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Post by riotgrrl on Mar 30, 2009 14:29:27 GMT
Oooh oooh now this is interesting.
(I use the word 'interesting' in its widest possible sense; it's interesting to me.)
Vice President of the Czech parliament Voitech Filip said that he will initiate the withdrawal of recognition of Kosovo.
Filip said that with the fall of the minority Czech government in past few days, a possibility has been made that Prague will re-examine its position on recognition of Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence.
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Post by riotgrrl on Jun 5, 2009 14:55:44 GMT
It's been some time since I updated you on the big talking points from the Balkans. So i'm happy to reinstate the service. The talking point today is pretty big . . mammoth in fact. Archeologists say that the skeleton of a mammoth discovered in eastern Serbia near the town of Kostolac is one million years old.
The discovery of the bones were made close to the Imperial Mausoleum of the Viminacium Archeological Park, 27 meters below the surface in the Drmno coal mine.
The bones were identified as coming from the species Mammuthus-meridionalis, the park's director, Miomir Korac, told local media. Korac suspects that the skeleton is from one of the oldest mammoth species found in Europe.
Mammuthus-meridionalis is historically considered one of the first species of mammoths, similar in appearance to modern-day Asian elephants, differentiated by their larger tusks. This was a creature adapted to colder climates but by no means equipped to survive extreme icy conditions, experts said. It is also suspected to be the ancestor of a later, more evolved species similar to the woolly mammoth.
"We were actually very close to the spot when the machinery hit the mammoth remains and we reacted immediately," Korac told reporters. "We managed to stop them, and we are lucky to now have almost the entire mammoth. The skull and tusks were somewhat damaged," he said.
"What is very interesting is that the poor creature met his death and remained in a layer of some sort of gravel, which means that it is practically preserved, and not even tectonic movements have managed to move or dislocate it. We found it the way it died," Korac was quoted as saying.
"I can tell that it was over four meters tall, and some five, six meters long, weighing over ten tonnes."
Previously mammoth remains were uncovered near Kikinda, in northern Serbia, the bones of which are only half the age of those discovered in Kostolac. Archeologists believe that these animals migrated to eastern Serbia from northern Africa.
This rare find is a major archaeological discovery as the skeleton was complete and perfectly preserved for study purposes.www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/19898/ |
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Post by riotgrrl on Jun 5, 2009 15:01:58 GMT
I'm surprised they could spare the digging equipment for this tbh; most of the heavy plant in the Balkans seems to be involved in digging up the mass graves from various atrocities of one kind or another dating back to the second world war.
Must have been a nice surprise to find a mammoth as opposed to hundreds of victims of an ethnic cleansing massacre.
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Post by Patrick on Jun 5, 2009 15:05:39 GMT
Fantastic! How on Earth did it end up 81ft below ground? I know the earth builds up in layers over time, but 80 feet!!!
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Post by Patrick on Jun 5, 2009 15:11:32 GMT
I'm surprised they could spare the digging equipment for this tbh; most of the heavy plant in the Balkans seems to be involved in digging up the mass graves from various atrocities of one kind or another dating back to the second world war. Must have been a nice surprise to find a mammoth as opposed to hundreds of victims of an ethnic cleansing massacre. Now don't go spoiling a nice fluffy story! ;D  |
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