World's Oldest Preserved Cheese Identified in Taklamakan Desert (Tarim Basin) "Mummy" Burials

I was lazy and didn't report this story when I first came across it!  I am absolutely fascinated with the Taklamakan Desert (Tarim Basin) mummies, who were often buried in tall felt "witch's" hats and woven tartan (plaid) cloth, with the European features, blue eyes and light brown to reddish toned hair.

Great Gouda! World's oldest cheese found - on mummies

Traci Watson, Special for USA TODAY 4:24 p.m. EST February 25, 2014

 

Remains discovered with mummies in China prove to be oldest known samples of cheese

 

Vintage Gouda may be aged for five years, some cheddar for a decade. They're both under-ripe youngsters compared with yellowish clumps – found on the necks and chests of Chinese mummies – now revealed to be the world's oldest cheese.

 

The Chinese cheese dates back as early as 1615 BC, making it by far the most ancient ever discovered. Thanks to the quick decay of most dairy products, there isn't even a runner-up. The world's best-aged cheese seems to be a lactose-free variety that was quick and convenient to make and may have played a role in the spread of herding and dairying across Asia.

 

"We not only identified the product as the earliest known cheese, but we also have direct … evidence of ancient technology," says study author Andrej Shevchenko, an analytical chemist at Germany's Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics. The method was "easy, cheap … It's a technology for the common people."



A photo of Small River Cemetery Number 5.  Source (photo was not
accredited to wherever the author of the website took it from). 

The cheese, like the mummies, owes its existence to the extraordinary conditions at Small River Cemetery Number 5, in northwestern China. First documented by a Swedish archaeologist in the 1930s, it sits in the fearsome Taklamakan Desert, one of the world's largest. A mysterious Bronze Age people buried dozens of their own atop a large sand dune near a now-dry river, interring their kin underneath what looks like large wooden boats. The boats were wrapped so snugly with cowhide that it's as if they'd been "vacuum-packed," Shevchenko says.

Ritual Egg Burial with Unique "Doctored" Coin in Sardis - Linked to the Goddess Cybele?

From the University of Wisconsin-Madison, whoop whoop!  UW-Milwaukee is my undergrad alma mater, part of the excellent University of Wisconsin system of colleges throughout the state.

Sardis dig yields enigmatic trove: ritual egg in a pot

March 3, 2014

by Terry Devitt

By any measure, the ancient city of Sardis — home of the fabled King Croesus, a name synonymous with gold and vast wealth, and the city where coinage was invented — is an archaeological wonder.
The ruins of Sardis, in what is now Turkey, have been a rich source of knowledge about classical antiquity from the 7th century B.C., when the city was the capital of Lydia, through later Greek and Roman occupations.

Now, however, Sardis has given up another treasure in the form of two enigmatic ritual deposits, which are proving more difficult to fathom than the coins for which the city was famous.

A ritual deposit, found intact beneath a first century Roman house in Sardis.

The deposit, found inside two bowls, includes a number of small implements,

a unique coin and an egg. The hole in the egg was made in antiquity.

Photos: Archaeological Exploration of Sardis/Harvard University

“The two deposits each consist of a small pot with a lid, a coin, a group of sharp metal implements and an egg, one of which is intact except for a hole carefully punched in it in antiquity,” explains Will Bruce, a classics graduate student a the University of Wisconsin-Madison who has been digging at Sardis for the past six years. Bruce made the finds last summer.

Zahi Hawass Acquitted of Charges He Illegally Profited from His Position as Minister of Antiquities

I've had bones to pick with Zahi Hawass over the years, but I never thought he was a crook.  He was targeted, I believe, because he was aligned with the Mubarak regime and he was a high-profile personality to many people outside of Egypt by virtue of his television specials and unique style of showmanship.  Wearing a cowboy hat probably didn't endear him to certain Muslim types, either.  So, glad to read this.  Egypt needs Hawass more than Hawass needs Egypt!

Reported at Egypt Independent Online
Zahi Hawass acquitted of illicit gain charges
Wed, 26/02/2014 - 16:29

Al-Masry Al-Youm

Ibrahim al-Heneidy, chairman of the Illicit Gain Authority, has acquitted Zahi Hawass, the former minister of antiquities, of the charges that were filed  against him to that effect.

 

Hawass’s lawyer said reports of the Justice Ministry experts said all income sources of his client proved to be legitimate.

 

He also said the Money Laundering Department received clearance from abroad that Hawass has no bank accounts in foreign countries.

 

Investigation found out that Hawass’s sources of income were from the 43 books he wrote and the lectures he delivered abroad.

