Archaeology SpringMango7379 • Now • 100%

Understanding the role of pareidolia in early human cave art

phys.org

A psychological phenomenon where people see meaningful forms in random patterns, such as seeing faces in clouds, may have stimulated early humans to make cave art.

Archaeology SpringMango7379 • Now • 100%

New Indo-European language discovered during excavation in Turkey

phys.org

An excavation in Turkey has brought to light an unknown Indo-European language. Professor Daniel Schwemer, an expert for the ancient Near East, is involved in investigating the discovery.

Archaeology SpringMango7379 • Now • 100%

Chemical Analysis of Viking Combs Hints at Long-Distance Trade

YORK, ENGLAND—According to a statement released by the University of York, a new analysis of collagen extracted from Viking hair combs by researchers from the University of York, University of Stockholm, the University of Barcelona, the Center for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology, and the Leibniz Center for Archaeology suggests trade between the Viking settlement of Hedeby in Germany and northern Scandinavia may have originated earlier than previously thought. Large amounts of craft production waste, mostly comprised of red deer antler, has been recovered at Hedeby, a major antler-working center. But the study found that 85 to 90 percent of the finished antler combs unearthed in Hedeby had been made from the antlers of reindeer, which live in northern Scandinavia. The study therefore indicates that the combs unearthed at Hedeby had been manufactured elsewhere and then transported on a large scale as early as A.D. 800. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Antiquity.

Archaeology SpringMango7379 • Now • 100%

Hominins Built Wooden Structures and Transformed Environment

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND—The Guardian reports that remains of a wooden structure built by hominins has been discovered near Zambia’s Kalambo Falls by a team of researchers led by Larry Barham of the University of Liverpool. The materials have been dated to least 476,000 years ago by team members from the University of Aberystwyth with luminescence dating techniques, which reveal the last time minerals in the sands surrounding the artifacts had been exposed to sunlight. The remains of the structure include two logs bearing cutting, chopping, and scraping marks made with stone tools also found at the site. The end of one log crosses the second and is held in place with a large notch. “When I first saw it, I thought this can’t be real,” Barham said. He thinks the structure may have been part of a walkway or a foundation for a platform. “A platform could be used as a place to store things, to keep firewood or food dry, or it might have been a place to sit and make things. You could put a little shelter on top and sleep there,” he explained. The dating of the structure indicates it could have been made by Homo heidelbergensis, a hominin that lived in the region at the time. During their investigation of the Kalambo Falls area, Barham and his colleagues also recovered a wooden wedge, a split branch with a notch in it that may have been part of a trap, and a log that had been cut at both ends.

Archaeology SpringMango7379 • Now • 100%

Civil War Remains Identified in Williamsburg

WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA—Colonial Williamsburg archaeologists have determined that the remains of 21 or 22 men found in a historic area of the city belong to Confederate soldiers, according to a report in the Daily Press. The men likely died in a Union-operated hospital established after the Battle of Williamsburg on May 5, 1862, which claimed the lives of 1,682 Confederate soldiers and 2,283 Union soldiers. The men’s remains will eventually be reburied, along with the artifacts found with them, including a snuff bottle, toothbrush, buttons, and gold coins. “I’m really happy we’re able to work toward identifying these guys (and) then provide some level to dignity” in their reburial, said Jack Gary, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation’s director of archaeology who is leading the recovery project.

Archaeology SpringMango7379 • Now • 100%

Grieving Wordsworth found solace in poignant shipwreck treasure after brother’s death

When the Romantic poet’s younger brother John died at sea, marine artefacts helped him bear the loss, research reveals When William Wordsworth’s beloved younger brother John died on a ship that sank in rough seas off the coast of Dorset in 1805, the great Romantic poet dealt with his sorrow by writing of the “calamitous” loss: “Sea, Ship, drown’d, Shipwreck – so it came/The meek, the brave, the good, was gone;/ He who had been our living John/ Was nothing but a name.” John was captain of the East India Company’s largest ship, the Earl of Abergavenny, which sank after hitting rocks shortly after embarking on a trading voyage to China. He was among more than 250 crew and passengers who perished on a bitterly cold February night.

Archaeology SpringMango7379 • Now • 100%

‘Nobody was expecting it’: British Museum warned reputation seriously damaged and treasures will take decades to recover

www.theguardian.com

Experts say loss of 1,500 items reveals lax cataloguing and boosts case for returning objects to countries of origin Close observers of the antiquities market tend to be a cynical bunch, having witnessed any number of scams, dubious practices and illicit trading. Yet there was a collective expression of shock among them last week when news emerged of the unexplained absence of a reported around 2,000 items from the British Museum’s priceless collection of ancient and historical artefacts, leading to the resignation of director Hartwig Fischer. “The volume of missing objects is huge,” says Christos Tsirogiannis, a forensic archaeologist who works with Trafficking Culture, which researches global traffic in looted cultural objects. “No experts were expecting this to happen in one of the world’s biggest museums.”

