Thursday 10 December 2009

Mass cannibalism in Germany and the mystery of the Herxheim settlement

Mass cannibalism in Germany and the mystery of the Herxheim settlement
Herxheim is a small town in south-western Germany. Archaeologists have discovered the remains of 500 Stone Age corpses, the bones of which bear the same marks as slaughtered livestock. They believe that the dead of Herxheim may have been prepared as meals. Read the article in the Spiegel Online.

Scotland’s oldest book on display tomorrow
The Celtic Psalter, believed to be Scotland's oldest book, will go on public display for the first time, tomorrow, in a new exhibition entitled ‘Masterpieces 1’ at Edinburgh University’s main library. The book dates from the 11th century and contains hand-written psalms in Latin, with Celtic and Pictish illustrations. The exhibition will run until March 14th. The Edinburgh Evening News reports.

Timeline of the history of climate change
The New York Times features an interactive timeline of the history of climate change providing useful background information to the Copenhagen climate change summit.

New light on Battle of Bannockburn
According to the latest research by Robert Ferguson, an American lawyer, a band of Templar knights who arrived in Scotland from overseas may have helped Robert the Bruce to defeat Edward II’s army at the Battle of Bannockburn. Ferguson’s claims are made in his latest book The Knights Templar and Scotland, due to be published in the New Year by The History Press. Read the article in Scotland on Sunday.

Saving Europe’s largest Jewish graveyard
The Spiegel Online reports on the launch of a project to restore Europe’s largest Jewish cemetery in north-eastern Berlin’s Weissensee neighbourhood. The cemetery also applied for UNESCO status, last month, in order to secure the additional financial backing required for the total completion of the project. The size of the cemetery, which extends over 42 hectares (103 acres) and contains 115,000 tombstones, is testimony to the role that Jews once played in German society. Prior to the Second World War it is estimated that there was a community of around 600,000 Jews in Germany; after the Holocaust, the number was reduced to 14,000.

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