 

A number of Ministry of Antiquities employees had filed three complaints against Hawass, accusing him of stealing antiquities and selling them abroad.

 

“The complaints filed against me were all spiteful,” Hawass said. [Yes, I believe they were.]

 

 

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

International Women's Day 2014

Hola, darlings!  Happy Women's Day to all of my sisters by gender, wherever you may be. Today, March 8, 2014, women around the world are celebrating and commemorating where we have been, how far we have come, and where we have yet to go in our communal journey living on our beautiful Earth as human beings. 

 

In the image above, ancient Egyptian Priestess, Meretites, and her husband, Kahai, a singer and Director of Music at one of the ancient temples, share a loving moment.  Notice the eye to eye contact and how Meretites is depicted not as a miniature woman at her husband's feet, but as an equal.  It is Meretites initiating the intimacy by placing her arm around her husband's shoulders, her hand resting near Kahai's neck.  This beautiful painting is from their joint tomb, found at Saqarra and dating to about 4,400 years ago.  Women in ancient Egyptian culture had many rights not granted to women in other cultures (sadly, still today in many cultures), including the right to work for pay and keep their own money, the right to own property and to run their own businesses, the right to enter into contracts in their own names, the right to legal process before the courts, and the right to inherit property and devolve their own property to others.

The website for International Women's Day 2014 has a brief history of how this memorial day for women came about.  Celebrations and special events are planned for this day all over the world.  Today, please take a moment to reflect upon the women in your own life, and what your life would be like without them.

Message from the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon
From Ahram online, March 8, 2014, "The Brave Women of Egypt: A History in Pictures"
From Leymah Gbowee of Al Jazerra online, March 8, 2014, "On International Women's Day, working to make it right" 
From One India online, March 8, 2014, "Celebs, politicians convey their wishes on International Women's Day"
From ANI, March 8, 2014, at Yahoo news (India), "Women Across Country Participate in Marathon and Walkathon"
From China Daily USA online, March 8, 2014, "Let International Women's Day Inspire Change"
From BBC News online, March 8, 2014, BBC republished this telling graphical report that shows - in maps - just how women fare throughout the world, originally published on October 24, 2013, "Women gain as gender gap narrows"   Highly recommended because it expresses visually, well, you know, "one picture is worth a thousand words..."

Dear Mom, Please Write...

...so wrote ancient Egyptian soldier Polion while serving with a Roman army unit in Hungary some 1,800 years ago.

 We don't know if his family received the letters, or if they replied, or if they did reply, that Polion ever received their letters in return.  No instant messaging or email back then and no U.S. Postal Service or FEDEX.  Did the Romans have a form of postal service for its soldiers scattered all over the known world at that time?  Yes, they did!  This is what a sidebar in the article says:

The back of the letter contains instructions for the carrier to deliver it to a military veteran whose name may have been Acutius Leon who could forward it to Polion's family. Although the Roman Empire had a military postal system, Polion appears not to have used it, entrusting the veteran instead.

Article at Live Science

Ancient Egyptian Soldier's Letter Home Deciphered

By Owen Jarus, Live Science Contributor   |   March 05, 2014 10:18pm ET

 

A newly deciphered letter home dating back around 1,800 years reveals the pleas of a young Egyptian soldier named Aurelius Polion who was serving, probably as a volunteer, in a Roman legion in Europe.

 

In the letter, written mainly in Greek, Polion tells his family that he is desperate to hear from them and that he is going to request leave to make the long journey home to see them.

 

Addressed to his mother (a bread seller), sister and brother, part of it reads: "I pray that you are in good health night and day, and I always make obeisance before all the gods on your behalf. I do not cease writing to you, but you do not have me in mind," it reads.

 

"I am worried about you because although you received letters from me often, you never wrote back to me so that I may know how you ..." (Part of the letter hasn't survived.)

 

Statue of Princess Iset Discovered in Tomb of Amenhotep III

Reported by Reuters

Statue of pharaoh's daughter unearthed in Egypt
CAIRO Fri Mar 7, 2014 8:14am EST
(Reporting By Maggie Fick; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

Photo from Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities

(Reuters) - A statue of the daughter of King Amenhotep III, grandfather of Tutankhamen and ruler of Egypt around 3,350 years ago, has been unearthed by a team of Egyptian and European archaeologists.

The statue of Princess Iset was discovered at the temple of her pharaoh father on the western bank of the Nile in the southern city of Luxor, the Egyptian antiquities ministry said on Friday.

The new discovery is the first known representation of Iset alone with her father, the ministry said, noting that sculptures on display at the Egyptian Museum depict her and her siblings together with the 18th Dynasty ruler.

