Unearthed! in Autumn 2024, Part 1
Stuff You Missed in History Class
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Tragedy and Transformation: The Port Chicago Disaster
This chapter recounts the devastating Port Chicago disaster of 1944, focusing on the explosion at an ammunition depot that resulted in a tragic loss of Black sailors' lives due to systemic Navy neglect. It updates listeners on the recent exoneration of sailors wrongfully convicted for protesting dangerous working conditions following the disaster. Additionally, the chapter examines ongoing historical research, including excavations related to past injustices and new archaeological findings evoking significant cultural insights.
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Part one of this edition of Unearthed! is mostly updates - about two-thirds of the episode. The rest is weapons, medicine, and books and letters.
Research:
- 19 News Investigative Team. “Exhumation of Cleveland Torso Killer’s unidentified victims now underway.” https://www.cleveland19.com/2024/08/09/exhumation-cleveland-torso-killers-unidentified-victims-now-underway/
- Abdallah, Hanna. “Hydraulic lift technology may have helped build Egypt’s iconic Pyramid of Djoser.” EurekAlert. 8/5/2024. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1051645
- Addley, Esther. “Dorset ‘Stonehenge’ under Thomas Hardy’s home given protected status.” The Guardian. 9/24/2024. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/sep/24/dorset-stonehenge-discovered-under-thomas-hardy-home-dorchester
- Adhi Agus Oktaviana et al, Narrative cave art in Indonesia by 51,200 years ago, Nature (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07541-7
- Agence France-Presse. “‘Virtually intact’ wreck off Scotland believed to be Royal Navy warship torpedoed in first world war.” The Guardian. 8/17/2024. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/aug/17/virtually-intact-wreck-off-scotland-believed-to-be-royal-navy-warship-torpedoed-in-wwi
- Anderson, Sonja. “A Statue of a 12-Year-Old Hiroshima Victim Has Been Stolen.” Smithsonian. 7/16/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/statue-of-a-child-killed-by-the-bombing-of-hiroshima-has-been-stolen-180984710/
- Anderson, Sonja. “An 11-Year-Old Boy Rescued a Mysterious Artwork From the Dump. It Turned Out to Be a 500-Year-Old Renaissance Print.” Smithsonian. 9/17/2024 https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-11-year-old-boy-rescued-a-mysterious-artwork-from-the-dump-it-turned-out-to-be-a-500-year-old-renaissance-print-180985074/
- Anderson, Sonja. “Archaeologists Uncover Ancient Warship’s Bronze Battering Ram, Sunk During an Epic Battle Between Rome and Carthage.” Smithsonian. 8/28/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-uncover-ancient-warships-bronze-battering-ram-sunk-during-epic-battle-between-rome-and-carthage-180984983/
- ANderson, Sonja. “Someone Anonymously Mailed Two Bronze Age Axes to a Museum in Ireland.” Smithsonian. 7/15/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/two-anonymously-sent-bronze-age-axes-arrive-at-an-irish-museum-in-a-pancake-box-180984704/
- Anderson, Sonja. “These Signed Salvador Dalí Prints Were Forgotten in a Garage for Half a Century.” Smithsonian. 8/29/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-signed-salvador-dali-prints-were-forgotten-in-a-garage-for-half-a-century-180984994/
- Anderson, Sonja. “What Is the Secret Ingredient Behind Rembrandt’s Golden Glow?.” Smithsonian. 8/1/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/what-secret-ingredient-behind-rembrandt-golden-glow-180984816/
- “Jamestown DNA helps solve a 400-year-old mystery and unexpectedly reveals a family secret.” Phys.org. 8/13/2024. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-jamestown-dna-year-mystery-unexpectedly.html#google_vignette
- Ariane E. Thomas et al, The Dogs of Tsenacomoco: Ancient DNA Reveals the Presence of Local Dogs at Jamestown Colony in the Early Seventeenth Century, American Antiquity (2024). DOI: 10.1017/aaq.2024.25
- Artnet “Previously Unknown Mozart Composition Turns Up in a German Library.” 9/20/2024. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/unheard-mozart-composition-manuscript-found-leipzig-2540432
- ArtNet News. “Conservation of a Rubens Masterpiece Turns Up Hidden Alterations.” Artnet. 6/20/2024. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/rubens-judgement-of-paris-conservation-national-gallery-2501839
- Artnet News. “Gardner Museum Is Renovating the Room That Witnessed a Notorious Heist.” 9/18/2024. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/gardner-museum-renovate-dutch-room-2538856
- Benzine, Vittoria. “Turkish Archaeologists Uncover Millefiori Glass Panels for the First Time.” Artnet. 9/12/2024. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/millefiori-glass-panels-turkey-2535407
