Ancient World Review

New Human Ancestor Confirmed: Australopithecus Sediba

Video from 2017.

"A new ‘missing link’ between our ape-like ancestors and early humans has been identified, showing that we were still swinging from the trees less than two million years ago." Source: The Telegraph (registration required for full story).

"The first fossils of Australopithecus sediba were discovered in Malapa, South Africa [1], ten years ago, but experts were unsure if they were unique or just examples of already known species."

"Now after a decade of a research experts have confirmed they do belong to a unique species which slots into the human family tree between little upright apes like ‘Lucy’ - the 3.2 million-year-old Australopithecus afarensis skeleton found in 1974 - and Homo habilis, the first tool-maker, which live around 2.1 to 1.5 million years ago."

[1] The Malapa Fossil Site is the so-called "Cradle of Mankind."

Video from 2013. Closed captions helpful.

These Au. Sediba specimens are intermediate forms or "missing-links" who could live in the trees but were well on their way to living on the ground. According to The Smithsonian, "[t]he combination of primitive and derived traits in Australopithecus sediba shows part of the transition from a form adapted to partial arboreality to one primarily adapted to bipedal walking. but the legs and feet point to a previously unknown way of walking upright."

The story here is that Au. Sediba has been confirmed to be a distinct species and human ancestor:

"The researchers find that Au. sediba is in fact a unique species, refuting earlier critics who questioned its validity as a species. Au. sediba is distinct from both Australopithecus africanus, with which it shares a close geographic proximity, and from early members of the genus Homo (e.g., Homo habilis) in both East and South Africa; yet, it also shares features with both groups, suggesting a close evolutionary relationship." Source: Archaeology News Network.

Video from 2015.

I've lost count of how many human ancestors have been discovered so far. There are at least a dozen, I think, ranging from creatures like Australopithecus to near-humans like the Neanderthals. Au. Sediba was part of "a major transition in hominin evolution, that of the largely ape-like species included broadly in the genus Australopithecus to the earliest members of our own genus, Homo." (Archaeology News Network)

Note: I could be wrong about this, but I think Au. Sediba's relationship with humans is only tangential.

"A remarkably complete skeleton introduced in 2010 as 'the best candidate' for the immediate ancestor of our genus Homo may just be a pretender. Instead of belonging to the human lineage, the new species of Australopithecus sediba is more closely related to other hominins from South Africa that are on a side branch of the human family tree, according to a new analysis of the fossil presented here last week at the annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists." Source: Science (2017).

This might have changed with these new finds. I'm not really sure. If not, then Au. sediba is more like our cousin, five or six times removed, than one of our great-great-etc-grandparents.

Is It Possible To Live An Iron Age Life In The Modern World?

Comment: Many groups including experimental archaeologists have tried to replicate the lifestyles of prehistoric and medieval cultures. Some of these groups, like the one in the 1978 BBC documentary, Living In The Past, have spent various lengths of time living under past conditions, but they always ended up returning to the modern world with its undeniable conveniences and labor-saving devices. And who can blame them? After all, these were just temporary experiments. But what if a group of modern "neopagans" actually tried to do this for real? What would happen?

Most people living in the modern West would die like flies if they were suddenly transported back to the Iron Age and couldn't return after a few weeks or months. Just staying alive back then was a full-time job in itself, at least for most of the population, and it must have been precarious, but despite all the hardships life couldn't have been too harsh, at least not all the time, or no one would have survived.

Let's say that a group of modern "pagans" decided to start living like this full-time. They could band together, form an agricultural co-op or something, buy some land and return to an Iron Age way of life, building their own shelters, making their own clothes and tools, growing and hunting their own food. To be truly authentic, their community should be based on solid archaeological evidence, which means, for one thing, that they would have to dispense with their idiotic and ahistorical New Age "religions." 

