The oldest portrait of a woman ever found, dating from 26,000 years ago, carved in mammoth ivory and proving that even our early ancestors could capture the expressive nature of the human face in a style that was uniquely meaningful to them. Read more about how researchers are studying artifacts like these through the lens of art rather than solely through anthropology at Short Sharp Science.
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The oldest portrait of a woman ever found, dating from 26,000 years ago, carved in mammoth ivory and proving that even our early ancestors could capture the expressive nature of the human face in a style that was uniquely meaningful to them.

Read more about how researchers are studying artifacts like these through the lens of art rather than solely through anthropology at Short Sharp Science.

Source: newscientist.com

European Cave Art: Was It The Earliest Form of Cinema?

Ancient cave drawings from the 30,000 year-old site Chauvet might actually depict motion. Archaeologist Marc Azéma is behind this theory (which his animation seems to support, if only circumstantially).

In an era of pictorial storytelling, would it be so outlandish to assume they craved a little motion? Now we just need to figure out how they did 3-D. An audio interview accompanies this video at the link below.

(↬ Open Culture)

Source: openculture.com

Interesting New Easter Island Theory Says Giant Statues Rocked Their Way Into Place

Of the many mysteries surrounding Easter Island, the moai are perhaps the greatest. These iconic statues line the coast of the island, more than 10 miles from the stone quarries where the multi-ton stones were harvested and carved.

Earlier theories relied on wooden rollers as the likely form of transport, an idea that led some to believe that the statues were behind the island’s deforestation and population collapse (although more recent research calls that into question). Newer tests using replica statues (like the one above) demonstrate that due to the statues’ pot-bellied shape, as few as 18 people could rock-walk them over distances of hundreds of yards.

It’s not definitive evidence either way, of course. It may just add to the mystique of the moai legend.

Previously: Rats, not recklessness may have done Easter Island in.

(via National Geographic)