- Binswanger, Julia. “A Thief Replaced This Iconic Churchill Portrait With a Fake. Two Years Later, the Original Has Been Recovered.” Smithsonian. 9/16/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-thief-replaced-this-iconic-churchill-portrait-with-a-fake-two-years-later-the-original-has-been-recovered-180985075/
- Binswanger, Julia. “A Viking-Era Vessel Found in Scotland a Decade Ago Turns Out to Be From Asia.” Smithsonian. 9/4/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-viking-era-vessel-found-in-scotland-a-decade-ago-turns-out-to-be-from-asia-180985021/
- Binswanger, Julia. “Hidden Self-Portrait by Norman Cornish Discovered Behind Another Painting .” Smithsonian. 7/24/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-hidden-norman-cornish-self-portrait-is-discovered-on-the-back-of-a-painting-180984741/
- Binswanger, Julia. “Students Stumble Upon a Message in a Bottle Written by a French Archaeologist 200 Years Ago.” Smithsonian. 9/25/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/students-discover-french-archaeologists-200-year-old-message-in-a-bottle-just-in-time-on-an-eroding-coast-180985129/
- Brinkhof, Tim. “Amateur Sleuths Are Convinced They Have Found Copernicus’s Famous Compass.” Artnet. 8/7/2024. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/copernicus-compass-poland-2521967
- Brinkhof, Tim. “The U.K. Bars Export of Alan Turing’s Wartime Notebooks.” Artnet. 8/19/2024. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/turing-notebooks-uk-export-bar-2525678
- Brown, DeNeen L. “Navy exonerates Black sailors charged in Port Chicago disaster 80 years ago.” Washington Post. 7/17/2024. https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2024/07/17/port-chicago-disaster-navy-exonerates-black-sailors/
- Bryant, Chris. “Second World War codebreaker Alan Turing’s ‘Delilah’ project papers at risk of leaving the UK.” Gov.UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/second-world-war-codebreaker-alan-turings-delilah-project-papers-at-risk-of-leaving-the-uk
- Byram, Scott et al. “Clovis points and foreshafts under braced weapon compression: Modeling Pleistocene megafauna encounters with a lithic pike.” PLOS One. 8/21/2024. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0307996#sec013
- Cascone, Sarah. “Long-Lost Artemisia Gentileschi Masterpiece Goes on View After Centuries of Obscurity.” Artnet. 9/9/2024. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/kimbell-art-museum-artemisia-gentileschi-2533554
- Cascone, Sarah. “Mythical French ‘Excalibur’ Sword Goes Missing.” Artnet. 7/10/2024. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/durandal-sword-in-the-stone-gone-missing-2510560
- Casey, Michael. “Discovery of musket balls brings alive one of the first battles in the American Revolution.” Associated Press. 7/17/2024. https://apnews.com/article/revolutionary-war-musket-balls-national-park-service-33dc4a91c00626ad0d27696458f09900
- David, B., Mullett, R., Wright, N. et al. Archaeological evidence of an ethnographically documented Australian Aboriginal ritual dated to the last ice age. Nat Hum Behav 8, 1481–1492 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-01912-w
- Davis, Lisa Fagan. “Multispectral Imaging and the Voynich Manuscript.” Manuscript Road Trip. 9/8/2024. https://manuscriptroadtrip.wordpress.com/2024/09/08/multispectral-imaging-and-the-voynich-manuscript/
- Deliso, Meredith. “Witness gets emotional recounting doomed Titan dive during Coast Guard hearing on submersible implosion.” ABC News. 9/19/2024. https://abcnews.go.com/US/oceangate-titan-coast-guard-hearing-mission-specialist/story?id=113843817
- Feldman, Ella. “Painting Attributed to Rembrandt Found Tucked Away Inside an Attic in Maine.” 9/6/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/painting-attributed-to-rembrandt-found-tucked-away-inside-an-attic-in-maine-180985036/
- Fox, Jeremy C. “A French ship that sank after a collision in fog in 1856 off the Mass. coast has been found.” Boston Globe. 9/7/2024.. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/09/07/metro/ship-sank-1856-found-massachusetts/?event=event12
- com News Staff. “Bullet found with remains during excavation at Oaklawn Cemetery, marks 3rd confirmed gunshot victim.” 8/2/2024. https://www.fox23.com/news/bullet-found-with-remains-during-excavation-at-oaklawn-cemetery-marks-3rd-confirmed-gunshot-victim/article_bf2eb2c8-5122-11ef-b13a-7f883d394aae.html
- Giordano, Gaia et al. “Forensic toxicology backdates the use of coca plant (Erythroxylum spp.) in Europe to the early 1600s.” Journal of Archaeological Science. Volume 170, 2024, 106040, ISSN 0305-4403, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2024.106040.
