Furry T-Rex Ancestor Discovered in China

T-rex with a conscience? Could be.

A team of Canadian and Chinese scientists have discovered a new species of tyrannosaur, Yutyrannus huali, which was a bit smaller than the feared beasts of Steven Spielberg fame and had feathers. It was also a bit smaller and, apparently, a bit better-looking, judging by the translation: "beautiful feathered tyrant." (Apparently, as well, it was still deadly.)

The excavations, from a dig in northeastern China, revealed evidence of remains of down-like feathers on the dinosaur's neck and arm. It wasn't enough to convince that the "feathered" referred to a full coat or giant bird-like wingfeathers or anything like that, but the discovery did give the excavation crew pause, enough to suggest that this species, at least, might have been a bit less like the movie-version giant tyrants that we've come to see in our imaginations.

This discovery will no doubt be more grist for the mill of debate surrounding how, when, and how fast certain species of dinosaurs lost their feathers — if they had any to begin with. The patchiness of fur found in the latest remains could suggest an overall patchy covering or, perhaps, an aging dinosaur who was losing its hair, or even a young dinosaur still growing into the coat. (One suggestion was even that the beast could ruffle its feathers and show off, like today's peacock species.) Like so many things with these ancient beasts, we just don't know and we won't ever find out firsthand (despite what Michael Crichton would have you believe).

This species lived 60 millions years before Tyrannosaurus rex, so there's little chance that they were directly related. However, that's not enough time to discount a connection altogether, either, so scientists in this field will take a good long look at these data when they are writing their next journal papers.

You can find the journal paper covering this latest discovery in Nature.

Ghost of Genghis? Ancient Mongolian Wall 'Rediscovered'

When is the Great Wall of China not in China?

That's a question that can now be answered yet again, as a recent team of researchers has uncovered a 62-mile-long stretch of the vaunted Wall in the Gobi Desert, inside southern Mongolia. Further, this is thought to be part of the Wall of Genghis Khan, which is even more shrouded in mystery.

This section of wall is 9 feet tall in places, which fits the larger-than-life personality of the "Great Khan." (Ironically, the Great Wall was originally built in large part to repeal invaders such as Genghis Khan.)

Because the "discovered" part of the wall is in such a remote location, the exploration team think that they are the first to investigate in a very long time, perhaps since the wall section was lost to the sands of time. The team used online tools including Google Earth to put more detail to what appeared to trace elements of a structure barely seen on satellite maps. Once convinced that they were on to something, they started digging. And then, voila!

The wall sections are made of different materials, including, in one case, wet mud and shrubs. The most dominant feature, though, is dark basaltic rock, discovered in straight edges that suggest nothing so much as quarrying with intent.

The hard scientists have gotten into the act with their radiocarbon dating machines and determined that the wall section was built after A.D. 1000, which would mean at the very least that the walls were updated at that time. Initial estimates put construction during the Western Xia dynasty, which reigned from 1038 to 1227 and struggled mightily against encroaching Mongol tribes. (Genghis Khan himself was born in 1162, so the timing fits in nicely.)

The one bit of mystery that still has archaeologists a bit puzzled is the near complete lack of detritus around the walls, which is a bit of a worry if you're looking for evidence of human activity. We humans, after all, are a notoriously messy bunch of folks who by our very nature leave behind all manner of clues as to our existence: our preference for entertainment, our favorite foods, etc. But there, deep in Mongolia, at the Is-it-really-the-Wall-of-Genghis-Khan, can be found no broken pottery, no discarded weapons, no coins with strange-bearded kings on them, nothing that would point the finger at any one people as being the ones who lived near and defended the wall — which lends a bit of credence to the competing theory that the walls were built merely to herd animals (although why they would need walls 9 feet tall do that is a bit puzzling, unless they were herding giraffes). 

Scholars who have studied the ancient Mongolian scrolls theorize that Genghis Khan's son Ogedei, who was the 2nd Great Khan, wanted the walls to rein in the wandering gazelles that he liked to look after so much. But remember, as modern historians who study Mongolian times would, that the Gobi was a desert, then as now, and that not too many animals would have survived in the arid conditions without a whole lot of water — and if Ogedei had a network of irrigation canals built just to keep his pet gazelles among the living, it might explain why his own life and reign came to a sudden end.

What we are left with, then, are some facts and some questions, not necessarily related but all stimulating in an inquisitive sense. As is often the case with history, more information is needed.

WWI 'Pompeii' Discovered in France

It's being called a French Pompeii, with a different sort of disaster twist to it.

Archaeologists have found remains of a number of German soldiers in a perfectly preserved shelter from World War I, near Carspach, a small Alsatian town in France. The shelter is a tunnel, which collapsed after being pummeled by a shell that landed on top of it on March 18, 1918. The 300-foot-long tunnel was 18 feet below the surface.

It all happened so fast that the men had no time to react, the evidence shows. Skeletal remains show men lying on a bed, sitting upright on a bench, and in otherwise "normal" positions. The skeletons were so well preserved because hardly any "destructive" elements like air, light or water has gotten in in the nearly 100 years since.

