With the growing complexity of anthropogenic environments, the general demands on wildlife management and conservation are constantly increasing [1, 2]. These fields often include captures and it is important to evaluate the animal welfare implications and to verify that the methods used have not affected the quality of the resulting scientific data [3, 4]. Animal welfare is mostly defined as the well-being of animals and is closely linked to the capability of the individual to cope with sudden situations or changes in its environment . If an animal has difficulties to adapt or is not able to cope with the prevalent situation, it becomes stressed . Stress levels, however, are not only relevant in terms of animal welfare, but also bias various physiological and behavioral measures . In order to increase animal welfare and data quality it is essential to assess and quantify how management and research interventions (i.e. capture and handling) affect stress levels . Stress-responses in vertebrates are primary mediated via two neuro-endocrine regulatory systems, stimulating physiological adaption and behavior. First, the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) produces immediate responses such as the fight or flight response. Activation of the SNS triggers the release of catecholamines within milliseconds after onset of a stressor . Second, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis responds and controls the secretion of glucocorticoids. This response is slower (within minutes) and acts on many metabolic and physiological regulatory systems to keep essential bio-regulatory mechanisms within a certain range [10, 11].
Despite extensive research, stress remains a problematic concept because stress reactions are multidimensional and context dependent . Additionally, stress responses display a large individual variation , are influenced by season as well as time of day  and are caused by a great variety of stressors . Consequently, stress reactions are difficult to measure and assess, particularly with small sample sizes as it is often the case in field studies .
Currently stress responses are assessed by various techniques [16–18]. Previous work on wildlife species has focused mainly on glucocorticoid concentrations to define stress . It becomes increasingly apparent, however, that this approach could be misleading due to the wide array of factors influencing the release and efficiency of glucocorticoids [20, 21]. Additionally, there is evidence that they are not stress hormones per se, but rather anti-stress hormones promoting recovery from stress reactions [10, 22]. Therefore, the use of glucocorticoids as a single biomarker for measuring stress is questionable, especially when assessing short-term stress reactions [12, 23]. Furthermore, alongside other classical stress parameters including heart rate and body temperature, which are viable indicators for stress [24, 25], alterations in behavior have been used to determine stress levels in free-ranging wildlife . However, also the behavioral approach is under scientific debate, as the source of the underlying physiological responses are problematic . Hence, there is a need for new, practical tools linking and complementing classical stress parameters towards a more comprehensive description and interpretation of stress responses.
There is growing evidence of the effects of stress on parts of the innate immune system [28–30] indicating that it is possible to quantify stress by directly measuring immune responses [31, 32]. White blood cells, more specifically neutrophil granulocytes, of stressed individuals show a substantially decreased capacity to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) compared to less stressed animals. Applying the technique called Leukocyte Coping Capacity (LCC) facilitates a quantitative assessment of stress responses by measuring neutrophil ROS production in real time [31, 33].
In the present study, we tested the validity of LCC together with several classical key stress parameters (heart rate, body temperature, neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (N:L), lactate, total cortisol and animal behavior), to quantify the short-term stress of capture in one of the most intensively managed  free-ranging wild ungulates in Europe, the European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus). Moreover, we investigated whether LCC measures could be linked to these classical and commonly used stress parameters.
We hypothesized that, in contrast to classical stress parameters, the LCC technique facilitates a clear and quantitative assessment of stress in roe deer. Here we tested human presence at the capture site prior to handling as the stress eliciting factor (see Methods). We predicted that (i) LCC will allow to quantify the extent of the stress reaction caused by this stressor [31, 33] and (ii) individuals experiencing high stress levels will exhibit a lower LCC compared to less stressed individuals. Further, we predicted that (iii) due to large individual variation neither the behavior of the animals nor classical stress measures (heart rate, body temperature, N:L ratio, lactate, total cortisol) will reflect the magnitude of short-term stress accurately [20, 21, 27]. However, regarding a possible link between classical stress parameters and LCC we expected that stressed individuals with elevated classical stress parameters would have a low LCC. In short, LCC would be negatively correlated with classical stress proxies.
In this study we defined the situation of being trapped in combination with human presence at the capture site as the stressor of interest eliciting a short-term stress response . The activation of both stress axes and the associated physiological changes are referred to as stress.
The study was conducted at the Grimsö Wildlife Research Area (GWRA, 130 km2) in southcentral Sweden (59°40′N, 15°25′E). The predominant landscape is commercially managed coniferous forest (for details see ).
The roe deer population of this area has been intensively studied since 1973  with >3500 captures carried out for various research studies and monitoring purposes. To assess stress reactions in the context of these capture events, where animals are handled without the use of anesthetics, 28 capture events of 28 individuals (18 females, 10 males) were included in this study. Captures took place in winter 2013, in two sampling periods (January 17th – January 30th and March 4th – March 24th). These periods did not overlap with the phase of rutting, parturition , or male territoriality . Animals were caught using box traps (L6 Rådjursfälla M/Öster Malma, dimensions: 130 × 62.5 cm and 100 cm high), baited with pelleted forage produced for semi-domesticated reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) (Renfor, Lantmännen, Nyköping, Sweden). Every trapping site was equipped with two traps which were set in the evenings and checked early the next morning. The front of the trap was closed with wooden bars enabling the animals to see their conspecifics next to the trap. The hatch and sidewall of traps were closed with Masonite® plates blocking visual contact with approaching humans. However, the trapped animal could potentially hear or smell an approaching person. Traps were placed at varying distances from the road (<200 m), but all were visible from the road. In rare cases two individuals were caught at the same trapping site leading to a prolonged time span of human presence prior to handling for the second animal. We recorded the timespan between the arrival at the trapping site by car (on the road) until the start of the actual handling procedure to account for the human presence prior to handling and a potential further onset of a stress response.
Animals were removed from the trap and physically restrained in lateral recumbency on the ground during handling and marking. Once restrained, body temperature and heart rate were measured and a blood sample was obtained immediately (see below). Subsequently, morphological measures were taken and the animals were sexed and weighed.
Additionally, individual behavior was assessed during handling and upon release. Handling behavior was evaluated based on resistance to handling and vocalization of the animal, with scores ranging from 0 (calm, displaying no resistance) to 4 (extreme resistance and almost impossible to handle) (Table 1). Behavior upon release was assessed with scores from 0 to 2, relating to flight speed and the number of intermediate stops (Table 1). The behavioral observation was performed continuously by the same experienced person (L. Jäderberg, >2500 captures). To avoid adverse effects due to physical restraint during the handling procedure of the non-anesthetized animals [38, 39], handling time was minimized. All deer were physically examined by a veterinarian and appeared healthy.
Calm. No resistance. No kicking or screaming.
Leaving the place slowly. Stops several times.
Calm. Screams not more than twice. Almost no kicking.
Runs away, but stops after a short distance.
Intermittent screaming and kicking, but apparently calm.
Runs away without stopping until out of sight.
High resistance. Screaming and kicking more, but can be handled.
Extreme resistance. Almost impossible to handle. Impossible to take proper measurements.
Blood samples were taken from the jugular vein in <7 min after animals were taken out of the trap. Evacuated tubes (BD Vacutainer®, BD Diagnostics, Preanalytical Systems, Franklin Lakes, NJ, USA) were used with one 6-ml ethylenediaminetetra-acetic acid (EDTA) (potassium), one 4 ml sodium-heparin tube and four 9-ml serum or gel serum separator tubes. From EDTA samples standard hematological parameters (for details see Additional file 1: Table S1) were analyzed within 24 h of collection. Serum for blood chemistry was separated within 2 h of collection by centrifugation at 1500 x G for 10 min and stored in cryogenic vials (Nalgene, Nalgene Company, Rochester, New York, USA) at −20 °C. Total cortisol levels of all individuals were measured from these serum samples. All samples were analyzed within 3 months of storage (Additional file 2: Table S2) at the Clinical Chemistry Laboratory, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden. Lactate levels were measured from EDTA blood samples within 15 min after collection using the portable Lactate Pro® lactate analyzer (KBK, Arkray, Japan).
To measure unstimulated blood chemiluminescence levels, providing information on the individual baseline level of ROS, we immediately transferred 10 μl of heparinized whole blood into a silicon antireflective tube (Lumivial, EG & G Berthold, Germany). We added 90 μl of 10−4 mol l−1 luminol (5-amino-2,3-dihydrophthalazine-1,4-dione; VWR International, Stockholm, Sweden) which was dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO; VWR International, Stockholm, Sweden) and diluted with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS, pH 7.4). 10 μl of PBS were added and the tube was shaken gently for mixing. The lumigenic substrate, Luminol, produces chemiluminescence when combined with an oxidizing agent, producing a low-intensity light reaction . To measure full blood chemiluminescence produced in response to a secondary challenge (the first challenge was the stress reaction in vivo), a second tube was prepared in parallel as described above but 10 μl of 10−5 mol l−1 phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA; VWR International, Stockholm, Sweden) was added instead of 10 μl PBS . The higher the extent of the first challenge (i.e., the stress reaction of the animal), the lower the chemiluminescence response to the artificial secondary challenge is going to be. In other words, low LCC values indicate high stress levels and vice versa.
Blood chemiluminescence for each tube was assessed every 5 min for a total of 30 s over a period of 30 min and expressed in relative light units (RLU), using a portable high sensitivity chemiluminometer (Junior LB 9509, EG & G Berthold, Germany). All measurements were carried out in the field inside a car, ensuring stable conditions above 15 °C and were performed immediately after the blood sample was collected. When not in the chemiluminometer, tubes were incubated at 37 °C in a lightproof water bath. The texture and adhesiveness of the cell microenvironment is essential for the in vivo determination of cell reactivity . Using the LCC technique, working with minimal diluted whole blood without further manipulation of the cell and immediate performance of the analysis, ensures the structural integrity and morphology of the cell.
All statistical analyses were performed in R.3.0.2 . To analyze whether the LCC was reflecting individual stress levels, we tested whether the LCC-peak (see Fig. 1) as well as the integral of the LCC curve (area under the curve, auc; Fig. 1) were affected by the time the animal spent in the trap with human presence at the capture site prior to handling (waiting time), the animal's handling score and, its release score. Given that these two behavioral scores might represent proxies for an animal's coping style  which in turn could affect its response to a stressor we also included the pairwise interactions of waiting time with the behavioral scores in the two negative binomial models (R-package "MASS" ), which were additionally corrected for the total number of neutrophils (both models n = 24).
Preliminary analyses showed that including sampling period as a random effect in the models for correction did not affect the results and thus our conclusions. Given the small sample sizes we used the more parsimonious model and removed this parameter from the analysis beforehand. This also holds for all models presented below.
In order to test whether the stress reaction caused by human presence at the trap is also reflected by commonly used stress indicators, we tested whether heart rate, body temperature, total cortisol, N:L ratio or lactate levels were affected by waiting time, the animal's handling score, its release score, or the pairwise interactions of waiting time with these two behavioral scores. For this purpose we performed two negative binomial models, on cortisol (n = 26) and N:L ratio (n = 24), and three linear models (R-package "stats" ), on heart rate (n = 27), body temperature (n = 27), and lactate levels (n = 19).
For all models, we determined relevant explanatory variables by comparing all nested models in a model selection table based on Akaike's Information Criterion corrected for small sample size (AICc; [46, 47]) from which we selected the model with the lowest AICc. Model selection tables, including all models with a ΔAICc <4 and the Null-model only containing the intercept, are shown in the Additional file 3: Tables S3-S9. Full models of all linear models showed no evidence for serious deviations from normality according to the inspection of the distribution of residuals by means of histograms and quantile-quantile plots.
Finally, we tested pairwise correlations between all investigated stress indicators (all explanatory variables described above plus the two behavioral indices) using Pearson correlation tests. In order to correct for multiple testing we corrected the p-values using the Benjamini-Hochberg method . However, as most p-values leveled off at around 1.0 after correction and were therefore not informative, we additionally report the uncorrected p-values in the results (Table 2).
No mortalities or injuries occurred during captures or handling. Total handling time ranged from 7 to 29 min with a mean handling time of 14 (± standard deviation (SD)) 6.8 min. Mean values for complete blood counts and biochemistry parameters were within the reference ranges for European roe deer  (for details see Additional file 1: Tables S1 and Additional file 2: Table S2).
The animals had a mean heart rate (± SD) of 107 (±26) beats per minute and a mean body temperature (± SD) of 38.8 (±0.7) °C. The LCC-peaks occurred at 10 min in 78.5% of the roe deer, with exceptions at 5 (11%), 15 (7%), and 20 min (3.5%) (Fig. 1).
Besides the number of neutrophils, which was included for correction, the best models for the LCC-peak and the LCC-auc contained only the negative effect of waiting time (peak: estimate ± se = −0.046 ± 0.017, ΔAICc = 2.35, n = 24, Fig. 2a, Additional file 3: Table S3; auc: estimate ± se = −0.046 ± 0.014, ΔAICc = 2.69, n = 24, Fig. 2b, Additional file 3: Table S4).
The best models for cortisol included waiting time, release score and the interaction of the two (estimate ± se = 0.052 ± 0.021, n = 26, Additional file 3: Table S5). The best model on heart rate and lactate levels contained the handling score (estimate ± se = 8.719 ± 4.382, n = 27, Additional file 3: Table S6; slope ± se = 1.386 ± 0.803, n = 19, Additional file 3: Table S9). However, for those three parameters (cortisol, heart rate and lactate) the Null-model only containing the intercept was very close to those best models (cortisol: ΔAICc = 3.82, heart rate: ΔAICc = 1.42, lactate: ΔAICc = 0.22).
The best models on the N:L ratio as well as on body temperature were the Null-models only containing the intercept (N:L ratio: Additional file 3: Table S7; n = 24; body temperature: n = 27, Additional file 3: Table S8). The second best models contained the waiting time (estimate ± se = −0.047 ± 0.042) and the handling score (slope ± se = −0.124 ± 0.126), respectively.
In the pairwise comparisons between the different stress parameters, only LCC-peak and LCC-auc were significantly correlated (Table 2).
Our results support our predictions that the LCC-technique is a suitable technique to quantify short-term stress levels as a result of capture and a short period of subsequent handling in non-anesthetized roe deer (prediction i). In contrast the traditional indicators of stress were not as conclusive (prediction ii). This study presents the first results of LCC for a ruminant species (Fig. 1). Although the exact capture time of the roe deer in this study was unknown and individuals consequently might have spent different timespans within the trap, causing some potential noise, our results clearly demonstrate that LCC reflects the duration of human presences at the capture site.
The obtained LCC responses match indications from previous studies on Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) , European badger (Meles meles) , Rhesus macaque (Macaca Mulatta) , European water vole (Arvicola terrestris) , water voles (Arvicola terrestris) , as well as on humans [33, 53, 54]. Interestingly, estimates of roe deer neutrophil production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) due to secondary challenge peak mostly after five (11%) or 10 min (78.5% of all animals). This finding indicates a considerably faster reactivity of roe deer neutrophils to external stimuli, such as bacterial peptides , as well as to stress induced changes in the blood stream . Other species investigated so far reached LCC peak performance only at 15 min (e.g. European badger , Brown bear (Ursus arctos) ). This finding could potentially be explained by the fact that roe deer are prey animals [57, 58] and need to adjust their physiology rapidly in response to a threat by a predator. However, to elucidate the underlying mechanisms, further research is necessary.
Koolhaas et al.  highlighted that the term stress should be restricted to conditions which are uncontrollable and unpredictable and as a consequence are potentially life threatening. For prey animals like roe deer, being trapped and unable to escape the presence of a human being, a potential predator, undoubtedly reflects a situation meeting the described conditions and is expected to result in acute psychological stress . Although we do not know the total time the animals spent in the box trap, which could constitute a potential bias in the animals stress response and LCC [60, 61], this stress is conclusively reflected in our LCC measurements. We found that LCC in roe deer significantly decreases with increasing time of humans being present at the capture site (i.e., waiting time; Fig. 2a, b). Correspondingly this confirms the fast change of this immune parameter in consequence of short-term stress. This is supported by findings of Ellard et al.  showing that already short-term mental stress causes a significant increase of activated leukocytes in humans, altering their oxidative capacity. Directly related to these findings, Shelton-Rayner et al. [33, 63] showed that acute psychological stress is decreasing LCC values in humans. Thus, our results endorse our first prediction that a stress reaction is already triggered by the presence of humans and not merely by the actual handling procedure.
Two individuals showed extremes in LCC peak values and the LCC-auc response respectively (Fig. 2a, b). Neutrophil ROS production is highly upregulated (>200%) by neutrophil "priming" agents such as chemoattractants (bacterial peptides/proteins), inflammatory cytokines (e.g. tumor necrosis factor alpha) or Toll-like receptor agonists (e.g. endotoxins) . Bacterial infections and/or inflammatory processes increase chemoattractant levels in the blood stream and therefore increase neutrophil ROS production. This could potentially explain the high magnitude in LCC in these two individuals. The extreme nature of the priming effects facilitates a clear distinction to apparently healthy individuals (Fig. 2a, b). Removing these two outliers from the statistical analysis did not change our results.
The more commonly and more frequently used measures of stress including heart rate [65, 66], body temperature , cortisol  and leukocyte profiles in terms of the N:L ratio [61, 68] as well as the two behavioral scores neither correlated with LCC values nor with each other and did not reflect our defined stressor. We attribute this lack of correlation to a large individual variation in how animals cope with a stressful situation behaviorally and physiologically [15, 69, 70], impeding the detection of quantitative effects of a stressor, at least at low sample sizes like they are commonly faced in field studies. Moreover, our results are supported by the findings of Esteruelas et al.  showing that LCC levels did not correlate with heart rate, N:L ratio nor cortisol concentrations in Scandinavian brown bears. It should be noted, however, that those animals were anesthetized, resulting in additional physiological alterations. As in our findings, the classical parameters measured by Esteruelas et al.  indicated that animals were certainly stressed, but likewise did not allow for quantifying stress responses . This, however, is apparently not the case for the LCC. In the case of heart rate and body temperature it may be that these two parameters reflect the very immediate response of the organism to a stressor and that they are therefore not as conclusive towards events occurring several minutes prior to measurement.
Alternatively, this discrepancy between LCC and classical stress parameters could be explained by the characteristic of neutrophils to detect several biochemical alterations in the blood stream linked to stress. Neutrophils provide over 150 different receptors all of which are sensitive to signals of stress in the organism: endocrine factors in the plasma, changes in blood biochemistry and red cell hemodynamics, cytokines as well as changes of products released by the hypothalamic – pituitary – adrenal axis as well as the sympathetic nervous system . Therefore the LCC response may be the cumulative result of the nearly simultaneous shift of all these factors, not allowing a clear correlation with one of the classical stress parameters, especially with low sample sizes.
Based on our findings, we strongly recommend minimizing both the time the handling teams spend next to restrained (trapped) animals and the handling time to an absolute minimum. This will improve animal welfare and minimize negative effects of stress induced physiological changes on the data collected. The LCC technique proved to be an excellent tool to quantitatively assess short term stressors, even with low sample sizes. The method allows for measuring the stress response in the context of trapped animals and human presence in a quantitative manner. In contrast, this was not possible with the classical stress parameters used in this study.
Due to the rapid changes in LCC in response to short-term stressors, we suggest to additionally analyze catecholamine levels, which could provide an important link between classical stress parameters and the immunological tool of LCC.
L. Jäderberg, G. Sjöö, L. Höglund, K. Jones, A. R. Græsli and S. Grønmo for assistance with captures and sampling. The Grimsö Wildlife Research Station and Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences provided logistical, equipment and financial support.
This study was supported by grants from the Swedish Association for Hunting and Wildlife Management (PK), Marie-Claire Cronstedts Stiftelse and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (UAB, PK) as well as the Swedish Research Council (UAB).
The datasets analyzed within the current study are available from the corresponding author upon request.
PK, UAB, JMA, ALE and NH, initiated the study and designed the experiment. SK and NH contributed during fieldwork and data collection. Equipment was provided by JMA, UAB and PK. Data analysis and preparation of figures was done by SGV with contribution of NH. NH and SGV drafted the manuscript and contributed equally. PK, UAB, ALE and JMA critically revised the manuscript. All authors participated in revisions and approved the final manuscript.
All captures as well as all handling methods were approved by the Ethical Committee on Animal Experiments, Uppsala, Sweden (C302/2012) in accordance with Swedish and European legislation.
R Core Team: R: a language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing; 2.15.0; 2013. [ http://www.r-project.org ].
R Core Team: R: a language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing; 2015. [ http://www.r-project.org ].


