AcharyaChanakya/simple-wikipedia huggingface dataset:
There are no Scouting organisations in Myanmar, but there are a few Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts (headed by the US Scout movement) in Yangon.
Robert Baden-Powell was a military officer. He was stationed in India and Africa in the 1880s and 1890s. Since his youth, he was fond of woodcraft and military scouting. He therefore showed his men how to survive in the wilderness. He noticed that if he taught the soldiers to develop independence, they would no longer follow the orders given by their officers blindly.
In 1896, during the Second Matabele War, Baden-Powell first met and became friends with the American-born British Army Chief of Scouts Frederick Russell Burnham. From Burnham he learned the ways of cowboy and Indian scouts of the Western United States, he started to wear a scout hat like the one worn by Burnham and he discussed with Burnham a scout training programme for boys. Three years later during the Second Boer War, Baden-Powell was besieged in the small town of Mafeking by a much larger Boer army (the Siege of Mafeking). The Mafeking Cadet Corps was a group of youths that supported the troops. The cadets carried messages. This freed the men for military duties. It also kept the boys occupied during the long siege. The Cadet Corps performed well, helping in the defence of the town (1899–1900). This experience was one of the many factors that inspired Baden-Powell to form the Scouting movement. Each member received a badge that showed a combined compass point and spearhead. The badge's logo was similar to the fleur-de-lis that Scouting later adopted as its international symbol.
In the United Kingdom the public followed his struggle to hold Mafeking through newspapers. After the siege, Baden-Powell had become a national hero. This pushed the sales of a small instruction book he had written about military scouting, "Aids to Scouting".
On his return to England he noticed the large interest of boys in this book, which was also used by teachers and youth organisations. Several people suggested to him to rewrite this book for boys, especially during an inspection of the Boys' Brigade. This brigade was a large youth movement, drilled with military precision. Baden-Powell thought this would not be attractive and suggested that it could grow much larger when scouting would be used. He studied other schemes, parts of which he used for Scouting.
In his original book on boy scouting, General Baden-Powell introduced the Scout promise, as follows:
Since the Scouts were formed, other people have tried to form scout-like movements. These movements are a bit like the Scouts but they put more weight on different things. There are for example Scout-like movements that focus more on the fact that the young people should get a good education in religious matters. The movements that have been formed in countries such as Cuba or China are much like Scouts; they leave out some elements though, that the national governments thought would harm the country.
History of Indonesia
The History of Indonesia or more precisely of the Indonesian archipelago in South East Asia with 17,508 islands goes back to "Homo erectus" (popularly known as the "Java Man"). There have been found fossilised remains of about one million years ago.
Austronesian people, who form the majority of the modern population, came to South East Asia from Taiwan. They arrived in Indonesia around 2000 BC. The native Melanesian peoples went to the far eastern regions. The agricultural conditions were very good. When wet-field rice cultivation was developed as early as the eighth century BC,
villages and towns developed, and small kingdoms began to flourish by the first century CE. Indonesia's sea-lane position helped with management of international trade, where trade with both Indian kingdoms and China already occured for several centuries BCE. Therefore, trade has since fundamentally shaped Indonesian history.
From the seventh century CE, the powerful Srivijaya naval kingdom flourished as a result of trade. Hinduism and Buddhism were imported with it. In the late 13th century, the Hindu kingdom was founded in eastern Java and under Gajah Mada, its influence stretched over much of Indonesia; this period is often referred to as a "Golden Age" in Indonesian history.
During the 13th century Islam spread to the in northern Sumatra. More and more Indonesian areas gradually adopted Islam. By the end of the 16th century it was the dominant religion in Java and Sumatra. But it mixed with existing cultural and religious influences.
The first Europeans arrived in Indonesia in 1512, when Portuguese traders, led by Francisco Serrão, sought to monopolise the sources of nutmeg, cloves, and cubeb pepper in Maluku. Dutch and British traders followed. In 1602 the Dutch established the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and became the dominant European power. But Dutch control stretched not very far. Only in the early 20th century it extended to borders of today.
During the Second World War the Dutch lost control and in August 1945, Sukarno, an influential nationalist leader, declared independence and was appointed president. After some fights the Netherlands formally recognised Indonesian independence in December 1949 (with the exception of The Dutch territory of West New Guinea).
Sukarno moved from democracy towards dictatorship. But Sukarno lost power to the head of the military, General Suharto who was formally appointed president in March 1968. He was supported by the US government, and encouraged foreign direct investment in Indonesia, which helped economic growth during the following thirty years. But his rule went along with corruption and suppression of political opposition.
In 1997 and 1998, Indonesia was the country hardest hit by the . This increased popular discontent with the New Order and led to popular protests. Suharto resigned on 21 May 1998. In 1999, East Timor voted to leave the state of Indonesia, after a twenty-five-year military occupation. After Suharto's resignation democracy improved. A regional autonomy program was introduced, and the first direct presidential election took place in 2004. But some political and economic instability has remained. A political settlement to an armed separatist conflict in Aceh was achieved in 2005.
