New archaeological site discovered at the coast of Brazil

BRAZIL, Sao Paulo's state. At "Ilhabela", (Beautiful Island) - an archipelago and city situated 4 miles off the coast of São Paulo state in Brazil, the coodinator of the Projeto de Gestão e Diagnóstico do Patrimônio Arqueológico de Ilhabela (Project Management and Diagnosis of the Archaeological Heritage of Ilhabela - GEDAI), maintained by the Instituto Histórico, Geográfico e Arqueológico da the Secretaria Municipal de Cultura (History, Geography and Archaeology Institute of the Municipal Culture), the archaeologist Mrs. Cintia Bendazzoli discovered an impotant mortuary archaeological site. The excavation was done on an emergency basis because of the imminent destruction of the material.

The place that was named "Toca da Caveira" (something like Hole of Skull or "Skull Burrow") had human skeletal remains, and funerary accompaniments like clay pot and stone tool, revealing a complex Indigenous funerary ritual. At the same time another two more sites were identified how belonging to the pré-colonizations epoch, but these - still have not been subjected to more detailed research

According Mrs. Bendazolli, the laboratory work performed with the findings revealed that the discover is a collective tomb. There were found remains of at least five different individuals, four adults and a child, this should be about five years of age in the occasion of its death.

None of the skeletons was complete, and according to the research, the absence of many bone units can be resulted of previous interference or violation that can have occurred on the site or - even - something tipical of the funerary ritual practiced by natives.

What caught the attention of the archaeologist was that the collective burial does not appear to be related to the known occupation of the sambaquis indigenous (builders middens or "shell-mountains" builders) - what occurred in Ilhabela occurred around 2000 years ago.

Early research showed that the ritual took place at Skull Burrow was prepared by a potter of the indigenous tribe named Macro-Ge - in more recent times, but before contact with the colonizer.

The presence of ceramic Ge as part of funerary objects placed next to the skeletons, as well the evidences in the bones and teeth indicates that these people was - mainly potters and not fishers and collectors like were the sambaquis. The next step of the investigation will be to conduct carbon-14 dating, which can help elucidate the issues raised by the laboratory studies.

If after the studies if conclude that the founds are, in fact, of a more recent population of potters, this site may be considered a great find, not only for the city, but for the coast of São Paulo as a whole, since it did not exist, until then, evidences that the Macro-Ge indigenous nation, one time, occupied this area of the coast, and were able to practice techniques of navigation and that they arrived to such distances from the coast of São Paulo, says archaeologist.

Anyway, this new archaeological discovery comes to show that the island of Ilhabela was far from a land uninhabited before the conquest of the Portugueses. The large number of archaeological sites recorded by the GEDAI Project and the numerous studies that have following these findings point to an intense settlement of this region and the increasing need to protect this heritage.

SOURCE: Ilhabela: Arqueólogos encontram novo sítio na Ilha dos Búzios com inédita presença indígena
Agora Vale, published in 29/02/2012
[http://www.agoravale.com.br/agoravale/noticias.asp?id=35629&cod=1]

AMAZONAS 🌳🌳🌳 In danger of disappear: The rock engravings of the Madeira River

BRAZIL. At brazilian amazonian, when the level of waters the Madeira River low - in the dry season, is possible to see ancient drawings engraved in stone. The forms reveal geometric shapes or animals. These pictures may have been made for thousands of years by people who lived in the Amazon and of who little is known about their habits and lifestyle.

Photos: Michelle M. Tizuka/Santo Antonio Energia

There are five areas with extensive rock formations where these rock carvings appear. In the rainy season. near the city of Porto Velho (capital of Rondonia' state) the river hide the images. 

 Now, scholars of history, archaelogists and anthropologists are faced a serious problem: with the project of a dam on the river, the hydroelectric power plant of Santo Antonio, this important trace of human presence will be permanently submerged.

Thinking in this problem, the Santo Antonio Energy, responsible for the build of the plant, hired two companies specializing in archeology to preserve the memory these drawings. 