Source: National Geographic

Yeah, About That Whole “Mayan Doomsday Calendar” Thing … I think we might need to push the conspiracy theory back a few years, thanks to the discovery of a Guatemalan inscription that represents the oldest Mayan calendar found to date. How many years are the Doomsdayers off? Oh, maybe 7,000? The ring number (a Mayan method of calculating astronomical dates, which is stunningly complex) and the lunar charts shown in the black-and-white paintings shown above point to dates almost seven millennia in the future from their A.D. 800 origin. They are accompanied by images of mayan scribes and subjects, as shown below. That puts any Mayan future predictions a bit beyond December 2012. But we already knew that was BS, right? Yet some still need convincing. University of Texas archaeologist David Stuart had this to say about the Mayan calendar, whose repeating nature is misconstrued as predicting an apocalypse: “The Mayan calendar is going to keep going for billions, trillions, octillions of years into the future. Numbers we can’t even wrap our heads around.” The Mayans kept these accurate calendars in order to coordinate religious festivals and royal events, especially to appeal to their gods for things like harvests and weather. In fact, at the time the Guatemalan paintings were made, they were locked in a deadly drought, and were perhaps charting dates for future appeals to a higher power. Whatever the case, the idea that Mayans were concerned about the end of the world is total bunk. They were more concerned about the end of their civilization, as are many today. Says expedition leader William Saturno: “We keep looking for endings. The Maya were looking for a guarantee that nothing would change. It’s an entirely different mindset.” (↬ National Geographic, photos ©Tyrone Turner and National Geographic)
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Yeah, About That Whole “Mayan Doomsday Calendar” Thing … I think we might need to push the conspiracy theory back a few years, thanks to the discovery of a Guatemalan inscription that represents the oldest Mayan calendar found to date. How many years are the Doomsdayers off? Oh, maybe 7,000? The ring number (a Mayan method of calculating astronomical dates, which is stunningly complex) and the lunar charts shown in the black-and-white paintings shown above point to dates almost seven millennia in the future from their A.D. 800 origin. They are accompanied by images of mayan scribes and subjects, as shown below. That puts any Mayan future predictions a bit beyond December 2012. But we already knew that was BS, right? Yet some still need convincing. University of Texas archaeologist David Stuart had this to say about the Mayan calendar, whose repeating nature is misconstrued as predicting an apocalypse: “The Mayan calendar is going to keep going for billions, trillions, octillions of years into the future. Numbers we can’t even wrap our heads around.” The Mayans kept these accurate calendars in order to coordinate religious festivals and royal events, especially to appeal to their gods for things like harvests and weather. In fact, at the time the Guatemalan paintings were made, they were locked in a deadly drought, and were perhaps charting dates for future appeals to a higher power. Whatever the case, the idea that Mayans were concerned about the end of the world is total bunk. They were more concerned about the end of their civilization, as are many today. Says expedition leader William Saturno: “We keep looking for endings. The Maya were looking for a guarantee that nothing would change. It’s an entirely different mindset.” (↬ National Geographic, photos ©Tyrone Turner and National Geographic)
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Yeah, About That Whole “Mayan Doomsday Calendar” Thing … I think we might need to push the conspiracy theory back a few years, thanks to the discovery of a Guatemalan inscription that represents the oldest Mayan calendar found to date. How many years are the Doomsdayers off? Oh, maybe 7,000? The ring number (a Mayan method of calculating astronomical dates, which is stunningly complex) and the lunar charts shown in the black-and-white paintings shown above point to dates almost seven millennia in the future from their A.D. 800 origin. They are accompanied by images of mayan scribes and subjects, as shown below. That puts any Mayan future predictions a bit beyond December 2012. But we already knew that was BS, right? Yet some still need convincing. University of Texas archaeologist David Stuart had this to say about the Mayan calendar, whose repeating nature is misconstrued as predicting an apocalypse: “The Mayan calendar is going to keep going for billions, trillions, octillions of years into the future. Numbers we can’t even wrap our heads around.” The Mayans kept these accurate calendars in order to coordinate religious festivals and royal events, especially to appeal to their gods for things like harvests and weather. In fact, at the time the Guatemalan paintings were made, they were locked in a deadly drought, and were perhaps charting dates for future appeals to a higher power. Whatever the case, the idea that Mayans were concerned about the end of the world is total bunk. They were more concerned about the end of their civilization, as are many today. Says expedition leader William Saturno: “We keep looking for endings. The Maya were looking for a guarantee that nothing would change. It’s an entirely different mindset.” (↬ National Geographic, photos ©Tyrone Turner and National Geographic)
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Yeah, About That Whole “Mayan Doomsday Calendar” Thing … I think we might need to push the conspiracy theory back a few years, thanks to the discovery of a Guatemalan inscription that represents the oldest Mayan calendar found to date. How many years are the Doomsdayers off? Oh, maybe 7,000? The ring number (a Mayan method of calculating astronomical dates, which is stunningly complex) and the lunar charts shown in the black-and-white paintings shown above point to dates almost seven millennia in the future from their A.D. 800 origin. They are accompanied by images of mayan scribes and subjects, as shown below. That puts any Mayan future predictions a bit beyond December 2012. But we already knew that was BS, right? Yet some still need convincing. University of Texas archaeologist David Stuart had this to say about the Mayan calendar, whose repeating nature is misconstrued as predicting an apocalypse: “The Mayan calendar is going to keep going for billions, trillions, octillions of years into the future. Numbers we can’t even wrap our heads around.” The Mayans kept these accurate calendars in order to coordinate religious festivals and royal events, especially to appeal to their gods for things like harvests and weather. In fact, at the time the Guatemalan paintings were made, they were locked in a deadly drought, and were perhaps charting dates for future appeals to a higher power. Whatever the case, the idea that Mayans were concerned about the end of the world is total bunk. They were more concerned about the end of their civilization, as are many today. Says expedition leader William Saturno: “We keep looking for endings. The Maya were looking for a guarantee that nothing would change. It’s an entirely different mindset.” (↬ National Geographic, photos ©Tyrone Turner and National Geographic)
Zoom Info

Yeah, About That Whole “Mayan Doomsday Calendar” Thing …

I think we might need to push the conspiracy theory back a few years, thanks to the discovery of a Guatemalan inscription that represents the oldest Mayan calendar found to date. How many years are the Doomsdayers off? Oh, maybe 7,000?