Leviticus (lih-vih-tih-kus) is the third book of both the Bible, and the Torah. In Hebrew it is known as Wayiqra' (וַיִּקְרָא), meaning 'And He will declare.' It was written by the Old Testament Patriarch Moses. Leviticus was written to the Hebrew people of Israel. The book has several main topics, some of which are the Jewish laws of sacrificing to God, and the work of the priests. These priests are sometimes known as Levites (what this book is named after).
It was likely developed over a long period of time, reaching its present form during the Persian empire (Yehud Madinata) between 538-332 BCE. Tradition says this book was written around 1300 B.C. by Moses.
God gives more instructions to Moses. God asks Moses to repeat what He said to Moses' people, the Israelites.
Continuing from Exodus the Israelites are escaping Egypt. They reach the Biblical Mount Sinai. In Exodus, Moses learned from God how to build the holy tabernacle (a tent for praying and worshiping). In Leviticus God teaches Moses and the Levites how to make sacrifices and how to behave in a good way.
The first few chapters show God's laws for offering sacrifices for various reasons, such as for the forgiveness of sins.
Then Moses makes Aaron a priest of God. Details about how the priests are to make sacrifices to God are given. This is sometimes called the "ceremonial law". Two sons of Aaron were destroyed for doing the work of the priest in the wrong way.
Then God teaches the people how to eat right and be clean. Examples of food that are forbidden are pork and shrimp. Meat is also not to be eaten with milk at the same time. Beyond that, eaten meat is to be taken from animals that were slaughtered in a specific way. The meat must not contain blood either, as this is seen as representing life in the face of the animal having died. Regarding staying clean, laws are given about menstruation (the monthly period), sexual relations, skin disease, and how dead bodies are to be disposed of.
The rest of the book describes how priests, the Levites, should be ordained, should dress, carry out rituals, and act (for example on the Day of Atonement, and other important Holy Days).
John C. Mather
Professor John Cromwell Mather (born 7 August 1946 in Roanoke, Virginia) is an American astrophysicist and cosmologist. He was given the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2006 for his work on COBE satellite with George Smoot. The COBE satellite measures black holes and cosmic radiation.
This work supported the big-bang theory of the universe beginning. It made cosmology much more accurate. The Nobel Prize committee said: "the COBE-project can also be regarded as the starting point for cosmology as a precision science."
Mather is a Senior Astrophysicist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. He is a professor of physics at the University of Maryland, College Park. In 2007, Mather was listed in "Time" magazine's 100 Most Influential People in The World.
After being awarded his Ph.D. Professor Mather went to work at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies at Columbia University. He started the work on COBE there (1974-1976). More than 1,000 researchers, engineers and other workers made the COBE satellite. John Mather was in control of them all and created the technology for measuring the cosmic radiation. George Smoot had the job of measuring small changes in the temperature of the radiation.
Professor Mather and John Boslough wrote all about the COBE teams work in a book called "The Very First Light".
The Book of Joshua is the sixth book of the Christian Bible, and also the sixth book of the Hebrew Tanakh. It is not clear who wrote the book, although most of the Jewish tradition believe it was Joshua, son of Nun. It is the first of the books of the Tanakh (Old Testament) covering the history of Israel from the arrival in the Promised Land to the Babylonian captivity.
It is not known when the Book was written, but it cannot have been written before roughly 1200 BC, as the events described in the book occur then. Some scholars believe it was written much later, perhaps in 550 BC, at the time of the Babylonian exile, when there was a desire to remember and retell their own history.
After the death of Moses, God put Joshua in charge of the people. Joshua sent two spies to spy on the city of Jericho. A woman prostitute called Rahab hid these two men and told the enemies they had already left. She hid them on top of her roof, underneath stalks of flax. The spies later promised that they would keep the oath that Joshua made with them.
Jericho fell when the people of Israel, instructed by God, circled around the wall of Jericho seven times and blew their ram's horns, and on the seventh time, they all shouted with a great shout, causing the wall to fall.
Joshua told the spies to go to Rahab's house and bring out her family and belongings. The spies did as they were told, as they kept the oath. Joshua saved Rahab's life, and she went to live in Israel.
Later, God told Joshua to invade the city of Ai. After they did this, the people of Gibeon tricked Joshua into a treaty.
However, three days later, the people of Israel realized that they really made a treaty with Gibeon's neighbors, the Hivites. The Hivities became cursed, but the people of Gibeon promised that they would do whatever the Israelites say.
After making peace with the Hivites, they went to lay siege to Gibeon. The Gibeonites sent a message to Joshua saying he needs to save the people of Gibeon. So, God killed many of the Amorites by making large hailstones. Then Joshua made the sun stay over Gibeon, and the moon over Ajalon. Joshua later got very old and died.
