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Thursday, July 31, 2014

Warriors' Bones Reveal Bizarre Iron Age Rituals

By Stephanie Pappas
A skull of an Iron Age warrior discovered in a bog in Denmark shows signs of battle.
A skull of an Iron Age warrior discovered in a bog in Denmark shows signs of battle.
Credit: Ejvind Hertz, Skanderborg Museum

The bones of dozens of Iron Age warriors found in Denmark were collected and ritually mutilated after spending months on the battlefield, archaeologists say.
At least six months after the soldiers died, their bones were collected, scraped of remaining flesh, sorted and dumped in a lake. Some were handled in a truly bizarre manner; for instance, four pelvises were found strung on a stick.
"We think it's a kind of ritual closure of the war," said Mads Kähler Holst, project manager at the dig and head of the department of archaeology at the Moesgård Museum in Denmark. The victors seem to have carried out their gruesome work on a spit of land extending into the lake where the bones were dumped, the researchers said

Bog bodies
The site of the boneyard is in East Jutland, in a wetland area known as Alken Enge. Drainage work and peat digging have been turning up ancient human remains in this bog for decades, Holst told Live Science.
Pelvises on a stick, bone desecration
Four pelvises strung on a stick were found at Alken Enge in Denmark.
Credit: Peter Jensen, Aarhus Universitet
Formal excavation of the site finds it to be a mass grave dating back about 2,000 years, to the transition from B.C. to A.D. At the time, the area was about 186 miles (300 kilometers) north of the farthest reach of the Roman Empire, Holst said, and would have been occupied by Germanic tribes.
Archaeologists have turned up at least 60 skeletonsor parts of skeletons in what used to be the bed of Lake Mossø at the site. The lake still exists, but it's smaller than it was 2,000 years ago. The 60 catalogued remains don't include bones found previously — or the many more skeletons archaeologists expect to discover.
"We have trenches going through different areas, so we know we are only touching on a small part of what is actually there," Holst said.
Most of the bones are found disarticulated from one another, and many bear the marks of the battlefield: trauma from swords, spears and axes. Spearheads, an ax, the tip of a sword and shields have also been found at the site, Holst said. All of the bodies are male.
Macabre ritual
All of the evidence points to a straightforward defeat in battle. But the bones also bear strange marks of tampering after the soldiers' death.
First, many have been gnawed by animals, including large predators such as wolves, dogs and badgers, Holst said. The species present and amount of scavenging suggest the bodies stayed out in the open for at least six months to a year, he said.
After this time, someone collected the corpses and sorted at least some of the bones by type. Marks of cutting and scraping suggest the bones were separated deliberately, and that they had any remaining flesh removed. Animal sacrifices and ceramic pots mixed in with the remains suggest some sort of religious ritual, Holst said. Along with the pelvises strung like beads on a stick, there is evidence that leg bones and thighbones were sorted, too, he said.
From a land spit extending into what was then the lake, the ancient people conducted these rituals and then dumped the bones. Holst and his colleagues know nothing for sure about the victors and the slaughtered, but they suspect that the winners had a geographical attachment to the area, given that they were around long enough to conduct these rituals. There are examples of ritual treatment of defeated enemies in what is now France, Switzerland and England in the centuries prior to this find, Holst said, but nothing like it has ever been seen in Denmark or the surrounding areas.
The delay in disposing of the bodies could have been part of the ritual, Holst said. Or, perhaps the battle was part of a longer war, and the winners did not return to the bones until the conflict was over, Holst added.
The findings were announced July 28 by Aarhus University. This season's excavation at the site will continue until Aug. 8

.http://www.livescience.com/47124-warrior-bones-in-danish-bog-mutilated.html

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Dunluce Castle: Medieval Irish Castle on the Antrim Coast

uce Castle is located dramatically close to a headland that plunges straight into the sea, along the North Antrim coast, and was the headquarters of the MacDonnell Clan. There is archaeological evidence of a village that surrounded the castle which was destroyed by fire in 1641. The site was also witness to the sinking of a colony ship that broke up on the rocks off Islay in 1857 with the loss of 240 lives.
Constantly fought over, it eventually succumbed to the power of nature, when part of it fell into the sea one stormy night in 1639. It was abandoned shortly afterwards.

While there is evidence that parts of the castle date back to the 14th century, the first record of it is from 1513 when it belonged to the MacQuillans.