The companies are using 3D technology to scan the prints. The equipment that can record drawings with high precision and quality. In total, more than 2000 images were collected.

After make the digital record, the researchers will reconstruct the rock extensions on virtual models, so that the stones. By this way, the images will be studied in laboratory and associated with occupations of the archaeological sites located on the river region. 

With work, scientists will have conditions understand how these people lived and determine the age of the drawings. Some of them date back over 7000 years, according scholars.

The archaeological rescue is one of the constraints imposed by IBAMA (Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente - Brazilian Institute of Enviroment) for the build of the energy plant and to the begin of the operations. Meanwhile, the works for the preservation the archaeological patrimony is in course.

However, the project has received many critics. Santo Antonio, as well as the Jirau energy plant - also located on the Madeira River, are facing the charge that these kind of iniciative is one more factor that increase the deforestation of the Amazon. 

The government is also criticized for the lack of policies of population control,a problem that will results of the instalation of the new plants that, certainly, will generate serious social questions in the city of Porto Velho. Because, as we know, governments are always late. Let's meditate.

SOURCES

CALIXTO, Bruno. 

Pesquisadores registram gravuras rupestres do Rio Madeira.

Época, published in 29/02/2011
http://colunas.revistaepoca.globo.com/planeta/2012/02/29/pesquisadores-registram-gravuras-rupestres-do-rio-madeira/

The remains of a spanish ship: The most ancient shipwreck of Brazil

The stone plate found on the ship refers to the period in which Spain and Portugal formed one kingdom.
IMAGE: O Dia
[http://odia.ig.com.br/portal/brasil/naufr%C3%A1gio-de-navio-espanhol-em-santa-catarina-%C3%A9-o-mais-antigo-do-brasil-1.413711]

BRAZIL. Archaeologists and divers who discovered - in the coast of the state of Santa Catarina - fragments that were identified like part of a Spanish ship. The remains that are of a shipwreck occurred in 1583 are the oldest ever heard in Brazil. The first object was found - only recently, in 2005 when finally was possible to rescue some pieces to the surface.

After a new historical research, was proved that the ship is Spanish and was sunk in the 16th century, according sources of Efe press agency and the NGO Projeto Barra Sul and the University of Southern Santa Catarina (Universidade do Sul de Santa Catarina - Unisul), responsible for the discovery.

The research revealed that parts of the ship obtained by the operation belonged to a fleet that sailed from Spain in 1581 with the aim to build two forts on the Straits of Magellan (Magalhaes strait) - natural passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans - to contain the spread of pirates British territories that threatened the possession of America. Historical documents allowed to determine the epoch of the accident on January 7, 1583.

Researchers said that even in April will be possible to remove all material deposited in a shoal - wich has of three meters in length and find the rest of the nave. Divers of the Projeto Barra Sul (Bar South Project), that work the coast of Santa Catarina - they discovered - so far, three another shipwrecks and all of them ocurred in the 16th century.

The first part rescued from of the ship is a stone plate that depicts the design of two lions and two castles and a portuguese symbol in the middle of the composition. This shield refers to the kingdoms of Castilla y Leon (Leão & Castela). It is a reference to the period of Iberian Union, when the kingdoms of Spain and Portugal were united between 1580 and 1640. For the archaeologists, the stone should have to be made to be placed at the entrance of a fortress.

Researchers also rescued a triangular plate, dated 1582, named after the then king of Spain, Felipe II. According to experts, the object would be an official symbol that the navigators and explorers did put in the new lands as a mark of the propriety in the territories. This served to say for possible invaders what european nation had been the first to arrive at the region and - for this, owner kingdom of the place according the laws.

In March, in new underwater expeditions, divers will attempt to retrieve a cannon, ceramics, stones ballast and bullets of different calibers. In the 16th century, the coast of Santa Catarina had not yet been colonized by Portugal and, really, was a different route from the Spanish expeditions conducted in 1525 by Rodrigo de Acuña, who left 17 of her crew on the island of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis (today, the capital of the state) a village that was founded later at the place.

