Category Archives: History

HOW DID THE YAMNAYA —WHO WERE LATE ARRIVALS— PREVAIL?

HOW DID THE YAMNAYA —WHO WERE LATE ARRIVALS— PREVAIL? Reich says: “it is clear that the single most important source of ancestry across northern Europe today is the Yamnaya or groups closely related to them.” (p. 119) But the Yamnaya … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, History, Science | 1 Comment

MASS MIGRATION—THE YAMNAYA.

MASS MIGRATION—THE YAMNAYA. One of the dramatic findings of ancient DNA has been to discover that: “the population of northern Europe was largely replaced by a mass migration from the eastern European steppe after five thousand years ago.” About 5000 … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, History | Leave a comment

MIGRATION OR THE SPREAD OF CULTURE?

MIGRATION OR THE SPREAD OF CULTURE? During the last fifty years there have been debates over whether inventions and influences in the distant past resulted from migrations or from the spread of culture—-for example, by traders. Ancient DNA thus far … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, History, Science | Leave a comment

ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES BEING MADE RIGHT NOW.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES BEING MADE RIGHT NOW. One of the themes of this blog has been wonder that new discoveries continue to be made in history and in archaeology and hope that more remain to be made. Less than two months … Continue reading

Posted in History | Leave a comment

JOLABOKAFLOD—ANCIENT DNA.

JOLABOKAFLOD—ANCIENT DNA. Mary Jane and I were so excited by the scientific breakthroughs with ancient DNA that we jointly gave ourselves for Christmas WHO WE ARE AND HOW WE GOT HERE by David Reich and ANCESTRAL JOURNEYS by Jean Manco. … Continue reading

Posted in History, Science | 1 Comment

TWELVE YEARS OF COMPLAINING ABOUT THE WAY WE NOMINATE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES.

TWELVE YEARS OF COMPLAINING ABOUT THE WAY WE NOMINATE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES. My post on January 23, 2007 inveighed against our nomination process for presidential candidates. I said that: “there are almost a dozen other potential candidates in the two parties … Continue reading

Posted in History, Politics | Leave a comment

THE SPORT OF TEJO, WHERE SCORING IS DONE WITH GUNPOWDER.

THE SPORT OF TEJO, WHERE SCORING IS DONE WITH GUNPOWDER. John Otis had an article in the Wall Street Journal (December 5, 2018) about tejo, which the article says is the “Colombian national sport”. (The Colombian Congress in 2000 gave … Continue reading

Posted in History, Sports | 1 Comment

THE USEFULNESS OF CURSE TABLETS.

THE USEFULNESS OF CURSE TABLETS (COMMENT). Nick commented that he really enjoyed yesterday’s post. One reason I also enjoyed it is that I have always liked curse tablets from classical times. I have posted on them before (see, for example, … Continue reading

Posted in History, Politics | Leave a comment

“ET TU, BRUTE” OR “SEE YOU IN HELL, PUNK.”

“ET TU, BRUTE” OR “SEE YOU IN HELL, PUNK.” Thomas Jones had a review in the London Review of Books (December 6, 2018) of a new biography of Brutus by Kathryn Tempest. One arresting point in his review forms the … Continue reading

Posted in History | 2 Comments

THE DISAPPOINTMENTS AND SUCCESSES OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS.

THE DISAPPOINTMENTS AND SUCCESSES OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS. Nick commented here on my celebration—-along with Nicholas Kristov—-of the economic success of the world’s poor in 2018. I agree with Nick that other important goals remain to be achieved. However in my … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, History | Leave a comment