The 17th century mainland courtyard, containing domestic buildings, leads downhill to a narrow crossing to the rock, formerly protected by a drawbridge to the gatehouse. The buildings on the rock are 16th and 17th century.

Did you know? Recent archaeological excavations of Dunluce Castle have further demonstrated the significance of the site, revealing an incredibly well preserved merchant town built in 1608.

Did you know? Dunluce Castle is regarded as the possible inspiration for Cair Paravel in C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia.

An app for iphone and android devices has been developed for Dunluce Castle. This is now available, free of charge, from the App Store and Google Play.

Visitor Audio Guide Tour - we now provide an audio visual tour where visitors view animations of the castle’s structures rebuilt before their eyes, to create an engaging and immersive visitor experience. We developed an adults’ tour and a children’s tour designed to run simultaneously, allowing families to explore an area together but to engage with it on different levels. A ‘hidden treasure’ element of the children’s tour encourages younger visitors to explore the site to find resin-cast replicas of artefacts discovered at Dunluce.
You might also like: Causeway Coastal Route | Castles, Monuments & Monasteries | Explore Our Historic Castles Blog

 

http://www.discovernorthernireland.com/Dunluce-Castle-Medieval-Irish-Castle-on-the-Antrim-Coast-Bushmills-P2819

Dunluce Castle is located dramatically close to a headland that plunges straight into the sea, along the North Antrim coast, and was the headquarters of the MacDonnell Clan. There is archaeological evidence of a village that surrounded the castle which was destroyed by fire in 1641. The site was also witness to the sinking of a colony ship that broke up on the rocks off Islay in 1857 with the loss of 240 lives.

Constantly fought over, it eventually succumbed to the power of nature, when part of it fell into the sea one stormy night in 1639. It was abandoned shortly afterwards.

While there is evidence that parts of the castle date back to the 14th century, the first record of it is from 1513 when it belonged to the MacQuillans.

The 17th century mainland courtyard, containing domestic buildings, leads downhill to a narrow crossing to the rock, formerly protected by a drawbridge to the gatehouse. The buildings on the rock are 16th and 17th century.

Did you know? Recent archaeological excavations of Dunluce Castle have further demonstrated the significance of the site, revealing an incredibly well preserved merchant town built in 1608.

Did you know? Dunluce Castle is regarded as the possible inspiration for Cair Paravel in C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia.

An app for iphone and android devices has been developed for Dunluce Castle. This is now available, free of charge, from the App Store and Google Play.

Visitor Audio Guide Tour - we now provide an audio visual tour where visitors view animations of the castle’s structures rebuilt before their eyes, to create an engaging and immersive visitor experience. We developed an adults’ tour and a children’s tour designed to run simultaneously, allowing families to explore an area together but to engage with it on different levels. A ‘hidden treasure’ element of the children’s tour encourages younger visitors to explore the site to find resin-cast replicas of artefacts discovered at Dunluce.
You might also like: Causeway Coastal Route | Castles, Monuments & Monasteries | Explore Our Historic Castles Blog

The nearest Tourist Information Centre is:

Bushmills Visitor Information Centre

Location / Directions

On A2 approximately 3 miles East of Portrush on the road to Bushmills.

87 Dunluce Road
Bushmills
County Antrim
BT57 8UY

Website:
www.doeni.gov.uk/niea
Email:nieainfo@doeni.gov.uk
Tel: (028) 2073 1938
Fax: (028) 2073 2850
astle is located dramatically close to a headland that plunges straight into the sea, along the North Antrim coast, and was the headquarters of the MacDonnell Clan. There is archaeological evidence of a village that surrounded the castle which was destroyed by fire in 1641. The site was also witness to the sinking of a colony ship that broke up on the rocks off Islay in 1857 with the loss of 240 lives.
Constantly fought over, it eventually succumbed to the power of nature, when part of it fell into the sea one stormy night in 1639. It was abandoned shortly afterwards.

While there is evidence that parts of the castle date back to the 14th century, the first record of it is from 1513 when it belonged to the MacQuillans.

The 17th century mainland courtyard, containing domestic buildings, leads downhill to a narrow crossing to the rock, formerly protected by a drawbridge to the gatehouse. The buildings on the rock are 16th and 17th century.

Did you know? Recent archaeological excavations of Dunluce Castle have further demonstrated the significance of the site, revealing an incredibly well preserved merchant town built in 1608.

