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Several police officers were called to a home in Westervesede
The shooting was allegedly perpetrated by an active Bundeswehr (German armed forces) soldier
who is understood to have handed himself into police after the shooting
Shots were also fired in one in nearby Bothel in the Rotenburg district
it is still unclear whether there is a connection between the two crime scenes
“A motive in the family environment cannot be ruled out,” said a police press release
Officers launched a major operation around 3:30am local time
and state and federal police were also on duty
A police helicopter was used in the early stage of the probe
including ages and the nature of their relationships
Investigators are also examining a vehicle in front of the barracks for suspected ammunition and explosives in the perpetrator's vehicle
The public prosecutor's office initially did not provide any information as to whether the suspect's weapon came from the possession of the Bundeswehr
Police say there is no longer any danger to the nearby population at the present time
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The recent discovery of several late Linearbandkeramik (LBK) sites in Central Europe
has revealed evidence for increasing diversity in Neolithic mortuary practices
which may reflect inter-community war and socio-political crisis at the end of the LBK
the authors combine osteological and radiocarbon analyses of inhumations from Vráble
Rather than a straightforward sign of inter-community conflict and war
this development reflects a culmination of internal conflict and a diversification in the ritual treatment of human bodies
The emerging variability in LBK methods of manipulating and depositing dead bodies can be interpreted as an experimental approach in how to negotiate social conflicts and community boundaries
Vráble is a newly discovered LBK site in south-west Slovakia that has yielded evidence for diverse ways of handling the dead
Some of the buried individuals show clear signs of post-mortem manipulation
and the overall context hints at the use of specific burial rituals
Vráble therefore adds a specific point of reference for interpretation of the previously mentioned examples
further sharpening understanding of the ways in which the first farmers in Central Europe engaged with death and the deceased
Vráble also adds to our understanding of the role that violence played in such practices and in the social dynamics within communities
Figure 1. Vráble (star) and other sites mentioned in the text in relation to the general distribution of early LBK sites (shown in green, after Lüning Reference Lüning1988: 32 & fig
Above) the three separate neighbourhoods of Vráble shown in the magnetic prospection data
with the interpreted houses as white rectangles
the ditches around the south-western neighbourhood as white lines and a high-resolution shaded elevation model as backdrop; the excavated areas in the south-western neighbourhood are clearly visible
Below) the southern entrances to the enclosure around the south-western neighbourhood of Vráble and the excavated areas (figure by N
The settlement of Vráble dates to between c. 5250 and 4950 cal BC (Furholt et al. Reference Furholt, Bátora, Cheben, Kroll, Rassmann and Tóth2014; Meadows et al. Reference Meadows, Müller-Scheessel, Cheben, Agerskov Rose and Furholt2019)
The enclosure surrounding the south-western neighbourhood has a maximum perimeter of approximately 1450m
and consists of three concentric components: two ditches and one palisade
and a distinct phase of re-cutting is visible in the profile sections
The inner ditch is smaller at only 1.5m wide
Although the excavation of the ditches yielded no direct evidence concerning their temporal relationship
their parallel courses suggest either that they were contemporaneous
or that one was still clearly visible when the other was dug
The absence of fine-grained fill layers that would indicate slow silting suggests that the fills of the ditches formed rapidly
We therefore assume that the ditches were dug shortly before the oldest of the human burials were placed towards the bottom of the re-cut ditch deposits
Excavations in Vráble have so far yielded the remains of approximately 19 human individuals (see Table S1 in the online supplementary material (OSM))
we cannot establish whether bones found considerable distances apart belong to the same individual
or whether disarticulated bones found close together originate from different individuals
The grouping of bone scatters was based on both proximity and plausibility
stable isotope values and radiocarbon-dating of single bones
Selection of burials from Vráble: 1) G13/S23; 2) G12/S23; 3) G7/S21; 4) G8/S21; 5) G4/S21; 6) G9/S21; 7) G2/S21 (figure by N
a lack of cut marks indicates that it was probably removed following a period of decomposition
The removal of the skulls and the single hand is also consistent with the hypothesis that the bodies were left uncovered for a period of time following deposition
A particularly heavily disturbed individual (G5/S21)
although it is unclear when these elements were separated from the post-cranial skeleton
due to extensive disturbance of the extant remains
I17/S23 & I18/S21) were found in the fills of the ditches
These finds are more problematic to subsume under one specific burial custom
as they potentially result from a number of different depositional processes
originate from older burials that were disturbed and re-deposited during the digging of the ditches
or from corpses that were left exposed on the ditch bank for an extended period
so that only very few elements became incorporated into the ditch fill
