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"Bronze Age Pompeii" Discovered

FortKnox writes "Italian archaeologists that were selling rights to build an underground parking lot, north of Pompeii, have discovered an ancient village within it. This discovery is a village that is basically a snapshot of the bronze age. The city, which is north of Vesuvius, was given the name "Nola". One odd thing, though, unlike Pompeii, they haven't found bodies in Nola. Good stuff to find, and a good place to compare theory with proof."

148 comments

  1. Re:Atlantis by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Atlantis is an island. To find the lst city we would have to find an ancient destroyed city out on the sea. So, no this isn't Atlantis but it's new and interesting instead.

  2. No people found... by krugdm · · Score: 4, Funny

    With its well-preserved shops, houses, amphitheater and baths, Pompeii is one of Italy's top tourist sites.

    Well, I guess that explains where everyone was...

    1. Re:No people found... by xanadu-xtroot.com · · Score: 1

      To speak quite frank, I don't find this "Funny". I find this quite Insightful. People form thousands of years ago were interested (and partaked (sp)) in the same things we do now. This is a very damn good point.

      This screams: "We are Human, and that doesn't change". (almost) No matter how far back you go, or how far you look forward. We ALL crave entertainment, home-life (when possible due to work constraints, and other musings), and getting clean.

      OBLIGITORY_JOKE:
      We all remember how rock music was invented, don't we? :-)

      --
      I'm not a prophet or a stone-age man,
      I'm just a mortal with potential of a super man.
    2. Re:No people found... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It might be insightful if Pompeii was around at that time. The article says that this village was burried centuries before pompeii, and since pompeii was well beyond the bronze age this would figure.

      Anyway, that was the joke, guess you didn't get it :P

      NR

    3. Re:No people found... by Erasmus+Darwin · · Score: 2
      "To speak quite frank, I don't find this "Funny". I find this quite Insightful. People form thousands of years ago were interested (and partaked (sp)) in the same things we do now."

      The reason that Pompeii is a tourist attraction is because it has a buried city there. At the time that this "new" city was buried (1800 BC), Pompeii may have not been founded yet and certainly wasn't buried (79 AD). As such, it's quite likely that there would be nothing for prehistoric tourists to see if they were to visit Pompeii, regardless of whether or not they're interested in the same things as we are.

      Now I'll be the first to admit that a city from 1800 years in the future would make a damn nifty tourist attraction, but it's hard to treat it as anything other than humor in the absence of evidence of time travel. I'd write more on the matter, but I've got vacation plans for Mars.

  3. A snapshot of the bronze age? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Now all we need is a bronze age emulator we can load the snapshot with!

  4. Bronze Life by WebBug · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is really a gold mine. I can't believe how fortunate we are to have a site like this. It may well do for Bronze age knowledge what Pompeii did for Roman knowledge.

    We are going to see, for the first time, what life was REALLY like in bronze age Europe. It could very well change all our ideas about the development of early societies.

    Yeeha! I can't wait to go . . .

    --
    Later . . . . . . WebBug // I don't really have 8 arms but . . .
    1. Re:Bronze Life by Cato+the+Elder · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I think this will give us valuable insight into Bronze Age life. However, I don't think this will be the definitive answer for "what life was REALLY like in bronze age Europe." Bronze Age culture in Europe was no more uniform than it was today. I'm sure this village in what is now Italy would be very different from, say, a Celtic settlement in Bronze Age Gaul or a Basque village in what is now Spain.

    2. Re:Bronze Life by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Of course, it could be a Celtic settlement in italy - after all, the Celts got as far as Rome before the roman empire got big, laying seige to it and holding the city to ransom, and only retreating when paid a cauldron full of gold - hence, by a long chain of imperfect associations, the irish leprechaun's pot of gold, and also leading to the famous quote "To the victor, the spoils.".

    3. Re:Bronze Life by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are thinking of "Vae Victis" which actually means "Woe to the conquered"

      Perhaps you are one of those people who translates the back of US dollar bills to say "A New Secular Order" and stuff like that

    4. Re:Bronze Life by Cato+the+Elder · · Score: 2, Informative

      Anonymous Coward wrote:
      Of course, it could be a Celtic settlement in italy - after all, the Celts got as far as Rome before the roman empire got big, laying seige to it and holding the city to ransom, and only retreating when paid a cauldron full of gold - hence, by a long chain of imperfect associations, the irish leprechaun's pot of gold, and also leading to the famous quote "To the victor, the spoils.".

      I reply:

      Yes, but I'm pretty sure that was firmly in the iron age. According to this chronology
      The Celtic tribes didn't arrive in Italy till 450 BC, over 1000 years after this settlement was buried.

    5. Re:Bronze Life by blair1q · · Score: 2

      Why not go to Afghanistan and observe it first-hand?

      --Blair

    6. Re:Bronze Life by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tanks, cluster bombs, and AK47s are bronze age?

      Learn something new every day, I guess.

  5. Maybe by tcd004 · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Today, a giant pool of magma still lies beneath Vesuvius and extends at least 400 square
    kilometers under some of Italy's scenic coastline, making a fresh eruption possible at any
    time."

    If there's another eruption, future scientists will be able to study how 20th century tourists interacted with bronze-age archeological tourist attractions.

    @home doesn't do it for ya? Try NOT@HOME.

    tcd004

    1. Re:Maybe by Lewis+Daggart · · Score: 0, Redundant

      now, if that happened, future scientists would find the dite site and use it to prove that computers,cell phones, and cars existed during the bronze age

    2. Re:Maybe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No they wouldn't! Stratigraphy!!

  6. A second Nola? by MayorQ · · Score: 2, Informative
    The city was not "given" the name Nola. It was found near present day Nola.


    All you have to do is read the article...


    - MayorQ

  7. No bodies by kaoshin · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Maybe no remains were found because they were wiped out by neutron warheads?

    1. Re:No bodies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Neutron bombs dont vaporize. Only phasers set on kill.

    2. Re:No bodies by kaoshin · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      The effects of a neutron bomb are theory, and no I'm not fucking off topic. Mod bitches recognize.

    3. Re:No bodies by kaoshin · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      You may want to enhance your own literacy by learning the difference between singular & plural.
      I have the ability to read only what is publically available, because I have no security clearance.
      I do have full clearance to stick my dick in your ass, but I don't share your sexual preference.

  8. Questions... by flewp · · Score: 1

    I'm guessing since they haven't found any remains (as of yet) the villagers must have known what was about to happen. I also wonder how big this city was in terms of population and influence.