Did you know? Dunluce Castle is regarded as the possible inspiration for Cair Paravel in C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia.

An app for iphone and android devices has been developed for Dunluce Castle. This is now available, free of charge, from the App Store and Google Play.

Visitor Audio Guide Tour - we now provide an audio visual tour where visitors view animations of the castle’s structures rebuilt before their eyes, to create an engaging and immersive visitor experience. We developed an adults’ tour and a children’s tour designed to run simultaneously, allowing families to explore an area together but to engage with it on different levels. A ‘hidden treasure’ element of the children’s tour encourages younger visitors to explore the site to find resin-cast replicas of artefacts discovered at Dunluce.
You might also like: Causeway Coastal Route | Castles, Monuments & Monasteries | Explore Our Historic Castles Blog




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Otzi 'The Iceman' Had Heart Disease Genes

By Tia Ghose

otzi the iceman's facial reconstruction
Ötzi the Iceman, a well-preserved mummy discovered in the alps in 1991, showed evidence of calcium buildup in his arteries. Now, new research shows he had a genetic predisposition to heart disease.
Credit: Reconstruction by Kennis © South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, Foto Ochsenreiter
Ötzi the Iceman, a well-preserved mummy discovered in the Alps, may have had a genetic predisposition to heart disease, new research suggests.
The new finding may explain why the man — who lived 5,300 years ago, stayed active and certainly didn't smoke or wolf down processed food in front of the TV — nevertheless had hardened arteries when he was felled by an arrow and bled to death on an alpine glacier.
"We were very surprised that he had a very strong disposition for cardiovascular disease," said study co-author Albert Zink, a paleopathologist at the Institute for Mummies and the Iceman at the European Academy of Bozen/Bolzano in Italy. "We didn't expect that people who lived so long ago already had the genetic setup for getting such kinds of diseases."

Iceman scrutiny
Otzi was discovered in 1991, when two hikers stumbled upon the well-preserved mummy in the Ötztal Alps, near the border between Austria and Italy. Since then, every detail of the iceman has been scrutinized, from his last meal and moments (Ötzi was bashed on the head before being pierced by the deadly arrow blow), to where he grew up, to his fashion sense. [Top 9 Secrets About Ötzi the Iceman]
Past research has revealed that Ötzi likely suffered from joint pain, Lyme disease and tooth decay, and computed tomography (CT) scanning revealed calcium buildups, a sign of atherosclerosis, in his arteries.
Initially, the atherosclerosis was a bit of a surprise, because much research has linked heart disease to the couch-potato lifestyle and calorie-rich foods of the modern world, Zink said. But in recent research, as scientists conducted CT scans on mummies from the Aleutian Islands to ancient Egypt, they realized that heart disease and atherosclerosis were prevalent throughout antiquity, in people who had dramatically different diets and lifestyles, he said.
"It really looks like the disease was already frequent in ancient times, so it's not a pure civilizational disease," Zink told Live Science.
Heart troubles
Scientists recently took a small sample of Ötzi's hipbone and sequenced the Neolithic agriculturalist's entire genome, to see where he fell on Europe's family tree. As part of that research, they found that the iceman had 19 living relatives in Europe.
In the new study, Zink and his colleagues found that Ötzi had several gene variants associated with cardiovascular disease, including one on the ninth chromosome that is strongly tied to heart troubles, the researchers reported today (July 30) in the journal Global Heart.
Despite spending years hiking in hilly terrain, it seems Ötzi couldn't walk off his genetic predisposition to heart disease.
"He didn't smoke; he was very active; he walked a lot; he was not obese," Zink said. "But nevertheless, he already developed some atherosclerosis."
The findings suggest that genetics play a stronger role in heart disease than previously thought, he said.
To follow up, the team would like to compare the genetic makeup of other mummies with the state of their arteries, to tease out just how much of a role genetics play in heart disease, Zink said. It would also be interesting to see whether ancient mummies exhibit signs of inflammation, the body's response to infection or damage, that has been tied to heart attacks, he added.
http://www.livescience.com/47114-otzi-had-heart-disease-genes.html
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Historic castles for sale

Exterior of castle (© Zoopla)

Become King of the Castle for as little as £475,000... and as much as £12 million!



