Latest news with #B.C.E.
Euronews
06-08-2025
- Science
- Euronews
Infrared imaging reveals hidden tattoos on 2300-year-old mummy
A woman buried more than 2000 years ago in the icy Altai Mountains of Siberia has become the unlikely subject of one of the most exciting archaeological tattoo studies in recent years. Preserved in permafrost and long thought to be faded or invisible body art, her intricate tattoos have been brought to light using high-resolution near-infrared imaging - revealing a remarkable canvas of animals, mythical beasts, and ancient artistry. 'We knew that these mummies had tattoos,' explains Dr. Gino Caspari, an archaeologist at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology and the University of Bern. 'But some had skin so darkened and shriveled that the ink was no longer visible to the naked eye." 'So we've done is essentially record wavelengths outside what humans can see - and that reveals these tattoos quite beautifully." The mummy, belonging to the nomadic Pazyryk culture, was unearthed decades ago in the Altai Mountains, a region spanning southern Siberia, eastern Kazakhstan, and northwestern China. These early Iron Age people were primarily herders (from 6th to 2nd centuries B.C.E.), travelling through the highlands with sheep and horses during summer - and burying their dead in the same frozen earth that would preserve their bodies for millennia. What tattoos were found on the mummy? Thanks to the advanced imaging techniques and a collaboration with a tattooist, the team uncovered vivid tattoos across the woman's body, including hunting scenes of tigers and leopards attacking deer and reindeer-like creatures. One tattoo features a mythical griffin bringing down a herbivore. Perhaps most surprisingly her thumbs are decorated with small rooster-like designs. 'These are fantastic images,' Caspari tells Euronews Culture. 'They're extremely vivid, and they represent a unique art style that doesn't really exist anywhere else.' While the true meaning of these images is lost, as there are no written records from the Pazyryk, the team focused on understanding the techniques behind their creation. 'Some scholars had hypothesised that the tattoos were made through stitching, like in the Arctic, where a thread carries pigment through the skin,' explains Caspari. 'But we were able to show these were actually puncture tattoos - made with needles, much like today's hand-poking techniques, just without electricity.' Their analysis revealed evidence of tattoos made over multiple sessions and even showed the pauses where an ancient tattooist had stopped to fetch more pigment. For Caspari, these details humanise the process: 'It brings you really, really close to the person creating the images. You can see where the line slightly shifts when they pick up again.' The research also challenges earlier assumptions that only elite members of the Pazyryk society were tattooed. 'All of the preserved ice mummies we've found so far are tattooed,' explains Caspari. 'This seems to have been a widespread practice. And these aren't simple designs - they're sophisticated and clearly required a lot of training.' Caspari hopes to build a publicly accessible inventory of tattoos on all known Pazyryk mummies. 'It's not enough to just publish black and white images. These tattoos are amazing, but we need high-resolution reconstructions to really understand how they were made,' he says. 'Given the huge public interest, I think people should be able to see and engage with them.' Check out the video above for more images and extracts of our interview with Dr. Gino Caspari.
