1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,600 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. 3 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:17,560 Speaker 1: Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. It is time for our 4 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:21,880 Speaker 1: next installment of Unearthed. If you're new to the show, 5 00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:23,800 Speaker 1: a few times a year, we look at what has 6 00:00:23,840 --> 00:00:28,560 Speaker 1: been literally or figuratively unearthed. If you are a longtime 7 00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:30,320 Speaker 1: listener to the show, you have now heard me say 8 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:34,960 Speaker 1: that so many times. This time around on Unearthed, we've 9 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:40,000 Speaker 1: got some updates, some books and letters, fabrics, mummies, and 10 00:00:40,159 --> 00:00:43,000 Speaker 1: just a whole bunch of stuff that involves skulls or bones, 11 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:47,239 Speaker 1: and it's not just like a burial of bones. We 12 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:50,640 Speaker 1: will start off with something that we mentioned in the 13 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:54,800 Speaker 1: behind the scenes of our most recent Unearthed episode, that 14 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:58,880 Speaker 1: happened in the window between when twenty twenty two ended 15 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:02,720 Speaker 1: and when those episodes were published, and because it already 16 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:05,760 Speaker 1: got that brief mentioned, we're just going to put it first. So, 17 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:09,480 Speaker 1: according to a bunch of early January news articles, an 18 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:14,039 Speaker 1: amateur researcher in London solved the mystery of twenty thousand 19 00:01:14,120 --> 00:01:18,280 Speaker 1: year old cave paintings, specifically the meanings of dots and 20 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:22,280 Speaker 1: other markings in those paintings. The researcher, whose name is 21 00:01:22,319 --> 00:01:26,600 Speaker 1: Ben Bacon, concluded that the markings represented a lunar calendar. 22 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:30,959 Speaker 1: So Bacon poured over images of cave paintings at the 23 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:35,640 Speaker 1: British Library and online, and also collaborated with two professors, 24 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:39,399 Speaker 1: one from Durham University and the other from City College London. 25 00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:43,440 Speaker 1: They were focused on three specific marks that show up 26 00:01:43,480 --> 00:01:46,279 Speaker 1: in a lot of these paintings. There's a vertical line 27 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:49,640 Speaker 1: and a dot, and a symbol that looks kind of 28 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:52,720 Speaker 1: like the letter why. Bacon thought maybe the why might 29 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:55,080 Speaker 1: be a reference to giving births. This looks sort of 30 00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:58,840 Speaker 1: like one line is growing out of the other line. 31 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:04,240 Speaker 1: We should note not every piece of figurative European cave 32 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:06,840 Speaker 1: art from this period has these kind of markings. They're 33 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:09,840 Speaker 1: on some images but not others. And these are also 34 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:13,200 Speaker 1: not the only markings that not might appear on this 35 00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:15,359 Speaker 1: kind of art. But like, this is what the focus 36 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:19,160 Speaker 1: was here. So their hypothesis was that the lines and 37 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:22,760 Speaker 1: dots represented a number of months in a lunar calendar 38 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:26,800 Speaker 1: beginning in the spring, specifically the time of year described 39 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:30,440 Speaker 1: as the bun Sison when ice and snow start melting 40 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:34,160 Speaker 1: and vegetation begins to turn green again, and if that 41 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:37,239 Speaker 1: WHY symbol appeared in a series of dots, then its 42 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:40,480 Speaker 1: position would denote the months when that animal would usually 43 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:44,360 Speaker 1: give birth. They examined more than six hundred pieces of 44 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:49,080 Speaker 1: cave art, primarily from France and Spain, and they sorted 45 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:57,600 Speaker 1: the animals that were depicted into groups, so there were rox, birds, bison, caprids, servants, fish, horses, mammoths, 46 00:02:57,639 --> 00:03:01,239 Speaker 1: and rhinos. And then they noted the number and positions 47 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:04,639 Speaker 1: of these markings that were shown within these groups, and 48 00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:08,440 Speaker 1: they compared all of that information to known information about 49 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:11,680 Speaker 1: when all of these animals do things like migrate and 50 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:15,680 Speaker 1: mate and give birth, and they found a strong correlation 51 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:20,040 Speaker 1: between the markings and the expected months. For example, there 52 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:23,520 Speaker 1: were fifteen depictions of URX marked with the Y symbol, 53 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:26,880 Speaker 1: and the vast majority of the time that why was 54 00:03:26,919 --> 00:03:29,239 Speaker 1: in a position that would denote the second month of 55 00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:32,799 Speaker 1: the year in this lunar calendar, which is roughly when 56 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:36,240 Speaker 1: RX would be expected to give birth. There are also 57 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:39,440 Speaker 1: correlations between the numbers of lines and dots and the 58 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:43,600 Speaker 1: months after the start of spring when the various animals mate, spawn, 59 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:47,280 Speaker 1: or migrate. The paper also noted that while these marks 60 00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:50,600 Speaker 1: wouldn't really fit the definition of a written language, they 61 00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:54,720 Speaker 1: could be classified as a sort of proto writing. Back 62 00:03:54,840 --> 00:03:57,400 Speaker 1: when we briefly mentioned this and the behind the scenes 63 00:03:57,440 --> 00:03:59,640 Speaker 1: episode last time, I said, I was really glad I 64 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:02,240 Speaker 1: didn't talk about it yet because there would be a 65 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:05,760 Speaker 1: little bit more time to see whether this holds up. 66 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:09,600 Speaker 1: Unlike a lot of these sort of amateur cracks the 67 00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:12,400 Speaker 1: case headlines that we've talked about before on the show, 68 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:17,520 