Ancient (pre BCE)
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THE COSO ARTIFACT
Someone asked me the other day… why continue writing incendiary articles if it just fosters controversy and hate in the comments. I responded: Post anything on the Internet, you’ll get hate in the comments. Also… (rubs hands together evilly) YOUR RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION GIVES ME STRENGTH. The Coso Artifact was discovered near Olancha, California by some folk who were prospecting for geodes on February 13th, 1961 – a Monday, if you’re interested. They found what appeared to be a 500,000 year old geode (allegedly dated by an accredited geologist) containing a man-made object. The “man-made” object in question was a spark plug. Yeah. Spark plug found inside a half a million…
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Early empires – success and failure.
We started our look at the development of empires and cities by looking at the beginnings of sedentary lifestyles from those of nomadic hunter-gatherers at the end of the last glacial period. In this part, we will take a quick look at some of the issues that these early civilisations encountered and whether they contributed to the success or failure of those civilisations. Although initially one would presume that political domination would be a key feature in the rise of an empire, and social inequality would be the result, it is my view that they were not necessarily factors. By comparing different strategies from both the Ancient and the New…
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The Effect of Population Growth on Early Societies
Something a little bit different for you tonight. I thought I would discuss the impact on civilisations, at the point where Hunter-Gatherers settled into the life of sedentary agriculturalists, from the period of the end of the last ice age, more than 8000 years ago. The failure to adapt to the changing needs of a growing population will eventually cause that population to fail. Social and environmental adaptation will sometimes in turn promote larger populations, and in consequence, further problems. By definition it is difficult to assess what constitutes the success or failure of a civilisation. Many factors can be involved, for instance, by what time-span do we measure success?…
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Easter
A quick read for you while you tuck into your chocolate eggs. Easter…. Where did it come from? The venerable Bede noted in his work ‘Reckoning of Time’ that there had been a celebration during the early Anglo-Saxon period of the Goddess Eostre, from the Germanic Ostara, from the month of her name Ostarmanoth. Eostre is closely associated with the Goddess of Dawn, re-birth and mother nature, demonstrating the renewal of the Earth in Spring-time. Her symbol is the Hare. Due to her association with the Dawn and new life, Eostre is closely paired with the Norse Freyja, Goddess of fertility, however Freyja is more closely symbolized by cats, as…
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The History of the Wedding Ceremony!
But what about the origins of the nuptials? It’s fun imagining early Hunter-Gatherers standing at the altar in a big white frock, but in seriousness it more than likely didn’t happen that way. We have no clear understanding of how pre-historic matches took place. But we can theorise that they were much simpler in practice. Disregarding the classic myth of caveman dragging the object of his desire by the hair to the nearest cave, hunter gatherers mated for life more often than not, pairing was based on physical attributes, with males choosing a female who was strong, fit and well-shaped, all classic signs of healthy and fertile. Males would be…
