Palaeolithic burial of twins? The bodies of two new-born infants have been found in northern Austria at a site which dates them to between 27 to 40,000 years old. DNA testing might be possible and may confirm if they were twins.
The bodies had been wrapped in, probably, an animal hide, covered in ochre,decorated with ivory beads and protected by the shoulderblade of a woolly mammoth,propped up by pieces of tusk.
Fuller story here... http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8063
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6.500yr old causeway and fish weir found nr Bridgewater, Somerset. Workers digging a new rubbish tip at Walpole nr Bridgewater have found the remains of an ancient causeway and fish weir. Archaeologist Richard Brunning has provisionally dated them to 4.500 BCE.
More here...
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Early Hominids were skilled stone tool makers. A 2.34 million year old site in Kenya has shown that early human species were skilled stone knappers. They chose their rocks carefully and discarded those which, after a couple of trial strikes, were unsuitable.
Full story here... http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18624944.200
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Sex in Germany in 5,200 BCE. In an archaeological dig in Saxony, a male, clay figurine was found and called the "Adonis von Zschernitz" A month later, pieces of a corresponding female figure was found and re-constructed.
At first it was suggested that they were taking part in a ritualistic dance but the researchers have, un-prudishly, concluded that they were having sex "doggy fashion".........
Full story here.... http://www.guardian.co.uk/germany/article/0,2763,1451509,00.html
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Is the Nebra Disc a fake? There is controversy in Germany as to whether the Bronze Age Nebra Disc is as old as it is claimed. Professor Schauer of Ravensburg University believes that it was made by "shamans from Siberia and is only two or three hundred years old".
Full story here... http://www.guardian.co.uk/germany/article/0,2763,1427599,00.html
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Neanderthals frozen out 28,000 years ago. It appears that the Neanderthal people were unable to cope with the increasingly cold weather despite migrating south and were supplanted by a more technologically flexible group, our ancestors.
Full story http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994586
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Greenhouse Warming Started Long Before Industrial Revolution It seems that early clearance of forests for agriculture released huge amounts of CO2 and kick-started the warming process. The author also puts forward a possible reason for the "Mini Ice Age" before the 1700s.
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994464
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The pic should be interpreted correctly!!! It's a game played in our local to show how experienced cavers, myself included, can crawl through tight spaces. As the pub has a distinct lack of thick limestone in it, bar stools have to do. Honest.....
TMA re-kindled my interest in ancient history when I got my first PC and went on line early in 2002.
Other interests; architecture, natural history ( I'm a Landscape Gardener), parachuting (I used to be an instructor), and chatting in pubs.
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