Giant-clawed dinosaur unearthed in Utah
Study author: 9-inch-long claws probably used to dig into termite mounds
By Jennifer Viegas
A multi-institutional team of scientists this week reports the discovery of a giant new dinosaur in Utah, Nothronychus graffami, which stood 13 feet tall and had nine-inch-long hand claws that looked like scythes.
Its skeleton, described in the current issue of Proceedings of the Royal Society B, represents the most complete remains ever excavated of a therizinosaur, meaning "reaper lizard." It is one of only three such dinosaurs ever found in North America.
Lead author Lindsay Zanno told Discovery News that therizinosaurs, including the new Utah species, "are unusual in that they have small heads with a keratinous beak at the front of the mouth — the same material as the beak of modern birds — and small leaf-shaped teeth."
"Their bellies are proportionally enormous, supporting large guts," added Zanno, who is a researcher in the Department of Geology at The Field Museum. "They have greatly enlarged claws on their hands, short legs and tails, and four-toed feet."
Therizinosaurs are theropod predatory dinosaurs, a group that includes the legendary Tyrannosaurus rex. The newly discovered 92.5-million-year-old Utah dinosaur was no lightweight either. As Zanno said, "You wouldn't want to run into this guy in a dark alley." But its teeth, beak, gut and other anatomical characteristics suggest it was an omnivore that mostly feasted on plants.
Co-author David Gillette, curator of paleontology at the Museum of Northern Arizona, told Discovery News the formidable-looking claws on Nothronychus graffami probably weren't used to kill other large animals, but instead might have tackled "digging into termite mounds, mucking on the bottom of a lake or pond like a goose or moose, and raking leaves into its mouth from a mangrove forest like a ground sloth."
To better understand the dietary evolution of theropods, the researchers studied information on 75 other species within this group. They determined therizinosaurs experienced an early evolutionary split from the Maniraptora, which includes modern birds and their closest extinct relatives. One such relative was Velociraptor, a carnivore that probably kicked prey to death with its large hind foot claws.
The new Utah dinosaur therefore suggests that "iconic predators like Velociraptor, one of the dinosaurian villains in the movie 'Jurassic Park' — may have evolved from less fearsome plant-eating ancestors," according to the scientists.
Since the very meat-loving Velociraptor emerged some 20 million years after plant-chomping Nothronychus graffami, it's now thought that some dinosaurs might have first been carnivores that evolved into omnivores or herbivores, which re-evolved back into meat-eaters.
Paleontologists aren't sure why some dinosaur lineages may have see-sawed back and forth with their diets.
"Our current thoughts are that in gaining the ability to eat more than just meat, maniraptorans may have been able to invade new niches in the ecosystem that were unavailable to them before," Zanno said. "In other words, they may have been able to find a new way of living in the ecosystem and new resources to exploit that gave them an advantage and allowed them to diversify into new forms."
Aside from what it reveals about dinosaur diets, the new Utah species is significant because of where it was found: in marine sediments that would have been between 60 and 100 miles away from the closest shoreline. The ancient sea is now part of a desert. Merle Graffam, a member of the excavation team, found the dinosaur while searching for sea-dwelling animals. The dinosaur was named after him.
"A big mystery is how this animal — either alive or as a carcass — could get so far out to sea without being torn apart by predators and scavengers," Gillette said. "This ecosystem had at least five species of plesiosaurs and many sharks and predatory, scavenging fish."
He added, "Maybe (the dinosaur) was stranded at sea and struggled for a few days before drowning and sinking to the bottom."
Paul Heinrich, a research associate at the Louisiana Geological Survey, offers another explanation. He thinks such complete dinosaur skeletons recovered in seaways may have rafted out to open water on "floating islands" after storms.
The recovered Utah dinosaur's remains are now on public display at the Museum of Northern Arizona. The exhibit, Therizinosaur: Mystery of the Sickle-Claw Dinosaur, will close in September before moving to the Arizona Museum of Natural History in Mesa.
© 2009 Discovery Channel
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Quick, to the garage sales!
First $1 million find for ‘Antiques Roadshow’
Woman inherited carved jade from her father, who was stationed in China
NEW YORK - A woman who inherited some Chinese carved jade from her father has scored the first $1 million appraisal from experts on the U.S. television program "Antiques Roadshow," the producers said on Monday.