They say an Englishman’s home is his castle - but let’s face it, very few of us can afford to say that and literally mean it.
Unless, of course, you buy one of the amazing historic castles for sale around Britain. Believe it or not, the asking prices range from £475,000 to £12 million. Take a peek inside...

http://money.uk.msn.com/mortgages-and-homes/historic-castles-for-sale-1#image=1 Follow on Bloglovin

History Trivia - Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian's forces

July 31

30 BC Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieved a minor victory over Octavian's forces, but most of his army subsequently deserted, leading to his suicide.

432 Saint Sixtus III was elected Roman Catholic pope. His papacy is associated with a great building expansion in Rome; Santa Maria Maggiore was built during his reign.

781 The oldest recorded eruption of Mt. Fuji (Traditional Japanese date: July 6, 781).

1556 St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, died.



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Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Everville Series Goodreads Paperback Giveaway Contests.


 



Three new International Goodreads signed paperback giveaways have been activated and are listed below. Books #1 & #3 end 11:59PM Pacific August 16th / Book #2 September 16th 11:59PM Pacific

Goodreads signed paperback giveaways for

Everville The First Pillar http://bit.ly/1pekcum

Everville: The City of Worms http://bit.ly/1AwYx6u

Everville: The Rise of Mallory http://bit.ly/1tYEeKT


https://www.goodreads.com/event/show/933616-everville-series-goodreads-paperback-giveaway-contests, US
 
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Shipwreck excavation may explain how 17th-century warship blew itself up

Cotswold Archaeology and local divers hope to solve mystery of how the warship London sank off Southend



london shipwreck diving
Excavating the 17th century London shipwreck: the diving team, Carol Ellis, Steve Ellis and Dan Pascoe, on Southend Pier, Essex. Photograph: Linda Nylind for the Guardian
An underwater rescue excavation is being mounted this summer by English Heritage to solve a 349-year-old mystery: how warship the London managed to blow itself up without firing a shot at the enemy off Southend.
Cotswold Archaeology and local divers hope to recover as much information as possible before the ship's splinted timbers finally disintegrate. Much of the wreck has been preserved within a deep layer of silt and mud in the on the bed of the Thames Estuary. But the wreck has been on the national inventory of heritage at risk since it was realised that timbers were being scoured bare and quickly destroyed by changing tidal patterns, including the dredging for the huge London Gateway port development.
In 1665 the explosion was a humiliating disaster. The London was blown in half, and sank almost instantly. A surprising number of the human remains recovered so far have proved to be female, suggesting that as well as the 350 crew, plus extra gunners for the newly mounted artillery, the ship was carrying many of their wives and sweethearts.
"It's a good question why there were so many women, and one on which I wouldn't care to speculate," archaeologist and diver Dan Pascoe said.
Only 24 men and one woman survived the disaster, clinging to the ornately carved stern which the archaeologists believe was left sticking vertically out of the shallow water.
london shipwreck A spoon just brought into shore by the diving team after excavating the London shipwreck near Southend, Essex. Photograph: Linda Nylind for the Guardian A few hours later the London's new commander, Sir John Lawson, would have gone down with the ship: as it was, several of his children and other members of his family died. The London had been refitted at Chatham, and was sailing to Gravesend to collect him and become his flagship in the second Anglo-Dutch wars. The ship was carrying 300 barrels of gunpowder and it is believed that a 21 gun salute was being prepared. "Clearly there was some hiccup," Mark Dunkley, maritime archaeologist at English Heritage said.
Apart from the mystery of its end, the wreck is of historic importance. The London was one of only three completed second-rate ships that were ordered for the English fleet between 1642 and 1660. With elaborate carved decoration, they were as much status symbols as weapons of war. The London is the only one that survives.
Archaeologists love sudden catastrophes. Most ships in history have become worn out and been stripped and broken up. A ship that sinks like the London, or the Mary Rose a century earlier, goes to the bottom with all their evidence of daily life: the cooking pots, beer tankards, candle sticks, cap badges, food barrels, rats and cats.
Diving conditions on the London are atrocious. They have an hour to work between tides, visibility is often down to inches, and the wreck lies so close to the shipping lane that they are buffeted by every passing vessel.
Working mainly by touch and the faint glimmer of their head torches, the divers are helping map the wreck and bring up finds every day: the most recent haul includes a pistol and musket shot, part of a weighing scales and spoons. The clay pipe and the tallow candles they also found "look very much like a smoking gun", archaeologist Steve Webster observed.
The finds are all being recorded and packed on the end of Southend pier as they come ashore, watched by curious sun bathers, strollers and local volunteers working with Southend Museum, where many will go on display.
Scores of the ship's guns must also still lie buried in the silt. Some were retrieved immediately after the wreck. The Royal Armouries at Fort Nelson has a fine French naval gun recovered in the 1960s, which must have been a captured prize, and is also displaying two bronze guns allegedly illegally removed from the wreck more recently. One of these was made in the 1590s by Peter Gill, a royal gun founder, and one bears the Commonwealth arms – together showing the variety of artillery in service on one of Charles II's ships.
Steven Ellis, a fishmonger from Leigh-on-Sea, hobby diver and passionate amateur historian, has been watching over the wreck for years. Local fishermen phone him if they spot anybody dubious near the wreck – one recent intruder proved to be a survey boat from Cotswold Archaeology.
Ellis dives most days, and hopes to be back when work resumes next summer. Among the objects he has recovered are two human skulls: "Sometimes when I get home, I just sit down in the kitchen and I can't get the thought of all those people, all those lives lost, out of my mind," he said.
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/jul/25/shipwreck-excavation-17th-century-london-southend
 
