For Those Interested in Archaeology

Interesting…there’s nothing to suggest it wasn’t a Sapien cave though so far. Humans can do a lot in a lifetime…especially travel. Caves are also a rare and excellent shelter (if not already inhabited), the cave may have seen many lifetimes of many animals and species. Or just a visitor passing through for a night…
I’m going to throw out a cave bear made those marks…I’m also going to say that a human could have either for a reason, or because he or she was bored…it’s important to keep an open mind and use ones imagination to see what is not there as much as what is…

 

My eyes are watering just thinking about it.
"Archaeologists in Greece say a 14th-century Byzantine warrior survived a broken jaw by having it wired shut — most likely with gold.
The man's skull was first uncovered in 1991, interred in the grave of a 5-year-old child in a cemetery inside a fort in ancient Thrace following the decapitation of the warrior by the Ottoman army.
But it was only recently did researchers notice the soldier's had jaw being shattered in two places a decade before he died, then carefully reset by a knowledgeable medical professional.
The team believe the skilled healer was following advice on jaw injuries laid out by iconic Greek physician Hippocrates nearly 2,000 years before.
The unknown warrior's skull and lower jaw were unearthed 30 years ago at the site of fort Polystylon, a Byzantine stronghold built on the remains of the ancient Greek city of Abdera near the Aegean, in what is now Western Thrace."
www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-10049647/Skull-14th-century-Byzantine-warrior-fractured-jaw-threaded-gold-uncovered-Greece.html

 

Never really understood the Druids until I saw a document this morning. They were the priests of the Celts and were very educated men and probably more of them were women. I was surprised that they were able and responsible for killing Kings because if there was famine it was considered that the King was responsible and Druids killed them and buried them in the swamp. They started to appear 500 before Christ. There were Druids from Ireland to Spain and Germany and all the way to Western Russia. In the found graves mostly there are usually women with many golden jewels. So women were considered the top people of the Druids. They did not write anything on paper so that is why we know the most of them of what has been found in the graves. The Druids have also inspired the Asterix series.

 

Druid - Wikipedia

A druid was a member of the high-ranking class in ancient Celtic cultures. Druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no written accounts. While they were reported to have been literate, they are believed to have been prevented by doctrine from recording their knowledge in written form. Their beliefs and practices are attested in some detail by their contemporaries from other cultures, such as the Romans and the Greeks.



Gundestrup, Denmark. 150-0 BC This cauldron is made from 13 silver plates. The hammered and gilded plates weigh almost 9 kg. On the outside, large deities are accompanied by small humans, animals and mythical creatures in pairs. Interior shows scenes populated with many figures, both human and animals. One of them shows a parade of warriors carrying a carnyx, a Celtic trumpet. Kunst der Kelten, Historisches Museum Bern. Art of the Celts, Historic Museum of Bern.

According to the document this cauldron is in Denmark museum today.

 

"Scientists have discovered a new species of tardigrade almost perfectly preserved in 16-million-year-old amber.
Also known as water bears, the creatures are a group of microscopic invertebrates that are best known for their ability to survive extreme conditions.
Due to their microscopic size and non-biomineralising body, the chance of them becoming fossilised is small.
In the new paper, researchers describe a modern-looking tardigrade fossil that represents a new genus and new species.
They were able to obtain higher resolution images of important anatomical characteristics that helped them to analyse the fossil.
Researchers say the new fossil, Paradoryphoribius chronocaribbeus, is only the third tardigrade amber fossil to be fully described and formally named to date.
The other two fully described modern-looking tardigrade fossils are Milnesium swolenskyi and Beorn leggi, both known from Cretaceous-age amber in North America."
www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-10063071/New-tardigrade-fossil-16-million-year-old-amber.html

 

Cool find...

Amateur diver recovers 'crusader sword' from Mediterranean seabed - ABC News



Some examples of what the swords looked like...Crusader swords. Not surprisingly shaped like the cross.

 

What an amazing find!

 

"A skull of a new species of ancient human has been discovered in Africa that experts believe was a direct ancestor of modern humans.
The new species has been named Homo bodoensis, and lived during the Middle Pleistocene, around 500,000 years ago.
Researchers from the University of Winnipeg hope the discovery will bring some clarity to this era, during which human evolution is poorly understood.
Dr Mirjana Roksandic, who led the study, said: 'Talking about human evolution during this time period became impossible due to the lack of proper terminology that acknowledges human geographic variation.'
In the study, the researchers reassessed existing fossils from Africa and Eurasia dating back to the Middle Pleistocene period.
Traditionally, these fossils have been identified as either Homo heidelbergensis or Homo rhodesiensis.
However, recent DNA evidence has shown that some fossils in Europe identified as H. heidelbergensis were actually early Neanderthals.
Meanwhile, African fossils from this period have previously been identified as both H. heidelbergensis and H. rhodesiensis, confusing things even further.
In their new analysis, the researchers suggest that a skull found in Bodo D'ar, Ethiopia belongs to neither H. heidelbergensis or H. rhodesiensis, but instead, is a new species entirely.
In honour of the location in which the skull was discovered, the researchers have named the species H. bodoensis."
www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-10140669/Meet-Homo-bodoensis-Newly-identified-ancient-human-species-lived-Africa-500-000-years-ago.html

 

Stoke Mandeville: Roman sculptures HS2 find astounding, expert says

Archaeologists have uncovered an "astounding" set of Roman sculptures on the HS2 rail link route.

