Ancient Lost Village

While digging for a new development, they found an ancient village. Early this year, in North Carolina, a developer reported finding ancient bones while digging along the intercostal waterway to construct a new neighborhood. Called the most significant find seen in the state in 30 years, the site is now in a political battle.

First, they found bones. Then archeologists uncovered 2,000 artifacts, evidence of longhouses, fish drying racks, and other items that point to an early Native American village. During the European contact period, it could have been a part of the Powhatan Confederation, but the site also has a history of multiple groups converging for cross-cultural activities.

But some of the state’s legislature are pushing to allow the developers to continue building waterfront homes. A new bill aims to make it harder for the state archeology office to get involved with such finds.

This discovery has sparked a debate over what happens to archeological finds. Civil War battlefields and cemeteries would be impacted. Historical and heritage tourism could take a nosedive.

Finding a solution won’t be easy. While 98% of the archeological sites might be allowed to proceed, this lost village may fall within the other 2% that aren’t. It wouldn’t seem to be comparable to have a site like this, where human femurs have been found, rather than finding a few arrowheads.”

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/article/builders-began-digging-for-a-new-development-and-accidentally-found-an-ancient-lost-village/ar-AA1TX59A?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=6962c8d3c3e7434e839c64017555fafb&ei=91

Ancient Civilization Could Rewrite History

Archaeologists are uncovering something that challenges what we thought we knew about early human civilization. Deep in the Amazon rainforest, they have discovered an advanced settlement predating known civilizations by thousands of years. The sophistication of the tools, structures, and agricultural systems suggests that our ancestors were far more advanced than previously imagined.

Metal artifacts recovered from the site show bronze-working capabilities that shouldn’t exist for another millennium. The alloy compositions demonstrate a knowledge of tin-copper ratios considered sophisticated.

The discovery is particularly intriguing as tools show evidence of multiple heating and cooling cycles, indicating an understanding of complex tempering processes. The implications stretch far beyond South America and could connect ancient trade networks we never knew existed.

Stone monuments in the settlement align with celestial events with precision that rivals such observatories as Stonehenge. They track solstices, equinoxes, and even predict eclipses, which requires advanced geometric calculations.

Carbon dating places these structures centuries before similar structures appeared elsewhere in the world. They suggest not only astronomical knowledge but knowledge of the Earth’s axial tilt and seasonal variation. Such sophisticated calculations indicate a formal educational system and scientific methodology.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/archaeologists-say-newly-unearthed-civilization-could-rewrite-human-origins/ss-AA1MgmpH?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=6917e2e9c68742688399dcc33fea5152&ei=66#image=10

Ancient Note Pad

These days, most people do a lot of their shopping by clicking a few buttons. That might be convenient, but it can make it difficult to keep track of when your new armoire or bookshelf will actually show up. In ancient Turkey, somebody kept such details written down on a palm-sized piece of clay.

The Accana Mound is the site of the ancient Anatolian city of Alalah, which served as the capital of the Mukis Kingdom. The ruins found there date as far back as 4,000 years ago. At an excavation at the Accana Mound, researchers recently unearthed a small clay tablet inscribed with cuneiform writing. A study of the tablet has narrowed its origin to some time in the 15^th century BC, during the Late Bronze Age.

Initial readings of the tablet’s Akkadian cuneiform revealed details of a major furniture purchase, including an ample number of wooden tables, chairs, and stools. The experts are still working through the writing and are slowly gathering information about the buyers and sellers involved. Therefore, this small tablet offers a window into the city’s economic processes. Alalah was located along a trade route at the time, so it would have been a center of commerce in addition to being a capital.

The small piece of clay measures only 4.2 centimeters by 3.5 centimeters and is just 1.6 centimeters thick. It weighs 28 grams. But despite its small size, the tablet will help paint a much larger picture of Bronze Age Turkey.

There have been other similar discoveries in the region, including in 2023 when another cuneiform tablet was discovered that details the purchase of an entire city and, one presumes, the furniture in it.

The area was first excavated in the late 1930s. But, after finding this clay list of furniture, it seems there’s still plenty of things to discover.

And who knows? Perhaps the tablet’s details will provide some home-décor inspiration.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/archaeologists-uncovered-a-mysterious-ancient-tablet-with-major-historical-implications/ar-AA1M0JK3?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=fdce9a9bb7794d6189ca2cd589838f5c&ei=14

1600 Year Old Churches in Egypt

Archaeologists have found two 1,600-year-old churches in Egypt’s western desert. This discovery offers rare evidence of Christianity’s rise in Egyptian desert settlements.

The churches were found at Kharga Oasis, an ancient settlement roughly 350 miles southwest of Cairo. The Christian remains include cemeteries, churches, and a mural of Jesus curing a sick man, but the Oasis has been inhabited since antiquity, thanks to underground water sources.

The archaeologists uncovered the remains of an entire settlement at Kharga Oasis, including multiple residential buildings made of mudbrick, with some walls still retaining plaster. The team also found ovens and large clay jars that were set into the ground to store food. Other finds included inscribed pottery shards, vessels, glass and stone pieces, and several burials.

However, the centerpiece of the excavation was the discovery of two churches. Both date back to the early Coptic era, which is Egypt’s Christianization period that began in the 4^th century AD.

One church was a grand basilica made of mudbrick. It held remnants of a large hall and two aisles.

The second church was smaller. It had a rectangular layout and was surrounded by the remains of seven external columns. Some of its inner walls were decorated with Coptic inscriptions. The remains of service buildings were found to the west of the smaller church.

This discovery sheds light on the beginnings of the Coptic period in Egypt. It also shows the importance of Egypt’s western oases as centers of religious and social life in various eras. It highlights the tolerance and cultural and religious diversity of Egyptian civilization.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/archaeologists-find-1-600-year-old-churches-and-mural-of-jesus-in-egyptian-desert-settlement/ar-AA1LAKXW?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=9cfbbedf980846debce3c660196a3d2e&ei=61

Trash in a Cave

A spelunker found trash in a cave, but it was actually evidence of a lost civilization.

A professional cave explorer, on a mapping expedition in the Tlayococ cave in Mexico found a hidden chamber that contained evidence of an extinct civilization.

Yekaterina Katiya Pavlova went to a community in the Sierra de Guerrero to further map the Tlayococ cave. When Pavlova and her local guide reached the bottom of the cave, after exploring all that was already mapped, they opted to head into an unknown passage through a submerged entrance.

The passage led to a previously unseen room where two engraved shell bracelets sat atop stalagmites. They also found another bracelet, a giant snail shell, and pieces of black stone discs similar to pyrite mirrors. All of these things dated to more than 500 years ago.

