MAY 12, 2018


NEWS AND VIEWS


TWO DEMOCRATS ARE BACKING TRUMP’S PICK FOR HEAD OF THE CIA. I FOUND A FACT CHECK REPORT 30 MINUTES AGO, BUT HAVING GOTTEN SIDETRACKED ONTO SOMETHING ELSE AND THEN BEING UNABLE TO FIND IT AGAIN JUST NOW (%^&***!!), I FEEL A LITTLE ANNOYANCE; ANYWAY, WHAT IT SAID IS THAT JOE DONNELLY HAS IN THE PAST VOTED 85% WITH CHUCK SCHUMER AND 75% WITH BERNIE SANDERS. HE IS CLEARLY NOT A CONSERVATIVE, THEREFORE. HE’S AN INDEPENDENTLY THINKING DEMOCRAT.

BOTH PARTIES HAVE A TENDENCY TO “PUNISH” THOSE WITHIN THEIR GROUPS WHO DON’T WALK IN LOCKSTEP. THAT’S WHY SO MANY DEMOCRATS OF THE DNC DEAD CENTER OR THE EVEN MORE CONSERVATIVE ONES SEVERELY PUNISHED BERNIE SANDERS. HE, BEING A TRUE INDEPENDENT AND NOT TIMID, CONTINUES TO WALK BEHIND HIS OWN DRUMMER. THIS IS ACTUALLY HOW THE TIME-HONORED TRADITION OF VOTING ABOUT ISSUES IN ORDER TO MAKE A GROUP DECISION IS SUPPOSED TO WORK.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/joe-donnelly-supports-gina-haspel-making-cia-nominees-confirmation-more-likely/
By KATHRYN WATSON CBS NEWS May 12, 2018, 11:08 AM
Sen. Joe Donnelly backs Gina Haspel, making CIA nominee's confirmation more likely

Sen. Joe Donnelly on Saturday became the second Democrat to announce he will cast his vote in favor of CIA director nominee Gina Haspel -- boosting her prospects of being confirmed. Donnelly, a Democrat in a heavily Republican state that voted for Donald Trump in 2016, faces a tough reelection battle against self-described Republican outsider Mike Braun in November.

Donnelly voiced his support for Haspel on Twitter Saturday morning, saying he believes Haspel learned from the past and has the experience needed as the U.S. faces "dynamic and challenging security threats."

Haspel faced intense questioning from lawmakers on Capitol Hill this week over her time at the CIA when it used "enhanced interrogation methods" like waterboarding following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Asked if she would follow-through on an order from the president to pursue such techniques, she replied: "No, I believe CIA must undertake activities that are consistent with American values." She did, however, not condemn the methods the CIA has used in the past as immoral.

Donnelly announced his decision after meeting with Haspel, he said.

View image on Twitter (GO TO WEBSITE)

Senator Joe Donnelly
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@SenDonnelly
Joe announced today he will support Gina Haspel’s nomination to be @CIA Director. Read his statement:

9:31 AM - May 12, 2018
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West Virginia's Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat in a state that voted for Mr. Trump by the greatest margin, has also voiced his support for Haspel. Manchin, too, faces an uphill battle for reelection in November.

So far, one Republican — Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky — has voiced his opposition to Haspel.

Donnelly's support for Haspel comes as he needs to portray himself as someone who doesn't always oppose the president's agenda, and can agree with those on the other side of the aisle.

Mr. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence visited Indiana earlier this week in what was billed as a tax reform rally, but practically speaking was an opportunity for Mr. Trump to blast "swamp person" Donnelly for his association with the Democratic Party and voting record. Mr Trump said Democrats like Donnelly say one thing, "and then they go to Washington and vote for the radical, liberal agenda."

"It never, ever fails," the president said. "You know there's about 12 of 'em. You think you have their vote. And they talk a good game. But they always raise their hand for the radical left of Nancy Pelosi. Always. "

But Donnelly's intention to vote for Haspel wouldn't be the first time he's crossed the aisle to vote when most of his colleagues did not. He also voted for Mr. Trump's pick to run the State Department, new Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

The Senate Intelligence Committee is expected to vote on Haspel next week, and the full Senate later this month.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


MORE ABOUT JOE DONNELLY

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Donnelly
Joe Donnelly
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Joseph Simon Donnelly Sr. (born September 29, 1955) is an American attorney and politician serving as the senior United States Senator from Indiana. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected in 2012 and is running for reelection.

