1.
Israel
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Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in the Middle East, on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea. The country contains geographically diverse features within its small area. Israels economy and technology center is Tel Aviv, while its seat of government and proclaimed capital is Jerusalem, in 1947, the United Nations adopted a Partition Plan for Mandatory Palestine recommending the creation of independent Arab and Jewish states and an internationalized Jerusalem. The plan was accepted by the Jewish Agency for Palestine, next year, the Jewish Agency declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel. Israel has since fought several wars with neighboring Arab states, in the course of which it has occupied territories including the West Bank, Golan Heights and it extended its laws to the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, but not the West Bank. Israels occupation of the Palestinian territories is the worlds longest military occupation in modern times, efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict have not resulted in peace. However, peace treaties between Israel and both Egypt and Jordan have successfully been signed, the population of Israel, as defined by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, was estimated in 2017 to be 8,671,100 people. It is the worlds only Jewish-majority state, with 74. 8% being designated as Jewish, the countrys second largest group of citizens are Arabs, at 20. 8%. The great majority of Israeli Arabs are Sunni Muslims, including significant numbers of semi-settled Negev Bedouins, other minorities include Arameans, Armenians, Assyrians, Black Hebrew Israelites, Circassians, Maronites and Samaritans. Israel also hosts a significant population of foreign workers and asylum seekers from Africa and Asia, including illegal migrants from Sudan, Eritrea. In its Basic Laws, Israel defines itself as a Jewish, Israel is a representative democracy with a parliamentary system, proportional representation and universal suffrage. The prime minister is head of government and the Knesset is the legislature, Israel is a developed country and an OECD member, with the 35th-largest economy in the world by nominal gross domestic product as of 2016. The country benefits from a skilled workforce and is among the most educated countries in the world with one of the highest percentage of its citizens holding a tertiary education degree. The country has the highest standard of living in the Middle East and the third highest in Asia, in the early weeks of independence, the government chose the term Israeli to denote a citizen of Israel, with the formal announcement made by Minister of Foreign Affairs Moshe Sharett. The names Land of Israel and Children of Israel have historically used to refer to the biblical Kingdom of Israel. The name Israel in these phrases refers to the patriarch Jacob who, jacobs twelve sons became the ancestors of the Israelites, also known as the Twelve Tribes of Israel or Children of Israel. The earliest known artifact to mention the word Israel as a collective is the Merneptah Stele of ancient Egypt. The area is known as the Holy Land, being holy for all Abrahamic religions including Judaism, Christianity, Islam
2.
Atlit
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Atlit is a coastal town located south of Haifa, Israel. Originally an outpost of the Crusaders, it fell in 1291, the Jewish village was founded in 1903 under the auspices of Baron Edmond de Rothschild. In 2015 the population was 6,818, the Atlit detainee camp is nearby. Atlit Yam is an ancient submerged Neolithic village off the coast of Atlit, atlit-Yam provides the earliest known evidence for an agro-pastoral-marine subsistence system on the Levantine coast. Atlit shows evidence of habitation since the early Bronze Age. The Crusaders built Chateau Pelerin, one of the largest citadels in the Holy Land, Atlit remained in Crusader hands until 1291. The ruins of the citadel are still visible in modern times, in 1296, during Mamluk rule, Atlit and its surrounding area was settled by members of the Tatar Uwayrat tribe. In 1596, during Ottoman rule which began in 1517, Atlit was recorded as a farm that paid taxes to the government, in 1859, the population was stated to be 180 souls, and their tillage 13 feddans, according to the English consul Rogers. An Ottoman village list of about 1870 showed that Atlit had 9 houses, in 1881, the Palestine Exploration Funds Survey of Western Palestine noted the existence of a small Arab village. In 1903, Jewish settlers built a village which they also called Atlit, The village was established by Edmond James de Rothschild. Aaron Aaronsohn established a station in Atlit in 1911. In the 1922 census of Palestine, during the British Mandate of Palestine period, Athlit had a population of 81, all Muslims, Athlit Salt works had a population of 196 Jews,1 Muslim and 1 Christian. This had increased in the 1931 census to 413 Muslim,496 Jews and 39 Christians, in 1938 there were 508 Arabs and 224 Jews. The Arab presence underwent a decline in the 1940s due to land sales. The circumstances under which the remaining Arabs left in 1948 are unknown, Atlit detainee camp was used by the British authorities to detain Jewish immigrants to Palestine. It is now a museum of the Haapala, a base of Israels naval commando is located nearby. Atlit was declared a council in 1950, but in 2004 was incorporated in the Hof HaCarmel Regional Council as one of a handful of Regional Committees. The late Knesset member Pesah Grupper lived in Atlit and he was head of its local council in the years 1959–1962 and 1969–1971
3.
Mediterranean Sea
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The sea is sometimes considered a part of the Atlantic Ocean, although it is usually identified as a separate body of water. The name Mediterranean is derived from the Latin mediterraneus, meaning inland or in the middle of land and it covers an approximate area of 2.5 million km2, but its connection to the Atlantic is only 14 km wide. The Strait of Gibraltar is a strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Gibraltar. In oceanography, it is called the Eurafrican Mediterranean Sea or the European Mediterranean Sea to distinguish it from mediterranean seas elsewhere. The Mediterranean Sea has a depth of 1,500 m. The sea is bordered on the north by Europe, the east by Asia and it is located between latitudes 30° and 46° N and longitudes 6° W and 36° E. Its west-east length, from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Gulf of Iskenderun, the seas average north-south length, from Croatia’s southern shore to Libya, is approximately 800 km. The Mediterranean Sea, including the Sea of Marmara, has an area of approximately 2,510,000 square km. The sea was an important route for merchants and travelers of ancient times that allowed for trade, the history of the Mediterranean region is crucial to understanding the origins and development of many modern societies. In addition, the Gaza Strip and the British Overseas Territories of Gibraltar and Akrotiri, the term Mediterranean derives from the Latin word mediterraneus, meaning amid the earth or between land, as it is between the continents of Africa, Asia and Europe. The Ancient Greek name Mesogeios, is similarly from μέσο, between + γη, land, earth) and it can be compared with the Ancient Greek name Mesopotamia, meaning between rivers. The Mediterranean Sea has historically had several names, for example, the Carthaginians called it the Syrian Sea and latter Romans commonly called it Mare Nostrum, and occasionally Mare Internum. Another name was the Sea of the Philistines, from the people inhabiting a large portion of its shores near the Israelites, the sea is also called the Great Sea in the General Prologue by Geoffrey Chaucer. In Ottoman Turkish, it has also been called Bahr-i Sefid, in Modern Hebrew, it has been called HaYam HaTikhon, the Middle Sea, reflecting the Seas name in ancient Greek, Latin, and modern languages in both Europe and the Middle East. Similarly, in Modern Arabic, it is known as al-Baḥr al-Mutawassiṭ, in Turkish, it is known as Akdeniz, the White Sea since among Turks the white colour represents the west. Several ancient civilisations were located around the Mediterranean shores, and were influenced by their proximity to the sea. It provided routes for trade, colonisation, and war, as well as food for numerous communities throughout the ages, due to the shared climate, geology, and access to the sea, cultures centered on the Mediterranean tended to have some extent of intertwined culture and history. Two of the most notable Mediterranean civilisations in classical antiquity were the Greek city states, later, when Augustus founded the Roman Empire, the Romans referred to the Mediterranean as Mare Nostrum
4.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
5.