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Archaeologist happens upon Roman bone fragments – at the end of his road

Mike Heyworth says discovery in trench dug in York by utilities company demonstrates 'black holes' in archaeological planning



Mike Heyworth with the bone fragments found in a mound of excavated soil
Mike Heyworth with the bone fragments found in a mound of excavated soil.
Mike Heyworth, president of the Council for British Archaeology, was trudging home after a long, hot day in the office when he was startled to find fragments of Roman bone and pottery lying on a heap of soil at the end of his road.
The trench dug by a utilities company in York, which had sliced through an ancient cemetery, was on the corner of a residential street near the city's racecourse.
But it was also just across the road from a site that made headlines worldwide:, a pit under suburban back gardens where more than 80 skeletons of young gladiators – including one with bite marks from a lion, and decapitated skulls with the marks of hammer blows – were excavated.
The fragments of leg bone, and a jaw with teeth, that Heyworth happened upon may be a less sensational discovery. But he was astonished that nobody in the local authority had realised the sensitivity of the site – particularly in an area where Roman remains are often found close to the surface.
"Permission had been obtained from the council by the utility company to excavate the trench but apparently no condition was made to have an archaeologist present on site. When a known archaeological site is disturbed by any sort of development, it is vital that archaeologists can monitor the work and make a record of anything that is found," he said.
Heyworth says the incident shows up the "black holes" that are appearing in local authority archaeology services, with planners taking decisions without any specialist advice.
He notified both the police to inform them that human remains had been discovered and the local authority, and work has now been suspended while an archaeologist investigates the site

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/jul/27/archaeologist-roman-bone-fragments-york
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World's largest solar boat on odyssey to find ancient inhabited site in Greece

Scientists on catamaran PlanetSolar will search for village built by Neothlithic Europeans and also survey Aegean Sea

PlanetSolar catamaran
The world's largest solar-powered boat, the PlanetSolar catamaran, passes the Corinth Canal in central Greece on its way to hunt for a Neolithic village. Photograph: Vasilis Psomas/EPA
The world's largest solar boat, the catamaran PlanetSolar, is to embark on a Greek mission to find one of the oldest sites inhabited by man in Europe, an organiser said on Monday.
Starting on 11 August, a team of Swiss and Greek scientists will seek a "prehistoric countryside" in the south-eastern Peloponnese peninsula, University of Geneva researcher Julien Beck told AFP. The month-long mission, jointly organised with the Swiss school of archaeology and the Greek culture ministry, will search around the Franchthi cave in the Argolic gulf, where early Europeans lived between the Palaeolithic and Neolithic periods.
The cave was eventually abandoned around 3,000 BC but scientists assume the inhabitants must have built a village nearby.
"This cave was inhabited continuously for around 35,000 years... and we have reason to believe that towards the end of the Neolithic era, the inhabitants moved to a neighbouring site that is now underwater," Beck said.
"If we could find this village, it would be among the oldest in Greece and Europe," he said.
PlanetSolar, built in Germany, is 31 metres (100 feet) long and is powered by over 500 square metres of solar panels.
In 2012, the catamaran became the first vessel to circumnavigate the globe purely on solar energy. It has an average speed of 7.5 knots, or 14 kilometres (8.6 miles) per hour.
Whilst in Greece it will also conduct geophysical research and assist underwater archaeologists in Aegean Sea surveys.
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/jul/28/solar-boat-catamaran-search-ancient-inhabited-site-greece
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Tree Rings Solve Mystery of World Trade Center Ship

by Megan Gannon
 
Four years after a shipwreck was revealed at Ground Zero, a new report details how tree rings helped establish the origins of the wooden vessel

