1 00:00:01,340 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,800 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson. 3 00:00:15,020 --> 00:00:17,780 Speaker 1: And I'm Holly Frey. It is time for our latest 4 00:00:17,860 --> 00:00:21,040 Speaker 1: installment of Unearthed. If you are new to the show, 5 00:00:21,100 --> 00:00:22,800 Speaker 1: this is when we talk about things that have been 6 00:00:22,840 --> 00:00:27,889 Speaker 1: literally or figuratively unearthed over the last few months. Today, 7 00:00:28,130 --> 00:00:31,970 Speaker 1: we have a number of medical finds, some things that 8 00:00:32,010 --> 00:00:36,050 Speaker 1: are related to animals, lots and lots of books and letters. 9 00:00:36,909 --> 00:00:39,180 Speaker 1: As we normally do, we are also going to start 10 00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:42,279 Speaker 1: off with updates to things that we have talked about 11 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:45,820 Speaker 1: on the show before. So we talked about the Parthenon 12 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:49,280 Speaker 1: in Athens, Greece, in a two-part episode on Lord Elgin 13 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:54,060 Speaker 1: and the Parthenon sculptures that ran in January of 2020. 14 00:00:54,060 --> 00:00:57,510 Speaker 1: And we talk generally about the Parthenon as an artistic 15 00:00:57,610 --> 00:01:00,810 Speaker 1: and architectural marvel. But one of the details we didn't 16 00:01:00,850 --> 00:01:04,569 Speaker 1: get into is that the Parthenon looks very rectangular as 17 00:01:04,610 --> 00:01:09,140 Speaker 1: a structure, but it's really built with subtle curves. According 18 00:01:09,260 --> 00:01:13,100 Speaker 1: to Roman writer Vitruvius, writing about 400 years after the 19 00:01:13,140 --> 00:01:17,380 Speaker 1: Parthenon was built, this was intentional. The curves were used 20 00:01:17,420 --> 00:01:20,840 Speaker 1: to trick the eye into seeing a regular straight structure 21 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:24,039 Speaker 1: rather than one that seems curved or sagging in the 22 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:28,460 Speaker 1: middle because of the viewer's perspective. And columns were curved 23 00:01:28,500 --> 00:01:30,470 Speaker 1: with a slight bulge in the middle so that they 24 00:01:30,530 --> 00:01:35,230 Speaker 1: would not appear pinched. That idea has persisted for thousands 25 00:01:35,390 --> 00:01:39,570 Speaker 1: of years, but research published in Royal Society Open Science 26 00:01:39,630 --> 00:01:43,970 Speaker 1: in September has called it into question. This work used 27 00:01:44,130 --> 00:01:48,530 Speaker 1: modern data as well as measurements from 19th century surveys 28 00:01:48,630 --> 00:01:54,030 Speaker 1: to mathematically analyze the monument's proportions and angles. And then 29 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:57,620 Speaker 1: it compared that information to what we know about how 30 00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:02,040 Speaker 1: human vision and perception work. The conclusion was that it 31 00:02:02,340 --> 00:02:06,220 Speaker 1: wasn't necessary to add curved elements to the Parthenon because 32 00:02:06,340 --> 00:02:10,220 Speaker 1: human vision will interpret straight lines as straight when there 33 00:02:10,260 --> 00:02:12,600 Speaker 1: is nothing else in our field of view to distort 34 00:02:12,639 --> 00:02:18,100 Speaker 1: that interpretation. The upward curve that supposedly corrects a sagging 35 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:22,900 Speaker 1: appearance is also visible from some angles, not an invisible 36 00:02:22,940 --> 00:02:28,220 Speaker 1: correction to a problem of perception. So these curves do exist, 37 00:02:28,340 --> 00:02:31,090 Speaker 1: but there's no clear evidence that they were created as 38 00:02:31,250 --> 00:02:35,330 Speaker 1: optical corrections. And while the columns are slightly thicker in 39 00:02:35,370 --> 00:02:39,929 Speaker 1: the middle, they only bulge outward by 18 millimeters. That's 40 00:02:39,970 --> 00:02:42,489 Speaker 1: less than three quarters of an inch, and that's too 41 00:02:42,550 --> 00:02:45,170 Speaker 1: small of a variation to make a difference to something 42 00:02:45,590 --> 00:02:49,730 Speaker 1: as huge as those columns. The paper's title sums all 43 00:02:49,750 --> 00:02:52,890 Speaker 1: of this up as the illusion of illusions. There are 44 00:02:52,970 --> 00:02:58,040 Speaker 1: no optical corrections in the Parthenon. Next, on New Year's 45 00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:00,640 Speaker 1: Eve 2025, we did an episode about a New Year's 46 00:03:00,740 --> 00:03:04,180 Speaker 1: Eve dinner that was held in a model of an Iguanodon. 47 00:03:04,710 --> 00:03:08,350 Speaker 1: which was being built for London's Crystal Palace Park. In 48 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:12,000 Speaker 1: that episode, we talked about how the dinosaur sculptures that 49 00:03:12,020 --> 00:03:14,420 Speaker 1: were built for the park had been scattered and they 50 00:03:14,460 --> 00:03:19,520 Speaker 1: had fallen into disrepair, but that restorations were underway. As 51 00:03:19,620 --> 00:03:23,680 Speaker 1: of July of this year, that project is complete. The 52 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:28,639 Speaker 1: dinosaurs have all been restored to their original 19th century appearance, 53 00:03:28,700 --> 00:03:31,580 Speaker 1: or at least as close as possible to that 19th 54 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:36,580 Speaker 1: century appearance. Consequently, they have now been removed from Historic 55 00:03:36,700 --> 00:03:41,540 Speaker 1: England's Heritage at Risk Register. Our episode on the ancient 56 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:45,230 Speaker 1: city of Mohenjo-daro in the Indus River Valley came out 57 00:03:45,330 --> 00:03:49,270 Speaker 1: all the way back in April of 2018. We mentioned 58 00:03:49,370 --> 00:03:52,910 Speaker 1: briefly that it seemed to be a city of egalitarian wealth. 59 00:03:53,610 --> 00:03:56,720 Speaker 1: This idea is supported by recent research into the city 60 00:03:56,740 --> 00:04:01,220 Speaker 1: and published in the journal Antiquity. According to this research, 61 00:04:01,540 --> 00:04:05,980 Speaker 1: as Mohenjo-daro grew and matured, its wealth became even more 62 00:04:06,140 --> 00:04:10,720 Speaker 1: evenly distributed, with houses for the richest getting smaller over time, 63 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:14,060 Speaker 1: while houses for poorer people actually got a bit larger. 