Preserved Mammoth Discovered in Paris

French archaeologists have uncovered a rare, near-complete skeleton of a mammoth in the countryside near Paris, alongside tiny fragments of flint tools suggesting the carcass may have been cut into by prehistoric hunters.

The archaeologists say that if that hypothesis is confirmed, their find would be the clearest ever evidence of interaction between mammoths and ancient cavemen in this part of Europe.

“Evidence this clear has never been found before, at least in France,” said Gregory Bayle, chief archaeologist at the site.

“We’re working on the theory that Neanderthal men came across the carcass and cut off bits of meat.”
Archaeologists came across the giant bones by accident while they were excavating ancient Roman remains in a quarry near the town of Changis-sur-Marne, 30 km east of Paris.

The mammoth, which the archaeologists have named “Helmut,” is thought to be between 100,000 and 200,000 years old and is only the fourth near-complete specimen to be found in France.

Scientists believe Helmut, a woolly mammoth, may have become stuck in mud or drowned.

Two tiny shards of flint found among the bones indicate that cavemen cut into the body, but make it unlikely they actually killed the creature. To come to that conclusion, the archaeologists would have expected to find a whole flint head.

Mammoth remains are commonest in the frozen climates of Siberia, where around 140 specimens have been found including some of the world’s best-preserved carcasses.

The prehistoric animal disappeared from Western Europe around 10,000 years ago, most likely due to climate change and hunting.

Source: Hurriyet Daily News

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Stone Circles of Avebury

Like Stonehenge, the Stone Circles of Avebury archaeological site have retained a somewhat mysterious reputation. In fact, up until the 19^th century, people would circle the monument, or dance around the maypole as it was called, in one of the circles, possibly as a fertility ritual. There are several other ritual sites nearby, as the landscape of Avebury, is steeped in ritual context.

During the 1930’s Alexander Keiller investigated the Avebury Stone Circles and even raised some of the fallen megalithic stones. Although some of the famous stones were missing, Keiller replaced them with concrete blocks, resurrecting an archaeological site and bringing it back to life.

Read More: Stone Circles of Avebury, England

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Medieval Castle Casa Loma Castle In Toronto, Canada

Guest Blurb By thestickman

Isn't Toronto (Canada) Rather Young to have a Castle?

 © thestickman

One often hears this question asked from visitors from abroad, especially from Europe where kingdoms and castles date back over many centuries. The Canadian Federation occurred on July 1, 1867. -Canada is just not so old to possess many of what we would normally be considered 'castles.'

Yet back in 1911, Sir Henry Mill Pellatt decided to fulfill his lifelong dream to build a medieval-like castle. On a prominent overlook above the city of Toronto, Canada using his wealth and fortune, his home, residence and ultimate undoing would be built.... From: Casa Loma Castle: A Medieval Castle in Modern-day Toronto, Canada

Stereotypes Capture Europe in Color

A big part of what anthropologists learn has to do with culture. Culture is learned, not biologically determined. It's hard to put aside ethnocentric views, as what we learn is the only way.  I think this is the reasoning behind these stereotypical maps of Europe. This is how the majority of the world views Europe, reminding us that our personal bias has once again gotten in the way.

Yanko Tsvetkov, a Bulgarian living in Great Britain, created the first map in 2009 in the midst of the energy dispute between Russia and the Ukraine.

“I just created it to amuse my friends but when I put it up on my website so many people liked it that I decided to really focus on the project of mapping the stereotypes based on different places in Europe. I was surprised by the reaction because I never really expected it to take off like this.”

You must see all of those maps at Andrew Cusack's site

Monday Ground Up: Archaeological Discovery of Viking Artifacts Reveals Facts about Ancient Society

Guest Article By Maria Rainier

Scientists working in Norway’s Jotunheimen mountain range have been reaping the benefits of climate change, taking advantage of warmer conditions to make an exciting archaeological discovery whose implications may help to reconstruct the region’s ancient society.