Born in Massapequa, New York, Donnelly graduated from the University of Notre Dame.[1] He began his career on the Indiana State Election Board before working as an attorney in practice. From 1997 to 2001 he was on the Mishawaka Marian School Board, serving as its president from 2000 to 2001. In 2004, he won the Democratic nomination for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, losing to Republican incumbent Chris Chocola in the general election. In 2006 he challenged Chocola again, and won election with 54% of the vote. He represented Indiana's 2nd congressional district from 2007 to 2013, winning reelection in 2008 and 2010.



THIS ARTICLE HINTS AT BLOOMBERG RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT IN 2020. HE'S AN INTERESTING MAN, BUT HE CAN'T COMPETE WITH SANDERS I DON'T BELIEVE. AT LEAST I HOPE NOT. HE WOULDN'T BE A BAD PRESIDENT I DON'T THINK, THOUGH.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/michael-bloomberg-fears-epidemic-of-dishonesty/
VIDEO
FACE THE NATION
CBS/AP May 12, 2018, 11:32 AM
Michael Bloomberg: Americans facing "epidemic of dishonesty"

NEW YORK -- Americans are facing an "epidemic of dishonesty" in Washington that's more dangerous than terrorism or communism. That's according to former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who warned in a commencement speech on Saturday at Texas' Rice University that "an endless barrage of lies" and a trend toward "alternate realities" in national politics pose a dire threat to U.S. democracy.

The 76-year-old billionaire, who flirted with an independent presidential run in 2016, did not call out any politicians by name.

Although he derided Donald Trump as "a con" and a "dangerous demagogue" before his election, in an interview before the speech Bloomberg refused to comment specifically on the Republican president's troubled history with the truth. Fact checkers have determined that Mr. Trump has made hundreds of false and misleading statements since entering the Oval Office.

"This is bigger than any one person. It's bigger than any one party," he said in the interview.

In the speech, Bloomberg evoked the legend of the nation's first president, George Washington, who as a boy said he could not tell a lie when asked if he cut down a cherry tree.

"How did we go from a president who could not tell a lie to politicians who cannot tell the truth?" Bloomberg asked Rice graduates and their families gathered in Houston.

He blamed "extreme partisanship" for an unprecedented tolerance of dishonesty in U.S. politics. People are committed more to their political tribes than the truth, he said, suggesting that the nation is more divided than any time since the Civil War.

"There is now more tolerance for dishonesty in politics than I have seen in my lifetime," Bloomberg said. "The only thing more dangerous than dishonest politicians who have no respect for the law is a chorus of enablers who defend their every lie."

For example, he noted that Democrats spent much of the 1990s defending President Bill Clinton against charges of lying and personal immorality just as Republicans attacked the lack of ethics and honesty in the White House. Just the reverse is happening today, he said.

In one jab at Mr. Trump, he noted that the vast majority of scientists agree that climate change is real. Mr. Trump and his Republican allies have repeatedly called climate change a hoax promoted by America's adversaries.

"If 99 percent of scientists whose research has been peer-reviewed reach the same general conclusion about a theory, then we ought to accept it as the best available information -- even if it's not a 100 percent certainty," Bloomberg said. He added: "That, graduates, is not a Chinese hoax."

He warned that such deep levels of dishonesty could enable what he called "criminality." Asked what specifically he was talking about, Bloomberg noted "lots of investigations" going on, but he declined to be more specific.

Several Trump associates are facing criminal charges as part of a federal probe into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election. Three have already pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI. Federal investigators want to interview Mr. Trump himself, although the president's legal team has resisted so far.

"When elected officials speak as though they are above the truth, they will act as though they are above the law," Bloomberg told Rice graduates. "And when we tolerate dishonesty, we get criminality. Sometimes, it's in the form of corruption. Sometimes, it's abuse of power. And sometimes, it's both."