Pre-Pottery Neolithic B
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Pre-Pottery Neolithic B is a division of the Neolithic developed by Kathleen Kenyon during her archaeological excavations at Jericho in the West Bank. In addition the flint tool kit of the period is new, one of its major elements is the naviform core. This is the first period in which architectural styles of the southern Levant became primarily rectilinear, earlier typical dwellings were circular, elliptical, pyrotechnology was highly developed in this period. During this period, one of the features of houses is evidenced by a thick layer of white clay plaster floors highly polished. It is believed that the use of plaster for floor. The earliest proto-pottery was White Ware vessels, made from lime and gray ash, built up around baskets before firing, sites from this period found in the Levant utilizing rectangular floor plans and plastered floor techniques were found at Ain Ghazal, Yiftahel, and Abu Hureyra. The period is dated to between ca.10,700 and ca.8,000 BP or 7000 -6000 BCE. Danielle Stordeurs recent work at Tell Aswad, an agricultural village between Mount Hermon and Damascus could not validate Henri de Contensons earlier suggestion of a PPNA Aswadian culture. Instead, they found evidence of a fully established PPNB culture at 8700 BC at Aswad, similar sites to Tell Aswad in the Damascus Basin of the same age were found at Tell Ramad and Tell Ghoraifé. How a PPNB culture could spring up in this location, practicing domesticated farming from 8700 BC has been the subject of speculation. Like the earlier PPNA people, the PPNB culture developed from the Earlier Natufian but shows evidence of a northerly origin, work at the site of Ain Ghazal in Jordan has indicated a later Pre-Pottery Neolithic C period which existed between 8,200 and 7,900 BP. Cultures practicing this lifestyle spread down the Red Sea shoreline and moved east from Syria into southern Iraq
6.
Neolithic
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It ended when metal tools became widespread. The Neolithic is a progression of behavioral and cultural characteristics and changes, including the use of wild and domestic crops, the beginning of the Neolithic culture is considered to be in the Levant about 10, 200–8800 BC. It developed directly from the Epipaleolithic Natufian culture in the region, whose people pioneered the use of wild cereals, which then evolved into true farming. The Natufian period was between 12,000 and 10,200 BC, and the so-called proto-Neolithic is now included in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic between 10,200 and 8800 BC. By 10, 200–8800 BC, farming communities arose in the Levant and spread to Asia Minor, North Africa, Mesopotamia is the site of the earliest developments of the Neolithic Revolution from around 10,000 BC. Early Neolithic farming was limited to a range of plants, both wild and domesticated, which included einkorn wheat, millet and spelt, and the keeping of dogs, sheep. By about 6900–6400 BC, it included domesticated cattle and pigs, the establishment of permanently or seasonally inhabited settlements, not all of these cultural elements characteristic of the Neolithic appeared everywhere in the same order, the earliest farming societies in the Near East did not use pottery. Early Japanese societies and other East Asian cultures used pottery before developing agriculture, unlike the Paleolithic, when more than one human species existed, only one human species reached the Neolithic. The term Neolithic derives from the Greek νέος néos, new and λίθος líthos, stone, the term was invented by Sir John Lubbock in 1865 as a refinement of the three-age system. In the Middle East, cultures identified as Neolithic began appearing in the 10th millennium BC, early development occurred in the Levant and from there spread eastwards and westwards. Neolithic cultures are attested in southeastern Anatolia and northern Mesopotamia by around 8000 BC. The total excavated area is more than 1,200 square yards, the Neolithic 1 period began roughly 10,000 years ago in the Levant. A temple area in southeastern Turkey at Göbekli Tepe dated around 9500 BC may be regarded as the beginning of the period. This site was developed by nomadic tribes, evidenced by the lack of permanent housing in the vicinity. At least seven stone circles, covering 25 acres, contain limestone pillars carved with animals, insects, Stone tools were used by perhaps as many as hundreds of people to create the pillars, which might have supported roofs. Other early PPNA sites dating to around 9500–9000 BC have been found in Jericho, Israel, Gilgal in the Jordan Valley, the start of Neolithic 1 overlaps the Tahunian and Heavy Neolithic periods to some degree. The major advance of Neolithic 1 was true farming, in the proto-Neolithic Natufian cultures, wild cereals were harvested, and perhaps early seed selection and re-seeding occurred. The grain was ground into flour, emmer wheat was domesticated, and animals were herded and domesticated
7.
