History...eh, things!

[nfe]

Catch all thread for anything about history, I guess, but specifically started for this:

ondemand.spectrum.net/tv/science-channel/24698962/ancient-armageddon/

I said a while back on ETC that a couple friends of mine were filming for a show that was being made essentially about Eric Cline's 1177BC, a book about the societal collapses in the Eastern Mediterranean at the end of the Bronze Age, and a couple folks asked me to alert them when it was being broadcast, so here we are.

I've not seen it and don't know of it will be any good (and I find the title alarming, as I'm sure does at least one of the aforementioned friends), but maybe it's good!

[bobtheinquisitor]

So long as they don’t edit his statements out of sequence to imply only aliens could have collapsed the Bronze Age…

[easye]

Thanks! I am interested.

However, even Cline's work is getting on a bit in years. Is there "newer" scholarship or thoughts on the topic that will be represented in this production?

[easye]

Osprey will be publishing a new book about the Neo-Assyrian war machine next month.

I am interested.

[bobtheinquisitor]

Me too. Osprey books that interest me seem few and far between these days.

[easye]

In the news!

www.npr.org/2023/08/01/1191071151/maya-city-ocomtun-lasers

How scientists lasered in on a 'monumental' Maya city — with actual lasers

It's not every day that modern researchers uncover an ancient lost city.

But for a network of scientists exploring Mexico's central Yucatan Peninsula, that very phenomenon is becoming so common that it's become the butt of a joke.

"If you get a map of the state of Campeche and you throw a dart at it — well, where the dart hits, there'll be a Maya settlement," explained Juan Carlos Fernandez-Diaz, an assistant professor at the University of Houston.

For decades, archaeologists thought this area's ultra-dense and fairly dry landscape would have been too harsh to sustain early settlements of the Maya civilization — the culturally sophisticated Mesoamerican society that dominated the region from roughly 250 B.C.E. to 900 C.E.

The Maya people never truly disappeared; the descendants of the ancient civilization still live throughout Central America. But a combination of catastrophic events caused many to abandon their homes and towns thousands of years ago, leaving ruins to be uncovered centuries later.

[easye]

www.npr.org/2023/09/01/1191263572/turkey-archaeology-zerzevan-castle-discoveries

Archaeologists in Turkey have identified massive structures below a Roman-era castle

Zerzevan Castle, the site of a Roman Empire military garrison, is providing what UNESCO calls "important information about the Roman soldiers, civilians' daily lives and the battles."

And then there's the Mithras Temple. The Mithras religion — also known as the "Mithras cult" — is believed to have originated in ancient Persia, and the temple, discovered in 2017, is possibly the best-preserved such temple in the world, says UNESCO.

Yet to be excavated are huge, multistory structures that archaeologists have identified thanks to ground-penetrating radar scans. These remain below ground and are revealing layer upon layer of artifacts, some dating back well into pre-Roman history.

The article also has some interesting photos that you may want to check out as well.

[easye]

Shipwreck hunters discover a schooner's 142-year-old remains in Lake Michigan

www.npr.org/2023/09/04/1197480909/shipwreck-trinidad-found-lake-michigan-wisconsin

A schooner called the Trinidad was built in 1867 with the purpose of hauling grain, coal and iron between the Midwest and the Northeast. But a lack of upkeep doomed the vessel, which sank in Lake Michigan during its final voyage in 1881.

The wreck of the Trinidad has now been located for the first time since it went down nearly a century and a half ago.

[easye]

Four 1,900-year-old Roman swords found in cave in Israel

www.cnn.com/style/article/ancient-weapons-cache-judean-desert-scli-intl-scn/index.html

Archaeologists have found four Roman swords and a shafted weapon known as a pilum dating from 1,900 years ago in a cave near the shore of the Dead Sea in Israel.

The rare cache of weapons was found in the En Gedi Nature Reserve, preserved in wooden and leather scabbards, according to a press statement from the Israel Antiquities Authority published Wednesday.

The weapons were probably war booty taken from the Roman army by Judean rebels, according to the authors of a research article published Wednesday in the book “New Studies in the Archaeology of the Judean Desert: Collected Papers.”

