Evidences for the view of the importance of Hepu seaport in ancient China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guan, Yongjing; Xiong, Zhaoming; Ruan, Xiangdong; Wang, Huijuan; Terrasi, Filippo

2013-01-01

Two ancient tombs considered belonging to the Han Dynasty (206 BC to AD 220), were excavated in Hepu, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. According to the style of cultural relics, some excavated artifacts did not come from the region. If the age of the tombs can be confirmed as belonging to the Han Dynasty, the exotic artifacts present significant evidence to suggest that that Hepu is one of the oldest seaports on China’s ancient maritime trading route. Two wood samples were sent for 14C dating at CIRCE, Italy. The results of these measurements are presented and the related chronology is discussed. Considering the previous results from a pottery workshop and an excavated sea wharf, the interpretation of Hepu as one of the oldest seaports in ancient China and the important role it played is presented.

Childbirth in ancient Egypt.

PubMed

Chamberlain, Geoffrey

2004-11-01

Medicine in ancient Egypt was much more advanced than the rest of the Biblical world, especially in trauma surgery. Care at the time of childbirth was however virtually non-existent. There were no trained obstetricians or midwives but a galaxy of gods were at hand. This article traces what we can piece together about pregnancy of childbirth from the evidence we have in tombs and papyri of Egypt.

The Astronomical Instruments from the Tomb of Xiahou Zao (? - 165BCE) Revisited

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Yunli

2012-09-01

In 1977, archaeologists unearthed a piece of lacquerware from the tomb of Xiahou Zao (?--165BCE), the 2nd Marquis of Ruyin of the Western Han dynasty (206BCE--24ACE). It has been named ``A Lacquerware Article of Unkown Name" for no one understands its function. Our analysis shows that the article is actually a gnomon for the determination of 4 major seasons in ancient Chinese calendar, viz. Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice, Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice, and the size and function of the article coincide quite well with those of the ``Earth Gnomon-Scale" as described in the Rites of Zhou, a Confucian Classic appeared in the middle of the 2nd century BCE. This is the earliest example of its kind that we have hitherto seen in a complete form. Moreover, the "Disks with 28 Lunar Lodges" from the same tomb have caused a lasting dispute over their possible function. While some scholars believe it to be a pure astrological instrument, others guess that it was an instrument for the measurement of celestial coordinates. Our analysis shows that, with the so-called ``Supporting Frame for the Cosmic Boards" unearthed from the same tomb, the disks can actually be mounted onto the plane of the celestial equator and thus form the earliest and definitely dated example of an equatorial device for astronomical observation that still can be seen in the world.

Alexander the Great's Tomb at Siwa: The Astronomical Orientation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Papathanassiou, M.; Souvaltzis, Em.; Souvaltzi, L.; Moussas, X.

A preliminary report on the possible astronomical orientation of the Tomb of Alexander the Great, recently found and excavated by the greek archaeologist Liana Souvaltzi. The tomb is a greek building of doric style. Its enormous dimensions make it the largest amongst the found macedonian tombs (much bigger than the tomb of Philip II, Alexander's father). The tomb faces generally south---west and its orientation could be related either to the constellation of Centaurus or to the star Canopus. The walls of the two long sides of the building have strickingly different widhts. Moreover each wall has three doors (opposite in pairs) of slightly different sizes. We examine the possibility the openings of the doors and their assymetries to be designed and constructed according to some astronomical (solar or stellar) orientations.

Touch-free in situ investigation of ancient Egyptian pigments.

PubMed

Uda, M; Sassa, S; Taniguchi, K; Nomura, S; Yoshimura, S; Kondo, J; Iskander, N; Zaghloul, B

2000-06-01

Some of the pigments painted on the Funerary Stele of Amenemhat (ca. 2000 B.C.) exhibited at the Egyptian Museum, Cairo and on the walls of the Tomb of Userhat (ca. 1420 B.C.), a rock-cut tomb in Thebes, Egypt, were investigated in situ using both a convenient home-made hand-held type of X-ray diffractometer and a commercial X-ray fluorescence spectrometer in a complementary way under touch-free conditions. CaCO3.3MgCO3 (huntite) was found in the white-painted parts of these two ancient monuments. An arsenic (As)-bearing phase was detected in the yellow-painted parts of the latter monument. The occurrence of huntite in Egypt has not been reported previously.

The building stones of ancient Egypt a gift of its geology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klemm, Dietrich D.; Klemm, Rosemarie

2001-08-01

Building stones and clay-rich Nile mud were ancient Egypt's main raw construction materials. While the mud was easily accessible along the Nile river valley, the immense quantities of the different stone materials used for construction of the famous pyramids, precious temples and tombs needed a systematic quarrying organization, well arranged transport logistics over extreme distances and a high standard of stone masonry. The petrography, occurrence, and main applications of the 11 most popular stone types used in ancient Egypt are described in this contribution. Rough estimates of the scale of this mining activity, based on the volume of many different ancient quarry sites, all over Egypt, reveal that the monuments known today represent only a small fraction of the amount of building stones mined during the long, ancient Egyptian history.

Value and Vulnerability Assessment of a Historic Tomb for Conservation

PubMed Central

Erkal, Aykut; Ozhan, Hakki O.

2014-01-01

Monumental tombs reflect various social, cultural, architectural, religious, economic, and engineering features of a community. However, environmental weathering, natural disasters, poor maintenance, vandalism, and misuse unfortunately pose serious threats to these cultural assets. Historic monuments are often exposed to the highest risk due to their vulnerability. The Ottoman-style Nişancı Hamza Paşa tomb located in Karacaahmet Cemetery, Istanbul, the largest and oldest public cemetery in Turkey, is a case in point. The tomb consisting of six granite columns and a brick dome supported by six arches was constructed in 1605. Cracks, material loss, and decay as a result of adverse environmental effects and past earthquakes are evident. Therefore, this paper analyses the overall value of the tomb with respect to its historical, communal, evidential, and aesthetic aspects. Using the finite element approach and data on the tomb's material properties, a structural analysis under the self-weight and a time history analysis based on the earthquake ground motion data recorded in Duzce, Turkey, in November 1999 were conducted to encourage the conservation of this tomb and similar cultural heritage assets all over the world. The damage observed in the structure is congruent with the analysis results. PMID:25110732

Micro-Raman analysis of the pigments on painted pottery figurines from two tombs of the Northern Wei Dynasty in Luoyang

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Zhaojun; Han, Yunxia; Han, Ligang; Cheng, Yongjian; Ma, Yiqiang; Fang, Li

2013-05-01

The pigments on the painted pottery figurines from two tombs of Northern Wei Dynasty (AD 386-534) in Luoyang were analyzed by Raman microscopy. All the pigments were identified compared with the Raman spectra of standard pigments. The red pigments were identified as haematite, the blue pigment as lapis lazuli, the green pigment as malachite, the black pigment as carbon black and the white pigment as calcite. Similar pigments were used in the two tombs despite the pottery figurines were very different in artistic style. The use of lapis lazuli as blue pigment on Chinese painted pottery figurines was found for the first time. This pigment and the painted pottery figurine of Sogdians are of great archaeological significance because it demonstrated that the trade and cultural exchanges via the Silk Road had extended to Luoyang city in the Northern Wei Dynasty. The result also confirms that micro-Raman spectroscopy is a powerful analytical method for the identification of pigments on ancient artworks.

Tomb Treasures from China: The Buried Art of Ancient Xi'an. A Teacher Workshop Presented by the Education/Outreach Department.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, CA.

Tomb art provides an invaluable window into China's history and culture. The understanding that spirits of dead ancestors can exert power and influence over the lives of their descendants has been a central tenet of the Chinese belief system, propelling the culture into practices ensuring the provision of comfort and status to the deceased in…

A brief journey into medical care and disease in ancient Egypt.

PubMed Central

Sullivan, R

1995-01-01

Ancient Egypt was one of the greatest civilizations to have arisen, becoming the cradle of scientific enquiry and social development over 3 millennia; undoubtedly its knowledge of medicine has been vastly underestimated. Few artefacts survive which describe the medical organization, but from the extent of the diseases afflicting that ancient populus there would have been much to study. Evidence from papyri, tomb bas reliefs and the writings of historians of antiquity tell of an intense interest in the sciences, humanities and medicine born of an educated society which had overcome the superstitions of its nomadic ancestors. Images Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 PMID:7752157

Molecular Exploration of the First-Century Tomb of the Shroud in Akeldama, Jerusalem

PubMed Central

Matheson, Carney D.; Vernon, Kim K.; Lahti, Arlene; Fratpietro, Renee; Spigelman, Mark; Gibson, Shimon; Greenblatt, Charles L.; Donoghue, Helen D.

2009-01-01

The Tomb of the Shroud is a first-century C.E. tomb discovered in Akeldama, Jerusalem, Israel that had been illegally entered and looted. The investigation of this tomb by an interdisciplinary team of researchers began in 2000. More than twenty stone ossuaries for collecting human bones were found, along with textiles from a burial shroud, hair and skeletal remains. The research presented here focuses on genetic analysis of the bioarchaeological remains from the tomb using mitochondrial DNA to examine familial relationships of the individuals within the tomb and molecular screening for the presence of disease. There are three mitochondrial haplotypes shared between a number of the remains analyzed suggesting a possible family tomb. There were two pathogens genetically detected within the collection of osteological samples, these were Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium leprae. The Tomb of the Shroud is one of very few examples of a preserved shrouded human burial and the only example of a plaster sealed loculus with remains genetically confirmed to have belonged to a shrouded male individual that suffered from tuberculosis and leprosy dating to the first-century C.E. This is the earliest case of leprosy with a confirmed date in which M. leprae DNA was detected. PMID:20016819

Skeletal dysplasia in ancient Egypt.

PubMed

Kozma, Chahira

2008-12-01

The ancient Egyptian civilization lasted for over 3000 years and ended in 30 BCE. Many aspects of ancient Egyptian culture, including the existence of skeletal dysplasias, and in particular achondroplasia, are well known through the monuments and records that survived until modern times. The hot and dry climate in Egypt allowed for the preservation of bodies and skeletal anomalies. The oldest dwarf skeleton, the Badarian skeleton (4500 BCE), possibly represents an epiphyseal disorder. Among the remains of dwarfs with achondroplasia from ancient Egypt (2686-2190 BCE), exists a skeleton of a pregnant female, believed to have died during delivery with a baby's remains in situ. British museums have partial skeletons of dwarfs with achondroplasia, humeri probably affected with mucopolysaccharidoses, and a skeleton of a child with osteogenesis imperfecta. Skeletal dysplasia is also found among royal remains. The mummy of the pharaoh Siptah (1342-1197 BCE) shows a deformity of the left leg and foot. A mummified fetus, believed to be the daughter of king Tutankhamun, has scoliosis, spina bifida, and Sprengel deformity. In 2006 I reviewed the previously existing knowledge of dwarfism in ancient Egypt. The purpose of this second historical review is to add to that knowledge with an expanded contribution. The artistic documentation of people with skeletal dysplasia from ancient Egypt is plentiful including hundreds of amulets, statues, and drawing on tomb and temple walls. Examination of artistic reliefs provides a glance of the role of people with skeletal dysplasia and the societal attitudes toward them. Both artistic evidence and moral teachings in ancient Egypt reveal wide integration of individuals with disabilities into the society. Copyright (c) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

On the Development and Evolution of Astronomy in ancient Egypt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maravelias, S. E.

In the present paper the development and evolution of astronomy in = Ancient Egypt are briefly examined. Emphasis is given to the = applications of astronomy on: (i) the orientation of temples and = pyramids, and the subsequent determination of the year; (ii) the = reorientation of temples --after the lapse of several centuries-- (due = to the fact that the priesthood was empirically aware of the precession = of equinoxes, and the subsequent use of this very fact in order to = estimate the archaeological age of temples, tombs and pyramids; (iii) = the heliacal rising of Sirius, which was used by ancient = priests-astronomers in order to fix the New Year's Day and determine the = seasons of the civil year, although the discre pancy of the Sothic cycle = in their calendrical system was not seriously taken into account. = Finally the conclusion put forward is that astronomy in Ancient Egypt = never reached the grounds of pure science (as in Ancient Greece), at = least before the Ptolemaic era, but always remained under the influence = of traditionalism and mythology pertaining more to the sphere of = religion and dogma.

Molecular study on human tuberculosis in three geographically distinct and time delineated populations from ancient Egypt.

PubMed Central

Zink, A. R.; Grabner, W.; Reischl, U.; Wolf, H.; Nerlich, A. G.

2003-01-01

We describe the molecular identification of human tuberculosis (TB) from vertebral bone tissue samples from three different populations of ancient Egypt. The specimens were obtained from the predynastic to early dynastic necropolis of Abydos (7 individuals, c. 3500-2650 B.C.), from a Middle Kingdom to Second Intermediate Period tomb of the necropolis of Thebes-West (37. c. 2100-1550 B.C.) and from five further Theban tombs used in the New Kingdom and the Late Period (39, c. 1450-500 B.C.). A total of 18 cases tested positive for the presence of ancient DNA (aDNA) of the M. tuberculosis complex. Out of the 9 cases with typical macromorphological signs of tuberculous spondylitis, 6 were positive for mycobacterial aDNA (66.7%). Of 24 cases with non-specific pathological alterations, 5 provided a positive result (20.8%). In 50 cases of normally appearing vertebral bones 7 tested positive (14.0%). There were only minor differences in the frequencies between the three populations. These data strongly support the notion that tuberculosis was present and prevalent in ancient Egypt since very early periods of this civilization. The unexpectedly high rate of mycobacterial aDNA in normal bone samples is presumably due to a pre- to perimortal systemic spread of the bacteria and indicates a generalized infection by M. tuberculosis. PMID:12729192

Interpreting megalithic tomb orientation and siting within broader cultural contexts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prendergast, Frank

2016-02-01

This paper assesses the measured axial orientations and siting of Irish passage tombs. The distribution of monuments with passages/entrances directed at related tombs/cairns is shown. Where this phenomenon occurs, the targeted structure is invariably located at a higher elevation on the skyline and this could suggest a symbolic and hierarchical relationship in their relative siting in the landscape. Additional analysis of astronomical declinations at a national scale has identified tombs with an axial alignment towards the rising and setting positions of the Sun at the winter and summer solstices. A criteria-based framework is developed which potentially allows for these types of data to be more meaningfully considered and culturally interpreted within broader archaeological and social anthropological contexts.

The lameness of King Philip II and Royal Tomb I at Vergina, Macedonia

PubMed Central

Bartsiokas, Antonis; Arsuaga, Juan-Luis; Santos, Elena; Algaba, Milagros; Gómez-Olivencia, Asier

2015-01-01

King Philip II was the father of Alexander the Great. He suffered a notorious penetrating wound by a lance through his leg that was nearly fatal and left him lame in 339 B.C.E. (i.e., 3 y before his assassination in 336 B.C.E.). In 1977 and 1978 two male skeletons were excavated in the Royal Tombs II and I of Vergina, Greece, respectively. Tomb I also contained another adult (likely a female) and a newborn skeleton. The current view is that Philip II was buried in Tomb II. However, the male skeleton of Tomb II bears no lesions to his legs that would indicate lameness. We investigated the skeletal material of Tomb I with modern forensic techniques. The male individual in Tomb I displays a conspicuous case of knee ankylosis that is conclusive evidence of lameness. Right through the overgrowth of the knee, there is a hole. There are no obvious signs that are characteristic of infection and osteomyelitis. This evidence indicates that the injury was likely caused by a severe penetrating wound to the knee, which resulted in an active inflammatory process that stopped years before death. Standard anthropological age-estimation techniques based on dry bone, epiphyseal lines, and tooth analysis gave very wide age ranges for the male, centered around 45 y. The female would be around 18-y-old and the infant would be a newborn. It is concluded that King Philip II, his wife Cleopatra, and their newborn child are the occupants of Tomb I. PMID:26195763

T'ang Dynasty Tomb Figure.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Selle, Penny

1988-01-01

Uses a print of a T'ang Dynasty tomb figure to acquaint grades 10-12 students with the tools needed for developing aesthetic judgement and artistic criticism. Includes background on the artwork and instructional strategies to help students describe the object, analyze the artmaking process, and formulate their own opinions. (GEA)

Principal Components of Thermography analyses of the Silk Tomb, Petra (Jordan)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gomez-Heras, Miguel; Alvarez de Buergo, Monica; Fort, Rafael

2015-04-01

This communication presents the results of an active thermography survey of the Silk Tomb, which belongs to the Royal Tombs compound in the archaeological city of Petra in Jordan. The Silk Tomb is carved in the variegated Palaeozoic Umm Ishrin sandstone and it is heavily backweathered due to surface runoff from the top of the cliff where it is carved. Moreover, the name "Silk Tomb" was given because of the colourful display of the variegated sandstone due to backweathering. A series of infrared images were taken as the façade was heated by sunlight to perform a Principal Component of Thermography analyses with IR view 1.7.5 software. This was related to indirect moisture measurements (percentage of Wood Moisture Equivalent) taken across the façade, by means of a Protimeter portable moisture meter. Results show how moisture retention is deeply controlled by lithological differences across the façade. Research funded by Geomateriales 2 S2013/MIT-2914 and CEI Moncloa (UPM, UCM, CSIC) through a PICATA contract and the equipment from RedLAbPAt Network

Tree-Ring Dating of the Reshui-1 Tomb in Dulan County, Qinghai Province, North-West China

PubMed Central

Li, Mingqi; Shao, Xuemei; Yin, Zhi-Yong; Xu, Xinguo

2015-01-01

Tuyuhun and Tubo were two important states that thrived in north-western China during AD 311-900 in parallel with the Han Chinese dynasties of Sui and Tang periods. The Reshui Tomb Cluster located in Dulan County of the north-eastern Tibetan Plateau is an important cultural relic of the Tuyuhun-Tubo age. The official excavations of the Reshui tombs were regarded as top events in archaeology in the 1980s and 1990s in China. The Reshui-1 Tomb is the largest one among the tombs in the area. Since its excavation, there have been debates on whether the owner of the tomb belonged to the Tuyuhun or Tubo ethnicity. Therefore, accurately dating the Reshui-1 Tomb has a critical place in studying the Tubo and Tuyuhun histories. We collected 7 discs and 11 increment cores of Qilian juniper (Juniperus przewalskii Kom.) from the exposed and fallen beams of the roof of the Reshui-1Tomb. The lengths of the 16 tree-ring records are between 69 and 152 years. Based on a previously developed master dating chronology using Qilian juniper samples from the eastern Qaidam Basin, the calendar dates of the 16 specimens were determined by the COFECHA program and visual dating procedure. The average inter-series correlation among the dated sample series is 0.696, indicating good quality of cross-dating. The year of the outermost rings is AD 715 for the 7 discs and 4 out of the 9 increment cores. Moreover, the ring-width variations of the samples are consistent with the existing chronologies from the region. The presence of late-wood of AD 715 in the samples indicated that the Reshui-1 Tomb was completed in late AD 715 or early 716, which means that the Reshui-1 Tomb was finished in the Tubo age. This date provides direct evidence for archaeologists to determine the owner’s ethnicity and identify of the Reshui-1 Tomb. PMID:26244548

Tree-Ring Dating of the Reshui-1 Tomb in Dulan County, Qinghai Province, North-west China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

LI, M.; Xuemei, S.; Yin, Z. Y.; Xu, X.

2015-12-01

Tuyuhun and Tubo were two important states that thrived in north-western China during AD 311-900 in parallel with the Han Chinese dynasties of Sui and Tang periods. The Reshui Tomb Cluster located in Dulan County of the north-eastern Tibetan Plateau is an important cultural relic of the Tuyuhun-Tubo age. The official excavations of the Reshui tombs were regarded as top events in archaeology in the 1980s and 1990s in China. The Reshui-1 Tomb is the largest one among the tombs in the area. Since its excavation, there have been debates on whether the owner of the tomb belonged to the Tuyuhun or Tubo ethnicity. Therefore, accurately dating the Reshui-1 Tomb has a critical place in studying the Tubo and Tuyuhun histories. We collected 7 discs and 11 increment cores of Qilian juniper (Juniperus przewalskii Kom.) from the exposed and fallen beams of the roof of the Reshui-1Tomb. The lengths of the 16 tree-ring records are between 69 and 152 years. Based on a previously developed master dating chronology using Qilian juniper samples from the eastern Qaidam Basin, the calendar dates of the 16 specimens were determined by the COFECHA program and visual dating procedure. The average inter-series correlation among the dated sample series is 0.696, indicating good quality of cross-dating. The year of the outermost rings is AD 715 for the 7 discs and 4 out of the 9 increment cores. Moreover, the ring-width variations of the samples are consistent with the existing chronologies from the region. The presence of late-wood of AD 715 in the samples indicated that the Reshui-1 Tomb was completed in late AD 715 or early 716, which means that the Reshui-1 Tomb was finished in the Tubo age. This date provides direct evidence for archaeologists to determine the owner's ethnicity and identify of the Reshui-1 Tomb.

New Ancient Egyptian Human Mummies from the Valley of the Kings, Luxor: Anthropological, Radiological, and Egyptological Investigations.

PubMed

Rühli, Frank; Ikram, Salima; Bickel, Susanne

2015-01-01

The Valley of the Kings (arab. Wadi al Muluk; KV) situated on the West Bank near Luxor (Egypt) was the site for royal and elite burials during the New Kingdom (ca. 1500-1100 BC), with many tombs being reused in subsequent periods. In 2009, the scientific project "The University of Basel Kings' Valley Project" was launched. The main purpose of this transdisciplinary project is the clearance and documentation of nonroyal tombs in the surrounding of the tomb of Pharaoh Thutmosis III (ca. 1479-1424 BC; KV 34). This paper reports on newly discovered ancient Egyptian human mummified remains originating from the field seasons 2010-2012. Besides macroscopic assessments, the remains were conventionally X-rayed by a portable X-ray unit in situ inside KV 31. These image data serve as basis for individual sex and age determination and for the study of probable pathologies and embalming techniques. A total of five human individuals have been examined so far and set into an Egyptological context. This project highlights the importance of ongoing excavation and science efforts even in well-studied areas of Egypt such as the Kings' Valley.

New Ancient Egyptian Human Mummies from the Valley of the Kings, Luxor: Anthropological, Radiological, and Egyptological Investigations

PubMed Central

Rühli, Frank; Ikram, Salima

2015-01-01

The Valley of the Kings (arab. Wadi al Muluk; KV) situated on the West Bank near Luxor (Egypt) was the site for royal and elite burials during the New Kingdom (ca. 1500–1100 BC), with many tombs being reused in subsequent periods. In 2009, the scientific project “The University of Basel Kings' Valley Project” was launched. The main purpose of this transdisciplinary project is the clearance and documentation of nonroyal tombs in the surrounding of the tomb of Pharaoh Thutmosis III (ca. 1479–1424 BC; KV 34). This paper reports on newly discovered ancient Egyptian human mummified remains originating from the field seasons 2010–2012. Besides macroscopic assessments, the remains were conventionally X-rayed by a portable X-ray unit in situ inside KV 31. These image data serve as basis for individual sex and age determination and for the study of probable pathologies and embalming techniques. A total of five human individuals have been examined so far and set into an Egyptological context. This project highlights the importance of ongoing excavation and science efforts even in well-studied areas of Egypt such as the Kings' Valley. PMID:26347313

Effects of environmental factors on monuments: the Harkhuf Tomb in Aswan, Egypt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baldi, Marina

2015-04-01

The tombs of the nobles excavated in the rocks on the Nile west bank at Qubbet el-Hawa in Aswan (Egypt) testify the role of the city as the southern gate of Egypt. In old times Aswan was the starting point of caravans travelling far south in uncovered territories and bringing back precious and exotic goods. Inscriptions on the tombs reflect the explorations and trades of that time and the cultural exchanges with southern territories. Nowadays the tombs, exposed to the environmental factors - wind, sun, rainfall - and to air polluttants originated from the town of Aswan are under a fast deterioration process. It is therefore necessary a full documentation of the tombs and of their façade and a study of the deterioration process due to the impact of the environmental factors. As a case study the tomb of Harkhuf at Qubbet el-Hawa has been chosen, because of its importance, its status of decay, and for the old documentation by the Italian Egyptologist E. Schiaparelli. The climate factors affecting the tomb of Harkhuf are air temperature, its diurnal excursion, and wind, and, at some extent, relative humidity. In fact, in Aswan, night time Humidity can be more than 30% during the winter months, while precipitation is a very rare event occurring once every 1 or 2 years, but has important impact due to its high intensity and short duration with devastating impact on manufact and structures in the area. The experiment, designed using portable meteorological instruments, permitted to define if the microclimate near the Harkhuf Tomb has the same characteristics of the larger Aswan area which can be derived by the meteorological station located at the Aswan airport. However differences in the microclimate are evident and preliminary analysis of data collected between 8:00 am and 4:00 pm during some consecutive days will be presented. The study permitted to identify and measure the differential heating of the façade, with the right part reaching temperatures much warmer than

Identification of Fungal Communities Associated with the Biodeterioration of Waterlogged Archeological Wood in a Han Dynasty Tomb in China

PubMed Central

Liu, Zijun; Wang, Yu; Pan, Xiaoxuan; Ge, Qinya; Ma, Qinglin; Li, Qiang; Fu, Tongtong; Hu, Cuiting; Zhu, Xudong; Pan, Jiao

2017-01-01

The Mausoleum of the Dingtao King (termed ‘M2’) is a large-scale huangchang ticou tomb that dates to the Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C.–25 A.D.). It is the highest-ranking Han Dynasty tomb discovered to date. However, biodeterioration on the surface of the tomb M2 is causing severe damage to its wooden materials. The aim of the present study was to give insight into the fungal communities colonized the wooden tomb. For this purpose, seven samples were collected from different sections of the tomb M2 which exhibited obvious biodeterioration in the form of white spots. Microbial structures associated with the white spots were observed with scanning electron microscopy. Fungal community structures were assessed for seven samples via a combination of high-throughput sequencing and culture-dependent techniques. Sequencing analyses identified 114 total genera that belonged to five fungal phyla. Hypochnicium was the most abundant genus across all samples and accounted for 98.61–99.45% of the total community composition. Further, Hypochnicium sp. and Mortierella sp. cultures were successfully isolated from the tomb samples, and were distinguished as Hypochnicium sp. WY-DT1 and Mortierella sp. NK-DT1, respectively. Cultivation-dependent experiments indicated that the dominant member, Hypochnicium sp. WY- DT1, could grow at low temperatures and significantly degraded cellulose and lignin. Thus, our results taken together suggest that this fungal strain must be regarded as a serious threat to the preservation of the wooden tomb M2. The results reported here are useful for informing future contamination mitigation efforts for the tomb M2 as well as other similar cultural artifacts. PMID:28890715

Annual dose measurements and TL-dating of ancient Egyptian pottery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdel-Wahab, M. S.; El-Fiki, S. A.; El-Fiki, M. A.; Gomaa, M.; Abdel-Kariem, S.; El-Faramawy, N.

1996-05-01

In the course of the dating of ancient Egyptian pottery, pottery sherds were collected from three archaeological tombs in Nazlet El Samman region, Giza zone (Egypt). The annual dose from natural background was measured by gamma spectroscopic technique as well as thermoluminescence (TL) measurements. The results of both methods are in good agreement with a consistency of 99.69%. The extracted quartz exhibited TL dating peaks at about(305 ± 5|4)°C. The TL dating shows an age of 4301 ± 100 years for the examined pottery which belongs to the "Fourth Dynasty" in the "Old Kingdom". The uncertainties in TL dating using the additive method are much lower than that of archeologists.

Dating of ancient Egyptian pottery using the thermoluminescence technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

El-Fiki, S. A.; Abdel-Wahab, M. S.; El-Faramawy, N.; El-Fiki, M. A.

1994-10-01

In the course of the dating of Egyptian ancient pottery, pottery sherds were collected from three archaeological tombs in the Nazlet El Samman region in the Giza zone (Egypt). The annual dose was measured by the gamma spectroscopic technique as well as thermoluminescence (TL) measurements. The annual dose results obtained using both methods are in quite good agreement with a consistency of 99.69%. The extracted quartz exhibited TL dating peaks at about (305 ± 5)°C and (375 ± 5)°C. The TL dating result is 4301 ± 100 which belongs to the "fourth dynasty" in the Old Kingdom. The obtained ages show that the uncertainties in TL dating using the additive method are much lower than that of archaeologists.

Anthropological and palaeopathological analysis of the human remains from three "Tombs of the Nobles" of the necropolis of Thebes-west, upper Egypt.

PubMed

Nerlich, A; Zink, A; Hagedorn, H G; Szeimies, U; Weyss, C

2000-12-01

During several recent excavation campaigns at the necropolis of Sheikh-Abd-el-Gurna, Thebes-West, Upper Egypt, we investigated the human remains of three "Tombs of the Nobles" totalling at least 273 individuals. The investigation covered the human material (skeletons and mummy residues) from the tombs TT-84, TT-85 and TT-95. These tombs had been built in the New Kingdom (approx. 1500-1000 B.C.) and used until the Late period (up to 330 BC). All samples were analyzed macroscopically, isolated findings were further investigated by endoscopic and radiological techniques. The at least 273 individuals covered an age range from newborns to senile individuals with a main age of death between 20 and 40 years of age. The rate of infants and subadults was at 20.2% of all individuals and there was a slight male predominance comprising 54.5% of the adults. In this population a fairly high rate of pathological lesions was seen. Thus, dental conditions generally were poor with a high degree of dental abrasion, an also high rate of carious dental lesions (affecting between 13.8% and 27.7% of the yaws) and consequently a significant number of dental abscesses (mean 15.9%). Residues of trauma were observed in a considerable number of individuals ranging between 12.3% and 22.6% depending on the burial place (mean 15.8%). Inflammatory bone reactions (except the dental abscesses) were present to variable extent, in some locations ranging up to 6.8% of the cases (mean 5.1%). In addition, we noted several cases showing cribra orbitalia (mean 29.2%) and porotic hyperostosis (15.4% of cases), mild to severe osteopenia (7.5%) and in several cases subperiosteal new bone formation suggestive of chronic vitamin D-deficiency ("scurvy") (9.5%). The data support the notion of a significant impairment of living conditions in a high number of individuals. The rates of osteoarthrotic joint alterations were considerably variable depending on the burial places (between 1.9% and 18.5%) providing

Real-time measurement of individual occupational radon exposures in tombs of the Valley of the Kings, Egypt.

PubMed

Gruber, E; Salama, E; Rühm, W

2011-03-01

The active radon exposure meter developed recently at the German Research Center for Environmental Health (Helmholtz Zentrum München) was used to measure radon concentrations in 12 tombs located in the Valley of the Kings, Egypt. Radon concentrations in air between 50 ± 7 and 12 100 ± 600 Bq m(-3) were obtained. The device was also used to measure individual radon exposures of those persons working as safeguards inside the tombs. For a measurement time of 2-3 d, typical individual radon exposures ranged from 1800 ± 400 to 240 000 ± 13 000 Bq h m(-3), depending on the duration of measurement and radon concentration in the different tombs. Based on current ICRP dose conversion conventions for workers and on equilibrium factors published in the literature for these tombs, individual effective dose rates that range from 1.5 ± 0.3 to 860 ± 50 µSv d(-1) were estimated. If it is assumed that the climatic conditions present at the measurement campaign persist for about half a year, in this area, then effective doses up to ∼ 66 mSv could be estimated for half a year, for some of the safeguards of tombs where F-values were known. To reduce the exposure of the safeguards, some recommendations are proposed.

Development of an enzyme-linked-immunosorbent-assay technique for accurate identification of poorly preserved silks unearthed in ancient tombs.

PubMed

Zheng, Qin; Wu, Xiaofeng; Zheng, Hailing; Zhou, Yang

2015-05-01

We report the preparation of a specific fibroin antibody and its use for the identification of unearthed ancient silk relics. Based on the 12-amino-acid repeat sequence "GAGAGSGAGAGS", which is found in fibroin of the silkworm Bombyx mori, a specific antibody against fibroin was prepared in rabbits through peptide synthesis and carrier-protein coupling. This antibody was highly specific for fibroin found in silk. Using this antibody we have successfully identified four silk samples from different time periods. Our results reveal, for the first time, a method capable of detecting silk from a few milligrams of archaeological fabric that has been buried for thousands of years, confirming that the ancient practice of wearing silk products while praying for rebirth dated back to at least 400 BCE. This method also complements current approaches in silk detection, especially for the characterization of poorly preserved silks, promoting the investigation of silk origins and of ancient clothing cultures.

Combining 3D seismic tomography and ground-penetrating radar to reveal the structure of a megalithic burial tomb

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mendes, Manuela; Caldeira, Bento; Borges, José

2017-04-01

This work describes a case study concerning a prehistoric buried tomb (around 3000 years B.C.) located near Évora (Portugal). This monument is a tomb completely buried with only five visible irregular small stones distributed in a circle of 3 meter in diameter. A multi-approach combining 3D seismic tomography and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) have been applied to identify hidden elements and arrangement of the stones, required prior to any excavation work. The methodology for the 3D seismic data acquisition involves a total of 24 shots recorded by four lines, with twelve fixed receivers each one. For the GPR survey was used a 400 MHz antenna which moves along parallel lines with 50 cm separation, over a 30x30 m2 area that contains the buried tomb; the GPR unit was configured to a horizontal rate of 50 scans per meter (1024 samples/scan) and a time window of 60 ns. This multi-approach procedure allowed defining: (i) the housing of the tomb in the basement structure; (ii) the presence of a hidden corridor; (iii) the description of the internal structure of the walls of the tomb; (iv) the state of preservation of the monument. Acknowledgements: This work is co-financed by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund under COMPETE 2020 (Operational Program for Competitiveness and Internationalization) through the ICT project (UID / GEO / 04683/2013) under the reference POCI-01-0145 -FEDER-007690.

Tomb Group of Nesmutaatneru

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sponpinato, Nancy; King, Judith

2005-01-01

Egyptian artifacts and treasures mesmerize nearly all museum visitors. A careful look at ancient Egyptian art can tell us a great about Egyptian culture and artistry. The ancient Egyptians believed that in the afterlife, the spirit (or ka) of the deceased returned to the body. It was important for the body to be preserved to ensure that the ka had…

Comparison of external costs between dry tomb and bioreactor landfills: taking intergenerational effects seriously.

PubMed

Méry, Jacques; Bayer, Stefan

2005-12-01

Dry tomb and bioreactor landfills were analyzed with respect to their external costs in an intergenerational cost-benefit analysis in a partial framework which enabled a sounder comparison to be carried out between these two technologies from a socio-economic viewpoint. Obviously, this approach was only a first step for building a comprehensive basis of any environmental as well as fiscal policy in the field of waste management. All external costs are identified and evaluated in three different scenarios, corresponding to a worst case, a best guess and a best case. Obviously, discounting is crucial with respect to an intergenerational perspective. Generation-adjusted discounting (GAD) was applied to take into account equity as well as efficiency criteria, in order to deal with three different types of uncertainties that are decisive in waste policy decisions: a physical uncertainty is captured by introducing our three different scenarios; a macroeconomic uncertainty is taken into consideration by calculating present values using different real growth rates; and a microeconomic uncertainty is taken into account by considering individual peculiarities reflected in their subjective time preference rate. The findings show, that whenever there is a low real GDP growth of less than 1%, the bioreactor is generally superior to the dry tomb (lower present values of external costs). This statement becomes more valid as the growth rate decreases. However, whenever there are high positive growth rates, it is the dry tomb technology which is superior to the bioreactor system.

Genetic data suggests that the Jinggouzi people are associated with the Donghu, an ancient nomadic group of North China.

PubMed

Wang, Haijing; Chen, Lu; Ge, Binwen; Zhang, Ye; Zhu, Hong; Zhou, Hui

2012-08-01

Nomadic populations have played a significant role in the history of not only China but also in many nations worldwide. Because they had no written language, an important aspect in the study of these people is the discovery of their tombs. It has been generally accepted that Xiongnu was the first empire created by a nomadic tribe in the 3rd century BC. However, little population genetic information is available concerning the Donghu, another flourishing nomadic tribe at the same period because of the restriction of materials until the Jinggouzi site was excavated. In order to test the genetic characteristics of ancient people in this site and to explore the relationship between Jinggouzis and Donghus, two uniparentally inherited markers were analyzed from 42 human remains in this site, which was located in northern China, dated approximately 2500 years ago. With ancient DNA technology, four mtDNA haplogroups (D, G, C, and M10) and one Y chromosome haplogroup (C) were identified using mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome single nucleotide polymorphisms. Those haplogroups are common in North Asia and East Asia. The Jinggouzi people were genetically closest to the Xianbeis in ancient populations and to the Oroqens among extant populations, who were all pastoralists. This might indicate that ancient Jinggouzi people were nomads. Meanwhile, according to the genetic data and the evidences in archaeology, we inferred that Jinggouzi people were associated with Donghu. It is of much value to trace the history of the Donghu tribe and this might show some insight into the ancient nomadic society.

Structural analysis of jewelry from the Moche tomb of the `lady of Cao' by X-ray digital radiography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Azeredo, S. R.; Cesareo, R.; Franco, R.; Fernandez, A.; Bustamante, A.; Lopes, R. T.

2018-04-01

Nose ornaments from the tomb of the `Lady of Cao', a mummified woman representative of the Moche culture and dated to the third-or-fourth century AD, were analyzed by X-ray digital radiography. These spectacular gold and silver jewels are some of the most sophisticated metalworking ever produced in ancient America. The Mochecivilization flourished along the north coast of present-day Peru, between the Andes and the Pacific Ocean, approximately between 100 and 600 AD. The Moche were very sophisticated artisans and metal smiths, being considered the finest producers of jewels and artifacts of the region. A portable X-ray digital radiography (XDR) system consisting of a flat panel detector with high resolution image and a mini X-ray tube was used for the structural analysis of the Moche jewels aiming at inferring different joining methods of the silver-gold sheets. The radiographic analysis showed some differences in the joint of the silver-and-gold sheets. Presence of filler material and adhesive for joining the silver-and-gold sheets was visible as well as silver-gold junctions without filler material (or with a material invisible in radiography). Furthermore, the technique demonstrated the advantage of using a portable XDR micro system when the sample cannot be brought to the laboratory.

Nature and origin of the violet stains on the walls of a Roman tomb.

PubMed

Dominguez-Moñino, Irene; Diaz-Herraiz, Marta; Jurado, Valme; Laiz, Leonila; Miller, Ana Z; Santos, Juan Luis; Alonso, Esteban; Saiz-Jimenez, Cesareo

2017-11-15

The Circular Mausoleum tomb (Roman Necropolis of Carmona, Spain) dates back from the first century AD and is characterized by a dense microbial (phototrophic) colonization on the walls and ceiling. However, some walls exhibited an important number of violet stains of unknown origin. The microbial communities of these violet stains are mainly composed of cyanobacteria, streptomycetes and fungi. A strain of Streptomyces parvus, isolated from the walls, produces a violet pigment in culture media. High performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry of the culture extracts obtained from this Streptomyces revealed the presence of a few granaticins, pigments with a benzoisochromanequinone structure. When metabolically active in the tomb, S. parvus synthesizes the pigments that diffuse into the mortar. During rain and/or wetting periods, the pigments are solubilized by alkaline waters and elute from the starting position to the surrounding mortar, enlarging the pigmented area and thus contributing to this exceptional biodeterioration phenomenon. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

76 FR 56491 - Culturally Significant Objects Imported for Exhibition Determinations: “Tombs, Temples and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-09-13

... exhibition ``Tombs, Temples and Warriors: China's Imperial Legacy,'' imported from abroad for temporary... the exhibit objects at the Bowers Museum, Santa Ana, California, from on or about October 1, 2011, until on or about March 4, 2012, at the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences, Houston, Texas, from on or...

Investigation of trace elements in ancient pottery from Jenini, Brong Ahafo region, Ghana by INAA and Compton suppression spectrometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nyarko, B. J. B.; Bredwa-Mensah, Y.; Serfor-Armah, Y.; Dampare, S. B.; Akaho, E. H. K.; Osae, S.; Perbi, A.; Chatt, A.

2007-10-01

Concentrations of trace elements in ancient pottery excavated from Jenini in the Brong Ahafo region of Ghana were determined using instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) in conjunction with both conventional and Compton suppression counting. Jenini was a slave Camp of Samory Toure during the indigenous slavery and the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Pottery fragments found during the excavation of the grave tombs of the slaves who died in the slave camps were analysed. In all, 26 trace elements were determined in 40 pottery fragments. These elemental concentrations were processed using multivariate statistical methods, cluster, factor and discriminant analyses in order to determine similarities and correlation between the various samples. The suitability of the two counting systems for determination of trace elements in pottery objects has been evaluated.

Petrographic, biological, and chemical techniques used to characterize two tombs in the Protestant Cemetery of Rome (Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

La Russa, M. F.; Ruffolo, S. A.; Malagodi, M.; Barca, D.; Cirrincione, R.; Pezzino, A.; Crisci, G. M.; Miriello, D.

2010-09-01

In this multidisciplinary contribution, several diagnostic tests were carried out in order to characterize the stone materials, forms of alteration, and protective products applied in the past to two monumental tombs located in the Protestant Cemetery of Rome (Italy). The Protestant Cemetery is a very important historic site, and has been included in the List of 100 Most Endangered Sites in the World since 2005. In this work, two of its tombs were studied: those of Karl (or Charles) Brjullov, a Russian painter who lived in the first half of the nineteenth century, and of Lady Elisa Temple, wife of the artist Sir Grenville Temple. The tombs are both made of white marble and travertine, and the same forms of alteration and degradation, such as blackish biological patinas, black crusts, and chromatic alterations, were found on both monuments. Petrographic analysis of the different lithotypes made it possible to determine textural characteristics, evaluate the state of preservation, and formulate some hypotheses about their provenance by means of oxygen and carbon isotopic ratios, and evaluation of maximum grain size (MGS) and shape preferred orientation (SPO) of calcite grains. Laboratory culture analysis identified autotrophic species and, in some cases, black patinas caused by fungal species were found. Lastly, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) revealed that some synthetic protective products had been used in previous, undocumented restoration processes on some portions of both graves.

Investigation of the Sultan Alp Arslan tomb with geophysical methods, in the historical Merv city (Turkestan)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kadioglu, Selma; Kagan Kadioglu, Yusuf

2016-04-01

Sultan Alp Arslan (1029-1072) was the second Sultan of the Seljuq Empire and great-grandson of Seljuq the eponymous founder of the dynasty. Sultan Alp Arslan's victories changed the balance in near Asia completely in favour of the Seljuq Turks and Sunni Muslims. His victory at Manzikert (26 August 1071) is often cited as the beginning of the end of Byzantine power in Anatolia, and the beginning of Turkish identity in Anatolia. Sultan Alp Arslan eliminated theobstacles to the conquest of Anatolia and played a major role in making this territory a homeland for the Seljuqs. By taking the Emperor captive, Sultan Alp Arslan gained great fame but in 1072, on an expedition to Western Turkestan, he met with death in an unexpected way and at a relatively early age, in his 42nd year. There have been found different stories of the death of this great Turkish Sultan in certain sources. Unfortunately, there has not been found The Sultan's resting place until now. This paper is concerned with the investigation of the Sultan Alp Arslan Tomb in the historical Merv (Marv) city in Turkestan, by using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and gradiometer methods. The GPR and gradiometer surveys have been realized in Gavur Fortress, Sultan Fortress, Er Fortress districts and between two big Fortresses in old Merv city in selected nine study areas. We also gathered data in and around Sultan Sancar Tomb. GPR surveys were performed during January 2014 employing Ramac CU-II system equipped with a 250 MHz shielded antenna, on one meter spaced profiles. Similarly a Geoscan system was used to take magnetic data. The results of all these investigation revealed that there were possible traces for the buried tomb of the Sultan Alparslan in Gavur Kale around Cuma Mosque and around Sultan Sancar Tomb in the study region. However, the project team was changed after our study, and the new team did not excavated our determined areas. Acknowledgement This project has been supported by Republic of Turkey

Discovering and Sharing of Secret Architectures: the Hidden Tomb of the Pharaoh of El-Khasneh Jordan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malinverni, E. S.; Pierdicca, R.

2017-02-01

The documentation of the archaeological heritage through 3D models to know ancient findings, has become a common practice within the international panorama. Using minimal hardware, as well as its ease of use in almost every environmental condition, make 3D sampling solutions based on Multiple View Stereo (MVS) matching and Structure from Motion techniques ideal for on-site documentation of excavations or emergencies. Moreover, the availability of inexpensive platforms for web-based visualization represents great benefit in the field of archaeology, where generally the low budged and the limitation of more complex instruments are a must. The case study presented in these pages, experienced in Petra, Jordan, moves towards this direction. In the close proximity of the El- Khasneh façade, is situated an excavation where two entrance, well preserved, give access to the Tomb of Pharaoh. The documentation described in these pages has the twofold objective of providing the research community with a priceless dataset, acquired for one of the most important heritage of the world that is partially still unknown and to share on line these computations. This work confirms how cultural heritage documentation and dissemination of architectural rests, that are important for tourism and their interactive visualization, can strongly benefit from the creation of 3D models and their sharing on the web. This particular archaeological setting is an interesting base for investigation, given the complexity of the structure and its precarious condition.

Storms in Ancient Egypt: the Examples of Historical Natural Disasters Impacts on the Society

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petrova, Anastasia

2013-04-01

Though rain storms are infrequent in Egypt, which is normally a rainless country, some Ancient Egyptian texts give accounts of violent storms and rains. Actually, even small amounts of rain in that area could cause huge impact, as none of the water was absorbed by soil, and, running off, it could create dangerous torrents. The Tempest stele, circa 1550 BC, recounts a highly destructive storm happened during the reign of Ahmose I, the king of Egypt's 18 dynasty. The catastrophy is described in details, including the specific noise, overall darkness, torrent so that no torch could be lit. Many houses were washed into the river, temples, tombs and pyramids damaged and collapsed. The stele commemorates the restoration works made by the king who was able to cope with this great disaster and "re-establish the Two Lands". Some egyptologists believe that this event is related to the Minoan eruption of Thera, but this is unlikely given the description in the stele.

Comments on the Yule Marble Haines block: potential replacement, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington National Cemetery

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mossotti, Victor G.

2014-01-01

Marble for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery was cut from the Colorado Yule Marble Quarry in 1931. Although anecdotal reports suggest that cracks were noticed in the main section of the monument shortly after its installation at the Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, detailed documentation of the extent of cracking did not appear until 1963. Although debate continues as to whether the main section of the Tomb of the Unknowns monument should be repaired or replaced, Mr. John S. Haines of Glenwood Springs, Colorado, in anticipation of the permanent closing of the Yule Quarry, donated a 58-ton block of Yule Marble, the so-called Haines block, as a potential backup. The brief study reported here was conducted during mid-summer 2009 at the behest of the superintendent of Arlington National Cemetery. The field team entered the subterranean Yule Marble Quarry with the Chief Extraction Engineer in order to contrast the method used for extraction of the Haines block with the method that was probably used to extract the marble block that is now cracked. Based on surficial inspection and shallow coring of the Haines block, and on the nature of crack propagation in Yule Marble as judged by close inspection of a large collection of surrogate Yule Marble blocks, the team found the block to be structurally sound and cosmetically equivalent to the marble used for the current monument. If the Haines block were needed, it would be an appropriate replacement for the existing cracked section of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Monument.

The Tomb of SETI i (KV17) in the Florence Egyptian Museum. Integrated Non-Invasive Methods for Documentation, Material History and Diagnostics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coppola, M.; Bracci, S.; Cantisani, E.; Magrini, D.

2017-05-01

The tomb of Seti I (KV17) is a magnificent example of New Kingdom funerary architecture, among the longest tombs in the Valley of the Kings. As part of a collaboration between the Egyptian Museum in Florence, the University of Florence and CNR, a survey project was launched, with non-invasive methods, on the fragments from the Seti I tomb, in Florence, coming from a gate jamb connecting the chamber F to the corridor G, taken by the franco-tuscan expedition in 1829. The primary goal is to achieve the best level of documentation, knowledge of the material history and conservation assessment. Preliminary results allowed to focus some steps of the history of this fragment, from its realization to the present. The digital documentation created an excellent support for the mapping and management of the collected information. Even if still on a preliminary phase, this study shows how the combination of imaging and spectroscopic techniques allowed the characterization of many materials and the mapping of their distribution on the surface. Several original pigments have been identified as well as many anomalies due to subsequent interventions.

A Community in Life and Death: The Late Neolithic Megalithic Tomb at Alto de Reinoso (Burgos, Spain)

PubMed Central

Garrido-Pena, Rafael; Knipper, Corina; Szécsényi-Nagy, Anna; Roth, Christina; Tejedor-Rodríguez, Cristina; Held, Petra; García-Martínez-de-Lagrán, Íñigo; Navitainuck, Denise; Arcusa Magallón, Héctor; Rojo-Guerra, Manuel A.

2016-01-01

The analysis of the human remains from the megalithic tomb at Alto de Reinoso represents the widest integrative study of a Neolithic collective burial in Spain. Combining archaeology, osteology, molecular genetics and stable isotope analysis (87Sr/86Sr, δ15N, δ13C) it provides a wealth of information on the minimum number of individuals, age, sex, body height, pathologies, mitochondrial DNA profiles, kinship relations, mobility, and diet. The grave was in use for approximately one hundred years around 3700 cal BC, thus dating from the Late Neolithic of the Iberian chronology. At the bottom of the collective tomb, six complete and six partial skeletons lay in anatomically correct positions. Above them, further bodies represented a subsequent and different use of the tomb, with almost all of the skeletons exhibiting signs of manipulation such as missing skeletal parts, especially skulls. The megalithic monument comprised at least 47 individuals, including males, females, and subadults, although children aged 0–6 years were underrepresented. The skeletal remains exhibited a moderate number of pathologies, such as degenerative joint diseases, healed fractures, cranial trauma, and a low intensity of caries. The mitochondrial DNA profiles revealed a pattern pointing to a closely related local community with matrilineal kinship patterns. In some cases adjacent individuals in the bottom layer showed familial relationships. According to their strontium isotope ratios, only a few individuals were likely to have spent their early childhood in a different geological environment, whilst the majority of individuals grew up locally. Carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis, which was undertaken to reconstruct the dietary habits, indicated that this was a homogeneous group with egalitarian access to food. Cereals and small ruminants were the principal sources of nutrition. These data fit in well with a lifestyle typical of sedentary farming populations in the Spanish Meseta during

Egyptian "Star Clocks"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Symons, Sarah

Diagonal, transit, and Ramesside star clocks are tables of astronomical information occasionally found in ancient Egyptian temples, tombs, and papyri. The tables represent the motions of selected stars (decans and hour stars) throughout the Egyptian civil year. Analysis of star clocks leads to greater understanding of ancient Egyptian constellations, ritual astronomical activities, observational practices, and pharaonic chronology.

Egyptian Symbols and Figures. Hieroglyphs [and] Scroll Paintings. [Lesson Plan].

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

2002

This lesson introduces students to the writing, art, and religious beliefs of ancient Egypt through hieroglyphs, one of the oldest writing systems in the world, and through tomb paintings. Hieroglyphs consist of pictures of familiar objects that represent sounds and were used in ancient Egypt from about 3100 BC to 400 CE. In the first part of the…

The genome of an ancient Rouran individual reveals an important paternal lineage in the Donghu population.

PubMed

Li, Jiawei; Zhang, Ye; Zhao, Yongbin; Chen, Yongzhi; Ochir, A; Sarenbilige; Zhu, Hong; Zhou, Hui

2018-04-21

Following the Xiongnu and Xianbei, the Rouran Khaganate (Rouran) was the third great nomadic tribe on the Mongolian Steppe. However, few human remains from this tribe are available for archaeologists and geneticists to study, as traces of the tombs of these nomadic people have rarely been found. In 2014, the IA-M1 remains (TL1) at the Khermen Tal site from the Rouran period were found by a Sino-Mongolian joint archaeological team in Mongolia, providing precious material for research into the genetic imprint of the Rouran. The mtDNA hypervariable sequence I (HVS-I) and Y-chromosome SNPs were analyzed, and capture of the paternal non-recombining region of the Y chromosome (NRY) and whole-genome shotgun sequencing of TL1 were performed. The materials from three sites representing the three ancient nationalities (Donghu, Xianbei, and Shiwei) were selected for comparison with the TL1 individual. The mitochondrial haplotype of the TL1 individual was D4b1a2a1. The Y-chromosome haplotype was C2b1a1b/F3830 (ISOGG 2015), which was the same as that of the other two ancient male nomadic samples (ZHS5 and GG3) related to the Xianbei and Shiwei, which were also detected as F3889; this haplotype was reported to be downstream of F3830 by Wei et al. (). We conclude that F3889 downstream of F3830 is an important paternal lineage of the ancient Donghu nomads. The Donghu-Xianbei branch is expected to have made an important paternal genetic contribution to Rouran. This component of gene flow ultimately entered the gene pool of modern Mongolic- and Manchu-speaking populations. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

[A new look at the tomb of the physician, Morlongo Venice].

PubMed

Pardon-Labonnelie, Muriel

2014-01-01

The development of the inventory and synthetic study of collyrium stamps, commonly known as "oculist's stamps", includes the physico-chemical analysis of rare stamped collyrium's remains. The fragments of collyrium which were discovered in a tomb of Morlungo (Veneto) are all the more remarkable as the remedy's name stamped on two of them remains enigmatic at the moment and because of the association in a funerary context with an-other thirty-five finds. More specifically, they were discovered near surgical bronze instruments, a large amount of amber, a portable sundial and a seal box. Recent archaeological, textual and technological data thus make the study of the remains of collyriums of Morlungo particularly interesting for the history of medicine.

Gold coated copper artifacts from the Royal Tombs of Sipán (Huaca Rajada, Perù): manufacturing techniques and corrosion phenomena

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ingo, Gabriel M.; Bustamante, Angel D.; Alva, Walter; Angelini, Emma; Cesareo, Roberto; Gigante, Giovanni E.; Zambrano, Sandra Del Pilar A.; Riccucci, Cristina; Di Carlo, Gabriella; Parisi, Erica I.; Faraldi, Federica; Chero, Luis; Fabian, Julio S.

2013-12-01

Twenty five years ago, close to the northern Peruvian town of Lambayeque (Huaca Rajada) beneath two large and eroded pyramids, built of adobe mud bricks, Professor Alva discovered the world-famous unlooted pre-Columbian burial chambers of the Royal Tombs of Sipan. The tombs contained a large amount of objects of exceptional artistic and historical value including the greatest intact number of gold and silver artefacts in the Americas to be considered one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the last century. Some copper based objects coated with thin layers of gold have been studied by means of the combined use of analytical techniques such as optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray micro-analysis (SEM-EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) in order to identify the chemical composition and the manufacturing processes of the gold layer as well as the corrosion products formed during the long-term burial. The micro-chemical and structural results give useful information about the manufacturing techniques used by the Moche metalsmiths to modify the surface chemical composition of the coated artefacts likely based on the depletion gilding process carried out by oxidising the surface copper containing the noble metal and etching away the copper oxides. Furthermore, the results reveal that the main degradation agent is the ubiquitous chlorine and that copper has been almost completely transformed during the burial into mineral species giving rise to the formation of stratified structures constituted by different mineral phases such as cuprous oxide (Cu2O) and copper carbonates [azurite (Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2 and malachite (CuCO3Cu(OH)2)] as well as dangerous chlorine-based compounds such as nantokite (CuCl) and atacamite (Cu2(OH)3Cl) polymorphs. These information evidence the strict interaction of the alloying elements with the soil components as well as the occurrence of the

IR and py/GC/MS examination of amber relics excavated from 6th century royal tomb in Korean Peninsula.

PubMed

Park, Jongseo; Yun, Eunyoung; Kang, Hyungtae; Ahn, Jooyoung; Kim, Gyuho

2016-08-05

Relics of amber were excavated from King Muryeong's tomb constructed in the 6th century on the Korean peninsula. To estimate the provenance, FTIR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy) and py/GC/MS (pyrolysis/gas chromatography/mass spectrometry) analysis were utilized. The reference Baltic amber sample was also analyzed with the same method for comparison. The relics were confirmed to be amber from the FTIR analysis where an absorption band near 1150cm(-1), characteristic one in Baltic amber, was also observed. In py/GC/MS analysis, pyrolyzed products like butanedioic acid and dehydroabietic acid, known constituents of amber, were observed. In addition, d-fenchyl alcohol, camphor, borneol and butanedioic acid, typical constituents of Baltic amber, were observed in some samples. From this, it appears that some of relics were made from Baltic amber and that Baltic amber was transported to the Korean peninsula in the time of tomb construction. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Preconquest Peruvian neurosurgeons: a study of Inca and pre-Columbian trephination and the art of medicine in ancient Peru.

PubMed

Marino, R; Gonzales-Portillo, M

2000-10-01

Trephination and craniotomy performed by abrasion, scraping, crosscut sawing, and drilling are the oldest known surgical techniques used by primitive peoples. As a result of archaeological findings, the human skull is the most frequently studied part of the excavated body, leading to the creation of a new aspect of anthropology known as "cultural osteology." Found in ancient tombs, the human remains, mummies, skeletons, and their belongings, including war instruments, pottery, clothing, jewels, and surgical instruments, constitute the richest source of insight into the lives and pragmatic activities of ancient cultures. This study summarizes thousands of years of pre-Columbian history and medical evolution, specifically in the early and primitive practice of trephination, as precursors of neurosurgery. Comparative osteology studies have demonstrated that using primitive stone or metal instruments, the sirkaks (Inca surgeons) achieved an average survival rate of 50 to 70% of their craniectomy patients, with little incidence of infection or other complications. Despite their rudimentary knowledge of disease and pathology, a considerable knowledge of anatomy and natural medicine provided them with hemostatic agents, antiseptics, and other medical drugs, such as quinine for fever and malaria, as well as gold, silver, and other products to perform cranioplasties. Living in a world of continuous hand-to-hand combat, they also developed aggressive and defensive weapons that necessitated refinement of surgical techniques to save soldiers from battle wounds to their poorly protected crania.

The implementation of multi-task geophysical survey to locate Cleopatra Tomb at Tap-Osiris Magna, Borg El-Arab, Alexandria, Egypt “Phase II”

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abbas, Abbas M.; Khalil, Mohamed A.; Massoud, Usama; Santos, Fernando M.; Mesbah, Hany A.; Lethy, Ahmed; Soliman, Mamdouh; Ragab, El Said A.

2012-06-01

According to some new discoveries at Tap-Osiris Magna temple (West of Alexandria), there is potentiality to uncover a remarkable archeological finding at this site. Three years ago many significant archeological evidences have been discovered sustaining the idea that the tomb of Cleopatra and Anthony may be found in the Osiris temple inside Tap-Osiris Magna temple at a depth from 20 to 30 m. To confirm this idea, PHASE I was conducted in by joint application of Ground Penetrating Radar “GPR”, Electrical Resistivity Tomography “ERT” and Magnetometry. The results obtained from PHASE I could not confirm the existence of major tombs at this site. However, small possible cavities were strongly indicated which encouraged us to proceed in investigation of this site by using another geophysical approach including Very Low Frequency Electro Magnetic (VLF-EM) technique. VLF-EM data were collected along parallel lines covering the investigated site with a line-to-line spacing of 1 m. The point-to-point distance of 1 m along the same line was employed. The data were qualitatively interpreted by Fraser filtering process and quantitatively by 2-D VLF inversion of tipper data and forward modeling. Results obtained from VLF-EM interpretation are correlated with 2-D resistivity imaging and drilling information. Findings showed a highly resistive zone at a depth extended from about 25-45 m buried beneath Osiris temple, which could be indicated as the tomb of Cleopatra and Anthony. This result is supported by Fraser filtering and forward modeling results. The depth of archeological findings as indicated from the geophysical survey is correlated well with the depth expected by archeologists, as well as, the depth of discovered tombs outside Tap-Osiris Magna temple. This depth level has not been reached by drilling in this site. We hope that the site can be excavated in the future based on these geophysical results.

The deterioration of Circular Mausoleum, Roman Necropolis of Carmona, Spain.