The French team of archaeologists found 34 bodies in all but recovered only 13 because the others, buried in very deep mud, were deemed too prone to falling apart. Also among the skeletons found was that of a goat, suggesting that the men were using the animal for fresh milk.

In addition to the usual suspects of uniforms, boots, and helmets, the dig has uncovered many personal effects, among them books, cigarette cases, glasses, pipes, wallets, and wine bottles. Also discovered were some newspaper pages that were still readable.

The names of the entombed men are known. Their names can be found on a memorial in nearby Illfurth, Germany. The bodies have been transferred to the German War Graves Commission and will be buried at Illfurth unless claimed by descendants.

Napoleonland: Theme Park with Attitude

Napoleonland. Kind of has a nice ring to it, like a place for where the famous general/statesman/emperor could go to let off some steam. He might have liked a place like that, especially in his later years, when so much else around him was going wrong.

But we're talking about the present and the future here, so let's progress on to that timeline. A former Cabinet Minister, Yves Jego, is pushing the construction of an amusement park that has Napoleon as the theme. The main attraction, it seems, would be re-enactments of famous events in Napoleon's life, such as big battles like Austerlitz and Waterloo. That would surely make a re-enactment guru's Top 10 list.

Jego, the 2008 Secretary of State for Overseas, is pushing the construction of the theme park near Montereau, site of Napoleon's last victory over the Austrian army. Estimated price tag is $280 million, and the park would open in 2017. Projections are for the creation of 3,000 jobs, which would certainly be a boost to the local and national economy, along with the undoubted increase in tourist income generated by the operation of the theme park.

Some elements of the park are a bit puzzling, however. I can certainly see how kids would be all over the opportunity to dress up like the Emperor and strike a definitive pose for a family photo; and re-enactment buffs would certainly jump at the chance to show up, don the uniform, and let their family see them "fight" the Battle of Waterloo. The option for history buffs to see a water show that creates the Battle of Trafalgar would be an added attraction, a step above the normal reenactment experience.

But you have to wonder how the theme park would market the guillotine attraction, a re-creation of the death of King Louis XVI. Napoleon was very much an agent of the Revolution and of the Republic that followed, and the story of the death of the king is very much part of that story. But having such an attraction at a theme park that would certainly attract a lot of kids and other people who would be offended by the lopping of someone's head, even if it's a puppet or an animation. (Come to think of it, some kids might find it funny because they would have seen similar things in video games. Still, not sure we want to encourage this kind of appreciation.)

Then there's the ski run. This is where I think the project might fall down. Skiing is certainly a worthy and popular pursuit, doubtless to attract lots and lots and lots of people. And the ski run would be popular, I predict, as long as people don't look at the ground to the sides as they go down the run, for the current plan is to populate the run with scenes of a battlefield — namely, shapes that look suspiciously like frozen bodies of soldiers and horses. Again, not for the faint of disposition.

This would certainly not be Disneyland Montereau, even though the plans also include a museum, shops, restaurants, and a hotel. User-friendly it might be; user-sensibility-sensitive is probably isn't.

That's the currently iteration, however. If it goes ahead as planned, then surely the warnings about contents will be enough to keep people well-informed. There's always the chance as well that the plans for the more disturbing attractions could be altered to make the proceedings more family-friendly. 

Flight or Fight? Ancient British 'Winged' Building Tantalizes

Those pesky Romano-British — always causing problems. First, they didn't want the Romans around; then, they couldn't get enough of the culture once the Romans picked up and went home.

One thing that was certainly true in the story of Roman Britain was that even though a large part of the Island was influenced by Roman culture as brought over by well armed Roman soldiers, it certainly didn't mean that all Roman settlements in Britain were the same. That is the sort of flavor behind the latest announcement out of Norfolk, where a team of archaeologists have announced the discovery of a truly unique structure near a stronghold of a onetime enemy of Ancient Rome.

Venta Icenorum had its fair share of problems, as seen by Roman eyes. To start with, it was very much in the realm of influence of the Iceni, a tribe that had quite a list of grievances against the Roman occupiers/settlers. They put up fierce resistance to the invading armies of Claudius but ended up a client kingdom under the historically not-quite-significant Prasutagus. Once he was out of the way, the Romans figured they didn't need another client king and tried to impose their will in full. The result was the revolt of Boudicca, a flashpoint and shining star in the British resistance to Roman occupation.

The determined Romans took care of Boudicca, of course, as they did with most insurgents and went about their business for another few hundred years before pulling out and trying (in vain, as it turned out) to keep Rome itself from falling under the hammer.

The Iceni, then, according to the archaeologists, built a wing-shaped structure the likes of which hasn't been found in all the diggings in Britain since ancient times. The elevated building has a central room and another, rectangular, room out of which stretch two wing-shaped rooms. Convinced that the Romans built along lines that don't match this new discovery, the archaeologists insist that they're on to something entirely new.

