BHR-17
Brit-Am Historical Reports
15 October 2009 30 Tishrei 5769
Contents:
1. Archaeology: Brit-Am version of Explorator 12.24
2. Archaeology: Brit-Am version of Explorator 12.25
3. Druids Committed Human Sacrifice, Cannibalism?
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1. Archaeology: The Brit-Am version of Explorator 12.24
From: david meadows <rogueclassicist@gmail.com>
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explorator 12.24 October 4, 2009
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ANCIENT NEAR EAST AND EGYPT
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Overviewish thing on Tel Dan:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/133497
Another Ark of the Covenant piece:
http://www.physorg.com/news173034003.html
More on that Miqveh find:
http://thebulletin.us/articles/2009/09/30/news/world/doc4ac0880374555439966957.txt
More on Cohanim lineages:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090924093355.htm
Review of Itamar Singer, *The Hittites and Their Civilization*:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=1116453
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ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME (AND CLASSICS)
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What tooth enamel tells us about Venta Belgarum:
http://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/news/4662380.Archaeologists_sinking_their_teeth_into_research/
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EUROPE AND THE UK (+ Ireland)
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A 'mini-stonehenge' find is just beginning to hit the news wires:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wiltshire/8288567.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/wiltshire/8288567.stm
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1217752/Henge-stones-Unearthed-site-monuments-little-sister.html
http://www.physorg.com/news173774861.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091003/ap_on_sc/eu_britain_stonehenge
Some Neolithic sites from Derry (this is a bit old):
http://www.derryjournal.com/journal/5000-yearold-sites-found.5555635.jp
DNA tests on mice are suggesting implications for the origins of
the Celtic people (apparently):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8279567.stm
http://www.physorg.com/news173513472.html
Very interesting item on 18th century French plans for an invasion
of Britain:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6859446.ece
Somewhat vague item on plans to find links between Scots forces and
a 30 Years War site in Germany:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/highlands_and_islands/8275390.stm
Hype for a radio program on the private life of Britons in various periods:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/6234092/From-pillow-talk-to-flock-wallpaper-private-lives-of-Britons-revealed.html
More on the Staffordshire hoard:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/comment/iancowie/6255838/How-the-Anglo-Saxon-gold-came-to-be-buried.html
http://www.sundaymercury.net/news/midlands-news/2009/10/03/the-staffordshire-hoard-is-a-truly-magical-find-66331-24844229/
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/6649785.html
... with an interesting twist/claim:
http://www.thisislichfield.co.uk/news/Lichfield-Cathedral-claim-historic-Staffordshire-hoard-gold/article-1383986-detail/article.html
... and a pile of people visited it:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/west_midlands/8278460.stm
http://www.birminghampost.net/news/west-midlands-news/2009/09/28/10-000-visit-anglo-saxon-treasure-hoard-at-birmingham-museum-65233-24794177/
More on Scandinavian origins:
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1761217/scandinavians_genealogy_studied/index.html?source=r_science
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ASIA AND THE SOUTH PACIFIC
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Searching for the Maori past in a midden on the Whanganui river:
http://www.wanganuichronicle.co.nz/have-your-say/news/archaeologists-probe-citys-past/3904708/
Canoe design suggests New Zealand was partially settled from Hawaii:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10600968
Possible link of the Indus Valley civilization with south India:
http://www.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/MMOnline.dll/portal/ep/contentView.do?contentType=EDITORIAL&programId=1073750969&articleType=&contentId=6032010
More on DNA and India:
http://www.dnaindia.com/scitech/report_who-came-first-indians-or-europeans_1294860
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NORTH AMERICA
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A prehistoric irrigation system in the Marana desert:
http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/310755
Finds from various periods in Coshocton County (Ohio):
http://www.coshoctontribune.com/article/20090928/NEWS01/909280302/1002/Dig-yields-clues-to-ancient-Ohio
Overviewish thing a dig at a Mi'kmaq site in Nova Scotia:
http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/1144747.html
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OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST
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Overviewish thing on archaeology in general:
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/archaeology-by-paul-millard/523665/
Out of our time period, but in case you missed it, a piece of
skull in the possession of Russia and long believed to belong
to Hitler has turned out to have come from a woman:
http://www.physorg.com/news173421782.html
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking+News/World/Story/STIStory_435818.html
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/09/30/Skull-fragment-sparks-dispute-with-Russia/UPI-93491254328028/
http://www.courant.com/news/breaking/hc-hitler-russians1002.artoct02,0,5608783.story?track=rssl
... while another researcher tries to link farming to
climate change:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/27/AR2009092701949.html
Assorted non-fiction reviews:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/books/review/Buskey-t.html
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TOURISTY THINGS
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Lyon:
http://francetoday.com/articles/2009/09/29/light_lively_lyon.html
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EXHIBITIONS, AUCTIONS, AND MUSEUM-RELATED
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DSS:
http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/62765347.html>
