guy

More people are doing home DNA genetic testing. Sometimes the results have been surprising. Interestingly, several people have told me they have a small percentage Neanderthal DNA. Although I initially thought that this finding was an error, I am now convinced that it was correct: I had to investigate this further. Modern humans, Neanderthals, and Denisovans all shared a common ancestor called Homo heidelbergensis. Between 300,000 and 400,000 years ago, one group of Homo heidelbergensis left Africa. They expanded into Eurasia and then split: Those that moved west into Europe evolved into Neanderthals. The ones that moved east into Asia became Denisovans. The human ancestors that remained in Africa evolved into our own species—Homo sapiens. And it appears that humans were shagging both Neanderthals and Denisovans. It shouldn't be surprising how close in appearance the Neanderthals were with humans: It appears that humans are more diverse than first appreciated. Below is a good lecture on these relationships among Neanderthals, Denisovans, and humans. https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/understanding/dtcgenetictesting/neanderthaldna/

An interesting view of the Esna Temple revealed:

There have been previous discussions about the use of vanilla in the wine of the Kingdom of Judah. Vanillin is an organic substance that is extracted from the vanilla bean. It can also be found in lower concentrations naturally in grapes and other organic substances. However, the higher concentration of vanillin found in at least five recovered ancient jars can only be attributed to the import of the distant spice vanilla. Here are good articles on the findings. http://www.sci-news.com/archaeology/ancient-vanilla-wine-10794.html https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0266085

It is easy to forget how colorful the ancient world really was. https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/05/restoration-work-reveals-original-colour-and-patterns-in-ancient-egyptian-temple/143605?amp https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/466145.aspx We have had several threads before on the colorful grandeur that was once Ancient Rome:

This study that shows ancient grains were more nutritionally dense than modern grains may answer many questions about the Romans’ ability to have a primarily vegetarian diet. (The previous thread about the gladiator’s vegetarian diet is found below.) Summary: Paleoethnobiologists are helping historians reassess our view of ancient life. Knowing that crops had a greater nutritional content supports the idea that there could have been a greater reliance on a mostly vegetarian diet than previously imagined: https://news.umich.edu/ancient-grains-grant-will-help-u-m-researchers-rethink-roman-diets/

A subject I had never thought about was the long struggle between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens for domination. Here is an interesting article that delves into that struggle: https://www.inverse.com/science/humans-vs-neanderthals Here’s an interesting video that explores the relationship between the two species further:

Roman Amphorae have been discovered while preparing defenses in Odessa, Ukraine: The extant and influence of the Roman Empire was staggering. https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/05/ukrainian-soldiers-find-ancient-amphorae-whilst-digging-defences/143599?amp Here is a good review of the Roman Empire in Ukraine. http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages\R\O\Romans.htm#:~:text=Many Roman merchants settled there,the 2nd to 5th centuries

Many artifacts from the second and third centuries A.D. were unearthed in an underground city in Mardin's Midyat district in Turkey, as shown in this April 16 photo. (Image credit: Photo by Halil Ibrahim Sincar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) Excavation teams discovered that a cave, which was found during works carried out in the historical streets and houses in the district two years ago, opened up into underground corridors that provide passages to different places. (Image credit: Photo by Halil Ibrahim Sincar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) A possible underground city that was a refuge from Romans in Turkey has been discovered. https://www.livescience.com/christians-hid-from-romans-in-underground-city

The Elgin marbles have been a source of controversy. Recovery of the ship that originally carried the marble (but sank) is being further investigated. (Elgin's shipwreck the Mentor) So far, at least, there has been no spectacular finds. The marble pieces had been recovered and taken to the British Museum two centuries ago. Small pieces of nautical wreckage have been recovered, however. (Nautical instrument found in the wreckage) From The Depths Of Despair: Lord Elgin And The Parthenon Sculptures (greekcitytimes.com)

(Fresco of a gambling dice table) Rome and the rest of the ancient world became another place after the sun set. Both enticing and treacherous, the night offered opportunities for food and socializing, but also the dangers of robbery or bodily injury. Here’s an entertaining video on “Bars and Nightlife in Ancient Rome”

Thank goodness things are opening up.

Here is an interesting article on masculinity in Ancient Greece. https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/manhood-in-ancient-greece-battle-blood-and-not-being-a-bottom-1.10787527

Here is a wonderful article on the Latin accents in the ancient world by classical language expert professor Wolfgang de Melo of Oxford. https://antigonejournal.com/2022/05/latin-accent/

An interesting conference In Basel, Switzerland. (I guess see Zoom attendance is available): “Palaeoclimatologists believe to have identified a period of unusually warm and humid weather in Europe and the Mediterranean that expanded from roughly 200 BCE to 150 CE, which they called the ‘Roman Climate Optimum’ or the ‘Roman warm period’. Some historians have linked this overall perseverance of unusually stable and favorable climatic conditions to the expansion of the Roman Empire to its greatest height, and argue that these predominantly warm and humid conditions in large parts of the Empire enabled the delivery of sufficient supply to the growing urban population around the Mediterranean and to the Roman army.” ”This international conference will be the first that is specifically devoted to the notion of a Roman Climate Optimum and its impact on the fate of the Roman Empire.” https://ancientclimate.philhist.unibas.ch/en/event/the-end-of-the-roman-climate-optimum-and-the-disintegration-of-the-roman-empire/

Here’s another article on the exhibit. https://www.lonelyplanet.com/news/pompeii-sexual-erotic-art-exhibition