When archaeologists later descended to the cave, they found more items; a bracelet fragment, a piece of burnt wood, and pieces of a total of eight stone discs (two of which were complete).

All of the bracelets were made from snail shells—probably a marine species—and were engraved with anthropomorphic symbols and figures. The engravings featured S-shaped symbols (known as xonecuilli), zigzagging lines, and circles to create human faces in profile. These designs could be meant to indicate deities.

The archaeologists estimate that the items were left in the cave between 950 and 1521 AD. At that time, the area was known to be populated by the now-extinct Tlacotepehaus ethnic group.

One archaeologist felt the items found could help with interpreting symbolic notions, cultural aspects, manufacturing, and trade of the pre-Hispanic societies in the Sierra de Guerrero.

The archaeologists also determined that the stalagmites were manipulated in pre-Hispanic times to give a more spherical finish, possibly to fit ritual needs. It is felt that the symbols and representations of characters on the bracelets may be related to pre-Hispanic cosmogony regarding creation and fertility. The sealed context helps them understand how the ancient inhabitants may have seen these caves—as portals to the underworld, or as sacred spaces connected to the Earth and the divine.

The black stone discs resemble others from nearby regions, such as El Infiernillo, as well as from distant cultures like Huasteca, Mayan states in east-central Mexico.

Historical reports say extreme cold forced the people living in the Sierra de Guerrero, which is located over 7,850 feet above sea level, to lower altitudes. Little is known about the Tlacotepheuas, other than some 16th-century historical mentions of their presence. The shell bracelets could help tell their story.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/a-spelunker-thought-she-found-trash-in-a-cave-it-was-actually-evidence-of-a-lost-civilization/ar-AA1FF5eD?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=a1e7bc6999b149a6a70e4275bd5155de&ei=77

Mythical or Real? Part 2

This week, we have a cave and a castle to explore.

2. Gorham’s Cave (Medusa’s Cave), Gibraltar – 600 BCE

As far as ancient mariners knew, Gorham’s Cave, a natural cavern at the base of the Pillars of Hercules in the Strait of Gibraltar, was the edge of the known world. But a study published in 2021 suggests that the cave may have played an even greater role in Greek mythology. Deep inside the cave, archaeologists found fragments from the head of a large, ceramic Gorgon dating to about the sixth century BCE. According to legends, the Gorgons were three monstrous sisters who terrorized Greek sailors by turning them to stone with a single look. Their lair was supposed to be near the Rock of Gibraltar. It was in their lair that Perseus beheaded the snake-haired Medusa—the most evil of the siblings—while she slept.

Other Medusa figures have been found in the region, but this was the first to be discovered inside a cave. By combining archaeological evidence, historical accounts, geography, and myth, researchers have concluded that Gorham’s Cave was likely the site that early seafarers believed to have been the home of the Gorgons, and the site of Medusa’s defeat. Visitors can examine the cave’s entrance on biweekly summer tours offered at the British territory of Gibraltar’s Gorham’s Cave Complex World Heritage Site, a limestone ridge off the southern tip of Spain.

Now, it’s my understanding that a cave in Gibraltar—possibly Gorham’s Cave—was inhabited by Neanderthals during the last ice age, and that stone tools, human and animal remains had been found in the cave.

 

3. Tintagel Castle (King Arthur’s Castle), England – 1203 CE

Writer Geoffrey of Monmouth described Tintagel Castle as the place of King Arthur’s conception. Since then, the 13^th-century fortress on the rocky coast of Cornwall, England, has been associated with Arthur’s legend. But until recently, no one knew that beneath the ruins of Tintagel Castle lay an even older settlement with features that could correspond to the legendary leader. It appears that the older settlement was an exceptional place, with goods and luxury commodities arriving from the Mediterranean world in great numbers. Although archaeologists can’t say for sure who ruled the earlier site, King Arthur fits the profile.

Whether he was actually there or not, King Arthur has very much become a part of the story that’s been handed down over generations. Tintagel Castle was built around 1203 CE by Richard, the Earl of Cornwall. It had no military value, but was constructed, in part, at least, to draw a connection between his authority and the legendary King Arthur.

Arthur’s myth is not the only one that haunts Tintagel Castle. There’s also a Celtic legend retold in the 12^th century as a story of forbidden love in which the knight Tristan fell in love with Princess Isolde even though she was set to marry King Mark of Cornwall. There are several places around Cornwall that are associated with King Mark, Tristan, and Isolde. Their story was circulating around Europe at the same time as King Arthur’s. But somehow, the ruins of Tintagel Castle became known at King Arthur’s home.

Mythical or Real? Part 1

This will be a continuing series for a while. I want to explore nine mythical places that archaeologists think may have actually existed.

History is rife with mythical lands, from the homes of legendary kings to the earthly abodes of gods and monsters. Past civilizations have dreamed of extraordinary places hiding in plain sight.

But while many people believe it unlikely that either Atlantis or Shangri-La was real, other myths may have more truth to them than anyone realized. A growing body of archaeological research suggests certain places—the Minotaur’s maze from Greek mythology; Vinland, the first North American Viking settlement mentioned in Norse sagas; Solomon’s Temple described in the Bible; and others—could have been more than fables.

From western Turkey to Jerusalem, and from coastal England to the Colombian Andes, evidence indicates that these nine mythical places may have really existed.

Let’s look at the first one today.

1. Troy, Turkey – 1200 BCE

The city of Troy was at the heart of Homer’s Iliad and Virgil’s Aeneid. It is one of the most legendary sites of classical Greek mythology. Fantastic details are woven into the tales such as; the interference of the gods in the Trojan War, the half-divine heritage of the Spartan hero Achilles, and the gift of a wooden horse filled with Greek soldiers. But these days, archaeologists believe some aspects of the stories were true.

Nearly 150 years of excavations at the site of Troy in modern Turkey have revealed that it was occupied for 4,000 years. Also, during the Late Bronze Age (when Homer’s Trojan War allegedly took place), the Trojans began to prepare for an insurgence from outside.

Researchers are still looking for proof of the battle that raged outside the city’s walls for ten years. If it’s there, it’s buried under 65 feet of sediment, which built up alongside the shifting Scamander (now the Karamenderes) River. It’s the mouth of that river that makes Troy so important in the first place. Troy was settled over and over again because if you controlled the harbor, you controlled the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas.