PubMed

Cañaveras, Juan C; Fernandez-Cortes, Angel; Elez, Javier; Cuezva, Soledad; Jurado, Valme; Miller, Ana Zelia; Rogerio-Candelera, Miguel A; Benavente, David; Hernandez-Marine, Mariona; Saiz-Jimenez, Cesareo; Sanchez-Moral, Sergio

2015-06-15

The Circular Mausoleum tomb in the Roman Necropolis of Carmona was carved on a calcarenite sequence in an ancient quarry located in the town of Carmona, Southern Spain. This rock-cut tomb, representative of Roman burial practices, currently suffers from serious deterioration. A detailed survey over several years permitted the identification of the main tomb's pathologies and damaging processes, which include loss of material (scaling, flaking, granular disintegration), surface modifications (efflorescences, crusts and deposits) and extensive biological colonization. The results obtained in this study indicated that anthropogenic changes were largely responsible and enhanced the main alteration mechanisms observed in the Circular Mausoleum. Based on the deterioration diagnosis, effective corrective actions were proposed. This study shows that any conservative intervention in the interior of the tomb should be preceded by accurate in situ measurements and laboratory analyses to ascribe the source of the deterioration damages and thus designing effective treatments. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The significance of petroleum bitumen in ancient Egyptian mummies

PubMed Central

Clark, K. A.; Ikram, S.

2016-01-01

Mummification was practised in ancient Egypt for more than 3000 years, emerging from initial observations of buried bodies preserved by natural desiccation. The use of organic balms (and other funerary practices) was a later introduction necessitated by more humid burial environments, especially tombs. The dark colour of many mummies led to the assumption that petroleum bitumen (or natural asphalt) was ubiquitous in mummification; however, this has been questioned for more than 100 years. We test this by investigating 91 materials comprising balms, tissues and textiles from 39 mummies dating from ca 3200 BC to AD 395. Targeted petroleum bitumen biomarker (steranes and hopanes) analyses by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry selected ion monitoring (GC-MS SIM, m/z 217 and 191) showed no detectable bitumen use before the New Kingdom (ca 1550–1070 BC). However, bitumen was used in 50% of New Kingdom to Late Period mummies, rising to 87% of Ptolemaic/Roman Period mummies. Quantitative determinations using 14C analyses reveal that even at peak use balms were never more than 45% w/w bitumen. Critically, the dark colour of balms can be simulated by heating/ageing mixtures of fats, resins and beeswax known to be used in balms. The application of black/dark brown balms to bodies was deliberate after the New Kingdom reflecting changing funerary beliefs and shifts in religious ideology. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Quantitative mass spectrometry’. PMID:27644983

The significance of petroleum bitumen in ancient Egyptian mummies.

PubMed

Clark, K A; Ikram, S; Evershed, R P

2016-10-28

Mummification was practised in ancient Egypt for more than 3000 years, emerging from initial observations of buried bodies preserved by natural desiccation. The use of organic balms (and other funerary practices) was a later introduction necessitated by more humid burial environments, especially tombs. The dark colour of many mummies led to the assumption that petroleum bitumen (or natural asphalt) was ubiquitous in mummification; however, this has been questioned for more than 100 years. We test this by investigating 91 materials comprising balms, tissues and textiles from 39 mummies dating from ca 3200 BC to AD 395. Targeted petroleum bitumen biomarker (steranes and hopanes) analyses by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry selected ion monitoring (GC-MS SIM, m/z 217 and 191) showed no detectable bitumen use before the New Kingdom (ca 1550-1070 BC). However, bitumen was used in 50% of New Kingdom to Late Period mummies, rising to 87% of Ptolemaic/Roman Period mummies. Quantitative determinations using (14)C analyses reveal that even at peak use balms were never more than 45% w/w bitumen. Critically, the dark colour of balms can be simulated by heating/ageing mixtures of fats, resins and beeswax known to be used in balms. The application of black/dark brown balms to bodies was deliberate after the New Kingdom reflecting changing funerary beliefs and shifts in religious ideology.This article is part of the themed issue 'Quantitative mass spectrometry'. © 2016 The Authors.

Successful Teaching Today.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewis, Barbara; And Others

1996-01-01

This article presents creative teaching experiences from five teachers nationwide. The projects involve student projects to prevent crime, talking to astronauts via amateur radio, transforming the classroom into an ancient Egyptian tomb, doing a good deed each day, and increasing father involvement. (SM)

Archaeology: a lion found in the Egyptian tomb of Maïa.

PubMed

Callou, Cécile; Samzun, Anaïck; Zivie, Alain

2004-01-15

Lions are mentioned by classical scholars and in pharaonic inscriptions as being among the sacred animals that were bred and buried in the Nile valley. And yet no specimens have been found in Egypt - until the excavation of the Bubasteion necropolis at Saqqara. Here we describe a complete skeleton, once a mummy, of a male lion (Panthera leo) that was discovered there, buried among the cats' catacombs created during the last centuries bc and occupying the much older tomb of Maïa, wet-nurse to the king Tutankhamun (from the New Kingdom, fourteenth century bc). This important find at a site that was dedicated to the feline goddess Bastet (also known as Bubastis) confirms the status of the lion as a sacred animal during the Late and Greek periods.

Ancient Astronomy in Armenia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parsamian, Elma S.

2007-08-01

The most important discovery, which enriched our knowledge of ancient astronomy in Armenia, was the complex of platforms for astronomical observations on the Small Hill of Metzamor, which may be called an ancient “observatory”. Investigations on that Hill show that the ancient inhabitants of the Armenian Highlands have left us not only pictures of celestial bodies, but a very ancient complex of platforms for observing the sky. Among the ancient monuments in Armenia there is a megalithic monument, probably, being connected with astronomy. 250km South-East of Yerevan there is a structure Zorats Kar (Karahunge) dating back to II millennium B.C. Vertical megaliths many of which are more than two meters high form stone rings resembling ancient stone monuments - henges in Great Britain and Brittany. Medieval observations of comets and novas by data in ancient Armenian manuscripts are found. In the collection of ancient Armenian manuscripts (Matenadaran) in Yerevan there are many manuscripts with information about observations of astronomical events as: solar and lunar eclipses, comets and novas, bolides and meteorites etc. in medieval Armenia.

Ancient Resistome.

PubMed

Olaitan, Abiola Olumuyiwa; Rolain, Jean-Marc

2016-08-01

Antibiotic resistance is an ancient biological mechanism in bacteria, although its proliferation in our contemporary world has been amplified through antimicrobial therapy. Recent studies conducted on ancient environmental and human samples have uncovered numerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria and resistance genes. The resistance genes that have been reported from the analysis of ancient bacterial DNA include genes coding for several classes of antibiotics, such as glycopeptides, β-lactams, tetracyclines, and macrolides. The investigation of the resistome of ancient bacteria is a recent and emerging field of research, and technological advancements such as next-generation sequencing will further contribute to its growth. It is hoped that the knowledge gained from this research will help us to better understand the evolution of antibiotic resistance genes and will also be used in drug design as a proactive measure against antibiotic resistance.

Ancient Egypt.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Evers, Virginia

This four-week fourth grade social studies unit dealing with religious dimensions in ancient Egyptian culture was developed by the Public Education Religion Studies Center at Wright State University. It seeks to help students understand ancient Egypt by looking at the people, the culture, and the people's world view. The unit begins with outlines…

Apps for Ancient Civilizations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson, Stephanie

2011-01-01

This project incorporates technology and a historical emphasis on science drawn from ancient civilizations to promote a greater understanding of conceptual science. In the Apps for Ancient Civilizations project, students investigate an ancient culture to discover how people might have used science and math smartphone apps to make their lives…

Linking Literature and Art to the Social Studies Curriculum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Frezza, Yiota

1982-01-01

Describes a unit in which elementary students experience life in ancient Egypt by role playing different positions in society. Students research their role, prepare a paper doll dressed in the clothing of their role, analyze an opera, and paint a window in the stylized method used on Egyptian tomb paintings. (RM)

Ancient genomics

PubMed Central

Der Sarkissian, Clio; Allentoft, Morten E.; Ávila-Arcos, María C.; Barnett, Ross; Campos, Paula F.; Cappellini, Enrico; Ermini, Luca; Fernández, Ruth; da Fonseca, Rute; Ginolhac, Aurélien; Hansen, Anders J.; Jónsson, Hákon; Korneliussen, Thorfinn; Margaryan, Ashot; Martin, Michael D.; Moreno-Mayar, J. Víctor; Raghavan, Maanasa; Rasmussen, Morten; Velasco, Marcela Sandoval; Schroeder, Hannes; Schubert, Mikkel; Seguin-Orlando, Andaine; Wales, Nathan; Gilbert, M. Thomas P.; Willerslev, Eske; Orlando, Ludovic

2015-01-01

The past decade has witnessed a revolution in ancient DNA (aDNA) research. Although the field's focus was previously limited to mitochondrial DNA and a few nuclear markers, whole genome sequences from the deep past can now be retrieved. This breakthrough is tightly connected to the massive sequence throughput of next generation sequencing platforms and the ability to target short and degraded DNA molecules. Many ancient specimens previously unsuitable for DNA analyses because of extensive degradation can now successfully be used as source materials. Additionally, the analytical power obtained by increasing the number of sequence reads to billions effectively means that contamination issues that have haunted aDNA research for decades, particularly in human studies, can now be efficiently and confidently quantified. At present, whole genomes have been sequenced from ancient anatomically modern humans, archaic hominins, ancient pathogens and megafaunal species. Those have revealed important functional and phenotypic information, as well as unexpected adaptation, migration and admixture patterns. As such, the field of aDNA has entered the new era of genomics and has provided valuable information when testing specific hypotheses related to the past. PMID:25487338

Ancient dna from pleistocene fossils: Preservation, recovery, and utility of ancient genetic information for quaternary research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Hong

Until recently, recovery and analysis of genetic information encoded in ancient DNA sequences from Pleistocene fossils were impossible. Recent advances in molecular biology offered technical tools to obtain ancient DNA sequences from well-preserved Quaternary fossils and opened the possibilities to directly study genetic changes in fossil species to address various biological and paleontological questions. Ancient DNA studies involving Pleistocene fossil material and ancient DNA degradation and preservation in Quaternary deposits are reviewed. The molecular technology applied to isolate, amplify, and sequence ancient DNA is also presented. Authentication of ancient DNA sequences and technical problems associated with modern and ancient DNA contamination are discussed. As illustrated in recent studies on ancient DNA from proboscideans, it is apparent that fossil DNA sequence data can shed light on many aspects of Quaternary research such as systematics and phylogeny. conservation biology, evolutionary theory, molecular taphonomy, and forensic sciences. Improvement of molecular techniques and a better understanding of DNA degradation during fossilization are likely to build on current strengths and to overcome existing problems, making fossil DNA data a unique source of information for Quaternary scientists.

Ground-penetrating radar exploration for ancient monuments at the Valley of Mummies -Kilo 6, Bahariya Oasis, Egypt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shaaban, Fathy A.; Abbas, Abbas M.; Atya, Magdy A.; Hafez, Mahfouz A.

2009-06-01

A Valley of Mummies was discovered recently by an Egyptian team at Bahariya Oasis, located about 380 km west of the pyramids. Four tombs were excavated, and inside them were found one hundred and five mummies (105), many of them beautifully gilded. These mummies, many sumptuously decorated with religious scenes, are the very best Roman-Period mummies ever found in Egypt. These remains are around 2000 years old, but they are in remarkable condition. A Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR) had proved successful in detecting the cavities in resistive soil in which the mummies were found. The GPR survey conducted near the earlier-discovered tombs at Kilo-6 El-Bahariya to Farafra Oasis road is the focus of this paper. The GPR survey was conducted using the SIR-2000 attached to a 200 MHz monostatic antenna. The two areas to be surveyed were selected by the archaeologists in situ. Area one was 40 m × 40 m and Area two was 30 m × 15 m. A grid pattern survey in one direction; with one-meter profile spacing was done to both areas. In addition, a focusing survey was undertaken over the entire Area one. In addition, twenty long GPR profiles were conducted in an attempt to determine the outer, expected limits of the burial area. After the data acquisition, Reflex software was used for data processing and presentation. The final results of the radar survey: in the form of 2D radar records, time slices and 3D block diagrams; were used to guide the archaeologists during the excavation process. The excavation processes have been completed by the archaeologists, and many tombs and mummies were discovered. It is worthy to mention that, the excavations and location of tombs and cavities matched strongly with the GPR results.

Tamil merchant in ancient Mesopotamia.

PubMed

Palanichamy, Malliya Gounder; Mitra, Bikash; Debnath, Monojit; Agrawal, Suraksha; Chaudhuri, Tapas Kumar; Zhang, Ya-Ping

2014-01-01

Recent analyses of ancient Mesopotamian mitochondrial genomes have suggested a genetic link between the Indian subcontinent and Mesopotamian civilization. There is no consensus on the origin of the ancient Mesopotamians. They may be descendants of migrants, who founded regional Mesopotamian groups like that of Terqa or they may be merchants who were involved in trans Mesopotamia trade. To identify the Indian source population showing linkage to the ancient Mesopotamians, we screened a total of 15,751 mitochondrial DNAs (11,432 from the literature and 4,319 from this study) representing all major populations of India. Our results although suggest that south India (Tamil Nadu) and northeast India served as the source of the ancient Mesopotamian mtDNA gene pool, mtDNA of these ancient Mesopotamians probably contributed by Tamil merchants who were involved in the Indo-Roman trade.

[Tuberculosis in ancient Egypt].

PubMed

Ziskind, B; Halioua, B

2007-12-01

Did Tuberculosis plague Ancient Egypt five millennia ago? Some medical papyri appear to evoke tuberculosis. Egyptian physicians did not individualize it, but they seem to have noticed some of its clinical expressions, such as cough, cervical adenitis, and cold abscesses. In Egyptian iconography, some cases of hump-backs were probably due to Pott's disease of the spine Descriptive paleopathology, born with the 20th century, has identified pulmonary and especially spinal lesions compatible with tuberculosis. Progress of molecular biology has made a decisive contribution with the diagnosis of tuberculosis on ancient samples. Tuberculosis has been identified using PCR in nearly a third of the Egyptian mummies recently examined. Spoligotyping has made it possible to re-evaluate the phylogenic tree of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in Ancient Egypt. Tuberculosis certainly plagued the Nile Valley and appears to have been an important cause of mortality in Ancient Egypt.

Physicians of ancient India.

PubMed

Saini, Anu

2016-01-01

A survey of Indian medical historiography will reveal no dearth of work on the systems of medicine and medical literature of ancient India. However, the people who were responsible for the healing have not received much attention. This article traces the evolution of the physician as a professional in ancient India. This article reviews the secondary literature on healing and medical practice in India, specifically pertaining to the individual medical practitioner, drawing from varied sources. The healers of ancient India hailed from different castes and classes. They were well-respected and enjoyed state patronage. They were held to the highest ethical standards of the day and were bound by a strict code of conduct. They underwent rigorous training in both medicine and surgery. Most physicians were multi-skilled generalists, and expected to be skilled in elocution and debate. They were reasonably well-off financially. The paper also briefly traces the evolution of medicinal ideas in ancient India.

Postage stamps: A convergence of metallurgy, art, and history

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Habashi, Fathi

2002-04-01

Postage stamps have been used around the world to commemorate, in miniature, significant events and people, including those of importance in the history of metals and mineral production. From the presence of gold artifacts in an ancient Egyptian tomb to the role of uranium in nuclear power, stamps have captured the evolution of metallurgical processes. This article highlights some of those stamps.

Ancient Egyptian herbal wines

PubMed Central

McGovern, Patrick E.; Mirzoian, Armen; Hall, Gretchen R.

2009-01-01

Chemical analyses of ancient organics absorbed into pottery jars from the beginning of advanced ancient Egyptian culture, ca. 3150 B.C., and continuing for millennia have revealed that a range of natural products—specifically, herbs and tree resins—were dispensed by grape wine. These findings provide chemical evidence for ancient Egyptian organic medicinal remedies, previously only ambiguously documented in medical papyri dating back to ca. 1850 B.C. They illustrate how humans around the world, probably for millions of years, have exploited their natural environments for effective plant remedies, whose active compounds have recently begun to be isolated by modern analytical techniques. PMID:19365069

Shouldering the past: Photography, archaeology, and collective effort at the tomb of Tutankhamun.

PubMed

Riggs, Christina

2017-09-01

Photographing archaeological labor was routine on Egyptian and other Middle Eastern sites during the colonial period and interwar years. Yet why and how such photographs were taken is rarely discussed in literature concerned with the history of archaeology, which tends to take photography as given if it considers it at all. This paper uses photographs from the first two seasons of work at the tomb of Tutankhamun (1922-4) to show that photography contributed to discursive strategies that positioned archaeology as a scientific practice - both in the public presentation of well-known sites and in the self-presentation of archaeologists to themselves and each other. Since the subjects of such photographs are often indigenous laborers working together or with foreign excavators, I argue that the representation of fieldwork through photography allows us to theorize colonial archaeology as a collective activity, albeit one inherently based on asymmetrical power relationships. Through photographs, we can access the affective and embodied experiences that collective effort in a colonial context involved, bringing into question standard narratives of the history and epistemology of archaeology.

Technological Characterization of Wall Paintings from the A Mithraic Tomb Dated to 4th-5th Century AD, Gargaresc, Libya

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abd El Salam, S.; Maniatis, Y.

2009-04-01

The excavations of Gargaresc started in 1965 and were one of the most important archaeological sites in Tripoli because it includes a period of about 500 years starting from the 1stc. AD was and continuing until the 5th century AD. The Mithraic tomb is one of the most important outlying monuments of Oea, 200 yards south of the western end of Gargaresc oasis, on the left of the Tripoli-Zuara road between kilometers 5 & 6. The tomb is cut in an outcrop of soft sandstone. The wall paintings found were symbolic to the religion of that period; which contained a mixture of older religions and Christian, and presented the interaction between the artistic and religious elements of that time. Several optical, chemical and mineralogical methods were applied to identify the materials, composition and technology of the plasters and mortars, as well as, the pigments used in the tomb. These are: -OP: Optical microscopy was used as the initial examination of polished cross-sections to identify the structure and microstratigraphy of the plasters and mortars as well as the painted layers. -MCT: Micro-chemical tests were used to identify the type of the plasters and mortars- calcium aluminium silicate and water-soluble salt to identify sulphates, chlorides, carbonates, nitrites and nitrates. -SM: Standard methods for chemical analysis to identify the quantitative and qualitative nature of the plasters and mortars and their mixture. -SEM & EDS: Analytical Scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive x-ray analysis system to examine the micrmorphology and determine the chemical composition of the plasters, pigments and the inclusions. -XRD: X-ray powder diffraction to identify the mineralogical composition of the plasters, mortars and pigments. On the bases of all the data obtained, it was possible to establish the nature of the plasters, mortars and their binder. The examination and analysis gave a full picture about the materials and the approximate ratio of amount of

An investigation into the ancient abortion laws: comparing ancient Persia with ancient Greece and Rome.

PubMed

Yarmohammadi, Hassan; Zargaran, Arman; Vatanpour, Azadeh; Abedini, Ehsan; Adhami, Siamak

2013-01-01

Since the dawn of medicine, medical rights and ethics have always been one of mankind's concerns. In any civilisation, attention paid to medical laws and ethics depends on the progress of human values and the advancement of medical science. The history of various civilisations teaches that each had its own views on medical ethics, but most had something in common. Ancient civilisations such as Greece, Rome, or Assyria did not consider the foetus to be alive and therefore to have human rights. In contrast, ancient Persians valued the foetus as a living person equal to others. Accordingly, they brought laws against abortion, even in cases of sexual abuse. Furthermore, abortion was considered to be a murder and punishments were meted out to the mother, father, and the person performing it.

Urology and the scientific method in ancient Egypt.

PubMed

Gordetsky, Jennifer; O'Brien, Jeanne

2009-03-01

To examine the practice of urology in ancient Egypt using various sources, including the Edwin Smith and Ebers Papyri. The sources of knowledge of ancient Egyptian medicine include medical papyri, paleopathology, art, and hieroglyphic carvings. A brief overview of the medical system in ancient Egypt was completed, in addition to an examination of the training and specialization of the physician in the ancient world. Urologic diseases treated in ancient Egypt and some of the first documented urologic surgeries are presented. Finally, we studied the role of the physician-priest and the intertwined use of religion and magic in ancient Egyptian medicine. The same medical conditions urologists treat in the office today were methodically documented thousands of years ago. Medical papyri show evidence that the ancient Egyptians practiced medicine using a scientific method based on the clinical observation of disease. This has been exemplified by the Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus, a collection of surgical cases that gives a diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis for each ailment, and the discovery of medical specialization in ancient Egypt, giving us perhaps the world's first urologists. Intertwined with the scientific method was also the rich mysticism and religion of ancient Egypt, which were integral components of the healing process. We present an overview of the practice of urology in ancient Egypt, in terms of both pharmacologic and surgical intervention, as well as with a look into the religion of medicine practiced at that time.

2000 Year-old ancient equids: an ancient-DNA lesson from pompeii remains.

PubMed

Di Bernardo, Giovanni; Del Gaudio, Stefania; Galderisi, Umberto; Cipollaro, Marilena

2004-11-15

Ancient DNA extracted from 2000 year-old equine bones was examined in order to amplify mitochondrial and nuclear DNA fragments. A specific equine satellite-type sequence representing 3.7%-11% of the entire equine genome, proved to be a suitable target to address the question of the presence of aDNA in ancient bones. The PCR strategy designed to investigate this specific target also allowed us to calculate the molecular weight of amplifiable DNA fragments. Sequencing of a 370 bp DNA fragment of mitochondrial control region allowed the comparison of ancient DNA sequences with those of modern horses to assess their genetic relationship. The 16S rRNA mitochondrial gene was also examined to unravel the post-mortem base modification feature and to test the status of Pompeian equids taxon on the basis of a Mae III restriction site polymorphism. Copyright 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

The Nile floodplain, hydroclimatic variability, and its relation with cultural dynamics in ancient Thebes (Luxor, Egypt)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toonen, Willem H. J.; Graham, Angus; Pennington, Ben; Hunter, Morag; Strutt, Kris; Barker, Dominic; Masson, Aurelia; Emery, Virginia

2016-04-01

The western bank of the river Nile in the Luxor region (Egypt) separates New Kingdom divine temple complexes in the central axis of the river valley from contemporaneous sites on the desert edge and limestone plateau. The intermediate Nile floodplain features relatively few known archaeological sites, but played an important role in the ancient ritual landscape by connecting the focal region of the living (floodplain) with that of the dead (desert). All Royal Funerary Temple Complexes of the New Kingdom period (1539-1077 BCE), which played a central role in the cosmogonical landscape, are positioned within a confined 3.5 km long strip of land on the western edge of the present floodplain. This preferential location, together with contemporary textual sources and tomb scenes suggesting the nearby presence of canals, have led to the hypothesis that natural and human-made waterways may have once connected the main channel of the Nile with the desert edge. Until the present research took place, no detailed study of pre-existing channel networks existed in the region, leaving a gap in current knowledge on the configuration and use of the ancient floodplain. This study presents the results of a multi-disciplinary study aimed at mapping and dating ancient waterways in the Theban region and aims to find evidence for the natural or human origin of such channels. Boreholes and Electric Resistivity Tomography (ERT) were carried out along a transect that connects the edge of the Holocene floodplain with the current position of the river Nile. Satellite imagery and textual sources were also used to augment the fieldwork. The data indicate the presence of an infilled abandoned channel of the Nile in the western distal part of the current floodplain, adjoining the Funerary Temple complexes. Over 2100 ceramic fragments were analysed from the sedimentary infilling of the silted-up river course, dating it to the end of the New Kingdom, and indicating that the channel and temples

The Ancients' Appliance of Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stephenson, Philip; Sword, Frances

2004-01-01

An innovative collaboration between the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and the University of Cambridge Faculty of Education encourages new questions to be asked of ancient objects. In the museum galleries children work directly from ancient Egyptian objects through activities designed to encourage questioning that unpicks the technologies of the…

Assessing the Relationship of Ancient and Modern Populations

PubMed Central

Schraiber, Joshua G.

2018-01-01

Genetic material sequenced from ancient samples is revolutionizing our understanding of the recent evolutionary past. However, ancient DNA is often degraded, resulting in low coverage, error-prone sequencing. Several solutions exist to this problem, ranging from simple approach, such as selecting a read at random for each site, to more complicated approaches involving genotype likelihoods. In this work, we present a novel method for assessing the relationship of an ancient sample with a modern population, while accounting for sequencing error and postmortem damage by analyzing raw reads from multiple ancient individuals simultaneously. We show that, when analyzing SNP data, it is better to sequence more ancient samples to low coverage: two samples sequenced to 0.5× coverage provide better resolution than a single sample sequenced to 2× coverage. We also examined the power to detect whether an ancient sample is directly ancestral to a modern population, finding that, with even a few high coverage individuals, even ancient samples that are very slightly diverged from the modern population can be detected with ease. When we applied our approach to European samples, we found that no ancient samples represent direct ancestors of modern Europeans. We also found that, as shown previously, the most ancient Europeans appear to have had the smallest effective population sizes, indicating a role for agriculture in modern population growth. PMID:29167200

What can ancient mummies teach us about atherosclerosis?

PubMed

Wann, Samuel; Thomas, Gregory S

2014-10-01

Ancient mummies have captivated a wide variety of audiences for centuries. In order to better understand the evolution and causative features of atherosclerosis, the Horus group is applying modern scientific methods to study ancient mummies. We have used CT scanning to detect calcification in arteries as an indication of the presence of atherosclerosis, and are correlating these results with cultural and lifestyle features of various populations of ancient people as represented by their ancient mummified remains. We are also pursuing related studies of ancient DNA to define genotypes associated with atherosclerotic phenotypes. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Communication Media in Ancient Cultures.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jabusch, David M.

Interest in early means of communication and in the uses and kinds of media that existed in ancient cultures is starting to grow among communication scholars. Conversation analysis of these cultures is obviously impossible, so that the emphasis must rest with material cultural artifacts. Many ancient cultures used non-verbal codes for dyadic…

Ancient Biomolecules and Evolutionary Inference.

PubMed

Cappellini, Enrico; Prohaska, Ana; Racimo, Fernando; Welker, Frido; Pedersen, Mikkel Winther; Allentoft, Morten E; de Barros Damgaard, Peter; Gutenbrunner, Petra; Dunne, Julie; Hammann, Simon; Roffet-Salque, Mélanie; Ilardo, Melissa; Moreno-Mayar, J Víctor; Wang, Yucheng; Sikora, Martin; Vinner, Lasse; Cox, Jürgen; Evershed, Richard P; Willerslev, Eske

2018-04-25

Over the last decade, studies of ancient biomolecules-particularly ancient DNA, proteins, and lipids-have revolutionized our understanding of evolutionary history. Though initially fraught with many challenges, the field now stands on firm foundations. Researchers now successfully retrieve nucleotide and amino acid sequences, as well as lipid signatures, from progressively older samples, originating from geographic areas and depositional environments that, until recently, were regarded as hostile to long-term preservation of biomolecules. Sampling frequencies and the spatial and temporal scope of studies have also increased markedly, and with them the size and quality of the data sets generated. This progress has been made possible by continuous technical innovations in analytical methods, enhanced criteria for the selection of ancient samples, integrated experimental methods, and advanced computational approaches. Here, we discuss the history and current state of ancient biomolecule research, its applications to evolutionary inference, and future directions for this young and exciting field. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Biochemistry Volume 87 is June 20, 2018. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

The ancient art of laying rope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bohr, J.; Olsen, K.

2011-03-01

We describe a geometrical property of helical structures and show how it accounts for the early art of rope-making. Helices have a maximum number of rotations that can be added to them — and it is shown that this is a geometrical feature, not a material property. This geometrical insight explains why nearly identically appearing ropes can be made from very different materials and it is also the reason behind the unyielding nature of ropes. Maximally rotated strands behave as zero-twist structures. Hence, under strain they neither rotate in one direction nor in the other. The necessity for the rope to be stretched while being laid, known from Egyptian tomb scenes, follows straightforwardly, as does the function of the top, an old tool for laying ropes.

Ancient "Observatories" - A Relevant Concept?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belmonte, Juan Antonio

It is quite common, when reading popular books on astronomy, to see a place referred to as "the oldest observatory in the world". In addition, numerous books on archaeoastronomy, of various levels of quality, frequently refer to the existence of "prehistoric" or "ancient" observatories when describing or citing monuments that were certainly not built with the primary purpose of observing the skies. Internet sources are also guilty of this practice. In this chapter, the different meanings of the word observatory will be analyzed, looking at how their significances can be easily confused or even interchanged. The proclaimed "ancient observatories" are a typical result of this situation. Finally, the relevance of the concept of the ancient observatory will be evaluated.

Endocrinology in ancient Sparta.

PubMed

Tsoulogiannis, Ioannis N; Spandidos, Demetrios A

2007-01-01

This article attempts to analyze the crucial link between the plant Agnus castus and human health, particularly hormonal status, with special reference to the needs of the society of ancient Sparta. The ancient Spartans used Agnus both as a cure for infertility and as a remedy to treat battle wounds. These special properties were recognized by the sanctuary of Asclepios Agnita, which was located in Sparta, as well as by medical practitioners in Sparta during the classical, Hellenistic and Roman ages.

New developments in ancient genomics.

PubMed

Millar, Craig D; Huynen, Leon; Subramanian, Sankar; Mohandesan, Elmira; Lambert, David M

2008-07-01

Ancient DNA research is on the crest of a 'third wave' of progress due to the introduction of a new generation of DNA sequencing technologies. Here we review the advantages and disadvantages of the four new DNA sequencers that are becoming available to researchers. These machines now allow the recovery of orders of magnitude more DNA sequence data, albeit as short sequence reads. Hence, the potential reassembly of complete ancient genomes seems imminent, and when used to screen libraries of ancient sequences, these methods are cost effective. This new wealth of data is also likely to herald investigations into the functional properties of extinct genes and gene complexes and will improve our understanding of the biological basis of extinct phenotypes.

Comparative scaffolding and gap filling of ancient bacterial genomes applied to two ancient Yersinia pestis genomes

PubMed Central

Doerr, Daniel; Chauve, Cedric

2017-01-01

Yersinia pestis is the causative agent of the bubonic plague, a disease responsible for several dramatic historical pandemics. Progress in ancient DNA (aDNA) sequencing rendered possible the sequencing of whole genomes of important human pathogens, including the ancient Y. pestis strains responsible for outbreaks of the bubonic plague in London in the 14th century and in Marseille in the 18th century, among others. However, aDNA sequencing data are still characterized by short reads and non-uniform coverage, so assembling ancient pathogen genomes remains challenging and often prevents a detailed study of genome rearrangements. It has recently been shown that comparative scaffolding approaches can improve the assembly of ancient Y. pestis genomes at a chromosome level. In the present work, we address the last step of genome assembly, the gap-filling stage. We describe an optimization-based method AGapEs (ancestral gap estimation) to fill in inter-contig gaps using a combination of a template obtained from related extant genomes and aDNA reads. We show how this approach can be used to refine comparative scaffolding by selecting contig adjacencies supported by a mix of unassembled aDNA reads and comparative signal. We applied our method to two Y. pestis data sets from the London and Marseilles outbreaks, for which we obtained highly improved genome assemblies for both genomes, comprised of, respectively, five and six scaffolds with 95 % of the assemblies supported by ancient reads. We analysed the genome evolution between both ancient genomes in terms of genome rearrangements, and observed a high level of synteny conservation between these strains. PMID:29114402

Rock-fall hazard in the Etruscan archaeological site of Norchia (Central Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Margottini, Claudio; Spizzichino, Daniele; Argento, Alessia; Russo, Alfonsina

2016-04-01

The ancient Etruscan town of Norchia (Central Italy, 80 km North of Rome) is situated on a long volcanic plateau surrounded by steep slopes, at the confluence of rivers Pile and Acqua Alta into the river Biedano. It has been constructed along the ancient Via Clodia, a short-range route intended for commercial traffic between Rome and the colonies in Etruscan lands. The flourishing of the town, evidenced by the beautiful necropolis, is placed between the end of the fourth and half of the second century BC. With its necropolis Norchia is the most significant example of funerary architecture rock Hellenistic period (IV-II century BC.). Its rock-cut tombs, are among the most important archaeological sites of Etruscan civilisation. They are an important and rare example of rock architecture and one of the few preserved in Italy. Also, the necropolis, with an extension of more than 100 hectares, is composed of rock-cut tombs of various types (façade, half-cube, false-cube and temple type) and dimensions (4-10 m in height), exhibiting a remarkable similarity with Asian tombs. From geological point of view, the area is exhibiting the overly of rigid volcanic products from both Vico and Volsini volcanic apparatus; as a bedrock, a plastic clay formation is positioned. The rock-cut tombs were excavated on two main volcanic levels, following the natural profile of tuff outcrops. The tombs located in the upper part of the necropolis have been excavated in a Red Tuff from Vico volcanic district, while those in lower level are dug in a grey tuff (Nenfro) from Vulsini volcanic apparatus. Recent investigations revealed the presence of many threats affecting the conservation of the site, that are including: surface rock weathering, water percolation and infiltration, surface vegetation and biological colonisation, instability and collapse of the cliff. The purpose of this study is mainly focused to verify whether the geological, geomorphological and geomechanical processes that

[Psychiatry in ancient Mexico].

PubMed

Calderón Narváez, G

1992-12-01

Using studies on prehispanic and early post-conquest documents of Ancient Mexico--such as the Badianus Manuscript, also known as Libellus de Medicinalibus Indorum Herbis, and Brother Bernardino de Sahagún's famous work History of the Things of the New Spain, a description of some existing medical and psychiatric problems, and treatments Ancient Aztecs resorted to, is presented. The structure of the Aztec family, their problems with the excessive ingestion of alcoholic beverages, and the punishments native authorities had implemented in order to check alcoholism up are also described.

Starting Point: A Proposed Framework for Unconventional Warfare Planning

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-06-01

beginning in 2010 saw regime changes in numerous Middle Eastern countries such as; Egypt , Tunisia and Libya. In 2013, Thailand saw uprisings...Poland, 22. 114 Peggy Noonan, “We Want God ,” Wall Street Journal, April 7, 2005, http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB122479408458463941. 115 Ibid... ancient and contemporary history of Poland this tomb has a special basis, a special reason for its existence. In how many places in our native land has

Neonatal medicine in ancient art.

PubMed

Yurdakök, Murat

2010-01-01

There are a limited number of artistic objects from ancient times with particular importance in neonatal medicine. The best examples are figurines from ancient Egypt of Isis nursing Horus, showing the importance of breastfeeding. The earliest images of the human fetus were made by the Olmecs in Mexico around 1200- 400 BCE. One of the earliest representations of congenital anomalies is a figurine of diencephalic twins thought to be the goddess of Anatolia, dated to around 6500 BCE. In addition to these figurines, three sets of twins in the ancient world have medical importance, and Renaissance artists often used them as a subject for their paintings: "direct suckling animals" (Romulus and Remus), "heteropaternal superfecundation" (mother: Leda, fathers: Zeus, the king of the Olympian gods, and Leda's husband, Tyndareus), and "twin-to-twin transfusion" in monozygotic twins (Jacob and Esau).

Re-discovering ancient wheat varieties as functional foods.

PubMed

Cooper, Raymond

2015-07-01

With the gluten-free food market worth almost $1.6 bn in 2011, there is every reason for renewed interest in ancient grains. This resurgent interest is expressed in re-discovering ancient varieties as functional foods. In particular, people affected by celiac disease have to avoid all gluten in their diet and several ancient grains may offer an important alternative.

Suicide in ancient Greece.

PubMed

Laios, K; Tsoukalas, G; Kontaxaki, M-I; Karamanou, M; Androutsos, G

2014-01-01

The theme of suicide appears several times in ancient Greek literature. However, each such reference acquires special significance depending on the field from which it originates. Most of the information found in mythology, but the suicide in a mythological tale, although in terms of motivation and mental situation of heroes may be in imitation of similar incidents of real life, in fact is linked with the principles of the ancient Greek religion. In ancient drama and mainly in tragedies suicide conduces to the tragic hypostasis of the heroes and to the evolution of the plot and also is a tool in order to be presented the ideas of poets for the relations of the gods, the relation among gods and men and the relation among the men. In ancient Greek philosophy there were the deniers of suicide, who were more concerned about the impact of suicide on society and also these who accepted it, recognizing the right of the individual to put an end to his life, in order to avoid personal misfortunes. Real suicides will be found mostly from historical sources, but most of them concern leading figures of the ancient world. Closer to the problem of suicide in the everyday life of antiquity are ancient Greek medicines, who studied the phenomenon more general without references to specific incidents. Doctors did not approve in principal the suicide and dealt with it as insane behavior in the development of the mental diseases, of melancholia and mania. They considered that the discrepancy of humors in the organ of logic in the human body will cause malfunction, which will lead to the absurdity and consequently to suicide, either due to excessive concentration of black bile in melancholia or due to yellow bile in mania. They believed that greater risk to commit suicide had women, young people and the elderly. As therapy they used the drugs of their time with the intention to induce calm and repression in the ill person, therefore they mainly used mandragora. In general, we would say

Effect of ancient population structure on the degree of polymorphism shared between modern human populations and ancient hominins.

PubMed

Eriksson, Anders; Manica, Andrea

2012-08-28

Recent comparisons between anatomically modern humans and ancient genomes of other hominins have raised the tantalizing, and hotly debated, possibility of hybridization. Although several tests of hybridization have been devised, they all rely on the degree to which different modern populations share genetic polymorphisms with the ancient genomes of other hominins. However, spatial population structure is expected to generate genetic patterns similar to those that might be attributed to hybridization. To investigate this problem, we take Neanderthals as a case study, and build a spatially explicit model of the shared history of anatomically modern humans and this hominin. We show that the excess polymorphism shared between Eurasians and Neanderthals is compatible with scenarios in which no hybridization occurred, and is strongly linked to the strength of population structure in ancient populations. Thus, we recommend caution in inferring admixture from geographic patterns of shared polymorphisms, and argue that future attempts to investigate ancient hybridization between humans and other hominins should explicitly account for population structure.

Evolutionary Patterns and Processes: Lessons from Ancient DNA.

PubMed

Leonardi, Michela; Librado, Pablo; Der Sarkissian, Clio; Schubert, Mikkel; Alfarhan, Ahmed H; Alquraishi, Saleh A; Al-Rasheid, Khaled A S; Gamba, Cristina; Willerslev, Eske; Orlando, Ludovic

2017-01-01

Ever since its emergence in 1984, the field of ancient DNA has struggled to overcome the challenges related to the decay of DNA molecules in the fossil record. With the recent development of high-throughput DNA sequencing technologies and molecular techniques tailored to ultra-damaged templates, it has now come of age, merging together approaches in phylogenomics, population genomics, epigenomics, and metagenomics. Leveraging on complete temporal sample series, ancient DNA provides direct access to the most important dimension in evolution—time, allowing a wealth of fundamental evolutionary processes to be addressed at unprecedented resolution. This review taps into the most recent findings in ancient DNA research to present analyses of ancient genomic and metagenomic data.

Evolutionary Patterns and Processes: Lessons from Ancient DNA

PubMed Central

Leonardi, Michela; Librado, Pablo; Der Sarkissian, Clio; Schubert, Mikkel; Alfarhan, Ahmed H.; Alquraishi, Saleh A.; Al-Rasheid, Khaled A. S.; Gamba, Cristina; Willerslev, Eske

2017-01-01

Abstract Ever since its emergence in 1984, the field of ancient DNA has struggled to overcome the challenges related to the decay of DNA molecules in the fossil record. With the recent development of high-throughput DNA sequencing technologies and molecular techniques tailored to ultra-damaged templates, it has now come of age, merging together approaches in phylogenomics, population genomics, epigenomics, and metagenomics. Leveraging on complete temporal sample series, ancient DNA provides direct access to the most important dimension in evolution—time, allowing a wealth of fundamental evolutionary processes to be addressed at unprecedented resolution. This review taps into the most recent findings in ancient DNA research to present analyses of ancient genomic and metagenomic data. PMID:28173586

Deep Sequencing of RNA from Ancient Maize Kernels

PubMed Central

Rasmussen, Morten; Cappellini, Enrico; Romero-Navarro, J. Alberto; Wales, Nathan; Alquezar-Planas, David E.; Penfield, Steven; Brown, Terence A.; Vielle-Calzada, Jean-Philippe; Montiel, Rafael; Jørgensen, Tina; Odegaard, Nancy; Jacobs, Michael; Arriaza, Bernardo; Higham, Thomas F. G.; Ramsey, Christopher Bronk; Willerslev, Eske; Gilbert, M. Thomas P.

2013-01-01

The characterization of biomolecules from ancient samples can shed otherwise unobtainable insights into the past. Despite the fundamental role of transcriptomal change in evolution, the potential of ancient RNA remains unexploited – perhaps due to dogma associated with the fragility of RNA. We hypothesize that seeds offer a plausible refuge for long-term RNA survival, due to the fundamental role of RNA during seed germination. Using RNA-Seq on cDNA synthesized from nucleic acid extracts, we validate this hypothesis through demonstration of partial transcriptomal recovery from two sources of ancient maize kernels. The results suggest that ancient seed transcriptomics may offer a powerful new tool with which to study plant domestication. PMID:23326310

Twins in Ancient Greece: a synopsis.

PubMed

Malamitsi-Puchner, Ariadne

2016-01-01

This brief outline associates twins with several aspects of life in Ancient Greece. In Greek mythology twins caused ambivalent reactions and were believed to have ambivalent feelings for each other. Very often, they were viewed as the representatives of the dualistic nature of the universe. Heteropaternal superfecundation, which dominates in ancient myths, explains on one hand, the god-like qualities and, on the other hand, the mortal nature of many twins. An assumption is presented that legends referring to twins might reflect the territorial expansions of Ancient Greeks in Northern Mediterranean, around the Black Sea, in Asia Minor, as well as North East Africa. In conclusion, in Greek antiquity, twins have been used as transitional figures between myth and reality.

Evidence for long-lived subduction of an ancient tectonic plate beneath the southern Indian Ocean: Ancient Slab Beneath the Indian Ocean

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Simmons, N. A.; Myers, S. C.; Johannesson, G.

In this study, ancient subducted tectonic plates have been observed in past seismic images of the mantle beneath North America and Eurasia, and it is likely that other ancient slab structures have remained largely hidden, particularly in the seismic-data-limited regions beneath the vast oceans in the Southern Hemisphere. Here we present a new global tomographic image, which shows a slab-like structure beneath the southern Indian Ocean with coherency from the upper mantle to the core-mantle boundary region—a feature that has never been identified. We postulate that the structure is an ancient tectonic plate that sank into the mantle along anmore » extensive intraoceanic subduction zone that migrated southwestward across the ancient Tethys Ocean in the Mesozoic Era. Slab material still trapped in the transition zone is positioned near the edge of East Gondwana at 140 Ma suggesting that subduction terminated near the margin of the ancient continent prior to breakup and subsequent dispersal of its subcontinents.« less

Evidence for long-lived subduction of an ancient tectonic plate beneath the southern Indian Ocean: Ancient Slab Beneath the Indian Ocean

DOE PAGES

Simmons, N. A.; Myers, S. C.; Johannesson, G.; ...

2015-11-14

In this study, ancient subducted tectonic plates have been observed in past seismic images of the mantle beneath North America and Eurasia, and it is likely that other ancient slab structures have remained largely hidden, particularly in the seismic-data-limited regions beneath the vast oceans in the Southern Hemisphere. Here we present a new global tomographic image, which shows a slab-like structure beneath the southern Indian Ocean with coherency from the upper mantle to the core-mantle boundary region—a feature that has never been identified. We postulate that the structure is an ancient tectonic plate that sank into the mantle along anmore » extensive intraoceanic subduction zone that migrated southwestward across the ancient Tethys Ocean in the Mesozoic Era. Slab material still trapped in the transition zone is positioned near the edge of East Gondwana at 140 Ma suggesting that subduction terminated near the margin of the ancient continent prior to breakup and subsequent dispersal of its subcontinents.« less

Ancient DNA and the tropics: a rodent's tale.

PubMed

Gutiérrez-García, Tania A; Vázquez-Domínguez, Ella; Arroyo-Cabrales, Joaquín; Kuch, Melanie; Enk, Jacob; King, Christine; Poinar, Hendrik N

2014-06-01

Most genetic studies of Holocene fauna have been performed with ancient samples from dry and cold regions, in which preservation of fossils is facilitated and molecular damage is reduced. Ancient DNA work from tropical regions has been precluded owing to factors that limit DNA preservation (e.g. temperature, hydrolytic damage). We analysed ancient DNA from rodent jawbones identified as Ototylomys phyllotis, found in Holocene and Late Pleistocene stratigraphic layers from Loltún, a humid tropical cave located in the Yucatan peninsula. We extracted DNA and amplified six short overlapping fragments of the cytochrome b gene, totalling 666 bp, which represents an unprecedented success considering tropical ancient DNA samples. We performed genetic, phylogenetic and divergence time analyses, combining sequences from ancient and modern O. phyllotis, in order to assess the ancestry of the Loltún samples. Results show that all ancient samples fall into a unique clade that diverged prior to the divergence of the modern O. phyllotis, supporting it as a distinct Pleistocene form of the Ototylomys genus. Hence, this rodent's tale suggests that the sister group to modern O. phyllotis arose during the Miocene-Pliocene, diversified during the Pleistocene and went extinct in the Holocene. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

The Ancient Kemetic Roots of Library and Information Science.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zulu, Itibari M.

This paper argues that the ancient people of Kemet (Egypt), "the black land," built and operated the first major libraries and institutions of higher education in the world. Topics of discussion include the Ancient Egyptians as an African people; a chronology of Ancient Kemet; literature in Kemet; a history of Egyptian Librarianship; the…

Microbiology of ancient and modern hydrothermal systems.

PubMed

Reysenbach, A L; Cady, S L

2001-02-01

Hydrothermal systems have prevailed throughout geological history on earth, and ancient ARCHAEAN hydrothermal deposits could provide clues to understanding earth's earliest biosphere. Modern hydrothermal systems support a plethora of microorganisms and macroorganisms, and provide good comparisons for paleontological interpretation of ancient hydrothermal systems. However, all of the microfossils associated with ancient hydrothermal deposits reported to date are filamentous, and limited STABLE ISOTOPE analysis suggests that these microfossils were probably autotrophs. Therefore, the morphology and mode of carbon metabolism are attributes of microorganisms from modern hydrothermal systems that provide valuable information for interpreting the geological record using morphological and isotopic signatures.

Characterizing avulsion stratigraphy in ancient alluvial deposits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, H. L.; Hajek, E. A.

2007-11-01

Guidelines for identifying ancient avulsion deposits were set forth by Kraus and Wells [Kraus, M.J., Wells, T.M., 1999. Recognizing avulsion deposits in the ancient stratigraphical record. In: Smith, N.D., Rogers, J. (Eds.), Fluvial Sedimentology VI, Special Publication of the International Association of Sedimentologists, vol. 28, pp. 251-268], building on the study by Smith et al. [Smith, N.D., Cross, T.A., Dufficy, J.P., Clough, S.R., 1989. Anatomy of an avulsion. Sedimentology 36, 1-23] of the modern Saskatchewan River system (Cumberland Marshes, central Canada), and serve to characterize avulsion depositional sequences in the ancient Willwood and Fort Union Formations (Paleogene, Bighorn Basin, NW Wyoming, USA). We recognize, however, that the model is not universally applicable to avulsion-dominated successions, specifically systems which lack defining "heterolithic avulsion deposits", set forth by Kraus and Wells [Kraus, M.J., Wells, T.M., 1999. Recognizing avulsion deposits in the ancient stratigraphical record. In: Smith, N.D., Rogers, J. (Eds.), Fluvial Sedimentology VI, Special Publication of the International Association of Sedimentologists, vol. 28, pp. 251-268]. Observations in several fluvial intervals suggest that the avulsion stratigraphy outlined by Kraus and Wells [Kraus, M.J., Wells, T.M., 1999. Recognizing avulsion deposits in the ancient stratigraphical record. In: Smith, N.D., Rogers, J. (Eds.), Fluvial Sedimentology VI, Special Publication of the International Association of Sedimentologists, vol. 28, pp. 251-268] represents one category of avulsion stratigraphy found in the rock record, but does not capture the nature of avulsion deposits everywhere. Based on observations (using measured sections, outcrop photo-panels, and aerial photographs) in the Willwood Formation (Eocene, Wyoming) and Ferris Formation (Cretaceous/Paleogene, Wyoming), we present two end-member categories of avulsion stratigraphy in ancient deposits; stratigraphically

The thyroid gland in ancient Greece: a historical perspective.

PubMed

Konstantinidou, Sevasti; Konstantinidou, Eirini

2018-06-19

Thyroidology is a discipline of Endocrinology which has evolved markedly over the past few decades. However, its historical roots can be seen in the literature of, among others, ancient Greek medicine. In the present article, we present the descriptions of the thyroid gland by ancient Greek physicians and its depiction in ancient Greek art.

The orthopedic diseases of ancient Egypt.

PubMed

Fritsch, Klaus O; Hamoud, Heshem; Allam, Adel H; Grossmann, Alexander; Nur El-Din, Abdel-Halim; Abdel-Maksoud, Gomaa; Soliman, Muhammad Al-Tohamy; Badr, Ibrahim; Sutherland, James D; Sutherland, M Linda; Akl, Mahmoud; Finch, Caleb E; Thomas, Gregory S; Wann, L Samuel; Thompson, Randall C

2015-06-01

CT scanning of ancient human remains has the potential to provide insights into health and diseases. While Egyptian mummies have undergone CT scans in prior studies, a systematic survey of the orthopedic conditions afflicting a group of these ancient individuals has never been carried out. We performed whole body CT scanning on 52 ancient Egyptian mummies using technique comparable to that of medical imaging. All of the large joints and the spine were systematically examined and osteoarthritic (OA) changes were scored 0-4 using Kellgren and Lawrence classification. The cruciate ligaments and menisci could be identified frequently. There were much more frequent OA changes in the spine (25 mummies) than in the large joints (15 cases of acromioclavicular and/or glenohumeral joint OA changes, five involvement of the ankle, one in the elbow, four in the knee, and one in the hip). There were six cases of scoliosis. Individual mummies had the following conditions: juvenile aseptic necrosis of the hip (Perthes disease), stage 4 osteochondritis dissecans of the knee, vertebral compression fracture, lateral patella-femoral joint hyper-compression syndrome, severe rotator cuff arthropathy, rotator cuff impingement, hip pincer impingement, and combined fracture of the greater trochantor and vertebral bodies indicating obvious traumatic injury. This report includes the most ancient discovery of several of these syndromes. Ancient Egyptians often suffered painful orthopedic conditions. The high frequency of scoliosis merits further study. The pattern of degenerative changes in the spine and joints may offer insights into activity levels of these people. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Genetic Diversity among Ancient Nordic Populations

PubMed Central

Melchior, Linea; Lynnerup, Niels; Siegismund, Hans R.; Kivisild, Toomas; Dissing, Jørgen

2010-01-01

Using established criteria for work with fossil DNA we have analysed mitochondrial DNA from 92 individuals from 18 locations in Denmark ranging in time from the Mesolithic to the Medieval Age. Unequivocal assignment of mtDNA haplotypes was possible for 56 of the ancient individuals; however, the success rate varied substantially between sites; the highest rates were obtained with untouched, freshly excavated material, whereas heavy handling, archeological preservation and storage for many years influenced the ability to obtain authentic endogenic DNA. While the nucleotide diversity at two locations was similar to that among extant Danes, the diversity at four sites was considerably higher. This supports previous observations for ancient Britons. The overall occurrence of haplogroups did not deviate from extant Scandinavians, however, haplogroup I was significantly more frequent among the ancient Danes (average 13%) than among extant Danes and Scandinavians (∼2.5%) as well as among other ancient population samples reported. Haplogroup I could therefore have been an ancient Southern Scandinavian type “diluted” by later immigration events. Interestingly, the two Neolithic samples (4,200 YBP, Bell Beaker culture) that were typed were haplogroup U4 and U5a, respectively, and the single Bronze Age sample (3,300–3,500 YBP) was haplogroup U4. These two haplogroups have been associated with the Mesolithic populations of Central and Northern Europe. Therefore, at least for Southern Scandinavia, our findings do not support a possible replacement of a haplogroup U dominated hunter-gatherer population by a more haplogroup diverse Neolithic Culture. PMID:20689597

Ancient and modern women in the "Woman's World".

PubMed

Hurst, Isobel

2009-01-01

Under the editorship of Oscar Wilde, the "Woman's World" exemplified the popular dissemination of Hellenism through periodical culture. Addressing topics such as marriage, politics, and education in relation to the lives of women in the ancient world, the magazine offered an unfamiliar version of the reception of ancient Greece and Rome in late-Victorian aestheticism, one that was accessible to a wide readership because it was often based on images rather than texts. The classical scholar Jane Ellen Harrison addressed herself to this audience of women readers, discussing the similarities between modern collegiate life and the "woman's world" that enabled Sappho to flourish in ancient Greece. The "Woman's World" thus questions gender stereotypes by juxtaposing ancient and modern women, implicitly endorsing varied models of womanhood.

No rheumatoid arthritis in ancient Egypt: a reappraisal.

PubMed

Kwiecinski, Jakub; Rothschild, Bruce M

2016-06-01

Antiquity of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) remains controversial, and its origins in Americas or in the Old World are disputed. Proponents of the latter frequently refer to RA in ancient Egypt, but validity of those claims has never been examined. Review of all reported RA cases from ancient Egypt revealed that none of them represent real RA, instead being either examples of changing naming conventions or of imprecise diagnostic criteria. Most cases represented osteoarthritis or spondyloarthropathies. Also review of preserved ancient Egyptian medical writings revealed many descriptions of musculoskeletal disorders, but none of them resembled RA. This suggests that RA was absent in ancient Egypt and supports the hypothesis of the New World origin of RA and its subsequent global spread in the last several centuries.

snpAD: An ancient DNA genotype caller.

PubMed

Prüfer, Kay

2018-06-21

The study of ancient genomes can elucidate the evolutionary past. However, analyses are complicated by base-modifications in ancient DNA molecules that result in errors in DNA sequences. These errors are particularly common near the ends of sequences and pose a challenge for genotype calling. I describe an iterative method that estimates genotype frequencies and errors along sequences to allow for accurate genotype calling from ancient sequences. The implementation of this method, called snpAD, performs well on high-coverage ancient data, as shown by simulations and by subsampling the data of a high-coverage Neandertal genome. Although estimates for low-coverage genomes are less accurate, I am able to derive approximate estimates of heterozygosity from several low-coverage Neandertals. These estimates show that low heterozygosity, compared to modern humans, was common among Neandertals. The C ++ code of snpAD is freely available at http://bioinf.eva.mpg.de/snpAD/. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Defining Astrology in Ancient and Classical History

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Campion, Nicholas

2015-05-01

Astrology in the ancient and classical worlds can be partly defined by its role, and partly by the way in which scholars spoke about it. The problem is complicated by the fact that the word is Greek - it has no Babylonian or Egyptian cognates - and even in Greece it was interchangeable with its cousin, 'astronomy'. Yet if we are to understand the role of the sky, stars and planets in culture, debates about the nature of ancient astrology, by both classical and modern scholars, must be taken into account. This talk will consider modern scholars' typologies of ancient astrology, together with ancient debates from Cicero in the 1st century BC, to Plotinus (204/5-270 AD) and Isidore of Seville (c. 560 - 4 April 636). It will consider the implications for our understanding of astronomy's role in culture, and conclude that in the classical period astrology may be best understood through its diversity and allegiance to competing philosophies, and that its functions were therefore similarly varied.

Microanalysis study on ancient Wiangkalong Pottery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Won-in, K.; Tancharakorn, S.; Dararutana, P.

2017-09-01

Wiangkalong is one of major ceramic production cities in northern of Thailand, once colonized by the ancient Lanna Kingdom (1290 A.D.). Ancient Wiangkalong potteries were produced with shapes and designs as similar as those of the Chinese Yuan and Ming Dynasties. Due to the complex nature of materials and objects, extremely sensitive, spatially resolved, multi-elemental and versatile analytical instruments using non-destructive and non-sampling methods to analyze theirs composition are need. In this work, micro-beam X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy based on synchrotron radiation was firstly used to characterize the elemental composition of the ancient Wiangkalong pottery. The results showed the variations in elemental composition of the body matrix, the glaze and the underglaze painting, such as K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn and Fe.

Studies in Continuity and Change: A Comparative Study of the Mother Goddess in Ancient India and Ancient Egypt.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hardiman, W. J.

Visiting the Temple of Kali in Calcutta, India, one understands the importance of an Afro-centric methodology in describing the complex nature of the Mother Goddess in ancient India. Discoveries of ancient female figurines indicate an early Indian concept of the female role in the creation of civilization and culture and of the notion of the…

Attitudes Toward Deviant Sex in Ancient Mesopotamia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bullough, Vern L.

1971-01-01

The article concludes that the whole question of sexual life in ancient Mesopotamia is difficult to reconstruct and fraught with many uncertainties. Nevertheless, it seems certain that the ancient Mesopotamians had fewer prohibitions against sex than our own civilization, and regarded as acceptable many practices which later societies condemned.…

Legacy of the Ancient World: An Educational Guide. Understanding Ancient Culture through Art at the Tampa Museum of Art.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whitelaw, R. Lynn

Among the many contributions made by Ancient Greeks and Romans to contemporary life, are those which influence art, architecture, literature, philosophy, mathematics and science, theater, athletics, religion, and the founding of democracy. The Tampa Museum of Art's classical collection offers a unique opportunity to learn about Ancient Greeks and…

Design and development of an ancient Chinese document recognition system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Liangrui; Xiu, Pingping; Ding, Xiaoqing

2003-12-01

The digitization of ancient Chinese documents presents new challenges to OCR (Optical Character Recognition) research field due to the large character set of ancient Chinese characters, variant font types, and versatile document layout styles, as these documents are historical reflections to the thousands of years of Chinese civilization. After analyzing the general characteristics of ancient Chinese documents, we present a solution for recognition of ancient Chinese documents with regular font-types and layout-styles. Based on the previous work on multilingual OCR in TH-OCR system, we focus on the design and development of two key technologies which include character recognition and page segmentation. Experimental results show that the developed character recognition kernel of 19,635 Chinese characters outperforms our original traditional Chinese recognition kernel; Benchmarked test on printed ancient Chinese books proves that the proposed system is effective for regular ancient Chinese documents.

Ancient DNA analysis reveals woolly rhino evolutionary relationships.

PubMed

Orlando, Ludovic; Leonard, Jennifer A; Thenot, Aurélie; Laudet, Vincent; Guerin, Claude; Hänni, Catherine

2003-09-01

With ancient DNA technology, DNA sequences have been added to the list of characters available to infer the phyletic position of extinct species in evolutionary trees. We have sequenced the entire 12S rRNA and partial cytochrome b (cyt b) genes of one 60-70,000-year-old sample, and partial 12S rRNA and cyt b sequences of two 40-45,000-year-old samples of the extinct woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis). Based on these two mitochondrial markers, phylogenetic analyses show that C. antiquitatis is most closely related to one of the three extant Asian rhinoceros species, Dicerorhinus sumatrensis. Calculations based on a molecular clock suggest that the lineage leading to C. antiquitatis and D. sumatrensis diverged in the Oligocene, 21-26 MYA. Both results agree with morphological models deduced from palaeontological data. Nuclear inserts of mitochondrial DNA were identified in the ancient specimens. These data should encourage the use of nuclear DNA in future ancient DNA studies. It also further establishes that the degraded nature of ancient DNA does not completely protect ancient DNA studies based on mitochondrial data from the problems associated with nuclear inserts.

The ancient lunar crust, Apollo 17 region

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

James, O. B.

