Ancient jewelry find in Fiji

Archeologists have discovered a 3000-year-old pot in Fiji containing jewellery believed to have been made by the South Pacific's original settlers -- the Lapita people. . .

The Lapita people were the first colonists of Pacific Island groups, including the eastern Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa.

The descendants of the Lapita people, who disappeared as a distinct cultural group around 550 BC, live in these countries today.

Full article here.

Tilden Park carousel news

Having grown up in Berkeley, I had to follow up this link to Carousel News' account of the recent renovation work at the Tilden Park carousel. Apparently, California has not been content to leave historic rides alone. As an earlier article noted:

California just has "red-tagged" the historic 1911 Herschell-Spillman carousel at Tilden Park in Berkeley after over 90 years of safe operation with no accidents. This is yet another in the long line of attacks by California's DOSH (Division of Occupational Safety and Health) against the landmark carousels in the state.
This ridiculous closure follows the numerous major alterations forced to be made to the antique carousels at Golden Gate Park, The San Francisco Zoo, Seaport Village in San Diego, Disneyland and many others in the state, all in the effort to try and make antique, historic carousels meet modern standards. This is destroying the original historic value of the carousels.

This latest closure in Berkeley was due to the fact that the carousel operates without a fence. Never mind that in the 90-plus years of operation there has never been a problem, while fences have a long history of causing accidents. That doesn't seem to matter, according to the state. Nor does destroying the layout of a historic building that just underwent a major restoration last year using tax payers' dollars. . .

Of California's 22 historic carousels, all were well intact just 5 years ago. Sadly, most have dramatically changed since then and two major carousels are gone. With this view of carousels, the list of lost carousels will continue to grow.

Follow-up here.

Tomb of Antony and Cleopatra to be opened

Archaeologists have revealed plans to uncover the 2000 year-old tomb of ancient Egypt's most famous lovers, Cleopatra and the Roman general Mark Antony later this year.

Zahi Hawass, prominent archaeologist and director of Egypt's superior council for antiquities announced a proposal to test the theory that the couple were buried together.

He discussed the project in Cairo at a media conference about the ancient pharaohs.

Hawass said that the remains of the legendary Egyptian queen and her Roman lover, Mark Antony, were inside a temple called Tabusiris Magna, 30 kilometres from the port city of Alexandria in northern Egypt.

Until recently access to the tomb has been hindered because it is under water, but archaeologists plan to drain the site so they can begin excavation in November.

Full article here.

Cretaceous mantis in amber

An 87-million-year-old praying mantis found encased in amber in Japan may be a "missing link" between mantises from the Cretaceous period and modern-day insects. . .

Kazuhisa Sasaki, director of the Kuji Amber Museum, found the fossil creature in January buried 6.5 feet (2 meters) below the surface in an amber mine in Japan's northeastern Iwate Prefecture.

"This part of Japan is famous for producing large amounts of amber, but it was very fortunate for me to find this specimen," Sasaki said.

"I found it in a deposit that had lots of other insects—ancient flies, bees, and cockroaches—but this was the only praying mantis."

Full story here; more recent news of finds in amber here and here.

Regalia of Alexander

An ancient Greek tomb thought to have held the body of Alexander the Great's father is actually that of Alexander's half brother, researchers say.

This may mean that some of the artifacts found in the tomb -- including a helmet, shield, and silver "crown" -- originally belonged to Alexander the Great himself. Alexander's half brother is thought to have claimed these royal trappings after Alexander's death. . .

"[Archaeologists] announced that the burial in the main chamber of the large rich [tomb] was that of Philip II, father of Alexander the Great, who was assassinated in 336 B.C," said Eugene N. Borza, professor emeritus of ancient history at Pennsylvania State University.

But recent analyses of the tombs and the paintings, pottery, and other artifacts found there, suggest that the burials are in fact one generation more recent than had previously been thought, Borza said.

Full article at National Geographic.

Not cricket?

Indian police say the organisers of the new tournament transforming world cricket could be fined if cheerleaders are deemed to be dressed indecently.

The cheerleaders have been introduced into the Indian Premier League as part of moves to add glamour and entertainment to the game.