It seems very likely that further excavation of the outer ditch will yield many more individuals
as only 50m of the 1450m circuit has so far been excavated
Selection of grave goods from Vráble: 1) ceramic vessel from the upper layer of the outer ditch; 2) flint blade from burial G8/S21; 3) Spondylus medallion from an animal burrow; 4) flat adze from G7/S21
We suggest that the medallion probably derives from a now destroyed grave
Most of the Vráble individuals are adults
although the sex of eight individuals cannot be determined
Due to the relatively small sample size and the restricted excavation area
palaeodemographic analyses seem unnecessary
especially as only one child and no elderly adults (60+) were present
Most of the adult individuals died between the ages of 18 and 35 years
with only two males and one female surviving past 35 years of age (see OSM4 for the methods used to assess age
A fully healed fracture of the mid-shaft of the right tibia was observed in one individual (female G12/S23)
Bayesian model of mortuary activity at Vráble (cf
Full model code is provided in OSM3 (figure by J
Figure 7. Summaries of modelled radiocarbon data (cf. Figure 6) of crouched and non-crouched burials from Vráble, obtained using the OxCal function KDE_Plot (Bronk Ramsey Reference Bronk Ramsey2017) within each bounded phase of the model shown in Figure 6
Crosses indicate the median calibrated (grey) and modelled (black) date of each individual
and thus the number of dated individuals of each type (figure by J
Figure 8. Modelled dates of crouched burials (cf. Figure 6) from Vráble (figure by J
the differences in mortuary treatment at Vráble are striking
While some individuals were buried (with clear investment in terms of time
others were left exposed for a certain period of time
the skulls of at least three skeletons from the ‘irregular’ group were removed during the decomposition process
The true prevalence of this practice at Vráble cannot yet be assessed properly
as some of the bone scatters were too poorly preserved
as the modus operandi with the three articulated skeletons was identical
this behaviour seems to have been part of a regular ritual practice within the Vráble community
Such ancestor worship seems particularly unlikely in the case of the child from Vráble (G4/S21)
Unfortunately, it is not easy to form a reliable overview of the general health of LBK individuals or the level of violence that they experienced. Four out of the eleven (36.4 per cent) well-preserved adult individuals from Vráble exhibit spinal defects. Tvrdý (Reference Tvrdý2016) reports a similar prevalence of spinal defects in 12 of the 37 (32.4 per cent) adult individuals from the nearby LBK cemetery at Nitra
it seems that the prevalence of degenerative pathologies was similar at both Vráble and Nitra (only degenerative conditions are reported for the latter site)
Cranial and post-cranial trauma observed in adult individuals from LBK cemeteries and settlement contexts (figure by N
Figure 10. Models of all available AMS radiocarbon dates of LBK human bone samples. All dates at each site are placed between uniform phase boundaries, and the OxCal function KDE_Plot (Bronk Ramsey Reference Bronk Ramsey2017) is used to summarise the modelled dates (figure by N
Vráble provides evidence with which to address two key current debates around LBK communities: their supposed ‘violent’ ends and, second, the variability of their burial practices. Some scholars envisage a direct connection between these two issues, seeing increasing mortuary variability towards the end of the LBK as further evidence for the violent termination of the LBK cultural model (e.g. Farruggia Reference Farruggia2001/2002: 120)
While the evidence from Vráble seems to confirm the wider observation of diversification in burial rites towards the end of the LBK
gruesome methods of handling the dead must represent the last stage of burial activity at a site
crouched burials clearly post-date the headless individuals placed in the ditch
we consider that the differential treatment of the dead was also probably driven by intra-community tensions
Vráble further emphasises the variability in motives for manipulating and depositing human bodies in enclosure ditches in LBK settlements
Traditional cultural-historical research tended to reify prehistoric cultural practices
assuming that they constituted strict rules that must be followed
we see a proliferation of different LBK ways of handling dead bodies
rituals and acts of magic—all of which can be interpreted as experimental approaches
Conceptualising LBK methods of manipulating human bodies in this way allows us to avoid the automatic attribution of evidence of interpersonal violence to functional explanations
This is not intended to negate any of the suffering that some individuals of
but it calls into question a simplified differentiation between ‘war’—where people suffer violent deaths—and ‘peace’
where the dead are buried in neat burial pits
Vráble demonstrates much variation between the two
We thank the two anonymous reviewers for their insights and helpful comments
This research was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG
Müller) and the Vedecká grantová agentúra MŠVVaŠ SR a SAV (VEGA; project 2/0107/17; PI: I
To view supplementary material for this article, please visit https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2020.103
Figure 1. Vráble (star) and other sites mentioned in the text in relation to the general distribution of early LBK sites (shown in green, after Lüning 1988: 32 & fig. 4) (figure by N. Müller-Scheeßel).
Figure 3. Selection of burials from Vráble: 1) G13/S23; 2) G12/S23; 3) G7/S21; 4) G8/S21; 5) G4/S21; 6) G9/S21; 7) G2/S21 (figure by N. Müller-Scheeßel).
