AFRICA, TANZANIA, WORLD

11th-Century Settlement Uncovered in Zanzibar’s Stone Town

11th-Century Settlement Uncovered in Zanzibar’s Stone Town

A UAE-led heritage project is shedding new light on the origins of Zanzibar’s Stone Town. Archaeologists have discovered evidence of an original settlement at the Unesco World Heritage site in Tanzania that dates back to the 11th century.

Archaeological trenches inside the Old Fort of Stone Town. (Credit: Tim Power)
11th-Century Settlement Uncovered in Zanzibar’s Stone Town
Unearthing a 12th century pillar base from a possible mosque. (Credit: Tim Power)
Tim Power from UAEU working to uncover the past. (Credit: Nour al-Marzooqi)
Decorated Persian pottery dating to the 11th or 12th century. (Credit: Tim Power)
Mid to late 17th century Chinese porcelain with a landscape scene. (Credit: Tim Power)
Mark Horton from RAU recording the Portuguese church. (Credit: Tim Power)
A project archaeologist working on a Portuguese-period child burial. (Credit: Tim Power)
Studying pottery from the excavations to reveal trade contacts with the Arabian Gulf. (Credit: Tim Power)

It proves the town — previously thought to be an 18th century Omani Arab town — was actually established much earlier by local Swahili people, archaeologists believe. During a major dig this summer, they unearthed traces of homes, cooking pits and significant amounts of pottery from this era.

They were then able to pinpoint the settlement’s transition to stone buildings by the 14th century. These stone houses gave the trading centre on the east African coast its unique appearance and were ultimately how it got its name. Stone Town became the powerful capital of the Omani Arab Empire in the 19th century and many major buildings were constructed at this time.

Zanzibar Minister for Tourism and Heritage, Simai Mohammed Said, visiting the site. (Credit: Zanzibar Ministry for Tourism and Heritage)

But the Emirati-funded work has shown how the trading centre developed much earlier than previously thought.

“Our excavations found walls of houses, stone architecture and established it was urbanised in a much earlier period than historically thought,” said Prof Tim Power of UAE University.

“We can now say that the town was built centuries before the Omanis arrived.”

The project, which started this year, is a collaboration between UAE University, New York University Abu Dhabi, the Royal Agricultural University in the UK and the Department of Antiquities in Zanzibar.

Archaeologists from Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism and students from State University of Zanzibar also volunteered for the project. Stone Town’s Old Fort, built during the Omani era, was the focus of the dig. The fort could be compared with Abu Dhabi’s Qasr Al Hosn, said Prof Power, as it was the nexus of military and political power and also functioned as a customs house.

A test pit dug in the 1980s unearthed pot sherds suggesting this, but Prof Power said this could be described as a sort of background noise. Another dig led by Prof Power in 2017 also yielded promising results.

The historic Old Fort in Stone Town, Zanzibar. Two trenches were dug in the courtyard of the fort. EPA

This year, two trenches made in the fort’s courtyard were dug to a depth of two metres, uncovering rubbish pits, cooking fires, walls, floors, the remains of a Portuguese church, significant amounts of pottery and even evidence of a mosque — structures that show an intensification of human settlement.

The teams were able to date the pieces by comparing the types of pottery unearthed to those found in other excavations.

“We found a lot of imported pottery, especially from China,” said Nour Al Marzooqi, an archaeologist at Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism, who worked at the site over the summer.

“It is similar to what we found in the UAE,” said Ms Al Marzooqi. “But we also found local Swahili pottery such as cookware.”

Archaeologists stumbled upon a carved block from a mosque that once existed at the site but has yet to be found. The project also uncovered one of the walls of a Portuguese church that had been demolished and integrated into the fort. Archaeologists found the wall footings and floor of the church, under which dozens of Christian graves were found dating to the 16th and 17th centuries, when an Augustinian mission stood on the site.

“The excavations go back in time in a focused way,” said Prof Robert Parthesius, who leads NYUAD’s Dhakira Centre for Heritage Studies, the entity funding the project.