Euronews
06-08-2025
- Science
- Euronews
Infrared imaging reveals hidden tattoos on 2000-year-old mummy
A woman buried more than 2000 years ago in the icy Altai Mountains of Siberia has become the unlikely subject of one of the most exciting archaeological tattoo studies in recent years. Preserved in permafrost and long thought to be faded or invisible body art, her intricate tattoos have been brought to light using high-resolution near-infrared imaging - revealing a remarkable canvas of animals, mythical beasts, and ancient artistry. 'We knew that these mummies had tattoos,' explains Dr. Gino Caspari, an archaeologist at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology and the University of Bern. 'But some had skin so darkened and shriveled that the ink was no longer visible to the naked eye." 'So we've done is essentially record wavelengths outside what humans can see - and that reveals these tattoos quite beautifully." The mummy, belonging to the nomadic Pazyryk culture, was unearthed decades ago in the Altai Mountains, a region spanning southern Siberia, eastern Kazakhstan, and northwestern China. These early Iron Age people were primarily herders (from 6th to 2nd centuries B.C.E.), travelling through the highlands with sheep and horses during summer - and burying their dead in the same frozen earth that would preserve their bodies for millennia. What tattoos were found on the mummy? Thanks to the advanced imaging techniques and a collaboration with a tattooist, the team uncovered vivid tattoos across the woman's body, includig hunting scenes of tigers and leopards attacking deer and reindeer-like creatures. One tattoo features a mythical griffin bringing down a herbivore. Perhaps most surprisingly her thumbs are decorated with small rooster-like designs. 'These are fantastic images,' Caspari tells Euronews Culture. 'They're extremely vivid, and they represent a unique art style that doesn't really exist anywhere else.' While the true meaning of these images is lost, as there are no written records from the Pazyryk, the team focused on understanding the techniques behind their creation. 'Some scholars had hypothesised that the tattoos were made through stitching, like in the Arctic, where a thread carries pigment through the skin,' explains Caspari. 'But we were able to show these were actually puncture tattoos - made with needles, much like today's hand-poking techniques, just without electricity.' Their analysis revealed evidence of tattoos made over multiple sessions and even showed the pauses where an ancient tattooist had stopped to fetch more pigment. For Caspari, these details humanise the process: 'It brings you really, really close to the person creating the images. You can see where the line slightly shifts when they pick up again.' The research also challenges earlier assumptions that only elite members of the Pazyryk society were tattooed. 'All of the preserved ice mummies we've found so far are tattooed,' explains Caspari. 'This seems to have been a widespread practice. And these aren't simple designs - they're sophisticated and clearly required a lot of training.' Caspari hopes to build a publicly accessible inventory of tattoos on all known Pazyryk mummies. 'It's not enough to just publish black and white images. These tattoos are amazing, but we need high-resolution reconstructions to really understand how they were made,' he says. 'Given the huge public interest, I think people should be able to see and engage with them.' Check out the video above for more images and extracts of our interview with Dr. Gino Caspari.
Scientific American
29-07-2025
- Science
- Scientific American
Archaeologists Stumble upon Tomb of Ancient Maya City's First Ruler
In C.E. 331, Te K'ab Chaak ascended to the throne as the first ruler of the ancient Maya city of Caracol in what is today Belize. Archaeologists have learned about him through writings from years after his death as they have excavated the city over the past 30 years. But it wasn't until this year that they found his tomb—completely by chance. The Maya civilization began around 2000 B.C.E. and endured for more than 3,000 years. It included multiple city-states, such as Chichen Itza in modern-day Mexico and Tikal in modern-day Guatemala. Caracol began as a collection of small settlements that coalesced around 650 B.C.E, and it later became one of the largest cities in Maya history. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. In February married archaeologists Diane and Arlen Chase, both at the University of Houston, were digging in a site they had excavated many times before. As they broke through the bottom of one tomb, they discovered another chamber underneath. 'If we continued one of our [excavations] 40 centimeters, we would have [found] it in a previous season,' Diane Chase says. After forming a small hole in the chamber wall, the team was able to peek inside and quickly confirm this was the tomb of someone special. 'We knew there was a body in there. We could see vessels; we could see red cinnabar [a red mineral powder]. It was pretty amazing, but it was covered with dirt, so we could see just the tops of this stuff poking out,' Arlen Chase says. Once they gained entry into the tomb, the researchers found pottery vessels, intricately carved bone tubes, jade jewelry and—rarest of all—a mosaic death mask. In 40 years of work, the team has only found one other death mask—at a different Maya site. Death masks 'are not that common,' Diane Chase says. 'There are not that many in the Maya world, so that told us [that the person buried in the tomb was] a ruler.' Although the tomb was distinctively Maya, previous findings from the site suggest that Te K'ab Chaak supported diplomatic relations between Maya people and those in Teotihuacan, an independent, non-Maya city in what is now Mexico that was later occupied by the Aztecs. Despite the 1,200 kilometers separating the two cities, burials the team had previously uncovered at the same site showed a cremation style that is distinctively Teotihuacan, not Maya, which placed the start of Teotihuacan interactions in the Maya region around C.E. 350, earlier than was previously estimated. And although previous theories posited that the people of Teotihuacan had invaded Maya cities, the artifacts from Caracol suggest the situation was far more nuanced, with both cultures being aware of and influenced by each other's practices. 'This is quite a significant discovery, considering that after 40 years of research, this is the first time a jadeite death mask has been recovered in the context of a royal tomb,' says Melissa Badillo, director of the Institute of Archaeology in Belize. Badillo was not involved in the discovery, but the Institute of Archaeology provided the research permit for the site. 'We anticipate that with continued research and analyses, we will learn a lot more about Te K'ab Chaak and his role in the development of Caracol.' The research team is still analyzing the contents of the burial chamber, reconstructing the jade death mask, and conducting DNA and isotope analyses on the skeletal remains. The researchers plan to present their findings in August at a meeting at the Santa Fe Institute.
