something to consider , If magic is fake now then it was always a fraud even back then and frauds require perpetrators who "know better" than the frauds they are perpetuating so what was it they knew?
Let me make two observations. 1. Battle axes are surprisingly small. It freaked me out when I was first told about them. -They are designed to cut flesh rather than wood -Lighter weight allowed for quicker strikes and better manipulation -Some Viking axes were as light as 200-450 grams -most are dersigned to be used in one hand. Note two-handed and heavy ones did exist. 2. There are specific and practical reasons why stone (flint) knives were probably commanded for circumcision in biblical accounts. - They had edges sharper than modern surgical steel and certainly bronze knives so they could create cleaner cuts, resulting in less pain and faster healing - The high saline composition of flint reduced infection risks - Flint surfaces are smooth and homogeneous, while bronze blades contain pits and grooves where bacteria can thrive - Flint blades struck from interior stone are comparatively sterile On this subject I think you will find this article interesting
Interesting, I've found probably close to 100 of these things throughout my life,actually that's a bit of an exaggeration but probably no less than 50. What I'm saying is I've got alot of first hand experience with them, I think only a small percentage from what I've found were flint material most were quartz. They are terrible for cutting flesh and wood both. I suggested in a previous post they could be sling stones. Though I don't buy all the stuff in your comment much is interesting. Like saline being a component of flint.. isn't saline just salt? Like sodium chloride to be specific.. I just don't see how sodium chloride could be chemically part of flint without weakening it to the point of uselessness.. not being argumentative or critical. It's just confusing to me
Flint was also still used in eye surgery because of the sharpness and natural sterlieness in the early 20th century. I think it pretty cool to think about hehe
@@samuelyoung6272 mmm what I should have said is that flint is often found in areas that have saline. www.nps.gov/articles/nps-geodiversity-atlas-alibates-flint-quarries-national-monument-texas.htm
Here in Brazil, rural people call paleoindigenous stone tool finds "Pedras de Corisco " which literally means thunder stones, many still use it as an amulets, I saw some in my university collection.
The first Americans are so impressive to me. They lacked the stability of civilizations to progress until much later than their own ancestors. But they were able to progress in some ways in a shorter time span than the people who created the first Mesopotamian cities. They’re practically “pre-modern Stone Age.”
In 2003, I brought a small-holding on west Zealand, Denmark. Above the house, where the rafters meet the joist, I found a fine flint knife. The house is from 1910, so old traditions live on, because you never know.
In Lithuanian folklore various ancient tools and fossils are explained as devil's fingers, nipples of various mythological beings or bullets/other projectiles that Perkunas uses to hunt devil(s). It is said that such bullets return to the surface after 7 or 13 years
Thank you for your videos! They're such a breath of fresh air compared to 90% of the clickbait slop that's on youtube. Channels like yours and the Premodernist keep me saying sane 🙏
The interesting thing with Elfshot is that "elf" & "fairy" tend to be minimizations of divine figures. So it makes sense that small ceraunea-like stones, in a christianizing world, become elven weapons.
Man you're the only one who has ever made a video on something like this or a popular accessible channel, so this is literally important because it's such an important unexplored topic imo.
So glad you’re back man, I definitely missed your content. You mentioned briefly that you were from Upstate NY, as am I. I work for a historical society in the Hudson Valley, and I think its insane how much the indigenous and dutch colonial history is neglected. I know its a bit out of your usual nice of late antiquity and adjacent topics, but I’d love to see your treatment of it. If you ever want to collab let me know
2:30 - Is... This an early form of the "lighting never strikes the same place twice" myth? Was that the idea, that something already struck by lightning could not be struck again? So Fascinating!
5:15 -- RE: Magic; Not to throw any shade on your excellent script so far, but you may as well mention the types of magic discussed in texts like "The Golden Bough" too. Sympathetic Magic is *very* old human cultural practice, old enough that most world cultures have some form of it whether those cultures ever subjected it to the rigors of a scientific method, or not.
In the same vein as this, will you be covering Anabasis by Xenophon, especially the part where the 10,000 come upon the ruins of the ancient Assyrian cities? Another excellent video my friend! (Even though I just started watching it lol)
Keep in mind that tools had to be made as a practice. Practice requires teaching. Teaching is performed with children or other unskilled people. It's possible that a large number of the specimens that we've found would have been regarded as trash. We probably haven't found many of their best tools.
Practice pieces would be found in knapping areas, unless washed to somewhere else. If it's not good enough, it wouldn't be used, it would be left where it was knapped.
We all know that the European monarchs during the time of feudalism looked up to and imitated the Roman Emperors, but what did they think of the Roman republic and Greek democracy? Systems which they probably wanted to avoid in their realm to be established?
They thought those were very weak systems which is why those were replsced5 by monarchids. Though keep in mind that many merchant republics still existed through the middle ages though also fallen to monarchies eventually. Or they didn't thought much of it at all as they weren't educated enough for it, during early dsrk ages that was also a real possibility.
Classical Greek and Roman history wasn't widely known or studied (in Europe) until the Renaissance. So most European monarchs during the time of feudalism didn't think about it at all. And if they would have thought about it, they would have thought: "These were heathens, that's why they were struck down by the one god."
@@eljanrimsa5843 They knew of Plato and Aristotle and did think such. Why should we think they would have been so stereotypically on the matter? But most realistically, apathy would be more likely no?