The statue is only 1.7 meters (yards) high and is part of a huge, 14-metre alabaster statue of Amenhotep III himself that has been excavated in recent years, the ministry said in a statement carried by state news agency MENA.

The statue was found between the feet of the seated king. Iset's name and royal title are inscribed near her feet, but her face has suffered from erosion.

Amenhotep III presided over an era which saw a renaissance in Egyptian art. He was succeeded by his son Akhenaten, the sun-worshipping pharaoh credited by some for starting the world's first known monotheistic religion.

Some of ancient Egypt's biggest monuments were constructed during Amenhotep III's reign.

Hindu Fundamentalists Score Victory Against Free Speech

Fundies are fundies:  The Taliban, so-called "Christian" (ha!) Bible-thumpers here in the USA, and now, certain Hindus objecting to scholarship based on their own HIStory -- all looking to erase truth in favor of lies and hypocrisy. Lengthy article, WORTH THE READ.  Bullies are in the ascendant everywhere in the world today, it seems.  Do you know the only real way to deal with a bully?  You have to beat the shit out of him - or her - or IT.  Sometimes you can't take the high road.

What is the ultimate irony:  if this fascist Hindu group thinks it will now forever suppress the reading of Wendy Doniger's book, ooooh yeah, dudes (fools)!  Just keep on believing that...

From The Indian Express

Law for bad behaviour

February 21, 2014 11:05 pm

 

These are grim times for scholars who study India. For years, in both India and the US, the RSS and its allies have bullied and attacked scholars of ancient history and religion who do not portray the past and the gods according to their narrow orthodoxy. What is different now is that the politics of fear is in the ascendant. People previously committed to open scholarship and public debate are running for the hills. And now, with the withdrawal and pulping of Wendy Doniger’s The Hindus: An Alternative History, the bullies have scored a major victory. Penguin, after fighting the legal case against Doniger for four years, suddenly folded, saying that it would be difficult to continue defending Doniger without “deliberately placing themselves outside the law” — the law in question being Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code, which forbids “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class of citizens”. [Sounds suspiciously like a certain bill passed into law that was recently vetoed by the reluctant Governor of the state of Arizona that was labeled a "freedom of religion" law that would have allowed blatant discrimination against anyone who the business owner or an employee, based soley upon his or her own impression and "instinct," deemed religiously persona non grata!)

Penguin’s claim is ridiculous. The lawsuit is extremely weak. It is poorly written and argued, contains absurd errors (even the purported quotes from the book are inaccurate), and its attempt to satisfy the law’s demand for malicious intent is childish — accusing Doniger, a secular Jew, of “Christian missionary zeal” and suggesting that her historically accurate references to sexual elements in the tradition were motivated by her being “a woman hungry of sex”. Ironically, the parts of the book that, according to the lawsuit, show Hinduism in a bad light are simply parts that are true and there: the Hindu tradition is replete with non-judgemental allusions to a variety of sexual desires and activities, including those of the gods, whether the new Hindu fundamentalists like this or not. So how could anyone be convicted of defaming a religion simply because she points to texts that some people would rather forget? As Doniger said recently in The New York Times, the shoe is on the other foot: it is they who say parts of their own religion are bad, whereas she admires Hinduism’s treatment of sexuality as natural and beautiful.

2014 Mediterranean Flowers WGM Tournament

Taking place March 2 - 8, 2014, in Rijeka, Croatia.  Here are the standings after Round 7 (2 more to go):

Rank after Round 7

Rk.	SNo			Name	FED	RtgI	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	Rp	n	w	we	w-we	K	rtg+/-
1	8		IM	Foisor Cristina-Adela	ROU	2367	6.0	1.0	0.0	6	2864	6	6	5.00	1.00	10	10.0
2	2		WGM	Nikolova Adriana	BUL	2341	6.0	0.0	0.0	5	2375	7	6	5.71	0.29	15	4.3
3	7		WGM	Videnova Iva	BUL	2251	5.5	0.0	0.0	5	2364	7	5.5	4.54	0.96	15	14.4
4	1		WGM	Medic Mirjana	CRO	2235	3.5	0.5	0.0	1	2112	7	3.5	4.57	-1.07	15	-16.0
5	5			Jacimovic Sara	BIH	2017	3.0	0.0	0.5	2	2125	7	3	2.19	0.81	15	12.1
	9			Tonel Giulia	ITA	2036	3.0	0.0	0.5	2	2102	7	3	2.54	0.46	15	6.9
7	10		WFM	Novak Ksenija	SLO	2082	3.0	0.0	-1.0	2	2134	7	3	2.61	0.39	15	5.8
8	4		WIM	Berke Ana	CRO	2093	2.5	0.5	0.0	1	2082	6	2.5	2.65	-0.15	15	-2.3
9	6		WFM	Purgar Ivona	CRO	2111	1.5	0.5	0.0	0	1960	7	1.5	2.81	-1.31	15	-19.6
10	3			Ljikar Tamara	CRO	1887	0.0	0.0	0.0	0	1367	7	0	1.38	-1.38	15	-20.7

