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Science

6,000 Year Old Temple Unearthed In Ukraine 109

An anonymous reader writes A massive archaeological dig of an ancient Ukrainian village first begun in 2009 has yielded a discovery that I sort of hope ends up inspiring a video game: a massive, scary-sounding temple. From the article: "Inside the temple, archaeologists found the remains of eight clay platforms, which may have been used as altars, the finds suggested. A platform on the upper floor contains "numerous burnt bones of lamb, associated with sacrifice," write Burdo and Videiko, of the Institute of Archaeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. The floors and walls of all five rooms on the upper floor were "decorated by red paint, which created [a] ceremonial atmosphere."
Maybe this is what Putin has been after.
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6,000 Year Old Temple Unearthed In Ukraine

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  • by smooth wombat ( 796938 ) on Wednesday October 22, 2014 @02:08PM (#48205999) Journal

    Based solely on the description provided, this would make for a great setting in D&D.

    Lich? Wight? Vampire? Evil mage? Jar Jar Binks?

  • by halivar ( 535827 ) <bfelger@gmai l . com> on Wednesday October 22, 2014 @02:09PM (#48206009)

    All we really want to know is: did they find a Stargate?

  • If so, we might be screwed.
  • Why scary? (Score:5, Funny)

    by PPH ( 736903 ) on Wednesday October 22, 2014 @02:13PM (#48206053)

    Because of the bones? That's doesn't sound any scarier than the BBQ rib joint down the street.

    • by Anonymous Coward

      Unless your BBQ joint is undergound, recently excavated and features sacrificial altars... of course I don't know where you live so....

      • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward

        Unless your BBQ joint is undergound, recently excavated and features sacrificial altars... of course I don't know where you live so....

        Sacrificed...to the god of flavor!

      • by PPH ( 736903 ) on Wednesday October 22, 2014 @03:49PM (#48207101)

        undergound, recently excavated and features sacrificial altars

        In the distant future, archeologists will unearth the food court on the lower level of our local mall and discover the altar upon which thousands of chickens were sacrificed to the god Colonel Sanders.

      • The difference between a sacrificial altar and a butcher shop / BBQ joint is the words people say when they're there, and the article says that culture didn't have writing. If the person in charge asks the customers what favors they want from the gods, it's a temple; if they ask whether you want regular or extra crispy, it's a BBQ joint, and in some cultures they're going to thank the gods for the life of the animal even if it's a BBQ joint. In a temple, it's more likely that some parts of the animal will

        • by Optali ( 809880 )

          Don't be so sure about that.

          In the sacrificial rites of the ancient Greeks only some parts of the slaughtered animals were consecrated to the gods (the fat and a few other small parts) while the rest were properly roasted and consumed, with spices and all I suppose and wine.

          And this was not only true for the Greek, the Aztec did the same ... just that they preferred humans instead of oxen or lambs. I'm curious on how human shoarma may taste.

    • by Reziac ( 43301 ) *

      In fact that was my first thought -- they didn't discover a temple; they discovered Ugg's Rib Joint.

      Or possibly a communal kitchen, which wasn't so uncommon way back when.

      See also Digging the Weans, by Robert Nathan.

      http://www.joshpachter.com/pag... [joshpachter.com]

      • by Optali ( 809880 )

        Not such stupid idea.

        I recall a tv interview with an anthropologist quite a long time ago. The guy went to Amazonia to study a tribe. There was an object that he knew from a museum and which was tagged as "cult object", when he asked the locals about it's use he found out it was actually a comb (!)

          And in fact it could have been both.

        • by PPH ( 736903 )

          Imputing some sort of religious/magic interpretations onto other cultures' tools and customs seems to be a problem with our anthropologists.

          I remember years ago, they came up with a bunch of theories about how the Rapa Nui moved their Moai [wikipedia.org] stone sculptures from the quarries to their current locations. When asked, the descendents just said, "They walked". So the anthropologists wrote that off as some sort of mysticism and theorized about rollers and dragging.

          Then, someone asked, "What do you mean by 'walke

          • by Optali ( 809880 )

            and theorized about rollers and dragging.
            And as there weren't enough trees for the rollers some wing-nuts like Erich von Dänicken theorised about Ancient Astronauts

    • Fuck! You actually got it!!
      It is not a temple at all, just a shoarma restaurant for Vikings.

