Posts By lane
In Prehistoric Britain Cannibalism Was Practical and Ritualistic | Observations, Scientific American Blog Network
BORDEAUX—Mealtime in Gough’s cave in Somerset, England, 14,700 years ago, was not for the faint of heart. Humans were on the menu, for consumption by their own kind. Anthropologists have long studied evidence for cannibalism in the human fossil record, but establishing that it occurred and ascertaining why people ate each other have proved difficult tasks. A new analysis provides fresh insights into the human defleshing that occurred at this site and what motivated it—and hints that cannibalism may have been more common in prehistory than previously thought.
Neolithic beeswax dental filling may be oldest found
Neolithic beeswax dental filling may be oldest found
Researchers at the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy have discovered what may be the oldest example of therapeutic palliative dentistry in the 6500-year-old canine of a young man. It’s a beeswax filling that covers sensitive dentin exposed by wear and a vertical crack, and it’s so subtle that it took scientists more than a hundred years to notice it. The wear is profound enough that it was probably not incurred in regular chewing of food but from tougher activities the Neolithic put their teeth to, like making tools or softening leather.
via The History Blog » Blog Archive » Neolithic beeswax dental filling may be oldest found.
Mystery surrounds British “Frankenstein” mummies
Researchers are delving into the mystery surrounding two 3,000-year-old skeletons which appear to be made up of at least six different people who died hundreds of years apart.
The researchers now believe that large extended families, living under one roof, may have shared their homes with the mummified remains of their dead ancestors, before deliberately putting the bodies together to look like single corpses – possibly in an attempt to demonstrate the uniting of different families.
Professor Mike Parker Pearson, an archaeologist at University College London who led the research, said: “It looks like these individuals had been cut up and put back together to look like one person.”
via Mystery surrounds British “Frankenstein” mummies | A Blog About History – History News.
Stone Age people may have battled against a zombie apocalypse | MNN – Mother Nature Network
But heres the creepy thing: many of the 10,000-year-old skulls appear to have been separated from their spines long after their bodies had already begun to decompose. Why would this skull-smashing ritual be performed so long after individuals had died? Did they only pose a threat to the living long after their original burial and death?
via Stone Age people may have battled against a zombie apocalypse | MNN – Mother Nature Network.
Neanderthals used feathers as ‘personal ornaments’
Our evolutionary cousins the Neanderthals were harvesting feathers from birds in order to use them as personal ornaments, a study suggests.
The authors say the result provides yet more evidence that Neanderthal thinking ability was similar to our own.
The analysis even suggests they had a preference for dark feathers, which they selected from birds of prey and corvids – such as ravens and rooks.
via BBC News – Neanderthals used feathers as ‘personal ornaments’.
A mandatory $180 art school textbook about “prehistory to 1800” with no pictures, thanks to a lack of mysterious “copyright clearances” – Boing Boing
And you thought the books at GPRC were expensive. At least they look impressive and have pretty pictures. Try Ontario College of Art and Design.
53 Years of Nuclear Testing in 14 Minutes: A Time Lapse Film by Japanese Artist Isao Hashimoto | Open Culture
It’s strange what can make an impact. Sometimes a message needs to be loud and over-the-top to come across, like punk rock or the films of Oliver Stone. In other cases, cool and quiet works much better.
Take the new time lapse map created by Japanese artist Isao Hashimoto. It is beautiful in a simple way and eerie as it documents the 2,053 nuclear explosions that took place between 1945 and 1998.
Reefer Madness (1938)
ah the good old days. This was on the level of Rocky Horror. So bad its fun. Any one care for some toast?
the burden | Fine Art Schlock
Chris Burden embodies everything i love and hate about the fine art world. his work is sensational and violent and ‘destructo ‘- total BOY stuff. i love it to death. but, it’s also completely and utterly shallow sensationalistic petty painful HUBRIS. he often reminds me of those horrid jerks we all met in school who thought they were the world’s most important and talented ‘artists’ but were actually insane stupid asshole jerks. you know the type. we all do. he’s like a walking breathing cliche.
read more via the burden | Madame Pickwick Art Blog.