2008 European Club Cup

Final ranking of women (from various Women's Teams) according to Performance Rating: 1 IM Ovod Evgenija 2429 Spartak Vidnoe 2859 3,0 3 100,0 4 2 IM Dzagnidze Nana 2503 Cercle d'Echecs Monte Carlo 2707 6,0 7 85,7 2 3 GM Stefanova Antoaneta 2548 Spartak Vidnoe 2694 5,0 6 83,3 1 4 IM Harika Dronavalli 2462 Economist SGSEU Saratov 2689 4,0 5 80,0 2 5 IM Muzychuk Anna 2508 T-com Podgorica 2649 5,5 7 78,6 1 6 GM Koneru Humpy 2618 Cercle d'Echecs Monte Carlo 2646 4,5 6 75,0 1 7 IM Ushenina Anna 2496 Economist SGSEU Saratov 2541 4,5 7 64,3 1 8 GM Chiburdanidze Maia 2489 MIKA Yerevan 2523 3,0 5 60,0 1 9 GM Lahno Kateryna 2488 MIKA Yerevan 2519 4,0 6 66,7 2 10 IM Kosintseva Tatiana 2513 Spartak Vidnoe 2507 4,5 6 75,0 3 11 WGM Sharevich Anna 2322 EPAM 2504 3,5 4 87,5 4 12 IM Maric Alisa 2405 T-com Podgorica 2494 4,5 7 64,3 2 13 IM Zatonskih Anna 2440 EPAM 2485 3,5 6 58,3 1 (US Women's Champion) 14 GM Hoang Thanh Trang 2483 EPAM 2482 3,0 6 50,0 1 15 IM Khurtsidze Nino 2417 MIKA Yerevan 2479 3,5 5 70,0 4 16 GM Zhao Xue 2518 Spartak Vidnoe 2475 3,0 5 60,0 2 17 IM Korbut Ekaterina 2459 Finek St. Petersburg 2471 3,0 6 50,0 1 18 IM Cmilyte Viktorija 2512 Finek St. Petersburg 2469 3,5 6 58,3 1 19 IM Matveeva Svetlana 2411 EPAM 2462 2,5 5 50,0 3 20 IM Mkrtchian Lilit 2443 MIKA Yerevan 2460 3,5 5 70,0 3 21 IM Kovalevskaya Ekaterina 2439 T-com Podgorica 2458 5,5 7 78,6 4 22 WGM Motoc Alina 2313 CS Cotnari-Politehnica Iasi 2452 6,0 7 85,7 3 23 WGM Hou Yifan 2578 Spartak Vidnoe 2448 2,0 4 50,0 1 24 WIM Cherenkova Kristina 2245 Aspropirgos Attikis 2423 4,5 7 64,3 2 25 IM Skripchenko Almira 2455 Cercle d'Echecs Monte Carlo 2422 3,0 4 75,0 4 26 IM Foisor Cristina Adela 2365 Radnicki Rudovci 2419 5,5 7 78,6 2 27 GM Cramling Pia 2550 Cercle d'Echecs Monte Carlo 2414 3,0 6 50,0 1 28 WGM Kovanova Baira 2379 Economist SGSEU Saratov 2413 4,5 7 64,3 3 29 IM Atalik Ekaterina 2432 EPAM 2407 3,5 7 50,0 2 30 IM Ciuksyte Dagne 2339 Panevezys Chess Club 2405 4,5 7 64,3 1 31 IM Socko Monika 2434 Cercle d'Echecs Monte Carlo 2386 2,5 5 50,0 3 32 WGM Zhukova Natalia 2488 Finek St. Petersburg 2384 3,0 6 50,0 2 33 IM Danielian Elina 2513 MIKA Yerevan 2383 3,5 7 50,0 1 34 IM Paehtz Elisabeth 2471 Economist SGSEU Saratov 2375 3,5 7 50,0 2 35 WGM Stojanovic Andjelija 2357 Rudar Ugljevik 2368 4,5 7 64,3 1 36 WFM Congiu Mathilde 2230 Vandoeuvre Echecs 2341 3,5 7 50,0 1 37 IM Gaponenko Inna 2473 T-com Podgorica 2327 3,5 7 50,0 3 38 WFM Fakhretdinova Margarita 2147 Aspropirgos Attikis 2311 4,0 7 57,1 3 39 WGM Voicu Carmen 2239 SK Gross-Lehna 2285 3,5 6 58,3 2 40 WGM Demina Julia 2357 Finek St. Petersburg 2268 2,5 4 62,5 3 41 WGM Chelushkina Irina 2360 Radnicki Rudovci 2266 3,0 7 42,9 1 42 IM Kosintseva Nadezhda 2468 Spartak Vidnoe 2263 2,0 4 50,0 3 43 WGM Cosma Elena Luminita 2340 CS Cotnari-Politehnica Iasi 2262 4,5 7 64,3 2 44 IM Peptan Corina-Isabela 2430 CS Cotnari-Politehnica Iasi 2252 3,0 7 42,9 1 45 IM Turova Irina 2381 Finek St. Petersburg 2251 4,0 6 66,7 4 46 WFM Botvinnik Irina 2239 Herzliya Chess Club 2251 3,0 7 42,9 1 47 WGM Pitam Ella 2295 Madatech Haifa Chess Club 2234 3,0 7 42,9 1 48 WFM Steil-Antoni Fiona 2166 Vandoeuvre Echecs 2229 3,0 7 42,9 2 49 Porat Maya 2167 Madatech Haifa Chess Club 2202 5,0 7 71,4 4 50 WIM Daulyte Deimante 2278 Panevezys Chess Club 2196 3,0 7 42,9 2 51 WIM Papadopoulou Vera 2196 Aspropirgos Attikis 2172 1,5 7 21,4 1 52 WIM Boric Elena 2292 Rudar Ugljevik 2153 3,5 7 50,0 2 53 WFM Vujic-Katanic Branka 2107 Rudar Ugljevik 2147 4,0 7 57,1 3 54 Genzling Sylvie 1936 Bischwiller 2140 2,0 7 28,6 1 55 WGM Karlovich Anastazia 2256 SK Gross-Lehna 2138 2,5 6 41,7 1 56 IM Petrenko Svetlana 2285 SK Gross-Lehna 2135 2,0 6 33,3 1 57 WFM Limontaite Simona 2197 Panevezys Chess Club 2105 4,5 7 64,3 4 58 Klipper Rebecca 2023 Vandoeuvre Echecs 2101 2,5 7 35,7 3 59 WGM Olarasu Gabriela 2297 Radnicki Rudovci 2099 3,0 7 42,9 3 60 Iordanidou Zoi 2110 Aspropirgos Attikis 2096 2,5 7 35,7 4 61 WIM Makka Ioulia 2220 Panevezys Chess Club 2089 3,0 7 42,9 3 62 WGM Igla Bella 2254 Madatech Haifa Chess Club 2087 2,5 7 35,7 2 63 WIM Paulet Iozefina 2307 CS Cotnari-Politehnica Iasi 2083 4,0 6 66,7 4 64 Nagel Verena 2052 SK Gross-Lehna 2023 2,0 5 40,0 3 65 Len Irina 2091 Herzliya Chess Club 2016 2,0 7 28,6 2 66 Grapsa Georgia 2121 Galaxias Thessaloniki 2006 1,5 7 21,4 1 67 Vovinkina Natalia 2147 Madatech Haifa Chess Club 2002 2,0 7 28,6 3 Annotation: forfeit points are ignored

Discovery of "Tantric University" Baffles Archaeologists?

Hmmmm, I think perhaps something got lost in translation here. Why would archaeologists be "baffled" by this discovery, when the "university" itself was evidently well attested-to in Indian sources? From The Times of India Archaeologists baffled by tantric varsity 23 Oct 2008, 0232 hrs IST, Pranava K Chaudhary, TNN PATNA: The recent discovery of forgotten ancient tantric university - Oddantapuri Mahavihara near Biharsharif, district headquarters of Nalanda, has baffled archaeologists here. Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) claims to have discovered the location of this forgotten university which was set up in 730 AD somewhere near Biharsharif hill. "I have made frequent visits to the site which is located on Biharsharif hill to locate the exact location of the ancient tantric university," said superintending archaeologist, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) , Patna circle, P K Mishra. "On the basis of various ancient texts I found a settlement on the top of Biharsharif hillock," he said. Mishra told TOI: "At least a dozen-member ASI technical team, including archaeologists, would visit the site on Friday to authenticate existence of the university. On the basis of various ancient texts and records I have come to the conclusion that the univeristy is located somewhere around this site." A large number of seals, sealings and images of Buddhist and Hindu cult, were found at Biharsharif during 1910, Mishra said. They are preserved in the Indian Museum, Kolkata. During research, Mishra procured a model of Oddantapuri from Tibet. The model must have been imported from the original Oddantapuri, Mishra said. Interestingly, in 775 AD, the king of Tibet had established a `Sarmaya Vihara' on the model of Oddantapuri at Lhasa. It is also mentioned in the Rahul Sankritayana collection which is preserved in Patna Museum. The Tibet model of Oddantapuri is still alive, Mishra said. Ancient texts say that the tantric university was destroyed in 1199 AD when Turk Afghan Mohd Bakhtiar Khilji invaded it. Quoting various ancient texts, Mishra said that Gopala, the first king of Pala dynasty, founded a great monastery at Oddantapuri. Laksmana Sena was then the king of Bengal. "The discovery of Tantric university at Biharsharif as a major seat of learning would add a new dimension to the field of ancient Indian history. Already we have two ancient universities - Nalanda and Vikramshila in Bihar. Now a third university in Bihar would be a new dimension to the study of tantricism," Mishra said.

Oh Those Showgirls! Kramnik! Anand!

