Viggen

This July, Jacques Cinq-Mars, a renowned archeologist living in Longueuil, is heading to Beringia - a vast territory that once spanned the Yukon, Alaska and Siberia - in hopes of resolving a controversy he unleashed nearly 20 years ago when he chanced upon a curious-looking cave in the Yukon's Keele Mountain Range, perched on a ridge high above the Bluefish River. Here, at a site known as the Bluefish Caves, Cinq-Mars's team discovered something that would turn archeology on its ear and has fuelled debate ever since - a chipped mammoth bone that appeared to have been fashioned into a small harpoon point. Radiocarbon dating showed the bone to be 28,000 years old. The find stunned archeologists who had long presumed the first people to enter the Americas did so 13,000 years ago via a land bridge from Siberia after the end of the last Ice Age. Until that point, routes from Alaska down into the Americas were blocked off by glaciers up to four kilometres thick, which would have cut off any possibility of migration for thousands of years. Cinq-Mars, who has been exploring Beringia since his student days in 1966, believes the region was not only a way-point for people migrating into the Americas, but also a homeland for aboriginal people for millennia as they sought refuge during the Ice Age. If he is right, his finds at the Bluefish Caves and even older mammoth bone flakes found by another Canadian team at nearby Beringian sites mean people were already trundling around in the Americas long before the Ice Age. (Radiocarbon dating puts the age of the mammoth bone flakes found by the Archeological Survey of Canada team at 40,000 years old.) Nearly 20 years after the initial mammoth bone find was publicized in the early 1990s, however, much of the archeological establishment remains skeptical about Cinq-Mars's discoveries in Beringia. ...you can read the full article at the Montreal Gazette

I got myself a 22" Monitor and what a pleasure it is to have that big display in front of you. I did not get rid of my old 19" Monitor though, but instead set up a Dual Monitor display. My GeForce 7950 has two DVI connections and so it is a simple plug and play procedure. Within the Nvidia Graphic Settings it is a breeze to set up the two monitors the way you like. You can have both monitors display only one area (an extension so to speak) or you can have two seperate individual Desktops, which i have choosen. So right now i have in front of me the 22" monitor were i type this blog entry and on the right i have my 19" monitor watching a youtube movie. It is just wonderful. This will also help me allot when coding too, as i can code on the one monitor and browse, chat, watch on the second. I can only recommend to anyone to go Dual Monitor, it is such a time saver!

An ancient Egyptian rubbish dump offers fascinating glimpses into life in the City of the Sharp-Nosed Fish. Thanks to nearly half a million papyrus fragments uncovered in Hellenic Egyptian rubbish dumps which are being gradually decoded, however, we are, quite literally, salvaging fragments of ordinary people's lives from the dustbin of history. The rubbish dumps in question belonged to the provincial but thriving Egyptian city of Oxyrhynchus (City of the Sharp-Nosed Fish), about 100 miles south of modern Cairo, which was established during the pharaonic New Kingdom and became Hellenised in Ptolemic times, but was eventually reduced to a single standing column. Most of the unearthed documents, discovered by two Victorian archaeologists, date from the time when Egypt was part of the Roman empire, and include a treasure trove of lost classics and non-canonical gospels. full article at the Guardian

...DDickey, maybe you ordered just a bit too early, because we have currently a caesar giveaway for our newsletter readers http://www.unrv.com/newsletter/newsletter-edition14.php The give away closes today... cheers viggen

When a sinkhole opened up after a pipe broke underneath the convent and school of the Instituto Sacra Famiglia on Rome's Via Casilina, the sisters there received a surprise--about 1,200 surprises, in fact. The partial collapse of the building's foundation revealed five large chambers in which the remains of more than a thousand individuals had been interred almost simultaneously sometime at the beginning of the third century A.D. Perhaps equally surprising is the location in which they were found. The convent under which the burial chambers are located sits atop the vast catacomb complex of San Pietro and Marcellinus. With three distinct gallery levels, the deepest of which is 36 feet (11m) below the surface, it is one of the largest such burial complexes in the city. But the newly discovered burial chambers pre-date the extensive catacomb complex, which was believed to have been used by Christians from the mid-third century A.D. with permission from the emperor Gallienus who was anxious to make peace with them after the savage persecution they suffered at the hands his father, Valerian. And although the famed archaeologist Giovanni Battista de Rossi explored and recorded the catacomb at the end of the nineteenth century, there is no indication that he ever even knew of the presence of these chambers. full article at Archaeology.org

The Vienna Life Ball, Europe's most colourful charity event will take place again tomorrow. This is the craziest, sexiest, strangest ball you will ever see. It started as an AIDS Charity Event, and exploded into a fashion extravaganza that you dont see on the catwalks of Paris, Milan or New York. Unlike the Vienna Opera Ball who is the most glamarous event in Europe, the Life ball is the most colorful one. There is a huge catwalk for the first part of the event, were outside of the Vienna city hall a massive show with free entrance for anyone takes place, and behold, no unknown little designer present their glitzy stuff, no the big ones, from Thierry Mugler to Jean-Paul Gaultier, from Vivienne Westwood to Versace, each year one can present their craziest outfits. This year its the lingerie gods of AGENT PROVOCATEUR`s turn. This ball is not only the biggest charity event in Europe but also a gathering of stars and starlets of the crazy sort. If you like outrageous fancy dress costumes, this is the place to be!