No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so too I will be with you; I will not fail you nor forsake you. (1:5)
Decide today whom you will serve, the gods your ancestors worshipped in Mesopotamia or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are now living. As for my family and me, we will serve the LORD. (24:15)
Home education
Home education or homeschooling is a form of education where the parent or guardian is the instructor. The reason for this form of education is usually the guardian is not happy with the nearby schools, or sometimes for religious or moral purposes. Many people also want to protect children from bullying and violence. In recent years, it became popular in many countries.
Before starting homeschooling, it can be a good idea to deschool first. In some countries, such as the United Kingdom, any homeschool arrangement must by law satisfy inspectors that the children's education is sound. This is because, under the Education Act of 1944, parents or guardians are legally obliged to send children to school. The possibility of other methods has been added as a possibility, subject to certain checks.
A common situation is for several families to come together to provide the skills needed. This serves two purposes. First, the range of knowledge and skills is wider, and the schooling has a more social angle, which itself is good for the development of children.
In most countries, homeschooling is a legal alternative to going to a school.
Unschooling is a very free type of homeschooling.
The idea of home schools came to life in the 1960s, when the effectiveness of classroom education was challenged. There were a number of critical publications:
Some private schools try to achieve similar objectives by other means. Summerhill attempts to make a school more flexible and responsive to the needs of individual children.
Dangers of home education include the possibility of it being used for religious and political propaganda, and the vulnerability of children to unsupervised adults. Education may be uneven, leaving children with a patchy grasp of many subjects. The children would also get to know fewer other children than they would ordinarily. Also, it is obvious that some parents are better placed to organise home education than others.
In theory, visits by the inspectors of schools might be able to identify problems. However, at least in the United Kingdom, schools are not inspected every year. If we cannot inspect all schools annually, how can we expect to monitor individual families?
Shinjuku Station
San Pedro de Macorís
The Dominican city of San Pedro de Macorís is the head municipality of the San Pedro de Macorís province, on the southeast of the country.
It has the nickname of "Macorís del mar" ("Macorís by the sea") to differentiate it from San Francisco de Macorís, in the Duarte Province.
There were two very small towns on the left side of the mouth of the river Macorís (or Higuamo): "Mosquito" (because there were too many mosquitos) and "Sol" (English: "Sun", because there were not trees). Even today, San Pedro de Macorís is called sometimes "Mosquitisol" after those two old and small towns.
Since 1852, there was a military post in this place: the Military Post of Macorís, part of the Hato Mayor del Rey municipality in the El Seibo Province.
In 1856, the priest Pedro Carrasco built a Catholic church with the name "San Pedro Apóstol"; the church was between the two towns of Mosquito and Sol. Both towns grew in direction of the church, forming one town called San Pedro de Macorís.
When the country was again a Spanish colony, San Pedro de Macorís was made a "Comandancia de Armas" (an Spanish military category). When the country was free again, in 1865, every town with the category of "Comandancia de Armas" became a municipality. But San Pedro de Macorís was still a very small town of the El Seibo Province.
After 1868, with the sugarcane plantations and the sugar factories, San Pedro de Macorís began to grow and it became one of the most important city in the Dominican Republic. Many people from Cuba and Puerto Rico came to live here during the last years of the 19th century and the first years of the 20th century. Later came people from Spain and the Middle East (Lebanon, Syria) to work in businesses.
To work in the sugarcane fields and factories, people from Haiti and the British West Indies came to San Pedro de Macorís and other regions of the country.
The city had, in , a total population of 195,307: 94,562 men and 100,745 women. The urban population was of the total population.
San Pedro de Macorís is along the coast on the left side of the Higuamo river, also called Macorís. It has a total area of , about of the total area of the province of San Pedro de Macorís. The city is at an elevation of above sea level, and at to the east of Santo Domingo. It does not have any municipal district (subdivisions of a municipality);
The municipality of San Pedro de Macorís is surrounded by the other municipalities of the province: Ramón Santana to the east, Quisqueya to the west and Consuelo to the north. To the south is the Caribbean Sea.
San Pedro de Macorís has a tropical wet and dry/savanna climate (Köppen-Geiger classification: Aw) with a pronounced dry season in winter.
The average amount of rainfall for the year in the city is . The month with the most precipitation on average is October with of rainfall, followed by September with .
San Pedro de Macorís is in a hot region; the average temperature for the year is . The warmest month, on average, is August with an average temperature of . The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of .
The economy of San Pedro de Macorís grew around the sugar production; there were several sugar factories and most of that sugar was sent to other countries through its port and then it became one of the most important port of the country. Rum is also produced in the city; rum is made with alcohol from the sugar cane.
There are also some important industries, mainly to produce cement and textiles to send to other countries.
The Epistle to the Galatians (or Galatians) is the forty-eighth book in the Bible (and ninth in the New Testament), written by the Apostle Paul. The book was written to the people of Galatia, a part of modern day Turkey, with whom Paul had earlier preached and founded the congregation in their area.
It is not known for sure, but most believe that the book was written around 57 A.D. One of the curious verses in the letter is where Paul says "See with what large letters I am writing this in my own hand". (Chapter 6, verse 11). This is understood to mean that normally Paul used a secretary to write down as he spoke his letters. However he wanted the Galatians to be sure it was he himself that was the author of the letter they would receive so he wrote a few lines himself. Some believe he had poor eyesight and so had to write with "large letters".