Thursday, October 23, 2008, Bonn: Candi: I can't believe it - I just can't believe any of this is happening. Anand played (1) d4 again! Oh, Bambi, it's, it's - well, I just can't think of the right word at the moment - I'm sure it will come to me. Bambi: Candi, it's perfectly reasonable that Vishy would play (1) d4 again, since it's clear by now that is a line of play he's concentrated his home prep on for months. He's been successful with it too - unbelievably successful. Why mess with success? Candi: You've been reading the commentators again, haven't you. Bambi: Yes, and so have you. Candi: I can't believe that Vlady only managed a draw. Bambi: Well, he was playing black. Candi: Yes, but he had our secret weapon moves! Honestly, is it too much to ask the man to at least play them correctly? All that effort - down the toilet! Bambi: Candi, you did deliver the letter containing our moves to Vlady, didn't you? Candi: I gave the envelope to Leaky. He's the one who answered the door at Vlady's suite. Bambi: WHAT! Ooooh noooo! But you realize what this means - what must have happened! Candi: What? What happened? All I know is that Vlady didn't play the knight moves we sent him. Bambi: Exactly! That's because Leaky didn't give Vlady the letter, he read it himself but HE DIDN'T KNOW THE CODE! Candi: Ohmygoddess! I forgot! THE CODE! Bambi: He gave Vlady the moves, but he played them out of sequence! Ohmygoddess! Candi: Oh, oh, I think I feel faint again, Bambi. Bambi: Don't you faint on me again, Candi. Pull yourself together. We've got to think about what to do! Candi: Two days ago you were telling me to read your lips, that nothing could be done. Now you're thinking about what we can do? Bambi: I'm only trying to mitigate the damage that's already been done. You studied law - remember the concept - "Mitigation of Damages?" Anyway, you were the one who suggested "Knight Moves." Candi: Oh - right. Bambi: Candi, are you in love with Vlady? Candi: WHAT! Good Goddess, no. Absolutely not! Bambi! How could you think such a thing? Bambi: You've been acting strangely ever since we got here. You didn't know Vlady was married; and you fainted when you saw the wedding pictures! Were you carrying on with him? Candi: I have not been carrying on with Vlady here in Bonn. I fainted when I saw That Woman! And you know, Bambi, something has been knocking on the door of my brain ever since I saw her photograph. She reminds me of somebody, somebody we both know, only - I can't think of who it is she reminds me of! But I know we both know her. I'm surprised you haven't recognized her. Bambi: Before you told me that those photographs of Vlady's wife were of Olga Villiers, I had no idea what she looked like. I can't say I've seen that face before. And she would have been - Candi: I want to talk about The Hex. You said we were The Hex eight years ago in London. Bambi: Yes - I'm certain of it. The only thing that makes sense is that not only did Frogius blackmail me into doing his bidding, he blackmailed you, too! Candi: WHAT? Frogius blackmailed you too? Bambi: A ha! I see it all now! Frogius must have bet heavily against the line, and in order to reap the big pay-off, he had to make sure Kaspy lost to Vlady in the 2000 Brain Games Match. Oh Goddess, and there we were, ripe pickings to do his evil bidding. I cannot believe I was so incredibly stupid! I swear I'll hunt him down if it's the last thing I do - Candi: Oh please! You're upsetting me, Bambi. I hate to see you so - so - vengeful! Vengence is Mine, Sayeth the Lord. I Will Repay! So let's let the Lord do his vengence thingy, and we get out of Dodge while the getting is good. Sounds like a plan to me! I'll start packing - Bambi: Absolutely not. I'm not leaving here until we get to the bottom of this. Tell me this, Candi. Just what hook did Frogius use on you? Candi: Oh - I don't think I want to talk about it. Bambi: Tell me, it's vitally important! Candi: Bambi! Let me go, you're hurting me! Your acrylics are digging into my arms! Bambi: Oh, sorry. Just tell me how he forced you to having an affair with Kaspy. Candi: Well, oh - I can see now just how silly I was to believe him. But at the time, he was soooo convincing. Anyway, he told me that if I didn't do what he wanted, he'd make sure not only that The International Chessoid was wiped off the face of the internet, he'd get rid of Goddesschess, too! And Bambi, I just couldn't let that happen. I just couldn't! Bambi: Now, now, that's all right, Candi, that's all right. No need to get so emotional. My goodness, you really have been uber-emotional lately. Are you sure you're not - Candi: BAMBI! Gloria Belanova! GLORIA BELANOVA! Bambi: Who? Candi: Oh, don't tell me you don't remember her! She was the Riktonator's Personal Assistant for 21 years - his faithful everything! She was to Frogius what Della Street was to Perry Mason! She's the person I had the brain knocking on, the one I couldn't remember. Only now I do. It was Gloria, Gloria - I think I've got your number, Gloria - Bambi: Ohmygoddess! Now I remember! Candi: Look at their pictures side by side - I think - Bambi! I'm having a brain flash - they're Mother and Daughter! Bambi: Ohmygoddess! Frogius sent his own daughter to London to interview Kaspy after that disastrous tournament! And - and -- Candi: Yes? And - and -- Bambi: I haven't got that far in this narrative yet, give me a night to sleep on it, I'll dream something up --

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Holy Pawn! What new revelations will the Showgirls next uncork on us, I ask you? Wow! I'm hyperventilating, darlings, I can't keep up! Intrigue! Romance! Sex? Chess - only Vlady can't follow directions, only he didn't know, because Leaky kept the letter from him, and didn't know The Code! Wait a minute - what is this "Code" business, anyway? And just what were those "Knight Moves" the Girls put in that letter delivered to GM Kramnik's suite, into the hands of GM Peter Leko (one of a team of Seconds)? Will Vishy play (1) d4 tomorrow, in Game 8? Will the Girls put together the rest of the story behind the story of what really happened in London eight years ago? And what is really happening behind the scenes in Bonn today? Will Vlady, er, GM Vladimir Kramnik, have a miraculous epiphany, and suddenly begin playing absolutely brilliant chess, winning the match (wins in 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12, for good measure)? Okay, probably not.

Oh, She's Just One of Us - B. Frigging S.

The Republican National Committee spends $150,000.00 - ONE HUNDRED FIFTY THOUSAND AND 00/100 DOLLARS - on clothes for Sarah Palin. And she's supposed to be a female version of Joe the Lying Ass, Tax Dodging Plumber, an Average American. Well, I don't know any Average Americans like Joe the Plumber, and I sure as hell am glad I don't - I might be arrested as a criminal accesory after the fact! Here I am, one of those EVIL COMMY UNAMERICAN LIBERALS. I earn $45,000 a year gross. My clothing budget is around $300 a year. Last year I really splurged and spent nearly $90 (on sale) buying a pair of water-proof Sorels guaranteed to keep my feet warm to 20 below zero. That was in addition to my $300 for other clothing purchases. This year I'm only shopping for new shoes to get me through the winter, as my clothing budget has otherwise been eaten up by the double-digit increases in my electric and gas bills, my real estate taxes, and what I pay for groceries. I expect to pay a total of perhaps $50 for two, hopefully three, pairs of shoes at Payless. Woooo hoooo! Now you tell me, darlings, just who is more representative of the average American, heh? Fifi the Alaskan Attack Dog from Alaska, or yours truly from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, whose feet do not sport $400 a pair designer stilletto heels. Sarah, Sarah, how can you be so frigging stupid? You are letting these Republican a-hole duds (I'd call them dudes but actually, they are just duds) ruin your future career in politics to serve their selfish short-term goals. Sarah, you are thereby proving every single negative perjorative the Janus-faced "neo-con" Nazis who are now running the Republican party in this country have ever foisted upon the female sex. Sarah, you should know better.

Hmmm, sounds rather like Chekov on Star Trek back in the '60's bragging about all the things that the Russians did (not!): Russians the first potters on earth? Wed, 22 Oct 2008 10:50:16 GMT Russian archeologists claim that the Russians were the first people on the planet to cultivate land, breed cattle and make earthenware. Russian tribes [how do they know they were "Russian" tribes?] inhabited Khabarovsk Region in the Stone Age, the archeologists said after finding a 15,000-year-old hunters' settlement on the bank of the Amur River in Khabarovsk. Stone axes, knives, scrapers, arrowheads and baked earthenware have so far been unearthed in the area. "It was the first earthenware on the globe, and though it was primitive, with plain decoration, and poorly baked, yet it was a significant landmark in the history of mankind," said Andrei Malyavin, an employee of Khabarovsk Archeology Museum. [Not necessarily the "first earthenware on the globe", but to date it's the oldest preserved evidence discovered.] Firing shaped clay is among the possible first steps toward social organization, or society. The production of earthenware shows that the group had moved beyond simple farming, and into some specialization. Khabarovsk is the administrative center and the largest city of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, located some 30 km from the Chinese border. HRF/JG/RA

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Take a look at the map that is in the article. The Jomon Culture is in the area - across a narrow straight on the islands that today comprise the nation of Japan. Jomon dates back to approximately 14,000 BCE, verified by updated carbon-14 readings. Those "Russians" who created the earliest known pottery (to date) along the Amur River could just as easily have been Jomon Culture people. Thing is, we don't know, and never will know, unless we find flash-frozen bodies or well-preserved human remains and can do extensive DNA analysis! However, I doubt we are talking about blonde-haired blue-eyed Russians, the only kind of Russian the Kremlin likes to showcase. More intriguing to me is the question of whether these ancient Amur/Jomon people are related to the people who crossed over into the Americas sometime before? It seems to me that most people have an image in mind that the people who settled the Americas were primative savages who crossed over the Bering Strait during the last interglacial period while they were following the last of the giant game. This ignores the reality of the fact that, to date, we haven't found any older evidence of pottery-making anywhere on earth - not in Egypt, not in Mesopotamia, not anywhere in the Fertile Crescent, not in Southeastern Europe (Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, Romania), not in the Anatolian Peninsula. We know that people were in South America 13,000 years ago, and in eastern United States even earlier than that! So, perhaps all the concentration on the Middle East, etc. looking for the origins of civilization is mistaken, and we need to look along the far Pacific coastline of Europe and Asia.

