The sex is uncertain, but apparently of a boy, enclosed in a polychrome painted body-case of linen, plaster and resin, overlaid with a decorated burial-cloth. The tempera portrait, surrounded by a layer of wrappings, shows the child dressed in a whitish tunic and wearing a red ribbon around the neck. This was probably attached to an amulet, now lost. The face is painted pink, with darker pink and ochre applied as highlights.The rest of the body is covered by a painted shroud, adorned with rows of stucco studs, and with bandages arranged in a geometrical pattern over the feet. On the breast is an image of Nut, whose wings are outspread above falcon-headed and ram-headed sphinxes. At the sides in the four compartments below are scenes of ritual, in each of which a figure in priestly costume officiates before one or more deities. The first pair of gods are obscured by the mummy wrappings, but below is (left) a priest holding a libation jar before the falcon-headed sun god and a figure wearing the double crown, probably Atum. On the right another priest recites from a papyrus scroll before Osiris. In the lower panels incense is burned and libations offered to the enthroned Osiris (left) and Ra-Horakhty (right), who is protected by the winged arms of Isis and Nephthys respectively. These scenes are arranged on each side of a central band which was intended to receive an inscription, but was in fact left blank.
Further physical information:
► Skull: No details are observable owing to the resin and plaster casing.
► Thorax and Abdomen: Owing to the tightness of the wrappings all the ribs have been dislocated at their costo-vertebral articulations, but apparently not fractured. The spinal column shows numerous subluxations. There seems to be packing material in the thoracic and abdominal cavities. The pelvis is dislocated.
► Arms: Extended, but dislocated at the elbows. the hands are almost certainly in contact with the outer aspects of the thighs.
► Legs: No obvious fractures. Scans reveal areas of unusually high density within the bone of both legs. This may be an indication that the child suffered from a bone tumor, but it is also possible that the variable density was caused by molten resin penetrating the bones during mummification.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Mummy of an infant, 40-55 A.D.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Cashtal yn Ard, Isle of Man
Cashtal yn Ard (The Castle of the Heights) is one of the best ancient monuments on the Isle of Man. One of three Neolithic tombs, dating from around 2000 BC. It is the best preserved of them all and one of the largest of its kind in the British Isles. The monument was originally a megalithic chambered Cairn (a conical heap of stones built as a monument or a landmark) holding five chambers and extending over 130 feet long. Such sites were used as communal burial places for Neolithic chieftains and their families. A deed from 1795 names the monument as Cashtal y mucklagh y vagileragh (The castle of the field pigsty). It was excavated in the 1930's and later in 1999.
>>Read more...Monday, March 16, 2009
The battle of Tewkesbury
It put a temporary end to Lancastrian hopes of regaining the throne of England. There would be fourteen years of peace before another political coup in the form of Henry Tudor finally settling the dispute between the two dynasties.
Every year the battle is re-enacted in the second week of July at the Tewkesbury Medieval Festival. The event is now in its 25th year, and is the largest event of its kind in Europe, attracting enthusiasts from all over the world, as you can see in the following photographic report:
Know more about Tewkesbury Battle:
- Monographic article on the Wikipedia about the Tewkesbury Battle
- Monographic article on the Wikipedia about the War of the Two Roses
- Official site of the Tewkesbury Medieval Festival
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Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Casa Batlló
Between 1898 and 1906 three adjacent houses in one block on the fashionable boulevard 'Passeig de Gracia' were built by some of the most important modernist architects: Casa Amatller (designed by Puig i Cadafalch), Casa Lléo Morera (designed by Domènech i Montaner) and Gaudí's Casa Batlló.
All three houses were designed in a different interpretation of the modernist style in what seems like a competition between the architects. This lead to the local term 'Mançana de la Discordia', which means apple of discord, referring to Greek mythology where an apple, given by the goddess Eris 'to the fairest' lead to a dispute between three goddesses, eventually leading to the Trojan War. Conveniently the word mançana also means 'block', so the expression 'Mançana de la Discordia' can also be translated as 'Block of Discord'.