    Also, could it have been a terrorist attack that wiped out this city, and not a volcanic eruption? Or a terrorist god perhaps triggering the volcanic event? (I had to bring it up, sorry)

    --
    WWJD.... for a Klondike bar?
    1. Re:Questions... by kochsr · · Score: 1

      um.... if this was bronze age, wouldn't it have preserved in the state it is in before the same vesuvius eruption that wiped out pompeii? or are you saying this was another vesuvius eruption. sorry... i have been studying the kidney too much today

    2. Re:Questions... by bourne · · Score: 1

      It sounds like they've only excavated three buildings so far. I'm betting that as they continue they'll find bodies

      • gathered together in the largest building, or
      • running like hell some distance from the buildings.

      The fact that they found livestock implies that the inhabitants didn't have enough warning to make a clean getaway.

    3. Re:Questions... by HMC+CS+Major · · Score: 2, Informative

      I'm guessing since they haven't found any remains (as of yet) the villagers must have known what was about to happen. I also wonder how big this city was in terms of population and influence.


      From the article:


      ``For the first time we can see things about prehistoric life that we had only imagined,'' Vecchio said. ``People didn't have time to grab their things when they fled, so we can see what they ate, how they cooked, what social life was like.''

      Explorations so far have revealed three huts up to 26 feet high, pots full of grains, sheep bones, a cage holding the bones of pregnant goats and hunting and cooking tools made from other bones.



      So, apparently, they were given a small amount of warning, but not much. This is typical of the volcanos in the region, and in fact, most volcanos on earth: large, devastating eruptions typically follow a day or two of small earthquakes, accompanied by small eruptions and occasional small fissures opening in the ground. This provides a lot of warning for those in the immediate area: people know they need to escape, so they leave; they dont know how much time they have, so they tend to leave things behind. The result is that the city is left in near perfect condition (perfect being relative, obviously it was completely destroeyed), yet very few people seem to have been killed.

      I'll politely ignore your second comment.
    4. Re:Questions... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And actually, contrary to popular belief, the people at pompeii had plenty of time to leave. The 2000 people that died at pompeii died because they chose not to, and they died rather slowly...which is also contrary to what I learned in highschool. The people down the road at hericlanium (or however you spell it) on the other hand died INSTANTLY, though most of them had time to go hide by the beach where the were cooked at several hundred degrees by the hot wind that came rushing down the mountain. Pompeii was not hit by that wind, they all suffocated under several feet of ash. Many escaped pompeii, and the 2000 that died represent a smaller proportion of the population.

      There is a LOT on the internet about this event, do some searching.

      NR

    5. Re:Questions... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hooray. Somebody with brains. Why else would they leave their pregnant goat still locked in the cage?

  9. Italian archaeologists selling rights? by blair1q · · Score: 2

    I think the archaeologists were hired by some governmental entity to do the testing...

    --Blair

    1. Re:Italian archaeologists selling rights? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You've ruined it now! I was enjoying the thought of this group of Italian archeologists, who'd turned to property speculation to supplement their income, showing some prospective purchasers the site for their new car park when they suddenly spotted a bronze age village.

    2. Re:Italian archaeologists selling rights? by Fly · · Score: 1

      It *is* too much to ask to have the submissions edited in a meaningful way, apparently. Maybe making submissions that start with a provocative sentence is the best way to make the editors feel the need to scoop the story, whether or not the lead resembles the truth in any way. :-\ Or maybe Hemos just wanted to make FortKnox appear foolish.

      --
      end of line
    3. Re:Italian archaeologists selling rights? by linca · · Score: 1

      In many countries it is compulsory, before doing any kind of construction, to do some archaelogical search beforehand. Indeed I'd guess those that wanted the parking built are not so happy about the finding ; they will have to postpone the construction by some time, if not cancel it. OTOH, if this becomes a major tourist attraction, they won't be too unhappy about this.

    4. Re:Italian archaeologists selling rights? by dtosti · · Score: 1

      well, your thought is right. The Vesuvium area is property of the italian government (I think they're planning to make it a national park), so those archaeologist cannot sell nothing, since they're working for the government. :)

  10. Hmmm.... by 7608 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    7608 offers the secret of Journalism in exchange for 500 gold. Do you accept?

    --
    Trapped in Time... Surrounded by Evil... Low on Gas.
  11. Must have been intelligent... by thundercatzlair · · Score: 2, Insightful

    One odd thing, though, unlike Pompeii, they haven't found bodies in Nola

    They pr'y saw the lava coming and said "let's get the hell outta here"...

    1. Re:Must have been intelligent... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      The Roman Empire happened to be the most advanced civilization until the 1800's. They knew that they were going to die, however, Vesuvius is not like many Hawaiian volvanoes, Vesuvius erupted much more like Mt. St. Helens. However, many Romans in Pompeii did get out. Many of the richer classes were able to escape via ships, but there weren't enough ships to carry 60,000ish people from the chaotic streets. For most of the people there, it was sure death. They died, not from heat, but from suffocation from the ash. Many never stood a chance. Now, Herculaneum is a different story altogether. Herculaneum was buried in a rush of boiling mud, on the opposite side of Vesuvius from Pompeii. Once again, Vesuvius is probably a 30 minute walk from Pompeii, so it's pretty close...
      Besides, this Bronze Age Civilization could have left for many other reasons. Look at the Mayan Civilization in Mexico and Central America. We still don't know why they disappeared...

    2. Re:Must have been intelligent... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Besides, this Bronze Age Civilization could have left for many other reasons. Look at the Mayan Civilization in Mexico and Central America. We still don't know why they disappeared...

      While they didn't continue to build cities, they didn't exactly disappear, either. There are still large populations of people speaking languages much like the ones the Mayans spoke.
  12. Re:Atlantis by flewp · · Score: 2, Insightful

    IIRC, Atlantis is traditionally described as a ring island system, with the "downtown" located in the middle of these rings, of which there were 3 I believe. It is also thought to be past the Pillars of Hercules, which some believe to be the straights of Gibralater(sp), placing it in the Atlantic. However, due to errors/variations in translation it's location is pretty hard to pinpoint.

    --
    WWJD.... for a Klondike bar?
  13. Amazing stuff by dinotrac · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Natural time capsules like Pompeii, Herculaneum, the "ice man", Peruvian mountain mummies fascinate the Hell out of me because they give a hint of the life that was lived by those using the things left behind.

    This discovery seems especially interesting because reconstructing bronze age villages has been the province of experimental archaeologists like the late Dr. Peter Reynolds. It should be good to have more data to compare their reconstructions with.

