Archaeology by Prau123 – Page 364 – Main Forum

Prau123 · 2020-04-23T00:56:31Z

Here's an update on some of the new discoveries in recent years in the Mesoamerican region. Tonina - Considered the new tallest structure in Mesoamerica. It's debatable since El Mirador is actually 172 meters tall. The largest structure is still Cholula. There are still several areas in the El Mirador Basin that needs to be excavated and measured. There are 61,000 plus sites that were scanned a few years ago and that was only a mere portion of the El Mirador Basin. 15 facts about the Maya Civilization 1. THEIR PYRAMIDS AND CITIES ARE STILL BEING DISCOVERED.It’s amazing to think that something as large as a pyramid could elude archaeologists today. But it was only a few years ago that a Maya pyramid more than 1000 years old was discovered at Toniná in the Mexican state of Chiapas. It had been hidden under what was believed to be a natural hill. In 2015, researchers said this newfound monument was actually Mexico’s tallest pyramid at 246 feet (75 meters) in height, surpassing the 213-foot Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan. The ruins of two Maya cities concealed by thick vegetation were also recently discovered in Mexico’s state of Campeche. Tonina Picture They also found El Palmar and Angamuco a few years ago also. El Palmar - El Palmar is 40 to 70 times larger than previously acknowledged. It’s 40 times larger than we thought it was,” Garrison says. “This is now this huge city that would have been a rival to Tikal An early city called El Palmar seemed now to be 70 times larger than we had suspected, with raised fields for agriculture. An “isolated” royal palace had an extensive swath of settlement extending a kilometer or more. Angamuco - Angamuco had as many buildings as Manhattan city. A new laser-mapping technology, called lidar, has been used to confirm a truly mind-blowing ancient city buried in western Mexico. Called Angamuco, researchers say that it has about 40,000 buildings. This is around the same amount of building foundations as there are in Manhattan, New York. Whoa! El Mirador - Articles: Videos:

Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story:

Stone tool analysis of sites in Southeast Asia provided evidence that the area was a technological leader in seafaring.
Archaeology supports that 40,000 years ago, the people living in Southeast Asia were well-versed in boatbuilding and open-sea fishing.
This research puts Southeast Asia ahead of Europe and Africa in technological process.

In the history of studying the proliferation of humanity across the globe, there has long been one question that has stumped researchers: How did the islands ofSoutheast Asia(ISEA) become so well-inhabited so long ago?

It probably required technological seafaring advancements beyond what was considered likely during thePaleolithic era. But those experts may have a surprising new answer thanks to research that shows the ancient people of the Philippines and ISEA may have mastered seafaring well before anyone else.

The pivotal archaeological evidence comes in the form of stone tools excavated at sites in the Philippines,Indonesia, and Timor-Leste, showing strong evidence that as far back as 40,000 years ago, there was a technological sophistication from these ancient seafarers that rivals much later civilizations. In a studypublishedin theJournal of Archaeological Science,researchers from Ateneo de Manila University challenge the accepted belief that Paleolithic technical progress was centered in Africa and Europe.

Proving seafaring history represents a tricky endeavor, since organic wood and fiber that would have likely been used in constructing Paleolithic seacraft rarely survive in thearchaeological record. These stone tools offer a new way in. The most recent discovery, according to the study, shows traces of plant processing that features the “extraction of fibers necessary for making ropes, nets, and bindings essential for boatbuilding and open-sea fishing.”

Add in the discovery of fishing hooks, gorges, net weights, and the remains of deep-ocean fish such as tuna andsharks, and these archeological sites are a rich exploration of what is obviously a robust seafaring culture.

“The remains of large predatory pelagic fish at these sites indicate the capacity for advanced seafaring and knowledge of the seasonality and migration routes of those fish species,” the study authors wrote. The collection of fish and tool remains “indicates the need for strong and well-crafted cordage for ropes and fishing lines to catch the marine fauna.”