“And the ceramics found come from so many different periods. It gives an insight into all those centuries and we now we have come to 11th century.”

A antique door in Zanzibar’s Old Town. The town grew wealthy on the back on Indian Ocean trade networks. EPA

Stone Town started as a small fishing village but grew rapidly on the back of trade networks that developed across the Indian Ocean. It came under Portuguese, Omani and European influence but always retained its Swahili identity. It was the capital of the Omani Arab empire in the 19th century and became very wealthy.

“It was like the Venice of East Africa,” said Prof Power. “There was a major trade in ivory, ebony wood and slaves. Omani Arabs also developed clove plantations and it became the leading supplier of cloves in the world.

“This prosperity is reflected in the architecture,” said Prof Power. “There are beautiful merchant houses with carved doors and blocks. They are absolutely gorgeous.”

The project explores the cosmopolitan and multifaceted history of the town and how it plugs into the intricate and vibrant trade networks that existed across the Indian Ocean into the Gulf through the centuries from its foundation.

Gulf to Zanzibar trade

Did Chinese pottery, for example, come direct to Stone Town or through an intermediary?

A lot of trade was conducted on dhows that sailed from the Gulf to Zanzibar and this relationship was important. Stone Town was a market for Arabian goods such as dates and source of labour. Despite the many different ethnicities and differences, a shared culture and way of life also existed.

A Zanzibar sunset with a dhow under sail. Trading dhows plied routes between the UAE and Zanzibar. Photo: Tim Power

“This project is bringing to life the Indian Ocean during the Golden Age of Islam,” said Prof Power,” referring to the period between the 8th and 14th centuries, when there was a flourishing of cultural, economic and scientific advancement.

“It was a place where people did amazing things. This diversity and range of characters has been obscured by European colonialism, which split these regions into different territories, and also the post-colonial movement and ethnic nationalism. But there was shared culture across the Indian Ocean at this time.”

Zanzibar’s Minister for Tourism and Heritage Simai Said visited the site of the dig in the summer and said it was an “exciting new discovery” for the archipelago.

“We are happy to host an Emirati-funded archaeology project,” he said. “It will help us in our mission to communicate the island’s rich heritage and culture to tourists and local people alike.”

The work will continue in January when a further expedition is planned. It is also hoped to create a museum at the site to present some of the finds from the excavations to the public.

“This initiative is so important not only for understanding Indian Ocean trade networks but also useful for people living in Stone Town,” said Prof Parthesius, whose work at the centre seeks to forge collaborations with local heritage organisations.

“Our work seeks to bridge the divides. We want to make sure people don’t feel like we have come to teach them. And by working together, more people can be trained in archaeology and we can learn from each other.”

EUROPE, ROMANIA, WORLD

Trovants, the living stones of Romania: They grow, multiply and move!

Trovants, the living stones of Romania: They grow, multiply and move!

There are strange places across the world. But these places make our planet such a wonderful and unique place. Among its many oddities and beauties, Earth has living stones.

Trovants, the living stones of Romania: They grow, multiply and move!
Landscapes from the Buzau Mountains, Romania

Although not literally alive, there are geological features in Europe which have the ability to grow and move. It’s actually a natural phenomenon, and the most famous examples are located in Romania.

In the town of Costesti, there are odd rocks dubbed “living stones” that are locally known as Trovants. These strange, extraordinary, weird rocks seem almost out of a Hollywood movie; they can grow and multiply and essentially move.

Trovant the Living Stone

Trovants, the “living stones,” are made out of a stone core, but their outer layers are made out of a kind of sand, which forms around the inner core, acting as a shell. It’s their outer shell that causes the stones to essentially grow.

Their name derives from the German words Sandstein Konkretion, which means sandstone concretion, or cemented sand. These stones can grow in size to a few millimetres, but as large as ten meters in diameter. Because of their ability to “grow,” these geological weirdos are dubbed the “living stones,” although different people call them by different names.

