Archaeology & People
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A male pileated woodpecker excavating part of a large log lying across a small stream. He appears to have drawn his head back to prepare for his next strike.
Kleifarvatn is located in the centre of the Reykjanes Peninsula, near the Krýsuvík and Gunnhver geothermal areas. This region is renowned for its geothermal and geological activity; the landscape is covered in a thick layer of lava, which itself is topped by a haunting moss, and hot springs steam in many areas. A row of active volcanoes run along its length.The peninsula, and Kleifarvatn itself, lies on the fissure zone of the Mid-Atlantic ridge, between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates.
I was photographing a pair of chickadees and was wondering why they were staying at a single tree for such a long amount of time. When the female flew into a cavity in this red alder, it all started to make sense. The female chickadee was considering this as a potential nesting site!
Chickadees are cavity nesters. They may excavate their own nests or use cavities previously excavated by woodpeckers. Nevertheless, it is habitual for them to remove wood shavings, even if the "cavity" is already complete (as in nest boxes). This female chickadee is doing just that.
I really hope this pair will settle down in this nesting. However, when I returned to the site later that evening, the chickadees were nowhere in sight. Perhaps they will return later after considering other nesting sites. Wherever they are, I hope they will raise a successful brood.
Edzná is a Maya archaeological site in the north of the Mexican state of Campeche.
The most remarkable building at the site is the main temple located at the plaza. Built on a platform 40 m high, it provides a wide overview of the surroundings. Another significant building located in the plaza is a ball court. Two parallel structures make up the ball court. The top rooms of the ball court were possibly used to store images of the gods associated with the events, along with items needed for the games.
Edzná was already inhabited in 400 BC, and it was abandoned c. 1500 AD. During the time of occupation, a government was set up whose power was legitimized by the relationship between governors and the deities. In the Late Classic period Edzná was part of the Calakmul polity. Edzná may have been inhabited as early as 600 BC but it took until 200 AD before it developed into a major city. The word Edzná comes from "House of the Itzaes". The architectural style of this site shows signs of the Puuc style, even though it is far from the Puuc Hills sites. The decline and eventual abandonment of Edzná remains a mystery today.
Edzná was discovered in 1907. The first organised excavations started in 1958. In 1986, coordinating agencies began to employ Guatemalan refugees in the excavation, restoration and maintenance at Edzná.
This ancient town has new excavations - much work during the last years. This place - like many others - look like a big open air museum.
We enjoyed the sun and 20° degrees to explore the ruins.
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Diese Stadt zeigt permanent neue Ausgrabungen - viel Arbeit während der letzten Jahre. Dieser Ort - wie viele andere auch - schaut aus wie ein riesiges Freiluft-Museum.
Wir erfreuten uns bei Sonne und 20° C an der Erkundung der Ruinen.
From December, 2008; four years before I joined Flickr.
This one is for Jason Hendricks, with thanks.
If you look hard enough you may find one, too.
SEVENTY-SIX
“No one who, like me, conjures up the most evil of those half-tamed demons that inhabit the human beast, and seeks to wrestle with them, can expect to come through the struggle unscathed.”
Sigmund Freud
11 days to Halloween!
Sand flying from the hole as this sand martin digs into the cliff at Happisburgh, Norfolk. D500_83416.NEF
This Red-headed Woodpecker is busy excavating a nest site. Likely the male, since they do most of the excavation. Our beautiful world, pass it on.
Located in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, Herculaneum (Italian: Ercolano) was an ancient Roman town destroyed by volcanic pyroclastic flows in 79 AD. Its ruins are located in the comune of Ercolano, Campania, Italy.
As a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is famous as one of the few ancient cities that can now be seen in much of its original splendour, as well as for having been lost, along with Pompeii, Stabiae, Oplontis and Boscoreale, in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 that buried it. Unlike Pompeii, the deep pyroclastic material which covered it preserved wooden and other organic-based objects such as roofs, beds, doors, food and even some 300 skeletons which were discovered in recent years along the seashore. It had been thought until then that the town had been evacuated by the inhabitants.
Herculaneum was a wealthier town than Pompeii, possessing an extraordinary density of fine houses with, for example, far more lavish use of coloured marble cladding.
After the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, the town of Herculaneum was buried under approximately 20 metres (50–60 feet) of ash. It lay hidden and largely intact until discoveries from wells and underground tunnels became gradually more widely known, and notably following the Prince d'Elbeuf's explorations in the early 18th century.[2] Excavations continued sporadically up to the present and today many streets and buildings are visible, although over 75% of the town remains buried. Today, the Italian towns of Ercolano and Portici lie on the approximate site of Herculaneum. Until 1969 the town of Ercolano was called Resina. It changed its name to Ercolano, the Italian modernization of the ancient name in honour of the old city.
The inhabitants worshipped above all Hercules, who was believed to be the founder of both the town and Mount Vesuvius.
The catastrophic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius occurred on the afternoon of 24 August AD 79. Because Vesuvius had been dormant for approximately 800 years, it was no longer even recognized as a volcano.
Recent multidisciplinary research on the lethal effects of the pyroclastic surges in the Vesuvius area showed that in the vicinity of Pompeii and Herculaneum, heat was the main cause of the death of people who had previously been thought to have died by ash suffocation. This study shows that exposure to the surges, measuring at least 250 °C (482 °F) even at a distance of 10 kilometres from the vent, was sufficient to cause the instant death of all residents, even if they were sheltered within buildings.