Trevor Palmer has provided the response by Bob Porter on the Yahoo New Chronology Forum to the Science article on Bayesian C14 dating and its implications for Egyptian chronology – which were very little (see In the News a week or so ago). Bob Porter noted the Science article gave no references for the origin of the material tested – although at one point it does mention seeds from a foundation deposit of Hatshepsut’s temple at Deir el-Bahri but no other details are provided. As this alone is supposed to confirm the conventional dates for Hatshepsut it is a problem for the New Chronology. An associated article by Bruins links the Thera eruption to about the time of Hatshepsut so there is a problem – not mentioned. In the Aegean Thera is dated to 1628-5BC but in Upper Egypt the C14 dates are 15th century – and Porter suggests, somewhat hopefully, that Doug Keenan’s old carbon from the sea theory might resolve the issue (see also http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/science_environment/10345875.stm ).
At www.thisisexeter.co.uk/news/city-site-yields-evidence-second-Roman-fort/ we learn that archaeologists have found a second Roman fort in Exeter on a construction site at a college campus. One fort was discovered not so long ago – and now another one has turned up, making three altogether – but presumably they were not all in use at the same time.
At www.israelnationalnews.com July 29th … it says archaeologists have uncovered the ruins of a Philistine temple in the ancient city of Gath, home of Goliath. The temple has been dated to the 10th century BC and the architectural design is said to resemble the Biblical story of Samson and the Philistines. Also found was evidence of an earthquake in the 8th century reminiscent of one mentioned in Amos 1:1. Further evidence of a destruction level in the 9th century has been interpreted as evidence for the campaign of Hazael of Damascus in 830BC (in II Kings 12:18) as well as newcomers in the 12th century BC (assumed to be the Philistines). In the New Chronology, or any other kind of revision, these levels would have to be redated.
At http://heritage-key.com July 29th, a post written by Owen Jarus of Toronto concerns a stone effigy in the shape of the Blackfoot creator god Napi, has been discovered in Alberta, not far from the Red Deer river (and quotes from Blackfoot Lodge Tales, 1892). The effigy has been provisionally dated between AD1000 and 1500, and Napi is associated with moulding the landscape. Actually, the image is made out of rocks, the outline of a man with arms, torso, head and genitalia, some 5m by 5m. There are several such effigies known in Alberta and were set up on the landscape to mark the god’s journey across it. Jarus got the story from the Alberta Archaeological Review.