In a record for the show, four pieces of Chinese carved jade and celadon from the Chien Lung Dynasty (1736-1795), including a large bowl crafted for the Emperor, were given a conservative auction estimate of up to $1.07 million.
"For 13 years, we've been hoping to feature a million-dollar appraisal on 'Antiques Roadshow;' it's been our 'Great White Whale,'" executive producer Marsha Bemko said.
"We're thrilled that, despite this year's slow economy, 'Roadshow' finally captured this elusive trophy," she said in a statement released by Boston-based production company WGBH, which licensed the format from the British show of the same name produced by the BBC.
On both shows, members of the public bring in items to be appraised by professionals in the hope of discovering that junk from the attic is actually a valuable treasure.
A spokeswoman said the appraisal was a record for the U.S. show, which is not affiliated with the BBC original. According to British media, the BBC's version had its first million pound appraisal ($1.655 million) last November — a scale model of Anthony Gormley's artwork, "The Angel of the North."
The statement said the owner of the jade inherited the collection from her father, who bought the objects in the 1930s and 1940s, while stationed in China as a military liaison.
She brought them to an "Antiques Roadshow" event in Raleigh, North Carolina on Saturday.
Asian arts appraiser James Callahan said the fine quality of the pieces indicated they were not made for tourists.
"He was rewarded by finding a mark on the bottom of the jade bowl that translates as 'by Imperial order,'" the statement said.
The previous highest appraisal on the show was a 1937 painting by American Abstract Expressionist artist Clyfford Still, found in Palm Springs, California, in 2008. The painting had been given a retail estimate of $500,000.
The appraisal of the jade items will be shown in the next series of "Antiques Roadshow" starting January 4 on PBS, the producers said.
Woman inherited carved jade from her father, who was stationed in China
NEW YORK - A woman who inherited some Chinese carved jade from her father has scored the first $1 million appraisal from experts on the U.S. television program "Antiques Roadshow," the producers said on Monday.
In a record for the show, four pieces of Chinese carved jade and celadon from the Chien Lung Dynasty (1736-1795), including a large bowl crafted for the Emperor, were given a conservative auction estimate of up to $1.07 million.
"For 13 years, we've been hoping to feature a million-dollar appraisal on 'Antiques Roadshow;' it's been our 'Great White Whale,'" executive producer Marsha Bemko said.
"We're thrilled that, despite this year's slow economy, 'Roadshow' finally captured this elusive trophy," she said in a statement released by Boston-based production company WGBH, which licensed the format from the British show of the same name produced by the BBC.
On both shows, members of the public bring in items to be appraised by professionals in the hope of discovering that junk from the attic is actually a valuable treasure.
A spokeswoman said the appraisal was a record for the U.S. show, which is not affiliated with the BBC original. According to British media, the BBC's version had its first million pound appraisal ($1.655 million) last November — a scale model of Anthony Gormley's artwork, "The Angel of the North."
The statement said the owner of the jade inherited the collection from her father, who bought the objects in the 1930s and 1940s, while stationed in China as a military liaison.
She brought them to an "Antiques Roadshow" event in Raleigh, North Carolina on Saturday.
Asian arts appraiser James Callahan said the fine quality of the pieces indicated they were not made for tourists.
"He was rewarded by finding a mark on the bottom of the jade bowl that translates as 'by Imperial order,'" the statement said.
The previous highest appraisal on the show was a 1937 painting by American Abstract Expressionist artist Clyfford Still, found in Palm Springs, California, in 2008. The painting had been given a retail estimate of $500,000.
The appraisal of the jade items will be shown in the next series of "Antiques Roadshow" starting January 4 on PBS, the producers said.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Terracotta soldiers and Nixon's coming.
Terracotta warriors rise again in new excavation
From the Scotsman.com
CHINA is today preparing to excavate more of the life-sized terracotta warriors at the famed ancient tomb of the country's first emperor.
Archaeologists hope to uncover more of the elaborately carved soldiers to add to the 1,000-plus statues already excavated, the official China Daily newspaper said.Special care will be taken to preserve the figures' painted details, which have faded almost entirely in those already excavated and exposed to air.