Paul's letter is to settle an important question of that day. It is if the gentile Christians must first join the Jewish religion and keep the Law of Moses. Paul says that the gentile Galatians do not need to keep the old Laws such as the need for circumcision, which is the removal of some skin around the male sex organ, done by Jews and Muslims as an act of religious obedience to God. Paul says that this is no longer important since Jesus has come. Paul says it is not good that the community has turned from the gospel (Chapter 1, verses 6–10) He says there is only one gospel and one way of being saved through faith in Christ and that adding to that makes it another gospel. He talks about his early life as a Jew, (Chapter 1, verses 13–14), how he met Christ, often called the conversion of Paul, (Chapter 1, verses 15–16), and his early work (Chapter 1 verses 17–24). He tells about meeting with the other Christian leaders in Jerusalem as reported in Acts chapter 15, verses 2:1–10. He says that they agreed with him that the gentiles did not need to be become practicing Jews first. In Chapter 2 he tells about a meeting with Peter where he told Peter that he was not acting properly towards the gentile Christians by not eating with them. Then he says that Jews, like Gentiles, are not made right with God by keeping the old Law but by trusting in what Jesus did for them when He died on the cross. Later in the book he tells that the Law was given to show us how sinful we are so that we would see the need for forgiveness. He says that when we love others we have fulfilled the true meaning of the Law. He writes that when we have faith, God sends the Holy Spirit who helps us live a good life and keep from bad things. He gives a list of those bad and good actions. (Chapter 5)
The Epistle to the Galatians has been very important in the history of Christianity, the development of Christian theology, and the study of the apostle Paul.
The book contains some of the most known Bible teachings, such as that all have need of salvation (Galatians 3:28-29), and the Fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).
A label can have several meanings:
The Neanderthal, a species of the genus "Homo", was a near relative of our own species. Its scientific name is "Homo neanderthalensis" or "Homo sapiens neanderthalensis".
Neanderthal fossils were only found in Europe, Asia Minor and up to central Asia. The first fossil was found in a limestone quarry near Düsseldorf: One of the workers found part of a skeleton, in a valley called Neanderthal. Experts Johann Carl Fuhlrott and Hermann Schaaffhausen said the bones belonged to an older form of modern humans. These bones are known as Neanderthal 1 today.
Recent research suggests Neanderthals became extinct about 40,000 years ago. Earlier research had suggested a later date; the problem is the dating of the archaeological sites where their remains have been found.
Neanderthals perhaps evolved from "Homo heidelbergensis" and split off (last common ancestor) from modern humans between 700,000 and 300,000 years ago.
Neanderthals used to be classified as a subspecies of modern humans ("Homo sapiens neanderthalensis"). Now, they are usually classified as a separate human species ("Homo neanderthalensis").
Neanderthal remains have been found in most of Europe south of land covered by ice including the south coast of Great Britain. Finds have also been made outside of Europe in the Zagros Mountains and in the Levant.
The size of the Neanderthal brain shows that Neanderthals were probably intelligent. On average, they had larger brains than modern humans. Large brains are something of a physical weakness. That is because they consume lots of energy, make the skull more likely to be damaged, and cause difficulties during birth. These disadvantages may be less than the advantages, for example, better problem-solving, better social co-operation, language and tool-making.
Neanderthal flint tools (for example, hand axes) were more finely made than those of early man. They were much less varied and finely made than the neolithic tools of modern man. Known Neaderthal art is much less complex than contemporary art from H. "sapiens."
The oldest flute ever discovered may be the so-called Divje Babe flute, found in the Slovenian cave Divje Babe I in 1995. It is about 43,100 years old. It is from a juvenile cave bear femur at the Divje Babe site, near a Mousterian hearth. Archaeologists ask two key questions:
Is it a flute? This has been discussed at length. The best summary is that it is certainly possible for it to be a flute, but it is unproved (not certain).
If it is a flute, was it made by Neanderthals? Again, this is not decided. It is on public display as a flute in the National Museum of Slovenia (Narodni Muzej Slovenije) in Ljubljana. The museum's visitor leaflet says that manufacture by Neanderthals "is reliably proven". This is not a general view, and again it is best to describe the idea as "not proven".
For a long time, people have wondered whether Neanderthals could talk. Many people believe they could, because the large brain size would be hard to understand if they could not. When an undamaged Neanderthal hyoid bone was discovered, it made people think Neanderthals could talk. That is because, in humans, the hyoid is a support for the voice box. Computer analysis has shown that the Neanderthal hyoid was very similar to human hyoids. Researchers say "our findings are consistent with a capacity for speech in the Neanderthals".
In August 1856 the specimen that was to become known as Neanderthal 1 was discovered in the Neander Valley, Germany. The material was found in a limestone quarry near Düsseldorf. A skull cap was first discovered, followed by two femurs, five arm bones, part of the left pelvis, and fragments of a shoulder blade and ribs.
