🧐 ROTA #6: Traveling pebbles, archaic spatial ingenuity, and rapid human migration

Apr 09, 2022

Hey folks, welcome to issue #6 of Rhythm of the Ancients. Let’s get into it!

🗞 Ancient Beat

Archaeology breakthrough as pre-Neanderthals’ ‘ingenious’ spatial planning unearthed — A recent study shows that pre-Neanderthals were extremely competent at spatial planning. The researchers believed that the center of Lazaret Cave would be the logical place for a fire, but the ~170,000-year-old hearth was strategically placed off to the side in the back. This actually minimized smoke exposure, while saving room for other activities. The hearth stayed in the same place for tens of thousands of years.
Mystery warriors made the fastest migration in ancient history — A warrior people called the Avars were a formidable presence in modern day Hungary for about 200 years and even had a hand in the decline of the Roman Empire. But then they vanished. Genetic evidence now shows that they were migrants from Mongolia who undertook the fastest migration known to date. They made the trip of 7,000 km in less than one generation.
Early Bronze Age Ax Heads Discovered in England — Two 4,000-year-old ax heads were found at a farm in England. It is believed they were used for felling trees. These are some of the oldest examples of metalwork in England.
Children Sacrificed by Incas Found With Cocaine, Ayahuasca in Their Bodies — Toxicology tests of two children sacrificed 500 years ago identified cocaine and two chemicals thought to have come from a vine used as a part of the ayahuasca brew (though the vine can be used by itself as an anti-depressant too). Were these people trying to give the children courage, connect them with the spirit world, or something else? EDIT: The mention of cocaine in the article is incorrect — they chewed coca leaves.
Ancient Chilean tsunami scared local people away for 1000 years — Nearly 4,000 years ago, a huge earthquake shook the coast of Chile, triggering a tsunami. A recent study shows that hunter gatherer tribes of the time moved inland as a direct result of this — and stayed there for 1,000 years before reoccupying the Atacama desert. Humans have long, long memories — perhaps they passed down stories of the event. Or perhaps they stayed at their new home for other reasons

❤️ Recommended Content

This transcript details the finding of human footprints in New Mexico, as well as how they were dated to 23,000 years. Mainstream archaeologists have long fought (bitterly) for the idea that humans came to North America at most 16,000 years ago. This finding, along with many others, is pushing that date back.
The Indus Valley Civilization was highly advanced for its time. This article shares theories as to why their culture started collapsing around 2,000 BCE.
This video with a hilariously click-baity title details how a number of small, non-descript stones found at Avebury Henge were carried by humans from 280 miles away. Interestingly, these specific stones have only been found at one site. Why the people of this time would take pebbles on their journey is a mystery. Perhaps they simply wanted to bring a piece of home with them, but regardless of why, this discovery speaks to interconnectedness and the amount of travel taking place in ancient times.
The monolith of Tlaloc is the largest known monolith in the Americas. This video covers the giant statue in detail. It is 23 feet tall and weighs in at 168 tons. It’s thought to be around 500-600 years old, though that’s really just a guesstimate. Tlaloc was the Aztec god of rain, water, lightning, and agriculture. It now resides in Mexico city and, interestingly, when a crowd of thousands of people gathered for its arrival, there was unseasonable rain for 3 days.

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Until next time, thanks for joining me.

-James

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