With glaciers melting quickly enough to reveal layers of ice that have never been exposed before, it’s an archaeological opportunity almost too much to handle. Artifact collection in frozen areas is a delicate process which often requires finding an artifact within a few days of its emergence. The artifact must then be carefully removed, transported to a laboratory, and frozen to keep it from disintegrating. This is especially true of any type of fiber (clothing, rope, and thread), animal skins, feathers, or hair, while wood takes a few years to rot and is easier to manage for archaeologists.

The Viking artifacts being discovered in Norway are predominantly wooden hunting weapons, but archaeologists are still struggling to collect all specimens before they start to fall apart.

Artifacts from Viking Hunters

Archaeologists are quickly learning more about Viking reindeer hunters based on the tools they’re finding in the mountains. The most commonly discovered artifacts are part of an innovative scare tactic meant to drive reindeer toward hidden batteries of Viking archers. This scare tactic involved creating a barrier of wooden stakes spaced about 6 ½ feet apart. Each stake had a foot-long piece of wood tied to its tip so any gust of wind would cause the entire row of stakes to start “flapping,” scaring reindeer toward the waiting Viking hunters.

Most of these archaeological discoveries are incomplete, missing the thread which tied the moving pieces to the stakes, but scientists are hoping to find some intact as they increase their efforts. Bows and arrows and a leather shoe have also been found at the Jotunheimen sites.

Reconstructing Norway’s Ancient Society

According to Norse mythology, the Jotunheimen mountains were inhabited by the “Ice Giants,” also called Frost Giants or Jötunn (Jotunheimen means “home of the giants”). While they may have been tall in stature, these “giants” weren’t the superhuman entities of lore.

What archaeologists do know about them is that they had an organized society, a conclusion drawn from the way Vikings would have cooperated to create the stake barriers for reindeer hunting. Scientists hypothesize that they hunted in groups of 15 or 20, lying in wait together with their bows and arrows until the frightened reindeer ran within about 65 feet of them. This implies that Norway’s ancient society was characterized by hierarchy, as leadership would have been a necessary part of organizing and executing a collective hunting strategy. The prolific Jotunheimen sites are likely to offer more insights into this ancient society and scientists are working to make more meaningful archeological discoveries.


Bio: Maria Rainier is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She is currently a resident blogger at Online Degrees, researching areas of online colleges. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.

Sources:

Photo: Marcin Szala, used with permission

Photography of Dunkeld Cathedral in Scotland

Dunkeld emerged as a centre of Christianity during the 7th Century, when Columba came over from Iona, and much work was carried out by his successors. In the 9th Century, Kenneth MacAlpin, the first King of Scots, made Dunkeld head of the Celtic Church and capital of the newly-formed nation created by the union of the Scots and the Picts.


Dunkeld Cathedral sits on the north bank of the River Tay in Dunkeld, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Built in square-stone style of predominantly gray sandstond, Dunkeldt stands on the site of the former Culdee Monastery of Dunkeld.

The Church grew in power and wealth and the Cathedral, started in 1325, was extremely important in ecclesiastical terns until the Reformation in the 16th Century, when it was destroyed.



The Choir of the Cathedral was re- roofed in 1600 to serve as the parish church, and there was relative peace until 1689, when there was a short, but extremely violent Battle between the Jacobites and the Cameronians (a newly-raised regiment supporting William of Orange) and most of Dunkeld was burned to the ground. ~History of Dunkeld By DunkeldCathedral.Org

Want To See More of Landon Walker's Work?

• A Week With Photographer Landon Walker and 1149 Productions in Scotland Continues
• Monday Ground Up: The Brilliance Of Scotland Captured By Photographer Landon Walker

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The Madara Rider of Bulgaria

The Madara Rider sits 246 feet above ground, on a cliff face in the Madara Plateau of northeastern Bulgaria. The relief is inaccessible, adding to its mystery. How were they able to create it?  Either way, the relief is extraordinary.

Including the inscription in Medieval Greek, the rider covers close to 1400 square feet on a vertical 328 foot cliff face. The horseman is depicted in a hunting scene, spearing a lion. The lion is being trampled by the horse and a dog is trailing behind the rider.