In Romania, the stones are called Trovants, which is a term coined by naturalist Gh. M. Murgoci, in his work “The Tertiary in Oltenia,” where he makes reference to the odd geological features.

For a long time, researchers have tried to demystify the “living stones” capable of autonomous movement. A lot of different versions have emerged and one even states that Trovants are “a silicon form of life.” It is also possible that they are conscious.

Some scientists even claim that Trovants are capable of breathing, of course, very slowly ― a single breath lasts from three days to two weeks. The “living stones” even have some kind of pulse, but it can be detected only with super-sensitive equipment. It turns out that these odd stones are able to move, even though only about 2.5 mm in two weeks.

The Romanian Village Of The Trovants

A whole “village” of the Trovants was found in Romania. They all have a circular, streamlined shape. Locals claim that the “living stones” are even capable of reproduction. In the beginning, a small outgrowth appears on the surface of the stone. It grows and grows until it falls off from the “mother” stone. The new stone is completely detached and starts to grow faster. The active growth is more visible right after rain.

Originally, scientists thought that this had something to do with the structure of the stones. But when they broke in half some specimens, they saw that the “living stones” consist of cemented sand and mineral salts.

Scientists have observed strange rings which resemble those of the trees. And just like it is with the trees, the stone rings reveal the age of trovants. That’s why some believe Trovants are an inorganic form of life.

Most Trovants are found in Romania, in the region of Costesti. There even exists a museum, in which the interesting stones are shown and sold as souvenirs. You can even “plant” a Trovant in your garden and wait for it to grow. The biggest Trovants grow to more than 10 meters in height.

The Andreevka Miracle

“Living stones” can be found also in Russia. Massive round stones periodically pop up from the ground and start to grow in the fields of Andreevka. While Romanians venerate their Trovants, people in Andreevka worship theirs. Their ancestors thought that the stones possess the power of Mother Earth and that if you touch them you could be gifted with strength and health.

Russian and Romanian Trovants consist of cemented stone. But they are unusually tough to break or smash. Usually, no one touches them, so they have the chance to grow from little pebbles to enormous megaliths.

Some Interesting Facts About Trovants

Trovants are always fascinating and mind-boggling natural wonders that attract people from all over the world. Here are some interesting facts you should know about Trovants, the living stones:

  1. The Living Stones are real. Although the most popular are located in Romania, similar geological features have been found around the world.
  2. Trovants can grow in size from a few millimetres to a few meters in size.
  3. Trovants are not uniform; they come in different shapes and sizes.
  4. Some weigh no more than a few grams, while there are other examples that weigh several tons.
  5. The “living stones” are made by “highly-porous” sand accumulations and sandstone deposits.
  6. Some have calculated that Trovants grow 4.5 centimetres a year; however, no scientific study has confirmed their exact growth rate.
  7. The Romanian Trovants need rainwater to grow.
  8. Every time it rains, the outer shell absorbs the minerals from the rain, causing the Trovant to “grow.”

Conclusion

For centuries the locals of Costesti were aware that some of the boulders in their region appeared to grow and might even be alive ― a thought that’s still a controversy. But if we are able to confirm that Trovants are able to breathe and reproduce, then we should really start considering them as living beings. Isn’t it?

CHILE, SOUTH AMERICA, WORLD

The scientific community is perplexed by the discovery of a mummified Alien body in the Atacama desert

The scientific community is perplexed by the discovery of a mummified Alien body in the Atacama desert

The mummified alien body from the Atacama Desert is at the top of the list when it comes to findings that the science world shudders at the thought of.

When it was found in 2003, no scientist could come up with a proper explanation other than the fact that it was unquestionably out of this universe.

Professor Harry Nolan also thought this was evidence that a mutant had been unleashed into the wild after a series of unsuccessful trials.