@@LostArchivist In the dark feudal part of the Middle Ages in Europe not much was known from Aristotle and Plato, and they weren't well regarded by the church. Only two logical texts were known from Aristotle, and an incomplete Latin translation of the Timaios from Plato. The church regarded every non-Christian author as suspicious and inferior. That changed in the 13th century when the contact with the Arab world facilitated new translations which made the complete work of Aristotle available in the West. Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas interpreted Aristotle in a Christian way but I would argue that this were indeed the first steps towards the Renaissance and modern thinking. Once this kind of human-centered thinking reached any monarchs, it was more the time of reformation than the time of feudalism. By the way, Switzerland started its own experiment in monarch-free society in the 14th ad 15th century, and the feudal monarchs didn't like it.
@eljanrimsa5843 The whole dark ages thing is basically agreed to be a myth at this point no? And most Augustinians were Platonists and that was why they resisted the introduction of Aristotle's works back into the Scholastic system and opposed Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century. Of course this was later in the Medieval Period. One could argue Hildegarde of Bingen appears to have some knowledge of at least some elements of the previous metaphysics but it is definitely debatable.
It would be interesting to have a video discussing how much "very ancient" history did ancient and medieval civilizations destroy either out of religious reasons or just pure non-caring.
Very good point. And one that is such a devastingly direct answer. We will never know. Look at ISIS. Look at America during Manifest Destiny. It is literally the status quo. Since long before the romans, the sumerians, and every culture that has every existed. The current is always the most accurate......right???
I am viewing this on a Sunday: "A set of activities and technologies intended to manipulate invisible or immaterial agencies and energies, not recognized by science, to an advantageous end. (anthroencyclopedia, magic)" I wonder how many of the people around me have considered their activities today with this in mind. This is Massachusetts, so a fair number may be aware of this, as this is one of the most educated and least religious states. I began to achieve such awareness in high school, that one person's religion is another's superstition. Thanks for another fascinating history lesson.
I have seen magic defined as essentially non-authorized religious rituals. Which seems to avoid such patronizing results when applied to modern examples so might be a better approach to go with. It is better not to insult others and organize systems of beliefs internally as a boon. I am not an anthropologist but I am a biologist and a Catholic and I know I found that patronizing and rather insulting and I know others would as well. If we are aiming for inclusion, well this is the opposite of that in a public semi-professional discourse. We are in a good position to put such dismissive and deprecating thought behind us, so let's really aim for it no?
@JMM33RanMA I think far too few people consider their activities today with a perspective like that in mind. It certainly seems like a reasonable definition of magic to me. All too often, there is an appeal to authority or history that the context they were raised in is "of course" correct.
@@user-to9ge8ii9n On my first trip to Greece I was astonished that the ancient custom of telling God what you want cured by making a picture or model of the body part was still practiced. Some churches in Italy have similar items, often a metal plate the size of a credit card with an image on it, on or near a statue of a saint. Old beliefs carry on into the age of rationality and science.
I just commented on your excellent "part 1 " video about the coincidence of stumbling on a video that discussed a topic that has recently fascinated me. (Namely the Greek mercinary Army of "10000" stumbling upon the ruins of ancient Assyria and how they interpreted (misinterpreted) it, and how that gives a glimpse of their worldview and perceived place in history.) In this video, just yesterday my roomate and I were discussing how our own society (we live in Chicago, USA) venerates our big Chicago World's fair in 1893, when a large part of it was essentially a "human zoo" with people from different nations brought in on display. I don't mean to sound too self-righteously "woke" and condemn our ancestors based on current values. But I am fascinated by that very concept of the temporal malleability of evolving/changing morals and world-views based on a given place and time. That said, while I believe we should be wary of applying our own morals to the past, lest we run into the same kind of problems as the imperialists made studying history and anthropology, I certainly agree (hope ;) ) that we are more accepting/open-minded of other people and cultures past and present. For example, I can't help but have a negative reaction when I hear Anthropologists from 100 years ago proclaim that advanced lost civilizations' ruins must be from Atlantis, Rome, or a "lost tribe of Israel" because they couldn't believe a non-white culture could reach such advanced heights. While I am wary of any emotional reaction, I hope at least that we are closer to the learning the actual truth and circumstances of these civilizations without being blinded by our world-views. (I apologize, that became somewhat of a long rant.)
@48:00 "because, for whatever reason, his book wasn't published for over a century" I wonder what is being written today that folks won't read for another century...great video!
Thank you for this video! I'm new here and am working my way chronologically from the first videos to the present, but I may have to treat myself here and watch this ASAP. on a more personal note. It's been difficult to look around and recognize the world I live in. This political season has been brutal. I'm trying to focus on the things in my life that I can control. Well made, academicly considered content like this feels much better for my mental health than watching the progressive political project struggle and the 24 hour exhausting news cycle. Thanks team for producing another banger of historic nature 😉. Puny puny 😅
Also, from the comments section on the videos I have seen indicate a positive, engaged community. It's such a refreshing group, comments on topical modern context can be...... contentious....
