FOR HISTORY BUFFS

[SANDRO43]

My glossary (http://www.floriani.it/NauticalGlossary-eng.htm) now has 500 entries, 442 linked to images .

[SANDRO43]

Many are familiar with the image of the abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel (left) in Normandy, but maybe not with that of another tidal island monastery in Northumberland, with a recorded history from the 6th century AD but ruined by repeated Viking raids: Lindisfarne (right). 

I recently saw a TV program on it, and was awed by the beauty of its 8th century illuminated Gospels:

Examples of a few of its pages (more on http://www.google.it/search?client=opera&biw=1129&bih=637&tbm=isch&q=lindisfarne+gospels&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwihpufh8ODVAhVG6xQKHdyHBcQQhyYIKg):

Its intricate decorations retain what are believed to be some pagan motifs.

[BillyB]

Is Mont-Saint-Michel for sale? Does it have internet? How many modern bathrooms? I always wondered who was responsible for bringing up fresh water into those historic building and who was responsible for removing the sewage.

[msmob]

Many are familiar with the image of the abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy, but maybe not with that of another tidal island monastery in Northumberland, with a recorded history from the 6th century AD but ruined by repeated Viking raids: Lindisfarne  

I lived on the Duke of Northumberland's estate in nearby Alnwick and worked in the castle - where Harry Potter 1/2 was filmed - the scene where HP first flies on the broomstick ?  ..

It is a very beautiful and unspoilt part of the UK.... Got to ask oneself her the dynasty survived over 700+ years of turmoil, civil wars, etc., ( British Mafia ?.. ) 

Then there's St Michael's Mount in Cornwall ...



@BillyB .. Next time I visit - I'll ask your question !

[BillyB]

The next guy who buys that place should ask for a discount since they built the road under water. 

[SANDRO43]

Still on the theme of Sailing Ships, a page with a few examples from Youtube of sea songs:
http://www.floriani.it/SeaMusic-eng.htm.

[SANDRO43]

I have finished my long work on my Nautical Glossary (http://www.floriani.it/NauticalGlossary-eng.htm), now with a total of 580 entries (507 illustrated) . I re-arranged the table for better readability, and added a new column at right indicating the type of image linked.

I may add to it occasionally as a new, unexplained term crops up in my reads or a fine image deserves inclusion - even if only marginally relevant .

[msmob]

Thank you for your efforts

[ML]

Sandro, I was nearly 4 years in US Navy and never knew port, starboard or hardly anything else.

I also neglected to use Navy terminology and spoke of toilet (head), wall (bulkhead), restaurant (galley), etc.

Never was court martialed.

[BillyB]

I prefer Sandro's work Big Band Ballroom and Double Dealers.

[SANDRO43]

I prefer Sandro's work Big Band Ballroom and Double Dealers.

Alright, since you're pining, I just added 3 new DDs .

[SANDRO43]

And now, for something completely different !

The development of modern musical taste as influenced by its media: last night I saw an interesting TV programme that cast light on this subject from an unusual angle, summarised below.

FROM	PLAYER	SOUND REPR.	MEDIUM	DURATION
1877	Phonograph	Mechanical	Shellac cylinders	2-3'
1892	Gramophone	Mechanical	Shellac discs	2-3' (10", 78 rpm)
1955	Transistor gramophone	Electro-mechanical	Vinyl discs	2-23' (45-33 1/2 rpm)
1962	Cassette player	Electro-magnetic	Tape cassettes	1"-90'
1982	Digital audio player	Electro-magnetic	Compact discs	64 GB

As you can see, up to the early 1960s musicians - and their listeners - were confined to the 2' max. duration of the available recording/playing medium. This adapted well to the long-established binary musical form of stanza-refrain, originally promoted by Domenico Scarlatti in his harpsichord works.

On a personal note: my father had a large collection of jazz 78 rpm shellac discs, and he told me how, when a ferry pilot of Italian fighter planes to Hungary in 1936, he would smuggle the then Fascist-prohibited music back to our country . Our first family gramophone had a stainless-steel needle on its pick-up head.

For the chemically curious, shellac was a resin secreted by the female lac bug on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. Later the name was applied to bakelite, a thermosetting phenol-formaldehyde resin invented in 1907 by the Belgian-American chemist Leo Baekeland, who has been called "The Father of the Plastics Industry" because it was the very first synthetic "plastic" created.

[BillyB]

Alright, since you're pining, I just added 3 new DDs .

On this page at your website where it mentions "Hazards" near the bottom, you have "case 4" to be accessed by clicking on at the words "separate link" not working 404 error. Guys are getting scammed left and right since they can't get to your page warning them of which girls to avoid.


http://www.floriani.it/sitirussi/sitirussi-eng.htm

[SANDRO43]

Guys are getting scammed left and right since they can't get to your page warning them of which girls to avoid.

I had not realised that a non-updated link could cause such dramatic consequences  .

Fixed now, thanks for pointing it out.

[BdHvA]

Sandro, Thanks for creating this > http://www.floriani.it/NauticalGlossary-eng.htm < interesting stuff!

I would point out that Starboard also means to claim right of way over a Port tack vessel when racing. (Except on Dutch waters when one says Bakboord/Port to claim right of way) 

Another term quite important for commercial vessels is the so-called Plimsoll Lines.

Here is a reference > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Plimsoll <

[SANDRO43]

Sandro, Thanks for creating this > http://www.floriani.it/NauticalGlossary-eng.htm < interesting stuff!

