tagged w/ Ancient Civilizations
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I'm not the biggest fan of Mark Lehner, but this is relatively complete article related to The Sphinx and its hidden mysteries and secrets, notwithstanding the fact that The Sahara was lush and fertile prior to the collapse of the Ice Age and we are still supposed to believe that men and women with only rocks and (soft) copper chisels carved these ancient monuments and aligned them with the sun and stars...
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Uncovering-Secrets-of-the-Sphinx.htmlI'm not the biggest fan of Mark Lehner, but this is relatively complete article... more
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Now a team of archaeologists have found the demise of the Nazca society was linked in part to the fate of a tree.
The landscape only became exposed to the catastrophic effects of that El Nino flood, once people had inadvertently crossed an ecological threshold
Dr David Beresford-Jones
University of Cambridge, UK.
The ancient Nazca people of Peru are famous for the lines they drew in the desert depicting strange animal forms.
A further mystery is what happened to this once great civilisation, which suddenly vanished 1,500 years ago.
Now a team of archaeologists have found the demise of the Nazca society was linked in part to the fate of a tree.
Analysing plant remains they reveal how the destruction of forests containing the huarango tree crossed a tipping point, causing ecological collapse.
The team have published their findings in the journal of Latin American Antiquity.
This remarkable nitrogen-fixing tree was an important source of food, forage timber and fuel for the local people
Dr David Beresford-Jones
University of Cambridge, UK
"These were very special forests," says Dr David Beresford-Jones from the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, UK who led the team.
The huarango tree (Prosopis pallida) is a unique tree with many qualities and played a vital role in the habitat, protecting the fragile desert ecosystem, the scientists say.
"It is the ecological keystone species in the desert zone enhancing soil fertility and moisture and underpinning the floodplain with one of the deepest root systems of any tree known," Dr Beresford-Jones says.
The tree was also a useful resource.
"This remarkable nitrogen-fixing tree was an important source of food, forage timber and fuel for the local people."
Researchers have previously found evidence that suggests the disappearance of the Nazca society was a due to catastrophic flooding event as a result of El Nino around 500 AD.
El Nino is a cyclical event that occurs as a result of a change in ocean temperatures that can cause a change in climate and severe flooding to the the west coast of South America.
The researchers have now found new evidence that suggests the society would not have been so easily destroyed if they had not cut down the forests around them.
An ancient Nasca canal crosses a desertified modern landscape in the lower Ica Valley, south coast Peru.
Analysing plant remains and pollen in soil 1.5m deep, the team was able to trace an important sequence of events which show the clearing of woodland for agriculture.
"At the bottom of the profile there is a lot of huarango pollen and little evidence of human impact," explains Dr Alex Chepstow-Lusty from the French Institute of Andean Studies in Lima, Peru who also took part in the study.
"Then, at 80cm deep, maize pollen becomes common, showing the importance of this crop, suggesting a greater need for food and an increasing population," he says.
"It is now we notice a big impact on the huarangos and a major decrease in their pollen."
The landscape only became exposed to the catastrophic effects of that El Nino flood, once people had inadvertently crossed an ecological threshold
Dr David Beresford-Jones
University of Cambridge, UK
"Then suddenly corresponding with the El Nino event at AD 500 or shortly afterwards, the pollen is dominated by weeds in the family Chenopodiaceae, which are adapted to salty conditions and this landscape is now the desert seen today."
The Nazca are famous for creating complex line drawings that can only be seen from the air in the Nazca desert, Peru 400km south of Lima.
They were created between 500BC and 500AD and depict animals such as monkeys and whales as well as geometric figures several kilometres long.
As well as the lines, the Nazca also formed a sophisticated society, constructing complex irrigation systems for agriculture.
Continued at link...Now a team of archaeologists have found the demise of the Nazca society was linked in... more
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These aren't crop circles, and they aren't just in California.
Here's a video about desert mysteries: ancient sand carvings.
No one seems to know what these ancient carvings are for, other than to be viewed from above.These aren't crop circles, and they aren't just in California.
Here's... more
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Did ancient civilizations have better data storage than we do today?