Oh Those Showgirls! Kramnik! Anand!

We last left Candi gracefully passed out on the bear skin rug in front of the fireplace in the Library of the cushy Villa the Girls rented in Bonn during their assignment for Goddesschess: A little while later - Bambi: Candi! Oh, Thank Goddess! You scared the life out of me, collapsing like that! You've never ever fainted before! Don't you ever do that to me again! Candi: Ooooh, ooooh, I feel so strange, Bambi. I think I need something to drink. Bambi: Here's some Boobie Beer - Candi: No, Chivas Regal. Please. With a cherry. Bambi: Are you kidding me? Where do you expect me to come up with some Chivas Regal in the middle of Bonn? Candi: Suitcase - secret compartment. Bambi: Oh - okay, hold on -- Candi: Don't forget the jar of cherries... -- a few minutes later Bambi emerges from the Candi's bedroom with a velvet-covered bottle in one hand and a jar of marischino cherries in the other -- Bambi: Okay, here we are. Over ice? Soda? Candi: Neat, please. I feel just like Patricia Neal! Bambi: Now you're being historical. Candi: Don't you mean hysterical? I feel a bit screamy, actually, and I think I'm seeing pink elephants, too. Bambi: No, I said historical and I meant historical. Patricia Neal, indeed. I've seen that movie too, you know. It's one of my favorites! Now, what was this fainting all about. Candi - tell me true - are your expecting an interesting event? Candi: No, I've been very regular this trip, but thank you for asking. I think it's the grapefruit -- Bambi: That wasn't what I was asking about - oh, never mind. What made you faint? Candi: It was That Woman! Bambi: What woman? Candi: Bambi - are you blind? That Woman! Olga Villiers! The one who interviewed Kasparov for that story in The International Chessoid's December, 2000 End of the Millennium Mega-Edition! The one where he kept saying "Bambi...Bambi..." Oh, it was horrid! Bambi: Please! Get control of yourself, Candi! Olga Villiers? Are you certain? Where did you see her? Candi: Oh honestly, Bambi, you are blind! She's right there on your laptop, those photographs from Chessbase. She married Vlady on December 31, 2006! Bambi: WHAT? Candi: It's true! Did you never meet her at TIC headquarters? Bambi: No - no, I never did. That horrid Riktor Frogius fired us shortly after the 2000 Brain Games Championship, and I haven't been back to TIC since. Ohmygoddess, are you sure it's her? Candi: Sure I'm sure. I forget names all the time, but I never forget a face. That's her! Bambi: Oh, oh - I've got to think about this for a minute - my head hurts! Goddess! Candi: Oh, Bambi! I believe you are discombobulated! Here, sit down, have some of my Chivas Regal with a cherry on top. Bambi: Thank you, Candi. Ohmygoddess! Well, you said something strange was going on, and it certainly is! Only think - Olga Villiers is married to Vlady; Vlady beat, no, he not only beat, he humiliated and destroyed Kaspy, he crushed him, in the London match; Olga Villiers does that embarrassing interview with Kaspy and Mig. Now here is Vlady eight years later married to That Woman! Coincidence? Candi: Are you asking me or telling me? Bambi: That was a rhetorical - oh, never mind. Candi, I smell a rat! Candi: Or a skanky beaver... Bambi: Ohmygoddess! I feel so used! The Hex! Candi: Oh yes, you were going to tell me all about that. What was The Hex? Bambi: Candi - use your brain! It was us! We were The Hex! Candi: Ooooh - er, okay. Bambi: That dirty rotten filthy Communist Nazi Frogius - oh, I could just kill him! I'll strangle him with my thighs - I'll strangle him with one thigh tied behind my back! Candi: Bambi, please! Control yourself. Underage people read the columns at Goddesschess, you know! Bambi: Well, they aren't supposed to! I can't control the Entire Universe, Candi. If underage people are reading our columns at Goddesschess, they'll just have to suck it up and get over it! Candi: Never apologize, never explain. Bambi: Oh, you are so right, Candi! I smell Frogius all over this Operation, his filthy fingerprints are everywhere! Ha! Candi: Ha! Okay, how do we get him? Bambi: Oh Candi, you are my very best friend in the entire world, but I wouldn't ask you to undertake this desperately dangerous mission with me. You could get hurt. Candi: Oh! Er, well, okay. I'm all for fun, but not much for danger - Bambi: Candi! I was only kidding, of course! Candi: Oh! Er, well, of course! A horse is a horse, of course, of course, unless of course, the horse is hoarse, la la la la, la la la La, la la La LAAAAAHHHHH... Bambi: Candi! Oh, you are sooooo brilliant! That is exactly the answer - Candi: Oh! Er, well, of course! A Knight Move? Bambi: Precisely! Candi: Oooooh, I can hardly wait. I just love Knights and Their Moves! But Bambi, won't you please explain to me just how we were The Hex? Bambi: Not now, Candi. We've got lots of work to do -

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Oh oh! What are those Showgirls plotting? Will it have an impact on Vlady's - er, GM Vladimir Kramnik's, play during the second half of the Match? Will a Knight Move come into play (hint hint)? And just what was The Hex, exactly? Stay Tuned for MORE LAS VEGAS SHOWGIRLS!

Golden "Spindle-Shaped" Objects Discovered in Bulgarian Tomb

I'll post the article first and comment later: Amazing Archaeological Discovery in the South of Sakar Mountain Updated on: 20.10.2008, 18:27 Published on: 20.10.2008, 12:17 Author: Diana Stoykova A sensational golden discovery was made in the South of Sakar Mountain by a team of archaeologists under the governance of Ph.D. Borislav Borislavov from Sofia University "Climent Ohridski" and Nadezhda Ivanova - vice-chief (National Institute Of Archaeology And Museum - Bulgarian Academy of Sciences) The excavations were sponsored by the Ministry of Culture through the National History Museum, the sum amounting of 22 000 leva, announced NHM director Bozhidar Dimitrov. The expedition explored a mound in the surroundings of Izvorovo village, Harmanli Municipality. The mound is 31 m in diameter, 2, 9 m in height. Two stages of heaping were determined. The first dates back to the second half of the 2nd millennium B.C. (middle bronze age) and the second - to the 2nd century A.C. (Romanian period) During the Bronze Age a rubble and stamped clay platform was shaped, over which a funeral device was built. It is in fact a mould of quartz with a clay foundation, 8 m in diameter and 2 m in height. At its foundation a crematory funeral was performed. The remains were put in a richly decorated clay pot and dispersed around the stones. At the same level treasures which of extreme importance were found having in mind the period - a golden jewel, consisting of 320 beads: small spherical (2 mm) taking turns with big barley-shaped beads (7 mm), 1, 5 m all, two golden spindle-shaped objects, with a solar decoration, a golden and a silver tile, tied together with a sliver knit, a silver ring and a bronze knife with a stone hone. Golden finds of the same kind have been found only on Crete - these finds, however, outnumber them almost 15 times. Ph.D. Borislavov suspects that it is the mould of a man of utmost importance - a ruler or a high priest. The number and the master's workmanship can be explained by the fact that this region was a major trading road, connecting Asia Minor,the Balkans and Central Europe. These treasures, however, can be the work of a local culture. It is know that Sakar mountain is the home of a mysterious stone culture -the dolmens. The mound was preserved as a cult place, when during the 2nd century A.C. a village was built around it. It is surrounded by a circle of big stone blocks, 22 m in diameter, and heaped by red soil and three levels of stones, which helped its perseverance through the centuries. This discovery is unique not only for Bulgaria and it will shed light on long kept secrets about far forgotten ages. Tomorrow- Tuesday at a press-conference in NHM minister Danailov will personally present the finds to the public. After that they will be exhibited in hall 1 of the National History Museum.

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Okay, first of all, the article (and archaeologists) totally slighted the discovery of TWO SPINDLE-LIKE OBJECTS in this tomb. Now darlings, everyone knows that spindles do not appear in men's tombs; they only appear in women's tombs because they were used - say it all together now - in spinning wool and flax for the weaving of cloth! Duh! Compare the previous posted article about the portion of a stone spindle discovered in Iceland. Second, it is premature, without more to go on, to just assume that the mound was the burial spot of a MAN of "utmost importance" - a ruler or a priest. Why not the tome of a female ruler - or a priestess? The TWO GOLDEN SPINDLE-LIKE OBJECTS would seem to point more toward a female burial than a male burial. In the absence of remains that could be analyzed anatomically - only ashes from a cremation - it is totally presumptive, and unfortunately typical - to assume that the burial was male. Can the ashes be analyzed for male or female DNA? Third, I don't know about you, darlings, but the style of that gold bead necklace found in the mound certainly reminds me of necklaces worn by women and not those worn by men, even in the bad old days! In fact, it has a very modern ambiance to it, doesn't it! I think the archaeologist dudes made a big mistake...

Ancient Inscribed Spindle Found in Iceland

From IcelandReview.com 20/10/2008 11:42 Ancient Spindle with Runes Discovered in Reykjavík A fracture of a spindle with a runic inscription was discovered in an archeological excavation near the Althingi parliament building in Reykjavík last week. It is believed to date back to the 11th century and may be the oldest runic inscription in Iceland. Archeologist Vala Gardarsdóttir, who is in control of the excavation, told Fréttabladid that the discovery is of great significance. “What makes it so special is that it is the only runic inscription from that time that has been found in Iceland.” “This find could tell us a lot about the development of runes in Iceland because it can prove to be an important piece of the puzzle. One could even say that we’ve discovered the missing link,” Gardarsdóttir said. Thórgunnur Snaedal, a professor with expertise in runes, has examined the spindle and decoded the inscription. “The female name Thórunn is probably inscribed to the fraction and the words ‘owns me’.” The spindle is made from green sandstone which indicates that it was made from a stone from Esja, the mountain which towers over Reykjavík. Relics of the oldest inhabitation in Reykjavík have been discovered near the Althingi building, the most important of which is the settlement lodge on Adalstraeti 16. Gardarsdóttir said various objects have been discovered which indicate that during the settlement era this was an industrial area and such operations were probably undertaken inside or next to the lodge.

