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Tuesday, January 14, 2014

ORCA Chess Winter Tournament 2014

Hola darlings!  This Saturday, January 18, 2014, The Ozaukee Regional Chess Association is hosting a four games in one day G/45, d5 tournament! 

Ozaukee Seasonal Series Winter Tournament

Flyer for details.  The entry fee is $15, $3 less if registered before January 15th and ORCA members receive an additional discount of $2.  You can register online - check it out! 

Site registration is available between 9:00 a.m. and 9:45 a.m. on January 18th.

Rounds will be at 10:00 a.m.; 12:30 p.m.; 2:15 p.m.; and 4:00 p.m.

United States Chess Federation membership is required.  Eighty percent (80%) of combined receipts (2 sections) minus expenses are awarded as prizes. 

2014 Tata Steel Wijk aan Zee

American GM Hikaru Nakamura is playing in the Masters Event, which has finished R3.  It's early days yet, with several players tied at 2.0/3 and Nakamura currently in 5th place (12 players).

There are no female players in the Masters, so I'm not that interested in it, despite an American GM playing.  Of much more interest to Goddesschess are the two women playing in the Challengers event.  Here are the Masters standings after R3 (I've highlighted the two women):

Tata Steel Challengers Wijk aan Zee (NED), 11-26 i 2014cat. XIV (2579)
12345678901234
1.Bok, BenjaminmNED2560*.½...1....1..2911
2.Jobava, BaadurgGEO2710.*..½...1....12790
3.Saric, IvangCRO2637½.*..1...½....22711
4.Muzychuk, AnnagSLO2566...*.½.1.½....22677
5.Duda, Jan-KrzysztofgPOL2553.½..*.....½.1.22742
6.Reinderman, DimitrigNED2593..0½.*....1...2638
7.Brunello, SabinogITA26020.....*.½..1..2601
8.Troff, Kayden WmUSA2457...0...*..½.1.2569
9.Zhao, XuegCHN2567.0....½.*....12581
10.Timman, Jan HgNED2607..½½.....*.0..12501
11.Wojtaszek, RadoslawgPOL2711....½0.½..*...12409
12.Yu, YangyigCHN26770.....0..1.*..12464
13.Van Delft, MerijnmNED2430....0..0....*112355
14.Goudriaan, EtiennemNED2431.0......0...0*0

I'll check back in a few more rounds to see how the chess femmes are doing. They are seasoned veterans, used to fierce competition, so it will be interesting to see what develops!  Information from The Week in Chess coverage. 

Does Çatalhöyük Painting Depict Ancient Volcanic Eruption?

From Science Daily

Neolithic Mural May Depict Ancient Eruption


Hasan Dagi volcano, Turkey. Photo from article. Awe inspiring.
Jan. 9, 2014Volcanic rock dating suggests the painting of a Çatalhöyük mural may have overlapped with an eruption in Turkey according to results published January 8, 2014, in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Axel Schmitt from the University of California Los Angeles and colleagues from other institutions.

2,000 Year Old Burial Uncovered by Utility Crew in Florida

At Huffington Post - Miami.  There is a news report video from the local television station about the discovery I recommend watching.  In accordance with the wishes of local Native American tribes, no photos of the remains are available.

Skeleton of 2,000-Year-Old Woman Unearthed In South Florida
Sun Sentinel | By KEN KAYE Posted: | Updated: 01/10/2014 10:20 am EST
She rested in peace for about 2,000 years until utility crews came shortly before Christmas to install a new waterline on Pine Island Road in Davie, Florida.

That's when the fully intact skeleton of what is believed to be a Tequesta Indian woman was found -- perhaps the best-preserved remains of an ancient human uncovered in the past 40 years, authorities said Thursday.

"It's either Tequesta or the member of a people that predates the Tequesta," said Bob Carr of the Archaeological and Historical Conservancy in Davie. "It's unusually well preserved, considering it's been under a highway with thousands and thousands of cars going over it every day."

The woman, about 5 feet tall and about 20 to 30 years old, will now be analyzed by state and local archaeological authorities and then reburied in about a month in a secret location, with Seminole and Miccosukee Indians conducting the ceremony.