All-in-one printers — printers that can scan, copy, fax and and produce photos in addition to, you know, printing out black and white text on a sheet of paper — are useful for multitasking. But they also tend not to perform any one function that well. And they occupy a huge amount of desk space.
The later drawback is what drew our attention to the Epson Expression Premium XP-800 multi-function printer. At 15.4 by 13.3 by 7.5 inches (390 x 340 x 190mm for those metrically-inclined), we wouldn't exactly call this printer compact. But it is less space hogging than it's competitors. And it looks pretty cool too.
As a scanner and copier, the Epson Expression Premium XP-800 offers 9600 x 9600 dpi interpolated resolution. That's impressive! What's even better, it can simultaneously scan and copy both sides of a paper at once. The speed doesn't compare to a copy machine — around 10 pages per minute, depending on what you are copying — but that's standard for an all-in-one. Our only complaint: There's no backlight for scanning slides and film negatives.
As a fax machine, the XP-800 does everything you need. The touchscreen user interface is intuitive. You can store up to 60 speed dial numbers and the buffer keeps up 180 pages in memory.
If the Epson Expression Premium XP-800 can be considered a success at scanning and faxing, its capability as a printer is more a mixed bag.
On the positive side, the XP-800 can print on two page sides at once. It can print documents sent via ethernet or over wifi. But what we love is that the printer supports Google Cloud Print, Epson Connect and Apple AirPrint. That means you can print from virtually any internet-connected device, from an iPhone to an Android tablet to a computer on the other side of the world.
The XP-800 is also relatively speedy. It can print as many as 12 pages per minute — fast enough for most household and home business tasks. And it can print on optical media.
The main downside is the slightly suboptimal print quality. We'd say the XP-800′s color print quality is standard for an inkjet. The black and white is a little below that of a standard inkjet. Neither is going to wow anyone.
The XP-800 is also a bit of an ink guzzler. The cost of the ink for printing a typical page comes out to around 4.5 cents for black and white and 13.5 cents for color. That's not outrageous but not cheap either.
Finally, the paper tray is on the small side. According to Epson it holds 100 sheets of paper though we found fitting that many in was a tight squeeze.
If you are looking for an all-in-one printer with the highest possible print quality for the lowest possible price, the XP-800 is probably not your choice. (We'd suggest looking at the Brother Printer MFCJ825DW instead.) However, if you're in the market for an all-in-one printer that doesn't take up much desk space and/or makes for an excellent scanner, the Epson Expression Premium XP-800's small package fits the bill perfectly.
I found this article whilst looking for other information on epson dual scanner/printer machines and I agree with your conclusion. However I would add that epson customer service are very good and their technical support team are excellent!