  • Why no direct link ? (Score:5, Informative)

    by aepervius ( 535155 ) on Wednesday October 22, 2014 @02:14PM (#48206067)
    I mean the linking was christian science monitor -> live science. Why link the christian science monitor which was 1/3 of the info and not directly linking this :

    http://www.livescience.com/483... [livescience.com]

    No seriously I want the editor tell me WHY ?
    • by Anonymous Coward
      And I want to know why the original source of the story, which livescience.com links to via two click indirections, wasn't the link used by the summary.

      http://antiquity.ac.uk/projgal... [antiquity.ac.uk]

      Clearly, it's indicative of anti-Ukranian racism on the part of the editors to obscure this.

      P.S. If you are getting irate because it's the Christian Science Monitor, and imagine it was used because of a Slashdot PRO-religion bias, you are in a fantasy world all your own.
    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward

      http://www.livescience.com/48352-prehistoric-ukraine-temple-discovered.html

      actual article link, not photos link...

    • No seriously I want the editor tell me WHY ?

      You must be new here!

    • by s.petry ( 762400 )

      This is not a newspaper with paid writers who report to an editor prior to publishing. This is a site that runs by user submissions where "editing" is in reality "moderating".

      Why would the editor be able to tell you what the submitter did with linking articles? No seriously I want you to tell me WHY ?

    • meh, they have pretty solid reporting

  • Also in the news (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Wednesday October 22, 2014 @02:16PM (#48206087)

    Western media lost no time to put the blame on burying it squarely on Russia, with RT wasting no time declaring how the temple was originally built by Russian forces and how they will gladly provide archaeological aid to examine it. A convoy is already en route, of course it consists mostly of military material to ensure that any kind of necessary heavy duty equipment will be available. The west immediately complained and sent a contingent of a few thousand observers and advisers, just in case anything needs to be observed or anyone needs any kind of advice. After a few days of heated threats and accusations the only agreement is that nobody gets closer than 2 miles to the ruins until some sort of agreement can be achieved.

    Ruins? Oh, right, a stray artillery strike hit the temple. In a rare case of unity both sides immediately agreed on who is to blame: THE OTHER SIDE!

    • Yep, the French and the British are still arguing about who shot the nose off the Sphinx during the Napoleonic wars. Military types don't generally blow up iconic buildings for fun, they do it for propaganda purposes, eg Shi'a mosques in Northern Iraq are currently getting pounded into dust by the Sunni extremists. Irregular forces are more inclined to go for iconic building to demonstrate their power, eg: twin towers, UK parliament, etc.

      The worst case of heritage destruction I can recall recently was on
  • ...immeditately declared that the temple was obvious built by Russians and demanded Ukraine return it.

  • Conan: Crom, I have never prayed to you before. I have no tongue for it. No one, not even you, will remember if we were good men or bad. Why we fought, or why we died. All that matters is that two stood against many. That's what's important! Valor pleases you, Crom... so grant me one request. Grant me revenge! And if you do not listen, then to HELL with you!

  • ive rooms on the upper floor were "decorated by red paint,

    Run!!!!!!

  • ...were they able to disarm the poison darts, large bowling ball and swinging scythes?

  • Now on TPB.
    "Ecrasez l'Infame", my fellow slashdotters.

  • My guess is a bar. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 22, 2014 @03:09PM (#48206675)

    Archeologists have a prejudice that every ancient building is a religious temple. They shy away from secular uses. When was the last time you heard about an ancient discovery that was toy, or a a bracelet that did not give the wearer a connection to the Gods?
    So, I'll throw. From what I read so far, it could be a bar.
    Or a brothel. Hmm, that's back to worshiping...

    • by Anonymous Coward

      Agreed -- why does finding burnt bones mean it was a "religious sacrificial alter". Why can't it just be the owner's BBQ pit?

  • Could anyone explain the last sentence to me? What has this discovery to do with Putin? Seriously ... [nocookie.net]
  • Wow! They found a temple at the dawn of Earth's Creation!
  • See also: "A Colder War"

    http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/... [infinityplus.co.uk]

  • I assume that Russian archaeologists have found proof that ancient Ukraine actually worshiped the Sun-god Poo-ten, who was granted an eternal right to return when He saw fit.

  • As others of that culture were. Um, guys, is it unreasonable of me to not assume that they burnt them due to plague, but rather that they were burnt down by invaders, and there was no one left to live there?

                    mark

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