Hi! Thanks for the nice compliment, means a lot to me! Feel free to go through the videos, just be aware of two things: 1 comments were turned off due to election bots and I’m finding I have to turn them on manually and it’s taking a while 2 some older videos are going to be redone relatively soon-the farther you go back the less money I had from ads etc, so I wasn’t able to get all the right books/dig site reports etc. So you may or may not find stuff from 2020 that, going into 2025, is not correct anymore
When I was a kid picking up arrow heads, I first had the belief that the cruder points were the really old ones, and supposed they learned by trial and error which brought about improvement. I later learned that it's the opposite in the time line of production. The best are the oldest, (from a point in prehistory) when and where things dramatically changed into a rapid peak in technology of stone tools that seemed to decline into the present
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think chewing coca leaves or drinking coca tea would have an effect on the septum. Sniffing cocaine didn't become common until the very early 1900's, and since Cocaine wasn't "invented" until 1860, the first person to lose their septum to cocaine probably didn't happen till the 1890's if not soon after that in the 1900's when the practice of sniffing cocaine became far more common. I would imagine getting a hold of large enough quantities of powdered coca to be habit forming would be pretty difficult till it became more common. Then again, I literally just Googled "when was cocaine invented" so what do I know. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I've found many of these "hand+axes"/thunderstones; most of them are too small for comfortable use as a hand axes. I can't determine their original use, I've found a few in sites where flecks of stone from knapping and broken arrow points. One idea that just came to mind is maybe they're sling stones, I think some supporting evidence could be the tear drop shape, to better fit the pouch on a sling
Test it by trying to use it as projectile in a sling. That will give you empirical data instead of guesswork. Yes, it's mostly true that a teardrop shape is more aerodynamically efficient, the challenge however is that that requires the object to remain relatively stable, without spinning over multiple axles. A rounded, obloid stone has better properties to be used as projectile in a sling. Compare the behaviour to a modern day discus if you like.
Honestly, what if the reason hand-axes have sharp edges on all sides is to more easily secure them into a wood handle. That way, if you used the tool, it would drive it deeper and secure it better.
Fascinating topic. While there’s obviously no evidence to suggest otherwise, it’s hard not to imagine at least one person connecting the dots at some point prior to the 17th century and realizing the true purpose of these objects. After all, we do have some of the ancients making surprisingly accurate educated guesses about microbiology and heliocentrism, well before technology could corroborate it.
I remember reading or hearing of lithic tools mimicking or copying metal daggers when they were possibly first developed. There are a few lithic tools that are worked to have a pommel, hilt, and guard on them. I have a poster that shows just that. It be interesting to know the provenience of these tools and possibly theorize the reason for there creation.
There is something notable re Thor. There is another related god that uses a contussive weapon: Herakles. Its also worthwhile to look at the Donarskeule / Herculeskeule amulets, which are very alike to the thunderstones known as Idaean Dactyls or more commonly Belemnites. It is around this, the protector of children & pregnant women aspects of these gods that links the stones to childbirth. It is notable that lightning magnetized iron ores are known as Adamant & Heraklean stones. The tool-fosil-meteorite teardrop shape acts as a common thread between these things; & parallel the idea of implacability & unbreakability. Also of interest re why thunderstones are thunderstones: the rootball effect of a big tree being struck & thus uprooting ancient stone tools.
I’ve yet to watch the video (sorry, I will!). But here in the UK, there are several prehistoric sites with the word ‘elf’ or ‘elva’ attached to them. This is thought to derive from the discovery of Neolithic flint arrowheads in the Medieval period or earlier, which people called ‘elf shots’. The idea being, invisible or sneaky elves were firing them.
This is a great series. We’re used to thinking of ancient history from a modern perspective but not what “ancient” civilizations would have thought of what they were finding.
That’s an interesting way of looking at magic but I’m not sure it’s correct. There is an obvious distinction from knocking on wood and putting up thunder stones. I don’t actually think knocking on wood actually does something. Sure maybe someone does believe that wearing dirty clothes will help them win the game and that would be comparable but most when pushed would say it doesn’t do anything.
There is a deeper level, as something else makes that sound. In ancient depictions The Thunderweapon is followed by two wavy lines, New & Old Worlds, same as the two counter-rotating vortices behind the ablating meteor of 2013. This is demonstrated by the two Chinese New Year Dragons that chase a bright pearl. The Thunderweapons are Space Falls, meteorites, Nickle / Iron. It is also shown with Thor with his flying hammer and two goats with curly horns and bright eyes. Cuneiform text also describe Superbolides, not jagged and instant lightning. We forgot the true meaning and substituted to the next best thing. It is also proven by the universal origin of The Pleiades, the radiant of our most recent meteor stream, The Halloween Fireballs, The Taurids, which is what Tauroctony is all about. Happy New Year - 12,852 !
Are the inscribed thunderstones more like an extension of magical practices associated with Katadesmos/defixio/curse tablets? How do they compare to the magic found in the PGM?
Would be interesting to hear the interpretation of non-abrahamic, non-european societies in the more modern age. Surely they had a different time frame for human history than christians did, and thus had to have a very different view on any relics from earlier periods. Even if they believed thunderstones to be of natural origin, they would have to explain all the other artifacts, without having Noahs flood or fall from Eden as set starting points for material history.
It's so weird to hear you talk about thunderstones like they're an unknown superstition The way it was explained to me, they think it's thunder that causes it because what else would make a strange, jagged rock that looks like a lightning bolt in the ground (where lightning strikes) and the protective qualities are due to the "lightning never strikes the same place twice" superstition, and the power to strike down an enemy ship, I'm gonna guess lightning again, striking the mast
Thunderstorms followed the Germanic people's to the America's. My family home was built by Imigrant German and Irish craftsmen. A Native American celt was buried in the northwest corner of the basement. I also found a chimney boot under the floorboards next to the chimney in the attic.
35:00 Read the Worms in the Cheese and accompanying texts explaining the thought behind it back in 2008. Much of the materials relevant to that particular bit of Church inspired terror and murder were found abandoned in a very out the way monastery. 😒 Be very careful concerning Eoster, Ostara and Easter. Yule and Christmas etc. The Church has had 2000 years to produce propaganda.
Another interesting bit of folklore is the aboriginal Australians having spoken history telling of large beasts attacking them at night, which were "probably" distant relatives of modern kangaroos.