Real pagans were agrarian and they practiced blood sacrifice. They didn't live in cities and drive out to Stonehenge a couple times a year to get loaded and dance around like Hollywood Apaches to the beat of drum circles while the cops kept an eye out for drunks and dope dealers. I've written several posts on this site mocking the "pagans, Druids and pantheists" who swarm over Stonehenge for every solstice and equinox, but I can understand their alienation from Christianity and the modern world.

Modern pagans have a serious problem. There's very little evidence about how people lived back then and what they believed, so the modern pagan has to make it all up and the result is usually ludicrous. This got me thinking about what an authentic neopagan movement would look like and two basic requirements came to mind. First of all, as I've already said, real neopagans should toss out everything that isn't backed by solid archaeological evidence. Second, they should drop out of the modern world and go back to living in the Iron Age like the people in this video did. Note: They couldn't recreate a Stone Age hunting and gathering existence for obvious reasons.

They would have to live like this all the time, though. There would be no going back. They would essentially have to live like Iron Age farmers and, given enough time, some of them might actually figure out how to survive as clans, living in many ways like the modern Amish. Even if they did, though, they would still be surrounded by the modern world and there would be no way to escape it entirely. They would have to pay taxes on their land, for instance, so they would need to set up small businesses or something.

And that's the catch. There's no way to escape the overpoliced total state in the modern world. Not completely. These neopagans would be anachronisms, psychologically modern humans living an Iron Age life in the center of a decaying, post-industrial civilization. Keeping their communities going at that point would probably be even harder than learning how to feed themselves and stay warm in the winter.

It could be done, but the first generations would be in for a shock and a lot of them would drop out very quickly. Living without electricity is one thing, raising your own food another, but to be truly authentic, they couldn't use modern medicines or hospitals and the women would have to give birth naturally out there in the woods. There would be sickness, malnutrition, deaths. Their children couldn't go to modern schools. The dead would have to be buried right there on the land--something that could be done here in the States as recently as the the middle of the 20th Century, but which is probably illegal now. The list of problems goes on and on, but this biggest problem is this:

The modern state would never allow people to live like this. An authentic Iron Age life is impossible in the modern world because we have lost too much freedom.

Note: The rest of this documentary can be found here.

Mass Grave With Decapitated Roman-Era Skeletons Unearthed In England

"The discovery of a Roman cemetery in [Suffolk] England has archaeologists scratching their heads, mainly because about 40 percent of the bodies buried there are missing theirs." Source: Live Science.

"Well, not missing, exactly. Of the 52 skeletons discovered in the fourth-century A.D. cemetery, 17 had been decapitated. And almost every head was resting between its owner's legs or feet."

Note: This isn't the first time decapitated bodies have been found in England. Back in 2010, around 80 headless corpses thought to have been Roman gladiators were discovered in York.

Some photos of the Suffolk dig and beheaded skeletons can be found here.

Medieval Woman With Lapis Lazuli In Her Teeth May Have Illustrated Manuscripts

"Traces of ultramarine — a vivid blue pigment ground from the mineral lapis lazuli, mined only in Afghanistan and once as prized as gold — were detected in plaque coating the teeth of a woman who died in western Germany about 1,000 years ago." Source: Live Science.

"Blue pigments were rare in medieval Europe, and ultramarine was the rarest and the most costly of them all, scientists wrote in a new study. This pigment was therefore used to illustrate only the most elaborate and expensive sacred manuscripts of the day."

According to The Atlantic, "...the teeth that were embedded with this blue likely belonged to a scribe or painter of medieval manuscripts."

"...But art experts were still skeptical. Some dismissed the idea that a woman could have been a painter skilled enough to work with ultramarine. One suggested ... that this woman came into contact with ultramarine because she was simply the cleaning lady."

Note: "In the early Middle Ages, most books were produced in monasteries, whether for their own use, for presentation, or for a commission. However, commercial scriptoria grew up in large cities, especially Paris, and in Italy and the Netherlands, and by the late 14th century there was a significant industry producing manuscripts, including agents who would take long-distance commissions, with details of the heraldry of the buyer and the saints of personal interest to him (for the calendar of a Book of hours). By the end of the period, many of the painters were women, perhaps especially in Paris." Source: Wikipedia.