Indiana Jones managed to retrieve the trinket he was after in the opening moments of "Raiders of the Lost Ark." He pretty much wrecked everything else in the ancient South American temple where the little gold idol had rested for millennia. Though he preaches research and good science in the classroom, the world's most famous archaeologist often is an acquisitive tomb raider in the field with a scorched-earth policy about what he leaves behind. While actual archaeologists like the guy and his movies, they wouldn't necessarily want to work alongside him on a dig. "If you asked these people why they were becoming archaeologists, it always starts off with Indiana Jones. It actually converted a number of people. They got their initial interest in archaeology from Indiana Jones," Zimansky said. ...interesting article at the Herald Tribune

German researchers claim to have found the remains of the palace of the Queen of Sheba

Make sure to read this engaging interview with Ms. Lawrence on this most recent book, her "Roman Mysteries" series and more... Caroline Lawrence Interview

A list at the Times Here are 10 things you thought you knew about the Romans but didn

Happy Birthday

Aarchaeologists were yesterday celebrating the discovery of 27 2,000-year-old tombs in Italy's "Valley of the Dead". The tombs, some dating back to the 7th century BC, were found by chance while builders carried out work. Covering more than 400 acres, the area was the burial ground for the Etruscan tribes who predated the Romans. Maria Tecla Castaldi, an archaeologist, said: "This is the most exciting discovery here in decades. full article at the Scotsman

One of the Vikings' most important trading centres has been discovered. The settlement at Woodstown in County Waterford is estimated to be about 1,200 years old. It was discovered during archaeological excavations for a road by-pass for Waterford city, which was founded by the Vikings. full article at the BBC

I have a season ticket for our local "film nouveau" cinema. It is relatively cheap and i have that way the chance to see outstanding films made with little money and stars, but great performances, stories and emotions with my friends that i wouldnt bother to watch otherwise.. The movie that moved me the most this year was The Diving Bell and the Butterfly The film describes Bauby's life after suffering a massive stroke at the age of 43, which left him with a condition known as locked-in syndrome. The condition paralyzed him; his only remaining means of communication was the blinking of his left eyelid. The movie i look forward the most this year is the newest Bond "Quantum of Solace", partly because i think Craig is the perfect guy for the 21st century bond and partly because many szenes are done in Austria, so we get plenty of infos daily in our local press... cheers viggen

I would assume, people that worry about things like "outlawing butter", are probably those that never get their ass of the couch, eat fast food, smoke and blame their louzy health condition on butter... cheers viggen

The Welsh have more in common with sun-kissed glamour pusses like actress Penelope Cruz and footballer Christiano Ronaldo than pale- faced Germans like Helmet Kohl, according to an academic. Professor John Koch suggests the Welsh can trace their ancestry back to Portugal and Spain, debunking the century-old received wisdom that our forebears came from Iron Age Germany and Austria. full article at IC Wales

Archaeologists and scientists have revealed that 1,000 years ago cod was traded extraordinary distances across Europe, from the Norwegian Arctic to England and the Baltic. The research may force yet another revision of the image of the Vikings, from longship ram-raiders, to mainly traders and colonising farmers, to the fishmongers of Europe. Vikings in York were eating cod caught off the Norwegian coast. full article at the Guardian

regarding the American Revolution, ...IMO, the most important events were, when George Washington showed again and again, that he didn`t want personal power... ..he could have become king, he could have become dictator, if he wished he would have been called Diddly Duddly Dawah, he was THE MAN at the time, but instead he stepped down, created a nation, and i mean CREATED... ...I think George Washington was Americas greatest contribution to the western world... without him, no USA today.... cheers viggen

Happy Birthday mighty Ursus... Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. (Christopher Robin to Pooh Bear) have a good year!

...omg, i have no idea how that company pulled this stunt off... Now, Snoop Dogg one of the "bad guys" in the music world is imitating german folk singer Roy Black, one of the most famous german Schlager Singer of the 60s and 70s (Schlager are the exact opposite of rap, it is sweet, melodic, romantic, and appeals to the 60plus generation) ...and then came , i mean honestly those Rappers seem to do anything for money ...or on the other hand of course, this might just be the only meaningful performance in his life

Below are the newest releases for May (not really much new, mostly paperpack versions... The Myths of Rome: Second Edition (Paperback) Rome's Gothic Wars: From the Third Century to Alaric (Paperback) Defying Rome: The Rebels of Roman Britain (Paperback) The Digest of Justinian, Volume 1 (Paperback) The Digest of Justinian, Volume 2 (Paperback) An Imperial Possession: Britain in the Roman Empire, 54 BC - AD 409 Antony & Cleopatra (Hardcover) Roman Dress and the Fabrics of Roman Culture Ancient Rome and Modern America ...i also updated the bestselling book section for March...

Thanks to living surrounded by mountains, tap water here is so excellent, most people in other places dont get that quality in bottles, so tap water when at home... I actually do not drink alcohol, so sorry nothing spectacular here ,because water from my mountains it is... btw. i dont drink alohol because i am an antialcoholic, i just havent found any alcoholic drinks that tastes nice, beer is too bitter, spirits just buahhh, and everything else, either too sweet, too hot, too bitter, too "insert any word that describes, "i dont like it"... however, once a year i actually do drink an alcoholic drink, now that i think about it, we call it here "Sturm - (german for storm)", which is the earliest form of the wine, so when it is still fizzy and sweet, but that only happens (for obvious reasons) once a year and after the second glas i have my only hangover of the year! cheers viggen

The Contributer List has been updated today! Thanks a million for you efforts, and if you think we missed some of your contributions feel free to contact me, so we can fix it.

strange how J

Finally i understand how this works in the US, especially the last sentence made me giggle... click