I would point out that Starboard also means to claim right of way over a Port tack vessel when racing. (Except on Dutch waters when one says Bakboord/Port to claim right of way)  Another term quite important for commercial vessels is the so-called Plimsoll Lines.
Here is a reference > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Plimsoll <

Thanks BdHvA, but the Glossary is meant to complement the page on "The Royal Navy of Sailing Ships" (http://www.floriani.it/RoyalNavy-eng.htm) to which "right of way" meant little or nothing (its ships mounted no navigation lights, IINM), and "Plimsoll" was still in the future .

[BdHvA]

One of the words in the Royal Navy of Sailing Ships that's meaning has changed or taken on a second meaning is afterguard. On a racing sailboat since the mid 20th century the afterguard are the tactician, navigator, helmsman, spotter and skipper plus perhaps the owner. They are the brains behind the rail meat or muscle.   

[SANDRO43]

One of the words in the Royal Navy of Sailing Ships that's meaning has changed or taken on a second meaning is afterguard.

I expect a lot did, being adapted to newer boat/ship design, or were dropped altogether, like carronade, figurehead, topmen, etc. etc. as no longer applicable .

[msmob]

On a racing sailboat since the mid 20th century the afterguard are the tactician, navigator, helmsman, spotter and skipper plus perhaps the owner. They are the brains behind the rail meat or muscle.

AKA known by some owners as 'Mushrooms' ...  Fed on Sh*t and kept in the dark in a moist environment ... ((

[SANDRO43]

The Swedish town of Birka has a large mid-10th century Viking burial ground. One of its tombs was excavated in the 1880s, revealing remains of a warrior surrounded by weapons, including a sword, armour-piercing arrows, and two horses. There was also a full set of gaming pieces and a gaming board.

http://phys.org/news/2017-09-genetic-proof-women-viking-warriors.html

The morphology of some skeletal traits have long suggested that she was a woman, but since this grave has been the type specimen for a Viking warrior for over a century, it has always been assumed to have belonged to a male Viking. Now, geneticists, archaeogeneticists and archaeologists have worked together and solved the mystery. DNA retrieved from the skeleton demonstrates that the individual carried two X chromosomes and no Y chromosome. "This is the first formal and genetic confirmation of a female Viking warrior," says Professor Mattias Jakobsson at Uppsala University's Department of Organismal Biology.

[BdHvA]

The Swedish town of Birka has a large mid-10th century Viking burial ground. One of its tombs was excavated in the 1880s, revealing remains of a warrior surrounded by weapons, including a sword, armour-piercing arrows, and two horses. There was also a full set of gaming pieces and a gaming board.

http://phys.org/news/2017-09-genetic-proof-women-viking-warriors.html

This might explain why most men go to Slavic countries in search of women instead of the Nordic ones.

[SANDRO43]

This might explain why most men go to Slavic countries in search of women instead of the Nordic ones.

The Varangian (Viking) prince Rurik established himself in Novgorod (Kievan Rus’) around the year AD 862, and his line lasted for 21 generations until 1612 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rurik_dynasty) until Mikhail became the first Romanov Tsar in 1613.

Thus there are probably as many Viking descendants in the FSU as there are in Scandinavia, or more .

[SANDRO43]

Shu was a pre-dynastic Chinese kingdom in the Sichuan basin - now the Sichuan Province.

The discovery of Sanxingdui in 1987 was a major surprise since it indicated a major semi-Chinese culture that was previously unknown. Circa 2050-1250 BC the site of Sanxingdui 40 km north of Chengdu appears to have been the center of a fairly extensive kingdom.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shu_(state)

The most interesting finds there were bronze works in a peculiar style never seen before, or after. The two central masks below bear a vague resemblance to the faces of the moai in Rapa Nui  (Easter Island).

     

[msmob]

Thus there are probably as many Viking descendants in the FSU as there are in Scandinavia, or more .

Indeed, the exotic mix of Scandinavian, Slavic and possibly a little from the mystic east might be the draw ?

[SANDRO43]

Since this thread deals with history, I thought it might be interesting to shed some light on how field researchers conduct their work. I am not an expert on this, but I learnt a thing or two out of interest - and personal experience at a dig many years ago (www.floriani.it/archeo-eng.htm) . The time-honoured sequence is:

1. Excavation
Research relies mostly on field excavations (digs) even for comparatively recent periods, when city streets were not paved and dirt accumulated over time, concealing the traces of previous inhabitants. Orderly garbage disposal is also a very recent development, before it people simply dumped their refuse anywhere convenient unless authorities enforced some rules: e.g. up to the 3rd century Rome prohibited tombs within the pomerium (city boundary) so most were located along the Consular ways leading into it.

An interesting case is the dump allotted for used wine and oil amphorae, which had to be discarded after few years of use because the residues in their porous clay walls would eventually rot and cause an unpleasant smell/taste: they were broken up and buried at a remote site that gradually became a tall mound, Monte Testaccio that Romans today still call Monte de' cocci (Mount of shards).

Rome's pomerium - Monte Testaccio on map (small rectangle at extreme SW) and photo showing pottery shards

2. Stratigraphy
As digging goes deeper, it reveals different strata or layers corresponding to different historical periods, usually identifiable by a different soil colour. An example is the excavation of Troy at Hisarlık that revealed 12 levels, Homer's story probably referring to Troy VIIa (c. 1300–1190 BC) and not to Schliemann's Troy II (2600–2250 BC).

3. Dating
This is the hardest part of the game. It helps if levels contain some artifacts that survived decay like pottery or metal objects, showing similarities to others of known age. Rarer is the case of organic remains, which allow a more reliable estimate through Carbon-14 dating, although its accuracy decreases over long periods.