Bloomberg wasn't the only commencement speaker to discuss a culture of untruths this week. On Friday, Oprah Winfrey encouraged graduates of the University of Southern California's (USC) Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism to keep people who disparage news as "fake" in check.

"You are in a position to keep all those who now disparage real news, you are going to be the ones who keep those people in check. Why? Because you can push back and you can answer false narratives with real information. You can set the record straight," Winfrey said. "You also have the ability and power to give voice who desperately now need to tell their stories and have their stories told."

Winfrey encouraged graduates to challenge those from the political left, right and center, holding them accountable.

"When you see something, say something. And you say it with the facts and the reporting to back it up," she said. "You make the choice everyday to exemplify honest because the truth exonerates and it convicts, it disinfects and it galvanizes. The truth has always been, and will always be, our shield against corruption, greed and despair -- the truth is our saving grace."

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.


TODAY I FOUND A REALLY GREAT NEW WEBSITE – “SCIENCENORDIC.COM.” THE FOLLOWING ARE ALL FROM THERE. AIN’T THE WORLDWIDE WEB WONDERFUL?

SCIENTISTS AND GLOBAL WARMING – HOW IT WORKS AND HOW IT’S MEASURED

http://sciencenordic.com/greenland%E2%80%99s-recent-temperature-drop-does-not-disprove-global-warming
Greenland’s recent temperature drop does not disprove global warming
January 29, 2018 - 09:55
Unfortunately, the planet is still getting warmer.
Keywords: Climate, Climate Change, Environment
By Charlotte Price Persson

PHOTOGRAPH -- New study reveals detailed picture of temperature changes across Greenland and will help scientists studying permafrost in the ice-free margins of this huge country. (Photo: Bo Elberling

Using satellite data, a group of scientists has studied the development of temperature over the past 15 years in a large part of Greenland.

More precisely, they looked at surface temperatures (the temperature close to the Earth’s surface) in a part of the country that is not covered by ice—around one fifth of the surface area of Greenland.

Intuitively, you may think that temperature throughout all of Greenland has been increasing, but that is not the case. When you look at the yearly average, the ice-free parts of Greenland show a slight drop in temperature between 2001 and 2015. With swings in temperature from year to year.

However, these results should not be interpreted as “proof” that the Earth is not warming, say the scientists behind the research, which is published in the journal Scientific Reports.

This is weather, not climate
You need to have thirty years’ worth of data before you can “talk about climate,” says Professor Bo Elberling, an environmental geochemist and senior scientist on the study.

So we should be wary of discussing these results in the context of climate change, says Elberling, who is head of the Center for Permafrost (CENPERM) at the Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

“What’s interesting here is that with these new data we have a unique description of the spatial distribution of surface temperatures across the entire ice-free part of Greenland, which we couldn’t pull out of the approximately 45 weather stations that cover Greenland today,” he says.

Read More: What makes the climate change?

Global warming is real
Professor Michael Tjernström, a meteorologist from Stockholm University, Sweden, agrees with this assessment.

The time series is too short to say anything about climate trends, he writes in an email to our sister site, Videnskab.dk.

“Give me a specific location and a short time series and you could get almost any trend. Over a large area and over longer time I'm sure Greenland is warming,” writes Tjernström, who was not involved in the study.

The results should be seen as a part of the natural swings in climate. While you might find a small drop in temperature at individual locations, the overall development is in one direction, he writes.

All scientists interviewed for this article agreed that the new study does not question the inescapable reality that the planet is getting warmer.

Read More: Human-induced global warming began 180 years ago

Satellite data help study trends in remote regions
The study is interesting for other reasons, says Professor Eigil Kaas, a professor in meteorology from the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen.

He points out that the methods used to calculate surface temperature throughout the ice-free parts of Greenland are entirely new.

“It’s an important study to be able to evaluate the actual temperature conditions in Greenland,” says Kaas, who was not involved in the research.

Today, temperature in Greenland is primarily measured with the help of 45 weather stations placed around the country and monitored by the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI). They measure weather conditions frequently throughout the day at two meters above the surface.

