India / Pakistan
This report just makes me pretty annoyed!
Written by an American reporter, supposedly to teach Americans about the British involvement in the near civil war that started in India during partition, it practically blames the Indians themselves for what happened.
The truth is the British hastily drew up maps to partition India, not only to create Pakistan but also Bangladesh, and these maps were not accepted by the Muslims and Hindus, hence why there are ongoing deaths in places like Kashmir.
The British were responsible for the murder of “millions” of Indians (the exact number is not known – the British state reduced numbers, the Indians state increased numbers), and their occupation was at times extremely brutal. The idea of swapping spices and tea for cricket and railways is nothing more than glossing over the genocide – and it WAS genocide – that the British were responsible for in India.
That’s why this kind of nonsense report makes me so livid. I have nothing more to say. I better go and do something else!

http://www.npr.org/2015/06/09/413121135/indias-1947-partition-and-the-deadly-legacy-that-persists-to-this-day?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20160814

Bulgaria
A tiny gold ‘bead’, just 4mm in diameter, may be the world’s oldest gold artefact and may predate the current oldest gold artefact – found in 1972 and also in Bulgaria – by 200 years.
The site in southern Bulgaria, near the town of Pazardzhik, dates to between 4600 and 4500 BC – 6,600 years ago. It is also considered the first “urban” settlement in Europe, and was supposedly populated by people who migrated from Anatolia around 8,000 years ago (6000 BC).
That date means the settlement is older than Sumer, still considered by some to be the oldest “urban” settlement in the world, but by now that should be deleted from the history books.
This beautiful little bead may only change history by 200 years, but as we see time and time again, dates for sites, migrations, settlements, and many other important discoveries, are being pushed back further and further. The idea that just a few thousand years ago men were chasing hogs with spears while women cooked at home with one eye on the children needs to be removed entirely from our consciousness. It’s not only horrendously wrong, it’s immensely insulting.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-bulgaria-archaeology-gold-idUSKCN10L0YQ

Greece
It’s been long debated whether the ancient Greeks practiced human sacrifice or not. The later Romans certainly did, and so did many others, including the ancient Israelites and Mesoamerican cultures in central and south America.
No proof, however, has ever come forward about the ancient Greeks and sacrificial rituals involving humans. Sure, animal sacrifice was a given, and despite many writers stating it occurred, including Plato, there has never been any evidence of human sacrifice.
Now there could be a smoking gun.
On the slopes of Mount Lykaoin in the Peloponnese, south-west Greece – the birthplace of the earliest Greek cultures, like the Mycenaeans – a body of a teenage boy has been found, exactly where the ancient writers said the sacrifices took place. Animals were sacrificed on the mountain to appease the prominent Greek god Zeus, and the writers also said that human sacrifice took place there.
Despite the cautious – and rightly so – scepticism by many, the fact a body of a teenager has been found exactly near a sacrificial altar could finally be the proof of human sacrifice. Hopefully tests will prove one way or the other.
Personally, I would not be surprised to find human sacrifice among the ancient Greeks, especially since their gods could be considered the most “powerful” of all ancient deities. It’s also rather strange that so many unconnected cultures on different continents practised human sacrifice. It does beg the question of whether or not all of these cultures had a common origin, or at least had contact with one another. I do not doubt either of those propositions, and I think in this case it is likely that the Romans were influenced by Greek culture in more ways than we might imagine.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/aug/10/skeletal-remains-confirm-ancient-greeks-engaged-in-human-sacrifice

Serbia
Several graves unearthed in eastern Serbia have been found to contain metal scrolls that were inscribed with magic spells.
The spells, carved into gold and silver and wrapped in lead, could be used to invoke either good spirits or even demons.
Some people may find that a little primitive but I am well aware, due to personal experience, that we should not be messing around with magic, good or evil.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-serbia-archaeology-magic-idUKKCN10K13L

Georgia
Archaeologists have been stunned by laboratory results which have proven some writing, thought to be the oldest in Georgia, is actually the third oldest writing ever found in the world.
The writing dates to the 11th or 10th centuries BC, making it 3,000 years old.
The site of Grakliani Hill, where the writing is located, sits on a hill near a main road, close to the town of Kaspi, and was discovered in 2007. Human activity in the area goes back to 300,000 years ago.
Unfortunately no one has any idea what the writing says or what form it is using, but it is still a remarkable discovery and, excuse the pun, rewrites the history of writing.

