Sanatan Shastar Vidya is an ancient martial art, which has existed in northern India for thousands of years.
It was adopted by the Sikh warriors in the 17th Century and is considered a spiritual as well as a physical exercise.
Today a more modernised version is practiced, known as 'Gatka' - which predominantly involves stick fighting and tactical positioning. It is now popular as a sport or sword dance performance art.
Dozens of stone artefacts were excavated from the tombs near Cairo which date back to the fifth and sixth Egyptian dynasties. Watch the video to find out more!
A gargantuan, long-necked dinosaur as big as a two-story house and weighing as much as 12 elephants once stalked a flower-dotted earth some 77 million years ago in what is now Argentina.
That's where paleontologists discovered the beast's bones, naming it Dreadnoughtus schrani after steel warships. The dinosaur is a sauropod, a type of long-necked, four-legged dinosaur that only ate plants.
"I think the big herbivores don't get their due for being" intimidating, said study lead author Ken Lacovara, an associate professor of paleontology and geology at Drexel University in Philadelphia. "I thought it should have a fearsome name."
Lacovara named the dinosaur after dreadnaughts, warships that were created in the early 20th century. "For a time, they were basically impervious to attack," Lacovara told Live Science. "I thought that Dreadnoughtus would be a good name for these dinosaurs, which does two things: It means 'fears nothing,' and this dinosaur would have had nothing to fear. It also connotes something big like a battleship."
The species name, schrani, honors Adam Schran, an Internet entrepreneur and financial supporter of the project.
The big dig
Lacovara stumbled across Dreadnoughtus in February 2005, when he unearthed a small patch of bones in Patagonia, which is in southern Argentina.
"It turned into a 6-foot-plus-long [1.8 meters] femur, which was nice, but I kind of figured that this was going to be an isolated bone," Lacovara told Live Science. "And then we uncovered the tibia, and then we uncovered the fibula. By the end of the day, we had 10 bones exposed. And four years later, we had 145 bones exposed."
In fact, they had found two dinosaurs. The remains of the large Dreadnoughtus, the one the researchers examined in their new study, included 115 bones, and the smaller dinosaur's remains included 30 bones.
To the researchers' delight, much of the skeletons had stayed in place, revealing how the bones connected with one another. In many cases, dinosaur bones are found splayed apart, leaving much guesswork for paleontologists trying to piece the remains together, Lacovara said.
The researchers uncovered about 45 percent of the Dreadnoughtus' total skeleton and about 70 percent of the bones in its body, providing a rare glimpse of the anatomy and biomechanics of one of the largest dinosaurs to ever live.
"To finally get to see what a really big sauropod looks like is fantastic," Steve Salisbury, a paleontologist from the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, who was not involved in the study, told Live Science in an email. "Although we've known that there are a few really big sauropods out there, particularly among the titanosaurs [a group within sauropod dinosaurs], most have been known from fairly incomplete fossils."
These partial skeletons lead to speculative estimates about the animals' overall size and body proportions, Salisbury added. Before this new discovery, the most complete super-massive titanosaur fossil came from the Futalognkosaurus dukei, which was also discovered in Pategonia. These remains included about 15 percent of the animal's total skeleton and approximately 27 percent of the types of bones in its body, Lacovara said.
The new fossils, including a single, 2-inch-long (5 centimeters) tooth, are now in Lacovara's lab at Drexel University, on research loan from the Province of Santa Cruz, Argentina, which owns the dinosaur. The excavation team never found the dino's head, which would have been small and lightweight because it sat at the end of a 37-foot (11 m) neck.
"It's kind of a joke that sauropods don't have heads, because you almost never find a head," Lacovara said. "When they die, their heads pop off and you don't find them."
When the dinosaurs roamed
Dreadnoughtus lived about 77 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous. The planet was likely warm and ice free, meaning that ocean levels were about 200 feet (61 m) above what they are today, Lacovara said. Flowering plants blossomed everywhere.
Australia, Antarctica and South America were still connected during this period. In fact, fossils can help researchers piece together how the continents were joined together in the past. It's too difficult to dig for dinosaurs in the Antarctic ice, but Lacovara said he wonders if Dreadnoughtus fossils could be found in Australia — a project for another time, he said.
Still, complete skeletons of super-massive dinosaurs — those weighing 40 tons or more — are rarely found. At 65 tons, Dreadnoughtus is 85 feet (26 m) long, and two stories high at its shoulder. Estimates of the weight and length of other super-massive dinosaurs are typically based on only a handful of bones, the researchers said.
For example, estimates for the size of the Argentinosaurus, one of the largest dinosaurs on record, are based on just 13 of about 250 bones from its skeleton, Lacovara said.
He speculates that the two Dreadnoughtus dinosaurs found in Argentina died when a river flooded after suddenly breaking through a natural levee. This would have turned the ground into a soupy mess of sand and water, and led to the rapid burial of the dinosaurs.