Ramon Navia, an employee of the prestigious Institute for Exobiological Research, has claimed on record that this is evidence of a very small mummy that was cast off, but unfortunately, that hypothesis does not hold water either, as careful examination reveals that this isn’t your ordinary bipedal specimen that has been mummified.

Brian Fester, an amazing scholar, investigated and examined the skull inside, ultimately concluding that the remains of the body were either human or, more likely, alien fossils.

The scientific community is perplexed by the discovery of a mummified Alien body in the Atacama desert

According to him, the beast must have had grey skin because it was unaffected by the atmosphere, and the elongated skull could indicate that it came from South America because their ancestors were known to have the head shape.

Some may also speculate that this is an infant who was mummified several years ago, but no one has a definitive response.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcMxCFTVr90&pbjreload=102
NEW ZEALAND, WORLD

A 3,300-Year-Old Bird Claw Was Discovered By Archaeologists While Digging In A Cave

A 3,300-Year-Old Bird Claw Was Discovered By Archaeologists While Digging In A Cave

A 3,300-Year-Old Bird Claw Was Discovered By Archaeologists While Digging In A Cave
Preserved Megalapteryx (moa) foot, Natural History Museum.

Nearly three decades ago, a team of archaeologists were carrying out an expedition inside a large cave system on Mount Owen in New Zealand when they stumbled across a frightening and unusual object.

With little visibility in the dark cave, they wondered whether their eyes were deceiving them, as they could not fathom what lay before them—an enormous, dinosaur-like claw still intact with flesh and scaly skin.

The claw was so well-preserved that it appeared to have come from something that had only died very recently.

The archaeological team eagerly retrieved the claw and took it for analysis. The results were astounding; the mysterious claw was found to be the 3,300-year-old mummified remains of an upland moa, a large prehistoric bird that had disappeared from existence centuries earlier.

The upland moa (Megalapteryx didinus) was a species of moa bird endemic to New Zealand. A DNA analysis published in the  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences  suggested that the first moa appeared around 18.5 million years ago and there were at least ten species, but they were wiped from existence “in the most rapid, human-facilitated megafauna extinction documented to date.”

With some sub-species of moa reaching over 10 feet (3 meters) in height, the moa was once the largest species of bird on the planet. However, the upland moa, one of the smallest of the moa species, stood at no more than 4.2 feet (1.3 meters). It had feathers covering its whole body, except the beak and soles of its feet, and it had no wings or tail. As its name implies, the upland moa lived in the higher, more cooler parts of the country.

Left: Illustration of a Moa. Right: Preserved footprint of a Moa (Wikimedia Commons)

The Discovery of the Moa

The first discovery of the moa occurred in 1839 when John W. Harris, a flax trader and natural history enthusiast, was given an unusual fossilized bone by a member of an indigenous Māori tribe, who said he had found it on a river bank.

The bone was sent to Sir Richard Owen, who was working at the Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons in London. Owen was puzzled by the bone for four years—it did not fit with any other bone he had come across.

Eventually, Owen came to the conclusion that the bone belonged to a completely unknown giant bird. The scientific community ridiculed Owen’s theory, but he was later proved correct with the discoveries of numerous bone specimens, which allowed for the complete reconstruction of a moa skeleton.

Sir Richard Owen standing next to a moa skeleton and holding the first bone fragment belonging to a moa ever found.

Since the first discovery of moa bones, thousands more have been found, along with some remarkable mummified remains, such as the frightening-looking Mount Owen claw.

Some of these samples still exhibit soft tissue with muscle, skin, and even feathers. Most of the fossilized remains have been found in dunes, swamps, and caves, where birds may have entered to nest or to escape bad weather, preserved through desiccation when the bird died in a naturally dry site (for example, a cave with a constant dry breeze blowing through it).

Mummified head of an upland moa ( Wikimedia Commons )

The Rise and Fall of the Moa

When Polynesians first migrated to New Zealand in the middle of the 13th century, the moa population was flourishing. They were the dominant herbivores in New Zealand’s forest, shrubland, and subalpine ecosystems for thousands of years, and had only one predator—the Haast’s eagle. However, when the first humans arrived in New Zealand, the moa rapidly became endangered due to overhunting and habitat destruction.  

