Mobile phone tower plans rejected
Members of the Redcar and Cleveland Council Planning Committee have refused consent for the erection of a mobile phone mast near to the Bronze Age monument at Guisborough (England). The Councillors took the decision against the recommendations of council officers, who advised that permissions should be granted for the mast at Airy Hill Farm, just 40m from a burial dating back to around 1800 BCe. The site is protected by the Ancient Monument and Archaeological Areas Act, which requires permission from the Secretary of State for any structure less than 40m away from any designated site. Robin Daniels, from Tees Archaeology, says: “We want to ensure that this scheduled monument survives and we are concerned that if planning permission is granted for this mobile mast that further masts may also be built in the near future.”
Mobile phone company Orange submitted the planning application for a 20m lattice tower carrying three antennae and two microwave dishes, together with associated equipment cabinets. Close by are an existing mast and pylon owned by Northern electric, but Orange has been unable to reach agreement on sharing the structures.
The burial mound has not been excavated, but on past patterns is thought to contain the cremation urn of an important person and may possibly have served as a boundary marker.
Source: This is the North East (14 August 2003)
Did Oetzi die in boundary dispute?
DNA analysis of blood samples found on the clothing and equipment of 5,300-year-old Oetzi the Iceman suggests that at least four different people were involved in the events that led up to his death. Oetzi was discovered high in the Italian Alps in 1991 with a collection of weapons that included a bronze axe, bow, a quiver of arrows, a flint dagger and a smaller, sharper knife. X-ray examination in 2001 revealed that Oetzi had a flint arrowhead buried in his back, close to the lung. The entry wound had been stitched. At that time it was thought that the Iceman may have died as the result of a hunting accident. But the DNA patterns, together with what are thought to be defensive wounds on hands, wrists and rib cage, indicate that Oetzi may have been involved in a fatal skirmish after hunting in or close to the territory of a neighbouring, hostile, people.
Traces of three different mitochondrial DNA sequences were found on Oetzi's flint dagger, on an arrowhead and on a broken shaft in his birch bark quiver. These traces, together with the defensive wounds, point to a conflict as the cause of death.
Molecular archaeologist Dr. Tom Loy, of Queensland University in Brisbane Australia, carried out the DNA research, and has proposed that Oetzi specialised in hunting the high alpine passes for ibex and chamois. He was attacked in disputed boundary territory but fought back and inflicted some damage on his adversaries. "I think one of the things we could advance is that he shot at least two different people and retrieved his arrow, but then he shot at something else and missed, shattering his arrow," says Dr. Loy. He must have also defended himself with the flint dagger that was found clutched in his hand. A fourth DNA sample from the back of Oetzi's leather coat is taken as indication that he may have supported a companion on his shoulders after the fight. The companion tended his wounds and arranged his body and equipment after death.
Dr. Loy explains: "His gear was stacked up neatly. He didn't keel over, although he was probably tired, exhausted and hurt like hell." The fact that he was found with his weapons and other equipment intact is seen as evidence that he died some time after the incident, otherwise his assailants would have retrieved these valuable items. Although the back wound would have been ultimately fatal, it is possible that he could have survived for 24 - 48 hours.
No trace has yet been found of the Iceman's companion or assailants. But with the current heatwave melting icefields to an unprecedented extent, the chances of further discoveries have never been better. The South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, Oetzi's final resting place, is organising an expedition to the high passes at the end of August in the hope of finding more clues to this Copper Age drama.
Sources: news.com.au (11 August 2003); Reuters, Independent, Guardian (13 August 2003)
Pre-historic finds in Yemen cave
Archaeologists have discovered pre-historic stone arrow or spear heads alongside animal bones in a cave at Sana’a, in Al-Mazbad, Hamdan (Yemen). The Yemeni government has ordered that rapid measures are taken to protect the site and its artefacts. The General Organisation for Antiquities and Museums (GOAM) has authorised academics from Sana’a University and international experts to conduct immediate and extensive research.
“The site was first discovered by local people who moved the bones out of the cave,” said Ahmed Shamsan, Deputy President of GOAM, “but now the cave is protected by GOAM and we expect an Italian archaeologist to help in studying the cave and bones.”
Source: Zawya (10 August 2003)
Astronomical alignment of stones in Colombia
Two Colombian geology students doing field work for their graduation thesis discovered ancient irrigation canals and mounds along the Bogotá River, in Colombia. While mapping the Jaboque wetlands, they discovered four stone menhirs called "Piedras de Los Indios" (Indian Rocks) by local inhabitants. Further investigation led to the discovery of a total of 14 menhirs, and one associated square rock.