Actually, some remains had been found earlier, but not recognised as a separate species from us. The Engis child from Belgium was the first Neanderthal discovered, in 1829. The second discovered was the Forbes Quarry find from Gibralter in 1848.
Neanderthal men were about 164–168 cm (5.3 ft) tall and averaged 77.6 kg (171 lbs) in weight. Neanderthal women stood about 154 cm (5 ft) tall and averaged 66.4 kg (146 lbs) in weight.
Neanderthals had stronger (more robust) build and distinctive morphological features, especially of the skull. They were much stronger than modern humans; especially in the upper body.
Neanderthal long bones and joints are thicker than ours, and some long bones have a slight curve. Both the thickness and the curve suggest the need for more strength than our species.
Since 2007, tooth age can be directly calculated using the noninvasive imaging of growth patterns in tooth enamel by means of x-ray synchrotron microtomography.
This research suggests much more rapid physical development in Neanderthals than in modern human children. The x-ray synchrotron microtomography study of early "H. sapiens" argues that this difference existed between the two species as far back as 160,000 years before present.
Neanderthals seemed to suffer a high frequency of fractures. These fractures are often healed and show little or no sign of infection, suggesting that injured individuals were cared for during times of incapacitation.
Neanderthals showed a frequency of such injuries comparable to that of modern rodeo professionals, showing frequent contact with large, combative mammals. The fractures suggest they may have hunted by leaping onto their prey and stabbing or even wrestling it to the ground.
They lived in Eurasia during the ice ages of the Pleistocene, and hunted large mammals, such as bison, auroch (an ancestor of living cattle), deer, reindeer, musk ox and mammoth.
The skulls are slightly larger than "Homo sapiens", and this implies intelligence and probably the use of language. The skeleton, on the other hand, suggests they tended to solve their problems (such as hunting) more by force than we do.
Neanderthal stone tools are called Mousterian, and are an advance on the Acheulean tools made by earlier species of Man. "Homo sapiens" stone tools are far more varied still, and suggest that our species relied more on tools than the Neanderthals.
Neanderthals were almost exclusively meat eaters although their diet did include cooked vegetables. They made good tools and lived in complex social groups. Research on their remains has shown that it is possible that they had a spoken language but the nature of any such language is unknown.
There are a number of theories that try to explain why the Neanderthals died out. It has been suggested that they may have been unable to adapt to the changing climate. Alternatively it has been suggested that they were unable to successfully compete with the ancestors of modern humans.
Oldenzaal
Oldenzaal is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands, near the border with Germany. As of 2021, about 32,000 people are living there.
It got city rights in 1249.
Homo erectus
Homo erectus (Latin: "upright man") is an extinct species of the genus "Homo". Fossil remains were found in Java (1890s) and in China (1921). Nearly all of them were lost during World War II, but there are casts that are considered to be reliable evidence.
Early in the 20th century it was believed that the first modern humans lived in Asia. But during the 1950s and 1970s, many fossil finds from East Africa (Kenya) showed that the oldest hominins came from there.
"H. erectus" had a cranial capacity (brain size) greater than that the earlier "Homo habilis". The earliest "H. erectus" remains have a cranial capacity of 850 cm³, while the latest Javan specimens measure up to 1100 cm³. This overlaps that of "H. sapiens": the frontal bone is less sloped and the dental arcade smaller than in australopithecines. The face is more vertical (less protrusive) than either the australopithecines or "H. habilis", with large brow-ridges and less prominent cheekbones.
These early hominins stood about , Only 17 percent of modern male humans are taller. They were slender, with long arms and legs.
The sexual dimorphism between males and females was slightly greater than modern man, with males being about 25% larger than females. The discovery of the skeleton KNM-WT 15000, "Turkana boy" ("Homo ergaster"), made near Lake Turkana, Kenya by Richard Leakey and Kamoya Kimeu in 1984, is one of the most complete hominid-skeletons discovered, and has contributed greatly to the interpretation of human physiological evolution.
The most distinctive tool of erectus was the Acheulean hand axe, first invented 1.8 million years ago (mya). This hand axe was made by chipping a suitable stone with a hammer stone. Later, the neanderthals used a soft hammer made of deer antler bone to make better tools. The Acheulean hand axe lasted for over a million years as the main tool. Its main use was for butchering meat. This we know because different uses leave different micro-wear on the hand axe surfaces.
"Homo erectus" remains one of the most successful and long-lived species of the "Homo" genus. It is generally considered to have given rise to a number of descendant species and subspecies. The oldest known specimen of the ancient human was found in southern Africa.