Annotation:
Tie Break1: Koya Tie-Break
Tie Break2: Direct Encounter (The results of the players in the same point group)
Tie Break3: The greater number of victories

2014 European Individual Chess Championship

The Armenian Chess Federation is the host of this year's 2014 European Individual Chess Championship, taking place March 2-15, 2014 (play dates March 3-8, rest day March 9, March 10-14).  Official website.

Top prize is $20,000, and there is some tough competition, with 263 players!

Among them are some chess femmes, including GM Judit Polgar!  Glad to see her playing and I was shocked -- I thought she was retired!  Here are the ladies according to players' list:

Judit ranks 17th by ELO overall:

17

GM

Polgar Judit

700070

HUN

2693

w

106

GM

Dzagnidze Nana

13601903

GEO

2546

w

127

GM

Stefanova Antoaneta

2902257

BUL

2486

w

132

GM

Danielian Elina

13300210

ARM

2467

w

134

IM

Mkrtchian Lilit

13300601

ARM

2465

w

140

IM

Melia Salome

13602446

GEO

2453

w

148

WGM

Goryachkina Aleksandra

4147103

RUS

2428

w

166

IM

Bulmaga Irina

13903063

ROU

2375

w

168

WGM

Arabidze Meri

13604040

GEO

2374

w

179

WGM

Charochkina Daria

4180917

RUS

2359

w

187

WGM

Kursova Maria

4129709

ARM

2326

w

188

IM

Galojan Lilit

13301314

ARM

2317

w

198

WGM

Cherednichenko Svetlana

14105551

UKR

2270

w

214

WIM

Pavlidou Ekaterini

4213262

GRE

2192

w

215

WIM

Hairapetian Anna

13303554

ARM

2188

w

218

WFM

Gevorgyan Maria

13300270

ARM

2180

w

234

Imnadze Nato

13600974

GEO

2100

w

236

Bykova Anastasia

4164970

RUS

2097

w

238

Sargsyan Shushanna

13304372

ARM

2093

w

241

Babayan Armine

13304135

ARM

2085

w

251

Karapetyan Lusine

13303163

ARM

1985

w

After 4 rounds, here are the top players and whatever chess femmes I could pick out of the list:

Ranking Crosstable after Round 4
Rank	SNo.		Name	Rtg	FED	Pts	RtgØ
1	53	GM	Najer Evgeniy	2633	RUS	4	2551

19

167

WGM

Charochkina Daria

2374

RUS

3

2599

27

18

GM

Polgar Judit

2693

HUN

3

2583

76

104

GM

Dzagnidze Nana

2546

GEO

2½​

2573

78

132

IM

Mkrtchian Lilit

2465

ARM

2½​

2568

114

166

IM

Bulmaga Irina

2375

ROU

2

2640

119

129

GM

Stefanova Antoaneta

2476

BUL

2

2616

124

186

WGM

Kursova Maria

2326

ARM

2

2564

127

147

WGM

Goryachkina Aleksandra

2424

RUS

2

2526

149

131

GM

Danielian Elina

2467

ARM

2

2415

170

160

WGM

Arabidze Meri

2388

GEO

1½​

2616

181

137

IM

Melia Salome

2453

GEO

1½​

2553

187

211

WIM

Hairapetian Anna

2188

ARM

1½​

2512

190

232

Sargsyan Shushanna

2093

ARM

1½​

2480

192

216

WFM

Gevorgyan Maria

2180

ARM

1½​

2460

208

194

WGM

Cherednichenko Svetlana

2270

UKR

1

2618

212

188

IM

Galojan Lilit

2317

ARM

1

2583

227

226

Bykova Anastasia

2132

RUS

1

2449

230

231

WFM

Imnadze Nato

2100

GEO

1

2414

241

212

WIM

Pavlidou Ekaterini

2188

GRE

½​

2519

249

241

Gaboyan Susanna

2043

ARM

½​

2385

250

246

Karapetyan Lusine

1985

ARM

½​

2360

I'll report again when the tournament has advanced some.

The Vikings Are Taking Over the British Museum!