No artifacts were found with the skeleton, and it had no distinguishing marks to indicate how she died. "There's nothing in the bones to indicate trauma," Carr said.

The discovery began as crews were about to start installing a waterline on the east side of Pine Island Road near the Forest Ridge subdivision, between Griffin Road and State Road 84.

But before the backhoes began biting into the ground, Broward County archaeology officials warned that the waterline might run through a historical site and began surveying the area, Carr said.
The northbound lanes of Pine Island were closed as a result of the find and reopened on Thursday.

After the skeleton was unearthed, Seminole and Miccosukee Indian officials requested the discovery remain quiet until Thursday and insisted no photos be taken of it.

"This is fairly standard protocol," said Gary Bitner, whose public relations firm represents the Seminole Tribe of Florida. "It's done with an obvious respect for the remains."

Because of a state requirement that all construction sites must be surveyed to ensure no historical objects are destroyed, Carr and other archaeologists have found numerous bones and artifacts. But finding full skeletons is relatively rare.

Three other intact skeletons were found in the same vicinity in the 1980s and another skeleton was found in a new development in far western Miramar about 12 years ago.

The most recent one was the best preserved and among the oldest, Carr said. The age estimate was based on "context," as artifacts found earlier near the discovery site, including pottery shards, were determined to be at least 2,000 years old.

"There was no carbon 14 dating or DNA testing, as the Florida tribes don't want any physical destruction of the bones," Carr said.

In 2002, Carr discovered the foundation of a Tequesta Indian home estimated to be 1,000 years old in downtown Miami. Four more were found nearby last year.

He and other archaeologists also have found Tequesta artifacts in Parkland in 2008; a major Tequesta settlement, dating back to 800 A.D., along Fort Lauderdale's New River in 2009; and bones up to 3,000 years old, believed to be those of members of the Jeaga tribe, along State Road A1A in Delray Beach in 2012

New Dates for Adena Mound

This North American culture lasted for about 1,000 years.  I wonder if the USA will do so, sometimes, geez!

From The Chillicothe Gazette

Adena Mound dates to first century

Chillicothe's place in history even more secure

Jan. 14, 2014
Written by Matthew Kent, Gazette Staff Writer


Adena "effigy pipe" (from article)
CHILLICOTHE — As word of new evidence emerges that Chillicothe’s place in history goes back to the first century of the Common Era, at least one state historian is hoping people understand the importance of the discovery.

Ohio Historical Society archaeologists, in partnership with researchers from the private Cultural Resource Management firm Gray & Pape and Ohio State University, conducted radiocarbon testing on small pieces of bark and fabric excavated from the Adena Mound in 1901.

The bark produced dates of around A.D. 40, whereas the textile gave a date of 140 B.C. The new dates will be reported in an article in the February issue of the Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology.

Wari Burial of Women One of Top Ten Discoveries in 2013

Archaeology magazine online is out with it's top ten archaeological discoveries for 2013 and among them is the discovery of a large burial of three, or possibly four, Wari women surrounded by the bodies of "40 noblewomen buried in a sitting position" and four other sacrificed individuals, gulp:

A Wari Matriarchy?

Castillo de Huarmey, Peru
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
 
At the center of Castillo de Huarmey in northern Peru is a burial complex where Milosz Giersz and a team of archaeologists from the University of Warsaw and the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru uncovered chambers containing the remains of three, or possibly four, royal women of the Wari Empire. They were accompanied by 40 noblewomen buried in a sitting position, seven sacrificed individuals whose bodies had been thrown over the seated burials, and more than 1,300 artifacts, including ear ornaments typically worn by royal men and weaving tools made of gold and silver.

Photo credit, Patrycja Przadka Giersz.
Check out the head and face on top of the ceremonial flask!

“This is the first time in an archaeological excavation that we have found a tomb full of prestige goods related to Wari women,” Giersz says, adding that cotton and camel-wool textiles also found as grave goods were considered by the Wari to be more valuable offerings than gold. Giersz estimates that the tomb dates to A.D. 750. Burials of royal men have been found at the site, but thus far not in chambers of this size. The tomb could answer questions about the roles that women played at the highest levels of Wari society.