64 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:18,589 Speaker 1: This is the opposite of how most known societies have 65 00:04:18,710 --> 00:04:25,250 Speaker 1: worked as they transitioned from small farming communities to larger cities. Typically, 66 00:04:25,470 --> 00:04:30,030 Speaker 1: wealth disparities got bigger, not smaller, during that shift to 67 00:04:30,089 --> 00:04:34,580 Speaker 1: a bigger, more urban settlement. But according to this research, 68 00:04:34,740 --> 00:04:38,859 Speaker 1: in its last years as a thriving urban center, wealth 69 00:04:38,940 --> 00:04:43,060 Speaker 1: inequalities at Mohenjo-Daro were comparable to those found in very 70 00:04:43,140 --> 00:04:48,860 Speaker 1: small farming settlements. Archaeologists also haven't discovered evidence of palaces 71 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:52,190 Speaker 1: or similar structures at Mohenjo-daro that would have been built 72 00:04:52,250 --> 00:04:55,989 Speaker 1: and used only by super wealthy people. In the words 73 00:04:56,050 --> 00:04:59,130 Speaker 1: of Dr. Adam Green from the University of York's Department 74 00:04:59,150 --> 00:05:03,290 Speaker 1: of Archaeology and Department of Environment and Geography, as quoted 75 00:05:03,350 --> 00:05:07,610 Speaker 1: in Science Daily, quote, While ancient Egyptians were building pyramids 76 00:05:07,690 --> 00:05:12,210 Speaker 1: for god-kings and the Greeks were constructing massive palaces at Knossos, 77 00:05:12,730 --> 00:05:16,010 Speaker 1: the people of the Indus were building something entirely different. 78 00:05:16,750 --> 00:05:21,600 Speaker 1: Instead of gold-filled tombs and huge temples, Mohenjo-daro focused on 79 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:27,719 Speaker 1: sophisticated brick-lined drains and organized street layouts. Instead of allowing 80 00:05:27,740 --> 00:05:31,220 Speaker 1: the perks of society to accumulate with a tiny elite, 81 00:05:31,620 --> 00:05:36,250 Speaker 1: the city's amenities were widely distributed amongst the everyday households. 82 00:05:37,330 --> 00:05:39,650 Speaker 1: Moving on, in March of this year, we did an 83 00:05:39,710 --> 00:05:43,940 Speaker 1: episode on Hercules Posey, who was enslaved at George Washington's 84 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:48,100 Speaker 1: home of Mount Vernon and at the President's House in Philadelphia. 85 00:05:49,020 --> 00:05:51,559 Speaker 1: In that episode, we talked about how the President's House 86 00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:55,180 Speaker 1: site became part of the National Park System, including a 87 00:05:55,279 --> 00:06:00,530 Speaker 1: slavery memorial, and the removal of interpretive panels and other 88 00:06:00,570 --> 00:06:04,630 Speaker 1: materials from that site. We have talked about other legal 89 00:06:04,670 --> 00:06:08,740 Speaker 1: developments and other back and forth since then, including an 90 00:06:08,980 --> 00:06:12,820 Speaker 1: absolute last minute update to our last installment of Unearthed, 91 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:15,000 Speaker 1: which was in the middle of the night on July 92 00:06:15,279 --> 00:06:18,960 Speaker 1: 14th and 15th of this year, where the exhibit was 93 00:06:19,020 --> 00:06:22,990 Speaker 1: removed and replaced. While we have not seen the new 94 00:06:23,050 --> 00:06:27,770 Speaker 1: panels ourselves, critics have described them as minimizing and whitewashing 95 00:06:27,830 --> 00:06:31,690 Speaker 1: the issue of slavery and instead focusing on early U.S. 96 00:06:31,730 --> 00:06:36,070 Speaker 1: history more broadly. There is apparently no longer a major 97 00:06:36,130 --> 00:06:39,250 Speaker 1: focus on the nine people who were enslaved at the site. 98 00:06:40,250 --> 00:06:44,250 Speaker 1: Recognizing and commemorating those nine people had been a central 99 00:06:44,330 --> 00:06:48,500 Speaker 1: focus of the earlier exhibit. After that happened, the city 100 00:06:48,540 --> 00:06:51,820 Speaker 1: of Philadelphia filed a petition for the Third Circuit Court 101 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:56,000 Speaker 1: to re-hear the case, and in early September, the court 102 00:06:56,100 --> 00:07:00,270 Speaker 1: denied that request. On a similar note, we ended our 103 00:07:00,330 --> 00:07:04,070 Speaker 1: last installment of Unearthed by talking about a federal report 104 00:07:04,110 --> 00:07:08,390 Speaker 1: that was called Saving America's Story, How Ideological Capture at 105 00:07:08,430 --> 00:07:14,050 Speaker 1: the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History Erases Our Heritage, 106 00:07:14,530 --> 00:07:17,720 Speaker 1: which was released on the 4th of July. A couple 107 00:07:17,740 --> 00:07:21,040 Speaker 1: of days after we recorded those episodes, the National Council 108 00:07:21,140 --> 00:07:24,700 Speaker 1: on Public History issued a statement on that report, saying 109 00:07:24,740 --> 00:07:29,380 Speaker 1: in part, quote, This unserious and distorted document violates the 110 00:07:29,420 --> 00:07:34,180 Speaker 1: professional ethics and values that have guided history institutions, museums, 111 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:39,490 Speaker 1: and cultural organizations for generations. It also fails to reflect 112 00:07:39,650 --> 00:07:44,470 Speaker 1: the basic and fundamental standards of scholarship, including an accurate 113 00:07:44,530 --> 00:07:49,010 Speaker 1: interpretation of the full evidentiary record. The statement went on 114 00:07:49,030 --> 00:07:53,290 Speaker 1: to say, quote, NCPH rejects authoritarian efforts to rewrite and 115 00:07:53,650 --> 00:07:58,320 Speaker 1: and simplify our rich and complex history. We reject the 116 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:02,700 Speaker 1: Trump administration's attempt to control knowledge. We reject efforts to 117 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:07,400 Speaker 1: silence the voices of communities of color, immigrants, and LGBTQ 118 00:08:07,460 --> 00:08:12,980 Speaker 1: plus individuals. We reject the dismissal of intellectual freedom, expertise, 119 00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:19,520 Speaker 1: and collaboration. Neither of us is a member of the 120 00:08:19,640 --> 00:08:23,160 Speaker 1: National Council on Public History, but I think of all 121 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:27,740 Speaker 1: the professional membership organizations for historians, that one is the 122 00:08:27,780 --> 00:08:31,750 Speaker 1: most in line with what we do because the field 123 00:08:31,790 --> 00:08:35,070 Speaker 1: of public history is all about Public Education on History 124 00:08:35,150 --> 00:08:37,030 Speaker 1: Outreach to Public People. And so I would just like 125 00:08:37,050 --> 00:08:42,290 Speaker 1: to say right on regarding that statement. For our last update, 126 00:08:42,429 --> 00:08:46,319 Speaker 1: the Uffizi Galleries in Florence have announced a major two-year 127 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:52,290 Speaker 1: restoration and renovation project. expected to cost almost $ 58 million. 