Oh, Those Showgirls! Kramnik! Anand!

Hola! Things have been developing so quickly in the Kramnik/Anand WCC match in Bonn that the Showgirls can't keep up! But trust me - they's been writing reams of materials and emailing/texting/faxing it to me 24-7. Oy! Rather than waiting until the weekend to assemble all of their reports into one harmonious (or not) whole, I've decided to publish some of their reports as they come in. You can read the Girls' coverage of the first 4 games, published at Goddesschess late Sunday, October 19th - it will give you some much-needed background too on the Girls' rather complicated relationship with Vladimir Kramnik and some of what really happened behind the scenes at the 2000 Brain Games World Chess Championship match in London between Kasparov/Kramnik. Tonight I'm publishing the Girls' bulletins from yesterday and today, as hot off the presses as I can get them up and running here, given the time differential and my work schedule (out the door at 7:30 a.m., in the door at 6:30 p.m.) Even the Girls cannot believe what has been going on - it's almost like a novel what's been happening in Bonn! But it's all true! Kramnik lost again today, once again falling victim in Game 6 to Anand's (1) d4!!!!! I couldn't even make this stuff up if I tried - and neither could the Girls! Anand now leads at the half-way mark 4.5/1.5. Kramnik has only 6 games to frame and forge a comeback -- if he can. Can he? Bambi doesn't seem to think so. Candi seems to think the Girls can concoct some sort of Plan to help Vlady, er, Kramnik, out of his funk. Here, without further ado, are the Girls' reports from Monday October 20 and today, October 21: Monday, October 20, 2008, Paris: Bambi: Okay, this should do it - Candi, tell me what you think of this report to Jan: Dear Jan: White (1) d4 has struck again - this time with disastrous results for Vlady! Unbelievably, in Game 5, Kramnik behind the white pieces played the move Vishy had played in Games 2 and 4! Well, he should have known - copycats always get short shrift! What was he thinking??? While the game involved some intriguing complications (oooh, we just love complications), it was clear after move 29.Nxd4?? that Vlady was lost - and lose he did, to go down 2 full points to Vishy by move 35! Everyone and his uncle is now saying what Vlady should have done was play 29.Ne3 and not swallowed the poison pawn! It is obvious that this former World Champion is not himself - will he be able to recover? The match is only 12 games and in order to avoid a brutal play-off Vlady must win the match outright. So far, he hasn't proven that he can do anything behind the black pieces, and he only has white 3 mores times! What will Vlady do for a come-back tomorrow? More importantly, will Vishy once again uncork (1) d4? Bambi and Candi, Live from Bonn! Candi: Bambi, that's a great report, but it sounds so professional - not quite like us. Do you think Jan will suspect something? Bambi: Oh, I hope not! She can't possibly be reading every single word on the internet about this match - there are millions and millions of them. You know she doesn't care much for men's chess, but then, she is a Goddess and she always seem to know things in a most uncanny way... Candi: Writing from others' internet reports like Polgar and Mig isn't quite the same as being in Bonn live. Poor Vlady! You know, I feel guilty. I think we should go back to Bonn and actually cover the match live, like we promised we would. Maybe we could do something to help Vlady? Bambi: Hmmmm, I've been feeling a bit guilty too. We can always come back to Paris for shopping once Vlady loses - I'm sure it won't take all 12 games! Candi: Bambi! You are not - you are not rooting for Vlady to lose, are you? Bambi: Of course not! I don't wish any ill-will on Vlady. Candi: Bambi - I just have the eeriest feeling that something spooky is going on! Bambi: Hold that thought - we'll talk about it when we get back to Bonn... Tuesday, October 21, 2008, Bonn: Candi: Bambi, oh Bambi, this is a DIS-ASTER! Bambi: Calm down, Candi. Breathe, in ---- out ---- in ---- out ----. That's it. Now sit down, please. Have some Boobie Bottles Tea - here. Candi: Oh, thank you! I feel much better. I think I was cyberventilating! But what are we going to do about this? Bambi: Candi, please, there isn't anything we can do! We can't very well play the games for Vlady, after all, at least - not without cheating. And I would never ever do that in a millions years. And neither would you. Candi: Well, all right, if you say so. But honestly - I told you yesterday - there's something really spooky going on here, and this proves it! Who could possibly have imagined Vishy playing (1) d4 yet again today in Game 6! Unbelievable! I've got chills running up and down my spine just thinking about it. Vlady is doomed, I tell you, doomed! He's hexed - it's come back to haunt him hasn't it - that hex he put on Kaspy back in London. Ohmygoddess! What are we going to do? Bambi: Candi, read my lips - there-is-nothing-we-can-do. Candi: I refuse to believe that. We always come up with a plan, don't we? Remember that time we were cornered in the Casbah in Algiers? And remember that time the pilot had a heart attack on our Cesna and yet we managed to land the plane without a scratch? And remember that time you painted the Black Putin's black labrador white and we had to improvise our escape at the last second because you'd gained so much weight you couldn't get your leg over the wall of the dacha? Bambi: Candi! Don't tell our readers I was too heavy to climb over a brick wall! What will they think? Anyway, I've lost all of that weight and more. Imagine, Jan has started a weight loss plan too, without any prompting from us, and I never thought she'd do that! I think she's planning something spectacular for 2009 and will unveil her new svelt and sexy self in Las Vegas! Candi: Hmmmm, maybe we can find a spot for her in the show -- oh, there you go, dissecting me again. I'm on to your tricks, though, Bambi. You can't fool me again! I am intending. Bambi: Distracting, Bambi, not dissecting, and it's attending, not intending. Yes, you are too sharp for me. Candi: My studying a ten-new-words list every day has vastly improved my vocalibation. Occasionally wearing my glasses helps, too. So - no more dissections! I think we can come up with A Plan. Bambi: Hmmmm, Candi - take a look at this blog entry at Mig's: Bartleby October 21, 2008 12:55 PM Reply That's not him.Instead of playing the slow, quiet position slowly and patiently, he went for dubious activity.Does anyone know if he has fallen in love or something? Candi: Bambi! Do you think it's true - Vlady is in Love!? Bambi: Candi! Control yourself! He is a married man! Candi: WHAT? Oh no he isn't. I KNOW he isn't! Bambi: What are you talking about? For goddess sake, he's been married since December 31, 2006. Chessbase did a big spread on the wedding, photographs and everything. They even got a piece of the wedding cake. Here - look, I've got the website on the laptop -

Candi: Oh, I feel faint, I'm sinking, sinking into the dark swirling mist of unconsciousness, sinking into the abyss of despair - death cannot be far behind - -- whereupon Candi gracefully sinks to the bear skin rug in front of the fireplace in the library where the Girls were sitting in their rented villa on the Rhine River, her eyelids fluttering and then going still.

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

Oh my! What drama! Candi fainting - she never faints (trust me, I know, wink wink). What could possibly cause her to faint? Why was she sinking into the "abyss of despair"??? Why was she so certain that Kramnik was not married? Okay - enough telegraphing the story line (har!) No - wait! There's a big surprise coming - Jan, don't give everything away! And at long last, the real truth about the Bambi/Candi/Kaspy/Vlady quadrangle will be revealed! As well as lots of other interesting stuff but all subsidiary to Sex! Shopping! Sex! Scandal! Sex! Sleeping! Yes! Yes! Yes!

Quick (Cheaters') Chicken Noodle Soup

I love chicken noodle soup, I just don't like the time it takes to cook up a real batch from scratch. So, here's my recipe for cheater's CN soup: 1 Mrs. Grass chicken noodle soup "nugget" 1 Mrs. Grass chicken noodle soup packet of flavorings Feed Mrs. Grass' thin and skimpy "noodles" to the birds Follow Mrs. Grass' package recipe for making soup but dump everything in before bringing to a boil: 4 cups water, "nugget" (shaped like an egg) and packet of flavorings Add one cup frozen peas Meanwhile: if you like carrots, cut up half a pound in coin size, par-boil, then add to "soup" mix Keep fire low. When simmer level is reached, add four large hands-full of large-size egg noodles Add one chicken flavor boullion cube and cover pot Simmer for 20 minutes or so, until noodles are tender. Taste broth and add salt and pepper as needed. This recipe does not include chicken. If you want a deluxe version, add some shredded chicken from a left-over broast picked up at the supermarket. Delish!

Live - From Bonn - It's Bambi and Candi!

Oh, those fabulous Las Vegas Showgirls, Candi Kane and Bambi Darlin! They put their own particular spin on covering big chess events. Even now they're enroute from shopping in Paris (playing hooky, tsk tsk) back to Bonn to continue their two-of-a-kind coverage of the World Chess Championship Match. Read their report on the first four games! THE CURSE OF (1) d4 FOR KRAMNIK???? Stay tuned for their further unique take on events and more scandalous revelations!!! Oy! If the Showgirls are there, can scandal be far behind?

Chess News

Darlings! Please keep your eye on Goddesschess tonight; even as I type this, delion is busy working on the weekly update to Random Round-up and, in addition, those fabulous Las Vegas Showgirls, Candi Kane and Bambi Darlin, have emailed Goddesschess an exclusive review of the first four games of the World Chess Championship Match between Anand and Kramnik! Their hot off the press review will also be up and running sometime tonight!

