This “Rethinking History” item offers a brief but deeply fascinating study of evidence for a pre-1400s indigenous society in the Azores. Be warned: you may be enticed into other installments featuring the “real” history of cacao, discovery of the equator, and why ancient art is “colorfully misunderstood.” The Brighter Side of News’ Mike Lockley thinks we’ll enjoy the notion that The Holy Grail and Ark of Covenant May be Hidden beneath an English Manor House. Lockley relates the scraps of lore, geographical and geologic considerations, and historical background to this contention. Another indication of the ferment in contemporary archaeology: the Tarim Mummies from China May be Ancestors of Native Americans. Recent genetic studies have reversed belief that Indo-European migrations were responsible for these remarkable remains. Reporter Patricia Claus observes “As so often happens with hard science, the news upends all of what was previously almost taken for granted about the subject.” And another migratory hypothesis may have been batted down as Cats Trash Theory That They Followed First Farmers to Europe. Ruth Schuster tells how palaeogenetics, zooarchaeology, and radiocarbon dating have teamed up to prove “African-type wildcats” were already in Poland around 1500 years before farming got there. (WM)
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