Monday, June 29, 2015

Historian Uses Lasers to Unlock Mysteries of Gothic Cathedrals


Thirteen million people visit the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris every year, entering through massive wooden doors at the base of towers as solidly planted as mountains. They stand in front of walls filigreed with stained glass and gaze at a ceiling supported by delicate ribs of stone.

If its beauty and magnificence is instantly apparent, so much about Notre Dame is not. To begin with, we don't know who built this cathedral—or how.

The bishop of Paris, Maurice de Sully, commissioned the massive church complex around 1160. Yet the names of those who first constructed this masterpiece are lost to history. They left no records—only centuries of speculation—behind.

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Lasers reveal mysteries of Notre Dame Cathedral


Notre Dame is one of the most iconic buildings in the world. Built from 1160 to 1345, the massive cathedral is one of the most recognizable landmarks of Paris and is one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture that exists today. For all its storied past, however, little information survives about the architects and designers who raised the building. That’s where art historian and laser modeler Andrew Tallon has stepped in, with new methods of gathering data about Notre Dame that shed light on some of its earliest history. 


Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris  [Credit: osc-vector.com] 

The actual laser modeling is done by mounting a laser from a tripod and shooting the gallery, taking time to measure the distance between the scanner and every point it hits. Each one of these points represents a distance — by mapping millions of points from a single location, historians can measure how the building expands and contracts during the day, as well as how it shifts over longer periods of time. By combining the point cloud data generated by the laser scanner with on-site photographs taken at the same time, Tallon has created extremely accurate models of the underlying structure and design of the cathedral, and identified points where the cathedral’s masons either deviated from the original plan or paused work to allow the ground to settle.

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Rare Viking relic discovered at Perthshire dig


ARCHAEOLOGISTS delving into Scottish history believe they have discovered a rare object at a Viking-age longhouse in Perthshire

The small circular stone, with a central hole - thought to be a spindle whorl - was found by Diana McIntyre, who was on a dig with Glenshee Archaelogy Project at Lair in Glenshee.

A spindle whorl, was a weight fitted to a spindle while hand spinning textiles to increase and maintain the speed of the spin.

The stone, which is only around 5cm in diameter, has been carefully shaped to be symmetrical, but what has interested the team are the symbols and designs carved onto one surface.

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Dundee experts recreate face of Saxon man at Lincoln Castle


Facial reconstruction experts at the University of Dundee have recreated the face of a Saxon man whose skeleton was discovered on the site of an old church at Lincoln Castle.
On Monday 8th June, the new-look castle will be officially opened by HRH The Princess Royal. On that day, a new exhibition will be revealed in the Victorian Prison, sharing some of the archaeological finds unearthed during the Lincoln Castle Revealed project.
As part of the exhibition, experts at the University of Dundee have recreated the face of an Anglo Scandinavian man whose skeleton was discovered on the site of an old church within the castle grounds. The skeleton was one of ten sets of remains discovered.
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Polish farmer finds 2,500 year old gold bracelets


Gold items preliminarily dated to 1600-400 BC have been discovered by a farmer near Jasło in the Subcarpathia. The antique objects have been taken to the Sub-Carpathian Museum in Krosno. 


The three gold bracelets dating to between 1600 and 400 BC unearthed by a farmer in southeastern Poland [Credit: PAP © 2015/Darek Delmanowicz] 

During field work near Jasło, a farmer found three gold bracelets tied with golden wire. He then informed the archaeological service. 

Archaeologists now intend to study the place of discovery because the want to determine whether it was a discovery of a treasure, or perhaps the remains of a burial ground, as Jan Gancarski, director of the Sub-Carpathian Museum in Krosno said. 

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Archaeologists find Bronze Age food at prehistoric settlement "comparable to the Mary Rose"

Archaeologists found food from between 800-1000 BC in a set of pots, textiles and other material at a Cambridgeshire settlement destroyed by fire during the Bronze Age
© Cambridge Archaeological Unit

An “extraordinary testimony” to the lives of prosperous people in Bronze Age Britain could lie under the soil of a 1,100-square metre site destroyed in a fire 3,000 years ago, say archaeologists who are about to start digging within a brick pit near Peterborough.

Must Farm – part of the Flag Fen Basin, and the site where nine pristine log boats were famously unearthed in 2011 – was protected by a ring of wooden posts before a dramatic fire at the end of the Bronze Age caused the dwelling to collapse into the river.

Its submergence preserved its contents, creating what experts are describing as a “time capsule” of “exceptional” decorated tiles made from lime tree bark.

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Roman shipwreck found off coast of Sardinia


Italian police released a video on Tuesday (June 23) showing a well-preserved ancient Roman ship that was recently discovered in waters off the coast of Sardinia. 