Scientific American
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Scientific American
Science Makes the U.S. a Great Nation
One of history's dark jokes is that the Roman Empire, for all its vaunted accomplishments, only made a single great 'contribution' to science: the killing of Archimedes. Today the U.S. risks suffering the same kind of shame. In 212 B.C.E. the Romans sacked the city of Syracuse after a prolonged siege , and a Roman soldier killed Archimedes, then the greatest living mathematician, physicist and engineer—and one of the greatest minds of all time. Exact accounts vary, but according to one, Archimedes was engrossed in sketching a problem in sand when his murderer arrived, sword drawn. Covering his work, the mathematician said, 'I beg of you, do not disturb this.' In response, the soldier struck down the 72-year-old man. American science now faces another sharpened edge. The Trump administration stands with its own sword drawn. It's choking our universities. It's stamping out the free flow of ideas. It's cutting funding to basic science. It's ready to make the killing blow, all in the name of making America great again. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. Despite declines since the COVID pandemic, science remains one of the most trusted and most well regarded institutions in the U.S. And while modern science has many flaws, it is one of those few things we can point to as a society and say that this, this, is what already makes us great. Our technological and scientific prowess is the envy of the world, unmatched across the globe and indeed throughout human history. No other country, no other culture, no other civilization has matched what the U.S. has poured into fundamental research in the years since World War II. After the stunning success of the Manhattan Project, political leaders in the U.S. learned what the rulers of ancient Syracuse already knew: wise nations invest in their most brilliant minds. Last year the U.S. government funded about $90 billion of nondefense research. And for the relatively paltry sum of close to a hundred billion dollars—essentially a rounding error in total federal outlays—repeated year after year for decades, we have miracles made manifest: cures and treatments, consisting of a few milliliters of molecules, to balm the worst of our diseases; machines that breathe fire to take us to the stars; devices, held in our hands, that connect us to friends, family and strangers a world away. Chances are that all those marvels, great and small, can trace their roots to publicly supported research. It's easy enough to point to the monetary benefits of scientific research—and the immediate harms that will be done if the administration's proposed cuts go through. One dollar of National Institutes of Health research funding produces $2.56 in economic activity. Cutting annual research funding in half would save the American taxpayer $260 this year—and cost them $10,000 in future wealth. Federal funding of nondefense research has accounted for about 20 percent of our nation's business productivity growth since World War II. In addition, although the majority of trainees in science do not end up following a career as a researcher, they go on to add value to a wide variety of organizations, including businesses and government agencies. Science takes our best and brightest and throws them into the crucible, pitting them against the toughest problems known to humanity, and then sets them loose to solve the everyday challenges of our modern economy. But the true greatness of our achievements is in the intangibles—not in what we construct but in what we perceive. We have built telescopes to peer back through deep cosmic time and see the dim, faded light of the first galaxies to emerge in the heavens. We have developed electronic machines to mimic our own intelligent speech and, in doing so, allow us to wrestle with the nature of our own humanity. We have set ourselves to a great mission of conquest—not of a people or a rival nation but of the scourge of cancer. We have had the courage to look into our history, our own communities, our own social connections and ask uncomfortable questions and reveal painful truths. Is this not what great nations do? They don't just build bridges and roads and monuments of stone and steel. They erect edifices of the intellect. They place their stamp on history. They create gifts to be enjoyed by generations yet to come. They become beacons that future civilizations emulate. Americans have long held themselves to be different than people in other nations. French historian Alexis de Tocqueville, the great observer of early American life, wrote in his book Democracy in America that 'the position of the Americans is therefor quite exceptional, and it may be believed that no democratic people will ever be placed in a similar one.' Our modern institution of science is one our