Figure 4. Examples of skeletal pathology at Vráble: 1) left clavicle from G3/S21, with signs of animal activity (arrows); 2) probable fractured and healed right metacarpal bone (‘boxer's fracture’) of G13/S23 (Figure 3.1); 3) clavicles from G13/S23, with the fracture affecting the left clavicle marked by arrows; 4) fused cervical vertebrae from G5/S21; 5) notochord defect on a cervical vertebra from G12/S23 (Figure 3.2) (figure by Z. Hukeľová).
Figure 5. Selection of grave goods from Vráble: 1) ceramic vessel from the upper layer of the outer ditch; 2) flint blade from burial G8/S21; 3) Spondylus medallion from an animal burrow; 4) flat adze from G7/S21. 1) Scale = 1:3; 2–4) scale = 1:2. (figure by E. Bakytová & G. Müller-Scheeßel).
Figure 6. Bayesian model of mortuary activity at Vráble (cf. OSM1). For underlying assumptions, see OSM2. Full model code is provided in OSM3 (figure by J. Meadows).
Figure 7. Summaries of modelled radiocarbon data (cf. Figure 6) of crouched and non-crouched burials from Vráble, obtained using the OxCal function KDE_Plot (Bronk Ramsey 2017) within each bounded phase of the model shown in Figure 6. Crosses indicate the median calibrated (grey) and modelled (black) date of each individual, and thus the number of dated individuals of each type (figure by J. Meadows).
Figure 8. Modelled dates of crouched burials (cf. Figure 6) from Vráble (figure by J. Meadows).
Figure 9. Cranial and post-cranial trauma observed in adult individuals from LBK cemeteries and settlement contexts (figure by N. Müller-Scheeßel).
Figure 10. Models of all available AMS radiocarbon dates of LBK human bone samples. All dates at each site are placed between uniform phase boundaries, and the OxCal function KDE_Plot (Bronk Ramsey 2017) is used to summarise the modelled dates (figure by N. Müller-Scheeßel).
Müller-Scheeßel et al. supplementary material
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Four people, including a child, were killed in shootings in northern Germany, police and prosecutors said on Friday. They said the suspect is a soldier who turned himself in.
The four victims were shot overnight at locations in the rural Scheessel and Bothel areas, near Hannover and Bremen, authorities said in a statement.
The suspect, a German soldier, surrendered to police shortly after the shooting, they said.
His motive was not immediately clear, but they said that “a motive in the family environment cannot be ruled out”.
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govt and politics","score":0.890909},{"label":"/law
govt and politics/law enforcement","score":0.839153},{"label":"/law
FOX 2
Welsh singer Duffy, who revealed earlier this year that she had been kidnapped and raped
criticizing the streaming service for its decision to air the “erotic” kidnap film “365 Days.”
Addressing Netflix CEO Reed Hastings
that the film “glamorizes the brutal reality of sex trafficking
which Netflix describes as an “erotic drama,” is based on the bestselling Polish novel “365 dni” by Blanka Lipinska
It tells the story of a woman who is abducted
imprisoned and repeatedly sexually abused by a mafia boss — who gives her one year to fall in love with him
other than to reach out and explain to you in this letter how irresponsible it was of Netflix to broadcast the film ‘365 Days,'” the 36-year-old singer wrote in the letter to Hastings
“This should not be anyone’s idea of entertainment
or be commercialized in this manner,” she said
adding that the film “distorts” sexual violence
“eroticises” kidnapping and was “careless
Following a long hiatus away from the public eye
Duffy revealed in an Instagram post in February that she had been raped and drugged
she published further details of the ordeal in a post on her own website
to free herself of her emotional burden and help others who “have suffered the same.”
In the post
and raped over a four-week period after being drugged at a restaurant on her birthday
“I knew my life was in immediate danger
he made veiled confessions of wanting to kill me,” she wrote
“I was high risk of suicide in the aftermath.”
