First up, a story that will fascinate some, and send the rest to sleep:
Historians have discovered long-lost accounting records dating back to the 15th century, regarding activities in London.
The ledger records are not enough to infer the company's financial position, but they do give us a sample of the goods that were traded -- raw wool, woollen cloth, tin, (exports) and spices, dyes, other luxuries (imports).
For some unknown reason, they were not returned to Italy for use, but remained in London, and, 55 years later, were used as scrap, to draw coats of arms on!
Raw wool, woollen cloth and tin were popular exports, while we imported spices, dyes and other luxury goods.”
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-07-qm-historians-medieval-banking-hidden.html#jCp
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-07-qm-historians-medieval-banking-hidden.html#jCp
Raw wool, woollen cloth and tin were popular exports, while we imported spices, dyes and other luxury goods.”
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-07-qm-historians-medieval-banking-hidden.html#jCp
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-07-qm-historians-medieval-banking-hidden.html#jCp
Raw wool, woollen cloth and tin were popular exports, while we imported spices, dyes and other luxury goods.”
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-07-qm-historians-medieval-banking-hidden.html#jCp
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-07-qm-historians-medieval-banking-hidden.html#jCp
Raw wool, woollen cloth and tin were popular exports, while we imported spices, dyes and other luxury goods.”
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-07-qm-historians-medieval-banking-hidden.html#jCp
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-07-qm-historians-medieval-banking-hidden.html#jCp
Raw wool, woollen cloth and tin were popular exports, while we imported spices, dyes and other luxury goods.”
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-07-qm-historians-medieval-banking-hidden.html#jCp
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-07-qm-historians-medieval-banking-hidden.html#jCp
Raw wool, woollen cloth and tin were popular exports, while we imported spices, dyes and other luxury goods.”
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-07-qm-historians-medieval-banking-hidden.html#jCp
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-07-qm-historians-medieval-banking-hidden.html#jCp
Raw wool, woollen cloth and tin were popular exports, while we imported spices, dyes and other luxury goods.”
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-07-qm-historians-medieval-banking-hidden.html#jCp
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-07-qm-historians-medieval-banking-hidden.html#jCp
Gosh, what a terrible, punning title!
'Science puts snakes on a plain'
The article is about Coniophis precedens - a proto-snake with a mid-way form between that of modern snakes - no legs, lots of vertebrae, wide bite - and its reptilian ancestors.
Coniophis precedens had the legless body, but did not have the wide bite of modern snakes, limiting it to smaller prey.
"All known Coniophis fossils come from floodplains in eastern Wyoming and Montana — from the same soil deposits as mammals and terrestrial lizards, including the dinosaurs T. rex and Triceratops — indicating that snakes evolved as terrestrial rather than as marine animals."
And that is where the tenuous link to plains comes in!
The researchers say that Coniophis was something of a living fossil, while alive, much like coelocanth is today, because it lived with snakes much more similar to the modern varieties.
All known Coniophis fossils
come from floodplains in eastern Wyoming and Montana — from the same
soil deposits as mammals and terrestrial lizards, including the
dinosaurs T. rex and Triceratops — indicating that snakes evolved as
terrestrial rather than as marine animals
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-07-science-snakes-plain.html#jCp
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-07-science-snakes-plain.html#jCp
A curious Aztec burial has been found in Mexico City's Templo Mayor.
The site contains a tree (believed to be held as 'sacred' by the Aztecs, and the body of a woman, surrounded by a pile of 1789 other human bones.
"The institute said some of the bones showed what may be cut marks to the sternum or vertebrae, places where a ritual heart extraction might leave a mark, but added that it didn't seem likely the dead were sacrificed on the spot to accompany the burial because their bones were found separated."
"The researchers discovered the skulls of seven adults and three children in one pile, long bones like femurs in another grouping, and ribs in another."
"Physical anthropologist Perla Ruiz, who was in charge of the dig, said that might suggest the bones were disinterred from previous burials and reburied with the woman. While some pre-Hispanic cultures disinterred bones as part of ancestor worship, it isn't clear the Aztecs did."
"The burial dates to about 1481 to 1486, based on the "stage" of temple buildings at which they were found. The Templo Mayor, like many sites, was rebuilt by successive generations, one stage atop another."
The institute said some of
the bones showed what may be cut marks to the sternum or vertebrae,
places where a ritual heart extraction might leave a mark, but added
that it didn't seem likely the dead were sacrificed on the spot to
accompany the burial because their bones were found separated.
The researchers discovered the skulls of seven adults and three children
in one pile, long bones like femurs in another grouping, and ribs in
another.
Physical anthropologist Perla Ruiz, who was in charge of the dig, said
that might suggest the bones were disinterred from previous burials and
reburied with the woman. While some pre-Hispanic cultures disinterred
bones as part of ancestor worship, it isn't clear the Aztecs did.
The burial dates to about 1481 to 1486, based on the "stage" of temple
buildings at which they were found. The Templo Mayor, like many sites,
was rebuilt by successive generations, one stage atop another.
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-08-mexico-hundreds-bones-aztec-burial.html#jCp
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-08-mexico-hundreds-bones-aztec-burial.html#jCp
What killed off the Mayans, who lived in what is now Guatemala?
It looks like climatic changes, exacerbated by their razing of surrounding forests, caused terrible drought conditions, making their way of life unsustainable.
Let's stay in the Americas for a while longer.
For the first time, proteomics - the study of proteins, their structure, and their functions - has been used to identify that a frozen, 500-year-old, Incan girl was killed by a bacterial lung infection.
Swabs showed immune response to, as well as the presence of, a bacterial infection, which supported the observation of lung infection scars in X-ray scans.
And over to Egyptian mummies to finish:
What's this bloke doing in a lady's coffin?
"2005 research (based on CT scans and other data) revealed mummy NM R27.3 was actually a man inside the coffin of a woman."
The trouble with this find is that traders, exploiting enthusiasts' desire for all things ancient Egypt, would put coffins and mummies together, just because they could get a better price that way.
To infer that the individual, when alive, was a cross-dresser, or transsexual, would be to miss the very real possibility that they jumped coffins at some point, post-death.
2005 research (based on CT scans and other data) revealed mummy NM R27.3 was actually a man inside the coffin of a woman.
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-08-mummy-mysteries-unraveled-high-tech.html#jCp
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-08-mummy-mysteries-unraveled-high-tech.html#jCp
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