Living history

Age of the Dinosaurs III: Life in the Seas

2012-01-04T20:10:00.003+01:00

Around 250 million years ago there were already animals living in the oceans. They had evolved back from terrestrial animals and were therefore part of the reptile family. (1) Each period in the Mesozoic (the age of reptiles) had its own specific types of sea life, but all of them fed on fish, shrimps and shellfish. (2)

During the Triassic Period there was a huge ocean called the Tethys Sea which stretched across Southern Europe. The oldest group of reptiles that had adapted to life in this ocean were placodonts, who fed on shell fish and still needed to surface in order to breathe. They shared the water with nothosaurs, whose body was more streamlined for aquatic life. It had fins on its legs, but could still walk on land. (1)

1. Nothosaur from the Triassic Period

From the nothosaurs another group of aquatic reptiles emerged: plesiosaurs. This is possibly the most varied group of swimming reptiles and can be split into two groups. One group, characterized by their short necks, is called pliosaurs, while the long-necked group is called elasmosaurs. Both of these groups had species in all kinds of sizes and they occupied the oceans in the Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (1)

But the most well adapted sea reptiles in the Mesozoic were the ichthyosaurs. These reptiles resembled dolphins with their streamlined bodies, back-fin, paired fins on either side, and large fin on the tail. Like dolphins, they had to surface in order to breathe. Ichthyosaurs developed in the Triassic Period and persisted until the early Cretaceous Period, when they were replaced by mosasaurs until the end of the Mesozoic. (1)

2. Platypterygius kiprijanovi, an ichthyosaur species

Aside from the reptiles in the seas, there was one other major development below the surface. From the Jurassic Period onwards the marine reptiles shared the oceans with numerous fish species. The development of bonefish, where most modern fish species are a part of, had begun, but they were still overshadowed by the older group of fish: ray-finned fish. (3)

References:

1. Dixon, D., In the Sea, 2001, Ticktock Publishing
2. Amersham, B., National Geographic Dinosaurs, 1999, Firecrest Books (page 16)
3. Palmer, D., Atlas of the Prehistoric World, 1999, Marshall, London (page 101)

Picture credits:

All pictures from Wikipedia Commons

Age of the Dinosaurs II: Dinosaurs Walk the Earth

2011-08-01T17:01:00.002+02:00

Around 225 million years ago, during the Triassic Period, a new type of small carnivorous animals emerged in Argentina. (1) They evolved from archosaurs and were probably no larger than a large dog. (2) This were the first dinosaurs to walk the Earth. Like all reptiles, these dinosaurs laid eggs. (1)

The world they lived in consisted of one big continent, called Pangaea, and the Earth was warm and dry. There were vast deserts and no polar icecaps. In this world where very wet and very dry periods followed each other, dinosaurs as a group diversified and grew at a very fast rate. By the end of the Triassic Period there were herbivores alongside the carnivores and they populated the entire Earth. (1)

1. Pangaea

The Jurassic Period that followed the Triassic Period saw the world get wetter, although it remained warm. Plants started to colonize the deserts and immense forests of gigantic trees, ferns and other plants emerged. (1) Plants began to diversify and angiosperms evolved. Eventually, this group of plants would dominate the terrestrial vegetation. (3) The continents started to drift apart and between Northern America and Europe, as well as between Europe and Africa large oceans appeared. (1)

In this green world the number of dinosaurs increased rapidly and a lot of new species evolved. Some were big, heavily armored carnivores, while others were large herbivores like the familiar sauropods with their long necks. Carnivorous dinosaurs either hunted alone or in groups, while herbivores used a large variety of protections against them. Some had their size, armor, or horns to defend themselves, while others relied on speed, their senses, or living in a herd. (1)

2. Artist impression of Alamosaurus, a sauropod

At the beginning of the Cretaceous Period that came after the Jurassic Period temperatures on Earth reached a high point, only to decrease again over the next millions of years. (1) Dinosaurs split into two main groups: Saurischia (‘with lizard hips’) and Ornithischia (‘with bird hips). (2) It is in this period that dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex walked the Earth. The T. rex is perhaps the most well-known dinosaur of our age. With its 12 meters long and 6 meters high it was a fearsome predator in Northern America, although some scientists believe the T. rex was a scavenger and not an active hunter. For a long time the T. rex was the largest dinosaur known to man, but today that distinction goes to Spinosaurus, with estimates between 12.6 and 18 meters in length. (4)

3. Reconstruction of Tyrannosaurus rex in walking position

At the end of the Cretaceous Period the continents reached their current positions, although India was an island. Australia, Antarctica and Southern America were still connected together by narrow land-bridges. (1) The primal forests consisting of mainly fern species made place for more modern forests consisting of oaks, beeches, and other broadleaved trees. In between there were groups of coniferous trees and in the underbrush there were flowering herbs. (5) The world was starting to look more and more like it does today.

References:

1. Amersham, B., National Geographic Dinosaurs, 1999, Firecrest Books (page 13-15, 36-46)
2. Ackroyd, Peter, The Beginning, 2003, Dorling Kinderley, London (page 60-82)
3. Palmer, D., Atlas of the Prehistoric World, 1999, Marshall, London (page 99)
4. Dixon, D., Carnivores, 2001, Ticktock Publishing (page 6-16, 28-31)
5. Dixon, D., Herbivores, 2001, Ticktock Publishing

Picture credits:

All pictures from Wikipedia Commons

Age of the Dinosaurs I: Early Reptiles

2011-07-01T15:52:00.001+02:00

The first reptiles started appearing in the Carboniferous period. They were small lizard-like creatures. It’s not exactly known how they evolved, but their advantage over amphibians is obvious, as they didn’t need to return to the water to procreate. (1) This caused them to be able to conquer land in a way not seen before.

One of the earliest species of reptiles was Hylonomus, the oldest known ancestor of crocodiles and dinosaurs, and eventually birds. During this period another early ancestor started to appear, but of an entirely different group. Synapsids, a group of egg-laying, vertebrate animals, eventually developed into mammals. (1)

1. Artist impression of Hylonomus lyelli, an early reptile from the Late Carboniferous of Nova Scotia, Canada

During the Permian period all land formed one great continent known as Pangaea. In many areas had a harsh and dry climate, giving the advantage to reptiles and synapsids over amphibians. Both groups of terrestrial animals flourished, but for unknown reasons synapsids were more successful and made up 75 % of vertebrate, four legged terrestrials. (1)

Then the climate began to change and synapsids started spreading from the north in southern direction. One group of these early synapsids was called pelycosaurs. They resembled large lizards with strong jaws. During the Permian period this group started to evolve into therapsids, who were an extremely varied group with many different shapes and sizes. This group contained the first predators. The Permian period also saw the evolution of the two main classes of reptiles: diapsids and anapsids. (1)

2. Artist impression of Pristerognathus vanderbyli, a member of the therapsids, from South Africa

The end of the Permian period was around 248 million years ago. One of the most massive extinctions ever took place then, and over 90 % of all species went extinct. The extinction hit the oceans the hardest, as they warmed up around 95 % of all species living in the oceans died out. Among them were large groups of coral species and trilobites. Land species fared a little better, ‘only’ 70 % died out. (1)

There was no clear cause for this extinction. What we know is that there were significant climate changes. The oceans withdrew and shallow inner seas dried up, which caused a lot of the oceanic creatures to go extinct. Also, due to volcanic activity there was a lot of dust and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, causing warming of the Earth as well as a lowered oxygen content in sea water. (1) All of this together was too much for most species living at the time.

The time of the early reptiles ended soon after this mass extinction. A group of reptiles called archosaurs, members of the diapsids, became dominant during the Triassic Period and from this group the dinosaurs would evolve, giving rise to the Age of the Dinosaurs. (1)

References:

1. Ackroyd, Peter, The Beginning, 2003, Dorling Kinderley, London (page 49-60)

Picture credits:

All pictures from Wikipedia Commons

Bookreview: The Atlas of the Prehistoric World

2011-05-05T14:38:00.001+02:00

Author: Douglas Palmer
Published: 1999
Personal rating: 5/5

This book has three distinct parts that can be read separately, but are also very complimentary to each other. The first part is about fifty pages of world maps, showing the changing land masses with brief information on what changed and how it affected the climate, landscape, and life on Earth. These maps cover the time period from about 620 million years ago until 18.000 years ago. For reference the outline of the modern day map is drawn on top, which takes a bit of getting used to when viewing the maps, but also makes it really easy to see the enormous changes that have taken place. I loved this part of the book, because usually you only see pictures of some of the more important moments, like Pangaea in the Triassic Period and the drifting of continents in the Tertiary Period. This book shows the changes in much more detail, so you can actually see how and when moves were made by landmasses. I also liked that the viewpoint of each map was not solely the ever-present European side of the world. Usually both sides of the world were shown next to each other.

The second part of the book was about twice as long as the first part and dealt with the time period of the beginning of life until 18.000 years ago. It showed the evolution of life in texts, with great illustrations, with a focus on explaining the evolutionary changes as a natural consequence of the changing geography, which made the landscape and climate change as well. There are so many books that either skip that step completely or gloss over it, that it felt like a breath of fresh air to see the focus on the ‘why’ instead of the ‘what’. Sometimes the story jumped a bit, as the topics here are ordered chronologically bit written as self-contained pieces. This makes it so the story doesn’t always flow well when reading this part front to back, but has the advantage that certain periods can be skipped and it makes it easy to look up particular information.

The last part of the book was about forty pages of facts, by which I mean it contained a brief summary of the history of the Earth, bits about different kind of rocks and sediments, geological processes (like tectonics), and fossils, just to name a few things. This part contained great information in a clear and concise format. None of it was necessary to understand the two previous parts, but it was relevant to the topics discussed and fascinating.

The book ends with a list of small biographies of important scientists (both historic and contemporary) in the various fields that contributed to the over-all knowledge in the book, a list os museums and websites to visit, a glossary, and a further literature list. The only thing missing was a reference list, but I expect a lot of the references, if not all, will be in the further literature list.

All in all, this book was really great. I’ve read about ten books on this topic and browsed even more, but this is one of the best out there. Not to be missed!

Short Reviews: (Dinosaur) Non-fiction Books

2011-05-02T19:46:00.002+02:00

The Great Atlas of the Universe by Leopold Benaccio

This wonderful book full of stunning pictures takes you on a whirlwind tour of the history of the Earth, starting with the Big Bang and ending with the emergence of early humans. There’s not much text, but what there is, is very clear, concise, and informative. A great book to page through, and stop and sample whatever page draws your eye.

National Geographic Dinosaurs by Paul Barrett

This is a beautiful book with great pictures and easily understood text. It has good general information and a part where the best known and most recently discovered dinosaurs are discussed in more detail. With a publishing date of 2001 it’s a little dated when it comes to some information, but it’s still a great book.

In the Sea by Dougal Dixon

A nice little book covering the entire dinosaur age, focusing exclusively on sea-life during this period. Because of this narrow focus, there’s a lot of room for information that’s usually skipped. I really liked this look under the sea.

In the Sky by Dougal Dixon

A great little book covering all things flying during the dinosaur age. Not only discussing flying dinosaurs, it also takes the time to show the emergence of birds and takes a look at the early birds that were living during this time. I loved the fact that there’s plenty of examples of links between dinosaurs and birds, not only the always mentioned Archaeopteryx, who’s important but by far not the only important link between dinosaurs and modern birds. I loved this book.