Random nerdy fan here asking a question about a potential future video: Can you make a video that describes how a smaller island impacted history, besides Lindisfarne, not what is now Britain either, just for example? Not the best at explaining this, but how an island had resources, inspired mystical beliefs, served as a refuge for a group of people to regroup and come back and defeat an enemy, etc? I love islands for some reason and think that would be an interesting video if you could think of a topic that you want to cover that focuses on an island.
effigy stones in native american peoples were found and lost and found and lost and the information and themes were carried from culture to culture .. they would find things left from generations that might be thousands of years old .. the rocks do not change.. they do not show time .. they stay the same and the information or themes they put into the stones were copied and added to . i think that art is something that they would copy .. the style or theme is something that they can understand .. a bird is always a bird .. even if its made thousands of years ago .. the bird is still a bird .. they would find artifacts that were thousands of years old but still told them a story or relayed information they can understand .. this is just my op .. i think that information and themes are carred over long periods of time through the use of effigy artifacts and stone tools... thanks for the great infomation in this video .. i enjoyed it .. peace
"Europeans believesd they were seeing more primitive belief systems" Inspiring Philosophy has a fantastic video on this topic and how it's very wrong and how they misunderstood indigenous beliefs! (It's aimed at pointing out how ancient monotheism could have developed and how the Bible documentary hypothesis is unnecessary, he's not a young earth creationist and debunks lots of Christian conspiracy theories.) I recommend searching "Inspiring Philosophy Ancient Monotheism" highly, it's such a fantastic academic video that due to his work being dedicated to scientifically and archeologically proving the Bible could have been written as is and basically Christian apologetics, only gets engagement from wackos or people who want to disprove his arguments instead of actually exploring the research.
Under a more human lens some those unusually complex handaxes could simply be a craftman's test of how far their skills can get them. A lot of times one just want to know how good one is.
Of course some of them had ancient civilizations, too. The Inca stonework in Cuzco and Sacsayhuaman have THREE size and precision fit levels, and the oldest is the best quality by far, and it is under the medium size, high precision. And TGAT one is under the most recent stonework, which is TERRIBLE. Arkies act like all 3 were done by the Incas tgat Pizarro met. Which is a STUPID interpretation of the facts of the stonework. The Incas are 100% the youngest of the cultures who lived there. WhyvArkies cannot understand this beggars belief.
9:10 -- RE: "... Whereas Religion is a Highly Evolved, Complex set of Beliefs...."; A: There's another way of putting this. Religions are often Literate, whereas systems of belief which are "Magical" can exist in a totally oral form and do not require texts which either explain the world / cosmos or make predictions about either. Literacy changes the way we think. That's ultimately why religious practices are called Liturgies, because Literate behaviors inform them.
Yes there is. Claiming that subjugating, exploiting and forcing your culture/religion on a people, is some kind of necessary burden. Is basically gaslighting. Especially when most of those peoples, already had their own civilizations.
If someone knows who created that Zombie Pikachu, please tell me. I would like to credit the artist. That thing is awesome
something to consider , If magic is fake now then it was always a fraud even back then and frauds require perpetrators who "know better" than the frauds they are perpetuating so what was it they knew?
Probably just where the shirt designer got inspo from, but; That looks a lot like a band Tshirt i have
Looks like AI art 🤷♂️ still cool tho
@ I actually don’t know for sure if it’s AI. I recall coming across it about ten years ago and I don’t know if AI was a thing back then
@TheFallofRome oh, well it's really cool, nonetheless!
Let me make two observations.
1. Battle axes are surprisingly small. It freaked me out when I was first told about them.
-They are designed to cut flesh rather than wood
-Lighter weight allowed for quicker strikes and better manipulation
-Some Viking axes were as light as 200-450 grams
-most are dersigned to be used in one hand.
Note two-handed and heavy ones did exist.
2. There are specific and practical reasons why stone (flint) knives were probably commanded for circumcision in biblical accounts.
- They had edges sharper than modern surgical steel and certainly bronze knives so they could create cleaner cuts, resulting in less pain and faster healing
- The high saline composition of flint reduced infection risks
- Flint surfaces are smooth and homogeneous, while bronze blades contain pits and grooves where bacteria can thrive
- Flint blades struck from interior stone are comparatively sterile
On this subject I think you will find this article interesting
Interesting, I've found probably close to 100 of these things throughout my life,actually that's a bit of an exaggeration but probably no less than 50. What I'm saying is I've got alot of first hand experience with them, I think only a small percentage from what I've found were flint material most were quartz. They are terrible for cutting flesh and wood both. I suggested in a previous post they could be sling stones. Though I don't buy all the stuff in your comment much is interesting. Like saline being a component of flint.. isn't saline just salt? Like sodium chloride to be specific.. I just don't see how sodium chloride could be chemically part of flint without weakening it to the point of uselessness.. not being argumentative or critical. It's just confusing to me
Flint was also still used in eye surgery because of the sharpness and natural sterlieness in the early 20th century. I think it pretty cool to think about hehe
Interesting, I wonder why the practice of using flint in circumcisions was discontinued. Sounds like a much safer method to do the deed
@@samuelyoung6272 mmm what I should have said is that flint is often found in areas that have saline. www.nps.gov/articles/nps-geodiversity-atlas-alibates-flint-quarries-national-monument-texas.htm
@@canchero724I thought they used their teeth?
Here in Brazil, rural people call paleoindigenous stone tool finds "Pedras de Corisco " which literally means thunder stones, many still use it as an amulets, I saw some in my university collection.
