It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.

Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.

Thank you.

 

Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.

 

Stone-Age Skeletons Unearthed In Sahara Desert

page: 1
30
<<   2 >>

log in

join
share:
+11 more 
posted on Mar, 7 2013 @ 11:12 PM
link   

Archaeologists have uncovered 20 Stone-Age skeletons in and around a rock shelter in Libya's Sahara desert, according to a new study.

The skeletons date between 8,000 and 4,200 years ago, meaning the burial place was used for millennia.

"It must have been a place of memory," said study co-author Mary Anne Tafuri, an archaeologist at the University of Cambridge. "People throughout time have kept it, and they have buried their people, over and over, generation after generation."
About 15 women and children were buried in the rock shelter, while five men and juveniles were buried under giant stone heaps called tumuli outside the shelter during a later period, when the region turned to desert.

The findings, which are detailed in the March issue of the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, suggest the culture changed with the climate.

Millennia of burials

From about 8,000 to 6,000 years ago, the Sahara desert region, called Wadi Takarkori, was filled with scrubby vegetation and seasonal green patches. Stunning rock art depicts ancient herding animals, such as cows, which require much more water to graze than the current environment could support, Tafuri said.

Tafuri and her colleague Savino di Lernia began excavating the archaeological site between 2003 and 2006. At the same site, archaeologists also uncovered huts, animal bones and pots with traces of the earliest fermented dairy products in Africa. [See Images of the Stone-Age Skeletons]

To date the skeletons, Tafuri measured the remains for concentrations of isotopes, or molecules of the same element with different weights.

The team concluded that the skeletons were buried over four millennia, with most of the remains in the rock shelter buried between 7,300 and 5,600 years ago.

The males and juveniles under the stone heaps were buried starting 4,500 years ago, when the region became more arid. Rock art confirms the dry up, as the cave paintings began to depict goats, which need much less water to graze than cows, Tafuri said.

The ancient people also grew up not far from the area where they were buried, based on a comparison of isotopes in tooth enamel, which forms early in childhood, with elements in the nearby environment.

Shift in culture?

The findings suggest the burial place was used for millennia by the same group of people. It also revealed a divided society.

"The exclusive use of the rock shelter for female and sub-adult burials points to a persistent division based on gender," wrote Marina Gallinaro, a researcher in African studies at Sapienza University of Rome, who was not involved in the study, in an email to LiveScience.

One possibility is that during the earlier period, women had a more critical role in the society, and families may have even traced their descent through the female line. But once the Sahara began its inexorable expansion into the region about 5,000 years ago, the culture shifted and men's prominence may have risen as a result, Gallinaro wrote.

The region as a whole is full of hundreds of sites yet to be excavated, said Luigi Boitani, a biologist at Sapienza University of Rome, who has worked on archaeological sites in the region but was not involved in the study.

"The area is an untapped treasure," Boitani said.

The new discovery also highlights the need to protect the fragile region, which has been closed to archaeologists since the revolution that ousted dictator Moammar el Gadhafi.

Takarkori is very close to the main road that leads from Libya into neighboring Niger, so rebels and other notorious political figures, such as Gadhafi's sons, have frequently passed through the area to escape the country, he said.

www.livescience.com...



posted on Mar, 7 2013 @ 11:35 PM
link   
Spider- great find and I appreciate the link to the article. Many of the so-called finds have turned out to be hoaxes. I have been doing research about giant skeletons in the US and have found a number of cases that do not appear to be hoaxes. In the US, there are a number of newspaper archives that one can look back over the last 100-150 years ago. While some might be exaggerations, the number is staggering and they all cannot be hoaxes.

Too many people dismiss these types of finds. I wish that I could have the same ability to check archives for myself rather than rely on articles in journals. However, your link does give a good start and has peeked my interest.



posted on Mar, 8 2013 @ 12:08 AM
link   
reply to post by Spider879
 


Well anything of this nature collects a star and a flag from me. The pic seems to indicate some odd proportions.
Very well done thread thank you for sharing OP.



posted on Mar, 8 2013 @ 12:24 AM
link   
A very interesting find indeed. The team began excavating the archaeological site between 2003 and 2006. I’m not sure if this means it was a recent find, yet it did provide isotope analysis for the researchers.
Mary Anne Tafuri, from The University of Cambridge, is working on her Post Doctorate studies in Prehistoric Archaeology, Strontium, carbon and oxygen isotope and research in analysis, Stable Isotopes. More information can be found on her here,
cambridge.academia.edu...
However, the pure speculation that degraded the article is from a woman that wasn’t even related to the archaeological expedition.
Life Science states,
www.livescience.com...
"The exclusive use of the rock shelter for female and sub-adult burials points to a persistent division based on gender," wrote Marina Gallinaro, a researcher in African studies at Sapienza University of Rome, who was not involved in the study.”
It’s easy for me to say that I am a researcher from a Colorado Springs University, and the dominant male society buried their women and children at the rock shelter as a symbol of protecting their loved ones, and the adult males buried outside, are the warriors positioned to protect them in the after life. When you examine the photo, you will notice the gaping hole in the rib cage. This is usually indicative of a stab or puncture wound. Additionally, when the other photo is observed, the cleavage of mandible from the maxilla was possibility due to an offensive assault. Life was not easy then, nor is it now. But to allude to “families may have even traced their descent through the female line” is preposterous, especially when the dominant males were the ones battling it out, and bringing the meat to the table. All successful societies contain the balance of love and respect between husband and wife, and incorporate their own special responsibilities and expertise. Sadly, as our society continues to degrade, soon the term Alpha male, will be rewritten as well.
Star and Flag for an exceptional contribution to ATS.