According to Live Science, the woman in this story "was buried in an unmarked cemetery near a monastery complex that stood from the ninth century through the 14th century," and "radiocarbon dating indicated that she lived around 997 to 1162." Considering the monastic setting and time period, it seems unlikely that she would have been directly involved in manuscript illumination, but at the same time it's hard to see how a cleaning lady could have come into contact with enough lapis lazuli to leave these stains on her teeth.

It's possible, I suppose, that she wasn't a painter herself but was involved with the preparation of the paints used by the manuscript illustrators. This is pure speculation (by me), but work like this would have brought her into close contact with lapis lazuli on a fairly regular basis.

Closed captions helpful.

Ancient DNA From VIking Graves Proves Warriors Rode Male Horses

Video from 2017. A horse buried in this grave is described at 2:18.

"Vikings who settled in Iceland more than 1,000 years ago valued their horses so much that the men were buried with their trusty steeds. And DNA analysis of these treasured animals recently proved that the horses consigned to the grave with their manly owners were males, too." Source: Live Science.

"Iceland is home to 355 known Viking graves dating from the late ninth century to the early 11th century A.D., and the occupants are mostly middle-age men, researchers reported in a new study. Horses are common in these graves — more than 175 horses appear in 148 graves. The majority of the animals were clearly associated with the human skeletons, and they appeared to have been slaughtered 'specifically for burial,' the scientists reported."

Medieval Vampire Graves In Europe

Several discoveries of vampire graves have been announced recently. For instance, "[i]n a 7,000-year-old town in Bulgaria, over 100 graves have been uncovered, revealing skeletons with stakes through their hearts and mutilated bones," according to The Daily Beast (2014)

The latest (?) discovery in Bulgaria dates back to the 13th century. According to the Daily Beast, the medieval graves were uncovered in "an ancient city called Thracian," but that's a mistake. There are a lot of Thracian and Dacian sites in the region and the writer probably got confused. According to the Smithsonian, "archaeologists in Bulgaria have uncovered a 13th century staked 'vampire' at Perperikon, an ancient Thracian site in the south of the country ..."

Vampire graves have been found all over Europe. See "8 Recently Discovered Medieval Vampire Burials (2013)" for more details.

Video from 2012.

Did Jesus Die In Japan?

The biography of Jesus is so sketchy that it leaves a lot of room for speculation about where he spent his missing years. For instance, according to one theory he not only studied in Japan before he began his ministry, but actually died there as an old man decades after his supposed crucifixion.

"Most Christians believe that Jesus was born and died in the Middle East. However, there is a small group of people in Japan who believe a completely different story." Source: Ancient Origins.

"Some Japanese researchers think that Jesus’ history is different from what is generally believed.  This alternative version of Christ’s story was forgotten until 1935, when Kiyomaro Takeuchi (Takenouchi) reportedly discovered an ancient document in Ibaraki Prefecture in Japan. The text of the manuscript presented a shocking tale. It says that Jesus was buried in Herai Village in the Aomori district in Japan."

According to this theory, Jesus wasn't actually crucified. When he was in his twenties, he traveled to Japan, studied there for 12 years or so, then returned to the Middle East and started preaching as described in the New Testament. When he was sentenced to be crucified, however, his brother took his place on the cross, something that the Roman and Jewish authorities didn't notice for some reason. Maybe Jesus and his brother were twins; I'm not really sure. At any rate, Jesus then went back to Japan and eventually died there -- for real this time -- at the age of 106.

This story seems unlikely on the face of it, but I guess it's no more unbelievable than the idea that Jesus could control the weather, walk on water, heal the sick, turn water into wine, drive out demons, raise the dead or come back from the dead himself. If the story's true, though, it would mean that Jesus must've spent years on the road, crossing entire continents back in a time when travel was not only slow, but extremely hazardous.