Stone circle
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A stone circle is a monument of standing stones arranged in a circle. Such monuments have been constructed in parts of the world throughout history for many different reasons. Outside of Europe, stone circles have also erected, such as the 6300~6900 BCE Atlit Yam in Israel and 3000~4000 BCE Gilgal Refaim nearby. Another prehistoric stone circle tradition occurred in southern Scandinavia during the Iron Age, the size and number of the stones varies from example to example, and the circle shape can be an ellipse. All experts agree that stone circles are of date. Radiocarbon dating has produced a range of dates at different sites. This is at least partly due to an inadequacy of materials suitable for radiocarbon dating that can be obtained from the sites. The diversity of radiocarbon evidence may also suggest that stone circles were constructed over a long period. It is often not clear when building started, a further obstacle to dating is that there are generally no other archaeological artifacts associated with the stone circles. Traditional archaeological artifacts, such as pottery sherds, bones, etc. are not often found at the sites, the sites display no evidence of human dwelling, and rarely encompass graves. This suggests that stone circles were constructed for ceremonies and were in use on ceremonial occasions only, the type of ceremonies is entirely unknown. The crudeness and variety of the stones excludes the possibility that they had astronomical observation purposes of any precision, sometimes a stone circle is found in association with a burial pit or burial chamber, but the great majority of these monuments have no such association. A stone circle is a different entity from a henge. That suggests religious context, the details of which are still obscure, during the Middle Neolithic stone circles began to appear in coastal and lowland areas towards the north of the United Kingdom. The Langdale axe industry in the Lake District appears to have been an important early centre for circle building, many had closely set stones, perhaps similar to the earth banks of henges, others were made from unfounded boulders rather than standing stones. By the later Neolithic, stone circle construction had attained a greater precision, rather than being limited to coastal areas, they began to move inland and their builders grew more ambitious, producing examples of up to 400 m diameter in the case of the Outer Circle at Avebury. Most circles, however, measured around 25 m in diameter, designs became more complex, with double and triple ring designs appearing along with significant regional variation. These monuments are often classed separately as concentric stone circles, by 1500 BC stone circle construction had all but ceased
8.
Radiocarbon dating
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Radiocarbon dating is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon. The method was developed by Willard Libby in the late 1940s, Libby received the Nobel Prize for his work in 1960. The radiocarbon dating method is based on the fact that radiocarbon is constantly being created in the atmosphere by the interaction of cosmic rays with atmospheric nitrogen. The resulting radiocarbon combines with oxygen to form radioactive carbon dioxide. When the animal or plant dies, it stops exchanging carbon with its environment, and from that point onwards the amount of 14C it contains begins to decrease as the 14C undergoes radioactive decay. Measuring the amount of 14C in a sample from a plant or animal such as a piece of wood or a fragment of bone provides information that can be used to calculate when the animal or plant died. The idea behind radiocarbon dating is straightforward, but years of work were required to develop the technique to the point where accurate dates could be obtained. Research has been ongoing since the 1960s to determine what the proportion of 14C in the atmosphere has been over the past fifty thousand years. The resulting data, in the form of a curve, is now used to convert a given measurement of radiocarbon in a sample into an estimate of the samples calendar age. Other corrections must be made to account for the proportion of 14C in different types of organisms, additional complications come from the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil, and from the above-ground nuclear tests done in the 1950s and 1960s. Conversely, nuclear testing increased the amount of 14C in the atmosphere, measurement of radiocarbon was originally done by beta-counting devices, which counted the amount of beta radiation emitted by decaying 14C atoms in a sample. The development of dating has had a profound impact on archaeology. In addition to permitting more accurate dating within archaeological sites than previous methods, histories of archaeology often refer to its impact as the radiocarbon revolution. Radiocarbon dating has allowed key transitions in prehistory to be dated, such as the end of the last ice age, and they synthesized 14C using the laboratorys cyclotron accelerator and soon discovered that the atoms half-life was far longer than had been previously thought. This was followed by a prediction by Serge A. Korff, then employed at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia and it had previously been thought that 14C would be more likely to be created by deuterons interacting with 13C. At some time during World War II, Willard Libby, who was then at Berkeley, learned of Korffs research, in 1945, Libby moved to the University of Chicago where he began his work on radiocarbon dating. He published a paper in 1946 in which he proposed that the carbon in living matter might include 14C as well as non-radioactive carbon, by contrast, methane created from petroleum showed no radiocarbon activity because of its age. The results were summarized in a paper in Science in 1947, Libby and James Arnold proceeded to test the radiocarbon dating theory by analyzing samples with known ages
9.
Mount Carmel
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Mount Carmel is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. The range is a UNESCO biosphere reserve and a number of towns are located there, most notably the city of Haifa, Israels third largest city, located on the northern slope. The phrase Mount Carmel has been used in three ways, To refer to the 39 km-long mountain range, stretching as far in the southeast as Jenin. To refer to the northwestern 19 km of the mountain range, to refer to the headland at the northwestern end of the range. The Carmel range is approximately 6.5 to 8 kilometres wide, sloping gradually towards the southwest, the Jezreel Valley lies to the immediate northeast. The mountain formation is an admixture of limestone and flint, containing many caves, the sloped side of the mountain is covered with luxuriant vegetation, including oak, pine, olive, and laurel trees. There is also a small kibbutz called Beit Oren, which is located on one of the highest points in the range to the southeast of Haifa. As part of a 1929–1934 campaign, between 1930 and 1932, Dorothy Garrod excavated four caves, and a number of shelters, in the Carmel mountain range at el-Wad, el-Tabun. Garrod discovered Neanderthal and early human remains, including the skeleton of a Neanderthal female, named Tabun I. The excavation at el-Tabun produced the longest stratigraphic record in the region, the four caves and rock-shelters together yield results from the Lower Paleolithic to the present day, representing roughly a million years of human evolution. Taken together, these emphasize the paramount significance of the Mount Carmel caves for the study of cultural and biological evolution within the framework of palaeo-ecological changes. In 2012, UNESCOs World Heritage Committee added sites of human evolution at Mount Carmel to the List of World Heritage Sites, the World Heritage Site includes four caves on the southern side of the Nahal Me’arot/Wadi El-Mughara Valley. The site fulfils criteria in two categories, natural and cultural. According to the Books of Kings, Elisha travelled to Carmel straight after cursing a group of men because they had mocked him. After this, bears out of the forest and mauled 42 of them. During World War I, Mount Carmel played a significant strategic role, the Battle of Megiddo took place at the head of a pass through the Carmel Ridge, which overlooks the Valley of Jezreel from the south. General Allenby led the British in the battle, which was the point in the war against the Ottoman Empire. Archaeologists have discovered ancient wine and oil presses at various locations on Mt. Carmel, according to the Books of Kings, there was an altar to God on the mountain, which had fallen into ruin by the time of Ahab, but Elijah built a new one
10.