text:
Community Health Systems cites weak volume for poor results
Beth Kutscher
Community Health Systems, Franklin, Tenn., saw another tough quarter during the last three months of 2013 as same-facility admissions fell 10.5% and 6.7% when adjusted for outpatient activity.
Income from continuing operations fell to $52.3 million on $3.2 billion in revenue, compared with $85.6 million in income on $3.3 billion in revenue during the same period in 2012.
Community offered a preview of its results last month ahead of completing its $3.9 billion acquisition of Health Management Associates. The deal adds 71 HMA hospitals, but Community will need to divest two of its own in Alabama and South Carolina under an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission.
In addition to weak volume, Community cited higher bad debt and a more adverse payer mix for bringing down the results. As the chain integrates HMA, the combined company will also focus on cutting costs and eliminating overlaps in their operations.
For the full year, Community reported $217.3 million in income, a 37.3% decrease, on nearly flat revenue of $13 billion. Same-facility admissions declined 7.2%, or 4.6% when adjusted for outpatient activity.
The company's results included a $101.5 million reserve put aside for a settlement with the government to resolve an investigation of its short-stay admissions practices, as well as $14.1 million in expenses related to the HMA deal.
Follow Beth Kutscher on Twitter: @MHbkutscher
Healthcare lost jobs in December amid lackluster economy-wide gains
Mayo Clinic fires 1% of workforce for failing to get COVID-19 vaccines
Modern Healthcare A.M. Newsletter: Sign up to receive a comprehensive weekday morning newsletter designed for busy healthcare executives who need the latest and most important healthcare news and analysis.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The event organiser is responsible for the safety and integrity of your guests. To ensure this, a comprehensive safety concept has to be developed as part of the event planning.
Such a concept provides safety and a risk-free course of the event. With our team of safety concept and technical management specialists for all kinds of events, we help you in coping with your responsibility.
Developing a customised safety concept enables us to evaluate all the basic conditions and to appropriately define measures required for the integrity of our guests. Thus, as an event organiser, we provide the maximum event safety so that your image is not at risk.
Safety concepts for events / large events always follow a general pattern, the content of which is individually designed and customised to the existing conditions and the type of event.
The main elements of a safety concept pattern include the description of the events, the assessment of potential risk factors and hazardous goods as well as the measures to be taken.
The contact persons and their availabilities are also defined. The objective is to generate event safety based on an individually structured safety concept and to be able to re-assess again for new event concepts.
Category 3 provides interfaces between the involved public authorities, the organiser and other involved third parties within the mentioned elements, in order to act in a process-oriented manner.
In addition to the integrity and general safety of your guests, a customized safety concept for an event gives you a lot of protection.
Our safety concepts based on the country-specific usage and venue regulations, ensure a transparent, binding and comparable relationship between the organiser and the public authorities. By preparing a safety concept, you also get a very useful document in terms of liability insurance. The consensus as well as the effectiveness of the safety concept are ensured by obtaining the signatures of the involved parties.
Please do get in touch with us today in order to determine the safety of your upcoming event and to get a safety concept developed from Brähler Convention.


text:
// This code is part of the Fungus library (https://github.com/snozbot/fungus)
// It is released for free under the MIT open source license (https://github.com/snozbot/fungus/blob/master/LICENSE)

using UnityEngine;

namespace Fungus
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Command to store the min or max of 2 values
    /// </summary>
    [CommandInfo("Math",
                 "MinMax",
                 "Command to store the min or max of 2 values")]
    [AddComponentMenu("")]
    public class MinMax : Command
    {
        public enum Function
        {
           Min,
           Max
        }

        [Tooltip("Min Or Max")]
        [SerializeField]
        protected Function function = Function.Min;

        //[Tooltip("LHS Value ")]
        [SerializeField]
        protected FloatData inLHSValue, inRHSValue;

        //[Tooltip("Where the result of the function is stored.")]
        [SerializeField]
        protected FloatData outValue;

        public override void OnEnter()
        {
            switch (function)
            {
                case Function.Min:
                    outValue.Value = Mathf.Min(inLHSValue.Value, inRHSValue.Value);
                    break;
                case Function.Max:
                    outValue.Value = Mathf.Max(inLHSValue.Value, inRHSValue.Value);
                    break;
                default:
                    break;
            }

            Continue();
        }

        public override string GetSummary()
        {
            return function.ToString() + " " +
                "out: " + (outValue.floatRef != null ? outValue.floatRef.Key : outValue.Value.ToString()) +
                " [" + inLHSValue.Value.ToString() + " - " + inRHSValue.Value.ToString() + "]";
        }

        public override bool HasReference(Variable variable)
        {
            return inLHSValue.floatRef == variable || inRHSValue.floatRef == variable || outValue.floatRef == variable;
        }

        public override Color GetButtonColor()
        {
            return new Color32(235, 191, 217, 255);
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


If your address is not being mapped properly, please keep in mind that Google's map application is different from Google maps you find on Google.com. Google maintains two mapping databases, one for Google maps and the other for the external program that offers to companies like WeddingWire.
This Google map application is updated periodically. As Google updates their application, we receive their updates and use them to update this application.