The people who believe that Jesus went to Japan never seem to consider what that would involve. If Jesus traveled to Japan to study, came back to Israel, then returned to Japan after his "crucifixion," he would've had to cross (and recross) a huge amount of territory. According to DistanceFromTo, the air-travel distance from Israel to Japan is 5,656 miles. Using that as a minimum, this means that Jesus must've covered at least 16,968 miles in all his travels between east and west.

Was such an incredible journey even possible back then? As it turns out, it was -- at least in theory.

According to The Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, "[l]ong-distance trade played a major role in the cultural, religious, and artistic exchanges that took place between the major centers of civilization in Europe and Asia during antiquity. Some of these trade routes had been in use for centuries, but by the beginning of the first century A.D., merchants, diplomats, and travelers could (in theory) cross the ancient world from Britain and Spain in the west to China and Japan in the east."

Technically, a journey like this would've been possible in the first century when Jesus supposedly lived. He could have traveled by land or sea, or maybe both, following the silk, spice and incense routes. This would've been a grueling, dangerous and time-consuming journey, to say the least, and according to the theory that Jesus died in Japan, he would've had to have made the trip three times,  something that seems almost as miraculous as the rest of the New Testament stories combined.

Genetic Study Of Ancient Skeletons Sheds Light On Prehistoric Settlement Of Southeast Asia

Hoabinhian chopper of Xóm Trại cave, Hoa Binh, Vietnam. Video from 2016.

"Current evidence suggests that Southeast Asia was occupied by Hoabinhian hunter-gatherers until about 4000 years ago, but the human occupation history thereafter with farming economies remains unsettled. By sequencing 26 ancient human genomes (25 Southeast Asians, 1 Japanese Jomon), the history is shown to be more complex than previously thought; both Hoabinhian hunter-gatherers and East Asian farmers contributed to current Southeast Asian diversity. The results help resolve one of the long-standing controversies in Southeast Asian prehistory." Source: Science Daily (2018).

The Con Moong Cave In Vietnam

Terrible audio. Closed captions help a little. Story here (2016)..

"[The] Con Moong archaeological site is really a key for the understanding of Vietnamese and South East Asian prehistory. It has been confirmed that the continuation of art techniques to make cobble tools with representatives from Sơn Vi culture to Hòa Bình culture, and then Bắc Sơn culture. Con Moong Cave may show the evolution of human beings from the end of the old stone age, transiting through the middle stone age, to the beginning of the new stone age; from hunting and gathering, to plantation and breeding, the occupants of the site transitioned from a primitive stage to an age of civilization." Source: Wikipedia.

A Vietnamese-only video with better shots of the cave can be found here.

Mysterious Earthen Mounds Discovered In Ancient Cambodian Cities (2016)

"Using airborne laser-scanning equipment, archaeologists have discovered vast fields of dome-shaped earthen mounds, arranged into gridded patterns, in 1,000-year-old Cambodian cities." Source: Live Science (2016).

"The scientists are puzzled as to what these vast 'dome fields' (as archaeologists sometimes call them) would have been used for around 1,000 years ago, calling them 'the most enigmatic features' from this archaeological landscape."

Notes: "The finding is part of a huge project in which archaeologists with the Cambodian Archaeological Lidar Initiative (CALI) are targeting areas located near large temple complexes (such as Angkor Wat) ..." Geoglyphs and "buried towers" have also been discovered near some of the cities, many of which "were part of the Khmer Empire, which, at its height in the 12th and 13th centuries A.D., 'stretched across much of mainland Southeast Asia, with a network of highways connecting far-flung settlements to the Angkorian heartland in [what is now] Cambodia ...'"

Angkor itself was gigantic: "a megacity supporting at least 0.1% of the global population during 1010-1220," according to Wikipedia.