China Trying to Calm the Restive Provinces

In addition to clamping down - hard - on the Muslims within the "autonomous regions", China has enacted "land reform." Yeah - right. Let's see how far this reform is implemented in the face of totally corrupt local bureaucracies that the central government continues to do absolutely nothing about: China Enacts Major Land-Use Reform By JIM YARDLEY Published: October 19, 2008 BEIJING — After days of uncertainty, the governing Communist Party on Sunday announced a rural reform policy that for the first time would allow farmers to lease or transfer land-use rights, a step that advocates say would raise lagging incomes in the Chinese countryside. The new policy, announced by Chinese state media, is a major economic reform and is also rich in historical resonance, coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the land reforms enacted by the Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, which were considered the first critical steps in the policies that have fueled China’s rapid economic growth. For President Hu Jintao, whose tenure has disappointed some reformers, the new policy seems intended to position him as a worthy heir to Deng. “The new measures adopted are seen by economists as a major breakthrough in land reforms initiated by late leader Deng Xiaoping 30 years ago,” reported Xinhua, the country’s official news agency. Under the current system, farmers are assigned small plots of land. Under the new policy, the government will establish markets where farmers can “subcontract, lease, exchange or swap” land-use rights or join cooperatives. Reform advocates say allowing leasing or transfer would enable the creation of larger, more efficient farms that could increase output. The fate of the reform program has been uncertain for the past week. Analysts had expected an announcement last Sunday after the conclusion of an important annual Communist Party planning session. But the communiqué released after the meeting made no mention of land reform, fueling speculation that opponents may have derailed the plan. Critics had warned that weakening the existing system of collective village ownership could deprive peasants of the security of having a piece of land and possibly lead to millions of landless farmers. [Well, duh! Of course it will, darlings!] But the existing system has become rife with corruption, as local officials and developers have illegally seized farmland for urban expansion while paying minimal compensation to farmers. Signs that the reforms had been approved began to appear during the week. In Chengdu, the capital of the southwestern Sichuan Province, a government land market opened last Monday. On Thursday, a leading Communist Party magazine published an article by one of the country’s most senior officials on rural issues in which he said that the party would create a market for transferring land-use rights in the countryside. Deng’s reforms broke up the collective use, if not ownership, of land and created a household registration system that assigned land to individual families to use as they saw fit. Those reforms enabled farm incomes to rise sharply during the early 1980s, even as city dwellers suffered. But the later creation of an urban real estate market saw an explosion of wealth in the cities that contributed to a sharp income divide between increasingly affluent city dwellers and impoverished peasants. In recent years, rural protests have become increasingly common as disgruntled farmers have demonstrated against illegal land grabs or corrupt local officials. At the same time, tens of millions of farmers have flocked to cities in search of work, leaving plots of land to be tended by their elderly parents. Reducing the rural-urban income gap has been a major priority for Mr. Hu, but the gap has continued to widen in recent years, as China has become one of the most unequal societies in the world. On Sunday, Xinhua also announced the party’s intention to establish a modern rural financial system to extend more credit and investment into the countryside. Chinese banking regulators have been ordered to establish 40 more rural banking institutions by year’s end. Increasing incomes in the countryside is a major part of the government’s effort to raise China’s domestic consumption at a time when the overall economy is slowing. More than 700 million people are still designated as rural inhabitants, yet their spending is minimal. [Well, duh again! That's because they don't have the money to spend, nim-nuts!] Economists say that jump-starting the rural economy is one way to offset the possibility of a recession, as exports are expected to slow because of the global financial crisis. [Yeah, right. Good luck with that.] Huang Yuanxi contributed research.

Chess Princess: Margaret Hua

Ten-year-old set to compete in world chess tournament Rachel Lippmann, KWMU ST. LOUIS, MO (2008-10-15) On a rainy Tuesday night in the Central West End in the thick of an election season, TV's in 600,000 homes across the St. Louis area are tuned into the second presidential debate. The debate is on downstairs at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis. But upstairs, the hands of eight players fly between the pieces on the vinyl chess boards in front of them and the switches of their game clocks. It's the Chess Club's weekly blitz tournament, where players play five, five-minute games of chess. Ten-year-old Margaret Hua sits with her feet tucked under her, paying close attention to her unfolding game. She is the only girl, and one of the youngest players here. The fifth-grader at Parkway's Pierremont Elementary School started playing chess with her family three years ago. "Me and my family would just play chess for fun, and then during summer, summer school they found a chess class, and then they put me in it, and I won the teacher, and then the, my parents thought I was pretty good, so I started to play chess tournaments," Margaret said. Those tournaments, and some lessons, have helped Margaret achieve a 1603 ranking from the United States Chess Federation. That makes her the 36th best 10-year-old in the nation, and the 86th best player in Missouri - of all ages. That ranking also earned her a spot on the 30-person team that will represent the United States at this year's World Youth Chess Championship in Vietnam. "What do you think is going to be the best thing about it?" I asked. "That I'll be able to visit the beach, and I'll be able to have a good experience playing with other strong players," Margaret replied. The tournament gives her a chance to compete against the top 10-year-old girls from 70 different countries. The Chess Club is paying Margaret's way to the tournament. Executive director Tony Rich calls Margaret's invitation to the tournament an honor. And he says it shows just how focused she is on the game. "Girls under 10, typically they have lower ratings than the average chess population, so the fact that Margaret has a very respectable chess rating indicates just how committed she is to the game and how focused she really is," Rich said. In her third game at the Tuesday night blitz tournament, Margaret faced off against Joseph Garnier, ranked 38th in the state and the 2005 Missouri Scholastic champion. Garnier gave Margaret chess lessons for about a year. "I would put her in the top three most talented children I've worked with. Now she's so good that I can't even teach her anymore. She might beat me, y'know," he said laughing. "So I have to be humble and admit it, but she's very talented. I know eventually she's going to be beating all of us. It's inevitable." More than an hour after the blitz tournament was over, Margaret, Joseph, and three other players were still gathered around the chess boards, playing a variety of different games and learning some moves that might come in handy in their next tournaments. "I've got one more for Margaret and then you've got to go home," Joseph told her. Margaret's parents, Jun and Diane Hua, looked like they'd been read to go home for a while, since it's a 40-minute drive back to Ballwin, where the family lives. "She's never tired while playing chess," Jun remarked. He hopes his daughter's success at the game gets more girls playing chess in the United States. "Do you think that with you going in and playing so much chess that maybe more girls will start playing?" I asked. "Umm, maybe because I inspire them, I guess?" Margaret replied tentatively. She knows for certain though, that she'd like to be a Grand Master - the highest rating [title] possible for a chess player. © Copyright 2008, KWMU

Another Murder Over a Chess Game

History keeps on repeating itself. The oldest story about a murder over a chess game I've been able to find is the King Canute story that dates to the late 10th or early 11th century CE. Story from The Chicago Tribune: Man dies after chess match leads to fight Associated Press 1:44 PM CDT, October 19, 2008 IOWA CITY, Iowa - A late-night game of chess between neighbors went from a shouting match to a fight that left one man dead early Sunday morning. Michael A. Steward died of his injuries at a local hospital. Police charged his neighbor David Christian with second-degree homicide and public intoxication. Emergency responders found Steward unresponsive at about 3 a.m. on Sunday. Iowa City police Sgt. Denise Brotherton says preliminary results from an autopsy are expected back this week. Brotherton says its unknown what injuries Steward suffered in the fight or what caused his death. Brotherton says she doesn't know whether weapons were involved.

Roman Elvis?

Back in the old days of the internet, when the wildly popular The International Chessoid used to ply its trade on the ether with news about chess and chessplayers that was not published anywhere else (mostly because it was all made up), the Chessoid featured "The Dead Ringers of Chess." The creative but admittedly warped minds behind the Chessoid would cull through online archives from history and art galleries for images resembling well-known (and not so well-known) chess players and feature them side-by-side in the Chessoid. Imagine my delight when I saw this article crop up. It really is an uncanny resemblance: £24,000 FOR 'ELVIS' Thursday October 16,2008 By Paul Jeeves A ROMAN marble head that looks like Elvis – right down to the quiff – was sold for £24,000 at auction yesterday. The 13-inch carving, which came from a 2nd century AD sarcophagus, was bought by an unnamed collector at a Bonhams sale in London. Antiquities specialist Georgiana Aitken said: “It bears an uncanny likeness to Elvis. It’s the quiff that does it. It wasn’t a hairstyle of the day as far as I know.”