128 00:08:52,870 --> 00:08:56,890 Speaker 1: Museum staff have called this effort unprecedented in scale and 129 00:08:57,010 --> 00:09:00,480 Speaker 1: depth and something that will affect nearly every space in 130 00:09:00,520 --> 00:09:05,840 Speaker 1: the museum. Plans include new cooling towers and climate control systems, 131 00:09:05,900 --> 00:09:10,500 Speaker 1: which are increasingly important as average temperatures in Florence climb 132 00:09:10,540 --> 00:09:14,500 Speaker 1: due to global warming. A few weeks after that announcement, 133 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:20,410 Speaker 1: staff at the Uffizi had to relocate Caravaggio's 1596 painting Bacchus, 134 00:09:20,870 --> 00:09:24,160 Speaker 1: after sudden torrential rains caused a leak around a window 135 00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:27,520 Speaker 1: in the gallery. That painting was in a glass case 136 00:09:27,559 --> 00:09:30,679 Speaker 1: and it was not harmed, although a museum visitor's video 137 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:34,280 Speaker 1: of the leak does look quite alarming. The leak also 138 00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:36,960 Speaker 1: did not affect any of the other artworks in the gallery. 139 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:39,160 Speaker 1: But boy, it sure made it clear that they need 140 00:09:39,179 --> 00:09:43,530 Speaker 1: to renovate. Yeah. We talked about the Uffizi galleries on 141 00:09:43,630 --> 00:09:47,330 Speaker 1: May 18th, 2026. And we're going to take a quick 142 00:09:47,390 --> 00:09:59,920 Speaker 1: sponsor break before we talk about more Unearthed. Now we 143 00:09:59,980 --> 00:10:04,109 Speaker 1: have some medical finds. First, there is research into the 144 00:10:04,150 --> 00:10:08,830 Speaker 1: question of how smallpox was carried to the continent of Australia. 145 00:10:09,670 --> 00:10:14,270 Speaker 1: There have been two primary hypotheses for this one. One, 146 00:10:14,290 --> 00:10:17,710 Speaker 1: that smallpox was introduced to the northern part of the 147 00:10:17,750 --> 00:10:21,550 Speaker 1: continent through fishers from Indonesia. And the other, that it 148 00:10:21,570 --> 00:10:25,370 Speaker 1: was carried to Australia aboard the first fleet, which arrived 149 00:10:25,410 --> 00:10:29,690 Speaker 1: from Britain in 1788. According to this research, with the 150 00:10:29,750 --> 00:10:34,550 Speaker 1: available data, computer modeling didn't support the idea that smallpox 151 00:10:34,590 --> 00:10:38,810 Speaker 1: was introduced by Indonesian fishers. But the first fleet idea 152 00:10:38,850 --> 00:10:41,940 Speaker 1: had its own problems. The biggest was being that those 153 00:10:41,980 --> 00:10:45,060 Speaker 1: ships traveled for months, and if someone on board had 154 00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:48,819 Speaker 1: been carrying smallpox, an outbreak would have been long over 155 00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:52,130 Speaker 1: by the time the ships arrived in Australia. There are 156 00:10:52,170 --> 00:10:55,709 Speaker 1: also no records of a smallpox outbreak on board any 157 00:10:55,750 --> 00:11:00,199 Speaker 1: of the first fleet ships. But it's possible, but definitely 158 00:11:00,260 --> 00:11:03,820 Speaker 1: not confirmed, that one or more of the surgeons traveling 159 00:11:03,840 --> 00:11:07,859 Speaker 1: with the fleet was carrying smallpox material to be used 160 00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:12,300 Speaker 1: in variolation. While this does seem like a reasonable possibility, 161 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:15,610 Speaker 1: there is no direct evidence of it, and also no 162 00:11:15,770 --> 00:11:19,390 Speaker 1: evidence of an intentional effort to introduce smallpox to the 163 00:11:19,429 --> 00:11:24,930 Speaker 1: indigenous population. Yeah, the indigenous population of Australia specifically. That's 164 00:11:25,010 --> 00:11:28,610 Speaker 1: the only indigenous population we're talking about here. Some of 165 00:11:28,650 --> 00:11:32,530 Speaker 1: the same researchers have also published another paper suggesting that 166 00:11:32,630 --> 00:11:37,370 Speaker 1: Australia had a much higher population before Europeans arrived than 167 00:11:37,410 --> 00:11:42,900 Speaker 1: was previously believed. Earlier estimates have been between 200,000 and 168 00:11:42,900 --> 00:11:47,440 Speaker 1: 800,000 people. But these researchers believe the population was more 169 00:11:47,500 --> 00:11:52,390 Speaker 1: like 2 million to 3 million people. That means the 170 00:11:52,530 --> 00:11:56,189 Speaker 1: estimated death toll for the Indigenous peoples of Australia was 171 00:11:56,450 --> 00:12:01,200 Speaker 1: also much larger than was previously believed. These researchers estimated 172 00:12:01,250 --> 00:12:05,500 Speaker 1: that a median of 2.4 million additional people may have 173 00:12:05,580 --> 00:12:10,640 Speaker 1: died due to disease, violence, and broader social impacts. That 174 00:12:10,679 --> 00:12:14,240 Speaker 1: is an estimated 93% of the Indigenous population in the 175 00:12:14,260 --> 00:12:19,550 Speaker 1: first 80 years after the first fleet arrived. Next, researchers 176 00:12:19,670 --> 00:12:23,230 Speaker 1: in the Netherlands have examined the skeletons of children who 177 00:12:23,270 --> 00:12:26,990 Speaker 1: worked at dairy farms and industrial factories there between the 178 00:12:27,050 --> 00:12:31,819 Speaker 1: 1600s and 1800s, and they found evidence of damage to 179 00:12:31,860 --> 00:12:36,180 Speaker 1: their spines and other bones apparently caused by doing grueling 180 00:12:36,240 --> 00:12:40,150 Speaker 1: work from a very young age. These people ranged in 181 00:12:40,309 --> 00:12:43,400 Speaker 1: age from 4 to 25 when they died. And while 182 00:12:43,420 --> 00:12:46,179 Speaker 1: the oldest of them could have been considered adults, they 183 00:12:46,260 --> 00:12:50,219 Speaker 1: still had joint and bone issues that are typically associated 184 00:12:50,260 --> 00:12:54,220 Speaker 1: with people who are much older than that. The children 185 00:12:54,280 --> 00:12:58,490 Speaker 1: who worked on farms were particularly affected. Children as young 186 00:12:58,590 --> 00:13:02,630 Speaker 1: as nine spent hours hauling heavy pails of milk and 187 00:13:02,730 --> 00:13:06,969 Speaker 1: cheese molds. The children who worked in industrial factories also 188 00:13:07,010 --> 00:13:10,720 Speaker 1: had problems, but they weren't as pronounced. They were doing 189 00:13:10,780 --> 00:13:15,280 Speaker 1: work like spinning, sewing, and weaving, which was repetitive and fatiguing, 190 00:13:15,700 --> 00:13:20,300 Speaker 1: but not as strenuous. Writing on this research noted that 191 00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:24,760 Speaker 1: while the Netherlands eventually banned child labor, the United Nations 192 00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:30,809 Speaker 1: Children's Fund estimates that 137.6 million children were forced into 193 00:13:30,850 --> 00:13:35,610 Speaker 1: labor worldwide in 2024. Research published in the journal Nature 194 00:13:35,710 --> 00:13:39,790 Speaker 1: suggests that that bubonic plague caused outbreaks among small groups 195 00:13:39,860 --> 00:13:45,880 Speaker 1: of hunter-gatherers as long as 5,500 years ago. Historically, plague 196 00:13:45,960 --> 00:13:50,140 Speaker 1: has more often been associated with densely populated communities where 197 00:13:50,179 --> 00:13:54,090 Speaker 1: the disease could easily spread. But this research found evidence 198 00:13:54,150 --> 00:13:57,610 Speaker 1: of early forms of plague in genetic material extracted from 199 00:13:57,710 --> 00:14:01,770 Speaker 1: teeth found in four Siberian burial sites that were connected 200 00:14:02,130 --> 00:14:07,520 Speaker 1: to hunter-gatherer communities. The team found Yersinia pestis DNA in 201 00:14:07,559 --> 00:14:11,070 Speaker 1: almost 40% of the remains that they tested, which is 202 00:14:11,110 --> 00:14:15,470 Speaker 1: a higher percentage than is found in some medieval urban cemeteries. 