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Archaeology/prehistory thread anyone?

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    Archaeology/prehistory thread anyone?

    Is there any interest in a possible catch-all thread for items of archaeological or pre-historical interest, along the lines of the astronomy thread? Possibly not, I suppose, as the field doesn't have comparable popularity as a hobby.

    Anyway, with no hook or topicality, here's the Wikipedia page on the Happisburgh footprints, which I just read about in Bill Bryson's The Road to Little Dribbling. It's mind-blowing: footprints made not far short of a million years ago (the oldest ever found outside Africa), hidden for all that time until discovered a few years ago, then available for research for only a few months before the tide destroys them. A metaphorical shooting star, if you will.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happisburgh_footprints

    I've only recently realised just how much new stuff is being discovered about pre-historical periods, thanks to the ever more ingenious science and technology and the brilliance of the people who work in the field. The range of scientific disciplines which can shed light on the long disappeared past is awesome. I have been captivated by Cyprian Broodbank's The Making of the Middle Sea, a panorama of the pre-history of the Mediterranean from the early evolution of man and other hominids up to the dawn of classical Greece.

    #2
    Archaeology/prehistory thread anyone?

    I honestly don't keep up to date with new developments, but cool stuff like the above and like this:

    http://westerndigs.org/cliff-dwelling-in-utah-found-to-have-unique-decoration-dinosaur-tracks/

    Always make me happy.

    (I especially love anything that points to prehistoric peoples being well-traveled and with wide reaching trade routes.)

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      #3
      Archaeology/prehistory thread anyone?

      I saw the dinosaur footprints national monument in Massachusetts. It's kind of worn away now.

      Dinosaur footprints are the "state fossil" of Massachusetts.

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        #4
        Archaeology/prehistory thread anyone?

        I especially love anything that points to prehistoric peoples being well-traveled and with wide reaching trade routes
        The Broodbank book I mentioned above is good on that. For example, it explains how useful obsidian is as an indicator. It was a very useful material for stone age people, and appears all around the Med in stone age sites despite occurring naturally in relatively few locations.

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          #5
          Archaeology/prehistory thread anyone?

          We were on holidays last May in Valentia Island in Kerry and were delighted to discover the tetrapod footprints that are preserved on a slab of slate near the sea shore - 400m years old from a time when that part of Ireland was at the level of the equator.
          Remarkable.
          Even more remarkable was that it has received so little publicity and we became aware of it by accident when we were there.

          http://www.theringofkerry.com/tetrapod-tracks-on-valentia

          The footprints were recognised by a Swiss student geologist Iwan Stossel who deserves to be honoured - most accounts don't name him.

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