The ring number (a Mayan method of calculating astronomical dates, which is stunningly complex) and the lunar charts shown in the black-and-white paintings shown above point to dates almost seven millennia in the future from their A.D. 800 origin. They are accompanied by images of mayan scribes and subjects, as shown below.

That puts any Mayan future predictions a bit beyond December 2012. But we already knew that was BS, right? Yet some still need convincing. University of Texas archaeologist David Stuart had this to say about the Mayan calendar, whose repeating nature is misconstrued as predicting an apocalypse:

“The Mayan calendar is going to keep going for billions, trillions, octillions of years into the future. Numbers we can’t even wrap our heads around.”

The Mayans kept these accurate calendars in order to coordinate religious festivals and royal events, especially to appeal to their gods for things like harvests and weather. In fact, at the time the Guatemalan paintings were made, they were locked in a deadly drought, and were perhaps charting dates for future appeals to a higher power.

Whatever the case, the idea that Mayans were concerned about the end of the world is total bunk. They were more concerned about the end of their civilization, as are many today. Says expedition leader William Saturno:

“We keep looking for endings. The Maya were looking for a guarantee that nothing would change. It’s an entirely different mindset.”

(↬ National Geographic, photos ©Tyrone Turner and National Geographic)

Today’s Google Doodle Celebrates Discoverer of King Tut: Howard Carter “Can you see anything?” “Yes, wonderful things.” That was the exchange between Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter as Carter breached the tomb door for the first time. The discovery of King Tut’s tomb has given scholars and explorers a century of inspiration, and a window into the past. You may have heard of the “Mummy’s Curse”, the supposed early deaths of many of Howard’s team after entering Tut’s tomb. Don’t worry, science is all over that, debunking the suspicion and burying that rumor deep in the ground. Bonus: Here’s a replay of a live chat Science magazine did with two mummy experts about the nitty gritty of being a mummy researcher.
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Today’s Google Doodle Celebrates Discoverer of King Tut: Howard Carter

“Can you see anything?”

“Yes, wonderful things.”

That was the exchange between Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter as Carter breached the tomb door for the first time. The discovery of King Tut’s tomb has given scholars and explorers a century of inspiration, and a window into the past.

You may have heard of the “Mummy’s Curse”, the supposed early deaths of many of Howard’s team after entering Tut’s tomb. Don’t worry, science is all over that, debunking the suspicion and burying that rumor deep in the ground.

Bonus: Here’s a replay of a live chat Science magazine did with two mummy experts about the nitty gritty of being a mummy researcher.

Source: Wikipedia

Satellite Photos Show Ancient Saharan Fortresses of a Lost Empire Long-abandoned fortresses of the Garamantes, a sophisticated civilization the ruled much of North Africa up to 700 AD, have been found in the Sahara thanks to satellite imagery. Bonus points: They’re in Libya, and a more open and democratic government there might allow these antiquities to be studied like they deserve to be! Go get ‘em Indy … (via Discover Magazine)
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Satellite Photos Show Ancient Saharan Fortresses of a Lost Empire

Long-abandoned fortresses of the Garamantes, a sophisticated civilization the ruled much of North Africa up to 700 AD, have been found in the Sahara thanks to satellite imagery.

Bonus points: They’re in Libya, and a more open and democratic government there might allow these antiquities to be studied like they deserve to be! Go get ‘em Indy …

(via Discover Magazine)

Source: blogs.discovermagazine.com