Oval Objects of Desire

Lovely new book about the Faberge eggs. I have a modest collection of eggs; my most expensive was a "splurge" purchase made in Las Vegas in 1999 (while I was there for the FIDE World Chess Championship) of a Waterford crystal egg from a display I passed in the connecting hallway between Harrah's and the hotel/casino complext next store. It cost $100. The rest of my eggs have ranged in prize from a few dollars to about $20. I also collect pink elephants - but that's another story. OCTOBER 6, 2008 Bookshelf Oval Objects of Desire By JOSEPH TARTAKOVSKY In 1885, Czar Alexander III gave the czarina an Easter present that astonished her. When your wife lives in a palace with 900 rooms, delighting her with a gift is no easy task. And at first, Czarina Marie Fedorovna could have been excused for being underwhelmed by Alexander's offering: It was a plain enameled egg -- the traditional Russian Easter gift -- 2½ inches high. Inside the egg, though, she found a yolk made of gold; inside that, an exquisite golden hen on a bed of golden straw; inside that, a miniature diamond crown; and inside that, a tiny ruby pendant. She'd never seen anything like it. No one had. It so captivated the family that its maker, Carl Gustavovich Fabergé, earned the right to display the royal seal. Nearly every Easter thereafter, Alexander III gave a new Fabergé creation to Marie; when he died, his son Czar Nicholas II continued each spring to present an egg, one to his wife, Alexandra, and one to his mother. Between 1885 and 1916, 50 "imperial eggs" were made for the czars. Then the tradition ended: In 1917, eggs were the last thing on the mind of a czar worried about his very survival. Over the years the Fabergé eggs had grown more elaborate, each with a theme calculated to charm its recipient. When Marie's sons went to sea in 1890 on a Russian cruiser, the egg the following spring contained a gold and platinum replica of the ship floating on aquamarine, with diamonds for portholes. The Danish Palaces Egg from that period was so complex -- featuring watercolor miniatures of palaces from the czarina's youth in Denmark -- that it took a year to make. The 1913 Winter Egg, made of rock crystal and designed to imitate ice, was so perfectly etched and polished that it seemed freezing to the touch. Marie called Fabergé the "greatest genius of our time." (What did Tolstoy ever do for her?) Luscious though Fabergé eggs might be, Toby Faber has not written a book just about glittering baubles. The former managing director of the British publishing house Faber & Faber and the author of "Stradivari's Genius" (2005) argues that these objects have something to teach us about history. Noting, for instance, that Carl Fabergé borrowed designs from the court jewelers of Louis XV and XVI, Mr. Faber observes that the French and Russian dynasties, both coming to gory ends, had both also debauched themselves in riches. While the Romanovs were ogling the latest gem-encrusted Fabergé fantasy, their subjects were farming with medieval tools. But Mr. Faber wisely doesn't turn his story into a grim portrait of unfeeling excess. Instead, he tells a vivid, engrossing tale, describing, for instance, the rise and fall of Rasputin, the czarina's confidant, and giving a harrowing account of the final miserable months of Nicholas II and his family. We see them, prisoners in Siberia, hand-decorating Easter eggs that had been donated by sympathetic villagers, before being shot. The leading character of Mr. Faber's book is, of course, Carl Fabergé. How did he become the world's most famous jeweler, purveyor to half of Europe's nobility? He hailed from a French Huguenot family, Mr. Faber informs us, that had arrived in the Russian Empire by 1800; the surname was probably modified by an ancestor to emphasize Gallic roots at a time when Russian aristocrats spoke French. A brilliant designer and craftsman, Fabergé trained in St. Petersburg, Dresden and Frankfurt before taking over his father's St. Petersburg jewelry store in 1872. Fabergé was a brilliant businessman as well. His company eventually made necklaces, rings, clocks, fans, plates and hundreds of other items; by 1910, it employed more than 1,500 people and turned (in today's dollars) annual profits of $175 million. His detailed system of accounting ensured that he kept his labor costs just low enough so that they never threatened his profit margins. Not that he was a skinflint: Every morning at 10, Fabergé toured his workshop, occasionally taking up a nearly finished object, examining it coolly and then smashing it to pieces. "You can do better," he would tell a gaping craftsman. "Start again and do it right." In 1918, a year after the Russian Revolution, Lenin's commissars seized Fabergé's company and looted dozens of imperial eggs from the deposed czar's possessions. The communists sold the eggs abroad during the 1920s to raise desperately needed hard currency. Other eggs had been smuggled out of the country long before. Mr. Faber tracks these masterpieces as they turn up around the world, from Shanghai flea markets to the private collections of heiresses. It was investor-aficionado Malcolm Forbes who, in modern times, "almost single-handedly" made the eggs into some of the world's most precious objects, Mr. Faber says. Between 1965 and 1985, bidding at auctions and striking private deals, Forbes purchased nine imperial eggs for ever-increasing sums. Mr. Faber wonders whether Fabergé's prestige today is in part the effect, not the cause, of the price that Mr. Forbes was willing to pay. Many people predicted that after Malcolm Forbes's death (in 1990) prices would collapse. They didn't. In 1994 the Winter Egg sold for $5.6 million; eight years later the emir of Qatar bought it for $9.6 million. Then, in 2004, the Forbes family engaged Sotheby's to put its Fabergé hoard -- all nine eggs -- up for sale. A Russian oil magnate named Viktor Vekselberg swooped in before the auction could even take place and bought the lot for $90 million. "There's a satisfying symmetry," Mr. Faber writes, "inherent in the idea of eggs that were once ordered by the czar, the individual at the apex of an aristocratic society, being brought back to Russia by his modern-day successors, the oligarchs who now bestride the Russian economy." Maybe Mr. Vekselberg will someday give his collection to a Russian museum -- say, the famous one in St. Petersburg that was once an imperial palace -- and the circle will be complete. Mr. Tartakovsky is an associate editor of the Claremont Review of Books. Fabergé's Eggs By Toby Faber (Random House, 302 pages, $30)

Museum Display: "Climate Apocalypse"

Apocalypse Now, via Diorama By EDWARD ROTHSTEIN Published: October 16, 2008 Water, 16 feet of it, smothers the southern tip of Manhattan, covering the landfill of Battery Park City. Tropic coral reefs are stripped of life, their rocks pocked with contusions. Polar bears rummage in junk heaps seeking food amid construction debris. Glaciers split into ice chips, floods ravage coastlines, droughts parch the Earth and forest fires rage untamable. If the End of Days were going to be portrayed in a museum exhibition, it might look like the array of natural disasters, both real and imagined, that can be found at “Climate Change,” which opens Saturday at the American Museum of Natural History. There is something almost biblical about these worst-case scenarios, apocalyptically suggested even in the subtitle: “The Threat to Life and a New Energy Future.” And if the plagues promised with global warming don’t include an onslaught of frogs, there is more than enough to worry about: the exhibition predicts proliferation of malaria and desperate foraging of wildlife. All this is because of something that can’t be seen or smelled or touched, a gas plentifully found in the natural world: carbon dioxide. Produced in abundance by an industrial urban world that depends on the burning of coal and oil, this gas has so increased its atmospheric presence and has so clear a “greenhouse effect” — preventing heat from escaping the Earth — that, the show argues, the sun’s energy is already raising the planet’s temperature (about 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit in the last century), with doleful consequences to follow. This exhibition, organized by Edmond A. Mathez, curator in the earth and planetary sciences department at the museum, together with Michael Oppenheimer, a geoscientist at Princeton University who has been active in international efforts to control global warming, is grim and unrelenting, but not without hope. Its final gallery is full of alternative energy and conservation proposals, and younger visitors will find some amusement as they try to cut down their carbon footprints with interactive displays. The show’s focus, however, is on how dire a state of crisis we are in. Emerging from this ambitious and, at times, overwrought show, you almost expect to see a new set of dioramas and fossilized skeletons showing how Homo sapiens once dwelt on this planet in arrogant mastery before the species burned its way to oblivion. This vision of global warming — already globally familiar — will also globe-trot to St. Louis, Cleveland and Chicago, as well as Denmark, the United Arab Emirates, Spain, South Korea and Mexico. There are real issues to be considered here — questions about probabilities, alternative technologies, industrial evolution, relationships between developed and undeveloped nations — but they are never really explored. The main impression, instead, is of an almost religious urgency. “Repent!” these displays seem to call out, “Repent! Before it’s too late!” And perhaps the religious overtones are no accident. Recently the physicist Freeman Dyson wrote in The New York Review of Books that environmentalism has become a “worldwide secular religion” in which the “path of righteousness is to live as frugally as possible.” Only here the urgency is not otherworldly. The glimpses of what could happen or what might happen or what “many experts” or “most experts” think will happen — as the exhibition puts it again and again — are meant to be spurs to immediate action. “Climate has changed throughout Earth’s long history,” but this time is different, the exhibition says, because “for the first time, humans are causing it.” A worldwide effort is required, “and it needs to start now.” So running through the show is a thread mixing urgency and blame. That same combination is what gives the issue of global warming so political an edge right now: the urgency is directed toward particular policies and the blame toward particular parties. The politicization makes it all the more difficult to talk about global warming; a lot of money — perhaps hundreds of billions of dollars across the globe — is also at stake in the changes being sought. And while there is a scientific consensus about global warming, there is also a significant minority of skeptics about one portion or another of the theory, and the issues are notoriously complex. Mr. Dyson said the minority of scientific skeptics and the majority of scientific believers now engage in a passionate “dialogue of the deaf,” in which very little debate or convincing goes on. It would have been helpful had the exhibition taken such disagreements and passions into account and made its case less sensationally. Though its sweep is an order of magnitude more sober than Al Gore was in the film “An Inconvenient Truth,” the exhibition’s insistence inspires wariness. That begins even in the opening gallery where a red neon line stretches across two walls showing the increase of the “heat-trapping gas carbon dioxide” in the atmosphere over the last 400 years. The graph provides a powerful image of a rising line overlaying images of technological change and heading steeply upward after 1950. But the graph is set up so the line begins at a level below a child’s knees and ends when it is far over an adult’s head. The numbers tell us that the increase over 400 years was about 40 percent; the image makes it seem as if the increase was perhaps 600 percent. One gets a similar sensation from a table showing month-by-month warming in recent years, when compared to average monthly temperatures between 1951 and 1980. That interval seems arbitrary and includes periods of falling temperatures (which help make the contrast greater). Yet when illustrating that “temperature and CO2 march in lockstep,” the show chooses intervals of centuries instead. Why not make the case with more consistency instead of seeking greatest effect? That would also require some explanation of seeming anomalies, for example, the way the monthly table shows increases in temperatures between 1900 and 1940, followed by decreases until the late 1970s — facts that don’t seem in lockstep with the graph of carbon dioxide concentrations. And why show a model of Lower Manhattan with the stark consequences of a five-meter rise in ocean level? That would happen, we are told, if there were a complete “polar ice-sheet meltdown,” something that “experts consider unlikely to happen anytime soon.” The model “doesn’t predict the future,” the text acknowledges, but “it does illustrate one possible outcome,” though perhaps “thousands of years in the future.” In other words this is something so unlikely that it is unconnected to either immediate threat or practical concern. The image is used to stir advocacy. Such tendencies are troubling. One of the controversies about global warming, after all, recently raised by Bjorn Lomborg in his “Skeptical Environmentalist’s Guide to Global Warming,” called “Cool It,” is that policies adopted to deal with climate change must be weighed according to their costs. Some measures may be extremely expensive yet almost inconsequential. But how can a policy be assessed if its alternative is presented as apocalypse? Apocalypse is too easy a prediction when there is so much still uncertain; no one has succeeded in completely modeling climate’s past, let alone its future. “Many experts think,” we are told, that warmer ocean waters will make hurricanes more powerful. But “it is difficult to predict how much more intense hurricanes could become.” That makes it seem as if this is some rough guess, when the claims being made for climate change are in the precision of the observations and conclusions. And are the “many experts” even correct about hurricanes? The scientist (and global-warming skeptic) Roy W. Spencer has pointed out that experts at the National Hurricane Center have been warning for decades that there had been a lull in hurricane activity and that a natural 30-to-40-year cycle would bring on a resurgence, something having no connection at all to global warming. Some dangers and data are beyond question, but some seem not to be, given the hedging and uses of “likely” often invoked here. Yes, there is reason for concern and conservation. But what we need from a museum is not proselytizing but a more reflective analysis. An interactive display shows how carbon dioxide emissions can be decreased by altering habits, for example, but what impact will that actually have on changes in global temperature? And if there are counterarguments to be made about aspects of global warming, why can’t they be addressed here? Take a look at the two sides of the Web site climatedebatedaily.com to see how much disagreement there can be. This exhibition, in other words, made me feel like an agnostic attending church and listening to sermons about damnation. It may all be true — some of it assuredly is — but from a museum, particularly one devoted to natural science, it is reasonable to seek more revelation. “Climate Change: The Threat to Life and a New Energy Future,” opens Saturday and continues through Aug. 16 at the American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West and 79th Street, (212) 769-5100, amnh.org. More Articles in Arts » A version of this article appeared in print on October 17, 2008, on page C27 of the New York edition.