This is an interesting Roman hoard found in Pewsey that is coming up for auction. A nice siliqua from the usurper Eugenius (reign 392-394 AD) minted in modern Trier, Germany Siliqua from Trier of usurper Magnus Maximus (reign 383-388 AD) Information from the auction site: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-wiltshire-61331388 https://www.noonans.co.uk/auctions/calendar/643/catalogue/

Although possibly apocryphal, this quote by Oscar Wilde is both witty and cautionary: The use of a tax to shape social policy is nothing new. A Bachelor tax was enacted in Mussolini's Italy, for example: Today there are many that feel a tax break on joint marriage income also represents a bachelor tax. An early precedent for the Bachelor tax was imposed by Augustus: Ancient Rome was a source of unusual taxes, indeed. The famous "urine tax" of Nero and Vespasian is remembered even today: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecunia_non_olet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachelor_tax https://taxfitness.com.au/Blog/bachelor-tax

Olea Hadriani is only available at the estate It’s wonderful to imagine sampling olive oil from the olive groves of Hadrian. This includes a rare variety of olives called Albero Bello. This rare variety of olive oil is only available on the estate and not to the general public. “The majority of olive trees used for current production are only a few hundred years old. As many as seven different cultivars of olive trees grow on the estate, including one totally unique variety called Albero Bello, or the beautiful tree. Dating to the 13th century, the tree stands 52 feet tall. Last month, the villa produced special olive oil made only from the olives of this nearly thousand-year-old giant.” https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/emperor-hadrian-villa

There have been several posts before about possible bubonic plague in Ancient Rome. (See posts below.) Rufus of Ephesus (70-110 AD) had mentioned earlier plagues that were possibly a form of bubonic plague. These earlier plagues described by Rufus were much less virulent than the later suspected Bubonic Plague of Justinian (541-549 AD) and Black Death that devastated Europe (1347-1352). These plagues of Rufus may have even been some other disease entirely. It is thought by many that black rats and fleas were important in the spread of the bacterium (Yersinia pestis) that caused bubonic plagues. Finding evidence of ancient black rat populations would support the presence of ancient bubonic plague, at least during the reign of the Eastern Emperor Justinian. This study shows that black rat population both waxed and waned, most notably during and after the Justinian Plague. This study supports the belief that at least the Justinian Plague (among all of the ancient plagues) was a form of the bubonic plague. The plagues were able to quickly spread thru developed societies that facilitated trade (and disease) from more distant locations. Grain transport, for example, would bring both needed food supplies and infected rats over a long distance. The plague would diminish either because these trade networks became disrupted or (less likely) climate change impacted on the rat populations. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-30009-z https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/05/220503141339.htm

Dr. Francis Fukuyama is a thoughtful economist and political scientist. I found his paragraph from the Wall Street Journal (April 31, 2022) somewhat surprising, however. I found this paragraph wrong. Let's analyze it further. He insists that in 221 BCE China (not Ancient Rome) was the first society that developed the "foundational elements of a modern state", "1,800 years before [European societies] started to evolve modern states. What are his criteria for a modern state? A merit-based civil service: The success of both the Roman Republic and Empire depended on a developed and sophisticated civil service and bureaucracy. Centralized taxation: Rome was notorious for its bureaucratic tax system Uniform weights and measures: The success of Roman engineering was dependent on a highly accurate system of weights and engineering. Usually Dr. Fukuyama can be very thoughtful in his writing. This paragraph, however, was just plain silly.

Further insights have been found about the site. The attached article has some wonderful pictures: (Evidence of cremation) https://www.bishopsstortfordindependent.co.uk/news/fascinating-finds-reveal-bishops-stortfords-past-as-a-roma-9251991/

Here is a wonderful video on the Gallic Roman Empire (260-274 AD).

Archaeologists hope to discover more about the story of Eildon Hill North. The site in southern Scotland may have been occupied much later than previously thought. Eildon Hill North in the Scottish Borders was a large Bronze Age fort prior to the arrival of the Romans. It was thought to be abandoned when the Romans built the nearby fortress of Trimontium in the 1st century AD. (See previous post below.) Although evidence of a Roman signal tower associated with Trimontium was found at the summit of Eildon Hill North, Eildon Hill North was thought to be otherwise reduced in both function and importance with the Roman invasion. New archaeological evidence suggests, however, that a thriving community persisted at Eildon Hill North possibly during the Roman occupation or later. (Map showing close proximity of the Roman fort Trimontium and the Bronze Age community at Eildon Hill North: 2.6 miles or 4.2 km) https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-61258228

The use of absorption spectrometry has discovered faded pigment on ancient monuments. This has allowed researchers to recreate the original appearance of monuments long faded by time. Although this is an older study, it proves that the monuments in Ancient Rome were brightly colored spectacles. We may need to reassess our view of how the Arch of Titus (with it’s famous menorah) and other monuments such as the Arch of Constantine (see post below) appeared in Ancient Rome. Ancient Rome was a city of bright colors and gaudy facades more akin to modern Las Vegas than the city of sterile white marble depicted by Hollywood. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.haaretz.com/amp/archaeology/MAGAZINE-archaeologists-reconstruct-how-the-arch-of-titus-looked-in-full-color-1.5449144

This is an interesting article about the new isotope-based technique to measure the age of antique wood. Previously, dating the wood was based on the rings of the tree (known as dendrochronology). (See example above.) A tree ring carefully dissected prior to chemical analysis. Credit: UK Oak Project Summary: This new dating technique will be helpful to date older wood samples in Britain. https://www.swansea.ac.uk/press-office/news-events/news/2022/04/ancient-oak-trees-to-shed-light-on-the-climate-of-the-past-4500-years.php