In July 2010, amid the gargantuan rebuilding effort at the site of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, construction workers halted the backhoes when they uncovered something unexpected just south of where the Twin Towers once stood.
 
(6.7 meters) below today's street level, in a pit that would become an underground security and parking complex, excavators found the mangled skeleton of a long-forgotten wooden ship.

Now, a new report finds that tree rings in those waterlogged ribs show the vessel was likely built in 1773, or soon after, in a small shipyard near Philadelphia. What's more, the ship was perhaps made from the same kind of white oak trees used to build parts of Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution were signed, according to the study published this month in the journal Tree-Ring Research. [See Photos of the Ship and Its Tree Rings]
Archaeologists had been on-site throughout the excavation of the World Trade Center's Vehicular Security Center. They had found animal bones, ceramic dishes, bottles and dozens of shoes, but the excitement really kicked up when the 32-foot-long (9.75 m) partial hull of the ship emerged from the dirt.

The vessel was quickly excavated, to prevent damage from exposure to the air. Piece by piece, the delicate oak fragments were documented and taken out of the rotten-smelling mud. The timbers were sent to the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory, where they would be soaked in water to keep the wood from cracking and warping.

A few timbers were sent back to New York, just 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of the World Trade Center, to the Tree Ring Laboratory at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, New York. Researchers at the lab dried the fragments slowly in a cold room and cut thick slices of the wood to get a clear look at the tree rings.
The team established that the trees used to build the ship — some of which had lived to be more than 100 years old — were mostly cut down around 1773. Then, to determine where the wood came from, the researchers had to find a match between the ring pattern in the timbers and a ring pattern in live trees and archaeological samples from a specific region.
http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/tree-rings-solve-mystery-of-world-trade-center-ship-140728.htm
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King Richard III's Hasty Grave Opened to the Public

By Stephanie Pappas
The original hastily dug grave of Richard III of England (shown here) can now be viewed by the public at a visitor center for the king in Leicester, England.
The original hastily dug grave of Richard III of England (shown here) can now be viewed by the public at a visitor center for the king in Leicester, England.
Credit: University of Leicester

The public can now visit the original, hastily dug grave of King Richard III of England.
The monarch's skeleton no longer inhabits the grave, which sits in a city council parking lot in Leicester, England. The body of Richard III, which was found in the parking lot in August 2012 and removed for study, will be reburied in Leicester Cathedral next year.
On Saturday (July 26), however, the King Richard III Visitor Center opened at the site of the king's first grave.
"We are looking forward to welcoming people from Leicester, and from all over the world, to learn more about the dramatic story of the king's life, his brutal death at Bosworth Battlefield and the compelling story of his rediscovery," visitor center director Iain Gordon said in a statement. [Gallery: In Search of the Grave of Richard III]
Discovering Richard III
The spot became Richard's resting place after his death at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. After his death in battle, the king was taken to Leicester and buried at a Franciscan monastery known as Grey Friars church. A marker once graced the grave, but time gradually swallowed the site: The church was demolished around 1538, and the land it stood on was subdivided and sold off in the 1700s.
Screenwriter and Richard III enthusiast Philippa Langley spearheaded the search for Richard III. Historical documents suggested the Grey Friars site might be under a city council building parking lot in Leicester. An archeological investigation led by the University of Leicester Archaeological Service dug into the lot. Within days, the team began to turn up window frames, walkway tiles and the floor of Grey Friars Church — complete with graves.
Most of the graves were neat, deep and squared-off, but one was an exception. This grave had sloping sides and was too small for the skeleton within, which had to be twisted and propped up to fit into the hole.
That skeleton? Richard III.
A monarch's grave
After anatomical and DNA study confirmed the skeleton's identity, the Leicester team announced the discovery of the king's body in February 2013. They reported that the skeleton showed signs of battle injuries, including two fatal blows to the back of the head and several post-mortem wounds inflicted on the king's corpse, likely as a way to humiliate him after death.
The new visitor's center does not dwell only on the king's death and ignominious burial. Displays tell the story of Richard's rise to power during the War of the Roses, a bitter civil war between dynasties. They also tell of Richard III's death and how his defeat ushered in the Tudor dynasty. Finally, the center provides a walk through the search for Richard III's body and the science used to identify the bones as the king's.
Visitors can view a three-dimensional replica of the king's bones, and visit the gravesite itself, "preserved in a quiet, respectful setting" according to the Leicester City Council. The city expects to welcome 100,000 visitors to the center in the next year.