text:
It's Official: The Trump Administration Won't Break Up Big Banks
A return to New Deal-era rules that split up the big banks emerged from Trump's campaign rhetoric and made it to the Republican presidential platform. It isn't happening.
By Matthew Zeitlin
Matthew Zeitlin BuzzFeed News Reporter
Bryan R. Smith / AFP / Getty Images
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has clarified the Trump administration's approach to Wall Street by making clear one thing it does not support: breaking up the big banks.
"We do not support a separation of banks from investment banks, we think that would have a very significant problem on the financial markets, on the economy and liquidity," Mnuchin said at a Senate hearing today. "We do not support a separation of banks and investment banks."
Mnuchin says breaking up big banks would be a "huge mistake" https://t.co/2wA90YGrsH
Mnuchin's words settled a long-running ambiguity about exactly what the Trump administration meant when it said it supported a "21st-century Glass-Steagall."
This is a reference to the Banking Act of 1933, sponsored by Carter Glass and Henry Steagall, which forced traditional banks — those that take deposits from the public and make loans — to be separated from those that trade stocks and bonds or issue securities.
Those rules were eliminated by the Clinton administration, and led to the supersized financial institutions like JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America that dominate Wall Street today — and which many labeled as prime culprits in the lead-up to the financial crisis. Trump called for a 21st-century version of the rules during his presidential campaign, leaving some wondering if his administration was open to a break-up of the big banks.
Mnuchin's statement put those questions to bed — and drew the ire of Democratic Sen. Eizabeth Warren, who argued that anything called "Glass-Steagall" needed to include separating risky trading activities from old-fashioned banking.
Mnuchin said he had not reversed himself or the administration's position, instead saying that a "21st-century Glass-Steagall" was always going to be different from the original rules, introduced in the wake of the Great Depression.
"I'm well-aware of what Glass-Steagall was," Mnuchin told Warren. "If we had supported a full Glass-Steagall, we would have said at the time that we had believed in Glass-Steagall, not a '21st-century Glass-Steagall.'"
Toward the end of a typically contentious interaction with Warren, Mnuchin said it would be a "huge mistake" to break up big banks.
The combination of commercial banking and trading, the argument goes, led to oversized financial institutions whose crucial lending operations (and consumer deposits, insured by the federal government) were endangered by risky trading activities. Bernie Sanders supported breaking up the banks during the presidential campaign, as did Elizabeth Warren and John McCain.
Mnuchin was clear about what a 21st-century Glass-Steagall would not do, but he was less clear about what it would. He said that rather than splitting up the big banks, it would focus on "supporting and making sure that community banks and regional banks could grow so we don't' just end up with big banks."
Few observers expected the Trump administration to support a far-reaching reform that would break up several of the largest companies in America. But the president's position on the financial industry — from the campaign trail through to his still-young presidency — has been ambiguous at best.
Large banks were a major punching bag during the campaign, and the Republican platform said it plainly: "We support reinstating the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, which prohibits commercial banks from engaging in high-risk investment."
But since becoming president, Trump's rhetoric on financial regulation has been that there's too much of it.
"Frankly I have so many people, friends of mine, that have nice businesses and they can't borrow money," Trump said in February. He also appointed banking executives, bank veterans, and bank lawyers to many high-ranking roles in his administration, including the head of Securities and Exchange Commission, Treasury secretary, head of the National Economic Council, and head of the federal bank regulator the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
Trump Says Banking Rules Must Change Because His Friends "Just Can't Get Any Money"
Matthew Zeitlin is a business reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York. Zeitlin reports on Wall Street and big banks.
Contact Matthew Zeitlin at matt.zeitlin@buzzfeed.com.


Ms. Shekhter heads up EPAM's Global Marketing and Strategy, working to integrate a variety of functions that have a material influence on the strategy, positioning and global brand of the company. She has been with the company in a number of roles including most recently as the Global Head of Business Development and prior to that as the Global Head of the Travel and Consumer Business Unit.
Prior to joining EPAM, Ms. Shekhter was with the travel and marketing giant, Carlson Companies, in a number of Operational and Business Development roles including Head of Retail and Entertainment for 24K, a spin-off of Carlson Marketing Group. Prior to Carlson, Ms. Shekhter was a Manager with Ernst and Young Consulting, specializing in CRM and Analytics engagements for notable clients such as 3M and GE.
Ms. Shekhter holds an MS degree in Information Systems and BS/BA degrees in Economic Theory and Political Science from The American University. She is active in the software startup and emerging technology community and takes a special interest in sustainability and artificial intelligence initiatives.


text:
Healthier, Stronger Communities – Thanks to You!
In 2016, a new virus called Zika threatened the health of millions of people. It was the first known mosquito-borne virus to cause birth defects such as microcephaly.
Your prompt response to this health emergency helped AMOS and our partner, the Sustainable Sciences Institute, develop a low-cost, successful, and scalable intervention to prevent the spread of Zika, dengue, and chikungunya. Using the evidence-based Care Group model, we trained networks of community health volunteers to educate their neighbors about searching for and eliminating mosquito breeding sites in their homes.
This year, our Zika project came to an end, and with your support, over 900 trained community volunteers were able to make an incredible impact!
Thank you for helping them to:
Educate more than 10,000 households
Distribute 1,200 Zika prevention kits to pregnant moms
Reduce mosquito breeding sites in 34 neighborhoods of Managua by over 70%!
Lester Lorente, Zika Prevention Project Coordinator
"One of the greatest achievements of this project was helping to further advance community empowerment," Lester Lorente, Zika Prevention Project Coordinator, says.
"We brought together people with diverse beliefs to address the common goal of preventing disease. Even now, 94% of the neighborhoods involved have active networks of community volunteers still working together to promote good health.
At the end of this project, we were all amazed to see the huge impact of community empowerment in people's lives. We saw community volunteers grow so much. In one of the neighborhoods we served there were only two people with college degrees, and at the beginning of this year 15 youth who served as community volunteers in the area got into college. Many of them told us the experience of working and serving their communities gave them purpose, they felt valued and respected, and that motivated them to pursue a college degree.
This project also left us with rich experiences and lessons to apply to other health care programs, especially regarding the Care Group methodology and the development of educational materials. These strategies have already been successfully implemented in Support Groups in Nejapa and with WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) Promoters in rural Nicaragua, and they will also be used in our new Parenting With Love pilot project.
Another important achievement of this project was related to social cohesion. In 2018, the national socio-political crisis in Nicaragua led to the polarization of society and clashes between neighbors, friends, and even family members who strongly disagreed on their perspectives. This also affected our community work within this project, but we managed to create safe spaces where people could respectfully express their opinions and feelings, and we put a lot of emphasis on the importance of this project and the work of community volunteers. At that time, we had a spike in dengue cases at a national level, and everyone was reminded that dengue could affect anyone, and that we needed to unite efforts to continue our life-saving work.
Thank you for making all of this possible!"


Iona's second quarter revenues fell broadly in line with the warning it issued two weeks ago, with sales of US$15.2m and a net loss of US$1.9m. Iona's results were down from the US$16.4m reported for the same period last year.
In recent weeks, Chris Horne, Iona's founder and CEO, blamed the decline on a less-than-expected demand for the company's Artix range of products.
However, this afternoon Horne claimed to be seeing stability in its CORBA middleware business and that its Artix pipeline continues to develop.
He said: "Our Artix pipeline is developing and feedback from customers that have deployed Artix indicates that Iona's solution is providing real value. Given this, we remain confident in the long-term success of our product offerings.
Going forward, the company said it expects revenue for the third quarter of 2004 to be in the range of US$15m to US$17m and total expenses, including both cost of revenue and operating expenses, to be in the range of US$16m to US$17m.


text:
The Tangled Lands (Paperback)
By Paolo Bacigalupi, Tobias S. Buckell
Gallery / Saga Press, 9781481497305, 304pp.
MP3 CD (5/29/2018)
From award-winning and New York Times bestselling authors Paolo Bacigalupi and Tobias Buckell comes a fantasy novel told in four parts about a land crippled by the use of magic, and a tyrant who is trying to rebuild an empire—unless the people find a way to resist.
Khaim, The Blue City, is the last remaining city in a crumbled empire that overly relied upon magic until it became toxic. It is run by a tyrant known as The Jolly Mayor and his devious right hand, the last archmage in the world. Together they try to collect all the magic for themselves so they can control the citizens of the city. But when their decadence reaches new heights and begins to destroy the environment, the people stage an uprising to stop them.
In four interrelated parts, The Tangled Lands is an evocative and epic story of resistance and heroic sacrifice in the twisted remains surrounding the last great city of Khaim. Paolo Bacigalupi and Tobias Buckell have created a fantasy for our times about a decadent and rotting empire facing environmental collapse from within—and yet hope emerges from unlikely places with women warriors and alchemical solutions.
Paolo Bacigalupi is the New York Times bestselling author of The Windup Girl, Ship Breaker, The Drowned Cities, Zombie Baseball Beatdown, The Doubt Factory, The Water Knife, Plump Six and Other Stories, and The Tangled Lands. His writing has appeared in WIRED, High Country News, Salon, OnEarth Magazine, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. He has won the Michael L. Printz, Locus, Hugo, Nebula, Compton Crook, and John W. Campbell awards.
Called "violent, poetic, and compulsively readable" by Maclean's, science fiction author Tobias S. Buckell is a New York Times bestselling writer born in the Caribbean. He grew up in Grenada and spent time in the British and US Virgin Islands, and these places influence much of his work. His Xenowealth series begins with Crystal Rain. Along with other stand-alone novels and his more than fifty stories, Tobias's works have been translated into eighteen different languages. He has been nominated for such awards as the Hugo, Nebula, Prometheus, and John W. Campbell Award for Best New Science Fiction Author. His latest original novels are Hurricane Fever, a follow-up to the successful Arctic Rising, which NPR says will "give you the shivers," and the acclaimed Halo: Envoy. He currently lives in Ohio, with his wife, twin daughters, and a pair of dogs. He can be found online at TobiasBuckell.com.
Praise For The Tangled Lands…
"A rich and haunting novel that explores a world where magic is forbidden."
— - The Washington Post
"[Bacigalupi and Buckell] create a damaged world that is frightening in its implications for human suffering. Readers looking for dystopian fantasy with strong female characters will devour the stories of this world and eagerly wait for more."
— - Shelf Awareness
"Better known for their science fiction, Buckell and Bacigalupi are adept in their use of fantasy motifs. Khaim is textured, a vivid setting only begun to be explored. [These] novellas succeed as action-packed individual stories."
— - San Francisco Chronicle
"Paolo Bacigalupi and Tobias S. Buckell team up to bring a gripping fantasy to life."
— - Kirkus Reviews
"All four stories are beautiful, subtle and well worth every moment spent reading them."
— - BookPage
"The collective effect is that of a series of intriguing trailers for a tantalizing epic film."
— --Gary K. Wolfe
"I found the book surprisingly hopeful. Resistance in the face of a corrupt government and broken systems can take many forms. Even though the characters live in constant fear, they all find ways to resist, even if it's just standing up for doing what's right. In today's climate of distrust and fake news, it's both devastating and yet encouraging."
— - Lightspeed Magazine
"The Tangled Lands is a gripping story of resistance set in the last city of a crumbling empire, run by a tyrant and his henchman."
— - Powell's Books
"I loved the world building in this book of four short stories set during the same time period in a world where magic has been banned by a corrupt government."
— - R.J. Julia Booksellers


