An interesting question, and one I've wondered about myself from time to time. Archaeologist Becky Wragg Sykes (@LeMoustier), a postdoctoral researcher working on Neanderthal archaeology, responds in a column at The Guardian Online:
Sifting the Evidence
By Suzi Gage
Hosted by The Guardian
Who invented clothes? A Palaeolithic archaeologist answers
[Excerpted]
"Who invented clothes?" It's one of those brilliant questions that children ask, before they learn that the big things we wonder about rarely have simple answers. It's the kind of thing that archaeologists like me get put on the spot about when chatting to kids, and we love to have a crack at answering.
there's a whole lot we know about the invention of clothing. Many TV reconstructions and book illustrations of stone age (Palaeolithic) people really don't do them justice. People were already making finely worked bone needles 20,000 years ago, probably for embroidery as much as sewing animal skins, like the thousands of ivory beads and fox teeth that covered the bodies of a girl and a boy buried at Sunghir, Russia, around 28,000 years ago. This was some serious bling, representing years of accumulated work.
And – caveman stereotypes aside – stone age clothes weren't just animal skins. We've known since the 1990s that people were weaving fabric back then, revealed by impressions in baked clay from the sites of Pavlov and Dolni Vestonice in the Czech Republic. We don't actually know for sure that these were used for clothes, but the materials weren't heavy duty, and the variety in weaving styles suggests a long tradition. And at Dzudzuana Cave in Georgia, 30,000 year old spun plant fibres were found which had been dyed: pink, black and turquoise blue!
But what about the really old stuff (because 30,000 years ago isn't really old in human evolution)? As Harriet asks, who were the first fashionistas? People are still debating what, if anything, our close relatives the Neanderthals were wearing.
Neanderthals lived in Europe for much longer than our own species, and for some of that time, it really was an ice-blasted world. Research into how mammals – including humans – keep their body temperature at healthy levels suggests that even during the warmer parts of the last ice age, they would have needed decent body coverings. Skins thrown over their shoulders – Palaeo-pashminas? – wouldn't have cut it.
Another study looked at what modern day hunter-gatherers wear according to the local climate, and built a model predicting what Neanderthals would have needed to wear to stay warm. Even after correcting for Neanderthals being able to cope better with the cold, the results suggested they would have needed to cover at least 80% of their body during cold periods, especially hands and feet.
Quite astonishingly, there is physical evidence that Neanderthals more than 100,000 years ago were tanning animal skins – a stone tool from the site of Neumark-Nord in Germany has preserved scraps of organic material stuck to it that were soaked in tannin, the substance in oak bark used to make leather. It was probably part of the tool handle that got wet while the hides were being worked.
Although they lacked fine needles of the sort found much later, Neanderthals didn't need these to sew their leather, as their abilities to make stone and wood tools were easily enough to produce a sharp piercing object for threading thong.
Further back in time things get more fuzzy, but also really interesting. We have to get down and dirty – with lice. Body lice are adapted to living in clothes, and so must have evolved once humans started to wear them. DNA evidence suggests this happened at least 170,000 years ago and so people must have been wearing clothes even earlier than the oldest archeological evidence.
And here's the intriguing thing: when we get back this far, hundreds of thousands of years ago, we're talking about multiple kinds of humans. Even 40,000 years ago, there were still three "species" we know of: early members of our lineage, the Neanderthals and the mysterious Denisovans, a species represented by fragmentary remains of three individuals from one cave in Siberia. Given that very recent (and ongoing) genetic analysis is showing breeding between all three groups, very likely at different times and places, it's quite possible that the lice we have now hopped from one group to another, even if they weren't all wearing clothes all the time.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
So, Who Discovered Australia?
What does "discovered" mean? Was the land "discovered" by the prehistoric human arrivals, who came 60,000 to 40,000 years ago (with some disputed evidence claiming a date of 120,000 plus years ago...) and stayed? Was the land discovered by the first people who laid claim to it in the name of some sovereign or other? What about casual visitors, or shipwrecked souls?
This is interesting, but to my way of thinking who "discovered" Australia was settled when the first "aborgines" arrived.
From The Independent.co.uk
Ancient African coins lead experts to question who discovered islands
Sydney Monday 20 May 2013
This is interesting, but to my way of thinking who "discovered" Australia was settled when the first "aborgines" arrived.
From The Independent.co.uk
Ancient African coins lead experts to question who discovered islands
Sydney Monday 20 May 2013 GM Josh Friedel Lecture at Southwest Chess Club!
Hola everyone!
While the weather today is horrid (cold and raining), the news is great!
GM Josh Friedel who now resides in Wisconsin (didn't know that) will be giving a lecture at my adopted Chess Club, Southwest Chess Club, on May 30, 2013. Here are the particulars:
We are pleased to announce that Grandmaster Josh Friedel is once again coming to our club. He will give a 3-hour lecture at 7 pm, May 30, at our normal club meeting location in Hales Corners.
GM Friedel is currently the #1 player in Wisconsin, #40 in the US, and has participated in the US Championships (6th place in 2009). Professional website.
Josh will be presenting a lecture entitled: Practical Tournament Situations (with a question and answer session following the lecture).
There will be a $5 charge for adults (club members or non-members, pay at door), and Free admission for Juniors (18 and under).
Southwest Chess Club meets at the Hales Corners Village Hall Police Station, located at 5635 South New Berlin Road, Hales Corners, Wisconsin, in the downstairs Community Room. Club open at 6 PM.
Southwest Chess Club website.
Southwest Chess Club blog.
While the weather today is horrid (cold and raining), the news is great!
GM Josh Friedel who now resides in Wisconsin (didn't know that) will be giving a lecture at my adopted Chess Club, Southwest Chess Club, on May 30, 2013. Here are the particulars:
We are pleased to announce that Grandmaster Josh Friedel is once again coming to our club. He will give a 3-hour lecture at 7 pm, May 30, at our normal club meeting location in Hales Corners.
GM Friedel is currently the #1 player in Wisconsin, #40 in the US, and has participated in the US Championships (6th place in 2009). Professional website.
Josh will be presenting a lecture entitled: Practical Tournament Situations (with a question and answer session following the lecture).
There will be a $5 charge for adults (club members or non-members, pay at door), and Free admission for Juniors (18 and under).
Southwest Chess Club meets at the Hales Corners Village Hall Police Station, located at 5635 South New Berlin Road, Hales Corners, Wisconsin, in the downstairs Community Room. Club open at 6 PM.
Southwest Chess Club website.
Southwest Chess Club blog.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Moore, Oklahoma: Small and Large Miracles
You've no doubt heard of the horrific F4 tornado that devasted a large swatch of Moore, Oklahoma yesterday afternoon as parents were at work and children were in school.
The death toll is grim, injuries worse. The destruction is - unimaginable. Tonight NBC has a special report on the latest.
Miraculously, in one badly damaged school everyone was safe. Unfortunately, in another grade school many young children (K through 3rd grade) were killed or seriously injured as the school was totally destroyed.
No basements to hide in. To save money. No basements put in, or storm shelters, either, because well, it just costs too much. Nobody wants to pay higher taxes to protect our children...