Archaeology SpringMango7379 • Now • 100%

Doctoral thesis: The land use of West Estonian lowlands in Late Stone Age turned out to be seasonal

phys.org

At the end of the Middle Stone Age and during the Late Stone Age, settlements in the West Estonian lowlands were more seasonal than in the neighboring areas of the island of Saaremaa and the Pärnu Bay catchment area, indicates the study conducted by Kristjan Sander who defended his doctoral thesis at Tallinn University's School of Humanities. The doctoral thesis examines the period of approximately 5300-2600 BC. The time frame of the thesis begins with the end of the maximum water level of one of the development stages of the Baltic Sea following the Last Glacial Period—the Littorina Sea—since which the sea level in Estonia has been continuously falling. To this day, post-glacial rebound is particularly fast in West and North-West Estonia, and the ancient coastlines are now located as far as up to 30 km inland in certain locations. In many places, millennia-old beach formations are still visible in nature today. In the two geographical areas examined, Kristjan Sander searched for settlements of Stone Age people on the land freed from under the sea as a result of post-glacial rebound and on inland riverbanks up to 10 km from the coastline of the Littorina Sea at its maximum water level. One of the areas studied is situated in North-West Estonia, embracing the peninsulas bordering the sea bay that lay there in the place of the present-day Suursoo, and, further northwest, the Elbiku mountain that was once an island located up to 15 km from the coast. Fieldwork took place in the villages of Kõmmaste, Risti, Vilivalla, Vihterpalu, Variku, and Nõmmemaa. The second examined area is situated on the beach of Ancient Matsalu Bay on the Üdruma—Teenuse—Vana-Vigala—Avaste route and on the southern edge of Matsalu National Park where the current highlands (Kirbla, Lautna, Kloostri, Hälvati, Lihula, Massu, and Salevere) formed an archipelago resembling today's Väinameri Sea. New settlements were searched for by collecting finds on open land, i.e. plowed fields, allotments, road verges, firebreaks, forest roads, and clearings. Kristjan Sander's doctoral thesis fills a big gap in studying Stone Age in Estonia as prior to Sander's exploration only four settlements and one burial site were known in Western Estonian lowlands. During fieldwork, 102 settlements (at least 3 finds) and 39 incidental discovery sites were mapped. Surprisingly, no settlements were identified that could, based on the material found and dimensions established, be considered more permanent in nature as are known settlements in the neighboring Pärnu Bay catchment area and the island of Saaremaa. Regarding the studied period, solely seasonal land use in large areas like the ones in question is a new discovery on the entire eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, although individual seasonal settlements have also been described earlier. Stone Age settlements in Western Estonia expanded on different terrains at different times. The oldest settlements of the Middle Stone Age are located at river estuaries and ancient coastal lagoons as well as at the tips of peninsulas. At the end of the Middle Stone Age at the latest, starting from the Narva stage (5200-3900 BC), small islands were also made use of. At the beginning of the New Stone Age, in the Comb Ware stage (approx. 3900–1800 BC), additional settlements were built on the riverbanks near the coast. Based on ethnographic analogies, Sander hypothesizes that the observed settlement dynamics are caused by the intensification of fishing in response to the slow cooling of the climate. It can be assumed then that the seasonal settlement situated in the southern area examined originated from Saaremaa island as inhabitants of the Pärnu Bay catchment area already had an abundance of large rivers rich in fish. Assembling such a broader picture of settlements provides an insight into the ways of life and society of the distant past that cannot be replaced by excavation of individual settlements. However, archaeological excavations are indeed required to investigate the activities that took place in the newly identified settlements.

Fitness SpringMango7379 • Now • 90%

Routine Building - IOS App?

I'm a bit new(ish) to working out and utilized a personal trainer to get me started over the last few weeks. I can't afford to continue using a trainer and was wondering if there was an app out there that helps you build a routine? I looked at Apple Fitness and I don't want videos, just something that can help build a routine such as - 3 sets 12 crunches, 3 sets of 8 standing overhead dumbbell presses, etc. Ideally it would just list out the exercise, number of reps/sets, etc. as a checklist that you can mark as complete as you go. Most apps I have come across are only videos. Any suggestions?

Archaeology SpringMango7379 • Now • 0%

Looking for Community Mods

If you are an anthropologist or just someone who loves archaeology we are currently looking for mods to help grow c/archaeology! Please comment below if you are interested.