  14. Appropriate name by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 0, Troll
    "[Pompeii], which is north of Vesuvius, was given the name "Nola" "

    Is this Italian for "nulled out" ?

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    1. Re:Appropriate name by RogrWilco · · Score: 1

      Or how about "nothing there"?

  15. That's fast magma! by MayorQ · · Score: 4, Informative
    Having been to Nola and Pompeii, I would be quite amazed if they find bodies similar to those found in Pompeii. Nola is about 35-40 minutes away from Mt. Vesuvius by car (although your not travelling at 90kph all the time). I can only imagine that the citizens of Nola had enough time to flee to higher ground once they were away of the eruption. Pompeii, while not right at the base of the volcano, is much closer and it's a bit more understandable how people could be trapped in their homes.

    Italy is quite amazing in that when ruins are found, they are generally left untouched. Rome is a great example of this in that there are vast ruins right in the downtown areas!! Imagine the businesses and contractors that were planning on building on those sites! Imagine the great many ruins hidden underneath all of the modern buildings! Yikes.

    - MayorQ

    1. Re:That's fast magma! by Debillitatus · · Score: 1
      Italy is quite amazing in that when ruins are found, they are generally left untouched. Rome is a great example of this in that there are vast ruins right in the downtown areas!!

      This is true, although after spending some time in Italy and dealing with the infrastructure, I'm not sure that the ruins are there for archaeological reasons...

      --

      Come on, give it up, that's

    2. Re:That's fast magma! by zama · · Score: 3, Interesting

      If you dig the ruins in Italy, you should try Turkey. Italy went through a long and intense phase of recycling where the materials of ancient buildings were nicked to build new ones. While Turkey certainly wasn't exempt from that, the profusion of well-preserved ruins is astounding. I've heard Algeria also has swaths of only lightly cannabilized ruins but I haven't verified that yet.

      Sigh... A sense of continuity and antiquity is one of the things lacking in America that I truly miss (Native Americans excepted).

    3. Re:That's fast magma! by gid · · Score: 1

      I definitely feel the same way. In the US, if a building is older than 100 it's considered ancient.

      I took a few courses in Roman Archaeology in college, I was completely facinated. Granted a lot of the ruins in Rome were reconstructed and built back up. But take something like the current Pantheon, it was built in 126AD (or there abouts) and still stand to this day. It was the largest Dome until the Florence Cathedral in 1420.

      A quick search reveals this page on the Pantheon
      http://www.monolithicdome.com/articles/pantheon/

      The is just one of the many thing us newbie American don't get to enjoy. :(

    4. Re:That's fast magma! by MsWillow · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I thought Pompeii was hit with a pyroclastic flow, rather like what happened at Mt. St. Helens - a fast-flowing glowing "cloud" of superheated, highly-pressurised rock-with-gas-dissolved, a la "pop rocks", not a puddle of liquid lava. As it fell, the rocks broke apart as the dissolved gasses suddenly un-dissolve, thus, in effect, providing its own gas cushion to move like an air-hockey puck. The hyperhot rocks then fragment, repeating until it's all powder.

      The survival of this village's population would depend not only on how far away it was, but the intervening terrain. If it was still downhill, the flow would be fast. If it was more flat, the flow would slow greatly.

      It's still fascinating. I wonder why this event wasn't shown on Roman coins? The reverses display many other things - wars, natural phenomenom, even voting. I'll have to look harder :)

      --

      Lemon curry?
    5. Re:That's fast magma! by earthman · · Score: 1
      Italy is quite amazing in that when ruins are found, they are generally left untouched. Rome is a great example of this in that there are vast ruins right in the downtown areas!!

      They dug those up under Mussolini's rule, and destroyed quite a few Renaissance-era buildings for it. It's not like they just accidentally stumbled upon them.
    6. Re:That's fast magma! by Boiling_point_ · · Score: 2, Interesting
      ... A sense of continuity and antiquity is one of the things lacking in America that I truly miss (Native Americans excepted).
      I'm Australian so we have the same "problem". Although, I think you've made a subtle distinction between indigenous culture and others that I find interesting. Do Italians, etc. feel a sense of connection with their ancestors and their environment in the way that Native American people do?

      Can we not feel a sense of "antiquity" without needing a cultural "continuity"?

      A few suburbs from me, a tens-of-thousands-of-years-old bora ring was recently rediscovered. The same culture that created that site still exists today - although I am not indigenous, I can't help but feel awe at the fact that I live so close to a cultural relic of a truly geological timescale that still has contemporary significance.

      --
      "If you create user accounts, by default, they will have an account type of Administrator with no password." KB Q293834
    7. Re:That's fast magma! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually if you look at Herculaneum, they found many bodies huddled together in a boathouse next to the water. Most of the bodies showed appeared to have their blood reach boiling temperature. It wasn't done by magma, they were incinerated by cloud of hot ash and steam that IIRC was traveling at an estimated rate of over 400 fps.

    8. Re:That's fast magma! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Their blood didn't have time to boil. Their organs were vaporised instantly. I believe that the temperature of the air that hit them was beyond 700 degrees....which is very hot. Flesh just doesn't stick to bone at that temp.

      NR

      Actually, every time I think about what happened to these people it gives me the chills.

    9. Re:That's fast magma! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Sigh... A sense of continuity and antiquity is one of the things lacking in America that I truly miss (Native Americans excepted).
      If by "native" American, you mean someone whose ancestors arrived here and exterminated the native populations (human as well as some other species of large mammals) so long ago that he has no memory of it and therefore thinks he is "native", then yes - do tell.

      I can always intuit what a great sense of continuity and antiquity "native Americans" have every time I pass an Indian gambling casino.

      "Sigh". They are just so much more spiritual than us; so much more connected to nature. If Hollywood says so, it must be true! Haven't we all seen "Dances with Wolves"?

      Why, those Indians out west just knew that Kennewick Man was one of their own flesh and blood; their religion says so! So there. Pay no attention to that big-nosed caucasian with the spear wound whose remains grace some anonymous Federal locker. The racial extortion coalition must be appeased!
    10. Re:That's fast magma! by dtosti · · Score: 1

      that was the reason Rome built its underground railroad system in 40 years rather than the 15 planned. Milan builts its system in 10 years mainly because there aren't ruins underneath it

    11. Re:That's fast magma! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's still fascinating. I wonder why this event wasn't shown on Roman coins? The reverses display many other things - wars, natural phenomenom, even voting. I'll have to look harder :)

      Because Rome wasn't built until 1100 years later.