Read this article on the Madara Rider: The Mysterious Stone Horseman of Bulgaria

Monday Ground Up: The Famous Teatro Olimpico By Palladio in Vicenza Italy

 Source

The Teatro Olimpico, located in Vicenza, northern Italy, was constructed in 1580-1585 AD. The theater is one of three of the world’s oldest surviving Renaissance theaters and is the world’s oldest indoor theater.The Teatro Olimpico is the last work of renowned architect Andrea Palladio.

In 1570, Palladio published I Quattro Libri dell' Architettura [The Four Books of Architecture]. This literary work cemented Palladio's place in architectural history. 

"The book set out Palladio's architectural principles as well as practical advice for builders. The most critical element, perhaps, was the set of meticulous woodcut illustrations drawn from Palladio's own works to illustrate the text. The work was subsequently translated into every European language and remains in print today both in paperback and hardcover".~Boglewood

Palladio is widely considered to be one of the most influential figures in European architecture.

Construction of Teatro Olimpico

Commissioned by the Olympic Academy in 1580, Teatro Olimpico was constructed upon the site of a medieval fortress, used as a prison and powder store.

Palladio planned the design for Teatro Olimpico in 1579, planning a classically inspired structure using sketches and drawings. Unfortunately, Palladio passed in August 1580, only six months after the construction of Teatro Olimpico started. The sketches and drawings Palladio scribed were used by Vincenzo Scamozzi, a Venetian architect that inherited Palladio’s project.

Vincenzo had an excellent starting point with the sketches provided by Palladio, however Palladio never produced designs for the stage floor of Teatro Olimpico. Scamozzi completed this project himself, fashioning a stage made out of wood and stucco. The stage was meant to be temporary, however it survived and remains in the Teatro Olimpico today.

 Source

Image via Wikipedia

There are also two rooms designed by Vincenzo Scamozzi at the Teatro Olimpico, those being the Odèo and Antiodèo, as well as the original entrance “archway which leads from the street, through an old medieval wall into the courtyard of the old fortress”.

Image via Wikipedia

Scamozzi's stage set at the Teatro Olimpico was the first practical introduction of perspective views into Renaissance theatre. The scenery consists of seven hallways decorated to create the illusion of looking down the streets of a city from classical antiquity. The way in which seats in all parts of the theatre were provided with at least one perspective view can be seen by observing the theatre floor plan and following the sight lines of audience members in different parts of the theatre.

 

Operation of the Teatro Olimpico

Source

On March 3rd, 1585, Teatro Olimpico was inaugurated with a performance of Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex. Sadly, only a few more performances took place after that, and then the theater was abandoned. A performance of Oedipus the King took place in 1997 at the Teatro Olimpic using the original lighting by Scamozzi.

 Source (Bob And Jenny's Bed and breakfast in Italy )

Today, the Teatro Olimpico still hosts musical performances and plays, but on a smaller scale for conservative reasons of course. Classical plays take place in the autumn and the festival II Suono dell’Olimpico in the spring. Every June, Palladio's Teatro Olimpico is used for the graduation ceremony for students from the American Department of Defense high school in Vicenza.

Influence of the Teatro Olimpico

Teatro Olimpico stands to represent one of the most influential architects in the history of European theater, Palladio. Unlike many of its counterparts, the Globe Theater in London, the Teatro Olimpico still stands in its original state. It remains as a significant historic link to the Renaissance stage.

“The Palladian project reconstructed the Roman Theater with an archaeological precision.”

Centro de Studi Architettura Andrea Palladio

More Related Content

The Greeks were gifted, being situated in an area with the highest quality stone. Of course the buildings that were derived from these stones were free of bronzed sculptures, polished monuments, and shrines painted with vivid colors. Monday Ground Up: Greek Architecture

The Sumerian cities were surrounded by walls, much like the Forbidden City, as a way to keep their culture secret and sacred. Sumerian city dwellings were constructed out of sun-dried bricks, including peasant quarters and the larger dwellings of priestly and civic officials.Monday Ground Up: Sumerian Cities

Although the Romans had depended greatly on the ideals of the Greeks when adopting their art and literature, they themselves developed some of the most innovative of inventions that succeeded Western Civilization. The evolution of Roman law which brought about the idea of a systematic principle for justification, the invention of roads allowed for easier transit for soldiers and citizens, as well as the construction of Roman bridges that still stand today.Monday Ground Up: Roman Achievements in Law and Engineering

