Blackbeard's Revenge Blackbeard the pirate is a figure who seems to belong more to legend than to fact. It is believed that he was English who may have come from Bristol. In order to frighten his enemies and crew, he was known for stuffing smoking fuses in his hair for dramatic effect. In one famous incident, he shot Isreal Hands, one of his most trusted men, in the knee. His excuse was that if he didn't kill one of his crew now and then, they would forget who he was. His ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, was the most powerful warship and allowed him to rule the waves from the Caribbean to the North Carolina coast. However, this power was short-lived for he had the ship for less than a year before it sank. According to an eyewitness, this was on the 10th of June 1718 at Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina. The ship had ran aground on a sandbar at the mouth of the inlet. It was obvious from the position of a ship anchor that Blackbeard had made strenuous efforts to pull the ship off but to no avail. It was then left to the elements. Blackbeard, promptly, abandoned some unwanted crewmembers on a barren island. They would have died if a ship hadn't passed by a few days later. The 'Queen Anne's Revenge' was originally a French vessel called The Concorde. She was transporting African slaves to the Caribbean, when in 1717, Blackbeard had captured her off the island of Martinique. The pirate was fortunate because the Concorde crew were weakened with dysentery and the remaining healthy crewmembers were in no position to defeat the pirates after a long and tiring voyage. Through the Queen Anne's Revenge and his three other ships, Blackbeard captured some 23 ships and stripped them of anything of value. Just the sight of his flag, which shows a skeleton of the devil carrying a spear and an hourglass, made many ships surrender without a fight. The Royal Navy was helpless because they had just ten ships to police the entire American coastline. Later in 1718, Blackbeard sought shelter on the island of Ocracoke which is a hundred miles away to the north. On November 21st the pirates came ashore at Springer's Point. It is believed that they met up with other pirates and celebrated the night away. However, two vessels of the Royal Navy were lying in wait and attacked early the next day. Blackbeard fought furiously as he was determined never to surrender. He died after being shot five times and had 20 sword cuts.

I hope this is ok. I thought it was interesting, but there was so much more on the actual programme. It's a pity they have to condense it. Thankyou Marcia for the information on my rocks. They are sitting at home on the arm of the sofa at the moment. ( I have nowhere else to put them at the moment!)

Hi viola, nice to see you back again. Why does it not surprise me that you have nowhere else to put your lovely rock - hee hee! want some suggestions???). (Ignore me I'm just jealous!) Which programme was that - I think I must have missed the listing.

Viola, it might be a migratory rock from Hawaii and bad luck - I think I need to have it here for your safety and for my own collection (only fooling, of course because I am jealous, too) Had to shoot Blackbeard 5 times? He was as hard to kill as Rasputin was! Thanks for the interesting read. I hope we get the program over here - eventually, as all things always are!

The programme was on last monday night on BBC1 and is a series exploring different subjects. Next week it had something to do with the exploration of Pandora's Box (?) if that means anything to you? The series is called 'Voyages to the Bottom of the Sea'. Enjoy! The stone is still in the living room. I just hope the insane one doesn't throw it away, (although that would be a first!) I shall treasure it and keep my eyes open for any more.

Viola, take it to Uni and scan it. Save it as a jpeg file and send it me. Put it on the scanner so the hole is pointing downwards and the scanner light can show up the crystals. I think we're coming down sometime next month so maybe we can go exploring again. Do NOT let the insane one get hold it !!!! Hide it or something. P.S. thump Spanna for me please - with pleasure, and tell her to stop messing with your email or else!

Yes, Pandora's Box means something to me The only thing which did not get out was Hope. Famine, pestilence and all those good things did get out! The HMS Pandora is at the bottom of the sea...I wonder if that is the one which they will be exploring?!

THE MYSTERY OF THE COCAINE MUMMIES. The mystery that baffled Egyptologists and called into question whole areas of accepted scientific fact. In 1992, routine tests on a mummy in a Munich museum revealed high body levels of cocaine and nicotine. But such substances were not available in ancient Egypt, as they come from the Americas which were not to be 'discovered' for thousands of years after the passing of the Egyptian dynasties. Are the mummies fakes? Were the substances from plants that have since disappeared? Or were there trade routes between Egypt and South America that predate accepted chronology? If you have questions about any of the science subjects raised in the programme, or any other science topic, you can call the experts at Science Line on: 0808 800 4000. All calls are free and lines are open 1pm to 7pm Monday to Friday. Sorry there isn't more. I have tried to access the site and the time team site as well but so far I have had no luck. Thankyou for the messages. I will hit spanna very hard and let you know if she bruises.

[Aren't you trying to get Spanna's attention rather than inflicting damage on her?!] Viola, that is a teasing bit of information there. Most curious to know what they discover!

It is similar to the mystery concerning the golden peanuts found in an ancient Chinese tomb. Peanuts are New World plants and would have been unknown in China at that time. The golden peanuts were small pieces of gold worked into little sculptures of peanuts.

Peanuts are native to Brazil. Most interesting! Maybe they have just not found the progenitor of the peanut we know today. There is no reason a similar legume could not have been native to China - many of these plants produce underground nodules which fix nitrogen in the soil.

It's marine archeology evening here. Just seen underwater exploration in the dead sea looking for Sodom and Gomorrah, and the pandora's box/ship programme Viola talked about. I'll see if I can trace a URL for them as they were both so interesting.

Thank you for that, Maggie - I'm far too claustrophobic to ever find underwater archaeology fun IRL, but I am fascinated by watching others do it.

I loved the special which ran last year on tv about underwater archaeology concerning the city of Alexandria in Egypt. They found pieces of the Pharos in the harbor.

Oh yes....and lots of obelisks and other neat stuff. Everything but the Library...but don't get me started on that...*sigh*

MMmm we had that here too. I couldn't cope with being in a submarine though. I love watching it - but the thought of being shut up and under water - yuk! mind, the thought of being shut up anywhere ........ (Yes, I'm going to bed!!!)