Troy isn’t the only mythological site discovered in the region. Apollon Smintheion is an imposing temple built for the god Apollo on top of a settlement from the sixth century BCE. Antandros was an ancient shipbuilding settlement. These and the sacred forests of Mount Ida are all historical sites that correspond to places mentioned in the Ilied and Aeneid. Together, they now make up Turkey’s Aeneas Route, a tourist corridor following the epic journey taken by Aeneas, the father of Rome, after he escaped Troy’s sacking by the Greeks.

Lost Mayan City Found

Archaeologists were scanning through jungle terrain when they stumbled on what could have been an important Maya location. They discovered a mysterious structure built under a ball court, which was popular in large Maya cities. Other discoveries included pyramids and evidence of drainage systems. Most of the findings have been calculated to have been used between 200 AD to 1000 AD.

The height of the Maya kingdom stretched from 250 to 900 AD. The rise of the Maya Ballgame, sometimes called pitz, saw the building of ball court structures in the center of major cities. These courts were a symbol of wealth and power, hence their prime placement.

Not only was one of these courts found in a Mexican jungle, but also uncovered was a cryptic construction under the court, leading to questions about the structure’s use.

Archaeologists were exploring light detection and ranging (lidar) readings in the Mexican state Campeche when they noticed unique shapes in a roughly 54-square-mile section of the Balam Ku Biosphere Reserve. The shapes were actually modest-sized settlements with a few larger buildings. There were practically no standing walls, and no key architectural decoration.

The impression was that the Maya culture of this region was less elaborate than those in other regions.

While excavating the ball court, the team discovered parts of a building covered with remnants of painted stucco located beneath. Because ball courts were typically built at the center of cities, speculation is that the building had some prominence as well. But speculation is all they have for now. It is estimated that the building dates somewhere between 200 and 600 AD.

Other major finds include a main plaza surrounded with elongated structures. The plaza features a pyramid and a drainage channel. The team believes the site was occupied from 600 to 1000 AD.

Another discovery is a 52-foot-tall pyramid near a water reservoir, complete with the remains of offerings atop the structure. The offering remnants included ceramic fragments, a flint point, and an animal leg, likely of an armadillo or large rodent. The scientists believe this find dates from 1250 to 1524 AD and that it shows the presence of humans in the area even after the height of the Maya civilization and before the arrival of the Spanish.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/archaeologists-found-the-lost-remnants-of-a-maya-civilization-hiding-in-the-jungle/ar-BB1q5oE3?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=12b3e586097c4b7aaa0255d8b328da29&ei=46

Oldest Known Alphabet Discovered

In a groundbreaking discovery, researchers have found what may be the oldest known alphabetic writing in human history. It’s dramatically older than any other alphabetic writing, so these ancient artifacts are rewriting the history of communication.

Discovered in a tomb in western Syria, several delicate clay cylinders are challenging everything scholars thought they knew about the origin of alphabetic communication. Four finger-length artifacts, extracted from Tell Umm-el Marra, have been dated to 2400 BCE. This places them a stunning 500 years earlier than previous historical records.

“Alphabets revolutionized writing by making it accessible to people beyond royalty and the social elite,” said the lead archaeologist. According to him, “Alphabetic writing changed the way people lived, how they thought, how they communicated.

The cylinders were found among an archaeological treasure trove. Not only did the tomb contain six skeletons, gold and silver jewelry, cookware, a spearhead, and intact pieces of pottery. These clay cylinders appear to be labeled with what might be the earliest known alphabetic script.

It is speculated that these cylinders might have been used as labels, potentially identifying vessel contents, origins, or ownership. But without a method to translate the writing, these are educated guesses.

Scholars previously thought the alphabet was invented in Egypt sometime after 1900 BCE. But these artifacts are older and from a different area, which suggests the alphabet may have a different origin story than thought.

The research team’s meticulous work included carbon-14 dating to confirm the age of the tombs, artifacts and mysterious writing, which provides scientific validation for their claims.

The meaning of these ancient markings is a mystery, but these artifacts offer a glimpse into how our ancestors first began to record and share information beyond spoken language.

 

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/article/oldest-known-alphabet-discovered-on-ancient-artifacts-rewrite-history-of-communication/ar-AA1uvoE7?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=6d3f5a178b054867be3cfa0c233c94fa&ei=67

New Ancient Temple Found in Peru

In Peru, archaeologists have unearthed what they believe are a 4,000-year-old temple and theater, shining some light on the origins of complex religions in the region.

Last year, the local government of La Otra Banda, Cerro Las Animas, alerted scientists that looting had taken place near the northern Peruvian town of Zana. A team began studying the new site in June.

The team excavated a plot roughly 33 feet by 33 feet and found ancient walls made of mud and clay at just 6 feet deep. Surprised to find ancient structures so close to the modern surface, they dug deeper. They found a section of a large temple. But the most exciting find was a small theater with a backstage area and stairs that led to the stage. They postulate the stage could have been used to perform ritual performances.

One staircase was flanked by mud panels with an elaborately carved design of a mythological bird. The figure resembled other images dating to the Initial Period, around 2,000 to 900 BC, which gave clues about when the temple was built.

The Initial Period is when scientists have evidence of institutionalized religion in Peru. They still know little about how complex belief systems emerged in the Andes, but now they have evidence about some of the earliest religious spaces that were created in this part of the world.

Peru’s best-known archaeological site, Machu Picchu, was built by the Inca Empire in the 15^th century. This new site is 3,500 years older, and also predates the pre-Inca cultures of Moche and Nazca.

Scientists don’t yet have a name for these people. All they know at this point is from their houses, temples and funerary goods. It is believed their complex religious system was an important aspect of political authority.

The archaeologists also found several large murals painted on the walls. They collected paint samples to analyze in a lab, as well as for carbon dating to confirm the site’s age.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ancient-temple-and-theater-3-500-years-older-than-machu-picchu-discovered-in-peru/ar-BB1pO4fA?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=0fae904fd9754a41a8dbe596dac78bfb&ei=26

Finding the Americas

There have been several theories about how mankind found their way to the Americas. I’m not going to go through all of them in this blog post. But a couple theories keep getting tweaked as scientists find new evidence.

 

Two theories postulate that mankind made its way to Alaska by way of following a land bridge from Siberia into Alaska. The land bridge existed due to a much lower sea level during the last ice age. There are two theories because some scientists believe the people followed the edge of the land bridge by boat, keeping the land in their sight all along the way. Another group of scientists believe the people followed game animals as they walked across the land bridge. Which group reached Alaska first? I don’t think anybody knows.

 

According to data gleaned from sediment and fossilized marine life, the first Siberians might have traveled to the New World more than 10,000 years before the First Nations people are thought to have arrived. Such an early migration would have been a lot easier because of sea ice. It’s been suggested that expanses of winter ice may have facilitated travel by foot when passage by boat would have been treacherous.