Archaeologists hope to find more clay figures of high-ranking officers. Such statues are rare, the majority of the terracotta army figures are archers, infantrymen and charioteers that the emperor hoped would protect him in the afterlife.The new dig is the third undertaken since the tomb was first uncovered in 1974 outside the western city of Xi'an and will focus on a 2,152-square foot patch in the tomb's main pit.
The tomb and its accompanying museum are among China's biggest tourist draws, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. The fierce figures are among the best-known images of China.Reproductions in sizes ranging from miniature to full size are sold in gift shops around the country and an exhibition of 20 figures and dozens of artefacts from the tomb broke ticket sale records when it travelled last year to London, California, Houston, and Washington, DC.Cao Wei, director of the museum, said preserving the figures would be far more challenging than the relatively simple task of excavating them.One archaeologist said the museum has been co-operating with a cultural relic department at a university in Germany for years trying to find a satisfactory technology to preserve the colour of the terracotta, and has "made some headway".
In all, the tomb's three pits are thought to hold 8,000 life-sized figures of archers, infantry soldiers, horse-drawn chariots, officers and acrobats, plus 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses. It is believed they were created to protect the emperor in the afterlife.The statues stand between 6ft and 6ft 5in tall and weigh about 400lb. They are intricately detailed and no two figures are alike – craftsmen are believed to have modelled them after a real army.
The tomb was looted less than five years after Emperor Qin Shihuang's death by a rival army, which set a fire that destroyed the wooden structures housing the warriors, damaging most of them. Since their discovery, the figures have suffered perils ranging from mould due to humidity to decay from exposure and coal dust from local industry.A fourth pit at the tomb was apparently left empty by its builders, while Qin's actual burial chamber at the centre of the complex has yet to be excavated.Qin, who died in 210BC at the age of 50, created China's first unitary state by conquering rival kingdoms.
A figure of fear and awe in Chinese history, he built an extensive system of roads and canals along with an early incarnation of the Great Wall of China, while unifying measurements and establishing a single written language, currency and legal statutes.
From the Scotsman.com
CHINA is today preparing to excavate more of the life-sized terracotta warriors at the famed ancient tomb of the country's first emperor.
Archaeologists hope to uncover more of the elaborately carved soldiers to add to the 1,000-plus statues already excavated, the official China Daily newspaper said.Special care will be taken to preserve the figures' painted details, which have faded almost entirely in those already excavated and exposed to air.
Archaeologists hope to find more clay figures of high-ranking officers. Such statues are rare, the majority of the terracotta army figures are archers, infantrymen and charioteers that the emperor hoped would protect him in the afterlife.The new dig is the third undertaken since the tomb was first uncovered in 1974 outside the western city of Xi'an and will focus on a 2,152-square foot patch in the tomb's main pit.
The tomb and its accompanying museum are among China's biggest tourist draws, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. The fierce figures are among the best-known images of China.Reproductions in sizes ranging from miniature to full size are sold in gift shops around the country and an exhibition of 20 figures and dozens of artefacts from the tomb broke ticket sale records when it travelled last year to London, California, Houston, and Washington, DC.Cao Wei, director of the museum, said preserving the figures would be far more challenging than the relatively simple task of excavating them.One archaeologist said the museum has been co-operating with a cultural relic department at a university in Germany for years trying to find a satisfactory technology to preserve the colour of the terracotta, and has "made some headway".
In all, the tomb's three pits are thought to hold 8,000 life-sized figures of archers, infantry soldiers, horse-drawn chariots, officers and acrobats, plus 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses. It is believed they were created to protect the emperor in the afterlife.The statues stand between 6ft and 6ft 5in tall and weigh about 400lb. They are intricately detailed and no two figures are alike – craftsmen are believed to have modelled them after a real army.
The tomb was looted less than five years after Emperor Qin Shihuang's death by a rival army, which set a fire that destroyed the wooden structures housing the warriors, damaging most of them. Since their discovery, the figures have suffered perils ranging from mould due to humidity to decay from exposure and coal dust from local industry.A fourth pit at the tomb was apparently left empty by its builders, while Qin's actual burial chamber at the centre of the complex has yet to be excavated.Qin, who died in 210BC at the age of 50, created China's first unitary state by conquering rival kingdoms.