Teachers -- here in Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and the Republicans have made them PUBLIC ENEMY #1 - greedy bastards and bitches only ripping off the taxpayers while not giving a hoot about the kids they were "supposed" to be teaching -- teachers in Moore risked their lives and limbs, using their bodies as human shields over their students. Some of them were killed. Heroine after heroine, because these days as you know, in the United States most teachers are women, and therefore being a teacher has somehow become a second-rate career choice, meant only for those who can't do anything better, tsk tsk, people who are lazy and corrupt and no good and lousy teachers not worth the incredible salaries and benefit packages they all receive. Yeah - do you know any teacher who's a millionaire? I sure the hell do not! But today that's the fashionable attitude toward these protectors of our children, encouraged as gospel truth by those almighty bible thumping gospel-spewing hypocrites of the Tea Party. These saviors of our children are Persona Non Grata and if you believe all the propaganda from the nut cases on the far right, they are gutter garbage.
Thanks to NBC for showing so many of these heroic teachers on commercial television this evening and telling their stories. Thanks to the press for having the guts to do the same on line and in print. How much is the life of a child worth, that politicians in Oklahoma wouldn't come up with a program to pay for storm shelters to be added to schools? Did the politicians' aides do benefit-costs analyses that I learned how to do in Econ 101 in 1976 and conclude that spending millions of dollars to save childrens' lives in school buildings wasn't worth the cost? How much is the life of twenty - or more - children worth? Ask yourselves that question, taxpayers...
I salute the heroic teachers of Moore, Oklahoma, who laid it all on the line to save "their" children - our children - their pupils.
By
From The Mail Online
There is one other story I want to share with you. You probably don't know, because I did not start this blog until April, 2007 and the last of my doggies, Tasha, had died more than 3 years before. As I built this house in the winter-1989 through summer-1990, I already owned two dogs, both dogs that I saved from uncaring owners. There was little Spencer, a very expensive "peek-a-poo" with a bad attitude, and the loving but nervous and jumpy Jocques, a miniature Schnauzer who was terrified in thunder storms. They - and I - moved into this house in August, 1990. A year or so later, I saw a story on television about a brave heroine of a dog, a resident at the time at the Milwaukee Humane Society, who had been rescued with a full litter of pups from underneath the porch of an abandoned house in one of the poorest, crime-ridden areas of the city. She not only nursed her pups until they were weaned and all of them successfully adopted, she also subsequently nursed other puppies who were found abandoned -- pups who were not even hers. Well, about me and 10,000 other people jammed the lines of the Humane Society offering to adopt this mamma dog. Mamma dog was long gone by the time I got through, but I was invited to come down and look at the other dogs and, of course, bleeding heart liberal and soft-touch that I am, I did go down the very next night. I rooked a friend into taking me there and saw 4 dogs I wanted to adopt. Impossible, of course. I did adopt one - my sweet natured, gigantic and clumsy lug of a Doberman-Brown Lab mix, Tasha, who was 11 months old at the time and did lots of chewing damage around the house until she was done "teething." LOL! It was love at first sight.
Well, I won't go into all the details. My heart was broken when Spencer died during a horrible brain seizure that happened in March, 1999. And then, Jocques was diagnosed with canine diabetes and went blind during a critical episode and spent 4 days at an animal hospital. Thousands of dollars later, I brought a blind Jocques home. He survived for 13 more months. I was not able to give him his shots of insulin 2x a day -- my hands shook too much and my nervousness transmitted to Jocques instantly, of course. So, instead, I hired a veternarian technician to come to the house 2x a day, every day, and paid $300 a month to have this service performed for me. I have to say that Jocques loved Laurie, my tech, and she loved him back fiercely. When I called her the day he passed and broke down crying as I gave her the news, she broke down crying too. Sweet, wonderful, loving Laurie. I will always be grateful to her for her fine care of Jocques those last months of his life.
Tasha was getting older. She was getting grey hair (just like moi), and she was slowing down, and had bad cataracts. She could no longer jump up on the bed at night to share it with me, and so I bought her a feather bed to sleep on and put it as close to the bed as I could but placed so I wouldn't step on her when I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom (you know, us post-menopausal women, we have to pee in the middle of the night sometimes...). One day, Tasha couldn't get up. Her legs wouldn't hold her up.
So, I know about the fierce permanent unseverable bonds that exist between a human and her doggies, my faithful companions for many years, who had the amazing ability to know when I needed to be comforted because of various heart aches, or when I was sick and ailing, or when I was angry, and happy, or sad.
So, I hope this news video will bring tears to your eyes, as it did to mine, and warm your heart, too:
At Newsmax
An Oklahoma tornado survivor found her missing dog among the rubble of her house and was reunited on video while being interviewed by CBS News. Footage of the buried dog and his owner are going viral on social media.
Barbara Garcia tells the story of sitting on a stool in her bathroom clutching her dog while waiting for the tornado to pass. She said the electricity went out at the same time she felt the stool move from underneath her as the tornado hit. She “rolled around a little bit” and called for her dog. He didn’t come.
In the video, as CBS News’ Anna Werner asks Garcia her what she thinks of the devastation, the reporter suddenly exclaims, “the dog!” and the camera moves to reveal a scruffy face peeking out from the rubble.
Garcia asks the news crew to help her rescue him, and as they pull away the rubble, the dog crawls out and stands while his owner pets him.
Garcia thanks God, then says, “Well I thought God just answered one prayer to let me be OK, but he answered both of them. Because this was my second prayer,” she said, referring to her little dog, who appears to walk away without even a limp.
Emergency crews continued to search the wreckage of Moore, Okla., on Tuesday after an F4 tornado hit the town Monday. At least 24 people were killed by the storm. Earlier reports put the toll at 51 deaths, but it was revised after officials said many people were counted twice.
President Obama called the tornado “one of the most destructive” in history and declared that Oklahoma “needs to get everything it needs right away.”
The twister followed a similar path of a tornado that hit the area in May 1999. This was the fourth tornado to hit Moore since 1998.
The destruction comes almost exactly two years after a deadly tornado hit Joplin, Mo., killing 158 people.
 |
| An aerial view shows Briarwood Elementary School with vehicles thrown about after Monday's tornado, Tuesday, May 21, 2013, in Moore, Okla. At least 24 people, including nine children, were killed in the massive tornado that flattened homes and a school in Moore, on Monday afternoon. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) MORE PHOTOS OF THE DESTRUCTION AT OREGONLIVE.COM. |
The death toll is grim, injuries worse. The destruction is - unimaginable. Tonight NBC has a special report on the latest.
Miraculously, in one badly damaged school everyone was safe. Unfortunately, in another grade school many young children (K through 3rd grade) were killed or seriously injured as the school was totally destroyed.
No basements to hide in. To save money. No basements put in, or storm shelters, either, because well, it just costs too much. Nobody wants to pay higher taxes to protect our children...
Teachers -- here in Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and the Republicans have made them PUBLIC ENEMY #1 - greedy bastards and bitches only ripping off the taxpayers while not giving a hoot about the kids they were "supposed" to be teaching -- teachers in Moore risked their lives and limbs, using their bodies as human shields over their students. Some of them were killed. Heroine after heroine, because these days as you know, in the United States most teachers are women, and therefore being a teacher has somehow become a second-rate career choice, meant only for those who can't do anything better, tsk tsk, people who are lazy and corrupt and no good and lousy teachers not worth the incredible salaries and benefit packages they all receive. Yeah - do you know any teacher who's a millionaire? I sure the hell do not! But today that's the fashionable attitude toward these protectors of our children, encouraged as gospel truth by those almighty bible thumping gospel-spewing hypocrites of the Tea Party. These saviors of our children are Persona Non Grata and if you believe all the propaganda from the nut cases on the far right, they are gutter garbage.