EEK!  Seriously, I saw this great photograph of some "beserkers" from what has to be the Lewis chess piece horde, pictured at Minerva's home page:

Minerva, from the March/April 2014 edition

Don't you just love them!  Each one is slightly different from the others - different helmets, different shields.  And the gnawing on the shields -- great touch!  I believe (but am not 100% certain) that these are pawns. 

I hopped over to the British Museum's website to find out more about the exhibition.  I've been fascinated by the Vikings for a long time, not least of which I still remember the old movie "The Vikings" with Tony Curtis as an improbable Greek slave flashing traces of a Brooklyn accent, and Kirk Douglas flashing endless muscles (were those really his arms???), chewing up the scenery every chance he got!  Say what you will about their acting skills, they sure were sexy back in the day :) 

Check out the special page "BP exhibition Vikings Life and Legend" that started today (March 6, 2014) and runs through June 22, 2014. There is a separate admission fee for this exhibit, 16.50 Pounds if paid in person (although members get in free), and additional charges apply for booking tickets on line or via telephone. 

Discover the world of the Vikings in this major exhibition – the first at the British Museum for over 30 years.

 

The Viking Age (800–1050) was a period of major change across Europe. The Vikings expanded from their Scandinavian homelands to create an international network connecting cultures over four continents, where artistic, religious and political ideas met.

The Vikings’ skill in shipbuilding and seafaring was central to their culture and achievements, and at the heart of the exhibition will be a 37-metre-long warship. Found in 1997, and dating to around 1025, it is the longest Viking ship ever discovered. Many other new discoveries, including part of a mass grave of Viking warriors, will be on display for the first time showing how our understanding of the Vikings is still being changed by new excavations and recent research.

The exhibition will also present personal objects, including jewellery, amulets and idols, which help to reveal more about how the Vikings saw themselves and their world. Exquisite objects, including the magnificent Vale of York Hoard, demonstrate the global reach of the Viking network of trade, plunder and power – a network that left a lasting legacy in countries from Ireland and the UK to Russia and Ukraine.

Enter a world of warriors, seafarers and conquerors to discover the many fascinating aspects of a history that is both strangely alien yet remarkably familiar.

Harappan Civilization May Have Been Killed by 200 Year Drought

Not good news for the southwest USA, for sure, where we've been in a long-term drought going on 50 years now.  Snail shells tell the tale...

From nature.com

Two-hundred-year drought doomed Indus Valley Civilization

Monsoon hiatus that began 4,200 years ago parallels dry spell that led civilizations to collapse in other regions.

• Emma Marris

03 March 2014

 

The decline of Bronze-Age civilizations in Egypt, Greece and Mesopotamia has been attributed to a long-term drought that began around 2000 bc. [Well attested.]  Now palaeoclimatologists propose that a similar fate was followed by the enigmatic Indus Valley Civilization, at about the same time. Based on isotope data from the sediment of an ancient lake, the researchers suggest that the monsoon cycle, which is vital to the livelihood of all of South Asia, essentially stopped there for as long as two centuries.

 

The Indus Valley, in present Pakistan and northwest India, was home to a civilization also known as the Harappan Civilization. It was characterized by large, well-planned cities with advanced municipal sanitation systems and a script that has never been deciphered. But the Harappans seemed to slowly lose their urban cohesion, and their cities were gradually abandoned.

The link between this gradual decline and climate has been tenuous because of a dearth of climate records from the region. So Yama Dixit, a palaeoclimatologist at the University of Cambridge, UK, and her colleagues examined sediments from Kotla Dahar, an ancient lake near the northeastern edge of the Indus Valley area in Haryana, India, that still seasonally floods.

The team assigned ages to sediment layers using radiocarbon dating of organic matter. In various layers, they collected the preserved shells of tiny lake snails (Melanoides tuberculata), which are made of a form of calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) called aragonite. The team also looked at the oxygen in the argonite molecules, counting the ratio of the rare oxygen-18 isotope to the more prevalent oxygen-16.

China Institute Gallery Open House!

I will forever be grateful for the two trips I was able to take to New York City (2005, 2009) with Mr. Don, Georgia and Michelle Albert. During the 2009 stay in NYC, one of the places we visited was the China Institute:

Mr. Don and I were in the lobby of the Institute, photographed by Georgia (Isis).  This exhibit we saw, the Tombs of Mawangdui, including some artifacts from the tomb of the Countess Dai and a replica of the silk banner that had been, somehow, preserved in her tomb, AWESOME!