Of the three houses, Wooden door, Gaudi style Casa Batlló is the most expressive. The house was originally built between 1875 and 1877. In 1900 it was bought by the rich industrialist Josep Battló i Casanovas who commissioned Gaudí to tear down the old house and reconstruct a new one. Gaudí however convinced Battló to remodel the existing building. Between 1904 and 1906 Gaudí redesigned the facade and roof, added an extra floor and completely remodeled the interior.
The façade of the Casa Batlló is quite whimsical. It is made of sandstone covered with colorful trencadis (a Catalan type of mosaic). Typical of Gaudí, straight lines are avoided whenever possible. The first floor features irregularly sculpted oval Detail of the roofwindows. Balconies at the lower floors have bone-like pillars, those on the upper floors look like pieces of skulls. These features gave the house the nickname 'House of Bones'. The enlarged windows on the first floor gave it another nickname, 'House of Yawns'.
The colorful scaled roof recalls a reptile skin. According to some authorities on Gaudí architecture, the roof represents a dragon; the small turret with a cross would symbolize the sword of St. George stuck into the dragon. The bones and skulls on the facade represent all the dragon's victims.
Monday, February 23, 2009
History of the Electric Chair
Historically, once the person was attached to the chair, various cycles (differing in voltage and duration) of alternating current would be passed through the condemned's body, in order to fatally damage the internal organs (including the brain). The first jolt of electrical current was designed to cause immediate unconsciousness and brain death; the second one was designed to cause fatal damage to the vital organs. Death was frequently caused by electrical overstimulation of the heart.
The electric chair was first used in 1890. It was used by more than 25 states throughout the 20th century, acquiring nicknames such as Sizzlin' Sally, Old Smokey, Old Sparky, Yellow Mama, and Gruesome Gertie. From 1924 to 1976, the electric chair was used as method of capital punishment in the Philippines. In the late 20th century, the electric chair was removed as a form of execution in many U.S. states, and its use in the 21st century is very infrequent.
Electrocution is currently an optional form of execution in the U.S. states of Alabama, Florida, South Carolina and Virginia, though they allow the prisoner to choose lethal injection as an alternative method. In the states of Kentucky and Tennessee, the electric chair has been retired except for those whose capital crimes were committed prior to legislated dates in 1998 (Kentucky March 31, 1998, Tennessee December 31, 1998) and who choose electrocution. In both states, inmates who do not choose electrocution or inmates who committed their crimes after the designated date are put to death by lethal injection. The electric chair is an alternate form of execution approved for potential use in Illinois and Oklahoma if other forms of execution are found unconstitutional in the state at the time of execution. In Florida, the condemned may choose death by electrocution, but the default is lethal injection.
On February 8, 2008, the Nebraska Supreme Court determined that execution via the electric chair was "cruel and unusual punishment" under the State's constitution. This brought executions of this type to an end in Nebraska, the only remaining state to retain it as its sole method of execution.
Electric-chair is sometimes used in publications by organizations of people with disabilities to mean "electric-powered wheelchair".
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Wednesday, February 18, 2009
From Arpanet to Facebook ... 50 years of Internet history
History of the Internet from PICOL on Vimeo.
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"If your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough." Robert Capa
"Laurent-sur-Mer must have been at one time a drab, cheap resort for vacationing French school teachers. Now, on June 6th, 1944, it was the ugliest beach in the whole world ... I took out my second Contax camera and began to shoot without raising my head."Robert Capa
Under heavy fire, photographer Robert Capa swam ashore along with American soldiers on D-Day in World War II, making images of their successful yet deadly attempt to establish a beachhead in France. While troops around him aimed their guns at enemy forces above the beach, Capa aimed his camera at them, capturing the soldiers' bravery and the battle's intensity. Because Capa was standing in the water with them, the camera angle provides a sense of the chaos of war that soldiers surely felt on that day.
Although Capa shot 72 images that day, all but eleven were ruined when the negatives were placed in an overheated film drying cabinet in a London lab. The images that survived appear grainy and blurry, partly due to this error, and partly due to Capa's nerves. Despite the damage, the effect appears almost intentional--as a visual metaphor for the confusing experience of combat. As with many of his war photographs, this image exemplifies Capa's oft-quoted philosophy, "If your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough."
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