- Gouevia, Flavia. “Donegal farmer uncovers 22kg slab of ancient bog butter.” The Irish News. 9/13/2024. https://www.irishnews.com/news/ireland/donegal-farmer-uncovers-22kg-slab-of-ancient-bog-butter-YUJKZVXG6NH43G3SBZ3DAUDCHI/
- Hawkins, Grant. “Texas A&M’s Quest To Save An Alamo Cannon.” Texas A&M Today. 7/31/2024. https://today.tamu.edu/2024/07/31/texas-ams-quest-to-save-an-alamo-cannon/
- Howe, Craig and Lukas Rieppel. “Why museums should repatriate fossils.” Nature. 6/18/2024. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-02027-y
- Ian G. Barber et al, American sweet potato and Asia-Pacific crop experimentation during early colonisation of temperate-climate Aotearoa/New Zealand, Antiquity (2024). DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2024.143
- Imai, Kunihiko. “Researchers identify mystery artifact from ancient capital.” The Ashai Shimbun. 9/5/2024. https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15415562
- Kael, Sascha. “The plague may have caused the downfall of the Stone Age farmers.” EurekAlert. 7/10/2024. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1050694
- Kokkinidis, Tasos. “Second Ancient Shipwreck Discovered at Antikythera, Greece.” Greek Reporter. 7/1/2024. https://greekreporter.com/2024/07/01/second-ancient-shipwreck-discovered-antikythera-greece/
- Kovac, Adam. “17th-Century Mummified Brains Test Positive for Cocaine.” 8/27/2024. https://gizmodo.com/17th-century-mummified-brains-test-positive-for-cocaine-2000491460
- Kuta, Sarah. “Divers Can Now Explore Historic Shipwrecks in Lake Michigan More Easily.” Smithsonian. 8/23/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/divers-can-now-explore-historic-shipwrecks-in-lake-michigan-more-easily-180984959/
- Kuta, Sarah. “Divers Find Crates of Unopened Champagne in 19th-Century Shipwreck.” Smithsonian. 7/31/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/divers-find-shipwreck-loaded-with-champagne-near-sweden-180984784/
- Kuta, Sarah. “DNA Reveals Identity of Officer on the Lost Franklin Expedition—and His Remains Show Signs of Cannibalism.” Smithsonian. 9/26/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/dna-reveals-identity-of-officer-on-the-lost-franklin-expedition-and-his-remains-show-signs-of-cannibalism-180985154/
- Kuta, Sarah. “Shipwreck Found in Lake Michigan 130 Years After Sinking With Captain’s ‘Intelligent and Faithful’ Dog Onboard.” Smithsonian. 7/25/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/shipwreck-found-in-lake-michigan-130-years-after-sinking-with-captains-intelligent-and-faithful-dog-onboard-180984766/
- Larson, Christina. “Stonehenge's 'altar stone' originally came from Scotland and not Wales, new research shows.” Phys.org. 8/17/2024. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-stonehenge-altar-stone-scotland-wales.html
- Lawson-Tancred, Jo. “A Marble God Is Found in an Ancient Roman Sewer.” Artnet. 7/9/2024. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/marble-hermes-ancient-roman-sewer-2509628
- Lawson-Tancred, Jo. “Legal Battle Intensifies Over Tunnel That May ‘Irreversibly Harm’ Stonehenge.” Artnet. 7/24/2024. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/legal-battle-stonehenge-tunnel-2515809
- Martin B. Sweatman, Representations of calendars and time at Göbekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe support an astronomical interpretation of their symbolism, Time and Mind (2024). DOI: 10.1080/1751696X.2024.2373876
- Merrington, Andrew. “Archaeological scanners offer 2,000-year window into the world of Roman medicine.” Phys.org. 7/16/2024. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-archaeological-scanners-year-window-world.html#google_vignette
- Metcalfe, Tom. “3 shipwrecks from 'forgotten battle' of World War II discovered off remote Alaskan island.” LiveScience. 8/18/2024. https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/3-shipwrecks-from-forgotten-battle-of-world-war-ii-discovered-off-remote-alaskan-island
- Moreno-Mayar, J.V., Sousa da Mota, B., Higham, T. et al. Ancient Rapanui genomes reveal resilience and pre-European contact with the Americas. Nature 633, 389–397 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07881-4
- National Museum of Ireland. “Appeal for information about Bronze Age axeheads found in Westmeath.” https://www.museum.ie/en-IE/News/Appeal-for-information-about-Bronze-Age-Axeheads-F
- Nichols, Kaila. “A history buff bought a piece of a tent from Goodwill for $1,700. It really did belong to George Washington.” CNN. 7/21/2024. https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/21/us/george-washington-tent-fragment-goodwill/index.html
- Ogliore, Talia. “Archaeologists report earliest evidence for plant farming in east Africa.” EurekAlert. 7/9/2024. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1050678
- Orie, Amarachi. “New Titanic photos show major decay to legendary wreck.” CNN. 9/2/2024. https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/02/science/titanic-photos-show-major-decay-intl-scli/index.html