“As they reached maturity so slowly, [they] would not have been able to reproduce quickly enough to maintain their populations, leaving them vulnerable to extinction,” writes the  Natural History Museum, London.

“All moas were extinct by the time Europeans arrived in New Zealand in the 1760s.” The Haast’s Eagle, which relied on the moa for food, died out soon after.

Giant Haasts eagle attacking New Zealand moa ( Wikimedia Commons )

Revival of the Moa?

The moa has frequently been mentioned as a candidate for revival through cloning since numerous well-preserved remains exist from which DNA could be extracted. Furthermore, since it only became extinct several centuries ago, many of the plants that made up the moa’s food supply would still be in existence. 

Japanese geneticist Ankoh Yasuyuki Shirota has already carried out preliminary work toward these ends by extracting DNA from moa remains, which he plans to introduce into chicken embryos. Interest in the ancient bird’s resurrection gained further support in the middle of this year when Trevor Mallard, a Member of Parliament in New Zealand, suggested that reviving the moa over the next 50 years was a viable idea.

EUROPE, TURKEY, WORLD

Is This Man-Made Underground Complex ONE MILLION Years Old?

Is This Man-Made Underground Complex ONE MILLION Years Old?

While most researchers and scholars around the globe agree that human civilization as we know it only has only existed for some 12,000 years on our planet, there are countless discoveries that point toward a much different past.

There are many findings ranging from temples, structures, and artefacts that are evidence of advanced civilizations that inhabited Earth much sooner than mainstream scholars suggest. However, many of these incredible findings have been considered as impossible due to the fact that they alter our written history in every possible way.

In recent years, many researchers have started looking at the history of the civilization on Earth with an open mind. One of those researchers is without a doubt, Dr. Alexander Koltypin, a geologist, and director of the Natural Science Research Center at Moscow’s International Independent University of Ecology and Politology.

During his long career, Dr. Koltypin has studied numerous ancient underground structures mainly in the Mediterranean and has identified numerous similarities which have led him to believe that many sites were interconnected. But most incredibly, the weathering of the structures together with their material composition and extreme geological features has led him to believe these megastructures were built by advanced civilizations that inhabited Earth millions of years ago.

Writing on his website Dr. Koltypin states:

“When we examined the constructions… none of us never for a moment had a doubt that they are much older than the ruins of the Canaanite, Philistine, Hebraic, Roman, Byzantine and other cities and settlements that are placed on it and around.” 

During his travel to the Mediterranean, Dr. Koltypin was able to accurately record the features present in different ancient sites, something that allowed him to compare, afterwards, their incredible similarities and details which tell an incredible alternative history; one that has been firmly rejected by mainstream scholars.

Is This Man-Made Underground Complex ONE MILLION Years Old?
One of the many ancient stone structures in Antalya, Turkey. (Courtesy of Dr. Alexander Koltypin).

Dr. Koltypin argues that mainstream archeologists who work in the region are used to dating sites by looking at the settlement of rock, debris and the strata of earth located on them or in their vicinity, however, some dates were applied when, in fact, the actual sites were much older prehistoric structures.

While traveling near the Hurvat Burgin ruins in Adullam Grove Nature Reserve, central Israel, Dr. Koltypin recalled a similar feeling when he climbed on the top of the rock city Cavusin in Turkey. Almost a Deja vu feeling, Dr. Koltypin said:

“I was personally convinced once again (in the first time the same feeling came to me after I climbed to the top of the rock city Cavusin in Turkey) that all these rectangular indentations, man-made underground structures and scattered debris of megaliths were one underground-terrestrial megalithic complex which was opened by erosion to a depth of several hundred meters” 

In his work (source), Dr. Koltypin argues that not all parts of the giant complex are located underground. There are some parts that have come above ground due to geological shifts that have occurred throughout the history of our planet where Dr. Koltypin includes the incredibly rocky towns of Cappadocia in modern-day Turkey.