1992-01-01

The Apollo 17 highland collection is dominated by fragment-laden melt rocks, generally thought to represent impact melt from the Serenitatis basin-forming impact. Fortunately for our understanding of the lunar crust, the melt rocks contain unmelted clasts of preexisting rocks. Similar ancient rocks are also found in the regolith; most are probably clasts eroded out of melt rocks. The ancient rocks can be divided into groups by age, composition, and history. Oldest are plutonic igneous rocks, representing the magmatic components of the ancient crust. The younger are granulitic breccias, which are thoroughly recrystallized rocks of diverse parentages. The youngest are KREEPy basalts and felsites, products of relatively evolved magmas. Some characteristics of each group are given.

Ancient human microbiomes

PubMed Central

Warinner, Christina; Speller, Camilla; Collins, Matthew J.; Lewis, Cecil M.

2015-01-01

Very recently, we discovered a vast new microbial self: the human microbiome. Our native microbiota interface with our biology and culture to influence our health, behavior, and quality of life, and yet we know very little about their origin, evolution, or ecology. With the advent of industrialization, globalization, and modern sanitation, it is intuitive that we have changed our relationship with microbes, but we have little information about the ancestral state of our microbiome, and therefore, we lack a foundation for characterizing this change. High-throughput sequencing has opened up new opportunities in the field of paleomicrobiology, allowing us to investigate the evolution of the complex microbial ecologies that inhabit our bodies. By focusing on recent coprolite and dental calculus research, we explore how emerging research on ancient human microbiomes is changing the way we think about ancient disease and how archaeological studies can contribute to a medical understanding of health and nutrition today. PMID:25559298

Dreams in ancient Greek Medicine.

PubMed

Laios, K; Moschos, M M; Koukaki, E; Vasilopoulos, E; Karamanou, M; Kontaxaki, M-I; Androutsos, G

2016-01-01

Dreams preoccupied the Greek and Roman world in antiquity, therefore they had a prominent role in social, philosophical, religious, historical and political life of those times. They were considered as omens and prophetic signs of future events in private and public life, and that was particularly accentuated when elements of actions which took place in the plot of dreams were associated directly or indirectly with real events. This is why it was important to use them in divination, and helped the growth of superstition and folklore believes. Medicine as a science and an anthropocentric art, could not ignore the importance of dreams, having in mind their popularity in antiquity. In ancient Greek medicine dreams can be divided into two basic categories. In the first one -which is related to religious medicine-dreams experienced by religionists are classified, when resorted to great religious sanctuaries such as those of Asclepius (Asclepieia) and Amphiaraos (Amfiaraeia). These dreams were the essential element for healing in this form of religious medicine, because after pilgrims underwent purifications they went to sleep in a special dwelling of the sanctuaries called "enkoimeterion" (Greek: the place to sleep) so that the healing god would come to their dreams either to cure them or to suggest treatment. In ancient Greek literature there are many reports of these experiences, but if there may be phenomena of self-suggestion, or they could be characterized as propaganda messages from the priesthood of each sanctuary for advertising purposes. The other category concerns the references about dreams found in ancient Greek medical literature, where one can find the attempts of ancient Greek physicians to interpret these dreams in a rational way as sings either of a corporal disease or of psychological distress. This second category will be the object of our study. Despite the different ways followed by each ancient Greek physician in order to explain dreams, their

Non-Destructive Sampling of Ancient Insect DNA

PubMed Central

Thomsen, Philip Francis; Elias, Scott; Gilbert, M. Thomas P.; Haile, James; Munch, Kasper; Kuzmina, Svetlana; Froese, Duane G.; Holdaway, Richard N.; Willerslev, Eske

2009-01-01

Background A major challenge for ancient DNA (aDNA) studies on insect remains is that sampling procedures involve at least partial destruction of the specimens. A recent extraction protocol reveals the possibility of obtaining DNA from past insect remains without causing visual morphological damage. We test the applicability of this protocol on historic museum beetle specimens dating back to AD 1820 and on ancient beetle chitin remains from permafrost (permanently frozen soil) dating back more than 47,000 years. Finally, we test the possibility of obtaining ancient insect DNA directly from non-frozen sediments deposited 3280-1800 years ago - an alternative approach that also does not involve destruction of valuable material. Methodology/Principal Findings The success of the methodological approaches are tested by PCR and sequencing of COI and 16S mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) fragments of 77–204 base pairs (-bp) in size using species-specific and general insect primers. Conclusion/Significance The applied non-destructive DNA extraction method shows promising potential on insect museum specimens of historical age as far back as AD 1820, but less so on the ancient permafrost-preserved insect fossil remains tested, where DNA was obtained from samples up to ca. 26,000 years old. The non-frozen sediment DNA approach appears to have great potential for recording the former presence of insect taxa not normally preserved as macrofossils and opens new frontiers in research on ancient biodiversity. PMID:19337382

Is atherosclerosis fundamental to human aging? Lessons from ancient mummies.

PubMed

Clarke, Emily M; Thompson, Randall C; Allam, Adel H; Wann, L Samuel; Lombardi, Guido P; Sutherland, M Linda; Sutherland, James D; Cox, Samantha L; Soliman, Muhammad Al-Tohamy; Abd el-Maksoud, Gomaa; Badr, Ibrahem; Miyamoto, Michael I; Frohlich, Bruno; Nur el-din, Abdel-Halim; Stewart, Alexandre F R; Narula, Jagat; Zink, Albert R; Finch, Caleb E; Michalik, David E; Thomas, Gregory S

2014-05-01

Case reports from Johan Czermak, Marc Ruffer, and others a century or more ago demonstrated ancient Egyptians had atherosclerosis three millennia ago. The Horus study team extended their findings, demonstrating that atherosclerosis was prevalent among 76 ancient Egyptian mummies and among 61 mummies from each of the ancient cultures of Peru, the American Southwest, and the Aleutian Islands. These findings challenge the assumption that atherosclerosis is a modern disease caused by present day risk factors. An extensive autopsy of an ancient Egyptian teenage male weaver named Nakht found that he was infected with four parasites: Schistosoma haematobium, Taenia species, Trichinella spiralis, and Plasmodium falciparum. Modern day patients with chronic inflammatory disease such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and human immunodeficiency virus experience premature atherosclerosis. Could the burden of chronic inflammatory disease have been a risk factor for atherosclerosis in these ancient cultures? The prevalence of atherosclerosis in four diverse ancient cultures is consistent with atherosclerosis being fundamental to aging. The impact of risk factors in modern times, and potentially in ancient times, suggests a strong gene-environmental interplay: human genes provide a vulnerability to atherosclerosis, the environment determines when and if atherosclerosis becomes manifest clinically. Copyright © 2014 Japanese College of Cardiology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ancient DNA analysis of dental calculus.

PubMed

Weyrich, Laura S; Dobney, Keith; Cooper, Alan

2015-02-01

Dental calculus (calcified tartar or plaque) is today widespread on modern human teeth around the world. A combination of soft starchy foods, changing acidity of the oral environment, genetic pre-disposition, and the absence of dental hygiene all lead to the build-up of microorganisms and food debris on the tooth crown, which eventually calcifies through a complex process of mineralisation. Millions of oral microbes are trapped and preserved within this mineralised matrix, including pathogens associated with the oral cavity and airways, masticated food debris, and other types of extraneous particles that enter the mouth. As a result, archaeologists and anthropologists are increasingly using ancient human dental calculus to explore broad aspects of past human diet and health. Most recently, high-throughput DNA sequencing of ancient dental calculus has provided valuable insights into the evolution of the oral microbiome and shed new light on the impacts of some of the major biocultural transitions on human health throughout history and prehistory. Here, we provide a brief historical overview of archaeological dental calculus research, and discuss the current approaches to ancient DNA sampling and sequencing. Novel applications of ancient DNA from dental calculus are discussed, highlighting the considerable scope of this new research field for evolutionary biology and modern medicine. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Colour Perception in Ancient World

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nesterov, D. I.; Fedorova, M. Yu

2017-11-01

How did the human thought form the surrounding color information into the persistent semantic images of a mythological, pseudoscientific and religious nature? The concepts associated with colour perception are suggested. The existence of colour environment does not depend on the human consciousness. The colour culture formation is directly related to the level of the human consciousness development and the possibility to influence the worldview and culture. The colour perception of a person goes through the stages similar to the development of colour vision in a child. Like any development, the colour consciousness has undergone stages of growth and decline, evolution and stagnation. The way of life and difficult conditions for existence made their own adjustments to the development of the human perception of the surrounding world. Wars have been both a powerful engine of progress in all spheres of life and a great destructive force demolishing the already created and preserved heritage. The surrounding world has always been interesting for humans, evoked images and fantasies in the consciousness of ancient people. Unusual and inexplicable natural phenomena spawned numerous legends and myths which was reflected in the ancient art and architecture and, accordingly, in a certain manifestation of colour in the human society. The colour perception of the ancient man, his pragmatic, utilitarian attitude to colour is considered as well as the influence of dependence on external conditions of existence and their reflection in the colour culture of antiquity. “Natural Science” conducts research in the field of the colour nature and their authorial interpretation of the Hellenic period. Several authorial concepts of the ancient world have been considered.

Did the ancient egyptians discover Algol?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jetsu, L.; Porceddu, S.; Porceddu, S.; Lyytinen, J.; Kajatkari, P.; Markkanen, T.; Toivari-Viitala, J.

2013-02-01

Fabritius discovered the first variable star, Mira, in 1596. Holwarda determined the 11 months period of Mira in 1638. Montanari discovered the next variable star, Algol, in 1669. Its period, 2.867 days, was determined by Goodricke (178). Algol was associated with demon-like creatures, "Gorgon" in ancient Greek and "ghoul" in ancient Arab mythology. This indicates that its variability was discovered much before 1669 (Wilk 1996), but this mythological evidence is ambiguous (Davis 1975). For thousands of years, the Ancient Egyptian Scribes (AES) observed stars for timekeeping in a region, where there are nearly 300 clear nights a year. We discovered a significant periodicity of 2.850 days in their calendar for lucky and unlucky days dated to 1224 BC, "the Cairo Calendar". Several astrophysical and astronomical tests supported our conclusion that this was the period of Algol three millennia ago. The "ghoulish habits" of Algol could explain this 0.017 days period increase (Battersby 2012).

Cranial surgery in ancient Peru.

PubMed

Rifkinson-Mann, S

1988-10-01

Trephination is the oldest known surgical technique. Peru has been recognized as a major source of ancient trephined skulls, many of which date back 2300 years. This presentation reviews from a neurosurgical perspective many of the archaeological studies performed on these skulls. Comparative osteology has shown that almost 70% of patients survived the procedure. The various instruments, hemostatic agents, anesthetics, surgical techniques, and cranioplasties used are reconstructed from the anthropological literature. The possible reasons for the use of trephination are discussed. Analysis of the data leads to the conclusion that, despite their rudimentary knowledge of disease, the ancient Incas must have had some knowledge of anatomy and proper surgical procedure.

[Restore of the ancient "moxibustion the pulse" method].

PubMed

Wu, Qi-Fei; Bai, Xing-Hua

2013-03-01

The manipulation of ancient "moxibustion the pulse" method are replicated and discussed through literature review. It turned out that the old year moxa was the best material for moxibustion in ancient times because of its mild heat power and uninjurious to the skin or blood and vessels; it was believed by the ancient people that the ideal fire to light moxa which could play the curative effect best was "sunfire" (lighted through the bronze concave mirror focussing) while the prohibited were "eight kinds of wood fire"; the moxibustion area were the convergence of the pulse on limb ends. The way to determine the time and amount of moxibustion were various, but in general the moxa amount was larger; still after moxibustion, proper exercise and diet were recommended, the nursing methods of the moxibustion sore were recorded. In ancient times, moxibustion was not only a treatment method but also an unique culture carrier to reflect the faith and worship.

Archaeological evidence for Pott's disease on historical populations: Tomb 05 at the Roman Circus maqbara as an example of social solidarity (Toledo, Spain).

PubMed

Ruiz-Taboada, Arturo; Rodrigo, Isabel Molero

2018-02-01

World societies can often be characterized by their attitude towards elderly and illness. It is well known that most cultures were concerned about those who were not able to produce and take care of themselves. This brings to the development of social processes that involve such individuals within the community, resulting in groups who stick together, and at last, ensuring the survival of the group. The contextualization of many of those social processes might be studied through Physical Anthropology and Paleopathology. This paper presents tomb 05 (T-05) as a new case of probable tuberculosis in Toledo from the medieval maqbara of the Roman Circus that provides new paleoanthropological data to understand the treatment given to sick people in a sparsely studied context.

Ancient Wisdom, Applied Knowledge for a Sustainable Future

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peterson, K.; Philippe, R. Elde; Dardar, T. M. Elde

2017-12-01

Ancient wisdom informs traditional knowledges that guide Indigenous communities on how to interact with the world. These knowledges and the ancient wisdom have been the life-giving forces that have prevented the complete genocide of Indigenous peoples, and is also the wisdom that is rejuvenating ancient ways that will take the world into a future that embraces the seventh generation philosophy.. Western scientists and agency representatives are learning from the work and wisdom of Native Americans. This presentation will share the ways in which the representatives of two Tribes along the coast of Louisiana have been helping to educate and apply their work with Western scientists.

Evolution of Management Thought in the Ancient Times.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sharma, C. L.

This paper argues that although systematic management thought is a distinctly modern development, the writings of ancient scholars and records of ancient rulers infer that they understood the rudiments of management principles and concepts. To support this thesis, the author reviews the evidence of management practices and concepts in various…

An Ancient Inca Tax and Metallurgy in Peru

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Journal of Chemical Education, 2007

2007-01-01

The discovery of ancient Inca tax rulers and other metallurgical objects in Peru show that the ancient civilizations of the country smelted metals. The analysis shows that the smelters in Peru switched from the production of copper to silver after a tax was imposed on them by the Inca rulers.

Reconstructing an Ancient Wonder.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Imhof, Christopher J.

2001-01-01

Describes a Montessori class project involving the building of a model of the ancient Briton monument, Stonehenge. Illustrates how the flexibility of the Montessori elementary curriculum encourages children to make their own toys and learn from the process. (JPB)

Cognitive aspects of ancient Maya eclipse theory.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Closs, M. P.

This paper is concerned with determining the nature of eclipse phenomena as it was perceived by the ancient Maya. It approaches the problem by considering the linguistic information pertaining to eclipses and by exploring the traditional beliefs associated with the occurrence of eclipses among the postconquest Maya. These data yield a model of a native eclipse theory which is compatible with hieroglyphic and iconographic materials pertaining to the ancient Maya.

Paleomicrobiology: a Snapshot of Ancient Microbes and Approaches to Forensic Microbiology

PubMed Central

RIVERA-PEREZ, JESSICA I.; SANTIAGO-RODRIGUEZ, TASHA M.; TORANZOS, GARY A.

2017-01-01

Paleomicrobiology, or the study of ancient microorganisms, has raised both fascination and skepticism for many years. While paleomicrobiology is not a recent field, the application of emerging techniques, such as DNA sequencing, is proving essential and has provided novel information regarding the evolution of viruses, antibiotic resistance, saprophytes, and pathogens, as well as ancient health and disease status, cultural customs, ethnic diets, and historical events. In this review, we highlight the importance of studying ancient microbial DNA, its contributions to current knowledge, and the role that forensic paleomicrobiology has played in deciphering historical enigmas. We also discuss the emerging techniques used to study the microbial composition of ancient samples as well as major concerns that accompany ancient DNA analyses. PMID:27726770

The rights of patients as consumers: An ancient view.

PubMed

Barapatre, Nishant Bhimraj; Joglekar, Vishnu Prabhakar

2016-01-01

As far as the rights of consumers are concerned, the International Organization of Consumer's Union (IOCU) in 1983 has specified about the eight rights of a consumer. The Consumer Protection Act (CPA), 1986 then prescribed six "Rights of Consumers," which are protected under the act. However, these rights can be observed in the ancient Indian texts such as Brihat-trayee , Narad Smruti , and Kautilya Arthashastra ., in the form of rights given to patients. For the purpose of present study, the implemented methodology includes - (1) study of the consumer rights described by IOCU and CPA, (2) detailed review of literature for observance of replication of these consumer rights in the ancient Indian texts and (3) a comparative study of the present consumer rights with the rights of patients observed in ancient Indian texts. This study shows that the substance of consumer rights is not a recent evolution, but the foundation of these rights has been laid well beforehand in the ancient times, which were provided to the patients by medical profession as well as by the rulers. The current scenario of protection of consumer rights is the replication of this ancient practice only.

The rights of patients as consumers: An ancient view

PubMed Central

Barapatre, Nishant Bhimraj; Joglekar, Vishnu Prabhakar

2016-01-01

As far as the rights of consumers are concerned, the International Organization of Consumer's Union (IOCU) in 1983 has specified about the eight rights of a consumer. The Consumer Protection Act (CPA), 1986 then prescribed six “Rights of Consumers,” which are protected under the act. However, these rights can be observed in the ancient Indian texts such as Brihat-trayee, Narad Smruti, and Kautilya Arthashastra., in the form of rights given to patients. For the purpose of present study, the implemented methodology includes – (1) study of the consumer rights described by IOCU and CPA, (2) detailed review of literature for observance of replication of these consumer rights in the ancient Indian texts and (3) a comparative study of the present consumer rights with the rights of patients observed in ancient Indian texts. This study shows that the substance of consumer rights is not a recent evolution, but the foundation of these rights has been laid well beforehand in the ancient times, which were provided to the patients by medical profession as well as by the rulers. The current scenario of protection of consumer rights is the replication of this ancient practice only. PMID:29491665

Ancient Human Parasites in Ethnic Chinese Populations.

PubMed

Yeh, Hui-Yuan; Mitchell, Piers D

2016-10-01

Whilst archaeological evidence for many aspects of life in ancient China is well studied, there has been much less interest in ancient infectious diseases, such as intestinal parasites in past Chinese populations. Here, we bring together evidence from mummies, ancient latrines, and pelvic soil from burials, dating from the Neolithic Period to the Qing Dynasty, in order to better understand the health of the past inhabitants of China and the diseases endemic in the region. Seven species of intestinal parasite have been identified, namely roundworm, whipworm, Chinese liver fluke, oriental schistosome, pinworm, Taenia sp. tapeworm, and the intestinal fluke Fasciolopsis buski . It was found that in the past, roundworm, whipworm, and Chinese liver fluke appear to have been much more common than the other species. While roundworm and whipworm remained common into the late 20th century, Chinese liver fluke seems to have undergone a marked decline in its prevalence over time. The iconic transport route known as the Silk Road has been shown to have acted as a vector for the transmission of ancient diseases, highlighted by the discovery of Chinese liver fluke in a 2,000 year-old relay station in northwest China, 1,500 km outside its endemic range.

Archaeogeophysical Investigation of Water Tower Region on Enez (Ainos) Ancient City

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deniz, Hazel; Ahmet Yüksel, Fethi; Başaran, Sait

2017-04-01

Archaeogeophysical (geomagnetics) surveys have been made in two locations which are, Enez Entry Region and Water Tower Necropolis.The objective of geophysical mesurements is to reach the informations such as detailed depths, orientations and locations of achaeological structure remnants. Enez (Ainos) is located in the Northwestern coastal side of the Aegean Sea in which Meriç (Maritza-Hebros) River flows down to the sea. The city displaced due to alluvium accumulate which are drifted by Meriç River in contrast with its former location. Existing of settlements of Enez and its surrounding in Neolithic times has been proved. Enez has a castle ambient acropolis apex which is built on Miocene limestone rocks rise about 25 m above the sea level. The castle walls are 740 m long and are thought to have been built in the middle ages. three different cultural phases form the 2nd building level of the archaeological excavations representing the ancient Greek cultures, Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic bottom to top. In all of the openings made on the acropolis, a thick layer dated to the Hellenistic era is located just above The Classical Age layer. The 3rd cultural floor dated from the Roman Age is represented by a thin layer and whose boundaries can not be determined with certain lines. In this study, Proton Magnetometer has been used for magnetic measurements. Across Water Tower Region, total magnetic field has been measured by magnetometer equipment on 592 m2 site. Existing of remarkable regular and irregular anomalies have been detected when magnetic maps produced from magnetic measurements are examined. It is determined from excavations after measurements that regular anomalies refer to water structures of old times or current electrical cables and dispersed anomalies to graves, sarcophagus and pithos burials. During excavations in locations where notable anomalies are found in Magnetic maps derived from magnetic measurements applied on Water Tower Necropolis, brick

Notions of "Rhetoric as Epistemic" in Ancient Greece.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Benoit, William L.

The notion that rhetoric (and to a lesser extent, argument) is epistemic is an increasingly popular one today, although it can be traced to ancient Greece. The notion holds that rhetoric, or the art of persuasion, creates and shapes knowledge. Two ancient authors--Aristophanes and Plato--provide evidence that others had notions of rhetoric as…

[Venom as a cure--some notes on ancient medicine].

PubMed

Teichfischer, Philipp

2015-01-01

Very little is known today about the linguistics and facts relating to venoms in the ancient world. The article concerns itself initially with the terminology: How were venoms conceptualized and what position did they occupy among medicines and other poisons? Additionally ancient knowledge of the constitution and location of the venoms will be examined. Furthermore, it shall be outlined how it was perceived that the poisons actually took effect. The results of our investigations indicate that it was unlikely that venoms were used for medicinal purposes in ancient times.

[The history of medicine in the ancient time].

PubMed

Tesarová, Drahomíra

2012-01-01

This article deals with the history of medicine in the ancient Greece; from the cult of the God Asklepios, to the founder of the scientific rational medicine, Hippokrates. The humoral theory of Hippokrates is explained (the human body consists from four liquids) and his ideal of a physician's approach to a patient is emphasized. In the Hellenistic period the medical development continued in the Alexandria Medical School (Herofilos and Erasistratos). At first, not much attention was given to medicine and scientific health prevention in ancient Rome. Only 293 AD have physicians from Greece first been invited to Rome--e.g. Asklepiades. During the reign of C. lulius Caesar, foreigners, who engaged in medical practice, were granted Roman citizenship and thanks to a number of benefits the medical condition in Roman Empire blossomed. Medical clinics (iatreia), infirmaries (valetudinaria) and, under the influence of Christianity, hospitals were established. In the 2nd century AD ancient medicine reached its climax with physician Galenos, who created the entire system of medical science and became the most significant, but also last medical figure of ancient Rome.

Environmental geology of ancient Greek cities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crouch, D. P.

1996-04-01

Man-environment relations in the ancient Greek world, as now, were complex interactions. To understand them, we need to study a range of physical features and man's impact on the setting. The underlying geological reality of this area is karst, which is widely distributed, dominating Greece, the southern half of Turkey, and southern Italy and Sicily, where the Greco-Roman cities that we study were located. Year-round water from karst springs was important because of scarce rainfall, intense evaporation, and infertile soil—none under human control. Examples from the Greek mainland (Corinth), an Aegean island (Rhodes), Turkey (Priene), and Sicily (Syracuse) are selected and described to suggest the way that karst water potential played an important role in site selection and development. A wider look at criteria for urban location and a new classification of urban patterns help to revise conventional understandings of these ancient cities. In conclusion, some modern findings about the interaction between city and setting suggest new research agendas for geologists and engineers, ancient historians and archaelogists, and water policy makers—preferrably working together.

ANIMAL DNA IN PCR REAGENTS PLAGUES ANCIENT DNA RESEARCH

EPA Science Inventory

Ancient DNA analysis is becoming widespread. These studies use polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify minute quantities of heavily damaged template. Unusual steps are taken to achieve the sensitivity necessary to detect ancient DNA, including high-cycle PCR amplification targ...

Health benefits of ancient grains. Comparison among bread made with ancient, heritage and modern grain flours in human cultured cells.

PubMed

Valli, Veronica; Taccari, Annalisa; Di Nunzio, Mattia; Danesi, Francesca; Bordoni, Alessandra

2018-05-01

Nowadays the higher nutritional value of whole grains compared to refined grains is recognized. In the last decade, there has been a renewed interest in the ancient wheat varieties for producing high-value food products with enhanced health benefits. This study compared two ancient grains, two heritage grains, and four modern grains grown in the same agronomic conditions considering not only their chemical characteristics, but also their biological effects. Whole grain flours were obtained and used to make bread. Bread was in vitro digested, the digesta were supplemented to HepG2 cells, and the biological effects of supplementation were evaluated. In addition, cells previously supplemented with the different digested bread types were then exposed to inflammatory agents to evidence possible protective effects of the pre-treatments. Despite the impossibility to discriminate bread made with different grains based on their chemical composition, results herein reported evidence that their supplementation to cultured cells exerts different effects, confirming the potential health benefits of ancient grains. This research represents an advancement for the evaluation of the apparent positive effects of ancient grains and the formulation of cereal-based products with added nutritional value. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Discovering the Ancient Maya from Space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sever, T. L.

2008-01-01

The Pet6n region of northern Guatemala contains some of the most significant Mayan archeological sites in Latin America. It was in this region that the Maya civilization began, flourished, and abruptly disappeared. Remote sensing technology is helping to locate and map ancient Maya sites that are threatened today by accelerating deforestation and looting. Thematic Mapper, IKONOS, and QuickBird satellite, and airborne STAR-3i and AIRSAR radar data, combined with Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, are successfully detecting ancient Maya features such as sites, roadways, canals, and water reservoirs. Satellite imagery is also being used to map the bajos, which are seasonally flooded swamps that cover over 40% of the land surface. Through the use of various airborne and satellite sensor systems we have been able to detect and map ancient causeways, temples, reservoirs, and land forms, and locate these features on the ground through GPS technology. Recently, we have discovered that there is a strong relationship between a tropical forest vegetation signature in satellite imagery and the location of archeological sites. We believe that the use of limestone and lime plasters in ancient Maya construction affects the moisture, nutrition, and plant species of the surface vegetation. We have mapped these vegetation signatures in the imagery and verified through field survey that they are indicative of archeological sites. Through the use of remote sensing and GIS technology it is possible to identify unrecorded archeological features in a dense tropical forest environment and monitor these cultural features for their protection.

Discovering the Ancient Maya From Space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sever, T. L.

2007-01-01

The Peten region of northern Guatemala contains some of the most significant Mayan archeological sites in Latin America. It was in this region that the Maya civilization began, flourished, and abruptly disappeared. Remote sensing technology is helping to locate and map ancient Maya sites that are threatened today by accelerating deforestation and looting. Thematic Mapper, IKONOS, and QuickBird satellite, and airborne STAR-3i and AIRSAR radar data, combined with Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, are successfully detecting ancient Maya features such as sites, roadways, canals, and water reservoirs. Satellite imagery is also being used to map the bajos, which are seasonally flooded swamps that cover over 40% of the land surface. Through the use of various airborne and satellite sensor systems we have been able to detect and map ancient causeways, temples, reservoirs, and land forms, and locate these features on the ground through GPS technology. Recently, we have discovered that there is a strong relationship between a tropical forest vegetation signature in satellite imagery and the location of archeological sites. We believe that the use o f limestone and lime plasters in ancient Maya construction affects the moisture, nutrition, and plant species of the surface vegetation. We have mapped these vegetation signatures in the imagery and verified through field survey that they are indicative of archeological sites. Through the use of remote sensing and GIS technology it is possible to identify unrecorded archeological features in a dense tropical forest environment and monitor these cultural features for their protection.

Evidence for Microfossils in Ancient Rocks and Meteorites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hoover, Richard B.; Rozanov, A. Y.; Zhmur, S. I.; Gorlenko, V. M.

1998-01-01

The McKay et all. detection of chemical biomarkers and possible microfossils in an ancient meteorite from Mars (ALH84001) stimulated research in several areas of importance to the newly emerging field of Astrobiology. Their report resulted in a search for additional evidence of microfossils in ancient terrestrial rocks and meteorites. These studies of ancient rocks and meteorites were conducted independently (and later collaboratively) in the United States and Russia using the SEM, Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope (ESEM), and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM). We have encountered in-situ in freshly broken carbonaceous chondrites a large number of complex microstructures that appear to be lithified microbial forms. The meteoritic microstructures have characteristics similar to the lithified remains of filamentous cyanobacteria and bacterial microfossils we have found in ancient phosphorites, ancient graphites and oil shales. Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) and Link microprobe analysis shows the possible microfossils have a distribution of chemical elements characteristic of the meteorite rock matrix, although many exhibit a superimposed carbon enhancement. We have concluded that the mineralized bodies encountered embedded in the rock matrix of freshly fractured meteoritic surfaces can not be dismissed as recent surface contaminants. Many of the forms found in-situ in the Murchison, Efremovka, and Orgueil carbonaceous meteorites are strikingly similar to microfossils of coccoid bacteria, cyanobacteria and fungi such as we have found in the Cambrian phosphorites of Khubsugul, Mongolia and high carbon Phanerozoic and Precambrian rocks of the Siberian and Russian Platforms.

Ancient Rome: The Latin Teacher and Life in the Big City.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ramage, Edwin S.

This paper attempts to answer the question of what life was really like in ancient Rome, with a view to using this kind of information as cultural background for teaching Latin language and literature. There were many problems associated with daily living in ancient Rome. Writings of some inhabitants of ancient Rome attest to the fact that these…

Ancient and Medieval Cosmology in Armenian Highland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farmanyan, Sona V.; Mickaelian, Areg M.

2016-12-01

Humankind has always sought to recognize the nature of various sky related phenomena and tried to give them explanations. It is especially vivid in ancient cultures, many of which are related to the Middle East. The purpose of this study is to identify ancient Armenian's pantheistic and cosmological perceptions, world view, notions and beliefs. By this study we answer the question "How did the Universe work in Ancient Armenian Highland?" The paper focuses on the structure of the Universe and many phenomena of nature that have always had major influence on ancient Armenians thinking. Here we weave together astronomy, anthropology and mythology of Armenia, and scientific thinking revealed in local astronomy traditions. The initial review of the study covers Moses of Khoren, Yeznik of Koghb, Anania Shirakatsi and other 5th-7th centuries historians' and scientists' records about the Universe related superstitious beliefs and cosmological understanding. By discussing and comparing Universe structure in various regional traditions, myths, folk songs and phraseological units we very often came across "seven worlds", "seven earths" and "seven layers" concepts. We draw parallels between scientific and mythological Earth and Heaven and thus find similar number of layers on both of the ancient and modern thinking. In the article we also give some details about the tripartite structure of the Universe and how these parts are connected with axis. This axis is either a column or a Cosmic Tree (Kenatz Tsar). In Armenian culture the preliminary meanings of the Kenatz Tsar are more vivid in folk songs (Jan gyulums), plays, epic, and so on, which was subsequently mixed with religious and spiritual views. We conclude that the perception of the Universe structure and celestial objects had a significant impact on culture and worldview of the people of the Armenian Highland; particularly it was one of the bases of the regional cultural diversity.

Setting the stage - building and working in an ancient DNA laboratory.

PubMed

Knapp, Michael; Clarke, Andrew C; Horsburgh, K Ann; Matisoo-Smith, Elizabeth A

2012-01-20

With the introduction of next generation high throughput sequencing in 2005 and the resulting revolution in genetics, ancient DNA research has rapidly developed from an interesting but marginal field within evolutionary biology into one that can contribute significantly to our understanding of evolution in general and the development of our own species in particular. While the amount of sequence data available from ancient human, other animal and plant remains has increased dramatically over the past five years, some key limitations of ancient DNA research remain. Most notably, reduction of contamination and the authentication of results are of utmost importance. A number of studies have addressed different aspects of sampling, DNA extraction and DNA manipulation in order to establish protocols that most efficiently generate reproducible and authentic results. As increasing numbers of researchers from different backgrounds become interested in using ancient DNA technology to address key questions, the need for practical guidelines on how to construct and use an ancient DNA facility arises. The aim of this article is therefore to provide practical tips for building a state-of-the-art ancient DNA facility. It is intended to help researchers new to the field of ancient DNA research generally, and those considering the application of next generation sequencing, in their planning process. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Manganese micro-nodules on ancient brick walls.

PubMed

López-Arce, P; García-Guinea, J; Fierro, J L G

2003-01-20

Romans, Jews, Arabs and Christians built the ancient city of Toledo (Spain) with bricks as the main construction material. Manganese micro-nodules (circa 2 microm in diameter) have grown under the external bio-film surface of the bricks. Recent anthropogenic activities such as industrial emissions, foundries, or traffic and housing pollution have further altered these old bricks. The energy-dispersive X-ray microanalyses (XPS) of micro-nodules show Al, Si, Ca, K, Fe and Mn, with some carbon species. Manganese atoms are present only as Mn(4+) and iron as Fe(3+) (FeOOH-Fe(2)O(3) mixtures). The large concentration of alga biomass of the River Tagus and the Torcón and Guajaraz reservoirs suggest manganese micro-nodules are formed either from water solutions rich in anthropogenic MnO(4)K in a reduction environment (from Mn(7+) to Mn(4+)) or by oxidation mechanisms from dissolved Mn(2+) (from Mn(2+) to Mn(4+)) linked to algae biofilm onto the ancient brick surfaces. Ancient wall surfaces were also studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Chemical and biological analyses of the waters around Toledo are also analysed for possible sources of manganese. Manganese micro-nodules on ancient brick walls are good indicators of manganese pollution. Copyright 2002 Elsevier Science B.V.

Ancient scientific basis of the "great serpent" from historical evidence.

PubMed

Stothers, Richard B

2004-06-01

Zoological data and a growing mythology contributed to ancient Western knowledge about large serpents. Yet little modern attention has been paid to the sources, transmission, and receipt in the early Middle Ages of the ancients' information concerning "dragons" and "sea serpents." Real animals--primarily pythons and whales--lie behind the ancient stories. Other animals, conflations of different animals, simple misunderstandings, and willful exaggerations are found to account for the fanciful embellishments, but primitive myths played no significant role in this process during classical times. The expedition of Alexander the Great into India (327-325 B.C.) and the Bagradas River incident in North Africa (256 B.C.) had enormous repercussions on the development of serpent lore. Credible evidence is found for the presence of ancient populations of pythons living along the North African coast west of Egypt and along the coast of the Arabian Sea between the Indus River and the Strait of Hormuz--places where they no longer exist today. The maximum sizes of ancient pythons may have been greater than those of today's specimens.

Ancient scientific basis of the "great serpent" from historical evidence

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stothers, Richard B.

2004-01-01

Zoological data and a growing mythology contributed to ancient Western knowledge about large serpents. Yet little modern attention has been paid to the sources, transmission, and receipt in the early Middle Ages of the ancients' information concerning "dragons" and "sea serpents." Real animals--primarily pythons and whales--lie behind the ancient stories. Other animals, conflations of different animals, simple misunderstandings, and willful exaggerations are found to account for the fanciful embellishments, but primitive myths played no significant role in this process during classical times. The expedition of Alexander the Great into India (327-325 B.C.) and the Bagradas River incident in North Africa (256 B.C.) had enormous repercussions on the development of serpent lore. Credible evidence is found for the presence of ancient populations of pythons living along the North African coast west of Egypt and along the coast of the Arabian Sea between the Indus River and the Strait of Hormuz--places where they no longer exist today. The maximum sizes of ancient pythons may have been greater than those of today's specimens.

Ancient Egyptian surgical heritage.

PubMed

Saber, Aly

2010-12-01

Egyptian medicine influenced the medicine of neighboring cultures, including the culture of ancient Greece. From Greece, its influence spread onward, thereby affecting Western civilization significantly. The oldest extant Egyptian medical texts are six papyri: The Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus and the Ebers Medical Papyrus are famous.

Ancient Egypt: History 380.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Turk, Laraine D.

"Ancient Egypt," an upper-division, non-required history course covering Egypt from pre-dynastic time through the Roman domination is described. General descriptive information is presented first, including the method of grading, expectation of student success rate, long-range course objectives, procedures for revising the course, major…

China: A Simulation of Ancient Chung Kuo, the World's Most Ancient Civilization.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sargent, Marcia; Baral, Wanda

This simulation allows students to participate in the "ways" of ancient Chinese history and culture. The unit is organized into five major phases or "li's." Students may spend about one week on activities in each "li" which focuses on a major aspect of Chinese history, culture, or geography. In each "li"…

An ancient eye test--using the stars.

PubMed

Bohigian, George M

2008-01-01

Vision testing in ancient times was as important as it is today. The predominant vision testing in some cultures was the recognition and identification of constellations and celestial bodies of the night sky. A common ancient naked eye test used the double star of the Big Dipper in the constellation Ursa Major or the Big Bear. The second star from the end of the handle of the Big Dipper is an optical double star. The ability to perceive this separation of these two stars, Mizar and Alcor, was considered a test of good vision and was called the "test" or presently the Arab Eye Test. This article is the first report of the correlation of this ancient eye test to the 20/20 line in the current Snellen visual acuity test. This article describes the astronomy, origin, history, and the practicality of this test and how it correlates with the present day Snellen visual acuity test.

Did I Say Cosmology? On Modern Cosmologies and Ancient World-views

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iwaniszewski, S.

2009-08-01

The modern cosmology that emerged from observational astronomy in 16th century Europe meant a radical break-away from earlier conceptions of the world. While all ancient and nonwestern worldviews usually describe a multidimensional reality in which diverse environmental, economic, sociopolitical and ideological factors intersect, modern cosmologies espouse the vision of a radically different universe which is completely dehumanized, ethically indifferent and universally valid. Despite these differences cosmology and worldview tend to be used interchangeably to depict ancient and nonwestern worldviews.Any correspondences which can be found between different parts of ancient and/or nonwestern worldviews and modern cosmologies tend to transfer modern conceptions to the premodern world. Ignoring ancient cultural contexts, we risk imposing modern cosmological concepts on past worldview categories. While we have to describe ancient astronomies in our own terms, our ultimate goal is to understand them on their own terms.

Creative Ventures: Ancient Civilizations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stark, Rebecca

The open-ended activities in this book are designed to extend the imagination and creativity of students and encourage students to examine their feelings and values about historic eras. Civilizations addressed include ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, Mayan, Stonehenge, and Mesopotamia. The activities focus upon the cognitive and affective pupil…

Penile representations in ancient Greek art.

PubMed

Rempelakos, L; Tsiamis, C; Poulakou-Rebelakou, E

2013-12-01

The presentation of the cult of phallus in ancient Greece and the artistic appearance of the phenomenon on vase figures and statues, as indicative of the significant role of the male genitalia in all fertility ceremonies. The examination of a great number of penile representations from the ancient Greek pottery and sculpture and the review of the ancient theater plays (satiric dramas and comedies ). Phallus in artistic representation is connected either with gods of fertility, such as the goat-footed and horned Pan or the ugly dwarf Priapus or the semi-animal nailed figures Satyrs, devotees of the god Dionysus accompanying him in all ritual orgiastic celebrations. Phallus also symbolizes good luck, health and sexuality: people bear or wear artificial phalli exactly like the actors as part of their costume or carry huge penises during the festive ritual processions. On the contrary, the Olympic gods or the ordinary mortals are not imaged ithyphallic; the ideal type of male beauty epitomized in classical sculpture, normally depicts genitals of average or less than average size. It is noteworthy that many of these images belong to athletes during or immediately after hard exercise with the penis shrunk. The normal size genitalia may have been simply a convention to distinguish normal people from the gods of sexuality and fertility, protectors of the reproductive process of Nature. The representation of the over-sized and erected genitalia on vase figures or statues of ancient Greek art is related to fertility gods such as Priapus, Pan and Satyrs and there is strong evidence that imagination and legend were replacing the scientific achievements in the field of erectile function for many centuries.

Reassessing the Ancient Martian Ocean Hypothesis using Global Distribution of Valley Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chan, Ngai-Ham; Perron, J. Taylor; Mitrovica, Jerry X.

2016-04-01

We re-examine the connection between true polar wander and the Martian ocean hypothesis. Previous studies have investigated the plausibility of an ancient ocean on Mars by examining the ancient putative sea-level markers on the planet's surface. One such study has argued that topographic benches, or contacts, are ancient shorelines, and that these contacts display long-wavelength topographic variations consistent with post-depositional true polar wander (Perron et al., Nature, 2007). In contrast, a second study has argued that the topography of ancient deltaic deposits associated with an ocean on early Mars are not consistent with the true polar wander scenario (Achille & Hynek, Nature Geosci., 2010). We revisit this issue by examining another marker of ancient shorelines --- the fluvial valley networks observed on the surface of Mars. Our results provide further evidence that a true polar wander event drove significant post-depositional deflection of surface features related to an ancient Martian ocean.

Reassessing the Ancient Martian Ocean Hypothesis using Global Distribution of Valley Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chan, N. H.; Perron, J. T.; Mitrovica, J. X.

2015-12-01

We re-examine the connection between true polar wander and the Martian ocean hypothesis. Previous studies have investigated the plausibility of an ancient ocean on Mars by examining the topography of ancient putative sea-level markers on the planet's surface. A previous study has argued that topographic benches, or contacts, are ancient shorelines, and that these contacts display long-wavelength topographic variations consistent with post-depositional true polar wander (Perron et al., Nature, 2007). In contrast, a second study has argued that the topography of ancient deltaic deposits associated with an ocean on early Mars are not consistent with the true polar wander scenario (Achille & Hynek, Nature Geosci., 2010). We revisit this issue by examining another marker of ancient shorelines --- the fluvial valley networks observed on the surface of Mars. Our results provide further evidence that a true polar wander event drove significant post-depositional deflection of surface features related to an ancient Martian ocean.

Medicine and psychiatry in Western culture: Ancient Greek myths and modern prejudices

PubMed Central

Fornaro, Michele; Clementi, Nicoletta; Fornaro, Pantaleo

2009-01-01

The origins of Western culture extensively relate to Ancient Greek culture. While many ancient cultures have contributed to our current knowledge about medicine and the origins of psychiatry, the Ancient Greeks were among the best observers of feelings and moods patients expressed towards medicine and toward what today is referred to as 'psychopathology'. Myths and religious references were used to explain what was otherwise impossible to understand or be easily communicated. Most ancient myths focus on ambiguous feelings patients may have had towards drugs, especially psychotropic ones. Interestingly, such prejudices are common even today. Recalling ancient findings and descriptions made using myths could represent a valuable knowledge base for modern physicians, especially for psychiatrists and their patients, with the aim of better understanding each other and therefore achieving a better clinical outcome. This paper explores many human aspects and feelings towards doctors and their cures, referring to ancient myths and focusing on the perception of mental illness. PMID:19811642

Ancient Egypt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Swamy, Ashwin Balegar

This thesis involves development of an interactive GIS (Geographic Information System) based application, which gives information about the ancient history of Egypt. The astonishing architecture, the strange burial rituals and their civilization were some of the intriguing questions that motivated me towards developing this application. The application is a historical timeline starting from 3100 BC, leading up to 664 BC, focusing on the evolution of the Egyptian dynasties. The tool holds information regarding some of the famous monuments which were constructed during that era and also about the civilizations that co-existed. It also provides details about the religions followed by their kings. It also includes the languages spoken during those periods. The tool is developed using JAVA, a programing language and MOJO (Map Objects Java Objects) a product of ESRI (Environmental Science Research Institute) to create map objects, to provide geographic information. JAVA Swing is used for designing the user interface. HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) pages are created to provide the user with more information related to the historic period. CSS (Cascade Style Sheets) and JAVA Scripts are used with HTML5 to achieve creative display of content. The tool is kept simple and easy for the user to interact with. The tool also includes pictures and videos for the user to get a feel of the historic period. The application is built to motivate people to know more about one of the prominent and ancient civilization of the Mediterranean world.

Molecular analysis of ancient caries

PubMed Central

Simón, Marc; Montiel, Rafael; Smerling, Andrea; Solórzano, Eduvigis; Díaz, Nancy; Álvarez-Sandoval, Brenda A.; Jiménez-Marín, Andrea R.; Malgosa, Assumpció

2014-01-01

An 84 base pair sequence of the Streptococcus mutans virulence factor, known as dextranase, has been obtained from 10 individuals from the Bronze Age to the Modern Era in Europe and from before and after the colonization in America. Modern samples show four polymorphic sites that have not been found in the ancient samples studied so far. The nucleotide and haplotype diversity of this region have increased over time, which could be reflecting the footprint of a population expansion. While this segment has apparently evolved according to neutral evolution, we have been able to detect one site that is under positive selection pressure both in present and past populations. This study is a first step to study the evolution of this microorganism, analysed using direct evidence obtained from ancient remains. PMID:25056622

History through Art and Architecture: Ancient Greek Architecture [and] Ancient Greek Sculpture. Teacher's Manual.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Campbell, Ann

This document consists of two teaching manuals designed to accompany a commercially-available "multicultural, interdisciplinary video program," consisting of four still videotape programs (72 minutes, 226 frames), one teaching poster, and these two manuals. "Teacher's Manual: Ancient Greek Architecture" covers: "Ancient…

Ancient Egypt: Personal Perspectives.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wolinski, Arelene

This teacher resource book provides information on ancient Egypt via short essays, photographs, maps, charts, and drawings. Egyptian social and religious life, including writing, art, architecture, and even the practice of mummification, is conveniently summarized for the teacher or other practitioner in a series of one to three page articles with…

Paleopathological findings in radiographs of ancient and modern Greek skulls.

PubMed

Papagrigorakis, Manolis J; Karamesinis, Kostas G; Daliouris, Kostas P; Kousoulis, Antonis A; Synodinos, Philippos N; Hatziantoniou, Michail D

2012-12-01

The skull, when portrayed radiologically, can be a useful tool in detecting signs of systemic diseases and results of pathological growth mechanisms. The aim of this study was therefore to examine, compare, and classify findings in cranial configuration of pathological origin, in modern and ancient skulls. The material consists of 240 modern and 141 ancient dry skulls. Three radiographs for each skull (lateral, anteroposterior, basilar) provide enough evidence for differential diagnoses. Cases of osteoporosis are among the interesting pathological findings. A prevalence of female modern skulls in those determined as osteoporotic skulls is noted. Special interest is placed on the area of the sella turcica and many variations, regarding the shape and texture, are recognized both in ancient and modern skulls. Malignancies and important causes of cranial destruction are identified in both skull collections. Diploid thickening and osteolytic areas appear commonly among ancient remains. Moreover, from the ancient skull collection, one case possibly recognizable as fibrous dysplasia is noted while another case with an unusual exostosis gives rise to many questions. Interpreted with caution, the results of the present study, which can serve as an approach of paleopathology and paleoradiology, indicate similarity trends in cranial configuration of pathologic origin in modern and ancient people. Radiography and cephalometry were the main diagnostic tools used to gather evidence and are evaluated as a quite appropriate method to examine anthropological material and assess the internal structure of skeletal remains since they are non-destructive techniques.

Geomorphology of Dra Abu el-Naga (Egypt): The basis of the funerary sacred landscape

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bardají, T.; Martínez-Graña, A.; Sánchez-Moral, S.; Pethen, H.; García-González, D.; Cuezva, S.; Cañaveras, J. C.; Jiménez-Higueras, A.

2017-07-01

A geological and geomorphological analysis has been performed in the necropolis of Dra Abu el-Naga in order to understand the role played by these two factors in the development of the sacred landscape. The investigation focuses upon two aspects of the development of the necropolis, the selection criteria for tomb location and the reconstruction of the ancient funerary landscape. Around 50 tombs were surveyed, analysing the characteristics of their host rock and classifying them according to a modified Rock Mass Rating Index, in order to understand how rock quality affected tomb construction. This analysis resulted in the definition of five rock-quality classes (I to V) from very good to very poor rock. The geological study also resulted in a proposed geological-geomorphological model for the evolution of this zone of the Theban necropolis that complements previous works by other authors. Due to the lack of precise dating evidence this chronology is a relative one and is based on the chronology given by other authors for similar deposits and events. Two catastrophic events, represented by mega-landslides, have been identified, the first one predates the deposition of early Pleistocene fluvial deposits, and the second one possibly occurred during the middle-late Pleistocene. Two weathering surfaces developed under wetter than present climatic conditions and have been tentatively correlated to the mid-late Pleistocene humid period and the African-Humid Period (early-mid Holocene).

Orthopedic surgery in ancient Egypt

PubMed Central

Blomstedt, Patric

2014-01-01

Background — Ancient Egypt might be considered the cradle of medicine. The modern literature is, however, sometimes rather too enthusiastic regarding the procedures that are attributed an Egyptian origin. I briefly present and analyze the claims regarding orthopedic surgery in Egypt, what was actually done by the Egyptians, and what may have been incorrectly ascribed to them. Methods — I reviewed the original sources and also the modern literature regarding surgery in ancient Egypt, concentrating especially on orthopedic surgery. Results — As is well known, both literary sources and the archaeological/osteological material bear witness to treatment of various fractures. The Egyptian painting, often claimed to depict the reduction of a dislocated shoulder according to Kocher’s method, is, however, open to interpretation. Therapeutic amputations are never depicted or mentioned in the literary sources, while the specimens suggested to demonstrate such amputations are not convincing. Interpretation — The ancient Egyptians certainly treated fractures of various kinds, and with varying degrees of success. Concerning the reductions of dislocated joints and therapeutic amputations, there is no clear evidence for the existence of such procedures. It would, however, be surprising if dislocations were not treated, even though they have not left traces in the surviving sources. Concerning amputations, the general level of Egyptian surgery makes it unlikely that limb amputations were done, even if they may possibly have been performed under extraordinary circumstances. PMID:25140982

Anticancer activity of botanical compounds in ancient fermented beverages (review).

PubMed

McGovern, P E; Christofidou-Solomidou, M; Wang, W; Dukes, F; Davidson, T; El-Deiry, W S

2010-07-01

Humans around the globe probably discovered natural remedies against disease and cancer by trial and error over the millennia. Biomolecular archaeological analyses of ancient organics, especially plants dissolved or decocted as fermented beverages, have begun to reveal the preliterate histories of traditional pharmacopeias, which often date back thousands of years earlier than ancient textual, ethnohistorical, and ethnological evidence. In this new approach to drug discovery, two case studies from ancient Egypt and China illustrate how ancient medicines can be reconstructed from chemical and archaeological data and their active compounds delimited for testing their anticancer and other medicinal effects. Specifically, isoscopoletin from Artemisia argyi, artemisinin from Artemisia annua, and the latter's more easily assimilated semi-synthetic derivative, artesunate, showed the greatest activity in vitro against lung and colon cancers. In vivo tests of these compounds previously unscreened against lung and pancreatic cancers are planned for the future.

Ancient wheat species and human health: Biochemical and clinical implications.

PubMed

Dinu, Monica; Whittaker, Anne; Pagliai, Giuditta; Benedettelli, Stefano; Sofi, Francesco

2018-02-01

Wheat is the major staple food in many diets. Based on the increase in worldwide mortality attributable to diet-related chronic diseases, there is an increasing interest in identifying wheat species with greater health potential, more specifically for improved anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. In particular, ancient varieties (defined as those species that have remained unchanged over the last hundred years) are gaining interest since several studies suggested that they present a healthier nutritional profile than modern wheats. This manuscript reviews the nutritional value and health benefits of ancient wheats varieties, providing a summary of all in vitro, ex vivo, animal and human studies that have thus far been published. Differences in chemical composition, and biochemical and clinical implications of emmer, einkorn, spelt, khorasan and various regional Italian varieties are discussed. Although many studies based on in vitro analyses of grain components provide support to the premise of a healthier nutritional and functional potential of ancient wheat, other in vitro studies performed are not in support of an improved potential of ancient varieties. In the light of existing evidence derived from in vivo experiments, the ancient wheat varieties have shown convincing beneficial effects on various parameters linked to cardio-metabolic diseases such as lipid and glycaemic profiles, as well as the inflammatory and oxidative status. However, given the limited number of human trials, it is not possible to definitively conclude that ancient wheat varieties are superior to all modern counterparts in reducing chronic disease risk. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Tombs, tunnels, and terraces a cultural resources survey of a former ammunition supply point in Okinawa, Japan

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Verhaaren, B. T.; Levenson, J. B.; Komine, G.

2000-02-09

U.S. forces serving at military bases on foreign soil are obligated to act as good stewards of the cultural and natural resources under their control. However, cultural resources management presents special challenges at U.S. bases in other countries where cultural properties laws differ in emphasis and detail from those in the United States and issues of land ownership and occupancy are not always clear. Where status of forces agreements (SOFAs) exist, environmental governing standards bridge the gap between U.S. and host nation cultural priorities. In Japan, the Department of Defense Japan Environmental Governing Standards (JEGS) fill this function. Under Criteriamore » 12-4.2 and 12-4.3 of the JEGS, U.S. Forces Japan commit themselves to inventory and protect cultural properties found on the lands they control or use. Cultural properties include archaeological sites, tombs, historic buildings, and shrines. Natural monuments, such as landscape features or plant and animal species, may also be designated as cultural properties. As part of this commitment, in February 1999 a cultural resources inventory was conducted in Area 1, part of Kadena Air Base (AB), Okinawa, Japan. Area 1, the former U.S. army Ammunition Supply Point 1, is currently used primarily for training exercises and recreational paint ball.« less

Printing Ancient Terracotta Warriors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gadecki, Victoria L.

2010-01-01

Standing in awe in Xian, China, at the Terra Cotta warrior archaeological site, the author thought of sharing this experience and excitement with her sixth-grade students. She decided to let her students carve patterns of the ancient soldiers to understand their place in Chinese history. They would make block prints and print multiple soldiers on…

An ancient rule for constructing dodecagonal quasiperiodic patterns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ajlouni, Rima

2017-02-01

The discovery of complex dodecagonal patterns in historical Islamic architecture is generating a renewed interest into understanding the mathematical principles of traditional Islamic geometry. By employing a compass and a straightedge, ancient craftsmen utilized consistent design principles that allowed for diverse geometric expressions to be realized throughout the ancient world. Derived from these principles, a global multi-level structural model is proposed that provides a general guiding principle for constructing a wide variety of infinite dodecagon-based quasiperiodic patterns.

Fast, Accurate and Automatic Ancient Nucleosome and Methylation Maps with epiPALEOMIX.

PubMed

Hanghøj, Kristian; Seguin-Orlando, Andaine; Schubert, Mikkel; Madsen, Tobias; Pedersen, Jakob Skou; Willerslev, Eske; Orlando, Ludovic

2016-12-01

The first epigenomes from archaic hominins (AH) and ancient anatomically modern humans (AMH) have recently been characterized, based, however, on a limited number of samples. The extent to which ancient genome-wide epigenetic landscapes can be reconstructed thus remains contentious. Here, we present epiPALEOMIX, an open-source and user-friendly pipeline that exploits post-mortem DNA degradation patterns to reconstruct ancient methylomes and nucleosome maps from shotgun and/or capture-enrichment data. Applying epiPALEOMIX to the sequence data underlying 35 ancient genomes including AMH, AH, equids and aurochs, we investigate the temporal, geographical and preservation range of ancient epigenetic signatures. We first assess the quality of inferred ancient epigenetic signatures within well-characterized genomic regions. We find that tissue-specific methylation signatures can be obtained across a wider range of DNA preparation types than previously thought, including when no particular experimental procedures have been used to remove deaminated cytosines prior to sequencing. We identify a large subset of samples for which DNA associated with nucleosomes is protected from post-mortem degradation, and nucleosome positioning patterns can be reconstructed. Finally, we describe parameters and conditions such as DNA damage levels and sequencing depth that limit the preservation of epigenetic signatures in ancient samples. When such conditions are met, we propose that epigenetic profiles of CTCF binding regions can be used to help data authentication. Our work, including epiPALEOMIX, opens for further investigations of ancient epigenomes through time especially aimed at tracking possible epigenetic changes during major evolutionary, environmental, socioeconomic, and cultural shifts. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

Inferring the palaeoenvironment of ancient bacteria on the basis of resurrected proteins

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gaucher, Eric A.; Thomson, J. Michael; Burgan, Michelle F.; Benner, Steven A.

2003-01-01

Features of the physical environment surrounding an ancestral organism can be inferred by reconstructing sequences of ancient proteins made by those organisms, resurrecting these proteins in the laboratory, and measuring their properties. Here, we resurrect candidate sequences for elongation factors of the Tu family (EF-Tu) found at ancient nodes in the bacterial evolutionary tree, and measure their activities as a function of temperature. The ancient EF-Tu proteins have temperature optima of 55-65 degrees C. This value seems to be robust with respect to uncertainties in the ancestral reconstruction. This suggests that the ancient bacteria that hosted these particular genes were thermophiles, and neither hyperthermophiles nor mesophiles. This conclusion can be compared and contrasted with inferences drawn from an analysis of the lengths of branches in trees joining proteins from contemporary bacteria, the distribution of thermophily in derived bacterial lineages, the inferred G + C content of ancient ribosomal RNA, and the geological record combined with assumptions concerning molecular clocks. The study illustrates the use of experimental palaeobiochemistry and assumptions about deep phylogenetic relationships between bacteria to explore the character of ancient life.

Characterization of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Complex DNAs from Egyptian Mummies by Spoligotyping

PubMed Central

Zink, Albert R.; Sola, Christophe; Reischl, Udo; Grabner, Waltraud; Rastogi, Nalin; Wolf, Hans; Nerlich, Andreas G.

2003-01-01

Bone and soft tissue samples from 85 ancient Egyptian mummies were analyzed for the presence of ancient Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex DNA (aDNA) and further characterized by spoligotyping. The specimens were obtained from individuals from different tomb complexes in Thebes West, Upper Egypt, which were used for upper social class burials between the Middle Kingdom (since ca. 2050 BC) and the Late Period (until ca. 500 BC). A total of 25 samples provided a specific positive signal for the amplification of a 123-bp fragment of the repetitive element IS6110, indicating the presence of M. tuberculosis DNA. Further PCR-based tests for the identification of subspecies failed due to lack of specific amplification products in the historic tissue samples. Of these 25 positive specimens, 12 could be successfully characterized by spoligotyping. The spoligotyping signatures were compared to those in an international database. They all show either an M. tuberculosis or an M. africanum pattern, but none revealed an M. bovis-specific pattern. The results from a Middle Kingdom tomb (used exclusively between ca. 2050 and 1650 BC) suggest that these samples bear an M. africanum-type specific spoligotyping signature. The samples from later periods provided patterns typical for M. tuberculosis. This study clearly demonstrates that spoligotyping can be applied to historic tissue samples. In addition, our results do not support the theory that M. tuberculosis originated from the M. bovis type but, rather, suggest that human M. tuberculosis may have originated from a precursor complex probably related to M. africanum. PMID:12517873

Paleomagnetic Records of Ancient Core Dynamos

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tikoo, S. M.

2018-05-01

We review paleomagnetic results that constrain the field intensities and longevities of ancient core dynamos operating within the Moon as well as within the parent bodies of several meteorite classes.

Views of Ancient Egypt. Teacher's Guide. School Arts: Looking/Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Downs, Linda; Brenner, Carla

This teaching guide discusses ancient Egyptian culture, the lithographs made by Napoleon's scientists in 1798-99 to study and record every aspect of Egypt, the world's subsequent fascination with Egypt, ancient Egyptian architecture, Egyptian writing, and archeologists' illustrations of Egypt. The guide suggests activities for elementary school,…

Vascular plants promote ancient peatland carbon loss with climate warming.

PubMed

Walker, Tom N; Garnett, Mark H; Ward, Susan E; Oakley, Simon; Bardgett, Richard D; Ostle, Nicholas J

2016-05-01

Northern peatlands have accumulated one third of the Earth's soil carbon stock since the last Ice Age. Rapid warming across northern biomes threatens to accelerate rates of peatland ecosystem respiration. Despite compensatory increases in net primary production, greater ecosystem respiration could signal the release of ancient, century- to millennia-old carbon from the peatland organic matter stock. Warming has already been shown to promote ancient peatland carbon release, but, despite the key role of vegetation in carbon dynamics, little is known about how plants influence the source of peatland ecosystem respiration. Here, we address this issue using in situ (14)C measurements of ecosystem respiration on an established peatland warming and vegetation manipulation experiment. Results show that warming of approximately 1 °C promotes respiration of ancient peatland carbon (up to 2100 years old) when dwarf-shrubs or graminoids are present, an effect not observed when only bryophytes are present. We demonstrate that warming likely promotes ancient peatland carbon release via its control over organic inputs from vascular plants. Our findings suggest that dwarf-shrubs and graminoids prime microbial decomposition of previously 'locked-up' organic matter from potentially deep in the peat profile, facilitating liberation of ancient carbon as CO2. Furthermore, such plant-induced peat respiration could contribute up to 40% of ecosystem CO2 emissions. If consistent across other subarctic and arctic ecosystems, this represents a considerable fraction of ecosystem respiration that is currently not acknowledged by global carbon cycle models. Ultimately, greater contribution of ancient carbon to ecosystem respiration may signal the loss of a previously stable peatland carbon pool, creating potential feedbacks to future climate change. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Improving the Awareness of the Influence of Geography Upon Historical Events in Ancient Mesopotamia and in Ancient Egypt in Ninth Grade World History Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Milton, Henry

This practicum was designed to incorporate the study of geography into a ninth grade world history class with the aim of improving student awareness of the influence of geography upon the historical development of ancient Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt. By means of a questionnaire and map tests it was determined that ninth grade world history…

Meteor Beliefs Project: The Palladium in ancient and early Medieval sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McBeath, A. Alistair; Gheorghe, A. D.