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The Sun: 1914
G.G. Bain
The Sun newspaper building on New York's Park Row circa 1914. View full size. 8x10 glass negative, Geo. Grantham Bain Collection. Who can ID the cross street?
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Sun on Park Row
Submitted by Sarah on Mon, 09/12/2011 - 12:21pm.
According to this article, the Sun was located at 170 Nassau Street from 1868 to 1915. That would mean that this is a photograph of the back of the building, on Park Row. Frankfort Street slopes down to the left.
Zoom |
Necropost...oh well.
Submitted by Raffican on Thu, 04/01/2010 - 11:13pm.
Here is a photo of the Tribune Building and it's its shorter neighbor to it's its lower left, the Sun Building. The detail photo also frames the two buildings in the same fashion so that the architectural details may be more easily compared. Companies seen in the windows of the Tribune Building like W.H.H. Hull & Co., S.C. Beckwith Special Agency, and Clarke Brothers Bankers had addresses on 154 Nassau St, which was directly past Park Row, from where this picture was taken. If Park Row can be called the front entrance to these buildings, Nassau street would have been the back entrance.
Note also that the cross street to the left of the Sun Building slopes downward; that is to say that there is an apparent decline to the street. There are very few streets in lower Manhattan that are not flat and level and have an angle to them; Spruce Street (now running alongside Pace University) still has this slight decline and you head towards Gold St and what is now New York Downtown Hospital.
Actually the World Bldg is
Submitted by Current NY Sun designer on Wed, 10/10/2007 - 7:18pm.
Actually the World Bldg is the one to our left (you can see the name above the arc window above the CIGARS sign. And the road is Park Row.
On the right...
Submitted by Lance on Wed, 10/10/2007 - 12:52pm.
I see an office for "International Correspondence Schools"....wow!...is this the original location for the place whose advertising adorned every second matchbook cover in the 20th century? Who could resist such come-ons as: "Make big money in accounting," "Learn RADIO at home!" or...."Be a drawbridge oiler!"? (Okay, I admit I cribbed that last example from a satire in an old issue of National Lampoon.)
Actually four newspapers…
Submitted by bellhalla on Tue, 10/09/2007 - 11:51pm.
There appears to be a bureau for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat on the right.
S.C. Beckwith and cross street info
Submitted by bellhalla on Wed, 10/10/2007 - 12:12am.
S.C. Beckwith, the original president of the "S.C. Beckworth Special Agency" seen in the extreme upper right corner of the photo, died from injuries received when the 20th Century Limited crashed near Mentor, Ohio, on June 21, 1905. Mr. Beckwith was carrying $32,000 worth of jewels that at first were thought stolen from the wreckage. (article from The New York Times archive.) The Special Agency was an advertising agency that was headquartered in the Tribune building at the time of Beckworth's death (and at the time of this photo). He was in business with his brothers (unnamed in another archive article), who presumably were running the agency in 1914.
Also, the Sun building (later called the World building) and the Tribune building were torn down in 1955 for expanded auto entrance ramps for the Brooklyn Bridge. They were located across from the New York City Hall.
A fourth newspaper?
Submitted by Brad on Tue, 10/09/2007 - 12:08pm.
On the window (on the far right) third floor, is the St. Louis Globe Democrat.
Three Newspapers
Submitted by Brent on Tue, 10/09/2007 - 11:40am.
There are three newspapers actually named in this photo. Besides The Sun, there is a wagon for the Evening World ("A Complete Novel Each Week By A Famous Author") in front of the building with the Cigar Store. Then above the semicircular window on that same building but below the "Mortgage and Loan" window is a window for the Brooklyn Eagle. Actually, if you look carefully just under the ledge below the Brooklyn Eagle window, you see word "World" on the left side of that round bit that sticks out, and the word "The" on the right side. Could this have been the offices of the New York World at the time?
The original New York Sun published from 1833 until it merged with the World-Telegram in 1950. The New York World published from 1860 to 1930 when it was sold by the heirs of Joseph Pulitzer (who died in 1911) to the Scripps-Howard group who merged it with their Evening Telegram in 1931. The original Brooklyn Eagle was published from 1831 to 1955. Today there are modern versions of both the Sun (a Conservative alternative to the New York Times) and the Eagle.
The Sun Building
Submitted by Anonymous Tipster on Tue, 10/09/2007 - 9:27am.
According to a 9/25/1914 article in The New York Times, the building was at Park Row and Frankfort Street. It was torn down shortly later and The Sun moved to a location on Broadway.
I think it was Frankfort St.
I think it was Frankfort St. 41 Park Row is at the corner of Spruce right now, and it was the home of the NY Times. This site also indicates that the Sun was at Frankfort and Nassau in the 1800s:
S.E. Beckwith was located at 63 Park Row, and the NY Correspondents Club also was located there. The president of the NYCC? Worked for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat.
I used to work in 41 Park Row (now Pace U.).
Submitted by Jack Coupal on Tue, 10/09/2007 - 6:45am.
Is that the newspaper that merged with the World Telegram?
Spruce?
Submitted by Doug on Mon, 10/08/2007 - 7:13pm.
Judging by the Brooklyn Bridge in the background, my guess is this has to be Spruce Street. These building have been torn down now. The cigars are gone, instead we have Pace University.
Submitted by amsci on Mon, 10/08/2007 - 11:29am.
Chambers St?
Must be 1914
Submitted by Anonymous Tipster on Mon, 10/08/2007 - 7:46am.
The delivery vans a announcing a feature of "A Business Day with President Wilson" in next Sunday's Sun on March 15th. For March 15th the be on a Sunday during Wilson's Presidency, this photo was probably taken between March 9th and March 14th, 1914.
Submitted by toshiro_mifune on Mon, 10/08/2007 - 7:24am.
I'm going to say Beekman, but I don't think that's right.
Where is this place?
I'm pretty sure that both the building on the left and right have been demolished and replaced, partly as a result of the construction of new ramps to the Brooklyn Bridge in the 1950s and 1960s. My guess is that Spruce Street is the cross-street in this picture.
Street ID
Pearl Street? All Pace University now.
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Final committee reports and audit for 1890 received. Council then adjourned Sine Die.
The Council for 1890 held its last meeting on Monday January 5th 1890 [sic] at 10 A.M.
Present: His Worship Mayor Oppenheimer and Aldermen Browning, Carroll, Garden, Horne, Fox, Sentell, Costello, McLeod, Doering and Mason.
From the City Auditor furnishing the yearly audit for 1890. Filed.
The Annual Reports of the Finance, Works, Health, FW&L & Police were received and filed.
After the Reports were read His Worship the Mayor reviewed the duties performed by the retiring Council and thanked them for their services.
That the thanks of this Council be tendered to His Worship Mayor Oppenheimer for the able and courteous manner in which he has presided over the deliberations of Council during the past year. Carried.


