Three archaeological news items; boiled brains, frozen bows and a prehistoric code

I did not feel that either of these three deserved their own thread but are of enough interest to be shown together

There is no implied link between them!

Boiled brains

Every once in awhile archaeologists get a surprize when they find something that has been preserved that shouldn't have been.





Bow and arrows recovered from glacier

Dating revealed the Neolithic bow was about 3,800 years old, while the oldest of the arrows were 5,400 years old

Clues to lost prehistoric code

The clay balls may represent the world's "very first data storage system,"

It was this and another system that used tokens from which cuneiform writing later developed

Thanks for sharing all three! The clay balls are very interesting. They have found some in Turkey also, I wonder if they will CT scan them too? * & F

Some good links:




en.wikipedia.org...
www.ancient-origins.net...
www.ancient-wisdom.co.uk...

During the Proto-Elamite period, Susa, like neighboring Mesopotamia, uses hollow clay balls (bullae) to enclose counting tokens, and cylinder seals that are applied to a variety of jar sealings as well as bullae and clay tablets. The seals and small-scale sculpture are of the highest quality, often depicting wild animals or demonic figures in humanlike postures. Clay tablets inscribed with the Proto-Elamite writing system are found at numerous sites across Iran. Although derived from Mesopotamian cuneiform, the script remains largely undeciphered. www.cultureofiran.com...
More pics from original link: www.livescience.com...

reply to post by Hanslune


That's pretty cool. Would have been neat to be able to "uplink" to a brain like that and read the information it had stored throughout the owners life time. Oh well, maybe in the future.

It's really neat when they find things like this. And I wonder just how much more of this kind of stuff is out there? It seems like they're almost always finding new, fascinating finds. Man, I'm in the wrong field of work!

In 2010 and 2011, a patch of snow melted, revealing an ancient bow and several arrows that had been locked in the snow for centuries. The bow was made from a common type of elm that grows at lower altitudes along the coast. The arrows were tipped in slate and set in different types of wood. [See Photos of the Ancient Bow and Arrows ]

So ... we're being told that the bow and arrows were physically all located together when the snow/ice melted ?

Dating revealed the Neolithic bow was about 3,800 years old, while the oldest of the arrows were 5,400 years old.

But based on dating evidence, we're expected to believe that the owner of the bow had in his possession (and presumably used) an arrow(s) that was around 5,400 - 3,800 = 1,600 years older than the bow ?


Really ???

reply to post by tauristercus


The bow and arrows were found at various sites. I doubt any of the arrows found were used by that bow.

Here is a link to the PDF which details the finding's.
PDF

reply to post by SasquatchHunter


Thanks for the PDF and additional info