Speaker 1: this actually involves published research. It was published in the 69 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:22,080 Speaker 1: Cambridge Archaeological Journal, which is a peer reviewed academic journal, 70 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:26,400 Speaker 1: So this is not just someone's personal announcement of I 71 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:30,520 Speaker 1: solved it, like some of these stories often are. But 72 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:34,520 Speaker 1: there have been some criticisms. There's earlier published work that 73 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:37,880 Speaker 1: came to similar conclusions and was not cited in this paper, 74 00:04:38,279 --> 00:04:42,520 Speaker 1: including a paper called Lunar Timekeeping and Upper Paleolithic Cave 75 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:45,400 Speaker 1: Art that was published in twenty twenty one in the 76 00:04:45,480 --> 00:04:49,760 Speaker 1: journal Prehistoria News series. We don't currently know if the 77 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:53,440 Speaker 1: authors were aware of that earlier work or not. There 78 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:56,480 Speaker 1: are also other people who have been tweeting and blogging 79 00:04:56,560 --> 00:05:00,560 Speaker 1: about this basic idea for years. Again, we don't know 80 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:04,600 Speaker 1: whether the authors had ever seen those tweets or blog posts. Also, 81 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:07,479 Speaker 1: a lot of animals give birth in what would be 82 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:10,760 Speaker 1: the second or third month of a lunar calendar, starting 83 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:14,320 Speaker 1: in the bun Sizon, so people have question whether this 84 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:16,599 Speaker 1: is really something people would need to keep up with 85 00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:21,680 Speaker 1: on a calendar. Also, just in general, this paper presents 86 00:05:21,760 --> 00:05:25,800 Speaker 1: a hypothesis and the support for that hypothesis, which is 87 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:29,560 Speaker 1: usually how these kinds of papers go, which means that, 88 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:34,720 Speaker 1: like conclusively solved, the case is pretty much always going 89 00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:38,560 Speaker 1: to be an over cell. But that's what makes clickable 90 00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:42,960 Speaker 1: things on the internet. Sure does. Now that that's out 91 00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:45,800 Speaker 1: of the way, we will move on to updates. A 92 00:05:45,839 --> 00:05:50,000 Speaker 1: poem copied into an eighteenth century commonplace book may be 93 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:54,520 Speaker 1: a previously unknown work by past podcast subject Phyllis Wheatley 94 00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:59,640 Speaker 1: Mary Powell Potts later Mary Powell Potts Jones copied On 95 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:03,440 Speaker 1: the Day of Love Rotch into a commonplace book about 96 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:07,240 Speaker 1: fifteen years after it was written. It was attributed only 97 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:10,640 Speaker 1: to quote a Negro girl about fifteen years of age. 98 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:15,760 Speaker 1: English professor Wendy Raphael Roberts believes that this was Wheatley, 99 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:19,719 Speaker 1: largely because no one else fitting that description was publishing 100 00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:24,039 Speaker 1: poetry at that time. So this poem commemorates the death 101 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:27,440 Speaker 1: of Love macy Rotch. And one of the details that 102 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:31,920 Speaker 1: calls Robert's conclusion into some question is that the copyist 103 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:34,919 Speaker 1: who put this into the Commonplace book wrote that Love 104 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:38,240 Speaker 1: macy Rotch was, in the language of the time, the 105 00:06:38,279 --> 00:06:42,479 Speaker 1: poet's mistress, or in other words, her enslaver. But Philips 106 00:06:42,480 --> 00:06:45,719 Speaker 1: Wheatley was enslaved by John and Susannah Wheatley, and that 107 00:06:45,839 --> 00:06:48,360 Speaker 1: is something that people who knew about her and knew 108 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:52,640 Speaker 1: her poetry would have known. There's some speculation that maybe 109 00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:56,039 Speaker 1: Wheatley was hired out to the Roch family while Love 110 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:59,479 Speaker 1: macy Rotch was ill, and that would have been during 111 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:03,040 Speaker 1: some years of Wheatley's life that were not very well documented. 112 00:07:03,600 --> 00:07:06,279 Speaker 1: Our episode on Phyllis Wheatly came out on March fifth, 113 00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:11,400 Speaker 1: twenty eighteen. Researchers may have answered a lingering question about 114 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:14,240 Speaker 1: the ancient city of Great Zimbabwe, which we covered on 115 00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:19,160 Speaker 1: the show on January eighteenth, twenty seventeen. That question is 116 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:22,120 Speaker 1: how the city could have maintained a steady water supply 117 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:26,160 Speaker 1: that was large enough to support its population through both 118 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:32,040 Speaker 1: remote sensing and excavations, archaeologists have found intentionally created depressions 119 00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:35,240 Speaker 1: in the landscape, which are locally known as daca pits, 120 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:38,600 Speaker 1: which would have collected water during rainy seasons and stored 121 00:07:38,640 --> 00:07:42,600 Speaker 1: it for later use. Some of these pits were already 122 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:45,560 Speaker 1: known about, but this research has found evidence of a 123 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:48,400 Speaker 1: lot more of them, including ones that were in the 124 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:51,840 Speaker 1: paths of streams or other places where water can sort 125 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:54,880 Speaker 1: of seep up from the ground during periods of rain. 126 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:59,600 Speaker 1: So basically this was a water management system that incorporated 127 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:03,280 Speaker 1: a va variety of holistic methods all across the area, 128 00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:07,560 Speaker 1: so it was what's described today as a landscape scale 129 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:12,560 Speaker 1: approach to conservation. Next, a collection of fifty seven letters 130 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:16,400 Speaker 1: from the National Library of France were recently decoded, something 131 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:19,520 Speaker 1: that was challenging since the people working on it didn't 132 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:23,080 Speaker 1: initially know who wrote them or when, and because there 133 00:08:23,080 --> 00:08:26,880 Speaker 1: were multiple possible options for what each character might represent. 