Sea level
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Mean sea level is an average level of the surface of one or more of Earths oceans from which heights such as elevations may be measured. A common and relatively straightforward mean sea-level standard is the midpoint between a low and mean high tide at a particular location. Sea levels can be affected by factors and are known to have varied greatly over geological time scales. The careful measurement of variations in MSL can offer insights into ongoing climate change, the term above sea level generally refers to above mean sea level. Precise determination of a sea level is a difficult problem because of the many factors that affect sea level. Sea level varies quite a lot on several scales of time and this is because the sea is in constant motion, affected by the tides, wind, atmospheric pressure, local gravitational differences, temperature, salinity and so forth. The easiest way this may be calculated is by selecting a location and calculating the mean sea level at that point, for example, a period of 19 years of hourly level observations may be averaged and used to determine the mean sea level at some measurement point. One measures the values of MSL in respect to the land, hence a change in MSL can result from a real change in sea level, or from a change in the height of the land on which the tide gauge operates. In the UK, the Ordnance Datum is the sea level measured at Newlyn in Cornwall between 1915 and 1921. Prior to 1921, the datum was MSL at the Victoria Dock, in Hong Kong, mPD is a surveying term meaning metres above Principal Datum and refers to height of 1. 230m below the average sea level. In France, the Marégraphe in Marseilles measures continuously the sea level since 1883 and it is used for a part of continental Europe and main part of Africa as official sea level. Elsewhere in Europe vertical elevation references are made to the Amsterdam Peil elevation, satellite altimeters have been making precise measurements of sea level since the launch of TOPEX/Poseidon in 1992. A joint mission of NASA and CNES, TOPEX/Poseidon was followed by Jason-1 in 2001, height above mean sea level is the elevation or altitude of an object, relative to the average sea level datum. It is also used in aviation, where some heights are recorded and reported with respect to sea level, and in the atmospheric sciences. An alternative is to base height measurements on an ellipsoid of the entire Earth, in aviation, the ellipsoid known as World Geodetic System 84 is increasingly used to define heights, however, differences up to 100 metres exist between this ellipsoid height and mean tidal height. The alternative is to use a vertical datum such as NAVD88. When referring to geographic features such as mountains on a topographic map, the elevation of a mountain denotes the highest point or summit and is typically illustrated as a small circle on a topographic map with the AMSL height shown in metres, feet or both. In the rare case that a location is below sea level, for one such case, see Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
11.
Ice age
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An ice age is a period of long-term reduction in the temperature of Earths surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Within a long-term ice age, individual pulses of cold climate are termed glacial periods, in the terminology of glaciology, ice age implies the presence of extensive ice sheets in both northern and southern hemispheres. In 1742 Pierre Martel, an engineer and geographer living in Geneva, two years later he published an account of his journey. He reported that the inhabitants of that valley attributed the dispersal of erratic boulders to the glaciers, later similar explanations were reported from other regions of the Alps. In 1815 the carpenter and chamois hunter Jean-Pierre Perraudin explained erratic boulders in the Val de Bagnes in the Swiss canton of Valais as being due to glaciers previously extending further. An unknown woodcutter from Meiringen in the Bernese Oberland advocated a similar idea in a discussion with the Swiss-German geologist Jean de Charpentier in 1834, comparable explanations are also known from the Val de Ferret in the Valais and the Seeland in western Switzerland and in Goethes scientific work. Such explanations could also be found in parts of the world. When the Bavarian naturalist Ernst von Bibra visited the Chilean Andes in 1849–1850, meanwhile, European scholars had begun to wonder what had caused the dispersal of erratic material. From the middle of the 18th century, some discussed ice as a means of transport, the Swedish mining expert Daniel Tilas was, in 1742, the first person to suggest drifting sea ice in order to explain the presence of erratic boulders in the Scandinavian and Baltic regions. In 1795, the Scottish philosopher and gentleman naturalist, James Hutton, two decades later, in 1818, the Swedish botanist Göran Wahlenberg published his theory of a glaciation of the Scandinavian peninsula. He regarded glaciation as a regional phenomenon, only a few years later, the Danish-Norwegian geologist Jens Esmark argued a sequence of worldwide ice ages. In a paper published in 1824, Esmark proposed changes in climate as the cause of those glaciations and he attempted to show that they originated from changes in Earths orbit. During the following years, Esmarks ideas were discussed and taken over in parts by Swedish, Scottish, at the University of Edinburgh Robert Jameson seemed to be relatively open to Esmarks ideas, as reviewed by Norwegian professor of glaciology Bjørn G. Andersen. Jamesons remarks about ancient glaciers in Scotland were most probably prompted by Esmark, in Germany, Albrecht Reinhard Bernhardi, a geologist and professor of forestry at an academy in Dreissigacker, since incorporated in the southern Thuringian city of Meiningen, adopted Esmarks theory. In a paper published in 1832, Bernhardi speculated about former polar ice caps reaching as far as the zones of the globe. When he read his paper before the Schweizerische Naturforschende Gesellschaft, most scientists remained sceptical, finally, Venetz convinced his friend Jean de Charpentier. De Charpentier transformed Venetzs idea into a theory with a limited to the Alps. In fact, both men shared the same volcanistic, or in de Charpentiers case rather plutonistic assumptions, about the Earths history, in 1834, de Charpentier presented his paper before the Schweizerische Naturforschende Gesellschaft
12.