Roman architecture is classical and hardly practical. It could be described as masculine in a sense, with a hint of solitude. No matter how we interpret the structure, we can all agree that it exhibited a solid foundation and architectural form.Monday Ground Up: Two Architectural Gems in Rome, Italy



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Palladio

Memphis Belle: A Tribute to the crew of the United States Air Force's 324th Squadron, 91st Heavy Bomber Unit

This archived film, "The Memphis Belle," directed by William Wyler  is a tribute to the crew of the United States Air Force's 324th Squadron, 91st Heavy Bomber Unit,an airplane more familiarly known as the Memphis Belle.

Several years ago, I remember watching the movie with Matthew Broderick and becoming immersed in the history of the Belle's crew, who successfully completed twenty-four missions in the toughest theater of the air war in Europe, flying bombing raids deep into Nazi territory.

Cameras accompany the Belle on its twenty-fifth mission. If the crew returns with its mission accomplished, they will qualify for release from active duty, to be sent home as teachers and heroes. The film provides a first-person perspective of a World War II bombing raid, showing how it feels to be threatened by "flak [enemy fire] so thick you can get out and walk on it." Much of the film salutes those less fortunate than the crew of the Memphis Belle, who wear the weight of their experience in "faces [that] have watched their comrades die."

The Historical Background of Cafe Pedrocchi

During the latter half of the 18th century and the early 19th century Padua, Italy saw the establishment of many coffee-houses used for literary and social gatherings. There were close to forty coffee-house keepers fisted, one of whom was the Bergamasque, Antonio Pedrocchi and it is due to him that one of the most important European coffee-houses was built, the Pedrocchi Café.

Antonio Pedrocchi, the entrepreneur, founded the Café Pedrocchi during the first half of the 19th century. Now considered the finest and most beloved coffeehouse in Italy, Café Pedrocchi embodies......

Read More : Cafe Pedrocchi: Finest CoffeeHouse in Padua, Italy

World's Most Extensive Collection of Historical Weaponry

Graz is the capital of the state of Styria and for centuries was a key military base possessed by the Hapsburgs from the 14th century onwards. The Graz Zeughaus (provincial armory) contains one of the most extensive collections of historical weaponry. A record of the area's rich military heritage.

The armory is situated in Old Town, a location added to the World Heritage List in 1999.

Read More: Zeughaus Museum: The Worlds Most Extensive Collection of Historical Weaponry  via TravelSphere

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Special Note: If I didn't mention before, I own and operate TravelSphere, which is more of a historical travels site. I will be featuring the posts there as well, here on the Ancient Digger. If there are any objections to this, please let me know.

Wilczy Szaniec: Hitler's War Time Headquarters

The ruins of the Wolf's Lair (Wilczy Szaniec), are all that remain of Adolf Hitler's WWII headquarters near Ketrzn in the Mazurian region of Poland, now a museum.

The Wolf's Lair consisted of a complex of buildings and a nearby airfield situated on 67 acres of woodland. There are seven massive concrete bunkers measuring in some areas 26 feet high. Although hidden in the woods, Hitler still believed it wasn't enough. As history shows, he was extremely suspicious of anyone around him, and he had right to be. He urged his followers to safeguard the site even more by way of artificial greenery suspended on wires and protected by rings of barbed wire and a minefield.

Read More: Travel to the Wilczy Szaniec"Wolf's Lair" in Poland via TravelSphere

The TravelSphere combines fascinating travel with historical destinations. The site focuses on the more educational side of travel, rather than the exotic hotels or mixed drinks.

Picture: Source

Why I Love Edinburgh Scotland

As many of you know medieval history, as well as the middle Ages, are both subjects that fascinate me. This time period is brimming with war, religious disputes, and men that fought with honor for their homeland on their own soil. For that reason, the city of Edinburgh is one of my favorite subjects, filled with stories and legends of some of the most well-known and infamous figures in history. What I wouldn’t give to live down one of those quaint side roads, maybe on the West End, in one of those lovely Edinburgh apartments overlooking the Edinburgh Haymarket Railway Station. To live on the sidelines of history has always been something that I have craved, and I’m jealous of the residents in Edinburgh that get to do this every day.