http://agenda.ge/news/62578/eng

Americas
Here we go again. I have to repeat myself a lot, mainly for those who perhaps don’t actually read my posts, that I am of the opinion the Americas were populated many thousands of years before the typical model of the peopling of the Americas, and that the south was populated long before the north.
Once again new evidence comes to light, this time destroying once and for all the migration theory across the Bering Land Bridge. This theory has been the accepted theory for many decades but I have never believed a word of it – that the Americas were first entered from Siberia, across the Bering Land Bridge during the ice age, and then all of these populations slowly moved south and populated the Americas.
This theory has never held much water as far as I am concerned, and just the idea of people slowly moving south and populating the entire continent from the north is just absurd in the extreme, and even a five-year-old can see that (no offence). It’s more than obvious – in fact it is ludicrous to think otherwise – that different parts of the Americas were populated at different places and at different times. The migration of humans into the Americas was clearly along the coasts of both north and south America, and from east and west, from all over the world.
Even the 2 to 3,000-year-old Paracas skulls – those weird elongated skulls – have recently been proven to have European and Middle-Eastern DNA, repeatedly tested and beyond doubt.
I am excited that the ridiculous theory of the Americas is now being fully destroyed, with new evidence almost arriving on a weekly basis.
It does make you wonder what other “accepted” theories are wrong, doesn’t it. I am certain there are many. One of those is the birthplace of civilisation…

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/humans-colonized-americas-along-coast-not-through-ice-180960103/?utm_source=facebook.com&no-ist

It was one of those moments…
Just now I was walking in Lancaster town centre and was walking past a charity book shop.
I rarely go into charity shops these days, but as I passed the door and reached the end of the shop I stopped dead in my tracks for some reason.
I looked back and to my left and was peering inside the shop window from the street. 
That intuitive feeling was undeniable – I just had to go inside.
I could see the history section from the doorway and went straight towards it. As I reached the shelves there was one book, front cover facing towards me, on a plastic stand, and as I looked at the cover I thought to myself, “Why would they put this book facing outwards? It’s very specialised. Who on earth would ever buy this book when you’ve got the classic books on Ann Boleyn, the collapse of the Roman Empire, and all the other things that people buy, sitting there with their spines facing outwards?”
Of course, the book was placed there just for me and me only, and that magnetic pull that forced me inside the shop was the book calling out to me…
I have written the travelogues for these places but was stuck for much historical data at the time, and found them a struggle to write: 
https://www.stephenmaybury.co.uk/travelogue/10-xanthos/
and
https://www.stephenmaybury.co.uk/travelogue/11-letoon/
Xanthos and Letoon were a part of the Lycian culture, and my fascination with the cult of Leto, and especially Artemis, was fuelled by these sites when I visited them in 2014.
The moral of the story is – never ignore that intuitive guide that resides inside you. Always let it override thought, for it is your true essence. That intuition is your soul, the real you. Not the stupid voice in your head. ALWAYS follow your intuition and NEVER listen to the voice in your head!

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Israel / Egypt
Does part of a carved statue found in Tel Hazor in Israel – the only significant Egyptian writing found from the second millennium BC in the Levant – finally disprove the Biblical exodus, and thus the Israelites claim to the land of Israel?
In the Biblical exodus, 600,000 men (plus women and children, so technically around 2 million people) were forced to leave the land of Egypt, led by Moses, and headed for the Holy Land. But scholars have always insisted that there is no evidence of such an exodus, and with that amount of people there would be.
So what exactly took place, and why were the Egyptians given such a bad name?
Part of a stone statue may hold the answer to the Israelites hatred for the Egyptians – it now appears the Egyptians had control of the area. The Israelites talk of their oppression and slavery by the Egyptians, namely that they went to Egypt during a famine but were then treated as slaves until Moses was born, who later took the decision to lead them out of Egypt and to the Promised Land. But since there is no evidence of such a mass exodus, it now appears that maybe the story was embellished and exaggerated greatly because the area of the Levant in question was under the control of the Egyptian empire, and the Israelites were not exactly pleased with the ‘oppression’.
It may seem like a rather loose assumption based on a single piece of one statue with very little writing, but it is more evidence than has ever been provided to prove the exodus during the time period that it supposedly occurred. And, without doubt, many Biblical stories have been exaggerated beyond recognition.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/07/31/does-this-rock-explain-why-egyptians-are-biblical-villains.html?source=TDB&via=FB_Page