Duffy is not the only critic of “365 Days,” which has received a number of poor reviews, including a 0% score on the review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes
CNN has reached out to Netflix for comment on Duffy’s letter
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With the 2023 FIM Long Track World Championship now entering the second half of the series
the top riders on the planet will resume their battle for supremacy at the season’s fourth Final this coming Saturday (20 August) at Scheessel in Germany
Series pacesetter is Britain’s super-experienced Chris ‘Bomber’ Harris who has come out on top at the two previous Finals
but the forty-year-old will have to fight for every available point if he is to maintain and even extend his slender one-point advantage
Following the opening two Finals of the championship at Herxheim in Germany and Ostrów in Poland there was a three-way tie for the lead between Martin Smolinski from Germany
Britain’s Zach Wajtknecht and Josef Franc from the Czech Republic
although this all changed last time out at Marmande in France in mid-July
After claiming a career-first victory at Ostrów
Harris carried his momentum into Marmande where his dramatic win lifted him from fourth to first as Franc – who won at Herxheim – dropped off the pace after failing to make the Grand Final on a tough night for the forty-four-year-old
Smolinski – who won the title in 2018 – sits just one point behind Harris and has been showing great form this season to claim the second step of the podium in Poland and France
though the thirty-eight-year-old is still counting the cost of a mechanical issue that saw him trail in last in the Grand Final at the opening round
Wajtknecht is very much the young gun of the championship contenders
but after taking victory at the last two Finals of 2022 on his way to the series silver he is still chasing a first victory this year
and he is now ten points behind Wajtknecht and needs to score solid points on Saturday afternoon if he is to keep his title hopes alive
He will also be looking to stay ahead of fifth-placed Lukas Fienhage
who he leads by a single point after the German placed fifth in France
With such a strong field of riders there is no shortage of challengers and fans have yet to see the best of 2021 champion Romano Hummel from the Netherlands
however the biggest challenge to the top-three could very well come from a pair of wild card riders
Dutchman Dave Meijerink made his 2023 series debut in Marmande where he impressed with a fighting fourth in the Grand Final and Scheessel will see the eagerly awaited return to Long Track of Erik Riss
The twenty-seven-year-old has concentrated more on Speedway in recent years and the German – who took the gold medal in 2014 and 2016 – will be aiming to shake things up at the front on home soil
Starts will be vital on the one-thousand-metre Scheessel track as riders look to get themselves into the best possible points position before the series concludes next month with the last two Finals in Morizes in France and Mühldorf in Germany
The action from Scheessel will get under way with the first heat at 14:00 local time
The full series is available as a Pay-Per-View broadcast via a livestream package on the Tapes Up TV channel. For more details click here
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The FIM is pleased to announce the calendar for the 2025 FIM Long Track World Championship powered by Anlas
Getting under way at the Rennbahn Mühldorf in Germany on 6 July
one week later on 13 July the action moves to Marmande in France
Round three is scheduled for the Eichenring Scheessel in Germany on 24 August before the series concludes at the Speed Centre Roden in the Netherlands on 21 September
FIM wild cards will be Mathias Trésarrieu from France
Mika Meijer from the Netherlands and Tero Aarnio from Finland
The FIM substitutes are Jordan Dubernard from France
Henri Ahlbom from Finland and William Kruit from the Netherlands
The FIM Long Track World Championship Challenge is scheduled for 6 September at Morizès in France and the FIM Long Track of Nations will take place at Reiterwaldstadion Vechta in Germany on 13 September
one day after the FIM Long Track Under 23 World Cup at the same venue
Calendar HERE
Explanations for the emergence and abandonment of the Chalcolithic Trypillia mega-sites have long been debated
the authors use Gini coefficients based on the sizes of approximately 7000 houses at 38 Trypillia sites to assess inequality between households as a factor in the rise and/or demise of these settlements
The results indicate temporarily reduced social inequality at mega-sites
It was only after several generations that increased social differentiation re-emerged and this may explain the subsequent abandonment of the mega-sites
The results indicate that increases in social complexity need not be associated with greater social stratification and that large aggregations of population can
Distribution of surveyed sites by region with sample sizes and Gini coefficients (figure by authors)
The often-inconsistent data of the radiocarbon laboratory in Kiev were not relied on
Artist's reconstruction of a Trypillia house with a raised platform at the mega-site of Maidanetske in region A (image by Susanne Beyer)
Where geophysical surveys have only partially covered the full extent of a settlement, the degree to which the surveyed area is representative of the wider settlement may be questionable. This is especially evident at the sites of Hlybochok and Vijtivka, where magnetometry survey focused on the settlements’ central open spaces (see Ohlrau & Rud Reference Ohlrau, Rud, Mischka, Mischka and Preoteasa2019)
show that these central spaces are marked by particularly large houses
This may result in the biasing of house size variability for only partly surveyed settlements like Hlybochok and Vijtivka but
When these settlements have been fully surveyed
we will check how this affects our results
Distribution of Gini coefficients in the combined sample of sites (bin width = 0.02) (figure by authors)
CI: confidence interval for Gini coefficient
Dating of the sites is given with the highest dating probability
Gini coefficients in relation to settlement size and sample size (figure by authors)
Boxplots of Gini coefficients in regions A–C
The whiskers extend to 1.5 of the interquartile range; there are no outliers (figure by authors)
Gini values and confidence intervals for Trypillia sites across time
A–C show results from all regions; D–F show individual regions
green and blue lines: locally weighted smoothing regression (LOESS)
Vertical bars: 0.8 confidence intervals for Gini values after bootstrapping
Horizontal bars: dating ranges of individual sites (highest probability) (figure by authors)
Looking at all the regions together (Figure 6A & B)