The first Americans are so impressive to me. They lacked the stability of civilizations to progress until much later than their own ancestors. But they were able to progress in some ways in a shorter time span than the people who created the first Mesopotamian cities. They’re practically “pre-modern Stone Age.”
In 2003, I brought a small-holding on west Zealand, Denmark. Above the house, where the rafters meet the joist, I found a fine flint knife. The house is from 1910, so old traditions live on, because you never know.
Wow, that's sooo cool!👍👍
In Lithuanian folklore various ancient tools and fossils are explained as devil's fingers, nipples of various mythological beings or bullets/other projectiles that Perkunas uses to hunt devil(s). It is said that such bullets return to the surface after 7 or 13 years
Thank you for your videos! They're such a breath of fresh air compared to 90% of the clickbait slop that's on youtube. Channels like yours and the Premodernist keep me saying sane 🙏
You could also have mentioned elf-shot, where a disease is attributed to a flint arrowhead in the medieval period
The interesting thing with Elfshot is that "elf" & "fairy" tend to be minimizations of divine figures. So it makes sense that small ceraunea-like stones, in a christianizing world, become elven weapons.
1:09 Isaac Arthur fans: _Nobody knows that he missed such a good opportunity to say "grab a drink and a snack"_
Yeah, even the voice was Isaac Arthury!
That's the guy I always think of when somebody says a line like that
I think this is my favorite one of yours yet! So interesting!
Thank you!
Man you're the only one who has ever made a video on something like this or a popular accessible channel, so this is literally important because it's such an important unexplored topic imo.
It felt good to hit the Like button and take it from 999 to 1,000. Well deserved as always!
So glad you’re back man, I definitely missed your content. You mentioned briefly that you were from Upstate NY, as am I. I work for a historical society in the Hudson Valley, and I think its insane how much the indigenous and dutch colonial history is neglected. I know its a bit out of your usual nice of late antiquity and adjacent topics, but I’d love to see your treatment of it. If you ever want to collab let me know
I absolutely love your videos. I watch every one of them! Thank you for such interesting topics!
Confirmed, Zombie Pikachu took down those ancient civilizations 🤣
And they control all the historians to not talk about it. A historian is only allowed to make a veiled reference once a year.
I listened to this while knapping.
This is one topic I’ve been dying to hear some spoken synapsis given for. Thanks and eagerly subscribed!
Is there any study of the history of ammonites? They look like medallions and they are found everywhere.
2:30 - Is... This an early form of the "lighting never strikes the same place twice" myth? Was that the idea, that something already struck by lightning could not be struck again? So Fascinating!
recently stumbled across your channel, and so far i love your videos! Keep up the great work 👍🏽
5:15 -- RE: Magic; Not to throw any shade on your excellent script so far, but you may as well mention the types of magic discussed in texts like "The Golden Bough" too. Sympathetic Magic is *very* old human cultural practice, old enough that most world cultures have some form of it whether those cultures ever subjected it to the rigors of a scientific method, or not.
Oh hells yeah, so keen for part 2!
Oh, fascinating! This is a topic I had never thought of before. Thank you for yet another thoughtful deep-dive into antiquity :)
In the same vein as this, will you be covering Anabasis by Xenophon, especially the part where the 10,000 come upon the ruins of the ancient Assyrian cities?
Another excellent video my friend!
(Even though I just started watching it lol)
Keep in mind that tools had to be made as a practice. Practice requires teaching. Teaching is performed with children or other unskilled people. It's possible that a large number of the specimens that we've found would have been regarded as trash. We probably haven't found many of their best tools.
Practice pieces would be found in knapping areas, unless washed to somewhere else. If it's not good enough, it wouldn't be used, it would be left where it was knapped.
Another great video, from a great channel.
what the....? 50 minutes already? man that was like a book you can't put down. I love this stuff
We all know that the European monarchs during the time of feudalism looked up to and imitated the Roman Emperors, but what did they think of the Roman republic and Greek democracy? Systems which they probably wanted to avoid in their realm to be established?
They thought those were very weak systems which is why those were replsced5 by monarchids.
Though keep in mind that many merchant republics still existed through the middle ages though also fallen to monarchies eventually.
Or they didn't thought much of it at all as they weren't educated enough for it, during early dsrk ages that was also a real possibility.
Classical Greek and Roman history wasn't widely known or studied (in Europe) until the Renaissance. So most European monarchs during the time of feudalism didn't think about it at all. And if they would have thought about it, they would have thought: "These were heathens, that's why they were struck down by the one god."
@@eljanrimsa5843 They knew of Plato and Aristotle and did think such. Why should we think they would have been so stereotypically on the matter? But most realistically, apathy would be more likely no?
@@LostArchivist In the dark feudal part of the Middle Ages in Europe not much was known from Aristotle and Plato, and they weren't well regarded by the church. Only two logical texts were known from Aristotle, and an incomplete Latin translation of the Timaios from Plato. The church regarded every non-Christian author as suspicious and inferior. That changed in the 13th century when the contact with the Arab world facilitated new translations which made the complete work of Aristotle available in the West. Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas interpreted Aristotle in a Christian way but I would argue that this were indeed the first steps towards the Renaissance and modern thinking. Once this kind of human-centered thinking reached any monarchs, it was more the time of reformation than the time of feudalism.
By the way, Switzerland started its own experiment in monarch-free society in the 14th ad 15th century, and the feudal monarchs didn't like it.
@eljanrimsa5843 The whole dark ages thing is basically agreed to be a myth at this point no?
And most Augustinians were Platonists and that was why they resisted the introduction of Aristotle's works back into the Scholastic system and opposed Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century. Of course this was later in the Medieval Period. One could argue Hildegarde of Bingen appears to have some knowledge of at least some elements of the previous metaphysics but it is definitely debatable.