For their part, the Iceni took their own sweet time accepting the Roman way of life, including the Roman way of worship. Iceni gods tended to be of the natural variety, and the building's likely wind-swept location might be a clue as to the possibly religious nature of the activities that might have taken place within. What the archaeologists do know is that the central room contained more support than the other rooms, based on what remains of the other rooms' supporting structures (not much). So was the building a small building that had add-ons, or did the people spend most of their time in the central room, or was it something else entirely? (Given the paucity of other clues, I would think that it was something else entirely.)

This likely wasn't an isolated building, either. Based on examinations of aerial photographs, the archaeologists are suggesting that the building was part of a small complex of at least four buildings in proximity. Given this data, we might conclude that the building was indeed a temple, on a sort of hill, looking over the other buildings and the surrounding countryside.

However, the archaeologists are quick to point out as well that Iceni buildings didn't look a whole lot like this "temple," either. They might have lived in it, but they might not have built it.

So if the Romans didn't build this thing and neither did the people who lived there, what are we to make of this information? Given that the Romans weren't very likely to deviate from their propensity to be creatures of habit, I would conclude that it was the Iceni who built the thing, probably under the influence of neighbors. More information is needed, however.

Ancient Popcorn Dates to 6,000 Years Ago

See, you have your assumptions based on evidence and then the ground shifts — literally.

Researchers digging along the coast of Peru have discovered evidence of people eating popcorn nearly 1,000 years earlier than we previously thought. That's quite a number of years back in time, any way you pop it.

We used to be convinced that popcorn originated in Mexico about 8,000 years ago and then traveled with migrants at a snail's pace to the rest of South America, showing up finally in what is now Peru about 3,000 years ago. (If that seems like a long time, remember that snails don't move very fast at the best of times.)

Now, however, after finding cobs, husks, stalks, and tassels at two mound sites on the northern coast of the country, archaeologists from Vanderbilt and the Peruvian National Academy of History are prepared to assert that the people there were making and eating popcorn as early as 6,700 years ago. (That would still be a slow transition from nearby Mexico, but remember that we don't always find everything that other people leave behind, especially when we as a species have a tendency to build right on top of previous settlements. Remember as well that snails don't move very fast at the best of times.)

Another intriguing element to this is that the dating to 6,700 years ago means that the consumption of this popcorn preceded the development of ceramic pottery in the region. How did the ancient people get their corn to pop all those years ago? Answering that question will undoubtedly lead to a heated debate, as will determining what the ancient people did while munching their popcorn. (This was long before even silent movies, after all.)

It should be noted as well that popcorn — or any kind of corn, for that matter — wasn't the big deal for Mexican and South American peoples that it was for the ancient folks further north on the North American continent. So it's not surprising that archaeologists haven't found huge numbers of shrines to the venerable husks in the middens and other mounds around the place.

Stars Look Down on Archaeologists in Ancient Ivory Find

It was a fortuitous time for the research team, as they announced the discovery of a 2,000-year-old astrologer's board in a Croatian cave. One might even say it was meant to be. It was also a bit of Indiana Jones-like spelunking that found the board in the first place.

Among the thousands of pieces of Hellenistic pottery that the team involving researchers from Croatia and the U.S. found in a cave along the Adriatic coast were 30 ivory fragments of a board that shows Cancer, Gemini, and Pisces. So the Crab, the Twins, and the Fish survive, but the others didn't quite make it. Surely there's no significance in that (he thought auspiciously).

After painstakingly putting the bits back together, the archaeologists had a working model of what they think they found, which is a board that has all the signs of the zodiac on it. Such things would have been used in Greco-Roman times, along the order of 2,200 years ago, which is the date pointed to by radiocarbon testing the team did on the fragments. But how did it get there? More importantly, how did the ivory get into the hands of the person who made the board? Ivory wasn't exactly a cheap commodity in those times.

Such things are still unknown, which might not be an augur of any future developments. (One never knows with these things.) What the archaeologists do know, however, is that the board was found among a veritable ton of shards of drinking cups, which were in the general vicinity of a giant stalagmite — suggesting a place of worship.

The team made the discoveries in 1999, which is really a blink of an eye in archaeology terms. They were digging in familiar territory, near the entrance to a well-known cave. One of the team discovered a low passageway that had been sealed off for ages.  Throwing caution to the wind (and not suspecting any ancient traps to spring forth to thwart them), the team walked right through into an inner cavern and made the discovery of the stalagmite and fragments, including the ivory bits that became the astrologer's board. (Sometimes archaeological excitement is all about the discovery.)

Later investigation led the team to conclude that the passageway had been sealed off since the 1st Century B.C., in response to a violent sortie perpetuated on the local Illyrians by some well-armed tribes from nearby Roman territory.

A little inspired research into the subject has convinced the archaeologists that their discovery could well be the oldest astrological device yet discovered. The Greeks, of course, took a keen interest in the heavens, as evidenced by the achievements of Aristarchus and all the rest of the keen Greek minds whose names and deeds have been passed down to us through the ages.

What's next for this intrepid team? The answer is in the stars.