Thanks to NBC for showing so many of these heroic teachers on commercial television this evening and telling their stories. Thanks to the press for having the guts to do the same on line and in print. How much is the life of a child worth, that politicians in Oklahoma wouldn't come up with a program to pay for storm shelters to be added to schools? Did the politicians' aides do benefit-costs analyses that I learned how to do in Econ 101 in 1976 and conclude that spending millions of dollars to save childrens' lives in school buildings wasn't worth the cost? How much is the life of twenty - or more - children worth? Ask yourselves that question, taxpayers...
I salute the heroic teachers of Moore, Oklahoma, who laid it all on the line to save "their" children - our children - their pupils.
By
Jessica Hartogs /
CBS News/ May 21, 2013, 4:48 PM From The Mail Online
'I love you, please don't die with me': Hero teacher who shielded students with her body in bathroom stall at Plaza Towers school reveals the children's terror as monster tornado tore down the building around them
- Seven children have been killed at Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Oklahoma
- One little girl told how she clung to her school desk as the tornado roared through the small town on Monday
- Fourth-grader Damien Kline said teacher Rhonda Crosswhite saved his life as she sheltered the children in the bathroom stalls while the school collapsed
- One rescuer broke down as he told how they lifted a car to find a teacher underneath, her body covering three children
By Louise Boyle
|
These are just a few of the stories that you can find online this evening about our heroic teachers who, in some cases, gave all to save the lives of their students. Meanwhile, here in Wisconsin Scott Walker and his Republican majority continue to war on women and children.
There is one other story I want to share with you. You probably don't know, because I did not start this blog until April, 2007 and the last of my doggies, Tasha, had died more than 3 years before. As I built this house in the winter-1989 through summer-1990, I already owned two dogs, both dogs that I saved from uncaring owners. There was little Spencer, a very expensive "peek-a-poo" with a bad attitude, and the loving but nervous and jumpy Jocques, a miniature Schnauzer who was terrified in thunder storms. They - and I - moved into this house in August, 1990. A year or so later, I saw a story on television about a brave heroine of a dog, a resident at the time at the Milwaukee Humane Society, who had been rescued with a full litter of pups from underneath the porch of an abandoned house in one of the poorest, crime-ridden areas of the city. She not only nursed her pups until they were weaned and all of them successfully adopted, she also subsequently nursed other puppies who were found abandoned -- pups who were not even hers. Well, about me and 10,000 other people jammed the lines of the Humane Society offering to adopt this mamma dog. Mamma dog was long gone by the time I got through, but I was invited to come down and look at the other dogs and, of course, bleeding heart liberal and soft-touch that I am, I did go down the very next night. I rooked a friend into taking me there and saw 4 dogs I wanted to adopt. Impossible, of course. I did adopt one - my sweet natured, gigantic and clumsy lug of a Doberman-Brown Lab mix, Tasha, who was 11 months old at the time and did lots of chewing damage around the house until she was done "teething." LOL! It was love at first sight.
Well, I won't go into all the details. My heart was broken when Spencer died during a horrible brain seizure that happened in March, 1999. And then, Jocques was diagnosed with canine diabetes and went blind during a critical episode and spent 4 days at an animal hospital. Thousands of dollars later, I brought a blind Jocques home. He survived for 13 more months. I was not able to give him his shots of insulin 2x a day -- my hands shook too much and my nervousness transmitted to Jocques instantly, of course. So, instead, I hired a veternarian technician to come to the house 2x a day, every day, and paid $300 a month to have this service performed for me. I have to say that Jocques loved Laurie, my tech, and she loved him back fiercely. When I called her the day he passed and broke down crying as I gave her the news, she broke down crying too. Sweet, wonderful, loving Laurie. I will always be grateful to her for her fine care of Jocques those last months of his life.
Tasha was getting older. She was getting grey hair (just like moi), and she was slowing down, and had bad cataracts. She could no longer jump up on the bed at night to share it with me, and so I bought her a feather bed to sleep on and put it as close to the bed as I could but placed so I wouldn't step on her when I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom (you know, us post-menopausal women, we have to pee in the middle of the night sometimes...). One day, Tasha couldn't get up. Her legs wouldn't hold her up.
So, I know about the fierce permanent unseverable bonds that exist between a human and her doggies, my faithful companions for many years, who had the amazing ability to know when I needed to be comforted because of various heart aches, or when I was sick and ailing, or when I was angry, and happy, or sad.
So, I hope this news video will bring tears to your eyes, as it did to mine, and warm your heart, too:
At Newsmax
Dog Found on Live TV: Pooch Buried in Tornado Reunited as Cameras Roll
Tuesday, 21 May 2013 02:16 PM
An Oklahoma tornado survivor found her missing dog among the rubble of her house and was reunited on video while being interviewed by CBS News. Footage of the buried dog and his owner are going viral on social media.
Barbara Garcia tells the story of sitting on a stool in her bathroom clutching her dog while waiting for the tornado to pass. She said the electricity went out at the same time she felt the stool move from underneath her as the tornado hit. She “rolled around a little bit” and called for her dog. He didn’t come.
In the video, as CBS News’ Anna Werner asks Garcia her what she thinks of the devastation, the reporter suddenly exclaims, “the dog!” and the camera moves to reveal a scruffy face peeking out from the rubble.
Garcia asks the news crew to help her rescue him, and as they pull away the rubble, the dog crawls out and stands while his owner pets him.
Garcia thanks God, then says, “Well I thought God just answered one prayer to let me be OK, but he answered both of them. Because this was my second prayer,” she said, referring to her little dog, who appears to walk away without even a limp.
Emergency crews continued to search the wreckage of Moore, Okla., on Tuesday after an F4 tornado hit the town Monday. At least 24 people were killed by the storm. Earlier reports put the toll at 51 deaths, but it was revised after officials said many people were counted twice.
President Obama called the tornado “one of the most destructive” in history and declared that Oklahoma “needs to get everything it needs right away.”
The twister followed a similar path of a tornado that hit the area in May 1999. This was the fourth tornado to hit Moore since 1998.
The destruction comes almost exactly two years after a deadly tornado hit Joplin, Mo., killing 158 people.
Monday, May 20, 2013
Curator Lepper Disses Theory Put Forward in 1960's by Female Archaeologist
The largest ever genetic study of native South Americans identified a sub-population in Ecuador with an unexpected link to eastern Asia. The study, published in PLOS Genetics, concluded that Asian genes had been introduced into South America sometime after 6,000 years ago ...
But Lepper doesn't believe it. Well, read the article and judge for yourself. A large DNA study isn't good enough evidence for Bradley Lepper, evidently. What kind of evidence do you require, dude?
From The Columbus Dispatch
Archaeology | Studies examine clues of transoceanic contact
But Lepper doesn't believe it. Well, read the article and judge for yourself. A large DNA study isn't good enough evidence for Bradley Lepper, evidently. What kind of evidence do you require, dude?