134 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:30,680 Speaker 1: Plus the team was initially thinking in terms of the 135 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:33,520 Speaker 1: wrong language, since the letters had been found in a 136 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:38,160 Speaker 1: collection of Italian papers. Turns out they were not in Italian, 137 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:41,520 Speaker 1: though they were in French, and as they started to 138 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:45,400 Speaker 1: get some of it readable based on that content, they 139 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:49,720 Speaker 1: figured out the person writing them was imprisoned. It became 140 00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:52,440 Speaker 1: clear that the author of these letters was Mary, Queen 141 00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:55,520 Speaker 1: of Scott's, and that this was a collection of secret 142 00:08:55,600 --> 00:08:58,360 Speaker 1: letters written to her supporters that were believed to have 143 00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:03,080 Speaker 1: been lost had been miscataloged at the library, something that 144 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:06,720 Speaker 1: nobody really realized until they were able to decode the 145 00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:09,760 Speaker 1: contents and figure out what they said. Most of the 146 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:13,880 Speaker 1: letters were written to Michelle de Castelnain de Movsier, French 147 00:09:13,880 --> 00:09:18,520 Speaker 1: ambassador to England between fifteen seventy eight and fifteen eighty four, 148 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:23,960 Speaker 1: and while this international interdisciplinary team of codebreakers has broken 149 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:27,000 Speaker 1: the cipher Mary used to write them, their contents are 150 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:30,640 Speaker 1: still in the process of being analyzed. This has been 151 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:34,160 Speaker 1: described as the most important Mary Queen of Scott's discovery 152 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:37,439 Speaker 1: in the last century. Mary Queen of Scott's has come 153 00:09:37,520 --> 00:09:40,560 Speaker 1: up several times on the show, including our episode on 154 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:43,880 Speaker 1: her trial and execution that came out on December seventeenth, 155 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:49,079 Speaker 1: twenty eighteen. Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania has been 156 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:52,880 Speaker 1: working on construction at an area known as Little Roundtop 157 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:57,920 Speaker 1: to address issues with things like accessibility, erosion, and parking. Needs. 158 00:09:58,520 --> 00:10:02,000 Speaker 1: A metal detector sweep head of that work revealed an 159 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:06,600 Speaker 1: unexploded artillery shell from the US Civil War. It's not 160 00:10:06,880 --> 00:10:10,520 Speaker 1: all that unusual to find weaponry or ammunition at the park, 161 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:14,360 Speaker 1: but usually those are much smaller, less dangerous items, like 162 00:10:14,480 --> 00:10:19,160 Speaker 1: percussion caps. Speaking to CNN, park spokesman Jason Martz said, 163 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:23,120 Speaker 1: the archaeologist who detected and unearthed this artillery shell quote 164 00:10:23,480 --> 00:10:26,240 Speaker 1: laid it gently on the ground, took a picture of it, 165 00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:30,360 Speaker 1: and ran for the Hills. Park staff contacted the Army's 166 00:10:30,360 --> 00:10:33,360 Speaker 1: fifty fifth Ordnance Company, which moved the shell to a 167 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:36,600 Speaker 1: more isolated part of the park and safely detonated it 168 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:40,360 Speaker 1: after clearing the area and closing off the roads. We 169 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:43,800 Speaker 1: did a live show at Gettysburg in twenty nineteen, and 170 00:10:43,840 --> 00:10:47,480 Speaker 1: we released a studio version of that live episode on 171 00:10:47,679 --> 00:10:50,559 Speaker 1: July tenth of that year. We had a couple of 172 00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:55,839 Speaker 1: technical and environmental and just noise issues during the show 173 00:10:55,920 --> 00:10:59,199 Speaker 1: that made the recording of that, as it was live, 174 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:02,839 Speaker 1: not really work to distribute as an episode. Otherwise, though, 175 00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:06,120 Speaker 1: we had a great time at Gettysburg. Let's take a 176 00:11:06,160 --> 00:11:17,480 Speaker 1: sponsor break and then we'll do a couple more updates. 177 00:11:18,559 --> 00:11:22,960 Speaker 1: In twenty twenty one, archaeologists found the likely site of 178 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:26,760 Speaker 1: the home of Ben Ross, father of Harriet Tubman, who 179 00:11:26,760 --> 00:11:29,680 Speaker 1: we covered on a two parter in twenty sixteen. This 180 00:11:29,840 --> 00:11:32,600 Speaker 1: was on land that was once a farm belonging to 181 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:36,960 Speaker 1: Anthony Thompson, who enslaved at least forty people there. Tubman 182 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:40,040 Speaker 1: was born on Thompson's farm, and we talked about the 183 00:11:40,080 --> 00:11:44,360 Speaker 1: discovery of Ben Ross's cabin on a previous installment of unearthed. 184 00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:49,360 Speaker 1: Archaeological work in this area has been ongoing, and in February, 185 00:11:49,520 --> 00:11:53,280 Speaker 1: archaeologists announced that they had found African religious objects in 186 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:57,520 Speaker 1: the ruins of an enslaved overseer's house not far away 187 00:11:57,520 --> 00:12:01,600 Speaker 1: from Ross's cabin. Are believed to have been a cash 188 00:12:01,640 --> 00:12:03,720 Speaker 1: that would have been kept in front of the fireplace 189 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:07,199 Speaker 1: to protect the people living in the home from negative spirits. 190 00:12:07,720 --> 00:12:11,440 Speaker 1: They included a glass perfume bottle stopper shaped like a heart, 191 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:15,360 Speaker 1: a copper button, and a ceramic dish. Yeah, some of 192 00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:18,280 Speaker 1: the headlines about this kind of shorthanded it down to 193 00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:25,880 Speaker 1: like African religious items found at Harriet Tubman's birthplace, and 194 00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:29,160 Speaker 1: that's just kind of shrinking that whole farm down to 195 00:12:30,520 --> 00:12:35,480 Speaker 1: her birthplace. Moving on back in twenty twenty, Congress voted 196 00:12:35,520 --> 00:12:38,960 Speaker 1: to start renaming things like military bases and ships that 197 00:12:39,040 --> 00:12:42,560 Speaker 1: had been given names that commemorated the Confederacy from the 198 00:12:42,640 --> 00:12:46,800 Speaker 1: US Civil War. That naming process is ongoing, and one 199 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:49,760 Speaker 1: of the more recent announcements is that a guided missile 200 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:54,319 Speaker 1: cruiser previously called the USS Chancellorsville will be renamed as 201 00:12:54,360 --> 00:12:58,400 Speaker 1: the USS Robert Smalls. The Battle of Chancellorsville was a 202 00:12:58,400 --> 00:13:01,520 Speaker 1: major battle