“On the basis of this, we can conclude that the underground cities of Cappadocia (including Tatlarin rock city) intended for the accommodation of the ordinary population and the rock city of Cavusin (or its part) was the residence of the kings of the underground. Though almost nothing is known about subterranean, nevertheless we can assume that the people who built the underground cities (if they even were men) were sun-worshipers professed the religion of sun gods (harmony and life by the Divine principles – nature laws). After many thousand or millions of years, this religion had become a basis of the Christian religion.” — Dr. Alexander Koltypin 

Dr. Koltypin continues explaining that certain sites in central and Northern Israel and central Turkey were exposed after cutting into the ground some one hundred meters.

“According to my estimates, such depth of erosion … could hardly be formed in less time than 500,000 to 1 million years,” he wrote on his website.

Dr. Koltypin suggests that certain parts of the complex surfaced as a result of mountain formation processes.

According to his estimates, there is evidence to support that the composition of building material found on a site in Antalya Turkey, referred to by Dr. Koltypin as “Jernokleev site,” are up to One Million years old even though mainstream scholars refuse to accept that age proposing instead that the site dates back to the Middle Ages.

Dr. Koltypin further adds that as a result of Earth’s crust moving throughout the centuries, parts of the underground complex were plunged into the sea.

“Practically in all the studied underground constructions of Israel and in the majority of underground constructions of Turkey, sediments of lithified (hard) and calcareous clay deposits are widely developed on their floor,” Dr. Koltypin writes on his website. 

The ancient Cavusin village is located in the Cappadocia region of Turkey.

Returning to the subject, Dr. Koltypin suggests that the similarity seen in numerous megalithic ruins is evidence of a profound connection present in ancient sites which were connected as one giant prehistoric complex.

According to Dr. Koltypin, numerous megalithic blocks weighing tens of tons could have been directly attached to underground complexes in the distant past.

“This circumstance gave me a reason to call the underground structures and geographically related ruins of cyclopean walls and buildings as a single underground-terrestrial megalithic complex,” writes Dr. Koltypin in his website.

He further adds that the megalithic construction which is seen in all corners of the world, seem to surpass, by far, the technological capabilities of ancient civilizations who, according to mainstream scholars, built them.

Making reference to the technological capabilities of the ancients, Dr. Koltypin states the stones fit together perfectly in some parts without cement and the ceilings, columns, arches, gates and other elements seem beyond the work of men with chisels. Adding to the mystery of these incredible sites, Dr. Koltypin notes that structures built on top of, or near sites by the Romans or other civilizations are completely primitive.

Mystery Tracks Left Behind Advanced Technology Millions Of Years Ago

Many researchers believe that there are several pieces of evidence pointing towards the existence of highly advanced ancient civilizations that existed on Earth millions of years ago.

Dr. Alexander Koltypin believes that the mysterious markings that extend along the Phrygian Valley, in central Turkey, were made by an intelligent race between 12 and 14 million years ago.

“We can assume that ancient vehicles with “wheels” were driven into the soft ground, perhaps a wet surface,” said the geologist. “Because of the great weight of these vehicles, they left behind very deep grooves which eventually petrified and turned into evidence.”

Geologists are familiar with such phenomena as they have found petrified footprints of dinosaurs that were preserved in the same way.

Together with three colleagues, Dr. Koltypin, director of the Natural Science Scientific Research Centre at Moscow’s International Independent Ecological-Political University, traveled to the site in Anatolia, Turkey where these markings can be found. Upon returning from his trip, he described the observed as ‘petrified tracking ruts in rocky tuffaceous [made from compacted volcanic ash] deposits’.

EUROPE, GREECE, WORLD

Archaeologists find Bronze Age tombs containing a trove of gold artefacts

Archaeologists find Bronze Age tombs containing a trove of gold artefacts

Archaeologists have discovered a trove of engraved jewellery and gold artefacts in two Bronze Age tombs that could shine a new light on life in ancient Greece.

