Archaeologists do it in holes: Tales from the stratigraphy

[Malthus]

Cool video of HMS Terror. It's in amazing shape.
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-49490400/franklin-expedition-new-footage-of-wreck-of-hms-terror

It's amazing to see the dishes are still on the shelves!

Here's to hoping the journals are still in place inside the captain's cabin, and are still legible. 

[Threviel]

That's interesting groggy, I've never actually looked up numbers, according to wiki the Russians had a peak mobilised size at around 900' and the Grande Armee something like 700'. Seeing as the Russians always had fought hard and well it really seems like extreme hubris on Nappys side to invade.

[Malthus]

That's interesting groggy, I've never actually looked up numbers, according to wiki the Russians had a peak mobilised size at around 900' and the Grande Armee something like 700'. Seeing as the Russians always had fought hard and well it really seems like extreme hubris on Nappys side to invade.

Nappy: 'Damn shame what happened to Carolus Rex ... well, that will never happen to me".

Hitler: 'Damn shame what happened to Nappy ... well, that will never happen to me".

[Valmy]

That's interesting groggy, I've never actually looked up numbers, according to wiki the Russians had a peak mobilised size at around 900' and the Grande Armee something like 700'. Seeing as the Russians always had fought hard and well it really seems like extreme hubris on Nappys side to invade.

Yeah well it was extreme hubris to think he could just conquer Spain as well. But really it was more desperation than hubris, he really had no idea how he was going to beat the British yet he urgently needed to do so.

[grumbler]

That's interesting groggy, I've never actually looked up numbers, according to wiki the Russians had a peak mobilised size at around 900' and the Grande Armee something like 700'. Seeing as the Russians always had fought hard and well it really seems like extreme hubris on Nappys side to invade.

For Napoleon, it was invade or be invaded.  He was never one to yield the initiative willingly.

[grumbler]

Yeah well it was extreme hubris to think he could just conquer Spain as well. But really it was more desperation than hubris, he really had no idea how he was going to beat the British yet he urgently needed to do so.

The Spanish war didn't come about because Napoleon invaded Spain.  He was an ally of Spain and had transit rights through Spain to invade Portugal.  The problem was that both he king and crown prince of Spain were corrupt feeble-minded tools of their courts, and the Spanish intelligentsia wanted him to depose both and name a new king.  Like Louis XIV, Napoleon placed a member of his family on the throne.   The problem for the French was that the typical Spaniard of the time (especially the church) very much resented any attempts to modernize the country, and the junta the ruled in the name of the deposed King was able to turn that resentment into a nationalist cause against the French.

Contrary to the British "historians," Napoleon wasn't bound on wold conquest (and, in fact, fought almost exclusively defensive wars). 

There's no doubt that his ego got the better of him, though.  Both in his economic dealings with his "allies" (who were treated no better than the British treated their colonies) and in his refusal to accept peace in 1813 and 1814 under any but his own terms, he was acting irrationally.  His was a classic case of absolute power corrupting absolutely.

[Threviel]

So you are saying that France did not invade Spain?

Oh, and did he not start aggressive wars the same way that Bismarck did not start the Franco-Prussian one? I have a hard time believing that Nappy was some peace-loving hippie forced into wars.

[viper37]

Here's to hoping the journals are still in place inside the captain's cabin, and are still legible. 

I think I read they are still there, but too soon to see if they are legible.

[viper37]

So you are saying that France did not invade Spain?

Oh, and did he not start aggressive wars the same way that Bismarck did not start the Franco-Prussian one? I have a hard time believing that Nappy was some peace-loving hippie forced into wars.

not a peace-loving hippie, but forced into wars, yes.  As Grumbler said, eventually, his ego got the better of him.

[grumbler]

So you are saying that France did not invade Spain?

Not in the sense that Napoleon thought "he could just conquer Spain as well."  The French army was in Spain at the invitation of the Spanish crown, as part of a joint military venture.  When the universally loathed Spanish crown collapsed (nitwit dad trying to arrest the nitwit son, nitwit son trying to coup nitwit dad) Napoleon decided that what Spain needed was to do what France had done - replace the Bourbons with the Bonapartes (after all, that's how the Bourbons got the throne to begin with).  That turned to be a spectacularly unpopular idea, except among educated Spaniard (who welcomed modern government and had to flee when the Bornaparte Spanish venture failed much like the French-supported regime of Maximillian collapsed in Mexico).  Napoleon sent more troops to support the troops there, and the rest is history.

