Salvaging a Russian submarine -- in the Providence River

To the staff of the Russian Sub Museum, the sinking of their Soviet-era submarine in Providence Harbor following an April northeaster was a crushing catastrophe.

To the divers of the Army and Navy, it was a dream come true.

The military has announced that it intends to raise the sunken Juliett 484, the Cold War ballistic missile submarine that has been converted to a museum in the Providence River, in order to train its salvage and dive teams in how to get a submarine afloat. . .

But the military's help extends only to raising the submarine -- the sub is filled with water, and the internal damage may be extensive. There's no guarantee that it can be restored as a museum.

The Russian submarine, designated Juliett 484 by NATO, sank in 30 feet of water two days after an April 17 storm. As museum officials have tried to scrape together support to raise the boat, the strange tale of the sunken submarine has drawn international attention -- including a special by a Russian television network -- and become the darling of the salvage community, luring the Army and Navy divers and soon, a British dive team as well.

From the Providence Journal. Pictures here. I regret to admit that I never did get around to visiting the sub before it sank. Who woulda thunk it?

For more, see the Russian Sub Museum website.

Secret passage found under Mycenaean fortress

Archaeologists excavating a sprawling prehistoric fortress in southern Greece have discovered a secret underground passage thought to have supplied the site with water in times of danger.

Dating to the mid-13th century B.C., the stone passage passed under the massive walls of the Mycenaean citadel of Midea and probably led to a nearby water source, authorities said Friday.

Full article in the Guardian.

Skull shaping, then and now

A long-standing mystery over the way men's skulls changed from long to round in medieval Europe has been deepened by discoveries at a Yorkshire village. . .

Immigration and climate change have been the two main hypotheses but neither makes sense of the 700 Yorkshire skeletons. They are expected to cause widespread revision of the period's history, as the first large-scale find from a single, accurately-dated indigenous community. . .

The skulls also show that only men were affected, which would not have applied if its cause was new genetic stock.

The change from long to round then reversed, which also calls the genetic hypothesis into question. What isn't brought up in this Guardian article is the possibility of some cultural influence: headbinding being the first thing that comes to mind:

In some parts of Europe, especially France, head elongation was practised up until the late 19th century. In the Deux-Sevres area, head elongation involved wrapping the baby's head in a tight bandage. The binding was left for a period of two to four months and was then replaced with a fitted basket. When the baby was older, the basket was strengthened with metal thread.

In the Normandy region it was customary to bind a child's head with at least two coiffures (headresses) and a piece of canvas to tightly compress the skull.

It seems that worldwide, head-shapers have preferred elongated to round (some examples noted here), but perhaps the fashion in medieval Europe was different, at least for boys. And before you sneer, take a look at this
.

Getting back to the Yorkshire excavations, the Guardian article also notes:

The study, the latest of 14 volumes on 40 years of excavation at Wharram, also shows that left-handedness was much more common in medieval times, at 15% compared with 8% today. Infant mortality was also unexpectedly low, possibly because illness and poor diet set in only after weaning off breast milk.

License to carry

Forget about taking away our guns: now the gummint is after our cash -- and they're not issuing any carry permits.

I posted on the criminalization of cash back in 2003, and apparently what I observed then continues to hold true. Though there is still no US law against carrying over $10,000 in cash, the Federales appear to be working under orders to seize it if they find it, with "guilty until proven innocent" the guideline for handling the hapless carrier.

Back at last . . .

Summer isn't over quite yet, but close enough to begin talking of it in the past tense. A busy summer here this year: good busy -- with lots of family and outdoors time, and long stretches completely offline.

And now we must start easing back into the regular routine. We left our beach rental this morning; it already seems as if it was last week.