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Johnny T's NYC Tourist Tips

 
Planning a trip to NYC? Listen to Johnny T, and you'll have a great time.



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Interesting Facts about the Norsemen




The Vikings had ear spoons that were used to clean out ear wax, practiced personal grooming and did bathe once a week.

The Vikings enjoyed sporting events such as wrestling, foot races, swimming and skiing to name but a few.  They also played board games such as tabula (backgammon) to keep themselves occupied during the long winter months.

Viking women could choose their own husbands and divorce them.

 Viking homes were referred to as longhouses, because of the shape, the main room being 100 feet in length.

In addition to drinking mead (honeyed alcoholic beverage), Vikings drank milk, buttermilk and wine.

 The ravaging seafarers that attacked the civilized world did not represent the majority of the Scandinavian people, who were peaceful farmers and traders.

 The Scandinavian seafarers became known as the Norsemen (North men), but referred to themselves as Ostmen.

 Norwegian Vikings first attacked Ireland while the Danish Vikings attacked Britain.

 Viking helmets were plain conical, not horned or winged, and made of leather.

Viking longboats were referred to as dragonships because of a carved dragon on the prow head.

 

 
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History Trivia - St Vitalian begins his reign as Catholic Pope

July 30

 579 Pope Benedict I died. He was a Roman and the son of Boniface, and was called Bonosus by the Greeks. Unfortunately, there is little information about the first pope to take the name Benedict.

657 St Vitalian began his reign as Catholic Pope succeeding Eugene I. He was successful in improving relations with England, where the Anglo-Saxon and British clergies were divided regarding various ecclesiastical customs. At the Synod of Whitby, King Oswy of Northumberland accepted Roman practices regarding the keeping of Easter and the shape of the tonsure. Together with King Ecgberht of Kent, he sent the priest Wighard to Rome, to be consecrated in the Papal City after the death of Archbishop Deusdedit of Canterbury in 664, but Wighard died in Rome of the plague. Follow on Bloglovin

Interesting Facts about the Anglo-Saxons


 

The Saxons got their name from their short sword called the scramasax.

The Saxons are Germanic invaders of England (5th century), which were comprised of three peoples:  the Saxons, the Angles, and the Jutes.  (The Angles became the English).

When the Anglo-Saxons ousted the Britons, they shied away from Roman towns, preferring to live in small villages.

 The Anglo-Saxons did not believe in bathing, and monks only bathed five times a year.

 The Anglo-Saxons put sheepskins around their beds to get rid of fleas.

Anglo-Saxon women owned property and possessions, retaining ownership after marriage.

The Anglo-Saxon language is referred to as Old English.

The Anglo-Saxons were pagans until they were converted to Christianity by Saint Augustine in the 6th century.

 The Anglo-Saxon age lasted 600 years (410-1066).

 The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals chronicling Anglo-Saxon history , created during the reign of Alfred the Great (9th century).

 

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History Trivia - Sack of Thessalonica by Saracen raiders

July 29 2

38 The Praetorian Guard stormed the palace and captured Pupienus and Balbinus. They were dragged through the streets of Rome and executed. On the same day Gordian III, age 13, was proclaimed emperor.

904 Sack of Thessalonica: Saracen raiders under Leo of Tripoli sacked Thessalonica, the Byzantine Empire's second-largest city, after a short siege, and plundered it for a week.

1030 Ladejarl-Fairhair succession wars: Battle of Stiklestad – King Olaf II, the patron saint of Norway, fought and died trying to regain his Norwegian throne from the Danes.

1565 The widowed Mary, Queen of Scots, married Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, Duke of Albany, at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, Scotland.

1567 James VI was crowned King of Scotland at Stirling.
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