during the US Civil War and is sometimes 203 00:13:01,559 --> 00:13:05,959 Speaker 1: described as Confederate General Roberty Lee's greatest victory. We did 204 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:08,800 Speaker 1: a two parter on Robert Small's back in February of 205 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:12,439 Speaker 1: twenty sixteen. He liberated himself and others from slavery by 206 00:13:12,480 --> 00:13:15,720 Speaker 1: commandeering a ship called the Planter and then just sailing 207 00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:18,959 Speaker 1: it past Confederate checkpoints and then went on to, among 208 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:22,320 Speaker 1: other things, serve in the US House of Representatives. Okay, 209 00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:25,120 Speaker 1: so maybe this last thing is kind of a stretch 210 00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:28,440 Speaker 1: in terms of an update. But back in February of 211 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:31,800 Speaker 1: twenty twenty, we did an episode on Paul Cuffey which 212 00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:34,720 Speaker 1: was researched in part through a visit that Tracy made 213 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:38,439 Speaker 1: to the new Bedford Whaling Museum, and that museum trip 214 00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:42,280 Speaker 1: also inspired the episode on Joshua Slocum, which came out 215 00:13:42,320 --> 00:13:46,160 Speaker 1: in September of twenty twenty, and in January, news broke 216 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:49,360 Speaker 1: that a former employee of the new Bedford Whaling Museum 217 00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:53,880 Speaker 1: had been arrested and was facing charges after allegedly stealing 218 00:13:53,960 --> 00:13:58,120 Speaker 1: at least seventy five thousand dollars worth of objects from 219 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:02,240 Speaker 1: the museum's collection. More recent reporting has put that number 220 00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:06,120 Speaker 1: closer to like one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. So 221 00:14:06,240 --> 00:14:09,800 Speaker 1: this former employee, who was fired when the thefts were discovered, 222 00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:15,040 Speaker 1: had repeatedly faced criminal charges previously related to things like 223 00:14:15,080 --> 00:14:18,200 Speaker 1: theft that had happened over the last several years, and 224 00:14:18,360 --> 00:14:22,200 Speaker 1: had also faced other civil and criminal charges. Some of 225 00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:26,080 Speaker 1: these charges had led to guilty verdicts, including some charges 226 00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:29,800 Speaker 1: for stealing. It's not totally clear whether the museum was 227 00:14:29,840 --> 00:14:33,600 Speaker 1: aware of this history. In Massachusetts, it's illegal to ask 228 00:14:33,640 --> 00:14:36,480 Speaker 1: about a person's criminal record on a job application, but 229 00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:40,080 Speaker 1: it is legal to conduct criminal background checks during the 230 00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:44,680 Speaker 1: hiring process. It's also legal for an employer to refuse 231 00:14:44,720 --> 00:14:47,840 Speaker 1: to hire someone based on their criminal record if that 232 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:51,440 Speaker 1: record is related to the work that's being performed. In 233 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:54,360 Speaker 1: this case, this was someone who had keys for all 234 00:14:54,400 --> 00:14:57,000 Speaker 1: of the museum's stores and access codes for all the 235 00:14:57,080 --> 00:15:02,160 Speaker 1: alarms the museum, at least at my last check of 236 00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:05,440 Speaker 1: all of the reporting on it. The museum has declined 237 00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:09,280 Speaker 1: to comment on this due to the ongoing criminal proceedings. 238 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:13,080 Speaker 1: It also appears that the museum did not realize that 239 00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:16,160 Speaker 1: items were being stolen until one of the dealers who 240 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:20,400 Speaker 1: was buying them started to become suspicious. Basically, the items 241 00:15:20,440 --> 00:15:24,760 Speaker 1: that were being sold were increasingly interesting and unique. The 242 00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:28,600 Speaker 1: dealer googled the seller, realized his connection to the museum, 243 00:15:28,720 --> 00:15:33,160 Speaker 1: and then contacted the police. Other antiques dealers and pawnbrokers 244 00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:36,760 Speaker 1: in the area had also contacted police after buying items 245 00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:39,680 Speaker 1: that just seemed like they were too rare and too 246 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:43,360 Speaker 1: high quality to be in a random person's possession, but 247 00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:46,640 Speaker 1: those other calls don't seem to have led to any investigation. 248 00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:50,280 Speaker 1: At this point, most of the pieces have been recovered 249 00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:53,160 Speaker 1: and returned to the museum. A lot of the dealers 250 00:15:53,200 --> 00:15:56,000 Speaker 1: who bought them did not sell them because they realized 251 00:15:56,040 --> 00:15:59,040 Speaker 1: there was just something off about the whole thing. I 252 00:15:59,120 --> 00:16:02,400 Speaker 1: was fascinated by the whole story, yes, both because it 253 00:16:02,440 --> 00:16:04,920 Speaker 1: was local to me and just because of the particulars 254 00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:09,240 Speaker 1: of it. Now moving on to books and letters, two 255 00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:15,239 Speaker 1: of which involves something inscribed into stone. First, a runestone 256 00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:19,120 Speaker 1: found in Norway at a site northwest of Oslo, maybe 257 00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:23,680 Speaker 1: the oldest runestone ever found. This runestone was found during 258 00:16:23,880 --> 00:16:28,000 Speaker 1: archaeological work at a burial ground near the municipality of 259 00:16:28,080 --> 00:16:30,760 Speaker 1: Hula in the fall of twenty twenty one, but it 260 00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:34,720 Speaker 1: wasn't announced until this year, after researchers had had some 261 00:16:34,840 --> 00:16:38,040 Speaker 1: time to study it and date it. It's believed that 262 00:16:38,120 --> 00:16:40,920 Speaker 1: this was created sometime between the year zero and the 263 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:45,200 Speaker 1: year two fifty CE, making it Scandinavia's oldest example of writing. 264 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:48,640 Speaker 1: It's possible that some of the runes spell out the 265 00:16:48,720 --> 00:16:51,040 Speaker 1: name of a person who was buried at the site 266 00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:54,920 Speaker 1: where this was found. And for the other stone. The 267 00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:58,800 Speaker 1: Rosetta stone is a stile with an inscription in two languages, 268 00:16:58,920 --> 00:17:04,800 Speaker 1: Egyptian and Greece, and three scripts Egyptian hieroglyphics, Egyptian Demotic script, 269 00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:08,439 Speaker 1: and ancient Greek. Folks may be the most familiar with 270 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:12,400 Speaker 1: the Rosetta stone because that combination of languages and scripts 271 00:17:12,640 --> 00:17:16,960 Speaker 1: made it possible for modern researchers to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics, 272 00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:20,639 Speaker 1: but the content of that inscription may not be as familiar. 