"Homo ergaster",
"Homo erectus pekinensis",
"Homo antecessor",
"Homo cepranensis",
"Homo floresiensis",
"Homo georgicus"
"Homo heidelbergensis",
"Homo neanderthalensis",
"Homo rhodesiensis",
"Homo sapiens",
Some of the major "Homo erectus" fossils:
Fossil "H. erectus" skulls found in Java in the 1930s have recently been redated. There are 12 skullcaps (top part of skull) and two lower leg bones. The recent research shows that on Java, "H. erectus" survived to about 100,000 years ago. The research gives a definitive age of between 117,000 and 108,000 years ago. That is much a much longer survival than in any other part of the world, so far as is known. This means, says the report, that "H. erectus" was still around when our own species was [elsewhere] walking the Earth. Java is an island, and presumably it had not yet been discovered by Neanderthals or our own species. Remains suggest that our own species did not reach Java until about 39,000 years ago.
Paramilitary
Paramilitary (quasi-military in some cases) is a way to describe forces that are organised like military forces, but not part of the Armed Forces. Examples for such forces would be police forces guarding the borders of a country. There are paramilitary groups that are run by a country, and others that are not.
The name comes from Greek "para" (which means "beside") and Latin "miles" (which means "soldier").
Though a paramilitary is not a military force, it is usually equivalent to a military's light infantry force in terms of intensity, firepower, and organizational structure. A paramilitary may also commonly fall under the command of a military, even despite not being part of the military or play an assisting role for the military in times of war. Paramilitary forces can also include private military company missions.
Champagne, Ardèche
Champagne is a town and commune of the Ardèche "département", in the southern part of France.
Champis, Ardèche
Champis is a commune in the Ardèche "département" in southeast France.
Chandolas
Chandolas is a town and commune of the Ardèche "département", in the southern part of France.
Chanéac
Chanéac is a town and commune of the Ardèche "département", in the southern part of France.
Charmes-sur-Rhône
Charmes-sur-Rhône is a town and commune of the Ardèche "département", in the southern part of France.
Charnas
Charnas is a town and commune of the Ardèche "département", in the southern part of France. About 715 or 722 people lived there in 2008.
Palaeolithic
The Palaeolithic, (or Paleolithic), refers to the prehistoric period when stone tools were made by humans. They are found in the Great Rift Valley of Africa from about 3.3 million years ago. They were probably made by Australopithecines. They are found in Europe somewhat later, from about 1 mya (0.7mya for Britain). The Palaeolithic is by far the longest period of humanity's time, about 99% of human history. The geological period which corresponds to the Palaeolithic is the Pleistocene.
Stone tools were not only made by our own species, "Homo sapiens". They were made by all previous members of the genus, starting with relatively crude tools made by "Homo habilis" and "Homo erectus". In Europe, the large-brained Neanderthal Man ("Homo neanderthalensis") made tools of high quality, and was in turn outshone by the many tools made by our own species. These tools are the first cultural products which have survived.
The Palaeolithic dates from about 2.6 million years ago and ended around 15,000 with the Mesolithic in Western Europe, and with the Epipaleolithic in warmer climates such as Africa. The Palaeolithic age began when hominids (early humans) started to use stones as tools for bashing, cutting and scraping. The age ended when humans began to make small, fine tools (Mesolithic) and finally when humans began to plant crops and have other types of agriculture (Neolithic). In some areas, such as Western Europe, the way that people lived was affected by the Ice age. The move towards agriculture started in the Middle East.
During the Palaeolithic Age humans grouped together in small bands. They lived by gathering plants and hunting wild animals. As well as using stone tools, they used tools of wood and bone. They probably also used leather and vegetable fibers but these have not lasted from that time.
The Oldowan is the archaeological term used to refer to the stone tool industry that was used by hominids during the earliest Palaeolithic period. For a long time it was thought that the Oldowan was the earliest stone tool industry in prehistory, from 2.6 million years ago up until 1.7 million years ago. It was followed by the more sophisticated Acheulean industry. Oldowan tools were therefore the earliest tools in human history, and mark the beginning of the archaeological record. The term "Oldowan" is taken from the site of Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, where the first Oldowan tools were discovered by the archaeologist Louis Leakey in the 1930s. Now it is realised that stone tools were used much earlier (3.3 million years ago) and that was definitely before the genus "Homo" had evolved.
It is not known for sure which species actually created and used Oldowan tools. It reached its peak with early species of "Homo" such as "H. habilis" and "H. ergaster". Early "Homo erectus" appears to inherit Oldowan technology and refines it into the Acheulean industry beginning 1.7 million years ago. Oldowan tools are sometimes called "pebble tools", so named because the blanks chosen for their production already resemble, in pebble form, the final product. Oldowan tools are sometimes subdivided into types, such as chopper, scrapers and pounders, as these seem to be their main uses.
Acheulean is the industry of stone tool manufacture by early humans of the Lower Palaeolithic era in Africa and much of West Asia and Europe. Acheulean tools are typically found with "Homo erectus" remains. They are first developed out of the more primitive Oldowan technology some 1.8 million years ago, by "Homo habilis".
It was the dominant technology for most of human history. More than a million years ago Acheulean tool users left Africa to colonize Eurasia. Their oval and pear-shaped hand axes have been found over a wide area. Some examples were finely made. Although it developed in Africa, the industry is named after the type site of Saint-Acheul, now a suburb of Amiens in northern France where some of the first examples were found in the 19th century.