G'night Maggie...*lol*

Just read all your responses. Sorry, that was all the info that was available although I was able to get the info on Pandora's Box... PANDORA'S SECRETS. On the 28th of August 1792, the HMS Pandora sank off the northern coast of Australia when she had hit a reef, keeled over and sank. She was on her way back to Britain with 14 prisoners but hadn't found any trace of the Bounty. Her mission had started two years previously when she left Britain with orders to arrest the mutineers and bring the Bounty home. In 1789, the first mate, Fletcher Christian, had cast Captain Bligh and 18 others adrift in an open boat. However, the boat wasn't large enough to take all the crew members who wanted no part of the mutiny. Captain Bligh had noted their innocence so these crewmembers greeted the Pandora when it arrived at the island of Tahiti. However the Pandora captain quickly slapped them in irons. He then sent soldiers to capture the six mutineers who had fled into the mountains. After eighteen days, they were all captured and brought to the ship. The 14 prisoners, guilty and innocent alike, were then caged in a specially built eleven foot wooden cell on the top deck. It was nicknamed Pandora's box and it was like a sauna with only two tiny gratings supplying the only fresh air. In it's search of the Bounty, the Pandora came within two days sailing of Pitcairn Island where the Bounty mutineers had settled. However the mutineers fate was only revealed to the outside world when they were discovered some fifteen years later. In the night that the Pandora sank, some thirty-five men lost their lives. The diving team discovered the remains of three men who had gone down with the ship. One of the skeletons was discovered in the Captain's cabin. His skull was intact and forensic anatomist Meiya Sutisno was able to reconstruct his face. It is believed that he was Robert Bowler who was the pursers steward. The University of Queensland are keen to establish the identity of these three skeletons from the Pandora casualty list. To aid their research, they would like to hear from direct living descendants of the Pandora crew. If you are able to help, please find more details in their website address. It is in our Wrecks and Diving information guide. The Pandora survivors managed to climb aboard tenders and reach the safety of a sand cay. After two days on the baking sand cay, the survivors climbed into four open boats and Captain Edwards took them to the Dutch island of Timor, a journey of some 1,000 miles. There, they purchased a larger ship and sailed back to England. It had been an epic journey of nearly 30,000 miles. Captain Edwards was court-martialled for the loss of his ship but acquitted. Of the prisoners, six were found guilty and two publicly hung. The remainder were acquitted or pardoned. Today, the descendants of the mutineers of the Bounty still live on Pitcairn Island. Hope you find this interesting. I wasn't able to watch the programme about Sodom and Gomorrah but I hope it was good. Gotta go, I shall try and trace Time Team for you. Bye...

Viola, that was not only good..it was spectacular. Thanks for posting it. It is what was indistinctly remembered about the HMS Pandora saga. Time Team has an excellent website with panoramic scenes which are zoomable. Great stuff!

Thanks Viola, I didn't get round to looking at the site. I sat curled up in bed watching all this, absolutely enthralled.

Ta for your messages. Please can you tell me if the new Time Team website is available yet as I was unable to access it. Also, I think that the series finished last week!!!!! Now my Sunday nights will be extremely dull!

Viola, Maggie posted this and it is bookmarked for all time in my Netscape http://www.channel4.com/nextstep/timeteam/

Thankyou Marcia, that is brilliant!!!!! By the way, did you get maggie's message from spanna? Her modem is down and will probably be broken for quite a while but she is hoping to visit in a few weeks and will hopefully be able to use the computers here.

Yes, thank you! I am shortly to answer her note. Thanks for reminding me. *hugs* to her from me!

I'm back on!!!! HI! We took the lid off (the computer silly!) and transferred the modem to another com port, and it seems my comport 1 has died not the modem. hence why I am online at 10.30 in the morning - with permission of course! Thanks Spanna and Viola for keeping me in touch!

Aha!!! That is why you are here! Good news. I thought you have "borrowed" someone else's computer for the duration. Welcome back!

Is this the relevan spot to report findings of new Sphinxes in Egypt found just recently. Apparently they are in a row forming some form of road. Just a short paragraph reported on our teletext in Oz. Has anyone else more information. It looks quite fascinating what they have found

Thanks Anne, hadn't seen that, will look out for it now.

Couldn't find reference to what Anne was saying, but I fouind this site which looks to have some interesting stories of discoveries. http://www.earthchangestv.com/egypt/index.htm

This is the place. The benefit of living where we get the morning last. It gives everyone else a chance to post neat stuff where I can find it when I awaken. I shall look for the sphinxes, too. Maggie!!! I think you hit the Mother-lode of goodies. Will post things from that site I am sure. Mahalo, Dear!

Hiya folks, just thought that this might interest you. It's the next episode in the series of Voyages to the Bottom of the Sea. This (and much more) can be accessed at www.bbc.co.uk/history. Cromwell's Forgotten Wreck In the summer of 1653, Oliver Cromwell sent a fleet of six vessels to finally crush the Royalist uprising in Scotland. One of these ships was the 'Swan' whose mission was to seize Duart Castle, a Royalist stronghold which overlooks the Sound of Mull. When the Swan arrived on the 5th of September 1653, the Royalists had already fled so the Castle put up no resistance. The ship was sunk, eight days later, during a violent storm. Anchored in the bay, the ship was torn free and the wind drove her repeatedly against the rocks before she sank. She was to be lost for some 300 years before being discovered by a naval diver in 1979. The Swan had been built in 1641 and started life in the King's service. However in 1645, while their captain was away, the crew did a deal with the Parliamentarians. In a ritual handover, they surrendered their weapons in a pledge of loyalty for Cromwell. The Parliamentarian authorities then ceremonially returned their weapons and the crew sailed for the Parliamentarian cause. The wreck was identified as the Swan because of a wooden carving which had been raised from the wreck. On it, was the carved badge of the heir apparent to the throne. This proved that the ship had been under the command of Charles I. After sifting through the archives, a letter from the 1600's was discovered which helped pinpoint the wreck's identity. It was from the Scottish Parliamentarian Commander, Robert Lilburn to Oliver Cromwell. Robert Lilburn mentions three Parliamentarian ships including the Swan which were sunk in Scottish waters at this time. However, the Swan was the only one which had been 'captured' from the Royalists. Clearly the wreck must be the Swan. Now, the wreck is the subject of painstaking research by leading marine archaeologist, Colin Martin, who has written our History of marine archaeology. In order to protect the fragile wreck, it has been designated as a protected wreck which means that there is a exclusion zone around it and no one can dive it without licence

Just found some more interesting info from the same site... The Black Hand For over 30 years on a remote and isolated spot on the Cheshire Borders, a strange mound has caused some puzzlement. In 1962, farmer Gerry Fair, first had the idea that it may be of historical importance. Meet the Ancestors took up the baton and soon discovered that this was once the site of a chapel. Cistercian Monks had built an abbey here in 1158 and the fact that they were Cistercian held the key to the chapel's remote location. They loved wild places and part of their ethic was to convert wild, barren places into productive land. An early 17th century map has the Poulton Chapel still standing, but was probably not used after Henry VIII's Reformation. The chapel and surrounding land had passed on to a local family called the Manleys around the 14th century. A meeting with amateur genealogist Joyce Cook and a visit to the Cheshire Records Office put Julian Richards firmly on the trail of the Manleys. Carefully maintained local papers and documents, identified wealthy landowner Sir Nicholas Manley's will dated 1520. In it he states "My body will be buried in the chapel of Poulton in the church in the chancel, and after my death and my wife's. A priest to be found to sing there for my soul". Armed with this new knowledge, Julian went back to locate the chancel. Site archaeologist Mike Emery had already discovered some graves here, but unfortunately the skeletons were not good enough to restore. However, in the middle of the chancel (what would be considered prime spot) a very well-preserved male skeleton had been found. Initial exploration indicated that it was dated around 1500 - the time of the Manleys. All the bones were carefully removed and taken for analysis to Bradford University. Bone specialist, Charlotte Roberts confirmed the bones belonged to a man measuring 6'3", and probably in his late fifties. This was enough information for medical artist Richard Neeve to begin reconstructing his face. Meanwhile Joyce Cook had established the Manley family tree from Sir Nicholas in the 1500's to present day. Julian managed to track down Michael Roger Manley, a direct descendant if DNA analysis linked the skeleton in the grave to him. Both Michael and his son Mark left body fluids for DNA testing. Unfortunately the special type of DNA they needed for testing could not be found in any of the bones. However there was another clue which may have linked them. The Manley family crest was a black hand and it had been suggested by Joyce that the name Manley could have come from the French word "main" meaning hand. Michael and Mark Manley both have very large hands and so did our man in the grave. Although, not conclusive, many of the pieces of the ancestral jigsaw do fit together, the modern day Manleys may well have found their ancestor. Footnote: All of the burials from the Poulton chapel site will, after study, be given a Christian reburial at a Cistercian monastery Many people have asked if we tried to use DNA to prove the link that had been established by genealogical research. Yes we did. At Glasgow University Dr Will Goodwin is still working on the samples of ancient and modern DNA. This was always going to be difficult though as male lineage can only be determined by using Y chromosone DNA of which there is much less than the mytochondrial DNA that is passed through the female line. Although Y chromosone DNA is widely used to determine paternity, there are great difficulties in trying to use it in a case where as many as 16 transfers from father to son may have taken place.