273 00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:24,560 Speaker 1: It's a decree passed by Egyptian priests in one ninety 274 00:17:24,560 --> 00:17:29,639 Speaker 1: six BCE, celebrating the anniversary of the coronation of Ptolemy 275 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:34,159 Speaker 1: fifth Epiphanes. A big focus is the king's accomplishments, and 276 00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:38,240 Speaker 1: one of those accomplishments is described as restoring peace following 277 00:17:38,320 --> 00:17:42,800 Speaker 1: a rebellion. Excavations in northern Egypt have been looking for 278 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:47,080 Speaker 1: evidence of this rebellion, which is referenced in other inscriptions 279 00:17:47,119 --> 00:17:50,639 Speaker 1: and texts besides the Rosetta Stone, but it has not 280 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:55,159 Speaker 1: been connected to many archaeological finds. Now Though, at a 281 00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:59,119 Speaker 1: site north of Cairo, archaeologists have found evidence of things 282 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:04,359 Speaker 1: like burned buildings, weapons, and human remains. Coins and pottery 283 00:18:04,520 --> 00:18:06,879 Speaker 1: at the site have made it possible to date this 284 00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:09,800 Speaker 1: site to the time of the rebellion. This research was 285 00:18:09,840 --> 00:18:14,520 Speaker 1: published in the Journal of Field Archaeology. Next, a landscaper 286 00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:17,800 Speaker 1: who was clearing brush on Cape cod found a bottle 287 00:18:17,840 --> 00:18:20,840 Speaker 1: containing messages believed to have been written by prisoners of 288 00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:25,560 Speaker 1: war during World War II. The landscaper, named Shane Adams, 289 00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:28,480 Speaker 1: donated the bottle to the historical society of sand to 290 00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:31,800 Speaker 1: it and couldtuit. It's believed that the messages were written 291 00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:34,280 Speaker 1: by prisoners of war who were held at Camp Edwards 292 00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:37,119 Speaker 1: and who worked at another camp. Camp can do it 293 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:40,320 Speaker 1: to clean up damage from a hurricane. But it's not 294 00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:42,480 Speaker 1: clear whether the bottle was meant to be thrown into 295 00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:44,680 Speaker 1: the sea with the hope that someone would find it, 296 00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:47,800 Speaker 1: or if it was more like a time capsule. The 297 00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:51,080 Speaker 1: bottle was found upside down, sticking straight down in the sand, 298 00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:55,320 Speaker 1: which may mean the latter. Yeah, it could have worked 299 00:18:55,320 --> 00:18:57,639 Speaker 1: its way that way if someone threw it into the water, 300 00:18:57,720 --> 00:19:01,199 Speaker 1: but it seems more likely that they mentionally put it 301 00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:05,639 Speaker 1: that way. Next. Back in twenty twenty one, a video 302 00:19:05,920 --> 00:19:10,080 Speaker 1: of a whale feeding on fish went viral on Instagram. 303 00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:13,520 Speaker 1: This whale was sort of treading water at the surface 304 00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:16,359 Speaker 1: of the ocean with their mouth wide wide open, like 305 00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:18,800 Speaker 1: the upper jaws sticking out of the water at about 306 00:19:18,800 --> 00:19:21,920 Speaker 1: a ninety degree angle to the lower jaw, and that 307 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:24,639 Speaker 1: lower jaw is like just above the water's surface, with 308 00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:27,560 Speaker 1: the corners of their mouth far enough underwater for the 309 00:19:27,600 --> 00:19:30,080 Speaker 1: fish to like swim in there and get trapped. Some 310 00:19:30,119 --> 00:19:31,920 Speaker 1: of the fish also just kind of jump in there. 311 00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:34,520 Speaker 1: It is very fascinating to watch. When the whale has 312 00:19:34,560 --> 00:19:38,720 Speaker 1: a big mouthful of food, mouth closes back under the water. 313 00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:44,359 Speaker 1: This behavior was first documented in scientific literature in twenty seventeen, 314 00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:47,560 Speaker 1: and there's been some speculation that whales have only started 315 00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:51,080 Speaker 1: doing this recently because of pollution, that the fish that 316 00:19:51,119 --> 00:19:53,280 Speaker 1: the whales can feed on only live up near the 317 00:19:53,359 --> 00:19:56,280 Speaker 1: surface now, so the whales have had to adapt to 318 00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:59,959 Speaker 1: this floaty, wide open mouth style of feeding to compensate. 319 00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:03,679 Speaker 1: But researchers in Australia have found what they believe are 320 00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:07,320 Speaker 1: written accounts of whales doing this exact same thing two 321 00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:11,960 Speaker 1: thousand years ago, specifically in Norse descriptions of sea monsters 322 00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:16,760 Speaker 1: called hagufa and animals described in medieval beast series that 323 00:20:16,920 --> 00:20:20,560 Speaker 1: may have inspired those accounts. So here's a description from 324 00:20:20,600 --> 00:20:24,720 Speaker 1: a text called the konungs Skuzia. I'm really sorry for 325 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:28,840 Speaker 1: my pronunciation of that. After saying this fish is so 326 00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:31,359 Speaker 1: big that the writer is afraid to mention it at 327 00:20:31,359 --> 00:20:34,760 Speaker 1: all because it will just seem incredible, the writer describes 328 00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:36,960 Speaker 1: the way it feeds this way. Quote. It is said 329 00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:40,040 Speaker 1: that when these fishes want something to eat. They are 330 00:20:40,040 --> 00:20:42,720 Speaker 1: in the habit of giving forth a violent belch, which 331 00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:45,080 Speaker 1: brings up so much food that all sorts of fish 332 00:20:45,119 --> 00:20:48,000 Speaker 1: in the neighborhood, both large and small, will rush up 333 00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:51,480 Speaker 1: in the hope of getting nourishment and good fair. Meanwhile, 334 00:20:51,520 --> 00:20:55,160 Speaker 1: the monster keeps its mouth opened, and inasmuch as its 335 00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:58,159 Speaker 1: opening is about as wide as a sound or furd, 336 00:20:58,359 --> 00:21:02,760 Speaker 1: the fishes cannot help routing in in great numbers. But 337 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:05,080 Speaker 1: as soon as its mouth and belly are full, the 338 00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:09,120 Speaker 1: monster closes its mouth and thus catches and shuts in 339 00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:12,920 Speaker 1: all the fishes that just previously had rushed in eagerly 340 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:18,080 Speaker 1: to seek food. And lastly, scientists in Denmark have found 341 00:21:18,119 --> 00:21:20,840 Speaker 1: what they believed to be the oldest written reference to 342 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:24,280 Speaker 1: the Norse god Odin. It's on a gold disc that 343 00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:26,919 Speaker 1: was found in western Denmark, and it's at least one 344 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:30,080 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty years older than the previous earliest known 345 00:21:30,119 --> 00:21:33,919 Speaker 1: mention of Odin. The Runic inscription says in part he 346 00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:38,000 Speaker 1: is Odin's man. This disc was found in twenty twenty, 347 00:21:38,040 --> 00:21:41,399 Speaker 1: but the inscriptions significant in date were renounced this march. 