Roland the Farter: Medieval England’s Celebrity Flatulist
[ad_1] A manor in Suffolk and a whopping 30 acres (12 hectares) of land was given to a person who was renowned for his ability to gas, quite literally, at the behest of King Henry II. Roland le Petour, also known as Roulandus le Fartere, was granted land in the late 12th century, which was […]
Lasers Map Mysteries of the Maya Calendar, Centuries Older than Thought
[ad_1] Renowned for their precision, vision, and place in time, Mesoamerican calendars have long been held up as an example of the early advancement of the civilizations of the indigenous people of North, South, and Central America. A new study has found that some of the great Mesoamerican peoples and cultures, the Maya and the […]
Egyptian Tombs Reveal 60 High-Ranking Burials from the 18th Dynasty
[ad_1] Right at the turn of the year, a Spanish archaeological mission made a tremendous discovery in the modern city of Luxor in Egypt, which includes the site of the ancient city of Thebes. Sixty mummies have been found buried in just two tombs! They are connected to the tomb of the vizier Amenhotep Huy, […]
Modern Forensic Science Helps Crack Details of 700-year-old “Cold Case” in Italy
[ad_1] In a “case of raw violence” in medieval Italy, four sword blows to the head killed a man, a team of scientists investigating the case 700 years later has determined. Interestingly, the study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science has used modern forensic methods to arrive at this conclusion. Lead author Chiara Tesi […]
Remains of a Byzantine-era Monk in Chains Excavated in West Bank
[ad_1] Archaeologists have recently uncovered the remains of a man in iron chains from the Khirbat el-Masani archaeological site in northern Jerusalem. The remains are 1500-year-old and are those of a Byzantine monk. Found at the Byzantine Ruins of Khirbat el-Masani Khirbat el Masani is a ruin located on the West Bank. Previously, archaeologists from […]
Did the Yuan Dynasty’s Use of Paper Money Cause Hyperinflation?
[ad_1] Although China’s pre-revolution hyperinflation during the 1940s is the one that one often hears about, there is a less-documented hyperinflation that occurred in ancient China. The first civilization in the world to use paper currency, well over a millennium before paper money first appeared in Europe, China experienced hyperinflation under the Yuan Dynasty (1278-1368). […]
Looted, Trafficked and Displayed at a US Museum, “Green Coffin” Returns to Egypt
[ad_1] An ancient Egyptian wooden sarcophagus called the “Green Coffin” has been returned to its rightful home by US authorities, according to Egyptian officials. The sarcophagus had been exhibited at the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences and it was repatriated after it was discovered to have been looted from an ancient tomb in Egypt and […]
The Plague of Athens Killed Over a Quarter of the City’s Population
[ad_1] Pandemics and plagues seem to be the flavor of this decade, occurring at regular intervals throughout history. Some pandemics have been nipped in the bud due to effective collective action or by strokes of luck, occurring in sparsely populated areas. Others, deadly in both origin and effect, have devastated populations, and none like the […]
Fur Coats from 300,000 Years Ago: Earliest Evidence of Bear Skin Use
[ad_1] Fur coats aren’t just a product of the modern industrial period, but now are seen to have a tradition stretching back some 300,000 years ago, albeit in a different setting altogether. People have been using bear skins as evidenced from a bear cave at the old Paleolithic site in Schöningen, Lower Saxony, Germany. No […]
Petra Historic World Heritage Site Blasted By Flash Floods
[ad_1] In another case of nature’s wrath rearing its head, flash floods have struck the iconic world heritage site at Petra, Jordan, forcing the evacuation of 1,700 tourists . A whopping 66 millimeters of precipitation (0.21 feet) struck the site on Tuesday morning, with footage emerging of water washing into the entrance of Petra’s rock […]