The well-preserved ancient Roman ship was found in the strait that separates  Sardinia from Corsica [Credit: Polizia di Stato] 

In the video police officers were seen approaching the shipwreck as fish swam in the clear seas surrounding the Italian island. 

Italian police said their historical discovery was made in collaboration with the Archaeological Superintendence, the country's ministerial institute for archaeology.

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Friday, June 19, 2015

Magna Carta: explore the document in full


Find out for yourself what Magna Carta says by consulting the original document, with English translation, Latin transcription, and expert commentary from the AHRC’s Magna Carta Project

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Scholars reveal church’s role in Magna Carta


Study of handwriting shows church scribes copied two of the surviving four historical parchments

Magna Carta, signed by King John 800 years ago on Monday, laid the groundwork for the modern state, imposing the first limits on the monarch’s power. Now the true extent of the role the church played in sending its message across Britain has been uncovered by academics studying the four surviving copies of the parchments.
After scrutinising the handwriting, researchers working on the University of East Anglia and King’s College London’s Magna Carta Project are convinced that the Lincoln and Salisbury charters were written by religious scribes working outside the court. This means the famous Runnymede deal was backed by England’s bishops, as much as by the rebel barons whom John was hoping to appease.
Scholars believe the Lincoln charter was written by a scribe working for the Bishop of Lincoln, while the Salisbury charter was done by a scribe working for the Dean and Chapter of Salisbury.
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How did the Turin Shroud get its image?


On Sunday, Pope Francis will "venerate" the famous Shroud of Turin, which is thought by some to be the burial wrapping of Jesus Christ - and by others to be a medieval fake. Whatever it is, it's a mystery how the cloth came to bear the image of a man. Science writer Philip Ball discusses the theories.
In a carefully worded announcement, the Archbishop of Turin says that the Pope "confirms the devotion to the shroud that millions of pilgrims recognise as a sign of the mystery of the passion and death of the Lord".
You'll notice that this says nothing about its authenticity. The Catholic Church takes no official position on that, stating only that it is a matter for scientific investigation. Ever since radiocarbon dating in 1989 proclaimed the 14ft by 4ft piece of linen to be roughly 700 years old, the Church has avoided claiming that it is anything more than an "icon" of Christian devotion.

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1,000-year-old wine pitcher found in Jutland


Ribe’s archaeology never ceases to surprise, and now teams from the University of Aarhus and Sydvestjyske Museum have made yet another unique find during excavations in the city’s oldest burial ground. 


The 1,000-year-old French wine pitcher was found in Ribe during excavations  of the city’s oldest burial ground [Credit: Sydvestjyske Museer] Half a metre underground in a parking lot, wedged between other urns and tombs, they have discovered a perfectly intact French wine pitcher, which is predicted to be around 1,000 years old. 

“It is a unique find,” said Morten Søvsø, the head of archaeology at Sydvestjyske Museum. 

“The pitcher is an example of the finest pottery produced in northern Europe at the time, and it has never been seen before in Denmark. The vessel reveals information about the vast trading network that put Ribe on the map during the Viking era.” 

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British scientists hunt for Viking traces in Norman DNA


British researchers on Monday began collecting the DNA of residents from Normandy in northern France in search of Viking heritage, but the project has raised concerns amongst some local anti-racism activists.
Around a hundred volunteers from the Cotentin Peninsula area are giving DNA samples to academics at the University of Leicester, who are trying to find descendants of the Vikings who invaded what is now Normandy in the 9th century.
The aim is to learn more about "the intensity of the Scandinavian colonisation" in the 9th and 10th centuries in the Cotentin Peninsula, said Richard Jones, a senior history lecturer at the University of Leicester.
That includes trying to find out whether the colonisers kept to themselves or married amongst the locals, he added.
The French volunteers have been chosen because they have surnames that are of Scandinavian origin or that have been present in France since at least the 11th century. They also qualify if all four of their grandparents lived within a 50-kilometre (30-mile) radius of their current home.
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This ancient liquor popular among Vikings may be the answer to antibiotic resistance


Scientists in Sweden are launching their own mead — an alcoholic beverage made from a fermented mix of honey and water — based on old recipes they say could help in the fight against antibiotic resistance.
Together with a brewery, the scientists, who have long studied bees and their honey, have launched their own mead drink: Honey Hunter's Elixir.
Lund University researcher Tobias Olofsson said mead had a long track record in bringing positive effects on health.
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“Globally unparalleled” evidence of prehistoric Welsh feasting practices unearthed by archaeologists