Oh, and did he not start aggressive wars the same way that Bismarck did not start the Franco-Prussian one? I have a hard time believing that Nappy was some peace-loving hippie forced into wars.

Frankly, I have a hard time caring what you believe about Napoleon.  Maybe some time spent by you doing some research would allow you to state an opinion more credible than "I have a hard time believing [some random bullshit rhetoric about hippies]."  It's not like Napoleonic history is some obscure topic that is hard to find out about.

[Threviel]

Well, I'm no scholar of the Napoleonic wars, but I have read a few books on the subject and one or two biographies. Napoleon, to me, comes across as a bully, a competent bully, but still a bully. He made peace in a way that caused resentment and almost guaranteed a continuation of hostilities. That he didn't actually declare the wars does not mean that he did not cause it. A Prussia backed so into a corner that it feels it has no option but war implies that something backed it into a corner.

So yeah, you could perhaps say that he wasn't bent on world conquest, but his continuing conflicts with all his neighbours sure imply something.

You are the one claiming that the traditional view on him is wrong, I would appreciate some more arguments on that.

[jimmy olsen]

An ancestor - or relative - to Lucy has been found:
https://www.livescience.com/nearly-complete-lucy-ancestor-skull-unearthed.html

A nearly complete cranium from Ethiopia reveals the face of Australopithecus anamensis, the oldest known species of Australopithecus.

Very important find
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/38-million-year-old-skull-puts-new-face-little-known-human-ancestor-species-180973006/

[The Brain]

An ancestor - or relative - to Lucy has been found:
https://www.livescience.com/nearly-complete-lucy-ancestor-skull-unearthed.html

A nearly complete cranium from Ethiopia reveals the face of Australopithecus anamensis, the oldest known species of Australopithecus.

Very important find
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/38-million-year-old-skull-puts-new-face-little-known-human-ancestor-species-180973006/

The article was less sensational than the link.

[jimmy olsen]

The infamous skull racks of Tenochtitlan have been found, larger than a basketball court, they would have held thousands of skulls at a time.

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/06/feeding-gods-hundreds-skulls-reveal-massive-scale-human-sacrifice-aztec-capital

[Sheilbh]

My pure speculation: it was the horde collected by a non-Christian warlord, who had won a significant battle against a Christian Anglo-Saxon monarch, and was about to fight another such battle - which he lost, spectacularly badly.

Reason:

1 - the horde is, as noted, mostly gold stripped from military gear. No feminine jewelry at all. This suggests gold taken in battle. 

2 - most of the gold was stripped from swords. This suggests depersonalizing these weapons, perhaps to distribute the swords, minus the gold, to a war-band's followers. The gold could then be used by the leader to attract more followers.

In Beowulf at least a king would loot objects and then almost return the loot to his loyal war-band, which demonstrated his good kingliness/support for his hall.

3 - among the gold were Christian objects - crosses and what may be a Bible cover. These had been treated purely as loot, the crosses crumpled up, the Bible cover ripped off. This suggests that the losers were Christian (an army accompanied by a priest carrying crosses and a Bible, perhaps). This also suggests that the winners were not Christian, as they would, if Christian, be more likely to treat Christian treasures more respectfully.

4 - Obviously, the collecter of the hoard must have won at least one major battle, to have access to the equipment of lots of high ranking warriors - presumably looted from their dead bodies. The loot is way more than an individual warrior could have collected. This suggests the leader of a war-band.

5 - Why was the loot buried and not collected again? Perhaps it was buried in secret on the eve of another battle, so it would not be lost if the owner had to make a run for it. That it was never collected suggests that the owner lost the battle, and was killed - together with everyone who knew where the loot was buried (otherwise it would have been dug up again).

I think the theory makes sense. It's also reminiscent of the very poignant end of Beowulf that we know this is his last battle. He's remembered as a good king who protected his people and distributed gifts, but his men let him down (except for Wiglaf). But without him they will eventually be plundered by their neighbours, who he's protected them from, they'll be looted and taken for slaves. Which formed part of the cyclical Anglo-Saxon view of the world and fate.

I also wonder if it could be part of Christianisation - a burial or ceremony of the winnings from Christians on conversion.