http://www.jewishtribune.ca/TribuneV2/index.php/200909302138/Dead-Sea-Scrolls-swapped-out-for-new-scrolls.html
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2009/07/02/ed-morgan-dead-sea-cranks.aspx
2. Archaeology: The Brit-Am version of Explorator 12.25
From: david meadows <rogueclassicist@gmail.com>
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explorator 12.25 October 11, 2009
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ANCIENT NEAR EAST AND EGYPT
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Not sure if this synagogue find in Turkey is the one we mentioned
a few weeks ago or not:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1254756250229&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
Latest in the Temple Mount saga (various):
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1254756248116&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/289242,jews-forbidden-to-go-to-flashpoint-jerusalem-site-top-rabbi.html
http://www.news24.com/Content/World/News/1073/71e7ebbda06e44b384252d557cfa7000/07-10-2009-07-08/Israel_will_guard_holy_places
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1254827721520&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
(OpEd)
... while the controversy over digging in Palestine continues too:
http://english.wafa.ps/?action=detail&id=13184
Opeddish sort of thing on 'fast archaeology' in Jerusalem:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=1119641
Cyrus the Great's palace continues to be in danger of destruction:
http://www.cais-soas.com/news/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=86:cyrus-the-great-palace-faces-total-destruction-&catid=36
Interesting Byzantine-era burials from Palmyra:
http://www.english.globalarabnetwork.com/200910093076/Culture/archaeological-discoveries-first-of-their-kind-tombs-unearthed-in-palmyra.html
More on Dr. Granville's mummy autopsy:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/science/06obmummy.html
http://www.medgadget.com/archives/2009/10/one_of_the_oldest_medical_mysteries_may_have_been_solved.html
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EUROPE AND THE UK (+ Ireland)
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Recent tests suggest a body unearthed in Gloucester back in the 70s
was a Goth warrior:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/gloucestershire/8298825.stm
http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-128833.html
They've confirmed that the blood disorder which afflicted the British
royal family for the past century or so was a form of hemophilia:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8297467.stm
http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2009/1008/2
The Stonehenge site is going to get a 'facelift':
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1218201/Stonehenge-site-25-million-facelift.html
Followup on the Staffordshire hoard:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/west_midlands/8291818.stm
More on Bluestonehenge:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/10/07/stonehenge.discovery/
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/10/091005-mini-stonehenge-bluestonehenge-bluehenge.html
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/cultura/Localizado/segundo/Stonehenge/cerca/original/elpepucul/20091007elpepucul_2/Tes
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/wiltshire/8288567.stm
http://www.physorg.com/news174035874.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-sci-stone-henge6-2009oct06,0,5985835.story?track=rss
Review of Peter Heather, *Empires and Barbarians*:
http://www.tribunemagazine.co.uk/2009/10/08/books-how-the-barbarians-turned-the-western-world-upside-down/
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NORTH AMERICA
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Michelle Obama's ancestry was in the news this week:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/08/us/politics/08genealogy.html
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113627049
cf:
http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/08/one-familys-roots-a-nations-history/
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OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST
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Ships' logs as a source of weather information:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/09/opinion/09fri4.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8291267.stm
A history of blackmail:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/weekinreview/04schwartz.html
The Book of Genesis ... illustrated by R. Crumb:
http://www.forward.com/articles/116232/
Not really in our purview, but this baby woolly mammath (frozen)
is really interesting:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/biology_evolution/article6860975.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=797093
Review of Michael Slater, *Charles Dickens*:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/oct/10/charles-dickens-michael-slater-review
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CRIME BEAT
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A Nabatean site at Avdat National Park was vandalized:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=1119364
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=1118973
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1254756247973&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1254827719355&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3785941,00.html
http://www.news24.com/Content/World/News/1073/cad77a7fc9be435089a8ce0a88c079d7/05-10-2009%2006-16/Israeli_heritage_site_defaced
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/705519
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NUMISMATICA
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I think we've mentioned this purported Joseph coin find:
http://www.sbcbaptistpress.org/BPnews.asp?ID=31388
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EXHIBITIONS, AUCTIONS, AND MUSEUM-RELATED
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West African Gold from the Ivory Coast:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/nyregion/04artct.html
Ancient Ivories of Bering Strait:
http://antiquesandthearts.com/Antiques/TradeTalk/2009-10-06__12-02-02.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/nyregion/11artsnj.html
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PERFORMANCES AND THEATRE-RELATED
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Hamlet:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/07/AR2009100701118.html?hpid=moreheadlines