text:
Archaeological news from the Archaeology in Europe web site
Citizen archaeologist discovers ancient 'logboat' in the Boyne Valley
Citizen archaeologist Anthony Murphy (pictured) appears to have found another potentially significant discovery in the Boyne Valley - a logboat that could date back to Neolithic times. Photo Ciara Wilkinson
A citizen archaeologist who discovered the world famous 'Dronehenge' near Newgrange, county Meath during the heatwave of 2018, appears to have found another potentially significant discovery in the Boyne Valley using a drone - a logboat that could date to Neolithic times.
Anthony Murphy said, "I went looking for a dolphin. I didn't find him but I did find a logboat."
Made by hollowing out a tree trunk, such logboats or dugout boats have, according to Dr Stephen Davis, UCD School of Archaeology, "an immensely long history of use in Ireland, with examples known from the Neolithic right the way up to Medieval times."
"Closer investigation will be able to show more - for example tool marks would be able to tell whether it was made with metal or stone tools, and radiocarbon dating give an approximate age," he added.
Read the rest of this article...
Posted by David Beard MA, FSA, FSA Scot at 11:35 am
'Miracle' cave in South Africa may be the earliest known human dwelling EVER found, 1.8million-year-old stone tools suggest
The team explored layers deep within the ancient cave and were able to successfully establish the shift from Oldowan tools, sharp flakes and chopping tools, to early handaxes (pictured) over one million years ago
Ancient tools found in a 'miracle' cave in South Africa suggest our earliest ancestors set up camp there more than 1.8 million years ago, according to palaeontologists.
Experts from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem examined the Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa's Kalahari Desert, delving down to ancient layers within the historic site.
Few places in the world preserve a continuous archaeological record spanning millions of years, but this is one such site. Its name means 'miracle' in Afrikaans.
The new study, including work by geologists and archaeologists, confirms the existence of human-made stone tools dating back 1.8 million years.
This marks it as the earliest cave occupation in the world and the site of some of the earliest indications of fire use and tool making among prehistoric humans.
Is This 10,000-Year-Old Carving Europe's Oldest Known Depiction of a Boat?
Arock carving discovered in Norway may be one of Europe's earliest examples of art depicting a boat, reports Garry Shaw for the Art Newspaper.
The image, found in Valle, on the Efjorden fjord in Nordland County, appears to be a life-size representation of a boat made from sealskin, writes Jan Magne Gjerde, a scholar at the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research, in the Oxford Journal of Archaeology.
Based on the height of the surrounding shoreline, which was higher in the Stone Age than it is today, Gjerde dates the art to between 10,000 and 11,000 years ago. That makes it one of the oldest images of a boat in the world. Previously, the oldest known depictions of boats in northern Europe dated to between 7,000 and 7,500 years ago.
The image—a white outline carved into a rock surface—was probably originally about 14 feet long. A portion of the drawing eroded away over time, and it is now only clearly visible under particular weather conditions. A second carving at the site also appears to show a boat, but just a small part of it remains.
The Cave Where Vikings Offered Sacrifices To Stop The Apocalypse
The Surtshellir Cave in Iceland was discovered to be a trove full of Middle Eastern artifacts, and the location was used by the Vikings as an offering pit for sacraments to stop the apocalypse. The most noticeable artifact in the cave was a stone, boat-shaped structure that served as the main offering pit, as All That's Interesting details:
As deputy director and chief curator of the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology at Brown University, Kevin Smith was thrilled at the discovery. The Surtshellir Cave in question was formed by a volcano that erupted nearly 1,100 years ago — and gave Smith a window into what might have happened there.
Smith and his team also found 63 beads made of a mineral common in the Middle East but rarely found in Scandinavia.
Posted by David Beard MA, FSA, FSA Scot at 9:30 am
Archeologists discover remains of Viking rituals in Iceland
Volcano has erupted in Iceland near Reykjavik
A site dating back to the Viking age, approximately 300 meters beyond the Surtshellir cave, located in Iceland, was discovered by archeologists, according to a report by Ancient Origins.
The report stated that the site in question was used for ancient rituals performed by Vikings.
Published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, the archeologists, some based in Iceland with others hailing from the US and Norway, recorded many of their findings on the Surtshellir cave - the most notable discovery being a "boat-shaped structure made of rocks."
The Surtshellir cave is the longest lava cave in Iceland, stretching about 1.6 kilometers. It is named after the Viking fire giant Surtur, an integral figure in Norse mythology.
Vikings created a massive boat in this volcanic cave to ward off the apocalypse
Archaeologists found that the Vikings constructed this boat-shaped structure out of rocks. Inside the structure the Vikings burned animal bones at a high temperature. (Image credit: Kevin Smith)
Archaeologists have discovered the remains of rare artifacts from the Middle East in an Icelandic cave that the Vikings associated with Ragnarök, an end-times event in which the gods would be killed and the world engulfed in flames.
The cave is located by a volcano that erupted almost 1,100 years ago. At the time of that eruption, the Vikings had recently colonized Iceland. "The impacts of this eruption must have been unsettling, posing existential challenges for Iceland's newly arrived settlers," a team of researchers wrote in a paper published recently in the Journal of Archaeological Science.
Archaeological work shows that after the lava cooled, the Vikings entered the cave and constructed a boat-shaped structure made out of rocks. Within this structure, the Vikings would have burned animal bones, including those of sheep, goat, cattle, horses and pigs, at high temperatures as a sacrifice. This may have been done in an effort to avert Ragnarok.
Boat-Shaped Viking Structure Found in Icelandic Cave
© Kevin P. Smith
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND—Live Science reports that a team of researchers led by Kevin Smith of Brown University has investigated a stone structure in Surtshellir Cave, which is located near a volcano in Iceland. The volcano is known to have erupted about 1,100 years ago, shortly after the island was colonized by Vikings. Smith said that after the lava from the eruption cooled, the Vikings built the boat-shaped structure with rocks. Within the boat's outline, the researchers unearthed the bones of sheep, goat, cattle, horses, and pigs that had been burned at high temperatures. They also found orpiment, a mineral from eastern Turkey, and 63 beads, three of which came from Iraq.
Viking metalwork craft and expertise evolved from 8th to 9th century
Credit: CC0 Public Domain
The evolution of metalwork expertise and craftsmanship developed by Viking craftspeople in Denmark in the 8th and 9th centuries has been detailed in a study published in Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences.
A team of researchers at Aarhus University, Denmark, analyzed tool fragments, raw materials such as metal bars, and complete objects such as keys and brooches, excavated from two sites in the town of Ribe, Denmark, a trading port established by Vikings in the eighth century.
The authors examined 1,126 samples of metalworking tools (crucibles and molds), 24 keys and brooches, and 24 metal bar ingots and fragments of spare metal. By analyzing samples from the surface of tools and identifying metallic traces contained in them, as well as examining the metallic composition of finished objects, the researchers were able to infer which metals were used to make these objects.
Early bronze age tomb uncovered near Marlborough
James Cameron at the site of the tomb in East Kennett (left) and exposed lintel at the tomb (right)
A rare archeological find has been unearthed on a farm in East Kennett.
Wiltshire archeologists say it is likely to be a 4,500-year-old megalithic tomb.
They have since surveyed the site, and believe there may be several more of them in the same field.
The burial chamber was discovered back in the summer when the Sarsen capstone collapsed and a small sink hole appeared in an arable field.
"For I ages I thought it was just another badger set but when I examined it more closely you can see that it is lined with stones and there is some kind of chamber there," said farm owner James Cameron.
"It isn't very big, probably a few metres square and dates from the Bronze Age."
Mesolithic Double Burial Discovered In France
Mesolithic tomb of Casseneuil being cleared
[Credit: Frederic Prodeo, Willford O'yl, Inrap]
The Mesolithic covers a period of 5,000 years, and yet less than fifty burials from this period are known in France. One of them, containing two human remains, has been excavated by a team from Inrap in Casseneuil (a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in south-western France) since the beginning of March.
The Casseneuil burial site was discovered in 2008, during a preliminary inspection for the construction of a housing estate. The State (Drac Nouvelle-Aquitaine, regional archaeology service) commissioned the excavation, which is currently underway on a 1500 m² property. The radiocarbon dating recently obtained dates this double burial to around 9000 years before our era, i.e. an early period of the Mesolithic.
Gold ring from Civil War era unearthed in Manx field
The ring will go on display at the Manx Museum in Douglas from Saturday - MNH
A gold and crystal mourning ring thought to have connections to the Lord of Man during the English Civil War has been unearthed by a metal detectorist on the Isle of Man.
The "delicate" 350-year-old piece was discovered in a field in the south of the island by Lee Morgan in late December.
It was revealed in an inquest where it was officially declared treasure.
The ring will now go on display in the medieval gallery at the Manx Museum.
Manx National Heritage curator Allison Fox said the piece, which is adorned with the letters JD or ID, would have been made for "an individual of high status".
Lidl store builds glass floor to showcase 11th century Viking ruins
The store opened in 2020
(RTE news/YouTube)
A Lidl supermarket in Dublin has put on a show for amazed shoppers, installing glass panels in between the isles that reveal a medieval snapshot of the city,
The store on Aungier Street in the city centre, opened in 2020 and uses glass panelling to showcase 11th and 18th century archeological remains that lie beneath the shop.
When the site was uncovered, Lidl managers invested heavily into preserving the historic structures, reported dublin-news.
Which Skills Were Valued in Early Neolithic Europe?
YORK, ENGLAND—According to a statement released by the University of York, a recent review of stone tools recovered from early Neolithic cemeteries across Europe suggests that men and women were buried with different sorts of implements, and may have therefore performed different work-related activities during their lifetimes. Archaeologist Penny Bickle said that tools found in women's graves were used to work animal skins, while men's tools were associated with hunting and conflict. Bickle suggests the differences in tools reflect the variety of skills needed by members of the community. The presence of the tools in the graves is evidence of the value given to all of the jobs, she added.
Swan Songs
Courtesy Filip Ondrkál)
Bronze lamp, four views
From 1881 to 1890, in locations including modern Slovakia, Hungary, Italy, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, a number of very similar bronze bird figurines dating to the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages (ca. 1300–500 B.C.) were unearthed. For more than a century, it remained unclear how these artifacts were used, but their similarity was seen as evidence of shared cultural practices and beliefs across a large swath of Europe at this time. Now, a team studying a recently discovered bronze waterbird, perhaps a swan, from the site of Liptovský Hrádok in northern Slovakia, has determined that the artifact, and likely the other similar examples as well, was originally attached to a small chariot, filled with animal fat or vegetable oil and used as a lamp during burial rituals and ceremonial activities.
