Archaeology · Observations · Science
The search for extraterrestrial life is currently built on two pillars: chemistry and radio signals. Astrobiologists, astronomers and planetary scientists use spectroscopy to look in the atmospheres of distant planets for oxygen and methane, which may point to life in general, even if only bacteria. Radio astronomers listen for radio
Archaeology · Science · Nature
In short, it was not quite so simple. Although in this case it is the method that is interesting rather than the result. Polish archaeologists have established that the builders of megalithic tombs did not burn the forest down to the ground. This follows from an analysis of pollen and
Archaeology · Architecture · Heritage · Rome
The Pyramid of Cestius is an ancient Roman mausoleum in Rome, built in 18-12 BC. The tomb received the ashes of Gaius Cestius, an influential Roman magistrate and priest. The pyramid is a concrete structure 36 metres high, faced with marble. The Pyramid of Cestius has survived to our
Archaeology · Observations · Science · Palaeontology
Whoever has not yet tired of following my scholarly work may like to hear about two interesting recent articles on my subject. One, by Ben Potter, maintains that the Palaeoindians were megafauna specialists who followed the mammoths from Alaska to Patagonia. Nothing especially sensational here. But the second article, by
Archaeology · Observations · Science
In brief, the cause was a major catastrophe in the Stone Age, around 3000 BC, after which the structure of the population changed entirely. The study, naturally enough, implies that the disappearance of the communities that built such burial complexes led to the disappearance of the monuments themselves. At the
Archaeology · Monarchies · Museums · Heritage
This small leather ball was found during the restoration of Stirling Castle in Scotland in the late 1970s and is considered the oldest surviving football in the world. It is almost 500 years old. The find is dated to the period between the 1540s and 1570s. The ball is stitched
Almaty · Archaeology · Observations · Science
According to a collective paper recently published in Science Advances, high status among the early nomads of Eurasia was inherited along family lines rather than won anew by each generation. The researchers analysed whole-genome data from the remains of 85 Iron Age individuals from across the Scythian-Siberian world,
Archaeology · Archive · Books · Science
An international team of engineers and scholars led by the University of Kentucky has virtually unrolled a papyrus from the Villa of the Papyri, the library that perished together with Herculaneum in the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD. The reading was made possible by AI and by imaging with
Archaeology · Art · Observations · Heritage · Science · Nature
John Keats feared he might cease to be before his pen had gleaned his teeming brain, «before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain». Our concern is rather that, amid the informational din, the important things of the month should not get lost. Hence the regular digest: the
Archaeology · Science · Nature
One dog is under a year old, a mottled female; the other is a puppy no more than three months old. The finds are about 1,100 years old. Mummification occurs of its own accord in the dry climate of the region, but what interested the scholars was the context
Archaeology · Architecture · Books · Rome
Pliny the Elder writes that Caesar the Dictator stretched awnings over the whole Roman Forum and over the Sacred Way, from his own house up to the Capitol, and that the spectacle was judged more wondrous than the gladiatorial combats themselves. Fabric awnings against the sun, vela in Latin, were
Archaeology · Heritage · Science
Ancient human DNA has been extracted from cave walls in Spain and Portugal for the first time. Quite so: no bones, teeth or cultural layer were needed to obtain the DNA. From 24 panels in 11 caves, 54 samples were taken, and 5 of them yielded human mitochondrial DNA. The