2004-08-01

An examination of the, apparently meteoritic, object, anciently called the Palladium after the Greek goddess Pallas Athene, is presented, as discussed in various ancient and early medieval sources. Although made of wood, the Palladium was believed to have fallen from the sky. In myths, it was a powerful totemic object, first at the legendary city of Troy, then later at Rome, and had magically protective properties associated with it. Despite its implausibly meteoritic nature, the Palladium can be suggested as supporting the case for ancient meteorite worship.

Ancient DNA studies: new perspectives on old samples

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

In spite of past controversies, the field of ancient DNA is now a reliable research area due to recent methodological improvements. A series of recent large-scale studies have revealed the true potential of ancient DNA samples to study the processes of evolution and to test models and assumptions commonly used to reconstruct patterns of evolution and to analyze population genetics and palaeoecological changes. Recent advances in DNA technologies, such as next-generation sequencing make it possible to recover DNA information from archaeological and paleontological remains allowing us to go back in time and study the genetic relationships between extinct organisms and their contemporary relatives. With the next-generation sequencing methodologies, DNA sequences can be retrieved even from samples (for example human remains) for which the technical pitfalls of classical methodologies required stringent criteria to guaranty the reliability of the results. In this paper, we review the methodologies applied to ancient DNA analysis and the perspectives that next-generation sequencing applications provide in this field. PMID:22697611

An Evaluation of the Historical Importance of Fertility and Its Reflection in Ancient Mythology

PubMed Central

Behjati-Ardakani, Zohreh; Akhondi, Mohammad Mehdi; Mahmoodzadeh, Homa; Hosseini, Seyed Hasan

2016-01-01

Myths are reflective of human concerns and needs during ancient times. By reviewing them, it turns out that many human problems today, have a historical background. Among the main themes of ancient mythologies, fertility and reproduction have various representations in ancient civilizations. The purpose of this paper was to review myths and common symbols of fertility and reproduction in ancient civilizations and evaluate the reasons of their continuous importance in different cultures. The data in this review study was obtained by scrutinizing the related literature. The gathered data indicated the multiplicity and variety of fertility symbols in ancient myths. Most ancient fertility symbols were inspired by the nature and some of them like earth and water were common in mythology of different civilizations. Therefore, the symbols consolidate the concept of conformity between human reproductive concerns and the nature's necessities. PMID:26962477

An Evaluation of the Historical Importance of Fertility and Its Reflection in Ancient Mythology.

PubMed

Behjati-Ardakani, Zohreh; Akhondi, Mohammad Mehdi; Mahmoodzadeh, Homa; Hosseini, Seyed Hasan

2016-01-01

Myths are reflective of human concerns and needs during ancient times. By reviewing them, it turns out that many human problems today, have a historical background. Among the main themes of ancient mythologies, fertility and reproduction have various representations in ancient civilizations. The purpose of this paper was to review myths and common symbols of fertility and reproduction in ancient civilizations and evaluate the reasons of their continuous importance in different cultures. The data in this review study was obtained by scrutinizing the related literature. The gathered data indicated the multiplicity and variety of fertility symbols in ancient myths. Most ancient fertility symbols were inspired by the nature and some of them like earth and water were common in mythology of different civilizations. Therefore, the symbols consolidate the concept of conformity between human reproductive concerns and the nature's necessities.

[A preliminary discussion on the contents and value of All Diseases(1), the medical bamboo slips unearthed from Han tomb in Laoguanshan of Chengdu].

PubMed

Ye, Y; Zhang, Q; Ren, Y L; Li, J M

2017-05-28

Among the medical bamboo slips unearthed from Han tomb in Laoguanshan of Chengdu, the Zhu bing ( All Diseases ) is a monograph to discuss the characteristics of signs and symptoms. Based on the differences of writing styles, diseases involved, expounding methods and writing rules, the book is divided, by the research team, into 2 parts: All Diseases (1) and All Diseases (2). All Diseases (1) includes over 130 slips, 2 000 characters with totally more than 100 disease names, containing multiple clinical disciplines. The elaborated classification, varied naming methods, grasping the symptom characteristics guided by the four diagnostic approaches, paying attention to the comparison of similar diseases, and dealing with the prognosis and healthcare in this part reflect the holism of correspondence between human body and natural environment, and syndrome differentiation thought of combining disease with symptoms and signs, revealing its academic significance.

Genetic Drift. The ancient Egyptian dwarfs of the Walters Art Museum.

PubMed

Kozma, Chahira

2010-10-01

The ancient Egyptians left an impressive artistic legacy documenting many aspects of their society including the existence of dwarfs as highly valued members. In previous publications in the Journal, I discussed dwarfs and skeletal dysplasia in ancient Egypt. In this study, I examined the ancient Egyptian representations of dwarfs of the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. One of the highlights of the collection is a group of five ivory figurines from Predynastic Times (pre 3500-3100 BCE) depicting a couple, a man with a child, and two females. Representations from other periods include ordinary as well as dwarf deities. The dwarf gods, Bes and Ptah, are frequently depicted holding or biting snakes or standing on crocodiles symbolizing their ability to ward off dangers. A couple of statuettes from the Greco-Roman Period that, in contrast to earlier Egyptian Periods, depict harsh physical anomalies, twisted bodies, and facial pain. The artistic impression can be interpreted as either tragic or humorous. The grotesque depiction of dwarfs during the Greco-Roman Period in ancient Egypt is believed to be due to a greater infusion of Hellenistic influence. This study provides a microcosm of the legacy of dwarfs in ancient Egypt and supports the premise that dwarfs were accepted and integrated in the ancient Egyptian society, and with a few exceptions, their disorder was not depicted as a physical handicap. Copyright © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Research of Ancient Architectures in Jin-Fen Area Based on GIS&BIM Technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jia, Jing; Zheng, Qiuhong; Gao, Huiying; Sun, Hai

2017-05-01

The number of well-preserved ancient buildings located in Shanxi Province, enjoying the absolute maximum proportion of ancient architectures in China, is about 18418, among which, 9053 buildings have the structural style of wood frame. The value of the application of BIM (Building Information Modeling) and GIS (Geographic Information System) is gradually probed and testified in the corresponding fields of ancient architecture’s spatial distribution information management, routine maintenance and special conservation & restoration, the evaluation and simulation of related disasters, such as earthquake. The research objects are ancient architectures in JIN-FEN area, which were first investigated by Sicheng LIANG and recorded in his work of “Chinese ancient architectures survey report”. The research objects, i.e. the ancient architectures in Jin-Fen area include those in Sicheng LIANG’s investigation, and further adjustments were made through authors’ on-site investigation and literature searching & collection. During this research process, the spatial distributing Geodatabase of research objects is established utilizing GIS. The BIM components library for ancient buildings is formed combining on-site investigation data and precedent classic works, such as “Yingzao Fashi”, a treatise on architectural methods in Song Dynasty, “Yongle Encyclopedia” and “Gongcheng Zuofa Zeli”, case collections of engineering practice, by the Ministry of Construction of Qing Dynasty. A building of Guangsheng temple in Hongtong county is selected as an example to elaborate the BIM model construction process based on the BIM components library for ancient buildings. Based on the foregoing work results of spatial distribution data, attribute data of features, 3D graphic information and parametric building information model, the information management system for ancient architectures in Jin-Fen Area, utilizing GIS&BIM technology, could be constructed to support the

Epigenetics of Ancient DNA.

PubMed

Zhenilo, S V; Sokolov, A S; Prokhortchouk, E B

2016-01-01

Initially, the study of DNA isolated from ancient specimens had been based on the analysis of the primary nucleotide sequence. This approach has allowed researchers to study the evolutionary changes that occur in different populations and determine the influence of the environment on genetic selection. However, the improvement of methodological approaches to genome-wide analysis has opened up new possibilities in the search for the epigenetic mechanisms involved in the regulation of gene expression. It was discovered recently that the methylation status of the regulatory elements of the HOXD cluster and MEIS 1 gene changed during human evolution. Epigenetic changes in these genes played a key role in the evolution of the limbs of modern humans. Recent works have demonstrated that it is possible to determine the transcriptional activity of genes in ancient DNA samples by combining information on DNA methylation and the DNAaseI hypersensitive sequences located at the transcription start sites of genes. In the nearest future, if a preserved fossils brain is found, it will be possible to identify the evolutionary changes in the higher nervous system associated with epigenetic differences.

Ancient Terrestrial Carbon: Lost and Found

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Freeman, K. H.

2017-12-01

Carbon fluxes in terrestrial environments dominate the global carbon cycle. The fluxes of terrestrial carbon are strongly tied to regional climate due to the influences of temperature, water, and nutrient dynamics on plant productivity. However, climate also influences the destruction of terrestrial organic matter, through weathering, erosion, and biomass loss via fire and oxidative microbial processes. Organic geochemical methods enable us to interrogate past terrestrial carbon dynamics and learn how continental processes might accelerate, or mitigate carbon transfer to the atmosphere, and the associated greenhouse warming. Terrestrial soil systems represent the weathering rind of the continents, and are inherently non-depositional and erosive. The production, transport, and depositional processes affecting organics in continental settings each impart their own biases on the amount and characteristics of preserved carbon. Typically, the best archives for biomarker records are sediments in ancient lakes or subaqueous fans, which represents a preservation bias that tends to favor wetter environments. Paleosols, or ancient soils, formed under depositional conditions that, for one reason or another, truncated soil ablation, erosion, or other loss processes. In modern soils, widely ranging organic carbon abundances are almost always substantially greater than the trace amounts of carbon left behind in ancient soils. Even so, measureable amounts of organic biomarkers persist in paleosols. We have been investigating processes that preserve soil organic carbon on geologic timescales, and how these mechanisms may be sensitive to past climate change. Climate-linked changes in temperature, moisture, pH, and weathering processes can impact carbon preservation via organo-mineral sorption, soil biogeochemistry, and stability based on the physical and chemical properties of organic compounds. These will be discussed and illustrated with examples from our studies of Cenozoic

Homosexuality according to ancient Greek physicians.

PubMed

Laios, K; Moschos, M M; Koukaki, E; Kontaxaki, M-I; Androutsos, G

2017-01-01

Homosexuality and pedophilia in ancient Greece greatly concerned many researchers who were mainly interested in highlighting the social aspect of this phenomenon in ancient Greek society. An important source on the subject was the paintings of a man and his lover in attic black and red figured pottery, up to the end of the 5th century BC. Another main source was the information that derived from the texts of ancient Greek literature, especially poetry. Homosexuality was not only referring to relationships between males, but it was also manifested in lesbian love. It is believed that in the Homeric world homosexuality was not favored. In Greek society of the archaic period, the restriction of women at home, the satisfaction of sexual needs with courtesans, the marriage for the purpose of maintaining and managing the property, put women aside, marginalizing them in terms of social life, impeding the cultivation of emotional relationships between sexes. At the same time, in the society of those times, the aristocratic ideal, the constant communication of men during military training and the war, the male nudity in sports and the promotion of beauty and bravery in athletic contests, as well as the gatherings and the entertainment of men at the symposia, created a suitable substrate in which male homosexuality could develop. In this context, pedophile relationships were developed mainly during the archaic period, as recorded on vase paintings, where a mature man developed a special relationship with a teenager of the same social class. The mature man had the role of mentor for the juvenile, he would look after him and cover his living expenses and education cost. In this relationship, exhibiting predominantly the social dimension of an initiation process and introduction to adult life, the erotic homosexual intercourse could find a place to flourish. The above-mentioned relationship could not last forever, given that this would later transform into an emotional

The study of human Y chromosome variation through ancient DNA.

PubMed

Kivisild, Toomas

2017-05-01

High throughput sequencing methods have completely transformed the study of human Y chromosome variation by offering a genome-scale view on genetic variation retrieved from ancient human remains in context of a growing number of high coverage whole Y chromosome sequence data from living populations from across the world. The ancient Y chromosome sequences are providing us the first exciting glimpses into the past variation of male-specific compartment of the genome and the opportunity to evaluate models based on previously made inferences from patterns of genetic variation in living populations. Analyses of the ancient Y chromosome sequences are challenging not only because of issues generally related to ancient DNA work, such as DNA damage-induced mutations and low content of endogenous DNA in most human remains, but also because of specific properties of the Y chromosome, such as its highly repetitive nature and high homology with the X chromosome. Shotgun sequencing of uniquely mapping regions of the Y chromosomes to sufficiently high coverage is still challenging and costly in poorly preserved samples. To increase the coverage of specific target SNPs capture-based methods have been developed and used in recent years to generate Y chromosome sequence data from hundreds of prehistoric skeletal remains. Besides the prospects of testing directly as how much genetic change in a given time period has accompanied changes in material culture the sequencing of ancient Y chromosomes allows us also to better understand the rate at which mutations accumulate and get fixed over time. This review considers genome-scale evidence on ancient Y chromosome diversity that has recently started to accumulate in geographic areas favourable to DNA preservation. More specifically the review focuses on examples of regional continuity and change of the Y chromosome haplogroups in North Eurasia and in the New World.

Petamenophis (Padiamenemipet), an Egyptian Child Mummy Protected for Eternity: Revelation by Multidetector Computed Tomography.

PubMed

Martina, Maria Cristina; Cesarani, Federico; Boano, Rosa; Fiore Marochetti, Elisa; Gandini, Giovanni

The objective of our work was to report the most recent findings obtained with multidetector computed tomography of a child mummy from the Roman period (119-123 CE) housed at the Egyptian Museum in Turin, Italy. Multidetector computed tomography and postprocessing were applied to understand the embalming techniques, the nature of a foreign object, and anthropometrical values. The information was compared with that from other mummies that were buried in the same tomb, but today housed in different museums. New information regarding the embalming technique was revealed. Multidetector computed tomography allowed the identification of a knife-like metallic object, probably an amulet for the child's protection in the afterlife. Multidetector computed tomography and image postprocessing confirm their valuable role in noninvasive studies in ancient mummies and provided evidence of a unique cultural practice in the late history of Ancient Egypt such as placing a knife possibly as an amulet.

Identification of Milk Component in Ancient Food Residue by Proteomics

PubMed Central

Hong, Chuan; Jiang, Hongen; Lü, Enguo; Wu, Yunfei; Guo, Lihai; Xie, Yongming; Wang, Changsui; Yang, Yimin

2012-01-01

Background Proteomic approaches based on mass spectrometry have been recently used in archaeological and art researches, generating promising results for protein identification. Little information is known about eastward spread and eastern limits of prehistoric milking in eastern Eurasia. Methodology/Principal Finding In this paper, an ancient visible food remain from Subeixi Cemeteries (cal. 500 to 300 years BC) of the Turpan Basin in Xinjiang, China, preliminarily determined containing 0.432 mg/kg cattle casein with ELISA, was analyzed by using an improved method based on liquid chromatography (LC) coupled with MALDI-TOF/TOF-MS to further identify protein origin. The specific sequence of bovine casein and the homology sequence of goat/sheep casein were identified. Conclusions/Significance The existence of milk component in ancient food implies goat/sheep and cattle milking in ancient Subeixi region, the furthest eastern location of prehistoric milking in the Old World up to date. It is envisioned that this work provides a new approach for ancient residue analysis and other archaeometry field. PMID:22615887

Watchers of the Ancient Skies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sherman, Ben

1998-01-01

Describes Lakota belief systems connected with the stars and how those beliefs directed Lakota existence, movements during the year, and ceremonies. Discusses winter camps, associated cultural practices such as storytelling, ancient wisdom, the concept of mirroring (constellations and corresponding land forms on earth), and the Black Hills annual…

Medicine and psychiatry in Western culture: among Ancient Greek myths and modern prejudices.

PubMed

Fornaro, Michele; Clementi, Nicoletta; Fornaro, Pantaleo

2009-01-01

While many ancient cultures contributed to our current knowledge about medicine and psychiatry origins, Ancient Greeks were among the best observers of feelings and moods patients could express toward medicine and toward what today referred as "psychopathology". Myths and religious references were used to explain what elsewhere impossible to understand or easily communicated. Most of ancient myths focus on ambiguous feelings patients could have towards drugs, especially psychotropic ones. Interestingly, such prejudices are common yet today. Recalling ancient findings and descriptions made using myths, should represent a valuable knowledge for modern physicians, especially for psychiatrists, and their patients, with the aim of better understanding each other and therefore achieving a better clinical outcome. The paper explores many human aspects and feelings toward doctors and their cures, referring to ancient myths, focusing on the perception of mental illness.

The Effects of Historical Earthquakes on Cyzicus Ancient City

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adatepe, F.; Demirel, S.; Vardar, D.

2012-04-01

Cyzicus is one of the most important ancient settlement of Mysia region on Marmara coasts in Turkey. It's located on Belkis Tombolo which connects Kapıdağ (Arktonnesos) Peninsula to the shore. It was established by the King Cyzicus Kyzikos in B.C. 749 as a Miletos colony during the colonization movements of Ions. The main reason to determine the establishment place of Cyzicus was; a strong defense system formed by the natural conditions and the walls surrounding the city. In addition, from the documents, 3 natural harbor (one of them inner harbor) and one artificial canal in the ancient city has been designated. Because of these features, the ancient city had been developed by maritime trade and fisheries. And also, city's economy had grown due to its fertile soil. Works in marble that came from Marmara Island, were being effective in the artistic activities in the city. Due to the capital city of East Roman Empire was being Constantine (AD 324), the chance of Cyzicus was affected badly. Since its location on the south branch of the North Anatolian Fault zone in the Marmara Sea, ancient city was being ruined by a series of earthquakes. There were fifteen (15) destructive earthquakes occurred between AD 29 - 1887. For example the region had become a swamp because of AD 740 earthquake. At that time, despite metropolitan center pass through to Erdek, the city was not fully abandoned. In the end, the earthquake of 1064 had completely demolished Cyzicus. At the present day, this ancient city has come to the point to be lost in swamps, brushes and shrubs.

Atherosclerosis in ancient and modern Egyptians: the Horus study.

PubMed

Allam, Adel H; Mandour Ali, Mohamed A; Wann, L Samuel; Thompson, Randall C; Sutherland, M Linda; Sutherland, James D; Frohlich, Bruno; Michalik, David E; Zink, Albert; Lombardi, Guido P; Watson, Lucia; Cox, Samantha L; Finch, Caleb E; Miyamoto, Michael I; Sallam, Sallam L; Narula, Jagat; Thomas, Gregory S

2014-06-01

Although atherosclerosis is usually thought of as a disease of modernity, the Horus Team has previously reported atherosclerotic vascular calcifications on computed tomographic (CT) scans in ancient Egyptians. The purpose of this study was to compare patterns and demographic characteristics of this disease among Egyptians from ancient and modern eras. We compared the presence and extent of vascular calcifications from whole-body CT scans performed on 178 modern Egyptians from Cairo undergoing positron emission tomography (PET)/CT for cancer staging to CT scans of 76 Egyptian mummies (3100 bce to 364 ce). The mean age of the modern Egyptian group was 52.3 ± 15 years (range 14 to 84) versus estimated age at death of ancient Egyptian mummies 36.5 ± 13 years (range 4 to 60); p < 0.0001. Vascular calcification was detected in 108 of 178 (60.7%) of modern patients versus 26 of 76 (38.2%) of mummies, p < 0.001. Vascular calcifications on CT strongly correlated to age in both groups. In addition, the severity of disease by number of involved arterial beds also correlated to age, and there was a very similar pattern between the 2 groups. Calcifications in both modern and ancient Egyptians were seen peripherally in aortoiliac beds almost a decade earlier than in event-related beds (coronary and carotid). The presence and severity of atherosclerotic vascular disease correlates strongly to age in both ancient and modern Egyptians. There is a striking correlation in the distribution of the number of vascular beds involved. Atherosclerotic calcifications are seen in the aortoiliac beds almost a decade earlier than in the coronary and carotid beds. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Genome-wide nucleosome map and cytosine methylation levels of an ancient human genome.

PubMed

Pedersen, Jakob Skou; Valen, Eivind; Velazquez, Amhed M Vargas; Parker, Brian J; Rasmussen, Morten; Lindgreen, Stinus; Lilje, Berit; Tobin, Desmond J; Kelly, Theresa K; Vang, Søren; Andersson, Robin; Jones, Peter A; Hoover, Cindi A; Tikhonov, Alexei; Prokhortchouk, Egor; Rubin, Edward M; Sandelin, Albin; Gilbert, M Thomas P; Krogh, Anders; Willerslev, Eske; Orlando, Ludovic

2014-03-01

Epigenetic information is available from contemporary organisms, but is difficult to track back in evolutionary time. Here, we show that genome-wide epigenetic information can be gathered directly from next-generation sequence reads of DNA isolated from ancient remains. Using the genome sequence data generated from hair shafts of a 4000-yr-old Paleo-Eskimo belonging to the Saqqaq culture, we generate the first ancient nucleosome map coupled with a genome-wide survey of cytosine methylation levels. The validity of both nucleosome map and methylation levels were confirmed by the recovery of the expected signals at promoter regions, exon/intron boundaries, and CTCF sites. The top-scoring nucleosome calls revealed distinct DNA positioning biases, attesting to nucleotide-level accuracy. The ancient methylation levels exhibited high conservation over time, clustering closely with modern hair tissues. Using ancient methylation information, we estimated the age at death of the Saqqaq individual and illustrate how epigenetic information can be used to infer ancient gene expression. Similar epigenetic signatures were found in other fossil material, such as 110,000- to 130,000-yr-old bones, supporting the contention that ancient epigenomic information can be reconstructed from a deep past. Our findings lay the foundation for extracting epigenomic information from ancient samples, allowing shifts in epialleles to be tracked through evolutionary time, as well as providing an original window into modern epigenomics.

Genome-wide nucleosome map and cytosine methylation levels of an ancient human genome

PubMed Central

Pedersen, Jakob Skou; Valen, Eivind; Velazquez, Amhed M. Vargas; Parker, Brian J.; Rasmussen, Morten; Lindgreen, Stinus; Lilje, Berit; Tobin, Desmond J.; Kelly, Theresa K.; Vang, Søren; Andersson, Robin; Jones, Peter A.; Hoover, Cindi A.; Tikhonov, Alexei; Prokhortchouk, Egor; Rubin, Edward M.; Sandelin, Albin; Gilbert, M. Thomas P.; Krogh, Anders; Willerslev, Eske; Orlando, Ludovic

2014-01-01

Epigenetic information is available from contemporary organisms, but is difficult to track back in evolutionary time. Here, we show that genome-wide epigenetic information can be gathered directly from next-generation sequence reads of DNA isolated from ancient remains. Using the genome sequence data generated from hair shafts of a 4000-yr-old Paleo-Eskimo belonging to the Saqqaq culture, we generate the first ancient nucleosome map coupled with a genome-wide survey of cytosine methylation levels. The validity of both nucleosome map and methylation levels were confirmed by the recovery of the expected signals at promoter regions, exon/intron boundaries, and CTCF sites. The top-scoring nucleosome calls revealed distinct DNA positioning biases, attesting to nucleotide-level accuracy. The ancient methylation levels exhibited high conservation over time, clustering closely with modern hair tissues. Using ancient methylation information, we estimated the age at death of the Saqqaq individual and illustrate how epigenetic information can be used to infer ancient gene expression. Similar epigenetic signatures were found in other fossil material, such as 110,000- to 130,000-yr-old bones, supporting the contention that ancient epigenomic information can be reconstructed from a deep past. Our findings lay the foundation for extracting epigenomic information from ancient samples, allowing shifts in epialleles to be tracked through evolutionary time, as well as providing an original window into modern epigenomics. PMID:24299735

Finding out egyptian gods' secret using analytical chemistry: biomedical properties of egyptian black makeup revealed by amperometry at single cells.

PubMed

Tapsoba, Issa; Arbault, Stéphane; Walter, Philippe; Amatore, Christian

2010-01-15

Lead-based compounds were used during antiquity as both pigments and medicines in the formulation of makeup materials. Chemical analysis of cosmetics samples found in Egyptians tombs and the reconstitution of ancient recipes as reported by Greco-Roman authors have shown that two non-natural lead chlorides (laurionite Pb(OH)Cl and phosgenite Pb(2)Cl(2)CO(3)) were purposely synthesized and were used as fine powders in makeup and eye lotions. According to ancient Egyptian manuscripts, these were essential remedies for treating eye illness and skin ailments. This conclusion seems amazing because today we focus only on the well-recognized toxicity of lead salts. Here, using ultramicroelectrodes, we obtain new insights into the biochemical interactions between lead(II) ions and cells, which support the ancient medical use of sparingly soluble lead compounds. Submicromolar concentrations of Pb(2+) ions are shown to be sufficient for eliciting specific oxidative stress responses of keratinocytes. These consist essentially of an overproduction of nitrogen monoxide (NO degrees ). Owing to the biological role of NO degrees in stimulating nonspecific immunological defenses, one may argue that these lead compounds were deliberately manufactured and used in ancient Egyptian formulations to prevent and treat eye illnesses by promoting the action of immune cells.

On the acoustics of ancient Greek and Roman theaters.

PubMed

Farnetani, Andrea; Prodi, Nicola; Pompoli, Roberto

2008-09-01

The interplay of architecture and acoustics is remarkable in ancient Greek and Roman theaters. Frequently they are nowadays lively performance spaces and the knowledge of the sound field inside them is still an issue of relevant importance. Even if the transition from Greek to Roman theaters can be described with a great architectural detail, a comprehensive and objective approach to the two types of spaces from the acoustical point of view is available at present only as a computer model study [P. Chourmouziadou and J. Kang, "Acoustic evolution of ancient Greek and Roman theaters," Appl. Acoust. 69, re (2007)]. This work addresses the same topic from the experimental point of view, and its aim is to provide a basis to the acoustical evolution from Greek to Roman theater design. First, by means of in situ and scale model measurements, the most important features of the sound field in ancient theaters are clarified and discussed. Then it has been possible to match quantitatively the role of some remarkable architectural design variables with acoustics, and it is seen how this criterion can be used effectively to define different groups of ancient theaters. Finally some more specific wave phenomena are addressed and discussed.

High-Resolution Analysis of Cytosine Methylation in Ancient DNA

PubMed Central

Cropley, Jennifer E.; Cooper, Alan; Suter, Catherine M.

2012-01-01

Epigenetic changes to gene expression can result in heritable phenotypic characteristics that are not encoded in the DNA itself, but rather by biochemical modifications to the DNA or associated chromatin proteins. Interposed between genes and environment, these epigenetic modifications can be influenced by environmental factors to affect phenotype for multiple generations. This raises the possibility that epigenetic states provide a substrate for natural selection, with the potential to participate in the rapid adaptation of species to changes in environment. Any direct test of this hypothesis would require the ability to measure epigenetic states over evolutionary timescales. Here we describe the first single-base resolution of cytosine methylation patterns in an ancient mammalian genome, by bisulphite allelic sequencing of loci from late Pleistocene Bison priscus remains. Retrotransposons and the differentially methylated regions of imprinted loci displayed methylation patterns identical to those derived from fresh bovine tissue, indicating that methylation patterns are preserved in the ancient DNA. Our findings establish the biochemical stability of methylated cytosines over extensive time frames, and provide the first direct evidence that cytosine methylation patterns are retained in DNA from ancient specimens. The ability to resolve cytosine methylation in ancient DNA provides a powerful means to study the role of epigenetics in evolution. PMID:22276161

Divine and rational: the reproductive health of women in ancient Egypt.

PubMed

Sullivan, R

1997-10-01

Analysis of existing evidence indicates that the ancient Egyptians created a systematic medical profession that resorted to divine interventions only when practical treatments failed. Ancient Egyptian women had predetermined roles but high status in society and lived according to strict hierarchial social organization. Inscriptions indicate that monogamous marriage was the norm, and the first year of marriage was probationary. An unspecified interval of months was the known duration of pregnancy, and a number of gods and goddesses were invoked to assist women during pregnancy and delivery. While little is currently known about pregnancy complication suffered by ancient Egyptian women, new techniques of studying mummies will soon yield additional information. The medical papyri yield few references to treatments prescribed for pregnancy complications, and no surgical instruments have been found that have recognizable obstetrical purposes. Accounts of Egyptian sex behavior survive in the writings of ancient historians and erotic texts. There is evidence that both religious (serving the priests) and social prostitution existed. A common theme in ancient texts is the belief that dreams of a sexual nature were ill omens. Medical papyri point to the existence of chlamydia and gonorrhea but not syphilis, various methods of contraception, and treatment for women with symptoms of genitourinary infection. Ancient Egyptians could diagnose pregnancy and even devised a rational pregnancy test. While most known physicians were men, there is evidence that female midwives may have attended births. Examination of Egyptian medical history shows how civilization attempted rational interventions into matters previously believed to be completely controlled by nature.

Phytochemical and genetic analyses of ancient cannabis from Central Asia

PubMed Central

Russo, Ethan B.; Jiang, Hong-En; Li, Xiao; Sutton, Alan; Carboni, Andrea; del Bianco, Francesca; Mandolino, Giuseppe; Potter, David J.; Zhao, You-Xing; Bera, Subir; Zhang, Yong-Bing; Lü, En-Guo; Ferguson, David K.; Hueber, Francis; Zhao, Liang-Cheng; Liu, Chang-Jiang; Wang, Yu-Fei; Li, Cheng-Sen

2008-01-01

The Yanghai Tombs near Turpan, Xinjiang-Uighur Autonomous Region, China have recently been excavated to reveal the 2700-year-old grave of a Caucasoid shaman whose accoutrements included a large cache of cannabis, superbly preserved by climatic and burial conditions. A multidisciplinary international team demonstrated through botanical examination, phytochemical investigation, and genetic deoxyribonucleic acid analysis by polymerase chain reaction that this material contained tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive component of cannabis, its oxidative degradation product, cannabinol, other metabolites, and its synthetic enzyme, tetrahydrocannabinolic acid synthase, as well as a novel genetic variant with two single nucleotide polymorphisms. The cannabis was presumably employed by this culture as a medicinal or psychoactive agent, or an aid to divination. To our knowledge, these investigations provide the oldest documentation of cannabis as a pharmacologically active agent, and contribute to the medical and archaeological record of this pre-Silk Road culture. PMID:19036842

Peopling the past: new perspectives on the ancient Maya.

PubMed

Robin, C

2001-01-02

The new direction in Maya archaeology is toward achieving a greater understanding of people and their roles and their relations in the past. To answer emerging humanistic questions about ancient people's lives Mayanists are increasingly making use of new and existing scientific methods from archaeology and other disciplines. Maya archaeology is bridging the divide between the humanities and sciences to answer questions about ancient people previously considered beyond the realm of archaeological knowledge.

Peopling the past: New perspectives on the ancient Maya

PubMed Central

Robin, Cynthia

2001-01-01

The new direction in Maya archaeology is toward achieving a greater understanding of people and their roles and their relations in the past. To answer emerging humanistic questions about ancient people's lives Mayanists are increasingly making use of new and existing scientific methods from archaeology and other disciplines. Maya archaeology is bridging the divide between the humanities and sciences to answer questions about ancient people previously considered beyond the realm of archaeological knowledge. PMID:11136245

Atherosclerosis in ancient Egyptian mummies: the Horus study.

PubMed

Allam, Adel H; Thompson, Randall C; Wann, L Samuel; Miyamoto, Michael I; Nur El-Din, Abd El-Halim; El-Maksoud, Gomaa Abd; Al-Tohamy Soliman, Muhammad; Badr, Ibrahem; El-Rahman Amer, Hany Abd; Sutherland, M Linda; Sutherland, James D; Thomas, Gregory S

2011-04-01

The purpose of this study was to determine whether ancient Egyptians had atherosclerosis. The worldwide burden of atherosclerotic disease continues to rise and parallels the spread of diet, lifestyles, and environmental risk factors associated with the developed world. It is tempting to conclude that atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is exclusively a disease of modern society and did not affect our ancient ancestors. We performed whole body, multislice computed tomography scanning on 52 ancient Egyptian mummies from the Middle Kingdom to the Greco-Roman period to identify cardiovascular structures and arterial calcifications. We interpreted images by consensus reading of 7 imaging physicians, and collected demographic data from historical and museum records. We estimated age at the time of death from the computed tomography skeletal evaluation. Forty-four of 52 mummies had identifiable cardiovascular (CV) structures, and 20 of these had either definite atherosclerosis (defined as calcification within the wall of an identifiable artery, n = 12) or probable atherosclerosis (defined as calcifications along the expected course of an artery, n = 8). Calcifications were found in the aorta as well as the coronary, carotid, iliac, femoral, and peripheral leg arteries. The 20 mummies with definite or probable atherosclerosis were older at time of death (mean age 45.1 ± 9.2 years) than the mummies with CV tissue but no atherosclerosis (mean age 34.5 ± 11.8 years, p < 0.002). Two mummies had evidence of severe arterial atherosclerosis with calcifications in virtually every arterial bed. Definite coronary atherosclerosis was present in 2 mummies, including a princess who lived between 1550 and 1580 BCE. This finding represents the earliest documentation of coronary atherosclerosis in a human. Definite or probable atherosclerosis was present in mummies who lived during virtually every era of ancient Egypt represented in this study, a time span of >2,000 years

Perseus Project: Interactive Teaching and Research Tools for Ancient Greek Civilization.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crane, Gregory; Harward, V. Judson

1987-01-01

Describes the Perseus Project, an educational program utilizing computer technology to study ancient Greek civilization. Including approximately 10 percent of all ancient literature and visual information on architecture, sculpture, ceramics, topography, and archaeology, the project spans a range of disciplines. States that Perseus fuels student…

Archaeogeophysical Studies in Ancient Tios, Zonguldak-Caycuma-Filyos, Turkey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmet Yuksel, Fethi; Hoskan, Nihan; Sumer Atasoy, Yusuf

2010-05-01

Ancient Tios is located in the Filyos township of the Caycuma District of Zonguldak on the western Black Sea region, Turkey. The ancient city was probably founded by Milesians in the 7th cent. B.C. The region was inhabited through the centuries by Persians, Romans, Genoese and all the way to the Ottoman times. About the archaeological history of the city , we have relatively limited knowledge both in ancient records and in contemporary archaeological research. In the Roman period coastal defensive walls, acquaduct, theatre, defensive tower and the port with its breakwater are the only visible remains of the city. The acropolis of the ancient city is located immediately to the east of the present Filyos township on a hill. The original architectural form of the defensive wall located in the acropolis will be revealed after research to its foundation completed. A partially destroyed stone building is another remaining ruin in the acropolis .The Roman period theatre of Tios is located in the north of the road leading into Filyos. Built on a sloping land, local stones were used in its construction. Mostly ruined its original stones have been used later in other buildings. Only a few of the arches of the aquaduct, located to the north of the theatre, are still standing. There are the remains of another structure which could have been a defensive tower located in 200 meters to the west of the theatre. GPR measurements display the exact location of any sub-surface structures. To the west of the acropolis and within the ancient port, there are the under water remains of a breakwater. The local sandstones, quarries were studied archaeogeologically as they provided the main building materials. Since there has been no archaeological research done on the site until the 2006 season, archaeogeopysical data are reveal additional information about ancient Tios. Surface survey and georadar, magnetic and geoelectric studies have been done and after that, excavations were started

Intraosseous neurilemmoma of the mandible: report of a rare ancient type.

PubMed

Jahanshahi, Gholamreza; Haghighat, Abbas; Azmoodeh, Faezeh

2011-01-01

The neurilemmoma is a benign neoplasm of Schwann cell origin. One of the histopathologic subtypes of this tumor is ancient schwannoma which is characterized by degenerative alterations including cystic change, calcification, hemorrhage, and hyalinization.Intraosseous schwannomas especially ancient ones are rare tumors. Here we present a case of intraosseous ancient schwannoma in the lower jaw of an 11-year-old girl which caused a non-tender expansion. Radiographic examination showed a well-circumscribed, unilocular radiolucent lesion with thin sclerotic borders in the mandibular body and the ramus. Histopathologic examination of the incisional biopsy showed areas of typical Antoni A with verocay bodies and Antoni B that was strongly suggestive of a schwannoma. Complete excision of the lesion was done under general anesthesia. The histopathologic examination confirmed the primary diagnosis and also degenerative changes such as hyalinization and calcification. Based on these findings, the diagnosis of ancient schwannoma was made. No recurrence was observed in the follow-up examination after 3 months.

Feature recognition and detection for ancient architecture based on machine vision

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zou, Zheng; Wang, Niannian; Zhao, Peng; Zhao, Xuefeng

2018-03-01

Ancient architecture has a very high historical and artistic value. The ancient buildings have a wide variety of textures and decorative paintings, which contain a lot of historical meaning. Therefore, the research and statistics work of these different compositional and decorative features play an important role in the subsequent research. However, until recently, the statistics of those components are mainly by artificial method, which consumes a lot of labor and time, inefficiently. At present, as the strong support of big data and GPU accelerated training, machine vision with deep learning as the core has been rapidly developed and widely used in many fields. This paper proposes an idea to recognize and detect the textures, decorations and other features of ancient building based on machine vision. First, classify a large number of surface textures images of ancient building components manually as a set of samples. Then, using the convolution neural network to train the samples in order to get a classification detector. Finally verify its precision.

Intraosseous Neurilemmoma of the Mandible: Report of a Rare Ancient Type

PubMed Central

Jahanshahi, Gholamreza; Haghighat, Abbas; Azmoodeh, Faezeh

2011-01-01

The neurilemmoma is a benign neoplasm of Schwann cell origin. One of the histopathologic subtypes of this tumor is ancient schwannoma which is characterized by degenerative alterations including cystic change, calcification, hemorrhage, and hyalinization. Intraosseous schwannomas especially ancient ones are rare tumors. Here we present a case of intraosseous ancient schwannoma in the lower jaw of an 11-year-old girl which caused a non-tender expansion. Radiographic examination showed a well-circumscribed, unilocular radiolucent lesion with thin sclerotic borders in the mandibular body and the ramus. Histopathologic examination of the incisional biopsy showed areas of typical Antoni A with verocay bodies and Antoni B that was strongly suggestive of a schwannoma. Complete excision of the lesion was done under general anesthesia. The histopathologic examination confirmed the primary diagnosis and also degenerative changes such as hyalinization and calcification. Based on these findings, the diagnosis of ancient schwannoma was made. No recurrence was observed in the follow-up examination after 3 months. PMID:22013479

Attitudes to Ancient Greek in Three Schools: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Foster, Frances

2018-01-01

This study comes in response to recent changes in UK policy, whereby Ancient Greek and Latin have been included alongside modern languages as part of the curriculum at Key Stage 2. It aims to understand how Ancient Greek is surviving and thriving in three different types of schools. After a short overview of the history of Greek teaching in the…

Lead in ancient Rome's city waters.

PubMed

Delile, Hugo; Blichert-Toft, Janne; Goiran, Jean-Philippe; Keay, Simon; Albarède, Francis

2014-05-06

It is now universally accepted that utilization of lead for domestic purposes and water distribution presents a major health hazard. The ancient Roman world was unaware of these risks. How far the gigantic network of lead pipes used in ancient Rome compromised public health in the city is unknown. Lead isotopes in sediments from the harbor of Imperial Rome register the presence of a strong anthropogenic component during the beginning of the Common Era and the Early Middle Ages. They demonstrate that the lead pipes of the water distribution system increased Pb contents in drinking water of the capital city by up to two orders of magnitude over the natural background. The Pb isotope record shows that the discontinuities in the pollution of the Tiber by lead are intimately entwined with the major issues affecting Late Antique Rome and its water distribution system.

Amino Acid Racemization and the Preservation of Ancient DNA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Poinar, Hendrik N.; Hoss, Matthias

1996-01-01

The extent of racemization of aspartic acid, alanine, and leucine provides criteria for assessing whether ancient tissue samples contain endogenous DNA. In samples in which the D/L ratio of aspartic acid exceeds 0.08, ancient DNA sequences could not be retrieved. Paleontological finds from which DNA sequences purportedly millions of years old have been reported show extensive racemization, and the amino acids present are mainly contaminates. An exception is the amino acids in some insects preserved in amber.

Microstructures of ancient and modern cast silver–copper alloys

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Northover, S.M., E-mail: s.m.northover@open.ac.uk; Northover, J.P., E-mail: peter.northover@materials.ox.ac.uk

The microstructures of modern cast Sterling silver and of cast silver objects about 2500 years old have been compared using optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDX) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). Microstructures of both ancient and modern alloys were typified by silver-rich dendrites with a few pools of eutectic and occasional cuprite particles with an oxidised rim on the outer surface. EBSD showed the dendrites to have a complex internal structure, often involving extensive twinning. There was copious intragranular precipitation within the dendrites, in themore » form of very fine copper-rich rods which TEM, X-ray diffraction (XRD), SEM and STEM suggest to be of a metastable face-centred-cubic (FCC) phase with a cube–cube orientation relationship to the silver-rich matrix but a higher silver content than the copper-rich β in the eutectic. Samples from ancient objects displayed a wider range of microstructures including a fine scale interpenetration of the adjoining grains not seen in the modern material. Although this study found no unambiguous evidence that this resulted from microstructural change produced over archaeological time, the copper supersaturation remaining after intragranular precipitation suggests that such changes, previously proposed for wrought and annealed material, may indeed occur in ancient silver castings. - Highlights: • Similar twinned structures and oxidised surfaces seen in ancient and modern cast silver • General precipitation of fine Cu-rich rods apparently formed by discontinuous precipitation is characteristic of as-cast silver. • The fine rods are cube-cube related to the matrix in contrast with the eutectic. • The silver-rich phase remains supersaturated with copper. • Possibly age-related grain boundary features seen in ancient cast silver.« less

[Textual criticism and discrimination on the naming of"Five-abstention Soup of Medical Professional"from the Han-tomb of the Marquis of Haihun].

PubMed

Wang, Y R; Yuan, Y; Xu, C Q; Cao, L J; Wang, Y L; Huang, L Q

2017-05-28

A lacquer vessel with the inscription of Yi gong wu jin tang (Five-abstention Soup of Medical Profession) has been unearthed from the Han-tomb of Marquis of Haihun, in which"Five abstentions"is related to the incantations and abstention therapies prevalent in the Qin and Han Dynasties. The"Five-abstention Law"is the five rituals and methods during the process of practicing incantations and abstentions therapies including"keeping one's thinking ( cun si )","holding the breath( bi qi )","twirling eyes ( nian mu )","stepping after Yu's sample ( yu bu )"and"incanting and blessing ( zhou zhu )". The"Five-abstention Law"uses the medium"soup"to achieve the purpose of treatment."Soup"refers either to"decoction"or to"magic water". The lacquer vessel with the inscription"Five-abstention Soup of Medical professional"could be an instrument for implementing the process of practising the"Five-abstention Law", reflecting the historical facts that Liu He, the Marquis Haihun did accept the incantations and abstention therapies.

NIMI TANTRA (Opthalmology of Ancient India).

PubMed

Ramachandran, C K

1984-04-01

The art of opthalmology was well developed in ancient India and was known as Nimi Tantra. In this paper the author presents the main features of Nimi Tantra an authoritative treatises written by Nimi, a prominent opthalmologist of his time.

Ancient India: The Asiatic Ethiopians.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scott, Carolyn McPherson

This curriculum unit was developed by a participant in the 1993 Fulbright-Hays Program "India: Continuity and Change." The unit attempts to place India in the "picture frame" of the ancient world as a part of a whole, not as a separate entity. Reading materials enable students to draw broader general conclusions based on the…

Sexual attitudes, preferences and infections in Ancient Egypt.

PubMed Central

Morton, R S

1995-01-01

This socio-sexual review of Ancient Egyptian society aims to increase awareness that the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) is largely determined by the way a society is structured and how that structure functions. The prevalence of STDs in Ancient Egypt has been found to be low. This state of affairs was maintained for centuries. Although the structure of their society was rigidly hierarchical, Egyptian people made it function in an acceptable way. What might be learned is concerned more with prevention than cure. Whether this has any relevance today is discussed. Images PMID:7635496

Organic chemistry of balms used in the preparation of pharaonic meat mummies

PubMed Central

Clark, Katherine A.; Ikram, Salima; Evershed, Richard P.

2013-01-01

The funeral preparations for ancient Egyptian dead were extensive. Tomb walls were often elaborately painted and inscribed with scenes and objects deemed desirable for the afterlife. Votive objects, furniture, clothing, jewelry, and importantly, food including bread, cereals, fruit, jars of wine, beer, oil, meat, and poultry were included in the burial goods. An intriguing feature of the meat and poultry produced for the deceased from the highest levels of Egyptian society was that they were mummified to ensure their preservation. However, little is known about the way they were prepared, such as whether balms were used, and if they were used, how they compared with those applied to human and animal mummies? We present herein the results of lipid biomarker and stable carbon isotope investigations of tissues, bandaging, and organic balms associated with a variety of meat mummies that reveal that treatments ranged from simple desiccation and wrapping in bandages to, in the case of the tomb of Yuya and Tjuia (18th Dynasty, 1386–1349 BC), a balm associated with a beef rib mummy containing a high abundance of Pistacia resin and, thus, more sophisticated than the balms found on many contemporaneous human mummies. PMID:24248384

Organic chemistry of balms used in the preparation of pharaonic meat mummies.

PubMed

Clark, Katherine A; Ikram, Salima; Evershed, Richard P

2013-12-17

The funeral preparations for ancient Egyptian dead were extensive. Tomb walls were often elaborately painted and inscribed with scenes and objects deemed desirable for the afterlife. Votive objects, furniture, clothing, jewelry, and importantly, food including bread, cereals, fruit, jars of wine, beer, oil, meat, and poultry were included in the burial goods. An intriguing feature of the meat and poultry produced for the deceased from the highest levels of Egyptian society was that they were mummified to ensure their preservation. However, little is known about the way they were prepared, such as whether balms were used, and if they were used, how they compared with those applied to human and animal mummies? We present herein the results of lipid biomarker and stable carbon isotope investigations of tissues, bandaging, and organic balms associated with a variety of meat mummies that reveal that treatments ranged from simple desiccation and wrapping in bandages to, in the case of the tomb of Yuya and Tjuia (18th Dynasty, 1386-1349 BC), a balm associated with a beef rib mummy containing a high abundance of Pistacia resin and, thus, more sophisticated than the balms found on many contemporaneous human mummies.

Characterization of Ancient DNA Supports Long-Term Survival of Haloarchaea

PubMed Central

Lowenstein, Tim K.; Timofeeff, Michael N.; Schubert, Brian A.; Lum, J. Koji

2014-01-01

Abstract Bacteria and archaea isolated from crystals of halite 104 to 108 years old suggest long-term survival of halophilic microorganisms, but the results are controversial. Independent verification of the authenticity of reputed living prokaryotes in ancient salt is required because of the high potential for environmental and laboratory contamination. Low success rates of prokaryote cultivation from ancient halite, however, hamper direct replication experiments. In such cases, culture-independent approaches that use the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequencing of 16S ribosomal DNA are a robust alternative. Here, we use amplification, cloning, and sequencing of 16S ribosomal DNA to investigate the authenticity of halophilic archaea cultured from subsurface halite, Death Valley, California, 22,000 to 34,000 years old. We recovered 16S ribosomal DNA sequences that are identical, or nearly so (>99%), to two strains, Natronomonas DV462A and Halorubrum DV427, which were previously isolated from the same halite interval. These results provide the best independent support to date for the long-term survival of halophilic archaea in ancient halite. PCR-based approaches are sensitive to small amounts of DNA and could allow investigation of even older halites, 106 to 108 years old, from which microbial cultures have been reported. Such studies of microbial life in ancient salt are particularly important as we search for microbial signatures in similar deposits on Mars and elsewhere in the Solar System. Key Words: Ancient DNA—Halite—Haloarchaea—Long-term survival. Astrobiology 14, 553–560. PMID:24977469

Harappans and Aryans: Old and New Perspectives of Ancient Indian History.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Manian, Padma

1998-01-01

Examines how nine world history texts treat the Harappan (Indus) civilization and the Aryans in ancient India. Analyzes the pioneering scholars of Indian studies, exploring the development of ideas about ancient Indian history. Discusses the ideas of recent scholars about the Aryan invasion theory, the Indus civilization, and the Vedas. (CMK)

NIMI TANTRA (Opthalmology of Ancient India)

PubMed Central

Ramachandran, C.K.

1984-01-01

The art of opthalmology was well developed in ancient India and was known as Nimi Tantra. In this paper the author presents the main features of Nimi Tantra an authoritative treatises written by Nimi, a prominent opthalmologist of his time. PMID:22557403

Drinking habits in ancient India

PubMed Central

Somasundaram, Ottilingam; Raghavan, D. Vijaya; Murthy, A. G. Tejus

2016-01-01

Consumption of one or other form of intoxicating substances has been present throughout the history of the world. This article traces such use in the Indian subcontinent, both in North and South India. References to the use of intoxicants are to be found in the Vedas, the Great Epics, and the ancient Tamil literature. PMID:26985113

Discovering the Ancient Temperate Rainforest.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lindsay, Anne

1997-01-01

Two activities for grades 3 through 8 explore species adaptation and forestry issues in the North American rainforests. In one activity, students create imaginary species of plants or animals that are adapted for life in an ancient temperate rainforest. In the second activity, students role play groups affected by plans to log an area of the…

Human evolution: a tale from ancient genomes

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

The field of human ancient DNA (aDNA) has moved from mitochondrial sequencing that suffered from contamination and provided limited biological insights, to become a fully genomic discipline that is changing our conception of human history. Recent successes include the sequencing of extinct hominins, and true population genomic studies of Bronze Age populations. Among the emerging areas of aDNA research, the analysis of past epigenomes is set to provide more new insights into human adaptation and disease susceptibility through time. Starting as a mere curiosity, ancient human genetics has become a major player in the understanding of our evolutionary history. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Evo-devo in the genomics era, and the origins of morphological diversity’. PMID:27994125

Lipids of aquatic sediments, recent and ancient

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eglinton, G.; Hajibrahim, S. K.; Maxwell, J. R.; Quirke, J. M. E.; Shaw, G. J.; Volkman, J. K.; Wardroper, A. M. K.

1979-01-01

Computerized gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is now an essential tool in the analysis of the complex mixtures of lipids (geolipids) encountered in aquatic sediments, both 'recent' (less than 1 million years old) and ancient. The application of MS, and particularly GC-MS, has been instrumental in the rapid development of organic geochemistry and environmental organic chemistry in recent years. The techniques used have resulted in the identification of numerous compounds of a variety of types in sediments. Most attention has been concentrated on molecules of limited size, mainly below 500 molecular mass, and of limited functionality, for examples, hydrocarbons, fatty acids and alcohols. Examples from recent studies (at Bristol) of contemporary, 'recent' and ancient sediments are presented and discussed.

[Traumatology due to ancient lead missile projectiles].

PubMed

Moog, Ferdinand Peter

2002-01-01

The lead missiles of slingers in antiquity, known as glans or molybdis, are widely considered to have been very dangerous projectiles of the ancient armies. Ballistic investigations and results of experimental archaeology seem to confirm this. However, the findings of medical history concerning these missiles disagree with this view. In ancient medical texts these missiles are only mentioned sporadically, as in Celsus or Paul of Aigina, and wounds caused by them are merely discussed incidentally. There is so far no evidence at all on them in palaeopathology. It is undisputed however that in individual cases these missiles were able to cause serious injuries, especially when they hit unprotected parts of the body. Accordingly, their main effect seems to have consisted in the intimidation of the enemy.

Authenticated DNA from Ancient Wood Remains

PubMed Central

LIEPELT, SASCHA; SPERISEN, CHRISTOPH; DEGUILLOUX, MARIE-FRANCE; PETIT, REMY J.; KISSLING, ROY; SPENCER, MATTHEW; DE BEAULIEU, JACQUES-LOUIS; TABERLET, PIERRE; GIELLY, LUDOVIC; ZIEGENHAGEN, BIRGIT

2006-01-01

• Background The reconstruction of biological processes and human activities during the last glacial cycle relies mainly on data from biological remains. Highly abundant tissues, such as wood, are candidates for a genetic analysis of past populations. While well-authenticated DNA has now been recovered from various fossil remains, the final ‘proof’ is still missing for wood, despite some promising studies. • Scope The goal of this study was to determine if ancient wood can be analysed routinely in studies of archaeology and palaeogenetics. An experiment was designed which included blind testing, independent replicates, extensive contamination controls and rigorous statistical tests. Ten samples of ancient wood from major European forest tree genera were analysed with plastid DNA markers. • Conclusions Authentic DNA was retrieved from wood samples up to 1000 years of age. A new tool for real-time vegetation history and archaeology is ready to use. PMID:16987920

78 FR 26682 - Culturally Significant Objects Imported for Exhibition Determinations: “Hall of Ancient Egypt”

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-07

... Determinations: ``Hall of Ancient Egypt'' AGENCY: Department of State. ACTION: Notice, correction. SUMMARY: On... determinations made by the Department of State pertaining to the exhibition ``Hall of Ancient Egypt.'' The... additional objects to be included in the exhibition ``Hall of Ancient Egypt,'' imported from abroad for...

Comparing particle-size distributions in modern and ancient sand-bed rivers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hajek, E. A.; Lynds, R. M.; Huzurbazar, S. V.

2011-12-01

Particle-size distributions yield valuable insight into processes controlling sediment supply, transport, and deposition in sedimentary systems. This is especially true in ancient deposits, where effects of changing boundary conditions and autogenic processes may be detected from deposited sediment. In order to improve interpretations in ancient deposits and constrain uncertainty associated with new methods for paleomorphodynamic reconstructions in ancient fluvial systems, we compare particle-size distributions in three active sand-bed rivers in central Nebraska (USA) to grain-size distributions from ancient sandy fluvial deposits. Within the modern rivers studied, particle-size distributions of active-layer, suspended-load, and slackwater deposits show consistent relationships despite some morphological and sediment-supply differences between the rivers. In particular, there is substantial and consistent overlap between bed-material and suspended-load distributions, and the coarsest material found in slackwater deposits is comparable to the coarse fraction of suspended-sediment samples. Proxy bed-load and slackwater-deposit samples from the Kayenta Formation (Lower Jurassic, Utah/Colorado, USA) show overlap similar to that seen in the modern rivers, suggesting that these deposits may be sampled for paleomorphodynamic reconstructions, including paleoslope estimation. We also compare grain-size distributions of channel, floodplain, and proximal-overbank deposits in the Willwood (Paleocene/Eocene, Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, USA), Wasatch (Paleocene/Eocene, Piceance Creek Basin, Colorado, USA), and Ferris (Cretaceous/Paleocene, Hanna Basin, Wyoming, USA) formations. Grain-size characteristics in these deposits reflect how suspended- and bed-load sediment is distributed across the floodplain during channel avulsion events. In order to constrain uncertainty inherent in such estimates, we evaluate uncertainty associated with sample collection, preparation, analytical

Assessing the Fidelity of Ancient DNA Sequences Amplified From Nuclear Genes

PubMed Central

Binladen, Jonas; Wiuf, Carsten; Gilbert, M. Thomas P.; Bunce, Michael; Barnett, Ross; Larson, Greger; Greenwood, Alex D.; Haile, James; Ho, Simon Y. W.; Hansen, Anders J.; Willerslev, Eske

2006-01-01

To date, the field of ancient DNA has relied almost exclusively on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences. However, a number of recent studies have reported the successful recovery of ancient nuclear DNA (nuDNA) sequences, thereby allowing the characterization of genetic loci directly involved in phenotypic traits of extinct taxa. It is well documented that postmortem damage in ancient mtDNA can lead to the generation of artifactual sequences. However, as yet no one has thoroughly investigated the damage spectrum in ancient nuDNA. By comparing clone sequences from 23 fossil specimens, recovered from environments ranging from permafrost to desert, we demonstrate the presence of miscoding lesion damage in both the mtDNA and nuDNA, resulting in insertion of erroneous bases during amplification. Interestingly, no significant differences in the frequency of miscoding lesion damage are recorded between mtDNA and nuDNA despite great differences in cellular copy numbers. For both mtDNA and nuDNA, we find significant positive correlations between total sequence heterogeneity and the rates of type 1 transitions (adenine → guanine and thymine → cytosine) and type 2 transitions (cytosine → thymine and guanine → adenine), respectively. Type 2 transitions are by far the most dominant and increase relative to those of type 1 with damage load. The results suggest that the deamination of cytosine (and 5-methyl cytosine) to uracil (and thymine) is the main cause of miscoding lesions in both ancient mtDNA and nuDNA sequences. We argue that the problems presented by postmortem damage, as well as problems with contamination from exogenous sources of conserved nuclear genes, allelic variation, and the reliance on single nucleotide polymorphisms, call for great caution in studies relying on ancient nuDNA sequences. PMID:16299392

The potential for biologically catalyzed anaerobic methane oxidation on ancient Mars.

PubMed

Marlow, Jeffrey J; Larowe, Douglas E; Ehlmann, Bethany L; Amend, Jan P; Orphan, Victoria J

2014-04-01

This study examines the potential for the biologically mediated anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) coupled to sulfate reduction on ancient Mars. Seven distinct fluids representative of putative martian groundwater were used to calculate Gibbs energy values in the presence of dissolved methane under a range of atmospheric CO2 partial pressures. In all scenarios, AOM is exergonic, ranging from -31 to -135 kJ/mol CH4. A reaction transport model was constructed to examine how environmentally relevant parameters such as advection velocity, reactant concentrations, and biomass production rate affect the spatial and temporal dependences of AOM reaction rates. Two geologically supported models for ancient martian AOM are presented: a sulfate-rich groundwater with methane produced from serpentinization by-products, and acid-sulfate fluids with methane from basalt alteration. The simulations presented in this study indicate that AOM could have been a feasible metabolism on ancient Mars, and fossil or isotopic evidence of this metabolic pathway may persist beneath the surface and in surface exposures of eroded ancient terrains.

Earthquake Archaeology: a case study from Ancient Cnidus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stewart, I. S.; Altunel, E.; Piccardi, L.

2003-04-01

Ancient earthquakes can leave their mark in the mythical practices and literary accounts of ancient peoples, the stratigraphy of their site histories, and the structural integrity of their constructions. The ancient Greek/Roman city of Cnidus in southwestern Turkey records all three. A spectacular exposed fault plane cliff bordering the northern edge of the city appears to have been an important revered site, bearing votive niches carved into the near-vertical slip plane and associated with a Sanctuary of Demeter that implies a connection to the underworld. Stratigraphic evidence for earthquake faulting can be found in the form of a destruction horizon of contorted soil, relics and human remains exposed in the original excavations of the Sanctuary of Demeter by Sir Charles Newton (1857-58) and in a destruction horizon of burnt soil and bone uncovered by the ongoing excavation of a colonnaded street. Structural damage to constructions is widespread across the site, with warped and offset walls in the Sanctuary of Demeter, collapsed buildings in several places, and a parallel arrangement of fallen columns in the colonnaded street. The most remarkable structural evidence for fault activity, however, is the rupture of the ancient city's famous Round Temple of Aphrodite, whose podium reveals a history of damage and which is unambiguously displaced across a bedrock fault. While these phenomena are equivocal when viewed in isolation, collectively they imply at least two damaging earthquakes at the site, one (possibly both) of which ruptured along the fault on which the city is found. The Cnidus case study highlights how reliable identification of archaeoseismic damage relies on compiling an assemblage of indicators rather than the discovery of a diagnostic "smoking gun".