A figure of fear and awe in Chinese history, he built an extensive system of roads and canals along with an early incarnation of the Great Wall of China, while unifying measurements and establishing a single written language, currency and legal statutes.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
German engineering
Ivory sculpture in Germany could be world's oldest
BERLIN – A 35,000-year-old ivory carving of a busty woman found in a German cave was unveiled Wednesday by archaeologists who believe it is the oldest known sculpture of the human form. The carving found in six fragments in Germany's Hohle Fels cave depicts a woman with a swollen belly, wide-set thighs and large, protruding breasts.
"It's very sexually charged," said University of Tuebingen archaeologist Nicholas Conard, whose team discovered the figure in September.
Carbon dating suggests it was carved at least 35,000 years ago, according to the researchers' findings, which are being published Thursday in the scientific journal Nature.
"It's the oldest known piece of figurative sculpture in the world," said Jill Cook, a curator of Paleolithic and Mesolithic material at the British Museum in London.
Stones in Israel and Africa almost twice as old are believed to have been collected by ancient humans because they resembled people, but they were not carved independently.
The Hohle Fels cave discovery suggests the humans, who are believed to have come to Europe around 40,000 years ago, had the intelligence to create symbols and think abstractly in a way that matches the modern human, Conard said. "It's 100 percent certain that, by the time we get to 40,000 years ago in Swabia, we're dealing with people just like you and me," Conard told The Associated Press, referring to the southern German region where the sculpture was recovered along with other prehistoric artifacts.
Conard believes the 2.4-inch-tall (6-centimeter) figure may have been hung on the end of a string. The left arm is missing, but Conard said he hopes to find it by sifting through material from the cave.
The Hohle Fels sculpture is curvaceous and has neither feet nor a head, like some of the roughly 150 so-called Venus figurines found in a range from the Pyrenees mountains to southern Russia and dating back about 25,000-29,000 years.
But Cook warned against trying to draw any connections between the Venuses and the Hohle Fels figure, saying that would be like comparing Picasso to a classical sculptor — too much time had passed.
"I wonder whether at this point we're looking at figures which are unique within themselves and unique within the cultures that they're arising in," she said.
Archaeologist Paul Mellars, of the University of Cambridge, suggested a clearer continuum.
"We now have evidence of that sort of artistic tradition of Venus figurines going back 6,000 years earlier than anybody ever guessed," he said.
Neanderthals also lived in Europe around the time the sculpture was carved, and frequented the Hohle Fels cave. But Mellars said layered deposits left by both species over thousands of years prove the sculpture was crafted by humans.
"Nothing within a million miles of this has ever been found in a Neanderthal layer," Mellars said.
The archaeologists agreed the sculpture's age and features invite speculation about its purpose and the preoccupations of the culture that produced it.
Cook suggested it could be symbol of fertility, perhaps even portrayed in the act of giving birth.
Mellars suggested a more basic motivation for the carving: "These people were obsessed with sex."
Conard said the differing opinions reinforced the connection between the ancient artist and modern viewer.
"How we interpret it tells us just as much about ourselves as about people 40,000 years ago," he said
BERLIN – A 35,000-year-old ivory carving of a busty woman found in a German cave was unveiled Wednesday by archaeologists who believe it is the oldest known sculpture of the human form. The carving found in six fragments in Germany's Hohle Fels cave depicts a woman with a swollen belly, wide-set thighs and large, protruding breasts.
"It's very sexually charged," said University of Tuebingen archaeologist Nicholas Conard, whose team discovered the figure in September.
Carbon dating suggests it was carved at least 35,000 years ago, according to the researchers' findings, which are being published Thursday in the scientific journal Nature.
"It's the oldest known piece of figurative sculpture in the world," said Jill Cook, a curator of Paleolithic and Mesolithic material at the British Museum in London.
Stones in Israel and Africa almost twice as old are believed to have been collected by ancient humans because they resembled people, but they were not carved independently.