country's truly exceptional achievements. This is why fundamental science is worthy of public funding. No private enterprise would ever dare sacrifice profits to study the arcane corners of the universe. No single patron, no matter how wealthy, can provide the funding necessary to slake our thirst for answers. Only nations—great nations—can afford to take a slim measure of the public's treasury and devote it to science. Science is part of what makes us noble. It demonstrates our abilities to the world and to history. It is a projection of our strength. Look at us, we say to the world, so wealthy and wise that we set our sights farther, our minds deeper. It's here, in this nation, that we will produce works that will stand the test of time. The minuscule savings achieved from the proposed cuts to science research won't be felt in the average taxpayer's pocketbook. But the cuts will hurt us. They will hurt us now and for generations to come. That is the bitter reality that we are now facing: that we are deliberately making our children impoverished—materially and intellectually—in the name of insignificant savings today. The proposed budget cuts kill all of this —the learning; the advancement; the courage; the powerhouse of American ingenuity; and one of the pillars that we can stand on to rightly claim our place in history as a great nation. How will our descendants remember us and this moment? Will they view us as a people that dared mighty things—or as so much blood in the sand? Go ahead, strike down science if you will. But remember this: The name of Archimedes echoes through the centuries. The name of the solider who killed him does not. I beg of you, do not disturb this.
Atlantic
03-07-2025
- General
- Atlantic
What Cicero Knew About Your Best Life
Want to stay current with Arthur's writing? Sign up to get an email every time a new column comes out. I do a lot of public speaking for business leaders about how using the science of happiness can improve their organization and make life easier for everyone. But there's one question I get very frequently: 'What about when I have to do hard things that make people un happy?' For example: having to fire someone, or asking people to make sacrifices. How do I think about this common scenario? This quandary is as old as time, and no one addressed it better than Marcus Tullius Cicero, the Roman philosopher and statesman who lived more than two millennia ago. For much of his career, Cicero lived a comfortable, uncontentious life of the mind, respected by all. But after Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 B.C.E., he felt a civic duty to speak out about a threat to the republic in the person of Mark Antony, who was vying for power. Cicero denounced Antony as a tyrant in a series of speeches called the Philippics. It was a risky move, one that made a powerful enemy, but Cicero honestly believed that by doing the right thing as he understood it, he was making no sacrifice at all. In a book written around the same time as the Philippics, titled De Officiis ('On Duties'), Cicero explained exactly why he believed that doing what is difficult but morally correct is also what most reliably and enduringly brings the rewards we seek in life. Despite our flawed instinct to take the path of least resistance, he reasoned, we will always be better served by choosing to do the right thing. In this masterwork, Cicero created a guide for how to have a successful life through honorable behavior. Take that to heart, and you have a guide for living a happier life as well. From the September 1865 issue: Life and times of Marcus Tullius Cicero De Officiis was written in the form of a very long public letter to Cicero's son, Cicero Minor, who was a philosophy student in Athens at the time. College life then being not so different from what it is today, he appears to have sorely needed advice on his duties. According to what the philosopher Seneca wrote some years later, the young man 'was not gifted with a good memory, and drunkenness was gradually destroying any that he had.' Cicero's book is in three parts, beginning with a study of what is honorable in life. He asserts that 'all that is morally right rises from some one of four sources,' which he lists as truth, justice, nobility, and moderation. These are, essentially, a variation of Plato's four cardinal virtues of wisdom, justice, courage, and temperance, and Cicero argues that these traits are the foundation for a life of integrity and rectitude. His letter offers limited encouragement to people who write advice columns. Modern research demonstrates that virtues are indeed most effectively transmitted by parents and peers, whereas outside interventions to teach virtue show only modest effectiveness. But as far as paternal influence goes, the book perhaps had some effect: Though Cicero Minor did not enjoy the illustrious career that his father did, he went on to hold a