Carnivores by Dougal Dixon

A nice little book covering carnivorous dinosaurs. It talks about the emergence and evolution of carnivores and highlights some of the more important and famous carnivores, including of course the T-Rex. Easy to read with good information.

Herbivores by Dougal Dixon

This nice little book covers all kinds of herbivorous dinosaurs. It talks about the evolution and succession of species, as well as taking a closer look at the most important species. There’s also attention for the various (possible) defensive mechanisms, like spikes and horns, and how they evolved. Easy to read, but sometimes it felt a little disjointed, especially at the end where I felt like some topics were just added on because they had to be discussed.

Dinomummy by Phillip Manning

This children’s book is a quick and easy read, but that doesn’t make the story of the life and discovery of Dakota, a dinosaur mummy, any less interesting. The text is clear and simple, but conveys a lot of information. And the pictures are great. I wonder how many were staged for the book and how many were actual pictures taken during the course of the excavation and research. Either way, a nice look behind the scenes of dinosaur research and one of the greatest finds in recent history!

Review: Walking With Dinosaurs (DVD)

2011-04-20T12:05:00.002+02:00

Walking with Dinosaurs, produced by the BBC, is perhaps one of the most famous dinosaur documentaries ever made. Originally aired as six episodes in the UK in 1999 and narrated by Kenneth Branagh, they are now all available on a single DVD. Each episode is approximately 45 minutes, perfect for watching one in a free hour. They are chronological and take the viewer from the beginning of the dinosaur era to the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous.

The whole documentary is set up like any other nature documentary, as if dinosaurs could just be filmed in their natural habitat. The scenes played out on screen seem so real and are so beautiful; it’s absolutely amazing even more than ten years past the production date. Of course there are plenty of pictures in dinosaur books, but somehow pictures in a book just don’t give a good impression of how the world was all those millions of years ago – something this DVD does.

It’s scientifically very sound, although there some mistakes (listed here), and as time continues to pass and research advances more and more things will be proven wrong. But that doesn’t take away that most if the information is still correct and Walking with Dinosaurs is still the best documentary on the subject there is. I’m therefore not surprised that the BBC is working on producing a 3D movie based on this series. (1, 2)

For another review of this series look here, for a review especially for parents look here.

References:

1. Wikipedia article Walking with Dinosaurs, 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walking_with_Dinosaurs (accessed 20 April 2011)
2. Spicezee, BBC, Reliance Big in movie co-production deal, 2 November 2010, http://swww.spicezee.com/articles/story74600.htm (accessed 20 April 2011)

Newsflash: "Embryo sauropod discovered"

2011-03-24T19:51:00.001+01:00

For the first time ever, an American scientist has mapped an embryo of the sauropoda, a group of herbivorous dinosaurs.

It is probably an embryo of a Titanosaurus, a dinosaur that could reach a length of twelve to fifteen meters. Researcher Gerald Grellet-Tinner of the Field Museum in Chicago discovered the remains of the unborn animal by viewing a dinosaur egg using a special scan.

The discovered embryo is fully developed and has a diameter of about nine centimeter, reports the British magazine New Scientist.

Surprise

"I was totally surprised," said Grellet-Tinner. "We have never before found such a fully formed embryo. And we did not know that these dinosaurs laid such extremely small eggs. "

The dinosaur egg in which the embryo has been discovered was found in the sixties during a scientific expedition close to the Gobi Desert in Mongolia. The fossil had landed in the archives of the Field Museum for some reason.

Bacteria

Bacteria have ensured that the dinosaur bones of the unborn are converted from calcium phosphate to calcium carbonate. The rest of the eggshell is also made up of that material.

This made it impossible for the embryo to be detected with X-rays. Grellet-Tinner used a so-called tomography to map the unborn animal. Based on the shape of the body, he concluded that it was a Titanosaurus. He has published his findings in the scientific journal Gondwana Research.

Doubt

However, some scientists doubt the results of the study. They ask themselves whether it is possible to determine a dinosaur species by looking at the shape of an embryo.

"It's very unusual to find an embryo with bones that are shaped exactly the same as in adults," remarked Steve Salisbury of the University of Queensland in New Scientist.

According to the Salisbury it is plausible that it is an embryo of a dinosaur from the group sauropoda. That discovery alone is very special. The age of the egg indicates that these dinosaurs lived in Mongolia 50 million years earlier than previously thought.

Source: http://www.nu.nl/wetenschap/2474792/embryo-van-sauropod-ontdekt--.html

Original article translated by me.

The Future of this Blog

2011-03-16T20:50:00.001+01:00

On Monday I posted the last part of the Early Life chapter of World History, almost a year and half after posting the first chapter. It has taken far longer than I expected or wanted. Still, I am happy with the end result.

In the past few weeks, I’ve thought long and hard on the future of this blog. I think one part of why I had a hard time blogging on this blog, especially in the last two years, is the fact that I didn’t want this blog to be cut-and-dry rehashing of history, yet that is exactly what it was becoming.

I decided to think back to just what I was trying to accomplish with this blog, and what I wanted to be doing. First and foremost, I wanted this blog to be a journal of my travels through world history and the history of the Netherlands as I did self study. Since that self study has fallen to the side, my blog posts tapered off to almost nothing. Yet it is something I still want to do and have recently returned to.

So while that took care of the basic posts on this blog, that still didn’t get me back my joy in blogging. Nor would it crank up the volume, so to speak, of blog posts, since the basic posts take study – and thus time – for me to write. But when I looked at that problem, I found that it was mainly the topic that caused that.

I like supplementing my history study with cooking recipes from that time period, going to museums that deal with that time period, and reading historical fiction pertaining from that period. None of that was possible with Early Life. There are no humans cooking, very few museums dealing with it, and no historical fiction about it. So more ‘fun’ posts were hardly possible about that period. But the next topic is dinosaurs. There are no recipes from that time period, but enough museums and even fiction books to have that I can make enough ‘fun’ posts to keep it entertaining, both for myself and readers.

Therefore, I’ve decided to keep going. A new chapter of history is dawning. Dinosaurs are roaming the Earth!

Early Life VI: Carboniferous Period

2011-03-14T16:37:00.005+01:00

362 million years ago was the start of the Carboniferous Period. This period is called that because the coal we use today stems from that period. Dead plants and fallen trees piled up on the forest floor and were gradually buried under layers of mud. Over millions of years, these layers were squeezed until they hardened and turned into coal.(1)

During this time period, a large part of the world was covered in swamps. The weather was warm and wet, and thick forests of gigantic trees spread out across whole continents. The trees were different than the trees from today. Tallest were the giant clubmosses, which reached heights of 50 meters (150 ft.).(1)

1. Reconstruction of landscape in Carboniferous Period

Swamps swarmed with huge insects, spiders, and bugs. Giant dragonflies were the first creatures with wings. There were millipedes that reached a length of up to two meters (6 ft 6 inch).(1)

A great variety of amphibians evolved. Some were small, lizard-like creatures who scampered around on the forest floor in search of insects, others hunted in the water like crocodiles. Some gradually lost their legs and could no longer live on land at all.(1) The amphibians that looked like lizards, like Westlothiana lizziae, are important because they are the ancestors of reptiles.(2)

2. Reconstruction of Westlothiana lizziae

However, like amphibians today, the early amphibians laid eggs in ponds or streams, so they had to stay near water. For animals to successfully live on land, they had to find their way around this problem. This would not happen until the Permian Period began.

References:

1. The Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of World History, 2002
2. Ackroyd, Peter, The Beginning, 2003, Dorling Kinderley, London

Picture credits:

All pictures from Wikipedia Commons

Early Life V: Life on Land

2011-03-13T14:27:00.003+01:00

For millions of years, Earth’s surface was scorched by harmful ultraviolet light. This made it almost impossible for life to exist on land. Algae grew on the edges of the sea, but the rest of the land was rocky and bare. Gradually, layers of the gas ozone built up around the Earth. This blocked part of the sun’s rays, which made it possible for plants and animals to live on land.(1)

In the Ordovician life began to move onto land. Livermosses began to crawl on the ground.(2) They were probably relatives of modern mosses and liverwort, and only grew in damp places.(1)

1. Modern day liverwort

To survive on dry land plants needed several things: roots for water uptake, a network of tubes for transport, waterproofing to stop the plant from drying out, and a stem strong enough to keep the plant upright. The first known plant with all features is Cooksonia, appearing approximately 420 million years ago.(1)

2. Reconstruction of Cooksonia

The earliest plants produced spores. During the Devonian period, some plants started to produce seeds. Seeds are tougher than spores, they can grow in dryer soils. This helped plants spread into areas with less water.(1)

The plants were followed by an animal that made very small paw prints, found by geologists in Nevada, although there is some controversy surrounding the find. If they are indeed footprints, they are the oldest known footprints in the world and were probably made by an arthropod who looked like a centipede or millipede.(3) This animal came out of fresh water onto land.(2) This was probably because during the Devonian the climate became warmer with long periods of dry weather, which caused lakes and rivers to become shallower. They contained less oxygen and the animals in the water had to adapt to survive.(1)

One group of fish, the ‘fleshy fins’, developed lings beside their gils. Scientists believe their muscular fins evolved into four legs. One of the first four-legged animals, the Acanthostega, still had gills. He probably couldn’t survive long on land.(1)

3. Reconstruction of Acanthostega

Around 375 million years ago, Ichthyostega appears. This animal lived mainly in the water, but he could breath air and crawl on land. Ichthyostega had a strong skeleton to support his large body. Such a strong skeleton isn’t necessary in water, but it is needed on land. He probably returned to water to lay his eggs. He was the first amphibian that walked the Earth.(1)

4. Reconstruction of Ichthyostega

References:

1. The Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of World History, 2002
2. Ackroyd, Peter, The Beginning, 2003, Dorling Kinderley, London
3. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/bigphotos/22989252.html

Picture credits:

All pictures from Wikipedia Commons

Early Life IV: Life in the Seas

2010-12-04T15:48:00.004+01:00

When most of the Cambrian creatures died out, they were replaced by an enormous variety of new creatures which thrived in the warm, shallow seas of the Ordovician and Silurian Periods. Some of those creatures, like starfish, sea lilies, and corals are still around today. The first coral reefs appeared 450 million years ago during the Ordovician Period.(1)

1. Artistic impression of ancient coral reef

During the Ordovician and Silurian Periods predators became experts at chasing and catching their prey. One group of predators were the nautiloids. They had excellent eyesight and long, grasping tentacles for catching food. Nautiloids were fast swimmers and moved around by shooting water in and out of their shells.(1)

2. Artistic impression of a nautiloid

The most ferocious predators were the eurypterids, or sea scorpions. The largest of these was the giant Pterygotus, which grew up to two meters (six foot six inches) long. It had sharp pincers in front of its mouth and used its tail as a paddle for moving quickly through the water.(1) Recent evidence, however, has scientist questioning if the sea scorpions really were such ferocious predators. (3)

3. Artistic impression of the Silurian sea scorpion Acutiramus cummingsi

At the beginning of the Ordovician Period, 510 million years ago, the first fish appeared. They were the first creatures with a backbone to support their bodies; the first vertebrates. These first fish had no jaws for opening and closing their mouth. They lived at the bottom of the sea, where they could suck up small particles of food from the seabed.(1)

4. Artistic impression of various Acanthodians

The first fish with jaws appeared during the Silurian Period. They are known as acanthodians. Because of their jaws, they could use their mouths for grasping and biting, so they could eat a much greater variety of food. Many of them became hunters.(1)

5. Artistic impression of various Acanthodians

A group of fish called placoderms, or ‘plated skins’, were particularly fierce hunters. Some were gigantic and had powerful jaws lined with sharp, jagged plates of bone.(1)

6. Artistic impression of Dunkleosteus terreli, one of the largest placoderms that have ever live.

After the Ordovician and Silurian came the Devonian. This period was the age of fish. (2) It was during this period that sharks first appeared in the oceans of the world. (1)

7. Early shark

Most fish that are alive today have bony skeletons. Almost all of these bony fish belong to a group known as ‘ray fins’. They have delicate, fan-shaped fins supported by fine, bony rods (or rays). A few bony fish belong to a group known as ‘fleshy fins’. Their thick fins are mainly bone and muscle, with a fringe of fine rays around the edges. It was from these fishes that the first land-living vertebrates evolved.(1)

8. Fossil of the fleshy-finned fish Eusthenopteron foordi

References:

1. The Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of World History, p. 28-31, 2002
2. Ackroyd, Peter, The Beginning, p. 28-43, 2003, Dorling Kinderley, London
3. Choi, Charles Q., Ancient 8-Foot Sea Scorpions Probably Were Pussycats, 30 December 2010, Last accessed: 6 March 2011, http://www.livescience.com/10353-ancient-8-foot-sea-scorpions-pussycats.html (With thanks to my anonymous commenter for keeping me up to date!)