OOOOOOOOOO! Neat stuff. Thanks Viola. Btw, when you want to post a link, put the http:// in front of the www stuff and it will auto-magically make it a hotlink as in http://www.bbc.co.uk/history.

That programme Meet the Ancestors' is amazing - I watch it every week. The finds made in U.K. are quite amazing from Roman matron to Anglo Saxon 12 year old girl - this is where we are at present - I shall watch again tonight. The way they make up the skull into a face absolutely amazes me. Thank you to Viola for that special info.

I missed the aquatic archeology on monday because of french class and we forgot to record it. Don't suppose you did Viola???

Sorry maggie, The under water programme was not videoed although we did video meet the ancestors. (Is that any help?) From viola.

2000 series: York 26 March, 6pm One thousand years of British history in three days As if trying to discover all that can be discovered about a site in just three days wasn't challenge enough, when the Time Team Live programme went to York in September 1999, the Team set themselves three very different sites to investigate as well. 'I know,' you can imagine some bright spark at the Time Team planning meeting suggesting. 'York has got lots of remains from the Roman, Viking and medieval periods. Instead of choosing between them, why don't we go for all three?' And so it was that Tony Robinson and the team of experts found themselves faced with the challenge of explaining 1,000 years of British history over a sunny late summer weekend. The three sites explored at York comprised: A Roman cemetery under the lawn of the Victorian Royal York Hotel next to York railway station. Here the Team uncovered three skeletons -- belonging to a young man, a mature woman and, most poignantly, a four-year-old girl. Next to the young man were chicken bones, the remains of a 'feast for the dead' to mark his passage to the afterlife. Other finds included various coins and fragments of glass, similar to that made in a reconstruction of Roman glass-making techniques carried out for the programme. A Viking 'tenement block' beneath a derelict plot at Walmgate. Similar to the building found at Coppergate during the 1970s, this excavation produced remains of wattle boundary fences, amber, leather-working and grains, seeds and nuts indicative of the Viking diet. It also yielded a superb glass bead, unlike anything found in Britain before. The medieval hospital of St Leonard's, in the Museum Gardens by the River Ouse. This site was fully explored, making it possible to locate all the major structures of this large medieval complex. There was also a second world war air raid shelter, uncovered on the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of war and stretching the period covered by the Team excavations in York to the best part of two millennia. The Team's trip to York was not only covered live on television. Events were reported as they unfolded on the Time Team Live website. By far the most ambitious such project yet attempted in British archaeology on the internet, this attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors during the course of the weekend. Even before the Team got to York, the website was up and running with a wealth of detail about the city, its history, past excavations and sources of further information and reading. And during the weekend, our cyber-team backed up what was appearing on the television screens with a huge range of material covering every aspect of the excavations. RealVideo snippets revealed off-screen activity, while RealAudio interviews with the Team and other experts gave the lowdown on what was happening at the three main sites and in the incident room. In between the live broadcasts, a diary and regular updates provided detailed reports of what was going on. Questions were answered and discussions took place on the Forum. And photos and information about the finds were posted almost as soon as they were made. You can still access all of this information by exploring the Live web pages and reading through the 'Old Topics' on the Time Team Forum. York Archaeological Trust is planning to run a training excavation at the St Leonard's hospital site, York (as featured on Time Team), in the summer of 2000. If you would like details of this, information will be posted on the York Archaeological Trust website www.yorkarch.demon.co.uk as soon as arrangements have been finalised; or send a stamped-addressed envelope to: York Archaeological Trust Training Excavations 2000 Cromwell House 13 Ogleforth York YO1 7FG TIM TAYLOR, TIME TEAM SERIES PRODUCER ON THE YORK LIVE EVENT: The live programme is now a regular event in Time Team's calendar. Because of the pressures and tight time scale, it is ultimate television of a particular kind -- the polar opposite in some ways of the documentary. It involves a huge technical and logistical support team -- more than a hundred staff, camera crews, edit suites, satellite vans, a website team and three teams of archaeologists alongside our presenters: Tony, Sandy Toksvig, our live 'stalwart', and, in York, Paul Thompson. The financial investment is huge, as is the pressure for the archaeology to deliver. Although Time Team accept that we will not always find what we hope for, and that this is the reality of archaeology and part of the ethos of the programme, the atmosphere of a 'live' makes it difficult if there are too many archaeological dead ends. There were three sites in York and this, and the knowledge that wherever you dig there you are likely to find archaeology, gave us a certain amount of security. Each transmission for live television has to be a specific length, and must be timed and scripted so that Tony can read the linking pieces to camera that introduce each new section on autocue. From the start, the script assumes a certain progress in the archaeology. The researchers and I try to be as realistic as possible, but there is something slightly unreal about a script, prepared a month before a shoot, that reads: '11-o-clock day one, locate remains of Roman burials on the cemetery site.' Somehow reality, technology and expectation have to be matched up. The director, Jeremy Cross, has to attempt to keep a grip on the production, transmission and developing story lines, while the researchers, assistant producers and Philip Clarke, the executive producer, adjust the storyline, scripts and autocue pieces to camera so that they show what is actually happening. I keep them aware of where the archaeology is going and push or drag the excavations and discoveries in the direction that is best for the programme. I also have to make sure the archaeology is not misrepresented, which involves negotiating both the speed and the strategy of the excavations with the local archaeologists -- in York they were John Oxley from the City Council, Keith Emerick from English Heritage and the site supervisors, Nick Pearson, Patrick Ottaway and Barney Sloane. I also receive vital information from our Time Team diggers. We need to achieve the programme's archaeological goals without pushing the archaeology further than is appropriate. On Day Two of the York dig we faced a situation that is typical of the issues that arise on Time Team excavations. A third burial had emerged at the Roman cemetery site and there was also additional evidence from geophysics -- who had, with their usual accuracy, located the first burial site for us. They had found a 'curved shaped' anomaly that might indicate a building. The local archaeologists were convinced that there was not enough time left to excavate both targets. At the end of the day, the key parties -- John Oxley, Keith Emerick, Nick Pearson, Mick Aston and I -- tucked ourselves into a cosy corner at the Royal York Hotel to go over the options. The script team and directors were meeting upstairs to develop the next day's story lines and needed to know, as soon as possible, the direction the archaeology would take. Despite a certain amount of pressure from them, Mick and I were determined to listen to what the archaeologists had to say. After an hour we arrived at an agreement that allowed the excavation to expand into the new sites but ensured that the excavators would have as much time as they needed to do their job properly and record the results. With Time Team's diggers, York's experienced excavators and Margaret Cox and her team of osteoarchaeologists on hand, we made a good case that the work would be carried out to the highest standards. This kind of discussion -- balancing programme requirements with archaeological need -- is a regular and vital event on Time Team shoots, and the fact that we achieved this within the pressure of a live programme is a measure of its importance. A final memory of York illustrating another crucial element to the balancing act that is Time Team was at the end of Day Three. Everyone was exhausted as we approached our last segment of the transmission, at the Roman cemetery. I had walked through all Tony Robinson's next sequences with Phil Harding, Margaret Cox and the other archaeologists, checking responses and giving them a sense of how long they might have for spontaneous chat. When Tony arrived, surrounded by cameramen and sound crews trailing cables and accompanied by his autocue operator, he talked to Margaret about the first two burials and then turned to Phil who would be taking him on to the next trench. Tony's opening question didn't get the usual obvious answer. Live sequences are usually high on adrenaline and scattered with words like 'amazing' and 'incredible', but Phil had been given space to respond. The crowds of local people who had looked on patiently for three days were attentive. Phil had been watching the excavation of a four-year-old child, who had died in Roman York more than 1,700 years ago. He commented on the smallness of the ribs and Tony told him that the results of DNA tests showed the skeleton was that of a girl. Phil, clearly moved, talked for a few minutes about his feelings about the child's death. Watching Phil and Tony create that moment -- the cameras and microphones capturing it for transmission to an audience of millions -- was for me a defining event. We hadn't glossed over that small tragedy and rushed to the next item. In a way, the balance Time Team achieves between television and archaeology was encapsulated in that moment -- which happened because of the teamwork of the people who had taken part in the programme, and was made possible by the relationships that had been forged over three days with the local archaeologists and diggers, and the people of York who came in their thousands to see the sites.