The discovery was announced on Tuesday in Greece. The team had spent more than 18 months excavating and documenting their findings — including a multitude of cultural artefacts and beautiful jewellery — that could add to our understanding of early Greek civilization.

The University of Cincinnati (UC) archaeologists found a gold ring depicting two bulls flanked by sheaves of grain, which was identified as barley by a paleobotanist who consulted on the project.

Archaeologists find Bronze Age tombs containing a trove of gold artefacts
A gold ring depicts bulls and barley, the first known representation of domesticated animals and agriculture in ancient Greece.

“It’s an interesting scene of animal husbandry — cattle mixed with grain production. It’s the foundation of agriculture,” UC archaeologist Jack Davis said in a statement.

“As far as we know, it’s the only representation of grain in the art of Crete or Minoan civilization.”

Some of the artwork featured mythological creatures, as well. An agate sealstone featured two lion-like creatures called genii standing upright on clawed feet. According to UC archaeologist Sharon Stocker, they carry a serving vase and incense burner — a tribute to the altar before them, featuring a sprouting sapling between horns of consecration.

A 16-pointed star is seen above the genii. That same star appears on a bronze and gold artefact in the grave, researchers said.

“It’s rare. There aren’t many 16-pointed stars in Mycenaean iconography. The fact that we have two objects with 16 points in two different media (agate and gold) is noteworthy,” Stocker explained in a statement.

UC archaeologists found a seal stone made from semiprecious carnelian in the family tombs at Pylos, Greece. The seal stone was engraved with two lionlike mythological figures called genii carrying serving vessels and incense burners facing each other over an altar and below a 16-pointed star. The other image is a putty cast of the seal stone. (University of Cincinnati Classics Department)

The scientists believe the two tombs paint a picture of princely wealth and status.

“I think these are probably people who were very sophisticated for their time,” Stocker said. “They have come out of a place in history where there were few luxury items and imported goods. And all of a sudden at the time of the first tholos tombs, luxury items appear in Greece.”

“You have this explosion of wealth and people are vying for power,” she added. “It’s the formative years that will give rise to the Classical Age of Greece.”

ENGLAND, EUROPE, WORLD

A couple discover over ₹2 crore gold coins in the kitchen during the renovation

A couple discover over ₹2 crore gold coins in the kitchen during the renovation

A life-changing event occurred in a UK couple’s life when they decided to renovate their house. According to a report by The Times, a UK-based couple found 264 gold coins under the floor of their kitchen.

A couple discover over ₹2 crore gold coins in the kitchen during the renovation
The stash of coins dates back more than 400 years.

The North Yorkshire couple has decided to sell these ancient gold coins, which are worth 250,000 pounds ( ₹2.3 crores).

The collection, which is reportedly more than 400 years old, will be sold through an auction, which is being handled by Spink & Son.

The surprising discovery was made when the couple lifted the floorboard of their 18th-century detached property in the village of Ellerby.

Initially, the couple thought they had hit an electric cable when they lifted the floor. But they found a stash of coins inside a metal, about the same size as a coke can buried just six inches under the concrete.

The couple has been staying in that house for the past 10 years.

When the couple inspected the stash, they found, that the coins were dated from 1610 to 1727, during the reigns of James I and Charles I.

n a separate incident, 86 gold coins were found in Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar district in August this year. Eight labourers allegedly stole 86 gold coins worth about ₹60 lakh found by them during the demolition of an old house in Madhya Pradesh.

The labourers then distributed the ‘ginnis’ (gold coins), which may be of archaeological importance, among themselves without informing local police following which they were arrested, Additional Superintendent of Police Devendra Patidar said.

He said the labourers found the coins while removing the debris of an old house a few days back. Following a tip-off, the police came to know that the eight labourers distributed the coins among themselves, he said.

The police arrested these labourers and seized 86 coins collectively weighing around one kilogram.