From The Columbus Dispatch
Archaeology | Studies examine clues of transoceanic contact
2013 Asian Women's Zonal 3.1
As reported at The Week in Chess:
Held May 4 - 12, 2013
Dohar, Qatar
Held May 4 - 12, 2013
Dohar, Qatar
| Asian Zonal 3.1 w Doha QAT Sat 4th May 2013 - Sun 12th May 2013 Leading Final Round 9 Standings: | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Name | Ti | FED | Rtg | Pts | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 |
| 1 | Zhu Chen | GM | QAT | 2491 | 8.5 | 0.0 | 32.50 | 8 |
| 2 | Hejazipour Mitra | WIM | IRI | 2236 | 8.0 | 0.0 | 29.00 | 7 |
| 3 | Ghader Pour Shayesteh | WIM | IRI | 2242 | 7.5 | 0.0 | 25.00 | 7 |
| 4 | Dahdal Lougain | WIM | JOR | 1972 | 5.5 | 0.0 | 15.25 | 5 |
| 5 | Saleh Nora Mohd | WIM | UAE | 1892 | 4.5 | 0.0 | 10.75 | 3 |
| 6 | Jalloul Maya M. | WFM | LIB | 1962 | 4.0 | 0.0 | 7.50 | 4 |
| 7 | Al-Khelaifi Salama | WFM | QAT | 1810 | 3.0 | 0.5 | 5.00 | 2 |
| 8 | Al-Khelaifi Aisha | QAT | 1681 | 3.0 | 0.5 | 4.75 | 2 | |
| 9 | Faqeeh Aseel | PLE | 0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.00 | 1 | |
| 10 | AL-Ramadan Nadya | KUW | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.00 | 0 | |
| 10 players | ||||||||
Continental Americas Championships 2013
May 7 - 15, 2013
Bolivia
So proud of this young lady! She finished in 5th place overall (her brother finished in 4th place also with 8.0/11):
Deysi Cori "qualified for the world chess." Not sure if this means the overall knock-out championship that will determine the next challenger to the World Chess Championship, or if this qualifies her for the Women's Chess Championship knock-out (?) event. Oh yeah, there were lots more players. One chess femme finished in 27th place overall, hooray for her:
As you can see, Chumpitaz finished in a group of players who finished at 6/5/11, all of whom have higher ELOs than hers. Way to go!
Other female players and their final standings (from Chess-Results.com):
(It looks like 93 players actually competed).
Bolivia
So proud of this young lady! She finished in 5th place overall (her brother finished in 4th place also with 8.0/11):
| Rk | Name | Ti | FED | Rtg | Pts | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Granda Zuniga Julio E | GM | PER | 2659 | 9.5 | 0 | 72 | 65.5 |
| 2 | Ortiz Suarez Isan Reynaldo | GM | CUB | 2598 | 8.5 | 0 | 74 | 58 |
| 3 | Flores Diego | GM | ARG | 2586 | 8 | 0 | 73 | 55.5 |
| 4 | Cori Jorge | GM | PER | 2546 | 8 | 0 | 67.5 | 50.5 |
| 5 | Cori T. Deysi | WGM | PER | 2430 | 8 | 0 | 61 | 45.5 |
Deysi Cori "qualified for the world chess." Not sure if this means the overall knock-out championship that will determine the next challenger to the World Chess Championship, or if this qualifies her for the Women's Chess Championship knock-out (?) event. Oh yeah, there were lots more players. One chess femme finished in 27th place overall, hooray for her:
| 21 | Sarkar Justin | IM | USA | 2437 | 6.5 | 0 | 70 | 39 |
| 22 | Martinez Alcantara Jose Eduar | FM | PER | 2208 | 6.5 | 0 | 67.5 | 40 |
| 23 | Pacheco Marco | IM | PER | 2384 | 6.5 | 0 | 66.5 | 38 |
| 24 | Hambleton Aman | IM | CAN | 2468 | 6.5 | 0 | 66 | 38 |
| 25 | Cueto Jonny | IM | BOL | 2263 | 6.5 | 0 | 62.5 | 33.25 |
| 26 | Aguilar Andres | ARG | 2233 | 6.5 | 0 | 62 | 34 | |
| 27 | Chumpitaz Ann | WIM | PER | 2155 | 6.5 | 0 | 58.5 | 33.25 |
| 28 | Gemy Jose Daniel | IM | BOL | 2320 | 6.5 | 0 | 57.5 | 34 |
As you can see, Chumpitaz finished in a group of players who finished at 6/5/11, all of whom have higher ELOs than hers. Way to go!
Other female players and their final standings (from Chess-Results.com):
| 45 | WFM | Aliaga Fernandez Ingrid Y | PER | 2184 | 5.5 | 0.0 | 58.0 | 27.75 | 50.0 | 2076 | 10 | 4.5 | 5.93 | -1.43 | 15 | -21.5 |
| 56 | Ramirez M. Eugenia | BOL | 1996 | 5.5 | 0.0 | 50.5 | 22.25 | 44.0 | 1855 | 9 | 3.5 | 4.03 | -0.53 | 15 | -7.9 |
| 64 | WCM | Borda Carla | BOL | 1950 | 5.0 | 0.0 | 51.5 | 20.50 | 44.5 | 1962 | 9 | 3 | 2.44 | 0.56 | 15 | 8.4 |
| 71 | WIM | Cordero Daniela | BOL | 2074 | 4.5 | 0.0 | 50.5 | 20.75 | 44.0 | 1996 | 11 | 4.5 | 5.65 | -1.15 | 15 | -17.3 | |
| 72 | Prado Alexandra | BOL | 1790 | 4.5 | 0.0 | 49.5 | 19.50 | 43.5 | 2018 | 11 | 4.5 | 1.79 | 2.71 | 15 | 40.7 |
| 80 | WIM | Estrada Lucia | BOL | 2034 | 4.0 | 0.0 | 46.0 | 14.00 | 39.0 | 1653 | 9 | 2 | 5.80 | -3.80 | 15 | -57.0 |
| 88 | Mattes Del Castillo Addy | BOL | 0 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 42.0 | 9.25 | 35.5 | 1686 | 8 | 2 | ||||||
| 89 | Molina Jessica | BOL | 1585 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 41.0 | 7.50 | 35.0 | 1614 | 9 | 1.5 | 1.75 | -0.25 | 15 | -3.8 |
(It looks like 93 players actually competed).
Chess Ladies Vienna
Hola darlings!
This team event takes place May 18 - 26, 2013.
I love the translation to English at the official website :) The three items below are from the official website of the Austrian Chess Federation. Standings below are from Chess-Results.com.
Of 18 to 26 May, there is an international women's grandmaster tournament in Vienna House of chess. At the start, the Austrian women's team with Eva Moser, Anna-Christina Kopinits, Catherine Newrkla, Anna-Lena and Veronika Maritschnegg Exler. In a tournament neunrundigen the Austrians will face strong international competition. From Russia and the Ukraine, the United champions Anastasia Savina and Tatiana Kostiuk come. The International champions Elena Boric (BHI) and Anne Have (NED) and the FIDE champion Nargiz Umudova (AZE) complete the field. Umudova sensationally won a few days ago in Vienna Tschaturanga open before the higher assessed International Masters Twan Burg (NED), Georg Froewis, Siegfried Baumegger (both AUT) and Vienna's grandmaster Nicholas Stanec. The tournament is a part of the preparation for the European team, on the other hand the possibility to achieve standards. (Wk) results in Chess-Results To Broadcast ... (Sat-Sat respectively 15:00, Sun 10:00 Final Round)
An encouraging opening victory of the young Tyrolean Anna-Lena Maritschnegg there are at Chess Ladies Vienna. Schnegg defeated the Aserbeidschanerin Nargiz Umudova that began their stay in Vienna with a surprise victory in the Open Tschaturanga. A tough fight Anna-Christina Kopinits and Eva Moser deliver it. The duel between the reigning national champion and Austria's longtime number 1 brings the end but no winner. The Viennese Catherine Newrkla starts with a draw against Ukrainian Tatiana Kosiuk (2321) in the tournament. Win succeed even against the Dutch Anne Have Veronika Exler and Russian Anastasia Savina against the Bosnian Elena Boric. The opening made by organizer John Pöcksteiner in the presence of President Christian Hursky Vienna, ÖSB Vice President Robert Zsifkovits and the Austrian "EM-hero" Mark Ragger and David Shengelia. (Wk) results in Chess-Results , photos in the photo gallery ÖSB To Broadcast ... (Sat-Sat respectively 15:00, Sun 10:00 Final Round)
The Women's 4-country battle begins at Pentecost 2013 in the idyllic Styrian Graz Semriach at the foot of the mountain Schoeckl house with two clear wins by 4-2 against Upper Austria Burgenland and Lower Austria to Styria. Upper Austria owes the success of victories by Christa Hackbarth and Andrea Nagy, the Lower Austrians win by Michaela Hapala, Monika Molnar and Catherine Hapala three times. For the favored Styrian inside a victory by Barbara Schink is too little. The organizing team with Andreas Schmidbauer and Alfred Harrer offers generous playing conditions and an active social program. The event was opened by Mayor James Semriachs Taibinger. (Wk) results / matches at Chess-Results , ÖSB photos in the Photo Gallery
Results R3:
And this is individual win/loss count on each board (6 boards) thus far:
This team event takes place May 18 - 26, 2013.