a steady decline in the Gini coefficient from approximately 0.25 to 0.2 is noticeable in the early phase of Trypillian population aggregation
In the subsequent late phase of aggregated settlements
Gini coefficients increase substantially to values of up to 0.25
when populations dispersed away from aggregated settlements into smaller settlements this trend of increasing Gini coefficient continues
In region A, early settlements such as Veselyj Kut and Chizhіvka demonstrate Gini coefficients between 0.2 and 0.25 (Figure 6C & D; Table 2)
Hlybochok and Nebelivka have much lower Gini coefficients
A reversal of this trend towards somewhat higher
This includes the mega-sites of Maidanetske and Dobrovody
when populations began to move away from the large aggregated Trypillia settlements
the trend towards higher Gini coefficients clearly intensifies
4200 and 3900 BC; they then decrease (until at least 3800 BC) to increase again later
but the latter trend is documented only at Cunicea 3
Assuming that the variability in the floor size of houses reflects differences in household wealth
we can discern a decline in social inequality in Trypillia communities until at least 3800 BC
in the final phase of the aggregated settlements
before reaching a peak after 3750 BC in the phase following the demise of the large settlements
The development outlined here suggests that both an egalitarian ideology and effective mechanisms for avoiding social inequality must have existed within Trypillia communities
It implies intra-settlement mechanisms for reconciling interests and redistributing surpluses that might have been established collectively
These ideological views and mechanisms may have changed over time
enabling a revival of vertical social differentiation
this was a decisive factor in the subsequent gradual demise of aggregated settlements
1) The architecture of the houses (i.e. floor plan and construction) shows a high degree of standardisation, as do the furnishing of the houses and the economic activities detectable within (Chernovol Reference Chernovol, Menotti and Korvin-Piotrovskiy2012)
2) The round and oval settlement layouts ensured equal access to structural elements and infrastructure (e.g. central open spaces) and find analogies in the floor plans of communities organised along egalitarian lines in other ethnographic contexts (e.g. Wagner Reference Wagner, Haude and Wagner2019) (Figure 7)
4) Recent studies that have examined Trypillia sites from a social archaeological perspective, based on systematic comparisons of assemblages from houses, suggest that larger houses contain higher quantities of objects associated with food preparation (Ohlrau Reference Ohlrau2020: 58) or more evidence of activities associated with higher social prestige (Țerna Reference Țerna2021)
it is reasonable to suggest a link between growing social inequality—manifested in increased variability in house sizes—and transformation of social organisation towards centralised decision-making
the end of the aggregated Trypillia communities and mega-sites coincided with when the mechanisms of social levelling and political participation began to fail and social inequality re-emerged
Figure 7. Plan of the Trypillia mega-site of Maidanetske (after Hofmann et al. Reference Hofmann2019)
We have used variability in the sizes of houses at 38 Trypillia settlements to explore changing levels of inequality across three geographical regions and two millennia using standard Gini coefficients
We interpret the results to indicate that Trypillia mega-sites successfully avoided wealth inequalities between individual households
Their communities may have achieved this through an egalitarian ideology and effective mechanisms of reconciliation of interests and intra-community redistribution of (potentially) collectively generated surplus
Our results shed new light on the nature and possible reasons for the formation and decline of these unique prehistoric communities
by enabling members to participate actively in political decision-making processes
the social make-up of aggregated mega-sites might have had a ‘reforming’ character
which may have been decisive for attracting
large numbers of people to these communities
We therefore believe we can partially answer the frequently discussed question of why Trypillia mega-sites emerged
The mega-site concept included a levelling mechanism to prevent social inequality
with co-operative economic management and living arrangements used to minimise inequality
The Gini coefficients generated here show that this was successful for a long time
Only during the later development phase of the mega-sites
did the tendency towards social inequality increase again
the mega-site phenomenon represents one of a series of historical examples that show that an increase in the complexity of societies is not necessarily associated with an increase in vertical social differentiation
both the emergence and the break-up of aggregated Trypillia mega-sites were primarily due to the political decisions made by the individuals and communities who lived at—and who eventually decided to leave—these vast settlements
We are most grateful for the many years of fruitful co-operation with Vladislav Chabanyuk (State Historical and Cultural Reserve ‘Trypillia Culture’ Lehedzyne
Knut Rassmann (Roman-Germanic Commission of the German Archaeological Institute)
Ghenadie Sîrbu (State University of Moldova)
Stanislav Ţerna† (most recently Kiel University
and Mikhail Yu.Videiko (Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University
We thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive and helpful comments
This research was carried out within the framework of the Kiel Collaborative Research Center 1266 ‘Scales of Transformation – Human-Environmental Interaction in Prehistoric and Archaic Societies’ (German Research Foundation – Project number 290391021-SFB 1266)
To view supplementary material for this article, please visit https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2024.18
Plan of the Trypillia mega-site of Maidanetske (after Hofmann et al
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The band hit the high seas again for their sixth annual cruise event
Singer Dave King of the irish-american band Flogging Molly performs live on stage during the Hurricane Festival on June 22
Flogging Molly has announced that fellow punk legends Descendants and Bad Religion will be joining them on their sixth annual Salty Dog Cruise
and will make stops at Florida Keys and the Bahamas before returning back to port
Prior to the Salty Dog Cruise, Flogging Molly are also going on tour with Mad Caddies and Street Dogs starting on 12 March in Valley Center
they will be playing the Bonnaroo Festival 2020 on 14 June in Manchester
before heading on a European tour starting on 17 June in Nordfjordeid
More information about the Salty Dog Cruise here.