The director of the project, Gabriel Correa said: This place was strategic but was also a critical, dangerous point. Here was located last port for the arrive to European navigators bound for Rio de la Plata and Strait of Magellan. However, was need much care to navigate on this waters because the seabed is rough, treacherous and full of banks shifting sands.

SOURCE: Naufrágio de navio espanhol em SC é o mais antigo do Brasil
Terra, published in 29/02/2012

[http://noticias.terra.com.br/ciencia/noticias/0,,OI5639092-EI8147,00 Naufragio+de+navio+espanhol+em+SC+e+o+mais+antigo+do+Brasil.html]

The case of the communion wafers consecrated with LSD

CAMPOBASSO-BOJANO, Italy. Sunday, 19 of 2012. In Campobasso, capital of the province of the same name (Campobasso province), in the Spirito Santo church - a bizarre incident caused a massive disruption during a mass in the moments following the procedure of holy communion, when the priest delivery the consecrated host (the communion wafer) to the believers (the faithfuls). According to the news there was something wrong with the small-bread of the Eucharist.

The effect was immediate. The church Spirito was taken by the chaos: someone claimed to have visions of saints, others took the crucifix. Two elderly women chased the priest and - having reached him, they grabbed his clothes screaming: You're the devil.

Later it was found that it was a case of "ergotism" which is a food poisoning caused by milled cereals contaminated ergot sclerotia, that is the basic principle of the LSD. Probably, the flour used to produce the communion wafers have been infected with this substance may cause hallucinations in less than one minute.

The priest, Dom Achille, who had been forced to take refuge in the sacristy, nothing more had to do: he called the police to evict the crazed persons from the church. The expulsion occurred with great difficulty to the officers.

However, the Archdiocese of Campobasso-Bojano through the Diocesan Office for Social Communications and the diocesan press office denies the occurrence and claims that the news is a hoax, invented. According to the Archdiocese the false report is a attempt to attack the credibility of the Catholic Church and condemned those responsible for the original publication of the case, the newspaper Abruzzo24ore (http://www.abruzzo24ore.tv/)

The representatives of the diocese declared - yet - that there isn't a church of the Santo Spirito em Campobaso-Bojano or a priest named Don Aquille. However, the Abruzzo newspaper continue to claim the veracity of the story.

NOTE: This editor does not know where the truth is however, a detailed search on Google did not find a single image of the Church of the Holy Spirit to which refers to the news although there are several churches in the province. This fact is enough strange and gives to the version of the Archdiocese of Campobasso-Bojan a strong chance of being true and the news of the ABRUZZO24ORE, appears to be false. After all, where were the mobile phones - always present in this post-modernity to record the episode? Furthermore, none of the articles was illustrated with a single image of such church. Millennial Wisdom: If something do not appears in Google, does not exist. Let's meditate

SOURCES
Campbasso:Ostie Allucinogene, Fedeli sotto LSD.
CADO IN PIETI, published in 23/02/2012
[http://www.cadoinpiedi.it/2012/02/23/campobasso_ostie_allucinogene_fedeli_sotto_lsd.html]
Ostie allucinogene: interviene anche l'Arcidiocesi di Campobasso-Bojano
ABRUZZO24ORE, published in 24/02/2012
[http://www.abruzzo24ore.tv/news/Ostie-allucinoggene-interviene-anche-l-Arcidiocesi-di-Campobasso-Bojano/72577.htm]

The Mystery of Isla Bermeja

An 1846 map showing "Isla Bermeja". [Wikipedia]

The Red Island (La Isla Bermeja or something like the Reddish island) was not much more than a rocky cliff located one hundred kilometers north of penísula de Yucatan, the Gulf of Mexico. 

Sailors and cartographers of the called Epoch of Great Navigations had the knowledge of its location. The Google Earth maps came to register their existence but, currently, exploratory expeditions have searched in vain by the mysterious island. The Isla Bermeja became a ghost Island.

