Yes and they should have fixed it all the way in my opinion, but that would have been bad for tourism.
The granite was looted thousands of years ago, so the pyramid is long overdue for some maintenance.
I know archaeologists debate this, since many say that the pyramids have been known as ruins since antiquity, but it’s kind of weird to say “well it’s been that way forever and people like it, so let’s leave it”.
We have a very good understanding of how they were originally, and they would still be amazing if fixed. Just doing one of the smaller pyramids is a great way to dip our toes into restoration.
Like if you had an old rusty classic car in your front yard, and you and your neighbors thought it was cool looking to have it there. But if it were restored, people could really see its beauty, and it would last longer. Both are valid things to do; I just happen to think that the restored car is better.
The actual “doc” is a pseudo archeologist bullshitting, so it’s not the same.
My dirty pleasure was watching Ancient Aliens for some time. I always paused the show when they started to speak about a new topic, read the actual facts on wikipedia, than laughed through the episode. In this kind of shows they mix facts with legends and theorems and straight up bullshit, and don’t tell you what is what. So no, it’s absolutely not the same.
Funnel beaker culture then? The dolman points to that as well as the date, I think.
I don’t know though. I just like prehistory.
EDIT: No mention of grave goods, though the article mentions that the dolman is not typical of the passage graves found around 200 years later.
I find this region fascinating because it lies on the outskirts of the Neolithic farmer expansion (and other explanations from the East), so the arising culture seems to be more of a conversation between new cultures and preexisting cultures.
The megalithic neolithic Atlantic culture that seems to stretch from Portugal to Scandinavia is fascinating too.
Thats what happens to a city taken back by nature and lying undisturbed for 500+ years… there is a reason why the only preserved Roman ruin cities are in the Sahara or next to the Mount Vesuvius
The issue is the fragility of religious nation-states vs their ancient artefacts. If (say) the UK is happy to protect ancient artefacts against insane religious zealots of X country against destruction of XYZ, the I’m 100% behind the UK.
The holes at the bottom were probably tacked into a strip of leather and secured, and I’d imagine there’s some sort of stud or hook on the backside of the buckle.
They say devouring a frog, I say biting a dude’s nuts off.
For real though, what a neat buckle. Since they think it was related to an unknown pagan cult, I wonder what the purpose of wearing the symbol on the belt was? For others to see you were part of the cult (assuming it was worn visibly)?
Could it not just be a war trophy? The frog representing some “barbaric hoard” that the great dragon king put down? What is it that makes it pagan besides the lack of a cross?
No God damn way is it an intentional body mod. If it were, the pinky would not be the digit chosen.
Grip strength.
If you lose your pinky, you lose almost half your fucking grip strength. And as something like grip strength is pretty fucking important for a hunter-gatherer society, I’d be shocked if they were just lobbing off pinkies for the hell of it.
All the images in the article are showing that the hand with missing fingers is the left hand. Most people are right handed, so missing a left finger for most people wouldn’t hurt the grip strength of a one handed weapon/tool much in the main (right) hand. You could attach something like a shield strapped to your left arm and wouldn’t notice the issue for hunter gathering then. (Shields aren’t just for defense against claws, they can also be a bashing tool.)
Now, I doubt they were cutting off a pinky finger because they were bored on a Saturday night, but there could have been religious/group beliefs involved. Body modification has been around for a very long time, from as simple of scarification, to tattoos and piercings, to removal of body parts (circumcision), so it isn’t out of the realm of possibilities.
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