The Hohle Fels cave discovery suggests the humans, who are believed to have come to Europe around 40,000 years ago, had the intelligence to create symbols and think abstractly in a way that matches the modern human, Conard said. "It's 100 percent certain that, by the time we get to 40,000 years ago in Swabia, we're dealing with people just like you and me," Conard told The Associated Press, referring to the southern German region where the sculpture was recovered along with other prehistoric artifacts.
Conard believes the 2.4-inch-tall (6-centimeter) figure may have been hung on the end of a string. The left arm is missing, but Conard said he hopes to find it by sifting through material from the cave.
The Hohle Fels sculpture is curvaceous and has neither feet nor a head, like some of the roughly 150 so-called Venus figurines found in a range from the Pyrenees mountains to southern Russia and dating back about 25,000-29,000 years.
But Cook warned against trying to draw any connections between the Venuses and the Hohle Fels figure, saying that would be like comparing Picasso to a classical sculptor — too much time had passed.
"I wonder whether at this point we're looking at figures which are unique within themselves and unique within the cultures that they're arising in," she said.
Archaeologist Paul Mellars, of the University of Cambridge, suggested a clearer continuum.
"We now have evidence of that sort of artistic tradition of Venus figurines going back 6,000 years earlier than anybody ever guessed," he said.
Neanderthals also lived in Europe around the time the sculpture was carved, and frequented the Hohle Fels cave. But Mellars said layered deposits left by both species over thousands of years prove the sculpture was crafted by humans.
"Nothing within a million miles of this has ever been found in a Neanderthal layer," Mellars said.
The archaeologists agreed the sculpture's age and features invite speculation about its purpose and the preoccupations of the culture that produced it.
Cook suggested it could be symbol of fertility, perhaps even portrayed in the act of giving birth.
Mellars suggested a more basic motivation for the carving: "These people were obsessed with sex."
Conard said the differing opinions reinforced the connection between the ancient artist and modern viewer.
"How we interpret it tells us just as much about ourselves as about people 40,000 years ago," he said
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Boy this Egypt place sure seems old
3,000-year-old temples discovered in Egypt
One temple could rewrite the historical and military significance of city
CAIRO - Archaeologists exploring an old military road in the Sinai have unearthed four new temples amidst the 3,000-year-old remains of an ancient fortified city that could have been used to impress foreign delegations visiting Egypt, antiquities authorities announced Tuesday.
Among the discoveries was the largest mud brick temple found in the Sinai with an area of 77 by 87 yards and fortified with mud walls 10 feetthick, said Zahi Hawass, chief of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities.
The find was made in Qantara, 2 1/2 miles east of the Suez Canal. These temples mark the latest discovery by archaeologists digging up the remains of the city on the military road known as "Way of Horus." Horus is a falcon-headed god, who represented the greatest cosmic powers for ancient Egyptians.
The path once connected Egypt to Palestine and is close to present-day Rafah, which borders the Palestinian territory of Gaza.
Archaeologist Mohammed Abdel-Maqsoud, chief of the excavation team, said the large brick temple could potentially rewrite the historical and military significance of the Sinai for the ancient Egyptians.
The temple contains four hallways, three stone purification bowls and colorful inscriptions commemorating Ramses I and II. The grandeur and sheer size of the temple could have been used to impress armies and visiting foreign delegations as they arrived in Egypt, authorities said.
The dig has been part of a joint project with the Culture Ministry that started in 1986 to find fortresses along the military road. Hawass said early studies suggested the fortified city had been Egypt's military headquarters from the New Kingdom (1569-1081 B.C.) until the Ptolemaic era, a period lasting about 1500 years.
In a previous find, archaeologists there reported finding the first ever New Kingdom temple to be found in northern Sinai. Studies indicated the temple was built on top of an 18th Dynasty fort (1569-1315 B.C.).
Last year, a collection of reliefs belonging to King Ramses II and King Seti I (1314-1304 B.C.) were also unearthed along with rows of warehouses used by the ancient Egyptian army during the New Kingdom era to store wheat and weapons.
Abdel-Maqsoud said the fortified city corresponded to the inscriptions of the Way of Horus found on the walls of the Karnak Temple in Luxor which illustrated the features of 11 military fortresses that protected Egypt's eastern borders. Only five of them have been discovered to date.
