Minoan mtDNA Polymorphisms Closest to Greeks, Europeans (Nature Magazine Article): So the Phaistos Disk Is Likely Written in Ancient Greek, Is it Not?

The scientific journal Nature has published an article on the results of mtDNA studies of ancient Crete titled A European population in Minoan Bronze Age Crete, by Jeffery R. Hughey, Peristera Paschou, Petros Drineas, Donald Mastropaolo, Dimitra M. Lotakis, Patrick A. Navas, Manolis Michalodimitrakis, John A. Stamatoyannopoulos & George Stamatoyannopoulos, doi:10.1038/ncomms2871
 
Look at Figure 6 in that article which shows unequivocally the close DNA relationship of the Minoans to Greece.

Stephanie Seiler at the University of Washington writes in DNA analysis unearths origins of Minoans, the first major European civilization:

"The analysis also showed a high degree of sharing with the current population of the Lassithi plateau and Greece. In fact, the maternal genetic information passed down through many generations of mitochondria is still present in modern-day residents of the Lassithi plateau."

We have more than a passing interest in Minoan DNA research and ask: Is there a Greek language decipherment of the Minoan Phaistos Disk (viz. Disc)?

There is.
Ours.
Published over 30 years ago.
Ignored by the academic community,
who think they know better.
Not.

Take a look online at
The Phaistos Disk: Hieroglyphic Greek with Euclidean Dimensions

And look also at my most recent book, Ancient Signs, which integrates my 30-year old decipherment of the Phaistos Disk as well as the derived Linear B signs into a coherent system of ancient syllabic signs that reflect the origins of writing and the later developed alphabets.

 Ancient Signs The Alphabet & The Origins of Writing, a print & ebook, shows modern alphabets follow ancient alphabets derived from syllabic scripts: Iraq viz. Sumer (Sumerian), Egypt (Hieroglyphs), Iran viz. Persia (Elam and Old Elamite), Anatolia (Luwian viz. Luvian), Crete (Phaistos Disk and Linear B), Cyprus (Cypriot Syllabary)



Crossposted to LawPundit.

Sympatric Gorillas and Chimpanzees, a Question of Lice and a Clue to the Origin of Homo Sapiens

Sympatric is a "new" word for many. Google define results in:

"sym·pat·ric  

/simˈpatrik/

Adjective

1. (of animals or plants, esp. of related species or populations) Occurring within the same geographical area; overlapping in distribution.
2. (of speciation) Taking place without geographical separation."

So what does "sympatric" have to do with lice and the origin of species?

One of the remarkable things about science is that answers to troublesome questions often are found in the unlikeliest places.

Lice provide a good example of an unexpected clue to homo sapiens (i.e. mankind as a species).

As noted at the University of Florida News in
Human pubic lice acquired from gorillas gives evolutionary clues
discussing the research of "David Reed, assistant curator of mammals at the Florida Museum of Natural History":

"Reed and his co-workers’ research stemmed from their fascination with humans' unique position among primates in being host to two different kinds of lice: one on the head and body (Pediculus), which has become the bane of many schoolchildren, and pubic or crab lice (Pthirus). In contrast, chimps have only head lice and gorillas pubic lice." (emphasis and italics added) 

The question of why chimpanzees have only Pediculus and gorillas have only Pthirus, while humans can be infested with both types of lice, has puzzled the genetic community.

As written by Scott Norris at National Geographic news in
Gorillas Gave Pubic Lice to Humans, DNA Study Reveals:

"The transfer occurred about 3.3 million years ago, said study leader David Reed, of the University of Florida in Gainesville. That's when the gorilla louse and the human pubic louse separated into distinct species, the research revealed.

Modern humans (Homo sapiens) weren't around at the time. So the first to be infested by the new lice species were probably Australopithecus, a group of human ancestors that include the famous "Lucy" fossil."

But what about head and body lice and their infestation of chimpanzees?

Why and how did humans get and keep BOTH lice types, whereas each appears to be a specialized form originally adapted to either gorilla or chimp but not both?

The John Hawks weblog has discussion of possible solutions at
Three million years of unwanted guests. None of them fits exactly.

One solution, not considered there, is found at LexiLine. Take a look.

Gorillas and Chimpanzees are "sympatric" in only one region of Africa, and that is precisely the region in which Australopithecus has been found.

Perhaps a hybridization of gorilla and chimp might be the answer.

Land Survey as Essential to Ancient City-States and Modern Countries, Nations and Unions

Land ownership and land survey go hand in hand as a matter of law.

Land surveying plays an essential role in nation-building, and some understanding of land survey is essential to comprehend any ancient city-state or modern country or nation, neither of which could exist without some kind of land survey.

The measurement problems posed by land surveying on a large scale prior to the age of GPS follow us from early technological eras down to the present day, and this applies even to the borders of some States of the United States.

Ivars Peterson at the Mathematical Tourist in Rectangular States and Kinky Borders talks about the fact that some of the borders of U.S. States have land surveying anomalies and are not as perfectly straight as they are shown on maps. Take a look at at that short but informative piece.

See also:

• The Mathematics of Surveying Part I by Tony Phillips of Stony Brook University.
   
• The Mathematics of Surveying: Part II. The Planimeter by Bill Casselman, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
  
  
• C.A. White, History of the Rectangular Survey System, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, Pdf Version modified from scans by NATIONAL TECHNICAL INFORMATION SERVICE, SPRINGFIELD, VA 22161. The 46MB searchable PDF takes quite a bit of time to load.
  
  Bernard Hostrop, Surveyor General of the United States in 1983, writes there by way of introduction:
  
  "With its beginning more than two hundred years ago, the United States Rectangular Survey System is typically, and yet somewhat uniquely, a record of the American frontier spirit blended with the concept of government for the people."

Read all that and you will appreciate the land survey accomplishments of the ancients.

See my two previous postings about alleged Old World surveyors and ancient land surveying.

See also Three Mount Rushmore Presidents Were Land Surveyors: The Territorial Imperative: You Have to Understand the Importance of Property in Law, Politics and History: LAND not POTS ruled