Edinburgh was well established by the 12th century, founded on the infamous castle rock, a 2 million year old geological formation. I had read about it previously in a geology class, which is where my interest started to peak. A town that was fixed upon a formation created by millions of years of glacial shifting is just too hard to fathom. Not to mention that Edinburgh castle sites up on the volcanic plug of castle rock and was the seat of the first Scottish Parliament around the middle of the 12th century.

Edinburgh flourished throughout the Renaissance period, both economically and culturally, producing some of the most famous figures in history. I’m familiar with the exploits of Mary Queen of Scots, the most talked about of the Scottish Monarchs. This is partly because of my love of Queen Elizabeth, whom Mary Queen of Scots tried to assassinate on three attempts. She was tried and executed for treason for her involvement in all three plots against her first cousin, Queen Elizabeth.

It would take me years to explain why I love every aspect of Edinburgh history. It could be the stories of Robert Wallace and Robert the Bruce, or maybe even the fact the English occupied Edinburgh Castle for over 10 years, up until it was made part of a dowry for Ermengarde de Beaumont, a woman chosen for King Henry.

I’m sure many of my readers are from Edinburgh, so why do you love it? What aspects of Edinburgh’s history do you appreciate the most?

Monday Ground Up: Liberalism During the 19th Century

Liberalism, such as parliaments and constitutions, during the 19th century was making great strides in the western European states. Mass politics, due to the emergence of a mass society during the Second Industrial Revolution, paved the way for ordinary citizens to be involved in the everyday operations of political life. Therefore, while reforms encouraged expansion of political democracy through voting rights for men, one Liberal leader was hindering the political and ideological movement towards modernization, and later on the spread of liberalism would be affected by the creation of new political parties.

New reforms in Great Britain, including the right to vote, were extended during the second ministry of William Gladstone with the Reform Act of 1884. All men that paid regular rents and taxes were able to vote and agricultural workers, previously excluded, added another 2 million voters to the electorate.

How Did the Peninsular War, the Continental System and the Invasion of Russia lead to Napoleon's downfall?

History Today gives an interesting and thorough examination, written by Graham Goodlad, about the fall of Napoleon. Napoleon's character, as well as the nature of his entire empire, led to his decline.

Some historians have detected a falling off in Napoleon’s abilities as a general from about 1809. He himself privately reflected in 1805 that ‘I will be good for six years more; after that even I must cry halt.’ Before that time had elapsed, contemporaries noted that his reactions were deteriorating and his health was often poor. A corresponding decline in the quality of his army also began to have an effect. Yet the logic of conquest drove him to embark on more or less continuous warfare. A powerful case can be made for the claim that Napoleon was ultimately responsible for his own downfall.

Read along as Graham Goodlad examines the controversial reputation of Napoleon Bonaparte as a military commander.

How did the Scientific Revolution Change the way Europeans Viewed The World?

In spite of all the advances in literacy, astrology, science, medicine, and thinking, the common European had no idea how to interpret new findings in the world of science. Furthermore, most of these citizens did not come close to the intellectual background as the greatest minds of their time. When the Scientific Revolution began to disprove past ideals and new ideas were shown to the masses, many experienced trepidation.

Despite the advances in science and efforts of the scientists of the sixteenth and seventeenth century to demonstrate that the world and the universe were governed by discernible laws, the Scientific Revolution had little impact on the everyday lives and thoughts of the mass of European citizens.


Even though there were breakthroughs made in astronomy and physics, most Europeans retained a belief in previous ideas about magic and astrology. German princes relied on court astrologers as advisers, and even Johannes Kepler sought to confirm the power of astrology with the results of his life's work, though he did not prove those findings.

Advances in medical theory proved that there were serious misconceptions about the human body, however many Europeans widely adhered to previous beliefs set forth by Galen. Galen's theory was that the human body contained four humors-blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm, and that if one of the four were present in too little or too great of an amount, illness would occur.