series of official positions in the Roman Republic. The second part of De Officiis discusses the worldly rewards people naturally want. Cicero focuses on honor, wealth, and power—prizes bound up with a desire for status that is encoded in our genes. As evolutionary biologists have long argued, these rewards correlate with both reproductive success and resource acquisition. Our ancestors' drive to succeed has surely passed on to us a craving to be superior to others in money, power, and prestige. Cicero acknowledges this reality, but notes that there are morally better and worse ways to acquire these rewards. Less honorable ways include disloyalty toward others and dishonesty in our dealings. The morally superior means for doing so include generosity, courtesy, and excellence—the virtues from part one, above. Part three of De Officiis is the most important because he argues that the honorable route to worldly rewards is also the most expedient and effective way to get them and keep them. In other words, there is no conflict between doing well and doing good. Back in part two, he realizes that people tend not to believe this, because they operate on the zero-sum assumption that someone must 'take something from his neighbour' and so 'profit by his neighbour's loss.' But in part three, Cicero rejects this completely. 'For a man to take something from his neighbour and to profit by his neighbour's loss is more contrary to Nature than is death or poverty or pain or anything else that can affect either our person or our property.' Cicero makes three arguments to bolster his claim that virtue is more profitable than vice. First, using Stoic reasoning, to behave unethically degrades your character, making any success that you realize not worth having. Second, any short-term gain by taking advantage of others will harm your reputation and therefore your long-term worldly success. Third, to use a not very Roman word, karma. Bad behavior, Cicero believed, disrupts the universe's natural harmony, with negative consequences for the perpetrator. Arthur C. Brooks: How my struggle with Wittgenstein can make you happier Cicero's argument—that lasting worldly success is not possible without virtue—can apply to happiness as well. In an effort to raise their well-being, at least temporarily, people constantly engage in behaviors they may not be proud of. People may cheat on their spouse for a thrill or to feel romantic love again. They may steal for an easy gain or lie for personal advantage. They may act selfishly by looking after their own interests and ignoring other people's. Few of us would brag about being disloyal, dishonest, or selfish. As Cicero notes, people act in these ways because they evidently believe that happiness in life 'will assuredly clash with moral rectitude.' People think that you can't always feel good by being good, so you may have to sacrifice the former for the latter. Predictably, Cicero says this is bunk—a 'sorry state of servitude' and mere 'pandering to sensual pleasure.' By the same logic that the exercise of virtue ultimately delivers worldly success, Cicero believed it also brings true happiness. Modern social science shows that he was spot-on. For example, a happy marriage is not simply linked to conjugal fidelity; that loyalty is itself a central ingredient in marital contentment. Similarly, honesty in one's personal dealings reliably raises life satisfaction. And generous behavior has been found again and again to increase happiness. In the long run, then, the best way to feel good is to do good, despite any temptation to cut corners. This dictum offers a reassuringly simple formula for a happier life. That doesn't mean it will always be easy to follow, but instead of asking, 'What will make me happy right now?,' consider how to answer the question, 'What is the virtuous path in this situation?' That correct path may involve tough decisions, but it will ultimately lead you to the greatest happiness in life. Arthur C. Brooks: The key to critical self-awareness To return to the leader's quandary I began with: How should we think about a situation when, in acting properly, we inflict unhappiness? Cicero's answer was unambiguous: Do your duty—even when doing so may harm your own and others' short-term happiness. In Cicero's case, this was not hypothetical. Mark Antony came to power in a three-man dictatorship and sought to eliminate all of the dictators' opponents, starting with Cicero. With a warrant out for his execution, Cicero attempted to flee his villa for Macedonia, but was captured by Roman soldiers. As legend has it, seeing that the arrestee was the famous, noble Cicero, a tribune named Popillius hesitated in carrying out the execution. Cicero, the man of honor, did not plead for his life, but rather schooled the centurion on his duty: 'Approach, veteran soldier,' he said, 'and, if you can at least do so much properly, sever this neck.'