203 00:14:16,470 --> 00:14:21,050 Speaker 1: An ongoing question has been whether ancient strains of plague 204 00:14:21,100 --> 00:14:25,060 Speaker 1: were as deadly as the ones that caused massive pandemics 205 00:14:25,160 --> 00:14:28,720 Speaker 1: later on. And it seems that this strain did cause 206 00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:32,420 Speaker 1: serious disease based on the number of people infected and 207 00:14:32,460 --> 00:14:34,880 Speaker 1: the fact that the burial sites included the remains of 208 00:14:35,020 --> 00:14:40,310 Speaker 1: children and teenagers who presumably died of plague. It's theorized 209 00:14:40,370 --> 00:14:45,010 Speaker 1: that this strain of plague passed directly from marmots to 210 00:14:45,090 --> 00:14:48,440 Speaker 1: humans before it evolved the ability to be spread through 211 00:14:48,660 --> 00:14:53,880 Speaker 1: flea bites. And lastly, archaeologists from the Copenhagen Museum have 212 00:14:53,940 --> 00:14:56,820 Speaker 1: found a burial site that may have been associated with 213 00:14:56,840 --> 00:15:01,160 Speaker 1: the city's hospital for people with leprosy during the medieval period. 214 00:15:02,020 --> 00:15:04,640 Speaker 1: This research is being done at a building site, and 215 00:15:04,750 --> 00:15:07,790 Speaker 1: so far they have found the remains of about 20 people. 216 00:15:08,590 --> 00:15:14,130 Speaker 1: This hospital operated from 1254 until 1524, after which it 217 00:15:14,170 --> 00:15:18,340 Speaker 1: was closed and the remaining patients were transferred. Although the 218 00:15:18,380 --> 00:15:22,420 Speaker 1: hospital is known to have existed and its location was documented, 219 00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:26,480 Speaker 1: there was no potential archaeological evidence of it until now. 220 00:15:27,420 --> 00:15:30,800 Speaker 1: Future research may confirm whether these are patients from the hospital, 221 00:15:30,940 --> 00:15:34,900 Speaker 1: and if so, the discovery may yield more information about 222 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:40,000 Speaker 1: leprosy in medieval Copenhagen. We will now move on to animals. 223 00:15:40,670 --> 00:15:45,890 Speaker 1: Carthaginian General Hannibal famously crossed the Alps in 218 BCE 224 00:15:45,950 --> 00:15:50,590 Speaker 1: with an army that included 37 war elephants. His exact 225 00:15:50,690 --> 00:15:53,650 Speaker 1: route across the Alps has been the subject of debate, 226 00:15:54,090 --> 00:15:58,250 Speaker 1: with researchers offering different lines of argument to support different 227 00:15:58,350 --> 00:16:02,750 Speaker 1: possible routes. A leading contender has been a route through 228 00:16:02,810 --> 00:16:07,370 Speaker 1: a pass called the Col du Clapierre, But research published 229 00:16:07,470 --> 00:16:10,110 Speaker 1: in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 230 00:16:10,150 --> 00:16:14,290 Speaker 1: July concludes that a different pass, called La Traversette, was 231 00:16:14,390 --> 00:16:18,740 Speaker 1: more likely. The reasoning comes down to math and the 232 00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:20,920 Speaker 1: amount of energy that it would have taken for the 233 00:16:21,020 --> 00:16:26,340 Speaker 1: elephants and men and horses to make each crossing. The 234 00:16:26,380 --> 00:16:30,180 Speaker 1: team used modeling methods based on the study of contemporary 235 00:16:30,340 --> 00:16:33,900 Speaker 1: African elephants and how they move to estimate how much 236 00:16:33,990 --> 00:16:37,250 Speaker 1: energy it would require for one of Hannibal's elephants to 237 00:16:37,310 --> 00:16:40,950 Speaker 1: make each crossing. The Col de la Traversette was the 238 00:16:41,030 --> 00:16:45,680 Speaker 1: shortest and most energetically efficient route. They estimated that the 239 00:16:45,700 --> 00:16:49,380 Speaker 1: Col du Clapier route would have required 16% more energy 240 00:16:49,420 --> 00:16:53,370 Speaker 1: than Col de la Traversette. They also studied two other 241 00:16:53,420 --> 00:16:57,290 Speaker 1: potential routes, both of which were also less efficient than 242 00:16:57,390 --> 00:17:02,750 Speaker 1: Col de la Traversette. This so-called easier passage was still demanding, though. 243 00:17:03,190 --> 00:17:06,310 Speaker 1: The researchers also estimated that the men who made the 244 00:17:06,350 --> 00:17:10,730 Speaker 1: crossing would have lost 19% of their body fat reserves 245 00:17:10,890 --> 00:17:13,479 Speaker 1: on the Col de la Traversette route, even though that 246 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:15,480 Speaker 1: was the one that was ranked as the most efficient. 247 00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:20,130 Speaker 1: War elephants, however, would have lost only 4% of their 248 00:17:20,170 --> 00:17:23,230 Speaker 1: fat reserves, and the team suggested that this might explain 249 00:17:23,310 --> 00:17:26,070 Speaker 1: why a lot of men died on the journey, but 250 00:17:26,150 --> 00:17:30,300 Speaker 1: not nearly as many elephants did. Of course, Hannibal did 251 00:17:30,359 --> 00:17:33,219 Speaker 1: not have mathematical models of energy costs when he was 252 00:17:33,280 --> 00:17:35,820 Speaker 1: planning his route, so none of this could have been 253 00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:39,939 Speaker 1: part of his decision-making process, although any information that he 254 00:17:40,020 --> 00:17:44,030 Speaker 1: had about the route's terrain, length, and elevation changes certainly 255 00:17:44,070 --> 00:17:48,550 Speaker 1: could have. Next, research published in the journal Antiquity has 256 00:17:48,590 --> 00:17:52,909 Speaker 1: looked at the question of when humans started to domesticate pigeons, 257 00:17:53,150 --> 00:17:58,690 Speaker 1: also known as rock doves, by studying 159 ancient pigeon bones, 258 00:17:58,910 --> 00:18:02,810 Speaker 1: which dated back to the 13th to 14th centuries BCE. 259 00:18:03,750 --> 00:18:07,159 Speaker 1: They extracted collagen from the animals' bones and looked at 260 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:11,179 Speaker 1: the ratios of carbon and nitrogen they contained, which is 261 00:18:11,240 --> 00:18:15,540 Speaker 