The first was on the morning of October 22. Seismometers in Turkey and Bolivia recorded a violent event in Antarctica that packed the punch of several thousand tons of TNT. The disturbance then ripped through Earth on a route that ended with it exiting through the floor of the Indian Ocean off Sri Lanka just 26 seconds later - implying a speed of 900,000 mph.
The second event took place on November 24, when sensors in Australia and Bolivia picked up an explosion starting in the Pacific south of the Pitcairn Islands and travelling through Earth to appear in Antarctica 19 seconds later.
According to the scientists, both events are consistent with an impact with strangelets at cosmic speeds. In a report about to be submitted to the Seismological Society of America, the team of geologists and physicists concludes: "The only explanation for such events of which we are aware is passage through the earth of ton-sized strange-quark nuggets."
While we adore archaeology and think highly of it as an academic discipline, we just plain ain't got nothin' on this sort of thing.
Via Instapundit.
Back to archaeology:
Excavations reveal late Roman and early Byzantine workshops
Excavations from a Princeton University team that started on June 8, 2005, and were wrapped up a month later at the western coastal town of Polis Chrysochous, revealed use-levels of the second and first centuries BC, above which were late Roman and early Byzantine workshops. Right at the surface were sporadic traces of use in the twelfth century.
According to a Cyprus Department of Antiquities press release, the short season was limited to work in one area within the village in which years of excavation had revealed remains of the Archaic-Classical city of Marion overlaid by the late Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine city of Arsinoe.
Hmmmmmm. . . Ancient shards found in Persepolis sewage system
Archaeologists working at the Persepolis Complex recently discovered 100 shards in the ancient sewage system beneath Persepolis.
The director of the team said on Saturday that the earthenware fragments were discovered during sediment removal operations.
“The discovered items are similar to the earthenware presented by Achaemenid (Empire) delegates at Apadana Hall. They are yellow and bear no special patterns,” Alireza Asgari added.
Apparently, the real story here is not the sherds themselves, but the fact that archaeologists are going to attempt to make at least part of the ancient sewer system functional again to help drain water away that is undermining the structure. That is pretty neat in and of itself.
This seems like a good thing Building a Modern Partnership on Relics
Mexico and Egypt share a rare historical distinction: a superabundance of monumental pyramids and other relics of ancient civilizations. But although foreign experts have helped lead the exploration of Egypt's rich archeology for more than a century, specialists from Mexico have never been invited. Until now.
For the first time, a Mexican archeological team has been selected by Egypt's top antiquities authorities to work in the famous Upper Nile Valley.
The group was chosen to refurbish the so-called Tomb of Puimre, or TT39, one of the country's most important unrestored burial chambers.
We're not sure how comparable the two situations are but this paragraph seems to indicate they have similar problems:
"The tomb has problems similar to those of our pyramids and churches in that it was made with limestone," said Manuel Villarruel Vazquez, an architect whose specialty is structural restoration. "That rock is strong like glass but can break as easily, and several ceilings are cracked." He currently is restoring a Toltec pyramid that dates from AD 600 in Queretaro, about 100 miles north of Mexico City.
Oye. Bad news from Brazil UVM professor killed in Brazil
A University of Vermont anthropology professor on a research trip to Brazil was killed Saturday during a robbery in a rainforest town near the Amazon River, an American Embassy spokesman said Sunday.
James Petersen, 51, of Salisbury, Vt., died in the confrontation in a restaurant in the town of Iranduba, said the spokesman, John Wilcock. Iranduba, home to about 35,000 residents, is about 1,650 miles northwest of Sao Paulo.
Very sad. Our condolences go to family, friends, and colleagues.
The Tse-whit-zen saga continues Tribe sues state, demands reburial of its ancestors
In a class-action lawsuit, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe has accused the state of Washington of knowing and willful desecration of Indian graves, and demanded reburial of its ancestors.
The suit, filed yesterday in Thurston County Superior Court, demands the state allow reburial of 316 cedar boxes containing the remains of ancestors dug up during a state Department of Transportation construction project in Port Angeles. The site was home to the largest Indian village ever found in Washington.
The tribe also wants the state to return some 2,000 truckloads of material taken by state contractors to a nearby landfill, and screen a portion of that for human remains, as promised in an agreement under which the construction project proceeded.
We have a feeling that sifting all that junk will probably end up being decided in court as it will cost a good deal of money to screen 2000 truck loads of dirt.
Discoveries rewriting Missouri history
An archaeological dig that has helped rewrite the prehistory of Missouri is weeks away from completion.
Work at the Big Eddy Dig site started in 1997 after collectors reported finding hundreds of arrow and spear points over the last 30 years in an area near a bend of the Sac River, north of Stockton Lake.
Over the years, remains from every major period of human habitation have been discovered at the threatened site. The edge of the dig is about five feet from the river, and the dig site is expected to be washed away in the next year or two as large volumes of water are released from the lake to generate electricity.
Reading the past in Dorset artifacts and vintage pop cans
Their houses now lie in the path of a road that leads to a popular fishing spot.
But 4,000 years ago, Dorset Inuit lived at Qilulukan, named after the whales that still travel past.
This summer, a group of Inuit youth tried to learn about the people who used this site, located near Salmon Creek about two kilometres from the present-day community of Pond Inlet.
We recall our days doing CRM work out here in the West and the one phrase we absolutely hated to hear was "Look, it's a can dump." But, we expect can dumps to be a topic of someone's dissertation someday (if it isn't already) so we seek not to disparage the topic.
Lewis & Clark + remote sensing update Technology lets researchers map explorers' camp
Two hundred years after the explorers Lewis and Clark camped in present-day The Dalles on their way to the Pacific Ocean, advanced technology may let archaeologists pinpoint the exact spot where they pitched their tents.
Debate over the true location of the Corps of Discovery's encampment has centered primarily on three riverfront sites: the mouth of Fifteenmile Creek, the mouth of Mill Creek and the site of the present-day Rock Fort Park.
But now, a combination of satellite photography and ground-penetrating radar is pointing to Rock Fort Park.
There's tons of items out there, but this will do for now.