"Luckily for me, no one backs up data to stone anymore, with the possible exception of the Rosetta project, but my wife raised an important point: electronic data storage and preservation raises a host of technological concerns that the builders of the obelisk never had to consider. Just try reading your backup tape, archived DVD or old Word file after 10 years, much less after thousands of years. Electronic data faces format, migration and data integrity issues that hard copies don't, although they have their own preservation issues, as archaeologists and document preservation specialists could tell you.
In some ways, the Egyptians with their simpler approach were far better off than we are at recording and saving information. Just look at the well preserved obelisk as you consider all the formats you probably have lying around that can no longer be accessed, from 5.25-inch floppy disks to 8-track tapes and old home movies. What would it take to preserve those for 3,500 years?
Paper was the medium of choice until about 10 to 15 years ago. Before that, digital storage was far too expensive. Today, we store just about everything digitally, from home pictures, music and movies to feature films, medical records, documents and personal communications like e-mail. But our brave new digital world poses a number of significant problems for future generations, such as formats, frameworks, interfaces and data integrity, that need to be solved through the standards process so that our digital records can be preserved and handed down more easily. Nothing less than the preservation of our history depends on it."Did ancient civilizations have better data storage than we do today?
"Luckily... more
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A burial chamber containing what may be the remains of a retainer of an early ruler of Teotihuacan, an ancient metropolis 30 miles northeast of Mexico City, has been found within the Pyramid of the Moon, at the northern end of the site's main thoroughfare, the Street of the Dead. Discovered by Arizona State University (ASU) archaeologist Saburo Sugiyama, the skeleton, thought to be that of an adult male who was bound and sacrificed, was buried in a square chamber 11.3 feet on each side and five feet deep. He was surrounded by more than 150 burial offerings, including obsidian and greenstone figurines, obsidian blades and points, pyrite mirrors, conch and other shells, and the remains of eight birds (hawks or falcons) and two jaguars, which may have been buried alive. "The quality of the offerings," says Sugiyama, "is exceptional, particularly in light of the more than 1,200 burials found at the site so far."
[image] A greenstone figurine with inlaid pyrite eyes (Brad Lang) [LARGER IMAGE]
Mexico's first great city, Teotihuacan coalesced out of a number of small hamlets in the early years of the first century B.C., after, as archaeologists believe, the discovery of a four-chambered lava-tube cave in the Teotihuacan Valley. Caves played an integral role in Mesoamerican religion, being places of emergence of gods and ancestors as well as portals to the underworld, the world of demons and other potent beings. The Teotihuacan cave may have held particular significance, its four lobes representing the four parts of the Mesoamerican cosmos. It soon became a focal point of ritual activity and settlement in the valley. Teotihuacan's Pyramid of the Sun was built directly over the cave in the second century A.D.A burial chamber containing what may be the remains of a retainer of an early ruler of... more
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Relatively speaking, for 3000 years old he looks good.
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sajh
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added this
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4 years ago
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When I was living in Pakistan, I got to hear about and then see the ruins of Mohenjo Daro, an almost five thousand year-old city that was part of the Indus Civilization, also called the Harappan Civilization. Nobody knows where they came from, and this civilization disappeared practically overnight, just as fast as it appeared. The cities of that civilization were amazingly modern and sophisticated with regard to urban planning and development. The people of the Indus Valley had an alphabet - still undeciphered - which strangely enough is practically identical to that of Easter Island, also undeciphered. See http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/dp5/rongorongo2.jpg for a few comparisons.
"The seals used in the Indus Valley were made of soapstone. It is noteworthy that one Easter Island legend says: The first race invented the Rongo-Rongo writing: they wrote it on stone. Of the four parts of the world that were at one time inhabited by the first race, it is only in Asia that this writing still exists. Interestingly, Mohenjo Daro and Easter Island lie almost exactly 180° apart: the former is situated at 27°23'N and about 69°E and the latter at 27°08'S and 109°23'W."
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/dp5/easter3.htm
There is another fascinating aspect about Mohenjo Daro, but that will be the subject of another post.When I was living in Pakistan, I got to hear about and then see the ruins of Mohenjo... more
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