    12. Re:That's fast magma! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And because coins weren't even thought of for another thousand years.

      Aes rude "coinage" (actually, lumps of bronze) may have been around then, but aes grave - ingots of bronze, of known weight - came next. Coins were invented because it was very hard to make change for the equivilent of a ten-thousand dollar bill.

      The first coins didn't even have a "reverse" design, just an imprint of the punch. Those started appearing about 600BC, quite a while after Pompeii got clobbered.

    13. Re:That's fast magma! by DerekLyons · · Score: 2

      Sigh... A sense of continuity and antiquity is one of the things lacking in America that I truly miss

      Why? It doesn't really provide anything. And you can get that sense if live just about anywhere on the East coast. Do keep in mind that many European nations (Italy and Germany for example) are actually younger than the US, though made of up older components.

  16. Yeah, a Great Find... by Murdock037 · · Score: 2, Flamebait

    ...assuming they abandoned the plans for the underground parking lot.

    In this day and age it wouldn't surprise me if a company was more irritated at a find like this than anything else, as it presents more rubble for them to clear out, and possibly more media attention that they want.

    Where's the profit in archaeology, anyways?

    1. Re:Yeah, a Great Find... by Debillitatus · · Score: 3, Interesting
      In this day and age it wouldn't surprise me if a company was more irritated at a find like this than anything else

      True... but what do you mean, "this day and age"? I think this would have always been true. Essentially, this is why so few of Imperial Roman buildings still exist in Rome; the subsequent Romans were always ripping them down for building materials (common), destroying them because they were pagan images (less common), or ripping them down so they could build something new (perhaps least common).

      But, either way, a developer isn't going to be happy to find this. This is one thing we rarely have to deal with in the US, but it's pretty common in Europe, and, say, Israel. I don't know about the other parts of the Middle East, but I imagine most of the Arab governments have other things to worry about than archaeology.

      --

      Come on, give it up, that's

    2. Re:Yeah, a Great Find... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well i can't speak for Italy, but most western countries have laws protecting sites like these. Considering their rich history, i'd assume Italy would have one.

    3. Re:Yeah, a Great Find... by elefantstn · · Score: 2
      Where's the profit in archaeology, anyways?


      At the antiquities market, the admissions gate, and the bookstore next door. There is plenty of profit in archaeology, especially in an established tourist area like Italy. They will make loads more cash from a find like this than they ever would in a parking lot.
      --
      If it ain't broke, you need more software.
  17. Duck and cover! by Ted+V · · Score: 5, Funny

    I guess they were smart enough to avoid the "Duck and Cover" technique that Pompeii's residents tried...

    1. Re:Duck and cover! by TeknoHog · · Score: 1
      Ha ha. Very funny. It wasn't lava that killed people at Pompeii, but rather the volcanic ash (correct me if there's a better term) that covered everything. That was a lot faster than lava flow and the 'duck and cover' reaction was kind of natural (got a better idea?).

      The ash is pretty dense stuff which later petrified (hope this gets past the lameness filter). As the human bodies gradually decayed away, there were human-shaped cavities left inside the frozen ashes.

      --
      Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
    2. Re:Duck and cover! by imrdkl · · Score: 1

      Pyroclastic flows do solidify eventually. And they move quickly, too. But the body cavities are interesting. Think of the positions.

    3. Re:Duck and cover! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I thought that technique only worked for fallout.

    4. Re:Duck and cover! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, it works great in fires, too.

  18. I'll go ahead and book that next trip... by trix_e · · Score: 3, Insightful

    for about 5 years from now, after they've had time to excavate more.

    My wife and I went to Italy on our honeymoon in March and toured Pompeii. It truly is humbling to stand in the middle of this city. All at once it gives you a sense of 1) the fleeting nature of life 2) the complete and total lack of significance that the moment in time that we occupy right now has and 3) wonder at the way civilization has changed in the past few thousand years. I tend very easily to lose any sort of perspective on my place in the universe, visiting historical treasures such as these have the ability to show you a much broader and more complete picture of the world and your place in it...

    I can't wait to visit Nola...

    --
    No man is an island, but Gary is a city in Indiana.
    1. Re:I'll go ahead and book that next trip... by slow_flight · · Score: 1

      Better leave early - I hear there's no parking lot!

      --

      Karma: Professionally Doomed (mostly affected by inability to keep opinions to self)
  19. Not selling rights by zama · · Score: 2, Informative

    In a lot of places, archaelogists have to do an examination before development can begin on a site. The article seems to be saying that it was a routine examination for the state, and not that they were selling the rights. "Vecchio discovered the village north of Vesuvius while doing routine tests to grant a company a license to build a shopping center and underground parking lot on the site."

  20. Re:Atlantis by nomadic · · Score: 2

    It's also quite likely that Atlantis doesn't exist.

  21. They Had It Coming by heretic108 · · Score: 5, Funny

    ROME, June 12, 2002

    Archaeologists excavating the ruins of the buried city of Nola have found documents which provide a stunning insight into the nature of Nolan society, and the possible causes for its destruction.

    One of the documents, 'Specimen 42A/6', after translation from the ancient cunieform, reads:

    "To the people of Nola - we have written to you several times asking you to cease and desist your illegal activities.

    "This is your final warning that if you don't immediately amend your ways, the government of Rome, at the decree of Emperor Numa, will invoke the fire gods to destroy your city without any further notice.

    "One last time, we state our demands:
    1) Cease trading in scrolls and engraved tablets. No one is to possess scrolls or tablets unless they have been licensed from Softius Micrius Gatius Billius.
    2) Cease all use of the rotary bearing horizontal transport system, commonly known as the 'Wheel'. Your persistent use of the Wheel violates patents MDCCLXXVI, DCCXLIV, MMMCCLXXXVIII and CDLXIII. OR, purchase a 'Wheel End User License', which entitles you to a subscription to 'Wheel version VIII', as long as you pay the royalty of two pieces of silver per thousand rotations per wheel, and pay for regular new releases.
    3) Hunt and slaughter all carrier pigeons. These birds have been used for copyright infringement purposes, and must die.
    4) Hunt all birds of species parakeet or lorikeet (nicknamed by your local population as 'Aves em-pee-threeius' - these birds have copyright-infringing capabilities, and have been used to illegally record and distribute copyrighted music.

    "Lastly, once again, failure to immediately comply with these demands will result in the destruction of your civilisation."