Mount Etna
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Mount Etna is an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily, Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Catania, between the cities of Messina and Catania. It lies above the convergent plate margin between the African Plate and the Eurasian Plate and it is the tallest active volcano in Europe, currently 3,329 m high, though this varies with summit eruptions. It is the highest peak in Italy south of the Alps, Etna covers an area of 1,190 km2 with a basal circumference of 140 km. This makes it by far the largest of the three volcanoes in Italy, being about two and a half times the height of the next largest, Mount Vesuvius. Only Mount Teide in Tenerife surpasses it in the whole of the European–North-African region, Mount Etna is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and is in an almost constant state of activity. The fertile volcanic soils support extensive agriculture, with vineyards and orchards spread across the slopes of the mountain. Due to its history of recent activity and nearby population, Mount Etna has been designated a Decade Volcano by the United Nations, in June 2013, it was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. According to Adrian Room’s book Place-names of the World, the name Etna originated from the Phoenician word attuna meaning furnace or chimney and he dismisses the hypothesis that Etna is from the Greek αἴθω, meaning I burn, through an iotacist pronunciation. In Classical Greek, it is called Αἴτνη, a name also to Catania and the city originally known as Inessa. In Arabic, it was called جبل النار Jabal al-Nār and it is also known as Mungibeddu in Sicilian and Mongibello or Montebello in Italian. The term is not in use today, although some older people still call it this. According to another hypothesis the term Mongibello comes from the Latin Mulciber, the people of the Etna sometimes use the jargon term a muntagna, simply the mountain par excellence. Nowadays, the term Mongibello indicates the top area of the two central craters encompassing also the craters in the southeast and the northeast of the volcanic cone. Volcanic activity first took place at Etna about 500,000 years ago, about 300,000 years ago, volcanism began occurring to the southwest of the summit then, before activity moved towards the present centre 170,000 years ago. Eruptions at this time built up the first major volcanic edifice, the growth of the mountain was occasionally interrupted by major eruptions, leading to the collapse of the summit to form calderas. From about 35,000 to 15,000 years ago, Etna experienced some highly explosive eruptions, generating pyroclastic flows. Ash from these eruptions has been found as far away as south of Romes border,800 km to the north, the landslide left a large depression in the side of the volcano, known as Valle del Bove. Research published in 2006 suggested this occurred around 8000 years ago, and caused a huge tsunami and it may have been the reason the settlement of Atlit Yam, now below sea level, was suddenly abandoned around that time
13.
Tsunami
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A tsunami or tidal wave, also known as a seismic sea wave, is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Unlike normal ocean waves which are generated by wind, or tides which are generated by the pull of the Moon and Sun. Tsunami waves do not resemble normal undersea currents or sea waves, Tsunamis generally consist of a series of waves with periods ranging from minutes to hours, arriving in a so-called internal wave train. Wave heights of tens of metres can be generated by large events, numerous terms are used in the English language to describe waves created in a body of water by the displacement of water, however, none of the terms in frequent use are entirely accurate. The term tsunami, meaning harbour wave in literal translation, comes from the Japanese 津波, while not entirely accurate, as tsunami are not restricted to harbours, tsunami is currently the term most widely accepted by geologists and oceanographers. Tsunami are sometimes referred to as tidal waves and this once-popular term derives from the most common appearance of tsunami, which is that of an extraordinarily high tidal bore. Although the meanings of tidal include resembling or having the form or character of the tides, use of the tidal wave is discouraged by geologists. The term seismic sea wave also is used to refer to the phenomenon, prior to the rise of the use of the term tsunami in English-speaking countries, scientists generally encouraged the use of the term seismic sea wave rather than tidal wave. The Sumatran region is not unused to tsunamis either, with earthquakes of varying magnitudes regularly occurring off the coast of the island, Tsunamis are an often underestimated hazard in the Mediterranean Sea and parts of Europe. The tsunami claimed more than 123,000 lives in Sicily, the Storegga Slide in the Norwegian sea and some examples of tsunamis affecting the British Isles refer to landslide and meteotsunamis predominantly and less to earthquake-induced waves. The cause, in my opinion, of this phenomenon must be sought in the earthquake, at the point where its shock has been the most violent the sea is driven back, and suddenly recoiling with redoubled force, causes the inundation. Without an earthquake I do not see how such an accident could happen, the principal generation mechanism of a tsunami is the displacement of a substantial volume of water or perturbation of the sea. This displacement of water is attributed to either earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, glacier calvings or more rarely by meteorites. The waves formed in this way are then sustained by gravity, tides do not play any part in the generation of tsunamis. Tsunami can be generated when the sea floor abruptly deforms and vertically displaces the overlying water and they grow in height when they reach shallower water, in a wave shoaling process described below. A tsunami can occur in any state and even at low tide can still inundate coastal areas. On April 1,1946, the 8.6 Mw Aleutian Islands earthquake occurred with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VI and it generated a tsunami which inundated Hilo on the island of Hawaii with a 14-metre high surge. Between 165 and 173 were killed, the area where the earthquake occurred is where the Pacific Ocean floor is subducting under Alaska
14.