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While I was posting this I was also watching a PBS program called "Foreign Exchange" which today featured a film by a Bangladeshi producer called something like "Will Anyone Care if Bangladesh Drowns?" The film shows dramatic current evidence of the rising sea levels invading formerly fresh water coast lands and the devastation that has been wrought in just a few years' time. Bangladesh is the most densely populated country on earth. If people are flooded out and can no longer make a living on the now saline waters invading their sea level country, they're not just going to sit there and die! So, where do they go? Into India - hmmmm. Well, you can just imagine what may happen as millions of Bangladeshi Muslims seek to migrate into Hindu India.

World's First Dog Excavated

To me, this is a "wow" story, not only because I am a dog lover (like some people are cat lovers), but because of the dog's close symbolic connections with ancient board games. Pushing back the date of domestication of canines to beyond 14,000 - 12,000 BCE is not amazing to me, because if I've learned anything studying archaeology and history all these years, it's that there are incredibly large gaps in our knowledge and just because we don't have "bones" evidencing that something did happen, doens't mean it did not happen. This discovery will have implications for views on the domestication of other animals, also impacting views on just how "civilized" ancient man was. Good Goddess, even so-called "Neanderthal" man may have had domesticated canines if the dating of this new discovery holds up; therefore, I expect it may be fully attacked before long as "totally inaccurate":) World's first dog lived 31,700 years ago, ate big Discovery could push back the date for the earliest dog by 17,700 years By Jennifer Viegas updated 1:17 p.m. CT, Fri., Oct. 17, 2008 An international team of scientists has just identified what they believe is the world's first known dog, which was a large and toothy canine that lived 31,700 years ago and subsisted on a diet of horse, musk ox and reindeer, according to a new study. The discovery could push back the date for the earliest dog by 17,700 years, since the second oldest known dog, found in Russia, dates to 14,000 years ago. Remains for the older prehistoric dog, which were excavated at Goyet Cave in Belgium, suggest to the researchers that the Aurignacian people of Europe from the Upper Paleolithic period first domesticated dogs. Fine jewelry and tools, often decorated with depictions of big game animals, characterize this culture. If Paleolithic dogs still existed as a breed today, they would surely win best in show for strength and biting ability. "In shape, the Paleolithic dogs most resemble the Siberian husky, but in size, however, they were somewhat larger, probably comparable to large shepherd dogs," added Germonpré, a paleontologist at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. For the study, which has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Archaeological Science, the scientists analyzed 117 skulls of recent and fossil large members of the Canidae family, which includes dogs, wolves and foxes. Skeletal analysis revealed, "the Paleolithic dogs had wider and shorter snouts and relatively wider brain cases than fossil and recent wolves," said Germonpré, who added that their skulls were also somewhat smaller than those of wolves. DNA studies determined all of the canids carried "a substantial amount of genetic diversity," suggesting that past wolf populations were much larger than they are today. Isotopic analysis of the animals' bones found that the earliest dogs consumed horse, musk ox and reindeer, but not fish or seafood. Since the Aurignacians are believed to have hunted big game and fished at different times of the year, the researchers think the dogs might have enjoyed meaty handouts during certain seasons. Germonpré believes dog domestication might have begun when the prehistoric hunters killed a female wolf and then brought home her pups. Recent studies on silver foxes suggest that when the most docile pups are kept and cared for, it takes just 10 generations of breeding for morphological changes to take effect. The earliest dogs likely earned their meals too. "I think it is possible that the dogs were used for tracking, hunting, and transport of game," she said. "Transport could have been organized using the dogs as pack animals. Furthermore, the dogs could have been kept for their fur or meat, as pets, or as an animal with ritual connotation." Ancient, 26,000-year-old footprints made by a child and a dog at Chauvet Cave, France, support the pet notion. Torch wipes accompanying the prints indicate the child held a torch while navigating the dark corridors accompanied by a dog. Susan Crockford, a University of Victoria anthropologist and an evolutionary biologist at Pacific Identifications, Inc. in Canada, told Discovery News that "this is an important paper." Crockford, however, is not convinced the Aurignacians domesticated dogs. She instead suspects dogs may have undergone "self-domestication" from wolves more than once over history, which could explain why the animals appear and then seemingly disappear from the archaeological record. Crockford details the possible process in her book, Rhythms of Life: Thyroid Hormone and the Origin of Species. She theorizes that the genes that control thyroid rhythms, allowing individuals to adapt to changing environmental conditions, can, over time, lead to the evolution of new species.

Ancient Trade: The Belitung Wreck

Page last updated at 11:52 GMT, Saturday, 18 October 2008 12:52 UK The treasure trove making waves Simon Worrall explains why a recent discovery on the seabed of the Indian Ocean will revolutionise our understanding of two ancient civilisations. "The local fishermen believe that there are underwater spirits guarding the wrecks," says Tilman Walterfang, as our boatman picks his way through a maze of coral reefs and submerged rocks. "Sometimes, they perform prayers on the boats, sacrificing a goat, spreading the blood everywhere, to keep the vessel safe." I am on a fishing boat in the Gaspar Strait, near Belitung Island, off the south-east coast of Sumatra. Since time immemorial, this funnel-shaped passage linking the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean has been one of the two main shipping routes. The Malacca Straits is the other, from China to the West. A British sea captain, shipwrecked here in 1817, called it "the most dangerous area between China and London". Discovery Ten years ago, at a spot known locally as "Black Rock", two men diving for sea cucumbers came across a large pile of sand and coral. Digging a hole, they reached in and pulled out a barnacle-encrusted bowl. Then another. And another. They had stumbled on the oldest, most important, marine archaeological discovery ever made in South East Asia, an Arab dhow - or ship - built of teak, coconut wood and hibiscus fibre, packed with a treasure that Indiana Jones could only dream of. There were 63,000 pieces of gold, silver and ceramics from the fabled Tang dynasty, which flourished between the seventh and 10th centuries. Among the artefacts was the largest Tang gold cup ever discovered and some of the finest Yue ware - a porcelain that the ancient Chinese likened to snow because of its delicacy. The exceptional quality of the goods has led some scholars to suggest that these were gifts from the Tang Emperor himself. The bulk of the cargo was more homely, including 40,000 Changsha bowls, named after the Changsha kilns in Hunan Province, where they were produced. Found packed inside tall, earthenware jars, some experts believe bean sprouts were placed between the bowls as a sort of organic bubble-wrap. These brightly painted tea bowls were the Tang equivalent of plastic food containers. "It looks like they were approaching Tanjung Pandang, the main town on Belitung Island, when they hit the reef," explains Walterfang, the stocky German treasure hunter who salvaged the wreck. "They may have come here for water or other supplies. Perhaps there was an emergency. Or even an attack by pirates. "But we cannot know. It was nearly 1,200 years ago." Magically, everything was perfectly preserved by a layer of silt. Raised from the seabed more than a millennium later, the gold cups and bronze mirrors, silver boxes and ewers look as fresh as the day they were created. In 2005, the Singapore government paid more than £20m to acquire the treasure as the centrepiece for a new maritime museum. But it is not just about bling. The Belitung wreck is a time capsule that has revolutionised our understanding of two ancient civilisations that fill the airwaves today - China and the Middle East. The serial nature of the cargo - 1,000 miniature funeral urns and 800 identical inkpots - shows that China was mass-producing goods for export several centuries earlier than previously thought. The Arab dhow, the first of its kind ever found, proves something equally startling - that mariners from the Persian Gulf were trading on a scale, and over distances, unmatched by human beings until Vasco da Gama set sail for India at the end of the 15th Century. Sinbad the Sailor was for real. Prosperous Basra One of the Changsha bowls bore a date stamp, "the 16th Day of the seventh Month of the second Year of the Baoli reign", or AD 826. Carbon-14 analysis of some star anise found in the wreck confirmed this as the probable date of the dhow's departure from China. Most scholars believe it set sail from Canton, or Guangzhou, as it is today, the largest of the five ports servicing the Maritime Silk Route. No-one knows exactly where the dhow was heading when it struck the coral reef. Its most likely destination was a place familiar to us for other reasons, the Iraqi port of Samara, or Basra as it is called today. In the 9th Century, Basra was one of the wealthiest cities in the world, with a prosperous merchant class hungry for Chinese luxury goods. Among the most sensational artefacts found in the wreck are three dishes decorated with cobalt from Iran which represent the oldest blue and white ware ever found, setting back by several hundred years the invention of what would become known all over the world simply as "china."

