FOOTPRINTS

When I first read this story I tried to imagine who among my small group of close friends would be silly…I mean willing to demonstrate the hypothesised walking gait of Homo erectus (courtesy of the new footprint finds) in comparison to other hominids, chimps and modern humans.

I made the mistake of saying I would record this act, upload the footage on YouTube and place right here on this very blog…yeah, really kicked myself in the head there didn’t I? So needless to say, none of my friends opted for the experience, not even George. Next time I’ll just strategically place a few hidden cameras…yes, it is all very big brotheresque around here.

So, new footprints in Kenya! Yay!!!

Studies of the new finds suggest that the individuals who left them were morphologically very similar to modern humans. Standing approximately 5 foot 9 inches high, with a size 9 arched feet indicating better bipedal mobility, anthropologists believe that the prints, dated to 1.5MYA probably belonged to Homo erectus.

Researchers suggest that this provides further credit to claims that the evolution of the feet for bipedal purposes was an essential element to “becoming human” (and let’s not nit pick at that useless term either). So, yes, these are the earliest footprints in existence belonging to a species of the Homo genus (probably, anyway), but are by no means the earliest fossilised hominid footprints recovered from the fossil record. Laetoli still holds that crown, believed to have been left by Australopithecus afarensis, some 3.6 million years old.

What would you say?

At a recent gathering, a friend of mine brought to my attention a slightly morbid, but still fun website that I’d like to share.

“Dying Words” by Corsinet has recorded the last words of many famous people in history. I’m not sure as to how accurate the site is, but it is still really fun! And it makes you think “Hmm, what are my last words going to be?”

Well? What would you say?

Here are a few of my personal favourites:

I should never have switched from Scotch to Martinis.~~ Humphrey
Bogart,
actor, d. January 14, 1957

I am still
alive! Stabbed to death by his own guards - (as reported by
Roman
historian Tacitus)~~ Gaius Caligula, Roman Emperor, d.41 AD

I've
never felt better.~~ Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., actor, d. December
12,
1939

I'd hate to die twice. It's so boring.~~ Richard Feynman,
physicist, d.
1988

I know you have come to kill me. Shoot coward,
you are only going to
kill a man.
Facing his assassin,
Mario Teran, a Bolivian soldier.~~
Ernesto "Che" Guevara, d. October
9, 1967

Too late for fruit, too soon for flowers.~~ Walter De La
Mare, writer,
d. 1956

Go on, get out - last words are for fools
who haven't said
enough.
To his housekeeper, who urged
him to tell her his last words
so she could write them down for
posterity.~~ Karl Marx, revolutionary,
d. 1883

I
knew it. I knew it. Born in a hotel room - and God damn
it - died in a hotel
room.~~ Eugene O'Neill, writer, d. November 27,
1953

Here am I, dying of a hundred good symptoms.~~ Alexander Pope,
writer, d. May 30, 1744

They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist. . . .
Killed in battle during US Civil War.~~ General John
Sedgwick,
Union Commander, d. 1864

I've had eighteen straight whiskies, I
think that's the record . . .~~ Dylan Thomas, poet, d.
1953

Either that wallpaper goes, or I do.~~ Oscar
Wilde, writer, d.
November 30, 1900

For more of these little charmers, or to get some ideas for your own, you can find the site here.

6 and 26

Archaeologists in Egypt have found that a pyramid containing a mummy from the 6th dynasty also houses the remains of 30 other mummified individuals from the 26th dynasty.

The 2600 year old tomb, which the LAT suggests belonged to an individual named Sennedjem, is located inside the necropolis at Saqqara. A niche in the tomb holding 30 bodies has been described by Zahi Hawass as a “Mummy Warehouse”.

Eight of the individuals were incased in stone sarcophagi, while the rest where laid to rest in caches along the walls. Dating suggests that the remains in the “warehouse” are from the 26th dynasty – the last independent Egyptian rule before the Persian invasion.

Why?

The Ancient Egyptians were in many ways obsessed with death, even in life, one would be constantly thinking about the life after death and immortality. Why then, would you recycle a tomb?

The most probable answer is that rulers during the 26th dynasty could not recruit the manpower or muster the resources required to construct a funerary complex as extravagant as those from earlier periods.

Research is ongoing.

Not that I support the Barney Phenomenon but....

On of the biggest misconceptions about archaeology involves one of my favourite things – DINOSAURS! Screw raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, Dinosaurs totally win, hands down!
That being said, when someone asks you what you do for a living and you say “well actually, I’m an archaeologist” the most common response after “wow!”, “good lord, why?” or “really?!” is “so, how many dinosaurs have you found?”
Or something along that sort of line anyway, then you do a little slightly annoyed laugh and clarify what it is that you actually do – play in shell middens, dig up stone tools, work in mass graves or what have you.

Anyway, I realise that what I’m about to do will provide further support for the ‘Barney Phenomena’, but I’m going to do it anyway…because I’m a rebel and I listen to rock music. Yeah, that’s right!

So, first of all TRICERATOPS!



If there was a rockstar among dinosaurs, then Triceratops would be it!

Isn’t it just the cutest little thing! They’re definitely one of my favourite dinosaurs.



Palaeontologists have a huge fascination with horned/ frilled dinosaurs. Theories behind the features stretched from comparisons with species still present on earth today. So essentially deer, elk, moose…and no, not the chocolate variety.

Some believe that the unusual features were used for display purposes, to attract a mate and such. Now don’t tell me you can’t see a male triceratops eyeing off a passing female with a smirk as he’d say “Heya babe! You ever seen one this big?”….wow, that took quite a sordid turn didn’t it, my most humble apologies.

Ahem.

Continuing along the analogy line, deer, elk and non-chocolate moose fight. Yes, they fight with their horns, probably trying to impress a female no doubt. Motivations aside, it has been theorised that perhaps the triceratops also used their horns for fighting, and that if that was so, could there be evidence of this left on fossil remains?

Research indicates yes. Sort of.

Palaeontologists suggest that although far from a definitive conclusion on the exact purpose of horns and frills, for the triceratops, it is likely that they may have been used for fighting. But why are they fighting? One must wonder:

"…if some specimens might have had significantly more injuries than
others, and if so, whether this might suggest that they were males?
Alternatively, if the incidence of injuries significantly increased at a certain
size, would this suggest the onset of sexual maturity and mate competition?"

It should be noted that the used for horns and frills on dinosaurs may have been different for every species. While evidence suggests that the triceratops may have used their horns for fighting, for other species like the Centrosaurs and Pachyrhinosaurs, it may be used as more of a sexual display. Randy little sex fiends!