GULF OF MEXICO. It was there. It always had been there!Was marked in the old maps of sixteenth century, in the years of 1500. Until recently appeared on Google Earth. But, now - disappeared. That piece of land surrounded by sea that belonged to Mexico, nowadays, is a U.S. property. And nobody knows what happened to La Isla Bermeja.

Polemic Treaty

The disappearance of Isla Bermeja began to attract attention at the end of last century, when Mexican President Ernesto Zedilo was negotiating with the President Bill Clinton a treaty on the delimitation of the continental shelf. 

Mexico was in diplomatic convesações, in the UN, to ensure control of the domain of La Hoya de la Dona(La Dona Bay) and the reference point of the Mexicans was the Isla Bermeja. But in 1997, it turned out, simply that there was no island in the place marked on maps.

Perplexed, the Mexican government appointed a military mission to locate the island. A Navy ship, the Onjuku - sailed to the latitude indicated on the mapsto confirm the existence of the island. But arriving on the scene, nothing was found and the sonars did not detect any sign of the rock formation.

On November 28, 2000, Zedilo and Clinton signed the agreement and the entire area now belongs to Americans. The estimatives are that that there is a reserve of about 22 billion barrels of oil that Mexico lost in the transaction.

Conspiracy

But the matter was not closed. Many began to talk of conspiracy. It was inexplicable the disappearance of the piece of land so often mentioned by sailors. 

The first historical mention dates back to 1570 and was still cited in official publications still in 1946. Some Mexican senators demanded an official investigation.

The most common suspected is that the CIA would have blasted the island with the connivance of Mexican negotiators. A technical and scientific inquiry concluded that there was no possibility of a natural phenomenon, like a sinking - a submersion.

The scientist Jaime Urruta, of the Geophysical Institute of the Autonomous University of Mexico suggested that a hydrogen bomb could have disintegrated the island. 

Still, he said, the hypothesis was unlikely. Other experts suggested that small islands may disappear by the action of erosion produced by sea waves.

In 2009, the universitary vessel Justo Sierra repeated the journey of the Onjuku. The conclusions were the same and detailed: in the place there is no trace of existence - in the past, of an island.

Although information and mapping of a great rock cliff in the middle of the sea was a thing of vital importance to the navigators of the time, now - the scientific conclusion is that nothing exist there, the sea in the region is described as a plain, eliminating the possibility of a submersion or even of a natural erosion. 

Thus, we determined that the Reddish Island never existed and the belief in its reality was just a mapping error perpetuated over the centuries

SOURCE: 

OLMO, Guilhermo D. El misterio de la Isla Bermeja: ¿nunca existió o la hundió la CIA?

ABC/Espanha, published in 22/02/2012

[http://www.abc.es/20120222/internacional/abci-misterio-isla-bermeja-201202211249.html]

The oldest engraving on rock of the Americas is discovered in Brazil

Photo: Neves WA, Araujo AGM, Bernardo DV, Kipnis R, Feathers JK

BRAZIL. Researchers at the University of Sao Paulo found a drawing of an anthropomorphic figure dating from 9000 to 12,000 years, and would therefore, according to scientists, this prehistoric figure is the oldest ever discovered in the Americas.

The study authors, led by researcher Walter Neves, said the discovery suggests that - at that time, the presence and development of man in South America was very different - not only restricted to people who made stone tools for subsistence, not only the neolithic tribes but also persons able to formulate symbolic thoughts.

The figure, which measures about fifteen inches wide by twenty long, was found in Lapa do Santo in the region of Lagoa Santa, state of Minas Gerais, southeast region of Brazil.

* Researchers identified the drawing like an anthropomorphic creature but - this does not mean that is a man. The traces resemble a somewhat animalistic creature, something like a reptile, for example.

SOURCE: Desenho rupestre mais antigo das Américas é descoberto no Brasil.
Ultimo segundo/IG, published in 22/02/2012
[http://ultimosegundo.ig.com.br/ciencia/desenho-rupestre-mais-antigo-das-americas-e-descoberto-no-brasil/n1597648406315.html]