The Arthasastra: Assessing the Contemporary Relevance of an Ancient Indian Treatise on Statecraft

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-06-10

the midst of scholars such as Sun - Tzu and Thucydides, Kautilya’s Arthaśāstra remains a lesser-known work from ancient India. This thesis researches...scholars such as Sun - Tzu and Thucydides, Kautilya’s Arthaśāstra remains a lesser-known work from ancient India. This thesis researches Kautilya’s...Peloponnesian War Overview Strategists’ respect for Thucydides and Sun Tzu as eminent strategic thinkers of the ancient world rests in the fact that

Identifications of ancient Egyptian royal mummies from the 18th Dynasty reconsidered.

PubMed

Habicht, M E; Bouwman, A S; Rühli, F J

2016-01-01

For centuries, ancient Egyptian Royal mummies have drawn the attention both of the general public and scientists. Many royal mummies from the New Kingdom have survived. The discoveries of the bodies of these ancient rulers have always sparked much attention, yet not all identifications are clear even nowadays. This study presents a meta-analysis to demonstrate the difficulties in identifying ancient Egyptian royal mummies. Various methods and pitfalls in the identification of the Pharaohs are reassessed since new scientific methods can be used, such as ancient DNA-profiling and CT-scanning. While the ancestors of Tutankhamun have been identified, some identities are still highly controversial (e.g., the mystery of the KV-55 skeleton, recently most likely identified as the genetic father of Tutankhamun). The meta-analysis confirms the suggested identity of some mummies (e.g., Amenhotep III, Thutmosis IV, and Queen Tjye). © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Geomorphic reconstructions in the environs of ancient troy.

PubMed

Kraft, J C; Kayan, I; Erol, O

1980-08-15

Sea level rise, deltaic progradation, and floodplain aggradation have changed the landscape in the vicinity of ancient Troy during the past 10,000 years. With the waning of the last major world glaciation and resultant sea level rise and fluctuation, a marine embayment protruded nearly 10 kilometers south of the site of Troy at Hisarlik in the Troad of northwest Turkey. As the sea approached its present level approximately 6000 years ago, fluvial and marine deposition caused a northerly migration of the delta and floodplain of the Scamander and Simois Rivers past the site of Troy toward the present-day coast about 6 kilometers north of the site. In view of these major changes in morphology, interpretations of ancient geographies related to historical or historical-mythological settings must be changed. A number of paleogeographic maps have been reconstructed with the use of subsurface data that records the continuing landscape change since the first occupancy of the site at Troy 5000 years ago. These show that ancient Troy was located on an embayment of the sea. If the Trojan War occurred, then the axis of the battlefield and associated events must be relocated to the south and west of Troy.

At the dawn of geodesy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fischer, Irene K.

1981-06-01

The first land surveyors were rope stretchers and rope knotters, remembered in ancient documents and tomb paintings and also in some terminology. The L-shaped carpenter’s square, one of the earliest and most versatile basic tools, represents the observed direction of the plumb line versus the water level and appears as the shadow-casting gnomon and also as the geometrical gnomon in magically-restricted enlargements of altars. The related “Pythagorean” theorem was known in antiquity centuries before Pythagoras, with algebraic proofs in Babylonia and China. The spherical shape of the earth, deduced from the observation of circumpolar stars, was part of a complete equatorial astronomical system in ancient China. But although shadow measurements were generally used to establish north-south distances, only the Greeks derived from them the size of the earth. The striking difference between the abstract, geometric approach of Greece and the concrete, algebraic approach of Babylonia and China represents not a difference in talents but a difference in culture-bound interests.

Multi-frequency Electromagnetic Induction Survey for Archaeological Prospection: Approach and Results in Han Hangu Pass and Xishan Yang in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, Panpan; Chen, Fulong; Jiang, Aihui; Zhou, Wei; Wang, Hongchao; Leucci, Giovanni; de Giorgi, Lara; Sileo, Maria; Luo, Rupeng; Lasaponara, Rosa; Masini, Nicola

2018-04-01

This study presents the potential of multi-frequency electromagnetic induction (EMI) in archaeology. EMI is currently less employed for archaeological prospection with respect to other geophysical techniques. It is capable of identifying shallow subsurface relics by simultaneously measuring the apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) and apparent magnetic susceptibility (MSa). Moreover, frequency sounding is able to quantify the depths and vertical shapes of buried structures. In this study, EMI surveys with five frequencies were performed at two heritage sites with different geological conditions: Han Hangu Pass characterized by cinnamon soil and Xishan Yang by sandy loams. In the first site, high ECa values were observed with variations in depth correlated to archaeological remains. Moreover, electromagnetic anomalies related to an ancient road and five kiln caves were identified. In the second site, an ancient tomb, indicating extremely low ECa and high MSa, was discovered. Its electromagnetic properties are attributed to the cavity and ferroferric oxides.

Ancient Magnetic Reversals: Clues to the Geodynamo.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoffman, Kenneth A.

1988-01-01

Discusses the question posed by some that the earth's magnetic field may reverse. States that rocks magnetized by ancient fields may offer clues to the underlying reversal mechanism in the earth's core. (TW)

Back to the roots - dermatology in ancient Egyptian medicine.

PubMed

Hartmann, Anke

2016-04-01

Although ancient Greek and Roman medicine is generally considered the origin of European medicine, there is evidence in ancient Egyptian texts suggesting a precursor role of ancient Egyptian medicine in this regard. What did Greek and Roman physicians learn from their Egyptian counterparts? Of the medical papyri discovered to date, the largest and most significant - the Ebers papyrus and the Smith papyrus - originate from the beginning of the New Kingdom, however, they were - at least in part - already written during the Old Kingdom. Considering the times, the spectrum of diseases treated as well as the range of conservative and surgical treatment methods was truly astounding. Taking a medical history, performing a thorough manual examination, and assessing clinical findings constituted key components in establishing a diagnosis. Apart from hygienic aspects, skin and hair disorders, the treatment of acute and chronic wounds and injuries as well as cosmetic procedures took on an important role. Even back then, physicians sought to assess inflammatory processes with respect to their cardinal features, implement graded wound therapy, and treat diseases with allopathic drugs. The 'channel theory' prevalent at that time, in which the unimpeded flow of bodily fluids was considered a fundamental prerequisite for health, may likely be regarded as precursor of ancient Greek humoral pathology. The latter became the basis for the subsequently established theory of the four humors, and was thus essential for the entire field of medieval medicine. © 2016 Deutsche Dermatologische Gesellschaft (DDG). Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Ancient Earth, Alien Earths Event

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-08-20

Panelists pose for a group photo at the “Ancient Earth, Alien Earths” Event at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC Wednesday, August 20, 2014. The event was sponsored by NASA, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Smithsonian Institution and highlighted how research on early Earth could help guide our search for habitable planets orbiting other stars. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

"Ancient" schwannoma of the submandibular gland: A case report and literature review.

PubMed

Ho, Che-Fang; Wu, Pei-Wen; Lee, Ta-Jen; Huang, Chien-Chia

2017-12-01

Schwannomas are solitary neurogenic tumors that arise from cells of the neural sheath. Ancient schwannoma is a relatively rare variant of schwannoma, characterized by increased cellularity and atypia. These cellular changes could be confusing and make the accurate pathologic diagnosis difficult. A 36-year-old man presented with painless swelling in left submandibular region for more than 2 years. The computed tomography confirmed a well-defined cystic lesion in the left submandibular space, which caused superior and posterior displacement of the left submandibular gland. Surgical excision was performed and the pathology confirmed the diagnosis of ancient schwannoma. To our knowledge, this patient is the second case of primary submandibular ancient schwannoma reported in the literatures. The patient underwent tumor resection and postoperative recovery was uneventful. There were no nerve deficits after the operation. There was no recurrence within 1 year of follow-up. Schwannoma originated from the submandibular gland is extremely rare and only a few cases have been reported. Ancient schwannoma is an even more rare tumor. The increased cellularity and atypia of ancient schwannoma can resemble features of malignancy. Great care must be taken to make differential diagnosis with fibrosarcomas and malignant schwannoma. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

Modern tree species composition reflects ancient Maya "forest gardens" in northwest Belize.

PubMed

Ross, Nanci J

2011-01-01

Ecology and ethnobotany were integrated to assess the impact of ancient Maya tree-dominated home gardens (i.e., "forest gardens"), which contained a diversity of tree species used for daily household needs, on the modern tree species composition of a Mesoamerican forest. Researchers have argued that the ubiquity of these ancient gardens throughout Mesoamerica led to the dominance of species useful to Maya in the contemporary forest, but this pattern may be localized depending on ancient land use. The tested hypothesis was that species composition would be significantly different between areas of dense ancient residential structures (high density) and areas of little or no ancient settlement (low density). Sixty-three 400-m2 plots (31 high density and 32 low density) were censused around the El Pilar Archaeological Reserve in northwestern Belize. Species composition was significantly different, with higher abundances of commonly utilized "forest garden" species still persisting in high-density forest areas despite centuries of abandonment. Subsequent edaphic analyses only explained 5% of the species composition differences. This research provides data on the long-term impacts of Maya forests gardens for use in development of future conservation models. For Mesoamerican conservation programs to work, we must understand the complex ecological and social interactions within an ecosystem that developed in intimate association with humans.

Unravelling ancient microbial history with community proteogenomics and lipid geochemistry.

PubMed

Brocks, Jochen J; Banfield, Jillian

2009-08-01

Our window into the Earth's ancient microbial past is narrow and obscured by missing data. However, we can glean information about ancient microbial ecosystems using fossil lipids (biomarkers) that are extracted from billion-year-old sedimentary rocks. In this Opinion article, we describe how environmental genomics and related methodologies will give molecular fossil research a boost, by increasing our knowledge about how evolutionary innovations in microorganisms have changed the surface of planet Earth.

Paleo-oncology: the role of ancient remains in the study of cancer.

PubMed

Halperin, Edward C

2004-01-01

Paleo-oncology is the study of carcinomas and sarcomas in ancient human populations and their hominid precursors. These populations are informative concerning the possible influences on cancer of morphologic and functional evolution, diet, lifestyle, and other environmental factors. The prevalence of cancer in ancient populations might have differed from that in modern humans, because of substantial differences in tobacco and alcohol use, diet, life expectancy, and the availability of treatment. The available physical data concerning cancer in antiquity includes evidence of its existence in animal fossils and ancient humans and their precursors. The difficulties of paleo-oncologic research include a limited soft tissue record. In evaluating cancer in ancient remains, one must also deal with the problem of pseudopathology: whether an observed tissue change is all antemortem pathologic lesion or a postmortem artifact. Future archeological discoveries and the application of improved diagnostic techniques may enable paleo-oncology to make further contributions to our understanding of cancer.

Ancient Mars: wet in many places.

PubMed

Paige, David A

2005-03-11

New results from the Mars Express Orbiter mission reveal multiple deposits of minerals formed in the presence of liquid water. They reinforce the conclusion that ancient Mars was warmer and wetter than it is today, and increase the number of promising localities to search for evidence of past life.

Unlocking the Mysteries of Ancient Egypt.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Riechers, Maggie

1995-01-01

Describes the work of Egyptologist William Murnane who is recording the ritual scenes and inscriptions of a great columned hall from the days of the pharaohs. The 134 columns, covered with divine imagery and hieroglyphic inscriptions represent an unpublished religious text. Briefly discusses ancient Egyptian culture. Includes several photographs…

Isotopic ages and characteristics of ancient (pre-Serenitatis) crustal rocks at Apollo 17

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Premo, W. R.; Tatsumoto, M.

1992-01-01

The topics covered include the following: (1) problems with the isotopic systematics in lunar samples; (2) ancient crustal ages at the Apollo 17 site; and (3) isotopic characteristics of ancient Apollo 17 rocks - implications for their petrogenesis.

Preservation of ancient DNA in thermally damaged archaeological bone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ottoni, Claudio; Koon, Hannah E. C.; Collins, Matthew J.; Penkman, Kirsty E. H.; Rickards, Olga; Craig, Oliver E.

2009-02-01

Evolutionary biologists are increasingly relying on ancient DNA from archaeological animal bones to study processes such as domestication and population dispersals. As many animal bones found on archaeological sites are likely to have been cooked, the potential for DNA preservation must be carefully considered to maximise the chance of amplification success. Here, we assess the preservation of mitochondrial DNA in a medieval cattle bone assemblage from Coppergate, York, UK. These bones have variable degrees of thermal alterations to bone collagen fibrils, indicative of cooking. Our results show that DNA preservation is not reliant on the presence of intact collagen fibrils. In fact, a greater number of template molecules could be extracted from bones with damaged collagen. We conclude that moderate heating of bone may enhance the retention of DNA fragments. Our results also indicate that ancient DNA preservation is highly variable, even within a relatively recent assemblage from contexts conducive to organic preservation, and that diagenetic parameters based on protein diagenesis are not always useful for predicting ancient DNA survival.

Liver abscess in ancient Greek and Greco-Roman texts.

PubMed

Papavramidou, Niki; Samara, Anastasia; Christopoulou-Aletra, Helen

2014-01-01

This paper presents liver abscesses, as studied in the ancient Greek and Greco-Roman bibliography. Numerous references concerning this entity can be found in the writings of the Hippocratic doctors (5th cent. B.C.), Archigenes of Apamea (1st cent. A.D.), Galen (2nd cent. A.D.), Aretaeus of Cappadocia (2nd cent. A.D), Oribasius (4th cent. A.D.), Theophilus Protospatharius (7th cent. A.D.), and Paulus Nicaeensis (7th-10th cent. A.D.). In most cases the clinical manifestations, the prognosis and the method of treatment are presented. In all ancient writings we studied, the rupture of a liver abscess is also part of the main theme. In specific, the path that the fluid would follow after a rupture was considered to be a main prognostic factor, i.e. if the fluid "coursed into the stomach", the patient would definitely die. In this work, an attempt is also made to correlate the ancient descriptions to modern medical entities, such as amebic or pyogenic liver abscess.

Enlightenment from ancient Chinese urban and rural stormwater management practices.

PubMed

Wu, Che; Qiao, Mengxi; Wang, Sisi

2013-01-01

Hundreds of years ago, the ancient Chinese implemented several outstanding projects to cope with the changing climate and violent floods. Some of these projects are still in use today. These projects evolved from the experience and knowledge accumulated through the long coexistence of people with nature. The concepts behind these ancient stormwater management practices, such as low-impact development and sustainable drainage systems, are similar to the technology applied in modern stormwater management. This paper presents the cases of the Hani Terrace in Yunnan and the Fushou drainage system of Ganzhou in Jiangxi. The ancient Chinese knowledge behind these cases is seen in the design concepts and the features of these projects. These features help us to understand better their applications in the contemporary environment. In today's more complex environment, integrating traditional and advanced philosophy with modern technologies is extremely useful in building urban and rural stormwater management systems in China.

Ganymede - Ancient Impact Craters in Galileo Regio

NASA Image and Video Library

1997-09-07

Ancient impact craters shown in this image of Jupiter moon Ganymede taken by NASA Galileo spacecraft testify to the great age of the terrain, dating back several billion years. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00279

Structure of Ancient Glass by 29 Si Magic Angle Spinning NMR Spectroscopy.

PubMed

Bradford, Henry; Ryder, Amy; Henderson, Julian; Titman, Jeremy J

2018-05-23

29 Si magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR spectroscopy has been applied for the first time to the structural analysis of ancient glass samples obtained from archaeological excavations. The results show that it is possible to establish the distribution of Si environments in ancient glass by 29 Si MAS NMR, so long as the concentrations of magnetic impurities, such as Mn and Fe oxides, are low. In general, good agreement has been obtained with compositions determined by means of electron probe microanalysis. In addition, the 29 Si MAS NMR data reveal structural differences between glasses manufactured at separate ancient sites. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Insights into Modern Human Prehistory Using Ancient Genomes.

PubMed

Yang, Melinda A; Fu, Qiaomei

2018-03-01

The genetic relationship of past modern humans to today's populations and each other was largely unknown until recently, when advances in ancient DNA sequencing allowed for unprecedented analysis of the genomes of these early people. These ancient genomes reveal new insights into human prehistory not always observed studying present-day populations, including greater details on the genetic diversity, population structure, and gene flow that characterized past human populations, particularly in early Eurasia, as well as increased insight on the relationship between archaic and modern humans. Here, we review genetic studies on ∼45000- to 7500-year-old individuals associated with mainly preagricultural cultures found in Eurasia, the Americas, and Africa. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

History, etymology, and fallacy: attitudes toward male masturbation in the ancient Western world.

PubMed

Elia, J P

1987-01-01

This article examines the attitudes toward male masturbation in the ancient western world. More specifically, this work deals with ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. By comparing each epoch and geographic region, intolerance of autoerotic activity can be seen. Although there is a pattern of intolerance, the act of masturbation is always viewed provisionally. In addition, by examining these three periods of history not only can attitudes be scrutinized, but also it can be seen quite clearly that there was no golden age of sexuality: The attitude of accepted and encouraged unlimited and varied sexual practices does not exist in the ancient western world. As in many other cultures in various stages of history, procreative sexuality is the dominating theme. Thus, current attitudes of sex are derived from, and still survive due to the influence of, ancient western civilization.

Communication Arts in the Ancient World.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Havelock, Eric A., Ed.; Hershbell, Jackson P., Ed.

Intended for both classicists and nonclassicists, this volume explores the beginnings of literacy in ancient Greece and Rome and examines the effects of written communication on these cultures. The nine articles, written by classical scholars and educators in the field of communication, discuss the following: the superiority of the alphabet over…

Tapping Ancient Roots: Plaited Paper Baskets

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Patrick, Jane

2011-01-01

With ancient roots, basket making has been practiced since the earliest civilizations, and according to textile experts, probably pre-dates pottery. This is partly conjecture since few baskets remain. It is through evidence found in clay impressions that the earliest baskets reveal themselves. Basically, basketry construction is like flat weaving.…

Ancient Giant Basin/Aquifer System in the Arabia Region, Mars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dohm, James M.; Barlow, Nadine; Williams, Jean-Pierre; Baker, Victor R.; Anderson, Robert C.; Boynton, William V.; Fairen, Alberto G.; Hare, Trent M.

2004-01-01

Ancient geologic/hydrologic phenomena on Mars observed through the magnetic data [1,2] provide windows to the ancient past through the younger Argyre and Hellas impacts [e.g., 3,4], the northern plains basement [5], and the Tharsis and Elysium magmatic complexes (recently referred to as superplumes [6,7]). These signatures, coupled with highly degraded macrostructures (tectonic features that are tens to thousands of km-long [8]), reflect an energetic planet during its embryonic development (.5 Ga or so of activity) with an active dynamo and magnetosphere [1,2,6]. One such window into the ancient past occurs northwest of the Hellas impact basin in Arabia Terra. Arabia Terra is one of the few water-rich equatorial regions of Mars, as indicated through impact crater [9] and elemental [10,11] information. This region records many unique traits, including stratigraphy, topography, cratering record, structural character, geomorphology, and geophysical, elemental, albedo, and thermal inertia signatures. We interpret these to collectively indicate a possible ancient giant impact basin that later became an important aquifer, as it provided yet another source of water for the formation of putative water bodies that occupied the northern plains [12,13] and addresses possible water-related characteristics that may be observed at the Opportunity landing site. This basin is antipodal to Tharsis and estimated to be at least 3,000 km in diameter.

Cardiovascular benefits from ancient grain bread consumption: findings from a double-blinded randomized crossover intervention trial.

PubMed

Sereni, Alice; Cesari, Francesca; Gori, Anna Maria; Maggini, Niccolò; Marcucci, Rossella; Casini, Alessandro; Sofi, Francesco

2017-02-01

Ancient grain varieties have been shown to have some beneficial effects on health. Forty-five clinically healthy subjects were included in a randomized, double-blinded crossover trial aimed at evaluating the effect of a replacement diet with bread derived from ancient grain varieties versus modern grain variety on cardiovascular risk profile. After 8 weeks of intervention, consumption of bread obtained by the ancient varieties showed a significant amelioration of various cardiovascular parameters. Indeed, the ancient varieties were shown to result in a significant reduction of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol and blood glucose, whereas no significant differences during the phase with the modern variety were reported. Moreover, a significant increase in circulating endothelial progenitor cells were reported after the consumption of products made from the ancient "Verna" variety. The present results suggest that a dietary consumption of bread obtained from ancient grain varieties was effective in reducing cardiovascular risk factors.

Outline of an Ancient Sea on Titan

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-10-16

This image from NASA Cassini spacecraft shows an ancient southern sea that used to sprawl out near the south pole of Saturn moon Titan. Within this basin is the largest present-day lake in Titan southern hemisphere, Ontario Lacus.

Ancient science in a digital age.

PubMed

Lehoux, Daryn

2013-03-01

Technology is rapidly changing our understanding of ancient science. New methods of visualization are bringing to light important texts we could not previously read; changes in online publishing are allowing unprecedented access to difficult-to-find materials; and online mapping tools are offering new pictures of lost spaces, connectivities, and physical objects.

Ancient whole grain gluten-free flatbreads

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The USDA food guide recommends that at least ½ of all the grains eaten should be whole grains. The FDA allows food Health Claim labels for food containing 51% whole gains and 11 g of dietary fiber. This is the only report demonstrating innovative ancient whole grain gluten-free (no yeast or chemical...

Microscopical Examination of Ancient Silver Coins

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pistofidis, N.; Vourlias, G.; Pavlidou, El.

2007-04-23

The microstructure of three silver coins of the IIId century B.C. from the Illyrian king Monounios, the ancient Greek city of Dyrrachion and of Korkyra was studied with XRF and microscopy. From this investigation it turned out that these coins have different chemical composition and microstructure that imply different minting method.

Synchrotron X-ray micro-beam studies of ancient Egyptian make-up

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martinetto, P.; Anne, M.; Dooryhée, E.; Drakopoulos, M.; Dubus, M.; Salomon, J.; Simionovici, A.; Walter, Ph.

2001-07-01

Vases full of make-up are most often present in the burial furniture of Egyptian tombs dated from the pharaonic period. The powdered cosmetics made of isolated grains are analysed to identify their trace element signature. From this signature we identify the provenance of the mineral ingredients in the make-up and we observe different impurities in products, which have been demonstrated as synthetic substances by previous works. Focused X-ray micro-beam ( 2×5 μm2) is successively tuned at 11 keV, below the L III absorption edge of Pb, and 31.8 keV for global characterisation of the metal impurities. The fluorescence signal integrated over each single grain is detected against the X-ray micro-diffraction pattern collected in transmission with a bi-dimensional detector. Furthermore, for galena grains rich in Zn, the XANES signal at the K-absorption edge of Zn shows its immediate nearest-neighbour environment.

Eternal Egypt: Masterworks of Ancient Art from the British Museum. Learning from Exhibitions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Mark M.

2001-01-01

Introduces the exhibition "Eternal Egypt: Masterworks of Ancient Art from the British Museum" that explores the four major periods of Egyptian history. Provides background information on ancient Egypt and describes the art that was present in each of the four kingdoms. (CMK)

Pathogens and host immunity in the ancient human oral cavity

PubMed Central

Warinner, Christina; Matias Rodrigues, João F.; Vyas, Rounak; Trachsel, Christian; Shved, Natallia; Grossmann, Jonas; Radini, Anita; Hancock, Y.; Tito, Raul Y.; Fiddyment, Sarah; Speller, Camilla; Hendy, Jessica; Charlton, Sophy; Luder, Hans Ulrich; Salazar-García, Domingo C.; Eppler, Elisabeth; Seiler, Roger; Hansen, Lars; Samaniego Castruita, José Alfredo; Barkow-Oesterreicher, Simon; Teoh, Kai Yik; Kelstrup, Christian; Olsen, Jesper V.; Nanni, Paolo; Kawai, Toshihisa; Willerslev, Eske; von Mering, Christian; Lewis, Cecil M.; Collins, Matthew J.; Gilbert, M. Thomas P.; Rühli, Frank; Cappellini, Enrico

2014-01-01

Calcified dental plaque (dental calculus) preserves for millennia and entraps biomolecules from all domains of life and viruses. We report the first high-resolution taxonomic and protein functional characterization of the ancient oral microbiome and demonstrate that the oral cavity has long served as a reservoir for bacteria implicated in both local and systemic disease. We characterize: (i) the ancient oral microbiome in a diseased state, (ii) 40 opportunistic pathogens, (iii) the first evidence of ancient human-associated putative antibiotic resistance genes, (iv) a genome reconstruction of the periodontal pathogen Tannerella forsythia, (v) 239 bacterial and 43 human proteins, allowing confirmation of a long-term association between host immune factors, “red-complex” pathogens, and periodontal disease, and (vi) DNA sequences matching dietary sources. Directly datable and nearly ubiquitous, dental calculus permits the simultaneous investigation of pathogen activity, host immunity, and diet, thereby extending the direct investigation of common diseases into the human evolutionary past. PMID:24562188

Multidisciplinary studies on ancient sandstone quarries of Western Sardinia (Italy).

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grillo, Silvana Maria; Del Vais, Carla; Naitza, Stefano

2013-04-01

The ancient coastal quarries of Mediterranean are increasingly considered geosites of multidisciplinary relevance. They are sites of historical-archaeological interest that show ancient techniques of stone extraction; they are significant for cultural heritage conservation and restoration, as sources of the stones used in ancient buildings and monuments; they are sites of geological relevance, as often retain important stratigraphic sections; they are also useful markers of secular changes in the sea level. A multisciplinary study is in progress on the ancient quarries of the Sinis region (western Sardinia island), integrating archaeological, geological, minero-petrographical data. In Sardinia, coastal quarries have been established from Punic and Roman times. Many of them exploited Quaternary sediments along the southern and western coasts of the island. They consist of middle-late Pleistocene marine conglomerates and carbonate sandstones, and of coastal (aeolian) carbonate sandstones. Sandstone blocks of different sizes have been widely used in ancient cities for buildings, defensive works, harbours, etc. Three main areas of stone extraction (San Giovanni di Sinis, Punta Maimoni, Is Arutas) have been so far recognized in the Sinis. GIS-supported mapping and documentation of the sites includes their geology and stratigraphy, the extension and layout of the quarries, and an evaluation of volumes of extracted rocks. Documented archaeological evidences include ancient extraction fronts, spoil heaps, working areas, working traces in the old fronts, transport routes of blocks, and traces of loading facilities. The study is aimed at reconstructing the relationships of the quarries with the urban areas of Sinis, as the ancient Punic-Roman city of Tharros. Consequently, a minero-petrographical characterization (optical microscopy, XRD) is performed on sandstones sampled in each quarry, and in historical buildings in Tharros and other centres of the region (Cabras

Ancient DNA from nomads in 2500-year-old archeological sites of Pengyang, China.

PubMed

Zhao, Yong-Bin; Li, Hong-Jie; Cai, Da-Wei; Li, Chun-Xiang; Zhang, Quan-Chao; Zhu, Hong; Zhou, Hui

2010-04-01

Six human remains (dating approximately 2500 years ago) were excavated from Pengyang, China, an area occupied by both ancient nomadic and farming people. The funerary objects found with these remains suggested they were nomads. To further confirm their ancestry, we analyzed both the maternal lineages and paternal lineages of the ancient DNA. From the mitochondrial DNA, six haplotypes were identified as three haplogroups: C, D4 and M10. The haplotype-sharing populations and phylogenetic analyses revealed that these individuals were closely associated with the ancient Xiongnu and modern northern Asians. Single-nucleotide polymorphism analysis of Y chromosomes from four male samples that were typed as haplogroup Q indicated that these people had originated in Siberia. These results show that these ancient people from Pengyang present a close genetic affinity to nomadic people, indicating that northern nomads had reached the Central Plain area of China nearly 2500 years ago.

Ancient Earth, Alien Earths Event

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-08-20

Panelists discuss how research on early Earth could help guide our search for habitable planets orbiting other stars at the “Ancient Earth, Alien Earths” Event at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC Wednesday, August 20, 2014. The event was sponsored by NASA, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Smithsonian Institution and was moderated by Dr. David H. Grinspoon, Senior Scientist at the Planetary Science Institute. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Ancient Earth, Alien Earths Event

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-08-20

Dr. David H. Grinspoon, Senior Scientist, Planetary Science Institute, moderates a panel at the “Ancient Earth, Alien Earths” Event at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC Wednesday, August 20, 2014. The event was sponsored by NASA, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Smithsonian Institution and highlighted how research on early Earth could help guide our search for habitable planets orbiting other stars. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

An Ancient Relation between Units of Length and Volume Based on a Sphere

PubMed Central

Zapassky, Elena; Gadot, Yuval; Finkelstein, Israel; Benenson, Itzhak

2012-01-01

The modern metric system defines units of volume based on the cube. We propose that the ancient Egyptian system of measuring capacity employed a similar concept, but used the sphere instead. When considered in ancient Egyptian units, the volume of a sphere, whose circumference is one royal cubit, equals half a hekat. Using the measurements of large sets of ancient containers as a database, the article demonstrates that this formula was characteristic of Egyptian and Egyptian-related pottery vessels but not of the ceramics of Mesopotamia, which had a different system of measuring length and volume units. PMID:22470489

Intrinsic challenges in ancient microbiome reconstruction using 16S rRNA gene amplification.

PubMed

Ziesemer, Kirsten A; Mann, Allison E; Sankaranarayanan, Krithivasan; Schroeder, Hannes; Ozga, Andrew T; Brandt, Bernd W; Zaura, Egija; Waters-Rist, Andrea; Hoogland, Menno; Salazar-García, Domingo C; Aldenderfer, Mark; Speller, Camilla; Hendy, Jessica; Weston, Darlene A; MacDonald, Sandy J; Thomas, Gavin H; Collins, Matthew J; Lewis, Cecil M; Hofman, Corinne; Warinner, Christina

2015-11-13

To date, characterization of ancient oral (dental calculus) and gut (coprolite) microbiota has been primarily accomplished through a metataxonomic approach involving targeted amplification of one or more variable regions in the 16S rRNA gene. Specifically, the V3 region (E. coli 341-534) of this gene has been suggested as an excellent candidate for ancient DNA amplification and microbial community reconstruction. However, in practice this metataxonomic approach often produces highly skewed taxonomic frequency data. In this study, we use non-targeted (shotgun metagenomics) sequencing methods to better understand skewed microbial profiles observed in four ancient dental calculus specimens previously analyzed by amplicon sequencing. Through comparisons of microbial taxonomic counts from paired amplicon (V3 U341F/534R) and shotgun sequencing datasets, we demonstrate that extensive length polymorphisms in the V3 region are a consistent and major cause of differential amplification leading to taxonomic bias in ancient microbiome reconstructions based on amplicon sequencing. We conclude that systematic amplification bias confounds attempts to accurately reconstruct microbiome taxonomic profiles from 16S rRNA V3 amplicon data generated using universal primers. Because in silico analysis indicates that alternative 16S rRNA hypervariable regions will present similar challenges, we advocate for the use of a shotgun metagenomics approach in ancient microbiome reconstructions.

Technologies Old and New: Teaching Ancient Navigation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spalding, Simon

1995-01-01

One educator presents maritime history to students using technologies available to ancient seafarers. Techniques include dead reckoning, the sandglass, the magnetic compass, celestial navigation, and various navigation techniques of precontact Polynesia that depended upon oral transmission of knowledge. The paper notes differences between…

Lead in ancient Rome’s city waters

PubMed Central

Delile, Hugo; Blichert-Toft, Janne; Goiran, Jean-Philippe; Keay, Simon; Albarède, Francis

2014-01-01

It is now universally accepted that utilization of lead for domestic purposes and water distribution presents a major health hazard. The ancient Roman world was unaware of these risks. How far the gigantic network of lead pipes used in ancient Rome compromised public health in the city is unknown. Lead isotopes in sediments from the harbor of Imperial Rome register the presence of a strong anthropogenic component during the beginning of the Common Era and the Early Middle Ages. They demonstrate that the lead pipes of the water distribution system increased Pb contents in drinking water of the capital city by up to two orders of magnitude over the natural background. The Pb isotope record shows that the discontinuities in the pollution of the Tiber by lead are intimately entwined with the major issues affecting Late Antique Rome and its water distribution system. PMID:24753588

Ancient genomes from Iceland reveal the making of a human population.

PubMed

Ebenesersdóttir, S Sunna; Sandoval-Velasco, Marcela; Gunnarsdóttir, Ellen D; Jagadeesan, Anuradha; Guðmundsdóttir, Valdís B; Thordardóttir, Elísabet L; Einarsdóttir, Margrét S; Moore, Kristjan H S; Sigurðsson, Ásgeir; Magnúsdóttir, Droplaug N; Jónsson, Hákon; Snorradóttir, Steinunn; Hovig, Eivind; Møller, Pål; Kockum, Ingrid; Olsson, Tomas; Alfredsson, Lars; Hansen, Thomas F; Werge, Thomas; Cavalleri, Gianpiero L; Gilbert, Edmund; Lalueza-Fox, Carles; Walser, Joe W; Kristjánsdóttir, Steinunn; Gopalakrishnan, Shyam; Árnadóttir, Lilja; Magnússon, Ólafur Þ; Gilbert, M Thomas P; Stefánsson, Kári; Helgason, Agnar

2018-06-01

Opportunities to directly study the founding of a human population and its subsequent evolutionary history are rare. Using genome sequence data from 27 ancient Icelanders, we demonstrate that they are a combination of Norse, Gaelic, and admixed individuals. We further show that these ancient Icelanders are markedly more similar to their source populations in Scandinavia and the British-Irish Isles than to contemporary Icelanders, who have been shaped by 1100 years of extensive genetic drift. Finally, we report evidence of unequal contributions from the ancient founders to the contemporary Icelandic gene pool. These results provide detailed insights into the making of a human population that has proven extraordinarily useful for the discovery of genotype-phenotype associations. Copyright © 2018 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.

Teff, buckwheat, quinoa and amaranth: Ancient whole grain gluten-free egg-free pasta

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

This report demonstrates innovative ancient whole grains, gluten-free, egg-free pasta (no chemicals added) made using a kitchen counter-top appliance. Whole grain, fusilli pasta was prepared with teff, buckwheat, quinoa and amaranth flours. These ancient grains are called “Super Foods” due to thei...

Ancient DNA and the rewriting of human history: be sparing with Occam's razor.

PubMed

Haber, Marc; Mezzavilla, Massimo; Xue, Yali; Tyler-Smith, Chris

2016-01-11

Ancient DNA research is revealing a human history far more complex than that inferred from parsimonious models based on modern DNA. Here, we review some of the key events in the peopling of the world in the light of the findings of work on ancient DNA.

Investigation of Ancient Egyptian Baking and Brewing Methods by Correlative Microscopy

PubMed

Samuel

1996-07-26

Ancient Egyptian methods of baking and brewing are investigated by optical and scanning electron microscopy of desiccated bread loaves and beer remains. The results suggest that current conceptions about ancient Egyptian bread and beer making should be modified. Bread was made not only with flour from raw grain, but sometimes also with malt and with yeast. Brewing blended cooked and uncooked malt with water; the mixture was strained free of husk before inoculation with yeast.

Ancient impact and aqueous processes at Endeavour Crater, Mars

USGS Publications Warehouse

Squyres, S. W.; Arvidson, R. E.; Bell, J.F.; Calef, F.J.; Clark, B. C.; Cohen, B. A.; Crumpler, L.A.; de Souza, P. A.; Farrand, W. H.; Gellert, Ralf; Grant, J.; Herkenhoff, K. E.; Hurowitz, J.A.; Johnson, J. R.; Jolliff, B.L.; Knoll, A.H.; Li, R.; McLennan, S.M.; Ming, D. W.; Mittlefehldt, D. W.; Parker, T.J.; Paulsen, G.; Rice, M.S.; Ruff, S.W.; Schröder, C.; Yen, A. S.; Zacny, K.

2012-01-01

The rover Opportunity has investigated the rim of Endeavour Crater, a large ancient impact crater on Mars. Basaltic breccias produced by the impact form the rim deposits, with stratigraphy similar to that observed at similar-sized craters on Earth. Highly localized zinc enrichments in some breccia materials suggest hydrothermal alteration of rim deposits. Gypsum-rich veins cut sedimentary rocks adjacent to the crater rim. The gypsum was precipitated from low-temperature aqueous fluids flowing upward from the ancient materials of the rim, leading temporarily to potentially habitable conditions and providing some of the waters involved in formation of the ubiquitous sulfate-rich sandstones of the Meridiani region.

Wahhabism: Is it a Factor in the Spread of Global Terrorism

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-09-01

ideology, by forbidding Muslims from making requests at the tombs of holy people, which even included the Prophet’s tomb , yet another trend seen in...cities of Basrah and Al-Uyaynah where he witnessed the venation of saints and construction of tombs and shrines of the Prophet Muhammad and his...practices as unwarranted innovations”49 He ordered the destruction of all tombs , mosques built over tombs that venerated anyone other than God

Sundanese ancient manuscripts search engine using probability approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suryani, Mira; Hadi, Setiawan; Paulus, Erick; Nurma Yulita, Intan; Supriatna, Asep K.

2017-10-01

Today, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has become a regular thing for every aspect of live include cultural and heritage aspect. Sundanese ancient manuscripts as Sundanese heritage are in damage condition and also the information that containing on it. So in order to preserve the information in Sundanese ancient manuscripts and make them easier to search, a search engine has been developed. The search engine must has good computing ability. In order to get the best computation in developed search engine, three types of probabilistic approaches: Bayesian Networks Model, Divergence from Randomness with PL2 distribution, and DFR-PL2F as derivative form DFR-PL2 have been compared in this study. The three probabilistic approaches supported by index of documents and three different weighting methods: term occurrence, term frequency, and TF-IDF. The experiment involved 12 Sundanese ancient manuscripts. From 12 manuscripts there are 474 distinct terms. The developed search engine tested by 50 random queries for three types of query. The experiment results showed that for the single query and multiple query, the best searching performance given by the combination of PL2F approach and TF-IDF weighting method. The performance has been evaluated using average time responds with value about 0.08 second and Mean Average Precision (MAP) about 0.33.

Uxoricide in pregnancy: ancient Greek domestic violence in evolutionary perspective.

PubMed

Deacy, Susan; McHardy, Fiona

2013-10-24

Previous studies of ancient Greek examples of uxoricide in pregnancy have concluded that the theme is used to suggest tyrannical abuse of power and that the violence is a product of the patriarchal nature of ancient society. This article uses evolutionary analyses of violence during pregnancy to argue that the themes of sexual jealousy and uncertainty over paternity are as crucial as the theme of power to an understanding of these examples and that the examples can be seen as typical instances of spousal abuse as it occurs in all types of society.

Determining buried grid street system and native of the remains with GPR and petrography, in ancient Nysa city, Aydin - Turkey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kadioglu, Selma; Kadioglu, Musa; Kadioglu, Yusuf K.

2010-05-01

the 3D sub-volumes, which was bigger than one and smaller than two and had a decimal number. As a result, all remains could be imaged in the transparent 3D depth-volumes where the street could be revealed clearly. Finally three streets were revealed in the depth volumes. The first street was on the West part and the second street, which was parallel of the first street, was on the Southwest part of the Bouleuterion / Gerontikon and the third street was on the South of the library. Diggings on the West and Southwest parts of the research area encouraged the 3D image results. The second aim of the study was to find out native rocks of the Nysa remains and sources. The small rock samples were collected from the theatre, stadium, basement of agora and the tomb and analyzed under polarized microscope and confocal Raman spectroscopy. The results of the studies revealed that the main rocks of these remains composed of white color marble. These marbles have granoblastic texture composed of mainly pressure twinned calcite as coarse grain size under the polarized microscope. The confocal Raman spectroscopical studies revealed that the marble remains of Nysa ancient city were mainly built from Jurassic- Cretaceous carbonate rocks of Western Anatolia marble quarry in the vicinity region. This study was supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) under grant no. 107K523 and Earth Sciences Application and Research Center of Ankara University (YEBIM).

Integrated archaeological prospection of the 1th mile of ancient Appian way (Roma, Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manacorda, D.; Picciola, S.; Piro, S.

2003-04-01

The Project is based on the integration of archaeological methods with indirect geophysical investigations, to study the urban area, inside the “Mura Aureliane” in correspondence of the first mile of the ancient Appia way (Roma, Italy). This programme is characterised by: (a) Topographic studies through the evaluation of the connections between the ancient urban “regiones” I and XII, the ancient and medieval road network, the typology of public and private monuments of ancient age, the organisation of ancient necropolis, the study of the religious buildings of the ancient and medieval age and the evaluation of the environment; (b) Epigraphic studies to make card indexing of the known epigraphic context, the reconstruction of the epigraphic context missing during the excavations made between the XV and XIX centuries; (c) The study of documentation analysis of the documentation related to the building’s properties of the selected area for the period between XVI and XX centuries, to reconstruct the medieval and modern urban landscape; (d) Non-destructive geophysical investigations to locate the hypothised archaeological structures. In this work the results of a high-resolution GPR survey carried out, during October 2001 May 2002, to detect archaeological remains are presented. A high-resolution data acquisition method has been adopted with the aim to reconstruct a global vision of investigated area. Taking into account the known archaeological information, the geophysical results are discussed and preliminarily interpreted.

Combining remote sensing image with DEM to identify ancient Minqin Oasis, northwest of China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Yaowen

2008-10-01

The developing and desertification process of Minqin oasis is representative in the whole arid area of northwest China. Combining Remote Sensing image with Digital Elevation Model (DEM) can produce the three-dimensional image of the research area which can give prominence to the spatial background of historical geography phenomenon's distribution, providing the conditions for extracting and analyzing historical geographical information thoroughly. This research rebuilds the ancient artificial Oasis based on the three-dimensional images produced by the TM digital Remote Sensing image and DEM created using 1:100000 topographic maps. The result indicates that the whole area of the ancient artificial oasis in Minqin Basin over the whole historical period reaches 321km2, in the form of discontinuous sheet, separated on the two banks of ancient Shiyang River and its branches, namely, Xishawo area, west to modern Minqin Basin and Zhongshawo area, in the center of the oasis. Except for a little of the ancient oasis unceasingly used by later people, most of it became desert. The combination of digital Remote Sensing image and DEM can integrate the advantages of both in identifying ancient oasis and improve the interpreting accuracy greatly.

The Study of Women in Ancient Society.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moscovich, M. James

1982-01-01

Presents ideas for teaching about the roles of women in ancient Greek and Roman societies for undergraduate history and sociology classes. The discussion covers the roots of misogyny in Western culture, parallels between mythologies and sociocultural patterns, and the legal status of women in antiquity. (AM)

Intrinsic challenges in ancient microbiome reconstruction using 16S rRNA gene amplification

PubMed Central

Ziesemer, Kirsten A.; Mann, Allison E.; Sankaranarayanan, Krithivasan; Schroeder, Hannes; Ozga, Andrew T.; Brandt, Bernd W.; Zaura, Egija; Waters-Rist, Andrea; Hoogland, Menno; Salazar-García, Domingo C.; Aldenderfer, Mark; Speller, Camilla; Hendy, Jessica; Weston, Darlene A.; MacDonald, Sandy J.; Thomas, Gavin H.; Collins, Matthew J.; Lewis, Cecil M.; Hofman, Corinne; Warinner, Christina

2015-01-01

To date, characterization of ancient oral (dental calculus) and gut (coprolite) microbiota has been primarily accomplished through a metataxonomic approach involving targeted amplification of one or more variable regions in the 16S rRNA gene. Specifically, the V3 region (E. coli 341–534) of this gene has been suggested as an excellent candidate for ancient DNA amplification and microbial community reconstruction. However, in practice this metataxonomic approach often produces highly skewed taxonomic frequency data. In this study, we use non-targeted (shotgun metagenomics) sequencing methods to better understand skewed microbial profiles observed in four ancient dental calculus specimens previously analyzed by amplicon sequencing. Through comparisons of microbial taxonomic counts from paired amplicon (V3 U341F/534R) and shotgun sequencing datasets, we demonstrate that extensive length polymorphisms in the V3 region are a consistent and major cause of differential amplification leading to taxonomic bias in ancient microbiome reconstructions based on amplicon sequencing. We conclude that systematic amplification bias confounds attempts to accurately reconstruct microbiome taxonomic profiles from 16S rRNA V3 amplicon data generated using universal primers. Because in silico analysis indicates that alternative 16S rRNA hypervariable regions will present similar challenges, we advocate for the use of a shotgun metagenomics approach in ancient microbiome reconstructions. PMID:26563586

75 FR 57825 - Culturally Significant Objects Imported for Exhibition Determinations: “Ancient Chinese Bronzes...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-22

... DEPARTMENT OF STATE [Public Notice 7181] Culturally Significant Objects Imported for Exhibition Determinations: ``Ancient Chinese Bronzes From the Shouyang Studio: The Katherine and George Fan Collection... ``Ancient Chinese Bronzes from the Shouyang Studio: The Katherine and George Fan Collection,'' imported from...

Sources and Resources for Teaching about Ancient Italy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dutra, John A.

1979-01-01

Annotates sources and resources to use in teaching secondary students about ancient Roman history, including pedagogical guides, books on various aspects of Roman civilization, reference works, journals, audiovisual and related resources, and organizations. (Author/CK)

Investigation on maternal lineage of a Neolithic group from northern Shaanxi based on ancient DNA.

PubMed

Zhao, Jing; Liu, Fang-E; Lin, Song; Liu, Zhi-Zhen; Sun, Zhou-Yong; Wu, Xiao-Ming; Zhang, Hu-Qin

2017-09-01

A magnetic bead purification method was successfully used to extract ancient DNA from the skeletal remains of 10 specimens excavated from Wuzhuangguoliang (Wzhgl) site, which was located in northern Shaanxi. The multidimensional scaling (MDS) and analysis of molecular variance approach (AMOVA) revealed that ancient Wzhgl people bored a very high similarity to southern Han Chinese. By constructing the MJ-network of various modern people including Han Chinese and Japanese, the phylogenetic analysis indicated that the Wzhgl population had close maternal distance with ancient Shandong and Xinjiang people. These findings indicated that Wzhgl contributed to the gene pool of Han Chinese and modern Japanese. In addition, population migration and interflow between Wzhgl people and ancient Shandong or Xinjiang probably occurred in Neolithic period.

Reconstructing ancient river dynamics from the stratigraphic record: can lessons from the past inform our future?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hajek, E. A.; Chamberlin, E.; Baisden, T.

2014-12-01

The richness of the deep-time record and its potential for revealing important characteristics of ancient fluvial landscapes has been demonstrated time and again, including compelling examples of rivers altering their behavior in response to changes in vegetation patterns or abrupt shifts in water and sediment discharge. At present, reconstructions of ancient river and floodplain dynamics are commonly qualitative, and when quantitative metrics are used, it is often for comparison among ancient deposits. Without being able to reconstruct, more comprehensively, important aspects of ancient river and floodplains dynamics, this information has only anecdotal relevance for evaluating and managing present-day landscapes. While methods for reconstructing hydrodynamic and morphodynamic aspects of ancient rivers and floodplains are useful, uncertainties associated with these snapshots complicate the ability to translate observations from geologic to engineering scales, thereby limiting the utility of insight from Earth's past in decision-making and development of sustainable landscape-management practices for modern fluvial landscapes. Here, we explore the degree to which paleomorphodynamic reconstructions from ancient channel and floodplain deposits can be used to make specific, quantitative inferences about ancient river dynamics. We compare a suite of paleoenvironmental measurements from a variety of ancient fluvial deposits (including reconstructions of paleoflow depth, paleoslope, paleo-channel mobility, the caliber of paleo-sediment load, and paleo-floodplain heterogeneity) in an effort to evaluate sampling and empirical uncertainties associated with these methods and identify promising avenues for developing more detailed landscape reconstructions. This work is aimed at helping to develop strategies for extracting practicable information from the stratigraphic record that is relevant for sustainably managing and predicting changes in today's environments.

Ancient water and sanitation systems - applicability for the contemporary urban developing world.

PubMed

Bond, T; Roma, E; Foxon, K M; Templeton, M R; Buckley, C A

2013-01-01

The idea of implementing ancient water and wastewater technologies in the developing world is a persuasive one, since ancient systems had many features which would constitute sustainable and decentralised water and sanitation (WATSAN) provision in contemporary terminology. Latest figures indicate 2.6 billion people do not use improved sanitation and 1.1 billion practise open defecation, thus there is a huge need for sustainable and cost-effective WATSAN facilities, particularly in cities of the developing world. The objective of this study was to discuss and evaluate the applicability of selected ancient WATSAN systems for the contemporary developing world. Selected WATSAN systems in ancient Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, Egypt, Greece, Rome and the Yucatan peninsula are briefly introduced and then discussed in the context of the developing world. One relevant aspect is that public latrines and baths were not only a part of daily life in ancient Rome but also a focal point for socialising. As such they would appear to represent a model of how to promote use and acceptance of modern community toilets and ablution blocks. Although public or community toilets are not classified as improved sanitation by WHO/UNICEF, this is a debatable premise since examples such as Durban, South Africa, illustrate how community toilets continue to represent a WATSAN solution for urban areas with high population density. Meanwhile, given the need for dry sanitation technologies, toilets based on the production of enriched Terra Preta soil have potential applications in urban and rural agriculture and warrant further investigation.

Insights into Ancient Human Populations and their Environment through Stable Isotope Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Macko, S. A.

2011-12-01

Fundamental to the understanding of human history is the ability to make interpretations based on artifacts and other remains which are used to gather information about an ancient population. Sequestered in the organic matrices of these remains can be information concerning incidence of disease, population interactions, genetic defects and diet. Stable isotopes have long been used to interpret diet and trophic interactions in modern ecosystems. We suggest that the isotope compositions of a commonly overlooked material, human hair, is an ideal tool to be used in gleaning information, especially on human diets, about ancient civilizations. Hair can be well-preserved and is amenable to routine measurements of 13C, 15N and 34S isotope analyses and distinguishing sources of nutrition. We have isotopically characterized hair from both modern and ancient individuals. There is a wide diversity in isotope values owing, at least partially, to the levels of seafood, corn-fed animals and other grains in diet. Using these isotope tracers, new information regarding historical figures (George Washington, 1799 AD) to perhaps the most ancient of mummies, the Chinchorro of Chile (more than 7000 BP) as well as the Moche of Peru (1500 BP) and the best preserved mummy, the Neolithic Ice Man of the Oetztaler Alps (5200 BP), have been deciphered. It appears that the often-overlooked hair in archaeological sites represents a significant approach for understanding ancient human communities and their environments, as well as new perspectives on our use of our own modern nutritional sources.

Study on the Ancient Star Map Carved on the Stone in DPR Korea: Present Status and Prospect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miley, George; Kim, Kyong Chol; Jong, Sok; Ji, Kwang Nam

2015-08-01

Korean Dolmens are the most distinctive and impressive megalithic monuments in Korean history. It has been known that Korean dolmens are typical funerary monuments of the New Stone Age and Bronze Age.We have searched and analyzed some Korean dolmens in astronomical aspects. Korean dolmen consists of two foundation stones, two dammed stones and one cover stone. Two foundation stones were put up on both sides and two small stones were dammed right and left so as to make a room for grave. Then tens of ton stone was covered on them. For example, one of the cover stones of Korean dolmens is 6.3m in length, 4m in width and 70cm in thickness. And the height of this dolmen is about 1.75m.More than twenty thousand dolmens are scattered around the Korean peninsula. Especially the Taedong River basin including Pyongyang that was a capital of Ancient Korea is the birthplace and centre of dolmens in our country, where about fourteen thousand dolmens are distributed. This region is of the highest density in terms of the distribution of dolmen and has every different kind of dolmens. Korean dolmen was very popular from BC.3000 to BC.2000 and began to disappear in the late BC.2000.It is interesting that we have found dolmens with star map on the cover stone. We found two hundred dolmens with various star atlas-like patterns of cup-marks. We analyzed the star maps on the cover stones of some dolmens and identified the constellations such as Big Dipper, Aquila, Cygnus, Draco and so on.It is thought that ancestor carved stars in the sky at that time on the cover stone of Korean dolmens, archaeological stone tombs. We also consider that Korean Dolmen is one of the oldest stone monuments relative to astronomy.We assume that there are many unidentified dolmens with star map on the cover stone and also many unexcavated dolmens in northern part of Korean peninsula yet, which are expected to arouse the great interest of astronomers and archaeologists.

[The image of the ancient Indian pharmacists in the Chinese Buddhist scriptures].

PubMed

Wang, D W; Gao, Y X

2016-09-28

In the Chinese Buddhist Scriptures, there are many stories or topics about the ancient Indian pharmacist, however, they are not the Medicine Buddha as people knows, but real doctors. In the Chinese Buddhist Scriptures, the doctors gave the medical service to the monks and the laymen. Some of them are respected as the "miracle doctor" or the "king of doctor" , influencing the medicine of ancient East Asian.

Ancient deltas on Mars: outstanding targets for martian habitability?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gupta, S.; Fawdon, P.; Grindrod, P. M.; Balme, M. R.; Hauber, E.; Warner, N. H.; Muller, J. P.

2014-12-01

The identification of putative ancient deltaic sedimentary systems on Mars has been both exciting and controversial. Our excitement is elicted by the potential provided by deltas as evidence for standing bodies of water associated with the deltas, and the resulting implications for both the ancient climate of Mars and ancient habitability. The controversy stems from how confident can we be in the identification of ancient deltaic systems from orbital data, and how robust are our assertions about the habitability potential of such settings. Delta systems in particular are key astrobiological targets because at their distal toes fine-grained sediment (ie., clays) settle from suspension in a lower energy setting and they are commonly characterised by high rates of sedimentation. This leads to high preservation potential of biosignatures. Targeting of future Mars rovers to investigate deltaic landing sites requires better understanding of these issues to reduce exploration risk. In this presentation, we describe the key criteria that enable us to make robust interpretations of deltaic stratigraphy and constrain delta evolution for martian systems. In particular, the past 10 years has seen in a revolution in our process understanding of terrestrial delta systems through a combination of field, experimental and numerical modelling studies. Analysis of martian deltas has much to gain from these results. We go on to consider why deltaic systems offer potential as astrobiological target paleoenvironments. We use the exhumed delta system (Hypanis delta system) at the termination of Hypanis Vallis, 11.8°N, 314.96°E as a case example. This system, situated in Xanthe Terra, comprises layered sedimentary rocks with an overall multi-lobate geometry and associated inverted channel networks. The Hypanis 'delta' is a proposed landing site for the ExoMars rover and also for the NASA 2020 mission.

Organic Stable Isotopes in Ancient Oyster Shell Trace Pre-colonial Nitrogen Sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Darrow, E. S.; Carmichael, R. H.; Andrus, C. F. T.; Jackson, H. E.

2016-02-01

Oysters (Crassostrea virginica) were an important food resource for native peoples of the northern Gulf of Mexico, who harvested oysters and deposited waste shell and other artifacts in middens. Shell δ15N is a proxy for oyster tissue δ15N that reflects nitrogen (N) in food sources of bivalves. We tested the use of shell δ15N as a paleo proxy of ancient N sources, which to our knowledge has not been previously done for archeological bivalve specimens. To determine δ15N of the very low-N and high-carbonate ancient specimens, we tested established and modified acidification techniques developed for modern clams and oysters to decalcify organic shell matrix and extract sufficient N for analyses. Centrifugation following acidification better concentrated N from ancient shells for stable isotope analysis. Careful screening was required to detect effects of diagenesis, incomplete acidification, and sample contamination. Modern oyster shells did not require acidification and bulk shell material was directly analyzed for δ15N using an EA-IRMS coupled to a CO2 trap. δ15N values in ancient oyster shells did not differ from modern oyster shells from the same sites, but %N and % organic carbon (C) were lower in ancient than in modern shells. Organic δ13C in ancient shells had a significant negative relationship with shell age, possibly due to an effect of sea level rise increasing marine suspended particulate matter (SPM) sources to oysters. In modern oysters, δ15N had a significant relationship with soft tissue δ15N, and predicted by SPM δ15N, water column nitrate, and water column dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) concentrations, demonstrating the effectiveness of oyster shell δ15N to identify N sources to bivalves such as oysters. Our study has demonstrated the usefulness of δ15N from midden oyster shells as a proxy for N sources in an estuary that has undergone relatively light impacts from human land-use change through the past 2000 years.

Limited contribution of ancient methane to surface waters of the U.S. Beaufort Sea shelf

PubMed Central

Sparrow, Katy J.; Kessler, John D.; Southon, John R.; Garcia-Tigreros, Fenix; Schreiner, Kathryn M.; Ruppel, Carolyn D.; Miller, John B.; Lehman, Scott J.; Xu, Xiaomei

2018-01-01

In response to warming climate, methane can be released to Arctic Ocean sediment and waters from thawing subsea permafrost and decomposing methane hydrates. However, it is unknown whether methane derived from this sediment storehouse of frozen ancient carbon reaches the atmosphere. We quantified the fraction of methane derived from ancient sources in shelf waters of the U.S. Beaufort Sea, a region that has both permafrost and methane hydrates and is experiencing significant warming. Although the radiocarbon-methane analyses indicate that ancient carbon is being mobilized and emitted as methane into shelf bottom waters, surprisingly, we find that methane in surface waters is principally derived from modern-aged carbon. We report that at and beyond approximately the 30-m isobath, ancient sources that dominate in deep waters contribute, at most, 10 ± 3% of the surface water methane. These results suggest that even if there is a heightened liberation of ancient carbon–sourced methane as climate change proceeds, oceanic oxidation and dispersion processes can strongly limit its emission to the atmosphere. PMID:29349299

Limited contribution of ancient methane to surface waters of the U.S. Beaufort Sea shelf

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sparrow, Katy J.; Kessler, John D.; Southon, John R.; Garcia-Tigreros, Fenix; Schreiner, Kathryn M.; Ruppel, Carolyn D.; Miller, John B.; Lehman, Scott J.; Xu, Xiaomei

2018-01-01

In response to warming climate, methane can be released to Arctic Ocean sediment and waters from thawing subsea permafrost and decomposing methane hydrates. However, it is unknown whether methane derived from this sediment storehouse of frozen ancient carbon reaches the atmosphere. We quantified the fraction of methane derived from ancient sources in shelf waters of the U.S. Beaufort Sea, a region that has both permafrost and methane hydrates and is experiencing significant warming. Although the radiocarbon-methane analyses indicate that ancient carbon is being mobilized and emitted as methane into shelf bottom waters, surprisingly, we find that methane in surface waters is principally derived from modern-aged carbon. We report that at and beyond approximately the 30-m isobath, ancient sources that dominate in deep waters contribute, at most, 10 ± 3% of the surface water methane. These results suggest that even if there is a heightened liberation of ancient carbon–sourced methane as climate change proceeds, oceanic oxidation and dispersion processes can strongly limit its emission to the atmosphere.

Urology in ancient India

PubMed Central

Das, Sakti

2007-01-01

The practice of medical and surgical measures in the management of urological ailments prevailed in ancient India from the Vedic era around 3000 BC. Subsequently in the Samhita period, the two stalwarts - Charaka in medicine and Susruta in surgery elevated the art of medicine in India to unprecedented heights. Their elaboration of the etiopathological hypothesis and the medical and surgical treatments of various urological disorders of unparalleled ingenuity still remain valid to some extent in our contemporary understanding. The new generation of accomplished Indian urologists should humbly venerate the legacy of the illustrious pioneers in urology of our motherland. PMID:19675749

Ancient and Recent Duplications Support Functional Diversity of Daphnia Opsins.

