Ancient (pre BCE)
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The Etruscans
Before the Romans, there was another advanced civilization living in central Italy- the Etruscans. Not much is known about them, and what we do know comes from the Romans, who threw off their rule to become independent. Therefore, most of our view of them are colored by Roman attitudes, which were less than favorable. Who were the Etruscans really? The Etruscans lived in central Italy in an area including Tuscany, western Umbria and northern Lazio. Some theories say the Etruscans were descendents of the “Sea Peoples”. This would have made them a mix of peoples including the biblical Canaanites or Phoenicians. Hellanicaus of Lesbos wrote in the 5th century BCE…
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Nin-kasi- “The Lady who fills the mouth (with Beer)”
The first beer was discovered by the Sumerians around 6000 BCE. In ancient Mesopotamia and Sumeria, women were the first to develop, sell and drink beer. In fact, women were the only ones who were allowed to brew beer or run taverns, according to beer historian, Jane Peyton. This first beer was baked grains were broken into pieces and stuffed into a pot. Water, and sometimes aromatics, fruit or honey, were added (creating a basic mash and wort) and left to ferment. The brilliant Babylonians then came up with the straw, which allowed drinkers to get the fermented liquid out of the pot without having to chew through the grain…
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Skara Brae
A large storm battered the coast of Orkney Island off Scotland in the winter of 1850. This is not unusual as the winds there are so strong that trees cannot grow. What was different about this storm was that the high tides and winds stripped grass and sand from mound known as “Skerrabra” revealing the outline of a number of stone buildings. The outlines of the buildings fascinated one of the landowners, William Watt, and he hired Orcadian Antiquarian, George Petrie, to excavate. Petrie worked at the site and presented his progress at the April 1867 meeting of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. This is the official story…
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The Uffington White Horse
Carved into the hills of Oxfordshire, is a stylized figure of a horse. The elegant figure is almost 400 feet long and was created by deep trenches filled with crushed white chalk. The Horse is one of many hill carvings in England and is located on the Berkshire Downs below Whitehorse Hill, a mile and a half south of the village of Uffington. It is best viewed from afar or from above. It was thought that the Horse was created in the Iron Age and looks as if it is running towards the Iron Age fort of Uffington Castle.. The figure of the Horse was used on Iron Age coins…
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Why History is Sexy
Phoebe owes me a proper date after this one. That means a full meal, in the evening, and a proper goodnight kiss. I promise only to press the advantage to 2nd base. I am a gentleman after all. I had this conversation not too long ago with a “muggle” friend of mine. I was wittering on about some cave paintings recently discovered that are about 45,000 (okay, 42,000 but what is one or two millennium between friends?) years old and saw that her eyes were glazed over as she was holding her hands in front of her like she was trying NOT to grab her phone and play Candy Crush.…