Picture credits:

All pictures from Wikipedia Commons

Where Have I Been?

2010-11-30T20:27:00.000+01:00

If you follow my blog, you might have noticed that it's been quiet since the notice I put up in August. It has, in fact, been quiet on my blog this entire year. In real life, 2010 hasn't been an easy year for me. Besides a crazy workload there have been health problems and as a consequence there was very little time to do my independent historical studies and even less time to blog this year.

I haven’t lost my passion for history. In fact, there’s a rather large stack of non-fiction books just waiting for me to get to their time period in my studies! Not to mention the three (!) posts I’ve got all written out, which just need to be typed out and are then ready to post, finishing up the Early Life chapter of the Prehistory.

Thankfully, my workload is leveling out now that the new year is approaching and my health is back on track. And so I say with renewed enthusiasm: posting will resume as of Friday!

Back again

2010-08-03T17:59:00.000+02:00

Real life put a crimp in my history studies for a while, but I am back now! Updates will resume sometime this month.

Early Life Part III: The Cambrian Period Begins

2009-11-15T19:29:00.003+01:00

At the beginning of the Cambrian Period, around 550 million years ago, an amazing variety of new creatures begin to appear in the seas. Many of these new creatures had hard shells or outer skeletons to support and protect their soft bodies. (1) This probably evolved as a form of self-defense. This is a huge happening, because for the first time there is a fight to survive. (2) Also interesting is the appearance of animals who had legs with joints. They were the first arthropods. (1)

1. An example of a fossil with an outer skeleton. This is a fossil of Halkieria, showing numerous sclerites on the sides and back, and the cap-like shells at both ends.

From this Cambrian Explosion, as it’s called, we have a lot of fossils. Many of them come from Burgess Shale in Canada. These fossils show even soft-bodied creatures in fantastic detail. In some fossils the animals last meal can still be seen inside its body. (1)

2. Fossil specimen of Opabinia found at Burgess Shale, on display at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. This soft bodied creature is remarkably well preserved.

About a third of the fossils from the Cambrian Period are from a curious creature: the trilobite. It looked like a woodlouse, but with a hard shell, and could vary in size. The body had two grooves from head to tail, so it looked like the body was split in three. There are over 15.000 species of trilobites, but all are extinct now. These trilobites were one of the first species who could see clearly. Their eyes were made up of thousands of hexagonally lenses, closely packed together under the protection of a cornea. (2)

3. An exceptionally well preserved trilobite from Beecher's Trilobite Bed. Segmented legs are clearly visible.

But the most important creature found at Burgess Shale is a small, eel like animal called Pikaia. It belongs to a group of animals called chordates, which have a stiff rod running down their spine. Humans are also chordates, so Pikaia could be one of our earliest ancestors, although recently scientists in China have discovered a chordate called Chatlaymyrus, which is even older than Pikaia. (1)

4. Fossil specimenof Pikaia on display at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC.

Around 510 million years ago many of the Cambrian creatures died out. (1) This is probably because of the disappearance of seas caused by moving plates. (2)

References:

1. The Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of World History, p. 24, 25, 2002
2. Ackroyd, Peter, The Beginning, p. 14, 2003, Dorling Kinderley, London

Picture credits:

1. Taken from the Wikipedia Commons
2. Taken from the Wikipedia Commons
3. Taken from the Wikipedia Commons
4. Taken from the Wikipedia Commons

Early Life Part II: The First Animals Emerge

2009-11-04T16:22:00.003+01:00

As the number of blue-green algae increased, oxygen began to build up in the atmosphere, which was devoid of oxygen before. This build-up allowed many new forms of life to develop. (1)

The earliest traces of animals are tracks left on the seabed by worm-like creatures around 1,2 billion years ago. (2) Some of them seem so strange that scientists are not sure if they are animals at all. (1)

At the end of the Precambrian life seems to die out. We have enough clues to know that there were complex, multi-cellular life forms that survived this extinction. Scientists aren’t sure why so many life forms became extinct, but the theory is that the soft-bodied creatures of the Precambrian were exterminated by new predators. The uprising of sea-animals with shells and plates as a defense suggests as much. Together with the tectonic plates, whose movements made shallow seas disappear, it could have been enough for a mass extinction. (2)

1. Spriggina may be one of the predators that led to the demise of so many Precambrian animals.

References:

1. The Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of World History, p. 24, 25, 2002
2. Ackroyd, Peter, The Beginning, p. 14, 2003, Dorling Kinderley, London

Picture credits:

1. Taken from the Wikipedia Commons

Bookreview: The Inheritors

2009-11-03T22:03:00.002+01:00

Author: William Golding
Genre: Historical
Published: 1955
Personal rating: 4/5

The story that William Golding tells in The Inheritors is a compelling one, provided you don't mind the outdated ideas about Neanderthals that were in use when he wrote the book. Golding's Neanderthals are very ape-like. They can speak and use fire, but they don't make tools, don't hunt, and their cognitive powers are far below that of (ancient) Homo sapiens. We now know that those ideas are wrong, and that Neanderthals were far more like Homo sapiens than like apes. However, the fact that Golding's Neanderthals aren't historically accurate detracts nothing from the emotion of the story, in which a small group of Neanderthals has their first meeting with Homo sapiens, with disastrous consequences.

What kept this book from getting the highest rating was the language Golding used. It was very flowery and literary, with lots of metaphors. Sometimes it was hard to follow the story because I had to re-read things in order to get what Golding meant. Still, it was a good book and I recommend it.

Cross-posted on Bookworms and Tea Lovers

Early Life Part I: The Forming of the First Cells

2009-11-02T18:37:00.002+01:00

Cells are made of proteins, but how did the first cells form? Scientists think that 3800 million years ago the gasses that poured out of the volcanoes that covered the Earth dissolved in the warm water of the oceans. Then, they speculate, these chemicals reacted with each other to form more complex chemicals, like the ones that make up proteins. (1)

1. Representation of the 3D structure of an example of a protein.

Although scientists have a fairly good theory about how the first proteins may have formed, they don’t have a good theory about the forming of the first living cells. The first cells may have formed in the seas. The theory is that films of proteins, floating on the water, may have broken up to form tiny spheres with chemicals trapped inside. Another theory is that cells may have formed around water springs. The proteins may have melted together and then formed tiny, cell-like spheres as they cooled. Another idea is that the clay at the bottom of the shallow seas helped tiny blobs of protein to stick together and form some of the chemicals found in cells. (1)

The first living cells were single cells, a lot like bacteria. Millions of years later, some bacteria, known as blue-green algae, began to use sunlight and water to make their food and so photosynthesis was born. It’s these blue-green algae of which we have fossils. These fossils are remains of large groups of blue-green algae and are called stromatolites. Some of them are over 3500 million years old. (1) Stromalites still exist today in shallow seas. (2)

2. Pre-Cambrian fossil stromatolites in the Siyeh Formation, Glacier National Park.

A possible even older trace of life was found in Greenland. Scientists there discovered traces of a type of carbon in 3.8 billion years old rock. It’s possibly a trace of early microbial life. (2)

References:

1. The Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of World History, p. 24, 25, 2002
2. Ackroyd, Peter, The Beginning, p. 14, 2003, Dorling Kinderley, London

Picture credits:

1. Taken from the Wikipedia Commons
2. Taken from the Wikipedia Commons

Temporary fiction list for anything not prehistoric

2009-09-27T17:09:00.002+02:00

All of these books are fictional books that play in any part of history but the prehistory. These books will be added to their appropriate list once I start on those periods in history. Reviews will also be added at those times. If there is an R behind the title, you can check the review I wrote on my blog Bookworms and Tea Lovers (see sidebar)

Books about prehistoric America, and about when people settle down and become farmers can be found here under

This list is devided in historical fiction, historical romance, historical detectives, and historical fantasy. Only categories where I have titles for will be present. It is also devided into three periods, as per the Usborne Internet Encyclopedia: Ancient World, Medieval World, and the Last 500 Years. There's a final categroy of time-sweep novels.

Ancient World - Historical Fiction

The first Americans sage by William Sarabande

These books play in the prehistory of Europe in the last ice age, and eventually flow into the time of the first native americans. It's based on archeological facts.

1. Beyond the sea of ice (review)
2. Corridor of Storms (review)
3. Forbidden Land (review)
4. Walkers of the Wind
5. The Sacred Stones
6. Thunder in the Sky
7. The Edge of the World
8. Shadow of the Watching Star
9. Face of the Rising Sun
10. Time Beyond Beginning
11. Spirit Moon

Series discontinued - see review of Forbidden Land for the reason.

Abigail's Story by Ann Burton R

Ancient World - Historical Fantasy

Pompéi by Maja Lundgren R

Medieval World- Historical Fiction

Last 500 Years- Historical Fiction

The Royal Physicians Visit by Per Olav Enquist R

Homestead by Rosina Lippi R

Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates by Mary Mapes Dodge R

The Sorrow of Belgium by Hugo Claus

Last 500 Years- Historical Detective

The Sultan's Seal by Jenny White R

Death at Bishop's Keep by Robin Paige R

Last 500 Years- Historical Romance

Emma by Jane Austen R

To Pleasure a Lady by Nicole Jordan R

On The Way to the Wedding by Julia Quinn R

It's In His Kiss by Julia Quinn R

When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn R

To Sir Philip With Love by Julia Quinn R

Romancing Mr. Bridgerton by Julia Quinn R

An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn R

The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn R

The Duke & I by Julia Quinn R

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë R

Last 500 Years- Historical Fantasy

The Tale of Hill Top Farm by Susan Wittig Albert R

Time-sweep Novels

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova R

The Blessing Stone by Barbara Wood

Spotlight: Moving Continents

2009-04-14T20:11:00.000+02:00

The surface of the Earth moves. This moving started very early on, if not right from the beginning. When the Earth was still new, the flows that bubbled up from the core of the Earth, together with hits from meteorites, caused the Earth’s crust to fall apart in several separate, moving plates.(2) Most plates are partly land and partly ocean floor.(1)

The plates move very slow, but the distance becomes great over millions of years. Around 200 million years ago, the plates formed one big continent called Pangea. The plates then slowly drifted apart to where they are now.(1) Nowadays, there are eight big tectonic plates that move with the speed of about 3 centimeters a year. They either collide, shift apart, or slide alongside each other. When two plates collide, the crust crumples up and forms a mountain range.(2)

References:

1. The Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of World History, p. 20, 21, 24, 25, 2002
2. Ackroyd, Peter, The Beginning, p. 4-5; p.7-9; p.15, 2003, Dorling Kinderley, London

Normal posting will be resumed...