Shipwreck
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A shipwreck is the remains of a ship that has wrecked, which are found either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be deliberate or accidental, UNESCO estimates that worldwide over 3 million shipwrecks, some thousands of years old, lie on seabeds. Military wrecks, caused by a skirmish at sea, are studied to find details about the historic event, they reveal much about the battle that occurred. Discoveries of treasure ships, often from the period of European colonisation, some contemporary wrecks, such as the oil tankers Prestige or Erika, are of interest primarily because of their potential harm to the environment. Other contemporary wrecks are scuttled in order to spur growth, such as Adolphus Busch. Well known shipwrecks include the catastrophic Titanic, Britannic, Lusitania, Estonia, Empress of Ireland, Andrea Doria, there are also thousands of wrecks that were not lost at sea but have been abandoned or sunk. These abandoned, or derelict ships are smaller craft, such as fishing vessels. They may pose a hazard to navigation and may be removed by port authorities, poor design, improperly stowed cargo, navigation and other human errors leading to collisions, bad weather, fire, and other causes can lead to accidental sinkings. Intentional reasons for sinking a ship include forming a reef, due to warfare, piracy, mutiny or sabotage, as part of target practice. A ship can be used as breakwater structure. The stratification not only creates another challenge for marine archaeology but also a challenge to its primary state, stratification includes several different types of sand and/or silt, as well as tumulus and encrustations. These sediments are tightly linked to the type of currents, depth, and the type of water, besides this geological phenomenon, wrecks also face the damage of marine creatures that create a home out of them, primarily being octopuses and crustaceans. All the above offers great challenges to the marine archaeologist when attempting to bind the pieces of a certain shipwreck together, despite these challenges, if the information retrieved does not appear to be sufficient, or a poor preservation is achieved, authors like J. A. Parker claim that it is the value of the shipwreck that counts. Often the only parts of ships that remain after a century are those that were buried in silt or sand soon after the sinking. An example of this is the Mary Rose, steel and iron, depending on their thickness, may retain the ships structure for decades. As corrosion takes place, sometimes helped by tides and weather, thick ferrous objects such as cannons, steam boilers or the pressure vessel of a submarine often survive well underwater in spite of corrosion. Propellers, condensers, hinges and port holes were made from non-ferrous metals such as brass and phosphor bronze
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Quarry
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A quarry is a place from which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate has been excavated from the ground. A quarry is the thing as an open-pit mine from which minerals are extracted. The only non-trivial difference between the two is that open-pit mines that produce building materials and dimension stone are commonly referred to as quarries, the word quarry can also include the underground quarrying for stone, such as Bath stone. The surfaces are polished and finished with varying degrees of sheen or luster, polished slabs are often cut into tiles or countertops and installed in many kinds of residential and commercial properties. Natural stone quarried from the earth is considered a luxury and tends to be a highly durable surface. Quarries in level areas with shallow groundwater or which are located close to surface water often have engineering problems with drainage, generally the water is removed by pumping while the quarry is operational, but for high inflows more complex approaches may be required. For example, the Coquina quarry is excavated to more than 60 feet below sea level, to reduce surface leakage, a moat lined with clay was constructed around the entire quarry. Ground water entering the pit is pumped up into the moat, as a quarry becomes deeper, water inflows generally increase and it also becomes more expensive to lift the water higher during removal, this can become the limiting factor in quarry depth. Some water-filled quarries are worked from beneath the water, by dredging, many people and municipalities consider quarries to be eyesores and require various abatement methods to address problems with noise, dust, and appearance. One of the effective and famous examples of successful quarry restoration is Butchart Gardens in Victoria, BC. A further problem is pollution of roads from trucks leaving the quarries, to control and restrain the pollution of public roads, wheel washing systems are becoming more common. Many quarries naturally fill with water after abandonment and become lakes, water-filled quarries can be very deep with water, often 50 feet or more, that is often surprisingly cold. Unexpectedly cold water can cause a swimmers muscles to weaken, it can also cause shock. Though quarry water is very clear, submerged quarry stones. Several people drown in quarries each year, however, many inactive quarries are converted into safe swimming sites
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Maritime archaeology
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A specialty within maritime archaeology is nautical archaeology, which studies vessel construction and use. As with archaeology as a whole, maritime archaeology can be practised within the historical, industrial, an associated discipline, and again one that lies within archaeology itself, is underwater archaeology, which studies the past through any submerged remains be they of maritime interest or not. An example from the era would be the remains of submerged settlements or deposits now lying under water despite having been dry land when sea levels were lower. The study of submerged aircraft lost in lakes, rivers or in the sea is an example from the historical, industrial or modern era, many specialist sub-disciplines within the broader maritime and underwater archaeological categories have emerged in recent years. This fact has led to shipwrecks often being described in the media, archaeological material in the sea or in other underwater environments is typically subject to different factors than artifacts on land. However, as with terrestrial archaeology what survives to be investigated by modern archaeologists can often be a fraction of the material originally deposited. There are those in the community who see maritime archaeology as a separate discipline with its own concerns. Others value an integrated approach, stressing that nautical activity has economic and social links to communities on land, all that is required is the mastering of skills specific to the environment in which the work occurs. Before the industrial era, travel by water was often easier than over land, as a result, marine channels, navigable rivers and sea crossings formed the trade routes of historic and ancient civilisations. For example, the Mediterranean Sea was known to the Romans as the sea because the Roman empire spread around its coasts. The historic record as well as the remains of harbours, ships and cargoes, later, nations with a strong maritime culture such as the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark, Portugal and Spain were able to establish colonies on other continents. Wars were fought at sea over the control of important resources, of late maritime archaeologists have been examining the submerged cultural remains of China, India, Korea and other Asian nations. Saltwater is particularly inimical to iron artefacts including metal shipwrecks, an example of such a collection is the Mary Rose. Where it remains even after the passage of time, the iron or steel hull is often fragile with no remaining metal within the layer of concretion and corrosion products. Even in deep water, commercial activities such as pipe-laying operations, such a wreck is the Mardi Gras shipwreck sunk in the Gulf of Mexico in 4,000 feet of water. The shipwreck lay forgotten at the bottom of the sea until it was discovered in 2002 by an inspection crew working for the Okeanos Gas Gathering Company. Large pipelines can crush sites and render some of their remnants inaccessible as pipe is dropped from the surface to the substrate thousands of feet below. Trawl nets snag and tear superstructures and separate artifacts from their context, the wrecks, and other archaeological sites that have been preserved have generally survived because the dynamic nature of the sea bed can result in artifacts becoming rapidly buried in sediments
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Megalith
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A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. The word megalithic describes structures made of large stones without the use of mortar or concrete. For later periods, the monolith, with an overlapping meaning, is more likely to be used. The word megalith comes from the Ancient Greek μέγας and λίθος, megalith also denotes an item consisting of rock hewn in definite shapes for special purposes. It has been used to describe buildings built by people from parts of the world living in many different periods. A variety of stones are seen as megaliths, with the most widely known megaliths not being sepulchral. The construction of these took place mainly in the Neolithic and continued into the Chalcolithic. At a number of sites in eastern Turkey, large ceremonial complexes from the 9th millennium BC have been discovered and they belong to the incipient phases of agriculture and animal husbandry. Large circular structures involving carved megalithic orthostats are a feature, e. g. at Nevalı Çori. Although these structures are the most ancient megalithic structures known so far, at Göbekli Tepe, four stone circles have been excavated from an estimated 20. Some measure up to 30 metres across, as well as human figures, the stones carry a variety of carved reliefs depicting boars, foxes, lions, birds, snakes and scorpions. Dolmens and standing stones have been found in areas of the Middle East starting at the Turkish border in the north of Syria close to Aleppo. They can be encountered in Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Israel, Jordan, the largest concentration can be found in southern Syria and along the Jordan Rift Valley, however they are being threatened with destruction. They date from the late Chalcolithic/Early Bronze Age, megaliths have also been found on Kharg Island and pirazmian in Iran, at Barda Balka in Iraq, and at Jaintapur in Bangladesh. A semicircular arrangement of megaliths was found in Israel at Atlit Yam and it is a very early example, dating from the 7th millennium BC. The most concentrated occurrence of dolmens in particular is in an area on both sides of the Jordan Rift Valley, with greater predominance on the eastern side. They occur first and foremost on the Golan Heights, the Hauran, and in Jordan, in Saudi Arabia, only very few dolmen have been identified so far in the Hejaz. They seem, however, to re-emerge in Yemen in small numbers, the standing stone has a very ancient tradition in the Middle East, dating back from Mesopotamian times
18.
