I like to look at the visitor statistics for my blog sometimes and see what keywords people used when they find my blog via Google. Most of the keywords used to find my blog make sense. One of the most visited posts I have had recently was my post about Zahi Hawass' TV show. That post comes up high on the listings for search phrases like 'zahi hawass reality show' (as of the time of this posting anyways).
Given the topic and title of that post, I can understand why that post would show up in the Google results for that keyword search, and I don't think it's odd that someone would be doing a search using that phrase.
But a couple of other search phrases that people have been using recently are a little odd and somewhat amusing to me.
For example, sometimes my post about the TV show Pawn Stars gets hits from people using search phrases like 'is richard harrison of pawn stars jewish' (or other similar variations of that). I've seen that search or a variant of it come up numerous times. The word 'Jewish' doesn't even show up my post about Pawn Stars, but that post comes up in Google search results for that phrase because I have 'Jewish history' listed as an interest of mine in the About me section on my page. So because Google sees 'pawn stars' and 'Jewish' on the same page, my post shows up high on the listings for those search terms.
What I don't get is why so many people have been searching for that. I don't know why they even care. But for what it's worth, I don't know if the pawn stars are Jewish or not. I don't know what religion they are or if they even have any religion. Now, if anyone does another search using that phrase, I wonder if this post will come up higher in the listings than my Pawn Stars post.
Another search phrase people have found my blog with recently is 'rough talk him and run him off' (or similar variants). It leads them to my post titled Rough Talk and Big Stick. The post includes a video of a man who claimed to see a Bigfoot in North Carolina and said he "rough talked him and runned him off." I understand why someone would find my post using those search terms, but it's just funny to me that so many people have been searching for that phrase.
And, just for laughs, if you want to read some funny Google Suggest results, click here.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Who Really Discovered America?
Who Really Discovered America? That's the title of a documentary that aired on the History channel. I've written before about people who may have discovered America long before Columbus or even Leif Ericsson in a post titled Discovering America...again and again. The History channel documentary features some more people who may have discovered America.
For example, the show highlighted a map that is supposed to be a copy of a Chinese map from the early 15th century that shows the Americas. It's difficult to prove whether or not the map is a genuine copy of a 15th century Chinese map and many historians are skeptical, but if it really is a copy of an early 15th century Chinese map, the Chinese must have been at least somewhat familiar with the Americas.
The show also featured the story of a Welsh prince named Madoc who allegedly sailed to America and landed in what is now Mobile Bay in Alabama. While the story is generally considered to be a legend, some people feel there is evidence to support it. They point to the remains of stone buildings that may have been Welsh in design, as well as the Mandan indian tribe. Some of the Mandans were said to have blue eyes and light skin. There are no full blooded Mandans today though, so this is difficult to confirm now.
Another claim featured suggests that Japanese people may have discovered America thousands of years ago. The patterns on pottery shards excavated at Valdivia, Ecuador and on Japan's Kyushu island by Smithsonian archaeologist Betty Meggers matched so well, she posited that Japanese people reached Ecuador 6300 years ago. She has also uncovered DNA evidence. Read more about that here.
Another claim suggests that Polynesians discovered the coast of South America at least as far back as 1321 AD and possibly earlier than that. The evidence? Chicken bones dated to be from 1321 - 1407 AD. It's thought that chickens were not native to South America, but the evidence suggests that chickens arrived in South America before the Spanish conquistadors did.
In addition to that, South American sweet potatoes have been found in Polynesia, and the Polynesian word for sweet potato, kumala, is similar to the indigenous Peruvian word for sweet potato, cumal. The Polynesians were a great seafaring people and it is very possible and quite likely that they reached South America before the Spanish. Read more about the evidence of Polynesians in South America here and here.
What may have been the most interesting theory suggested on the program is the Solutrean theory. The Solutreans were a prehistoric people who lived in what is now southwestern Europe. It has been suggested that the Solutreans may have come to North America approximately somewhere between 22,000 to 17,000 years ago. The Clovis people, a name for the earliest known inhabitants of North America, had spearheads that are similar in style to the earlier Solutrean spearheads. It's thought by some that the Solutreans may have discovered North America and that the Clovis people were their descendants. The Solutreans may have been able to reach North America from Europe by boating along the pack ice that extended from the Atlantic coast of France to North America during the last glacial maximum.
It has long been thought by many that the first Americans were prehistoric Asians who probably crossed a land-ice bridge into North America around 13,500 years ago. But if the Solutrean theory is true, it would mean that prehistoric Europeans discovered North America much earlier.
Of course, it's also possible that the Solutrean theory has no merit because the Clovis people may have independently developed a style of toolmaking that just so happened to be similar to that of the Solutreans (I guess there's really only so many ways you can make a spearhead). Read more about the Solutrean theory here and here.
Overall, Who Really Discovered America? was an interesting documentary. If you ever come across a rerun of it, it might be worth a watch.
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I found another interesting link while looking up information for this post. An archaeologist in South Carolina found artifacts there that were dated to being over 50,000 years old. Read about that find here.
For example, the show highlighted a map that is supposed to be a copy of a Chinese map from the early 15th century that shows the Americas. It's difficult to prove whether or not the map is a genuine copy of a 15th century Chinese map and many historians are skeptical, but if it really is a copy of an early 15th century Chinese map, the Chinese must have been at least somewhat familiar with the Americas.