As the archaeological finds point toward a sophisticated method ofdeep-ocean fishing, the study authors believe the ancient seafarers constructed boats from organic materials and held them together with plant-based ropes. That same rope technology was then adapted for the actual fishing.

While widely accepted that the presence of fossils and artifacts across a range of islands provides evidence that early modern humans moved across the open sea, the study’s authors fight against the prevailing theory that the prehistoric migrations were passive sea drifters on bamboo rafts. Rather, they posit that the movement came fromhighly skilled navigatorsequipped with the knowledge and technology to travel to remote locations over deep waters.

“The identification of boat-building materials through direct or indirect evidence is vital in understanding movements across and within island environments,” the authors wrote in the study.

“The presence of such advanced maritime technology in prehistoric ISEA highlights the ingenuity of early Philippine peoples and their neighbors,” the authors said in astatementfrom the university, “whose boat-building knowledge likely made the region a center for technological innovations tens of thousands of years ago and laid the foundations for the maritime traditions that still thrive in the region today.”

The gargantuan heads of Easter Island may have finally tacked on an artist credit — or several, it turns out.

The over 900 statues on Rapa Nui, the indigenous name for the Chilean territory, had long been thought by researchers to be carved by hundreds of workers in a single chiefdom sometime during the 13th century. However, new research has led scientists to believe that each individual statue — called the moai — was most likely carved by competing clans or families.

The Anakena site features Moai of Rapa Nui on Easter Island. — New research shows that each individual moai statue was most likely carved by competing clans or families.NurPhoto via Getty Images

It is now estimated that each moai, which weighed up to 80 whopping tons, had as few as four to six people working on it.

Archaeologists have determined 30 separate “workshops” where the statues were made by assessing a fresh 3D model featuring the island’s main moai quarry.

3D model of unfinished moai statues attached to bedrock by “keels” along their backs. — 3-D model of unfinished moai statues attached to bedrock by “keels” along their backs.Carl Lipo / SWNS

Another piece of evidence pointing to a lack of central management of moai construction is that scientists have determined that the carved statues were transported out of the quarry in several different directions, rather than along one main route.

To create the latest 3-D model that enabled these discoveries (the study was documented in the journal PLOS One), researchers used a drone to take approximately 22,000 photos of the site, which were then integrated into the all-access digital map.

While the new model shows tops and sides of the area that could not be seen on the ground before, the reasons for the making of the moai — along with why so much time, funds and manpower were invested in their construction — remain shrouded in mystery.

Three Moai statues stand in a dry, grassy field with a rock quarry in the background. — The Rapa Nui established widespread workshops to build the moai.ArcGIS / SWNS

“The quarry is like the archaeological Disneyland,” said Professor Carl Lipo of Binghamton University in a statement. “We see separate workshops that really align to different clan groups that are working intensively in their specific areas.”

“You can really see graphically from the construction that there’s a series of statues being made here, another series of statues here and that they’re lined up next to each other,” Lipo continued.

The recent discovery of the moai’s true builders comes not long after scientists from Binghamton University and the University of Arizona confirmed that the statues were moved by “walking” across Easter Island. They were likely designed to be pulled by some rope in a side-to-side wobbling motion.

“Once you get it moving, it isn’t hard at all — people are pulling with one arm,” Lipo said in a previous report. “It conserves energy, and it moves really quickly. The hard part is getting it rocking in the first place.”

3D model of the Rano Raraku quarry in Easter Island, showing moai statues in various stages of completion. — This screenshot depicts a three-dimensional model of the Rano Raraku quarry.Carl Lipo / SWNS

Lipo and his team even tested out the theory by building a 4.35-ton moai replica that 18 people ‘walked’ forward 100 meters (or 328 feet) in 40 minutes.

All this evidence points to the conclusion that the people of Rapa Nui had an individual clan-based, smooth-sailing system to move their iconic statues.

”(This) really connects all the dots between the number of people it takes to move the statues, the number of places, the scale at which the quarrying is happening and then the scale of the communities,” Lipo said.