edit on 8-3-2013 by Violater1 because: (no reason given)



posted on Mar, 8 2013 @ 01:00 AM
link   

What lays beneath these sands for future discoveries may surprise and surpasses what lays at the bottom of the Atlantic.
edit on 8-3-2013 by Spider879 because: (no reason given)



posted on Mar, 8 2013 @ 07:29 AM
link   
Are the skeletons perchance radioactive?

SnF.
edit on 8-3-2013 by andy06shake because: (no reason given)



posted on Mar, 8 2013 @ 07:39 AM
link   
So they found skeletons in the desert?

I never heard of such a thing happening.



posted on Mar, 8 2013 @ 07:47 AM
link   

Originally posted by Violater1
But to allude to “families may have even traced their descent through the female line” is preposterous, especially when the dominant males were the ones battling it out, and bringing the meat to the table.
Lots of matrilineal societies out there, including the Iroquois and a lot of other North American First Nations. And a theory like hers is not just rectally sourced, it would be based upon observations made of modern and historical societal groups as well. It's called "Anthro 101"

S&F for the thread, though!
edit on 8-3-2013 by JohnnyCanuck because: ...just because, eh?



posted on Mar, 8 2013 @ 12:45 PM
link   

Originally posted by JohnnyCanuck

Originally posted by Violater1
But to allude to “families may have even traced their descent through the female line” is preposterous, especially when the dominant males were the ones battling it out, and bringing the meat to the table.
Lots of matrilineal societies out there, including the Iroquois and a lot of other North American First Nations. And a theory like hers is not just rectally sourced, it would be based upon observations made of modern and historical societal groups as well. It's called "Anthro 101"

S&F for the thread, though!
edit on 8-3-2013 by JohnnyCanuck because: ...just because, eh?

My opinion the first gods were goddesses,early man could not understand they had anything to do with child birth,even in the animal world it's always the females who produced life,yes we men had our urges but did we connect what we did to birth of new life?? especially nine month later?? I think not so for a second we were in awe,until we began to connect the dots,when we found out we had something to do with creating life we demand parity, sooner or later because of our upper body strength and hunting skills we demand superiority and for females it was all down hill from there, also I believe women are the first keepers of time ,mainly because of their monthly periods, they may also be responsible for agriculture.
edit on 8-3-2013 by Spider879 because: (no reason given)



posted on Mar, 8 2013 @ 01:04 PM
link   
reply to post by Outcast2
 


Smithsonian museum covered up any true evidence of the Nephilim back in the 1890-1920s.

They lost them!
edit on 8-3-2013 by andy06shake because: (no reason given)



posted on Mar, 8 2013 @ 01:13 PM
link   
Nice thread, Spider. S&F

Too bad it's about to degenerate into a load of crap about giants.

Harte



posted on Mar, 8 2013 @ 01:18 PM
link   
reply to post by Spider879
 


With very early modern humans, no one really knew what kid was who's. Everyone just sort of mated and kids popped out. I don't think materalism and a "mine!" dominated culture existed ages ago.

I believe with the introduction of fermented alcohols came the male-dominated, materlistic culture we have today.
edit on 8-3-2013 by MystikMushroom because: (no reason given)



posted on Mar, 8 2013 @ 01:27 PM
link   

Originally posted by MystikMushroom
reply to post by Spider879
 


With very early modern humans, no one really knew what kid was who's. Everyone just sort of mated and kids popped out. I don't think materalism and a "mine!" dominated culture existed ages ago.

I believe with the introduction of fermented alcohols came the male-dominated, materlistic culture we have today.
edit on 8-3-2013 by MystikMushroom because: (no reason given)

Interesting, please explain why the use of fermented alcohol lead to male dominance.



posted on Mar, 8 2013 @ 02:24 PM
link   
reply to post by Spider879
 


In Terence McKenna's book "Food of the Gods" he has this to say about alcohol and male dominated cultures:




Alcohol has the effect of being libidinally stimulating at moderate doses at the same time that the ego feels
empowered and social boundaries are felt to lose some of their restraining power. Often these feelings are
accompanied by a sense of verbal facility ordinarily out of reach. The difficulty with all of this is that
research findings suggest these fleeting effects are usually followed by a narrowing of awareness, a
diminishing of ability to respond to social cues, and an infantile regression into loss of sexual
performance, loss of general motor control, and consequent loss of self-esteem.
Moderation in drinking seems the obvious course. Yet alcoholism is a major and unremitting problem
throughout global society. I believe that the alcohol abuse syndrome is symptomatic of the state of
disequilibrium and tension existing between men and women and between the individual and society.
Alcoholism is a condition of ego obsession and inability to resist the drive toward immediate gratification.
The social domain in which the repression of women and the feminine is most graphically and brutally
realized is that of the drunken episode or lifestyle. The darkest expressions of the terror and the anxiety
engendered by severance from the maternal matrix have traditionally been acted out there. Wife beating
without alcohol is like a circus without lions.