One temple could rewrite the historical and military significance of city
CAIRO - Archaeologists exploring an old military road in the Sinai have unearthed four new temples amidst the 3,000-year-old remains of an ancient fortified city that could have been used to impress foreign delegations visiting Egypt, antiquities authorities announced Tuesday.
Among the discoveries was the largest mud brick temple found in the Sinai with an area of 77 by 87 yards and fortified with mud walls 10 feetthick, said Zahi Hawass, chief of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities.
The find was made in Qantara, 2 1/2 miles east of the Suez Canal. These temples mark the latest discovery by archaeologists digging up the remains of the city on the military road known as "Way of Horus." Horus is a falcon-headed god, who represented the greatest cosmic powers for ancient Egyptians.
The path once connected Egypt to Palestine and is close to present-day Rafah, which borders the Palestinian territory of Gaza.
Archaeologist Mohammed Abdel-Maqsoud, chief of the excavation team, said the large brick temple could potentially rewrite the historical and military significance of the Sinai for the ancient Egyptians.
The temple contains four hallways, three stone purification bowls and colorful inscriptions commemorating Ramses I and II. The grandeur and sheer size of the temple could have been used to impress armies and visiting foreign delegations as they arrived in Egypt, authorities said.
The dig has been part of a joint project with the Culture Ministry that started in 1986 to find fortresses along the military road. Hawass said early studies suggested the fortified city had been Egypt's military headquarters from the New Kingdom (1569-1081 B.C.) until the Ptolemaic era, a period lasting about 1500 years.
In a previous find, archaeologists there reported finding the first ever New Kingdom temple to be found in northern Sinai. Studies indicated the temple was built on top of an 18th Dynasty fort (1569-1315 B.C.).
Last year, a collection of reliefs belonging to King Ramses II and King Seti I (1314-1304 B.C.) were also unearthed along with rows of warehouses used by the ancient Egyptian army during the New Kingdom era to store wheat and weapons.
Abdel-Maqsoud said the fortified city corresponded to the inscriptions of the Way of Horus found on the walls of the Karnak Temple in Luxor which illustrated the features of 11 military fortresses that protected Egypt's eastern borders. Only five of them have been discovered to date.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Yet again, more mummies
Mummies found in ancient Egypt burial chamber
CAIRO (AFP) – Archaeologists working in an Egyptian oasis have found a necropolis containing dozens of brightly painted mummies dating back as far as 4,000 years, the country's antiquities chief said on Sunday.
"The mission found dozens of mummies in 53 rock-hewn tombs dating to the Middle Kingdom" from 2061-1786 BC, Zahi Hawass told AFP. "Four of the mummies date back to the 22nd Dynasty (931 to 725 BC) and are considered some of the most beautiful mummies found," he said.
The linen-wrapped mummies are painted in the still-bright traditional ancient Egyptian colours of turquoise, terracotta and gold. The necropolis was uncovered near the Ilahun pyramid in Fayoum oasis south of Cairo.
Abdel-Rahman el-Ayedi, who headed the mission, said that a Middle Kingdom funerary chapel with an offering table was also found, and that it was probably used up to the Roman era which lasted from 30 BC to 337 AD. The team also found 15 painted masks, along with amulets and clay pots, Hawass said.
CAIRO (AFP) – Archaeologists working in an Egyptian oasis have found a necropolis containing dozens of brightly painted mummies dating back as far as 4,000 years, the country's antiquities chief said on Sunday.
"The mission found dozens of mummies in 53 rock-hewn tombs dating to the Middle Kingdom" from 2061-1786 BC, Zahi Hawass told AFP. "Four of the mummies date back to the 22nd Dynasty (931 to 725 BC) and are considered some of the most beautiful mummies found," he said.
The linen-wrapped mummies are painted in the still-bright traditional ancient Egyptian colours of turquoise, terracotta and gold. The necropolis was uncovered near the Ilahun pyramid in Fayoum oasis south of Cairo.
Abdel-Rahman el-Ayedi, who headed the mission, said that a Middle Kingdom funerary chapel with an offering table was also found, and that it was probably used up to the Roman era which lasted from 30 BC to 337 AD. The team also found 15 painted masks, along with amulets and clay pots, Hawass said.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