The new method allows scientists to fill in the gaps between existing weather stations, says climate scientist Christian Rodehacke from DMI, who also was not part of the new study.

“This kind of observation system shows potential. For example, imagine that you want to measure the temperature at an uninhabited spot in Siberia. It’s very expensive to take measurements because the area is inaccessible, so satellite measurements are a big help. The same applies to large parts of Africa,” says Rodehacke.

Read More: Climate Change theme on ScienceNordic

The equivalent of hundreds of thousands of weather stations

The difference between the two types of data (satellite versus weather stations) is the level of spatial detail they provide, says Elberling.

Satellite derived data provide temperature right at the surface and therefore give a sense of the differences throughout the landscape, from the tops of hills to the bottom, on south or north facing mountain slopes, and in the upper part of fjords versus the lower part, closer to the sea.

The new study only presents data for the ice-free margins of Greenland, but the method can be used anywhere, such as the ice sheet.

The satellite data provides a detailed picture of temperature, down to just one square kilometre. That is the equivalent of hundreds of thousands of pixels, or the same number of individual weather stations across the ice-free areas of Greenland.

“Climate stations can give a very high temporal resolution for one location and for some stations over many years, which is relevant in a discussion about climate. Satellite data on the other hand provide a lower temporal resolution but an extremely detailed spatial picture,” says Elberling.

He adds that weather stations in Greenland are often located by towns, or along the coast, and are therefore not necessarily representative of all the ice-free areas.

The mean annual temperature around Greenland shows a slight fall in some places in the past 15 years. Looking at the average of each season shows most cooling in the autumn (September, October, November, SON) and warming in the summer (June, July, august, JJA). (Illustration: Study)
“For example, one third of the country in the north is not included in such calculations,” he says.

Read More: “Treasure trove” of Arctic research data now publicly available

Understanding permafrost behaviour is crucial for country’s infrastructure
Elberling is a geographer and biologist, and not a climate scientist. So it was with great caution that he and his colleagues, who are not climatologists either, embarked on this study of temperature in Greenland.

Eighty per cent of Greenland is covered entirely by the Greenland ice sheet, whereas the ice-free areas are covered in permafrost—soil that has been completely frozen for two or more consecutive years.

Permafrost is found throughout the coastal regions of Greenland where most Greenlanders live. It goes without saying that permafrost requires low temperatures in order to stay frozen, and so it is crucial for roads, airports, and other infrastructure that permafrost remains stable and does not suddenly thaw, says Elberling.

“It’s important to quantify spatial trends in temperatures, even over a period of just 15 years, because infrastructure, farming, mine operations, and so on, are all effected by whether it becomes generally colder or warmer, or whether it varies from year to year,” says Elberling.

The new results may therefore be an important tool for infrastructure projects, says first-author Andreas Westergaard-Nielsen, from CENPERM.

“Our data could for example, be used as a guide, where you are considering multiple locations for a new airport, but can only afford one in-depth study of soil stability and permafrost at one spot. We can help to point you in the direction of where to investigate soil conditions further,” says Westergaard-Nielsen.

Read More: Arctic soils: a ticking climate time bomb

Greenland is a massive country
Permafrost is found in large areas of Greenland, Alaska, Canada, and Siberia, and is often referred to as the wild card of climate change.

Scientists do not know what will happen if permafrost partly thaws, releasing carbon dioxide (CO2), while plants grow more and in turn, take up more CO2.

“Everyone says that permafrost is thawing. Yes, but where? Our spatial analyses can provide a more detailed picture than the relatively few weather stations that are scattered around the country, and our method can be used across the whole Arctic,” says Elberling, adding that Greenland deserves a more detailed picture than it has had until now.

“It’s bothered me for many years that we always say that ‘Greenland’ is getting warmer. It’s a big country so we should of course be more nuanced—this is what we contribute to here,” he says.

Read More: Cold region ‘tipping point’ now inevitable in northern Europe

Still more work to do
Tjernström points out that the study does not yet present a specific application for the dataset.