The price of those coins is about ₹60 lakh, but it may go up to ₹one crore after ascertaining their archaeological significance.

NORTH AMERICA, U.S.A, WORLD

36,000-year-old Meat of a Mummified Bison was used for a Stew

36,000-year-old Meat of a Mummified Bison was used for a Stew

One Night in 1984,  A handful of lucky guests gathered at the Alaska home of palaeontologist Dale Guthrie to eat stew crafted from a once-in-a-lifetime delicacy: the neck meat of an ancient, recently-discovered bison nicknamed Blue Babe.

The dinner party fit Alaska tradition: Since state law bans the buying, bartering, and selling of game meats, you can’t find local favourites such as caribou stew at restaurants. Those dishes are enjoyed when hunters host a gathering. But their meat source is usually the moose population—not a preserved piece of biological history.

Blue Babe had been discovered just five years earlier by gold miners, who noticed that a hydraulic mining hose melted part of the gunk that had kept the bison frozen. They reported their findings to the nearby University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Concerned that it would decompose, Guthrie—then a professor and researcher at the university—opted to dig out Blue Babe immediately. But the icy, impenetrable surroundings made that challenging. So he cut off what he could, refroze it, and waited for the head and neck to thaw.

Archaeology curator Josh Reuther and University of Arizona’s François B. Lanoë draw a sample from Blue Babe for the ongoing redating project.

Soon, Guthrie and his team had Blue Babe on campus and started learning more about the ancient animal. They knew that it had perished about 36,000 years ago, thanks to radiocarbon dating. (Though new research shows that Blue Babe is at least 50,000 years old, according to the university’s Curator of Archaeology, Josh Reuther.) Tooth marks and claw marks also suggested that the bison was killed by an ancestor of the lion, the Panthera leoatrox.

Blue Babe froze rapidly following its death—perhaps the result of a wintertime demise. Researchers were amazed to find that Blue Babe had frozen so well that its muscle tissue retained a texture, not unlike beef jerky. Its fatty skin and bone marrow remained intact, too, even after thousands of years. So why not try eating part of it?

It had been done before. “All of us working on this thing had heard the tales of the Russians [who] excavated things like bison and mammoth in the Far North [that] were frozen enough to eat,” Guthrie says of several infamous meals. “So we decided, ‘You know what we can do? Make a meal using this bison.’”

Guthrie decided to host the special dinner when taxidermist Eirik Granqvist completed his work on Blue Babe and the late Björn Kurtén was in town to give a guest lecture. “Making neck steak didn’t sound like a very good idea,” Guthrie recalls. “But you know, what we could do is put a lot of vegetables and spices, and it wouldn’t be too bad.”

Eirik Granqvist working on the taxidermy of Blue Babe.

To make the stew for roughly eight people, Guthrie cut off a small part of the bison’s neck, where the meat had frozen while fresh. “When it thawed, it gave off an unmistakable beef aroma, not unpleasantly mixed with a faint smell of the earth in which it was found, with a touch of mushroom,” he once wrote.

They then added a generous amount of garlic and onions, along with carrots and potatoes, to the aged meat. Couple that with wine, and it became a full-fledged dinner.

Guthrie, who is a hunter, says he wasn’t deterred by the thousands of years the bison had aged, nor the prospect of getting sick. “That would take a very special kind of microorganism [to make me sick],” he says. “And I eat frozen meat all the time, of animals that I kill or my neighbours kill. And they do get kind of old after three years in the freezer.”

Blue Babe is on display at the University of Alaska Museum of the North.

Thankfully, everyone present lived to tell the tale (and the bison remains on display at the University of Alaska Museum of the North). The Blue Babe stew wasn’t unpalatable, either, according to Guthrie. “It tasted a little bit like what I would have expected, with a little bit of wringing of mud,” he says. “But it wasn’t that bad. Not so bad that we couldn’t each have a bowl.” He can’t remember if anyone present had seconds, though.

All In One Magazine