    Signed
    Riaa Porcius
    Intellectual Property Enforcement Division
    Global Roman Empire
    under the authority of Zeus

    --
    -- In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was UNSIGNED, and the main(){} was without form and void...
    1. Re:They Had It Coming by SuiteSisterMary · · Score: 2
      under the authority of Zeus
      Jupiter, or Jove. But a Roman civic official would speak for either the Emperor, or for the Senate and People of Rome (The famous SPQR) as opposed to a deity.
      --
      Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
    2. Re:They Had It Coming by orkysoft · · Score: 1

      It would've been even funnier (+6, Funny?) if it were written like:

      "One last time, we state our demands:

      I. ...

      II. ...

      III. ...

      IV. ...

      ...
      "

      I know, it's a bit of a nitpick, but even so...

      --

      I suffer from attention surplus disorder.
    3. Re:They Had It Coming by dtosti · · Score: 1

      One of the documents, 'Specimen 42A/6', after translation from the ancient cunieform, reads

      Funny posting, but there was a very very bad mistake. Cuneiform was used only in Middle East, while a primitive alphabet was used in Greece and Italy :)

    4. Re:They Had It Coming by radja · · Score: 2

      Zeus, Jupiter, and Jove are all the same.. not only in that they're the same god, but also the word itself. The original greek zeus has the stem iov- . in latin, there is no 'J'. the jupiter is literrally
      'Father zeus', Iov-pater.. later bastardised into Jupiter.

      //rdj

      --

      No one can understand the truth until he drinks of coffee's frothy goodness.
      --Sheikh Abd-Al-Kadir, 1587
    5. Re:They Had It Coming by SuiteSisterMary · · Score: 2

      Hmm...thanks for the analysis.

      --
      Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
    6. Re:They Had It Coming by notfancy · · Score: 1

      Zeus, Jupiter, and Jove are all the same.. not only in that they're the same god, but also the word itself. The original greek zeus has the stem iov- . in latin, there is no 'J'. the jupiter is literrally
      'Father zeus', Iov-pater.. later bastardised into Jupiter.



      The same stem I-O-U (wich you spell as "v", but is actually a "w", as Jovis was pronounced "yowis") appears in Jehovah, or Yahweh. Graves makes a case of pointing out the parallell development between the Jovian-Apollinean shift in Graeco-Roman religion with the Judaeo-Christian shift in Middle-Eastern religion.

    7. Re:They Had It Coming by pubudu · · Score: 2
      The original greek zeus has the stem iov

      Could you explain this? Looking through Liddell-Scott, all attested forms begin with a D or Z (Zeus, Deus, Dieos, Dios, Diei, Dii, Di, etc.) Some forms could be explained by a digamma, but I don't see where the o went, and as it tends to dominate contractions, I ought to see some remnant of it.

      --
      ~~~~~~

      under-paid karma whore

    8. Re:They Had It Coming by pubudu · · Score: 2
      The same stem I-O-U (wich you spell as "v", but is actually a "w", as Jovis was pronounced "yowis") appears in Jehovah, or Yahweh. Graves makes a case of pointing out the parallell development between the Jovian-Apollinean shift in Graeco-Roman religion with the Judaeo-Christian shift in Middle-Eastern religion.

      I'm afraid that Graves made a mistake here: the word in Hebrew is YHWH. H is part of the root. The root would be either HYH or HWH (Y and W can be interchangeable). The linguistic parallel doesn't work.

      --
      ~~~~~~

      under-paid karma whore

    9. Re:They Had It Coming by Peter+H.S. · · Score: 2

      Zeus, Jupiter, and Jove are all the same.. not only in that they're the same god, but also the word itself. The original greek zeus has the stem iov- . in latin, there is no 'J'. the jupiter is literrally
      'Father zeus', Iov-pater.. later bastardised into Jupiter.


      "Zeus" and "Jupiter" both shares (probably) the same etymology (stems from the same Sanskrit words). Probably refererring to some older indo-european god ("Sky-father".). But "Jupiter" is not a translation, though its meaning is equal, of Zeus, but a independent linguistic development of latin. Best described as independent, parallel development of a common, past god and language.

      My point is, that one often reads, that the Latin words for the Roman gods, just are translations of their greek "equivalents". And that is generally not true. (But perhaps a usefull little white lie, when dealing with the profusion of names in greek and roman religion)
      While roman religion(s) reimported ideas, and traits from greece, especially after the hellenistic world was subjugated, it would still differ a lot from greek religious practice and "theology".

  22. Re:Society - Bronze Age vs Roman by dogzilla · · Score: 2, Funny

    "...and 60% are African-American..."

    African-American. In Pompeii.

    --
    The crimes of eBay are a disgrace to it's pig latin heritage!
  23. No bodies... by The+Ape+With+No+Name · · Score: 4, Informative
    One odd thing, though, unlike Pompeii, they haven't found bodies in Nola

    Remember at Pompeii there were no bodies found only cavities in the ash which archaeologists filled with plaster. Three things can be supposed by not finding bodies.

    They had time to get away.

    They were incinerated

    Any dead left were cremated indicating that the dwellers were Indo-Europeans and not aboriginal Italians who usually buried their dead.


    They found bodies at Herculaeneum, which is one of the few finds of Roman remains because Romans followed the funerial practices of their nomadic forebears -- cremation. At least, the patricians did so.

    Hot Damn! That degree in Classical Studies pays off finally. I am waiting for my check.

    --
    Comparing it to Windows will be a moot point, since El Dorado is going to have a 40% larger code base than XP.
    1. Re:No bodies... by elefantstn · · Score: 2
      Hot Damn! That degree in Classical Studies pays off finally. I am waiting for my check.


      Yeah, I got one of them too. If my check shows up, I'll let you know.
      --
      If it ain't broke, you need more software.
    2. Re:No bodies... by jstott · · Score: 1
      They found bodies at Herculaeneum, which is one of the few finds of Roman remains because Romans followed the funerial practices of their nomadic forebears -- cremation. At least, the patricians did so.

      The found bodies (well, skeletons) at Herculaeneum, not because of any nonsense about funeral practices but because the bodies were encased in solid rock during the eruption. Pyroplastic flows and all that.

      -JS

      --
      Vanity of vanities, all is vanity...
    3. Re:No bodies... by The+Ape+With+No+Name · · Score: 2

      Read the post. If the people at Nola had time to evacuate their dead, then they would have buried them or burned them giving a bit of indication of who they were. The interesting thing about Herc. is that something rare was discovered there: forensic evidence of the lives of Romans -- their remains. Of course, they didn't bury them. Sheesh. It's pyroclastic flow, anyhoo.