 

For about five decades, archaeologists thought the Clovis people as the original pioneers of the North American continent. This theory stated that families trekked across the land bridge around 13,000 years ago.

 

Yet recent discoveries have pushed back the arrival of humans in the Americas to more than 25,000 years ago.

 

But could they really have walked all that way? The sea level was probably low enough to expose a solid bridge as far back as 36,000 years ago. However, the rugged cap of snow and glacier covering the bridge might not have been traversable.

 

However, once glaciers began to retreat, a thin strip of coastal ecosystems could have provided resources for traveling by boat. A 14,000-year-old settlement on Canada’s western coast implies that pre-Clovis people were inching their way along the water’s edge.

 

However, windows of opportunity may have closed during warm periods, when melting snow and ice would have sent currents swirling in the wrong direction for migrating paddlers. An analysis of climate models says high winds and lower sea levels would have made ocean currents 20,000 years ago twice as strong as they are today.

 

Records also suggest that winter sea ice would have been present until 15,000 years ago, which migrants could have walked across, or even sledded. Researchers identified 24.5 to 22 thousand years ago and 16.4 to 14.8 thousand years ago as the most likely periods for early migration along the Alaskan coast, possibly aided by a “Sea-ice Highway.”

 

Emerging signs that humans ventured as far south as New Mexico more than 20,000 years ago imply there may have been a relatively safe and open path for them to get there.

 

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/scientists-may-have-found-an-ancient-path-into-america-24-000-years-ago/ar-AA1lV4H4?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=59a8d49a00384382a6fcf88ce2c5200b&ei=76

What Makes it Pizza?

Many of you may have been eating pizza a lot longer than I have, relatively speaking. It wasn’t until towards the end of my senior year in high school that those of us students who worked on performing the school play decided after our performance to drive to the nearest big town and get some pizza. Before that, I had no idea what pizza was. I wondered if I would like it, as we waited for it to be delivered to our tables.

I think it was a round pizza, but it was cut into squares. I can’t say it was love at first bite, but it had a lot of tastes. It had 2 or 3 types of meat on it, and a tomato sauce, and probably onions and green peppers. I wasn’t too happy with the onions, but I didn’t make a fuss over them. I didn’t want anybody to think I was weird. Everybody else thought it was great.

I’ve had a lot of pizza since then. Mostly, it’s been round pizzas, cut into slices, with tomato sauce and cheese. Various meats, vegetables and occasionally even fruit would be on it. (I love a good ham and pineapple pizza.)

About 2 decades ago, I started noticing a new pizza in the grocery store freezers. It was called chicken margarita pizza, or something like that. Instead of tomato sauce, it had some sort of white sauce. I couldn’t tell if it had any cheese at all. The meat was chicken, and there may have been a few vegetables and herbs on it. It didn’t look like pizza to me at all.

All this comes up because I just read a brief article in Archeology magazine. The on-going excavation of Pompeii had unearthed another fresco, one of a still-life on a table. There was a large tray on the table, with a slab of focaccia bread on it. There also was a variety of fruit in the picture. The question asked by the article was, is this a picture of the forerunner of pizza? Of course, back then, they didn’t have access to anything resembling tomatoes, so it wouldn’t have had a tomato sauce. But the scientists thought it looked like focaccia bread covered in various fruits.

Would they have called it pizza? I doubt it; languages change over time. But I rather like the sound of it. A slab of bread covered in fruit. Maybe with a drizzle of olive oil and some appropriate herbs and spices.

I don’t think I’ve seen focaccia bread available in the grocery store since we moved to Florida. To me, it always looked a bit like an extra large slab of fried bread dough. Maybe next time I make that delicacy, I’ll try making a ‘fruit pizza’ out of some of it. What do you think, would you try making a fruit pizza? Would you taste one?

Alas, I am not supposed to have bread, fried or not, so it could take me a while to get to that food experiment. 

Neither Here Nor There

Well, I'm back, in more ways than one. In late April, we took a cruise around Hawaii on Norwegian's Pride of America. I took notes so I could tell you all about it. Before I could get those blogs written, we had a car accident that broke my right arm. No typing for me for several weeks. In the meantime, late in May, we flew to London to catch a cruise up through Scotland and the fjords of Norway. Even a broken arm couldn't keep me from that, but I didn't get any notes taken. And I already find my fond memories of these countries getting muddled in my mind, so I'm going to take these trips out of order and type/post the blog on Scotland/Norway before I go back and do the ones about Hawaii. Yes, I can type again!

The trip to get to the cruise ship was full of stress and worry, but that seems to be par for the course whenever we have to fly to the ship's port. We drove to the airport, parked our car, took the shuttle the rest of the way, checked our bag, got our boarding passes, got through TSA... That was a chore! If I went through the normal metal detector, my artificial knees would set it off, and I couldn't raise my right arm to go through the round metal detector. So they sent me through the normal detector, and then I got a thorough pat-down before we could go on to our gate.

By the way, TSA is now posting how long it will take you to get through the line, but that's just to get past the agent who studies your passport and boarding pass. You still have to get through the metal and explosives detectors.

Okay, the pat-down was done, and we went on to our gate, where we caught our flight to Montreal. Once there, we caught our over-night flight to London, where I had booked a night at one of the airport hotels. First, we wanted to recover from the flight, since we don't sleep well while flying. But also, we had to catch a shuttle from Heathrow to the Southhampton docks. Second, the shuttles picked people up between 9:45 and 10:45 am, but because we got in at 9:30 am, I wasn't sure we could collect our luggage and find our way to Terminal 4 by 10:45. We didn't, so it was a good thing I had booked our shuttle for the following day.

After walking what seemed like miles in Heathrow, we gathered our luggage, asked questions, had to go outside, take an elevator down to the underground level, walk long miles to get to the ticket station, take an elevator, get on the underground to Terminal 4, get off and take an elevator up. Luckily, just outside that elevator was a door with a sign that said, "To Terminal 4 hotels", so that wasn't hard to find. We walked a few more miles to get to the entrance to our hotel.

It was too early to check in, but we did go to the cafe and grab some lunch. By then, they had our room ready, so we went up and when we got to our room, we closed the curtains and took a nap. Later, Hubby wanted to go and search for the place where the shuttle would pick us up, so we walked another mile or so to find the Hilton. Having found it, we went back to our hotel, had supper and settled in for the night.

