And one just too neat not to share:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2012/11/16/hunters-spears.htmlThe archaeological site at Kathu Pan 1, South Africa (Michael Chazan)
A University of Toronto-led team of anthropologists has found evidence that human ancestors used stone-tipped weapons for hunting animals 500,000 years ago — 200,000 years earlier than previously thought.
"This changes the way we think about early human adaptations and capacities before the origin of our own species," says Jayne Wilkins, a PhD candidate in the department of anthropology at the University of Toronto and lead author of a new study in Science magazine.
"Although both Neanderthals and humans used stone-tipped spears, this is the first evidence that the technology originated prior to or near the divergence of these two species."
Attaching stone points to spears — known as "hafting" — was an important advance in hunting weaponry for early humans, says Wilkins. Hafted tools require more effort and foreplanning to manufacture, but a sharp stone point on the end of a spear can increase its killing power.
Hafted spear tips are common in Stone Age archaeological sites beginning about 300,000 years ago. This new study shows that they were also used in the early Middle Pleistocene, a period associated with the Homo heidelbergensis species, who were the last common ancestor of Neanderthals and modern humans.
"It explains why we share some traits with the Neanderthals, we share a common ancestor," said Wilkins in an interview that airs on Quirks & Quarks on Saturday.
"This common ancestor was an effective hunter who made hafted spears. It also tells us that our history as effective hunters and our adaptation as effective hunters is deep-rooted and has a long story. The traits that make us human, essentially, have been accumulating over a very long time."
South Africa
Wilkins and her colleagues from Arizona State University and the University of Cape Town examined 500,000-year-old stone points from the South African archaeological site of Kathu Pan 1 and determined that they had functioned as spear tips.
Point function was determined by comparing wear on the ancient points to damage inflicted on modern experimental points used to spear a springbok carcass target with a calibrated crossbow. The stone points exhibit certain types of breaks that occur more commonly when they are used as tip spears, compared to other uses.
"The archaeological points have damage that is very similar to replica spear points used in our spearing experiment," Wilkins says. "This type of damage is not easily created through other processes."
The points were recovered during the early 1980s during excavations by Peter Beaumont of the McGregor Museum in South Africa.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/9686177/Mary-Rose-scientists-identify-shipwrecks-elite-archers-by-RSI.htmlA company of elite longbow archers perished aboard Henry VIII's flagship the Mary Rose when it sank almost five centuries ago, scientists have discovered.
Researchers have identified the elite archers who died alongside sailors on Henry VIII's flagship, due to evidence of repetitive strain in their shoulders and spines.
The ship sank off Spithead in The Solent in 1545, while leading an attack on a French invasion fleet. It stayed on the seabed until it was raised in 1982 and put on public display.
Over the past two years, scientists from the University of Swansea have been working to identify almost 100 skeletons kept at the Mary Rose Museum, in Portsmouth.
DNA identification has been difficult because they have been contaminated by cockles, molluscs and algae.
But new DNA extraction technology has been developed to identify a skeleton’s origin and other personal features such as eye and hair colour.
Scientists have also tested how the bows were used by archers at that time, by using real-life archers.
They have uncovered evidence of repetitive stress injuries among the bowmen, the elite soldiers of their day, which they believe came from hours of longbow practice.
Nick Owen, a sport and exercise biochemist who is leading the work, said yesterday that the developments would help uncover more about the individuals who died with their ship.
The DNA breakthrough had enabled his team to embark on more detailed profiling.
"We know plenty about the Mary Rose but much less about the people on board,” said Mr Owen, from the university’s college of engineering.
“The archers were the elite but the longbows they used took a toll of their bodies and you can see signs of repetitive stress in the shoulders and lower spine."
A Swedish expert is also working on facial reconstructions for the new Mary Rose Trust museum, which is due to open next year.
At the time, many archers were thought to have travelled from Wales and other areas in the south west of England and were considered the elite warriors of their day.
Previous studies have shown that they lived off a diet of salt beef and biscuits. Their diet also included flour, oatmeal, suet, cheese, dried pork, beer and salted cod.
“They were 6ft 2in or 6ft 3in, and strapping individuals,” Mr Owen said.
“A longbow was 6ft 6in and made from a particular part of a yew tree to generate incredibly efficient ‘spring’.
“It was mega hi-tech, and it gave England and Wales military superiority. These archers were the elite athletes of their day.”
He added to the BBC: "It took years for these Archers to train to get to a level where they could use these very heavy bows."
Alexzandra Hildred, the curator of ordnance at the Mary Rose Trust, has said the injuries could be the result of “shooting heavy longbows regularly”.
"Many of the skeletons recovered show evidence of repetitive stress injuries of the shoulder and lower spine,” she said.
"Being able to quantify the stresses and their effect on the skeleton may enable us at last to isolate an elite group of professional archers from the ship."
Named for Henry VIII's favourite sister, Mary Tudor, later queen of France, the ship was part of a large build-up of naval force by the new king between 1510 and 1515.
http://m.yahoo.com/w/legobpengine/news/home-amid-chinese-highway-symbol-resistance-105047909.html?orig_host_hdr=news.yahoo.com&.intl=US&.lang=en-USHome amid Chinese highway a symbol of resistance
Associated Press - 18 hrs ago
BEIJING (AP) — In the middle of an eastern Chinese city's new main road, rising incongruously from a huge circle in the freshly laid pavement, is a five-story row house with ragged edges. This is the home of the duck farmer who said "no."
Luo Baogen and his wife are the lone holdouts from a neighborhood that was demolished to make way for the main thoroughfare heading to a newly built railway station on the outskirts of the city of Wenling in Zhejiang province.
Dramatic images of Luo's home have circulated widely online in China this week, becoming the latest symbol of resistance in the frequent standoffs between Chinese homeowners and local officials accused of offering too little compensation to vacate neighborhoods for major redevelopment projects.
There's even a name for the buildings that remain standing as their owners resist development. They are called "nail houses" because the homeowners refuse to be hammered down.
Nail house families occasionally have resorted to violence. Some homeowners have even set themselves on fire in protests. Often, they keep 24-hour vigils because developers will shy away from bulldozing homes when people are inside.
Xiayangzhang village chief Chen Xuecai said in a telephone interview Friday that city planners decided that Luo's village of 1,600 had to be moved for a new business district anchored by the train station. Chen said most families agreed to government-offered compensation in 2007.
Luo, 67, and a handful of neighbors in other parts of the new district are holding out for more.
"We want a new house on a two-unit lot with simple interior decoration," Luo told local reporters Thursday in video footage forwarded to The Associated Press.
Luo had just completed his house at a cost of about 600,000 yuan ($95,000) when the government first approached him with their standard offer of 220,000 ($35,000) to move out — which he refused, Chen said. The offer has since gone up to 260,000 yuan ($41,000).
"The Luo family is not rich," Chen said, acknowledging that they can ill afford such a big loss on their home. "But the policy is what it is."
The new road to the railroad station was completed in recent weeks, and has not yet been opened for traffic.
What is unusual in Luo's case is that his house has been allowed to stand for so long. It is common for local authorities in China to take extreme measures, such as cutting off utilities or moving in to demolish when residents are out for the day.
Luo told local reporters his electricity and water are still flowing, and that he and his wife sleep in separate parts of the home to deter any partial demolition.
Deputy village chief Luo Xuehua — a cousin to the duck farmer — said he didn't expect the dispute to go on much longer. He said he expects Luo Baogen to reach an agreement with the government soon, though he said the homeowner's demands are unrealistic.
"We cannot just give whatever he demands," Luo Xuehua said. "That's impossible."