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Over 5,000 years ago in what is today Slovakia
a Neolithic community erected a new building
It wasn’t the first “longhouse” in Vráble
an early town comprising about 100 buildings in all
the entire village slowly turned counterclockwise—and the Stone Age inhabitants of Slovakia likely had no idea it was happening
They weren’t alone. “We find [these longhouses] from the Paris Basin to Ukraine,” says Nils Müller-Scheeßel, an archaeologist at Kiel University and lead author of a recent paper, published last month in the journal PLOS One
“And what we find archaeologically is almost indistinguishably similar
They basically use the same building technique.”
These buildings were put up roughly once every 30 or 40 years
and each time the skew was counterclockwise—a pattern that occurred consistently over the course of 300 years
and certainly invisible to the naked Neolithic eye
the curious rotation of the houses can be attributed to an esoteric glitch in the brain—a psychological process called pseudoneglect
The sides of our brains have different responsibilities: The left hemisphere
just as the right manages spatial attention
And those splits can sometimes manifest themselves in our interactions with the material world
A portmanteau of “neglect,” pseudoneglect is a natural psychological phenomenon that causes individuals to pay more attention to the left side of their world
It has been observed in species other than humans
and in humans has been shown to affect senses other than sight
But it is most obviously apparent visually
and in the way that individuals will give weight to the left side of their field of view
“It refers to a surplus of attention that is deployed into the left hemispace,” says Mark McCourt
a psychologist at North Dakota State University who is unaffiliated with the recent paper
“The commonly held idea is that it is a byproduct—an epiphenomenon—of the fact that the right hemisphere is specialized for the deployment of spatial attention.”
McCourt asked some test subjects to do a number of laboratory tests
(Some of the tests involved physical things like paper or a rod
others a cursor on a computer screen.) Few subjects split the line just so; most got it a little wrong
loitering on either side of the line’s true center
The majority of subjects erred to the left—a corroboration
of pseudoneglect’s imperceptible lefty bias in our brains
Müller-Scheeßel is arguing that the same process is responsible for the subtle rotation of Slovakia’s Neolithic towns
His hope is that his new research will prove the existence of the phenomenon on a larger
more manifest scale than McCourt’s experiment did
much of Europe was dominated by the Linear Pottery Culture
so named for the population’s proclivity for making and using ceramics with linear designs
which litter the sites of their settlements across the continent.* These sites are also known for their longhouses
which have a particularly significant presence in southwestern Slovakia
Müller-Scheeßel’s team was able to use magnetic surveys to detect the parallel lines of timbers on which the houses were constructed
Despite the size of the settlements and the ample room the various communities had to work with
their urban planning—likely done by mere eyeballing—was pretty consistent
“[They] could [have built] their houses in every direction,” Müller-Scheeßel says
“But there’s a certain tendency for alignment.”
Neolithic house rotation is evident in other sites across Europe
and a number of theories have been put forth about why the Linear Pottery Culture’s longhouses were oriented the way they were
Some argue that they were built at angles that would best withstand the wind
Others think that celestial bodies like the sun played a role
Still others suggest that longhouses were oriented toward each community’s ancestral homeland
but pseudoneglect could have played a role regardless of the primary reason for how the sites were laid out
“I don’t see the ‘sun theory’ and [the] ‘pseudoneglect effect’ [as being] in contradiction.”