2009-04-09T21:46:00.001+02:00

I promise. I know I've disappeared of the radar, but that's because my mother was admitted to the hospital. She's home now, and beginning her long path to total recovery. But, while she was in the hospital, I was utterly unable to read, let alone post on any of my blogs.

Now though, I'm following a course on human evolution, and I'm in the process of writing several pieces, about fossils and early life on earth. So you can look forward to lots and lots of posts!

I'm off to write now..

Still alive

2008-12-28T17:42:00.001+01:00

Hello everyone,

just a small message to let you know I am still alive. I've just been incredibly busy. December is not just filled with parties (from birthdays to weddings to births to Christmas) but also with two major exams, my internship finally working out (meaning I have a LOT to do) and helping my parents with their business, since they are renovating, removing all Christmas things and taking stock of what's there in the space of five days!

So, you can imagine why I haven't been around. I must admit, I haven't even picked up a book (except for my exams) this month. But, in Januari, all will be restored to it's usual pace, which means I will re-start my posting then.

Merry (if belated) Christmas and a Happy New Year,

Samantha

Museum visit: Historisch OpenluchtMuseum Eindhoven

2008-11-22T14:42:00.004+01:00

This open air museum, situated in Eindhoven, has reconstructed two time periods, namely the Iron Age and the Middle Ages. The museum employees are very friendly, and very passionate about history. Every construction found in this museum is historically accurate, or as accurate as the available information allows.

The building shown above houses the smith, which is of course where the iron was made into usable objects. The board in front of it tells something about the building, but there’s also information to be found about how the iron was extracted, which wasn’t easy at all.

This is a shot of inside one of the farmhouses. It’s very dark in there, but quite spacious. It’s fun to see the actual dimensions of a farm where you know people and animals lived in winter. Of course, in summer, most of daily life would’ve been outside, in the light and fresh air.

In the Middle Ages part of the museum, they show both country and city life. The above picture is from a Middle Ages farm from around 10th or 11th century.

And what else shows city life better then the inn, which is also the restaurant of the museum. Don’t think you’ll walk into a modern restaurant when you go in though, the people are dressed medieval, and the interior is equally authentic.

As a final treat, I got to see a real smith working, just like smiths in the Middle Ages did it. It was very fascinating to see. What a hard craft!

For more information, you can go to the website. I haven’t found an English version of the site, but don’t let that stop you from visiting this living history museum!

Picture credits

All pictures made by me, location: Historisch OpenluchtMuseum Eindhoven.

Bookreview: The Mammoth Hunters

2008-11-21T19:12:00.003+01:00

Author: Jean M. Auel
Genre: historical, romance
Published: 1085
Personal rating: 4/5

In this book, Ayla lives with the Mammoth hunters. The whole book is really about Ayla's relationship with Jondalar and Ranec, between which she must choose. Even though it is still historical, it is mostly about the romance, although a lot is learned along the way.

This book was less than the two previous ones, but it did succeed in making me curious about the next book. So, I'll continue the series.

Bookreview: The Valley of Horses

2008-11-05T16:42:00.002+01:00

Author: Jean M. Auel
Genre: historical fiction
Published: 1982
Personal rating: 5/5

Ayla has left the Clan, and now lives on her own. This is so for most of the book, until she finds Jondalar, a human male, one of her own kind. It is then that she has to decide wether to stay alone, or come out of isolation and interact with her own kind. Also in this book, you get to know Jondalar, as he and his brother's journey is shown before he gets into contact with Ayla.

This book is just as good as the last one, and the only negative thing I have to say about it, is that sometimes a description of a proces (like boat making) was a bit too long. Otherwise, a good follow-up on the first book.

Cross-posted on Bookworms and Tea Lovers

Bookreview: The Clan of the Cave Bear

2008-10-23T20:18:00.003+02:00

Author: Jean M. Auel
Genre: historical fiction
Published: 1982
Personal rating: 4/5

This book is about the young Cro-magnon girl Ayla who is taken in by a tribe of Neanderthals. It paints a vivid picture of a prehistoric world where two races of humans live next to one another, where one is doomed to die out and another is to become our ancestors. The story continues on from there, until Ayla is an adult, and a mother. At the end of the book, although there is somewhat of a closure, it is clear that the story will continue in the next part of the book.

I don't want to give too much away, but what I liked most about the book is that although Ayla living witht the tribe accentuates the differences between the two species, neither is put forward as superior, just different. Also, I liked the information that was in the book relating to the use of herbs as medicines. Some plant uses sparked my interest, and I wonder if they would still be considered for such use with our modern knowledge.

There was one thing I didn't liek so much, which was that a certain action Ayla took had consequences much later in the book, and I saw those consequences coming a long time before they actually came. That was very predictable, and that's a shame. It could have been better concealed, or it could have been discovered by someone then stay without consequences until it was discovered by more people. Although, to give credit, the outcome was a surprise.

All in all, a very nice book, and I'm curious to see the what the next one will bring.

Cross-posted on Bookworms and Tea Lovers

End of the Prehistory

2008-10-17T21:19:00.002+02:00

The Dutch prehistory ends with the invasion of the Romans, around 2000 years ago. (1) Most sources state 12 B.C. as the arrival of the Romans, and the invasion was complete around 2 B.C. With that, a new age began and the Netherlands became part of the Roman Empire. Prehistory was officially over. (1)

However, it must be said, that the Romans never went past the great rivers, so the North of the Netherlands stayed in the prehistory until the Middle Ages, if you look at it from a technical standpoint. But, since historians, and other people alike, like solid dates, the end of prehistory for the Netherlands is when the Romans invaded.

1. Weertz, Jan; Langs stenen erfenissen; 1997; Zevenster; Terschuur

1. Forming of the Earth

2008-10-15T19:59:00.002+02:00

Start of our universe

History has to start somewhere. A nice starting point is the start of the universe. Which is also about as far back as we’ve been able to reconstruct.

The ruling theory at the moment is that our universe started with the Big Bang. This idea started when scientists discovered that galaxies seem to move away from each other, making the universe expand. (3)

Although resources vary a bit, the Big Bang can be dated to about 15.000 million years ago. A violent explosion occurred then, which we call the Big Bang. (1) After the Big Bang, the universe started to expand very fast. It took about 300.000 years before the heat had dissipated enough for stable particles of hydrogen and helium atoms to form. When the particle mist was gone, the universe was clear, or see-through, like a glass of water. In the 300 million years after that, hydrogen and helium formed dense clouds, with big empty spaces in between. Space was dark for a billion years. The gas clouds eventually started to contract under the influence of gravity, forming the first galaxies with bright stars and glowing nebula’s, which brought light to the universe. (2)

Our own galaxy, the Milky Way, is one of the galaxies that were formed. Around 5 million years ago, the Orion-arm of the Milky Way collapsed because of gravity, making a big cloud of gas and dust. In the centre of this cloud, it was so very hot and dense, that a nuclear fusion occurred, birthing a new star, our Sun. (2)

When the Sun was cooling down, she spun around so fast that there was a disc-shaped cloud of gas and dust particles coming out of the sun. When these particles collided and formed compounds, they formed dense, ball shaped objects. Some became hard and hot, others big and gas-like. These objects became the planets of our solar system. (2) Our Earth was amongst them, formed around 4550 million years ago. (1)

Early Earth

Earth started out as a hot, liquid ball of 5000 degrees Celsius, where millions of meteorites impacted upon it’s rotating surface. For 100 million years, the Earth stayed like that, until the heavy iron and nickel particles slowly dropped to the inner parts. There they formed a hot core with a cross section of over 300 kilometers. The lighter minerals floated to the surface, where they formed an outer layer of almost 300 kilometers thick. (2)

The new Earth was, at one time, hit by a meteorite about the size of Mars. Because of this collision, a part of the liquid crust was struck apart from the rest and slung into space. After a billion years of revolving in an orbit around the Earth, the material clotted together under the influence of gravity, forming the Moon. (2)

While the surface of the Earth cooled down, solid pieces of crust began to form. The heavy parts sunk a little deeper and formed the oceans bottom, while the lighter parts became land. The eact date of this process isn’t known, but there’s evidence of solid rock that’s 4,4 billion years old, so there was rock that long ago. (2)

In the beginning, there was no atmosphere around the Earth. That came into existence because of heavy volcanism, that caused all kinds of gasses to come free from the hot Earth. This process is called ‘outgassing’, a process that is still visible today when a volcano erupts. The early atmosphere was composed mostly of carbon dioxide, oxygen, hydrogen, and water vapor. From that water vapor and from the frozen water from comets that hit the Earth, the first oceans were formed. (2)

Earth changed by life

The billions of unicellular organism from which stromatolites existed took in carbon dioxide and enriched the atmosphere with oxygen. Millions of years, the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere increased, until it was finally enough to support life forms that need oxygen to survive. (2)

Once that life began, Earth still changed. It still does today: see Spotlight: Moving Continents.

References:

1. The Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of World History, p. 20, 21, 24, 25, 2002
2. Ackroyd, Peter, The Beginning, p. 4-5; p.7-9; p.15, 2003, Dorling Kinderley, London
3. Benacchio, Leopold, The Great Atlas of the Universe, p. 10, 2005, Udine

Things coming up:

2008-09-30T21:05:00.002+02:00

A review of my most recent visit to a living history museum, with pictures (yes, I finally got permission to post them!)

Forming of the Earth

Spotlight: Moving continents

Lots to look forward too!

Pre-knowledge I: Timetables

2008-09-20T22:32:00.002+02:00

Our history has been cut into pieces, we call them centuries. Or decades, or millennia. One such piece can also be called a period. These periods, however, are not all the same length. Instead they are divided by large evolutionary events. Mya is short for million years ago.

Precambrian period - 4550 mya – 550 mya

The earth is formed
The earth’s surface is covered in volcanoes
First living cells appear
First soft bodied creatures

Cambrian period – 550 mya – 510 mya

First creatures with skeletons

Ordovician period – 510 mya – 440 mya

First fish
First land plants

Silurian period – 440 mya – 408 mya

First creatures on land

Devonian period - 408 mya – 362 mya

First amphibians

Carboniferous period – 362 mya – 290 mya

First forests
First flying insects
First reptiles

Permian period - 290 mya – 245 mya

First swimming reptiles

Triassic period – 245 mya – 200 mya

First dinosaurs

Jurassic period - 200 mya – 144 mya

First mammal
First birds

Cretaceous period – 144 mya – 66 mya

First flowering plants
End of dinosaurs

Tertiary period - 66 mya – 1,8 mya

First horses
Firs elephants
First cats
First humans

Quaternary period – 1,8 mya - now

References:

The Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of World History, 2002

Timeline

2008-09-18T14:36:00.003+02:00

Like promised, here are my first pictures of my first bit of timeline. The jumps in my timeline are a bit irregular until 10.000 B.C., from there on out, each page in my notebook is 100 years. Please note that on this page, after the date there is my, meaning million years. so it's not 15.000 B.C., its 15.000 million years B.C.