I can remember looking at York Cathedral from the train as we paused there on the way to Scotland...How I wanted to get out and look around. Alas, there was no time on our packed (by me) itinerary. *sigh* Perhaps one day I will get back and take the time to tour the digs in York. They sound fascinating!

Thanks for posting that Viola, I totally forgot. I've never been to York , but I'd like to go sometime.

This appeared in the Sunday Times yesterday. Marcia, I sent you the picture if you want to put it in. Medieval Zoo found at the Tower of London Excavation work beneath the ramparts of the Tower of London has revealed new evidence of a medieval menagerie which held an extraordinary array of animals. A dig under the Lion Tower and new research in royal, cathedral and university archives have produced proof that 100 different species were once housed within the walls of the palace. Bones of rhinoceroses, antelopes and tigers have been discovered as well as the skins of snakes and alligators. The remains of ostriches, brought by sailing ship from Africa have also been found. The huge flightless birds died after they were fed nails because their keeper thought that iron was good for them. One was found with 90 nails in its throat. The menagerie was founded during the Crusades in the reign of King John (1199-1216) and was closed in 1835 when London Zoo opened in Regent�s Park. Never bigger than the size of a �largish suburban garden� according to researcher, the Tower zoo stood beneath what is now the West Tower, near the Thames. Most of the early animals came through kings and some queens of Europe exchanging gifts. �. The King of Norway sent his polar bear to Henry III in about 1250 and the elephant, a year or so later was from a French monarch, who in turn had taken it from the Middle East. The elephant walked from Kent to the capital, but died after it was plied with wine to keep out the cold. The polar bear fared better, swimming and living off fish in the Thames. A zebra also made it�s way to the Tower and was regularly ridden by a young boy as it paraded around a tiny yard. �Sometimes animals had been captured in wars, � said Rory Browne (Professor of History at Harvard) �Captive lions, in particular, really appealed to kings. After all the king himself was the arch beast�. Hence Henry III during whose reign the Tower zoo was substantially built up, had three lions on his coat of arms. �.. Although experts had been aware of the existence of the zoo, the excavations, partly financed by BBC2s Timewatch programme, have revealed extraordinary details of the historic animal residents of one of England�s most famous i stitutions. The programme will be shown in the UK on BBC2 on Saturday 15th April at 8 pm

Maggie's Scanned Photo

A man approached a local in a village he was visiting. "What's the quickest way to York?" The local scratched his head. "Are you walking or driving?" he asked the stranger. "I'm driving." "That's the quickest way!"

That is quite bizarre!!!!!

How so?

...the story I mean. By the way, I've just visited the channel 4 website and there are quite a few interesting sites there. The site is http://www.channel4.com , then click on nextstep and you can visit all the history, eg Time Team. There is another good page called To The Ends of the Earth. All are highly recomended. Also Marcia, did maggie send you a photo of me and spanna? If she did please believe me when I tell you that my teeth are nowhere near as big as they look in the photo.

Oh my goodness!!!!! I can't believe I'm actually writing to you at the same time as you are writing. Spanna has suggested that I change my pseudonym for a joke so I thought maybe I'd call myself something original...like...bananapants...???

...AND, for those who are interested, there is an article on http://www.bbc.co.uk/history about the history of Christian art and the images of Jesus. The programme is actually on tonight but for those who can't watch it I hope the website will be satisfactory. Well gotta go, there is a programme I videoed this evening about the dead sea scrolls which I am going to watch now. Goodnight!

The history of the depiction of Jesus is a really interesting topic. The earliest pictorial depictions of Jesus from the Roman Empire show him as a beardless young man. The convention of depicting a bearded Christ came about at about the time of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire. Jesus was always depicted as a beautiful young man, within the conventions of Byzantine Art. He was shown as having an oval face, wide eyes, a very straight, narrow nose, small mouth, and of course, a beard. Unfortunately, due to the efforts of the Iconoclasts very few icons remain from the Byzantine Empire. One of the most extraordinary and beautiful to survive is Christ Pantocrator from the Monastery of St. Catherine in Sinai. Pantocrator means judge, so Christ is shown holding the Book of Judgement. It is conventional in Eastern Orthodox Christian religious art to present Jesus as Christ the Redeemer or Christ the Judge. The St. Catherine's icon is notable because the the two halves of Christ's face are different. This was in ended to present both the human and divine natures of Jesus. The icon is also the work of artist of extraordinary talent. As far as I know,the artist is unknown, and was probably one of the monks.