From the BBC. Previous story here.

American folk sculptor, Asa Ames

Well put:

The art, artifacts and objects produced in America during the first half of the 19th century constitute something of an artistic golden age, but a highly disorganized one that is still yielding surprises.

This from a NY Times review of the Asa Ames exhibit now at the American Folk Art Museum. And indeed -- as this slide show demonstrates -- Ames' carved figures have a presence all their own, even for those who profess indifference to folk art as a whole. The museum exhibition website is here.

Dinosaur protein analysis results

Heard this story on the radio on the way home from work today:

In the first analysis of proteins extracted from dinosaur bones, scientists say they have established more firmly than ever that the closest living relatives of the mighty predator Tyrannosaurus rex are modern birds.

The research, being published Friday in the journal Science, yielded the first molecular data confirming the widely held hypothesis of a close dinosaur-bird ancestry, the American scientific team reported. . .

Similar molecular tests on tissues from the extinct mastodon confirmed its close genetic link to the elephant, as had been suspected from skeletal affinities.

Of course, the mastodon results are much less dramatic: survival of proteins for tens of thousands of years is one thing, but tens of millions is quite another. From the New York Times.

Grateful Dead archive to UCSC

The Grateful Dead announced today that the band will donate its archives to the University of California, Santa Cruz. . .

The Archive includes business records and correspondence, photographs, and show files with tickets and backstage passes--as well as promotional items such as flyers, posters, shirts, press clips and awards. Framed photos by renowned photographers and unreleased videos of interviews and TV appearances will be available for viewing. Large stage backdrops, stained-glass pieces, and props from live performances are also featured. An extensive collection of Deadhead fan mail and gifts is an important part of the collection.

That's going to take some work to store and catalog, let alone conserve. No surprise to read this, then:

Bunting noted that due to the monumental size and scope of the archive, a fundraising campaign is now being launched to support it and to endow a permanent Grateful Dead archivist position.

Press release here.

Restoring ancient wood with sugar

Timbers from three medieval bridges in Leicestershire are being restored after a donation of 40 tonnes of sugar.

The 11th Century timbers were found in Hemington Quarry in 1993 and are being preserved at Snibston Discovery Park.

The wood is immersed in liquid sugar as part of the conservation process. The sugar crystals gradually replace the water in the wood and prevent warping.

From the BBC.

Gobekli Tepe: 7000 years older than Stonehenge

Compared with Stonehenge, they are humble affairs. None of the circles excavated (four out of an estimated 20) are more than 30 metres across. T-shaped pillars like the rest, two five-metre stones tower at least a metre above their peers. What makes them remarkable are their carved reliefs of boars, foxes, lions, birds, snakes and scorpions, and their age. Dated at around 9,500BC, these stones are 5,500 years older than the first cities of Mesopotamia, and 7,000 years older than Stonehenge.

Never mind wheels or writing, the people who erected them did not even have pottery or domesticated wheat. They lived in villages. But they were hunters, not farmers.

From the Guardian.

Anne Frank greeting card found

A card sent by diarist Anne Frank to a friend in 1937 was found in a Dutch antiques store near Amsterdam.

Anne Frank, who wrote her diary while in hiding during World War II, sent the card to Sanne Ledermann while visiting her grandmother in Germany

From Bloomberg.com. The Anne Frank Foundation press release, in Dutch, is here -- with a picture of the card.

I see that some headline writers have referred to this as a "Christmas card", but the German greeting is for much luck in the New Year, with no overtly Christian references.

Another donnybrook at the Holy Sepulcher

Israeli police had to break up a fist fight that erupted between Greek and Armenian Orthodox clergymen at one of Christianity's holiest sites.

The scuffles broke out at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on Orthodox Palm Sunday.

Brawls are not uncommon at the church, which is uneasily shared by various Christian denominations.

In this case, witnesses say an Armenian priest forcibly ejected a Greek priest from an area near the tomb of Jesus.

They say the attacker felt the Greek priest had spent too long at the tomb.

When police arrived to break up the fight, some were reportedly beaten back by worshippers using palm fronds.

From the BBC.