"This needs to happen before the bones are heavily scavenged and/or break down naturally," Salisbury said. "I suspect that in most instances, the carcasses of some of the larger sauropods were just so big that unless they were in the right place at the right time, their carcasses were probably heavily scavenged, and in most instances, large parts of the skeleton probably never got preserved,"
The large Dreadnoughtus dinosaur has a few tooth marks on its vertebra, likely from a meat-eating scavenger that chewed on the dinosaur around the time of its death, the researchers said.
"If you put 65 tons of meat on the table, some scavengers are going to show up," Lacovara said. "We have some teeth of the meat[-eating] dinosaurs. They typically lose teeth as they feed."
"But," he added, "it's not the kind of injury that would kill Dreadnoughtus. It looks like something you would put a Band-Aid on."
Further analysis of the bones suggests that the large Dreadnoughtus was not yet fully grown. The shoulder bones are not fused together as they would be in a mature adult, and a section of the fossils show that the animal's bone-growing cells look like that of a youthful individual, Lacovara said.
The team did a "great" job examining the bones — which they scanned into 3D PDF files that are available to the public — and fitting them into the dinosaur family tree, said Patrick O'Connor, professor of anatomy at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio
"Many people are going to be very excited to see a dinosaur this complete coming out," O'Connor said. "A lot of times, we'll have a dinosaur based on a humerus or a couple parts of a vertebrae. This is a great because it's a lot of material to work with."
The study of what our ancestors left behind is known as archaeology. It can sound dull, particularly if you would rather read about battles than learn about objects that are too museum-like for your tastes. The prehistoric Philippines isn't only about primitive tools and stones; the early Filipinos also left behind incredible artifacts for us to be awed off.
You would think that there would be just a few occupations during the Middle Ages. There would be the lord of the manor, the knights, the lord’s household and the peasants. But this is just a broad outline of the myriad of jobs that were available and each one fulfilled an essential role in Medieval society. Really there were just two classes, the elite and the workers but the lord and his court could not survive without the assistance of the labourers. Some of the jobs such as carpenters, bakers and barbers still continue to this day. Others have disappeared into the annals of history. For the following jobs, that is not a bad thing.
Tintagel Castle's 13th-century remnants are atop rugged slopes where waves crash against precipitous cliffs. Cornwall, in southwest England, is the location of the fortress. Because King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table lived there, it's a fascinating middle Ages relic and a vital part of British culture found evidence that King Arthur existed. In 1136, Welshman Jeffrey of Monmouth detailed King Arthur's narrative. The story of knights and fair maidens was popular in Britain and medieval Europe. Arthur's bravery is still recounted. Up to 250,000 tourists visit Tintagel Castle, King Arthur's fortress, each year. This early British ruler is a mystery. He existed? Historians are puzzled by that. We'll begin by researching Arthur's past.
As we'll discover, King Arthur's history is a maze of half-truths, truths, and conflicting historians.
In today’s video we will be talking about the death of 5 great Vikings and what they tell us about the Viking mindset. Enjoy!
In the video below we will be exploring some of the most impressive archaeological discoveries. Watch for more and enjoy!
Samurai Bow explores the violence, beauty and reverie which surround the Samurai's earliest weapon. With stunning dramatic reconstruction, we reveal the ancient way of the Samurai and explore how the bow could avert wars when put in the hands of a true master.
Featuring Japan's most revered archery teacher Master Ogasawara we visit his mounted archery school and see the students intense training and dedication, then follow Ogasawara's son as he prepares to shoot from a galloping horse in the Yabusame ceremony.
Comparing the Japanese bow to another great war bow, the English Longbow we put them both through scientific tests to examine the specialities of each. Using stunning high speed footage we reveal their power and precision and ask what makes the Yumi so special.
Master craftsmen, martial artists and expert historians combine to tell the story of this noble weapon from its bloody past to its revered standing today in Samurai Bow.
The Romani (colloquially known as the "Gypsies") are a community of European itinerants with surprising origins in northwest India. In this video, we explore the fascinating histories of two distinct Romani groups: the Roma and the Sinti. From surviving Turkic and Arab invasions, to navigating the complex social worlds of unfamiliar lands in the Middle East and Europe, this is the tale of migrant peoples who made a life for themselves despite extraordinary circumstances.
Forged over millions of years under intense heat and pressure, conditions have to be absolutely perfect for flawless natural gems to be produced. Collectors are willing to pay astronomical amounts of money for the world's most beautiful and rare jewels. The past 15 years, in particular, have seen prices skyrocket. Join us for today's video, as we look through the top 15 most expensive jewels in the world.
The true ancient civilization behind the Trojan war (Illiad and Odessey-the greek heroes Agamemnon, Hector, and Achilles). The Mycenaeans. The history of how they interacted with the bronze age world including the Egyptians, Hittites. From the early days with the Minoans to the Trojan war and sea peoples. rediscover this lost civilization.
Many many people asked about this particular part of reeindeer herders life. People from tundra are very shy when it comes to talk about this. But still it is obvious they have to go to the toilet and wash themselves... But how do they do it when there is no WC or simply a shower in tundra? Let's see!
In today’s video we will be exploring the fascinating origins of Hominins. Watch for more and enjoy!
