People Wore Shoes Earlier than Thought

National Geographic states a recent study of ancient human remains in China indicate that at least some humans were wearing shoes 40,000 years ago, around 10,000 years earlier than previously believed.

"Now the dainty-toed fossil from China suggests that at least some humans were sporting protective footwear 10,000 years further back, during a time when both modern humans and Neandertals occupied portions of Europe and Asia."

Shoe wearing humans leave anatomical traces in the bones of the feet and toes, particularly the middle toe bones, which appear more slender than barefoot humans due to decreased forces applied on the bones when walking in footwear. The oldest footwear yet discovered only dates to around 10,000 years ago, however.

Marketing and Brands

Interesting article at Livescience regarding trademarks and brand marketing. The first modern registered trademark was for British brewery Bass Ale, which trademarked their red triangle brand logo in 1777.

"Brand names, we assume, are a consequence of the Industrial Revolution. As goods started to roll off the factory line in large numbers, manufactures had to find a way to reassure customers that their cookie-cutter products were just as good, if not better, than hand-crafted items.

And so we got the "science" of marketing. Stamp those goods with a simple symbol — the British Bass Ale red triangle was the first registered trademark in 1777 — and then flash that symbol all over town until it's imprinted on everyone's brain. The idea is that familiarity breeds trust, and that people quickly associate a familiar trademark with value."

However, branding goes back much further in time, to almost the beginnnings of civilization. The jars sent throughout the world of classical Mediterranean civilization were often sealed with a bit of wax or other substance marked with a notweworthy design - a brand, which denoted the producers, the grade or contents. Containers so sealed extend back to 70000 BC in Mesopotamia.

Pretty interesting stuff.

Stonehenge Started as Cemetary

National Geographic reports on new discoveries at Stonehenge, the megalithic rock formation from British prehistory, that appear to indicate it was not only a astronomical calendar but a cemetary for at least some of the elites of the Stone Age culture of ancient Britain.

"New analysis of ancient human remains show that people were buried at the southern England site from about 3000 B.C. until after the first large stones were raised around 2500 B.C. "This is really exciting, because it shows that Stonehenge, from its beginning to its zenith, is being used as a place to physically put the remains of the dead," said Mike Parker Pearson of England's University of Sheffield. "It's something that we just didn't appreciate until now."

Ndew radiocarbon datings from remains found in the 1950s has expanded the burial dates 500 years further back into time, even before the raising of the stone blocks at the site at around 2500 BC. A circular ditch and raised earthen platform were the intial human developments at the site. The latest burial dates to around the same period of the stone raising. It is estimated there may be as many as 240 burials at the site.

How Charlemagne Changed the World

Latest on world changing events from Livescience focuses on the reign of the Frankish King and Holy Roman Emperor Charles the Great, or Charlemagne. Ruling much of Western Europe, Charlemagne encouraged education, the arts, trade and reinforced the position of the Catholic Church as a unifying force for what had been the Western Roman Empire up to its downfall in 450 AD. Charlemagne ruled modern France, northern Spain and Italy, Belgium and Western Germany, along with many other territories, including Corsica and Sardinia in the Western Mediterranean Sea.

"One of the most important changes Charlemagne made was abandoning the gold standard and putting all of Europe on the same silver currency. Trade became easier and the continent prospered, aided by laws that took some power away from the nobles and let the peasantry participate in commerce. The lower classes benefited in other ways under Charlemagne, who was frustrated with the nobility's sense of entitlement and had deep sympathy for the peasants, according to historians.

Among other legislation, all local regional governors were subject to regular inspections by royal emissaries to make sure no injustices were being done. Educational reform was also high on Charlemagne's agenda. The progressive leader loved to learn, historians say, and so encouraged schooling throughout his kingdom in his chosen lingua franca, Latin. All of a sudden, not only were the once-fractured regions of Europe connected by peaceful trade networks and common laws, but people could communicate with each other too."

Charlemagne was born in the 740s AD, believed to be near Liege in modern Belgium. He ascended to the throne of the Frankish kingdom in 768. His father Pippin had established the new Carolingian dynasty after displacing the weak Merovingian figurehead King Childeric III. Most of Charlemagne's early reign was spent subduing neighboring areas such as Italy, Spain, Saxony and Bavaria, establishing his rule over the majority of Western Europe. He was named Roman Emperor in 800 AD, and also fought campaigns against the Slavs and Avars in Eastern Europe, as welll as the Danes.

Good Wiki article of the life and times of Charlemagne found here.

How Gunpowder Changed the World

The lkatest installment from Livescience examines the way gunpowder changed the world. Chinese alchemists discovered the mix of potassium nitrate, charcoal and sulfur ironically enough while attempting to find an elixer that would extend the human lifespan. Instead they discovered the most devastating weapon in human history.

"Gunpowder was quickly put to use by the reigning Sung dynasty against the Mongols, whose constant invasions into the country plagued the Chinese throughout the period. The Mongols were the first to be subject to flying fire — an arrow fixed with a tube of gunpowder that ignited and would propel itself across enemy lines. More gunpowder-based weapons were invented by the Chinese and perfected against the Mongols in the next centuries, including the first cannons and grenades. The psychological effect alone of the mystifying new technology likely helped the Chinese win battles against the Mongols, historians believe."

Gunpowder was exclusive to the Chinese until around the 13th century, when its secret was passed along the Silk Road into the Islamic world. The Ottoman Turks utilized gunpowder in cannons to lay seige to the capital of the Byzantine empire, Constantinople, and eventually destroy its walls and conquer the city in 1453. By the middle of the 15th century, individual firearms began to created, with further developments such as rifled barrels, cartridged ammunition, and machine guns coming as late as the 19th century.

Ancient Cambodian City

via Livescience, a new satellite study of the ancient Cambodian site of Angkor Wat determines that not only was it once a city rather than just the site of a religious temple complex, but that it might have been one of the world's largest cities in terms of area, covering nearly 400 square miles. The site also had a sophisticated system of irrigation ponds running throughout the area and that the system might have contributed to the city's downfall.

"Angkor was surrounded by a vast expanse of rice fields that would have required extensive forest clearance. Over time, the intense farming could have led to serious ecological problems, including those associated with deforestation, overpopulation, topsoil degradation and erosion."

Angkor Wat was the capital city of the Khmer Empire from the 9th to the 16th centuries located in modern Cambodia. The city might have held several hundred thousand citizens at its height.