1: connected to the animals' diet. They found that these ratios 262 00:18:15,619 --> 00:18:18,889 Speaker 1: were similar to those found in human bones from the 263 00:18:18,950 --> 00:18:23,639 Speaker 1: same area and time periods. suggesting that humans and pigeons 264 00:18:23,700 --> 00:18:27,220 Speaker 1: were eating similar foods. Either the humans were feeding the 265 00:18:27,260 --> 00:18:31,280 Speaker 1: pigeons or the pigeons were eating the people's scraps. This 266 00:18:31,380 --> 00:18:35,050 Speaker 1: might mean that these pigeons were being domesticated or were 267 00:18:35,090 --> 00:18:39,369 Speaker 1: at least comfortable enough around humans to be eating their food. 268 00:18:40,630 --> 00:18:44,790 Speaker 1: This is about a thousand years earlier than previous evidence 269 00:18:44,950 --> 00:18:49,590 Speaker 1: of pigeon domestication. Next, another bit of research that was 270 00:18:49,710 --> 00:18:53,469 Speaker 1: also published in the journal Antiquity has proposed an explanation 271 00:18:53,510 --> 00:18:57,320 Speaker 1: for how brown trout got into mountain lakes in southern Norway. 272 00:18:58,220 --> 00:19:00,500 Speaker 1: The fish are known to have lived there for thousands 273 00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:03,240 Speaker 1: of years, but the area was covered in glaciers until 274 00:19:03,280 --> 00:19:07,520 Speaker 1: about 10,000 years ago. And after that, waterfalls and other 275 00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:10,660 Speaker 1: natural features would have kept trout from making their way 276 00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:14,820 Speaker 1: into the lakes on their own. But now archaeologists have 277 00:19:14,859 --> 00:19:19,300 Speaker 1: found fish traps dating back 7,000 years, and have concluded 278 00:19:19,359 --> 00:19:23,119 Speaker 1: that hunter-gatherer peoples may have used them to catch and 279 00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:27,879 Speaker 1: intentionally transport the fish from other bodies of water. In 280 00:19:27,940 --> 00:19:31,150 Speaker 1: addition to proposing an explanation for how the fish got there, 281 00:19:31,570 --> 00:19:36,109 Speaker 1: this suggests that these hunter-gatherers may have been exercising more 282 00:19:36,190 --> 00:19:40,150 Speaker 1: control over their environments, ecosystems, and the food they had 283 00:19:40,230 --> 00:19:44,879 Speaker 1: access to than was previously believed. This research was possible 284 00:19:44,960 --> 00:19:48,649 Speaker 1: because water levels in one mountain lake were low enough 285 00:19:48,830 --> 00:19:52,720 Speaker 1: in 2022 to reveal a number of fish traps that 286 00:19:52,790 --> 00:19:55,810 Speaker 1: had previously been submerged. People didn't know they were there. 287 00:19:56,640 --> 00:20:01,050 Speaker 1: Radiocarbon dating and tree ring analysis suggest that the oldest 288 00:20:01,250 --> 00:20:05,190 Speaker 1: traps dated back to about 5000 BCE, while the youngest 289 00:20:05,330 --> 00:20:10,859 Speaker 1: ones dated back to about 2650 BCE. There is not 290 00:20:10,980 --> 00:20:15,220 Speaker 1: yet evidence of how this move could have actually happened 291 00:20:15,340 --> 00:20:18,649 Speaker 1: if it did, but But researchers involved suggest that the 292 00:20:18,690 --> 00:20:21,850 Speaker 1: fish might have been carried in leather bags similar to 293 00:20:21,910 --> 00:20:24,709 Speaker 1: water skins, and this probably would have taken a really 294 00:20:24,750 --> 00:20:29,330 Speaker 1: long time. Introducing the fish to bodies of water along 295 00:20:29,369 --> 00:20:33,310 Speaker 1: this route in stages, since they probably wouldn't have survived 296 00:20:33,369 --> 00:20:36,710 Speaker 1: the entire journey from where they originally lived to the 297 00:20:36,790 --> 00:20:40,460 Speaker 1: mountain lakes all at once. Moving on, in the late 298 00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:45,300 Speaker 1: 20th century, bone fragments were discovered at Ferreter's Cove on 299 00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:49,780 Speaker 1: Ireland's Dingle Peninsula, which were identified as those of domestic cattle. 300 00:20:50,500 --> 00:20:52,840 Speaker 1: They came to be known as the Kerry Cow and 301 00:20:52,900 --> 00:20:57,090 Speaker 1: served as evidence of when agriculture was introduced into Ireland. 302 00:20:57,869 --> 00:21:01,310 Speaker 1: The basic idea was that farmers were arriving from continental 303 00:21:01,430 --> 00:21:05,770 Speaker 1: Europe and had introduced domestic cattle and methods for managing 304 00:21:05,810 --> 00:21:09,740 Speaker 1: them in the late Mesolithic period, sometime between 8,000 and 305 00:21:09,740 --> 00:21:17,500 Speaker 1: 4,000 BCE. However, new research using zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry 306 00:21:17,820 --> 00:21:21,980 Speaker 1: has identified these bone fragments not as domestic cattle, but 307 00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:25,379 Speaker 1: as coming from a bear and a wild boar, leaving 308 00:21:25,460 --> 00:21:30,150 Speaker 1: no evidence for this idea of introduced cattle. It is possible, though, 309 00:21:30,190 --> 00:21:33,130 Speaker 1: that further study of the bear bone fragments will lead 310 00:21:33,170 --> 00:21:36,180 Speaker 1: to new information about about what types of bears were 311 00:21:36,220 --> 00:21:39,359 Speaker 1: living in Ireland thousands of years ago. Yeah, there's a 312 00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:43,100 Speaker 1: possibility that it was from a polar bear. But we 313 00:21:43,119 --> 00:21:46,359 Speaker 1: don't really know yet. We will take another sponsor break 314 00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:58,399 Speaker 1: and then get back to more finds. Now moving on 315 00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:03,209 Speaker 1: to books and letters, one of my favorite categories on Unearthed. 316 00:22:03,990 --> 00:22:08,990 Speaker 1: Research published in American Historical Review in July has examined 317 00:22:09,030 --> 00:22:13,130 Speaker 1: a Chinese-language label that was previously believed to have had 318 00:22:13,150 --> 00:22:17,670 Speaker 1: a connection to the Boston Tea Party. Thomas Wells was 319 00:22:17,750 --> 00:22:22,050 Speaker 1: a blacksmith living in Boston in 1773, and some of 320 00:22:22,210 --> 00:22:25,869 Speaker 1: his descendants had donated the label to the Old South 321 00:22:25,930 --> 00:22:28,970 Speaker 1: Meeting House. They believed it had been removed from some 322 00:22:29,010 --> 00:22:33,420 Speaker 1: of the tea that was dumped into Boston Harbor. Various 323 00:22:33,500 --> 00:22:37,140 Speaker 1: authorities had examined the label since that happened, and none 324 00:22:37,180 --> 00:22:41,350 Speaker 1: of them had conclusively determined that it was not connected 325 00:22:41,410 --> 00:22:44,250 Speaker 1: to the Boston Tea Party, but nobody had been able 326 00:22:44,310 --> 00:22:47,510 Speaker 1: to confirm that it was part of the Boston Tea 327 00:22:47,550 --> 00:22:52,370 Speaker 1: Party either. MIT historian Tristan Brown looked at this label 328 00:22:52,550 --> 00:22:57,600 Speaker 1: after American Historical Review issued a call for essays on 329 00:22:57,600 --> 00:23:03,340 Speaker 1: 76 objects connected to 1776. Brown's focus as a historian 330 00:23:03,470 --> 00:23:07,399 Speaker 1: is on Chinese history, not the American Revolution, but he 331 00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:10,359 Speaker 1: had previously seen the label at the Meeting House and 332 00:23:10,580 --> 00:23:14,940 Speaker 1: he was interested. Earlier study of the label had interpreted 333 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:18,260 Speaker 1: it as Mandarin, and in Mandarin, some of the characters 334 00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:21,739 Speaker 1: couldn't be interpreted as Chinese prose in a way that 335 00:23:21,780 --> 00:23:26,140 Speaker 1: made sense. But Brown realized that when the same characters 336 00:23:26,180 --> 00:23:34,080 Speaker 1: were pronounced using Cantonese pronunciations, they represented an English-language name, Smith, Archer. 337 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:38,780 Speaker 1: That led him to New York-based import expert form Smith, 338 00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:42,260 Speaker 1: Archer & Co., which had offices in East Asia in 339 00:23:42,300 --> 00:23:46,359 Speaker 1: the 1860s and 70s. Another proper name on the label 340 00:23:46,460 --> 00:23:48,919 Speaker 1: is that of a Cantonese merchant who was working in 341 00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:52,900 Speaker 1: the 1860s. So this label is not from the Boston 342 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:56,830 Speaker 1: Tea Party. It is about a century too new for that. 343 00:23:57,410 --> 00:24:01,050 Speaker 1: But it does still have relevance to U.S. history, including 344 00:24:01,330 --> 00:24:04,159 Speaker 1: trade between the U.S. and China in the 19th century. 345 00:24:05,020 --> 00:24:07,679 Speaker 1: Brown traced a likely route for the label to have 346 00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:12,460 Speaker 1: taken through the Wells family, from their ancestor John Milton Wells, 347 00:24:12,670 --> 00:24:15,649 Speaker 1: who was in the San Francisco Bay Area during the 348 00:24:15,690 --> 00:24:20,189 Speaker 1: Gold Rush and later operated a business in Michigan called 349 00:24:20,350 --> 00:24:25,369 Speaker 1: California Tea Store, which sold imported teas from Asia. A 350 00:24:25,410 --> 00:24:30,020 Speaker 1: team led by archaeologist Franco D. Rossi has deciphered Maya 351 00:24:30,060 --> 00:24:33,740 Speaker 1: glyphs from the Classic Period. which spanned from 250 to 352 00:24:33,740 --> 00:24:39,110 Speaker 1: 900 CE. These glyphs were found in Guatemala in 2010 353 00:24:39,109 --> 00:24:42,550 Speaker 1: in a tunnel made by looters. The glyphs are an 354 00:24:42,730 --> 00:24:48,659 Speaker 1: astronomical formula followed by, so says Sacton-Wox, that being the 355 00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:51,580 Speaker 1: name of the astronomer who created the formula, which is 356 00:24:51,660 --> 00:24:57,800 Speaker 1: translated as white-chested fox. This makes Sacton-Wox the earliest mathematician 357 00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:00,960 Speaker 1: and astronomer to be known by name in the Americas, 358 00:25:01,340 --> 00:25:04,639 Speaker 1: and the only Maya astronomer from the Classic Period to 359 00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:08,600 Speaker 1: have been credited by name for their work. The formula 360 00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:11,980 Speaker 1: relates to the movement of Venus and Mars in the sky. 361 00:25:12,700 --> 00:25:15,560 Speaker 1: Other objects in the room where these glyphs were found 362 00:25:15,700 --> 00:25:20,369 Speaker 1: include papermaking tools and other tools for making books. The 363 00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:23,810 Speaker 1: space has been interpreted as a classroom and workshop for 364 00:25:23,890 --> 00:25:27,149 Speaker 1: making codex books and for training people on how to 365 00:25:27,190 --> 00:25:31,139 Speaker 1: do that. Next, a team of experts working at Guernsey's 366 00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:36,820 Speaker 1: Island Archives have identified 17 medieval manuscript fragments which were 367 00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:41,130 Speaker 1: repurposed in the bindings of other books. Until now, there's 368 00:25:41,150 --> 00:25:45,250 Speaker 1: been no physical evidence of libraries, books, or literary culture 369 00:25:45,369 --> 00:25:49,170 Speaker 1: on Guernsey during the medieval period. But these new identified 370 00:25:49,230 --> 00:25:52,889 Speaker 1: fragments suggest that there were avid readers on medieval Guernsey 371 00:25:53,030 --> 00:25:55,830 Speaker 1: and that when they were reading in the vernacular, they 372 00:25:55,850 --> 00:25:59,800 Speaker 1: were more likely to be reading in French than in English. Yeah, 373 00:26:00,020 --> 00:26:02,859 Speaker 1: there were also a lot of Latin fragments, but it 374 00:26:02,940 --> 00:26:06,540 Speaker 1: seems the vernacular was more likely to be French. Most 375 00:26:06,580 --> 00:26:09,320 Speaker 1: of these fragments are from works that have survived in 376 00:26:09,420 --> 00:26:12,740 Speaker 1: other places, but one in particular is a fragment of 377 00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:18,110 Speaker 1: a poem called L'Histoire de Griseldeus. Various versions of this 378 00:26:18,150 --> 00:26:21,409 Speaker 1: story were very widely reprinted, but there are only a 379 00:26:21,710 --> 00:26:26,710 Speaker 1: couple of known surviving copies of this specific one. There's 380 00:26:26,730 --> 00:26:29,760 Speaker 1: the manuscript, and then there are two printed versions from 381 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:34,440 Speaker 1: the 16th century. This fragment has provided the first evidence 382 00:26:34,520 --> 00:26:38,159 Speaker 1: that this version of the story was read outside of 383 00:26:38,220 --> 00:26:42,320 Speaker 1: the French royal court. The story of Griselda, which is 384 00:26:42,359 --> 00:26:46,010 Speaker 1: told in this poem, was first told in Giovanni Boccaccio's 385 00:26:46,050 --> 00:26:51,170 Speaker 1: Decameron in 1353. A collection of Latin fragments has been 386 00:26:51,190 --> 00:26:54,510 Speaker 1: at the Penn Museum at the University of Pennsylvania since 387 00:26:54,550 --> 00:26:57,790 Speaker 1: the museum acquired them from an antiquities dealer in Egypt 388 00:26:58,010 --> 00:27:02,060 Speaker 1: in 1911. Some of the largest pieces have been reassembled 389 00:27:02,180 --> 00:27:05,100 Speaker 1: and translated, and it appears to be a page from 390 00:27:05,160 --> 00:27:08,640 Speaker 1: a sort of pocket guide, to Roman Empire laws that 391 00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:12,210 Speaker 1: might have been used by tax officials or by landowners 392 00:27:12,290 --> 00:27:16,190 Speaker 1: and their attorneys. The page is made from animal skin, 393 00:27:16,350 --> 00:27:18,950 Speaker 1: and red ink on one side of the page suggests 394 00:27:19,290 --> 00:27:23,570 Speaker 1: that someone marked something that was particularly important. These marks 395 00:27:23,790 --> 00:27:26,070 Speaker 1: also helped the team figure out which side of the 396 00:27:26,090 --> 00:27:30,160 Speaker 1: page was which. The text on these fragments has not 397 00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:33,899 Speaker 1: been found in any other surviving work until this point, 398 00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:38,950 Speaker 1: but the fragment traces back to Roman emperors Constantius II 399 00:27:39,150 --> 00:27:43,689 Speaker 1: and Julian the Apostate, who ruled between 337 and 363. 