It's a "waste dump and fish-cleaning area for campers". A sewer and garbage pit. Which they just have to build near, if not on top of, a cemetary.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:02 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 19, 2003
Cool
Ancient Hebrew Manuscripts Found in Spain
From what I'm reading of this (I'll try to find another source) these probably aren't really ancient. I don't think you can reasonably call anything from after the end of the Western Roman Empire "ancient", and these would appear to be medieval. (No date is given, but they'd have to be at least from before 1492 and probably quite a bit older.) But it's quite a find, Torah manuscripts and marriage and business contracts.
A note on bookbinding... The use of older "worthless" books as material to firm up book covers, as mentioned in the story, didn't necessarily end with the medieval era. At least spines of books were reinforced with pages from older works well into the printing era, and even in this century. I've seen books in this library bound with (printed) pages in both Greek and Hebrew script.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 03:42 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
February 05, 2003
Won't come back..
Remains, artifacts uncovered at Fort Payne dig
Digging at the local Dead Man's Curve (on US 11) has uncovered some significant Indian remains and artifacts. Old ones, dating as far back as 8500 BC.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 07:58 PM | Comments (0)
February 03, 2003
Dammed
Archaeoligists [SIC]: Iraqi Dam Threatens City
Archaeologists say that a dam that is being built on the Tigris is likely to flood the ruins of Asshur, the original capital of the Assyrian Empire to which it gave its name. Archaeologists also say that a war might make things worse, but I don't see how. For one thing, when Saddam gets taken down his "reconstruction" of Babylon will cease.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:28 AM | Comments (0)
December 23, 2002
I'm a nerd, pt. 1,382
New Debate Over Community Linked to Dead Sea Scrolls
I love this Dead Sea Scroll stuff. One of the (many) controversies connected to the scrolls is the interpretation of the site at Qumran said (by those favoring a traditional interpretation) to be a "monastery" and the home of the community that wrote the scrolls. I'm not convinced that there's any link except that the site is near the caves. For one thing, there's no real evidence of a copying facility at the "monastery".
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:12 PM | Comments (1)
December 22, 2002
I'm a lazy SOB
Moundville: A breathtaking archaeological find in Alabama
So here's one of the most significant archaeological sites in North America. And it's almost literally down the road from me -- okay, I have to make two turns to get there. It's a fifteen minute drive. And I haven't been there in fifteen years, because I'm a lazy SOB.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:22 PM | Comments (5)
November 25, 2002
Double-entendre Playhouse Presents
The first line of this story is: "Are they real, or are they fake?"
Luckily, Steve "Not Hercules" Reeves of the Tuscaloosa News is talking about shrunken heads, not boobies. Well, not lucky for the people whose heads were shrunk. Unless they're fake, in which case unlucky for the Alabama Museum of Natural History, owner of three objects, two of which are "suspicious". Actually, they're probably all "real", but could be from a monkey or sloth, not a person.
They're bad luck anyway, since they were displayed before the horrifying train wreck of a football game Saturday.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 02:56 PM | Comments (0)
November 22, 2002
Doggies!
Evolution of dog-human bond studied
DNA data now indicates that dogs were domesticated in East Asia, not Europe or the Middle East. (Personally, I'm not overwhelmed by it, but I'm not a scientist.) Another study shows that dogs understand human communication better than even chimpanzees. I've long been of the opinion that the human-dog bond is of a different order than any other (which in part is why I can't stand that certain East Asian countries look upon dogs as primarily a food source) and I'm glad to see a little confirmation.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 01:48 PM | Comments (0)
October 22, 2002
I hear they're making a movie
Was Troy a Metropolis? Homer Isn't Talking
Some fun with a couple of Germans, a historian and an archaeologist, who disagree about the situation of Bronze Age Troy, the putative city of the Trojan War. The historian says that the Troy that's been excavated is the citadel of a larger city, the archaeologist that that's all there is.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 11:33 AM | Comments (1)
October 21, 2002
Wow
washingtonpost.com: Possible Earliest Reference of Jesus Found
An ossuary in a private collection in Israel, dating from the first century AD, may -- may -- be the burial box of James, brother of Jesus. Or (translated from Aramaic Ya'akov bar Yosef akhui diYeshua.
James is actually better attested, in contemporary sources, than his brother. The historian Josephus refers to both, but the entry for Jesus has been garbled, or entirely replaced, by later Christians. That referring to James was not, plus James lived longer and his martyrdom was closer to the time Josephus was writing. St. Paul refers to James in his letters in a much more direct way than anything involving the living Jesus (he was more concerned with the risen Christ). Paul never saw Jesus, but he knew James and feuded with him.
James was the first leader of Jesus' followers after his brother's death -- in fact, he was the leader of the Jerusalem church for some thirty years. But most Christians know little about him, because his version of Christianity died out, while Paul's thrived. A number of more conservative Christian groups even deny he could have been Jesus' brother -- despite the clear words of the Bible -- because of their attachment to the perpetual virginity of Mary.
Now, the box may be a fake, and even if it isn't it lacks archaeological context. But if it can be verified -- which I doubt -- it would be an amazing find.
UPDATE: I just thought I should note that it's not the earliest reference to Jesus, even if it is legitimately his brother's ossuary. That would remain the letters of Paul, written while James was still alive, though the manuscript tradition dates to the second century.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 12:54 PM | Comments (136)