348 00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:54,480 Speaker 1: Let's do another quick sponsor break. Now we have some 349 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:58,320 Speaker 1: mummies most of them animal mummies. According to research published 350 00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:02,560 Speaker 1: in the journal Plus one in January, researchers studied ten 351 00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:06,560 Speaker 1: crocodile mummies dating back to the fifth century BCE, five 352 00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:10,439 Speaker 1: of them mostly complete crocodile bodies and five of them heads, 353 00:22:10,960 --> 00:22:16,000 Speaker 1: and they determined that the mummification of these crocodiles used 354 00:22:16,280 --> 00:22:20,760 Speaker 1: methods that have not been found anywhere else. In this case, 355 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:24,359 Speaker 1: researchers were able to examine the actual remains of some 356 00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:27,560 Speaker 1: of the mummies very closely because most of their linen 357 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:31,280 Speaker 1: wraps had already been destroyed by insects. They found that 358 00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:34,840 Speaker 1: the crocodiles had been mummified without using any kind of resin, 359 00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:39,240 Speaker 1: and they had not been eviscerated, so unlike what may 360 00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:42,480 Speaker 1: come to mind when you think about Egyptian mummification methods. 361 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:45,320 Speaker 1: Uh We also talked about that on an episode quite 362 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:49,520 Speaker 1: a while back. So the mummies also represented two different 363 00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:55,560 Speaker 1: species of crocodile, West African and Nile crocodiles. Moving on, 364 00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:59,439 Speaker 1: the excavations that the tomb of Ramses the second have 365 00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:05,719 Speaker 1: unnerr a lot of mummified animals, including two thousand mummified 366 00:23:05,880 --> 00:23:09,440 Speaker 1: rams heads. The rams heads may have been placed there 367 00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:13,199 Speaker 1: as votive offerings, and they might have been connected to 368 00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:17,840 Speaker 1: a cult dedicated to Ramseys who had died roughly one 369 00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:22,399 Speaker 1: thousand years before. These mummified heads seem to have been 370 00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:26,800 Speaker 1: placed there and our one human mummy this time around. 371 00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:32,439 Speaker 1: Egyptian scientists have used computerized tomography or CT scanning to 372 00:23:32,600 --> 00:23:36,520 Speaker 1: digitally unwrap and intact twenty three hundred year old mummy, 373 00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:41,000 Speaker 1: whose remains have never been unwrapped before. This mummy is 374 00:23:41,080 --> 00:23:44,199 Speaker 1: nicknamed the Golden Boy and was a teenage boy of 375 00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:48,760 Speaker 1: presumably high socioeconomic status. Among their findings were at least 376 00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:52,679 Speaker 1: forty nine amulets of twenty one different types, meant to 377 00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:56,400 Speaker 1: protect him as he moved into the afterlife. Some were 378 00:23:56,440 --> 00:23:59,440 Speaker 1: made of gold or semi precious stones, and others were 379 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:03,040 Speaker 1: made of clay or they were ceramic. These amulets were 380 00:24:03,119 --> 00:24:07,280 Speaker 1: arranged in three columns, folded in among the cloth wrappings, 381 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:10,239 Speaker 1: so that talk of cloth wrappings seems like a good 382 00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:15,360 Speaker 1: segue into some fines related to fabrics. First, a scrap 383 00:24:15,400 --> 00:24:18,800 Speaker 1: of tartan found in glen Affric Pete Bog more than 384 00:24:18,920 --> 00:24:23,000 Speaker 1: forty years ago, is now believed to be the oldest 385 00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:26,879 Speaker 1: known piece of true Tartan material, and it's only a 386 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:30,280 Speaker 1: little bit younger than the first written reference to tartan. 387 00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:34,960 Speaker 1: That first reference is documentation of a purchase of a 388 00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:38,000 Speaker 1: piece of tartan by James the third and fourteen seventy one. 389 00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:42,359 Speaker 1: According to radiocarbon dating, this piece of the fabric dates 390 00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:45,480 Speaker 1: back to some time between fifteen hundred and sixteen hundred. 391 00:24:46,160 --> 00:24:48,600 Speaker 1: This piece of fabric is sort of a yellow tan 392 00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:52,960 Speaker 1: with green, brown, and red stripes, and those intersecting stripes 393 00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:56,800 Speaker 1: are what makes the fabric a true Tartan. People found 394 00:24:56,800 --> 00:24:59,640 Speaker 1: this while cutting pete from the bog in the nineteen 395 00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:04,399 Speaker 1: eighty next, an international team of archaeologists led by the 396 00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:08,679 Speaker 1: University of Haifa has found cotton and silk fabrics dating 397 00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:13,040 Speaker 1: back to about thirteen hundred years ago in the desert 398 00:25:13,119 --> 00:25:15,720 Speaker 1: area known as the Arava south of the Dead Sea. 399 00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:20,119 Speaker 1: These fabrics date back to the region's early Islamic period, 400 00:25:20,480 --> 00:25:23,800 Speaker 1: and they were found alongside other items that would have 401 00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:28,240 Speaker 1: been imported from what's now China and India. Researchers believe 402 00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:32,160 Speaker 1: that the cotton fabric came from what's now India and Sudan, 403 00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:36,040 Speaker 1: and that the silk likely came from China. And this 404 00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:39,080 Speaker 1: all suggested that this could provide some evidence of a 405 00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:42,800 Speaker 1: large trade of silk and other fabrics that was following 406 