From crisica@idt.net Sun Sep 10 23:40:37 2000 Received: from mxu4.u.washington.edu (mxu4.u.washington.edu [140.142.33.8]) by lists.u.washington.edu (8.9.3+UW00.05/8.9.3+UW99.09) with ESMTP id XAA67288 for ; Sun, 10 Sep 2000 23:40:36 -0700 Received: from u3.farm.idt.net (root@u3.farm.idt.net [169.132.8.12]) by mxu4.u.washington.edu (8.9.3+UW00.02/8.9.3+UW99.09) with ESMTP id XAA13766 for ; Sun, 10 Sep 2000 23:40:35 -0700 Received: from 18spd (ppp-18.ts-1-bay.nyc.idt.net [169.132.216.18]) by u3.farm.idt.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with SMTP id CAA27018; Mon, 11 Sep 2000 02:40:30 -0400 (EDT) Reply-To: From: "Christopher Robbins" To: Cc: Subject: New archaeological discipline (still is: The NTD virus) Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2000 02:40:31 -0400 Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0000_01C01B99.A770AEE0" X-Priority: 3 (Normal) X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook IMO, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2911.0) In-Reply-To: <067d01c01b39$bf9b84a0$e49db798@J> X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2615.200 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0000_01C01B99.A770AEE0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Janice Siegel , Classicist cum Petroleum Engineer, writes: > Well, I was waiting to get this published, but since everyone seems confused about the *real* story concerning the burn marks on the gypsum still covering the remains of the Cretan "palatial structures"...Everyone knows that the Minoans had flush toilets. But what they might not have understood was the danger of the build-up of certain toxic gases...so all this (methane? ammonia? whatever) gas is collecting in underground chambers all over Crete, and along comes this tiny little seismic disturbance. The plates shift, the rock grinds, a spark ignites the gas. Kaboom. Obviously, it was the Great Bean Festival of 1450 BC that brought them down. Geez. Yep, that's it. Or at least it makes more sense than a mini-quake knocking over a few lamps and then a wind coming along and blowing the little lamp flame enough to catch the [drapes? shag rug? fill in the blank here] on fire which then burned the whole place down. :-) Oh, also, not to criticize this truly formidable figure in the field (although there have been some rather unsettling allegations that he faked some of his data), there was one other little mistake too. It was not Evans' fault, however, because writing back in 1935 he could have not have known what the Linear B tablets were going to say when deciphered 19 years later. But it turns out that once Crete came fully under Mycenaean influence, the Great Bean Festival was formally established as a sesquicentennial event. Little attention has been paid to this fact, and that is understandable - up to now. But now a team of specialists from the hot new discipline of Ambient Gas Archaeology went over to Crete, and they have confirmed that the events Prof. Siegel described did NOT occur at the GBF of 1450 BC but instead occurred at the GBF of 1200 BC. Cheers, CRR PD: Actually, I'm serious about the date hypothesis. As to the GBF causality, hmm, well, it's Sunday. :-) ------=_NextPart_000_0000_01C01B99.A770AEE0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

Janice Siegel , Classicist cum Petroleum = Engineer,=20 writes:

> Well, I=20 was waiting to get this published, but since everyone seems confused=20 about the *real* story concerning the burn marks on the gypsum = still=20 covering the remains of the Cretan "palatial = structures"...Everyone=20 knows that the Minoans had flush toilets. But what they might not have=20 understood was the danger of the build-up of certain toxic gases...so = all this=20 (methane? ammonia? whatever) gas is collecting in underground chambers = all over=20 Crete, and along comes this tiny little seismic disturbance. The plates = shift,=20 the rock grinds, a spark ignites the gas. Kaboom. Obviously, it was the = Great=20 Bean Festival of 1450 BC that brought them down. Geez.

Yep, that's it. Or at least it makes = more sense=20 than a mini-quake knocking over a few lamps and then a wind = coming=20 along and blowing the little lamp flame enough to catch the [drapes?=20 shag rug? fill in the blank here] on fire which then burned the = whole place=20 down. :-)

Oh, also, not to criticize this truly = formidable figure=20 in the field (although there have been some rather = unsettling allegations=20 that he faked some of his data), there was one other little mistake = too. =20 It was not Evans' fault, however, because writing back in 1935 he = could=20 have not have known what the Linear B tablets were going to say = when=20 deciphered 19 years later. But it turns out that once Crete = came=20 fully under Mycenaean influence, the Great Bean Festival was = formally=20 established as a sesquicentennial event. Little attention has been = paid to=20 this fact, and that is understandable - up to now. But now a team = of=20 specialists from the hot new discipline of Ambient Gas Archaeology went = over to=20 Crete, and they have confirmed that the events Prof. Siegel = described did=20 NOT occur at the GBF of 1450 BC but instead occurred at the = GBF of=20 1200 BC.

Cheers,

CRR

PD:

Actually, I'm serious about the date = hypothesis. =20 As to the GBF causality, hmm, well, it's Sunday.=20 :-)

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