New research led by archaeologists at Cardiff University has showcased "globally unparalleled" evidence of a unique prehistoric pork-focused feasting practice in South Wales
After 10 years of excavation and research, analysis of animal bones deposited in a 'midden' or rubbish heap at a prehistoric feasting site in Llanmaes, Vale of Glamorgan, has revealed the novel custom of mass feasting focused specifically on pigs' right forequarters.
The research - a collaboration between the University's School of History, Archaeology and Religion and National Museum Wales - has provided extraordinary insights into the lives of Wales' prehistoric ancestors.
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400,000-year-old dental tartar provides earliest evidence of manmade pollution


Most dentists recommend a proper teeth cleaning every six months to prevent, among other things, the implacable buildup of calculus or tartar -- hardened dental plaque. Routine calculus buildup can only be removed through the use of ultrasonic tools or dental hand instruments. But what of 400,000-year-old dental tartar?
Tel Aviv University researchers, in collaboration with scholars from Spain, the U.K. and Australia, have uncovered evidence of food and potential respiratory irritants entrapped in the dental calculus of 400,000-year-old teeth at Qesem Cave near Tel Aviv, the site of many major discoveries from the late Lower Paleolithic period. 
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Award-winning Maryport Roman Temples Project begins its final dig at Hadrian's Wall


This will be the final year of a five-year project which has done much to deepen understanding of “one of the most important Roman cult complexes” at Hadrian's Wall

The final opportunity to visit the award-winning annual dig at the Maryport Roman Temples Project and learn about the excavation directly from lectures by the archaeologists involved has begun in Cumbria. 

The eight-week dig aims to explore Roman Maryport’s complex religious landscape and to learn more about the famous altars found at the site, on display in nearby Senhouse Roman Museum.  

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Le prince au torque d’or de Lavau


Exhumée par une équipe d’archéologues de l’Inrap, la tombe princière de Lavau, datée du début du Ve siècle avant notre ère, a révélé un mobilier funéraire exceptionnel : chaudron en bronze méditerranéen à têtes de lionnes et d’Acheloos (dieu-fleuve), oenochoé attique à figures noires, ciste, bassins en bronze etc. Dans le cadre des Journées nationales de l’archéologie (19-21 juin 2015), l’Inrap présente les derniers résultats de cette fouille achevée depuis quelques jours.

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Construction workers dig up medieval ships in Estonia


The capital of Estonia is perhaps not the place where one would expect to find the remains of medieval ships, but that is exactly what happened to a group of construction workers in Tallinn this week. 


The remains of a medieval ship uncovered by construction workers building  a new residential area in Tallinn, Estonia [Credit: Sander Ilvest] While working on the foundations for high-end apartments in a seaside area of the Baltic state's capital, the men noticed something strange in the ground: the remains of at least two ships thought to be from the 14th-17th centuries. 

"We were digging the ground, when we found some massive wooden pieces, and we decided this might be something interesting," said Ain Kivisaar, spokesman for property developer Metro Capital. 

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Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Hunt for Viking DNA among Normandy residents riles anti-racism activists


British scientists searching for evidence of Norse colonisation in the communities of the Cotentin peninsula warn of ‘sensitivities’ over the issue


British researchers on Monday began collecting the DNA of residents from Normandy in northern France in search of Viking heritage, but the project has raised concerns amongst some local anti-racism activists.
Around a hundred volunteers from the Cotentin peninsula area are giving DNA samples to academics at the University of Leicester, who are trying to find descendants of the Vikings who invaded what is now Normandy in the 9th century.
The aim is to learn more about “the intensity of the Scandinavian colonisation” in the 9th and 10th centuries in the Cotentin Peninsula, said Richard Jones, a senior history lecturer at the University of Leicester.
Read the rest of this article...

Scholars reveal church’s role in Magna Carta



Magna Carta, signed by King John 800 years ago on Monday, laid the groundwork for the modern state, imposing the first limits on the monarch’s power. Now the true extent of the role the church played in sending its message across Britain has been uncovered by academics studying the four surviving copies of the parchments.
After scrutinising the handwriting, researchers working on the University of East Anglia and King’s College London’s Magna Carta Project are convinced that the Lincoln and Salisbury charters were written by religious scribes working outside the court. This means the famous Runnymede deal was backed by England’s bishops, as much as by the rebel barons whom John was hoping to appease.
Scholars believe the Lincoln charter was written by a scribe working for the Bishop of Lincoln, while the Salisbury charter was done by a scribe working for the Dean and Chapter of Salisbury.
Read the rest of this article...

EMAS Field Trip to Worth, Arlington, Bishopstone, Sompting and Poling


Field Trip to Worth, Arlington, Bishopstone, Sompting and Poling

Guide: David Beard MA, FSA

11 July 2015

Pick up 8:00 am at London Embankment


A visit to five Anglo-Saxon Churches.