PubMed

Brandon, Christopher S; Greenwold, Matthew J; Dudycha, Jeffry L

2017-01-01

Daphnia pulex has the largest known family of opsins, genes critical for photoreception and vision in animals. This diversity may be functionally redundant, arising from recent processes, or ancient duplications may have been preserved due to distinct functions and independent contributions to fitness. We analyzed opsins in D. pulex and its distant congener Daphnia magna. We identified 48 opsins in the D. pulex genome and 32 in D. magna. We inferred the complement of opsins in the last common ancestor of all Daphnia and evaluated the history of opsin duplication and loss. We further analyzed sequence variation to assess possible functional diversification among Daphnia opsins. Much of the opsin expansion occurred before the D. pulex-D. magna split more than 145 Mya, and both Daphnia lineages preserved most ancient opsins. More recent expansion occurred in pteropsins and long-wavelength visual opsins in both species, particularly D. pulex. Recent duplications were not random: the same ancestral genes duplicated independently in each modern species. Most ancient and some recent duplications involved differentiation at residues known to influence spectral tuning of visual opsins. Arthropsins show evidence of gene conversion between tandemly arrayed paralogs in functionally important domains. Intron-exon gene structure was generally conserved within clades inferred from sequences, although pteropsins showed substantial intron size variation. Overall, our analyses support the hypotheses that diverse opsins are maintained due to diverse functional roles in photoreception and vision, that functional diversification is both ancient and recent, and that multiple evolutionary processes have influenced different types of opsins.

Classification of Ancient Mammal Individuals Using Dental Pulp MALDI-TOF MS Peptide Profiling

PubMed Central

Tran, Thi-Nguyen-Ny; Aboudharam, Gérard; Gardeisen, Armelle; Davoust, Bernard; Bocquet-Appel, Jean-Pierre; Flaudrops, Christophe; Belghazi, Maya; Raoult, Didier; Drancourt, Michel

2011-01-01

Background The classification of ancient animal corpses at the species level remains a challenging task for forensic scientists and anthropologists. Severe damage and mixed, tiny pieces originating from several skeletons may render morphological classification virtually impossible. Standard approaches are based on sequencing mitochondrial and nuclear targets. Methodology/Principal Findings We present a method that can accurately classify mammalian species using dental pulp and mass spectrometry peptide profiling. Our work was organized into three successive steps. First, after extracting proteins from the dental pulp collected from 37 modern individuals representing 13 mammalian species, trypsin-digested peptides were used for matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry analysis. The resulting peptide profiles accurately classified every individual at the species level in agreement with parallel cytochrome b gene sequencing gold standard. Second, using a 279–modern spectrum database, we blindly classified 33 of 37 teeth collected in 37 modern individuals (89.1%). Third, we classified 10 of 18 teeth (56%) collected in 15 ancient individuals representing five mammal species including human, from five burial sites dating back 8,500 years. Further comparison with an upgraded database comprising ancient specimen profiles yielded 100% classification in ancient teeth. Peptide sequencing yield 4 and 16 different non-keratin proteins including collagen (alpha-1 type I and alpha-2 type I) in human ancient and modern dental pulp, respectively. Conclusions/Significance Mass spectrometry peptide profiling of the dental pulp is a new approach that can be added to the arsenal of species classification tools for forensics and anthropology as a complementary method to DNA sequencing. The dental pulp is a new source for collagen and other proteins for the species classification of modern and ancient mammal individuals. PMID:21364886

Addressing the Future in Ancient and Modern Times.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roshwald, Mordecai

1982-01-01

Explores the similarities between ancient prophecy and modern futures prediction. The article suggests that the perceived degree of certainty in predictions of the future affects the patterns of emotional and rational responses in those receiving them. (AM)

[Gout and its manifestations, description and treatment in ancient times].

PubMed

Alušík, Tomáš; Alušík, Štefan

2015-01-01

Gout is a very old disease, which exists for thousands of years. The first descriptions interpreted as the symptoms of gout can be found already in the Egyptian medical papyri dating to the 3rd mill. BC. In the Ancient world, many physicians dealt with the causes, diagnostics and the treatments of gout, such as Hippocrates of Cos, Diocles of Carystus or Claudios Galenos. A personified gout (as the goddess Podagra) is also to be found in the Ancient mythology and culture. Several human remnants of the people suffering from gout are preserved from the Antiquity as well.

Ancient Genomics and the Peopling of the Southwest Pacific

PubMed Central

Skoglund, Pontus; Posth, Cosimo; Sirak, Kendra; Spriggs, Matthew; Valentin, Frederique; Bedford, Stuart; Clark, Geoffrey; Reepmeyer, Christian; Petchey, Fiona; Fernandes, Daniel; Fu, Qiaomei; Harney, Eadaoin; Lipson, Mark; Mallick, Swapan; Novak, Mario; Rohland, Nadin; Stewardson, Kristin; Abdullah, Syafiq; Cox, Murray P.; Friedlaender, Françoise R.; Friedlaender, Jonathan S.; Kivisild, Toomas; Koki, George; Kusuma, Pradiptajati; Merriwether, D. Andrew; Ricaut, Francois-X.; Wee, Joseph T. S.; Patterson, Nick; Krause, Johannes; Pinhasi, Ron; Reich, David

2017-01-01

The appearance of people associated with the Lapita culture in the South Pacific ~3,000 years ago1 marked the beginning of the last major human dispersal to unpopulated lands. However, the relationship of these pioneers to the long established Papuans of the New Guinea region is unclear. We report genome-wide ancient DNA data from four individuals from Vanuatu (~3100-2700 years before present) and Tonga (~2700-2300 years before present), and co-analyze them with 778 present-day East Asians and Oceanians. Today, indigenous peoples of the South Pacific harbor a mixture of ancestry from Papuans and a population of East Asian origin that does not exist in unmixed form today, but is a match to the ancient individuals. Most analyses have interpreted the minimum of twenty-five percent Papuan ancestry in the region today as evidence that the first humans to reach Remote Oceania, including Polynesia, were derived from population mixtures near New Guinea, prior to the further expansion into Remote Oceania2–5. However, our finding that the ancient individuals had little to no Papuan ancestry implies later human population movements that spread Papuan ancestry through the South Pacific after the islands’ first peopling. PMID:27698418

Ancient medical texts, modern reading problems.

PubMed

Rosa, Maria Carlota

2006-12-05

The word tradition has a very specific meaning in linguistics: the passing down of a text, which may have been completed or corrected by different copyists at different times, when the concept of authorship was not the same as it is today. When reading an ancient text the word tradition must be in the reader's mind. To discuss one of the problems an ancient text poses to its modern readers, this work deals with one of the first printed medical texts in Portuguese, the Regimento proueytoso contra ha pestenença, and draws a parallel between it and two related texts, A moche profitable treatise against the pestilence, and the Recopilaçam das cousas que conuem guardar se no modo de preseruar à Cidade de Lixboa E os sãos, & curar os que esteuerem enfermos de Peste. The problems which arise out of the textual structure of those books show how difficult is to establish a tradition of another type, the medical tradition. The linguistic study of the innumerable medieval plague treatises may throw light on the continuities and on the disruptions of the so-called hippocratic-galenical medical tradition.

Mitochondrial DNA Suggests a Western Eurasian Origin for Ancient (Proto-) Bulgarians.

PubMed

Nesheva, D V; Karachanak-Yankova, S; Lari, M; Yordanov, Y; Galabov, A; Caramelli, D; Toncheva, D

2015-01-01

Ancient (proto-) Bulgarians have long been thought of as a Turkic population. However, evidence found in the past three decades shows that this is not the case. Until now, this evidence has not included ancient mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis. To fill this void, we collected human remains from the 8th to the 10th century AD located in three necropolises in Bulgaria: Nojarevo (Silistra region) and Monastery of Mostich (Shumen region), both in northeastern Bulgaria, and Tuhovishte (Satovcha region) in southwestern Bulgaria. The phylogenetic analysis of 13 ancient DNA samples (extracted from teeth) identified 12 independent haplotypes, which we further classified into mtDNA haplogroups found in present-day European and western Eurasian populations. Our results suggest a western Eurasian matrilineal origin for proto-Bulgarians, as well as a genetic similarity between proto- and modern Bulgarians. Our future work will provide additional data that will further clarify proto-Bulgarian origins, thereby adding new clues to the current understanding of European genetic evolution.

Ancient Egyptian mummy genomes suggest an increase of Sub-Saharan African ancestry in post-Roman periods.

PubMed

Schuenemann, Verena J; Peltzer, Alexander; Welte, Beatrix; van Pelt, W Paul; Molak, Martyna; Wang, Chuan-Chao; Furtwängler, Anja; Urban, Christian; Reiter, Ella; Nieselt, Kay; Teßmann, Barbara; Francken, Michael; Harvati, Katerina; Haak, Wolfgang; Schiffels, Stephan; Krause, Johannes

2017-05-30

Egypt, located on the isthmus of Africa, is an ideal region to study historical population dynamics due to its geographic location and documented interactions with ancient civilizations in Africa, Asia and Europe. Particularly, in the first millennium BCE Egypt endured foreign domination leading to growing numbers of foreigners living within its borders possibly contributing genetically to the local population. Here we present 90 mitochondrial genomes as well as genome-wide data sets from three individuals obtained from Egyptian mummies. The samples recovered from Middle Egypt span around 1,300 years of ancient Egyptian history from the New Kingdom to the Roman Period. Our analyses reveal that ancient Egyptians shared more ancestry with Near Easterners than present-day Egyptians, who received additional sub-Saharan admixture in more recent times. This analysis establishes ancient Egyptian mummies as a genetic source to study ancient human history and offers the perspective of deciphering Egypt's past at a genome-wide level.

Ancient Egyptian mummy genomes suggest an increase of Sub-Saharan African ancestry in post-Roman periods

PubMed Central

Schuenemann, Verena J.; Peltzer, Alexander; Welte, Beatrix; van Pelt, W. Paul; Molak, Martyna; Wang, Chuan-Chao; Furtwängler, Anja; Urban, Christian; Reiter, Ella; Nieselt, Kay; Teßmann, Barbara; Francken, Michael; Harvati, Katerina; Haak, Wolfgang; Schiffels, Stephan; Krause, Johannes

2017-01-01

Egypt, located on the isthmus of Africa, is an ideal region to study historical population dynamics due to its geographic location and documented interactions with ancient civilizations in Africa, Asia and Europe. Particularly, in the first millennium BCE Egypt endured foreign domination leading to growing numbers of foreigners living within its borders possibly contributing genetically to the local population. Here we present 90 mitochondrial genomes as well as genome-wide data sets from three individuals obtained from Egyptian mummies. The samples recovered from Middle Egypt span around 1,300 years of ancient Egyptian history from the New Kingdom to the Roman Period. Our analyses reveal that ancient Egyptians shared more ancestry with Near Easterners than present-day Egyptians, who received additional sub-Saharan admixture in more recent times. This analysis establishes ancient Egyptian mummies as a genetic source to study ancient human history and offers the perspective of deciphering Egypt's past at a genome-wide level. PMID:28556824

Japan: The Modernization of an Ancient Culture. Series on Public Issues No. 3.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wolken, Lawrence C.

This booklet, one of a series of booklets intended to apply economic principles to major social and political issues of the day, traces the modernization of the ancient culture of Japan. Four major areas are covered: (1) "An Ancient Culture" covers the period from the first settling of Japan through the Heian period, the medieval ages,…

Perry: American renaissance of an ancient beverage

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Burgeoning world interest in cider and perry (pear cider, which is an alcoholic beverage) has created a strong demand for unique perry pear (Pyrus L.) cultivars. The history of perry dates to the ancient Romans. This beverage has been very popular through the centuries in Europe. The U.S. Department...

Precursors of Vocational Psychology in Ancient Civilizations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dumont, Frank; Carson, Andrew D.

1995-01-01

Examines philosophical theories produced by two ancient civilizations (Eastern Mediterranean and Chinese) for applications to an applied psychology of work. Includes analysis of Egyptians, Semites, and Greeks, with a special emphasis on Plato. Suggests that many basic elements of vocational psychology were present during the first millennium B.C.…

The Challenges of Qualitatively Coding Ancient Texts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Slingerland, Edward; Chudek, Maciej

2012-01-01

We respond to several important and valid concerns about our study ("The Prevalence of Folk Dualism in Early China," "Cognitive Science" 35: 997-1007) by Klein and Klein, defending our interpretation of our data. We also argue that, despite the undeniable challenges involved in qualitatively coding texts from ancient cultures,…

Ancient Earth, Alien Earths Event

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-08-20

An audience member asks the panelists a question at the “Ancient Earth, Alien Earths” Event at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC Wednesday, August 20, 2014. The event was sponsored by NASA, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Smithsonian Institution and was moderated by Dr. David H. Grinspoon, Senior Scientist at the Planetary Science Institute. Six scientists discussed how research on early Earth could help guide our search for habitable planets orbiting other stars. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

76 FR 23642 - Culturally Significant Objects Imported for Exhibition Determinations: “Marajo: Ancient Ceramics...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-27

... DEPARTMENT OF STATE [Public Notice: 7432] Culturally Significant Objects Imported for Exhibition Determinations: ``Marajo: Ancient Ceramics at the Mouth of the Amazon'' SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the... that the objects to be included in the exhibition ``Marajo: Ancient Ceramics at the Mouth of the Amazon...

Ancient whole grain Gluten-free egg-free Teff, Buckwheat, Quinoa and Amaranth pasta (abstract)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

This report demonstrates innovative ancient whole grain, gluten-free, egg-free pasta (no chemicals added) made using a kitchen counter-top appliance. Whole grain, fusilli pasta was prepared with teff, buckwheat, quinoa and amaranth flours. These ancient grains are called “Super Foods” due to thei...

Sm-Nd isotopic systematics of the ancient Gneiss complex, southern Africa

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carlson, R. W.; Hunter, D. R.; Barker, F.

1983-01-01

In order to shed some new light on the question of the absolute and relative ages of the Ancient Gneiss Complex and Onverwacht Group, a Sm-Nd whole-rock and mineral isochron study of the AGC was begun. At this point, the whole-rock study of samples from the Bimodal Suite selected from those studied for their geochemical characteristics by Hunter et al., is completed. These results and their implications for the chronologic evolution of the Kaapvaal craton and the sources of these ancient rocks are discussed.

Unravelling migrations in the steppe: mitochondrial DNA sequences from ancient central Asians.

PubMed Central

Lalueza-Fox, C.; Sampietro, M. L.; Gilbert, M. T. P.; Castri, L.; Facchini, F.; Pettener, D.; Bertranpetit, J.

2004-01-01

This study helps to clarify the debate on the Western and Eastern genetic influences in Central Asia. Thirty-six skeletal remains from Kazakhstan (Central Asia), excavated from different sites dating between the fifteenth century BC to the fifth century AD, have been analysed for the hypervariable control region (HVR-I) and haplogroup diagnostic single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the mitochondrial DNA genome. Standard authentication criteria for ancient DNA studies, including multiple extractions, cloning of PCR products and independent replication, have been followed. The distribution of east and west Eurasian lineages through time in the region is concordant with the available archaeological information: prior to the thirteenth-seventh century BC, all Kazakh samples belong to European lineages; while later an arrival of east Eurasian sequences that coexisted with the previous west Eurasian genetic substratum can be detected. The presence of an ancient genetic substratum of European origin in West Asia may be related to the discovery of ancient mummies with European features in Xinjiang and to the existence of an extinct Indo-European language, Tocharian. This study demonstrates the usefulness of the ancient DNA in unravelling complex patterns of past human migrations so as to help decipher the origin of present-day admixed populations. PMID:15255049

Extending the spectrum of DNA sequences retrieved from ancient bones and teeth

PubMed Central

Glocke, Isabelle; Meyer, Matthias

2017-01-01

The number of DNA fragments surviving in ancient bones and teeth is known to decrease with fragment length. Recent genetic analyses of Middle Pleistocene remains have shown that the recovery of extremely short fragments can prove critical for successful retrieval of sequence information from particularly degraded ancient biological material. Current sample preparation techniques, however, are not optimized to recover DNA sequences from fragments shorter than ∼35 base pairs (bp). Here, we show that much shorter DNA fragments are present in ancient skeletal remains but lost during DNA extraction. We present a refined silica-based DNA extraction method that not only enables efficient recovery of molecules as short as 25 bp but also doubles the yield of sequences from longer fragments due to improved recovery of molecules with single-strand breaks. Furthermore, we present strategies for monitoring inefficiencies in library preparation that may result from co-extraction of inhibitory substances during DNA extraction. The combination of DNA extraction and library preparation techniques described here substantially increases the yield of DNA sequences from ancient remains and provides access to a yet unexploited source of highly degraded DNA fragments. Our work may thus open the door for genetic analyses on even older material. PMID:28408382

Ciliates from ancient permafrost: Assessment of cold resistance of the resting cysts.

PubMed

Shatilovich, Anastasia; Stoupin, Daniel; Rivkina, Elizaveta

2015-06-01

There is evidence that resting cysts of soil ciliates and numerous taxa of other protists can survive in permafrost for thousands of years at subzero temperatures; however, our knowledge about mechanisms of long term cryobiosis remains incomplete. In order to better understand the means by which ancient cysts survive, we investigated resistance to cyclical supercooling stress of resting cysts of the soil ciliate Colpoda steinii (Colpodida, Ciliophora). Three clonal strains were used for comparison, isolated from Siberian tundra soil, ancient Holocene (5-7,000 y) and late Pleistocene (32-35,000 y) permafrost sediments. To determine the viability of the ancient and contemporary ciliate cysts we improved and validated a cultivation-independent method of vital fluorescent staining with a combination of two nucleic acid binding dyes, acridine orange and propidium iodide. The viability of Colpoda steinii cysts during low-temperature experiments was measured using both the proposed vital fluorescent staining method and standard germination test. Our results indicate that the dual-fluorescence technique is a more accurate, rapid, and efficient method for estimating cyst viability. We found that cysts of ancient ciliates display lower tolerance to the impact of cyclical cold compared to cysts of contemporary ciliates from Siberian permafrost affected soils. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Women of Ancient Greece: Participating in Sport?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mills, Brett D.

Based on evidence obtained from Greek literature and artifacts, this paper examines the extent to which women in ancient Greece participated in physical activity, sports, and games. Homer's "Odyssey" describes women playing ball and driving chariots; vases dating back to 700-675 B.C. portray women driving light chariots in a procession;…

Spatially explicit analyses of gastropod biodiversity in ancient Lake Ohrid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hauffe, T.; Albrecht, C.; Schreiber, K.; Birkhofer, K.; Trajanovski, S.; Wilke, T.

2010-07-01

Spatial heterogeneity of biodiversity arises from evolutionary processes, constraints of environmental factors and the interaction of communities. The quality of such spatial analyses of biodiversity is improved by (i) utilizing study areas with well defined physiogeographical boundaries, (ii) limiting the impact of widespread species, and (iii) using taxa with heterogeneous distributions. These conditions are typically met by ecosystems such as oceanic islands or ancient lakes and their biota. While research on ancient lakes has contributed significantly to our understanding of evolutionary processes, statistically sound studies of spatial variation of extant biodiversity have been hampered by the frequently vast size of ancient lakes, their limited accessibility, and the lack of infrastructure around them. The small European ancient Lake Ohrid provides a rare opportunity for such a reliable spatial study. The comprehensive horizontal and vertical sampling of a species-rich taxon, the Gastropoda, presented here, revealed interesting patterns of biodiversity, which, in part, have not been shown before for other ancient lakes. In a total of 224 locations throughout the Ohrid Basin, representatives of 68 gastropod species with 50 of them being endemic (=73.5%) could be reported. The spatial distribution of these species shows the following characteristics: (i) within Lake Ohrid, the most frequent species are endemic taxa with a wide depth range, (ii) widespread species (i.e. those occurring throughout the Balkans or beyond) are rare and mainly occur in the upper layer of the lake, (iii) while the total number of species decreases with water depth, the share of endemics increases, (iv) the deeper layers of Lake Ohrid appear to have a higher spatial homogeneity of biodiversity and related environmental factors, (v) biotic interaction due to possible spillover effects may contribute to the establishment of hotspots, and (vi) eco-insularity within the Ohrid Basin occurs

Spatially explicit analysis of gastropod biodiversity in ancient Lake Ohrid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hauffe, T.; Albrecht, C.; Schreiber, K.; Birkhofer, K.; Trajanovski, S.; Wilke, T.

2011-01-01

The quality of spatial analyses of biodiversity is improved by (i) utilizing study areas with well defined physiogeographical boundaries, (ii) limiting the impact of widespread species, and (iii) using taxa with heterogeneous distributions. These conditions are typically met by ecosystems such as oceanic islands or ancient lakes and their biota. While research on ancient lakes has contributed significantly to our understanding of evolutionary processes, statistically sound studies of spatial variation of extant biodiversity have been hampered by the frequently vast size of ancient lakes, their limited accessibility, and the lack of scientific infrastructure. The European ancient Lake Ohrid provides a rare opportunity for such a reliable spatial study. The comprehensive horizontal and vertical sampling of a species-rich taxon, the Gastropoda, presented here, revealed interesting patterns of biodiversity, which, in part, have not been shown before for other ancient lakes. In a total of 284 samples from 224 different locations throughout the Ohrid Basin, 68 gastropod species, with 50 of them (= 73.5%) being endemic, could be reported. The spatial distribution of these species shows the following characteristics: (i) within Lake Ohrid, the most frequent species are endemic taxa with a wide depth range, (ii) widespread species (i.e. those occurring throughout the Balkans or beyond) are rare and mainly occur in the upper layer of the lake, (iii) while the total number of species decreases with water depth, the proportion of endemics increases, and (iv) the deeper layers of Lake Ohrid appear to have a higher spatial homogeneity of biodiversity. Moreover, gastropod communities of Lake Ohrid and its feeder springs are both distinct from each other and from the surrounding waters. The analysis also shows that community similarity of Lake Ohrid is mainly driven by niche processes (e.g. environmental factors), but also by neutral processes (e.g. dispersal limitation and

Ancient human disturbances may be skewing our understanding of Amazonian forests.

PubMed

McMichael, Crystal N H; Matthews-Bird, Frazer; Farfan-Rios, William; Feeley, Kenneth J

2017-01-17

Although the Amazon rainforest houses much of Earth's biodiversity and plays a major role in the global carbon budget, estimates of tree biodiversity originate from fewer than 1,000 forest inventory plots, and estimates of carbon dynamics are derived from fewer than 200 recensus plots. It is well documented that the pre-European inhabitants of Amazonia actively transformed and modified the forest in many regions before their population collapse around 1491 AD; however, the impacts of these ancient disturbances remain entirely unaccounted for in the many highly influential studies using Amazonian forest plots. Here we examine whether Amazonian forest inventory plot locations are spatially biased toward areas with high probability of ancient human impacts. Our analyses reveal that forest inventory plots, and especially forest recensus plots, in all regions of Amazonia are located disproportionately near archaeological evidence and in areas likely to have ancient human impacts. Furthermore, regions of the Amazon that are relatively oversampled with inventory plots also contain the highest values of predicted ancient human impacts. Given the long lifespan of Amazonian trees, many forest inventory and recensus sites may still be recovering from past disturbances, potentially skewing our interpretations of forest dynamics and our understanding of how these forests are responding to global change. Empirical data on the human history of forest inventory sites are crucial for determining how past disturbances affect modern patterns of forest composition and carbon flux in Amazonian forests.

Ancient human disturbances may be skewing our understanding of Amazonian forests

PubMed Central

McMichael, Crystal N. H.; Matthews-Bird, Frazer; Farfan-Rios, William; Feeley, Kenneth J.

2017-01-01

Although the Amazon rainforest houses much of Earth’s biodiversity and plays a major role in the global carbon budget, estimates of tree biodiversity originate from fewer than 1,000 forest inventory plots, and estimates of carbon dynamics are derived from fewer than 200 recensus plots. It is well documented that the pre-European inhabitants of Amazonia actively transformed and modified the forest in many regions before their population collapse around 1491 AD; however, the impacts of these ancient disturbances remain entirely unaccounted for in the many highly influential studies using Amazonian forest plots. Here we examine whether Amazonian forest inventory plot locations are spatially biased toward areas with high probability of ancient human impacts. Our analyses reveal that forest inventory plots, and especially forest recensus plots, in all regions of Amazonia are located disproportionately near archaeological evidence and in areas likely to have ancient human impacts. Furthermore, regions of the Amazon that are relatively oversampled with inventory plots also contain the highest values of predicted ancient human impacts. Given the long lifespan of Amazonian trees, many forest inventory and recensus sites may still be recovering from past disturbances, potentially skewing our interpretations of forest dynamics and our understanding of how these forests are responding to global change. Empirical data on the human history of forest inventory sites are crucial for determining how past disturbances affect modern patterns of forest composition and carbon flux in Amazonian forests. PMID:28049821

Omics for Precious Rare Biosamples: Characterization of Ancient Human Hair by a Proteomic Approach.

PubMed

Fresnais, Margaux; Richardin, Pascale; Sepúlveda, Marcela; Leize-Wagner, Emmanuelle; Charrié-Duhaut, Armelle

2017-07-01

Omics technologies have far-reaching applications beyond clinical medicine. A case in point is the analysis of ancient hair samples. Indeed, hair is an important biological indicator that has become a material of choice in archeometry to study the ancient civilizations and their environment. Current characterization of ancient hair is based on elemental and structural analyses, but only few studies have focused on the molecular aspects of ancient hair proteins-keratins-and their conservation state. In such cases, applied extraction protocols require large amounts of raw hair, from 30 to 100 mg. In the present study, we report an optimized new proteomic approach to accurately identify archeological hair proteins, and assess their preservation state, while using a minimum of raw material. Testing and adaptation of three protocols and of nano liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (nanoLC-MS/MS) parameters were performed on modern hair. On the basis of mass spectrometry data quality, and of the required initial sample amount, the most promising workflow was selected and applied to an ancient archeological sample, dated to about 3880 years before present. Finally, and importantly, we were able to identify 11 ancient hair proteins and to visualize the preservation state of mummy's hair from only 500 μg of raw material. The results presented here pave the way for new insights into the understanding of hair protein alteration processes such as those due to aging and ecological exposures. This work could enable omics scientists to apply a proteomic approach to precious and rare samples, not only in the context of archeometrical studies but also for future applications that would require the use of very small amounts of sample.

Limited contribution of ancient methane to surface waters of the U.S. Beaufort Sea shelf

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sparrow, K. J.; Kessler, J. D.

2017-12-01

In response to climate change, methane can be released to ocean sediments and waters from thawing subsea permafrost and decomposing methane hydrates. However, it is unknown if methane derived from these massive stores of frozen, ancient carbon reaches the atmosphere. We quantified the fraction of methane sourced from ancient carbon in shelf waters of the U.S. Beaufort Sea, a region that has both permafrost and methane hydrates and is experiencing significant warming. While the radiocarbon-methane analyses indicate that ancient carbon is being mobilized and emitted as methane into shelf bottom waters, surprisingly, we find that modern sources of methane predominate in surface waters of relatively shallow mid-outer shelf stations. These results suggest that even if there is a heightened liberation of ancient methane as climate change proceeds, oceanic dispersion and oxidation processes can strongly limit its emission to the atmosphere.

Characterization of ancient glass excavated in Enez (Ancient Ainos) Turkey by combined Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis and Fourier Transform Infrared spectrometry techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akyuz, Sevim; Akyuz, Tanil; Mukhamedshina, Nuranya M.; Mirsagatova, A. Adiba; Basaran, Sait; Cakan, Banu

2012-05-01

Ancient glass fragments excavated in the archaeological district Enez (Ancient Ainos)-Turkey were investigated by combined Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrometry techniques. Multi-elemental contents of 15 glass fragments that belong to Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman Periods, were determined by INAA. The concentrations of twenty six elements (Na, K, Ca, Sc, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Zn, As, Rb, Sr, Sb, Cs, Ba, Ce, Sm, Eu, Tb, Yb, Lu, Hf, Ta, Au and Th), which might be present in the samples as flux, stabilizers, colorants or opacifiers, and impurities, were examined. Chemometric treatment of the INAA data was performed and principle component analysis revealed presence of 3 distinct groups. The thermal history of the glass samples was determined by FTIR spectrometry.

Ancient Earth, Alien Earths Event

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-08-20

Dr. Phoebe Cohen, Professor of Geosciences, Williams College, speaks on a panel at the “Ancient Earth, Alien Earths” Event at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC Wednesday, August 20, 2014. The event was sponsored by NASA, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Smithsonian Institution and was moderated by Dr. David H. Grinspoon, Senior Scientist at the Planetary Science Institute. Six scientists discussed how research on early Earth could help guide our search for habitable planets orbiting other stars. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Ancient Earth, Alien Earths Event

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-08-20

Dr. Christopher House, Professor of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, speaks on a panel at the “Ancient Earth, Alien Earths” Event at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC Wednesday, August 20, 2014. The event was sponsored by NASA, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Smithsonian Institution and was moderated by Dr. David H. Grinspoon, Senior Scientist at the Planetary Science Institute. Six scientists discussed how research on early Earth could help guide our search for habitable planets orbiting other stars. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Ancient Earth, Alien Earths Event

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-08-20

Dr. Dawn Sumner, Professor of Geology, UC Davis, speaks on a panel at the “Ancient Earth, Alien Earths” Event at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC Wednesday, August 20, 2014. The event was sponsored by NASA, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Smithsonian Institution and was moderated by Dr. David H. Grinspoon, Senior Scientist at the Planetary Science Institute. Six scientists discussed how research on early Earth could help guide our search for habitable planets orbiting other stars. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Ancient Earth, Alien Earths Event

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-08-20

Dr. Timothy Lyons, Professor of Biogeochemistry, UC Riverside, speaks on a panel at the “Ancient Earth, Alien Earths” Event at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC Wednesday, August 20, 2014. The event was sponsored by NASA, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Smithsonian Institution and was moderated by Dr. David H. Grinspoon, Senior Scientist at the Planetary Science Institute. Six scientists discussed how research on early Earth could help guide our search for habitable planets orbiting other stars. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Ancient Chinese Astronomy - An Overview

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Yunli

Documentary and archaeological evidence testifies the early origin and continuous development of ancient Chinese astronomy to meet both the ideological and practical needs of a society largely based on agriculture. There was a long period when the beginning of the year, month, and season was determined by direct observation of celestial phenomena, including their alignments with respect to the local skyline. As the need for more exact study arose, new instruments for more exact observation were invented and the system of calendrical astronomy became entirely mathematized.

Play in and around the Ancient Novel

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kidd, Stephen E.

2017-01-01

The episodic structuring of ancient novels gives rise to the impression that they are not a serious genre in contrast to other genres like tragedy. Episodic plots tend to imply a playfulness not bound to causality but instead a spontaneity that includes the freedom to reinvent themselves. The author argues that novels like Longus's "Daphnis…

Ancient Pyramids Help Students Learn Math Concepts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Courtney D.; Stump, Amanda M.; Lazaros, Edward J.

2010-01-01

This article presents an activity that allows students to use mathematics and critical-thinking skills to emulate processes used by the ancient Egyptians to prepare the site for the Pyramids of Giza. To accomplish this, they use three different methods. First, they create a square using only simple technological tools that were available to the…

Mediterranean nuts: origins, ancient medicinal benefits and symbolism.

PubMed

Casas-Agustench, Patricia; Salas-Huetos, Albert; Salas-Salvadó, Jordi

2011-12-01

To consider historical aspects of nuts in relation to origin and distribution, attributed medicinal benefits, symbolism, legends and superstitions. Review of historical aspects of nuts. Mediterranean region. The varieties reviewed include almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts and pistachios. Like other foods, nuts have a wide variety of cultural connections to the areas where they grow and to the people who live there or eat them. History, symbolism and legends reveal the ancient tradition of nuts and how they are related to the lives of our ancestors. Archaeological excavations in eastern Turkey have uncovered the existence of a non-migratory society whose economy centred on harvesting nuts. This shows that nuts have been a staple in the human diet since the beginnings of history. Moreover, since ancient times nuts have been used for their medicinal properties. They also play a role in many old legends and traditions.

Letter to the editor: Genetics and the archaeology of ancient Israel.

PubMed

Brody, Aaron J; King, Roy J

2013-12-01

This letter is a call for DNA testing on ancient skeletal materials from the southern Levant to begin a database of genetic information of the inhabitants of this crossroads region. In this region, during the Iron I period traditionally dated to circa 1200-1000 BCE, archaeologists and biblical historians view the earliest presence of a group that called itself Israel. They lived in villages in the varied hill countries of the region, contemporary with urban settlements in the coastal plains, inland valleys, and central hill country attributed to varied indigenous groups collectively called Canaanite. The remnants of Egyptian imperial presence in the region lasted until around 1150 BCE, postdating the arrival of an immigrant group from the Aegean called the Philistines circa 1175 BCE. The period that follows in the southern Levant is marked by the development of territorial states throughout the region, circa 1000-800 BCE. These patrimonial kingdoms, including the United Kingdom of Israel and the divided kingdoms of northern Israel and Judah, coalesced varied peoples under central leadership and newly founded administrative and religious bureaucracies. Ancient DNA testing will give us a further refined understanding of the individuals who peopled the region of the southern Levant throughout its varied archaeological and historic periods and provide scientific data that will support, refute, or nuance our sociohistoric reconstruction of ancient group identities. These social identities may or may not map onto genetic data, but without sampling of ancient DNA we may never know. A database of ancient DNA will also allow for comparisons with modern DNA samples collected throughout the greater region and the Mediterranean littoral, giving a more robust understanding of the long historical trajectories of regional human genetics and the genetics of varied ancestral groups of today's Jewish populations and other cultural groups in the modern Middle East and Mediterranean

Investigating population continuity with ancient DNA under a spatially explicit simulation framework.

PubMed

Silva, Nuno Miguel; Rio, Jeremy; Currat, Mathias

2017-12-15

Recent advances in sequencing technologies have allowed for the retrieval of ancient DNA data (aDNA) from skeletal remains, providing direct genetic snapshots from diverse periods of human prehistory. Comparing samples taken in the same region but at different times, hereafter called "serial samples", may indicate whether there is continuity in the peopling history of that area or whether an immigration of a genetically different population has occurred between the two sampling times. However, the exploration of genetic relationships between serial samples generally ignores their geographical locations and the spatiotemporal dynamics of populations. Here, we present a new coalescent-based, spatially explicit modelling approach to investigate population continuity using aDNA, which includes two fundamental elements neglected in previous methods: population structure and migration. The approach also considers the extensive temporal and geographical variance that is commonly found in aDNA population samples. We first showed that our spatially explicit approach is more conservative than the previous (panmictic) approach and should be preferred to test for population continuity, especially when small and isolated populations are considered. We then applied our method to two mitochondrial datasets from Germany and France, both including modern and ancient lineages dating from the early Neolithic. The results clearly reject population continuity for the maternal line over the last 7500 years for the German dataset but not for the French dataset, suggesting regional heterogeneity in post-Neolithic migratory processes. Here, we demonstrate the benefits of using a spatially explicit method when investigating population continuity with aDNA. It constitutes an improvement over panmictic methods by considering the spatiotemporal dynamics of genetic lineages and the precise location of ancient samples. The method can be used to investigate population continuity between any pair

Ancient HTLV type 1 provirus DNA of Andean mummy.

PubMed

Sonoda, S; Li, H C; Cartier, L; Nunez, L; Tajima, K

2000-11-01

The worldwide geographic and ethnic clustering of patients with diseases related to human T cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) may be explained by the natural history of HTLV-1 infection. The genetic characteristics of indigenous people in the Andes are similar to those of the Japanese, and HTLV-1 is generally detected in both groups. To clarify the common origin of HTLV-1 in Asia and the Andes, we analyzed HTLV-1 provirus DNA from Andean mummies about 1500 years old. Two of 104 mummy bone marrow specimens yielded a band of human beta-globin gene DNA 110 base pairs in length, and one of these two produced bands of HTLV-1-pX (open reading frame encoding p(40x), p(27x)) and HTLV-1-LTR (long terminal repeat) gene DNA 159 base pairs and 157 base pairs in length, respectively. The nucleotide sequences of ancient HTLV-1-pX and HTLV-1-LTR clones isolated from mummy bone marrow were similar to those in contemporary Andeans and Japanese, although there was microheterogeneity in the sequences of some mummy DNA clones. This result provides evidence that HTLV-1 was carried with ancient Mongoloids to the Andes before the Colonial era. Analysis of ancient HTLV-1 sequences could be a useful tool for studying the history of human retroviral infection as well as human prehistoric migration.

Ligation Bias in Illumina Next-Generation DNA Libraries: Implications for Sequencing Ancient Genomes

PubMed Central

Seguin-Orlando, Andaine; Schubert, Mikkel; Clary, Joel; Stagegaard, Julia; Alberdi, Maria T.; Prado, José Luis; Prieto, Alfredo; Willerslev, Eske; Orlando, Ludovic

2013-01-01

Ancient DNA extracts consist of a mixture of endogenous molecules and contaminant DNA templates, often originating from environmental microbes. These two populations of templates exhibit different chemical characteristics, with the former showing depurination and cytosine deamination by-products, resulting from post-mortem DNA damage. Such chemical modifications can interfere with the molecular tools used for building second-generation DNA libraries, and limit our ability to fully characterize the true complexity of ancient DNA extracts. In this study, we first use fresh DNA extracts to demonstrate that library preparation based on adapter ligation at AT-overhangs are biased against DNA templates starting with thymine residues, contrarily to blunt-end adapter ligation. We observe the same bias on fresh DNA extracts sheared on Bioruptor, Covaris and nebulizers. This contradicts previous reports suggesting that this bias could originate from the methods used for shearing DNA. This also suggests that AT-overhang adapter ligation efficiency is affected in a sequence-dependent manner and results in an uneven representation of different genomic contexts. We then show how this bias could affect the base composition of ancient DNA libraries prepared following AT-overhang ligation, mainly by limiting the ability to ligate DNA templates starting with thymines and therefore deaminated cytosines. This results in particular nucleotide misincorporation damage patterns, deviating from the signature generally expected for authenticating ancient sequence data. Consequently, we show that models adequate for estimating post-mortem DNA damage levels must be robust to the molecular tools used for building ancient DNA libraries. PMID:24205269

[Biological evolution and ancient DNA].

PubMed

Debruyne, Régis; Barriel, Véronique

2006-05-01

Twenty years after the advent of ancient DNA studies, this discipline seems to have reached the maturity formerly lacking to the fulfilment of its objectives. In its early development paleogenetics, as it is now acknowledged, had to cope with very limited data due to the technical limitations of molecular biology. It led to phylogenetic assumptions often limited in their scope and sometimes non-focused or even spurious results that cast the reluctance of the scientific community. This time seems now over and huge amounts of sequences have become available which overcome the former limitations and bridge the gap between paleogenetics, genomics and population biology. The recent studies over the charismatic woolly mammoth (independent sequencing of the whole mitochondrial genome and of millions of base pairs of the nuclear genome) exemplify the growing accuracy of ancient DNA studies thanks to new molecular approaches. From the earliest publications up to now, the number of mammoth nucleotides was multiplied by 100,000. Likewise, populational approaches of ice-age taxa provide new historical scenarios about the diversification and extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna on the one hand, and about the processes of domestication of animal and vegetal species by Man on the other. They also shed light on the differential structure of molecular diversity between short-term populational research (below 2 My) and long-term (over 2 My) phylogenetic approaches. All those results confirm the growing importance of paleogenetics among the evolutionary biology disciplines.

Preserving ancient artifacts for the next millennia

Treesearch

Samuel L. Zelinka

2014-01-01

When wood is kept dry, it can remain intact for millennia, as evidenced by numerous artifacts from ancient Egypt (1). However, when wood interacts with water, numerous problems arise that can cause the wood to become permanently damaged or destroyed completely. Wood exhibits swelling on moisture uptake and shrinkage on drying, and these cyclical moisture changes lead...

Tech Talk for Social Studies Teachers: Ancient Egypt.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pahl, Ronald H.

1998-01-01

Presents an annotated bibliography of 10 Web sites concerning ancient Egypt that have materials appropriate for social studies classes. Includes virtual tours of Egypt and specific temples, explorations of the pyramids, archaeological and geographic information, and information on the Egyptian "Book of the Dead." (MJP)

Ancient and Medieval Earth in Armenia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farmanyan, S. V.

2015-07-01

Humankind has always sought to recognize the nature of various sky related phenomena and tried to give them explanations. The purpose of this study is to identify ancient Armenians' pantheistic and cosmological perceptions, world view, notions and beliefs related to the Earth. The paper focuses on the structure of the Earth and many other phenomena of nature that have always been on a major influence on ancient Armenians thinking. In this paper we have compared the term Earth in 31 languages. By discussing and comparing Universe structure in various regional traditions, myths, folk songs and phraseological units we very often came across to "Seven Heavens" (Seven heavens is a part of religious cosmology found in many major religions such as Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and Christianity (namely Catholicism) and "Seven Earths". Armenians in their turn divided Earth and Heavens into seven layers. And in science too, both the Earth and the Heavens have 7 layers. The Seven Heavens refer to the layers of our atmosphere. The Seven Earths refer to the layers of the Earth (from core to crust), as well as seven continents. We conclude that the perception of celestial objects varies from culture to culture and preastronomy had a significant impact on humankind, particularly on cultural diversities.

Sample Return from Ancient Hydrothermal Springs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Allen, Carlton C.; Oehler, Dorothy Z.

2008-01-01

Hydrothermal spring deposits on Mars would make excellent candidates for sample return. Molecular phylogeny suggests that that life on Earth may have arisen in hydrothermal settings [1-3], and on Mars, such settings not only would have supplied energy-rich waters in which martian life may have evolved [4-7] but also would have provided warm, liquid water to martian life forms as the climate became colder and drier [8]. Since silica, sulfates, and clays associated with hydrothermal settings are known to preserve geochemical and morphological remains of ancient terrestrial life [9-11], such settings on Mars might similarly preserve evidence of martian life. Finally, because formation of hydrothermal springs includes surface and subsurface processes, martian spring deposits would offer the potential to assess astrobiological potential and hydrological history in a variety of settings, including surface mineralized terraces, associated stream deposits, and subsurface environments where organic remains may have been well protected from oxidation. Previous attempts to identify martian spring deposits from orbit have been general or limited by resolution of available data [12-14]. However, new satellite imagery from HiRISE has a resolution of 28 cm/pixel, and based on these new data, we have interpreted several features in Vernal Crater, Arabia Terra as ancient hydrothermal springs [15, 16].

Resurrecting ancestral genes in bacteria to interpret ancient biosignatures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kacar, Betul; Guy, Lionel; Smith, Eric; Baross, John

2017-11-01

Two datasets, the geologic record and the genetic content of extant organisms, provide complementary insights into the history of how key molecular components have shaped or driven global environmental and macroevolutionary trends. Changes in global physico-chemical modes over time are thought to be a consistent feature of this relationship between Earth and life, as life is thought to have been optimizing protein functions for the entirety of its approximately 3.8 billion years of history on the Earth. Organismal survival depends on how well critical genetic and metabolic components can adapt to their environments, reflecting an ability to optimize efficiently to changing conditions. The geologic record provides an array of biologically independent indicators of macroscale atmospheric and oceanic composition, but provides little in the way of the exact behaviour of the molecular components that influenced the compositions of these reservoirs. By reconstructing sequences of proteins that might have been present in ancient organisms, we can downselect to a subset of possible sequences that may have been optimized to these ancient environmental conditions. How can one use modern life to reconstruct ancestral behaviours? Configurations of ancient sequences can be inferred from the diversity of extant sequences, and then resurrected in the laboratory to ascertain their biochemical attributes. One way to augment sequence-based, single-gene methods to obtain a richer and more reliable picture of the deep past, is to resurrect inferred ancestral protein sequences in living organisms, where their phenotypes can be exposed in a complex molecular-systems context, and then to link consequences of those phenotypes to biosignatures that were preserved in the independent historical repository of the geological record. As a first step beyond single-molecule reconstruction to the study of functional molecular systems, we present here the ancestral sequence reconstruction of the

Pros and cons of methylation-based enrichment methods for ancient DNA.

PubMed

Seguin-Orlando, Andaine; Gamba, Cristina; Der Sarkissian, Clio; Ermini, Luca; Louvel, Guillaume; Boulygina, Eugenia; Sokolov, Alexey; Nedoluzhko, Artem; Lorenzen, Eline D; Lopez, Patricio; McDonald, H Gregory; Scott, Eric; Tikhonov, Alexei; Stafford, Thomas W; Alfarhan, Ahmed H; Alquraishi, Saleh A; Al-Rasheid, Khaled A S; Shapiro, Beth; Willerslev, Eske; Prokhortchouk, Egor; Orlando, Ludovic

2015-07-02

The recent discovery that DNA methylation survives in fossil material provides an opportunity for novel molecular approaches in palaeogenomics. Here, we apply to ancient DNA extracts the probe-independent Methylated Binding Domains (MBD)-based enrichment method, which targets DNA molecules containing methylated CpGs. Using remains of a Palaeo-Eskimo Saqqaq individual, woolly mammoths, polar bears and two equine species, we confirm that DNA methylation survives in a variety of tissues, environmental contexts and over a large temporal range (4,000 to over 45,000 years before present). MBD enrichment, however, appears principally biased towards the recovery of CpG-rich and long DNA templates and is limited by the fast post-mortem cytosine deamination rates of methylated epialleles. This method, thus, appears only appropriate for the analysis of ancient methylomes from very well preserved samples, where both DNA fragmentation and deamination have been limited. This work represents an essential step toward the characterization of ancient methylation signatures, which will help understanding the role of epigenetic changes in past environmental and cultural transitions.

Pros and cons of methylation-based enrichment methods for ancient DNA

PubMed Central

Seguin-Orlando, Andaine; Gamba, Cristina; Sarkissian, Clio Der; Ermini, Luca; Louvel, Guillaume; Boulygina, Eugenia; Sokolov, Alexey; Nedoluzhko, Artem; Lorenzen, Eline D.; Lopez, Patricio; McDonald, H. Gregory; Scott, Eric; Tikhonov, Alexei; Stafford,, Thomas W.; Alfarhan, Ahmed H.; Alquraishi, Saleh A.; Al-Rasheid, Khaled A. S.; Shapiro, Beth; Willerslev, Eske; Prokhortchouk, Egor; Orlando, Ludovic

2015-01-01

The recent discovery that DNA methylation survives in fossil material provides an opportunity for novel molecular approaches in palaeogenomics. Here, we apply to ancient DNA extracts the probe-independent Methylated Binding Domains (MBD)-based enrichment method, which targets DNA molecules containing methylated CpGs. Using remains of a Palaeo-Eskimo Saqqaq individual, woolly mammoths, polar bears and two equine species, we confirm that DNA methylation survives in a variety of tissues, environmental contexts and over a large temporal range (4,000 to over 45,000 years before present). MBD enrichment, however, appears principally biased towards the recovery of CpG-rich and long DNA templates and is limited by the fast post-mortem cytosine deamination rates of methylated epialleles. This method, thus, appears only appropriate for the analysis of ancient methylomes from very well preserved samples, where both DNA fragmentation and deamination have been limited. This work represents an essential step toward the characterization of ancient methylation signatures, which will help understanding the role of epigenetic changes in past environmental and cultural transitions. PMID:26134828

[A review of the principle mythical gods in ancient greek medicine].

PubMed

Lips Castro, Walter; Urenda Arias, Catalina

2014-12-01

Like their prehistoric ancestors, the people of early civilizations lived related to the supernatural. Facing life-threatening situations, such as illness and death, people of ancient civilizations resorted to divination, prophecy, or the oracle. Regarding the curative activities of the ancient Greek civilization, there was a period in which these processes were exclusively linked to a supernatural perspective of the origin of disease. This stage of development of Greek healing practices corresponds to what might be called pre-Hippocratic Greek medicine. In ancient Greek civilization, myths exerted a strong influence on the concepts of disease and the healing processes. Although the first divine figure of Greek mythology related to medicine was Paeon, healing cults related to Apollo and Asclepius had a higher importance in tradition and Greek mythology. The Apollonian divine healing consisted in the ability to eliminate chaos and keep away evil, while in the Asclepian perspective, the role of healer was linked to specific procedures. Personal and medical skills allowed Asclepius to surpass his father and achieve his final consecration as a god of medicine.

Ancient Earth, Alien Earths Event

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-08-20

Dr. Shawn Domagal-Goldman, Research Space Scientist, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, speaks on a panel at the “Ancient Earth, Alien Earths” Event at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC Wednesday, August 20, 2014. The event was sponsored by NASA, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Smithsonian Institution and was moderated by Dr. David H. Grinspoon, Senior Scientist at the Planetary Science Institute. Six scientists discussed how research on early Earth could help guide our search for habitable planets orbiting other stars. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Magnetic Prospecting On Ancient Towns In Turkey and Greece

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smekalova, T.; Smekalov, S.

Magnetic prospecting on ancient towns in Turkey and Greece. Tatyana Smekalova, Sergey Smekalov. Saint-Petersburg In 2001 archaeophysical group of Saint-Petersburg State University participated in archaeological investigation of ancient town Pisidian Antioch in Turkey (near mod- ern town Yalvach) and ancient town Kalydon in Greece (not far from modern town Mesolongy). Both sites have a big size (more than kilometer in perimeter) and com- plicated hilly relief (especially Kalydon). The mine idea of the magnetic survey on the sites was to try the method of magnetic prospecting in conditions of the sites, to estimate the possibilities and limitations of the method and to reveal ancient structures on several different parts of the site. Magnetic survey on the Pisidian Antioch carried out in four areas of the site showed that much could be recovered by this non-invasive technique. Most significantly, sur- vey of the area previously thought to contain a palestra shows instead the plan of a Christian basilica. Other areas included houses, streets, important elements in the water system and industrial establishments. The work was supported by Columbia University, USA On the Ancient Kalydon, the whole area of the site was investigated by method of Sfree searchT that is walking with magnetometers and measuring without a grid. Five ´ different areas have been chosen for detail investigation with regular grid. The most interesting result is in one of the the areas, where it seems to be an SindustrialT quar- & cedil;ter of the site. There are several workshops, revealed on this place. The work was supported by Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Denmark. During the work on both sites we used GPS equipment to put the survey areas on the maps. Simultaneously with magnetic survey archaeological teams made a usual topographical survey of the sites (team of Calgary University in Turkey, Canada and team of Greece topographers, working together with Danish archaeologist in Greece). Thanks to that

Textural and Carbon Isotopic Analyses of Modern Carbonate Microbialites: Possible Ancient and Martian Analogs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thompson, Joel B.

1998-01-01

Many modem and ancient carbonate deposits around the world have been recognized as microbial buildups or microbialites. Ancient microbialite structures have been divided into two basic categories based on their internal fabric or texture. They include stromatolites which have a predominantly laminated internal fabric and thrombolites which have an open-porous clotted fabric, that lacks laminae. The origin of these two basic microbial fabrics is still being debated in the literature. Understanding the origin and the various microorganisms involved in forming these modem fabrics is the key to the interpretation of similar fabrics in ancient and possibly Martian rocks. Therefore, detailed studies are needed on the microbiological makeup and origin of the fabrics in modem microbialites. Such studies may serve as analogs for ancient and Martian microbialites in the future. The purpose of this study is to examine the textures and carbon isotopic signatures of the following modem microbialites from the Bahamas: 1) a modem subtidal microbialite from Iguana Cay, Bahamas and 2) a modem microbial mat (stromatolite) from a hypersaline pond on Lee Stocking Island, Bahamas.

Ancient Wings: animating the evolution of butterfly wing patterns.

PubMed

Arbesman, Samuel; Enthoven, Leo; Monteiro, Antónia

2003-10-01

Character optimization methods can be used to reconstruct ancestral states at the internal nodes of phylogenetic trees. However, seldom are these ancestral states visualized collectively. Ancient Wings is a computer program that provides a novel method of visualizing the evolution of several morphological traits simultaneously. It allows users to visualize how the ventral hindwing pattern of 54 butterflies in the genus Bicyclus may have changed over time. By clicking on each of the nodes within the evolutionary tree, the user can see an animation of how wing size, eyespot size, and eyespot position relative the wing margin, have putatively evolved as a collective whole. Ancient Wings may be used as a pedagogical device as well as a research tool for hypothesis-generation in the fields of evolutionary, ecological, and developmental biology.

76 FR 73759 - Culturally Significant Objects Imported for Exhibition Determinations: “Ancient Egypt-Art and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-11-29

... DEPARTMENT OF STATE [Public Notice 7700] Culturally Significant Objects Imported for Exhibition Determinations: ``Ancient Egypt--Art and Magic: Treasures From the Foundation Gandur pour L'Art, Geneva..., 2003), I hereby determine that the objects to be included in the exhibition ``Ancient Egypt--Art and...

Absolute determination of copper and silver in ancient coins using 14 MeV neutrons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chalouhi, Ch.; Hourani, E.; Loos, R.; Melki, S.

1982-09-01

A method for absolute determination of copper and silver in ancient coins is described. Activation analysis by 14 MeV neutrons is performed. In the experimental procedure emphasis is placed on corrections for neutrons and gamma attenuation. In the analytical procedure, a multi linear-regression calculation is used to separate different contributions to the 511 keV gamma peak. The precision in the absolute determination of Cu and Ag is better than 2% in recent coins of definite shapes, whereas it is a somewhat lower in ancient coins of irregular shapes. The method was applied to ancient coins provided by the Museum of the American University of Beirut. Overall consistency and suitability of the method were obtained.

Spatial distribution of an ancient agricultural oasis in Juyan, northwestern China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Ningke; Li, Xin

2014-09-01

Activities related to agricultural cultivation are some of the major human drivers of landscape change on the Earth's surface. Archaeological remains can provide qualitative evidence for studies of past agricultural development and environmental conditions. The ancient Juyan Oasis, which once flourished along the historic Silk Road, was a typical oasis of downstream inland river basins in the arid zone of northwestern China. Historical records and archaeological discoveries have qualitatively shown that the oasis supported extensive agricultural activities in this historical period from the Han Dynasty to the early Ming Dynasty (B.C. 202-A.D. 1375), which can be traced back to 2,000 years ago. In this study, different types of archaeological remains (including archaeological sites, ground surface artifacts, ancient cultivation ruins, and agricultural irrigation canals) that were obtained and identified from previous archaeological reports, field inspections, and remote sensing imagery were used to determine the spatial extent of the agricultural oasis in the historical period of interest. Our approach used multiple data sources in order to increase the accuracy and reliability of the results compared to previous studies. Our results distinctly suggested that much of the oasis was cultivated during the historical periods considered. Additionally, the arable land area in the historical period considered was roughly estimated to be approximately (3.39-4.75) × 104 ha. These findings regarding the spatial distribution of this ancient agricultural oasis and its arable land were reasonably determined to represent the ancient agricultural development that occurred in the Juyan Oasis better than results obtained from single sources of data.

Ancient Chinese Sundials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Kehui

Timekeeping was essential in the agricultural society of ancient China. The use of sundials for timekeeping was associated with the use of the gnomon, which had its origin in remote antiquity. This chapter studies three sundials (guiyi 晷仪) from the Qin and Han dynasties, the shorter shadow plane sundial (duanying ping yi 短影平仪) invented by Yuan Chong in the Sui Dynasty, and the sundial chart (guiyingtu 晷影图) invented by Zeng Minxing in the Southern Song dynasty. This chapter also introduces Guo Shoujing's hemispherical sundial (yang yi 仰仪). A circular stone sundial discovered at the Small Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an is also mentioned. It is dated from the Sui and Tang dynasties. A brief survey of sundials from the Qing dynasty shows various types of sundials.

Ancient Rivers

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-01-14

Early in Martian history, liquid water energetically carved the surface, forming channel systems that look remarkably similar to river valleys and drainage networks on Earth. Exactly how these channels formed -- by rainfall, snowmelt, or seepage from underground springs -- is often debated. The answer has important ramifications about the early Martian climate. Clues about the source of the water may indicate the shape, layout, and scale of the various tributaries in a channel system. Our image shows an example of just such a water-carved channel. The channel pattern, called "dendritic" because of its tree-like branching, begins at the top of the image and runs down over the rim of an ancient impact basin across the basin floor. The soil surface overlying these channels, and indeed the entire landscape, has been changed and reworked over the intervening millions of years, by the combined actions of wind and ice. Over time, the original channels become muted or even erased. Nevertheless, some characteristics of the smallest tributary channels are still visible at scales seen by HiRISE. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20337

The breast: from Ancient Greek myths to Hippocrates and Galen.

PubMed

Iavazzo, C R; Trompoukis, C; Siempos, I I; Falagas, M E

2009-01-01

This is a historical article about Ancient Greek literature from mythological times until the first centuries AD with regard to the female breast. We endeavoured to collect several elegant narratives on the topic as well as to explore the knowledge of Ancient Greek doctors on the role, physiology and pathology of breast and the treatment of its diseases. We identified such descriptions in myths regarding Amazons, Hercules, Zeus, Hera and Amaltheia. Furthermore, descriptions on the topic were also found in the work of Hippocrates, Aristoteles, Soranos, Alexander of Aphrodisias, Celsus, Archigenis, Leonides, Galen and Oribasius. We may conclude that some of today's medical knowledge or practice regarding the breast was also known in the historical period.

Application of airborne remote sensing to the ancient Pompeii site

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vitiello, Fausto; Giordano, Antonio; Borfecchia, Flavio; Martini, Sandro; De Cecco, Luigi

1996-12-01

The ancient Pompeii site is in the Sarno Valley, an area of about 400 km2 in the South of Italy near Naples, that was utilized by man since old time (thousands of years ago). Actually the valley is under critical environmental conditions because of the relevant industrial development. ENEA is conducting various studies and research in the valley. ENEA is employing historical research, ground campaigns, cartography and up-to-date airborne multispectral remote sensing technologies to make a geographical information system. Airborne remote sensing technologies are very suitable for situations as that of the Sarno Valley. The paper describes the archaeological application of the research in progress as regarding the ancient site of Pompeii and its fluvial port.

Historical overview of spinal deformities in ancient Greece

PubMed Central

Vasiliadis, Elias S; Grivas, Theodoros B; Kaspiris, Angelos

2009-01-01

Little is known about the history of spinal deformities in ancient Greece. The present study summarizes what we know today for diagnosis and management of spinal deformities in ancient Greece, mainly from the medical treatises of Hippocrates and Galen. Hippocrates, through accurate observation and logical reasoning was led to accurate conclusions firstly for the structure of the spine and secondly for its diseases. He introduced the terms kyphosis and scoliosis and wrote in depth about diagnosis and treatment of kyphosis and less about scoliosis. The innovation of the board, the application of axial traction and even the principle of trans-abdominal correction for correction of spinal deformities have their origin in Hippocrates. Galen, who lived nearly five centuries later impressively described scoliosis, lordosis and kyphosis, provided aetiologic implications and used the same principles with Hippocrates for their management, while his studies influenced medical practice on spinal deformities for more than 1500 years. PMID:19243609

Phenotypes from ancient DNA: approaches, insights and prospects.

PubMed

Fortes, Gloria G; Speller, Camilla F; Hofreiter, Michael; King, Turi E

2013-08-01

The great majority of phenotypic characteristics are complex traits, complicating the identification of the genes underlying their expression. However, both methodological and theoretical progress in genome-wide association studies have resulted in a much better understanding of the underlying genetics of many phenotypic traits, including externally visible characteristics (EVCs) such as eye and hair color. Consequently, it has become possible to predict EVCs from human samples lacking phenotypic information. Predicting EVCs from genetic evidence is clearly appealing for forensic applications involving the personal identification of human remains. Now, a recent paper has reported the genetic determination of eye and hair color in samples up to 800 years old. The ability to predict EVCs from ancient human remains opens up promising perspectives for ancient DNA research, as this could allow studies to directly address archaeological and evolutionary questions related to the temporal and geographical origins of the genetic variants underlying phenotypes. © 2013 WILEY Periodicals, Inc.

Application and comparison of large-scale solution-based DNA capture-enrichment methods on ancient DNA

PubMed Central

Ávila-Arcos, María C.; Cappellini, Enrico; Romero-Navarro, J. Alberto; Wales, Nathan; Moreno-Mayar, J. Víctor; Rasmussen, Morten; Fordyce, Sarah L.; Montiel, Rafael; Vielle-Calzada, Jean-Philippe; Willerslev, Eske; Gilbert, M. Thomas P.