John Frere was the first to suggest in writing a very ancient date for Acheulean hand-axes. In 1797 he sent two examples to the Royal Academy in London from Hoxne in Suffolk. He had found them in prehistoric lake deposits along with the bones of extinct animals and concluded that they were made by people ""who had not the use of metals"" and that they belonged to a ""very ancient period indeed, even beyond the present world"". His ideas were ignored by his contemporaries however, who held a pre-Darwinian view of human evolution.
Radiometric dating, often potassium-argon dating, of deposits containing Acheulean material is able to broadly place Acheulean techniques from around 1.65 million years ago to about 100,000 years ago. The earliest accepted examples of the type, at 1.65 m years old, come from the West Turkana region of Kenya. Some think their origin might be as early as 1.8 million years ago.
In individual regions, this dating can be considerably refined; in Europe for example, Acheulean methods did not reach the continent until around 400 thousand years ago and in smaller study areas, the date ranges can be much shorter. Numerical dates can be misleading however, and it is common to associate examples of this early human tool industry with one or more glacial or interglacial periods or with a particular early species of human. The earliest user of Acheulean tools was "Homo ergaster" who first appeared about 1.8 million years ago. Some researchers prefer to call these users "early Homo erectus". Later forms of early humans also used Acheulean techniques and are described below.
There is considerable time overlap in early prehistoric stone-working industries. In some regions Acheulean tool-using groups were contemporary with other, less sophisticated industries such as the Clactonian. Then, later, Acheulean tools occur at the same time as the more sophisticated Mousterian. The Acheulean was not a neatly defined period, but a tool-making technique which flourished especially well in early prehistory. Acheulean was a basic method for making stone tools which was shared across much of the Old World.
The Clactonian is an industry of European flint tool manufacture that dates to the early part of the interglacial period 400,000 years ago. Clactonian tools were made by "Homo erectus" rather than modern humans. Early, crude flint tools from other regions using similar methods are called either Clactonian or "core & flake" technology.
The Clactonian is named after finds made at Clacton-on-Sea in the English county of Essex in 1911. The artefacts found there included flint chopping tools, flint flakes and the tip of a worked wooden shaft along with the remains of a giant elephant and hippopotamus. Further examples of the tools have been found at sites in Swanscombe, Kent, and Barnham in Suffolk; similar industries have been identified across Northern Europe.
The Clactonian industry involved striking thick, irregular flakes from a core of flint, which was then employed as a chopper. The flakes would have been used as crude knives or scrapers. Unlike the Oldowan tools from which Clactonian ones derived, some were notched implying that they were attached to a handle or shaft.
The Clactonian industry may have co-existed with the Acheulean industry (which used handaxes). However, in 2004 there was an excavation of a butchered Pleistocene elephant near Dartford, Kent. Archaeologists recovered numerous Clactonian flint tools, but no handaxes. Since handaxes would be more useful than choppers to dismember an elephant carcass, this is evidence of the Clactonian being a separate industry. Flint of sufficient quality was available in the area, so probably the people who carved up the elephant did not have the knowledge to make handaxes.
The Mousterian is an industry of stone tools associated with Neanderthal Man, "Homo neanderthalensis". It dates from about 300,000 years to about 30,000 years ago. There are up to thirty types of tools in the Mousterian as contrasted with about six in the Acheulean.
The Mousterian was named after the type site of Le Moustier, a rock shelter in the Dordogne region of France. Similar flintwork has been found all over unglaciated Europe and also the Near East and North Africa. Handaxes, long blades
and points typify the industry. Overall, the items are more perfectly finished than any previous work. The method used to get the blades and flakes is called the Levallois technique. It is a prepared-core technique: the core is worked on so that a long, fine blade can be struck off. For this quality of work, a 'soft' hammer made of something like deer antler is necessary, rather than a stone hammer. The extra brain size of the Neanderthals is probably relevant to these advances.
The cultures which follow the Mousterian are all cultures of modern humans, "Homo sapiens". It is characteristic of our species to produce many more tools, all specialised for particular tasks. There are at least 100 types of tools in the Upper Palaeolithic compared to a maximum of 30 tools in the Mousterian.
The Palaeolithic is sometimes divided into three (somewhat overlapping) periods which mark technological and cultural advances in different human communities:
After the Palaeolithic follows the Mesolithic and Neolithic eras, which marks the end of Stone Age. The Bronze Age and the Iron Age come right after the Stone Age.
Possibly among the earliest traces of art are Venus figurines. These are "figurines" (very small statues) of women, mostly pregnant with visible breasts. The figurines were found in areas of Western Europe to Siberia. Most are between 20,000 and 30,000 years old. Two figurines have been found that are much older: the Venus of Tan-Tan, dated to 300,000 to 500,000 years ago was found in Morocco. The Venus of Berekhat Ram was found on the Golan Heights. It has been dated to 200,000 to 300,000 years ago. It may be the one of the earliest things that show the human form.
