For Those Interested in Archaeology

All skeletons can adapt to conditions...they are heavier because they did more....not genetics but local improvement/change due to conditions.

These archaeologists should study the Human body before making assumptions.

If they had dug up an NFL or AFL player they would be saying the same thing...the body puts extra calcium/ bone where it thinks it's needed, areas of stress...

 

Updated at last since Christmas.
"Archaeologists investigating a 2.5-kilogram hoard of sword blades, scabbards and knives found by a metal detectorist in January 2013 say the plough-disturbed artefacts could have been delivered to Wales by sea from southern England or northern France.

Two blade fragments, a scabbard fitting, a multi-edged knife and six copper ingot fragments were discovered by Adrian Young a few metres apart from each other in the corner of a field in Marloes and St Brides .

The Coroner for Pembrokeshire has now officially declared the hoard treasure, with archaeologists at National Museum Wales dating it to between 2,800 and 3,000 years ago.

“The combination of objects found in this hoard hints at the long-distance sea travel of finished objects during the Late Bronze Age, from southern England and northern France to west Wales,” says Adam Gwilt, the Principal Curator for Prehistory at National Museum Wales.

“The swords, scabbard and knife are exotic types, not typical for the region.

“We can now see that copper ingot fragments are common components within hoards from Pembrokeshire, similar to a pattern also seen in Cornwall.”
http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/archaeology/art511370-exotic-hoard-artefacts-found-in-field-hint-at-long-distance-bronze-age-sea-travel-say-archaeologists-in-wales

 

"Thousands of ancient coins discovered in Buckinghamshire field
The hoard contains specimens dating back to the 11th Century - the late Anglo Saxon, early Norman period.

Paul Coleman from the Weekend Wanderers Detecting Club discovered 5,251 coins buried inside a lead bucket two feet under a field near Aylesbury."

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-30654568#

How much would the buying power of this coinage be in the 11th Century AD?
One has to wonder just how big a fortune this was. Salary for an army?

Worth up to £200 apiece now. Total could retail up to £1,000,000 = US $1,600,000.00

Comparable buying power? More?

 

Nice little earner!

 

The Detectorist. Claim the name.
Check out Oak Island Canada. A great story so far. Lot o' history, at least for Canada.

 

And the frontiers of research expand still further.
"DAVIS, CALIFORNIA—An international team of scientists has compared samples of DNA extracted from ancient corn cobs unearthed in the American Southwest, including the multiple stratigraphic layers of New Mexico’s Tularosa Cave. “When considered together, the results suggest that the maize of the U.S. Southwest had a complex origin, first entering the U.S. via a highland route about 4,100 years ago and later via a lowland coastal route about 2,000 years ago,” said Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra of the University of California, "
http://www.archaeology.org/news/2879-150108-southwest-corn-dna

 

I'll be thinking of that the next time I buy popcorn. It's surprising it only entered 2.000 years ago .

 

Not necessarily a surprise By definition...a complex, long-rebred crop like maize could ONLY in its more "recent" varieties move with the agricultural peoples who grew it...or spread via trade with those cultures. It's too far removed from its "wild" antecedents to survive in the wild without intentional cultivation...like many modern versions of grains and pulses. The germination rate would decline sharply, and they'd be overcome by local weeds and parasites in short order.

In other words - when you're looking at the movement and spread of a crop like maize - you're also by default looking at the spread and movement of the peoples that grew it, or their trade route and interactions.

 

Part of the Oak Island (Canada) mystery, is the interesting inclusion of corn portrayed in a very, very old statue located in an ancient European church.

 

But is that corn as in maize....or "corn" as in what Europeans call corn....but is really wheat?

 

Do you mean Rosslyn Chapel?

 

If recalling, the church was was in Spain. Related somehow to the transfer of treasure via ships to Oak Island. Templars etc etc...The statue appears to have an ear of corn. Which they think may be a clue, as corn was not introduced to Europe until ####?

Never knew wheat was called "corn". The statue could not be confused with wheat. It was a large ear, and was scaled by the statues foot.

 

Hence the "corn dole" in ancient Rome.....courtesy of Egyptian wheat!

 

"Antlers discovered by walkers on a beach in the Lake District, could be 20,000 years old, one has expert claimed.
Rod Scarr and his daughter Carol found the antlers poking out of the muddy shore with a large section of deer skull, on Walney island, off the coast at Barrow, Cumbria.
In April 2012, an eight-year-old called Jamie Cassidy found a perfectly preserved 3ft (91cm) high antler on the same beach, which were at the time was thought to be 4,000 years old - but it could be much older.
Carbon dating is needed to ascertain the precise age of both specimens.
David Gelsthorpe, Manchester Museum’s curator of earth sciences, has examined photos of the antlers, which are believed to belong to a two-year-old red deer."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2908083/Could-antlers-discovered-Cumbrian-beach-20-000-years-old-Skull-section-belong-ancient-red-deer.html#ixzz3OiR8zxCQ

 

My understanding is that at one pont "corn" meant "grain". When the America's were settled the only native grain or "corn" was maize so "corn" gradually came to mean "maize" here in the Americas or at least in parts of North America. In Europe "corn" or "korn" kept it's original meaning at least until recently (I'll let the Europeans clarify/correct).