Don't worry viola the directions to york were for me!! did you see the ark of the covenant programme this evening. i meant to phone you about it.

Hang on... I need to check that link since it will be absolute ages before the US gets the program - if we do at all... Thanks for the URLs and the interesting articles. Now, if I could only get my sticky fingers into the good soil of England and muck about for a while....*sigh*

well you do it virtually alll the time!!! *grin* (Yes, I'm goinggggggg)

Picture is lovely, Viola. *Hugs* I am totally enchanted and shall not share with a soul if that is your wish. We gotta get back on tomorrow/later at the same time. It is fun and really amazing considering the distance involved.

Maggie! It is Waaaaaaay past your bed time. You need adult supervision *grin* Christ in Byzantine art is supposedly influenced by the classic Greek extant likenesses of Alexander the Great. From thence they were permutations thereof. Russian Orthodox Icons were much different and most likely had and idealized image gleaned from many sources. Cheryl, do you know of any URLs where the Two-sided Icon might be found? I would love to see it and if I can get it small enough, to post it.

ooo I fogot I've got a lovely little icon on my wall - i shall get it down and scan it. i found it in a junk hsop years ago. it's very old.

Does it have jewels? Is it Russian Orthodox sort? I am most interested in seeing it. How interesting. Your Junque Shoppes have much nicer things in them than ours. Out here it is just that - Junk!

Out here, Very Old and Prehistoric means before Captain Cook. Very old in Europe can be a whole other millennium. How old? Any maker's marks on the back?

No, nothing fancy, very plain in fact. It's orthodox, but I haven't traced it yet. I doubt it's valuable but I like it. It was almost black when I got it. i cleaned it with bread and grapeseed oil, and it has come up well. I'm scanning it now. I don't know how it will come up because it's not too bright.

You know how to tend old things. I am used to people telling me they used abrasive cleanser or steel wool to get the "old stuff" off. *shudder* I'll probably scan better than shiny-bright which causes flare.

Have you got it yet?

Maggie's Icon: Please tell us of what material and method it is made.

Can anyone read the Greek text? Maggie says she paid �1 for it!

Quarter inch depth piece of wood. Just a little over 5 inches tall by just under 4 inches wide. I think it is oils, although it may be some kind of print I suppose, the surface is very crackled. The edges are very worn. It has a rustic feel to it.

Is there any other color but black outline? Might it be pen and ink? Or is the entire surface painted? (What do you want for �1 ?!)

I don't understand the question. what black outline? no it's definitely notpen and ink, it's antique paint surface of on oily kind. there is ia slight sheen to most of it if you tilt it - that came back after i'd restored it.

The only color I can see is the background color and the black outline which details the image. I was just curious if there were other colors involved or is what we see what you see?!

No I see the picture as it is normally. I think something is seriously wrong in how you are seeing it.

I can't make out much of the greek text on the icon, but I think it starts out as "I am the light of the world", or something like that. I'll take another look when I'm less tired. Here's a link to some Orthodox icons: http://www.ocf.org/OrthodoxPage/icons/icons.html

Oooh, Ginny!!!! Thanks! How could I forget?!

(Ginny is Greek!!! for those who do not frequent other topics on other conferences...)

I wish I had learned to speak Greek! My grandmother tried to teach me, and I got as far as learning the alphabet and pronunciation, but I never got the hang of Greek grammar. I do have a Greek-English dictionary, though...

me too, from NT greek study days, but I've forgotten most of it. If I can figure out how to post speical characters in here I'll try and post the inscription. I think it's a well known bible verse, so once we've figured some key words I will be able to find it.

Thank you Ginny. Nobody ever tried to teach me to read Greek. My Grandfather could read it of course and all of his children can read it to some degree or other. They, however, never tried to teach their children. Spoke to my mom, the semi-Luddite, she avoids computers as much as possible. Anyway, Mom can read some Greek, but since she avoids the internet like the plague, and I don't read Greek, I have to explain the icon as best I can over the telephone. Mom says from what she knows about icons the text is probably from the Gospel of John, as it seemed to be the most favored in some ways in the Orthodox Church. Mom also noted that the Eastern Orthodox Bible doesn't contain the Book of Revelations.

Fascinating! Gotta blow up the texts of both icons and get them off to Ginny for further work. Remember this is old Greek, not contemporary stuff...!

Maggie, your computer has a little handy program called Character Map and using it you can summon up the complete Greek alphabet plus stuff like � � � and the rest of the fun things in there.

Just to confirm the conclusions already drawn, the Greek text says something close to: "Go eimi io phos tou kosmoi ho akolouthon emoi ou peripate dei en te skouia all' exei phos tes" (apologies for incorrect or obscured characters or transcriptions), and is unquestionably the original of John 8:12 "I am the light of the world; he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."

Thank you for the translation, Mark. How extraordianry, An Englishman who not only is a whiz (yes, you are!) at Cricket, but also likes baseball, and can read Greek. Just your ordinary well-bred and educated Briton...*sigh* It makes sense that the passage quoted above is the one the icon makers would use.

Thanks Mark, you got there just ahead of me. Here's my reading of it. Ego eimi to phostou kosmou ho akalouthon emoi ou me peripatesei I am the light of world the companion/disciple my (pl)where -ve follow en te skotia all exei to phos tes zoes in the darkness but go out the light of life The first E was actually in red and doesn't show up too well through the scanner, and the 'me' (-ve) was obscured by one of the hands.

Oh blow - I had it nicely interleaved and it got mucked up. sorry Ego eimi to phostou kosmou ho akalouthon emoi ou me peripatesei I am the light of world the companion/disciple my (pl)where -ve follow en te skotia all exei to phos tes zoes in the darkness but go out the light of life I'm trying again

Understood! Yapp software does incredible stuff with neatly arranged stuff. It likes to make its own decisions and they are not usually the way we planned them to appear...*sigh* Thanks all, for the translations. I sent Ginny a vastly enlarged copy of just the book and hands. Have not heard from her, yet...

This all sounds rather interesting stuff. How comes I missed it all? There seems to be lots more archaeology programmes on at the moment focusing on Christ and Biblical matters, but that's not really surprising considering the time of year! I hope you all have a great Easter and I shall try and access more info on any of the programmes that I have seen.

Nice to see you again Viola. Thanks for the treacle tart (it was yummy even if it was well done - my fault!). I'll show you the icon when you come to visit sometime!

Oooh, I NEED a treacle tart!!! The nearest one is probably in New Zealand. *sigh* I miss the stuff, too, Viola. Comeon over! We'll rent them when they come out on video...*grin*

(I hear she's gone home for the easter hols - she'll be back soon) There's a history of archeology programme on TV now, but I'm finding it a bit boring, not sure why. Out at dinner today, perusing my hosts bookshelves I came across the Watkins - the old straight track. Is that the one you were talking about earlier? T.s got interested now. I also picked up Wilcock -A guide to occult britain which I'm not sure about but will have a look. It does have some black and white photos.