It may be relatively small in space, but when it comes to putting on blockbuster exhibits, the China Institute ranks with the best!  The 2009 Noble Tombs of Mawangdui was just one of many incredible exhibits, bringing to the United States things we would otherwise only see online (maybe).  So I'm very happy to publish this announcement:

Asia Week New York 2014 Gallery Open House Tuesday, March 18, 2014 ~ 6:00-8:00pm China Institute, 125 East 65th Street, New York, NY 10065 In conjunction with Asia Week New York 2014, join us for an intimate evening of dialogue with curators and artists, exploring our current exhibition, Inspired by Dunhuang: Re-creation in Contemporary Chinese Art. Light refreshments will be served. This event is free of charge and open to the public. To register for this event, please contact Jennifer Lima at jlima@chinainstitute.org or 212-744-8181, ext. 146. Like the old masters before them, modern and contemporary luminaries, such as Zhang Daqian, Zhang Hongtu, Liu Jude, Liu Dan, and Yu Hong, have sought inspiration from Dunhuang's ancient sculptures and murals. Inspired by Dunhuang presents the breathtaking results of their painstaking and creative efforts, which capture the experience of Dunhuang in ways that are powerfully transformative. With its carefully curated group of paintings, calligraphy, sculptures, photographs, and mixed media installations that encompass a variety of themes and forms, this exhibition is a pioneering exploration of the historical, literary, artistic, and conceptual nature of the inspiration and influence exerted by Dunhuang's thousand-year-old tradition on contemporary artistic creation. Organized by China Institute Gallery, this exhibition is curated by Willow Weilan Hai, Director of China Institute Gallery, and Jerome Silbergeld, the P.Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Professor of Chinese Art History, the Chair of the Department of Art & Archaeology at Princeton University, and the Director of Princeton's Tang Center for East Asian Art. For more information, please visit www.chinainstitute.org/gallery/exhibitions/current-exhibition/ This exhibition is made possible, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and by the generous support of the W.L.S. Spencer Foundation and China Institute Friends of the Gallery.

Sounds sooo fricking cool -- right there, being able to talk face to face with the curators and the artists!  If you are in the New York city area, or are planning on being in NYC on March 18th, please check into it further.  By the way, the area surrounding the China Institute is built for walkers, loaded with shops, delis, sidewalk cafes, restaurants, and bars (taverns? -- not sure what they call them in NYC, here in Milwaukee we just call 'em bars), not to mention wonderful architecture and you know those beautiful well-dressed women you see at Advanced Style - well, I'm just saying you see them all over the place in this neighborhood!  Even better than walking up Fifth Avenue toward the Met.

9Queens 7th Annual Chess Fest!

Hola, darlings!

I have just finished shopping online for the items to go into the gift bags for the top female finisher in each of the Open and Reserve Sections at the upcoming Hales Corners Chess Challenge XIX on April 12th.  I LUV shopping online - so easy!

Received in my in-box this morning an announcement from the 9Queens organization, based in Tucson, Arizona, founded by Jean Hoffman and Jennifer Shahade.  Jean is currently the Executive Director of the U.S. Chess Federation and continues her close association with 9Queens, while co-founder Jennifer Shahade, a two-time women's U.S. Chess Champion, continues to make special chess appearances and delights us all with her savvy and salient commentary at various U.S. chess events, often paired with GM Ben Feingold and GM Maurice Ashley, in addition to her work for the U.S. Chess Federation -- see her latest there, by the way:

Jennifer on Ted X, Toys and Chess Networks

By Jennifer Shahade

March 2, 2014 ...and she plays high stakes poker, too. Oh, did I mention she has also written a couple of best-selling chess books?  And is on the Board of Directors of the U.S. Chess Museum and Hall of Fame in St. Louis, Missouri, which is located across the street from the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis.  It's a beautiful area and the museum, it's fabulous!  Go visit -- but not in August -- too damn hot and humid. Back to that email announcement from 9Queens!  Here are some of the particulars, and it looks like it is stacking up to be the biggest and bestest yet: On April 26, 2014 from 12-3 pm, Hotel Congress will play host to 9 Queens 7th Annual Chess Fest, a community wide celebration, with special guest 19 year old Rochelle Ballantyne. Featured in the inspirational documentary Brooklyn Castle, Rochelle sits on the verge of history as she becomes the first African-American female chess Master. "Rochelle is the perfect embodiment of what the 9 Queens Player of the Year Award is about. She represents an individual with incredible passion for the game and someone who has shared her talents with youth in her community. She serves as a fantastic role model for how hard work and dedication pay off, and can ultimately lead someone to achieving their dreams.    - Amanda Mateer Women's Fide Master and recipient of the 2013 9 Queens Player of the Year Award    Goddesschess fans, if you have not yet seen the remarkable documentary Brooklyn Castle, which has aired on PBS, please find it and watch it.  I cannot say enough about the people behind the making of this documentary and the dedicated people who work with the young people at IS 318 in Brooklyn, day in and day out.  It is one of the most incredibly successful chess programs in the United States and PROVES that just because a child comes from a disadvantaged background doesn't mean that child is stupid or lazy and cannot excel.  I am a big Rochelle Ballantyne fan.  Ms. Ballantyne, now 19 (I believe) currently attends Stanford University.  Dedicated, resourceful, talented, powerfully driven -- all of these things are Rochelle Ballantyne:   File photo from 2012, included in New York Daily News article 01/06/2014.   The 9Queens 7th Annual Chess Fest is doing a fundraiser right now.  9Queens' goal is to raise $5,000 toward the costs of holding the 9Queens 7th Annual Chess Fest in Tucson by April 19, 2014.  So far, $2,066 has been raised, so they're nearly half way to their goal!  I hope you will consider making a donation to 9Queens for this event.  Any donation, no matter how small you may think it, add up to making this Festival possible for the women and kids of Tucson.  For U.S. citizens, donating to this U.S. approved charitable/educational institution, your contribution is tax-deductible if you itemize your deductions on Schedule A.