      --
      Comparing it to Windows will be a moot point, since El Dorado is going to have a 40% larger code base than XP.
  24. Re:21st Century tourists!... by tcd004 · · Score: 1

    Doh!

  25. What's the fuzz about? by attackiko · · Score: 1

    I've been there 2 years ago. The whole city was buried. So what's new with this little village? We already had a whole city uncovered.

    1. Re:What's the fuzz about? by jmauro · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The little village is a few thousand years older than the rest of the city.

  26. Will that change the way we play FreeCiv ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    eom

  27. From the desk of The Divine by gatesh8r · · Score: 1, Offtopic
    Dear Anonymous Coward:

    I have recently read your post and have found that you are encouraging the usage and distrobution of a Bronze Age emmulator; a blatent infringement of MY copyright within my Divine Rule.

    Therefore, under my counsil of Superior Outright New Yearning US Association (SONY USA), we have placed a lawsuit on your company for copyright infringment. Since I am above all your mortal laws, I have already condemned you to the firey pits of hell for eternal damnnation since I don't have a need to get rich. Of course, your eternal damnnation can be reversed if you purchace a licence in any of my religions: Christianity (I go by "God/Jesus/Holy Spirit"), Judiasm (I go by "Yaweah"), Islam (I go by "Allah"). Usually this is a lifetime membership to the religions where doing such emmulation is unacceptable, anyway. So while I implore you to join to save your souls, I will ask you this one time to cease and desist distrobution of an emmulator of my Intelectual Property, because I have a monopoly on creation and the time-space continuum.

    Sincerely,
    God

    --
    Karma whorin' since 1999
  28. It's a conspiracy - they made it up! by MisterMo · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yes, they abandoned plans for the parking lot, replacing them with plans for the ultra-lucrative Bronzo-Disney theme park.

    --

    42

  29. Re:Atlantis by RogrWilco · · Score: 1

    There was a theory that the Fiji Islands are the remains of Atlantis, mostly due to the history of volcanic activity, climatic conditions, and the types of animals which Plato described on the islands. They even went so far as to connect the islands into rings to show how Atlantis was described, and commented that Plato could have stopped there on his travels to Egypt. But it's in the wrong direction...

  30. Lava didn't hit Pompeii by gopherdata · · Score: 2, Informative

    Pompeii was buried by ash and pyroclastic flows. Lava (which is magma on the surface) didn't come anywhere close to Pompeii. The following website has a good account of the 79 AD eruption: http://urban.arch.virginia.edu/struct/pompeii/volc anic.html

  31. Archeologists in the future..... by MrWinkey · · Score: 1

    I always wonder if people/aliens will be looking at our towns and cities long after we are gone......

    Alien archeologist: Yes this is a prime example of a 74 Ford Pinto. We think this race decided to move to mechanical devices like this as they tired of the temperament of horses and needed something more suited to packing around the primitive copper and silicon devices they called computers. This race did not develop common nanotech use for several centuries.......

    --
    Vote early. Vote often. Vote CowboyNeal.
  32. Re:Atlantis by Codifex+Maximus · · Score: 3, Informative

    I disagree. Most stories, myths, legends have at least SOME basis in fact.

    Take for instance the Minotaur. People in Athens were conquered by the Minoans and forced to surrender young people for sacrifice. They were to fight the Minotaur - if they survived then they might return home.

    The reality as we have ascertained it is... these young people were used as performers in a bull fighting ceremony where they leapt over the bull by placing hands on the bull's head and flipping over. Also, the maze of passages which we think is the labyrinth has been found.

    The Homeric epics - The Troad and the Troadians. Troy has been found. We believe we have found Charybdis (sp?). We have found a civilization that follows closely on the culture that launched a thousand ships - Mycenae, Sparta, Athens, Achaia.

    As for Atlantis, the legend was said to be ancient in the time of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. No doubt the story has been embellished and altered in the retelling. You can bet there is some truth in there somewhere.

    --
    Codifex Maximus ~ In search of... a shorter sig.
  33. It's about time! by Codifex+Maximus · · Score: 0

    Maybe now, we'll get some accurate data for games like Age of Empires, Empire Earth and others.

    --
    Codifex Maximus ~ In search of... a shorter sig.
  34. snapshot of Pompeii? by British · · Score: 0, Troll

    Apparently they have X-10 webcams and beautiful women bearing clevage.

  35. Re:Also found in this bronze age pompeii: by Inside_Joke · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Question:

    What on Earth is that gibberish? Too much Jolt! cola? Someone please explain what this crack-monkey is doing!

    --
    I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that you're an idiot!
  36. Re:Atlantis by RogrWilco · · Score: 1

    I am neither a historian, nor a geographer, and am assuredly not Atlantean. I was merely pointing out that Atlantis has been found many times over.

  37. Bronze Age Jargon File by Black+Parrot · · Score: 4, Funny


    We are fortunate to have discovered a cache of clay tablets that appear to be the remnants of the Bronze Age Jargon File, as witnessed by this sample:

    hacker - n., Military slang for warrior armed with a battle axe.

    cracker - n., Military slang for a warrior armed with a war hammer. Civilians eager to show off their mastery of military slang often erroneously refer to crackers as hackers, much to the chagrin of the better informed military men.

    ping - n., The sound a sling stone makes when it bounces off a bronze helmet. The word is often used as a verb as well, e.g. a general might send his slingers ahead to 'ping' a wood or village and listen for the characteristic sound indicating that the enemy has troops stationed there in ambush.

    pron - n., Short for Pronifagri, the Mother Goddess. The term is most often used to refer to those obese Neolithic images of Pronifagri which are still easily found by those who know where to look. (See babe in the Neolithic Jargon File.) Some males collect pron compulsively, completely filling up their barns with it, and in some cases even buying a new, larger barn just to store their huge collections.

    troll - n., Someone, usually an adolescent with no social skills, who hangs around the marketplace and makes quips that are calculated to start an argument with the more staid citizens. Taken from the verb trollo, trollere, meaning "to drag a fish ashore" or "to dig in the nose with a finger". (The verb itself is a conflation of traho and uolo, with a basic sense of "aspire to drag".) Trolling is thought to be common throughout the Bronze Age Mediterranean, as it later gave rise to Greek Philosophy. (See Socrates in the Classical Jargon File.)

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
  38. Re:Society - Bronze Age vs Roman by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    shouldn't that be African-Roman is instead?

  39. Re:No bodies... Another explanation. by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 2
    Three things can be supposed by not finding bodies.

    They had time to get away.

    They were incinerated

    Any dead left were cremated indicating that the dwellers were Indo-Europeans and not aboriginal Italians who usually buried their dead.

