Unruly History in the News #27
Exciting Medieval Discoveries Edition!
It’s been quite a busy week here in LA! I’ve been applying for grants and fellowships like crazy and writing more than ever. It’s been great, but I’m also exhausted. What have y’all been up to? Sound off in the comment!
Also, I’m on TikTok now! Does this app give me the ick a little? Am I concerned about the spread of fake news there? Absolutely. But with twitter’s continued disintegration and Instagram suppressing anything that isn’t beautifully curated, I thought I’d give it a try. Come follow me there.
This week, in history acting unruly…
French President Emmanuel Macron is reading a lot of sci-fi thrillers… to prepare for future dystopian scenarios? In fact, the French military has hired dozens of science fiction writers and storytellers as part of their Red Team Defense, which imagines disaster scenarios in order to prepare for the worst. A notable scenario is another devastating round of COVID, but ubiquitous virtual reality has allowed people to cordon themselves off into completely separate communities based on their “preferred realities.” For instance, vegans move through a modified reality where butchers don’t exist (to their eyes). Sounds crazy? Apple’s new
ski gogglesVision Pro could be taking us in that direction.Speaking of France, 40 ancient standing stones known as menhirs have been lost. The 7,000-year-old stones have stood on the coast of Brittany as a mystery of the ages—we don’t know who built them, or why. Legend suggests that they stand in perfectly straight lines because they are an invading Roman legion turned to stone by Merlin. And now, 40 of them have been removed (and lost!) to make room for a DIY store, Mr. Bricolage. People are pissed.
Menhirs in Brittany. Source: FRED TANNEAU / AFP The ancient art of Polynesian wayfinding was long discredited by white scientists who didn’t think “savage” people could have done anything that hinted at intelligence. (Am I annoyed by their obvious racism? You tell me.) But in 1967, voyaging canoe called Hōkūleʻa sailed from Hawaii to Tahiti with a crew of 15, proving that it could be done. Beginning next week in Alaska, Hōkūleʻa and her sister canoe Hikianalia will set off on a 43,000-nautical-mile, 47-month journey around the Pacific Ocean, which will take them to 36 countries, a hundred Indigenous territories, and 345 ports. Can’t wait to follow along with this one.
Was the beloved Muffin Man actually London’s first serial killer? The short answer is no, but the tale behind this rumor is an interesting example of how cultural history can be used to examine lesser-told narratives about a society. The rumor says that the song was made the help children identify the serial killer, so they wouldn’t be his victims. This tells us a little about the unsafe world that Victorians perceived the past to be.
Tipu Sultan, sometimes remembered as the Tiger of Mysore, ruled his region of modern-day India and ferociously protected it against British invasion. He apparently “slept in a hammock suspended from the ceiling of his bedchamber, with his sword at his side.” When he was killed by British forces, his now-famous sword was given to British Major General David Baird as a souvenir. The sword just went on auction at Bonham’s and fetched an astonishing £14 million ($17.4 million)—the highest amount of any Indian and Islamic object sold at auction. It also marks this as the most valuable sword in the world.
The sword was inscribed with a story of how the Sultan was killed after it was taken from his bedchamber. Source. In exciting Medieval Europe discoveries:
Four years after the fire that devastated the cathedral, Notre Dame is being re-built using medieval tools! According to the article, “it’s ethically and artistically far more imperative to stay true to ‘this cathedral as it was built in the Middle Ages,’ explained Jean-Louis Georgelin, a retired general for the French overseeing the project.”
A Medieval minstrel’s stand-up comedy routine was found recently! The Heege manuscript in the National Library of Scotland documents a comedian’s pokes at the rich and powerful of the 15th century.
The jokes documented in the Heege manuscript were meant to be performed live for entertainment. Source. More information about the boundaries of “the lost city” of Rungholdt has been released. The city was destroyed in a huge storm in 1362, supposedly right after a priest prayed that the sinful inhabitants would be punished. While this city is often framed as an Atlantis of the North Sea, the guys at
point out that we’ve known about Rungholdt for a long time, but that these findings are still exciting.
Swedish archaeologists have uncovered 2,700-year-old petroglyphs hidden under moss. “What makes the petroglyph completely unique is that it is located three meters (10 feet) above today’s ground level on a steep rock face that, during the Late Bronze Age, was located on a small island…The petroglyph must have been made from a boat when the sea level was approximately 12 meters (39 feet) above today’s sea level.”
The 1899 discovery of Anyang, the capital of China’s Shang dynasty, had a huge impact on the development of Chinese archaeology. Today, the findings from that dig are on display in the US for the first time at The National Museum of Asian Art.
Why is this the first time I’m hearing about Starfish Prime, the 1962 test that saw American scientists set off a nuclear bomb IN SPACE?
Are Colossal Crabs the secret answer to Amelia Earhart’s fate? If so, it’s a really dark ending.
How private beaches became a sanctuary for Chesapeake Bay’s Black elite.
The Skerki Banks in the Mediterranean have long remained virtually unexplored, but recently archaeologists have identified 24 new shipwrecks there. They span nearly 2,000 years! It may be one of the world’s most treacherous routes.
Fairy tales, with a fascinating Nigerian twist.
Interested in learning more about fairy tales? My episode on Hans Christian Andersen covers some fairy tale history.
Can this funerary site tell us what the ancient Romans smelled like? A vial of perfume was found in a grave undisturbed for 2,000 years. Researchers think it’s the first positively identified vial of perfume from Ancient Rome. The scent? Patchouli.
Was this poisoning of 200 Indigenous Americans the continent’s first-ever war crime? Last month marked the 400-year anniversary of the debated attack.
To leave us on a nice note—humanity’s first recorded kiss is older than we thought. “My upper lip becomes moist, while my lower lip trembles! I shall embrace him, I shall kiss him.” —1900-1595 B.C.E. tablet from Sippar, Mesopotamia; translation by Nathan Wasserman, Akkadian Love Literature of the Third and Second Millennium B.C.E.
