Share on mailto Herculaneum was covered by Mount Vesuvius’s eruption in 79 C.E., but unlike Pompeii, many human remains there were well preserved.
LUCIANO FATTORE/SAPIENZA UNIVERSITY OF ROME
Almost 2000 years ago, a volcanic eruption buried the seaside Roman town of Herculaneum in the same rush of hot ash and gas that decimated Pompeii. The catastrophe didn’t just preserve buildings and bones—it saved clues to the Roman diet. A new analysis of the bones of 17 victims reveals what these ancient villagers were eating, and in what proportions. Residents scarfed a lot of seafood and olive oil, confirming historians’ estimates that average Romans consumed 20 liters (more than 5 gallons) of the oil each year.
Previous studies have only given broad outlines, not the nitty-gritty details, of the ancient Roman diet, says Erica Rowan, an archaeobotanist at the…
This section was requested by readers, who did not understand the historical context of references to the Battle of Tom’s Brook and the American Civil War in other chapters. The Americas Revealed each day has many readers from around the world. Also, American history textbooks tend to dwell on the famous leaders and generals of the Civil War, leaving out what like was like during that terrible period for other people.
While living in Virginia, I served on the National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program Advisory Council. That’s why I knew NPS Director Roger Kennedy in 2010-2011, when he funded my field research in the Southern Appalachians. During the mid-late 1990s, I put considerable professional time into preserving and restoring Union and Confederate fortifications/battlefields in Northwest Metro Atlanta.
Although the Minoan Linear A Script Writings have not yet been deciphered, many scholars have been able to recognize some of the syllables as some are the same as the Mycenaean Linear B Scripts which were deciphered by Michael Ventris in 1952. It is thought that the Linear B was carried on from Linear A The example you see below is a correlation between the Minoan Linear A tablet from Haghia Triada HT 31 and the Mycenaean Linear B tablet from Pylos Py 641 Ventris. This Linear B tablet was the first tablet my teacher gave me to translate when I first began studying the script writings. Both these tablets are inventories for pottery.
Translation of the above Linear A tablet
Line 1 – se? -ti-sa = a type of vessel + puko = tripod + ideogram for “tripod”
Line 2 – qa – pa = large pithoi + ideogram for “pithoi” 10 + su – pu = very large pithoi 10
Line 3 – ka- ro- pai + ideogram for “vessel” surcharged = kylix 10 + sa-ja-ma-na = type of “vessel” with 2 horizontal bars = 20 maybe more since there are 3 effected lines below the first 2 horizontal bars 20
Line 4 – ki – de -ma na = type of “vessel”
lINE 5 – ideogram for “vessel” truncated + ideogram surcharged for maybe cups 100 + su – pai- ra= small cups with handles 300
Line 6 – pa – ta- qe = small cups without handles 3,000
TRANSLATION
Line 1 – possibly (se? ) hence se- ti-sa description of pottery vessel + puko = tripod
Line 2 10 large pithoi as well as 10 larger pithoi
Line 3 kylix usually with two handles
Line 4 type of vessel which we cannot identify because the ideogram is truncated on line 5
Line 5 ideogram for vessel truncated 100 + 300 small cups with handles
Line 6 3,000 small cups without handles.
EVIDENCE OF CROSS CORRELATION LINEAR A HT31 and LINEAR B 64l
LINEAR A HT31 LINEAR B 641
puko = tripod tiripode = tripod
supu = very large pithos dipa mezoe = large pithos
qapai = large pithos dipa mezoe = large pithos
karopai = kylix keto = kylix
supaira = small cups with handles dipa mewijo
pataqe = small cups without handles dipa anowe
NOTE A Pithos (singular) Pithoi (plural) is a large pot used for storing and transporting Olive oil
a Kylix is a stemmed cup usually with two handles
Below is my translation of the Linear B tablet from Pylos PY641
Line 1 Aikeu = Aigeus = personal name + kerisijo = of the Cretan + weke= style + ideogram for terepode = tripod 2 + eme = with one + pode = leg owowe = with handles + ideogram for tiripode = tripod + keresijo = of the Cretan + weke = style + apu kekaumeno = burnt from the legs up
Line 2 qeto = kind of pot with three handles + mezoe = bigger + qetorowe = with four handles + ideogram for vase 1 + ideogram for vase + ideogram for one + dipa = a type of cup/vase + mezoe = bigger + tiriowee = with three handles + ideogram for vase two + dipa = type of cup/vase + mewijo = smaller + qetorowe = with four handles + ideogram for a kind of pot one
Line 3 dipa = cup/goblet + mewijo = smaller + tirijowe = with three handles + ideogram for a kind of pot one – dipa = cup/goblet + mewejo = small + anowe = without handles + ideogram for a kind of pot one
TRANSLATION
Aigeus a worker is making tripods of the Cretan style
There are 2 tripods with three legs and two handles
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