Archaeologists do it in holes: Tales from the stratigraphy

[Josquius]

The basque held out. Hard to take out mountain foke.

Linguistically they did. In terms of genetics though do they keep much distinctiveness?

[HVC]

The basque held out. Hard to take out mountain foke.

Linguistically they did. In terms of genetics though do they keen much distinctiveness?

The results show that the Basques' genetic makeup is similar to other populations of Western Europe but with slight differences. These differences are due to a scarce gene flow as of the Iron Age, i.e., less mixing has occurred with other populations.

Link.

Not sure how to quantify less, but it looks like they stayed genetically isolated. I mean there's probably more mixing now, so finally the indo side is winning out

[Sheilbh]

Wild - a possibly 16th century shipwreck has washed up on Orkney:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crg447y13nzo

[The Brain]

Wild - a possibly 16th century shipwreck has washed up on Orkney:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crg447y13nzo

Cool.

[viper37]

We don't often talk about this part of the world.
Ancient find reveals new evidence of Malaysia's multicultural past

Archaeologists in northwest Malaysia find new evidence of the region's role as a thriving multicultural trading hub.

Kedah, Malaysia – Until six months ago, none of the inhabitants of the village of Bukit Choras, set amid rice fields near the steep and lush hill of the same name in northwestern Malaysia, had any idea they had been living next to an archaeological wonder all their lives.

It was only after a team of 11 researchers cleared the thick bushes and secondary jungle from the top of the hill, and gently scraped away at the soil that a missing piece of Southeast Asian history was revealed.

[...]

[Jacob]

That's pretty cool

[viper37]

Alexander the Great artifact found in Denmark

Metal Detectorists Find 'Incredible' Artifact Depicting Alexander the Great

Finn Ibsen and Lars Danielsen came across the object in question, a small bronze fitting measuring around an inch across, near Ringsted—a city located centrally on the island of Zealand, Denmark.

"[A] mysterious and absolutely incredible find in the field," Museum West Zealand said in a Facebook post. "Finn and Lars were out with the metal detector in a field near Ringsted, and their eyes widened when it dawned on them what they had suddenly found. It is tiny and absolutely spectacular."

The bronze disk is thought to date to around the year A.D. 200 and bears a portrait of Alexander—one of the greatest rulers of antiquity—on one side.
A bronze Alexander the Great artifact
The bronze artifact found near Ringsted, Denmark, that archaeologists say features a portrait of Alexander the Great. The object was found in a field by metal detectorists. Museum Vestsjælland

Alexander the Great ruled the ancient kingdom of Macedon—centered on the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula—between 336 B.C. until his death in 323 B.C. at the age of 32.

During his reign, he waged extensive military campaigns, creating one of the largest empires ever seen—spanning from Greece to northwestern India. Undefeated in battle, he is widely considered to be among the most successful military commanders in history.

Alexander was already being venerated in the first centuries after his death, becoming a significant role model for Roman emperors. The emperor Caracalla, who reigned from A.D. 198-217, even saw himself as the reincarnation of Alexander.

"[Alexander] became a legend with which power could be justified. Many subsequent rulers wanted to use his face to show a connection to Alexander's greatness," archaeologist Freerk Oldenburger with Museum West Zealand told Danish media outlet TV2 Øst.

Alexander is easily recognizable on the bronze fitting found near Ringsted, which also contains traces of lead, thanks to the wavy locks of hair and ram horns beside the ears.

"It's fantastic. Up here in Scandinavia you don't usually find anything about Alexander the Great," Oldenburger told TV2 Øst.

According to the researcher, the portrait is very similar to one found at the Illerup Ådal archaeological site on the Danish mainland. This was the site of a great battle between two Germanic tribes that took place around A.D. 200—roughly when the bronze artifact from Zealand was made.

Among the objects found at the site were shields featuring small decorative disks with portraits of warriors. And one of these bears the aforementioned image of Alexander the Great, which resembles the portrait on the artifact from Zealand.

But despite the clear depiction of Alexander, the latest find raises many more questions than answers at this stage, according to archaeologists. For example, it is not clear if the object was created by the Romans, who used the same lead-containing alloy for casting statuettes. Was it cast by the Romans from a remelted statuette, or did the remelting take place on Zealand?

If the object was cast by the Romans, how did it end up in a field on Zealand? The territory conquered by Rome never reached the area occupied by modern Denmark. But the Romans did maintain trade links with the Germanic peoples who once lived in this region.

And if the object is of Germanic origin, what was its significance to these people? Did they believe that it could bring good luck on the battlefield? Were they even aware of who the face represented?

"The possibility is that they saw one of their own gods in [the artifact]. But I actually think they knew it—Alexander's myth has been so big in Europe, Asia and North Africa," Oldenburger said.

It also not clear what the function of the object was. It may have been a decorative disk for a shield, or it could have formed part of a belt sword holder, for example.

"The small bronze disk... shows that even the smallest archaeological objects can hide absolutely incredible stories," archaeologist Oldenburger added in a press release.

"This is a unique find in Scandinavia with connections to one of the most famous personalities in world history."

Kinda nice that it found it's way up there.  All that remains to be known is when it arrived. 

[viper37]

5,000-year-old "nativity scene" reportedly found in Egypt

The rock painting depicts a newborn between parents, a star in the east, and two animals. It was discovered on the ceiling of a small cavity in the Egyptian Sahara desert, Seeker reported. Researchers believe it dates to the Neolithic or Stone Age.


"It's a very evocative scene which indeed resembles the Christmas nativity. But it predates it by some 3,000 years," geologist Marco Morelli, director of the Museum of Planetary Sciences in Prato, Italy, told Seeker. The site reports that Morelli and his team discovered the rock art in 2005, but only now are revealing their findings under the title "Cave of the Parents."

The rock painting, done in a reddish-brown ochre, has several notable features: a headless lion, a baboon or monkey, a star set in the east, and a baby who is slightly raised to the sky, a position that could have signified birth or pregnancy, Seeker reported. 

The rock painting raises questions about the meaning ascribed to nativity scenes long before the birth of Christ. 

"No doubt it's an intriguing drawing," Morelli said. "We didn't find similar scenes until the early Christian age."

That's an interesting read.

[Razgovory]

Actual image is less impressive

[viper37]

Actual image is less impressive

It's a neolithic stone drawing, not renaissance art.

[Razgovory]

Calling it a "nativity" is just clickbait.

[jimmy olsen]

Actual image is less impressive

It's a neolithic stone drawing, not renaissance art.

There are paleolithic paintings that are just as good. As Picasso (perhaps apocryphally said), upon viewing the paintings of Lascaux, "we have invented nothing". Just because these paintings are old doesn't mean they get a pass for being ugly.

[Jacob]

You two are such complete prats 

[Legbiter]

Archeogenetics just solved the origins of the Hittites. This is an amazing paper.

The Genetic Origin of the Indo-Europeans

[Jacob]

Those Yamnaya show up everywhere!