Here you can see the whole notebook page. There's still space, because there are other things that still need to go on that page. I do that when I get there in my tekst.

This is a close up.

So, what do you think? I like it, at any rate.

Free curriculum World History

2008-09-17T21:15:00.003+02:00

I've started on World History, which I'll intersperse now and then with the appropriate Dutch history when I have gone through that time period in world history. For world history, I'm using a free curriculum that can be downloaded on-line, called Mosaic. You can find it here.

The first part is called Myths, Maps and Marvels, and deals with the prehistoric world, the Romans, Egyptians, and such, until the Middle Ages (which is dealth with in part 2).

A few things to keep in mind while reading the things I write here.

- The curriculum is for kids, I adapt it to my own situation, and am just using it as a guide.

- I always use the two main books: A Little History of the World by E.H. Gombrich, and Usbornes Encyclopedia of World History. I will put them in the resources used at the end of a written piece, but not on any of the lists.

- Even though some periods listed in Usborne under the Ancient Civilizations header are strickly still prehistory, I will stick to the listing used in Usborne, just to keep myself from going mad.

- Reviews of the Encyclopedia and A Little History of the World will be given, but only after I'm done using them.

Nonfiction Prehistoric Time - World History

2008-09-17T21:13:00.002+02:00

This is a list of resources I have used, or will use, during the prehistory of the world. Links to reviews will be added when I write them. Some books are used on multiple topics, and as such are listed under multiple headings.

Forming of the Earth

The Great Atlas of the Universe by Leopold Benacchio

The Beginning by Peter Ackroyd

Early Life

The Beginning by Peter Ackroyd

The Rise of Life by John Reader

Sea Monsters by Nigel Marven

Book that covers all of China's history!

2008-09-15T13:02:00.002+02:00

I did a marvellous discovery in the bookstore last week. There was a priced down book that bore the title of China: A History. I picked it up, and leafed through it, and fell in love.

It details all of China's history, from prior to 1500 BC, until now. It's a great book, with great pictures, some in color, others in black and white. There's lots of information, and I think it will work very well with the Mosaic curriculum when I get to ancient China.

The book is written by John Keay, and he's written more history books. It might be a good idea to check them out too...

Quiet around here

2008-09-11T20:00:00.002+02:00

Hello everyone,

It's been very quiet around here, mostly because I've been ill and haven't been able to do anything. Things seem to be looking up, although it's just slightly, so I thought I'd give you all a preview of what's in the pipeline for around here.

A review of my visit to a living museum in Eindhoven, hopefully with pictures, depending on the permission.

A geological time scale, especially helpfull with prehistory

The beginning of the Earth

Pictures of my very first bit of time-line!

A list of non-fiction resources I've used, or am going to use, together with reviews of the books I've already used.

A sneak-peak at my amazing discovery concerning China!

Metal Workers

2008-08-08T23:20:00.003+02:00

Eventually, metal tools were introduced in the Netherlands. This had a big impact, and caused social and economic changes.(1) The time of the metal workers can be divided into two, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age.(2)

Bronze Age

Bronze was one of the first metals ever to be used. Bronze is an alloy of copper and, usually, tin. The time in which bronze weapons and tools were dominant is called the Bronze Age.(1)

Bronze and it’s ground components had to be imported, because they can’t be found in the Netherlands. This caused bronze to be rare and very valuable, especially in the early Bronze age. Bronze was imported in the shape of weapons, daily use objects, and jewelry. In the mid-Bronze Age, the import increased, but the re-use of old bronze also increased. This re-use enabled the development of local bronze industries.(1)

Farming was still the main means of living, but it did change. Farms became bigger, and the living and agrarian areas spread out. Farm houses became bigger, so life stock could be kept inside during the winter. Sometimes, the farming was done too intensive, and the ground became exhausted. This caused heaths to emerge, and dust storms. This was the first environmental problem men caused.(1)

1. Farmhouse

In the Bronze Age, there was an increase in international contacts. This was mostly because of the import of jewelry and other luxury items, but also because of export. The import of gold bracelets, barn stone beads, and bronze jewelry all point to contact with other parts of Europe, including oversea area’s as England and Ireland. There were also contacts with Southern-Europe and the Middle East. The evidence for this are bronze buckets, a silver vase found in Neerharen, and a silver disk found in Helden, among other things.(1)

Burial practices in the Bronze age are just as interesting as the international contacts. People in the Bronze Age were buried under a grave hill. Sometimes, after a burial in the center of the grave hill, other family members were put in the same grave, only in the edge of the hill, instead of the center. But, not everyone was put into a grave. Human skeletons have been found around settlements in garbage piles. In the late Bronze Age, the way to bury people changed quick and radical. The dead were cremated, and the remains were put in urns. These urns were then placed in urn-fields. Nobody knows why this sudden change occurred, but the tradition remained until the late Iron Age.(1)

The graves are one of the things that tell us that the social inequity grew even bigger than before in the Bronze Age. Village heads or local leaders had a lot of power over their subjects. One of the power means was the monopoly over the trade in bronze objects. To prevent that too much bronze objects circulated amongst the people, part of them were deliberately destroyed by throwing them in marshes, lakes, or rivers. A lot of these depots have been preserved. Because the import was controlled, the leader could show his power with the bronze objects. His prestige increased and his subjects stayed dependent. This power also led to fights. There are lots of weapons in the depots and a mass grave near Wassenaar was found that dates back to the early Bronze Age. The people in the mass grave were probably victims of a robbery.(1)

Another aspect of society, religion, ties in closely with the social differences. The depots in marshes, lakes, and rivers are probably not just there because of socio-economical reasons, but also religious reasons. Archeologists have uncovered a small, wooden temple in Bargeroosterveld from the early Bronze Age. But the most macabre finds have to be the countless humans in the marshes. There are persons there that had an accident, but also executed people. It’s unclear if this last category were criminals, or human sacrifices.(1) Perhaps they were both.

Iron Age

From around 700 B.C. iron became dominant, which marks the beginning of the Iron Age, although bronze stayed in use for a long time. Iron wasn’t new though, as an iron pen with an age of 3500 years was found in the Netherlands, which puts it in the middle of the Bronze Age. Iron became dominant for two reasons. First of all, it’s much harder than bronze, thus making it more suitable for a lot of things. Secondly, it can be found in the Netherlands, making it much cheaper.(1)

Iron was processed on a local level. In almost every settlement we find waste from the melting process. Sometimes parts of the bellow and failed tools are found.(1)

In the Iron Age, a new farming system was used. They started using patchwork fields, named celtic fields. Around those celtic fields there were small hills with trees or bushes, serving as wind-screens. To prevent exhaustion of the ground, part of the fields were kept empty and they fertilized the fields with manure from the stables.(1)

There was a big rise in the demand of farmland and the farmers went in the wet areas, although the accent there was on the keeping of livestock. In the West and the North, dairy production and industry was the primary means of living.(1)

The Iron Age knew an unprecedented enlargement, not only in farming, but also in number of settlements, contact with other regions, and social organization. Small villages from the Bronze Age, usually only a few houses big, grew to real villages, although the settlements did move a bit over time. At the end of the Iron Age, ditches were dug around the villages. It’s not clear whether it was done as a defense or to stop cattle from escaping. There were also fenced terrains that had no living function. These were probably used to store goods, most likely goods meant for trading.(1)

Trade intensified in the Iron Age, and except for tools, weapons, and jewelry, several new things were traded too. There was export of glass products, which were made in the river area near Nijmegen, and of salt that was won at the coast. The salt was mainly imported to the East of the Netherlands and to Germany. Import also increased, and brought new things into the country, like millstones made from basalt which were imported from a grove in the German Hayen. It was also during the Iron Age that money as a means of paying for goods was first introduced.(1)

As said before, during the late Bronze Age and most of the Iron Age, people were cremated. But, in the late Iron Age, we once again see a diversification of burial practices. But even earlier in the Iron Age, there were differences. Not everyone was put in the urn fields in the same way. Some graves deviate from the general pattern. They are larger and have very valuable burial gifts. The richness and exotic character of these burial gifts suggests they were kings. These graves held, amongst other things, bronze buckets from the Middle East and Southern Europe, remains of four-wheel carts, and in some cases a with gold inlayed sword. Comparable graves in other parts of Europe are all associated with the elite of society, and archeologists have given them the label of kings. But the burial gifts were not the only clue. Research of the bones found in the king’s grave of Oss showed a forty to sixty year old male with striking coalescences of the bones. These coalescences are known from remains of other people who were found in graves that were labeled with high social status because of the grave gifts or location.(1)

In the Iron Age, there were more religious practices. Everywhere in the country, but especially in the South, there were cult places. An example is Empel, near Den Bosch, which is well preserved because it kept it’s religious function after the invasion of the Romans, as it was turned into a Roman shrine.(1)

References:

1. Verhart, Leo; Prehistorie van Nederland; 1993; De Baataafsche Leeuw; Amsterdam
2. Weertz, Jan; Langs stenen erfenissen; 1997; Zevenster; Terschuur

Picture credit:

1. Picture made by me, location: Historisch OpenluchtMuseum Eindhoven

World History: Prehistory Index

2008-07-31T13:58:00.014+02:00

Prehistory

Pre-knowledge

Pre-knowledge I: Timetables

History chapters

1. Forming of the Earth

2. Early Life

Part I: The Forming of the First Cells
Part II: The First Animals Emerge
Part III: The Cambrian Period Begins
Part IV: Life in the Seas
Part V: Life on Land
Part VI: Carboniferous Period

3. Age of the Dinosaurs

Part I: Early Reptiles
Part II: Dinosaurs Walk the Earth
Part III: Reptiles of the Seas
Part IV: Reptiles Rule the Air
Part V: The Emergence of Birds
Part VI: Fall of the Dinosaurs

Spotlights

Spotlight: Fossils
Spotlight: Moving Continents

Spotlights prehistory

2008-07-31T13:55:00.002+02:00

Spotlights prehistory

Hunebeds

Fossils

Moving Continents

Farmers

2008-07-31T13:50:00.004+02:00

Around 10.000 years ago, farming was invented in the Near East. Farming spread around Europe through traveling people. Around 7300 years ago, the first farmers came into the Netherlands. They settled in the South of Limburg, on fertile loessial soil.(1) The age of farmers had arrived, and the Neolithic Age had begun.(2)

Small villages, consisting of only several houses, started to appear. Small pieces of forest were developed for farm fields. Th crops from that time were several grains, like einkorn wheat, emmer wheat, and barley, as well as peas, lentils, flax seed, and poppy seed. On pastures and empty farm fields they kept livestock: cows, goats, and sheep. They kept pigs in the forest.(1)

Farming wasn’t adopted by local people until a thousand years after the introduction in the Netherlands. The only exception to this was the West, where it was too wet for farming, and an abundance of fish and game was available. People there continued to hunt for a long time, although agrarian products were adopted into the diet. They continued their normal nomadic lifestyle, living in settlements in dry places, like dunes, for short periods of time.(1) Around 4600 years ago, people started to use animals, mostly oxen, as harness animals. A primitive plow came into use, as well as carts.(1)

1. Reconstruction of a prehistoric farm house.

Because of farming, the economy changed. There were demands for different firestone tools, and the demand for good firestone increased. In the South of Limburg, there were deep mineshafts where firestone was delved. Above the ground, the firestone was made into half-products, like long slates of firestone, or rough axes. The final products were made at the place of use.(1)