The most widely experienced theory of this practice was bloodletting, a long standing, accepted, practice employed in the homes of Europeans. Galen's hypothesis that the body had two blood systems and diseases could be cured by looking deeper into the four humors in the body proved to be erroneous, however Galen's principles were still strictly adhered to in medical schools.

Europeans had turned to the church for guidance, and so it seems, the church was able to tell people what to believe. When the discoveries of the Scientific Revolution overturned the tenets of the traditional belief system, they were gradually accepted by the general population of European society. Furthermore, they were often rejected by those that thought traditional beliefs were easier to understand. To put it plainly, Europeans did not want to complicate their lives by thinking outside the realm of what they had been taught in the church. The commoners had traditions of thinking and a belief system that made their living situation stable and their quality of life commonplace. The Scientific Revolution would prove that their goals or traditions were no longer valid, and this was something they didn't take lightly.

When Europeans experienced the events of the Scientific Revolution they looked upon it as a changing world, although not always open to the origins of those scientific changes. The Scientific Revolution became part of society without many people even noticing, however for those that did, it was a time of enlightenment.

Also check out:

Absolutism in Prussia, Austria, and Russia

Monday Ground Up: Paracelsus, Vesalius, and Harvey and Their Contributions to Medicine

Although the Scientific Revolution was associated with great accomplishments in astronomy, mathematics, and new scientific methods, we cannot ignore the great innovations in medicine. Medicine during the Middle Ages was greatly influenced by Galen who sought to study anatomy and physiology by using an animal as a cadaver; however this proved to be an insufficient model of the true anatomy of the human body. Furthermore, Galen’s hypothesis that the body had two blood systems and diseases could be cured by looking deeper into the four humors in the body proved to be grossly erroneous. When Paracelsus, Vesalius, and Harvey came onto the medical scene during the 16th and 17th century, medicine started to evolve into a more precise and exact science.

William Harvey

William Harvey’s book “On the Motion of the Heart and Blood” published in 1628, proved that there was, in fact, only one type of blood that flowed in the arteries and veins. Furthermore, with meticulous testing and experimentation, he also added that the heart was the starting point of the blood system. His work, although it made complete sense to him, was not widely accepted until 1660’s when he discovered that capillaries provided a path for the blood to travel from arteries to veins. William Harvey is credited as laying the foundation for modern physiology

Paracelsus

Paracelsus’s methods were based on a new chemical philosophy, in contrast, the universities were still using traditional Galen’s principles and Paracelsus did not agree with this method of teaching. His methods were based on experimentation and a chemical philosophy based on the harmony of man (the microcosm) and Nature (macrocosm). Paracelsus believed that actions that occurred within the body were the result of the universe, on a smaller scale of course. This notion, although it deterred from Galen’s previous findings, was that chemical imbalances in the body were found in certain organs and could be treated with specific remedies. These, of course, proved that imbalances of the four humors were not the underlying factors in diagnosing certain illnesses. This prompted Paracelsus to start dedicating his time to producing chemicals and minerals that could be used in certain doses for specific ailments. He did meet opposition, as many believed he was infecting patients with the same disease they had in order to cure it, and this may in fact have been right. In all actuality, his findings have made him the father of modern medicine, and to some of the Scientific Revolution, the first person to study in depth homeopathic and holistic medicine.

Vesalius

Andreas Vesalius, although a great supporter of Galen’s practices, deviated from the traditional dissection of animals to dissecting on a human cadaver to prove what he was studying. Vesalius’s anatomical treatise examined the organs of the body, their location, and the entire system. Vesalius, along with with several artists during the Renaissance, created a masterpiece called “On the Fabric of the Human Body” in 1543, which clearly illustrated anatomical models more advanced that anyone had ever seen. Vesalius took the findings of Galen, one of those being that blood vessels originated from the liver, and corrected it to meet with his findings. Vesalius still agreed that there were two types of blood in the veins and arteries in the body, however this perception was proved to be false by William Harvey during the 17th century.


The Late Middle Ages saw a great evolution of anatomical medicine and modern physiology. The teachings of Galen were proved to be faulty as new scientists started to branch out and try new procedures. Paracelsus, Vesalius, and Harvey were able to deter from Galen’s previous findings, although meeting resistance along the way, and pave the way for modern medicine.