Greece
Back to the Antikythera mechanism…
I was lucky enough to see the Antikythera mechanism last October during my archaeology tour of Greece, and I have to say it’s much smaller than one might imagine. The pieces look immensely complex and designing and engineering the entire piece can only have been the work of a genius.
Imaging techniques have apparently produced evidence of a “user guide” written inside the box. This article, however, only suggests there was an inventory of the pieces within, and what they mean. So not exactly a “user guide” but still fascinating nonetheless.
I am not sure of any other artefact from that time period that has such a written statement as this.

http://www.livescience.com/55168-antikythera-mechanism-had-user-manual.html?utm_content=bufferee8ac&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Peru
The world’s oldest indigo fabric has been found at the Huaca Prieta site, just north of Trujillo in northern Peru, and dates to 6,200 years ago (4200 BC).
In Egypt similar colours only date back 4,400 years (2400 BC) , and the oldest know use is in the Middle East around 5,000 years ago.
This finding is quite a revelation since indigo is not a simple dye to make, and requires the mixing of many plant substances, fermenting, and even adding urine to produce white indigo, which then requires yarn to produce the final blue colour. In ancient Rome, only two thousand years ago, the colour purple was so rare and so expensive it was only available to the elite – only the emperor himself wore purple robes which distinguished him as such. Purple was made by crushing up shells, but four thousand years earlier the ancient Peruvians were using ‘colour technology’ that was far more advanced than anything the Romans were doing.
The fascinating point about this finding is summed up perfectly in the text, and I am pleased that such a fair assessment has been made by the team involved:
“The people of the Americas were making scientific and technological contributions as early and in this case even earlier than people were in other parts of the world,” Splitstoser told Live Science. “We always leave them out. I think this finding just shows that that’s a mistake.”
We do have a rather “Eurocentric” view on history and historical findings. Still we continue to be told repeatedly that civilisation started in Mesopotamia. It did not. End of story. India was without doubt the birthplace of civilisation and in places like South America and China there were many technological advances that were way ahead of the rest of the world.
Thank you to Michael White for sending me this link:

http://www.livescience.com/56099-oldest-indigo-dyed-fabric-discovered-peru.html

China
Flood “myths” are rife all over the world and in every culture.
Most scholars once thought that the myths were exactly that – myths – but it’s always been obvious to many, including myself, that these old stories, passed down from generation to generation for thousands of years, were talking of real events.
One of those events, of course, was the great ice age melt, and what caused that rapid melting is open to debate. What is now a fact is that a great cataclysm occurred around 9600 BC – the date that Plato puts on the ending of Atlantis (a smoking gun?) – and possibly this was caused by a comet or asteroid that struck north America.
In China the stories of how the great dynasties began – the first emperors – start with yet another flood. Again thought to be myth, archaeologists have now found evidence of a great flood…
These floods occurred all over the world, and it’s about time we realised that the entire world was affected by such traumatic upheavals that it has shaped our world today. 
The question is – when will be the next one?
Most eastern philosophies talk of things happening in cycles, and many of these myths mention that these cataclysms also happen in cycles. 
It’s about time we woke up and started to understand that one day we, or more to the point our descendants, will be suffering a similar fate.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2016/08/04/legends-say-china-began-in-a-great-flood-scientists-just-found-evidence-that-the-flood-was-real/

Germany
Scientists have always been puzzled as to how our Paleolithic ancestors made rope…
Now the answer has been revealed – in southern Germany a 40,000-year-old rope-making tool has been discovered in Hohle Fels cave.
A very handy ice-age tool indeed…

http://www.sci-news.com/archaeology/rope-making-tool-germany-04047.html

Peru
Staying in Peru, an amazing discovery of a chamber at Machu Picchu has brought much interest about what it contains, but it seems the Peruvian authorities are blocking any excavation work.
Thierry Jamin, who has found the entrance, has used electronic equipment to determine that there is a chamber behind the rock-covered entrance, and much speculation now ensues about what may lie within. Jamin suggests it may contain the burial of the Inca king Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui, and thus a treasure of gold, but that may turn out to be a dream rather than a reality.
Either way, the discovery is rather exciting.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jimdobson/2016/07/26/will-a-hidden-treasure-chamber-discovered-under-machu-picchu-finally-be-revealed/#387c7a6838b0