Cup and ring mark
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Similar forms are also found throughout the world including Australia, Gabon, Greece, Hawaii, India, Israel, Mexico and Mozambique. They consist of a depression, no more than a few centimetres across, pecked into a rock surface. Sometimes a linear channel called a gutter leads out from the middle, numerous cup-marked stones have been found in quite all the alpine valleys, comprising Val Camonica, associated with rock drawings. Regarding western alps, the best known are distributed along the Chisone, Susa and Viù valleys, strictly referring to cup-and-rings, it is possible to cite in the western Alps only the Novalesa stone, in the Cenischia Valley, near the Italian-French border. Found in 1988, it shows 4 concentric circles, with a central cup-mark, all around a network of 20 cup-marks, similar patterns are known in Galicia, which has given them the name of Galician style. Precisely dating megalithic art is difficult, even if the monument can be dated. Some cup marks have been found in Iron age contexts but these may represent re-used stones, where they are etched onto natural, flat stone it has been observed that they seem to incorporate the natural surface of the rock. Those at Hunterheugh are mostly connected to one another by gutters that can channel rainwater from one to the next, the markers of this second phase moved the art from natural stones to megaliths as its symbolism was reinterpreted by Later Neolithic and Early Bronze Age people. Their purpose is unknown although some may be connected with stone outcrops exploited by Neolithic peoples to make polished stone axes. A religious purpose has been suggested and we have seen the cup and ring markings on the stone at Temple Wood, and thats on the main stone but we cant interpret them. yet. He created diagrams and carried out analysis of over 50 of the cup and ring markings from which he determined a length he termed the Megalithic Inch. Davis made an effort to build on Thoms start, and to answer the question he posed. It would indeed be a breakthrough if someone could crack the code of the cups, subsequently, Davis investigated the idea that the prehistoric carvers used an elementary method of diameter-construction in laying out the carvings. Another particularly rich source of cup-marked boulders is the Derrynablaha townland on the Iveragh peninsula in County Kerry, one of the most interesting open air Rock Art sites in the Swiss Alps is situated at Carschenna, Rethic Alps, where Latin derived languages melt with German ones. The first engraved rocks were discovered in 1965, during the building of an iron electricity framework, Carschenna engravings are mainly characterized by concentric circles – from 1 to 9 – and cup-marks. Spirals, sun-like figures, riding scenes, and schematic horses are also present, cup-marks joined by long channels usually superimpose the cup-and-rings patterns. Prehistoric Rock Art of County Durham, Swaledale and Wensleydale, ancient Carvings in Britain, A Mystery. ISBN 0-85511-391-X Morris, Ronald W. B.1977, the Prehistoric Rock Art of Argyll
19.
Stele
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A stele is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected in ancient Western culture as a monument. Grave steles were often used for funerary or commemorative purposes, Stelae as slabs of stone would also be used as ancient Greek and Roman government notices or as boundary markers to mark borders or property lines. The surface of the stele usually has text, ornamentation, or both, the ornamentation may be inscribed, carved in relief, or painted. Traditional Western gravestones may technically be considered the equivalent of ancient stelae. The most famous example of an inscribed stela leading to increased understanding is the Rosetta Stone, an informative stele of Tiglath-Pileser III is preserved in the British Museum. Two steles built into the walls of a church are major documents relating to the Etruscan language, unfinished standing stones, set up without inscriptions from Libya in North Africa to Scotland were monuments of pre-literate Megalithic cultures in the Late Stone Age. The Pictish stones of Scotland, often carved, date from between the 6th and 9th centuries. An obelisk is a kind of stele. The Insular high crosses of Ireland and Britain are specialized steles, totem poles of North and South America that are made out of stone may also be considered a specialized type of stele. Gravestones, typically with inscribed name and often with inscribed epitaph, are among the most common types of stele seen in Western culture. Most recently, in the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin, the memorial is meant to be read not only as the field, but also as an erasure of data that refer to memory of the Holocaust. Steles have been the medium of stone inscription in China since the Tang dynasty. Chinese steles are generally rectangular stone tablets upon which Chinese characters are carved intaglio with a funerary, commemorative and they can commemorate talented writers and officials, inscribe poems, portraits, or maps, and frequently contain the calligraphy of famous historical figures. During the Han dynasty, tomb inscriptions containing biographical information on deceased people began to be written on stone tablets rather than wooden ones, erecting steles at tombs or temples eventually became a widespread social and religious phenomenon. Emperors found it necessary to promulgate laws, regulating the use of funerary steles by the population, Steles are found at nearly every significant mountain and historical site in China. The First Emperor made five tours of his domain in the 3rd century BC and had Li Si make seven stone inscriptions commemorating and praising his work, of which fragments of two survive. One of the most famous mountain steles is the 13 m high stele at Mount Tai with the calligraphy of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang commemorating his imperial sacrifices there in 725. A number of stone monuments have preserved the origin and history of Chinas minority religious communities
20.