This is the historians history channel. Awesome analysis of evolution of understanding over time.
That hour went by quickly. Thank you for the fascinating video.
It would be interesting to have a video discussing how much "very ancient" history did ancient and medieval civilizations destroy either out of religious reasons or just pure non-caring.
Very good point.
And one that is such a devastingly direct answer. We will never know.
Look at ISIS. Look at America during Manifest Destiny. It is literally the status quo. Since long before the romans, the sumerians, and every culture that has every existed.
The current is always the most accurate......right???
Congrats on 100k. Well deserved
I am viewing this on a Sunday: "A set of activities and technologies intended to manipulate invisible or immaterial agencies and energies, not recognized by science, to an advantageous end. (anthroencyclopedia, magic)" I wonder how many of the people around me have considered their activities today with this in mind. This is Massachusetts, so a fair number may be aware of this, as this is one of the most educated and least religious states. I began to achieve such awareness in high school, that one person's religion is another's superstition.
Thanks for another fascinating history lesson.
I have seen magic defined as essentially non-authorized religious rituals. Which seems to avoid such patronizing results when applied to modern examples so might be a better approach to go with. It is better not to insult others and organize systems of beliefs internally as a boon.
I am not an anthropologist but I am a biologist and a Catholic and I know I found that patronizing and rather insulting and I know others would as well. If we are aiming for inclusion, well this is the opposite of that in a public semi-professional discourse. We are in a good position to put such dismissive and deprecating thought behind us, so let's really aim for it no?
@JMM33RanMA I think far too few people consider their activities today with a perspective like that in mind. It certainly seems like a reasonable definition of magic to me. All too often, there is an appeal to authority or history that the context they were raised in is "of course" correct.
@@user-to9ge8ii9n On my first trip to Greece I was astonished that the ancient custom of telling God what you want cured by making a picture or model of the body part was still practiced. Some churches in Italy have similar items, often a metal plate the size of a credit card with an image on it, on or near a statue of a saint. Old beliefs carry on into the age of rationality and science.
So "turn it off an on again" is basically a magic spell?
I just commented on your excellent "part 1 " video about the coincidence of stumbling on a video that discussed a topic that has recently fascinated me. (Namely the Greek mercinary Army of "10000" stumbling upon the ruins of ancient Assyria and how they interpreted (misinterpreted) it, and how that gives a glimpse of their worldview and perceived place in history.)
In this video, just yesterday my roomate and I were discussing how our own society (we live in Chicago, USA) venerates our big Chicago World's fair in 1893, when a large part of it was essentially a "human zoo" with people from different nations brought in on display. I don't mean to sound too self-righteously "woke" and condemn our ancestors based on current values. But I am fascinated by that very concept of the temporal malleability of evolving/changing morals and world-views based on a given place and time.
That said, while I believe we should be wary of applying our own morals to the past, lest we run into the same kind of problems as the imperialists made studying history and anthropology, I certainly agree (hope ;) ) that we are more accepting/open-minded of other people and cultures past and present. For example, I can't help but have a negative reaction when I hear Anthropologists from 100 years ago proclaim that advanced lost civilizations' ruins must be from Atlantis, Rome, or a "lost tribe of Israel" because they couldn't believe a non-white culture could reach such advanced heights. While I am wary of any emotional reaction, I hope at least that we are closer to the learning the actual truth and circumstances of these civilizations without being blinded by our world-views.
(I apologize, that became somewhat of a long rant.)
Great video yet again, thanks 🙏 ❤
@48:00 "because, for whatever reason, his book wasn't published for over a century"
I wonder what is being written today that folks won't read for another century...great video!
Thank you for this video! I'm new here and am working my way chronologically from the first videos to the present, but I may have to treat myself here and watch this ASAP.
on a more personal note. It's been difficult to look around and recognize the world I live in. This political season has been brutal. I'm trying to focus on the things in my life that I can control. Well made, academicly considered content like this feels much better for my mental health than watching the progressive political project struggle and the 24 hour exhausting news cycle.
Thanks team for producing another banger of historic nature 😉. Puny puny 😅
Also, from the comments section on the videos I have seen indicate a positive, engaged community. It's such a refreshing group, comments on topical modern context can be...... contentious....
Hi! Thanks for the nice compliment, means a lot to me! Feel free to go through the videos, just be aware of two things:
1 comments were turned off due to election bots and I’m finding I have to turn them on manually and it’s taking a while
2 some older videos are going to be redone relatively soon-the farther you go back the less money I had from ads etc, so I wasn’t able to get all the right books/dig site reports etc. So you may or may not find stuff from 2020 that, going into 2025, is not correct anymore
When I was a kid picking up arrow heads, I first had the belief that the cruder points were the really old ones, and supposed they learned by trial and error which brought about improvement. I later learned that it's the opposite in the time line of production. The best are the oldest, (from a point in prehistory) when and where things dramatically changed into a rapid peak in technology of stone tools that seemed to decline into the present
Archetypal information among psychology is my guess
Interesting how we have real lightning rods that actually work and are relatively simple to make. Like the Romans could've made them.
This is so dry... I love it. You got a sub 👍👍
16:57 that's a beautiful map, great video!~
Thank you!
Who was the first person to lose their septum to coca leaf extract?
Omg, I was JUST wondering the same thing.