The shuttle was supposed to pick us up at about 10:45. We got there about 9:30 and tried to pass the time by watching other people get picked up by their rides. Probably a bad idea, as by 10:30, Hubby was positive we had missed our ride. Finally, we gathered all our stuff and moved outside (It was chilly and windy.) Our shuttle finally arrived about 10:55, having picked other people up in downtown London before it came to get us. At least that gave Hubby people to talk to during the 1.5 hr trip to the ship, so he got a chance to calm down.

The trip started out a lot chillier than we expected. Our first full day on the ship, during which we were headed for Edinburgh, Hubby made the comment, "I think I'm coming down with a cold." And of course he did.

We had a shore excursion scheduled for every day except the last, because the ship wasn't getting into Tromso (Norway) until 7 pm. And we had to get up at 4 am to get to the airport. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The shore excursions were lots of fun. The first week or so, I was super protective of my broken arm, constantly worried it would get bumped too hard, or I would fall and do more damage. So I enjoyed the bus drives, looking out the windows, but I was too afraid to get off and explore Edinburgh Castle, because they said it was crowded and we'd be walking on cobblestones. Eventually, I did become more relaxed about my arm.

I did fall, a couple of times, but did no damage to my arm. Once when I was trying to climb onto an antique street car. The steps were really steep, especially the top one, and the tour guide was acting as my handhold, but the step was too deep, and I went down onto my right knee. It took both the tour guide and Hubby to get me back on my feet so I could find a seat. But no bleeding, so I was fine. The 2nd time was in Dublin, but I'll get to that later.

The Sheffield Islands (Scotland) have stone rings similar to Stonehenge. The Shetland Islands (also Scotland) have Shetland ponies, and I think that's where we saw an archeological site of a Neolithic village on the beach. The homes were built of stone slabs, and the furniture was made of stone, too. Plus assorted furs for the beds. I got off the bus for that and walked to the site, walked all around it. There was a Laird's house not far away that was open as a museum, but as slow as I walk, I didn't figure I had time to go there, so I went back to the bus. This was the place where the tour guide lost one of our group. The guide had said to get back to the bus by 11, and everybody had except one. After looking for her for 10 minutes, the guide made arrangements for the other buses to keep an eye open for her, and then we left. A little ways down the road, she announced that one of the other buses had collected the wayward woman and she was safe.

Norway's fjords are beautiful. The mountains are beautiful. At that time of year (early June), the snows are melting, and the waterfalls and rivers are raging, which is more interesting to see that 'stately and sedate'. The daily high was always predicted to be 52F, but at least one day, it got up around 60F, so you never quite knew if you would need a jacket or not. We had a great time, except for John's cold.

Now, remember how I said the trip there was stressful and worrisome? The trip back was much much worse. We got up at 4am and went to the buffet for a continental breakfast, which consisted of not much. We were supposed to meet at the Aqua lounge at 5am, and at 5:30, they would take us out to the shuttle. We got to the Aqua about 5:05, and they were already hurrying people out. There were 2 shuttles, and both of them were packed full. The one we got had no luggage capacity, so our carryon had to ride inside with us.

We got through Norway's TSA okay, which led us to Gate 32. There weren't enough chairs in the gate lobby for everybody to sit down, so they brought in folding chairs. The plane was supposed to take off at 8:35am. That's when the flight crew for the charter flight arrived, however, so it was more like 10am before the plane took off. Naturally, it got into Dublin late, and then, the luggage took over an hour to arrive at the carousel. Consequently, by the time we had our luggage collected, we had missed our flight to Philly. We trudged our way to the American Airlines ticket counter to see what could be done. Us and about 100 other people who had been on that charter flight.

Luckily, there was a cruise line representative there to help us with this problem! Over the course of several hours, he saw that we all got booked on the next day's flight, gave us bottles of water, sent us to the food court to grab some supper (and keep the receipts!), got us all booked into various hotels for the night, and arranged shuttles to get us to those hotels. It involved a lot more walking to get to the shuttle, which was parked 3 or 4 blocks away... felt like a lot more than that.

And now, the time I fell in Dublin; It was while I was getting off that shuttle at the hotel. I was on the stairs to exit, and somehow I lost my balance. I fell backwards, against my hubby, who staggered, but didn't let me hit my head on the driver's seat. So, no damage done, I got back up and got off the bus, and we chatted with the driver for a moment, then went inside. Very nice hotel, but we were exhausted and went to bed about 7pm.

In comparison, the following day was a breeze, but it had its snags. We were concerned when the shuttle didn't pick us up until 10:30am. We'd been thinking we would need 4 hours to get through the airport, and the plane took off at 1:55 pm. I needed help getting through the automatic kiosk, but it seemed a lot faster than going through the regular line. Then the kiosk printed out only one piece of paper, which said, "You have been selected for a Traveler's Survey". My helper told me to take it up to the bag check window, and they would help me. The survey was apparently only 1 or 2 questions, but the guy's machine didn't want to read our passports, so he had to enter the information manually. Finally, we got our boarding passes and could head for our gate, except we didn't know what gate!

We got through Ireland's TSA, complete with pat-down for me. Then we had to go through the US TSA, only when we found it, they sent us through a line that didn't have anybody manning it, which was worrisome as well as a relief. Then we walked and walked and walked until we finally found our gate, where we could sit down for 20-30 minutes. The flight was full, of course, with all those left-overs from the day before. Hubby and I weren't sitting anywhere close to each other. And the entertainment wasn't working. I slept for about 1.5 hrs, and hubby read his book.

We got to Philly and found our next gate. We had about 3 hours to wait. Eventually, we boarded that plane and started the last leg of our journey, to Orlando. The plane would touch down about 10:05pm.

In Orlando, we gathered our luggage and said good-bye to the shipmates who had made the entire trip with us. We found the pick-up location for the parking lot's shuttle, and called to let them know we were ready. This was about 10:55 pm. We saw lots of shuttles come and go, but not ours. At 11:20, we called them again. And several times after that, but they either didn't answer or hung up on us. Finally, about midnight, our shuttle arrived and was packed solid in no time. The driver was smiling and upbeat, as if nothing was out of the ordinary. And when I went to the office to pay for the extra day that we were stuck in Dublin, they didn't charge me $7, like for a full day; they charged me $10!

Anyway, we drove home, and got here about 2am on Wednesday. Here it is Sunday, and we're still recovering.

We really like cruising. It's the flying back and forth that drives us crazy.

The First Americans, Part 3

But the western coast was not the only available route for early colonists. An ice-free corridor formed after 2 ice sheets that had met in the middle of the continent began to melt. At first, the meltwater formed vast lakes, but these eventually drained, leaving dry land. This corridor ran along the eastern flank of the Rockies, from Alaska to the lower 48 states. It was originally believed to have opened up 13,000 years ago, which fit the Clovis-First scenario, but ruled out it being available for earlier people.