He goes on to say that historically, alcohol consumption was largely restricted to males; helping to supress the feminine.

The book links the discovery of fermented substances to the use of honey as a perservative. There is evidence that anchient people would store fruits (among other things!) in honey. Occasionally, the natrual yeast from the enviroment in combination with the sugars would create an alcoholic substance. The rest (beer and wine making and so on) is history.
edit on 8-3-2013 by MystikMushroom because: (no reason given)



posted on Mar, 8 2013 @ 02:42 PM
link   
reply to post by MystikMushroom
 

Great post MystikMushroom, so when we became drunks we became oppressors of women,I don't know if you have ever watched an old mini series called Shaka Zulu where a drunk and abusive King Senzangakhona kaJama (Shaka's dad) humilated his mom by demaning that she served him beer with her own hands despite servants being around in full court, whether or not that scene was historically correct it goes towards your point.



posted on Mar, 8 2013 @ 03:16 PM
link   
reply to post by Spider879
 


I've heard of the show, but im probably to young...product of the 80's am I!

Even to this day -- when people get drunk they are more social, but at the same time a certain percentage of these people become violent or mean (men especially).

It's interesting too that in Greece and Rome winemaking was left to the women, but drinking it was highly restricted. Men didn't want their women getting drunk -- they needed a sober person to take care of their needs! I also think that drunk men would become paranoid that if their wives got drunk they might cheat.

When you start dabbling with an addictive substance, possessiveness comes into play. "This is MY wine, get your own!" That same type of mentality eventually would bleed over into all other areas of societal life.

ETA: A recent historical example of the effect of alcohol would be with the Native Americans. Prior to being introduced to alcohol, the North American tribes lived in relative homeostasis. With the introduction of alcohol rates of abuse and poverty skyrocketed. It really hurt the cultures of these people.
edit on 8-3-2013 by MystikMushroom because: (no reason given)



posted on Mar, 8 2013 @ 03:19 PM
link   
S & F! What a great article! These are the types of stories that pique my interest. So much can be learned from these kinds of discoveries!



posted on Mar, 8 2013 @ 03:48 PM
link   

Originally posted by MystikMushroom
reply to post by Spider879
 


With very early modern humans, no one really knew what kid was who's. Everyone just sort of mated and kids popped out. I don't think materalism and a "mine!" dominated culture existed ages ago.

I believe with the introduction of fermented alcohols came the male-dominated, materlistic culture we have today.
edit on 8-3-2013 by MystikMushroom because: (no reason given)

I had the chance to visit the San Bushmen tribe in South Africa who live today just like their ancestors have done for the past 30.000 years. They are very monogamous. A young man will pick a female companion from a neighboring tribe and if she accepts him, they are together for life. They do not know the concept of divorce. Raising children is more of a communal effort for them though.

I think we tend to exaggerate the gap between us and early man. We hardly changed in the past 100.000 years. If we are monogamous today, they probably were as well. Same biology means same feelings and same thoughts and desires.
edit on 8/3/13 by Symer because: typo



posted on Mar, 8 2013 @ 09:07 PM
link   

Originally posted by MystikMushroom
reply to post by Spider879
 


I've heard of the show, but im probably to young...product of the 80's am I!


That's too bad. It was a real first - first time naked boobs were readily visible in multiple (and reasonably long) time intervals on an TV program on basic television.

You missed it.

A DVD just isn't the same, right fellers?

Harte



posted on Mar, 8 2013 @ 09:35 PM
link   
reply to post by Symer
 





I had the chance to visit the San Bushmen tribe in South Africa who live today just like their ancestors have done for the past 30.000 years. They are very monogamous. A young man will pick a female companion from a neighboring tribe and if she accepts him, they are together for life. They do not know the concept of divorce. Raising children is more of a communal effort for them though. I think we tend to exaggerate the gap between us and early man. We hardly changed in the past 100.000 years. If we are monogamous today, they probably were as well. Same biology means same feelings and same thoughts and desires.


Yes but I think the gap increased with the rise of settled communites ,the age of priest kings and off-course fermented alcohol,this didn't happened all at once and over night mind you but it was a gradual process that took thousands of years,and increased in sociaties with very strong warrior ethos.



new topics

top topics



 
30
<<   2 >>

log in

join