ANCIENT ROMAN HAMBURGERS -- A RECIPE

Our Roman forebears were flipping burgers as early as 1,500 years ago. Try your hand at making a tasty homemade burger using this authentic historic recipe

The burgers, known by the Romans as isicia omentata, were an early example of fast food.
The hamburger is often thought of as a relatively recent innovation – a treat associated with summer barbecues, football terraces or a late-night visit to the Golden Arches.

However, historical evidence suggests that our forebears were flipping burgers as early as 1,500 years ago. Inside the ancient Roman cookbook Apicius, compiled by an anonymous author in the fourth or fifth century AD, you’ll find a dish named isicia omentata, which sounds remarkably similar to a recipe for a slightly-upmarket beef burger.

Like their modern descendants, these patties would have been sold at fast food establishments across the Roman empire known as thermopolia, perhaps as a lunchtime treat.

This particular take on the recipe will make a total of four burgers. There’s also the option of wrapping each patty in caul fat for an extra meaty flavour.

Ingredients
minced beef 500g
pine kernels 60g
garum (or other fish-based sauce) 3 tsp
Juniper berries handful
Ground pepper
Fresh coriander handful
Caul fat optional
Flat bread buns to serve
Method
STEP 1

Grind up the pine kernels and then mix in a bowl with the minced beef and all other ingredients.

STEP 2

Shape the mixture into four individual burger patties and wrap each one in caul fat if preferred.

STEP 3

Fry the patties with oil in a pan on a medium heat for 10 minutes, turning regularly, before serving plain or in a bun.

HUMAN LANGUAGE MUCH OLDER

Source:
Newcastle University
Summary:
The human language pathway in the brain has been identified by scientists as being at least 25 million years old -- 20 million years older than previously thought.

iN NEW GUINEA EARLIER 1000 YEARS FOUND

A new report published in Science Advances on the emergence of agriculture in highland Papua New Guinea shows advancements often associated with a later Neolithic period occurred about 1000 years' earlier than previously thought.

University of Otago Archaeology Programme Professor and report co-author Glenn Summerhayes says findings in Emergence of a Neolithic in highland New Guinea by 5000 to 4000 years ago, provide insights into when and how the highlands were first occupied; the role of economic plants in this process; the development of trade routes which led to the translocation of plants and technologies; and an associated record of landscape, environment and climate change through time.

The report details the earliest figurative stone carving and formally manufactured pestles in Oceania, dating to 5050 to 4200 years ago, which were found at a dig site in Waim. Also found were the earliest planilateral axe-adzes uncovered in New Guinea to date, and the first evidence for fibrecraft and interisland obsidian transfer from neighbouring islands over distances of at least 800km.

The combination of symbolic social systems, complex technologies, and highland agricultural intensification supports an independent emergence of a Neolithic around 1000 years before the arrival of Neolithic migrants, the Lapita, from Southeast Asia. When considered together with a growing corpus of studies indicating expansion and intensification of agricultural practices, these combined cultural elements represent the development of a regionally distinct Neolithic.

The research establishes dating for other finds at the site, including a fire lighting tool, postholes, and a fibrecraft tool with ochre, possibly used for colouring string fibre.

The report suggests increased population pressure on the uneven distribution of natural resources likely drove this process, which is further inferred by language and genetic divergence.

"This project is a follow-on where we wanted to construct a chronology of human presence in the Simbai/Kaironk Valley of Papua New Guinea by systematic archaeological survey with subsequent excavation and analysis of a select number of sites.

IN NORWAY RETREAT OF ICE PATCH REVEALS VIKING ARTIFACTS

A team of researchers from the Innlandet County Council and NTNU University Museum in Norway and the University of Cambridge in the U.K. has found a large quantity of Viking-era artifacts in a long-lost mountain pass in Southern Norway. In their paper published in the journal Antiquity, the group describes the location of the pass, explains why it is suddenly revealing artifacts, and outlines what has been found thus far.

The pass was found back in 2011 on Lomseggen Ridge near a receding patch at Lendbreen glacier. Prior research suggested the reason the artifacts were emerging was because the glacier has been shrinking due to global warming. The team canvased the area over the years 2011 to 2015.

The search resulted in the discovery of a host of artifacts, 60 of which have been dated to between the years 300 AD to 1000. Analysis of the artifacts suggested there were two kinds of travelers through the pass—locals and long-distance trekkers. The researchers suggest locals used the pass to travel between summer and winter homes. Some of the artifacts also suggested that the pass was used mostly during the times when it was covered with snow—the very rocky terrain would have made walking or riding horses difficult. Snow would have smoothed the trail, making traversal less difficult.

The researchers found items such as tunics and mittens, along with horse fittings such as shoes and bits. They also found remnants of sleds, and in one case, the remains of a dog with a collar and leash. Thus far, no human remains have been found in the area and such findings appear unlikely due to the short distance of the pass—it is just 700 meters long.

The researchers also found multiple cairns along the pass—rocks piled in such a way as to provide a guidepost, helping travelers navigate the easiest path through. They even found a small shelter, likely for travelers who found themselves in the midst of a sudden snowstorm.

The researchers suggest the pass fell into disuse as economic conditions changed amid colder winters in the 14th century, and then as the bubonic plague led to restricted travel.

OLDEST GENETIC EVIDENCE FOUND

Oldest ever human genetic evidence retrieved from 800,000-year-old fossil.

Genetic information from an 800,000-year-old human fossil has been retrieved for the first time. The results, funded in part by The Leakey Foundation, shed light on one of the branching points in the human family tree, reaching much further back in time than previously possible.

“Ancient protein analysis provides evidence for a close relationship between Homo antecessor, us, Neanderthals, and Denisovans. Our results support the idea that Homo antecessor was a sister group to the group containing Homo sapiens, Neanderthals, and Denisovans,” says Leakey Foundation grantee Frido Welker.