Peru
Yet another place I have visited – Paracas on the west coast of Peru – is home to the enigmatic Paracas culture that is famous for its elongated skulls.
I have seen many of these skulls in various museums around Peru and they are bizarre, but also they are not only found in South America – they are found all over the world…
So it’s not surprising that new DNA evidence has shown these skulls have European and Middle Eastern DNA.
As you know by now I have been shouting at the top of my voice about the way the Americas were first populated. I am convinced of a much earlier migration than the 15,000-or-so years given to the first migration, and also that the continent was settled by other populations long before the Europeans arrived in the 16th Century. We now know that the first “recent” contact was by Vikings around a thousand years ago, as at least two settlements have been found in North America. But it is very apparent to me that other people sailed to the New World many times and settled there a long time ago. I have stated that the Americas were most likely populated in the south first, and this new DNA evidence shows that to be true – not that the south was populated first in this case – but that the south was populated by other cultures besides the classic model that places Mongolian or Manchurian populations in the north who then slowly moved south. I do not buy that idea for one minute. I do not believe that native Americans moved south over long periods of time. I am certain that South America was populated by transport across the oceans, perhaps from Polynesia, but most likely from the eastern side of the planet – Europe, Africa, and even India.
Brien Foerster has been pioneering the work on the Paracas skulls and has been living there for many years. His work is worth looking at for those interested.

http://www.peruthisweek.com/news-paracas-elongated-skulls-changing-history-110054

Egypt
A restoration project, started in 2012 in Luxor’s west bank, has been completed and reveals some of the most stunning tombs ever found. But the tombs did not belong to kings – they belonged to servants.
Royal servants were highly regarded by the pharaohs of Egypt, and one of these tombs belonged to a servant of queen Hatshepsut (the other three to servants of Ramses II). Since several paintings show queen Hatshepsut as a woman, this categorically puts to bed any doubt about her identity. Although it may seem obvious to some, those who know the archaeological history behind Egyptology would know there has been much debate as to whether queen Hatshepsut was actually a man, since many Egyptologists were previously convinced that no woman ever ruled Egypt. That may seem a little sexist today, but since Hatshepsut was the second confirmed female ruler of Egypt (1478 – 1458 BC) and her identity was never certain, it was once thought she may have been her stepson Thutmose III but used a different name.  Further confusion ensued when she donned the dress of a man and changed her name to the male version, so it’s not surprising earlier Egyptologists were not convinced of her identity. It turned out later that Hatshepsut and Thutmose III co-ruled and that Thutmose III was just a young boy at the time, meaning that Hatshepsut was the sole ruler of Egypt. Since the revelation was revealed that Hatshepsut was a woman – and it was a revelation at the time – Egyptologists then took a closer look and found that there were other female rulers, some even long before Hatshepsut. It is now uncertain how many of the ancient rulers were female due to the ambiguity of their names, but there were many. The first known female ruler actually dates back to 5,000 years ago – Merneith (2970 BC).
Anyway, the tombs… it’s worth reading the article here, but generally I only occasionally use Daily Mail posts because they produce god quality pictures. The Daily Mail is not know for any accuracy and there are several mistakes in this article, but it’s okay for a brief overview.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3589153/It-paid-royal-servant-Ancient-Egypt-Stunning-tombs-pharaohs-butlers-opened-following-restoration-elaborate-paintings.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&utm_content=buffer4bea1&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin.com&utm_campaign=buffer

I am happy to announce the first draft of my second book – the follow up to ‘The Evolution’ and entitled ‘The Guru’ – has been completed after two years.
I have, however, only taken around six months to carry out the task as last year I had many personal upheavals along with doing courses and digs with the University of Oxford, not to mention writing the Travelogues for Turkey which took over a year to complete and  which can be found on my website here: 

https://www.stephenmaybury.co.uk/location/turkey/

I am now reading through the first draft and I have to say I am mortified thus far – the first third of the book was written more than two years ago when I was living in India and, since the story has evolved so much and has only just been completed after being left alone for nearly eighteen months, has no real relevance to the latter two thirds!
There will be some serious work to do and some major adjusting and editing, but I am very pleased with the general story.
It’s been a long time since I wrote a personal message. The last seventeen months of my life have been dreadful – a family death, job changes, location changes, and other serious personal upheavals have left me in a state of shock and bewilderment. I am still recovering and starting a new life on many levels, and this will be ongoing for some time.
For now, though, I shall continue editing and I hope to have a completed draft and a published book by next year, 2017.
Now back to the archaeology posts!

https://www.stephenmaybury.co.uk/books/the-guru/