- Owsley DW, Bruwelheide KS, Harney É, et al. Historical and archaeogenomic identification of high-status Englishmen at Jamestown, Virginia. Antiquity. 2024;98(400):1040-1054. doi:10.15184/aqy.2024.75
- org . “New finds in treasure-laden shipwreck off Colombia.” 8/9/2024. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-treasure-laden-shipwreck-colombia.html#google_vignette
- Pirchner, Deborah. “Pompeii skeleton discovery shows another natural disaster may have made Vesuvius eruption even more deadly.” EurekAlert. 7/18/2024. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1050523
- Qiblawi, Adnan. “A Metal Tube in a Polish Museum Turns Out to Be a 150-Year-Old Time Capsule.” Artnet. 7/5/2024. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/polish-museum-time-capsule-2508303
- Cooley et al, Rainforest response to glacial terminations before and after human arrival in Lutruwita (Tasmania), Quaternary Science Reviews (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108572
- Schrader, Adam. “Historian Identifies Lost Henry VIII Portrait in Background of Social Media Photo.” Artnet. 7/26/2024. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/historian-identifies-henry-viii-portrait-social-media-photo-2517144
- Seaton, Jamie. “Did Prehistoric Children Make Figurines Out of Clay?” Smithsonian. 7/2/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/did-prehistoric-children-make-figurines-out-of-clay-180984534/
- Solly, Melian. “Archaeologists Say They’ve Solved the Mystery of a Lead Coffin Discovered Beneath Notre-Dame.” Smithsonian. 9/18/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-say-theyve-solved-the-mystery-of-a-lead-coffin-discovered-beneath-notre-dame-180985103/
- Stockholm University. "Study reveals isolation, endogamy and pathogens in early medieval Spanish community." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 28 August 2024. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/08/240828154921.htm.
- Strickland, Ashley. “Archaeologists unearth tiny 3,500-year-old clay tablet following an earthquake.” CNN. 8/16/2024. https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/16/science/ancient-cuneiform-tablet-turkey-earthquake/index.html
- Svennevig, Birgitte. “Chemical analyses find hidden elements from renaissance astronomer Tycho Brahe’s alchemy laboratory.” EurekAlert. 7/24/2024. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1052085
- The History Blog. “Animal figurine found in early Viking settlement in Iceland.” 8/27/2024. http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/70960
- The History Blog. “Bronze Age axe found off Norwegian coast.” 7/14/2024. http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/70697
- The History Blog. “Tomb of military leader in Augustus’ wars in Spain found in Pompeii.” 7/17/2024. http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/70715
- The History Blog. “Wolf teeth found in ancient Venetii cremation burial.” 9/25/2024. http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/71171
- Thomas AE, Hill ME, Stricker L, et al. The Dogs of Tsenacomoco: Ancient DNA Reveals the Presence of Local Dogs at Jamestown Colony in the Early Seventeenth Century. American Antiquity. 2024;89(3):341-359. doi:10.1017/aaq.2024.25
- Thorsberg, Christian. “Sticks Discovered in Australian Cave Shed New Light on an Aboriginal Ritual Passed Down for 12,000 Years.” Smithsonian. 7/9/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/sticks-discovered-in-australian-cave-shed-new-light-on-an-aboriginal-ritual-passed-down-for-12000-years-180984642/
- Whiddington, Richard. “Van Gogh’s ‘Irises’ Appear Blue Today, But Were Once More Violet, New Research Finds.” Artnet. 7/24/2024. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/van-gogh-irises-getty-2515593
- Whiddington, Richard. “Was Venice’s Famed Winged Lion Statue Actually Made in China?.” Artnet. 9/17/2024. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/bronze-venice-lion-from-china-2537486
- Wizevich, Eli. “Newly Deciphered, 4,000-Year-Old Cuneiform Tablets Used Lunar Eclipses to Predict Major Events.” Smithsonian. 8/9/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/newly-deciphered-4000-year-old-cuneiform-tablets-used-lunar-eclipses-to-predict-major-events-180984871/
- Woolston, Chris. “New study challenges drought theory for Cahokia exodus.” Phys.org. 7/3/2024. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-drought-theory-cahokia-exodus.html
- Potter, Lisa. “Genetics reveal ancient trade routes and path to domestication of the Four Corners potato Genetic analysis shows that ancient.” EurekAlert. 7/24/2024. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1052517
- Cell Press. "World's oldest cheese reveals origins of kefir." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 25 September 2024. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/09/240925122859.htm
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