How’s this for a headline? Becky Ferreira’s piece on Ben Bacon’s possible “major archaeological breakthrough” rather delivers on her title’s promise. See An Upper Palaeolithic Proto-writing System and Phenological Calendar in this month’s Cambridge Archaeological Journal, no less, for the scholarly co-authored paper on what may be the earliest writing in human history. Staying with timetables, Ancient Maya Structures Were Aligned To A Mysterious 260-Day Calendar. It’s only “centuries,” and not a “tens of thousands” of years pushback for this specific development. But the number “thirteen” also figures here, for interestingly somewhat similar reasons. Behind journalist Tom Hales’ summary is Origins of Mesoamerican Astronomy and Calendar: Evidence from the Olmec and Maya Regions. And another claim “challenges what we know about the Dead Sea Scrolls.” See How an Unorthodox Scholar Uses Technology to Expose Biblical Forgeries. Chanan Tigay’s fascinating story about Michael Langlois highlights another rather unconventional researcher whose brainstorm has upended museum collections—and more. (WM)
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