400 00:27:43,690 --> 00:27:48,150 Speaker 1: So these fragments have provided some new information about the 401 00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:51,679 Speaker 1: law under these two emperors, and by extension, the kinds 402 00:27:51,740 --> 00:27:54,720 Speaker 1: of things people were focused on and concerned about in 403 00:27:54,760 --> 00:28:00,010 Speaker 1: their daily lives. Researchers from University College Dublin have traced 404 00:28:00,050 --> 00:28:04,510 Speaker 1: about 3,500 years of history of the sheeppox virus by 405 00:28:04,570 --> 00:28:08,370 Speaker 1: studying a range of materials from the archaeological record. Those 406 00:28:08,410 --> 00:28:13,389 Speaker 1: include teeth, specimens from veterinary collections, and a lot of parchment. 407 00:28:14,270 --> 00:28:18,110 Speaker 1: Parchment is made from animal skins, and researchers were able 408 00:28:18,170 --> 00:28:22,470 Speaker 1: to extract sheeppox DNA not only from parchment made from 409 00:28:22,550 --> 00:28:26,370 Speaker 1: sheepskin but but also from some parchment made from calfskin 410 00:28:26,490 --> 00:28:30,520 Speaker 1: and goatskin. It's not clear whether these are examples of 411 00:28:30,660 --> 00:28:35,000 Speaker 1: cross-species infections of sheeppox or if this DNA came from 412 00:28:35,119 --> 00:28:41,150 Speaker 1: cross-contamination during the parchment-making process. Some of the parchments that 413 00:28:41,170 --> 00:28:45,850 Speaker 1: were part of this study contain important historical texts, including 414 00:28:45,950 --> 00:28:50,190 Speaker 1: the York Gospels, which are illuminated manuscripts that were written 415 00:28:50,250 --> 00:28:53,070 Speaker 1: and illustrated in Canterbury in the late 10th or early 416 00:28:53,410 --> 00:28:57,330 Speaker 1: 11th century. Another was the Corpus Glossary, which is one 417 00:28:57,370 --> 00:29:02,520 Speaker 1: of the earliest English dictionaries. Sheeppox still exists today, and 418 00:29:02,540 --> 00:29:06,440 Speaker 1: it is highly contagious. It can cause serious issues if 419 00:29:06,480 --> 00:29:10,120 Speaker 1: it is introduced into a flock. This research has showed 420 00:29:10,180 --> 00:29:14,400 Speaker 1: that the sheeppox virus genome has been very stable over centuries, 421 00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:17,640 Speaker 1: and it may help researchers find new ways to treat 422 00:29:17,820 --> 00:29:22,550 Speaker 1: or prevent the disease. In previous installments of Unearthed, we 423 00:29:22,590 --> 00:29:27,170 Speaker 1: have talked about efforts to virtually unroll scrolls from Herculaneum, 424 00:29:27,730 --> 00:29:31,330 Speaker 1: which were carbonized during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 425 00:29:31,350 --> 00:29:36,600 Speaker 1: the year 79 AD. These projects have relied on X-ray tomography, 426 00:29:36,780 --> 00:29:40,560 Speaker 1: but it is hard to distinguish between the ink and 427 00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:45,020 Speaker 1: the papyrus using X-rays, since both are made of carbon. 428 00:29:45,920 --> 00:29:49,900 Speaker 1: An article published in PLOS One in September details another 429 00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:53,810 Speaker 1: possible strategy for doing this. The pigment used to write 430 00:29:53,890 --> 00:29:59,100 Speaker 1: on some Herculaneum scrolls contains lead. And x-rays can easily 431 00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:03,580 Speaker 1: differentiate between lead and papyrus. So the idea is to 432 00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:07,330 Speaker 1: scan the scrolls for lead and then focus on using 433 00:30:07,510 --> 00:30:12,510 Speaker 1: x-rays on those specific scrolls. Rather than testing this idea 434 00:30:12,690 --> 00:30:16,630 Speaker 1: on some actual Herculaneum scrolls, the team made some scrolls 435 00:30:16,690 --> 00:30:20,740 Speaker 1: of their own, writing on papyrus with ink containing various 436 00:30:20,800 --> 00:30:24,000 Speaker 1: concentrations of lead and then putting those scrolls in a 437 00:30:24,060 --> 00:30:27,580 Speaker 1: furnace to carbonize them. They found that they could detect 438 00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:31,720 Speaker 1: the lead using X-ray fluorescence and then use X-ray tomography 439 00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:35,740 Speaker 1: and a specialized computer program to decipher some of what 440 00:30:35,780 --> 00:30:39,030 Speaker 1: they had read. In addition to acting as a proof 441 00:30:39,050 --> 00:30:43,210 Speaker 1: of concept for using a similar method on actual Herculaneum scrolls, 442 00:30:43,750 --> 00:30:46,670 Speaker 1: these kinds of scroll mock-ups could also help refine the 443 00:30:46,810 --> 00:30:51,210 Speaker 1: algorithms that are used to read text in virtual unrolling projects. 444 00:30:52,210 --> 00:30:55,540 Speaker 1: I love this whole thing. It's so cool. We're going 445 00:30:55,560 --> 00:30:58,840 Speaker 1: to make some scrolls. I like that there's craft time, right? 446 00:30:58,860 --> 00:31:03,660 Speaker 1: We're going to bake them. Lastly, according to research published 447 00:31:03,700 --> 00:31:06,960 Speaker 1: in the journal Notes and Queries in September, an English 448 00:31:07,040 --> 00:31:12,040 Speaker 1: courtier named John Gage may have secretly protected a manuscript 449 00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:15,720 Speaker 1: of Nicholas Love's Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus 450 00:31:15,780 --> 00:31:19,910 Speaker 1: Christ that he had been ordered to destroy. Gage was 451 00:31:19,970 --> 00:31:23,870 Speaker 1: a prominent figure in the dissolution of the monasteries under 452 00:31:23,910 --> 00:31:27,530 Speaker 1: King Henry VIII, even though he had previously left the 453 00:31:27,570 --> 00:31:31,950 Speaker 1: king's court and expressed his intention to take Catholic holy orders. 