“They aim to […] use this method of evaluating MODIS data for various studies, and they give several examples. But they don't do it here; just say they could,” writes Tjernström.

He writes that he may even have rejected the study if he had peer reviewed it, for this reason.

Although he also stresses that he was not able to view the supplementary information—additional information and data that are often submitted with scientific studies.

Applying the data will be the focus of future research, says Westergaard-Nielsen.

“The next step for us is to apply the study to assess a number of specific ecosystems, such as the response of plants to temperature changes and the sensitivity of permafrost,” he says.

Read More: Four big changes in the Arctic and what to do about them

Satellite data have many advantages
Michele Citterio from the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) is more positive. He was not involved in the research.

The study “succeeds in bringing attention to land surface temperatures as an important climate variable,” he writes in an email to Videnskab.dk.

Citterio points to the value of using satellite data and praises the scientists work to address some of the challenges that they present. For example, satellites observations are only possible when the sky is clear.

“When the sky is overcast the surface receives more infra-red radiation from the sky, resulting in comparatively warmer surface temperatures, but these warmer days can't be observed by the satellite precisely because of the cloud cover,” he writes.

“Without correcting for this cloud bias, the average surface temperature from satellites would be several degrees colder than actual in situ measurements. A particularly interesting contribution of this paper is the effort to correct for this limitation,” writes Citterio.



IN THE REALLY OLD DAYS, HOW DID PEOPLE LIVE IN SCANDINAVIA? IF YOU WANT SOMETHING TO GET YOU INTERESTED IN ARCHAEOLOGY, TRY THIS. IT’S STRANGE AND AMAZING.

http://sciencenordic.com/biggest-status-symbol-nordic-iron-age-was-goose
The biggest status symbol in the Nordic Iron Age was a goose
April 3, 2018 - 06:25
Poultry was all you needed to signal your status.
Keywords: Archaeology, Roman
By: Charlotte Price Persson

PHOTOGRAPH -- A woman buried with a sheep is typical of the graves throughout the Roman Iron Age (in the Nordic countries). Other animal species (including sheep) are found in younger periods and demonstrate Roman influence. (Photo: Kroppedal Museum)

Forget about Gucci bags, gold jewellery, and fast cars. In the Nordic Roman Iron Age, the best status symbol was a goose. Alternatively a hen.

That is the conclusion made by Danish scientists after studying almost 100 graves from the Early and Late Roman Iron Age (1-375 CE).

They further posit that the Roman influence led to a significant shift in the way in which Scandinavians buried their dead.

One of the changes was the custom of burying people with different species of animals – and the newly introduced hens and geese were especially high-ranking status symbols.

“We don’t have these kinds of poultry before Christ, so it is clearly associated with the Roman life and Roman status. In the Roman Empire, hens and geese were a common burial gift, while in Denmark they were new and exotic species,” says Anne Birgitte Gotfredsen from the Natural History Museum of Denmark at the University of Copenhagen.

Gotfredsen analysed the animal bones and is lead-author on a book - Wealth and Prestige 2 - detailing the new analyses.

Read More: Archaeologists excavate 400 Iron Age houses in Denmark

More species indicates higher status

The remains of an adult rooster, discovered at the foot of a woman’s grave in Kærup, Ringsted, East Denmark. (Photo: Geert Brovad)

Only a select few were buried with hens or geese, and even within these two high-status symbols, there were many differences. While 'chicken graves' contained considerable valuables, it was only the 'goose graves' that contained expensive, imported Roman goods, says Anne Birgitte Gotfredsen.

“These birds were certainly rare and at this time we don’t find them in ordinary domestic waste. We only see them as whole animals in connection with rituals or in a grave,” says Gotfredsen.

The Roman influence was strong in this period and the inspiration is clearly seen in the development of burial rituals, she says. The most significant shift occurred in the transition from the Early to Late Roman Iron Age, around 150 CE.

“The number of species increases as do the number of whole animals and partial animals. The high status graves contained significantly more: More species meant higher status. There’s is [sic] no doubt that the material expression changed according to Roman inspiration,” she says.