I love the translation to English at the official website :) The three items below are from the official website of the Austrian Chess Federation. Standings below are from Chess-Results.com.
Of 18 to 26 May, there is an international women's grandmaster tournament in Vienna House of chess. At the start, the Austrian women's team with Eva Moser, Anna-Christina Kopinits, Catherine Newrkla, Anna-Lena and Veronika Maritschnegg Exler. In a tournament neunrundigen the Austrians will face strong international competition. From Russia and the Ukraine, the United champions Anastasia Savina and Tatiana Kostiuk come. The International champions Elena Boric (BHI) and Anne Have (NED) and the FIDE champion Nargiz Umudova (AZE) complete the field. Umudova sensationally won a few days ago in Vienna Tschaturanga open before the higher assessed International Masters Twan Burg (NED), Georg Froewis, Siegfried Baumegger (both AUT) and Vienna's grandmaster Nicholas Stanec. The tournament is a part of the preparation for the European team, on the other hand the possibility to achieve standards. (Wk) results in Chess-Results To Broadcast ... (Sat-Sat respectively 15:00, Sun 10:00 Final Round)An encouraging opening victory of the young Tyrolean Anna-Lena Maritschnegg there are at Chess Ladies Vienna. Schnegg defeated the Aserbeidschanerin Nargiz Umudova that began their stay in Vienna with a surprise victory in the Open Tschaturanga. A tough fight Anna-Christina Kopinits and Eva Moser deliver it. The duel between the reigning national champion and Austria's longtime number 1 brings the end but no winner. The Viennese Catherine Newrkla starts with a draw against Ukrainian Tatiana Kosiuk (2321) in the tournament. Win succeed even against the Dutch Anne Have Veronika Exler and Russian Anastasia Savina against the Bosnian Elena Boric. The opening made by organizer John Pöcksteiner in the presence of President Christian Hursky Vienna, ÖSB Vice President Robert Zsifkovits and the Austrian "EM-hero" Mark Ragger and David Shengelia. (Wk) results in Chess-Results , photos in the photo gallery ÖSB To Broadcast ... (Sat-Sat respectively 15:00, Sun 10:00 Final Round)The Women's 4-country battle begins at Pentecost 2013 in the idyllic Styrian Graz Semriach at the foot of the mountain Schoeckl house with two clear wins by 4-2 against Upper Austria Burgenland and Lower Austria to Styria. Upper Austria owes the success of victories by Christa Hackbarth and Andrea Nagy, the Lower Austrians win by Michaela Hapala, Monika Molnar and Catherine Hapala three times. For the favored Styrian inside a victory by Barbara Schink is too little. The organizing team with Andreas Schmidbauer and Alfred Harrer offers generous playing conditions and an active social program. The event was opened by Mayor James Semriachs Taibinger. (Wk) results / matches at Chess-Results , ÖSB photos in the Photo GalleryResults R3:
Spielerpaarungen
| 3. Runde am 20.05.2013 um 10:00 | ||||||||
| Br. | 2 | Steiermark | Elo | - | 4 | Oberösterreich | Elo | 6 : 0 |
| 1.1 | WFM | Schink, Barbara | 2179 | - | WMK | Nagy, Laura | 1837 | 1 - 0 |
| 1.2 | WMK | Zechner, Andrea | 1987 | - | WMK | Hackbarth, Christa | 1782 | 1 - 0 |
| 1.3 | WMK | Klinkan, Elisabeth | 1980 | - | Bernhard, Julia | 1719 | 1 - 0 | |
| 1.4 | WMK | Landl, Margot | 1812 | - | Lasinger, Melanie | 1595 | 1 - 0 | |
| 1.5 | WMK | Schmidbauer, Andrea Mag. | 1758 | - | Nagy, Andrea | 1594 | 1 - 0 | |
| 1.6 | Steiner, Magdalena | 1544 | - | WMK | Almert, Margit | 1493 | 1 - 0 | |
| Br. | 3 | Niederösterreich | Elo | - | 1 | Burgenland | Elo | 4 : 2 |
| 2.1 | WMK | Hapala, Lisa | 2061 | - | WFM | Horvath, Maria | 1969 | 1 - 0 |
| 2.2 | Trippold, Denise | 1849 | - | Rampler, Evelyn | 1844 | 1 - 0 | ||
| 2.3 | WMK | Hapala, Michaela DDr. | 1803 | - | Tschida, Verena | 1728 | 1 - 0 | |
| 2.4 | WMK | Molnar, Monika | 1787 | - | WMK | Unger, Eva | 1681 | ½ - ½ |
| 2.5 | WMK | Hohendanner, Sonja Mag. | 1529 | - | WMK | Artner, Waltraud | 1641 | ½ - ½ |
| 2.6 | Hapala, Katharina | 1445 | - | Steininger, Barbara | 1619 | 0 - 1 | ||
And this is individual win/loss count on each board (6 boards) thus far:
Die besten Spieler je Brett: nach Prozent
Mindestpartieanzahl 60%
| 1. Brett | |||||||
| Rg. | Name | Elo | Team | % | Pkt. | Anz | |
| 1 | WFM | Schink Barbara | 2179 | Steiermark | 100.0 | 3.0 | 3 |
| 2 | WMK | Hapala Lisa | 2061 | Niederösterreich | 66.7 | 2.0 | 3 |
| 3 | WMK | Nagy Laura | 1837 | Oberösterreich | 16.7 | 0.5 | 3 |
| 4 | WFM | Horvath Maria | 1969 | Burgenland | 16.7 | 0.5 | 3 |
| 2. Brett | |||||||
| Rg. | Name | Elo | Team | % | Pkt. | Anz | |
| 1 | Trippold Denise | 1849 | Niederösterreich | 83.3 | 2.5 | 3 | |
| 2 | WMK | Zechner Andrea | 1987 | Steiermark | 66.7 | 2.0 | 3 |
| 3 | WMK | Hackbarth Christa | 1782 | Oberösterreich | 33.3 | 1.0 | 3 |
| 4 | Rampler Evelyn | 1844 | Burgenland | 16.7 | 0.5 | 3 | |
| 3. Brett | |||||||
| Rg. | Name | Elo | Team | % | Pkt. | Anz | |
| 1 | WMK | Hapala Michaela DDr. | 1803 | Niederösterreich | 66.7 | 2.0 | 3 |
| 2 | WMK | Klinkan Elisabeth | 1980 | Steiermark | 66.7 | 2.0 | 3 |
| 3 | Bernhard Julia | 1719 | Oberösterreich | 50.0 | 1.5 | 3 | |
| 4 | Tschida Verena | 1728 | Burgenland | 16.7 | 0.5 | 3 | |
| 4. Brett | |||||||
| Rg. | Name | Elo | Team | % | Pkt. | Anz | |
| 1 | WMK | Unger Eva | 1681 | Burgenland | 66.7 | 2.0 | 3 |
| 2 | Lasinger Melanie | 1595 | Oberösterreich | 50.0 | 1.5 | 3 | |
| 3 | WMK | Molnar Monika | 1787 | Niederösterreich | 50.0 | 1.5 | 3 |
| 4 | WMK | Landl Margot | 1812 | Steiermark | 33.3 | 1.0 | 3 |
| 5. Brett | |||||||
| Rg. | Name | Elo | Team | % | Pkt. | Anz | |
| 1 | WMK | Schmidbauer Andrea Mag. | 1758 | Steiermark | 83.3 | 2.5 | 3 |
| 2 | WMK | Hohendanner Sonja Mag. | 1529 | Niederösterreich | 50.0 | 1.5 | 3 |
| 3 | Nagy Andrea | 1594 | Oberösterreich | 50.0 | 1.5 | 3 | |
| 4 | WMK | Artner Waltraud | 1641 | Burgenland | 16.7 | 0.5 | 3 |
| 6. Brett | |||||||
| Rg. | Name | Elo | Team | % | Pkt. | Anz | |
| 1 | Steininger Barbara | 1619 | Burgenland | 66.7 | 2.0 | 3 | |
| 2 | Hapala Katharina | 1445 | Niederösterreich | 50.0 | 1.5 | 3 | |
| 3 | Steiner Magdalena | 1544 | Steiermark | 50.0 | 1.5 | 3 | |
| 4 | WMK | Almert Margit | 1493 | Oberösterreich | 33.3 | 1.0 | 3 |
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Check Out this Isis Ivory Carved by Phoenician Artisans
Volume 91 Issue 20 p. 8 News of The Week