Different kinds of stone, bones and ivory were used to make the figurines. Some are also made of clay which was then burned in a fire. This is one of the earliest known traces of the use of ceramics.
Today it is not known what the figurines meant to the people who made them. There are two basic theories:
Scientists have excluded that these figurines were linked to the fertility of fields, because agriculture had not been discovered at the time the figurines were made.
The two figurines that are older may have mostly formed by natural processes. The Venus of Tan-Tan was covered with a substance that could have been some kind of paint. The substance contained traces of iron and manganese. The figurine of Berekhat Ram shows traces that someone worked on it with a tool. A study done in 1997 states that these traces could not have been left by nature alone.
Cave paintings are paintings that were made on the walls or roofs of caves. Many cave paintings belong to the Palaeolothic Age, and date from about 15,000 to 30,000 years ago. Among the most famous are those in the caves of Altamira in Spain and Lascaux in France. There are about 350 caves in Europe where cave paintings have been found. Usually, animals have been painted, like aurochs, bisons or horses. Why these paintings were done is not known. They are not simply decorations of places where people lived. The caves they were found in usually do not show signs that someone lived in them.
One of the oldest caves is that of Chauvet in France. Paintings in the cave fall into two groups. One has been dated to around 30,000 to 33,000 years ago, the other to 26,000 or 27,000 years ago. The oldest known cave paintings, based on radiocarbon dating of "black from drawings, from torch marks and from the floors". As of 1999, the dates of 31 samples from the cave have been reported. The oldest paintings have been dated from 32,900±490 years ago.
Some archaeologists have questioned the dating. Züchner believe the two groups date from 23,000–24,000, and 10,000–18,000 years ago. Pettitt and Bahn believe the dating is inconsistent. They say the people at that periods of time painted things differently. They also do not know where the charcoal used to paint some things is from, and how big the painted area is.
People from the Palaeolithic era drew well. They knew about perspective, and they knew of different ways to draw things. They also were able to observe the behaviour of animals they painted. Some of the paintings show how the painted animals behaved. The paintings may have been important for rituals.
Paleolithic hunting and gathering people ate leafy vegetables, fruit, nuts and insects, meat, fish, and shellfish. As there is little direct evidence, it is almost impossible to determine the relative proportions of plant and animal foods. There is a modern diet called paleolithic diet, but it has few things in common with the paleolitic diet of the time. Even the claim that most humans of a given period shared the same diet is problematic. The Paleolithic was an extended period of time. During that time, there were many technological advances, many of which had impact on human dietary structure. For example, humans probably did not possess the control of fire until the Middle Paleolithic, or tools necessary to engage in extensive fishing. On the other hand, both these technologies are generally agreed to have been widely available to humans by the end of the Paleolithic (consequently, allowing humans in some regions of the planet to rely heavily on fishing and hunting). In addition, the Paleolithic involved a substantial geographical expansion of human populations. During the Lower Paleolithic, ancestors of modern humans are thought to have been constrained to Africa east of the Great Rift Valley. During the Middle and Upper Paleolithic, humans greatly expanded their area of settlement, reaching ecosystems as diverse as New Guinea and Alaska. The also needed to adapt their diets to the local resources that were available.
Anthropologists have different opinions about the proportions of plant and animal foods consumed. Just as with still existing hunters and gatherers, there were many varied "diets" - in different groups -of fruit and vegetables. The relative proportions of plant and animal foods in the diets of Paleolithic people often varied between regions; in colder regions, more meat was necessary. These regions were not populated by anatomically modern humans until 30,000-50,000 BP. It is generally agreed that many modern hunting and fishing tools, such as fish hooks, nets, bows, and poisons, were not introduced until the Upper Palaeolithic and possibly even Neolithic. The only hunting tools widely available to humans during any significant part of the Paleolithic period were hand-held spears and harpoons. There's evidence of Paleolithic people killing and eating seals and elands as far as 100,000 years BP. On the other hand, buffalo bones found in African caves from the same period are typically of very young or very old individuals, and there's no evidence that pigs, elephants or rhinos were hunted by humans at the time.
Another view is that until the Upper Paleolithic, humans were frugivores (fruit eaters) who supplemented their meals with carrion, eggs, and small prey such as baby birds and mussels. Only on rare occasions did they manage to kill and consume big game such as antelopes. This view is supported by studies of higher apes, particularly chimpanzees. Chimpanzees are the closest to humans genetically. They share more than 96% of their DNA code with humans, and their digestive tract is functionally very similar. Chimpanzees are primarily frugivores, but they could and would consume and digest animal flesh, given the opportunity. In general, their actual diet in the wild is about 95% plant-based, with the remaining 5% filled with insects, eggs, and baby animals. In some ecosystems, however, chimpanzees are predatory, forming parties to hunt monkeys. Some comparative studies of human and higher primate digestive tracts do suggest that humans have evolved to obtain greater amounts of calories from sources such as animal foods, allowing them to shrink the size of the gastrointestinal tract relative to body mass and to increase the brain mass instead.