Our DNA holds evidence of a huge, ancient pandemic, one that touched many different species, spanned the globe, and lasted for more than 15 million years. Watch the video to find out more!
Check out the most ancient dog breeds that still exist today! This top 10 list of amazing rare dogs explains the history of dogs, starting with some of the oldest dogs that were kept as pets thousands of years ago!
French amateur archaeologist, Francis Tully was probably not expecting to stumble upon one of the most alien-looking creature that has ever lived, when he was out on a walk near the banks of Mazon Creek, Illinois, in the year 1955. However, two rocks he found among piles of coal shale, that had cracked open from natural weathering, were hiding something that would leave scientists baffled for the next 60 years.
The fossil he found was holding the shape of a creature that he had never seen before. When Tully took the fossil to The Field Museum of Natural History, the paleontologists were just as puzzled about the extraordinary little creature.
”We could not even decide what phylum to put it in, and that was a serious and embarrassing matter”, wrote E.S. Richardson Jr., the curator of fossil invertebrates at the museum.
Scientists were hoping that once more specimens are found, someone would be able to identify their phylum. Although it didn’t take long for more of them to be found throughout central and western Illinois, and even the museum had a few hundred fossils at that point, scientists still couldn’t agree on what kind of animal this mysterious creature could be. Even more interestingly, the fossil is so unique to the area of Illinois, that it was never-ever found anywhere else.
Almost 10 years passed after its discovery, and the creature still wasn’t formally introduced to the public. This was due to the fact that scientists still weren’t able to find out much more about it. By 1966, Richardson couldn’t stall any longer, so he wrote a paper and officially named the creature what everyone was calling it, anyway. He called it Tullimonstrum gregarium, aka. the Tully monster.
”I was very pleased,” said Francis Tully. ”Darned right.”
Richardson was able to speculate that the Tully monster was quite likely an aquatic animal that lived near the shore of the Sea of Illinois, around 307 million years ago. Their claw-like mouth at the end of a long neck was filled with sharp teeth. All this extended from a slender, torpedo-like body, with eyes growing out of short stalks on the back area. Their body didn’t reach enormous sizes; the largest specimen ever found only reached one foot.
It is believed that the Tully monster used the long proboscis on their head to grasp prey. However, it’s unclear what kind of prey these nasty jaws were hunting for.
In the coming decades, the classification of the Tully monster became the subject of debates within the scientific community, with many attempts made to assign it to its proper phylum. While some scientists classified it as some sort of soft-bodied invertebrate, such as a slug or snail, others believed that it actually belonged to the group of vertebrates.
In 2016, a team of paleontologists from Yale University believed they had determined what this animal was. They came to the conclusion that it’s a vertebrate, and lamprey could be its closest relative. After examining the fossils with every possible analytical technique, the team concluded that the Tully Monster had gills and a rudimentary backbone that supported its body.
A year later, though, a different team of researchers was conducting their study on the classification of the Tully monster as well, and their results stated quite the opposite. The scientists rejected the identification of the Tully monster as a vertebrate.
Even though we might never be able to conclusively classify the Tully monster, it’s definitely one of the most interesting creatures we’ve ever seen. So much so that in its home state of Illinois it became a huge superstar. In 1989, it was officially designated as the state fossil, and it’s even featured on local U-Haul trucks.
People are still visiting the monster’s former habitat at Mazon Creek in the hopes of finding their own Tully fossil, just as Francis Tully did in 1956.
In the video below we will take a trip to the mysterious location known as the Serapeum. The mysterious stone boxes here are amazing to see and touch. Each weighs somewhere between 75-100 tons depending. How were they moved? How were they cut? What were they used for? The traditional story doesn't seem to hold water once you scrutinize that these boxes were used for burials of symbolic bulls.
Alexander the Great is one of the most extraordinary individuals in history. He became king of the fringe Greek kingdom of Macedonia in 336 BC at the age of just 20, and before his death twelve years later, had imposed Macedonian overlordship on Greece, destroyed the mighty Persian Empire and led an army deep into modern Afghanistan and to the Indian frontier.
At Opis he faced a mutiny by his Macedonian troops, angered that he wanted to send some of them home, while appearing to give preference to his new Asian subjects, and adopting many of their customs. Alexander dealt ruthlessly with the ringleaders, before (according to 'The Anabasis' by Roman historian Arrian) making a speech to his army in which he berated his troops for their disloyalty.
The speech, as it has reached us, was no doubt written by Arrian rather than Alexander. His actual words are now impossible to ascertain. But Arrian had access to eyewitness accounts which are now lost (principally Ptolemy and Nearchus), and modern historians generally agree that the speech was a real historical event, and that Arrian gives a good representation of its likely content.
Putting its (contested and debated) value as a historical source to one side, the scene - as it appears in Arrian - is a brilliantly written moment of high drama and emotion, in which Alexander first highlights his debt to his father Philip, before launching into a tirade in which he lists his own astounding achievements and qualities of leadership.
In this video we will be discussing about destroyed countries that no longer exist. Enjoy!