3. Druids Committed Human Sacrifice, Cannibalism?
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/03/090320-druids-sacrifice-cannibalism.html
James Owen in London
for National Geographic News
Extracts:
Recent evidence that Druids possibly committed cannibalism and ritual human sacrifice, perhaps on a massive scale, add weight to ancient Roman accounts of Druidic savagery, archaeologists say.
After a first century B.C. visit to Britain, the Romans came back with horrific stories about these high-ranking priests of the Celts, who had spread throughout much of Europe over a roughly 2,000-year period.
Julius Caesar, who led the first Roman landing in 55 B.C., said the native Celts "believe that the gods delight in the slaughter of prisoners and criminals, and when the supply of captives runs short, they sacrifice even the innocent."
First-century historian Pliny the Elder went further, suggesting the Celts practiced ritual cannibalism, eating their enemies' flesh as a source of spiritual and physical strength.
But with only the Romans' word to go on?the ancient Celts left no written record of their own?it's been easy for historians to dismiss such tales as wartime propaganda.
Until now, that is.
Mass Druid Sacrifice?
Other grisly clues come from a cave in Alveston, England.
Skeletons belonging to as many as 150 people and dating back to about the time of the Roman conquest were discovered in 2000.
Druids may have killed the victims?who show evidence of skull-splitting blows?in a single event. It may have been the Roman invasion itself that escalated the Druids' ritualized slaughter, researchers say.
Mark Horton, an archaeologist at the University of Bristol, thinks the pile of bodies suggests savage resistance to the Romans, either on the battlefield or through deadly ritual.
"Maybe the whole thing is a gigantic sacrifice ... an appeasement to the gods in order that they will get ultimate victory against the Romans," Horton said.
The Alveston cave bones hint at something even more sinister?cannibalism.
A human thighbone in the cave had been broken open in exactly the same method people use to get at the nutritious bone marrow of nonhuman animals.
But if the bone is proof of Celtic cannibalism, the practice was probably extremely rare, Horton said. It may be evidence of increasing hunger and desperation as Roman invaders closed in, he added.
Researchers have struggled in the past to link any archaeological evidence to the Druids, let alone signs of human sacrifice or cannibalism, said archaeologist Simon James of the University of Leicester, U.K.
"There has always been a suspicion that what the Romans were saying was atrocity propaganda. But some recent finds like Lindow Man suggest that there were dark and bloody goings-on," said James, who was not involved in the new documentary.
The mistletoe pollen from Lindow Man is the "least bad archaeological evidence we've got that fits in with these stories about the Druids," he added.
"Maybe mistletoe plants had been dusted on his food ritually, a bit like spraying holy water around, or dunked in his drink," James said.
If Lindow Man and others were in fact sacrificed in a bid to stop the Romans, their lives were lost in vain.
By the early centuries of the first millennium A.D., the Celts' defeat and absorption into the Roman Empire was nearly complete across Europe.
Today, their once wide-ranging culture lives on mainly in the traditional languages of Ireland, Wales, and Brittany, France.
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