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POPSUnearthing clues of catastrophic earthquakes There is still much to be known about ancient earthquakes. The instrumental record for seismology is short, going back 100 years. The historical seismology record is a much longer, including written documentation such as news accounts and diaries, which vary widely by culture and region. The archeoseismic record serves as the bridge between historical accounts and the paleoseismic record of Earth’s history.
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POPS5500-year-old Plaza found in Peru Discovery of Caral (dated to 3000 BCE) was a shock for established archaeology, who rejected the existence of an ancient civilization in south America, prior to 1200 BCE. Now the discovery of Sechin Bajo appears to be a second shock, which pulls the date back to 3500 BCE. These two findings alone, show that Peru hosted an important, unknown civilization, 400 years before the Egyptian kingdom was founded by Menes and at least 250 years before the Sumerians took control of southern Mesopotamia. Amazing discoveries forces historians to reconsider their established "ancient history" cliches.
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POPSThe History of Writing Revisiting & re-clipping some of my old stuff. (I recommend the source article for an illustrated history of abstract thought and writing, with the evolution of alphabets.)
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POPSRise of man theory ‘out by 400,000 years’ A very controversial, unorthodox and exciting new theory on the history of humanity. Professor Helmut Ziegert from Germany, a very experienced and bright archaeologist, comes up with new findings that could shake all we know about the distant past of homo sapiens and the starting point of the Neolitic Age, which was the beginning of our civilization. Sean Kingsley, an archaeologist and the managing editor of Minerva, said: “This research is nothing less than a quantum leap in our understanding of Man’s intellectual and social history. For archaeology it’s as radical as finding life on Mars. “As a veteran of over 81 archaeological surveys and excavations . . . Ziegert is nothing if not scientifically cautious, which makes the current revelation all the more exciting.”
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POPSAncient Etruscans came from Anatolia "We found that the DNA samples from individuals from Murlo and Volterra were more closely related those from near Eastern people than those of the other Italian samples", says Professor Piazza. "In Murlo particularly, one genetic variant is shared only by people from Turkey, and, of the samples we obtained, the Tuscan ones also show the closest affinity with those from Lemnos."
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POPS1759: From the Warpath to the Plains of Abraham From the teaching guide: "The National Battlefields Commission, in collaboration with the Virtual Museum of Canada, is presenting 1759: From the Warpath to the Plains of Abraham, a new recreational/instructional virtual reality challenge. This exciting interactive adventure sends out net surfers to the year 1759 to let them relive, alongside the French, British, Canadians and Amerindians, the ups and downs of a fight to the finish for the conquest of America, an outstanding episode of the country’s military history. " This is a remarkable and fun way to learn some very important history pertaining to Canada, France, England, and the Amerindians, during a time when the French and British battled for control of America. Explore the site in either English or French!
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POPSAnalysis: world's largest oil field in decline Stuart Staniford, a physics PhD, has been analyzing publicly available data on Ghawar, the world's largest oil field, which is in Saudi Arabia. His conclusion is that the oil in Ghawar has been depleted, which means that production from that field is permanently on its way down. If this is true, "we have just entered a new phase of history".
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POPS"Are We Rome?" - Book Review "Are We Rome?" is an essay in polemic, not scholarship, and Mr. Murphy does not set out to analyze the deep structural forces of Roman or American history. Instead, he makes a tour of contemporary American politics, and speculates about Roman parallels to very upto-the-minute problems. In many ways, Mr. Murphy's argument is less about America in general than about the Bush administration in particular. Thus he worries about the transfer of government functions to private contractors like Halliburton, seeing an analogy to the Roman system of patronage.
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POPSThe Story of Inca "Reconstructed" Archaeologists have gleaned important clues on the rise and fall of the mighty Inca empire and the civilizations that existed before it from fossilized mites that survived on the dung of llama, the South American domesticated beast of burden.
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POPSSacco and Vanzetti - The Movie "Finally we have a superb and thorough documentary that gives light to the facts and feelings about this most important example of the miscarriage of American justice. Bravo Peter Miller for doing it right. This documentary needs to be viewed by all students of American culture, and is especially relevant in the terror-driven atmosphere that surrounds all of us today." -- Fred Gardaphe, Stony Brook University "Miller makes his film soar by keeping our attention focused on the defendants. Sacco and Vanzetti make us proud to be human beings and prouder still to be radicals. They also force us to recommit ourselves to the struggle for human liberation. For if their agony was their triumph, it can and must be ours as well. SACCO AND VANZETTI is a must see." -- Michael D. Yates, MRZine.org
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POPSMonopoly: Game, History, Capitalism Orbanes’ book is not merely the history of a game: To a large extent, it is a history of America and the world as seen from the Monopoly board. No other modern board game is known so well worldwide (translated at last count into 26 languages), and no other is so closely associated with America and American capitalism. Did you know that Monopoly assisted the escape of Allied prisoners-of-war in the 1940s, and went on to play a part in the downfall of Communism in the 1980s? Want to find out how? Pick these plums out for yourself from this richly enjoyable confection.
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POPSMusei Capitolini: Stunning Illustrations from a Rare Book The images here (click for full size versions) come from a 4-volume set from ~1755, 'Musei Capitolini' which were (pretty obviously) a catalogue of the sculptural holdings of the Capitoline Museums of Rome - a group of art and archaeological repositories atop the Capitoline Hill in Rome. The majority of the engravings appear to be from ancient Roman sculptures but there are occasional items from ancient Greece and Egypt. An awesome page scan set (again) from BibliOdyssey. This time, it's a 18th century art and history reference book.
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POPSA New History: Oppression, Political Power and Human Factor If in the Middle Ages power was the Catholic Church or the feudal princes, in the (I) Modern Era (1750-1950) and (II) Postmodern Era (1950-2001) it was money. Money -- capital -- imposes its logic not only by a false "nature" that benefits the progress of the world but through old institutions like (1) the armies, (2) the churches, (3) the financial centers and (4) the mass media.
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POPSThe Biggest Police Operation in U.S. History The need for the militarization of U.S. society for security reasons is a legitimate issue open to political debate. However, the exploitation of the issue of homeland security as a cover to impose an unacceptable guest worker program on the nation is a different matter.
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POPSJamieson Celestial Atlas Excellent scans from a 1822 edition Celestial Atlas. A vintage from BibliOdyysey. (Check the source - many page scans.)
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POPSRemember: Saddam Was Our Man NY Times OpEd from March 14, 2003. The United States also sent arms to the new regime, weapons later used against the same Kurdish insurgents the United States had backed against Kassem and then abandoned. Soon, Western corporations like Mobil, Bechtel and British Petroleum were doing business with Baghdad -- for American firms, their first major involvement in Iraq. This history is known to many in the Middle East and Europe, though few Americans are acquainted with it, much less understand it. Yet these interventions help explain why United States policy is viewed with some cynicism abroad. George W. Bush is not the first American president to seek regime change in Iraq. Mr. Bush and his advisers are following a familiar pattern.
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