Schleimann boring? Not so! Mostly about Britons, I'd venture to guess. Just my sort of program, actually...

From: Timothy Troy, University of California Berkeley Forwarded by: David Newbury, University of North Carolina dnewbury@unc.edu Prof. J. Desmond Clark, emeritus professor of paleoarchaeology at the University of California, Berkeley, and one of the preeminent paleoarchaeologist and Africanists in the world, has just shown me a copy of a March 29, 2000 article from the Daily Telegraph (London) entitled: "Last Record of African Explorers Faces Ruin." The article was written by Ishbel Matheson in Livingstone, Zambia. It reads in part: "A priceless collection of books and documents, detailing the earliest days of European exploration in Africa, is under threat of destruction. The Livingstone Museum in southern Zambia has hundreds of valuable books, written by the first missionaries, adventurers and prospectors in central Africa. But the building's leaking ceiling collapsed in recent heavy rains, and many publications were damaged beyond repair. Others need expensive conservation work to save them. Piles of ancient, sodden volumes, with subjects as diverse as elephant-hunting and native practices, have been left to dry in the tropical heat. Early newspapers, with vivid descriptions of life in what was then British-ruled Northern Rhodesia, can scarcely be opened, for fear of tearing fragile, brittle pages. Flexon Mizinga, the keeper of history at the museum, said: 'It means the whole history is wiped out. When you lose this kind ofthing, there is no replacement. You can't get copies anywhere else. These are the only copies we have. Valuable historical documents, which escaped the flood, are slowly disintegrating because the museum has no money for conservation. The original letters and journals of David Livingstone, the Scottish missionary, are the pride of the collection. He was the first European to discover the nearby Victoria Falls, and he is remembered affectionately in the area as a Christian who campaigned to stop slavery. His notebooks describing his second Zambezi [River] expedition in 1858 are stored in the museum, with those of his companions, even though the institution is ill equipped to preserve them. The journals of Sir John Kirk, a botanist, and Richard Thornton, a geologist, which record their first impressions of the African landscape and its commercial potential for the British Empire, are in battered cardboard boxes. The acidity of the brown paper which wraps the notebooks is slowly eating away the handwritten testimony of these Victorian explorers. In the museum's clock tower, amid a jumble of books and newspapers, is the work of Thomas Baines, an artist and a member of the Zambezi expedition. A beautiful first edition of his famous Victoria Falls watercolours lies on a tabletop, vulnerable to the fierce heat and high humidity of the southern Zambia climate. Kinglsey Choongo, a museum curator, says, 'The documents will not see the beginning of another century.' Family members of the early explorers and settlers gave historical items to the museum because they wanted their ancestors' contribution to this part of Africa remembered. It seems, however, that in Livingstone and Zambia the history of the whites in Africa is being erased from the national consciousness. Tim Holmes, an author, lives in Zambia and has written a biography of Dr. Livingstone. He believes the museum has been starved of funds because its collection is perceived as a relic from the colonial past.'After independence came, what Zambians wanted to know most of all, is their own history. The colonial history was seen as an irrelevant burden. But trying to ignore colonialaism is like trying to tell the history of Britain without the Romans.'It is the former colonial countries who are now trying to help the museum out of its immediate crisis. The European Union has pledged 250,000 pounds. Conservationists fear that the money is too late because so much damage has been done. Nor will it be enough for the extensive upgrade needed to preserve the collections." Dr. Clark was the director and primary curator of the Livingstone Museum in its early manifestations from 1937 to his departure for Berkeley, California in 1961. In 1951 he raised the funds needed for a major expansion of the museum complex and library in Livingstone. A modest man, Clark neverless has told me in recent oral history interviews I have conducted with him for the Regional Oral History Office of the Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley, that it was he who built the magnificent book and manuscript collection for the museum's library. He personally worked with the descendants of David Livingstone and others to do so. Though now eighty-four years old, Clark can list practically every rare book title, journal and manuscript collection which is held in the Livingstone Museum library. Curiously, however, Clark's great legacy to the world will be his work as a paleoarchaeolgist in Africa. The paleolithic and neolithic archaeolgical collections at the Museum are the result of his work over the course of his years working in Central and East Africa. It was always Clark's intention also to build the museum's collections and library for the Zambian people. In the 1950s he instituted museum outreach educational programs in a concerted effort to help the local peoples learn more about their early history. Long before other museums instituted the practice, Clark designed small, portable travelling exhibitions for this purpose. Understandably it saddens him greatly to see that the museum and its resources are falling into ruin. I would hope that IFLA and its membership could rally support for Flexon Mizinga, Kingsley Choongo and others in Livingstone who are waging the uphill battle to preserve what remains of this priceless library collection. Thank you for spreading the word.

This should be posted in Books conference...perhaps in the intro or conference business. Thanks, Maggie.

Hi, Yes, I am at home at the moment but I am at my parent's computer. I return to Chichester tomorrow. I'm afraid I haven't seen any more interesting programmes yet but I did get the Time Team book for Easter. If I come across anything worth scanning (which I probably will) I shall give it a try. There's loads of photos and interesting info. I shall show you when you next visit Chichester maggie, and I promise to make another treacle tart (this time cooked for just the right length of time!!!!!)

There you are! Yippee! Hope your Easter has been lovely, Dear...I am delighted to see you here if only for a moment. o created some new topics and posted a whizzo one on crop circles at Stonehenge...(no comment)

Tonight on the The Learning Channel they had a program on the Ark of the Covenant. I would like to hear from anyone who saw it. It covered all the bases from space men through the Knights Templar. Shades of Holy Blood, Holy Grail. It did not cover any new material, but it was interesting from the standpoint of seeing the places mentioned in all of the books on the subject. With the major omission of the Rennes-le-Chateau connection. They claimed (they being the Knights Templar and guardians of Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland) thatr there are no fewer than 5 Arks of the Covenant, and they are all still in existance. Of course, none of this could be proven, so it was an exercise in futility for those who wanted a definite yes or no to the question of its still existing. Please comment if you happened to see it.

There's supposed to be an Ark of the Covenant still in existence in Ethiopia. It's at St. Mary's Monastery, I believe. I'm sorry I don't know exactly where in Ethiopia. The Ark is the life-long responsibility of one of the monks, at his death another is chosen from among the brothers.