Not only did the economy change, but social differences became bigger in the Neolithic. This can be clearly seen from the graves that were discovered. First of all, there were various methods to bury people: burying, cremation, and excarnation. The fact that not everyone was buried in a grave, or buried in the same way, signifies social differences. But the burial gifts are the strongest clue here, as they varied greatly.(1)

Besides using stone for weapons and tools, stone was also used for megaliths in the Neolithic. To find out more about this, visit Spotlight: Hunebeds.(2)

References:

1. Verhart, Leo; Prehistorie van Nederland; 1993; De Baataafsche Leeuw; Amsterdam
2. Weertz, Jan; Langs stenen erfenissen; 1997; Zevenster; Terschuur

Picture credits:

1. Made by me, location: Hunebed Centre Borger

Spotlight: Hunebeds

2008-07-31T13:49:00.001+02:00

In the Neolithic, stone was used for more than just weapons and tools. Megaliths, big stones, were used for monuments and graves. Hunebeds, sometimes also known under the name dolmens, are gravehills build from megaliths. They were build in the North and East of the Netherlands, mainly in the provinces Drenthe, Groningen, Overijssel and Friesland. Nowadays, only fifty hunebeds still remain, all but one in Drenthe. The one that’s not in Drenthe is located in Groningen.(1)

The reason so few hunebeds remain is because the stones have been used for other things throughout times.(1) This started as early as the prehistory itself, even before the start of the Bronze Age.(2) In the Middle Ages, a lot of stones were re-used for building. The biggest losses though, were during the last two centuries, when the stones were used, among other things, to strengthen the dykes. Nowadays, most hunebeds are in the hands of the government. Still, even now, some parts are destroyed. In 1978, people lit a fire under a carrier stone of the hunebed by Borger, damaging it. Something similar happened in 1997 with the hunebed by Steenbergen. Vandals lit a fire and the capstone and a carrier stone sprung apart.(1)

The rocks from which the hunebeds were build have been brought to the Netherlands by gletsjers during the pre-last ice age. When building a hunebed, stones were put upright first, to form the walls. Then the capstones were put into place, forming the roof. The holes that were left were closed with smaller rocks, and the whole was covered with dirt. The hunebed was then surrounded by menhirs, great standing stones, to form a perimeter. This perimeter was usually a circle, but there are examples of square perimeters, and of ones in the shape of a ship, found in Scandinavia.(1)

1. Reconstruction of how a hunebed looked once it was finished

The hunebeds that still exist today usually don’t have a name. Most just have a letter, the first letter of the province in which they stand, and a number. Some do have a name, and usually, there’s a story behind it. D49 by Schoonoord is called ‘De Papeloze Kerk’, which, translated, means ‘The Priestless Church’. The name stems from the 16th century. There were a lot fo reforms in the church, and people were prosecuted for their fate. The new, reformed, church-services had to be held in secret and secluded places, like in the shadows of the hunebed. Since the reformists didn’t have priests, the hunebed was named ‘The Priestless Church’.(1)

Another such story is about D13, which carries the name ‘De Stemberg’, which translates roughly in ‘The Mountain with a Voice’. Someone with a stick was poking in the ground, looking for treasures. The hill that was D13 looked interesting, and the man poked into it, hitting the capstone. This produced a hollow sound. From there, the name ‘The Mountain with a Voice’ evolved.(1)

2. Hunebed D27 by Borger as it is today

Like said before, hunebeds are getting rare in the Netherlands. No matter how well we protect them, there will always be a loss, if not to vandals, than to time. Once all the hunebeds are gone, the last traces our very far ancestors left behind will be gone from the landscape, and their only legacy will be in the museums. Let’s keep that moment as far away from now as possible, and safeguard these great monuments.

References:

1. Weertz, Jan; Langs stenen erfenissen; 1997; Zevenster; Terschuur
2. Holleman, Theo; Nederland in de prehistorie; 2000; Teleac/NOT Tirion; Baarn

Picture credits

1. Made by me, location: Hunebed Centre Borger
2. Made by me, location: Hunebed D27 by Borger

Hunters and Gatherers

2008-07-16T22:32:00.005+02:00

At the beginning of time, people lived as hunters and gatherers. We call this time the Stone Age, but if we want to be specific, people only lived like that in the Old Stone Age, the Paleolithic, and the Middle Stone Age, the Mesolithic. We call it the Stone Age, because all of the tools that people used were made out of stone.(1)

The prehistory in the Netherlands starts in the Paleolithic, 250.000 years ago, as groups of people camp now and again in the most southern parts of our country.(2) In those days, people lived in tents, and their camps have left little to no traces in the soil for us to find today. There was probably a base camp from which expeditions were undertaken and some smaller hunters camps.(3)

1. Reconstructed image of a prehistoric hunter.

In the Mesolithic, over 240.000 years after the first people came to the Netherlands, things begin to change. The climate is getting warmer, and the North Sea comes into existence because of that. Animals like the prehistoric ox, red deer, moose, deer, wild hog and brown bear start to live in dens forests. Because of this excess of food, the hunters and gatherers can stay in one place for longer periods of time. This evolves into trekking through a territory, visiting the same places every year at set times, following the food sources through the seasons. This loss of mobility, or better said, this staying in one place for longer periods of time, made the evolution of social interactions, like parties and gambling, possible. This loss of mobility also brought with it social change, as having property became possible and this led to power and influence. We can tell this happened on account of the burial gifts that were found.(3)

As a last fact that we can state for this period of time, it’s perhaps interesting to know that even though the groups were fairly small and moved about, there was by no means isolation of groups. There is evidence for intensive trade over large area’s and distances. You could say that international trade was already appearing in prehistoric times.(3)

2. Reconstruction of a group of prehistoric hunters and gatherers.

References:

1. Weertz, Jan; Langs stenen erfenissen; 1997; Zevenster; Terschuur
2. Holleman, Theo; Nederland in de prehistorie; 2000; Teleac/NOT Tirion; Baarn
3. Verhart, Leo; Prehistorie van Nederland; 1993; De Baataafsche Leeuw; Amsterdam

Picture credits:

1. Made by me, location: Hunebed Centre Borger
2. Made by me, location: Hunebed Centre Borger

Pre-knowledge II: Landscape and Climate

2008-07-16T16:51:00.001+02:00

Landscape

The landscapes of the world as they are now, haven’t always been this way. Landscapes change over time. It’s the same with the Netherlands. In prehistoric times, it looked quite different, and it changed throughout prehistory. While reading this, please keep in mind I focus on the Netherlands and some surrounding areas.

At the beginning if the Saale glacial era, the Rhine flowed from South-East to North, and the Meuse met the Rhine somewhere around Northern-Limburg. To the East and West of the Rhine, were terrace-shaped river sediments located. And Great-Britain wasn’t an island.

Late during the Saale glacial era, the land ice reached it’s maximum, coming all the way to the line Haarlem-Nijmegen. The Netherlands were covered in huge glaciers that made deep glacial valleys. The ice forced the Rhine to flow westwards.

In the Eemian interglacial era, the ice retreated. Where the ice had been, were now hills and valleys. Some valleys were filled up by debris that got there in the flow of water that came from the melting ice. The Rhine flowed North again, but the Meuse kept flowing West, and the two rivers didn’t connect anymore. Great-Britain became an island.

In the Weichsel glacial era, the sea level went down and Great-Britain was no longer an island. The Rhine flowed, for the most part, once again westwards.

After the Weichsel glacial era, Great-Britain once again became an island.

In the last 10.000 years of the prehistory, dunes appeared along the coast. Marshes could be found behind the dunes and also in higher parts of the Netherlands. In the low parts of the Netherlands, the landscape consisted of mudflats, estuaries, river deltas, sweet water lakes, marshes, grasslands and swamp forests. In the higher parts of the Netherlands, temperate forests, grasslands and marshes could be found.

Climate, and all that goes with it.

With the changing of the climate, the vegetation and animal life changes. It is no different in the Dutch prehistory. While reading this, keep in mind I am just discussing Northwest Europe.

In the Holstein era, which came before the Saale era, big temperate forests dominated Northwest Europe. Forest elephants, forest rhino’s, wild hogs, and a big species of beavers could be found in these forests.

In the Saale glacial era, at the edge of the land ice there were arctic circumstances, while more southern there were tundra’s, and even more South there were prairie-like grasslands. The huge forest disappeared and the big beaver died out. Woolly rhinos, mammoths, reindeer and lemmings lived during this time.

In the Eemian interglacial era, the woods returned and the tundra’s and grasslands went back to their northern position. Deer, hippos, water buffalo, forest elephants, forest rhinos lived in this time, and on the grasslands you could also encounter a steppe rhinos.

In the Weichsel glacial era, the forest elephants and rhinos went South, and eventually died out in the coldest phase. Northwest Europe was tundra-like, with little patches of pines and birches. Mammoths, woolly rhinos, muskoxen, bison, reindeer and lemmings lived during this time.

After 10.000 B.C. the flora and fauna of Northwest Europe was more like what we know now.

This information was taken from Nederland in de prehsitory (Theo Holleman, 2000, Teleac/NOT, page 43, 44, 47 and page 48) and adapted and translated by me.

Prehistoric Index

2008-06-06T22:03:00.005+02:00

Information

Dutch Prehistory (see it's own index)

World Prehistory (see it's own index)

Resources, lists

Museums about the prehistory

Prehistoric fiction for children (including links to the reviews)

Prehistoric fiction for adults (including links to the reviews)

Bookreviews non-fiction books prehistory

Bookreview: Nederland in de prehistorie

Bookreview: Langs stenen erfenissen

Bookreview: Prehistorie van Nederland

Bookreview: The Atlas of the Prehistoric World

Several short bookreviews about dinosaur books

Museum Visits

Museum visit: Hunebed Centre

Museum visit: Historisch OpenluchtMuseum Eindhoven

Other

Prehistoric recipe

Spotlights prehistory

Review: Walking With Dinosaurs (DVD)

Bookreview: Prehistorie van Nederland

2008-06-03T14:55:00.002+02:00

Translated title: The Prehistory of the Netherlands
Author: Leo Verhart
Published: 1993
Personal rating: 5/5

This book is a great book if you want to know more about the prehistory of the Netherlands. First there is a rather large introduction chapter that tells the history of the Netherlands from the first people here until the entering of the Romans, where prehistory ends and history begins. The rest of the chapters are about one kind of object, like arrow points, or axes, and then the history of said object, and the evolution of it, is told. By doing it like this, you get a lot of information about how prehistoric people lived. As a bonus, all objects discussed are objects that can be found in the collection of the National Museum of Antiquities, which is only a fifteen minute bike-ride away from my home.

Bookreview: Langs stenen erfenissen

2008-06-03T14:48:00.004+02:00

Translated title: Past Stone Legacies
Author: Jan Weertz
Published: 1997
Personal rating: 4/5

This book isn't completely about the Netherlands, it also contains parts about Great-Britain, France, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Sweden and Norway. The whole book is about the megalithic monuments that can be found in those countries. It's very interesting to read, especially as Jan Weertz also includes a general introduction to prehistory that's very interesting and readable.

The book's a nice introduction to the prehistory, and especially to the obvious signs that were left, namely the megalithes.