454 00:31:32,730 --> 00:31:36,640 Speaker 1: Before the start of the Protestant Reformation in England, Mirror 455 00:31:36,680 --> 00:31:39,380 Speaker 1: of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ had been approved 456 00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:43,640 Speaker 1: by religious leaders in England and was a bestseller. This 457 00:31:43,700 --> 00:31:47,000 Speaker 1: book was a translation of an earlier Latin text that 458 00:31:47,040 --> 00:31:50,080 Speaker 1: was somewhat like an alternative to the Bible at a 459 00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:52,920 Speaker 1: time when having an English language copy of the Bible 460 00:31:52,980 --> 00:31:57,060 Speaker 1: was outlawed. This ban was connected to the Lollard movement, 461 00:31:57,140 --> 00:32:00,140 Speaker 1: which was a reform movement that argued, among other things, 462 00:32:00,500 --> 00:32:03,040 Speaker 1: that people should have access to the Bible in English. 463 00:32:03,760 --> 00:32:08,450 Speaker 1: An anti-heresy act passed in 1401 targeted the Lollards and, 464 00:32:08,510 --> 00:32:12,960 Speaker 1: by extension, English language versions of the Bible. but during 465 00:32:13,010 --> 00:32:16,210 Speaker 1: the reign of Henry VIII, this book's references to things 466 00:32:16,270 --> 00:32:20,470 Speaker 1: like Catholic sacraments and making confessions to a priest became 467 00:32:20,550 --> 00:32:26,010 Speaker 1: very controversial. It's not clear exactly how or when Gage 468 00:32:26,110 --> 00:32:29,610 Speaker 1: got this book, which has his signature in it, but 469 00:32:29,650 --> 00:32:32,110 Speaker 1: it was probably during all of the chaos of the 470 00:32:32,170 --> 00:32:35,950 Speaker 1: dissolution of the monasteries. The book remained in the Gage 471 00:32:36,010 --> 00:32:39,790 Speaker 1: family until it was sold, minus six pages which had 472 00:32:39,810 --> 00:32:44,550 Speaker 1: apparently fallen out at some point in 1976. Those pages 473 00:32:44,650 --> 00:32:47,350 Speaker 1: wound up in the Keep archive, but due to various 474 00:32:47,430 --> 00:32:52,690 Speaker 1: cataloging issues, they were effectively lost. After tracking down the 475 00:32:52,730 --> 00:32:57,110 Speaker 1: six pages, UK researchers looked for and eventually found a 476 00:32:57,170 --> 00:32:59,830 Speaker 1: copy of Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ 477 00:32:59,970 --> 00:33:03,709 Speaker 1: in which those specific six pages were missing. That was 478 00:33:03,750 --> 00:33:08,000 Speaker 1: in the collection of Beinecke Library at Yale University. Which 479 00:33:08,020 --> 00:33:11,110 Speaker 1: is all very cool. Yeah. We're going to have more 480 00:33:11,170 --> 00:33:14,630 Speaker 1: on Earth next time. In the meantime, do you have 481 00:33:14,670 --> 00:33:17,910 Speaker 1: listener mail? I do have listener mail. This listener mail 482 00:33:18,030 --> 00:33:21,010 Speaker 1: is from Ethan. And Ethan wrote to say, Hi, Holly 483 00:33:21,070 --> 00:33:23,910 Speaker 1: and Tracy. I'm writing in as I'm finishing up your 484 00:33:23,950 --> 00:33:27,610 Speaker 1: episode on Rebecca Smith Pollard. I'm an elementary school teacher 485 00:33:27,770 --> 00:33:30,810 Speaker 1: and have lived that back and forth you talked about 486 00:33:30,930 --> 00:33:34,030 Speaker 1: in the reading wars. I went through school during a 487 00:33:34,070 --> 00:33:37,770 Speaker 1: whole era with some phonics, so I guess balanced literacy. 488 00:33:37,990 --> 00:33:41,070 Speaker 1: But now teaching in the era of science of reading, 489 00:33:41,110 --> 00:33:44,580 Speaker 1: it feels like we can't get enough phonics instruction into 490 00:33:44,630 --> 00:33:48,010 Speaker 1: our day. The funny thing that made me connect more 491 00:33:48,050 --> 00:33:50,530 Speaker 1: to this episode is the fact that I teach at 492 00:33:50,630 --> 00:33:53,950 Speaker 1: a Horace Mann Elementary and the fact that he was 493 00:33:54,010 --> 00:33:58,050 Speaker 1: such a champion for public education while also working against 494 00:33:58,150 --> 00:34:01,630 Speaker 1: what research tells us. I apologize for being behind. I'm 495 00:34:01,650 --> 00:34:05,330 Speaker 1: just finishing up my summer vacation and start with students 496 00:34:05,610 --> 00:34:08,170 Speaker 1: on Monday. So I'm just now listening to you all 497 00:34:08,230 --> 00:34:10,830 Speaker 1: on my commute. I always enjoy learning all the new 498 00:34:10,890 --> 00:34:13,690 Speaker 1: things and have definitely referenced the show while teaching my 499 00:34:13,750 --> 00:34:18,400 Speaker 1: elementary kiddos. Attached is my pet tax, my pup named Kix. 500 00:34:18,580 --> 00:34:22,070 Speaker 1: He is a ball of energy while also always wanting cuddles. 501 00:34:22,630 --> 00:34:25,390 Speaker 1: Thank you both for everything you do, Ethan. So thank you, Ethan. 502 00:34:25,750 --> 00:34:28,630 Speaker 1: You do not need to apologize for being behind. I 503 00:34:28,690 --> 00:34:32,330 Speaker 1: clearly am also behind. Your email is from August 21st, 504 00:34:32,489 --> 00:34:35,009 Speaker 1: and I am reading it here on October the 8th. 505 00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:40,280 Speaker 1: So time is a flat circle. It's funny. It's funny. Yeah. 506 00:34:40,680 --> 00:34:43,799 Speaker 1: We have heard from a number of teachers after the 507 00:34:43,860 --> 00:34:47,259 Speaker 1: episode on Rebecca Smith Pollard that have shared various experiences 508 00:34:47,320 --> 00:34:51,280 Speaker 1: about the literacy wars and phonics and teaching reading instruction. 509 00:34:51,969 --> 00:34:53,870 Speaker 1: So that's been really lovely. I can't remember if we 510 00:34:53,910 --> 00:34:56,890 Speaker 1: have read any of them before this moment, but then 511 00:34:56,930 --> 00:35:01,930 Speaker 1: we also have adorable, adorable dog pictures. So I need 512 00:35:01,989 --> 00:35:05,690 Speaker 1: everyone to imagine a puppy dog who has a black 513 00:35:05,790 --> 00:35:11,270 Speaker 1: spot over one eye. Black ears, mostly white. And in 514 00:35:11,430 --> 00:35:17,520 Speaker 1: one picture, there is a significant amount of blep going on. So, 515 00:35:18,180 --> 00:35:21,700 Speaker 1: so cute. So thank you so much again, Ethan, for 516 00:35:21,739 --> 00:35:24,340 Speaker 1: this email. If you would like to send us a note, 517 00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:28,469 Speaker 1: we're at historypodcasts at iheartradio.com. If you would like to 518 00:35:28,530 --> 00:35:31,839 Speaker 1: see the show notes... For our episodes, including the ones 519 00:35:31,940 --> 00:35:36,299 Speaker 1: for Unearthed episodes, which are extraordinarily long, they are at 520 00:35:36,360 --> 00:35:40,870 Speaker 1: our website, which is MissedInHistory.com. And you can subscribe to 521 00:35:40,910 --> 00:35:44,049 Speaker 1: the show on the iHeartRadio app or anywhere else you'd 522 00:35:44,070 --> 00:35:51,860 Speaker 1: like to get your podcasts. Stuff You Missed in History 523 00:35:51,900 --> 00:35:56,330 Speaker 1: Class is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, 524 00:35:56,430 --> 00:36:00,040 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 525 00:36:00,080 --> 00:36:00,960 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.