Location and alignment of the menhirs made it possible for them to be used as sighting devices to mark the position of summer solstice sunrise, summer solstice sunset, winter solstice sunrise, and winter solstice sunset. The layout or planned design of the menhirs strongly suggests that it was constructed to resemble the constellation Scorpius, seen as the Big Snake constellation by many South American native cultures. The heliacal rising and setting of the stars Shaula and Leseth (eyes of the Big Snake) in the Scorpius constellation are also part of the overall scheme.
Two stone menhirs have holes drilled through them. Noting the importance placed on the solstice dates and the rise/set of Scorpius, the Jaboque complex appears to have been used to prepare for agricultural activities during the dry seasons, and not the wet seasons. The site is also the first southern Mu'sca area identified with agricultural canals and mounds. It is the first discovery of standing stone menhirs with astronomical alignments, and is the first petroform or geoglyph found in Colombia other than a snake design cut into the soil in a Mu'sca cemetery in the La Ramada farm in Funza, Cundinamarca.
Source: GIPRI (4 June 2003)
Dúchas to be closed down
Dúchas - the Irish equivalent of English Heritage - is being closed down. Some of its functions will pass to local authorities and others to the Department of Environment which will have the word ‘Heritage’ inserted into its title.
In a press release, the Institute of Archaeologists of Ireland (IAI) condemned this ‘retrograde step.’ They say the move "raises serious doubts regarding the commitment of the Government to the protection of the archaeological heritage ... Perhaps this is indicative of an underlying trend by Government to pandering to the Construction/Development lobby with regard to archaeology in particular and to the built heritage in general." Certainly this seems borne out by the actions of the Irish government earlier this year when they forced a motorway building scheme through the 13th century Carrickmines Castle site in South Dublin despite local protests and allegations of corruption.
The Irish archaeologists add that placing responsibility for Dúchas into the Department of the Environment is ‘inappropriate’ given ‘the development agenda of that department.’ They say: "The expansion of the heritage roles of Local Authorities is also of concern, particularly with regard to Archaeological Heritage. There are many instances where Local Authorities have not implemented the recommendations of Dúchas, whereby the Archaeological Heritage has been endangered." The IAI say "what is really required is a more independent heritage protection agency outside the influence of government’ and call for the government to rescind the decision to abolish Dúchas."
The Minister of the Environment, Martin Cullen, said that the proposed new arrangements would ‘optimise organisational resources.’ According to the Editor of the Irish Times "Dúchas has been something of an unwanted child within government since 1997. It upset the European Commission by its response to environmental protection directives and by failing to identify a sufficient number of conservation areas. It antagonised farmers and their organisations by setting low sheep stocking rates in mountainous areas to allow vegetation to recover; by identifying areas of conservation for wildlife species and by designating extensive areas of special sensitivity. Its contribution on planning and development matters upset some powerful interests. Dúchas has delivered as an integrated heritage agency. It should be retained."
Source: The Digger issue 29 , The Irish Times (2 August 2003)
Ancient superflood brought climate chaos
A catastrophic 'superflood' following the rupture of a massive glacier-dammed lake in Canada at the end of the Ice Age probably plunged the world into centuries of climatic chaos. That single event was likely responsible for the most dramatic climate change of the last 10,000 years, according to a report by a Canadian team led by Professor Garry Clarke, a geophysicist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
The 'superflood' was enough to alter ocean circulation in the Northern Hemisphere: analysis of ice cores taken in Greenland reveal that the mean temperature dropped by 5°C, snow accumulation decreased sharply and forest fires became more frequent. Clarke's team found that the water body, known as Lake Agassiz, reached a massive 163,000 cubic km in volume - at least double that of the largest contemporary lake, the Caspian Sea - and that its release was "by far the largest known glacial outburst of the past 100,000 years". It was formed after the vast Laurentide Ice Sheet, which at its maximum formed a 3-kilometre-thick dome over Hudson Bay, began disintegrating rapidly about 8,500 years ago.
"Modern analogues and the known physics of outburst flooding indicate that tunnelling below the ice is the most probable flood release mechanism," Clarke said. "Once a subglacial path is established, an ice-walled conduit will tend to grow by melting its walls," he added. As water tunnelled its way through the ice dam, its rupture became unavoidable. The team said that on the basis of radiocarbon dating, a full torrent was finally unleashed about 8,450 years ago. It took less than a year to discharge. After the lake water gushed into the Hudson Bay, its freshness altered the strength of ocean circulation, which in turn caused the abrupt climate changes in much of the Northern Hemisphere, the team said.
The researchers argue that understanding the mechanisms underlying past climate change events is increasingly important as people grow more concerned about the magnitude and rate of future climate change.
Source: ABC Science Online (15 August 2003)