according to the recent magnetic surveys and earlier research
is that the Neolithic buildings at Vráble and elsewhere in Europe were built asymmetrically
and that their rotation was always counterclockwise
Müller-Scheeßel speculates that the advent of survey and construction tools would have put an end to those rotations
(Five-thousand years after the Vráble’s Neolithic heyday
the Greek dioptra and the Roman groma were used to measure right angles in construction
which hadn’t previously been possible.) Now
instruments like theodolites help surveyors get the angles they need with laser precision
and keep new buildings in line with older ones
Pseudoneglect could also be connected to the environment of a given population. Recent research in Namibia showed that when rural populations moved to urban settings
they developed a greater left-leaning bias in their perception than they’d previously had
Studies of past groups force us to look at what they left behind
it’s hard to say whether pseudoneglect operated the same way then as it does today
“We can’t know how Neolithic brains differed from our own,” says McCourt
There’s an old brainy joke about left-handed people being the only ones in their right minds
The rotating constructions of five millennia ago are a good way to remember that at the end of the day
*Correction: This story previously stated that Corded Ware Culture sites were rotating
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David Bowie played his final Vancouver concert
Five months later he collapsed after a show at the Hurricane Festival in Scheeßel
and was diagnosed with an acutely blocked artery
He was forced to cancel the last 15 shows on the European leg of the tour
and would never perform a full concert again
which was originally published in the January 29
talk about goin’ through ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
Although he’s always been one of the most charismatic rock stars of all time
David Bowie hasn’t always been able–or willing–to connect with a live audience
I recall seeing him at the Pacific Coliseum on the Station to Station tour of ’75
Bowie came off as the affable old hipster next door
Whether dedicating a tune to the bunny suit-wearing woman in the front row or acknowledging the presence of the orange-haired Ziggy Stardust clone hamming it up near the soundboard
he built a solid bond with the near-sellout crowd of 12,000
When you factor in that friendly vibe with Bowie’s near-flawless vocals
you wind up with one of the finest old-school rock gigs the Canucks’ home rink has ever hosted
the riff-driven single off 1974’s Diamond Dogs
covering the 30-plus years between “The Man Who Sold the World” and “New Killer Star”
the first single from his smashing new disc
“Ashes to Ashes” featured the keyboard wizardry of long-time Bowie sideman Mike Garson
who embellished it with a few touches of the same manic
off-the-wall piano work he recorded on Aladdin Sane three decades ago
My fave selection of the night was easily “All the Young Dudes”
the glam-rock anthem Bowie lent to buddy Ian Hunter back in ’72 to help salvage the career of Hunter’s then-struggling combo
Bowie also offered up the odd less-familiar gem
three-minute instrumental off the eclectic Low
percussive “Panic in Detroit” over that album’s better-known hip-shaker
some of the titles of the songs played were eerie in themselves
in particular “Life on Mars?” and the so-so “I’m Afraid of Americans”
the Manhattan-based Bowie proclaimed “There’s two sides to every story
Here’s the other side.” Then his band broke into the much stronger “Heroes”
The 57-year-old rocker did his thing on a cool-looking faux-granite stage
his movements broadcast from unusual angles on a row of video screens
There was little to be seen in the way of costume changes
the ever-slim singer spending most of the time in a black T-shirt and runners
Looking even more the black-clad rocker was shades-wearing guitarist Earl Slick who
has been playing with Bowie on and off since the ’70s
(Bowie sings on a track he cowrote with the veteran sideman for his impressive new solo CD
feedback-laced intro to “Station to Station”
and anyone expecting to hear echoes of Stevie Ray Vaughan in his “China Girl” solo had to settle for his decidedly nonbluesy approach
But the Les Paul–toting picker couldn’t help but pay tribute to Bowie’s former guitarist
during the six-song encore that included four cuts from the 1972 glam-rock masterpiece
The only major mistake Bowie made the entire night was choosing Santo & Johnny’s exquisite 1959 instrumental
to be played over the PA while people filed out
those dreamy steel-guitar licks were what stuck in my mind more than anything else
Steve Newton started working at the Georgia Straight in the spring of 1982
Having previously worked as a stringer for his hometown paper
he was originally hired as a freelancer to interview touring rock bands
Your hair was short-cropped and dyed orange
As one of the most inventive performers of the rock era, David Bowie's concerts were always a spectacle. Yet his last one passed by with little fanfare on June 25, 2004, at the Hurricane Festival in Scheessel, Germany
There were actually dates scheduled to follow, but a health scare forced Bowie to cancel the rest of a tour in support of 2003's Reality
The problem started a couple of days earlier during a show in Prague, when he started feeling pain in his left shoulder and abruptly ended his concert. Tests revealed an acutely blocked artery, and the final month of the European tour was shelved. He never played another full show before dying on Jan. 10, 2016
READ MORE: Ranking Every David Bowie Single
That wasn't the only problem on Reality tour. A week prior in Oslo, Bowie was hit in the eye by a lollipop that had been thrown by a fan. More seriously, his Miami concert was canceled when a lighting technician died after falling from the rig above the stage prior to the concert
Watch David Bowie Perform 'Rebel Rebel'
Bowie subsequently made only a handful of guest appearances, sitting in with Arcade Fire in 2005 and David Gilmour a year later. He then joined Alicia Keys in November 2006 at a benefit concert in New York
A DVD featuring footage from two Dublin shows on the Reality tour was released in 2010. Unfortunately, Bowie never sang in public again. He refused to tour behind the release of 2013's acclaimed The Next Day, his first album since Reality. Blackstar arrived just days before he succumbed to cancer
Listen to David Bowie's 'Fame'
How an Old Beatles Song Connected David Bowie With John Lennon
His shows were always a spectacle, but the last one passed by with little fanfare.\nRead More
As one of the most inventive performers of the rock era, David Bowie's concerts were always a spectacle. Yet his last one passed by with little fanfare on June 25, 2004, at the Hurricane Festival in Scheessel, Germany
There were actually dates scheduled to follow, but a health scare forced Bowie to cancel the rest of a tour in support of 2003's Reality
The problem started a couple of days earlier during a show in Prague, when he started feeling pain in his left shoulder and abruptly ended his concert. Tests revealed an acutely blocked artery, and the final month of the European tour was shelved. He never played another full show before dying on Jan. 10, 2016
READ MORE: Ranking Every David Bowie Single
Bowie subsequently made only a handful of guest appearances, sitting in with Arcade Fire in 2005 and David Gilmour a year later. He then joined Alicia Keys in November 2006 at a benefit concert in New York
A DVD featuring footage from two Dublin shows on the Reality tour was released in 2010. Unfortunately, Bowie never sang in public again. He refused to tour behind the release of 2013's acclaimed The Next Day, his first album since Reality. Blackstar arrived just days before he succumbed to cancer
Mayday Parade have announced the 11th Anniversary Self-Titled Album Tour
Following dates across North America and Australia during the spring
the American band will celebrate their 2011 LP in Nottingham
Manchester and Newcastle between May 31 and June 8.