Dutch Prehistory Index

2008-06-01T21:57:00.008+02:00

Dutch Prehistory

Pre-knowledge

Pre-knowledge I: Timetables

Pre-knowledge II: Landscape and Climate

History chapters

Hunters and Gatherers

Farmers

Metal Workers

Ending of the Prehistory

Spotlights

Spotlight: Hunebeds

Prehistoric recipe

2008-06-01T21:37:00.001+02:00

As part of my history studies, I decided to take a culinary trip through time. The first of, what I hope will be, many dishes is a prehistoric dish. I must say, ti tasted very good!

Smoked fish stew

125g bacon
2 leeks
500g of any smoked fish
1 litre milk
1 cup cream
Some chives
1 tsp salt

Fry the bacon until the fat comes away from it and add the chopped leeks. Cook until tender. Add the fillets of fish and cover with the milk. Slowly cook in a pot near the fire until the fish is cooked, which is about 30 minutes. Pour in the cream, along with the chopped chives and salt.

Among the fish remains found in prehistoric middens (waste pits) in northern Europe are: eel, carp, pike, perch, trout, salmon, plaice, bass, mullet, cod and spurdog.

This recipe was taken from Prehistoric Cooking by Jacqui Wood (Tempus, 2002)

Pre-knowledge for the Dutch Prehistory: Timetables

2008-04-30T18:48:00.005+02:00

A little bit of knowledge about time-scale is necessary for the complete understanding of the Dutch Prehistory. This is why I'll be discussing two time-scale here. The first is the climatological time-scale, and the next is the historic time-scale.

Climatological time-scale

Climatological time-scale, what is meant by that? It's the time-scale of the large ice-ages, and the smaller ones, and of course the interglacials. In this time-scale I've used the Northern-European names, and these climates are only valid for the Netherlands in that time period. Of course, it affected more than just the Netherlands, but I have not looked into how it affected other countries. Another thing to keep in mind is that these periods lasted a long time, and the climate is an average, and temperatures did vary within these periods.

There were three long periods that really shaped the Netherlands.

-Saale glacial era (200.000 - 100.000 years ago)
-The Eemian interglacial era (100.000 - 50.000 years ago)
-Weichsel glacial era (50.000 - 12.000 years ago)

In between 12.000 and 51 B.C. the climate still wasn't stable, but the difference were less big and didn't last as long.

-Bǿlling, warmer (12.000 - 11.000 B.C.)
-Early Dryas, colder (11.000 - 10.800 B.C.)
-Allerǿd, warmer(10.8000 - 10.000 B.C.)
-Late Dryas, colder (10.000 - 9.000 B.C.)
-Pre-boreal, warmer (9.000 - 8.000 B.C.)
-Boreal, warmer (8.000 - 7.000 B.C.)
-Atlanticum, warm and humid (7.000 - 3.000 B.C.)
-Sub-boreal, cooler and drier, (3.000 - 600 B.C.)
-Sub-atlanticum, cooler and more humid (600 - end prehistory)*

*Of course, the sub-atlanticum era doesn't abrubtly end with the end of prehistory, but I'm letting it end there because we'll not be discussing anything beyond pre-history for now.

Historical time-scale

The main prehistoric times are:

-Paleolithic age
- Lower (until 300.000 B.C.)
- Middle (300.000 - 35.000 B.C.)
- Upper (35.000 - 8.800 B.C.)
-Mesolithic age (8.800 - 4.900 B.C.)
-Neolithic age (5.300 - 2.000 B.C.)*
-Bronze Age (2.000 - 800 B.C.)
-Iron Age (600 B.C. - 2 B.C.)

*No, I didn't make a mistake here. The weird transition is because of regional differences.

In the Netherlands, prehistory begins when groups of people camped in the most Southern parts of our country once in awhile, around 250.000 years ago. It ends when the Romans invade our country in 12 B.C., even though they never reached the north of the Netherlands, so that part actually stayed prehistoric, which only means they didn't use the written word.

The two time-tables were taken from Nederland in de prehsitory (Theo Holleman, 2000, Teleac/NOT, page 19 and page 42) and translated by me.

Museums about the prehistory

2008-04-27T21:08:00.002+02:00

Here is the promised list of museums about the prehistory. I've linked to the English pages if the sites main language isn't English. Most museums have more than just prehistory, so you might have to search a bit on the site, but I've only looked at permanent collections, so it should always be there.

Anything to add? Did I make a mistake? Link not working? Let me know!

The Netherlands

Hunebed Center

The National Museum of Antiquities

Historisch Openluchtmuseum Eindhoven

Archeon

Natuurhistorisch Museum Maastricht

Museon

United States of America

Lyman House Memorial Museum (Hawaii)

Abbe Museum (Maine)

American Museum of Natural History (New York)

Concord Museum (Massachusetts)

Gilcrease Museum (Oklahoma)

Hoard Historical Museum (Wisconsin)

Kansas Museum of History (Kansas)

Lanai Culture & Heritage Center (Hawaii)

Longmont Museum and Cultural Center (Colorado)

Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center (Connecticut)

Miami County Museum (Indiana)

Museum of Northern Arizona (Arizona)

Museum of the San Ramon Valley (California)

Museum of World Treasures (Kansas)

Penn Museum (Pennsylvania)

Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center (Colorado)

Tennessee State Museum (Tennessee)

The Bowers Museum of Cultural Art (California)

The Charleston Museum (South Carolina)

Bishop Museum (Hawaii)

East Benton County Historical Museum (Washington)

Museum visit: Hunebed Centre

2008-04-23T15:02:00.006+02:00

I went to the Hunebed Centre a while ago, and thought I'd give you a short impression of the visit. As the name implies, much of the collection of this museum is geared towards introducing people to the hunebed builders. Hunebedden are burial tombs erected over 5000 years ago. But, the museum also offers you an overview of the entire Dutch prehistory.

When you first walk into the museum, you're eye to eye with a group of prehistoric people. Or at least, how we think they looked, based on archeological evidence. There are also some real size replica's of animals that roamed the Netherlands in the prehistoric age.

The museum also has a collection of recovered objects from the prehistory, although not as much as some other museums. But then again, their real strenght lies in bringing the past back to life by showing you how it was then, not how it looks now.

The museum is located in the province Drenthe, and this is a reconstruction of the landscape in that province. They have a bunch of these reconstructions to show how the landscape changed in the thousands of years before the Romans conquered our land and prehistory ended. You can see the little farms and some hunebedden. This is just an impression of the land back then, because, as you can see when you visit the museum, the landscape changed dramatically in the many years humans inhabited it.

This is a close-up of a reconstruction of a hunebed. I say reconstruction because hunebedden now are just piles of rocks. Very big rocks, yes, but it's only a skeleton of what it once was. When hunebedden were build, the big stones formed the sides and top, then all holes, except then entrance, were filled with smaller rocks. Then they layered the dirt on it, closing it off completely. Of course, they could close of the entrance too, and often times there were circles of stones around the hunebedden too.

This is a hunebed that lies next to the museum, and it shows the state most hunebedden are in today, although this one is in a good condition compared to some others. It's a mircale there are any hunebedden left, because even during the prehistoric times, stones from hunnebedden were used for other building projects. And this robbing of stones continued on for a long time.

This photograph shows you how big the rocks really are. And no, my bag is not small.

Also a part of the museum, though not actually in the museum, is this reconstruction of a prehistoric farm. It's where the hunebed-builders lived in, during the period of 3500-2850 B.C.

And this little building is not a house, in fact, it is a place where the hunbed-builders stored their grain, safe from water and animals. It's the prehistoric version of our grain silos

Of course this is not all the museum has to offer, but it were some of the highlights. For more information about the museum go to their website. The link leads you to their English site, but it's also available in Dutch, German, Swedish and Chinese.

Bookreview: Nederland in de prehistorie

2008-04-20T11:56:00.003+02:00

Translated title: The Netherlands in the Prehistory
Author: Theo Holleman
Published: 2000
Personal rating: 2/5

The Netherlands in the Prehistory is a Dutch book, and has no English equivalent. Not that it is necessary, because I didn't like the book. The book is devided into themed chapters, and although inside the chapters time runs chronological, the entore book isn't. I really hate that in a history book, because I like my history chronological.

Normally, I wouldn't have even given the book a rating of 2, but it has one major redeeming quality, namely the chapter about climate. Here, it tells of the climte in the Netherlands throughout the Dutch prehistory, and gives a description of the landscape and animals of that time period. That is something that I haven't seen before in the books I've read about the Dutch prehistory, and gives this book an extra point in the rating.

Upcoming....

2008-04-19T21:50:00.002+02:00

- A list of museums which have a collection of prehistorical items
- Reviews of 3 non-fiction books about the prehistory of the Netherlands
- A report of a visit to a prehistorical museum

And more...

See, I haven't forgotten you all!

Samantha

Prehistoric fiction for children

2008-04-13T21:06:00.002+02:00

This list contains prehistoric fiction books for children. They are very hard to find, and there seems to be a gap between the ages of 12 and late teens (when they can read the adult fiction). Some books, however, may still be suitable for those above 12. I have not included any recommended ages with the books because I have not read any of them and thus can't tell what age they are suitable for.

Adventures in the Ice Age by Linda Bailey

Join the Binkertons, twins Josh and Emma and their little sister, Libby, as they return to the Good Times Travel Agency only to find themselves deep-frozen in the Ice Age! First they get lost - there are no road signs in the Ice Age (no roads, either). Then they're starved and shivering - Ice Age food is no picnic, and the only shelter is a cave. The Binkertons need to make some friends, fast. Even if they're mammoth, wooly ones ... Adventures in the Ice Age is an engaging mix of adventure and historical information about life in the last Ice Age. Did you know that early modern humans looked like us? Or that Earth has been going through ice age cycles for millions of years? Find out about the world's first art gallery, Ice Age barbeques, music and more.

A Woolly Mammoth Journey by Debbie Miller

A great woolly mammoth leads her family across rivers, plains, and glacial ridges on an annual migration to familiar feeding grounds. On the way, a new calf is born and learns to eat, to walk, and eventually to play with the other young mammoths. As the seasons pass, the mammoths prepare for the long winter. Transporting readers back in time, and packed with information, this story follows one herd of these remarkable beasts on their incredible cross-country trek. Though this journey happened more than 12,000 years ago, the book's descriptive text and dramatic paintings bring the great creatures to life for today's readers.

Jurassic Shark by Deborah Diffily

The oceans of the Jurassic world were filled with nightmarish creatures. Plesiosaurs, long-necked reptiles measuring up to twenty-five feet long, ate fish -- and each other. The 40-foot-long Kronosaurus and the 45-foot-long Liopleurodon were ferocious predators with razor-sharp teeth. They ate anything they could catch.
Alongside these megapredators swam Hybodus, whose descendants include the great white sharks of today. Hybodus was not the largest hunter in the Jurassic seas, but it was fearless. Hybodus would attack anything.
This is the story of a female Hybodus and her struggle to survive. She must find a way to keep from being eaten, even as she hunts for food herself. She must fight off a Liopleurodon that attempts to take over her hunting grounds. And she must find a way to keep herself, and her unborn baby, safe in a place where even the deadliest of hunters can become meals for other predators. Discover how she responds to the challenges -- and survives.

Quennu and the Cave Bear by Marie Day

Quennu is afraid of only one thing in her prehistoric world -- cave bears. When she is separated from her family and clan on a journey to the magical caverns where art is made, she must find her way alone. In the dark passages of the cave, the young girl's imagination takes over. In order to reunite with the rest of her clan, Quennu is faced with only one option -- she must face her fear.
In this provocative and imaginative story, Marie Day takes young readers on a magical journey through time. As one of prehistory's first artists, the character of Quennu embodies a subtle exploration of art, reality, and magic. Brave and thoughtful, she is the perfect young heroine.

