South American Cave Paintings Dated to 30,000 Years Ago

Posted on October 14, 2013 | Comments Off on South American Cave Paintings Dated to 30,000 Years Ago

A recent exhibition covered by the press displayed some artifacts from the Serra da Capivara National Park in Brazil.

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A controversy arises because the current paradigm says that people didn’t populate the Americas until 12,000 years ago, but carbon dating techniques have indicated ages of up to 30,000 years old for some of the thousands of cave paintings discovered in the park.

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The local economy would be much improved if the UNESCO World Heritage site could attract more tourists, especially since it is the oldest inhabited site in the Americas (discovered so far.)

Have a great day,

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Posted in Ancient Relics

Decline of Megafauna Due to Climate

Posted on October 13, 2013 | 1 comment

Some experts when pointing to the decline of megafauna instinctively point the finger at human interaction as the cause. After all, they point out, don’t we find human spear points buried in the bones of long dead mammoths?

When real data is consulted, it turns out that the climate is the culprit, at least in Australia.

(Source: Peter Schouten/UNSW)

(Source: Peter Schouten/UNSW)


According to a news article:

There is no evidence to support the idea that humans were primarily responsible for wiping out the extraordinary gigantic animals that once roamed Australia, says a group of Australian and US scientists…

The paper’s authors say there is only firm evidence for about 8 to 14 megafauna species still existing when Aboriginal people arrived. Another 50 species were completely absent from the fossil record of the past 130,000 years…

“There is very strong evidence that climate had a major role in the extinction process, and we have no evidence that humans had a major impact,” says study author Judith Field, an archaeologist from the University of NSW.

Since we have had so much climate research here in the US, would it be possible to perform a study along the same lines and put this controversy to bed already?

Have a great day.

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Posted in Miscellaneous

Ancient Boat-Builders Discovered

Posted on October 12, 2013 | Comments Off on Ancient Boat-Builders Discovered

A few examples of early large boats capable of long voyages have been found, but finding evidence of early constructions sites is not so easy.
Most of the boats that are found are preserved under special circumstances in unique locations, how do you look for construction sites?

An archaeological site in Monmouth, Wales has produced what news reports indicate is a construction site for large catamaran-like boats.

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At one time, the area was under a lake, but as it dried one spot provided Bronze Age Britons (2500 BCE to 800 BCE) both the resources to build large boats and a natural slippery clay soil to slide them out to the water. The boats would have been very stable, apparently more stable that what would be necessary for lake fishing, which raises some questions:
Did the lake have an outlet to the sea?
Are these boats evidence of long-distance trade?

The article says that the area was inhabited for thousands of years, was it another stop on an ancient trade route?

Have a great day.

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Posted in Ancient Relics