A group of scientists decided to take another look at this corridor, using new methods of dating, and determined that the corridor formed at least 14,000 to 15,000 years ago, possibly more. What's more, the corridor in northern Alberta was at least 400 kilometers wide and no longer held any large lakes. Now, the corridor was scoured by retreating ice and pierced by cold winds, so it would have seemed a formidable place to early travelers. But hunter-gatherers from Beringia may have decided to explore it after watching flocks of waterfowl head south in the fall and return in the spring. Food would have been scarce, but the explorers could have hunted birds or larger game, such as mountain sheep, now believed to have grazed in the Yukon and northern British Columbia.

The travelers may have taken along dogs. Siberian hunters first domesticated wolves as long ago as 33,000 years. These would have made valuable hunting companions and pack animals. A 1994 study revealed that dogs carrying 13 kilograms (28.7 lbs) could travel as far as 27 kilometers a day, in the right conditions. If hunting failed, and starvation threatened, the migrants could have eaten some of their dogs. One scientist calculated the colonists could have reached the southern end of the corridor in only four months, traveling at 16 kilometers a day.

Back at Buttermilk Creek in Texas, the scientists are still studying the tiny, delicate tools created and left by the pre-Clovis people, and may have found new clues about the origins of the Clovis people. 2,500 years after the pre-Clovis people knapped blades and bifaces, Clovis hunters used similar techniques across North America to make massive, elongated blades, some reaching 21 cm (8.3 inches) or more in length. It is possible the Clovis people were descended from earlier migrants coming through Beringia.

 

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-first-americans/#:~:text=For%20decades%20archaeologists%20thought%20the,thousands%20of%20years%20before%20that.

The First Americans, Part 2

The Clovis-First model says humans reached the Americas by trekking overland, but others propose the earliest travelers arrived by sea, paddling small boats along the coast, from East Asia to southern Beringia and down the western coast of the Americas. Scientists first began thinking about this route in the late 1970s, when they started examining geologic and pollen records to reconstruct ancient environments along Canada's western coast. Instead of the entire northwestern coast laying under thick ice, analyses of coastal bogs showed that a coniferous forest thrived on Washington's Olympic Peninsula 13,000 years ago, and that other green refuges dotted the coast. Early humans camping in these spots would have found plenty of shellfish, salmon, waterfowl and caribou or other land animals grazing in the larger spots.

In fact, it is now known that much of the British Columbian coast was ice free at least 16,000 years ago. Although they haven't found any preserved boats, they were known to humans at least 45,000 years ago when humans island-hopped from Asia to Australia. Still, finding campsites of these exploring mariners are hard to find. This is because as the ice sheets melted, the sea level rose, drowning ancient coastlines under meters of water. However, in March 2011, evidence of early seafarers was found on Santa Rosa Island, just off the southern California coast. Nearly 12,000 years ago, Paleo-American sailors crossed 10 kilometers of open water to Santa Rosa, which would have required a boat. Bird bones and charcoal found at the site were dated to 11,800 years ago.

These travelers had hunted Canada geese and cormorants as well as pinnipeds (seals and sea lions). They also left behind distinctive technology, more than 50 dainty stemmed points that may have been part of darts used for hunting. Their design seemed very unlike the long, furrowed and sturdy-looking Clovis spearpoints. Very similar stemmed points were found scattered around the northern rim of the Pacific Ocean. The earliest came from the Korean peninsula, Japan and the Russian Far East, and were dated to around 15,000 years ago. Stemmed points found in Oregon were dated at 14,000 years old, and 12,000-year-old points were found on the Channel Islands, in Baja California and along coastal South America.

Even so, explorers of this rich coastal world were unlikely to have raced southward. They may have moved just a kilometer or so a year. They were moving into unpopulated lands, and had to maintain connections with people behind them in order to have marriage partners available.

 

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-first-americans/#:~:text=For%20decades%20archaeologists%20thought%20the,thousands%20of%20years%20before%20that.

The First Americans, Part 1

For several decades, archaeologists thought the first Americans were the Clovis people, said to have reached the New World 13,000 years ago from northern Asia by following Mammoths and other large prey across the Beringia Bridge. Supposedly, they journeyed rapidly overland from the Yukon to Alberta, leaving behind their distinctive stone tools across what is now the lower 48 states. But it has now been established that humans reached the Americas thousands of years earlier. The evidence comes not only from archaeological finds, but also from genetics and geology.

For instance, from a Texas creek bank, excavators discovered more than 19,000 artifacts, some no larger than a thumbnail. One such artifact was once part of an all-purpose cutting tool, like an ice age equivalent of a box cutter. Artifacts like these are pushing the history of humans in the New World back beyond the Clovis people, since these tools were dated to 15,500 years ago.

In southern Chile, archaeologists found traces of early Americans who slept in hide-covered tents and ate seafood and wild potatoes 14,600 years ago. That was long before the Clovis people appeared in North America. in Paisley Five Mile Point Caves in Oregon, another team found 14,400-year-old human feces containing seeds of desert parsley and other plants.

Over the past decade, geneticists have been finding new clues where the first Americans came from and when they left home by studying the DNA of indigenous peoples. This information strongly indicates the first Americans' ancestors came from southern Siberia. Although this confirmed the suspected homeland, it also indicated that the New World colonists left their homeland between 25,000 and 25,000 years ago. This would have been a difficult time to migrate, for huge glaciers capped the mountain valleys of Asia, and massive ice sheets mantled most of Canada, New England and several northern states. But that didn't necessarily stop the colonists.

The ice sheets had lowered sea level by more than 100 meters, exposing continental shelves. The newly revealed land of northeastern Asia and Alaska, plus adjacent regions in Siberia, Alaska and northern Canada, formed a landmass joining the Old World to the New known as Beringia.

The air that swept over Beringia were dry and brought little snow to the area, thus preventing the growth of ice sheets. It was an arid tundra grassland inhabited by woolly mammoths, giant ground sloths, steppe bison, musk ox and caribou. Genetic studies suggest that sea lions likely inhabited the rocky islands that studded Beringia's south shore. So human migrants had their pick of hunting terrestrial mammals or seafaring ones.

The major genetic lineages of Natives Americans suggests that the earliest Americans paused somewhere and evolved in isolation for thousands of years before continuing on. Some 19,000 years ago, North America's ice sheets began shrinking, creating 2 passable routes to the south. Several studies of the geographical distribution of genetic diversity in indigenous Americans indicate the earliest colonists arrived between 18,000 and 15,000 years ago, which places them a pre-Clovis.