Read More: Burnt down Iron Age house discovered in Denmark

First study of its kind

It is the first time that scientists have combined zoological studies of animal skeletons with archaeological and anthropological results in Danish graves from the Roman Iron Age period, when Scandinavia was undergoing great cultural change.

“It’s the first study of it’s kind, where material is worked on collectively and for me, it opens up entirely new aspects of burial rituals in this period,” says archaeologist Mogens Bo Henriksen, curator at Odense City Museums, Denmark.

A piglet, found in the grave of little girl aged 1.5 years. The piglet’s head was removed from its body and placed against its rear, indicated by the white circle. (Photo: Kroppedal Museum)
Previously, inspiration was taken from the Roman Empire in the form of imported goods, weapons, glass beakers, bronze vessels, and coins, but the burial rituals show that the influence was much more widespread.

“The new burial rites are a clear sign of contact with the Romans, and the adoption of their animals. There are even some signs indicating that, just like the Romans, people began to hold banquets for the dead. It was an entire lifestyle,” says Henriksen.

Read More: The Viking Age should be called the Steel Age

Animals carried great symbolism

The new study allows archaeologists to learn more about the significance of the widespread practice of laying animals in graves alongside the dead, he says.

“We previously thought that the animals were buried first and foremost as food and that the grave was a locked room for the dead, but this is far from that. The animals were much more than practical and functional, they held great symbolism,” says Henriksen.

Geese, which start turning up in graves during this period, were considered holy in Roman culture. They represented the goddess Juno, who was married with Jupiter and had the highest rank in Roman mythology.

“Altogether, it sends a signal. The burials in this period were more than anything else a stage-managed event, which intended to signal lineage and thereby the status of the descendants,” he says.

Facts

Scientists have studied

...96 graves from 58 separate locations in East Denmark—Zealand, Fyn, and a number of smaller islands.

The graves cover two periods:

Early Roman Iron Age, from 1 to 150 CE

Late Roman Iron Age, from 150 to 375 CE

Read More: Norwegian iron helped build Iron-Age Europe

Shared animals with the dead

During the transition from Early to Late Roman Iron Age, there was a change in the way in which people arranged animals inside the graves, says Gotfredsen.

For example, the practice of placing half of the animal in each end of the grave ended. Instead, they began to lay the entire animal, though still cut, in one position in the grave and the meat was cut from the bones. They also preferred to use young animals.

Gotfredsen agrees that Scandinavians acquired the Roman tradition of holding banquets around their dead, which may be supported by the new way in which people treated animals.

“We can see from the cut marks on the bones that some of the meat is cut away. This could have happened very close to the grave, which we cannot see today, but we think that the cut meat was prepared and ‘shared’ with the dead before they closed the grave,” she says.

Read More: Why some Iron Age women chose exotic jewellery

Iron Age prince surrounded by animals
One of the richest graves in the collection is the Ellekilde grave, which is dated to the Late Roman Iron Age.

Facts

The new studies

...are published by Kroppedal Museum in the book Wealth and Prestige 2

The first volume was published in 2009, where scientists presented new grave sites from the Late Roman Iron Age in Copenhagen.

In the grave, an Iron Age prince was buried with so many different species that archaeologists are in no doubt of his social status: a goose, a dog, a pig, cattle and sheep. The significance of the dog was particularly ambiguous, says Gotfredsen.

“Most animals were thought as food gifts, even though they could also have had a symbolic significance, but dogs were something else. There are no cut marks of the bones. They were a friend,” she says.

Dogs appear in many contexts in archaeological material in relation to burials and probably also had a cosmological significance, perhaps as a friend in the afterlife.

“So it certainly signalled status. We only see dogs in high status burials,” says Gotfredsen.

Dogs are also used to symbolize hunting and warfare, says Henriksen.

The Prince from Ellekilde was buried with a weapon. He is interpreted to be a warrior and his dog is thought to be a fighting dog.