1200 Year Old Church Uncovered Within Structure of Mainz "Dom"

Article from thelocal.de

Second oldest church in Germany uncovered

Published: 27 Feb 2014 16:32 GMT+01:00
Updated: 27 Feb 2014 16:32 GMT+01:00

 

Archaeologists have discovered Germany’s second oldest church hidden within a cathedral in the west of the country.

 

In the so-called "Old Cathedral" in Mainz, which is today the evangelical Church of St John, archaeologists found the remains of another church built 1,200 years ago in the time of Charlemagne, Deacon Andreas Klodt said on Tuesday.

 

Only Trier on the Mosel River has an older church, with its cathedral dating back to Roman times, making the find the second oldest church in the country.

Professor Matthias Untermann from the Institute of Art History in Heidelberg said the remains of the Carolingian walls stretched from the basement to the roof.

“This is a big surprise,” he said.

The Rhineland-Palatinate state curator Joachim Glatz said: "This is the only surviving Carolingian cathedral in Germany."

Usually a bishop would build a cathedral in the Middle Ages at the exact location of the previous building, getting rid of the older church.  But in Mainz the 1,000-year-old "Old Cathedral" was incorporated into the Carolingian one.

And according to Knöchlein two human skeletons have been found during the excavations - remains of earlier burials in the church.

The building has been used since the 19th Century as a church by the evangelical community.

During World War II, it was largely destroyed by fire after a bomb attack. Demolition was considered but was rejected. The dig is continuing.

***************************************************************

So, WHO was buried in those two graves uncovered????? Royals?  Any guesses as to how old the tombs are?  Male?  Female?

Highlands Reveals Neolithic Cup and Ring Decorated Boulder - Decorated on Both Sides!!!

Extremely rare.  Actually, I don't recall ever reading about a "stone" being decorated on both sides with cup and ring markings.  That doesn't, of course, mean they are not out there, just that I don't remember reading of them.

John Wombell and Susan Kruse with the stone at its new location.

February 2014 Last updated at 05:20 ET

Rare Neolithic or Bronze Age rock art in Ross-shire

By Steven McKenzie BBC Scotland Highlands and Islands reporter

A rare example of prehistoric rock art has been uncovered in the Highlands.

Archaeologists made the discovery while moving a boulder decorated with ancient cup and ring marks to a new location in Ross-shire.  When they turned the stone over they found the same impressions on the other side of the rock. It is one of only a few decorated stones of its kind.

John Wombell, of North of Scotland Archaeological Society (NOSAS), said: "This is an amazing discovery."

Susan Kruse, of Archaeology for Communities in the Highlands (ARCH), first discovered the stone at Heights of Fodderty several years ago when out walking.

The second set of cup and ring marks were uncovered recently when archaeologists were moving the stone to a new site at nearby Heights of Brae Neil Gunn Viewpoint.

From the Neolithic or Bronze Age, the art was created between 4,000 and 5,000 years ago.

Archaeologists believe the markings may have been made for a number of reasons.  These include for rituals, as territorial markers or mapping the stars. They could even be the "doodlings" of bored, ancient shepherds.

Ms Kruse said: "Finding cup and ring decoration on the opposite side has raised a number of tantalising questions. Was the decoration meant to be viewed from both sides or was one decorated side deliberately placed face down? Or was the stone carved at different times?"

Mr Wombell, who is leading a project to record rock art in the Highlands and Grampian, said it was an important discovery.  He said: "Although some stones are decorated on different faces, I only know of a few other stones with decoration on opposite sides."