The show also featured the story of a Welsh prince named Madoc who allegedly sailed to America and landed in what is now Mobile Bay in Alabama. While the story is generally considered to be a legend, some people feel there is evidence to support it. They point to the remains of stone buildings that may have been Welsh in design, as well as the Mandan indian tribe. Some of the Mandans were said to have blue eyes and light skin. There are no full blooded Mandans today though, so this is difficult to confirm now.
Another claim featured suggests that Japanese people may have discovered America thousands of years ago. The patterns on pottery shards excavated at Valdivia, Ecuador and on Japan's Kyushu island by Smithsonian archaeologist Betty Meggers matched so well, she posited that Japanese people reached Ecuador 6300 years ago. She has also uncovered DNA evidence. Read more about that here.
Another claim suggests that Polynesians discovered the coast of South America at least as far back as 1321 AD and possibly earlier than that. The evidence? Chicken bones dated to be from 1321 - 1407 AD. It's thought that chickens were not native to South America, but the evidence suggests that chickens arrived in South America before the Spanish conquistadors did.
In addition to that, South American sweet potatoes have been found in Polynesia, and the Polynesian word for sweet potato, kumala, is similar to the indigenous Peruvian word for sweet potato, cumal. The Polynesians were a great seafaring people and it is very possible and quite likely that they reached South America before the Spanish. Read more about the evidence of Polynesians in South America here and here.
What may have been the most interesting theory suggested on the program is the Solutrean theory. The Solutreans were a prehistoric people who lived in what is now southwestern Europe. It has been suggested that the Solutreans may have come to North America approximately somewhere between 22,000 to 17,000 years ago. The Clovis people, a name for the earliest known inhabitants of North America, had spearheads that are similar in style to the earlier Solutrean spearheads. It's thought by some that the Solutreans may have discovered North America and that the Clovis people were their descendants. The Solutreans may have been able to reach North America from Europe by boating along the pack ice that extended from the Atlantic coast of France to North America during the last glacial maximum.
It has long been thought by many that the first Americans were prehistoric Asians who probably crossed a land-ice bridge into North America around 13,500 years ago. But if the Solutrean theory is true, it would mean that prehistoric Europeans discovered North America much earlier.
Of course, it's also possible that the Solutrean theory has no merit because the Clovis people may have independently developed a style of toolmaking that just so happened to be similar to that of the Solutreans (I guess there's really only so many ways you can make a spearhead). Read more about the Solutrean theory here and here.
Overall, Who Really Discovered America? was an interesting documentary. If you ever come across a rerun of it, it might be worth a watch.
----
I found another interesting link while looking up information for this post. An archaeologist in South Carolina found artifacts there that were dated to being over 50,000 years old. Read about that find here.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
The compassion of a Bedouin tribe
I wasn't sure at first if the History channel's new show Chasing Mummies was going to be good or not. After watching a few episodes of it though, I'm hooked. I still think it would be better if they focused more on the history and less on Dr. Hawass' short temper, but overall it's been a decent show.
In last night's episode, Hawass and a few others were own their way to a site and got stopped by the military. They were told they couldn't pass that day. So instead of driving back, Hawass decided they should just drive out in the desert and camp. Allan Morton, one of the archaeologists, wasn't feeling well and Hawass instructed one of the archaeological fellows to return to the jeep and get some food. The food had spoiled though -- apparently meat can spoil in as little as 2 hours in the desert.
To solve the problem of having no food in the middle of the desert, Hawass approached a Bedouin tribe and asked if they could give them some food. The Bedouins agreed to help and proceeded to slay one of their camels for a feast (much to the dismay of Lindsay, one of the archaeological fellows, who had just been petting the camel five minutes earlier). That evening, they all ate, and since Hawass didn't really have anything to offer them in return, he gave them his hat.
From the time they were approached until the time they parted ways, the Bedouins seemed to be honored to help. They could have ignored the plea for help or grudgingly agreed to help and acted like it was a big inconvenience, but they didn't. They appeared to be glad to help and accepted a hat in return for their assistance. I was thinking, what if everyone had that type of attitude? What if everyone had that same level of compassion? I think the world would be a much better place.
In last night's episode, Hawass and a few others were own their way to a site and got stopped by the military. They were told they couldn't pass that day. So instead of driving back, Hawass decided they should just drive out in the desert and camp. Allan Morton, one of the archaeologists, wasn't feeling well and Hawass instructed one of the archaeological fellows to return to the jeep and get some food. The food had spoiled though -- apparently meat can spoil in as little as 2 hours in the desert.
To solve the problem of having no food in the middle of the desert, Hawass approached a Bedouin tribe and asked if they could give them some food. The Bedouins agreed to help and proceeded to slay one of their camels for a feast (much to the dismay of Lindsay, one of the archaeological fellows, who had just been petting the camel five minutes earlier). That evening, they all ate, and since Hawass didn't really have anything to offer them in return, he gave them his hat.
From the time they were approached until the time they parted ways, the Bedouins seemed to be honored to help. They could have ignored the plea for help or grudgingly agreed to help and acted like it was a big inconvenience, but they didn't. They appeared to be glad to help and accepted a hat in return for their assistance. I was thinking, what if everyone had that type of attitude? What if everyone had that same level of compassion? I think the world would be a much better place.
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