    Or:

    They didn't leave the bodies to rot in downtown Nola.

    After all, they were only digging up the area of a parking structure (so far). American Indians have a lot to say about the hygene (or lack thereof) of Europeans. But even bronze-age Europeans didn't normally leave the dead lying around on downtown streets.

    Pompei is a special case: They were killed and buried all in one event by a natural disaster.

    So let's hang in there until they've dug up enough of the area to find the graveyard, eh?

    --
    Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
  40. Re:No bodies... Another explanation. by The+Ape+With+No+Name · · Score: 2

    They didn't leave the bodies to rot in downtown Nola
    True. It would be interesting to see if they find any skeletal remains or not. That would say a lot about the origins of the people in Nola, if we suppose burial customs are indicative of origin.

    They will probably find oblong shallow graves, like the ones you can see, cheek to jowl, with the circular ash burials in the Forum in Rome. Then again, that's a maybe.

    --
    Comparing it to Windows will be a moot point, since El Dorado is going to have a 40% larger code base than XP.
  41. What about the parking lot? by line-bundle · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Are they still building it?

  42. Re:Atlantis by jmauro · · Score: 2

    Except Atlantis is not the same as those other myths. Atlantis was a morality play written by Plato to show Socrates idea of civil order and an ideal state, not a story to keep telling the kids years from now like The Illid and the Odyssey. The Atlantian stories were philosphical in nature and not a hyped report of current events, religon, or events. Plato was discussing events that occured some 8,000 years before the current Athens and described a war between Athens and Atlantis. Athens just simply didn't exist at this time and was known at the time not to be that old. And a story this cool would of been retold many, many times and in many different forms. The age of the story was given in the story by Plato who got it from some Egyptian Mystic. But with this information there should be references here and there about it, but there isn't a peep about it until Timaeus and Critias and not much afterwards until relatively modern times. And then add the fact that there is no real credibale evidence of a Atlantis Civilization. (There was evidence other stories, etc, of a Troy and a Minoa before the ruins were found.) Looking for Atlantis is finding connections were no exist.

    The conclusion authors create stories to make a point. You don't think every author today bases his/her books on things that actually happened or did happen. Sometimes its just a story and they're not much there to be cracked.

  43. Re:Atlantis by nomadic · · Score: 2


    Troy has been found.

    An ancient city was found, and Schliemann claimed that it was Troy. Its possible; but the evidence is sketchy at best, and its possible that Troy really is mythological and never existed.

    Personally I think that if you were to dig under a lot of Turkish cities you'd find ancient ruins. Just like if you look at a lot of islands, you're eventually going to find something that has some of the characteristics of Atlantis. Doesn't mean that it is the actual Atlantis Plato referred to in the Critias.

  44. OT: cultural continuity & antiquity by zama · · Score: 1

    Indigenous cultural artifacts definitely convey an incredible weight in meaning and history but they are rare. They don't provide that omni-present sense of history that so much else of the world has. Certainly when you view them you are shocked into a certain perspective but they aren't ever-present reminders.

    Walking down the streets of San Francisco, where there were once several tribes, you can't find any legacies other than hints in the etymology of the landscape. Not the same as walking down a street in Europe or Asia where reminders are all around you. I won't forget after a kitschy shopping trip stumbling on a beautiful largely unmarked and unnoticed Roman bath from 350 AD in Paris - it wasn't in any of our guide books. And there's something wonderfully meaningful that's hard to describe in sitting in a modern cafe in a nook that's actually sheltered under the arch of an aqueduct dating from Hadrian's reign.

    Anywho, I think I've deviated - yes I agree you can feel a sense of antiquity without needing the continuity (or cultural identification), it's the lack of reminders that I regret not having.

    best,
    -zama

  45. Re:Society - Bronze Age vs Roman by The_Unforgiven · · Score: 1

    Just another example of Political correctness gone to far. They don't even think about what they're saying.

    --
    http://wsulug.org
  46. Re:Society - Bronze Age vs Roman by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You're much easier if I call you an idiot.

  47. Re:Atlantis by frankie · · Score: 2

    Pretty much every civilization with roots in ancient Mesopotamia (a la Tigris and Euphrates) has its own tale of The Great Flood. Joseph Campbell wrote about this. Atlantis, Noah, Numenor, etc.

  48. Re:Atlantis by kesuki · · Score: 1

    Not so long ago on either TLC or Discovery or else the history channel... I saw a documentary about search for Atlantis. And they pretty much found an Island, with the needed dormand volcano, the harbor, three rings... archeological evidence of the types of animals that plato described there, and sunken remains of temples and harbors. And the ruins had hot and pipes for hot and cold running water at a time when most civilizations were still hauling water in with vases. It is in the correct location, too, if you consider that plato might have meant 'between' africa and the mid-east (as opposed to 'larger' than. It's pretty easy to mistranslate since the original scroll was copied dozens of times, and the difference between 'between' and 'larger' can be only a letter or two using the right words.

  49. Re:Atlantis by BrooksMarlin · · Score: 1

    Scientists are pretty sure that the myth of Atlantis is based on the Greek island of Thera. Unfourtunatly for the people of Thera, their little island was actually a big volcano and when the volcano exploded the whole island was destroyed. Where there was once a small city now there was only open sea. From the point of view of the Greeks the island disappeared leaving no evidence behind, or at least any they could observe. How Thera got changed to Atlantis I don't know

  50. Re:Atlantis by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wow.

    Might I suggest that you are probably misinformed. The ancient Greeks, down to late Roman times at least, knew where Troy was (Alexander the Great visited Troy, for instance) and their descriptions and directions match quite well with the site modern archeologists call Troy. There is no sign saying "Troy was here", but there are lots and lots of very telling evidence which ties together and supports the conclusion that Troy is where we think it is. There aren't any other good candidates for Troy's location.

    There has been plenty of time to sift the evidence and demonstrate that Troy is in fact where we think it is. Consult your friendly neighborhood archeologists and classical scholars.

    As for the idea that Troy was mythological and never existed - that is a product of your typical 19th century skepticism, which immediately dismissed any ancient writing as mythical simply because it was not written in a form acceptable to the rather barren intellects of 19th century materialism and unimaginate skepticism. Serious scholars don't take these "skeptics" seriously anymore when evaluating ancient writings....if a city was mentioned in Homer, that is more than compelling evidence that it actually existed.

    Might I suggest that you are in fact living in the wrong century?

  51. Re:Society - Bronze Age vs Roman by DriceX · · Score: 1

    70%+60%=130%...