Arrowhead
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An arrowhead is a tip, usually sharpened, added to an arrow to make it more deadly or to fulfill some special purpose. The earliest arrowheads were made of stone and of organic materials, Arrowheads are important archaeological artifacts, they are a subclass of projectile points. Modern enthusiasts still produce over one million brand-new spear and arrow points per year, in the Stone Age, people used sharpened bone, flintknapped stones, flakes, and chips of rock as weapons and tools. Such items remained in use throughout human civilization, with new materials used as time passed, such artifacts can be found all over the world in various locations. Those that have survived are usually made of stone, primarily consisting of flint, in many excavations, bone, wooden and metal arrowheads have also been found. Stone projectile points dating back 64,000 years were excavated from layers of ancient sediment in Sibudu Cave, examinations found traces of blood and bone residues, and glue made from a plant-based resin that was used to fasten them on to a wooden shaft. This indicated cognitively demanding behavior required to manufacture glue and these hafted points might have been launched from bows. This is an argument for the use of traps, perhaps including snares, if snares were used, the use of cords and knots which would also have been adequate for the production of bows is implied. The employment of snares also demonstrates an understanding of the latent energy stored in bent branches. Cords and knots are implied by use-wear facets on perforated shell beads around 72,000 years old from Blombos, archeologists in Louisiana have discovered that early Native Americans used Alligator gar scales as arrow heads. Hunting with a bow and arrow requires intricate multi-staged planning, material collection and tool preparation and implies a range of innovative social and communication skills. Arrowheads are attached to shafts to be shot from a bow, similar types of projectile points may be attached to a spear. The arrowhead or projectile point is the functional part of the arrow. Some arrows may simply use a tip of the solid shaft. Arrowheads may be attached to the shaft with a cap, a tang, or inserted into a split in the shaft. Points attached with caps are simply slid snugly over the end of the shaft, split-shaft construction involves splitting the arrow shaft lengthwise, inserting the arrowhead, and securing it using ferrule, sinew, rope, or wire. Modern arrowheads used for hunting come in a variety of classes and styles, many traditionalist archers choose heads made of modern high carbon steel that closely resemble traditional stone heads. Other classes of broadheads referred to as mechanical and hybrid are gaining popularity, often, these heads rely on force created by passing through an animal to expand or open
21.
Axe
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An axe is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has many forms and specialised uses but generally consists of an axe head with a handle, before the modern axe, the stone-age hand axe was used from 1.5 million years BP without a handle. It was later fastened to a wooden handle, the earliest examples of handled axes have heads of stone with some form of wooden handle attached in a method to suit the available materials and use. Axes made of copper, bronze, iron, and steel appeared as these technologies developed, axes are usually composed of a head and a handle. The axe is an example of a machine, as it is a type of wedge. This reduces the effort needed by the wood chopper and it splits the wood into two parts by the pressure concentration at the blade. The handle of the axe also acts as a lever allowing the user to increase the force at the cutting edge—not using the length of the handle is known as choking the axe. For fine chopping using an axe this sometimes is a positive effect. Generally, cutting axes have a shallow angle, whereas splitting axes have a deeper angle. Most axes are double bevelled, i. e, less common today, they were once an integral part of a joiner and carpenters tool kit, not just a tool for use in forestry. A tool of similar origin is the billhook, however, in France and Holland the billhook often replaced the axe as a joiners bench tool. Most modern axes have heads and wooden handles, typically hickory in the US and ash in Europe and Asia. Modern axes are specialised by use, size, and form, hafted axes with short handles designed for use with one hand are often called hand axes but the term hand axe refers to axes without handles as well. Hatchets tend to be small hafted axes often with a hammer on the back side, as easy-to-make weapons, axes have frequently been used in combat. Initially axes were tools of stone called hand axes, used without handles, axes made with ground cutting edges are known since the Neolithic period ending 4,000 to 2,000 BC. The first true hafted axes are known from the Mesolithic period, few wooden hafts have been found from this period, but it seems that the axe was normally hafted by wedging. Birch-tar and raw-hide lashings were used to fix the blade, the antler was hollowed out at one end to create a socket for the axehead. The antler sheath was then either perforated and a handle inserted into it or set in a made in the handle instead
22.
University of Haifa
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The University of Haifa is a public research university on the top of Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. The university was founded in 1963 by the mayor of its host city, Abba Hushi, the University of Haifa was founded in 1963 by Haifa mayor Abba Hushi, to operate under the academic auspices of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Haifa University is located on Mount Carmel, in 1972, the University of Haifa declared its independence and became the sixth academic institution in Israel and the fourth university. About 18,100 undergraduate and graduate study in the university a wide variety of topics, specializing in social sciences, humanities, law. The University is broadly divided into six Faculties, Humanities, Social Sciences, Law, Science and Science Education, Social Welfare and Health Studies, and Education. There is also the Graduate School of Management, The Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences, the University also hosts a large IBM research center on its campus. In its first year 472 students attended the University, the academic staff included 180 instructors,50 of them Haifa residents. In 1967, the University of Haifa awarded diplomas to its first 75 graduates, the first home of the University of Haifa was in Erdstein House in the Hadar HaCarmel section of Haifa, but it soon became too crowded. The University moved to Merkaz HaCarmel, and was housed in the building now serves the Municipal High School No.5. In 1966, the University moved to the top of Mount Carmel, the Universitys first building, the Multi-Purpose Building, was constructed in 1966. It contained classrooms, halls, laboratories, a library with 110,000 books, brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer planned the campus to include all the Universitys facilities in one complex. More recently, additional buildings have been built nearby, Niemeyer did not complete the detailed design phase, instead Shlomo Gilad received the commission for the overall planning of the campus. Gilad retreated from Niemeyers design, but retained the character of the main building, the Eshkol Building was the highest building in the city of Haifa until 2002. The Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences is a division of the University of Haifa that primarily focuses on the study of the Mediterranean Sea and it is home to the Caesarea Center, its own diving facility that also supports the Israeli Antiques Authority in Caesaria. Camelia Suleiman, professor and academic Arnon Sofer Yuval Steinitz philosopher, the current finance minister of Israel