Issue Date: May 20, 2013 Web Date: May 17, 2013
It's exquisite! The detailed carving of the wings, the depiction of the double crown of Egypt, and Isis holds lotus plants in her hands. I wonder if Nephthys was on the other side of the broken ivory. She is often indistinguishable from Isis, except for her headwear (the "cup.") And the figure in the middle - Bes?
Issue Date: May 20, 2013 Web Date: May 17, 2013
It's exquisite! The detailed carving of the wings, the depiction of the double crown of Egypt, and Isis holds lotus plants in her hands. I wonder if Nephthys was on the other side of the broken ivory. She is often indistinguishable from Isis, except for her headwear (the "cup.") And the figure in the middle - Bes?
 |
| This Phoenician sculpture made of ivory was once gilded.
Credit: Courtesy of Musée du Louvre/R. Chipault
|
Archaeology’s Hidden Secrets
Ancient Ivory: Metal traces on Phoenician artifacts show long-gone paint and gold
By
A Dirty Rotten Shame: Big Money Sucker Punches Women's Non-Profit
This just makes me sick to my stomach.
By | Associated Press – Sat, May 18, 2013
But after losing a two-year fight with a Fortune 500 company determined to buy their beautiful, 104-year-old property and turn it into a boutique hotel — even though it wasn't for sale — the women of the Anna Louise Inn have to leave the neighborhood.
For Wendy Gonzales, 25, the Anna Louise has allowed her to escape an addiction to methamphetamine and an abusive husband who she said forced her into prostitution.
"I thank God for the Anna Louise Inn. Without it, I don't know where I would be," said Gonzales, who now works as a housekeeper at a hotel within walking distance. "It's quiet, it's peaceful. Looking out here, you don't see your average thugs walking down the street. ... It's just nice to walk out and know that you're safe."
The Anna Louise has been housing women since 1909 in the same charming, dormitory-style building that looks like a plantation home. Although it began by helping young, ambitious types who were pouring into then-booming Cincinnati, it later became geared toward women who needed a fresh start; some have left abusive husbands, others are transitioning from foster care to adulthood while others are recovering prostitutes and drug addicts.
The historic downtown Cincinnati neighborhood where the women live, known as Lytle Park, became an important part of their recovery, since most were coming from dangerous parts of the city where it'd be easier to slip back into their former ways of life.
Western & Southern executives, whose headquarters sit across a park from the Anna Louise, offered to buy the Anna Louise for $1.8 million several years ago, less than half its value. The Anna Louise declined and won $12.6 million in federal and state tax credits to renovate the home, where some rooms are smaller than 100 square feet and all the women have to share bathrooms and one kitchen.
Days before the renovation was to begin, Western & Southern sued over a zoning issue and a judge ordered an immediate construction halt until the legal fight was resolved. The Anna Louise and its supporters didn't back down, vowing to fight Western & Southern with everything they had — until last week when they inked a deal with the company to sell the home for $4 million.
Leaders at Cincinnati Union Bethel, the nonprofit that runs the Anna Louise, said they sold reluctantly because they couldn't afford to fight any longer.
"Western & Southern had the money to fight and the Anna Louise Inn didn't," said Howard, who is about to receive a degree in social work, which she wants to use to help women flee abusive relationships. "When you have that much money and you want something, eventually you're going to get it."
The Anna Louise will now be among a bevy of properties in the neighborhood owned by Western & Southern, which developed Cincinnati's tallest building in 2011 and has renovated a handful of historic properties in the area, including an upscale hotel.
Company CEO John Barrett has long said it was time for the women at the Anna Louise to leave the neighborhood to make way for economic development. He plans to turn the building into a boutique hotel and envisions transforming the neighborhood into a hub of activity with restaurants and bars.
"This truly is a win for everyone and will make Lytle Park a destination like no other," Barrett said in a Monday news release announcing the Anna Louise sale.
Barrett, who has repeatedly declined requests for an interview, has become a loathed figure at the Anna Louise, not only for his tireless efforts to acquire the property but also for the way he has talked about the women living there, repeatedly referring to them as recovering prostitutes and saying they just don't belong in the neighborhood.
"That hurt. To be categorized," said Sherene Julian, 48, who escaped decades of drug addiction and prostitution when she moved to the Anna Louise. "It made me feel that I was lesser than."
Julian, who recently moved in with her boyfriend but still gets medical services at the Anna Louise, said a part of the women's home will always be with her.
"To me it's sacred ground because that's where I was able to turn my life around," Julian said. "I know for a fact if the Anna Louise did not intervene in my life I would probably be dead."
Tatiana McCormick, 24, who lived at the inn after leaving Ohio's foster care system six years ago, said she's angry about the home's sale.
"A lot of these ladies now have to worry about their living situation," she said. "This was something that was going well for people and it's been there for three generations. To have it happen like this, it's just outrageous."
Women sad, angry over sale of nonprofit Ohio home
By | Associated Press – Sat, May 18, 2013
CINCINNATI (AP) — For more than 100 years, the Anna Louise Inn in downtown Cincinnati has been a safe, serene place that thousands of struggling women came to know as home.
While most of the 60 women living there are relieved that the fight with Western & Southern Insurance Group appears over, they can't help but also feel sad and angry.
"I'm upset with them that they would be that greedy to take away what's been here for so long for women," said Robin Howard, 55, who has lived at the Anna Louise for more than two years after fleeing an abusive relationship. "We have rights, too. This is home. It's a safe haven."