2011-01-01

The development of second-generation sequencing technologies has greatly benefitted the field of ancient DNA (aDNA). Its application can be further exploited by the use of targeted capture-enrichment methods to overcome restrictions posed by low endogenous and contaminating DNA in ancient samples. We tested the performance of Agilent's SureSelect and Mycroarray's MySelect in-solution capture systems on Illumina sequencing libraries built from ancient maize to identify key factors influencing aDNA capture experiments. High levels of clonality as well as the presence of multiple-copy sequences in the capture targets led to biases in the data regardless of the capture method. Neither method consistently outperformed the other in terms of average target enrichment, and no obvious difference was observed either when two tiling designs were compared. In addition to demonstrating the plausibility of capturing aDNA from ancient plant material, our results also enable us to provide useful recommendations for those planning targeted-sequencing on aDNA. PMID:22355593

An Ancient Valley Network

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-05-09

Most of the oldest terrains on Mars have eroded into branching valleys, as seen here in by NASA's Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter, much like many land regions of Earth are eroded by rain and snowmelt runoff. This is the primary evidence for major climate change on Mars billions of years ago. How the climate of Mars could have supported a warmer and wetter environment has been the subject of scientific debates for 40 years. A full-resolution enhanced color closeup reveals details in the bedrock and dunes on the valley floor (upper left). The bedrock of ancient Mars has been hardened and cemented by groundwater. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21630

Photooxidation and Microbial Processing of Ancient and Modern Dissolved Organic Carbon in the Kolyma River, Siberia.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Behnke, M. I.; Mann, P. J.; Schade, J. D.; Spawn, S.; Zimov, N.

2015-12-01

Permafrost soils in northern high latitudes store large quantities of organic carbon that have remained frozen for thousands of years. As global temperatures increase, permafrost deposits have begun to thaw, releasing previously stored ancient carbon to streams and rivers in the form of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Newly mobilized DOC is then subjected to processing by photooxidation and microbial metabolism. Permafrost-derived DOC is highly bioavailable directly upon release relative to modern DOC derived from plants and surface active layer soils. Our objectives were to assess the interaction of photodegradation and microbial processing, and to quantify any light priming effect on the microbial consumption of both ancient and modern sourced DOC pools. We exposed sterilized mixtures of ancient and modern DOC to ambient sunlight for six days, and then inoculated mixtures (0, 1, 10, 25, 50 & 100% ancient DOC) with microbes from both modern and ancient water sources. After inoculation, samples were incubated in the dark for five days. We measured biological oxygen demand, changes in absorbance, and DOC concentrations to quantify microbial consumption of DOC and identify shifts in DOC composition and biolability. We found evidence of photobleaching during irradiation (decreasing S275-295, increasing slope ratio, and decreasing SUVA254). Once inoculated, mixtures with more ancient DOC showed initially increased microbial respiration compared to mixtures with primarily modern DOC. During the first 24 hours, the light-exposed mixture with 50% ancient DOC showed 47.6% more oxygen consumption than did the dark 50% mixture, while the purely modern DOC showed 11.5% greater oxygen consumption after light exposure. After 5 days, the modern light priming was comparable to the 50% mixture (31.2% compared to 20.5%, respectively). Our results indicate that natural photoexposure of both modern and newly released DOC increases microbial processing rates over non photo-exposed DOC.

Ancient Chinese Observations and Modern Cometary Models

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yeomans, D. K.

1995-01-01

Ancient astronomical observations, primarily by Chinese, represent the only data source for discerning the long-term behavior of comets. These sky watchers produced astrological forecasts for their emperors. The comets Halley, Swift-Tuttle, and Tempel-Tuttle have been observed for 2000 years. Records of the Leonid meteor showers, starting from A.D.902, are used to guide predictions for the 1998-1999 reoccurrence.

Analysis of the ancient river system in Loulan period in Lop Nur region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Jianfeng; Jia, Peng; Nie, Yueping

2010-09-01

The Lop Nur region is located in the east of the Tarim Basin. It has served as the strategic passage and communication hub of the Silk Road since Han Dynasty. During Wei-Jin period, the river system there was well developed and the ancient city of Loulan was bred there. In this study, GIS is used to accomplish automatic extraction of the river course in the Lop Nur region at first using ArcGIS. Then the RCI index is constituted to extract ancient river course from Landsat ETM image with band 3 and band 4. It is concluded that the north river course of Peacock River conformed before the end of the 4th century AD according to the distribution of the entire river course of the Lop Nur region. Later, the Peacock River changed its way to south to Tarim River, and flowed into Lop Nur along the direction paralleling Altun Mountain from west to east. It was the change of the river system that mainly caused the decrease in water supply around ancient city of Loulan before the end of 4th century. The ancient city of Loulan has been gradually ruined in the sand because of the absence of water supply since then.

The impact of environment change on culture evolution in east Ancient Silk Road.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dong, G.; Liu, F.; Li, G.; Zhang, D. D.; Lee, H. F.; Chen, F.

2017-12-01

Ancient Silk Road played an important role in culture communication between west and east parts of the Eurasia during Bronze Age and historical period. Tens of archaic civilizations rise and fall in east parts of the Ancient Silk Road, climate change is attributed as one of the most important driving forces, while the process and mechanism for the impact of environmental change on culture evolution in the area has not been well-understood. Here we report new paleoclimate data based on multi-proxy analysis from two well-dated aeolian deposit sequences in the Hexi Corridor and Qaidam basin, where locate at the throat position of the Ancient Silk Road. Comparing with high-resolution tree rings from Qilian Mountain nearby, and archaeological evidence and historical documents, we proposed that two desertification events occurred in west Hexi Corridor between 3400-3100 BP and post 1450 AD, which induced two cultural discontinuity in that area. Climate was dry between 3400-2900 BP and wet between 2900-2000 BP in lowlands of east Qaidam basin, mismatching with the development of Nuomuhong Bronze culture in the area during 3400-2450 BP. We propose culture evolution in east Ancient Silk Road was mainly influenced by precipitation change of highlands in mountain areas,which was further influenced by large-scale vapor transport.

Finding Hidden Chemistry in Ancient Egyptian Artifacts: Pigment Degradation Taught in a Chemical Engineering Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gime´nez, Javier

2015-01-01

The main objective of this work was to show the application of the study of ancient technology and science on teaching (and learning) chemistry in Chemical Engineering Undergraduate studies. Degradation patterns of pigments used in Ancient Egypt were incorporated in the syllabus of the course entitled "Technological and Scientific…

Mental health and sexual activity according to ancient Greek physicians.

PubMed

Laios, K; Tsoucalas, G; Kontaxaki, Μ-Ι; Karamanou, Μ; Sgantzos, Μ; Androutsos, G

2015-01-01

The ancient Greek physicians have not failed in their studies to indicate the beneficial role of sexual activity in human health. They acknowledged that sex helps to maintain mental balance. Very interesting is their observation that sex may help mental patients to recover. Nevertheless they stressed emphatically that sex is beneficial only when there is a measure in it, so they believed that sexual abstinence or excessive sexual activity affect negatively the mental and physical health of man. Ancient Greek physicians reached this conclusion by empirical observation. They tried to justify the mental imbalance, as the potential physical problems, which probably will be listed today in the psychosomatic manifestations, of people with long-term sexual abstinence or hyperactivity, based on the theory of humors which was the main methodological tool of ancient Greek medicine. Their fundamental idea was that the four humors of the body (blood, phlegm, yellow and black bile) should be in balance. Therefore they believed that the loss and the exchange of bodily fluids during sex help body's humors to maintain their equilibrium which in turn will form the basis for the physical and mental health. Although in ancient medical texts the irrationality presented by people in the aforementioned conditions was not attributed in any of the major mental illnesses recognized in antiquity, as mania, melancholy and phrenitis, our belief is that their behavior is more suited to the characteristics of melancholy, while according to modern medicine it should be classified in the depressive disorders. We have come to this conclusion, because common characteristics of people who either did not have sexual life or was overactive, was sadness, lack of interest and hope, as well as paranoid thinking that can reach up to suicide. Regarding the psychosomatic problems, which could occur in these people, they were determined by the ancient Greek physicians in the following; continuous headaches

Ancient Chinese medicine and mechanistic evidence of acupuncture physiology.

PubMed

Yang, Edward S; Li, Pei-Wen; Nilius, Bernd; Li, Geng

2011-11-01

Acupuncture has been widely used in China for three millennia as an art of healing. Yet, its physiology is not yet understood. The current interest in acupuncture started in 1971. Soon afterward, extensive research led to the concept of neural signaling with possible involvement of opioid peptides, glutamate, adenosine and identifying responsive parts in the central nervous system. In the last decade scientists began investigating the subject with anatomical and molecular imaging. It was found that mechanical movements of the needle, ignored in the past, appear to be central to the method and intracellular calcium ions may play a pivotal role. In this review, we trace the technique of clinical treatment from the first written record about 2,200 years ago to the modern time. The ancient texts have been used to introduce the concepts of yin, yang, qi, de qi, and meridians, the traditional foundation of acupuncture. We explore the sequence of the physiological process, from the turning of the needle, the mechanical wave activation of calcium ion channel to beta-endorphin secretion. By using modern terminology to re-interpret the ancient texts, we have found that the 2nd century B.C.: physiologists were meticulous investigators and their explanation fits well with the mechanistic model derived from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and confocal microscopy. In conclusion, the ancient model appears to have withstood the test of time surprisingly well confirming the popular axiom that the old wine is better than the new.

Endogenous change: on cooperation and water in ancient history

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pande, S.; Ertsen, M.

2013-04-01

We propose and test the theory of endogenous change based on historical reconstructions of two ancient civilizations, Indus and Hohokam, in two water scarce basins, the Indus basin in the Indian subcontinent and the Lower Colorado basin in Southwestern United States. The endogenous institutional change sees changes in institutions as a sequence of equilibria brought about by changes in "quasi-parameters" such as rainfall, population density, soil and land use induced water resource availability. In the historical reconstructions of ancient civilizations, institutions are proximated by the scale of cooperation be it in the form of the extent of trade, sophisticated irrigation network, a centrally planned state or a loosely held state with a common cultural identity. The "quasi-parameters" either change naturally or are changed by humans and the changes affect the stability of cooperative structures over time. However, human influenced changes in the quasi-parameters itself are conditioned on the scale of existing cooperative structures. We thus provide insights into the quantitative dimensions of water access by ancient populations and its co-evolution with the socioeconomic and sociopolitical organization of the human past. We however do not suggest that water manipulation was the single most significant factor in stimulating social development and complexity - clearly this has been shown as highly reductionist, even misleading. The paper cautiously contributes to proximate prediction of hydrological change by attempting to understand the complexity of coupled human-hydrological systems.

Possible Extent of Ancient Lake in Gale Crater, Mars

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-12-09

This illustration depicts a concept for the possible extent of an ancient lake inside Gale Crater. The base map combines image data from the Context Camera on NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and color information from Viking Orbiter imagery.

Petra and the Nabataeans

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belmonte, Juan Antonio; González-García, A. César

The Nabataeans built several monuments in Petra and elsewhere displaying decoration with a certain preference for astronomical motifs. A statistical analysis of the orientation of their sacred monuments demonstrates that astronomical orientations were often part of an elaborate plan and possibly reflect traces of the astral nature of Nabataean religion. Petra and other monuments in the ancient Nabataean kingdom demonstrate the interaction between landscape features and astronomical events. Among other things, the famous Ad Deir has revealed a fascinating ensemble of light and shadow effects, perhaps connected with the bulk of Nabataean mythology, while a series of suggestive solstitial and equinoctial alignments emanate from the impressive Urn Tomb, which might have helped bring about its selection as the cathedral of the city.

Ancient hepatitis B viruses from the Bronze Age to the Medieval period.

PubMed

Mühlemann, Barbara; Jones, Terry C; Damgaard, Peter de Barros; Allentoft, Morten E; Shevnina, Irina; Logvin, Andrey; Usmanova, Emma; Panyushkina, Irina P; Boldgiv, Bazartseren; Bazartseren, Tsevel; Tashbaeva, Kadicha; Merz, Victor; Lau, Nina; Smrčka, Václav; Voyakin, Dmitry; Kitov, Egor; Epimakhov, Andrey; Pokutta, Dalia; Vicze, Magdolna; Price, T Douglas; Moiseyev, Vyacheslav; Hansen, Anders J; Orlando, Ludovic; Rasmussen, Simon; Sikora, Martin; Vinner, Lasse; Osterhaus, Albert D M E; Smith, Derek J; Glebe, Dieter; Fouchier, Ron A M; Drosten, Christian; Sjögren, Karl-Göran; Kristiansen, Kristian; Willerslev, Eske

2018-05-09

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major cause of human hepatitis. There is considerable uncertainty about the timescale of its evolution and its association with humans. Here we present 12 full or partial ancient HBV genomes that are between approximately 0.8 and 4.5 thousand years old. The ancient sequences group either within or in a sister relationship with extant human or other ape HBV clades. Generally, the genome properties follow those of modern HBV. The root of the HBV tree is projected to between 8.6 and 20.9 thousand years ago, and we estimate a substitution rate of 8.04 × 10 -6 -1.51 × 10 -5 nucleotide substitutions per site per year. In several cases, the geographical locations of the ancient genotypes do not match present-day distributions. Genotypes that today are typical of Africa and Asia, and a subgenotype from India, are shown to have an early Eurasian presence. The geographical and temporal patterns that we observe in ancient and modern HBV genotypes are compatible with well-documented human migrations during the Bronze and Iron Ages 1,2 . We provide evidence for the creation of HBV genotype A via recombination, and for a long-term association of modern HBV genotypes with humans, including the discovery of a human genotype that is now extinct. These data expose a complexity of HBV evolution that is not evident when considering modern sequences alone.

New Interpretations of the History of Ancient Greece

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Avraamides, Achilles

1977-01-01

The author critically examines the most significant interpretations and reinterpretations of ancient Greek history of interest to secondary teachers. Discussed are the history of Mycenaeans, Athenians, and Persians, military history, Alexander, and the role of the centuries 800 B.C.-500 B.C. in preparing for classical times. (Author/RM)

Doctors in ancient Greek and Roman rhetorical education.

PubMed

Gibson, Craig A

2013-10-01

This article collects and examines all references to doctors in rhetorical exercises used in ancient Greek and Roman schools in the Roman Empire. While doctors are sometimes portrayed positively as philanthropic, expert practitioners of their divinely sanctioned art, they are more often depicted as facing charges for poisoning their patients.

Determining modulus of elasticity of ancient structural timber

Treesearch

Houjiang Zhang; Lei Zhu; Yanliang Sun; Xiping Wang; Haicheng Yan

2011-01-01

During maintenance of ancient timber architectures, it is important to determine mechanical properties of the wood component materials non-destructively and effectively, so that degraded members may be replaced or repaired to avoid structural failure. Experimental materials are four larch (Larix principis-rupprechtii Mayr.) components, which were taken down from the...

The Image of Daniel: An Ancient Graphic Organizer

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Loretta F.

2008-01-01

Teachers who use graphic organizers find that students' memory of important material is strengthened. Graphic organizers also lend themselves to the presentation of material in an interdisciplinary fashion. An example of a successful graphic organizer from religion and ancient history is the image of Nebuchadnezzar's dream that was interpreted by…

Craniofacial morphology in ancient and modern Greeks through 4,000 years.

PubMed

Papagrigorakis, Manolis J; Kousoulis, Antonis A; Synodinos, Philippos N

2014-01-01

Multiple 20th century studies have speculated on the anthropological similarities of the modern inhabitants of Greece with their ancient predecessors. The present investigation attempts to add to this knowledge by comparing the craniofacial configuration of 141 ancient (dating around 2,000-500 BC) and 240 modern Greek skulls (the largest material among relevant national studies). Skulls were grouped in age at death, sex, era and geographical categories; lateral cephalograms were taken and 53 variables were measured and correlated statistically. The craniofacial measurements and measurements of the basic quadrilateral and cranial polygon were compared in various groups using basic statistical methods, one-way ANOVA and assessment of the correlation matrices. Most of the measurements for both sexes combined followed an akin pattern in ancient and modern Greek skulls. Moreover, sketching and comparing the outline of the skull and upper face, we observed a clock-wise movement. The present study confirms that the morphological pattern of Greek skulls, as it changed during thousands of years, kept some characteristics unchanged, with others undergoing logical modifications. The analysis of our results allows us to believe that the influence upon the craniofacial complex of the various known factors, including genetic or environmental alterations, is apt to alter its form to adapt to new conditions. Even though 4,000 years seems too narrow a span to provoke evolutionary insights using conventional geometric morphometrics, the full presentation of our results makes up a useful atlas of solid data. Interpreted with caution, the craniofacial morphology in modern and ancient Greeks indicates elements of ethnic group continuation within the unavoidable multicultural mixtures.

Combined geophysical investigation for the detection of ancient metallurgical installations near Keratea City, Greece

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Apostolopoulos, George V.

2014-05-01

Archaeological excavation in an area of Lavrio (mining area from ancient times) has revealed ancient metallurgical installations which offer valuable information on this activity at those times. Within this context, a combined geophysical investigation was carried out in a place near Keratea City to find out whether there are additional installations apart from those that have already been revealed in the immediate area. More importantly, the objective was to locate the ancient tanks which provided water to the installations. Archaeological and geological information have helped in the design of the survey. EMI method measuring apparent conductivity was used to cover the whole area of investigation. Conductivity maps in various investigation depths have positioned the tanks and stacked first derivative maps in two directions (the two directions of the revealed walls) show covered walls. The EMI survey has indicated the position of three (3) ERT profiles made with the dipole-dipole array, which presented the ancient tanks with great detail in depth. GPR profiles for the detection of walls were noisy with the coarse material surface layer but the interrelation with ERT and EMI results confirmed the detected features.

Ancient Chinese capital models — Measurement system in urban planning —

PubMed Central

FUNO, Shuji

2017-01-01

Measurement systems are very important in urban design. This article reviews the theories of grid plans, particularly with respect to the spatial formations of ancient capital cities in Asia, and clarifies three Chinese Capital Models. The “Zhōu lǐ” Capital Model (Z) is based on the ancient text “Zhōu lǐ” that makes mention of the ideal city. However, because the description of the physical plan of the city is very brief and includes contradictory elements, conclusions regarding the specifics of the city design are extremely difficult to reach. This article proposes the most appropriate Model (Z) as an architype of the ideal Chinese city. Interestingly, there are no excavated examples of Model (Z). The two existing models, the Chang’an Capital Model (C), which is well known as the model for ancient Japanese capitals like Heiankyo (the present Kyoto) and the Dà Yuán (Dadu) Capital Model (D), the model for the city that is today Beijing, are described as Variants I and II, with a focus on the land division system of bo (street blocks). PMID:29129851

The ancient oxygen exosphere of Mars - Implications for atmosphere evolution

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zhang, M. H. G.; Luhmann, J. G.; Bougher, S. W.; Nagy, A. F.

1993-01-01

The paper considers absorption of oxygen (atoms and ions) by the surface as a mechanism for the early Martian atmosphere escape, due to the effect of high EUV flux of the ancient sun. Hot oxygen exosphere densities in ancient atmosphere and ionosphere are calculated for different EUV fluxes and the escape fluxes associated with these exposures. Using these densities, the ion production rate above the ionopause is calculated for different epochs including photoionization, charge exchange, and solar wind electron impact. It is found that, when the inferred high solar EUV fluxes of the past are taken into account, oxygen equivalent to that in several tens of meters of water, planet-wide, should have escaped Martian atmosphere to space over the last 3 Gyr.

The ancient oxygen exosphere of Mars - Implications for atmosphere evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, M. H. G.; Luhmann, J. G.; Bougher, S. W.; Nagy, A. F.

1993-06-01

The paper considers absorption of oxygen (atoms and ions) by the surface as a mechanism for the early Martian atmosphere escape, due to the effect of high EUV flux of the ancient sun. Hot oxygen exosphere densities in ancient atmosphere and ionosphere are calculated for different EUV fluxes and the escape fluxes associated with these exposures. Using these densities, the ion production rate above the ionopause is calculated for different epochs including photoionization, charge exchange, and solar wind electron impact. It is found that, when the inferred high solar EUV fluxes of the past are taken into account, oxygen equivalent to that in several tens of meters of water, planet-wide, should have escaped Martian atmosphere to space over the last 3 Gyr.

Spectral analysis of pharmaceutical formulations prepared according to ancient recipes in comparison with old museum remains.

PubMed

Gamberini, M Cristina; Baraldi, C; Freguglia, G; Baraldi, P

2011-10-01

A study of the composition of the remains of ancient ointments from museums was undertaken to enable understanding of the preparation techniques. Comparison of ancient recipes from different historical periods and spectroscopic characteristics of inorganic and/or organic remains recovered in museum vessels enabled preparation of ancient pharmaceutical-cosmetic formulations. Farmacopea Augustana by Occo was one the most important books studied for the 14 formulations prepared in the laboratory. Three formulations are discussed in detail and raw materials and new preparations were proposed for ozone ageing. The most important micro Raman results are discussed. The spectra of the raw materials lipids, beeswax, and resins are discussed; beeswax and pig suet (axŭngia) Raman spectra were found to be similar, but different from those of the aged oils. SERS was applied to ancient ointments and galbanum and the Raman spectra are reported and discussed for the first time.

Early history of European domestic cattle as revealed by ancient DNA.

PubMed

Bollongino, R; Edwards, C J; Alt, K W; Burger, J; Bradley, D G

2006-03-22

We present an extensive ancient DNA analysis of mainly Neolithic cattle bones sampled from archaeological sites along the route of Neolithic expansion, from Turkey to North-Central Europe and Britain. We place this first reasonable population sample of Neolithic cattle mitochondrial DNA sequence diversity in context to illustrate the continuity of haplotype variation patterns from the first European domestic cattle to the present. Interestingly, the dominant Central European pattern, a starburst phylogeny around the modal sequence, T3, has a Neolithic origin, and the reduced diversity within this cluster in the ancient samples accords with their shorter history of post-domestic accumulation of mutation.

Building on ruins: Copernicus' defense of ancient astronomers against modern critics.

PubMed

Galle, Karl

2008-09-01

Nicholas Copernicus'De revolutionibus (1543) is a frequent starting point for histories of the Scientific Revolution on account of his dramatic reversal of the cosmic order handed down from antiquity. Nevertheless, Copernicus also mounted a surprisingly sharp attack on one of his contemporaries who tried to correct ancient astronomers. This uneasy balance between respecting and criticizing ancient works was part of broader contemporaneous attempts to grapple with the fragmentary legacies of past generations. Debates over stone ruins as well as manuscript texts shaped the evolution of early printed books, and artists, printers and instrument makers joined natural philosophers in pursuing novelties even while emulating tradition.

Specific expression patterns and cell distribution of ancient and modern PAG in bovine placenta during pregnancy.

PubMed

Touzard, Eve; Reinaud, Pierrette; Dubois, Olivier; Guyader-Joly, Catherine; Humblot, Patrice; Ponsart, Claire; Charpigny, Gilles

2013-10-01

Pregnancy-associated glycoproteins (PAGs) constitute a multigenic family of aspartic proteinases expressed in the trophoblast of the ruminant placenta. In Bos taurus, this family comprises 21 members segregated into ancient and modern phylogenetic groups. Ancient PAGs have been reported to be synthesized throughout the trophoblastic cell layer whereas modern PAGs are produced by binucleate cells of cotyledons. The aim of this study was to investigate modern and ancient PAGs during gestation in cotyledonary and intercotyledonary tissues. To obtain convincing and innovative results despite the high sequence identity shared between PAGs, we designed specific tools such as amplification primers and antibodies. Using real-time RT-PCR, we described the transcript expression of 16 bovine PAGs. Overall, PAGs are characterized by an increase in their expression during gestation. However, we demonstrated a segregation of modern PAGs in cotyledons and of ancient PAGs in the intercotyledonary chorion, except for the ancient PAG2 expressed in cotyledons. By raising specific antibodies against the modern PAG1 and ancient PAG11 and PAG2, we established the expression kinetics of the proteins using western blotting. Immunohistochemistry showed that PAGs were produced by specific cellular populations: PAG1 by binucleate cells in the whole trophoblastic layer, PAG11 was localized in binucleate cells of the intercotyledonary trophoblast and the chorionic plate of the cotyledon, while PAG2 was produced in mononucleate cells of the internal villi of the cotyledon. These results revealed a highly specific regulation of PAG expression and cell localization as a function of their phylogenetic status, suggesting distinct biological functions within placental tissues.

Stars on the Ceiling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krupp, E. C.

2016-01-01

Astronomy and celestial imagery have been incorporated into architectural ceilings from antiquity to the present to reference the sky on behalf of a variety of agendas. Burial chambers in Egyptian pyramids and tombs, the Osiris chapel on the roof of Ptolemaic Egypt's Temple of Dendera, ancient Chinese tombs, painted rock shelters in California and the American Southwest, the cupola above a hot bath from medieval Jordan, elaborately illustrated ceilings in Italian cathedrals and palaces, the main concourse in New York's Grand Central Terminal, and a variety of other public buildings in America all brought the sky inside to convey relationships between the architecture, people, and the cosmos. In these interior environments, the symbolic function of the astronomical ceiling is driven by the thematic function of the building. At Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles three signature spaces are equipped with astronomically illustrated ceilings. In content and location, these prominent murals operate symbolically to convey meaning through public display and unexpectedly prompt people to think more expansively about the universe. This artwork is familiar in Los Angeles, but its use in a public observatory puts it outside the range of most commentaries on public art. Although experienced by more than seventy-six million persons over the last eighty years, Griffith Observatory's celestial murals are not well known. Their history, content, character, meaning, and purpose are detailed here.

Mapping the Ancient Maya Landscape from Space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sever, Tom

2003-01-01

This project uses new satellite and airborne imagery in combination with remote sensing, GIS, and GPS technology to understand the dynamics of how the Maya successfully interacted with their karst topographic landscape for several centuries in the northern Peten region of Guatemala. The ancient Maya attained one of the greatest population densities in human history in the tropical forest of the Peten, Guatemala, and it was in this region that the Maya civilization began, flourished, and abruptly disappeared for unknown reasons around AD 800. How the Maya were able to successfully manage water and feed this dense population is not known at this time. However, a recent NASA-funded project was the first to investigate large seasonal swamps (bajos) that make up 40 percent of the landscape. Through the use of remote sensing, ancient Maya features such as cities, roadways, canals and water reservoirs have been detected and verified through ground reconnaissance. The results of this research cast new light on the adaptation of the ancient Maya to their environment. Micro-environmental variation within the wetlands was elucidated and the different vegetational associations identified in the satellite imagery. More than 70 new archeological sites within and at the edges of the bajo were mapped and tested. Modification of the landscape by the Maya in the form of dams and reservoirs in the Holmul River and its tributaries and possible drainage canals in bajos was demonstrated. The recent acquisition of one-meter IKONOS imagery and high resolution STAR-3i radar imagery (2.5m backscatter/ 10m DEM), opens new possibilities for understanding how a civilization was able to survive for centuries upon a karst topographic landscape and their human-induced effects upon the local climate. This understanding is critical for the current population that is presently experiencing rapid population growth and destroying the landscape through non-traditional farming and grazing techniques

Mapping The Ancient Maya Landscape From Space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sever, Tom; Arnold, James E. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

The Peten region of northern Guatemala is one of the last places on earth where major archeological sites remain to be discovered. It was in this region that the Maya civilization began, flourished, and abruptly disappeared. Remote sensing technology is helping to locate and map ancient Maya sites that are threatened today by accelerating deforestation and looting. Thematic Mapper and IKONOS satellite and airborne Star3-I radar data, combined with Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, are successfully detecting ancient Maya features such as cities, roadways, canals, and water reservoirs. Satellite imagery is also being used to map the bajos, which are seasonally flooded swamps that cover over 40% of the land surface. The use of bajos for farming has been a source of debate within the professional community for many years. But the recent detection and verification of cultural features within the bajo system by our research team are providing conclusive evidence that the ancient Maya had adapted well to wetland environments from the earliest times and utilized them until the time of the Maya collapse. The use of the bajos for farming is also an important resource for the future of the current inhabitants who are experiencing rapid population growth. Remote sensing imagery is also demonstrating that in the Preclassic period (600 BC- AD 250), the Maya had already achieved a high organizational level as evidenced by the construction of massive temples and an elaborate inter-connecting roadway system. Although they experienced several setbacks such as droughts and hurricanes, the Maya nevertheless managed the delicate forest ecosystem successfully for several centuries. However, around AD 800, something happened to the Maya to cause their rapid decline and eventual disappearance from the region. The evidence indicates that at this time there was increased climatic dryness, extensive deforestation, overpopulation, and widespread warfare. This raises a question that

Ancient whole grain gluten-free egg-free Pasta

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The USDA food guide recommends that at least ½ of all the grains eaten should be whole grains. The FDA allows food Health Claim labels for food containing 51% whole gains and 11 g of dietary fiber per serving. This is the only report demonstrating innovative ancient whole grain, gluten-free, egg-fre...

An Application of the Cosmologic Concepts and Astronomical Symbols in the Ancient Medical Science and Astrology Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pikichyan, H. V.

2015-07-01

Employing the cosmologic concepts and astronomical symbols, the features of the ancient subjective approach of the achievement or perception of the knowledge and its systematic delivery ways are presented. In particular, the ancient systems of the natural medical science and the art of astrology are discussed, whereas the relations of the five cosmological elements, three dynamical agents, nine luminaries and twelve zodiac signs are applied. It is pointed out some misunderstandings encountered in the contemporary interpretation on the evaluation of ancient systems of the knowledge.

A code of ethics for evidence-based research with ancient human remains.

PubMed

Kreissl Lonfat, Bettina M; Kaufmann, Ina Maria; Rühli, Frank

2015-06-01

As clinical research constantly advances and the concept of evolution becomes a strong and influential part of basic medical research, the absence of a discourse that deals with the use of ancient human remains in evidence-based research is becoming unbearable. While topics such as exhibition and excavation of human remains are established ethical fields of discourse, when faced with instrumentalization of ancient human remains for research (i.e., ancient DNA extractions for disease marker analyses) the answers from traditional ethics or even more practical fields of bio-ethics or more specific biomedical ethics are rare to non-existent. The Centre for Evolutionary Medicine at the University of Zurich solved their needs for discursive action through the writing of a self-given code of ethics which was written in dialogue with the researchers at the Institute and was published online in Sept. 2011: http://evolutionäremedizin.ch/coe/. The philosophico-ethical basis for this a code of conduct and ethics and the methods are published in this article. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Geoarchaeological evidence for dredging in Tyre's ancient harbour, Levant

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marriner, Nick; Morhange, Christophe

2006-01-01

Chrono-stratigraphic data from Tyre's ancient northern harbour delineate extensive dredging practices during the Greco-Roman and Byzantine periods. Radiocarbon dates from four cores consistently cluster between ca. 500 B.C. and 1000 A.D. and indicate rapid rates of sedimentation in the basin, namely ∼10 mm/yr during the Greco-Roman and Byzantine periods, compared to 0.5-1 mm/yr for the period 6000-4000 B.C. Absence of strata between 4000 B.C. and 500 B.C. is not consistent with a natural base-level sediment sink and cannot be interpreted as a depositional hiatus in the high-stand systems tract. Ancient dredging is further corroborated by persistent age-depth inversions within the fine-grained harbour facies. These data support removal of Middle Bronze Age to Persian period sediment strata, with deliberate overdeepening of the harbour bottom by Greco-Roman and Byzantine societies.

The diffusion of ancient medicine in the Renaissance.

PubMed

Nutton, Vivian

2002-01-01

Ancient Greek medicine was largely transmitted in the Renaissance in the form of Latin translations. Recent scholarship has carefully delineated the sources used, and the printing history of many texts, but, save for anatomy, less has been done to elucidate how their message was received, and how that message itself changed during the sixteenth century.

On the national characteristics of Chinese ancient architecture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Jun; Shan, Xiaoxian

2018-03-01

architecture is a complex composed of technology and art. It is a concrete reflection of everything in the local society at that time. The architecture is basically consistent with the social content and historical development. This paper analyzes the formation, characteristics and style of ancient Chinese architecture and expounds its national spirit and characteristics.

Recovering Ancient Inscriptions by X-ray Fluorescence Imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Powers, Judson; Dimitrova, Nora; Huang, Rong; Smilgies, Detlef-M.; Bilderback, Don; Clinton, Kevin; Thorne, Robert

2006-03-01

For many ancient cultures including those of the Mediterranean, carved stone inscriptions provide our most detailed historical record. Over the ages the surfaces of many of these inscriptions have been eroded so that the original text can no longer be distinguished. A method that allowed at least partial recovery of this lost text would provide a major breakthrough for the study of these cultures. The scope of analytical techniques that can be applied to stone tablets is limited by their large size and weight. We have applied X-ray fluorescence imaging to study the text of ancient stone inscriptions [1]. This method allows the concentrations of trace elements, including those introduced during inscription and painting, to be measured and mapped. The images created in this way correspond exactly to the published text of the inscription, both when traces of letters are visible with the naked eye and when they are barely detectable. [1] J. Powers et al., Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 152: 221-227 (2005).

Evolutionary history and metabolic insights of ancient mammalian uricases

PubMed Central

Kratzer, James T.; Lanaspa, Miguel A.; Murphy, Michael N.; Cicerchi, Christina; Graves, Christina L.; Tipton, Peter A.; Ortlund, Eric A.; Johnson, Richard J.; Gaucher, Eric A.

2014-01-01

Uricase is an enzyme involved in purine catabolism and is found in all three domains of life. Curiously, uricase is not functional in some organisms despite its role in converting highly insoluble uric acid into 5-hydroxyisourate. Of particular interest is the observation that apes, including humans, cannot oxidize uric acid, and it appears that multiple, independent evolutionary events led to the silencing or pseudogenization of the uricase gene in ancestral apes. Various arguments have been made to suggest why natural selection would allow the accumulation of uric acid despite the physiological consequences of crystallized monosodium urate acutely causing liver/kidney damage or chronically causing gout. We have applied evolutionary models to understand the history of primate uricases by resurrecting ancestral mammalian intermediates before the pseudogenization events of this gene family. Resurrected proteins reveal that ancestral uricases have steadily decreased in activity since the last common ancestor of mammals gave rise to descendent primate lineages. We were also able to determine the 3D distribution of amino acid replacements as they accumulated during evolutionary history by crystallizing a mammalian uricase protein. Further, ancient and modern uricases were stably transfected into HepG2 liver cells to test one hypothesis that uricase pseudogenization allowed ancient frugivorous apes to rapidly convert fructose into fat. Finally, pharmacokinetics of an ancient uricase injected in rodents suggest that our integrated approach provides the foundation for an evolutionarily-engineered enzyme capable of treating gout and preventing tumor lysis syndrome in human patients. PMID:24550457

Ancient mines of the Farah Garan area, southwestern Saudi Arabia

USGS Publications Warehouse

Smith, C.W.; Blank, H. Richard

1979-01-01

Ancient miners, in quest of oxidized copper minerals, gold, silver, and possibly zinc, mined gossans to approximately 20 m depth in an area 1.1 by 0.5 km in extent at Farah Garan. The gossans, derived from sulfides, are ordinarily found at contacts between marble lenses and metavolcanic-metasedimentary rocks, but in the southern part of the mined area, gossans are also within marbles. The gossans are generally lensoidal and discontinuous along strike. The same type of metallization, in similar rocks, was found at the Hemair ancient workings, about 3 km southeast. Both deposits are thought to be of epigenetic origin, and ore deposition was controlled by shearing along marble contacts. Drilling is recommended at Farah Garan. Al Ashyab is 4 km south of Farah Garan, and similar rocks and structures extend through both areas but there are no ancient workings at Al Ashyab. The dominant geologic feature in the area is a high, narrow, light-colored ridge consisting of intensely silicified quartz porphyry. Pyritized metavolcanic rocks envelope the silicified rock, and geochemical sampling revealed weakly anomalous, erratically spaced concentrations of copper and zinc within these rocks. No further work is recommended for the area. Quartz-filled fractures containing gold were mapped at Al Asharfat, Lejourah, and other locations where ancient miners worked the veins. The gold-bearing quartz veins are narrow and have short strike lengths, and potential tonnages are thought to be small. The veins are in younger, more massive rocks than the enclosing metamorphic rocks and are thought to be younger than the adjacent sulfide deposits. No further work is recommended. Pyritized zones and associated sparse copper oxides extend intermittently about 6 km south of Hemair in metasedimentary rocks of the Jiddah group. Similar zones, associated quartz vein swarms, and minor magnetite and gold are found in mafic metavolcanic rocks adjacent to the contact with quartz porphyry about 1 km west

Geomorphic evidence for ancient seas on Mars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Parker, Timothy J.; Schneeberger, Dale M.; Pieri, David C.; Saunders, R. Stephen

1987-01-01

Geomorphic evidence is presented for ancient seas on Mars. Several features, similar to terrestrial lacustrine and coastal features, were identified along the northern plains periphery from Viking images. The nature of these features argues for formation in a predominantly liquid, shallow body of standing water. Such a shallow sea would require either relatively rapid development of shoreline morphologies or a warmer than present climate at the time of outflow channel formation.

Archaean zircons in Miocene oceanic hotspot rocks establish ancient continental crust beneath Mauritius

PubMed Central

Ashwal, Lewis D.; Wiedenbeck, Michael; Torsvik, Trond H.

2017-01-01

A fragment of continental crust has been postulated to underlie the young plume-related lavas of the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius based on the recovery of Proterozoic zircons from basaltic beach sands. Here we document the first U–Pb zircon ages recovered directly from 5.7 Ma Mauritian trachytic rocks. We identified concordant Archaean xenocrystic zircons ranging in age between 2.5 and 3.0 Ga within a trachyte plug that crosscuts Older Series plume-related basalts of Mauritius. Our results demonstrate the existence of ancient continental crust beneath Mauritius; based on the entire spectrum of U–Pb ages for old Mauritian zircons, we demonstrate that this ancient crust is of central-east Madagascar affinity, which is presently located ∼700 km west of Mauritius. This makes possible a detailed reconstruction of Mauritius and other Mauritian continental fragments, which once formed part of the ancient nucleus of Madagascar and southern India. PMID:28140395

Pollutant lead reveals the pre-Hellenistic occupation and ancient growth of Alexandria, Egypt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Véron, A.; Goiran, J. P.; Morhange, C.; Marriner, N.; Empereur, J. Y.

2006-03-01

It is generally accepted that Alexandria ad Aegyptum was founded ex nihilo in 331 BC by Alexander the Great, rapidly growing into one of antiquity's most opulent economic and intellectual centers. However, ancient texts by Strabo (17.1.6) and Pliny (NH 5.11.62) suggest the existence of a pre-Hellenistic settlement named Rhakotis. This literary evidence has fuelled contentious scholarly debate for decades. Here we present new geochemical data from Alexandria's ancient bay sediments, elucidating unequivocal proof for pollutant lead (Pb) input into the harbor during the Egyptian Old Kingdom (2686-2181 BC). A second contamination peak is detected during the Iron Age (1000-800 BC), at the end of the prosperous Ramesses reigns. These findings evidence thriving pre-Hellenistic settlements in Alexandria. During the Greek and Roman periods, we expound the largest Pb pollution ever encountered in ancient city sediments with Pb levels twice as high as those measured in contemporary industrialized estuaries.

Re-Assembly and Analysis of an Ancient Variola Virus Genome.

PubMed

Smithson, Chad; Imbery, Jacob; Upton, Chris

2017-09-08

We report a major improvement to the assembly of published short read sequencing data from an ancient variola virus (VARV) genome by the removal of contig-capping sequencing tags and manual searches for gap-spanning reads. The new assembly, together with camelpox and taterapox genomes, permitted new dates to be calculated for the last common ancestor of all VARV genomes. The analysis of recently sequenced VARV-like cowpox virus genomes showed that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and amino acid changes in the vaccinia virus (VACV)-Cop-O1L ortholog, predicted to be associated with VARV host specificity and virulence, were introduced into the lineage before the divergence of these viruses. A comparison of the ancient and modern VARV genome sequences also revealed a measurable drift towards adenine + thymine (A + T) richness.

Earth Observation

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-07-25

ISS032-E-009123 (26 July 2012) --- Pyramids at Giza, Egypt are featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 32 crew member on the International Space Station. The Great Pyramids at Giza (center) are the last of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and are perhaps the most famous of the ancient monuments in the Nile River Delta region of Egypt. They are also a favorite subject of photography from orbit ? particularly when high resolution imagery can be obtained. The southeast-facing sides of the pyramids of the pharaohs Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure are all brightly illuminated by the sun, while the northwest facing sides are in shadow. This shadowing also highlights smaller unfinished pyramids to the south of Menkaure?s pyramid, as well as fields of rectangular flat roofed mastabas (tombs) to the east and west of Khufu?s pyramid. While not as grand as the pyramids, mastabas were the burial places of prominent persons during the periods of the ancient pharaohs. To the southeast of Khufu?s pyramid, the head and rear haunches of the Sphinx are also visible (albeit not clearly). It is a short distance between the glories of ancient Egypt and the modern Cairo metropolitan area to the north and east. The green vegetation of a hotel golf course (center left), and the numerous building and streets of El Giza, provide stark contrast to the bare rock and soil of the adjacent desert. Roadways visible in the desert (right) connect the urban regions to the east with further development to the north.

Ancient typhoid epidemic reveals possible ancestral strain of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi.

PubMed

Papagrigorakis, Manolis J; Synodinos, Philippos N; Yapijakis, Christos

2007-01-01

In contrast to other serotypes of Salmonella enterica, S. Typhi is exclusively adapted to human hosts. Recently, S. Typhi was identified in ancient skeletal material, thereby incriminating typhoid fever for the Plague of Athens. Since, according to Thucydides' report, animals were also affected by the disease, a working hypothesis is constituted that the causative agent of the Plague might be the anticipated original strain of S. Typhi, purportedly capable of infecting animals as well as humans. Possible future sequencing of the discovered ancient strain of S. Typhi may help towards identifying its genomic differences responsible for its modern specification to humans.

Communication and Culture in Ancient India and China.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oliver, Robert T.

The rhetorical theories and practices of ancient India and China provide the themes of this book. An examination of the relationship between culture and rhetoric, East and West, opens the book. The rhetorical milieu of India, its philosophy, social system, and uses of speech, leads to a probing of the caste system and speech of the Brahmins.…

Amy2B copy number variation reveals starch diet adaptations in ancient European dogs.

PubMed

Ollivier, Morgane; Tresset, Anne; Bastian, Fabiola; Lagoutte, Laetitia; Axelsson, Erik; Arendt, Maja-Louise; Bălăşescu, Adrian; Marshour, Marjan; Sablin, Mikhail V; Salanova, Laure; Vigne, Jean-Denis; Hitte, Christophe; Hänni, Catherine

2016-11-01

Extant dog and wolf DNA indicates that dog domestication was accompanied by the selection of a series of duplications on the Amy2B gene coding for pancreatic amylase. In this study, we used a palaeogenetic approach to investigate the timing and expansion of the Amy2B gene in the ancient dog populations of Western and Eastern Europe and Southwest Asia. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to estimate the copy numbers of this gene for 13 ancient dog samples, dated to between 15 000 and 4000 years before present (cal. BP). This evidenced an increase of Amy2B copies in ancient dogs from as early as the 7th millennium cal. BP in Southeastern Europe. We found that the gene expansion was not fixed across all dogs within this early farming context, with ancient dogs bearing between 2 and 20 diploid copies of the gene. The results also suggested that selection for the increased Amy2B copy number started 7000 years cal. BP, at the latest. This expansion reflects a local adaptation that allowed dogs to thrive on a starch rich diet, especially within early farming societies, and suggests a biocultural coevolution of dog genes and human culture.

Amy2B copy number variation reveals starch diet adaptations in ancient European dogs

PubMed Central

Tresset, Anne; Bastian, Fabiola; Lagoutte, Laetitia; Arendt, Maja-Louise; Bălăşescu, Adrian; Marshour, Marjan; Sablin, Mikhail V.; Salanova, Laure; Vigne, Jean-Denis; Hitte, Christophe; Hänni, Catherine

2016-01-01

Extant dog and wolf DNA indicates that dog domestication was accompanied by the selection of a series of duplications on the Amy2B gene coding for pancreatic amylase. In this study, we used a palaeogenetic approach to investigate the timing and expansion of the Amy2B gene in the ancient dog populations of Western and Eastern Europe and Southwest Asia. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to estimate the copy numbers of this gene for 13 ancient dog samples, dated to between 15 000 and 4000 years before present (cal. BP). This evidenced an increase of Amy2B copies in ancient dogs from as early as the 7th millennium cal. BP in Southeastern Europe. We found that the gene expansion was not fixed across all dogs within this early farming context, with ancient dogs bearing between 2 and 20 diploid copies of the gene. The results also suggested that selection for the increased Amy2B copy number started 7000 years cal. BP, at the latest. This expansion reflects a local adaptation that allowed dogs to thrive on a starch rich diet, especially within early farming societies, and suggests a biocultural coevolution of dog genes and human culture. PMID:28018628

'Ancient episteme' and the nature of fossils: a correction of a modern scholarly error.

PubMed

Jordan, J M

2016-04-01

Beginning the nineteenth-century and continuing down to the present, many authors writing on the history of geology and paleontology have attributed the theory that fossils were inorganic formations produced within the earth, rather than by the deposition of living organisms, to the ancient Greeks and Romans. Some have even gone so far as to claim this was the consensus view in the classical period up through the Middle Ages. In fact, such a notion was entirely foreign to ancient and medieval thought and only appeared within the manifold of 'Renaissance episteme,' the characteristics of which have often been projected backwards by some historians onto earlier periods. This paper endeavors to correct this error, explain the development of the Renaissance view, describe certain ancient precedents thereof, and trace the history of the misinterpretation in the literature.

Evidence of Coat Color Variation Sheds New Light on Ancient Canids

PubMed Central

Ollivier, Morgane; Tresset, Anne; Hitte, Christophe; Petit, Coraline; Hughes, Sandrine; Gillet, Benjamin; Duffraisse, Marilyne; Pionnier-Capitan, Maud; Lagoutte, Laetitia; Arbogast, Rose-Marie; Balasescu, Adrian; Boroneant, Adina; Mashkour, Marjan; Vigne, Jean-Denis; Hänni, Catherine

2013-01-01

We have used a paleogenetics approach to investigate the genetic landscape of coat color variation in ancient Eurasian dog and wolf populations. We amplified DNA fragments of two genes controlling coat color, Mc1r (Melanocortin 1 Receptor) and CBD103 (canine-β-defensin), in respectively 15 and 19 ancient canids (dogs and wolf morphotypes) from 14 different archeological sites, throughout Asia and Europe spanning from ca. 12 000 B.P. (end of Upper Palaeolithic) to ca. 4000 B.P. (Bronze Age). We provide evidence of a new variant (R301C) of the Melanocortin 1 receptor (Mc1r) and highlight the presence of the beta-defensin melanistic mutation (CDB103-K locus) on ancient DNA from dog-and wolf-morphotype specimens. We show that the dominant KB allele (CBD103), which causes melanism, and R301C (Mc1r), the variant that may cause light hair color, are present as early as the beginning of the Holocene, over 10 000 years ago. These results underline the genetic diversity of prehistoric dogs. This diversity may have partly stemmed not only from the wolf gene pool captured by domestication but also from mutations very likely linked to the relaxation of natural selection pressure occurring in-line with this process. PMID:24098367

Evidence of coat color variation sheds new light on ancient canids.

PubMed

Ollivier, Morgane; Tresset, Anne; Hitte, Christophe; Petit, Coraline; Hughes, Sandrine; Gillet, Benjamin; Duffraisse, Marilyne; Pionnier-Capitan, Maud; Lagoutte, Laetitia; Arbogast, Rose-Marie; Balasescu, Adrian; Boroneant, Adina; Mashkour, Marjan; Vigne, Jean-Denis; Hänni, Catherine

2013-01-01

We have used a paleogenetics approach to investigate the genetic landscape of coat color variation in ancient Eurasian dog and wolf populations. We amplified DNA fragments of two genes controlling coat color, Mc1r (Melanocortin 1 Receptor) and CBD103 (canine-β-defensin), in respectively 15 and 19 ancient canids (dogs and wolf morphotypes) from 14 different archeological sites, throughout Asia and Europe spanning from ca. 12 000 B.P. (end of Upper Palaeolithic) to ca. 4000 B.P. (Bronze Age). We provide evidence of a new variant (R301C) of the Melanocortin 1 receptor (Mc1r) and highlight the presence of the beta-defensin melanistic mutation (CDB103-K locus) on ancient DNA from dog-and wolf-morphotype specimens. We show that the dominant K(B) allele (CBD103), which causes melanism, and R301C (Mc1r), the variant that may cause light hair color, are present as early as the beginning of the Holocene, over 10,000 years ago. These results underline the genetic diversity of prehistoric dogs. This diversity may have partly stemmed not only from the wolf gene pool captured by domestication but also from mutations very likely linked to the relaxation of natural selection pressure occurring in-line with this process.

False positives complicate ancient pathogen identifications using high-throughput shotgun sequencing

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Identification of historic pathogens is challenging since false positives and negatives are a serious risk. Environmental non-pathogenic contaminants are ubiquitous. Furthermore, public genetic databases contain limited information regarding these species. High-throughput sequencing may help reliably detect and identify historic pathogens. Results We shotgun-sequenced 8 16th-century Mixtec individuals from the site of Teposcolula Yucundaa (Oaxaca, Mexico) who are reported to have died from the huey cocoliztli (‘Great Pestilence’ in Nahautl), an unknown disease that decimated native Mexican populations during the Spanish colonial period, in order to identify the pathogen. Comparison of these sequences with those deriving from the surrounding soil and from 4 precontact individuals from the site found a wide variety of contaminant organisms that confounded analyses. Without the comparative sequence data from the precontact individuals and soil, false positives for Yersinia pestis and rickettsiosis could have been reported. Conclusions False positives and negatives remain problematic in ancient DNA analyses despite the application of high-throughput sequencing. Our results suggest that several studies claiming the discovery of ancient pathogens may need further verification. Additionally, true single molecule sequencing’s short read lengths, inability to sequence through DNA lesions, and limited ancient-DNA-specific technical development hinder its application to palaeopathology. PMID:24568097

Hands-On Mathematics: Two Cases from Ancient Chinese Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Youjun

2009-01-01

In modern mathematical teaching, it has become increasingly emphasized that mathematical knowledge should be taught by problem-solving, hands-on activities, and interactive learning experiences. Comparing the ideas of modern mathematical education with the development of ancient Chinese mathematics, we find that the history of mathematics in…

Towards an Ancient Chinese-Inspired Theory of Music Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tan, Leonard

2016-01-01

In this philosophical paper, I propose a theory of music education inspired by ancient Chinese philosophy. In particular, I draw on five classical Chinese philosophical texts: the Analects (lunyu [Chinese characters omitted]), the Mencius (Mengzi [Chinese characters omitted]), the Zhuangzi ([Chinese characters omitted]), the Xunzi ([Chinese…

Ancient hydrothermal seafloor deposits in Eridania basin on Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Michalski, Joseph R.; Dobrea, Eldar Z. Noe; Niles, Paul B.; Cuadros, Javier

2017-07-01

The Eridania region in the southern highlands of Mars once contained a vast inland sea with a volume of water greater than that of all other Martian lakes combined. Here we show that the most ancient materials within Eridania are thick (>400 m), massive (not bedded), mottled deposits containing saponite, talc-saponite, Fe-rich mica (for example, glauconite-nontronite), Fe- and Mg-serpentine, Mg-Fe-Ca-carbonate and probable Fe-sulphide that likely formed in a deep water (500-1,500 m) hydrothermal setting. The Eridania basin occurs within some of the most ancient terrain on Mars where striking evidence for remnant magnetism might suggest an early phase of crustal spreading. The relatively well-preserved seafloor hydrothermal deposits in Eridania are contemporaneous with the earliest evidence for life on Earth in potentially similar environments 3.8 billion years ago, and might provide an invaluable window into the environmental conditions of early Earth.

Genome-wide patterns of selection in 230 ancient Eurasians

PubMed Central

Mathieson, Iain; Lazaridis, Iosif; Rohland, Nadin; Mallick, Swapan; Patterson, Nick; Roodenberg, Songül Alpaslan; Harney, Eadaoin; Stewardson, Kristin; Fernandes, Daniel; Novak, Mario; Sirak, Kendra; Gamba, Cristina; Jones, Eppie R.; Llamas, Bastien; Dryomov, Stanislav; Pickrel, Joseph; Arsuaga, Juan Luís; de Castro, José María Bermúdez; Carbonell, Eudald; Gerritsen, Fokke; Khokhlov, Aleksandr; Kuznetsov, Pavel; Lozano, Marina; Meller, Harald; Mochalov, Oleg; Moiseyev, Vayacheslav; Rojo Guerra, Manuel A.; Roodenberg, Jacob; Vergès, Josep Maria; Krause, Johannes; Cooper, Alan; Alt, Kurt W.; Brown, Dorcas; Anthony, David; Lalueza-Fox, Carles; Haak, Wolfgang; Pinhasi, Ron; Reich, David

2016-01-01

Ancient DNA makes it possible to directly witness natural selection by analyzing samples from populations before, during and after adaptation events. Here we report the first scan for selection using ancient DNA, capitalizing on the largest genome-wide dataset yet assembled: 230 West Eurasians dating to between 6500 and 1000 BCE, including 163 with newly reported data. The new samples include the first genome-wide data from the Anatolian Neolithic culture whose genetic material we extracted from the DNA-rich petrous bone and who we show were members of the population that was the source of Europe’s first farmers. We also report a complete transect of the steppe region in Samara between 5500 and 1200 BCE that allows us to recognize admixture from at least two external sources into steppe populations during this period. We detect selection at loci associated with diet, pigmentation and immunity, and two independent episodes of selection on height. PMID:26595274

Ancient hydrothermal seafloor deposits in Eridania basin on Mars

PubMed Central

Michalski, Joseph R.; Dobrea, Eldar Z. Noe; Niles, Paul B.; Cuadros, Javier

2017-01-01

The Eridania region in the southern highlands of Mars once contained a vast inland sea with a volume of water greater than that of all other Martian lakes combined. Here we show that the most ancient materials within Eridania are thick (>400 m), massive (not bedded), mottled deposits containing saponite, talc-saponite, Fe-rich mica (for example, glauconite-nontronite), Fe- and Mg-serpentine, Mg-Fe-Ca-carbonate and probable Fe-sulphide that likely formed in a deep water (500–1,500 m) hydrothermal setting. The Eridania basin occurs within some of the most ancient terrain on Mars where striking evidence for remnant magnetism might suggest an early phase of crustal spreading. The relatively well-preserved seafloor hydrothermal deposits in Eridania are contemporaneous with the earliest evidence for life on Earth in potentially similar environments 3.8 billion years ago, and might provide an invaluable window into the environmental conditions of early Earth. PMID:28691699

New paleoradiological investigations of ancient human remains from North West Lombardy archaeological excavations.

PubMed

Licata, Marta; Borgo, Melania; Armocida, Giuseppe; Nicosia, Luca; Ferioli, Elena

2016-03-01

Since its birth in 1895, radiology has been used to study ancient mummies. The purpose of this article is to present paleoradiological investigations conducted on several medieval human remains in Varese province. Anthropological (generic identification) and paleopathological analyses were carried out with the support of diagnostic imaging (X-ray and CT scans). Human remains were discovered during excavations of medieval archaeological sites in northwest Lombardy. Classical physical anthropological methods were used for the macroscopic identification of the human remains. X-ray and CT scans were performed on the same scanner (16-layer Hitachi Eclos 16 X-ray equipment). Results Radiological analysis permitted investigating (1) the sex, (2) age of death, (3) type of trauma, (4) therapeutic interventions and (5) osteomas in ancient human remains. In particular, X-ray and CT examinations showed dimorphic facial traits on the mummified skull, and the same radiological approaches allowed determining the age at death from a mummified lower limb. CT analyses allow investigating different types of traumatic lesions in skulls and postcranial skeleton portions and reconstructing the gait and functional outcomes of a fractured femur. Moreover, one case of possible Gardner’s syndrome (GS) was postulated from observing multiple osteomas in an ancient skull. Among the medical tests available to the clinician, radiology is the most appropriate first-line procedure for a diagnostic approach to ancient human remains because it can be performed without causing any significant damage to the specimen.

Ancient heliocentrists, Ptolemy, and the equant

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rawlins, Dennis

1987-03-01

Evidence is presented suggesting an ancient heliocentrist origin for geocentrist C. Ptolemy's planetary orbit elements and the equant. Pliny's data for Venus are shown to be inconsistent with geocentricity, and a heliocentric period-relation is found to be the basis of Ptolemy's previously unexplained and astonishingly accurate tables of the mean motion of Mars, the very planet whose orbit produced the equant. The admirable correctness of his adopted Mars elements is patently inconsistent with the ordmag 1° inaccuracy of Ptolemy's geocentric model and of his alleged empirical production.

[Ancient Egyptian Odontology].

PubMed

Berghult, B

1999-01-01

In ancient Egypt during the reign of Pharaoh Djoser, circa 2650 BC, the Step Pyramid was constructed by Imhotep. He was later worshiped as the God of Medicine. One of his contemporaries was the powerful writer Hesy who is reproduced on a panel showing a rebus of a swallow, a tusk and an arrow. He is therefore looked upon as being the first depicted odontologist. The art of writing begun in Egypt in about 3100 BC and the medical texts we know from different papyri were copied with hieratic signs around 1900-1100 BC. One of the most famous is the Papyrus Ebers. It was purchased by professor Ebers on a research travel to Luxor in 1873. Two years later a beautiful facsimile in color was published and the best translation came in 1958 in German. The text includes 870 remedies and some of them are related to teeth and oral troubles like pain in the mouth, gingivitis, periodontitis and cavities in the teeth. The most common oral pain was probably pulpitis caused by extreme attrition due to the high consumption of bread contaminated with soil and/or quern minerals. Another text is the Papyrus Edwin Smith with four surgical cases of dental interest. The "toothworms" that were presumed to bring about decayed teeth have not been identified in the medical texts. It was not until 1889 W.D. Miller presented a scientific explanation that cavities were caused by bacteria. In spite of extensive research only a few evidence of prosthetic and invasive treatments have been found and these dental artifacts have probably been made post mortem. Some of the 150 identified doctors were associated with treatments of disorders of the mouth. The stele of Seneb from Sa'is during the 26th dynasty of Psamtik, 664-525 BC, shows a young man who probably was a dental healer well known to Pharaoh and his court. Clement of Alexandria mentions circa 200 AD that the written knowledge of the old Egyptians was gathered in 42 collections of papyri. Number 37-42 contained the medical writings. The

Detection of Cytosine methylation in ancient DNA from five native american populations using bisulfite sequencing.

PubMed

Smith, Rick W A; Monroe, Cara; Bolnick, Deborah A

2015-01-01

While cytosine methylation has been widely studied in extant populations, relatively few studies have analyzed methylation in ancient DNA. Most existing studies of epigenetic marks in ancient DNA have inferred patterns of methylation in highly degraded samples using post-mortem damage to cytosines as a proxy for cytosine methylation levels. However, this approach limits the inference of methylation compared with direct bisulfite sequencing, the current gold standard for analyzing cytosine methylation at single nucleotide resolution. In this study, we used direct bisulfite sequencing to assess cytosine methylation in ancient DNA from the skeletal remains of 30 Native Americans ranging in age from approximately 230 to 4500 years before present. Unmethylated cytosines were converted to uracils by treatment with sodium bisulfite, bisulfite products of a CpG-rich retrotransposon were pyrosequenced, and C-to-T ratios were quantified for a single CpG position. We found that cytosine methylation is readily recoverable from most samples, given adequate preservation of endogenous nuclear DNA. In addition, our results indicate that the precision of cytosine methylation estimates is inversely correlated with aDNA preservation, such that samples of low DNA concentration show higher variability in measures of percent methylation than samples of high DNA concentration. In particular, samples in this study with a DNA concentration above 0.015 ng/μL generated the most consistent measures of cytosine methylation. This study presents evidence of cytosine methylation in a large collection of ancient human remains, and indicates that it is possible to analyze epigenetic patterns in ancient populations using direct bisulfite sequencing approaches.

