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Ancient Amazon civilisation laid bare by felled forest

Bookmarked via Diigo on Sunday, December 13, 2009 @ 08:37 CST by Daniel Andrlik

Research indicates the existence of a complex ancient civilization in the Amazon. It does not appear to be of Inca origin and predates the arrival of the Spanish and Portuguese. I’ll be curious to see how this develops.

From the article:

Signs of what could be a previously unknown ancient civilisation are emerging from beneath the felled trees of the Amazon. Some 260 giant avenues, ditches and enclosures have been spotted from the air in a region straddling Brazil’s border with Bolivia.

The traditional view is that before the arrival of the Spanish and Portuguese in the 15th century there were no complex societies in the Amazon basin – in contrast to the Andes further west where the Incas built their cities.

 […] 

While some Inca sites lie just 200 kilometres west of the geoglyphs, no Inca objects have been found at the new sites. Neither do they seem to have anything in common with Peru’s Nasca geoglyphs.

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DYKC™ Found Stories — MEN WANTED

Bookmarked via Diigo on Friday, January 23, 2009 @ 12:13 CST by Daniel Andrlik

I love this post from DYKC. Not just because of it’s message, which is significant, but because it showcases his skills as a writer. With very little text he manages to convey an enormous idea and a question that is worth your while to ponder.

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Gin, Television, and Social Surplus

Bookmarked via Diigo on Sunday, April 27, 2008 @ 12:17 CDT by Daniel Andrlik

This is a really interesting piece looking at Social Media and comparing it to the industrial revolution. The point being that during the industrial revolution, one of the most important things was gin, because before people started organizing public works they just got drunk as a way of coping with the sudden changes. The author then observes that in the 20th century we also had a similar coping mechanism to cultural change: the sitcom.

He then observes that similar to how people eventually organized and became involved in the new cultures of the industrial revolution, forming institutions like libraries and museums, and how social media is a beginning of that as culture begins to move from passive consumption to active participation.

I’m still collecting my thoughts on this, as there is certainly a bit of social media kool-aid in there, but the central notion is a fascinating observation.

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Knights Templar secrets revealed - CNN.com

Bookmarked via Diigo on Saturday, October 13, 2007 @ 04:27 CDT by Daniel Andrlik

The Vatican has published secret archive documents about the trial of the Knights Templar, including a long-lost parchment that shows that Pope Clement V initially absolved the medieval Christian order from accusations of heresy, officials said Friday.”

There are only 300 copies being printed and their cover price is over $8000. It would be tempting to try to get one, although they are probably better placed in the library of an academic institution. I wonder though, why the imposed scarcity? Is there a reason, or is it just to inflate the value?

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