Boy king Tut
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think chewing coca leaves or drinking coca tea would have an effect on the septum. Sniffing cocaine didn't become common until the very early 1900's, and since Cocaine wasn't "invented" until 1860, the first person to lose their septum to cocaine probably didn't happen till the 1890's if not soon after that in the 1900's when the practice of sniffing cocaine became far more common. I would imagine getting a hold of large enough quantities of powdered coca to be habit forming would be pretty difficult till it became more common.
Then again, I literally just Googled "when was cocaine invented" so what do I know. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@m420-nd1if. Doc rockso.
Sigmund Freud
Love this series!
Truly fascinating stuff!
Actually they have found iron stuff in the bronze layer in certain places. Hell, King Tut had iron daggers.
I like both the history and the nerd references. My MtG go-to was always Blue or Red/Green.
I've found many of these "hand+axes"/thunderstones; most of them are too small for comfortable use as a hand axes. I can't determine their original use, I've found a few in sites where flecks of stone from knapping and broken arrow points. One idea that just came to mind is maybe they're sling stones, I think some supporting evidence could be the tear drop shape, to better fit the pouch on a sling
Test it by trying to use it as projectile in a sling.
That will give you empirical data instead of guesswork.
Yes, it's mostly true that a teardrop shape is more aerodynamically efficient, the challenge however is that that requires the object to remain relatively stable, without spinning over multiple axles.
A rounded, obloid stone has better properties to be used as projectile in a sling. Compare the behaviour to a modern day discus if you like.
Subscribed,.you had me at Hand Axes.
I can't shake the idea that if these thunderstones had a market, people are people and new genuine ancient thunderstones would be made to order.
Honestly, what if the reason hand-axes have sharp edges on all sides is to more easily secure them into a wood handle. That way, if you used the tool, it would drive it deeper and secure it better.
Fascinating topic. While there’s obviously no evidence to suggest otherwise, it’s hard not to imagine at least one person connecting the dots at some point prior to the 17th century and realizing the true purpose of these objects. After all, we do have some of the ancients making surprisingly accurate educated guesses about microbiology and heliocentrism, well before technology could corroborate it.
I remember reading or hearing of lithic tools mimicking or copying metal daggers when they were possibly first developed. There are a few lithic tools that are worked to have a pommel, hilt, and guard on them. I have a poster that shows just that. It be interesting to know the provenience of these tools and possibly theorize the reason for there creation.
There is something notable re Thor. There is another related god that uses a contussive weapon: Herakles.
Its also worthwhile to look at the Donarskeule / Herculeskeule amulets, which are very alike to the thunderstones known as Idaean Dactyls or more commonly Belemnites. It is around this, the protector of children & pregnant women aspects of these gods that links the stones to childbirth.
It is notable that lightning magnetized iron ores are known as Adamant & Heraklean stones. The tool-fosil-meteorite teardrop shape acts as a common thread between these things; & parallel the idea of implacability & unbreakability.
Also of interest re why thunderstones are thunderstones: the rootball effect of a big tree being struck & thus uprooting ancient stone tools.
this is a really excellent video
I’ve yet to watch the video (sorry, I will!). But here in the UK, there are several prehistoric sites with the word ‘elf’ or ‘elva’ attached to them. This is thought to derive from the discovery of Neolithic flint arrowheads in the Medieval period or earlier, which people called ‘elf shots’. The idea being, invisible or sneaky elves were firing them.
They made arrows and thought the rocks shaped like arrowheads were divine. Truly, humanity needs science to have any basic knowledge.
This is a great series. We’re used to thinking of ancient history from a modern perspective but not what “ancient” civilizations would have thought of what they were finding.
More long videos please!
That’s an interesting way of looking at magic but I’m not sure it’s correct. There is an obvious distinction from knocking on wood and putting up thunder stones. I don’t actually think knocking on wood actually does something. Sure maybe someone does believe that wearing dirty clothes will help them win the game and that would be comparable but most when pushed would say it doesn’t do anything.
There is a deeper level, as something else makes that sound. In ancient depictions The Thunderweapon is followed by two wavy lines, New & Old Worlds, same as the two counter-rotating vortices behind the ablating meteor of 2013. This is demonstrated by the two Chinese New Year Dragons that chase a bright pearl. The Thunderweapons are Space Falls, meteorites, Nickle / Iron. It is also shown with Thor with his flying hammer and two goats with curly horns and bright eyes. Cuneiform text also describe Superbolides, not jagged and instant lightning. We forgot the true meaning and substituted to the next best thing. It is also proven by the universal origin of The Pleiades, the radiant of our most recent meteor stream, The Halloween Fireballs, The Taurids, which is what Tauroctony is all about. Happy New Year - 12,852 !
Are the inscribed thunderstones more like an extension of magical practices associated with Katadesmos/defixio/curse tablets? How do they compare to the magic found in the PGM?
Would be interesting to hear the interpretation of non-abrahamic, non-european societies in the more modern age. Surely they had a different time frame for human history than christians did, and thus had to have a very different view on any relics from earlier periods.
Even if they believed thunderstones to be of natural origin, they would have to explain all the other artifacts, without having Noahs flood or fall from Eden as set starting points for material history.
It's so weird to hear you talk about thunderstones like they're an unknown superstition
The way it was explained to me, they think it's thunder that causes it because what else would make a strange, jagged rock that looks like a lightning bolt in the ground (where lightning strikes) and the protective qualities are due to the "lightning never strikes the same place twice" superstition, and the power to strike down an enemy ship, I'm gonna guess lightning again, striking the mast
Amazing
spear and arrow points are like Visa cards. if you wanna eat you gotta have one.
Why comments turn off on past videos
Did the lucky horseshoe evolve from the practice of butting a thunderstone in the rafters?
