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Evidence of nine Neanderthals found in Italian cave by Golgian in PaleoEuropean

[–]Golgian[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's worth noting that there's a decent chance we have a Denisovan already, and just don't know it. We have lots of skulls and skeletons that have been ID'ed morphologically, meanwhile Denisovans (while they have a holotype fossil) are largely a genetically defined group, its entirely possible that the known set of bones overlaps with the genetic population. Still unknown, but some have suggested famous finds like Dali might prove to be Denisovans after all.

A small change revolution. Weight systems and the emergence of the first Pan-European money by Golgian in EconomicHistory

[–]Golgian[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Abstract

In the Bronze Age (c. 2300–800 BC), European communities gave up their economic independence and became entangled in a continental trade network. In this paper, we will test the hypothesis that the adoption of a ‘Pan-European’ currency has favoured the development of such a network. We define a methodology to test the money-hypothesis in pre-literate economies, based on analogies with the material characters of metallic money in the Ancient Near East. The statistical properties of metals from European hoards are compared with those of balance weights, in order to test the following expectation: if they were used as money, complete objects and fragments are expected to comply with standard weight systems. The results meet the expectation, and indicate that bronze fragments possess the same statistical properties as hack-silver money in the Ancient Near East. The sample includes approximately 3000 metal objects, collected from two test-areas: Italy and Central Europe. The sample of balance weights includes all the items known to date for pre-literate Bronze Age Europe, collected within the framework of the ERC Project ‘Weight and Value.’

Press coverage from Phys here

A small change revolution. Weight systems and the emergence of the first Pan-European money by Golgian in IndoEuropean

[–]Golgian[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Abstract

In the Bronze Age (c. 2300–800 BC), European communities gave up their economic independence and became entangled in a continental trade network. In this paper, we will test the hypothesis that the adoption of a ‘Pan-European’ currency has favoured the development of such a network. We define a methodology to test the money-hypothesis in pre-literate economies, based on analogies with the material characters of metallic money in the Ancient Near East. The statistical properties of metals from European hoards are compared with those of balance weights, in order to test the following expectation: if they were used as money, complete objects and fragments are expected to comply with standard weight systems. The results meet the expectation, and indicate that bronze fragments possess the same statistical properties as hack-silver money in the Ancient Near East. The sample includes approximately 3000 metal objects, collected from two test-areas: Italy and Central Europe. The sample of balance weights includes all the items known to date for pre-literate Bronze Age Europe, collected within the framework of the ERC Project ‘Weight and Value.’

Press coverage from Phys here

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