The first evidence—the pilum and pieces of worked wood that turned out to be scabbards—were found by chance in an isolated and inaccessible cave on cliffs by archaeologists studying a fragmentary ink inscription on a stalactite.

[mdgv2]

Among the Archaeological “fings wot I did saw wiv me own eyeses”, that I feel most privileged to have seen?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ness_of_Brodgar

Ness of Brodgar. A relatively recent discovery of Neolithic habitation on Orkney. Next year is the last year they’re digging, before it’s all preserved. Orkney may be an expensive destination, given location wise, it’s a tagnut on the arse of nowhere….but it’s so, so worth going. Especially next year. Pawn your Granny, sell your Liver. It’s worth it.

The other things wot I’ve seen? Terracotta Army and Tutankhamen’s treasures. Both in Edinburgh in the 80’s.

Yes I was fucking furious at the usual lazy journalist scum a few years back when they claimed the Terracota Army coming to London was the first time it came to Britain. Fucking morons.

[bobtheinquisitor]

I hope to visit that site someday. Or any part of Scotland, really.

We have some amazing archaeological sites in the Southwest United States. Bandelier has dwellings going back 13,000 years, from caves to pit houses to pueblos with kivas to cliff houses to man-made caves. Only a few structures remain, but there are post holes for the ceiling support beams for 2nd, 3rd, even 4th and 5th stories, all along the cliff face for what seems like a mile or more. The scale is surpassed by the grand stone structures at Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde, and some of the Pueblos, but few of those have the same depth of habitation.

[mdgv2]

I cannot recommend Orkney enough when it comes to Neolithic archaeology. There’s just so, so much to see.

Skara Brae is a tiny site, but utterly fascinating. And I’d recommend seeing Kirbuster Museum. On the same day. When you do that, you’ll understand why.

Essentially, Kirbuster is a preserved example of previously typical Orcadian Houses. And……they overall layout and design is so close to those of Skara Brae it’s genuinely freaky! A style and layout of buildjng which has served since before the Pyramids, into the early 20th Century.

Fucking. Mind. Blowing.

Just ensure you can drive, because you’re gonna need to!

Ness of Brodgar is another one where you can do multiple sites in no time, as it’s walking distance of Ring of Brodgar (an ancient henge*), Barnhouse Settlement and Standing Stones of Stenness. Even Mae’s Howe is pretty close!

id also strongly recommend a packed lunch. Orkney isn’t exactly without convenience food, but it’s few and far between. Certainly ensure you’ve plenty of water or fizzy pop of your preference. We stayed in self-catering and got our grub on the mainland the night before we sailed for Orkney. Just made everything easier.

[nfe]

Sept 7, 2023 12:22:59 GMT -5 mdgv2 said:

Orkney isn’t exactly without convenience food, but it’s few and far between. Certainly ensure you’ve plenty of water or fizzy pop of your preference. We stayed in self-catering and got our grub on the mainland the night before we sailed for Orkney. Just made everything easier.

Kirkwall has a giant Tesco! You're better flying (radically lower chance of travel being cancelled) and shopping there.

[mdgv2]

Flights to Kirkwall are however……..fucking expensive

[mdgv2]

Also? As for MOAR SCOTCHISH AKEOLOGEE?

Keep your eyes on Trimontium. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trimontium_(Newstead)

It’s a Roman site in the Borders, close to Melrose. For many years the miserable old bastard that owned the farm refused permission to dig. But as Jarvis Cocker once wrote? Something Changed. And a dig is either underway, or is soon to be underway.

My Dear Old Daddykins happens to live fairly near there, and has space for visitors in his abode. So…whilst I guarantee nothing? I can ask him, and *may* be able to persuade him, to put folk up, so you at least save on hotel/accommodation costs. Or at the very least get a pretty reasonable rate. He lives on his own since Mumsie passed away (pretty much four years ago to the day), so I do like the idea of him having some kind of sporadic company. He volunteers at Abottsford, former home of Sir Walter Scott, and used to do Tourist Information, so he’s a decent font of knowledge!