where they'll wrap things up on June 18.
Europe and North America go on general sale at 10am local time on October 29
Tickets for Australia go on general sale at 9am on November 2.
Mayday Parade are gearing up for the release of their new album
which is due for release on November 19 via Rise Records
Mayday Parade Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows
Compare & Buy Mayday Parade Tickets at Stereoboard.com
Like The Goonies before them, CHVRCHES are here to say “Never Say Die.”
in helping shape CHVRCHES’ forthcoming third album Love Is Dead
“‘Never Say Die’ is one of my favorite songs on the record because it really leans into the juxtaposition of what we do — the mixture between the dark and the light,” says vocalist Lauren Mayberry
“It’s melodic and direct but uses some of the gnarliest sounds we’ve ever tried… The chorus lyric came about very quickly but the verses took a lot longer
I really wanted to sum up a feeling of trying to be optimistic when you feel disillusioned by the people around you
but trying to keep going because ‘Goonies Never Say Die.’”
Love Is Dead is out May 25 via Glassnote, and while CHVRCHES have no New England dates planned on the immediate horizon, there are a few within road-trip distance this spring, including a June 3 appearance at The Governors Ball in New York
and a June 17 gig at the Bb&T Pavilion in New Jersey
Bring Me The Horizon‘s Oli Sykes has branded their song ‘Medicine’ as “shit”
The third single of their 2019 record ‘amo‘ was heavily played during their tour that year
but has since trickled out of the Sheffield band’s setlists
After being played just 17 times between 2020 and 2022
Sykes has shed light onto the reason why at the band’s recent show in Germany
he asked the crowd what they wanted to hear next
When a festivalgoer shouted out ‘Medicine’
You guys would like to hear ‘Medicine’
Sykes did offer some alternatives such as ‘Pray For Plagues’
‘Chelsea Smile’ and ‘Don’t Look Down’
asking the crowd what we'd like to hear and then going "medicine? even i think that song is shit" and mentioning pray for plagues and chelsea smile-OLIVER SYKES WHAT IS YOUR ISSUE pic.twitter.com/2pI4PD8MsD
— kim (@gloomymantra) June 24, 2024
At the same show, the band brought out Sykes’ father Ian to duet ‘Antivist’
with the frontman saying: “Make some noise for the coolest dad in the world!”
Ian is the latest guest vocalist on ‘Antivist’, with members of Bad Omens and Sleep Token having also previously provided support on the track while Bring Me The Horizon toured the UK and Australia
The band initially planned to release four ‘Post Human’ EPs in a year
but changed upon lockdown lifting: “We thought we were going to be in lockdown for a lot longer than we were
We thought we could bang out a few EPs in that time
We also thought these EPs were going to be a little more humble and a bit of fun.”
In other news, Bring Me The Horizon have spoken about working with AURORA on ‘Limousine’, and how it was nearly someone else.
The world’s defining voice in music and pop culture: breaking what’s new and what’s next since 1952
clearly understands that originality is rock 'n' roll's ultimate elusive quality
True innovators have always been relatively few and everyone else
from basement-space bashers to successful touring acts
integrates music collections and personalities to create music that ideally transcends influence without denying it
What the New Jersey-based Gaslight Anthem gets
is that there is no shame in being this kind of band
bassist Alex Levine and drummer Benny Horowitz play watertight
Their influences are at the surface: the Clash
Alkaline Trio; they have studied U2's talent for surging
But these guys unabashedly worship home state hero Bruce Springsteen
mining not only the Boss's varied musical styles
the promise of redemption just down the road and the classic car that can take you there
but the Gaslight Anthem has so thoroughly internalized and re-contextualized its idols that the result is more inspiration than imitation
exciting update instead of a pointless retread
The band plays in town Tuesday in support of their fine third album
9 p.m. Tuesday, Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W. Burnside St.; $20, Ticketmaster; also appearing: the Menzingers
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