 

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-first-americans/#:~:text=For%20decades%20archaeologists%20thought%20the,thousands%20of%20years%20before%20that.

August 7, Sunday – 3rd Icelandic Shore Excursion

Seydisfjordur Town Walk

Saturday night, I had been reading the ‘newsletter’ for Sunday, and it said to set our watches ahead an hour. So I made that note in my head before I went to sleep. When I got up on Sunday, it thought it was 6:00 AM. I got up and got dressed and wondered if I should wake Hubby. We didn’t need to meet for our excursion until 9:45, but we were supposed to allow 30 minutes for the tender ride. Yes, we were riding tenders again today.

Hubby finally woke up after 7 AM and got dressed. We went to the Main Dining room for breakfast, only to be told it was 7:45, and they didn’t open until 8, and we don’t set the clocks ahead until tonight. So we went to the buffet for breakfast. Hubby got a made-to-order omelet with just about everything in it. I started with a couple pastries and a bowl of cream of wheat, then went back for scrambled, eggs, bacon, ham and potatoes o’brien. I also had a glass of orange juice and then one of pineapple juice.

Now that I knew I had actually gotten up at 5, I was tired, so I laid back down for about an hour. Or maybe not quite an hour.

The tender ride, as usual, was uneventful. Once on shore, a man was looking at our excursion tickets and sending each excursion to a different location to wait.

Our excursion time was 9:45, but it was a bit after that before all of us showed up and the guide could get started. This was a walk through town, so there was no getting away from walking today. I hoped it wouldn’t be a forced march.

I wasn’t encouraged by the first leg of the walk, for it took us past 4-5 idling buses, and she hurried us along to get us past the noise and fumes. But that was only about a block. After that, she slowed down a bit, and stopped frequently, so we were mostly able to keep up, although our knees and feet did get tired.

The tour guide was very knowledgeable about the history and rules of the town. There is a lagoon on the edge of the fjord that was traversed by a sidewalk and street. She even explained that it was illegal to fish from that bridge. The river running through the middle of town emptied into that lagoon, and a lot of fish traveled up the fjord, into the lagoon and then up the river, and it was considered ‘unsporting’ to fish from the bridge, before they had a chance to get up the river.

She also talked about the avalanches and mudslides that their village has been subjected to. They are in the midst of constructing barriers that are intended to send avalanches in a different direction, away from the houses directly below. She also told us how a party of archeologists were busy digging through the sites where these barriers were scheduled to be built, trying to find as much of history as they could before the area was no longer available to them. I’m always interested in hearing about archeology, but that was about all she had to say on the subject.

She took us down Rainbow Street, the main commercial street in the village. It’s named for the repeating rainbow pattern painted on its center. At one point, sidewalk-type blocks had been placed down the middle of the street, but after a time, they broke into large sections. A business owner on the street got the idea of painting them in the colors of the rainbow, to make them more visible, and the colors have been there ever since. Each May, the entire village gets involved in painting the broken blocks.

She told us of the ‘adventures’ of the US troops that were stationed there during the 2^nd world war. They strung submarine nets in the fjord, but never caught a submarine, although 2 whales did lose their lives due to the nets. The town also was subjected to spy planes flying low overhead to take pictures, and the Americans would try to shoot them down, but didn’t manage it. But a theater was built in town so the solders would have something to do, and that theater was still in use today. A community center has been built attached to it.

Eventually, we got back to our starting point, where there were several posters of interviews of people who suffered from the most recent mudslide, only 3 or 4 years ago. Across the street was the town’s information center, and Hubby and I sat down and relaxed for a few minutes. Then he walked back to those posters about the mudslide and took pictures. The tour guide had been talking to other members of our group, and then Hubby conversed with her for a few minutes.

There was a water fall just on the edge of town, where the melting snow fell down from near the top of the mountain to the bottom. We could see the waterfall pretty well from the information center, and could see lots of people walking up the path next to it. The path only went about halfway up the mountain, but even that didn’t look like an easy climb.

The tour guide stated the town had 640 citizens during the winter, and 680 during the summer. I didn’t realize she and her family were among those who left for the winter until Hubby mentioned it after he had talked to her.

Having rested a bit, we walked back to the pier, where our cruise line was handing out cups of hot chocolate. Although I had sweated during the walking, my hands and face were quite chilled, and a cup of hot cocoa really hit the spot. Then we reported back to the ship and had some lunch, though I don’t remember where we went or what we had.

Later, we had supper at Aqua, another complimentary dining room. I ordered a beef dish that turned out to be beef kabobs by another name. I wasn’t completely happy that when I removed the beef pieces from the skewers, they were still pink, but I was determined to put up with it. Unfortunately, the first piece of meat I put in my mouth refused to break down into pieces small enough to swallow. I knew something was wrong when Hubby looked up as he was half-way through his meal and asked if I was still chewing my first bite. After that, I started cutting the chunks of beef in two, and had to ask for a steak knife so that I could do that! Eventually, I felt I had done my duty to the meal and dismissed that dish to order dessert.

I had ordered wine with my meal. I specified I wanted the sweetest wine they had. They brought me a Riesling, and it was decently sweet, so I was happy with that aspect of the meal. I decided I probably shouldn’t judge a restaurant by one dish, so we decided to give Aqua another try a little later in the trip.

Man Made Islands

If you think man has only recently decided to build their own islands, think again. In Scotland, Wales and Ireland, they started doing it nearly 6,000 years ago. They are called crannogs and while some of them are partially natural,  quite a few were entirely artificial, built in lakes and estuarine waters. Crannogs are not like the prehistoric pile dwellings of the Alps, which were built on the shores and became inundated later. Crannogs were actually built in the water, forming artificial islands.

These new islands were used as dwellings for over five millennia, possibly to the early 18th century. Some were free-standing wooden structures, although they more commonly existed as brush, stone or timber mounds. However, in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, timber was unavailable, so their crannogs consisted of stone, with drystone architecture sitting atop the base stones. Today, crannogs typically appear as small, circular islets, 30 to 100 feet in diameter, covered in dense vegetation because they are inaccessible to grazing livestock.

Crannogs are wide-spread in Ireland, but are frequently undercounted in Scotland, as they can be called various things, depending on who you talk to. Mainland Scotland and the Scottish isles also refer to them in various ways. Previously unknown crannogs are still being found, as underwater surveys find completely submerged examples.