Gladiator arena from Roman era unearthed in Turkey
An aerial view shows the Roman-era arena poking out of a hilly area in Mastaura, Turkey. (Image credit: Courtesy of Assoc. Prof. Mehmet Umut Tuncer/Aydın Provincial Director of Culture and Tourism)
Archaeologists in Turkey have discovered the remains of a "magnificent" Roman-era arena, where up to 20,000 spectators likely cheered and jeered as they watched gladiator matches and wild animal fights, the excavators said.
The 1,800-year-old arena was discovered on the rolling hills of the ancient city of Mastaura, in Turkey's western Aydın Province. Its large central area, where "bloody shows" once took place, has since filled with earth and vegetation over the centuries.
"Most of the amphitheater is under the ground," and the part that is visible is largely covered by "shrubs and wild trees," Mehmet Umut Tuncer, the Aydın Culture and Tourism provincial director and project survey leader Sedat Akkurnaz, an archaeologist at Adnan Menderes University in Turkey, told Live Science in a translated email.
3D scanning gives new insight into 275-year-old Jacobite battlefield
Lidar technology has allowed experts to create a map of the Culloden battlefield, where the last pitched battle on British soil occurred in April 1746.
Conservationists have accurately recreated the Culloden battlefield using electronic mapping techniques, 275 years on from its last battle.
Experts say the new technology gives "the most detailed understanding" possible of how the landscape looked in 1746, when the final Jacobite Rising "came to a brutal head in one of the most harrowing battles in British history".
Culloden, near Inverness, hosted the final fight of the rebellion where the army of Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) was defeated by a British government force under William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland.
Little Foot fossil shows early human ancestor clung closely to trees
Little Foot was discovered in the 1990s in a cave in South Africa and is the most intact ancient skeleton of any human ancestor. Credit: Paul John Myburgh
A long-awaited, high-tech analysis of the upper body of famed fossil 'Little Foot' opens a window to a pivotal period when human ancestors diverged from apes, new USC research shows.
Little Foot's shoulder assembly proved key to interpreting an early branch of the human evolutionary tree. Scientists at the Keck School of Medicine of USC focused on its so-called pectoral girdle, which includes collarbones, shoulder blades and joints.
Although other parts of Little Foot, especially its legs, show humanlike traits for upright walking, the shoulder components are clearly apelike, supporting arms surprisingly well suited for suspending from branches or shimmying up and down trees rather than throwing a projectile or dangling astride the torso like humans.Little Foot was discovered in the 1990s in a cave in South Africa and is the most intact ancient skeleton of any human ancestor. Credit: Paul John Myburgh
Although other parts of Little Foot, especially its legs, show humanlike traits for upright walking, the shoulder components are clearly apelike, supporting arms surprisingly well suited for suspending from branches or shimmying up and down trees rather than throwing a projectile or dangling astride the torso like humans.
"Mixing between modern humans and archaic hominins was a common phenomenon."
Kutubu island in Papua New Guinea. Different ancient humans encountered each other in this region.Marc Dozier
Around 45,000 years ago, anatomically modern humans expanding into the Pacific region encountered archaic hominins on their journey. It wasn't long before they started having sex with them. So much sex, that it continued for millennia.
What the humans didn't know is they were picking up genes that would help them adapt to and survive island living. These genes continue to benefit people living in this region today, new research suggests.
The Pacific region is home to a deep history of early human evolution. However, genomic studies in the region are just emerging, says Etienne Patin, a human population geneticist with Institut Pasteur in France. Patin is the new study's co-author.
"Today, 95 percent of genomic studies focus on European-descent individuals, while they represent only 16 percent of the human population," Patin tells Inverse.
His research, published Thursday in the journal Nature, examines whether or not sex between modern humans and other species of humans facilitated the genetic adaption to island environments still observed in some Pacific Islanders today. This population has the highest levels of combined Neanderthal and Denisovan ancestry worldwide, the study suggests.
Posted by David Beard MA, FSA, FSA Scot at 4:23 pm
Ancient human migration into Europe revealed via genome analysis
The Bacho Kiro cave in Bulgaria. The research is based on analysis of several ancient human remains – including a whole tooth and bone fragments – found in a cave in Bulgaria last year. Photograph: Nikolay Doychinov/AFP via Getty Images
Genetic sequencing of human remains dating back 45,000 years has revealed a previously unknown migration into Europe and showed intermixing with Neanderthals in that period was more common than previously thought.
The research is based on analysis of several ancient human remains – including a whole tooth and bone fragments – found in a cave in Bulgaria last year.
Genetic sequencing found the remains came from individuals who were more closely linked to present-day populations in east Asia and the Americas than populations in Europe.
"This indicates that they belonged to a modern human migration into Europe that was not previously known from the genetic record," the research, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, said.
It also "provides evidence that there was at least some continuity between the earliest modern humans in Europe and later people in Eurasia", the study added.
How new discoveries in west Africa could rewrite pre-history
Archaeology in West Africa could rewrite the textbooks on human evolution.
Our species, Homo sapiens, rose in Africa some 300,000 years ago. The objects that early humans made and used, known as the Middle Stone Age material culture, are found throughout much of Africa and include a vast range of innovations.
Among them are bow and arrow technology, specialized tool forms, the long-distance transport of objects such as marine shells and obsidian, personal ornamentation, the use of pigments, water storage, and art. Although it is possible that other ancestors of modern humans contributed to this material culture in Africa, some of the earliest Middle Stone Age stone tools have been found with the oldest Homo sapiens fossils found so far.
The textbook view is that by around 40,000 years ago, the Middle Stone Age had largely ceased to exist in Africa. This was a milestone in the history of our species: the end of the first and longest lasting culture associated with humanity, and the foundation for all the subsequent innovations and material culture that defines us today.
Despite its central role in human history, we have little understanding of how the Middle Stone Age ended. Such an understanding could tell us how different groups were organized across the landscape, how they may have exchanged ideas and genes, and how these processes shaped the later stages of human evolution.
Excavations at Weymouth's medieval and Civil War sites
Campaigners wanted excavations to take place before the old council offices were redeveloped - Google
Archaeologists will be digging up part of a seaside town which was the site of a bloody battle during the Civil War.
Trenches will be cut in Weymouth's medieval high street and North Quay - the site of its former council offices.
The area was the site of the Battle of Weymouth in 1645, following a royalist plot to return the ports of Weymouth and Melcombe to King Charles I.
Dorset Council has commissioned specialists Context One to dig four exploratory trenches from next week.
Community group Dig the Street has been campaigning for excavations in the old high street - now known as High West Street - before the former borough council office site is redeveloped.
Roman stately home unearthed in Scarborough 'potential world first'
The complex of buildings include a circular room and a bath house
MAP ARCHAEOLOGICAL PRACTICE
A Roman villa unearthed on a building site has been described as potentially "the first of its kind" ever found.
The remains of the large "stately home" and bath house were found on a site in Scarborough, in North Yorkshire.
Historic England said the type of layout has "never been seen in Britain" and may be the first example "within the whole former Roman Empire".
Inspector of ancient monuments Keith Emerick said it was "more than we ever dreamed of discovering".
Roman site uncovered in Scarborough hailed as first of its kind in UK
The Roman remains discovered at Eastfield, Scarborough, are on the site of a new housing estate being constructed by Keepmoat Homes.
Photograph: MAP Archaeological Practice
When developers broke ground on the outskirts of Scarborough, they were hoping to build a housing estate ideal for first-time buyers, families and professionals, with en suites, off-street parking and integrated kitchens galore. But before shovels had even hit earth, they found someone else had got there first: the Romans.
The remains of a Roman settlement believed to be the first of its kind discovered in Britain – and possibly the whole Roman empire – has been uncovered near the North Yorkshire seaside town.
The find might have caused a headache for the developer Keepmoat Homes but has sparked excitement among experts, with Historic England describing it as "easily the most important Roman discovery of the last decade".
The large complex of buildings – approximately the size of two tennis courts – includes a cylindrical tower structure with a number of rooms leading from it and a bathhouse. As excavations and analysis continue, historians believe the site may have been the estate of a wealthy landowner, which could have later become a religious sanctuary or even a high-end "stately home-cum-gentleman's club".
The secret world of underwater archaeology
The Cosquer Cave's impressively well-preserved Stone Age paintings were only discovered in 1991. Researchers are always finding new treasures under water.
When the French diving instructor Henri Cosquer discovered in 1985 the access to a flooded cave at a depth of 37 meters (121 feet), during a diving tour in the Mediterranean off the coast of Marseille, he didn't know that it concealed an archaeological sensation.
He and his companions dived down to the entrance of the cave several times over the next few months. But it wasn't until 1991 that he managed to reach the main cave through a tunnel. It would later bear his name.
The narrow, stone-carved space was completely dry, its walls covered with mysterious prehistoric paintings.
The world's only underwater Stone Age cave
The archaeologists and scientists who later examined the cave found that the drawings were approximately 19,000 to 27,000 years old. The paintings mainly showed animals — seals, fish, horses, bison, mountain goats, sea birds — that were surprisingly lifelike.
Russia Looking To Clone And Resurrect 3,000-Year-Old Ancient Siberian Warriors
PA/Russian Geological Society/vk.com
Russia's defence minister has revealed his aspirations to clone ancient royal warriors and their horses in a Dolly the sheep-esque project.
Sergei Shoigu greenlit an archaeological dig at the 3,000-year-old Tunnug burial mound in the Valley of the Kings located in Tuva, Siberia, three years ago and apparently wants to clone the nomadic warriors that have been exhumed.
A modern-day shaman was reportedly drafted in to ensure the spirts weren't angered by the site being dug up.
According to The Siberian Times, the oldest remains to have been discovered so far dates back to the ninth century BC.
At a Russian Geographical Society session on Wednesday, April 14, Shoigu said, 'Of course, we would like very much to find the organic matter', referring to the remains of the ancient people and animals.
Ancient 'untouched' tomb discovered on Dingle Peninsula
The tomb was uncovered in recent days during land improvement works being carried out by a farmer
An ancient tomb, described by archaeologists as "untouched" and "highly unusual" has been discovered on the Dingle Peninsula in Co Kerry.
The tomb was uncovered in recent days during land improvement works being carried out by a farmer.
The National Monument Service has requested that the location of the structure should not be disclosed in order to prevent the possibility of disturbance.
The tomb was uncovered by a digger during land reclamation work when a large stone slab was upturned, revealing a slab-lined chamber beneath.