Yes! I have Graham Hancock's book on the subject. The TLC program I cited above was more current than the research GH did for his book. Neither of them got close to discovering its whereabouts. I suspect, for the devout, you will not change their belief of its whereabouts, and for those still searching, it will be like the Holy Grail...ever out of reach. Just... Aloha Saskia..*hugs*

The latest history of Archeology programme was much better than the two earlier ones. I still don't like the presenter's style much. This one was Schiemann and Petrie. The earier ones were BORING - and we like archeo programmes. Programme 1 Stones and Bones Over the past 250 years archaeologists have completely changed our view of human history. Before archaeology became a scientific discipline, most people thought that the Bible, which has been interpreted as saying that God put Adam and Eve on Earth one day in 4004BC, was literally true. Now, archaeologists have proved that hominids � that is, human beings and their immediate ancestors � have been around for about five million years. From the beginning, archaeologists have grappled with ways of answering the big question: where does the human race come from? Unlike other historians, they have had few documents to go on � instead, they have had to find answers through digging into the earth. The following sections trace the development of archaeology from its early beginnings at Herculaneum. 1736 VENUTI AND HERCULANEUM In southern Italy, which is divided into several independent states, a new king, Charles, begins his rule by buying a small estate on the Bay of Naples. He wants to have a large area on which to hunt. He is told that the farm is famous for its deep well, in which many ancient Roman statues have been found. The king sends his royal antiquary, Count Marcello Venuti, to take a look inside the well. He�s been told that an ancient temple is buried there, but he discovers a curving set of stone steps that look like theatre seats. Then he finds an ancient Roman inscription which tells him that it was a theatre and gives him the name of the city in which it had been built: Herculaneum. Venuti tells Charles that he has an ancient city buried under his estate. It had been covered in lava and ash when the volcano Vesuvius, which still exists, erupted on 24 August 79AD. People had known from manuscripts and books that this had happened, but no one knew exactly where the buried city was. Thirteen years later, Venuti discovers another buried city nearby. It is the now legendary Pompeii, which was covered by volcanic ash so rapidly that most of its buildings and all the everyday objects of its citizens were preserved. These discoveries illustrate the birth of archaeology because they show that remains of the past life of our ancestors are always with us � they are buried under the accumulated layers of time and can be found by excavation. 1816 THOMSEN and COPENHAGEN In Copenhagen, Denmark, Christian Thomsen � a pioneering coin-collector � is appointed keeper of the national archaeological collection. He discovers that although all the objects have been labelled, they have not been classified or arranged in any order. Thomsen decides that because early humans probably used the most advanced materials for weapons, he should organise these ancient objects according to what they were made out of. He arranges the artefacts into Stone Age objects, Bronze Age objects and Iron Age objects. By doing so, he invents a way of grouping what we find in the earth into a story, a history of progress from stone, through bronze and on to iron. His system of three ages is still used by museum curators. 1840s-1860s WORSAAE and DENMARK Christian Thomsen�s assistant at the national museum is Jens Jacob Worsaae. He�s been excavating since the age of 15 and he realises that by looking in Denmark�s ancient mound burials, he always finds the Stone Age burials below the Bronze Age burials and the Iron Age are always on top. From this fact, he concludes that the Stone Age is the most ancient and the Iron Age the most recent, with the Bronze Age in between. From now on, archaeologists can argue that artefacts found in different layers of the earth can be dated to different historical ages. Worsaae is appointed archaeologist royal, becoming the first professional archaeologist, and influencing scholars all over Europe. 1879 De SAUTUOLA and ALTAMIRA In the cave of Altamira, on the north coast of Spain, an amateur archaeologist Marcelino de Sautuola excavates the entrance in the company of his daughter Maria. She wanders inside the cave, looks up at the ceiling and exclaims: �Papa, papa, there are painted bulls.� At first, professional archaeologists don�t believe that such wonderful images could have been painted in the Stone Age, because they assume that early humans were barbarians. It is even suggested that de Sautuola faked them. However, similar paintings are soon found in French caves which have been sealed since ancient times, so their authenticity cannot be doubted. Altamira is dubbed �the Sistine Chapel of the Stone Age�. 1881 PITT-RIVERS and THEBES Augustus Henry Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers travels up the Nile to the ancient city of Thebes, modern-day Luxor. He finds ancient flints embedded in cemetery walls that are known to be 4,000 years old. The flints had been scraped up when the ancient Egyptians took excavated earth to build these walls. From this, Pitt-Rivers deduces that the flints are much older than the walls, and thus that the history of human beings goes back beyond the 4,000 years suggested by Biblical sources. These flints, he concludes, are older than the pharaohs. As well as making beautiful drawings of the tombs at Thebes, Pitt-Rivers also organises archaeological digs at his estate in Cranbourne Chase in the West Country in 1885. 1927 LAMBERT and MOUNT CARMEL The British administration in Palestine, which ruled the country in the days of Empire, decides to quarry rock from the biblical mountain of Carmel, which lies south of Haifa. Charles Lambert, a professional archaeologist, is sent to see if such work will damage any ancient remains. Digging in some shepherds� caves, Lambert finds a broken sickle handle which is carved with the image of an animal. It is the first piece of Stone Age art to be found outside Europe and proof that agriculture was being practised in ancient Palestine. Lambert also finds ancient flint tools. His expedition is soon followed by that of Dorothy Garrod, the first female professor at Cambridge University, who finds skeletons preserved in lime, at the time the most complete remains of early humans ever found. 1976 LEAKEY and LAETOLI Gradually, over the decades, archaeologists seek the origins of human beings outside Europe. Slowly, Africa emerges as the cradle of humanity. At Laetoli in Tanzania, archaeologist Mary Leakey discovers a trail left by three people walking across a flat expanse of volcanic ash 3,500,000 years ago. They are by far the earliest human footprints known to science. Dating them is made possible by the discovery of carbon dating, devised by Willard F Libby, a former atom bomb scientist, in 1946. He discovers that all organic materials have a tiny amount of naturally occurring radioactivity. One of these materials, called Carbon 14, loses its radioactivity at a constant rate from the moment the organism dies. By measuring the level of radioactivity remaining, the age of many objects can be established. Since the 1960s, such scientific dating methods have been developed and are now more accurate than ever. From being a hobby for rich mavericks, archaeology has grown into a fully-fledged science, able to answer questions about how long ago our ancestors walked the earth. Over the past 250 years archaeologists have completely changed our view of human history. Before archaeology became a scientific discipline, most people thought that the Bible, which has been interpreted as saying that God put Adam and Eve on Earth one day in 4004BC, was literally true. Now, archaeologists have proved that hominids � that is, human beings and their immediate ancestors � have been around for about five million years. From the beginning, archaeologists have grappled with ways of answering the big question: where does the human race come from? Unlike other historians, they have had few documents to go on � instead, they have had to find answers through digging into the earth. The following sections trace the development of archaeology from its early beginnings at Herculaneum. 1736 VENUTI AND HERCULANEUM In southern Italy, which is divided into several independent states, a new king, Charles, begins his rule by buying a small estate on the Bay of Naples. He wants to have a large area on which to hunt. He is told that the farm is famous for its deep well, in which many ancient Roman statues have been found. The king sends his royal antiquary, Count Marcello Venuti, to take a look inside the well. He�s been told that an ancient temple is buried there, but he discovers a curving set of stone steps that look like theatre seats. Then he finds an ancient Roman inscription which tells him that it was a theatre and gives him the name of the city in which it had been built: Herculaneum. Venuti tells Charles that he has an ancient city buried under his estate. It had been covered in lava and ash when the volcano Vesuvius, which still exists, erupted on 24 August 79AD. People had known from manuscripts and books that this had happened, but no one knew exactly where the buried city was. Thirteen years later, Venuti discovers another buried city nearby. It is the now legendary Pompeii, which was covered by volcanic ash so rapidly that most of its buildings and all the everyday objects of its citizens were preserved. These discoveries illustrate the birth of archaeology because they show that remains of the past life of our ancestors are always with us � they are buried under the accumulated layers of time and can be found by excavation. Back to time line 1816 THOMSEN and COPENHAGEN In Copenhagen, Denmark, Christian Thomsen � a pioneering coin-collector � is appointed keeper of the national archaeological collection. He discovers that although all the objects have been labelled, they have not been classified or arranged in any order. Thomsen decides that because early humans probably used the most advanced materials for weapons, he should organise these ancient objects according to what they were made out of. He arranges the artefacts into Stone Age objects, Bronze Age objects and Iron Age objects. By doing so, he invents a way of grouping what we find in the earth into a story, a history of progress from stone, through bronze and on to iron. His system of three ages is still used by museum curators. Back to time line 1840s-1860s WORSAAE and DENMARK Christian Thomsen�s assistant at the national museum is Jens Jacob Worsaae. He�s been excavating since the age of 15 and he realises that by looking in Denmark�s ancient mound burials, he always finds the Stone Age burials below the Bronze Age burials and the Iron Age are always on top. From this fact, he concludes that the Stone Age is the most ancient and the Iron Age the most recent, with the Bronze Age in between. From now on, archaeologists can argue that artefacts found in different layers of the earth can be dated to different historical ages. Worsaae is appointed archaeologist royal, becoming the first professional archaeologist, and influencing scholars all over Europe. Back to time line 1879 De SAUTUOLA and ALTAMIRA In the cave of Altamira, on the north coast of Spain, an amateur archaeologist Marcelino de Sautuola excavates the entrance in the company of his daughter Maria. She wanders inside the cave, looks up at the ceiling and exclaims: �Papa, papa, there are painted bulls.� At first, professional archaeologists don�t believe that such wonderful images could have been painted in the Stone Age, because they assume that early humans were barbarians. It is even suggested that de Sautuola faked them. However, similar paintings are soon found in French caves which have been sealed since ancient times, so their authenticity cannot be doubted. Altamira is dubbed �the Sistine Chapel of the Stone Age�. Back to time line 1881 PITT-RIVERS and THEBES Augustus Henry Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers travels up the Nile to the ancient city of Thebes, modern-day Luxor. He finds ancient flints embedded in cemetery walls that are known to be 4,000 years old. The flints had been scraped up when the ancient Egyptians took excavated earth to build these walls. From this, Pitt-Rivers deduces that the flints are much older than the walls, and thus that the history of human beings goes back beyond the 4,000 years suggested by Biblical sources. These flints, he concludes, are older than the pharaohs. As well as making beautiful drawings of the tombs at Thebes, Pitt-Rivers also organises archaeological digs at his estate in Cranbourne Chase in the West Country in 1885. Back to time line 1927 LAMBERT and MOUNT CARMEL The British administration in Palestine, which ruled the country in the days of Empire, decides to quarry rock from the biblical mountain of Carmel, which lies south of Haifa. Charles Lambert, a professional archaeologist, is sent to see if such work will damage any ancient remains. Digging in some shepherds� caves, Lambert finds a broken sickle handle which is carved with the image of an animal. It is the first piece of Stone Age art to be found outside Europe and proof that agriculture was being practised in ancient Palestine. Lambert also finds ancient flint tools. His expedition is soon followed by that of Dorothy Garrod, the first female professor at Cambridge University, who finds skeletons preserved in lime, at the time the most complete remains of early humans ever found. Back to time line 1976 LEAKEY and LAETOLI Gradually, over the decades, archaeologists seek the origins of human beings outside Europe. Slowly, Africa emerges as the cradle of humanity. At Laetoli in Tanzania, archaeologist Mary Leakey discovers a trail left by three people walking across a flat expanse of volcanic ash 3,500,000 years ago. They are by far the earliest human footprints known to science. Dating them is made possible by the discovery of carbon dating, devised by Willard F Libby, a former atom bomb scientist, in 1946. He discovers that all organic materials have a tiny amount of naturally occurring radioactivity. One of these materials, called Carbon 14, loses its radioactivity at a constant rate from the moment the organism dies. By measuring the level of radioactivity remaining, the age of many objects can be established. Since the 1960s, such scientific dating methods have been developed and are now more accurate than ever. From being a hobby for rich mavericks, archaeology has grown into a fully-fledged science, able to answer questions about how long ago our ancestors walked the earth. http://www.channel4.com/nextstep/ (click on great excavations picture) (Marcia do you want to go and post in the pix? I'm running out of time, I meant to post the programmes so far)