Two complete sculptures of what appear to be a man and a woman, plus the head of a child, were found at an abandoned medieval church in Buckinghamshire.

A hexagonal glass Roman jug was also uncovered with large pieces still intact, despite being in the ground for what is thought to be more than 1,000 years.

 

"An international team of researchers, led by Professor Lee Berger from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa (Wits University) has revealed the first partial skull of a Homo naledi child that was found in the remote depths of the Rising Star cave in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Describing the skull and its context in two separate papers in the Open Access journal, PaleoAnthropology, the team of 21 researchers from Wits University and thirteen other universities announced the discovery of parts of the skull and teeth of the child that died almost 250,000 years ago when it was approximately four to six years old.
The first paper, of which Professor Juliet Brophy of Wits and Louisiana State University is lead author, describes the skull, while the second paper, of which Dr Marina Elliott is the lead author describe the context of the area and circumstances in which the skull was discovered.
The child was found in an extremely remote passage of the Rising Star Cave System, some 12 meters beyond the Dinaledi Chamber, the original site of discovery of the first Homo naledi remains that were revealed to the world in 2015."
www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/933695

 

As a question: What if a child was born with deformaties and could have died shortly after birth or as a child...and was placed in areas that the tribe/group don't normally bury or leave their dead. They could be placed deep in a cave to protect the child's body from scavengers or as a process of early religion (to not upset the Gods etc) - and this child's remains were discovered 250 000 years later and described as a different species of human...Could this happen?

 

Wasn't that what happened with Homo Floriensis in Indonesia? I seem to remember someone deciding it was a family group with genetic impairments.

 

Well, I was nearly right-
Homo floresiensis

 

From reading also this kinda stuff I reckon the treatment was very different in tribes Around the world. Some would take care, some would abandon. Difficult to solve.

 

"An ancient human relative that lived in South Africa two million years ago walked like a human but climbed like an ape, new analysis has revealed.
Scientists said the discovery of new lower back fossils belonging to Australopithecus sediba had settled a decades old debate about how early hominins moved.
The 'missing link' revealed a curved spine, suggesting the species spent a lot of time walking on two legs, as well as using their upper limbs to climb like apes.
An international team of researchers, led by New York University and the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, used bones found in lumps of rock from a South African cave to reconstruct one of the most complete back fossils of any hominin.
Australopithecus sediba was first described in 2010 by Lee Berger and his team at the University of the Witwatersrand."
www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-10235019/Ancient-human-relative-lived-South-Africa-2-million-years-ago-climbed-like-ape.html

 

'An intricately decorated ivory pendant made from mammoth bone has been discovered in Poland, and may be the oldest example of ornate jewellery found in Eurasia yet.
The pendant dates back around 41,500 years, placing it within the record of the earliest dispersals of Homo sapiens in Europe.
It features patterns of over 50 puncture marks in an irregular looping curve, and two complete holes, which could represent hunting tallies or lunar notations, according to the researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
'If the Stajnia pendant's looping curve indicates a lunar analemma or kill scores will remain an open question,' said Adam Nadachowski, co-author of the study.
'However, it is fascinating that similar decorations appeared independently across Europe.'"
www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-10238873/Ivory-pendant-mammoth-bone-earliest-known-example-ornate-jewellery-Eurasia.html

 

Another period tracker perhaps?

 

"Researchers have uncovered the oldest fossils belonging to the enigmatic Denisovans, an ancient hominin lineage that is thought to be closely related to modern humans. Dated to 200,000 years ago, the bone fragments were found in a layer of sediment that also contained butchered animal remains and stone tools, providing a glimpse into the lifestyles of our long-extinct ancestors.
While little is known about this mysterious ancient hominin, the recent discovery of Denisovan DNA in the genomes of indigenous people in Southeast Asia and Oceania implies that the species was once widespread in this region and that interbreeding with modern humans was not uncommon. Until now, however, only six Denisovan fossils had ever been found, five of which were excavated from the Denisova Cave in Siberia while the other was discovered in the Baishiya Karst Cave in China.
In a new study in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, researchers describe how they sifted through 3,791 bone fragments in the Denisova Cave, three of which were identified as Denisovan remains based on their mitochondrial DNA. A further specimen was determined to have belonged to a Neanderthal individual, whose genome provided evidence of interbreeding between these two extinct species between 200,000 and 250,000 years ago."
www.iflscience.com/editors-blog/200000-year-old-denisovan-fossils-oldest-ever-discovered/