Viking DNA and the dangers of genetic ancestry tests
Just to be clear, these aren't real Vikings (TM Productions Limited)
Anna Källén, associate professor of archaeology and researcher in heritage studies, Stockholm University; and Daniel Strand, PhD in history of ideas at Centre for Multidisciplinary Studies on Racism, Uppsala University
A Middle-Aged white man raises his sword to the skies and roars to the gods. The results of his genetic ancestry test have just arrived in his suburban mailbox. His eyes fill with tears as he learns that he is '0.012 per cent Viking'. These are the scenes from a video advertisement for the TV-series Vikings.
This man is certainly not the only one yearning for a genetic test to confirm his Viking ancestry. A plethora of companies around the world market DNA-tests that promise to provide scientific facts about your identity. These companies often claim to provide a complete view of your ancestry, even though they in reality only compare your DNA with other customers in their database.
According to recent estimates, over 26 million people from across the world have purchased a genetic ancestry test. In the wake of this hype, researchers have begun to investigate how the tests affect our perceptions of ourselves. How do people make sense of a test result stating that they are, for instance, '35 per cent Ashkenazi Jewish', '27 per cent British' or '4 per cent western Asian'?
Archaeology and climate change
Climate policies should reflect the need to protect vulnerable archaeological sites and artefacts from climate change impacts.
Courtesy: Shahnaj Husne Jahan
Being born and brought up in Lalbag of Old Dhaka, I often find myself in the middle of a large, rapidly changing archaeological site by the Buriganga River. But as a climate change enthusiast, I never linked archaeology with climate change before. Participating in a webinar of the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) recently, however, left me thinking about their connection.
Till the 1970s, it was mostly geologists and climatologists who talked about the changes in our climate. By the 1990s, it gradually turned into a broader environmental concern. And over the last couple of decades, it has become a development issue, if not an issue of survival of the humanity. In many countries, as in Bangladesh, climate change is still being dealt with by environment ministries. Climate change has recently been re-branded as "climate crisis" or "climate emergency". Thus, practically, it is no longer the sole responsibility of a specific ministry or agency to act upon.
Bangladesh has mainstreamed climate change superbly. Its 25 ministries and divisions, for example, are now receiving money to take climate actions. In the 2020-2021 budget, despite the Covid-19 pandemic, Bangladesh allocated 7.55 percent of its budget (almost similar to the previous annual budget) to climate-related activities through those 25 agencies. The Ministry of Cultural Affairs or its Department of Archaeology, however, is not one of them.
'Exciting' Stone Age discoveries in the Cairngorms
University of Aberdeen students at work to unearth the traces of the stone age inhabitants of the Cairngorms - UPPER DEE TRIBUTARIES PROJECT
New research has uncovered rare evidence of people living in Scotland's mountains after the end of the last Ice Age.
Archaeologists found stone tools and traces of firepits and possible shelters in Deeside in the Cairngorms.
Finds from the Mesolithic period, also known as the Middle Stone Age, are rare and usually made in lowland areas.
Archaeologists describe the evidence in the Cairngorms as "exciting".
The research, published in the Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, adds to existing evidence from a handful of other upland sites.
These include on the mountain Ben Lawers in Perthshire and at locations in Lanarkshire and Dumfries.
Details of prehistoric Galloway heartland discovered during work on A75 go online
The Iron Age structure uncovered by archaeologists during excavtion work on the new A75 bypass at Dunragit.
Details of a prehistoric Galloway heartland hidden for eight millennia have now been published online.
The major prehistoric treasure trove of a number of ancient sites, artefacts and cremated human remains were discovered in the region during the £17million A75 bypass works in 2014.
The "significant" finds were unearthed around Dunragit by GUARD Archaeology Ltd – working on behalf of Transport Scotland – and stretch across the Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages.
As well as jewellery and cremation urns, they uncovered the earliest known Mesolithic house in south-west Scotland, Neolithic ceremonial structures, two Bronze Age cemeteries and an Iron Age village – which show the use of the land for both hunting and farming for more than 9,000 years.
To Save Norway's Stave Churches, Conservators Had to Relearn a Lost Art
For more than 800 years, the stave church of Borgund, Norway, has towered over the surrounding village. Conservators face a constant struggle to protect the historic wooden building from the elements. HÅKON LI
TO STEP INTO ONE OF Scandinavia's surviving stave churches is to enter the past. Shadows shift and tell stories in the elaborate carvings of intertwined beasts that are hallmarks of the churches' unique architecture. Sounds reverberate off the timber as if traveling across centuries. The air feels dense with the tang of hewn wood, peat smoke, and pine tar.
As early as the 11th century, builders began erecting these churches all over the region. Much of Europe was raising massive cathedrals of stone during this period, but the Scandinavians knew wood best. While each house of worship was unique, all of them had staves, or load-bearing corner posts joined to vertical wall planks with a tongue-and-groove method.
Dig reveals 6,000-year-old salt hub in North Yorkshire
Excavations at the archeological site near Loftus in North Yorkshire
Neolithic people were manufacturing salt in Britain almost 6,000 years ago, before the building of Stonehenge and more than two millennia earlier than was first thought, a new archaeological discovery suggests.
Excavations at a site at Street House farm in North Yorkshire have revealed evidence of the earliest salt production site ever found in the UK and one of the first of its kind in western Europe, dating to around 3,800BC.
The finds, uncovered at a coastal hilltop site near Loftus, include a trench containing three hearths, broken shards of neolithic pottery, some still containing salt deposits, shaped stone artefacts and a storage pit – all key evidence of salt processing.
Norfolk: 'Elephant and castle' gold seal only third found
The elephant is carved on to a gemstone, which experts believe is probably a carnelian PORTABLE ANTIQUITIES SCHEME
A medieval gold seal which shows an elephant carrying a castle on its back has become only the third of its kind recorded by the British Museum.
A metal detectorist found it in Norfolk in June and it is thought to date from between 1250 and 1350.
Experts said the "rare portrayal", carved into a gemstone, was found mainly on items signifying wealth.
Its status as treasure is subject to a coroner's inquest on 29 April and Norwich Castle Museum hopes to buy it.
Analysis of ancient bones reveals Stone Age diet details
Human skull of Mollet III at Serinyà from the ancient excavation.
Fish was not on the menu of the hunter-gatherers of southern Europe 27,000 years ago. Surprisingly, people on the Iberian Peninsula in the Late Gravettian period mostly ate plants and land animals such as rabbits, deer and horses. An international team of researchers has been able to determine this for the first time on the basis of an isotope study of human fossils from the Serinyà caves in Catalonia. The results of the investigation led by Dr. Dorothée Drucker, of the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment (SHEP) at the University of Tübingen, and Joaquim Soler, from the Institute of Historical Research at the University of Girona, were published in the Journal of Human Evolution.
Megaliths With Geometrical Engravings Found In France
Southern view of the megalithic sector under excavation
[Credit: Florent Notier, Inrap]
In 2018, in the commune of Massongy, a team of Inrap archaeologists excavated a small settlement and a vast megalithic complex from the Middle Neolithic period. Since then, laboratory work has revealed a great deal of information that complements the elements already collected in the field, revealing a site of exceptional importance.
The "Chemin des Bels" site is divided into two main zones: one corresponds to the traces of a village dated to the Middle Neolithic, the so-called "Cortaillod" culture; the other to a vast contemporary megalithic complex. The latter seems to be organised according to a very coherent plan with several phases of development. A large number of artefacts were found in the fill around a large recumbent slab 3.4 m long, 1.1 m wide and 1 m high, weighing around 5 tonnes. These objects show that the various stages of occupation of the site were fairly short (one to two centuries maximum).
Archaeologists baffled by mystifying feature at Hadrian's Wall: 'Don't know why'
The Roman Empire's conquest of Britain began almost 2,000 years ago. It changed the face of the country forever. Roman culture, food, art, as well as the myriad religions that were practiced across the Empire were brought to the island's shores.
To occupy and cordon off swathes of land the Romans erected forts and walls around Britain, many of which survive today.
One of the most notable pieces is Hadrian's Wall.
Stretching 73 miles from the banks of the River Tyne near the North Sea, all the way west to the Solway Firth near the Irish Sea, work on the Wall started in 122 AD.
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Citizen archaeologist discovers ancient 'logboat' ...
'Miracle' cave in South Africa may be the earliest...
Is This 10,000-Year-Old Carving Europe's Oldest Kn...
The Cave Where Vikings Offered Sacrifices To Stop ...
Archeologists discover remains of Viking rituals i...
Vikings created a massive boat in this volcanic ca...
Viking metalwork craft and expertise evolved from ...
Lidl store builds glass floor to showcase 11th cen...
3D scanning gives new insight into 275-year-old Ja...
Little Foot fossil shows early human ancestor clun...
"Mixing between modern humans and archaic hominins...
Ancient human migration into Europe revealed via g...
How new discoveries in west Africa could rewrite p...
Excavations at Weymouth's medieval and Civil War s...
Roman stately home unearthed in Scarborough 'poten...
Roman site uncovered in Scarborough hailed as firs...
Russia Looking To Clone And Resurrect 3,000-Year-O...
Ancient 'untouched' tomb discovered on Dingle Peni...
Details of prehistoric Galloway heartland discover...
To Save Norway's Stave Churches, Conservators Had ...
Dig reveals 6,000-year-old salt hub in North Yorks...
Norfolk: 'Elephant and castle' gold seal only thir...
Analysis of ancient bones reveals Stone Age diet d...
Archaeologists baffled by mystifying feature at Ha...
David Beard MA, FSA, FSA Scot
I am the Consultant Archaeologist to The EMAS Archaeological Society, and the curator of its website. Professionally, I am a freelance archaeologist and Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland specializing in the medieval period. I have worked as a field archaeologist for the Department of Environment (Northern Ireland) and the Museum of London. I have been involved in continuing education for many years and have taught for the University of Oxford Department for Continuing Education (OUDCE) and the Universities of London, Essex, Ulster, and the London College of the University of Notre Dame, and I was the Archaeological Consultant for Southwark Cathedral. I am the author of and tutor for an OUDCE online course on the Vikings, and the Programme Director and Academic Director for the Oxford Experience Summer School.


Malaysia Airlines is demanding that all economy class passengers now print their own baggage tags.
The new rule, which comes into effect on 18 August 2016 on all flights departing Kuala Lumpur International Airport, means that passengers will be required to use check-in kiosks to print their baggage tags, before proceeding to the baggage drop counter.
The national carrier said the move is in line with its "strategy to leverage on technology in order to simplify and reduce the time for check-in, giving customers more control over their travel experience". It is also expected to help the airline cut costs, as it reduces the need for airport staff.
This is the first phase of a broader project which will eventually see passengers use self-baggage drop facilities by the fourth quarter of 2016.
Fifty check-in kiosks are now available in KLIA's main departure hall.