More Treasure Trove - From Hook

Coroner declares brooch is a medieval treasure 8:40am Tuesday 14th October 2008 By Chris Gregory » A MEDIEVAL silver gilt brooch found in a north Hampshire field has been declared treasure by a coroner. The jewellery, which could be from the 13th century, was found in a field near Hook. It has a circular frame with four bosses and one lozenge, and is thought to be worth hundreds of pounds. North East Hampshire coroner Andrew Bradley ruled, at an inquest held at Basingstoke and Deane’s Civic Offices, that the brooch was treasure. The find has now been handed over to the British Museum for valuation, under the Treasure Act of 1996. It will be offered, for a price, to the Hampshire Museums Service to go on display in the county. Kay Ainsworth, keeper of archaeology at the trust, said: “We have a number of medieval brooches and nearly all of them are individual. Most are worth a couple of hundred pounds. “It’s of a particular style that you get in that period. It’s a delightful little brooch and certainly we would like to buy it if we can afford it.” At the inquest, Mr Bradley said a man with a metal detector found the piece in February 2008. Thinking it was valuable, he handed it over to the British Museum, where James Robinson, curator of medieval collections, appraised it. In a report, he stated the brooch dates from the late 13th or early 14th century. He said the decorative bosses have lost their detail over time, and that a second lozenge on the brooch has been lost. Neither the finder of the brooch, nor the owner of the land where the brooch was found, attended the treasure trove inquest. Mr Bradley said: “I will find in the absence of representation to the contrary that it is treasure because it complies with all the requirements. “It’s now forfeited to the Crown. The finder and/or landowner will be compensated to the value of it.”

Treasure Trove in Teeside!

This may be a recap of some earlier posts here: Rare finds unearth Teesside link with royalty Oct 14 2008 by Karen Faughey, Evening Gazette RARE Anglo Saxon jewellery worth an estimated £250,000 has revealed a fascinating link between East Cleveland and the royal family of 1,400 years ago. Exciting archeological finds dating back to the seventh century have been ruled to be treasure during five separate inquests at Teesside Coroners’ Court. Experts have described the finds as ‘unparallel in the North East’ after historians discovered 109 graves near Loftus from around 650AD - one of which is thought to have contained the body of a princess. Though the acidity in the soil means the remains no longer exist, dozens of high status items have stood the test of time including brooches, pendants, glass beads, pottery, and coins dating as far back as 43AD. Archaeologist Stephen Sherlock said: "This is a site of national significance. Regionally it is the most significant assemblage of material relating to the Northumbrian royal family. "Any one of these pieces would be the best in the North East, and it was completely unexpected to find something like this in Loftus when Bede says the royal family was in Northumbria." Excavations began secretly in 2005 on farmland at Street House Farm, south-east of Loftus, after aerial photographs from the previous year revealed evidence of Iron Age houses. But as 30 volunteers began the painstaking procedure of unearthing the 1,200sqm site, no-one could have predicted that what lay beneath was an undisturbed Anglo Saxon burial ground. Mr Sherlock, 54, who grew up in Redcar, but now lives in York, described the initial moment of discovery as one of ‘disbelief". "I’ve dug an Anglo Saxon cemetery before (at Norton) and I thought that was a once in a lifetime scoop," he said. "I never expected to find anything like this." The dig then re-commenced in 2006 and 2007 during the months of August and September in between the farmer harvesting and re-seeding his crops. Fragments of iron found in one of the graves revealed that one of the deceased had been buried on a bed - a ritual then only reserved for people of very high status. The fact that this person had been wearing some of the dig’s most ‘exceptional’ pieces of jewellery has led experts to the conclusion that she may have in fact been an Anglo Saxon princess. Mr Sherlock, a self employed archaeologist who spends most of the year out on development jobs, highlighted an impressive shield-shaped brooch found in this grave as his personal favourite. "It’s not because it’s pretty," he said. "It’s because it’s unique. It symbolises somebody who had the clout to commission it and get it made. "Whoever made that was the best craftsman of their time. It would be like going to the queen’s jeweler today." During the inquest, he explained how such an item would not have been available commercially, and instead would have to have been commissioned. It is thought that the other people buried in the graveyard may have been lesser members of the same royal family. The finds will now be taken before an independent panel of experts made up of academics, dealers and curators who will value the pieces based on market value, collectibility and previous sales. Kirkleatham Museum in Redcar, which wishes to buy the pieces, will then have three months to come up with the money - 50% of which will go to the landowner Alan Bothroyd, of nearby Upton Cottages. Items are only referred to as treasure when the owner of an archaeological find cannot be traced. The items must be at least 300-years-old and have a metallic content of more than 10% precious metal. Some of the lesser important items found at Street House Farm, such as a piece of a Jet hairslide and pottery, were yesterday ruled as treasure by association. Finds liaison officer at the department of Antiquities in Newcastle Doctor Rob Collins said: "This is highly significant for the region. Although we known the names of many kings, queens, princes and princesses, we don’t really have any burial sites. "And what we are seeing here is most likely a member of the royal family - if not a king or queen then someone who is very close to them." Despite being able to date the items found, it is not known where any of the jewellery or beads would have come from. Dr Collins said: "The style of some of the jewellery suggests if not a southern origin, then a southern influence. "It could have been made by a southern craftsman from Kent who was working in the north. It could be that the woman in the bed burial had brought the jewellery north. It could also be that they were wedding gifts. "In that period there was a lot of excessive trade all around the North Sea." According to experts, Anglo Saxon burials are rare in England, but the majority that have been found are in Suffolk, Oxfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Wiltshire. Teesside coroner Michael Sheffield said: "These finds are unusual and rare because there are so many items involved and they reflect the status of the people in the graves where they were found."

James Ossuary Back in the News

Time Magazine online (now owned by CNN) has a feature on the James Ossuary. For the record, I'm not convinced the Ossuary (or the other relics referred to in the article) is a fraud, but I'm not convinced it is genuine, either. Exposing the 'Jesus' Brother' Fraud By Tim McGirk / Jerusalem Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008 For as long as man has worshipped a god, there have been forgers, crafty hucksters who seize on a believer's desire to possess material proof of the divine. In Jerusalem, it is a bountiful trade. The old adage is that if all the splinters of the True Cross were gathered from across Christendom, it would yield a wooden crucifix the size of a Manhattan skyscraper. Even back in the Middle Ages, pilgrims visiting Jerusalem told of hawkers who sold counterfeit bones and relics of saints. But indisputable historical evidence that Jesus Christ, or any of the other Biblical prophets, truly existed is something that eludes religious scholars. There was therefore much excitement in 2001 when a reclusive Tel Aviv collector, Oded Golan, announced that a stone reliquary had come into his possession inscribed with the words "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus." The discovery of the ossuary was hailed in some quarters as a spectacular archaeological find — solidly circumstantial proof, at last, of Christ's existence. For it would have held the remains of the Apostle James, who was killed in A.D. 62 and is described in the Bible as Jesus' brother. When the James ossuary toured Canada in October 2002, it attracted thousands of the curious and faithful. Some visitors kneeled in quiet prayer. But back in Israel, police detectives, along with a growing posse of biblical scholars, were growing skeptical of the ossuary's authenticity. After a two-year investigation, police in December 2004 charged the antiquities collector and four others of forgery, alleging that the James ossuary was a clever fake and that Golan had masterminded an international ring of thieves that over the past 20 years had duped major museums and collectors out of millions. Put on trial, Golan denied the charges, and some experts and the pious rallied to his side. Nevertheless, one of the detectives insisted, "Oded Golan played with our beliefs, the beliefs of Jews and Christians. That is why it's the fraud of the century." The extraordinary story of how Israeli detectives built a case against Golan and his alleged cohorts is the subject of Unholy Business: A True Tale of Faith, Greed and Forgery in the Holy Land by Nina Burleigh, a former TIME staffer who now writes for People. In fast, noir-ish prose — imagine Sam Spade in the Holy Land — Burleigh tracks her story through the twilight world of Arab grave robbers and smugglers to the glimmering salon of a billionaire collector in Mayfair whose mission, writes Burleigh, is "proving the Bible true." Past accounts of the James ossuary are fiercely partisan, written by debunkers or true believers. But Burleigh keeps her balance, and her humor, as she sifts — far more diligently than many archaeologists — through the evidence. She also has unprecedented access to all the major players in the James ossuary debate: dogged police detectives, sharp-witted antiquarians, Bible-besotted collectors and suspected forgers of near genius. Like any other Holy Land story, it's a potent mix of religion and politics. As Burleigh writes, "Where historians seek clues to the puzzle of the ancient worlds, evangelical Christians seek proof of the literal interpretation of the Bible and nationalist Israelis want evidence of ancient Jewish inhabitation." The James ossuary provided all of that, and more. At first detectives from the Israel Antiquities Authority suspected that the ossuary was authentic but had been stolen from a site by Arab grave diggers and sold to Golan. Israeli sleuths say they discovered that the limestone casket was indeed authentic, and dated back to the correct period of A.D. 60. But the key inscription, linking the object to Jesus Christ, was a clever fake. An analysis of the patina also revealed the presence of Tel Aviv tap water. In his defense, Golan claims it was because his mother occasionally scrubbed the ossuary with soap and water, not realizing its historical value. Believers and scientists alike were shocked by the accusations that not only was the James ossuary a fake but so were two other rare objects of biblical significance: an inscribed pomegranate and the gold-flecked Jehoash tablet, which both supposedly came from Solomon's Temple, destroyed by the Babylonians in the 6th century B.C. Those two relics are linked to Golan's workshop, say police. As Burleigh describes it, the debate over the authenticity of these sacred items pitted scientists against believers. She writes, "The faithful — those who believe in a higher, supernatural power that leaves a material record of itself for man to literally hold and behold — must also confront and grapple with the painful presence of doubt." Meanwhile, Golan's trial, with its parade of more than 75 scientists and biblical scholars, is likely to drag on for another year. But Golan maintained in an interview with TIME that he is innocent of all charges and that since the trial began experts have come forth to prove that both the inscriptions on the James ossuary and the Jehoash tablet are genuine. Even after the judge finally decides whether Golan was an innocent collector or a master forger, it's likely that the debate between skeptics and believers over the James ossuary — and its supposed proof of Christ's historical existence — will rage on long afterward.