The archaeologist said most boulders with markings were too heavy to turn over to find out if they were decorated on the reverse side. [What?  Like there is no modern equipment they could use to turn a boulder over?  Come on!]

The stone in the new discovery was moved by crofters about 200 years ago when they used it for building a dyke.

There is a cluster of rock art in the local area.

How Easter Eggs Are REALLY Made...

Got this from one of my nieces, it made laugh!

Egyptian Military Finds Cure for AIDS!

OHMYGODDESS! I could not make up a story like this if I tried!

Egypt army 'AIDS detector' instead finds ridicule

By MAGGIE MICHAELFebruary 27, 2014 6:57 PM

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's military leaders have come under ridicule after the chief army engineer unveiled what he described as a "miraculous" set of devices that detect and cure AIDS, hepatitis and other viruses.

The claim, dismissed by experts and called "shocking to scientists" by president's science adviser, strikes a blow to the army's carefully managed image as the savior of the nation. It also comes as military chief Field Marshal Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who toppled Mohammed Morsi in July after the Islamist leader ignored mass protests calling for him to step down, is expected to announce he'll run for president.

The televised presentation — which was made to el-Sissi, interim President Adly Mansour and other senior officials — raised concerns that the military's offer of seemingly inconceivable future devices will draw Egypt back into the broken promises of authoritarian rule, when Hosni Mubarak frequently announced grand initiatives that failed to meet expectations.

Late Shang Dynasty Bronze Pieces Uncovered in Family Cemetery

This is awesome!  This is presented in a pictorial slide show, with not much text overall.  You need to look at all of the photos...

51 bronze sacrificial utensils unearthed in Shaanxi province

(People's Daily Online) 09:20, February 19, 2014

 

Shigu Mountain Western Zhou Dynasty cemetery, located at Shijutou village in Baoji, northwest China's Shaanxi province, was discovered by local people in 2012 when they dug house foundations. A total of 51 bronze sacrificial utensils were found in 12 tombs when archaeologists excavated the cemetery from August to December 2013. The cemetery was confirmed to belong to Jiang families living at the end of Shang dynasty and the beginning

 

CHECK. IT. OUT.

 

 

Shimao Ruins Yield Ancient Altar Relics

Only China refers to archaeological discoveries as "relics."  Something must be lost in translation :)

From China.org.cn

Altar relics found at neolithic city ruins
Xinhua, February 20, 2014

Chinese archaeologists have discovered altar relics at the ruins of a neolithic city, which indicate religious culture at that time. [Are they shocked by this, gasp!]

An initial survey showed the eight-meter-high altar had a three-tiered structure with a stone base 90 meters long. Jade relics and pits for offerings as deep as three meters were found nearby, said Sun Zhouyong, deputy head of the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology on Thursday.

Excavation has not started at the altar, outside the walls of the Shimao Ruins in Shenmu County.  Archaeologists have collected some jade for further research. They excavated over 80 human skulls last year.

Shimao Ruins were discovered in 1976 , but archaeologists did conduct a a thorough survey until last year, which led to more discoveries.

The city was found to have inner and outer structures, and the walls surrounding the outer city extend over four square kilometers.

The city was built about 4,300 years ago and abandoned roughly 300 years later during the Xia Dynasty (2100-1600 BC), the first dynasty in China described in historical chronicles.

York to Allow Housing to be Built Over Ancient Roman Cemetery and Archaeological Site

This just turns my stomach.  It's not like they DID NOT KNOW IT'S THERE IN THE GROUND and built over sacred ground in ignorance.  Vomit, vomit, vomit.  Oh, the almighty power of money money money.

From BBC News

Hungate: Houses for York's former archaeological site
21 February 2014 Last updated at 09:42 ET

Almost 200 homes are to be built on the former site of the largest archaeological dig in York city centre. 

Consent has been given for 195 one, two and three-bedroom apartments in the £150m Hungate project, developers Hungate Regeneration Ltd said.

The York Archaeological Trust spent five years from 2007 to 2012 on the dig on the site by the River Foss.

Construction on the land, which lies within the city's walls, is scheduled to start in the summer of 2014.

The Hungate dig, which covered 26,900 sq ft (2,500 sq m), featured on Channel 4's Time Team programme.  Part of the site contained the remains of an early Roman cemetery, which was about 1,700 years old.

Discoveries included a Roman necklace consisting of 299 small glass beads and rare jet jewellery dating from the 3rd or 4th Centuries.  The dig also revealed the edges of the Viking town of Jorvik where at one time warehouses would have stood.