A computer dating revolution (of the archaeological kind)

From the Indy

"The long-lost ‘history’ of prehistoric Britain, including our island’s first wars, is being re-discovered - courtesy of innovations in computer programming as well as archaeology."

Egyptian pyramids found by infra-red satellite images

From the BBC

"Seventeen lost pyramids are among the buildings identified in a new satellite survey of Egypt.

More than 1,000 tombs and 3,000 ancient settlements were also revealed by looking at infra-red images which show up underground buildings."

Genetic study uncovers new path to Polynesia

From Science Daily

"Surprising new evidence which overturns current theories of how humans colonised the Pacific has been discovered by scientists at the University of Leeds, UK."

Study Of Lice DNA Shows Humans First Wore Clothes 170,000 Years Ago

From Medical News Today

"A new University of Florida study following the evolution of lice shows modern humans started wearing clothes about 170,000 years ago, a technology which enabled them to successfully migrate out of Africa. "

Computer identifies the most boring day in history

From the Telegraph

"Computer programmer William Tunstall-Pedoe has calculated that to be the most objectively dull day since 1900.

On that day a general election was held in Belgium, a Turkish academic was born and an Oldham Athletic footballer called Jack Shufflebotham died. Apart from that nothing much happened.  "

Cultural heritage – a new dimension

From Euronews (includes video)

"Anne Coulié is a preservation expert at the Louvre, specialising in ceramics from ancient Greece. David Kolin is an IT expert, working on 3D technologies at this Research and Restoration Centre in the basement of the Louvre in Paris. One of its purposes is to preserve the documentation relating to tens of thousands of artworks. David and Anne are also experimenting with a new technology – digitalising artifacts in 3D.

Says David Kolin: “This laser camera has two functions. First it photographs the object to capture the colours, and secondly a laser beam will slowly sweep the object to capture the topology. The detail captured is on the surface of the object. So if we take the colours out, and use a raking light, like we do for paintings, we can see all the little details of the surface. All this information will then be stored in the computer.”

Robot to explore mysterious tunnels in Great Pyramid

From the Indy

"For 4,500 years, the Great Pyramid at Giza has enthralled, fascinated and ultimately frustrated everyone who has attempted to penetrate its secrets.

Now a robotics team from Leeds University, working with Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, is preparing a machine which they hope will solve one of its enduring mysteries..."

Five millennia on, Iceman of Bolzano gives up DNA secrets

From the Indy

"Nearly 20 years after the dead man's head was found peeping from a melting Alpine glacier, investigators have finally seen fit to contact his relatives.

This doesn't indicate sloth on the part of the Italian authorities, but instead, advances in DNA technology that may lead scientists to living descendants of the South Tyrol's 5,300-year-old mummified man..."

Oxford University opens Anglo-Saxon archive to online submissions

From The Guardian

"Widespread interest in last year's discovery of a hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold in Staffordshire has prompted Oxford University to embark on a mission to create the world's largest online archive about the period.

The university is asking members of the public to upload any stories, poems, writing, art or songs they have composed or heard that relate to Old English and the Anglo-Saxons to Project Woruldhord (Old English for "world-hoard"). Oxford is also keen for translations of Anglo-Saxon texts, pictures and videos of Anglo-Saxon buildings or monuments, recordings of Old English, and even videos of historical re-enactments, to be included in the archive..."

A wizard's words finally set free

"To hear an ailing 82-year-old Thomas Edison speak, with the great inventor's voice, wheezy and high-pitched, growing husky and choked as he praised his good friend Henry Ford who stood alongside President Herbert Hoover on a stage on Oct. 21, 1929 is catching lightning in a bottle.

Earlier that night, the crowd heard Albert Einstein offering words of praise for Edison in German from Berlin.

It is contained in one of the world's oldest surviving radio broadcasts, recorded on an obscure machine that General Electric developed in 1922 and called a pallophotophone -- which means 'shaking light sound' in Greek..."

Scientists use plants to date Egypt's pharaohs

"Scientists have established for the first time clear dates for the ruling dynasties of ancient Egypt after carbon dating plant remains, according to research published Thursday.

The results will force historians to revise their records for the two millennia when ancient Egypt dominated the Mediterranean world and hopefully end debate once and for all between rival Egyptologists..."

(End a debate between historians, yeah right!)

Search engine collects historical resources

A search engine is being created to help historians find useful sources.

The Connected History project will link up currently separate databases of source materials...

Unlocking secrets of Mediaeval manuscripts using DNA

North Carolina State University researcher Assistant Professor of English Timothy Stinson is working on techniques to use DNA analysis to date and locate the origins of the animal skin parchments used in many Mediaeval manuscripts. Up until now handwriting and linguistic analysis has been used but these methods have their limitations. Stinson is aiming to create a baseline of DNA markers from manuscripts with known dates and origins and then compare the DNA from manuscripts of unknown origin with the baseline. Genetic similarities could then assist in narrowing down the time scale and locale of the manuscript in question. It will also allow the tracing of the trade route of manuscripts through the mediaeval world.