Archive for 2007
By: The Scribe on September, 2007
No matter which what you call it, Incan khipu/quipu were recording devices created and used throughout the Incan Empire, made out of colored strings – generally spun and plied from alpaca or llama hair – with information encoded on them by a complex system of knots. It was originally believed that these khipu only contained numeric values, however there are theories that some strands of knots contained a form of binary code that was capable of recording words, or “logographic” information. If that is the case, that may mean that the Incan khipu contain stories of the people’s history and past.
Unlike other Bronze Age civilizations, the Incan Empire did not seem to develop their own written language. They created monumental structures, accomplished incredible architectural feats, invented excellent pieces of technology and were highly skilled at urban planning, and definitely knew how to mobilize people and resources to maximize their effectiveness when needed – needless to say, the Incans were very intelligent people. However… it seems that they just simply didn’t feel the need to write anything down. As a result, they created their own recording system through knotted strings and cords, which was likely developed simply due to the practical need for resource tracking.
The problem is, no one has yet been able to completely decipher the vast amounts of khipu left behind by these people. There’s no doubt that some of the knotted strands were used for things like tax accounting, census records, and general numerical information concerning livestock and farming resources, and these records would have been under the care of basic community administrators. Historians know that the Incans used a decimal or base 10 system of counting, and so the khipus that contain this numerical information have been “read”…but the tide of thought about whether this was the only use is beginning to change.
Since the Incan people were using a decimal system of counting, there is a distinct possibility that they learned how to utilize a binary system to convey other information – much like the way that computers work with information, using distinct combinations of the numbers 1 & 0. After all, of the 700 or so known khipu that still exist, only about 2/3 of them are thought to be arranged in a numerical pattern – leaving open the distinct possibility that the other third may be narrative material that holds the key to stories and information about Incan history.
In 2005, researchers at Harvard University in Boston found that several khipu contained a repeated 3-knot pattern in some of the strings, and after a great deal of investigation, they concluded that this kind of knot pattern may in fact be indicative of a place-name, or ‘toponym’. Even if this place-name identification is only found in some of the accounting documents, it still marks the first time that an actual word has been identified rather than simply a number – and if the Incans were able to convey specific place names… why wouldn’t they have been able to record additional information with words in other khipu?
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Tomorrow: Colgate Cavemen!
By: The Scribe on September, 2007
Although the majority of fossil finds that come down to modern day tend to suggest that everything from insects to trees to animals were larger in ancient times, a recent discovery from a cave in China has reversed the trend, finding that – two or three million years ago – panda bears were much, much smaller than their descendants now living in Chinese forests.
It was inside a limestone cave in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region that a team of scientists discovered a small bear skull, embedded right into the wall. Further examination of the skull revealed that it did, in fact, belong to an ancient panda bear that lived in the forests of southern China. Judging by the skull’s features, these ancestral pandas were almost exactly the same in appearance as the Giant pandas who live today – except that they were about half the size!
Essentially, these miniature giant pandas were pygmy versions of the bears living today, even to the point of having already adapted a diet of bamboo – this can be identified by looking at the jaws and teeth of the skull, which actually needed to be stronger and more durable than a typical bear’s jaw, in order to grind down such tough plant material.
In addition, modern Giant pandas have what is known as a “false thumb”, which actually helps them to strip the leaves off stalks of bamboo, and scientists are hopeful that more fossils of the pygmy pandas will turn up in the near future, in order to determine whether these ancient creatures also had this mutation.
Oddly enough, about a million years ago, Giant pandas actually became bigger than the enormous sizes of today’s pandas, which seems to suggest that panda evolution has shifted back and forth in response to the bears’ environment and food supply. However, it is still strange that such a tiny panda lived several million years ago, since he would have shared the forest with other such creatures as the 4-meter-tall Stegodon, an ancestor of mammoths and later on, elephants. Also living at the same time was an ape called the Gigantopithecus, who was actually two or three times bigger than today’s gorillas.
It certainly would have been an interesting sight to see these diminutive panda bears walking amidst the giants…!
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Tomorrow: Those Knotty Incans
By: The Scribe on September, 2007
No, it’s not a splash of spilled ink… the ancient Norse blot was actually a pagan sacrifice to the Norse gods and the Elves, held at several times throughout the year. The sacrifice typically took the form of a sacramental feast or meal, and the sacrificial victims tended to be pigs and horses. The meat from these festivals was then boiled in enormous cooking pots heated by stones, and the blood from the animals was sprinkled on the community’s statues of their gods, on the walls, and on the people, as it was believed to hold special magical powers.
The word “blota”, from which the sacrificial festival took its name, means “to worship with sacrifice” in Old Norse, and the people would gather around the boiling pots of meat as it cooked, believing they were having a meal with the Elves! They also passed around a drink that was blessed and considered sacred, each person taking a drink as the cup came into their hands. Typically, the drink would be either beer or mead, while the high-class nobility often imported wine just for the occasion!
Several blots were held throughout the year, one in October and then later on, one in December called “The Great Midwinter Blot.” Interestingly enough, the tradition of eating ham at the December blot has continued, as it still tends to be the main course at Christmas feasts in Scandinavian countries. Around April, a third ‘summer’ blot was held in honor of the god Odin, celebrating the beginning of the season of war and Viking raid expeditions.
Blots were actually held in their own little blot buildings called ‘hovs’, however most hovs were destroyed or built over during Christianization of the area – namely, medieval churches were built overtop these spots in an effort to redeem the land. Several laws were also put into place that forbade various forms of pagan worship, but the traditions were so ingrained into the local culture that elements of the rituals have survived until today, such as the Christmas tradition.
Each Scandinavian country had their own variations on each blot throughout the year, though the basic concept remained the same: kill a pig, have dinner with elves!
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Tomorrow: more Ancient Standard!
By: The Scribe on September, 2007
Shocking archaeologists and historians around the world, it was in August 2007 that an undisturbed Etruscan tomb was found was completely intact, full of human remains and stunning personal possessions of about 30 people. The tomb was located in the woods near Tuscany, about 70 miles south of Florence.
The tomb consists of a 2 meter long stone chamber, buried in the ground inside the nearby woods and containing at least 30 jars of human ash – consistent with the Etruscan tradition of cremation instead of full body burials. Three of the burial urns were made of stone, two were bronze, and the last 25 were made of a reddish ceramic known as terracotta. A likely explanation for the amount of people buried here is that they were all members of the same family, and the smaller burial urns probably contain the ashes of their servants.
Archaeologists are at a loss to understand how, in the whole of 2,200 years, no one managed to find and break into this tomb and steal the artifacts. As a result, everything the people were buried with was still there: bronze coins, rings, several bronze mirrors, some small terracotta plates, and a stunning black stone amulet.
The Etruscan people existed in the area before the Roman empire began to conquer their territories and eventually eradiated them, and this tomb would have dated back to around the same time as the period when Etruscan settlements in the region were being taken over by the Romans. At this time in history, the Etruscan cities had already been demolished and claimed for Rome, which meant that only those people who dwelt in the countryside still held onto the culture’s traditional practices and rituals.
As a result, the intact tomb found here represents one of the last vestiges of the Etruscan people before they completely disappeared – something which is very valuable in helping to understand their ancient culture and lifestyle. Since this tomb was found undisturbed, it is now thought highly likely that there are more tombs buried in the woods across the Tuscan countryside… who knows what else may appear here in the future?
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Tomorrow: Viking Elf Blot!
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