News SpringMango7379 • Now • 99%

Maui resident: 'We still have dead bodies floating in the water'

www.bbc.co.uk

A Lahaina resident talks about the recovery efforts after a wildfire swept through the Maui town.

worldnews SpringMango7379 • Now • 100%

Carer shortage: Woman stuck in hospital for 11 months

www.bbc.com

https://archive.ph/CzFW0 "It's just this awful feeling of being imprisoned," said 96-year-old Lily, who was stuck in hospital for nearly a year while waiting for care support to become available. She is just one of thousands of people in the UK who have been stuck in hospitals or at home due to long waits for care assessments. Lily was delayed in being discharged despite her being "medically fit", and because her council had difficulty finding carers to support her at home. The BBC has found 23% of councils in the UK who provided data had average delays of over a month for care assessments, with some people waiting years for care. The Local Government Association (LGA) said the figures showed a "chronically underfunded system and the pressures councils continue to face". The UK government said waiting lists were down but there was "more to do".

apnews.com

DOVER, Del. (AP) — Lawmakers in the Delaware House of Representatives have approved legislation authorizing a small town in the southern part of the state to allow business entities, including corporations and limited liability companies, to vote in municipal elections. Lawmakers voted 35-6 on Friday for the measure, which was sent to the Senate on the final day of this year’s legislative session. The Senate declined to take up the measure, although it could be revisited when the General Assembly reconvenes in January. The bill authorizes a charter change for the city of Seaford, one of more than a dozen municipalities in Delaware that already allow nonresident property owners to vote. At least four allow corporate entities and trusts to vote in municipal elections, while others restrict such entities to voting in special elections such as annexations, referenda or bond issues. Charter changes requested by local governments in Delaware are typically approved in the General Assembly in perfunctory fashion without debate or controversy. Seaford’s charter change, which sets no precedent, nevertheless drew national attention because of media campaigns by opposition groups including Common Cause and the American Civil Liberties Union. The criticism resonated with progressive House Democrats, who refused to vote for the measure. “This is not a new thing,” Republican Rep. Danny Short, a former mayor of Seaford and chief sponsor of the bill, said Thursday before a failed vote on the bill. “I don’t know why people would criticize a simple charter bill.” The bill was resurrected Friday following closed-door deal-making by GOP lawmakers and majority Democrats, who control both chambers of the Legislature. Passage of the measure cleared the way for a final vote Friday on a $1.4 billion capital budget for the fiscal year starting Saturday. The charter change would allow nonresident voting by both a natural person or an artificial entity, the latter including corporations, partnerships, trusts and limited liability companies established in Delaware. Any such entity would have only one vote, no matter how many properties it might own. A business entity or trust would cast its vote by power of attorney, corporate resolution or affidavit authorizing a designated legal representative to vote on its behalf. A person voting on behalf of a business entity or trust would have to be a resident of Delaware. In order to vote, an artificial entity would be required to certify the identities of all beneficial owners. Those names would be cross-referenced with voter registration lists to guard against multiple votes on behalf of related entities with common ownership. According to a survey by the Delaware League of Local Governments, at least 15 municipalities allow nonresident property owners to vote in elections, and at least 12 allow voting by entities such as corporations, trusts and limited liability companies. That list includes Rehoboth Beach, where President Joe Biden has a summer home. Rehoboth is known as “The Nation’s Summer Capital” because of its popularity among denizens of Washington, D.C., some of whom own vacation homes in Delaware. According to the National Conference on State Legislatures, 11 states allow nonresidents to vote in local, municipal, or special elections. Connecticut, Tennessee and Delaware allow nonresident voting in certain municipal or town elections. Short said the charter change is aimed at helping economic recovery efforts in Seaford, a town of about 8,000 situated on the banks of the Nanticoke River. Seaford was once home to a thriving DuPont manufacturing facility and known as the “Nylon Capital of the World.” DuPont sold the plant in 2004, and the town lost thousands of jobs. Seaford town officials, who approved the charter change in April, say business owners who have invested in the town through entities like LLCs and partnerships should have a say in local affairs. Claire Snyder-Hall, executive director of Common Cause Delaware, criticized the House vote, saying corporations have no place in elections. “In a state with more registered businesses than residents, this bill gives wealthy outsiders the power to override the actual people of Seaford,” she said in a news release. According to the minutes of the April town council meeting, only two members of the public commented on the proposed charter change, one for and one against. In an election three days later, the resident who spoke in favor of the charter change defeated an incumbent councilman who voted against it. In an interview earlier this week, Short said critics of the charter change are putting out erroneous information and don’t understand what’s going on in Seaford. “This is outside people trying to control an entity that actually has home rule,” he said. “In fact, it’s almost hypocritical what they’re doing.”

Edit: Thanks @Jearom for providing the paywall free link!