Crannogs were built with whatever material was most available in the immediate area. Several feet above the water’s surface, an ‘Atlantic roundhouse’ was built on the new island, connected to the shore by a causeway. At the time, most communication and travel was achieved by waterways. They may have served as simple farmsteads or as boltholes in times of danger. Their limited access may have served as a status symbol, and their inherited location would have implied legitimacy towards ownership of the surrounding landscape.

The earliest known crannog in Scotland appears to date from 3650 BC. It is interesting to note that crannogs were often reused after a period of non-use. Defense does not appear to be the major reason for building and living on a crannog, as there is little evidence of weapons or of destruction in the excavation of prehistoric crannogs.

I have to admit, I was unaware of any such method of building a home until I googled this word for information. My first thought is that it would be a wonderful home for a water spirit or for a child of a water spirit.

My second thought was that it could be useful as a toll bridge across a river, with a causeway or bridge going from the home to both banks. Why break your back every day for the rest of your life to ferry people from one side of the river to the other when you can work hard as a youngster to build a home and 2 causeways, and still collect tolls as you totter into old age?

The article also mentioned kings and lords living on crannogs, of crannog islets being enlarged repeatedly and therefore being home to an extended family. What about a city growing up on an ever-enlarging crannog? Lots of ideas from this one word.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crannog

Ancient Crime

Archaeologists have discovered that crime - particularly fraud and counterfeiting - are not new types of human activity. They can now prove that these underhanded dealings have been happening for millennium.

The evidence comes from 2 archeological sites in Spain; La Molina cave and the Cova del Gegant cave. At La Molina, 10 people were buried with goods that included pottery, bone awls, objects carved from ivory and amber beads. This site dates back to the 3rd millennium BC.

At the Cova del Gegant, an estimated 19 people were buried, dating from the 2nd millennium BC. These people were accompanied by pottery and ornamental beads made of lignite, coral, amber, shell and gold.

The amber beads tricked many archaeologists, but tests revealed that not all of them were real amber. Some of the ‘amber’ beads found at Cova del Gegant were found to be pieces of mollusk shell core coated with pine resin, and these were mixed in with real amber beads. The fake amber beads from La Molina were seeds coated with resin. Apparently this type of surface coating effectively emulated the translucence, shine and color of amber. In fact, similar methods of imitating turquoise in the Levant have been identified from the 6th millennium BC.

People started to trade commodities thousands of years ago in Europe. Amber was highly valuable and was used by leaders to cultivate an image of power and wealth. Some amber was brought to Spain from the Baltic Sea, but another trade route was through Sicily, which also supplied ivory, Alpine jade and cinnabar.

So why create fake amber beads? Perhaps there wasn’t enough real amber to fill the demand for it. Perhaps the traders - or their suppliers - saw a way to make ‘a fast buck’. And although the exotic goods buried with these people showed that they could afford the real thing, perhaps their survivors saw no reason to waste all the real, expensive stuff by burying it forever.

I heard it said once that ‘counterfeiting’ was the oldest profession, save one. At the time, I thought that was an overstatement. Maybe I was wrong.

https://www.newsweek.com/5000-year-old-fake-amber-beads-found-spanish-burial-sites-first-example-1406723

Gobekli Tepe

Gobekli Tepe is Turkish for “Potbelly Hill”, and refers to an archeological site in the SE Anatolia Region of Turkey. The ‘hill’ is 49 ft tall and about 980 ft in diameter. It is located 2,490 ft above sea level.

The construction of this site is believed to date back to the 10th to 8th millenium BC. It was built before pottery was invented in this area, and contains massive T-shaped stone pillars, the world’s oldest known megaliths. Surveys have discovered more than 200 pillars in about 20 circles. Each has a height up to 20 ft and weighs 10 tons. They are fitted into sockets that were hewn out of the bedrock.

The 2nd phase of this site was still pre-pottery, but newly erected pillars were smaller and stood in rectangular rooms with floors made of polished lime. The location was abandoned after that.

Dating of the site was accomplished by charcoal samples found in the lowest levels of the site. It is likely this charcoal indicates the end of the active phase of occupation, and that the actual structures were older.

The site sits on a flat, barren plateau connected on the north to a neighboring mountain range by a narrow promontory that shows evidence of human impact. In all other directions, the ridge descends steeply into slopes and steep cliffs.

The pillars were carved from the plateau edges, where several quarries have been identified, and 3 t-pillars found. The largest of these has been severed from the surrounding rock, and the other 2 are identified as t-pillars, but not yet separated.

At first I thought the article was talking about something like Stonehenge; monoliths standing on end, some with a cap stone balanced atop 2 of them, but further on, the article had details that belied that thought. A large number of t-pillars were embedded in thick walls made of unworked rock that formed a circle, approximately 8 t-pillars per circle. Four of these circles have been discovered so far, with indications of another 16 not yet uncovered. It is unknown if these walled circles had a roof.

But the t-pillars were not just used in walls; in the center of each circle, 2 taller t-pillars faced each other. Stone benches were also found inside the circles. Many of the limestone t-pillars were decorated with symbols or depictions of many animals that may have been present at the time, but which no longer live in the area today. It is likely the area was forested at the time, with a large variety of animals, but millennia of human habitation and cultivation has reduced the area to a dust bowl environment.

Some of the floors of the circles were made of burnt lime, while others were bedrock.

After 8800 BC, the people stopped making circles and constructed small rectangular rooms. Rectangles are a more efficient use of space than circles, and are often associated with the emergence of the Neolithic age. However, t-pillars are still present, indicating these probably served the same purpose as the earlier circles, perhaps as a sanctuary. Several adjoining doorless and windowless rooms have floors of polished lime.

No evidence of domesticated plants or animals have been found at the site. It is assumed the inhabitants were hunters and gatherers who lived in villages part of the year. Still, very little evidence of residential use has been found. It is believed that the locations may have been used as a spiritual center even earlier than the dates given here.

So, here is a site that was created before pottery, metallurgy, writing, the wheel, agriculture or even animal husbandry. It would have taken organization of an advanced order, as it is estimated that up to 500 people would have been needed to extract and move the heavy pillars. I don’t know if that number includes the people doing the hunting and gathering to feed the people doing the heavy construction.

But around 8000 BC, the site ceased to be a ceremonial center to the people. Instead of simply abandoning the site, they deliberately filled it in with whatever rubble they had at hand, including animal and human bones. It was used for agriculture from then until the present.

It has been suggested that Gobekli Tepe was a place for remembering the dead, of putting them to rest in some way. (No obvious graves have yet been found.) It seems fitting, then, that when the Neolithic people ‘moved on’, when they invented pottery, agriculture and animal husbandry, they made an effort to bury their past.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6bekli_Tepe