--------------
Read more in the Danish article at Videnskab.dk

Country Denmark
Translated by Catherine Jex
Related content
Archaeologists unearth 2000-year-old Iron Age sacrifices
Archaeologists excavate 400 Iron Age houses in Denmark
Ancient Roman artifact found on Danish island
Volcanoes linked to cultural upheaval since early Roman times
Roman drunkard found on Danish island


STONE AGE PROSPERITY

http://sciencenordic.com/life-was-good-stone-age-norwegians-along-oslo-fjord
Life was good for Stone Age Norwegians along Oslo Fjord
May 10, 2018 - 06:20
Southeastern Norway is the most populous part of Norway today. Based on an analysis of more than 150 settlements along Oslo Fjord, the area apparently also appealed to Stone Age people.
Keywords: Archaeology
By: Nancy Bazilchuk, based on an article by Lasse Biørnstad

PHOTOGRAPH -- An excavation of a Stone Age settlement where there was a hut-like structure, dated to roughly 7000 BC. (Photo: Museum of Cultural History)

Eleven thousand years ago at the end of the last ice age, Norway was buried under a thick layer of ice. But it didn’t take long for folks to wander their way north as the ice sheet melted away. The first traces of human habitation in Norway date from roughly 9500 BC.

Steinar Solheim is an archaeologist at the University of Oslo’s Museum of Cultural History who has worked on numerous excavations of different Stone Age settlements around Oslo Fjord. Now he and colleague Per Perrson have investigated longer-term population trends in the Oslo Fjord region, based on 157 different Stone Age settlements. All were inhabited between 8000 and 2000 BC.

The two researchers tried to determine whether the population during this time was stable, or if living conditions were better or worse for people who lived here during different periods.

A newly forested landscape

Solheim says that forests began to grow in this region after 9000 BC.

"The climate was also quite different, and it was probably a bit warmer than it is today,” he said. “We see a lot of hazel, alder, elm, and later oak, all of which are tree species that prefer warmer environments.”

This area of Norway was also much lower in elevation than it is today, since the weight of the glacial ice was enough to depress the land itself. That means the coastline at the time was also higher than it is today. Stone Age settlements were usually down by the water.

The people who lived here used wood to keep their fires going, and their cooking pits and fireplaces are among the few things that archaeologists can still find after many thousands of years.

But archaeological digs of the settlements also yield stone tools, residues from tool production and remainders from cooking fires. The charcoal from the fires can be used to date the site using radiocarbon dating.

The map shows Stone Age settlements in the Oslo fjord region. (Image: Solheim, Persson: Early and mid-Holocene coastal settlement and demography in southeastern Norway: Comparing distribution of radiocarbon dates and shoreline-dated sites, 8500-2000 cal. BCE)
In a new study, the researchers used all available dates —512 in total— from the settlements to draw conclusions about population trends for the region between 8000 and 2000 BC.

A stable life

The researchers used a method that relies on radiocarbon dates as an indication of the amount of human activity in an area.

The idea is to look at the temporal distribution of radiocarbon dates, to see whether the population has been stable or whether there have been major fluctuations in human activity. The researchers also used a simulation-based model to account for oversampling and for comparison.

The researchers use the simulation-based model to see whether dates from the archaeological sites show a stable population over time, or if the dates are actually more randomly distributed.

Using this approach, the researchers found that there was a stable, cohesive population in the Oslo Fjord area between 8000-2000 BC.

A little conundrum

There is also evidence of settlements that are older than this, but researchers have not found any charcoal, which makes it impossible to accurately date the settlements. This presents a bit of a conundrum, Solheim says.

"It is possible that they used something other than wood to cook with, such as blubber, but we just don’t know,” he said.

Solheim says that people may have been more mobile at the beginning of this period, but they eventually settled in more permanent locations.

Excavation of the same hut-like structure as in the photograph at the top of the article. (Photo: Museum of Cultural History)
“Eventually, you get a network of settlements, where some places are more specialized for hunting or fishing or for other resource use,” he said.

Solheim says that they also find traces of more permanent hut-like structures that are surrounded by berms or embankments.

A good life by the sea
If there was indeed a stable population over the millennia in the region, it means that the people living here lived well, Solheim said.

"It appears that they have managed to live quite well on the resources they found along the sea," says Solheim.

These populations also managed to survive through known climate anomalies that posed problems for other settlements during the same period.