00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:45,600 Speaker 1: the same general route through the area that had been 407 00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:51,400 Speaker 1: previously used to carry spices. And lastly, an Inca tunic 408 00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:55,679 Speaker 1: or unku was found in a cemetery in Chile. These 409 00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:58,800 Speaker 1: were formal garments that were made according to standards set 410 00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:02,680 Speaker 1: by the Inca Empire. Those standards applied to the garment 411 00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:06,600 Speaker 1: and the fabric used to make it. This particular garment, 412 00:26:06,760 --> 00:26:09,959 Speaker 1: known as the Kaleta vittor unku, was made by someone 413 00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:13,280 Speaker 1: who lived hundreds of miles away from the imperial capital 414 00:26:13,359 --> 00:26:17,440 Speaker 1: of Cuzco, and they followed those standards, but they also 415 00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:22,440 Speaker 1: incorporated techniques in imagery representing their own local culture as 416 00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:24,719 Speaker 1: it had been before it had become part of the 417 00:26:24,720 --> 00:26:29,080 Speaker 1: Inca Empire in the late fifteenth century. This was published 418 00:26:29,119 --> 00:26:32,560 Speaker 1: in the Journal Plus one under the title Inca Unku 419 00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:38,760 Speaker 1: Imperial or Provincial State Local Relations. It's an interesting look 420 00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:41,080 Speaker 1: at how with an empire as large as it was, 421 00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:45,960 Speaker 1: people could both sort of tow the imperial line of 422 00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:49,760 Speaker 1: how things needed to be done and also incorporate parts 423 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:53,840 Speaker 1: of their own cultures. We will close out today's episode 424 00:26:53,840 --> 00:26:57,320 Speaker 1: with some fines that involve skulls and bones, starting with 425 00:26:57,359 --> 00:27:00,600 Speaker 1: two different skull surgeries. The first was on a woman 426 00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:04,800 Speaker 1: who seems to have undergone trepanation twice. I fear not 427 00:27:04,960 --> 00:27:08,399 Speaker 1: familiar with that term. Trepanation or tripanning is one of 428 00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:13,240 Speaker 1: the oldest known surgical procedures, and it involved drilling, scraping, 429 00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:17,119 Speaker 1: or cutting a hole through a person's skull. While there 430 00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:20,639 Speaker 1: are real medical reasons to need to do this, like 431 00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:24,200 Speaker 1: to relieve pressure on someone's brain after a head injury, 432 00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:27,760 Speaker 1: in earlier eras, this was often a treatment for things 433 00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:31,200 Speaker 1: like mental illness or epilepsy, or the belief that someone 434 00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:38,760 Speaker 1: was possessed by spirits, not so grounded in evidence based medicine. 435 00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:42,640 Speaker 1: This person lived sometime between the sixth and eighth centuries, 436 00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:46,320 Speaker 1: and we don't know why she underwent trepanation two different times. 437 00:27:46,880 --> 00:27:50,480 Speaker 1: Her skull also showed evidence of two large abscesses near 438 00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:53,520 Speaker 1: her jaw, which could have caused an infection to spread 439 00:27:53,560 --> 00:27:56,679 Speaker 1: to her brain, but we can't conclusively say that the 440 00:27:56,720 --> 00:28:00,840 Speaker 1: absess and the trepanation were in any way related based 441 00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:03,280 Speaker 1: on how the bone had healed. She seems to have 442 00:28:03,359 --> 00:28:07,240 Speaker 1: lived at least three months after the first procedure, but 443 00:28:07,320 --> 00:28:10,040 Speaker 1: it appears that she did not survive the second procedure. 444 00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:13,560 Speaker 1: Part of her forehead bone had been scraped away, but 445 00:28:13,680 --> 00:28:17,399 Speaker 1: without going all the way through it. The other skull 446 00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:21,359 Speaker 1: surgery took place much longer ago, about fifteen hundred BCE. 447 00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:24,919 Speaker 1: The skull was found in a tomb in Israel in 448 00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:28,879 Speaker 1: which two brothers had been buried together. The remains of 449 00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:33,720 Speaker 1: both brothers show signs of chronic illnesses and some congenital differences. 450 00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:37,720 Speaker 1: It appears that one brother died in his late teens 451 00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:40,440 Speaker 1: or early twenties, and that a few years later the 452 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:46,440 Speaker 1: surviving brother underwent trepanation. There's no evidence of healing from 453 00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:49,239 Speaker 1: that surgery, so it does not appear that he survived it. 454 00:28:49,360 --> 00:28:52,120 Speaker 1: And then at that point the other brother's body was 455 00:28:52,160 --> 00:28:56,600 Speaker 1: exhumed and both of the brothers were buried together. Researchers 456 00:28:56,600 --> 00:28:59,160 Speaker 1: who have studied this burial have found it notable for 457 00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:03,080 Speaker 1: reasons beyond this skull surgery. It appears that both of 458 00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:06,800 Speaker 1: these brothers needed and received lifelong care and were given 459 00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:09,920 Speaker 1: the same respect and recognition in their burial as other 460 00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:14,560 Speaker 1: members of the community would have been. Next Researchers led 461 00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:17,760 Speaker 1: by a professor from Texas A and M University have found 462 00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:21,640 Speaker 1: what they believe is the oldest bone projectile point in 463 00:29:21,680 --> 00:29:26,440 Speaker 1: the Americas. It's at least thirteen thousand, nine hundred years old, 464 00:29:26,520 --> 00:29:29,240 Speaker 1: but it is not the whole projectile point. It is 465 00:29:29,400 --> 00:29:32,400 Speaker 1: just the little fragment of it embedded in the bone 466 00:29:32,440 --> 00:29:35,560 Speaker 1: of a Masdon and it's made from the leg bone 467 00:29:35,600 --> 00:29:39,200 Speaker 1: of a different Macedon. This find is from a site 468 00:29:39,240 --> 00:29:42,640 Speaker 1: in the state of Washington known as the Manis Mastodon Site, 469 00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:46,520 Speaker 1: and that thirteen thousand, nine hundred year age of the 470 00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:49,280 Speaker 1: projectile point is connected to something that's going to come 471 00:29:49,360 --> 00:29:52,520 Speaker 1: up again in Part two on Wednesday, and that is 472 00:29:52,560 --> 00:29:55,880 Speaker 1: whether the Clovis people were the first human inhabitants of 473 00:29:55,880 --> 00:29:59,720 Speaker 1: North America. The projectile point is from about nine hundred 474 00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:02,720 Speaker 1: years before the Clovis people are believed to have arrived 