Archeologists Finish Roman Bath Restoration CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian archeologists have completed the restoration of the largest of five Roman baths found near the Mediterranean coast in the northern Sinai, officials said Thursday. ``Restorations to a Roman bath, dating back to the Roman period in the third century AD, took one year to complete,'' said Gaballah Ali Gaballah, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, while inspecting the restored baths. Mohamed Abdel Maksoud, director of Sinai antiquities, said the baths were built of red brick and included rooms decorated with mosaics of Indian design, water tanks, a section for hot and cold bathing and a steam room. The baths are said to have been used by Roman rulers. They are situated outside the Pilosome Citadel on the Mediterranean coast road between al-Qantara and al-Arish, some 130km (80 miles) northeast of Cairo.

I thought that Lescaux was the Sistine Chapel of the Stone Age. No matter, both sites are remarkably beautiful. I think the Lescaux paintings are slightly older than those at Altimira. Tourists can no longer actually view the actual cave paintings at Lescaux, due to the effect of the humidity from all the visitors breath on the cave environment and the paintings. You can, however, tour a reproduction of the famous cave paintings.

Lascaux and Altamira are supposedly the most significant. But, we are nit picking here. It is subjective opinions on things so much more significant than that they are good art.

Hi!!! Yep, I'm back! Not really much to say. I recall seeing a good programme recently but I have been working hard and I am extremely tired thus causing my brain to want to sleep. When I have woken again I shall try and look up about the programme and post it onto this page. I think it was another channel4 prduction. Watch this space...

...watching... but have to go to a double-header baseball game in an hour, so take your time to get your brain well-rested and back into gear. I had heard that you were too busy to get into trouble (well, almost!) *hugs* Welcome back!

If you're interested in Pompeii, check http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/pompeii/page-1.html From the home page, click on the link to the forum. It gives you a large clickable map of the town plus images. It gives building plans, photos, and some explanations. A link in the section on the Imperial Cult Building brings up a study of how the room and roof might have been constructed, along with several fly-around animations of the sructure as it might have looked. It's definitely worth a visit! (One of my 'love to go there sometime' places!)

Thanks for that. It is definitely one of my Gotta Go places...perhaps in another lifetime...*sigh*

me too *sigh*