I know a video is gonna be good when I see The Cheese and The Worms on the citation list
Thunderstorms followed the Germanic people's to the America's.
My family home was built by Imigrant German and Irish craftsmen.
A Native American celt was buried in the northwest corner of the basement.
I also found a chimney boot under the floorboards next to the chimney in the attic.
Glorious!
Put dragons eggs in the babys cradle, thats a thing in grrm books. this might be where he got it. cool
35:00 Read the Worms in the Cheese and accompanying texts explaining the thought behind it back in 2008. Much of the materials relevant to that particular bit of Church inspired terror and murder were found abandoned in a very out the way monastery. 😒
Be very careful concerning Eoster, Ostara and Easter.
Yule and Christmas etc.
The Church has had 2000 years to produce propaganda.
Why is Sam the Eagle from the Muppets narrating a history podcast? I dare you to un-hear it.
Another interesting bit of folklore is the aboriginal Australians having spoken history telling of large beasts attacking them at night, which were "probably" distant relatives of modern kangaroos.
post more vids dude i noticed u got a few thousand subs since the roman empire one
It's always lifhtning, magic, giants and elfs, isn't it.
Whoa! A wild comment section appeared on this channel! 😂😎✌️
Green white heal deck LETSGOOOOO
... At least If someone didn't break in and steal from our storage unit I would still have that deck
Oh no!!!!! I’m sorry that happened! Honestly though I’m surprised this is the first MTG related comment here
@@TheFallofRome and the lady who's the mother of the suspect we believe did it was my food delivery drive not even 30 minutes ago
so coincidental
Also I'm surprised too maybe magic is falling out of style idk
👏👍
Don't forget what old people thought about fossils!
SOYience 9:19
Never saw so many ads in my life.
5:04 why AI slop?
'modern day reconstructions of paganism'
There ya go, that's why.
Wow, you found the original source and contacted the artist that posted it? So diligent of you!
It perfectly encapsulates modern 21st century approaches towards magic and the fantastic: Utterly generic slop.
Dude, just speak in your natural register of voice
Random nerdy fan here asking a question about a potential future video: Can you make a video that describes how a smaller island impacted history, besides Lindisfarne, not what is now Britain either, just for example? Not the best at explaining this, but how an island had resources, inspired mystical beliefs, served as a refuge for a group of people to regroup and come back and defeat an enemy, etc? I love islands for some reason and think that would be an interesting video if you could think of a topic that you want to cover that focuses on an island.
effigy stones in native american peoples were found and lost and found and lost and the information and themes were carried from culture to culture .. they would find things left from generations that might be thousands of years old .. the rocks do not change.. they do not show time .. they stay the same and the information or themes they put into the stones were copied and added to . i think that art is something that they would copy .. the style or theme is something that they can understand .. a bird is always a bird .. even if its made thousands of years ago .. the bird is still a bird .. they would find artifacts that were thousands of years old but still told them a story or relayed information they can understand .. this is just my op .. i think that information and themes are carred over long periods of time through the use of effigy artifacts and stone tools... thanks for the great infomation in this video .. i enjoyed it .. peace
"Europeans believesd they were seeing more primitive belief systems"
Inspiring Philosophy has a fantastic video on this topic and how it's very wrong and how they misunderstood indigenous beliefs! (It's aimed at pointing out how ancient monotheism could have developed and how the Bible documentary hypothesis is unnecessary, he's not a young earth creationist and debunks lots of Christian conspiracy theories.) I recommend searching "Inspiring Philosophy Ancient Monotheism" highly, it's such a fantastic academic video that due to his work being dedicated to scientifically and archeologically proving the Bible could have been written as is and basically Christian apologetics, only gets engagement from wackos or people who want to disprove his arguments instead of actually exploring the research.
30:45 so no different than occultists today.
Under a more human lens some those unusually complex handaxes could simply be a craftman's test of how far their skills can get them. A lot of times one just want to know how good one is.
42:21
Of course some of them had ancient civilizations, too. The Inca stonework in Cuzco and Sacsayhuaman have THREE size and precision fit levels, and the oldest is the best quality by far, and it is under the medium size, high precision. And TGAT one is under the most recent stonework, which is TERRIBLE. Arkies act like all 3 were done by the Incas tgat Pizarro met. Which is a STUPID interpretation of the facts of the stonework. The Incas are 100% the youngest of the cultures who lived there. WhyvArkies cannot understand this beggars belief.
9:10 -- RE: "... Whereas Religion is a Highly Evolved, Complex set of Beliefs...."; A: There's another way of putting this. Religions are often Literate, whereas systems of belief which are "Magical" can exist in a totally oral form and do not require texts which either explain the world / cosmos or make predictions about either.
Literacy changes the way we think. That's ultimately why religious practices are called Liturgies, because Literate behaviors inform them.
They've only been called that since the 16th Cy or so.
The Ancient Greek has a different meaning for the word.
@@whtalt92 Liturgy? Etymology is what it is, Pal. The Roots indicate what the word ought to mean.
28:04 I think I had a déja-vue.
Losing the first 13 minutes would only improve this video.
You would be better off using an ai voice. I just can’t listen to you.
Are there any recount of thunderstones used by ancient greeks to prevent zeus from banging their daughters/wives? 😂😂
nothing wrong with white mans burden.
Watch Empire of Dust. It's the Chinese man's burden now.
Yes there is. Claiming that subjugating, exploiting and forcing your culture/religion on a people, is some kind of necessary burden. Is basically gaslighting. Especially when most of those peoples, already had their own civilizations.
First!
Truth be told id lay down for that hand axe🤷♀️