 

Bet they'd find the owners' remains nearby if they looked hard enough.
"Mystery surrounds the discovery of a 132-year-old rifle found propped up against a tree in the Nevada wilderness.
The .44-40 calibre Winchester rifle was found frozen in time in the heart of the Grand Basin National Park.
Archaeologists discovered the gun, which was manufactured in 1882, leaning against a juniper tree while they were carrying out surveys.
Experts do not yet know for certain how long it had been there, but with its wooden base discoloured and partially buried and the metal barrel rusted, it is possible the rifle could have been undisturbed for more than a century.
The Washington Post reports that the Great Basin was a mining site at the time the gun was manufactured, but that farming was also common in the area and the rifle may also have been used for game hunting.
In 1882, 25,000 Winchester rifles of that make were produced costing about $25 each, indicating that they were in plentiful supply.
Archaeologists discovered the gun, which was manufactured in 1882, leaning against a juniper tree while they were carrying out surveys
The newspaper quotes Basin National Park chief of interpretation Nichole Andler as saying: ‘It looked like someone propped it up there, sat down to have their lunch and got up to walk off without it.
‘It probably has a very good and interesting story, but it probably is a story that could have happened to almost anyone living this sort of extraordinary existence out here in the Great Basin Desert.’
Experts are scouring local archives in a bid to piece together the history of the weapon, which was found unloaded in November.
Work is underway to preserve it in its current state before it goes on display over the weekend."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2911259/Mystery-132-year-old-Winchester-rifle-propped-against-tree-Nevada-national-park.html


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2911259/Mystery-132-year-old-Winchester-rifle-propped-against-tree-Nevada-national-park.html#ixzz3OtuHJQWY
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That would be an awesome find...Curious about the Juniper tree though. Thought they only live 20-30 years.

 

Corn outside North America, Australia and New Zealand means any cereal crop.

In places outside North America, Australia, and New Zealand, corn often refers to maize in culinary contexts.

In Southern Africa, maize is commonly called mielie (Afrikaans) or mealie (English). Words derived from the Portuguese word for maize, milho.
In Sweden & Denmark maize is called "majs". Spanish "maíz", Finnish "maissi", German, Norwegian & Italian "mais", but the French, have to be different: "blé"

 

Only a "shock" to a journalist, since the rest of us have known about it for at least 20 years.
"A shocked diver has found an incredible 10,000-year-old pre-historic forest under the North Sea and experts believe it could have once stretched as far as Europe.
Diver Dawn Watson, 45, discovered the remarkable 'lost forest' when she was diving just 300 metres off the coast of Cley next the Sea, Norfolk.
She found complete oak trees with branches measuring eight metres long under the sea and experts believe they have been hidden off the coast of Norfolk since the Ice Age.
The forest is believed to have become exposed following the stormy weather last winter.
The 45-year-old, who has been diving in the North Sea for about 16 years, said she was 'absolutely thrilled' to find the ancient oak trees. She said: 'You certainly don't expect to go out for a quick dive and find a forest'
Ms Watson, who runs the Marine Conservation Society's survey project, Seasearch in East Anglia with partner Rob Spray, said she was 'absolutely thrilled' with the find.
She said: 'I couldn't believe what I was seeing at first.
'The sea was quite rough by the shore so I decided to dive slightly further out and after swimming over 300 metres of sand I found a long blackened ridge.
'It was amazing to find and to think the trees had been lying there completely undiscovered for thousands of years. You certainly don't expect to go out for a quick dive and find a forest.'
Ms Watson, who has been diving in the North Sea for about 16 years, said the trees are thought to have formed part of a huge forest, measuring thousands of acres.
But it is believed the forest was drowned when the ice caps melted and the sea level rose 120 metres.
The fallen trees are now lying on the ground where they have formed a natural reef, which is teaming with colourful fish, plants and wildlife."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2925776/Shocked-diver-finds-amazing-10-000-year-old-FOREST-hidden-North-Sea-originally-stretched-far-Europe.html#ixzz3PsuLKUuA

 

Oak Island ended with a sonar showing some interesting stuff. But, if it was so compelling, we'd have heard something by now. Disappointed.
Then, now (lol) we have "In Search of Giants". And it has had some interesting stuff. ..Pretty sure they are investigating actual historic sites. ..And must say, just watching someone in a very tight space freaks me out a little.