    Ether you are not able to do basic math, or archeologist haven't found all the bodies yet.

  52. I really hope so! by MS · · Score: 1, Flamebait
    There's one big problem with Italy:

    You cannot build new streets, dig for an underground or add a garage to your home without risking to hit some ancient remains. There comes an archaeologist: "stop digging! we have to carefully analyze that and to preserve it for the future, for the science"...

    And what about us? Our own life and our children? Should we not have the right to use an undergroud to drive to the inner city? See, our streets are exploding with traffic, and I don't find a parking lot in a one-mile radius...!

    Italy is so full of archaelological remains, a big part of it goes "undiscovered": "hey, acqua-in-bocca, don't tell anyone about the bronze statue I found in our back-garden. I want my swimming pool to be finished before summer!".

    Yeah, that's Italy.

    ms

  53. How was that informative? flamed and didn't read by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's not a city, it's a 'prehistoric village' (a handfull of huts do not a city make). ...all you have to do is read the article. [sic]

    Now do I get an informative rating too?

    Both of you should go back and reread it.

  54. Re:Atlantis by Darby · · Score: 1

    Numenor.
    heh ;-)

  55. Re:Society - Bronze Age vs Roman by Darby · · Score: 1

    70%+60%=130%...
    Ether you are not able to do basic math, or archeologist haven't found all the bodies yet.


    Your stupidity is truly astounding.
    Here's a hot tip for you.
    It is possible to be black (or african american, but that was a different retard) and female *at the same time*.

  56. Re:Atlantis by linca · · Score: 1

    Not only was that island destroyed in a big volcano explosion, but the island of Crete, which was the most adavanced civilisation near Grece in 1500 BC, got flooded by a Tsunami because of the explosion ; it is quite clear this caused the downfall of the Minoean civilization there. So the myth of Atlantis is very much grounded in fact. No need to go into the Pacific ocean.

  57. Italian attitude towards volcanoes by bigbird · · Score: 1

    I visited Pompeii and went up Vesuvius last year - highly recommended. But the amazing thing is the total disregard the Italians have for danger. Houses stretch a third of the way up the mountain slopes, and yet this volcano is incredibly active. Still smoking, it has had at least 2 major eruptions this century, and no doubt will erupt again in the next 50 years. And yet still they build.

  58. Roman coins by Pseudonymus+Bosch · · Score: 1

    I wonder why this event wasn't shown on Roman coins?

    Probably the Romans didn't know of Nola (No, I haven't read the article). But do Roman coins document Pompeii and Herculanum? How? (Or have I misunderstood your post?)

    --
    __
    Men with no respect for life must never be allowed to control the ultimate instruments of death.
    GW Bu
  59. Sense of connection? Nay! by dtosti · · Score: 1

    Do Italians, etc. feel a sense of connection with their ancestors and their environment in the way that Native American people do?

    I'm Italian and I don't feel any connection with them at all because I live in Milan, an area without ancient traces of the past. It's a very lucky city, because it can expand and/or transform itself according to their inhabitants' needs, like the american cities.

  60. Pregnant Goat by Sabalon · · Score: 2

    Okay...so the article says they found the bones of a pregnant goat. Uh...how do they know this?

    I guess either the goat's ribs expand or something, or perhaps they found goat-fetus bones or something?

    Somehow I just have this vision of people digging up the site and someone walking in saying "Wow...this is wonderful, they cooked with this and that, and wow, look at that, pregnant goat bones."

    1. Re:Pregnant Goat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      More than likely when they looked at the goat skeleton, they found smaller bones inside the rib cage, towards the back of the goat.

      They would also be able to decduce it was a female goat from the slightly different bone structure, specifically the pelvic bones.

      This type of discovery has been found in thousands of animal and human remains over the decades so it is a sure bet the archeologists are correct in saying they were pregnant goats.

  61. Normality by Scrameustache · · Score: 1

    One odd thing, though, unlike Pompeii, they haven't found bodies in Nola.

    No, that's normal, what is odd is that we found bodies in Pompeii in the first place.

    See, when that volcano made the nasty in Pompeii, it gave plenty of warning. First it rained little hot pieces of very light rocks for hours, the volcano was visibly active, and the fools stayed home.

    I figure the people of Nola had a tad more survival instinc and got out of harms way in time.

    Of course, with all the idiots we meet everyday, I guess its understandable that we would expect them to stay put while a volcano erupted near by...

    --

    You can't take the sky from me...

  62. Oi... Incorrect Terminology by rimdo · · Score: 1
    "...a good place to compare theory with proof."

    Ugh. Hemos must not have taken his Immodium A-D this morning when he let this little piece of crap slip by. Empirical evidence is not proof by any means.
  63. Re:Atlantis by notfancy · · Score: 1

    IIRC, Atlantis is traditionally described as a ring island system, with the "downtown" located in the middle of these rings, of which there were 3 I believe.



    My favorite Atlantean (Atlantic? Atlantish?) theory is that it was actually a Creto-Mycaenean kingdom in Santorini, an Aegean island-volcano. It remains of it no more than a broken stone ring, the base of the caldera.

  64. Re:Atlantis by pubudu · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Atlantis was a morality play written by Plato to show Socrates idea of civil order and an ideal state, not a story to keep telling the kids years from now like The Illid and the Odyssey. The Atlantian stories were philosphical in nature and not a hyped report of current events, religon, or events. ... The age of the story was given in the story by Plato who got it from some Egyptian Mystic.

    The case against Atlantis is stronger than you present it here as being. The opening of the Timaeus presents itself as happening the day after Socrates related action of the Republic, at which point Timaeus, Critias, and Hermocrates present their version of that city. That is, they present their version of Socrates' made-up regime, changing it where they thought it needed it. Philosopher-kings are replaced with priest-kings, the communism is abandoned, and it is presented as an ancient model to follow rather than a new one.

    If you look at what Critias actually says, the ancient Athenians he describes in the story are the citizens of Socrates' city -- he suggests that his story is made up, but in keeping in line with the radically more conservative character of this discussion, it is presented as being true.

    That is, the story of Atlantis first told in the Timaeus and Critias is presented as being false! Later people apparently didn't get the joke.

    Since the above might seem controversial to some, here's an explanation that might seem less so to them. Plato promises us three dialogues dealing with Atlantis: the Timaeus, the Critias, and the Hermocrates. We never get to see the third, and the second is unfinished. Plato was prevented from finishing by the FBI and various 19th century materialist skeptics.

    --
    ~~~~~~

    under-paid karma whore