For Wendy Gonzales, 25, the Anna Louise has allowed her to escape an addiction to methamphetamine and an abusive husband who she said forced her into prostitution.
"I thank God for the Anna Louise Inn. Without it, I don't know where I would be," said Gonzales, who now works as a housekeeper at a hotel within walking distance. "It's quiet, it's peaceful. Looking out here, you don't see your average thugs walking down the street. ... It's just nice to walk out and know that you're safe."
The Anna Louise has been housing women since 1909 in the same charming, dormitory-style building that looks like a plantation home. Although it began by helping young, ambitious types who were pouring into then-booming Cincinnati, it later became geared toward women who needed a fresh start; some have left abusive husbands, others are transitioning from foster care to adulthood while others are recovering prostitutes and drug addicts.
The historic downtown Cincinnati neighborhood where the women live, known as Lytle Park, became an important part of their recovery, since most were coming from dangerous parts of the city where it'd be easier to slip back into their former ways of life.
Western & Southern executives, whose headquarters sit across a park from the Anna Louise, offered to buy the Anna Louise for $1.8 million several years ago, less than half its value. The Anna Louise declined and won $12.6 million in federal and state tax credits to renovate the home, where some rooms are smaller than 100 square feet and all the women have to share bathrooms and one kitchen.
Days before the renovation was to begin, Western & Southern sued over a zoning issue and a judge ordered an immediate construction halt until the legal fight was resolved. The Anna Louise and its supporters didn't back down, vowing to fight Western & Southern with everything they had — until last week when they inked a deal with the company to sell the home for $4 million.
Leaders at Cincinnati Union Bethel, the nonprofit that runs the Anna Louise, said they sold reluctantly because they couldn't afford to fight any longer.
Under the deal with Western & Southern, the women living at the Anna Louise will stay there until a new building for them is finished, in about two years. It will be located in a shabby neighborhood on a busy street 2 miles north of where they are now. The nearest park is a 1.5-mile walk away, over a freeway.
"Western & Southern had the money to fight and the Anna Louise Inn didn't," said Howard, who is about to receive a degree in social work, which she wants to use to help women flee abusive relationships. "When you have that much money and you want something, eventually you're going to get it."
The Anna Louise will now be among a bevy of properties in the neighborhood owned by Western & Southern, which developed Cincinnati's tallest building in 2011 and has renovated a handful of historic properties in the area, including an upscale hotel.
Company CEO John Barrett has long said it was time for the women at the Anna Louise to leave the neighborhood to make way for economic development. He plans to turn the building into a boutique hotel and envisions transforming the neighborhood into a hub of activity with restaurants and bars.
"This truly is a win for everyone and will make Lytle Park a destination like no other," Barrett said in a Monday news release announcing the Anna Louise sale.
Barrett, who has repeatedly declined requests for an interview, has become a loathed figure at the Anna Louise, not only for his tireless efforts to acquire the property but also for the way he has talked about the women living there, repeatedly referring to them as recovering prostitutes and saying they just don't belong in the neighborhood.
"That hurt. To be categorized," said Sherene Julian, 48, who escaped decades of drug addiction and prostitution when she moved to the Anna Louise. "It made me feel that I was lesser than."
Julian, who recently moved in with her boyfriend but still gets medical services at the Anna Louise, said a part of the women's home will always be with her.
"To me it's sacred ground because that's where I was able to turn my life around," Julian said. "I know for a fact if the Anna Louise did not intervene in my life I would probably be dead."
Tatiana McCormick, 24, who lived at the inn after leaving Ohio's foster care system six years ago, said she's angry about the home's sale.
"A lot of these ladies now have to worry about their living situation," she said. "This was something that was going well for people and it's been there for three generations. To have it happen like this, it's just outrageous."
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Hot Fun in the (Ancient Egyptian) Summertime...
Hola darlings!
Been working up my own version of hot fun in the (not quite yet) summertime around Maison Newton today cutting grass and raking my butt off in the backyard that is an absolute Rocky Horror Picture Show hot mess. And so tonight, trying to catch up on stuff, I came across the article below that struck me as gloriously hilarious and profound at the same time, and reminded me of this grand old song by Sly and the Family Stone (do any of you remember them?) from way back in 1969 - yep, the same year I graduated from high school at the ripe old age of 17, darlings. So here's the song, listen and enjoy, and then read the article below, and you'll totally understand why I so much wanted to post this youtube song, heh heh:
By Owen Jarus, LiveScience Contributor | LiveScience.com – Fri, May 17, 2013
The peak period for baby-making sex in ancient Egypt was in July and August, when the weather was at its hottest.
Researchers made this discovery at a cemetery in the Dakhleh Oasis in Egypt whose burials date back around 1,800 years. The oasis is located about 450 miles (720 kilometers) southwest of Cairo. The people buried in the cemetery lived in the ancient town of Kellis, with a population of at least several thousand. These people lived at a time when the Roman Empire controlled Egypt, when Christianity was spreading but also when traditional Egyptian religious beliefs were still strong.
So far, researchers have uncovered 765 graves, including the remains of 124 individuals that date to between 18 weeks and 45 weeks after conception. The excellent preservation let researchers date the age of the remains at death. The researchers could also pinpoint month of death, as the graves were oriented toward the rising sun, something that changes predictably throughout the year. [See Images of the Ancient Egypt Cemetery]
The results, combined with other information, suggested the peak period for births at the site was in March and April, and the peak period for conceptions was in July and August, when temperatures at the Dakhleh Oasis can easily reach more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius).
The peak period for the death of women of childbearing age was also in March and April (exactly mirroring the births), indicating that a substantial number of women died in childbirth.
Although attempts have been made in the past to piece together ancient Egyptian birth patterns using census records, researchers say this is the first time that these patterns have been determined by looking at burials.
"No one has ever looked at it using the actual individuals themselves, the biological aspects of it," said lead researcher Lana Williams, a professor at the University of Central Florida, in an interview with LiveScience.
The team presented their research recently at the annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in Honolulu.
Sex in the summer
In ancient Egypt, however, the new findings indicate that at Kellis conceptions increased by more than 20 percent above the site's annual average.
A summer baby-making boon in ancient Egypt may have been due to traditional beliefs regarding fertility and the Nile flood. The people who lived at the Dakhleh Oasis in ancient times believed that the Nile River was the source of their water and that the flooding of the Nile, which takes place in the summer, was key to the fertility of their land.
"Even though this was a Christian community, we know that they were still practicing, or having these social beliefs of, fertility being at its highest in the months of July and August," Williams said. "We have local temple reliefs that show this, the annual inundation of the Nile being celebrated at Dakhleh."
She added that the annual flood of the Nile River was a pivotal event throughout Egyptian history.
"This was a very strong aspect of social beliefs of fertility," she said. "The Nile is the gift to Egypt — without it, there's really no way that this civilization could have survived through 3,000 years of history."
These patterns of conceptions and births would have likely continued back further into ancient times and occurred at other Egyptian sites as well, said Williams. In fact, they appear to have also continued into relatively modern times.
"Interestingly, all the way up into the 1920s and 1930s, we still see this maxima in birth taking place at the same season [around March and April]," Williams said in regards to birth records from the World Health Organization that looked at rural Egypt.
Sexual prohibitions
While the summer was prime time for ancient Egyptian baby-making, the period around January seems to have been a low point, when conception fell to 20 percent below the site's annual average. The baby dip was likely due to the new religion, Christianity, which in ancient times called for prohibitions on sex during certain periods, such as during Advent and Lent.