Mycobacterium leprae genomes from a British medieval leprosy hospital: towards understanding an ancient epidemic.

PubMed

Mendum, Tom A; Schuenemann, Verena J; Roffey, Simon; Taylor, G Michael; Wu, Huihai; Singh, Pushpendra; Tucker, Katie; Hinds, Jason; Cole, Stewart T; Kierzek, Andrzej M; Nieselt, Kay; Krause, Johannes; Stewart, Graham R

2014-04-08

Leprosy has afflicted humankind throughout history leaving evidence in both early texts and the archaeological record. In Britain, leprosy was widespread throughout the Middle Ages until its gradual and unexplained decline between the 14th and 16th centuries. The nature of this ancient endemic leprosy and its relationship to modern strains is only partly understood. Modern leprosy strains are currently divided into 5 phylogenetic groups, types 0 to 4, each with strong geographical links. Until recently, European strains, both ancient and modern, were thought to be exclusively type 3 strains. However, evidence for type 2 strains, a group normally associated with Central Asia and the Middle East, has recently been found in archaeological samples in Scandinavia and from two skeletons from the medieval leprosy hospital (or leprosarium) of St Mary Magdalen, near Winchester, England. Here we report the genotypic analysis and whole genome sequencing of two further ancient M. leprae genomes extracted from the remains of two individuals, Sk14 and Sk27, that were excavated from 10th-12th century burials at the leprosarium of St Mary Magdalen. DNA was extracted from the surfaces of bones showing osteological signs of leprosy. Known M. leprae polymorphisms were PCR amplified and Sanger sequenced, while draft genomes were generated by enriching for M. leprae DNA, and Illumina sequencing. SNP-typing and phylogenetic analysis of the draft genomes placed both of these ancient strains in the conserved type 2 group, with very few novel SNPs compared to other ancient or modern strains. The genomes of the two newly sequenced M. leprae strains group firmly with other type 2F strains. Moreover, the M. leprae strain most closely related to one of the strains, Sk14, in the worldwide phylogeny is a contemporaneous ancient St Magdalen skeleton, vividly illustrating the epidemic and clonal nature of leprosy at this site. The prevalence of these type 2 strains indicates that type 2F strains

Ancient Cosmology, superfine structure of the Universe and Anthropological Principle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arakelyan, Hrant; Vardanyan, Susan

2015-07-01

The modern cosmology by its spirit, conception of the Big Bang is closer to the ancient cosmology, than to the cosmological paradigm of the XIX century. Repeating the speculations of the ancients, but using at the same time subtle mathematical methods and relying on the steadily accumulating empirical material, the modern theory tends to a quantitative description of nature, in which increasing role are playing the numerical ratios between the physical constants. The detailed analysis of the influence of the numerical values -- of physical quantities on the physical state of the universe revealed amazing relations called fine and hyperfine tuning. In order to explain, why the observable universe comes to be a certain set of interrelated fundamental parameters, in fact a speculative anthropic principle was proposed, which focuses on the fact of the existence of sentient beings.

Ancient Leishmaniasis in a Highland Desert of Northern Chile

PubMed Central

Costa, Maria Antonietta; Matheson, Carney; Iachetta, Lucia; Llagostera, Agustín; Appenzeller, Otto

2009-01-01

Background Leishmaniasis is an infectious disease endemic today in many areas of South America. Methodology We discovered morphologic and molecular evidence of ancient infections in 4 female skulls in the archaeological cemetery of Coyo Oriente, in the desert of San Pedro de Atacama, Northern Chile. The boney facial lesions visible in the skulls could have been caused by a number of chronic infections including chronic Leishmaniasis. This diagnosis was confirmed using PCR-sequenced analyses of bone fragments from the skulls of the affected individuals.Leishmaniasis is not normally found in the high-altitude desert of Northern Chile; where the harsh climate does not allow the parasite to complete its life cycle. The presence of Leishmaniasis in ancient skulls from the region implies infection by the protozoan in an endemic area–likely, in our subjects, to have been the lowlands of North-Eastern Argentina or in Southern Bolivia. Conclusions We propose that the presence of the disease in ancient times in the high altitude desert of San Pedro de Atacama is the result of an exogamic system of patrilocal marriages, where women from different cultures followed their husbands to their ancestral homes, allowing immigrant women, infected early in life, to be incorporated in the Atacama desert society before they became disfigured by the disease. The present globalization of goods and services and the extraordinary facile movement of people across borders and continents have lead to a resurgence of infectious diseases and re-emergence of infections such as Leishmaniasis. We show here that such factors were already present millennia ago, shaping demographic trends and the epidemiology of infections just as they do today. PMID:19746163

Ancient pathogen DNA in archaeological samples detected with a Microbial Detection Array.

PubMed

Devault, Alison M; McLoughlin, Kevin; Jaing, Crystal; Gardner, Shea; Porter, Teresita M; Enk, Jacob M; Thissen, James; Allen, Jonathan; Borucki, Monica; DeWitte, Sharon N; Dhody, Anna N; Poinar, Hendrik N

2014-03-06

Ancient human remains of paleopathological interest typically contain highly degraded DNA in which pathogenic taxa are often minority components, making sequence-based metagenomic characterization costly. Microarrays may hold a potential solution to these challenges, offering a rapid, affordable, and highly informative snapshot of microbial diversity in complex samples without the lengthy analysis and/or high cost associated with high-throughput sequencing. Their versatility is well established for modern clinical specimens, but they have yet to be applied to ancient remains. Here we report bacterial profiles of archaeological and historical human remains using the Lawrence Livermore Microbial Detection Array (LLMDA). The array successfully identified previously-verified bacterial human pathogens, including Vibrio cholerae (cholera) in a 19th century intestinal specimen and Yersinia pestis ("Black Death" plague) in a medieval tooth, which represented only minute fractions (0.03% and 0.08% alignable high-throughput shotgun sequencing reads) of their respective DNA content. This demonstrates that the LLMDA can identify primary and/or co-infecting bacterial pathogens in ancient samples, thereby serving as a rapid and inexpensive paleopathological screening tool to study health across both space and time.

Daily life of the ancient Maya recorded on murals at Calakmul, Mexico.

PubMed

Carrasco Vargas, Ramón; López, Verónica A Vázquez; Martin, Simon

2009-11-17

Research into ancient societies frequently faces a major challenge in accessing the lives of those who made up the majority of their populations, since the available evidence so often concerns only the ruling elite. Our excavations at the ancient Maya site of Calakmul, Mexico, have uncovered a "painted pyramid:" a structure decorated with murals depicting scenes of its inhabitants giving, receiving, and consuming diverse foods, as well as displaying and transporting other goods. Many are accompanied by hieroglyphic captions that describe the participants, and include spellings of key subsistence items. Collectively, they offer insights into the social mechanisms by which goods were circulated within major Maya centers.

Daily life of the ancient Maya recorded on murals at Calakmul, Mexico

PubMed Central

Carrasco Vargas, Ramón; López, Verónica A. Vázquez; Martin, Simon

2009-01-01

Research into ancient societies frequently faces a major challenge in accessing the lives of those who made up the majority of their populations, since the available evidence so often concerns only the ruling elite. Our excavations at the ancient Maya site of Calakmul, Mexico, have uncovered a “painted pyramid:” a structure decorated with murals depicting scenes of its inhabitants giving, receiving, and consuming diverse foods, as well as displaying and transporting other goods. Many are accompanied by hieroglyphic captions that describe the participants, and include spellings of key subsistence items. Collectively, they offer insights into the social mechanisms by which goods were circulated within major Maya centers. PMID:19901331

VLSI implementation of RSA encryption system using ancient Indian Vedic mathematics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thapliyal, Himanshu; Srinivas, M. B.

2005-06-01

This paper proposes the hardware implementation of RSA encryption/decryption algorithm using the algorithms of Ancient Indian Vedic Mathematics that have been modified to improve performance. The recently proposed hierarchical overlay multiplier architecture is used in the RSA circuitry for multiplication operation. The most significant aspect of the paper is the development of a division architecture based on Straight Division algorithm of Ancient Indian Vedic Mathematics and embedding it in RSA encryption/decryption circuitry for improved efficiency. The coding is done in Verilog HDL and the FPGA synthesis is done using Xilinx Spartan library. The results show that RSA circuitry implemented using Vedic division and multiplication is efficient in terms of area/speed compared to its implementation using conventional multiplication and division architectures.

Another Way of Knowing: Visualizing the Ancient Silk Routes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bisland, Beverly Milner

2010-01-01

One way that people learn, remember and communicate is visually. We combine past experiences with new visual information to construct meaning. In this study, elementary teachers introduced their students to the peoples and places of the ancient silk routes using illustrations from two children's picture books, "Marco Polo," written by…

Organic chemistry of embalming agents in Pharaonic and Graeco-Roman mummies.

PubMed

Buckley, S A; Evershed, R P

2001-10-25

Chemical treatments were an essential element of ancient Egyptian mummification. Although the inorganic salt natron is recognized as having a central role as a desiccant, without the application of organic preservatives the bodies would have decomposed in the humid environment of the tombs. The nature of the organic treatments remains obscure, because the ancient Egyptians left no written record of the process. Secondary textual evidence for mummification is provided by Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, Strabo and Pliny. The most important account is that of Herodotus (about 450 yr bc), although archaeological evidence shows that by this time the process had declined significantly and the best results had been achieved centuries before. His account mentions myrrh, cassia, palm wine, 'cedar oil' (still widely disputed) and 'gum'; however, it is vague with respect to the specific natural products used. Here we report the results of chemical investigations of a substantial collection of samples of tissues, wrappings and 'resinous/bituminous' materials from provenanced and dated Egyptian mummies. We focused on examples of the 'classic' mummy-making culture of the Pharaonic or dynastic period, from which we can begin to track the development of mummification chronologically.

Celestial illusions and ancient astronomers: Aristarchus and Eratosthenes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Papathomas, Thomas V.

2005-03-01

When the moon is half, one would expect that a line starting from the moon"s center and being perpendicular to the "shadow diameter" would, if extended, go through the center of the light source, namely, the sun. It turns out that, when the sun is visible, this extended line appears to aim significantly above the sun, which is the essence of the "half-moon illusion". The explanation advanced here is that this is not an optical illusion; instead, it can be explained by the relative sizes and distances of the earth, moon, and sun, and it hinges on the fact that the sunrays are nearly parallel with respect to the earth-moon system. It turns out that the ancients knew and used this near-parallelism of the sunrays. Eratosthenes, for example, used a simple but ingenious scheme to obtain a good estimate of the earth"s circumference. An interesting question is: How did the ancients arrive at the conclusion that the sunrays are nearly parallel? This was probably a corollary, based on the immense size of the sun and its huge distance from the earth, as estimated by, among others, Aristarchus of Samos by a brilliantly simple method.

Three Thousand Years of Continuity in the Maternal Lineages of Ancient Sheep (Ovis aries) in Estonia

PubMed Central

Rannamäe, Eve; Lõugas, Lembi; Speller, Camilla F.; Valk, Heiki; Maldre, Liina; Wilczyński, Jarosław; Mikhailov, Aleksandr; Saarma, Urmas

2016-01-01

Although sheep (Ovis aries) have been one of the most exploited domestic animals in Estonia since the Late Bronze Age, relatively little is known about their genetic history. Here, we explore temporal changes in Estonian sheep populations and their mitochondrial genetic diversity over the last 3000 years. We target a 558 base pair fragment of the mitochondrial hypervariable region in 115 ancient sheep from 71 sites in Estonia (c. 1200 BC–AD 1900s), 19 ancient samples from Latvia, Russia, Poland and Greece (6800 BC–AD 1700), as well as 44 samples of modern Kihnu native sheep breed. Our analyses revealed: (1) 49 mitochondrial haplotypes, associated with sheep haplogroups A and B; (2) high haplotype diversity in Estonian ancient sheep; (3) continuity in mtDNA haplotypes through time; (4) possible population expansion during the first centuries of the Middle Ages (associated with the establishment of the new power regime related to 13th century crusades); (5) significant difference in genetic diversity between ancient populations and modern native sheep, in agreement with the beginning of large-scale breeding in the 19th century and population decline in local sheep. Overall, our results suggest that in spite of the observed fluctuations in ancient sheep populations, and changes in the natural and historical conditions, the utilisation of local sheep has been constant in the territory of Estonia, displaying matrilineal continuity from the Middle Bronze Age through the Modern Period, and into modern native sheep. PMID:27732668

Achondroplasia among ancient populations of mesoamerica and South America: Iconographic and Archaeological Evidence.

PubMed

Rodríguez, Carlos A; Isaza, Carolina; Pachajoa, Harry

2012-07-01

Achondroplasia is the most frequent form of short-limb dwarfism. Affected individuals exhibit short stature caused by rhizomelic shortening of the limbs, characteristic facies with frontal bossing and mid-face hypoplasia, genu varum, and trident hand. Although the etiology of this disease was reported in 1994, evidence of this disease in ancient populations has been found in populations of ancient Egypt (2500 BC) and it has been documented in ancient American populations. To analyze the presence of individuals with achondroplasia in the Mayan state society of Mexico and Guatemala, during the Classical (100- 950 AC ) and Post-Classical (950 - 1519 AC ) periods; likewise, in the hierarchical-chieftain society of Tumaco-la Tolita (300 BC - 600 AC ) from the Colombia-Ecuador Pacific coast, and the Moche state society (100 - 600 AC ) from the northern coast of Peru. Iconographic and clinical-morphological studies of some of the most important artistic representations of individuals of short stature in these three cultures. We present the hypothesis that the individuals with short stature were somehow associated with the political and religious power elite.

Geomorphic Terrains and Evidence for Ancient Volcanism within Northeastern South Pole-Aitken Basin

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Petro, Noah; Mest, Scott C.; Teich, Yaron

2010-01-01

The interior of the enigmatic South Pole-Aitken Basin has long been recognized as being compositionally distinct from its exterior. However, the source of the compositional anomaly has been subject to some debate. Is the source of the iron-enhancement due to lower-crustal/upper-mantle material being exposed at the surface, or was there some volume of ancient volcanism that covered portions of the basin interior? While several obvious mare basalt units are found within the basin and regions that appear to represent the original basin interior, there are several regions that appear to have an uncertain origin. Using a combination of Clementine and Lunar Orbiter images, several morphologic units are defined based on albedo, crater density, and surface roughness. An extensive unit of ancient mare basalt (cryptomare) is defined and, based on the number of superimposed craters, potentially represents the oldest volcanic materials within the basin. Thus, the overall iron-rich interior of the basin is not solely due to deeply derived crustal material, but is, in part due to the presence of ancient volcanic units.

Demic and cultural diffusion in prehistoric Europe in the age of ancient genomes.

PubMed

Harris, Eugene E

2017-09-01

Ancient genomes can help us detect prehistoric migrations, population contractions, and admixture among populations. Knowing the dynamics of demography is invaluable for understanding culture change in prehistory, particularly the roles played by demic and cultural diffusion in transformations of material cultures. Prehistoric Europe is a region where ancient genome analyses can help illuminate the interplay between demography and culture change. In Europe, there is more archeological evidence, in terms of detailed studies, radiometric dates, and explanatory hypotheses that can be evaluated, than in any other region of the world. Here I show some important ways that ancient genomes have given us insights into population movements in European prehistory. I also propose that studies might be increasingly focused on specific questions of culture change, for example in evaluating the makers of "transitional" industries as well as the origins of the Gravettian and spread of the Magdalenian. I also discuss genomic evidence supporting the large role that demic expansion has played in the Neolithization of Europe and the formation of the European population during the Bronze Age. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

How microbial ancient DNA, found in association with human remains, can be interpreted.

PubMed Central

Rollo, F; Marota, I

1999-01-01

The analysis of the DNA of ancient micro-organisms in archaeological and palaeontological human remains can contribute to the understanding of issues as different as the spreading of a new disease, a mummification process or the effect of diets on historical human populations. The quest for this type of DNA, however, can represent a particularly demanding task. This is mainly due to the abundance and diffusion of bacteria, fungi, yeasts, algae and protozoans in the most diverse environments of the present-day biosphere and the resulting difficulty in distinguishing between ancient and modern DNA. Nevertheless, at least under some special circumstances, by using rigorous protocols, which include an archaeometric survey of the specimens and evaluation of the palaeoecological consistency of the results of DNA sequence analysis, glimpses of the composition of the original microbial flora (e.g. colonic flora) can be caught in ancient human remains. Potentials and pitfalls of this research field are illustrated by the results of research works performed on prehistoric, pre-Columbian and Renaissance human mummies. PMID:10091251

The Archaeological Research In The Region Of The Modern Municipality Of Styra: Old And New Finds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chidiroglou, M.

This paper offers a brief outline of the results of the salvage excavations undertaken in recent years by the 11th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities (IA EPKA) in the area of Lefka, Nea Styra, together with a brief description of surface finds in the region of Styra. A more extensive archaeological description and topographical assessment of all known sites, including farm houses, towers, possible sanctuaries, tombs and quarrying areas will be provided in a forthcoming larger study by the author. The brief assessment of old and new data presented here is given as a preliminary summary of the topography of the ancient demos of Styra, which, according to inscriptional data, was incorporated in the Eretrian territory, during the last years of the 5th century B.C.

Ancient gene transfer from algae to animals: Mechanisms and evolutionary significance

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is traditionally considered to be rare in multicellular eukaryotes such as animals. Recently, many genes of miscellaneous algal origins were discovered in choanoflagellates. Considering that choanoflagellates are the existing closest relatives of animals, we speculated that ancient HGT might have occurred in the unicellular ancestor of animals and affected the long-term evolution of animals. Results Through genome screening, phylogenetic and domain analyses, we identified 14 gene families, including 92 genes, in the tunicate Ciona intestinalis that are likely derived from miscellaneous photosynthetic eukaryotes. Almost all of these gene families are distributed in diverse animals, suggesting that they were mostly acquired by the common ancestor of animals. Their miscellaneous origins also suggest that these genes are not derived from a particular algal endosymbiont. In addition, most genes identified in our analyses are functionally related to molecule transport, cellular regulation and methylation signaling, suggesting that the acquisition of these genes might have facilitated the intercellular communication in the ancestral animal. Conclusions Our findings provide additional evidence that algal genes in aplastidic eukaryotes are not exclusively derived from historical plastids and thus important for interpreting the evolution of eukaryotic photosynthesis. Most importantly, our data represent the first evidence that more anciently acquired genes might exist in animals and that ancient HGT events have played an important role in animal evolution. PMID:22690978

Yersinia pestis Orientalis in Remains of Ancient Plague Patients

PubMed Central

Drancourt, Michel; Signoli, Michel; Dang, La Vu; Bizot, Bruno; Roux, Véronique; Tzortzis, Stéfan

2007-01-01

Yersinia pestis DNA was recently detected in human remains from 2 ancient plague pandemics in France and Germany. We have now sequenced Y. pestis glpD gene in such remains, showing a 93-bp deletion specific for biotype Orientalis. These data show that only Orientalis type caused the 3 plague pandemics. PMID:17479906

Unwrapping an Ancient Egyptian Mummy Using X-Rays

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hughes, Stephen W.

2010-01-01

This article describes a project of unwrapping an ancient Egyptian mummy using x-ray computed tomography (CT). About 600 x-ray CT images were obtained through the mummified body of a female named Tjetmutjengebtiu (or Jeni for short), who was a singer in the great temple of Karnak in Egypt during the 22nd dynasty (c 945-715 BC). The x-ray CT images…

[Medicine in ancient Mesopotamia - part 2].

PubMed

Martins E Silva, J

2010-01-01

The second part embraces exclusively the main characteristics of the medicine in Ancient Mesopotamia, in its main facets: concept of disease, healers and practice. The disease was considered a divine punishment or resultant from a malign influence. Insofar, the medicine began by being preventive, by the use of appropriate amulets or by offerings or sacrifices intending to pacify those malign forces. The treatment of the generality of the diseases privileged the expulsion of those spirits and malign influences from the patient body, purifying it, which was done by the specific intervention of a approximately shipu (clergymanexorcist); not having results, the treatment was continued by the asû (practical healer) that appealed to a group of physical manipulations, limited surgical acts and the administration or application of prescriptions, resultants of the mixture of organic and inorganic substances. In case of failing, the patients (as well as common healthy individuals or rule leaders) could fall back upon a priest diviner (bârû) that, by examination of the organs of an animal especially sacrificed for, would give a final decision about the disease or the future. Besides this more occult facet, nourished in religious faiths and in the magic, the medicine of Ancient Mesopotamia included rational knowledge, certainly as the result of systematic patients observation and semiotic interpretation. From those observations and knowledge referred to the Sumerian period, carefully logged, refined and transmitted to the following generations, it was built a valuable group of texts with the description of symptoms, signs, diagnosis and prognostic of the most common diseases, still identifiable in the present.

Ancient water supports today's energy needs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

D'Odorico, Paolo; Natyzak, Jennifer L.; Castner, Elizabeth A.; Davis, Kyle F.; Emery, Kyle A.; Gephart, Jessica A.; Leach, Allison M.; Pace, Michael L.; Galloway, James N.

2017-05-01

The water footprint for fossil fuels typically accounts for water utilized in mining and fuel processing, whereas the water footprint of biofuels assesses the agricultural water used by crops through their lifetime. Fossil fuels have an additional water footprint that is not easily accounted for: ancient water that was used by plants millions of years ago, before they were transformed into fossil fuel. How much water is mankind using from the past to sustain current energy needs? We evaluate the link between ancient water virtually embodied in fossil fuels to current global energy demands by determining the water demand required to replace fossil fuels with biomass produced with water from the present. Using equal energy units of wood, bioethanol, and biodiesel to replace coal, natural gas, and crude oil, respectively, the resulting water demand is 7.39 × 1013 m3 y-1, approximately the same as the total annual evaporation from all land masses and transpiration from all terrestrial vegetation. Thus, there are strong hydrologic constraints to a reliance on biofuel energy produced with water from the present because the conversion from fossil fuels to biofuels would have a disproportionate and unsustainable impact on the modern water. By using fossil fuels to meet today's energy needs, we are virtually using water from a geological past. The water cycle is insufficient to sustain the production of the fuel presently consumed by human societies. Thus, non-fuel-based renewable energy sources are needed to decrease mankind's reliance on fossil fuel energy without placing an overwhelming pressure on global freshwater resources.

Acquisition of 3d Information for Vanished Structure by Using Only AN Ancient Picture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kunii, Y.; Sakamoto, R.

2016-06-01

In order to acquire 3D information for reconstruction of vanished historical structure, grasp of 3D shape of such structure was attempted by using an ancient picture. Generally, 3D information of a structure is acquired by photogrammetric theory which requires two or more pictures. This paper clarifies that the geometrical information of the structure was obtained only from an ancient picture, and 3D information was acquired. This kind of method was applied for an ancient picture of the Old Imperial Theatre. The Old Imperial Theatre in the picture is constituted by two-point perspective. Therefore, estimated value of focal length of camera, length of camera to the Old Imperial Theatre and some parameters were calculated by estimation of field angle, using body height as an index of length and some geometrical information. Consequently, 3D coordinate of 120 measurement points on the surface of the Old Imperial Theatre were calculated respectively, and 3DCG modeling of the Old Imperial Theatre was realized.

Study of ancient mortars from the Roman Villa of Pollio Felice in Sorrento (Naples)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benedetti, D.; Valetti, S.; Bontempi, E.; Piccioli, C.; Depero, L. E.

The study of ancient mortars is an important aspect of building conservation: the choice of the materials has varied according to historical period, regional habits, and their specific function in the structure. Ancient mortars are composites, comprising hydraulic or aerial binding materials, and aggregates, passive or active, which may react with binding material. Moreover, they were modified during setting, hardening, and aging, according to processes not yet well known. In this paper, we present a study of ancient mortars from the Villa of Pollio Felice of Sorrento (Naples). The analysis has been performed by conventional techniques (grain-size distribution, lime-percentage analysis, optical and electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction) and by means of a laboratory X-ray microdiffractometer equipped with an image plate detector. This system, applied for the first time to archaeological studies, can reach a spatial resolution of a few tenths of microns and it allows us to obtain separate phase identification of binder and filler particles.

Spiking of contemporary human template DNA with ancient DNA extracts induces mutations under PCR and generates nonauthentic mitochondrial sequences.

PubMed

Pusch, Carsten M; Bachmann, Lutz

2004-05-01

Proof of authenticity is the greatest challenge in palaeogenetic research, and many safeguards have become standard routine in laboratories specialized on ancient DNA research. Here we describe an as-yet unknown source of artifacts that will require special attention in the future. We show that ancient DNA extracts on their own can have an inhibitory and mutagenic effect under PCR. We have spiked PCR reactions including known human test DNA with 14 selected ancient DNA extracts from human and nonhuman sources. We find that the ancient DNA extracts inhibit the amplification of large fragments to different degrees, suggesting that the usual control against contaminations, i.e., the absence of long amplifiable fragments, is not sufficient. But even more important, we find that the extracts induce mutations in a nonrandom fashion. We have amplified a 148-bp stretch of the mitochondrial HVRI from contemporary human template DNA in spiked PCR reactions. Subsequent analysis of 547 sequences from cloned amplicons revealed that the vast majority (76.97%) differed from the correct sequence by single nucleotide substitutions and/or indels. In total, 34 positions of a 103-bp alignment are affected, and most mutations occur repeatedly in independent PCR amplifications. Several of the induced mutations occur at positions that have previously been detected in studies of ancient hominid sequences, including the Neandertal sequences. Our data imply that PCR-induced mutations are likely to be an intrinsic and general problem of PCR amplifications of ancient templates. Therefore, ancient DNA sequences should be considered with caution, at least as long as the molecular basis for the extract-induced mutations is not understood.

Mitochondrial Phylogenomics of Modern and Ancient Equids

PubMed Central

Vilstrup, Julia T.; Seguin-Orlando, Andaine; Stiller, Mathias; Ginolhac, Aurelien; Raghavan, Maanasa; Nielsen, Sandra C. A.; Weinstock, Jacobo; Froese, Duane; Vasiliev, Sergei K.; Ovodov, Nikolai D.; Clary, Joel; Helgen, Kristofer M.; Fleischer, Robert C.; Cooper, Alan; Shapiro, Beth; Orlando, Ludovic

2013-01-01

The genus Equus is richly represented in the fossil record, yet our understanding of taxonomic relationships within this genus remains limited. To estimate the phylogenetic relationships among modern horses, zebras, asses and donkeys, we generated the first data set including complete mitochondrial sequences from all seven extant lineages within the genus Equus. Bayesian and Maximum Likelihood phylogenetic inference confirms that zebras are monophyletic within the genus, and the Plains and Grevy’s zebras form a well-supported monophyletic group. Using ancient DNA techniques, we further characterize the complete mitochondrial genomes of three extinct equid lineages (the New World stilt-legged horses, NWSLH; the subgenus Sussemionus; and the Quagga, Equus quagga quagga). Comparisons with extant taxa confirm the NWSLH as being part of the caballines, and the Quagga and Plains zebras as being conspecific. However, the evolutionary relationships among the non-caballine lineages, including the now-extinct subgenus Sussemionus, remain unresolved, most likely due to extremely rapid radiation within this group. The closest living outgroups (rhinos and tapirs) were found to be too phylogenetically distant to calibrate reliable molecular clocks. Additional mitochondrial genome sequence data, including radiocarbon dated ancient equids, will be required before revisiting the exact timing of the lineage radiation leading up to modern equids, which for now were found to have possibly shared a common ancestor as far as up to 4 Million years ago (Mya). PMID:23437078

Microsatellite typing of ancient maize: insights into the history of agriculture in southern South America

PubMed Central

Lia, Verónica V; Confalonieri, Viviana A; Ratto, Norma; Hernández, Julián A. Cámara; Alzogaray, Ana M. Miante; Poggio, Lidia; Brown, Terence A

2006-01-01

Archaeological maize specimens from Andean sites of southern South America, dating from 400 to 1400 years before present, were tested for the presence of ancient DNA and three microsatellite loci were typed in the specimens that gave positive results. Genotypes were also obtained for 146 individuals corresponding to modern landraces currently cultivated in the same areas and for 21 plants from Argentinian lowland races. Sequence analysis of cloned ancient DNA products revealed a high incidence of substitutions appearing in only one clone, with transitions prevalent. In the archaeological specimens, there was no evidence of polymorphism at any one of the three microsatellite loci: each exhibited a single allelic variant, identical to the most frequent allele found in contemporary populations belonging to races Amarillo Chico, Amarillo Grande, Blanco and Altiplano. Affiliation between ancient specimens and a set of races from the Andean complex was further supported by assignment tests. The striking genetic uniformity displayed by the ancient specimens and their close relationship with the Andean complex suggest that the latter gene pool has predominated in the western regions of southern South America for at least the past 1400 years. The results support hypotheses suggesting that maize cultivation initially spread into South America via a highland route, rather than through the lowlands. PMID:17476775

Supervolcanoes Within an Ancient Volcanic Province in Arabia Terra, Mars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Michalski, Joseph. R.; Bleacher, Jacob E.

2014-01-01

Several irregularly shaped craters located within Arabia Terra, Mars represent a new type of highland volcanic construct and together constitute a previously unrecognized martian igneous province. Similar to terrestrial supervolcanoes, these low-relief paterae display a range of geomorphic features related to structural collapse, effusive volcanism, and explosive eruptions. Extruded lavas contributed to the formation of enigmatic highland ridged plains in Arabia Terra. Outgassed sulfur and erupted fine-grained pyroclastics from these calderas likely fed the formation of altered, layered sedimentary rocks and fretted terrain found throughout the equatorial region. Discovery of a new type of volcanic construct in the Arabia volcanic province fundamentally changes the picture of ancient volcanism and climate evolution on Mars. Other eroded topographic basins in the ancient Martian highlands that have been dismissed as degraded impact craters should be reconsidered as possible volcanic constructs formed in an early phase of widespread, disseminated magmatism on Mars.

Ancient genomes revisit the ancestry of domestic and Przewalski's horses.

PubMed

Gaunitz, Charleen; Fages, Antoine; Hanghøj, Kristian; Albrechtsen, Anders; Khan, Naveed; Schubert, Mikkel; Seguin-Orlando, Andaine; Owens, Ivy J; Felkel, Sabine; Bignon-Lau, Olivier; de Barros Damgaard, Peter; Mittnik, Alissa; Mohaseb, Azadeh F; Davoudi, Hossein; Alquraishi, Saleh; Alfarhan, Ahmed H; Al-Rasheid, Khaled A S; Crubézy, Eric; Benecke, Norbert; Olsen, Sandra; Brown, Dorcas; Anthony, David; Massy, Ken; Pitulko, Vladimir; Kasparov, Aleksei; Brem, Gottfried; Hofreiter, Michael; Mukhtarova, Gulmira; Baimukhanov, Nurbol; Lõugas, Lembi; Onar, Vedat; Stockhammer, Philipp W; Krause, Johannes; Boldgiv, Bazartseren; Undrakhbold, Sainbileg; Erdenebaatar, Diimaajav; Lepetz, Sébastien; Mashkour, Marjan; Ludwig, Arne; Wallner, Barbara; Merz, Victor; Merz, Ilja; Zaibert, Viktor; Willerslev, Eske; Librado, Pablo; Outram, Alan K; Orlando, Ludovic

2018-04-06

The Eneolithic Botai culture of the Central Asian steppes provides the earliest archaeological evidence for horse husbandry, ~5500 years ago, but the exact nature of early horse domestication remains controversial. We generated 42 ancient-horse genomes, including 20 from Botai. Compared to 46 published ancient- and modern-horse genomes, our data indicate that Przewalski's horses are the feral descendants of horses herded at Botai and not truly wild horses. All domestic horses dated from ~4000 years ago to present only show ~2.7% of Botai-related ancestry. This indicates that a massive genomic turnover underpins the expansion of the horse stock that gave rise to modern domesticates, which coincides with large-scale human population expansions during the Early Bronze Age. Copyright © 2018 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.

Supervolcanoes within an ancient volcanic province in Arabia Terra, Mars.

PubMed

Michalski, Joseph R; Bleacher, Jacob E

2013-10-03

Several irregularly shaped craters located within Arabia Terra, Mars, represent a new type of highland volcanic construct and together constitute a previously unrecognized Martian igneous province. Similar to terrestrial supervolcanoes, these low-relief paterae possess a range of geomorphic features related to structural collapse, effusive volcanism and explosive eruptions. Extruded lavas contributed to the formation of enigmatic highland ridged plains in Arabia Terra. Outgassed sulphur and erupted fine-grained pyroclastics from these calderas probably fed the formation of altered, layered sedimentary rocks and fretted terrain found throughout the equatorial region. The discovery of a new type of volcanic construct in the Arabia volcanic province fundamentally changes the picture of ancient volcanism and climate evolution on Mars. Other eroded topographic basins in the ancient Martian highlands that have been dismissed as degraded impact craters should be reconsidered as possible volcanic constructs formed in an early phase of widespread, disseminated magmatism on Mars.

Scientific drilling projects in ancient lakes: Integrating geological and biological histories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilke, Thomas; Wagner, Bernd; Van Bocxlaer, Bert; Albrecht, Christian; Ariztegui, Daniel; Delicado, Diana; Francke, Alexander; Harzhauser, Mathias; Hauffe, Torsten; Holtvoeth, Jens; Just, Janna; Leng, Melanie J.; Levkov, Zlatko; Penkman, Kirsty; Sadori, Laura; Skinner, Alister; Stelbrink, Björn; Vogel, Hendrik; Wesselingh, Frank; Wonik, Thomas

2016-08-01

Sedimentary sequences in ancient or long-lived lakes can reach several thousands of meters in thickness and often provide an unrivalled perspective of the lake's regional climatic, environmental, and biological history. Over the last few years, deep-drilling projects in ancient lakes became increasingly multi- and interdisciplinary, as, among others, seismological, sedimentological, biogeochemical, climatic, environmental, paleontological, and evolutionary information can be obtained from sediment cores. However, these multi- and interdisciplinary projects pose several challenges. The scientists involved typically approach problems from different scientific perspectives and backgrounds, and setting up the program requires clear communication and the alignment of interests. One of the most challenging tasks, besides the actual drilling operation, is to link diverse datasets with varying resolution, data quality, and age uncertainties to answer interdisciplinary questions synthetically and coherently. These problems are especially relevant when secondary data, i.e., datasets obtained independently of the drilling operation, are incorporated in analyses. Nonetheless, the inclusion of secondary information, such as isotopic data from fossils found in outcrops or genetic data from extant species, may help to achieve synthetic answers. Recent technological and methodological advances in paleolimnology are likely to increase the possibilities of integrating secondary information. Some of the new approaches have started to revolutionize scientific drilling in ancient lakes, but at the same time, they also add a new layer of complexity to the generation and analysis of sediment-core data. The enhanced opportunities presented by new scientific approaches to study the paleolimnological history of these lakes, therefore, come at the expense of higher logistic, communication, and analytical efforts. Here we review types of data that can be obtained in ancient lake drilling

Transcultural use of narcotic water lilies in ancient Egyptian and Maya drug ritual.

PubMed

Emboden, W A

1981-01-01

Comparisons are made between ancient ritual uses of the flowers of Nymphaea (Nymphaeaceae) in Maya and Egyptian civilizations. Recurrent motifs encountered in the art of both of these ancient civilizations suggests that the role fo the water lily was that of a narcotic (psychodysleptic) used to mediate ecstasis among a priestly caste. Relevant literature is reviewed as are chemical data. Elements in the complex belief systems of these two civilizations need to be reinterpreted in view of the use of two water lilies as ritual narcotics. The species implicated are Nymphaea caerulea Sav., in Egypt, and N. ampla DC., among the Maya.

Extinct 244Pu in ancient zircons.

PubMed

Turner, Grenville; Harrison, T Mark; Holland, Greg; Mojzsis, Stephen J; Gilmour, Jamie

2004-10-01

We have found evidence, in the form of fissiogenic xenon isotopes, for in situ decay of 244Pu in individual 4.1- to 4.2-billion-year-old zircons from the Jack Hills region of Western Australia. Because of its short half-life, 82 million years, 244Pu was extinct within 600 million years of Earth's formation. Detrital zircons are the only known relics to have survived from this period, and a study of their Pu geochemistry will allow us to date ancient metamorphic events and determine the terrestrial Pu/U ratio for comparison with the solar ratio.

The Ancient Maya Landscape from Space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sever, T.; Arnold, James E. (Technical Monitor)

1999-01-01

The Peten, once inhabited by a population of several million before the collapse of the ancient Maya in the 10th and 11th centuries, is being repopulated toward its former demographic peak. Environmental dynamics, however, impose severe constraints to further development. Current practices in subsistence, commercial agriculture, and cattle raising are causing rapid deforestation resulting in the destruction of environmental and archeological resources. The use of remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology is a cost-effective methodology for addressing issues in Maya archeology as well as monitoring the environmental impacts being experienced by the current population.

Ancient Indian Astronomy in Introductory Texts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Narahari Achar, B. N.

1997-10-01

It is customary in introductory survey courses in astronomy to devote some time to the history of astronomy. In the available text books only the Greek contribution receives any attention. Apart from Stonehenge and Chichenitza pictures, contributions from Babylon and China are some times mentioned. Hardly any account is given of ancient Indian astronomy. Even when something is mentioned it is incomplete or incorrect or both. Examples are given from several text books currently available. An attempt is made to correct this situation by sketching the contributions from the earliest astronomy of India, namely Vedaanga Jyotisha.

Evolutionary History of Saber-Toothed Cats Based on Ancient Mitogenomics.

PubMed

Paijmans, Johanna L A; Barnett, Ross; Gilbert, M Thomas P; Zepeda-Mendoza, M Lisandra; Reumer, Jelle W F; de Vos, John; Zazula, Grant; Nagel, Doris; Baryshnikov, Gennady F; Leonard, Jennifer A; Rohland, Nadin; Westbury, Michael V; Barlow, Axel; Hofreiter, Michael

2017-11-06

Saber-toothed cats (Machairodontinae) are among the most widely recognized representatives of the now largely extinct Pleistocene megafauna. However, many aspects of their ecology, evolution, and extinction remain uncertain. Although ancient-DNA studies have led to huge advances in our knowledge of these aspects of many other megafauna species (e.g., mammoths and cave bears), relatively few ancient-DNA studies have focused on saber-toothed cats [1-3], and they have been restricted to short fragments of mitochondrial DNA. Here we investigate the evolutionary history of two lineages of saber-toothed cats (Smilodon and Homotherium) in relation to living carnivores and find that the Machairodontinae form a well-supported clade that is distinct from all living felids. We present partial mitochondrial genomes from one S. populator sample and three Homotherium sp. samples, including the only Late Pleistocene Homotherium sample from Eurasia [4]. We confirm the identification of the unique Late Pleistocene European fossil through ancient-DNA analyses, thus strengthening the evidence that Homotherium occurred in Europe over 200,000 years later than previously believed. This in turn forces a re-evaluation of its demography and extinction dynamics. Within the Machairodontinae, we find a deep divergence between Smilodon and Homotherium (∼18 million years) but limited diversity between the American and European Homotherium specimens. The genetic data support the hypothesis that all Late Pleistocene (or post-Villafrancian) Homotherium should be considered a single species, H. latidens, which was previously proposed based on morphological data [5, 6]. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Volatile and Isotopic Imprints of Ancient Mars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mahaffy, Paul R.; Conrad, Pamela G.

2015-01-01

The science investigations enabled by Curiosity rover's instruments focus on identifying and exploring the habitability of the Martian environment. Measurements of noble gases, organic and inorganic compounds, and the isotopes of light elements permit the study of the physical and chemical processes that have transformed Mars throughout its history. Samples of the atmosphere, volatiles released from soils, and rocks from the floor of Gale Crater have provided a wealth of new data and a window into conditions on ancient Mars.

An Oxygen-Sensitive Toxin-Antitoxin System

DTIC Science & Technology

of TomB, and its single cysteine variant [C117S]YmoB can replace TomB as antitoxins in E . coli . In contrast to other TA systems, [C117S]YmoB...The Hha and TomB proteins from Escherichia coli form an oxygen-dependent toxinantitoxin (TA) system. Here we show that YmoB, the Yersinia orthologue

Sedentism, social change, warfare, and the bow in the ancient Pueblo Southwest.

PubMed

Reed, Paul F; Geib, Phil R

2013-01-01

In the ancient American Southwest, use of the bow developed relatively rapidly among Pueblo people by the fifth century AD. This new technology replaced the millennia-old atlatl and dart weaponry system. Roughly 150 years later in the AD 600s, Pueblo socioeconomic organization began to evolve rapidly, as many groups adopted a much more sedentary life. Multiple factors converged to allow this sedentary pattern to emerge, but the role of the bow in this process has not been fully explored. In this paper, we trace the development of the bow and discuss its role as sedentism emerged and social changes occurred in ancient Puebloan society from the fifth through seventh centuries AD. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Primary intraocular ancient schwannoma: a case report and review of the literature.

PubMed

Mortuza, Shaikh; Esmaeli, Bita; Bell, Diana

2014-04-01

Schwannomas comprise 8% to 10% of all primary intracranial tumors. Primary intraorbital schwannomas are rare, accounting for 1% to 2% of all intracranial tumors. Schwannomas arise from Schwann cells in the myelin sheaths of sensory and cranial nerves. We present the case of a 56-year-old white man blind since 1970 who presented to an outside hospital for a painful right eye. Physicians identified no clinical or radiologic features of neurofibromatosis. The patient underwent enucleation; the final pathologic diagnosis was ancient schwannoma. We describe herein a case of intrascleral schwannoma with ancient changes arising within the globe of the right eye occupying the subretinal space and completely replacing the vitreous body. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Livistona palms in Australia: ancient relics or opportunistic immigrants?

PubMed

Crisp, Michael D; Isagi, Yuji; Kato, Yohei; Cook, Lyn G; Bowman, David M J S

2010-02-01

Eighteen of the 34 species of the fan palm genus Livistona (Arecaceae) are restricted to Australia and southern New Guinea, east of Wallace's Line, an ancient biogeographic boundary between the former supercontinents Laurasia and Gondwana. The remaining species extend from SE Asia to Africa, west of Wallace's Line. Competing hypotheses contend that Livistona is (a) ancient, its current distribution a relict of the supercontinents, or (b) a Miocene immigrant from the north into Australia as it drifted towards Asia. We have tested these hypotheses using Bayesian and penalized likelihood molecular dating based on 4Kb of nuclear and chloroplast DNA sequences with multiple fossil calibration points. Ancestral areas and biomes were reconstructed using parsimony and maximum likelihood. We found strong support for the second hypothesis, that a single Livistona ancestor colonized Australia from the north about 10-17Ma. Spread and diversification of the genus within Australia was likely favoured by a transition from the aseasonal wet to monsoonal biome, to which it could have been preadapted by fire-tolerance. Copyright (c) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Suicidal behaviour in the ancient Greek and Roman world.

PubMed

Lykouras, L; Poulakou-Rebelakou, E; Tsiamis, C; Ploumpidis, D

2013-12-01

We attempt to present and analyze suicidal behaviour in the ancient Greek and Roman world. Drawing information from ancient Greek and Latin sources (History, Philosophy, Medicine, Literature, Visual Arts) we aim to point out psychological and social aspects of suicidal behaviour in antiquity. The shocking exposition of suicides reveals the zeitgeist of each era and illustrates the prevailing concepts. Social and legal reactions appear ambivalent, as they can oscillate from acceptance and interpretation of the act to punishment. In the history of these attitudes, we can observe continuities and breaches, reserving a special place in cases of mental disease. The delayed emergence of a generally accepted term for the voluntary exit from life (the term suicidium established during the 17th century), is connected to reactions triggered by the act of suicide than to the frequency and the extent of the phenomenon. The social environment of the person, who voluntary ends his life usually dictates the behaviour and historical evidence confirms the phenomenon. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The image of the insane in ancient Jewish lore.

PubMed

Kottek, S S

1992-01-01

This article considers the attitude towards the insane and insanity in ancient Jewish sources. In the Bible, the most famous case of a psychopathological personality is that of King Saul, who was plagued by 'an evil spirit'. Saul also raises the problematic connections between prophecy and frenzy. Madness and confusion of mind are mentioned among the biblical 'curses for disobedience'. In the Talmud, there is a detailed symptomatic evaluation of insanity, in the context of legal liability. It is well-known that some individuals are at times insane, otherwise sane and responsible, which is legally taken into careful consideration. The Jewish historian Josephus describes in his works several cases of psychiatric patients. The most impressive case is that of Jesus ben Ananias, a delirious maniac who announced the fall of Jerusalem while roaming about the streets of the city. It may be argued that no clear attitude of derision or ostracism towards insane patients can be found in ancient Jewish literature. 'The Lord preserves the fools' (Ps 116: 6).

Detection Trend of Helminth Eggs in the Strata Soil Samples from Ancient Historic Places of Korea

PubMed Central

Seo, Min; Chai, Jong-Yil; Kim, Myeung Ju; Shim, Sang Yuk; Ki, Ho Chul; Shin, Dong Hoon

2016-01-01

For several years, we have conducted a series of studies on the patterns of ancient parasitism prevailing in the soil of rural and urban areas of past Kingdom of Korea. Actually, during our survey of paleoparasitology in archaeological sites of Korean peninsula, numerous ancient parasite eggs were discovered in the samples from the city districts of Hansung (Joseon) and Buyeo (Baikje), the palace moat at Gyeongju (Silla), shell-midden site at Bonghwang-dong (Silla to Joseon), and the reservoir found in Hwawangsansung fortress (Silla). By the paleoparasitological studies, with respect to parasitism in the high-density populations of ancient towns and cities, we have managed to catch glimpses of the patterns prevalent therein: a serious parasitic contamination of the soil in ancient urban areas, but not in rural areas of the past. Our historical research also proposed the plausible mechanism of parasite infection very serious indeed among urban populations in Korean history. Although city dwelling doubtless has accrued significant benefits for people and populations with agriculture, it can be equally supposed that living in such highly populated areas might have facilitated the spread of parasite infection. PMID:27853112

Detection Trend of Helminth Eggs in the Strata Soil Samples from Ancient Historic Places of Korea.

PubMed

Seo, Min; Chai, Jong-Yil; Kim, Myeung Ju; Shim, Sang Yuk; Ki, Ho Chul; Shin, Dong Hoon

2016-10-01

For several years, we have conducted a series of studies on the patterns of ancient parasitism prevailing in the soil of rural and urban areas of past Kingdom of Korea. Actually, during our survey of paleoparasitology in archaeological sites of Korean peninsula, numerous ancient parasite eggs were discovered in the samples from the city districts of Hansung (Joseon) and Buyeo (Baikje), the palace moat at Gyeongju (Silla), shell-midden site at Bonghwang-dong (Silla to Joseon), and the reservoir found in Hwawangsansung fortress (Silla). By the paleoparasitological studies, with respect to parasitism in the high-density populations of ancient towns and cities, we have managed to catch glimpses of the patterns prevalent therein: a serious parasitic contamination of the soil in ancient urban areas, but not in rural areas of the past. Our historical research also proposed the plausible mechanism of parasite infection very serious indeed among urban populations in Korean history. Although city dwelling doubtless has accrued significant benefits for people and populations with agriculture, it can be equally supposed that living in such highly populated areas might have facilitated the spread of parasite infection.

An electric and electromagnetic geophysical approach for subsurface investigation of anthropogenic mounds in an urban environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pazzi, Veronica; Tapete, Deodato; Cappuccini, Luca; Fanti, Riccardo

2016-11-01

Scientific interest in mounds as geomorphological features that currently represent topographic anomalies in flat urban landscapes mainly lies on the understanding of their origin, either purely natural or anthropogenic. In this second circumstance, another question is whether traces of lost buildings are preserved within the mound subsurface and can be mapped as remnants testifying past settlement. When these landforms have been modified in centuries for civilian use, structural stability is a further element of concern. To address these issues we applied a geophysical approach based on a very low frequency electromagnetic (VLF-EM) technique and two-dimensional electrical resistivity tomography (2D-ERT) and integrated it with well-established surface survey methods within a diagnostic workflow of structural assessment. We demonstrate the practical benefits of this method in the English Cemetery of Florence, Italy, whose mixed nature and history of morphological changes are suggested by archival records. The combination of the two selected geophysical techniques allowed us to overcome the physical obstacles caused by tomb density and to prevent interference from the urban vehicular traffic on the geophysical signals. Eighty-two VLF-EM profiles and five 2D-ERTs were collected to maximise the spatial coverage of the subsurface prospection, while surface indicators of instability (e.g., tomb tilt, location, and direction of ground fractures and wall cracks) were mapped by standard metric survey. High resistive anomalies (> 300 and 400 Ωm) observed in VLF-EM tomographies are attributed to remnants of the ancient perimeter wall that are still buried along the southern side of the mound. While no apparent correlation is found between the causes of tomb and ground movements, the crack pattern map supplements the overall structural assessment. The main outcome is that the northern portion of the retaining wall is classed with the highest hazard rate. The impact of this

Why did ancient people have atherosclerosis?: from autopsies to computed tomography to potential causes.

PubMed

Thomas, Gregory S; Wann, L Samuel; Allam, Adel H; Thompson, Randall C; Michalik, David E; Sutherland, M Linda; Sutherland, James D; Lombardi, Guido P; Watson, Lucia; Cox, Samantha L; Valladolid, Clide M; Abd El-Maksoud, Gomaa; Al-Tohamy Soliman, Muhammad; Badr, Ibrahem; el-Halim Nur el-Din, Abd; Clarke, Emily M; Thomas, Ian G; Miyamoto, Michael I; Kaplan, Hillard S; Frohlich, Bruno; Narula, Jagat; Stewart, Alexandre F R; Zink, Albert; Finch, Caleb E

2014-06-01

Computed tomographic findings of atherosclerosis in the ancient cultures of Egypt, Peru, the American Southwest and the Aleutian Islands challenge our understanding of the fundamental causes of atherosclerosis. Could these findings be true? Is so, what traditional risk factors might be present in these cultures that could explain this apparent paradox? The recent computed tomographic findings are consistent with multiple autopsy studies dating as far back as 1852 that demonstrate calcific atherosclerosis in ancient Egyptians and Peruvians. A nontraditional cause of atherosclerosis that could explain this burden of atherosclerosis is the microbial and parasitic inflammatory burden likely to be present in ancient cultures inherently lacking modern hygiene and antimicrobials. Patients with chronic systemic inflammatory diseases of today, including systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, and human immunodeficiency virus infection, experience premature atherosclerosis and coronary events. Might the chronic inflammatory load of ancient times secondary to infection have resulted in atherosclerosis? Smoke inhalation from the use of open fires for daily cooking and illumination represents another potential cause. Undiscovered risk factors could also have been present, potential causes that technologically cannot currently be measured in our serum or other tissue. A synthesis of these findings suggests that a gene-environmental interplay is causal for atherosclerosis. That is, humans have an inherent genetic susceptibility to atherosclerosis, whereas the speed and severity of its development are secondary to known and potentially unknown environmental factors. Copyright © 2014 World Heart Federation (Geneva). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ancient Humans Influenced the Current Spatial Genetic Structure of Common Walnut Populations in Asia

PubMed Central

Pollegioni, Paola; Woeste, Keith E.; Chiocchini, Francesca; Del Lungo, Stefano; Olimpieri, Irene; Tortolano, Virginia; Clark, Jo; Hemery, Gabriel E.; Mapelli, Sergio; Malvolti, Maria Emilia

2015-01-01

Common walnut (Juglans regia L) is an economically important species cultivated worldwide for its wood and nuts. It is generally accepted that J. regia survived and grew spontaneously in almost completely isolated stands in its Asian native range after the Last Glacial Maximum. Despite its natural geographic isolation, J. regia evolved over many centuries under the influence of human management and exploitation. We evaluated the hypothesis that the current distribution of natural genetic resources of common walnut in Asia is, at least in part, the product of ancient anthropogenic dispersal, human cultural interactions, and afforestation. Genetic analysis combined with ethno-linguistic and historical data indicated that ancient trade routes such as the Persian Royal Road and Silk Road enabled long-distance dispersal of J. regia from Iran and Trans-Caucasus to Central Asia, and from Western to Eastern China. Ancient commerce also disrupted the local spatial genetic structure of autochthonous walnut populations between Tashkent and Samarkand (Central-Eastern Uzbekistan), where the northern and central routes of the Northern Silk Road converged. A significant association between ancient language phyla and the genetic structure of walnut populations is reported even after adjustment for geographic distances that could have affected both walnut gene flow and human commerce over the centuries. Beyond the economic importance of common walnut, our study delineates an alternative approach for understanding how the genetic resources of long-lived perennial tree species may be affected by the interaction of geography and human history. PMID:26332919

Plato and Play: Taking Education Seriously in Ancient Greece

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

D'Angour, Armand

2013-01-01

In this article, the author outlines Plato's notions of play in ancient Greek culture and shows how the philosopher's views on play can be best appreciated against the background of shifting meanings and evaluations of play in classical Greece. Play--in various forms such as word play, ritual, and music--proved central to the development of…

Ancient Media in Literature: Golden Printers and Golden Authors.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mooradian, Karlen

Seal printing is explored as a literary topic in 28 works dating from the third millennium B.C. to A.D. 1613 (from Sumerian times through Shakespeare's). This ancient printing method is mentioned in the literature of the Egyptians, Greeks, Hebrews, and Arabians. It occurs in the works of Herodotus, Plutarch, and Marco Polo, as well as Chaucer and…

Mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosomal diversity in ancient populations of domestic sheep (Ovis aries) in Finland: comparison with contemporary sheep breeds.

PubMed

Niemi, Marianna; Bläuer, Auli; Iso-Touru, Terhi; Nyström, Veronica; Harjula, Janne; Taavitsainen, Jussi-Pekka; Storå, Jan; Lidén, Kerstin; Kantanen, Juha

2013-01-22

Several molecular and population genetic studies have focused on the native sheep breeds of Finland. In this work, we investigated their ancestral sheep populations from Iron Age, Medieval and Post-Medieval periods by sequencing a partial mitochondrial DNA D-loop and the 5'-promoter region of the SRY gene. We compared the maternal (mitochondrial DNA haplotypes) and paternal (SNP oY1) genetic diversity of ancient sheep in Finland with modern domestic sheep populations in Europe and Asia to study temporal changes in genetic variation and affinities between ancient and modern populations. A 523-bp mitochondrial DNA sequence was successfully amplified for 26 of 36 sheep ancient samples i.e. five, seven and 14 samples representative of Iron Age, Medieval and Post-Medieval sheep, respectively. Genetic diversity was analyzed within the cohorts. This ancient dataset was compared with present-day data consisting of 94 animals from 10 contemporary European breeds and with GenBank DNA sequence data to carry out a haplotype sharing analysis. Among the 18 ancient mitochondrial DNA haplotypes identified, 14 were present in the modern breeds. Ancient haplotypes were assigned to the highly divergent ovine haplogroups A and B, haplogroup B being the major lineage within the cohorts. Only two haplotypes were detected in the Iron Age samples, while the genetic diversity of the Medieval and Post-Medieval cohorts was higher. For three of the ancient DNA samples, Y-chromosome SRY gene sequences were amplified indicating that they originated from rams. The SRY gene of these three ancient ram samples contained SNP G-oY1, which is frequent in modern north-European sheep breeds. Our study did not reveal any sign of major population replacement of native sheep in Finland since the Iron Age. Variations in the availability of archaeological remains may explain differences in genetic diversity estimates and patterns within the cohorts rather than demographic events that occurred in the past

Dinosaurs and Ancient Civilizations: Reflections on the Treatment of Cancer

PubMed Central

Rehemtulla, Alnawaz

2010-01-01

Research efforts in the area of palaeopathology have been seen as an avenue to improve our understanding of the pathogenesis of cancer. Answers to questions of whether dinosaurs had cancer, or if cancer plagued ancient civilizations, have captured the imagination as well as the popular media. Evidence for dinosaurian cancer may indicate that cancer may have been with us from the dawn of time. Ancient recorded history suggests that past civilizations attempted to fight cancer with a variety of interventions. When contemplating the issuewhy a generalized cure for cancer has not been found, it might prove useful to reflect on the relatively limited timethat this issue has been an agenda item of governmental attention as well as continued introduction of an every evolving myriad of manmade carcinogens relative to the total time cancer has been present on planet Earth. This article reflects on the history of cancer and the progress made following the initiation of the “era of cancer chemotherapy.” PMID:21170260

Genotyping of ancient Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains reveals historic genetic diversity.

PubMed

Müller, Romy; Roberts, Charlotte A; Brown, Terence A

2014-04-22

The evolutionary history of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) has previously been studied by analysis of sequence diversity in extant strains, but not addressed by direct examination of strain genotypes in archaeological remains. Here, we use ancient DNA sequencing to type 11 single nucleotide polymorphisms and two large sequence polymorphisms in the MTBC strains present in 10 archaeological samples from skeletons from Britain and Europe dating to the second-nineteenth centuries AD. The results enable us to assign the strains to groupings and lineages recognized in the extant MTBC. We show that at least during the eighteenth-nineteenth centuries AD, strains of M. tuberculosis belonging to different genetic groups were present in Britain at the same time, possibly even at a single location, and we present evidence for a mixed infection in at least one individual. Our study shows that ancient DNA typing applied to multiple samples can provide sufficiently detailed information to contribute to both archaeological and evolutionary knowledge of the history of tuberculosis.

Constraints on the nature of the ancient lunar magnetic field

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goswami, J. N.

1976-01-01

Assuming that the physical properties of solar-wind ions have remained unchanged over the past 4 billion years, the observation of solar-wind ions in lunar breccias with compaction ages greater than 3.2 billion years places constraints on the nature and origin of the ancient lunar magnetic field. Solar-wind ions would not be expected to occur in old lunar breccias if a surface magnetic field of more than 0.03 gauss was present. Several explanations of this phenomenon are consistent with the global lunar dynamo theory of the origin of the lunar dipole field, including a wandering of the lunar dipole axis, late onset of dynamo action, and reversals of the lunar dipole field, producing a long-term field close to zero. Models invoking external field magnetization as the cause of the ancient lunar magnetic field constrain the dipole axis, precluding field reversals, and do not provide an alternative explanation for the observed occurrence of solar-wind ions in lunar breccias.

Diversity and survivability of microbial community in ancient permafrost sediment of northeast Siberia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liang, R.; Lau, M.; Vishnivetskaya, T. A.; Lloyd, K. G.; Pfiffner, S. M.; Rivkina, E.; Onstott, T. C.

2017-12-01

The prevalence of microorganisms in frozen permafrost has been well documented in ancient sediment up to several million years old. However, the long term survivability and metabolic activity of microbes over geological timespans remain underexplored. Siberian permafrost sediment was collected at various depths (1.4m, 11.8 m and 24.8m) to represent a wide range of geological time from thousands to millions of years. Extracellular (eDNA) and intracellular DNA (iDNA) was simultaneously recovered for sequencing to characterize the potentially extinct and extant microbial community. Additionally, aspartic acid racemization assay (D/L Asp) was used to infer the metabolic activity of microbes in ancient permafrost. As compared with the young sample (1.4m), DNA yield and content of aspartic acid dramatically decreased in old samples (11.8m and 24.8m). However, D/L Asp and eDNA/iDNA significantly increased with the geological age. Such findings suggested that ancient microbiomes might be subjected to racemization or even DNA/proteins degradation at subzero temperature over the wide geological time scale. Preliminary characterization of microbial community indicated that the majority of sequences in old samples were identified as bacteria and only a small fraction was identified as archaea from the iDNA pool. While the eDNA and iDNA fractions shared similar dominant taxa at phylum level, the relative abundance of Proteobacteria in eDNA library was much higher than iDNA. By contrast, the phylum affiliated with Firmicutes was more numerically abundant in the iDNA fraction. More dramatic differences were observed between eDNA and iDNA library at lower taxonomic levels. Particularly, the microbial lineages affiliated with the genera Methanoregula, Desulfosporosinus and Syntrophomonas were only detected in the iDNA library. Such taxonomic difference between the relic eDNA and iDNA suggested that numerous species become locally "extinct" whereas many other taxa might survive in