One prominent example is the Finse event, also known as the 8.2 kiloyear event, where there was a sudden and extreme drop in global temperatures starting around 6000 BC that persisted for two to four centuries.

This could have been catastrophic for people who lived here, but Solheim’s analysis shows that the population in the region remained stable in spite of the sudden deep freeze.

-------------------------------------

Read the Norwegian version of this article at forskning.no.

Country Norway
Related content
Archaeological discovery in Sweden reveals site of Stone Age rituals
Brewing Stone Age beer



MY COMPUTER IS SO VERY CLEVER. I JUST TYPED IN “BERIE SABNDERES,” AND ITS’ REPLY WAS, “SHOWING RESULTS FOR BERNIE SANDERS, SEARCH INSTEAD FOR BERIE SABNDERES.” OF COURSE, I’VE MADE THAT SAME SEARCH MANY TIMES, NOW. SO, HERE IS TODAY’S BERNIE NEWS.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/levi-sanders-congress-new-hampshire-district-bernie-sanders-son-a8347726.html
Levi Sanders: Bernie Sanders' son carries his father's passion to fight for the disenfranchised into bid for congress
‘The system is rigged against low-income, working-class people, and we have to radically overturn that’
Maya Oppenheim MAY 12, 2018 16 comments

PHOTOGRAPH -- Levi is running on a parallel manifesto of Medicare for all and free college tuition to that of his father’s 2016 presidential run

Levi Sanders has not always been preoccupied with politics. When his father, Bernie, was first elected to office back in 1981, his only biological son’s primary concern was basketball.

Over the following years, that was to change. The veteran Vermont Senator came to rely on Levi as a steadfast source of support throughout every race in his long and distinguished career – culminating in a role as senior policy strategist during his bid for the Democratic candidacy in 2016.

Now it is Levi’s turn to step up to the front line, with a run for congress in New Hampshire.

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While Bernie’s political experience is rooted in the legislature, Levi’s is grounded in his work in frontline public services and his day-to-day interactions with Americans on the breadline.

“It’s not about the fact that I am Bernie Sanders’ son – sure, obviously, that is more interesting – but the real issue is every day I get to see the economic pain that people are under,” he tells The Independent.

“The thing which has inspired me was working in legal services [the US equivalent of legal aid] for almost 18 years and being a union member for 23 years. The work I do means every day I see people getting beaten up by the system. I talk to single mums and they are at their wits’ end, they are not even making $15 an hour, which is so crucial at the most basic level to make ends meet.”

While he is disparaging of Donald Trump – describing him as a “disaster” – he also argues the US president has succeeded in engaging the American public.

In Levi’s view, the Republican Party has managed to engage and invigorate low-income, working-class Americans in a way that has proven beyond the ability of the current iteration of the Democratic Party.

levi3-0.jpg
Levi has been a steadfast source of support for his father

“The Democratic Party has done a very poor job of bolstering people’s confidence and self-esteem, and that has significant consequences when it comes to reaching out to low-income and working-class people,” he says.

“When Hillary Clinton used the word ‘deplorable’ that had a significant effect on so many people. They basically said ‘We understand that Donald Trump is not a nice guy, but he is one of us’. He said ‘Yes, I know I’m a billionaire, but I’m like your weird uncle. I’m not politically correct and I’m not judging you and that’s the key’.”

Clinton’s infamous use of the phrase “basket of deplorables” to describe Trump supporters during a 2016 presidential campaign speech was seized upon by the right as evidence she represented a sneering, out-of-touch, metropolitan elite that merely paid lip service to the concerns of a disenfranchised white working-class. The former secretary of state later expressed “regret” for the remarks, but the damage had already been done. In the wake of her defeat, Ms Clinton herself wrote in her book What Happened that it was one of the factors for her loss.

“Trump has done an incredible job in saying, ‘Listen, you don’t really need to make more money. I’m not going to raise your minimum wage but I’m going to make you feel good about yourself – the Democratic Party has taken away your self-esteem and your self-worth’,” Levi reflects. “If you take someone’s self-esteem away you are done, but you can take away someone’s money.”



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