Ancient texts indicate that early Egyptian Christians were, ideally, supposed to avoid intercourse "on Saturday, on Sunday, on Wednesday, and on Friday, in the 40 days of Lent and before the other feasts at which they might take the Eucharist," writes Peter Brown, a professor of classics at Princeton University, in his book "The Body and Society: Men, Women and Sexual Renunciation in Early Christianity" (Columbia University Press, 2008 edition).
The people of Kellis may not have been as strict as these texts recommend, but conception did fall to a low point around January, a time close to both Advent and Lent, Williams pointed out.
Ancient contraceptives
The patterns also suggest some form of ancient contraceptives were in use.
"If you have this much of a tightly patterned conception, there has to be some form of contraception that was taking place," Williams said, noting that ancient Egyptian medical texts tell of several methods that they believed acted to prevent pregnancy.
For instance, contraceptive recipes from the Kahun Medical Papyrus, dating back about 3,800 years, included crocodile dung and honey in their ingredients. It isn’t clear from the surviving papyrus exactly how they were to be inserted into the body. One fragment reads that for honey one was to "sprinkle [it] over her womb, this to be done on natron bed," (translation by Stephen Quirke).
Williams said that the prospect of having to take dung filled medicine, and having sex with it in you, probably discouraged intercourse. "By aversion alone, it would probably work for contraception," Williams said.
"The interesting thing is when you start to look at the ingredients, the high acid content that would be in crocodile dung, the anti-bacterial qualities of honey, it probably would take down the possibility of pregnancy by acting as a spermicide," said Williams, adding that it would not have been as effective as modern-day contraceptives.
Avoiding the taxman
When the team compared their research results with Roman census records, they found that the records were a bit off, indicating May and June as the time of maximum births.
As the census records were tied to taxation, the people living in Roman-controlled Egypt seem to have put off recording them.
"We don't want to pay our taxes until the last moment, so let's not do it, let's put off filing that document until we have to," said Williams, speculating on why they would have put off recording births. For the ancient Egyptians living under Roman rule, it seems sex, birth, death and taxes were all linked together.
Been working up my own version of hot fun in the (not quite yet) summertime around Maison Newton today cutting grass and raking my butt off in the backyard that is an absolute Rocky Horror Picture Show hot mess. And so tonight, trying to catch up on stuff, I came across the article below that struck me as gloriously hilarious and profound at the same time, and reminded me of this grand old song by Sly and the Family Stone (do any of you remember them?) from way back in 1969 - yep, the same year I graduated from high school at the ripe old age of 17, darlings. So here's the song, listen and enjoy, and then read the article below, and you'll totally understand why I so much wanted to post this youtube song, heh heh:
Cemetery Reveals Baby-Making Season in Ancient Egypt
By Owen Jarus, LiveScience Contributor | LiveScience.com – Fri, May 17, 2013The peak period for baby-making sex in ancient Egypt was in July and August, when the weather was at its hottest.
So far, researchers have uncovered 765 graves, including the remains of 124 individuals that date to between 18 weeks and 45 weeks after conception. The excellent preservation let researchers date the age of the remains at death. The researchers could also pinpoint month of death, as the graves were oriented toward the rising sun, something that changes predictably throughout the year. [See Images of the Ancient Egypt Cemetery]
The results, combined with other information, suggested the peak period for births at the site was in March and April, and the peak period for conceptions was in July and August, when temperatures at the Dakhleh Oasis can easily reach more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius).
The peak period for the death of women of childbearing age was also in March and April (exactly mirroring the births), indicating that a substantial number of women died in childbirth.
The team presented their research recently at the annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in Honolulu.
Sex in the summer
Conception didn't peak in summer months for other ancient Mediterranean cultures, Williams noted; the hot weather is thought to have lowered sexual libido and possibly sperm count.
In ancient Egypt, however, the new findings indicate that at Kellis conceptions increased by more than 20 percent above the site's annual average.
A summer baby-making boon in ancient Egypt may have been due to traditional beliefs regarding fertility and the Nile flood. The people who lived at the Dakhleh Oasis in ancient times believed that the Nile River was the source of their water and that the flooding of the Nile, which takes place in the summer, was key to the fertility of their land.
"Even though this was a Christian community, we know that they were still practicing, or having these social beliefs of, fertility being at its highest in the months of July and August," Williams said. "We have local temple reliefs that show this, the annual inundation of the Nile being celebrated at Dakhleh."
She added that the annual flood of the Nile River was a pivotal event throughout Egyptian history.
"This was a very strong aspect of social beliefs of fertility," she said. "The Nile is the gift to Egypt — without it, there's really no way that this civilization could have survived through 3,000 years of history."
These patterns of conceptions and births would have likely continued back further into ancient times and occurred at other Egyptian sites as well, said Williams. In fact, they appear to have also continued into relatively modern times.
"Interestingly, all the way up into the 1920s and 1930s, we still see this maxima in birth taking place at the same season [around March and April]," Williams said in regards to birth records from the World Health Organization that looked at rural Egypt.
Sexual prohibitions
While the summer was prime time for ancient Egyptian baby-making, the period around January seems to have been a low point, when conception fell to 20 percent below the site's annual average. The baby dip was likely due to the new religion, Christianity, which in ancient times called for prohibitions on sex during certain periods, such as during Advent and Lent.
Ancient texts indicate that early Egyptian Christians were, ideally, supposed to avoid intercourse "on Saturday, on Sunday, on Wednesday, and on Friday, in the 40 days of Lent and before the other feasts at which they might take the Eucharist," writes Peter Brown, a professor of classics at Princeton University, in his book "The Body and Society: Men, Women and Sexual Renunciation in Early Christianity" (Columbia University Press, 2008 edition).
The people of Kellis may not have been as strict as these texts recommend, but conception did fall to a low point around January, a time close to both Advent and Lent, Williams pointed out.
Ancient contraceptives
The patterns also suggest some form of ancient contraceptives were in use.
"If you have this much of a tightly patterned conception, there has to be some form of contraception that was taking place," Williams said, noting that ancient Egyptian medical texts tell of several methods that they believed acted to prevent pregnancy.
For instance, contraceptive recipes from the Kahun Medical Papyrus, dating back about 3,800 years, included crocodile dung and honey in their ingredients. It isn’t clear from the surviving papyrus exactly how they were to be inserted into the body. One fragment reads that for honey one was to "sprinkle [it] over her womb, this to be done on natron bed," (translation by Stephen Quirke).
Williams said that the prospect of having to take dung filled medicine, and having sex with it in you, probably discouraged intercourse. "By aversion alone, it would probably work for contraception," Williams said.
"The interesting thing is when you start to look at the ingredients, the high acid content that would be in crocodile dung, the anti-bacterial qualities of honey, it probably would take down the possibility of pregnancy by acting as a spermicide," said Williams, adding that it would not have been as effective as modern-day contraceptives.
Avoiding the taxman
When the team compared their research results with Roman census records, they found that the records were a bit off, indicating May and June as the time of maximum births.
"We don't want to pay our taxes until the last moment, so let's not do it, let's put off filing that document until we have to," said Williams, speculating on why they would have put off recording births. For the ancient Egyptians living under Roman rule, it seems sex, birth, death and taxes were all linked together.
Friday, May 17, 2013
Did "Neanderthal" Man Make Art After All?
From nature.com
Neanderthal culture: Old masters
The earliest known cave paintings fuel arguments about whether Neanderthals were the mental equals of modern humans.
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Spots and stencils in El Castillo cave, Spain — one at least 40,800 years old — might be the handiwork of Neanderthals.
PEDRO SAURA
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