The First People in the World by Gerald Ames & Rose Wyler

Imagine a band of people wandering through strange country in search of food. Speech is still new to them and their vocabulary is about that of a 3 year old child today. But they are human beings who can think, plan, laugh and cry. They are far removed from the animals around them. The wonderful story of man's growth and development is presented here in a brilliant and lively panorama.

The Cave Painter of Lascaux by Roberta Angeletti

Cecilia is on a school trip to the Lascaux caves in southern France--a mysterious place with well-preserved prehistoric paintings on the walls. These are believed to have been created by our primitive ancestors several hundred thousand years ago. The little girl notices some strange footprints on the ground. Following them, she walks away from the other children and arrives in a dark, wide hall. She is about to turn on her flashlight, when suddenly ... Flash! Her camera flash goes off and lights up the paintings of deer and hunters on the walls. The flash goes off again and she sees more animals chiseled in the walls.

In the dark, she feels someone trying to pull the camera off her neck. Frightened, she turns around and sees a primitive man. He gestures to her that he is the painter of the walls. Leading her out of the cave, he tries to start a fire by striking two sticks against each other. Cecilia has to get back, because her school bus is leaving, but she leaves the primitive man a box of matches as a farewell gift. Three pages at the end of the story explain how prehistoric people lived, what tools they used, how they painted, and how they hunted.

When Cave Men Painted by Norman Bate

In the cave of Lascaux in the south of France the wall paintings of prehistoric man may still be seen. They are an important key to our understanding of times long ago – when men lived in caves and believed in the power of magic.

Here is the story of one particular cave painting. It tells of a fierce wild animal that struck terror into the hearts of the hunters – and how a boy and an old man used paints and brushes and tribal magic to make the hunters bold and fearless once again.

How Dog Began by Pauline Baynes

Prehistoric cave dwellers take in a wild canine and turn him into the world's first tame dog.

The First Dog by Jan Brett

Kip the Cave Boy and Paleowolf each face hunger and danger on a journey in Paleolithic times; when they decide to join forces and help one another, Paleowolf becomes the first dog.

Grunt!: The Primitive Cave Boy by Timothy Bush

Possibly the worst hunter in prehistoric Europe, Grunt is a failure when it comes to providing food for his tribe--but soon he discovers a skill far greater than any weapon. From bears to bison, whatever Grunt draws comes to life. The more he draws, the more the tribe wants. Then one day, the magic disappears. Can the artist save the day with one last drawing?

Ig Lives in a Cave by Carol Chapman

Though a cave boy, Ig has much in common with little boys of today. This book is a collection of stories about a caveboy named Ig. In each story he learns a new lesson. These lessons are about sharing, love, bravery, politeness, and becoming a big brother.

In the Shadow of the Mammoth by Patricia Clark

At eleven summers, Zol approaches manhood in his clan of Ice Age Hunters. He should be eager for his first mammoth hunt, but shameful fear gnaws at his insides like a hungry rat. Fear of disgracing his brave father's memory drives Zol to prove himself worthy of the Star Dancer clan. In his quest for courage, Zol barely escapes death in a raging river, stands face-to-face with a young mammoth, and survives two attacks by a long-toothed cat. Zol gains confidence from these encounters. But will his new-found courage stand the test of the mammoth hunt?

Musician from the Darkness by Claude Clement

A Stone Age man with sky-blue eyes who is cast out of his tribe when he refuses to use his flute to lure birds to the kill. Left outside at night, he plays his flute to overcome his fear of the dark.

King Moo the Wordmaker by Pers Crowell

A primitive man makes words from the sounds of animals and nature and teaches the words to his tribe.

Little Grunt and the Big Egg: A Prehistoric Fairy Tale by Tomie de Paola

A prehistoric fairy tale about the Grunt family and Little Grunt, who, in his search for two dozen eggs, finds only one, but is it BIG! When it hatches, a little dinosaur emerges, which, of course grows bigger and bigger and bigger. George, the dinosaur, eventually saves all the Grunts from the volcano eruption. After George lays some eggs, she gets a new name!

Bond of the Fire by Anthony Fon Eisen

The first time Ash camped out alone, a strange, wolf-like creature crept in from the wild to share with him the warmth of his fire. Instinctively the boy and the dog formed a deep bond, the dog teaching the boy a new way to hunt, the boy helping the animal with the hundred skills of his hand and the quick intelligence of his mind...

Mik's Mammoth by Roy Gerrard

"Mik the caveman, small and thin, Had long blond hair and beardless chin..." Mik rescues Rumm, a baby mammoth, from an avalanche and they become fast friends. Together they hunt and cook, dabble in cave art, and are quite content - until the day Mik sees his old tribe in trouble and, along with Rumm, courageously saves the day...

Elephant Boy; A Story of the Stone Age by William Kotzwinkle

A Story of the Stone Age... where gods move in fire and stars, and the skills learned in play mean survival. A boy encounters this primitive world, feeling his way into its cycles and rituals. He hunts and fishes with his father, assists the old cave painter, visits the holy shrine. Share his wonder at the useful, often threatening animals everywhere, animals that can inspire a boy's dream, and help him earn his name.

The Days of the Cave People; Living in Another Time by Françoise Lebrun

Meruti, a young cave dweller, hunts with the men of his tribe and observes how weapons and tools are made. Sections of the story alternate with brief factual information on aspects of prehistoric life.

Will's Mammoth by Rafe Martin

Though his parents explain there have been no mammoths for over 10,000 years, Will goes out in the snow one day, certain he will meet some. He climbs the hill outside his house, crawls up onto a giant boulder covered in snow, and into the world of his woolly mammoth friend. And off they go... the vivid imagination of a child who visualizes wonderful adventures in a landscape filled with mammoth herds, wolves, wild ponies and other creatures from prehistoric times.

Sunset of the Sabertooth by Mary Pope Osborne

A magic tree house transports Jack and Annie on a mission to the Ice Age where they encounter Cro-Magnons, cave bears, sabertooth tigers, and woolly mammoths

Noune, Child of Prehistory by Gemma Sales & Michael Vaidis

Noune is a small boy who lives with Pah and Mah, his parents, and Malina, his sister, at the foot of the big cliff, where herds of reindeer graze. In the School of Life, to the rhythm of the seasons and in contact with Nature, he learns, by observing, how to light a fire, to sew clothes, to hunt, to fish... He helps with the decoration of the big cave where the paintings, so alive and colorful, fascinate him... It takes place 17,000 years ago...

One Small Blue Bead by Byrd Baylor Schweitzer

A small blue bead hidden in a clump of dry grass takes the reader back ten thousand years to the hunters and gatherers who once inhabited the desert and to a boy who dreams that others, as yet unseen, may share his world. His dream is realized as he has an encounter with a boy just like himself, and the blue bead comes to symbolize their special bond.

Bugs for Breakfast by George Stanley

After getting lost in the woods, Sara and her family find themselves surrounded by cave dwellers and threatened by saber-toothed tigers. Disgusted by the boring camping trip that her parents have planned and her little brother's bug-eating habit, Sara is dismayed when the vacation includes a visit to a very strange theme park filled with cave people and saber-tooth tigers.

Dinni, the Dinosaur by Audrey Stone

Egwod, a boy who "lived in a cave with his mother and father,"discovers a cave with a huge egg just beginning to crack open. When a baby dinosaur emerges Egwod asks his parents if he may take the creature home as a pet. They agree, provided he promises to return it to the wild when it grows too large to stay in the cave. Egwod and Dinni share happy times before that day arrives. Dinni joins other camptosauruses and is chased by a huge, meat-eating tyrannosaurus, from whom he escapes. Dinni feels homesick for Egwod and returns to visit him. They enjoy playing together as before, but each realizes Dinni cannot stay.

Prehistorical fiction for adults

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All of these books are fictional books that play in the prehistory. I will give a warning that I have not read them all, so I can't judge them all. I try to give a close estimate about when the books take place, but due to not reading them all, I could be wrong on some of them. I will eventually read them all and add bookreviews about them to this blog, and I will put the link in this list.

None of these books are about prehistoric America, as that will be discussed when I get to Ancient times, as per the set-up of The Usborne Internet Ecyclopedia of World History. Also, when people settle down and become farmers, their tales can no longer be found here, you should look for them in Ancient times too.

This list is devided in historical fiction, historical romance, historical detectives, and historical fantasy. Only categories where I have titles for will be present. It is also devided into several time periods during the prehistory.

Historical Fiction

Prehistory – Dinosaurs

Jurassic Park by Michael Crighton
An astonishing technique for recovering and cloning dinosaur DNA has been discovered. Now, one of mankind's most thrilling fantasies has come true. Creatures extinct for eons now roam Jurassic Park with their awesome presence and profound mystery and all the world can visit them -- for a price. Until something goes wrong....

The Lost World by Michael Crighton
It is now six years since the secret disaster at Jurassic Park, six years since the extraordinary dream of science and imagination came to a crashing end -- the dinosaurs destroyed, the park dismantled, the island indefinitely closed to the public.
There are rumors that something has survived....

Prehistory – (First) Mammals

Behemoth Trilogy by Stephen Baxter

This trilogy is about a herd of mammoths in prehistoric Siberia.

1. Silverhair
2. Longtusk
3. Icebones

Wolf Chronicles by Dorothy Hearst

This series is about the (imagined) proces that led to the domestication of our present day dogs from their ancesters the wolves.

1. Promise of the Wolves

Prehistory – General (not the Americas)

Earth's Children series by Jean M. Auel

This series always gets very good reviews. These books play about 40.000 years agao, in the late Pleistocene. It deals with the meeting of a Cro-Magnon girl with a tribe of Neanderthals.

1. The clan of the cave bear (review)
2. The valley of horses (review)
3. The mammoth hunters (review)
4. The plains of passage
5. The shelters of stone

The Gathering Night by Margareth Elphinstone

This book is about one of the only historical events we know of that happened in the Stone Age: a tsunami in 6150 BC in Scotland. Of course, it's also a compelling story about a woman's unusual dicision to become a shaman after her son dies.

The Inheritors by William Golding

About the clash between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens. (Review)

Dance of the Tiger by Bjorn Kurten

This book is set in the Ice Age, and is about the clash between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens.

Reindeer Moon series by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas

These two books play in Siberia around 20.000 years ago, in the Ice Age.

1. Reindeer moon
2. The Animal Wife

Daughter of Kura by Debra Austin

About a young Homo erectus woman in a matriarchal society in prehistoric Africa who is cast out after challenging her mother's dangerous new mate.

Historical Romance

Prehistory – General

Prehistoric Romance series by Joan Wolf

This series is set in prehistoric France, where two tribes with very different ideas clash when the men of one tribe steal women from the other tribe.

1. Daughter of the Red Deer
2. The Horsemasters
3. The Reindeer Hunters

Of course there are many more novels that play in the prehistory, this list is by no means complete, merely a list of prehistoric books that can be found in my library. I hope you enjoy reading these novels to liven up your history studies.

History blog

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Since I've decided that my other blog is going to be solely about books, I needed a place for my past and future history posts. Hence, this blog. I'm going to transfer over some of my old posts that pertain to history, and then build it from there.

For the people who've forgotten, or just didn't know yet, currently I'm working on the prehistory of the Netherlands.

Samantha