475 00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:05,880 Speaker 1: in North America, and so far this is the only 476 00:30:06,040 --> 00:30:09,000 Speaker 1: bone tool that dates back to before the arrival of 477 00:30:09,040 --> 00:30:12,440 Speaker 1: the Clovist people. Most other tools believed to be pre 478 00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:17,320 Speaker 1: Clovis are made of stone. Next, archaeologists are studying a 479 00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:21,160 Speaker 1: huge number of artifacts that were found during highway work 480 00:30:21,280 --> 00:30:25,120 Speaker 1: in the UK between twenty sixteen and twenty eighteen. This 481 00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:28,200 Speaker 1: work was known as the A fourteen Cambridge to Huntington 482 00:30:28,280 --> 00:30:33,200 Speaker 1: Improvement Scheme. The side note I love the different use 483 00:30:33,360 --> 00:30:36,560 Speaker 1: of the word scheme in the UK versus how we 484 00:30:36,640 --> 00:30:40,360 Speaker 1: use it here in the US. One object they have 485 00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:43,600 Speaker 1: found is a comb made from a piece of human 486 00:30:43,800 --> 00:30:47,600 Speaker 1: skull dating back to the Iron Age. It is believed 487 00:30:47,680 --> 00:30:51,200 Speaker 1: this comb was made for ritual purposes and not for grooming, 488 00:30:51,640 --> 00:30:54,440 Speaker 1: and only two other similar combs to this one have 489 00:30:54,520 --> 00:30:57,720 Speaker 1: been found by British archaeologists. Both of them were found 490 00:30:57,960 --> 00:31:01,160 Speaker 1: within fifteen miles or twenty four bilometers of where this 491 00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:06,000 Speaker 1: one was discovered. Next, archaeologists excavating a tomb in western 492 00:31:06,120 --> 00:31:08,960 Speaker 1: China have found a pair of ice skate blades made 493 00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:12,600 Speaker 1: from animal bone. These are roughly thirty five hundred years 494 00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:15,680 Speaker 1: old and were made to be strapped onto a person's footwear. 495 00:31:16,560 --> 00:31:19,760 Speaker 1: These skates are almost identical to ones found in Europe, 496 00:31:19,840 --> 00:31:24,040 Speaker 1: which could potentially suggest some kind of trade connection between 497 00:31:24,080 --> 00:31:29,600 Speaker 1: the two regions. And lastly, a chess set known as 498 00:31:29,680 --> 00:31:33,600 Speaker 1: the Sandomir Chessmen were believed to have been made from 499 00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:37,960 Speaker 1: polished deer antlers, or possibly from bone from an exotic 500 00:31:38,120 --> 00:31:41,880 Speaker 1: large animal and carved by hand, but DNA testing on 501 00:31:41,920 --> 00:31:44,400 Speaker 1: them has revealed that the pieces for one side of 502 00:31:44,400 --> 00:31:47,400 Speaker 1: the board were made from horsebone and the pieces for 503 00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:51,040 Speaker 1: the other side were made from cowbone, except for one pawn. 504 00:31:51,280 --> 00:31:53,280 Speaker 1: That one pawn was made from the bone of a 505 00:31:53,360 --> 00:31:56,560 Speaker 1: red deer. To believe that this red deer piece was 506 00:31:56,560 --> 00:32:01,320 Speaker 1: made later on, possibly as a replacement. I don't know why. 507 00:32:01,360 --> 00:32:03,880 Speaker 1: I love the idea of both sides of the board 508 00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:06,400 Speaker 1: being made from bone, but the bone of two different 509 00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:09,160 Speaker 1: types of animals. It's kind of a cool convention if 510 00:32:09,200 --> 00:32:15,480 Speaker 1: that's how they did it. Yeah, I have some listener 511 00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:18,160 Speaker 1: mail before we close out this part of On Earth. 512 00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:23,040 Speaker 1: It is from Kim. Kim wrote, Hi, Holly and Tracy, 513 00:32:23,280 --> 00:32:27,360 Speaker 1: longtime listener occasional writer. Here. I'm catching up on episodes 514 00:32:27,360 --> 00:32:30,120 Speaker 1: and just listen to the two parter on Irving Berlin. 515 00:32:30,800 --> 00:32:33,720 Speaker 1: White Christmas was always a holiday staple in my house 516 00:32:33,760 --> 00:32:35,800 Speaker 1: growing up. But I get what you said in the 517 00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:38,880 Speaker 1: episode and behind the scenes about it aging both horribly 518 00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:42,280 Speaker 1: and beautifully. Another song from it that I take issue 519 00:32:42,280 --> 00:32:45,000 Speaker 1: with now that I'm older is the g I Wish 520 00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:47,960 Speaker 1: I was back in the Army number performed by bing crosby, 521 00:32:48,080 --> 00:32:51,720 Speaker 1: Danny k Rosemary Clooney, and Vera Ellen. It's a horrible 522 00:32:51,760 --> 00:32:55,520 Speaker 1: representation of why women joined the service during that time, 523 00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:58,920 Speaker 1: looking for a husband and only thinking about finding one 524 00:32:58,960 --> 00:33:01,720 Speaker 1: while serving. It does such a disservice to all the 525 00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:05,600 Speaker 1: brave women who broke barriers and served honorably. Unfortunately, it's 526 00:33:05,640 --> 00:33:09,280 Speaker 1: still a stereotype that exists today. I do appreciate that 527 00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:12,160 Speaker 1: it talks about missing the service and all the benefits 528 00:33:12,160 --> 00:33:17,520 Speaker 1: once you leave. It's still something that's often lamented by veterans. Anyways, 529 00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:21,160 Speaker 1: thank you for a wonderfully researched and informative podcast. I've 530 00:33:21,200 --> 00:33:23,680 Speaker 1: cited you all on school papers before and used your 531 00:33:23,680 --> 00:33:26,760 Speaker 1: sources as jumping off points for research. You keep me 532 00:33:26,840 --> 00:33:30,200 Speaker 1: company on my long commute to and from work. Please 533 00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:32,760 Speaker 1: see the attached pet tax of our four month old 534 00:33:32,840 --> 00:33:35,719 Speaker 1: chocolate lab puppy Brew and He's a ball of energy 535 00:33:35,800 --> 00:33:39,240 Speaker 1: attached to clumsy paws and floppy ears. Sincerely, Kim, This 536 00:33:39,360 --> 00:33:42,160 Speaker 1: dog is so cute. My reaction when I opened this 537 00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:44,560 Speaker 1: email was to say a loud give me the dog. 538 00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:54,600 Speaker 1: I had not really thought about that aspect of the song. 539 00:33:54,960 --> 00:33:58,360 Speaker 1: I think I mostly was like yay. Reference to the 540 00:33:58,400 --> 00:34:02,320 Speaker 1: wax and I just did not thank farther into it. 541 00:34:03,840 --> 00:34:07,520 Speaker 1: So yeah, thank you for noting that as well, Kim, 542 00:34:07,680 --> 00:34:11,680 Speaker 1: and for sending such a cute dog picture. If you 543 00:34:11,800 --> 00:34:13,680 Speaker 1: would like to send us a note about this or 544 00:34:13,719 --> 00:34:17,680 Speaker 1: any other podcast or at History Podcast from iHeartRadio dot com. 545 00:34:17,960 --> 00:34:20,960 Speaker 1: We're also all over social media ad missed than History. 546 00:34:20,960 --> 00:34:24,640 Speaker 1: That's where you'll find our Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram, 547 00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:28,280 Speaker 1: and you can subscribe to our show on the iHeartRadio 548 00:34:28,320 --> 00:34:32,520 Speaker 1: app or wherever else you'd like to get your podcasts. 549 00:34:36,360 --> 00:34:39,480 Speaker 1: Stuff you Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 550 00:34:39,840 --> 00:34:44,439 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 551 00:34:44,560 --> 00:34:48,439 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.