Severe climate change was the primary driver in the development of civilisation, according to new research by the University of East Anglia.

The early civilisations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, South Asia, China and northern South America were founded between 6000 and 4000 years ago when global climate changes, driven by natural fluctuations in the Earth's orbit, caused a weakening of monsoon systems resulting in increasingly arid conditions. These first large urban, state-level societies emerged because diminishing resources forced previously transient people into close proximity in areas where water, pasture and productive land was still available.

In a presentation to the BA Festival of Science on September 7 [2006], Dr. Nick Brooks will challenge existing views of how and why civilisation arose. He will argue that the earliest civilisations developed largely as a by-product of adaptation to climate change and were the products of hostile environments...

Climate change rocked cradles of civilization, Simon Dunford, University of East Anglia, UK, via EurekAlert, September 07, 2006.

cf. Hot, dry spell may have led to dawn of civilisation, Ian Johnston, The Scotsman, UK, September 08, 2006.

cf. Climate change forged first civilizations: scientist, Reuters via Yahoo! News, USA, September 07, 2006.

cf. Nick Brooks, University of East Anglia, UK.

Ask most 19-year-old girls what they did during their summer vacations, and it’s unlikely they’ll relate experiences of boot camp, riding a camel, exploring a glacier cave and a flight out of Paris the day after a thwarted terrorist plot, all in the span of eight weeks. Holly Parker can say she did all of those things and has the pictures to prove it.

Holly, the daughter of Hal and Kathy Parker of Auburn, volunteered for a missions trip through Teen Missions International, which took her from its base of operations in Merritt Island, Florida, to Assiut, Egypt, on to Lucerne, Switzerland via Paris, France and back home, again via Paris.

“I decided about three years ago to go on a missions trip after hearing about a trip our youth leader, Jason Root took,” Holly recalls. “I’m interested in travelling, seeing different things and how other people live. I wanted to help people, and to work for God...”

Holly’s special trip to Egypt, Wendy Bates, The New York Citizen, New York, USA, September 11, 2006.

A collection of priceless artefacts and rare antiquities at Lake Tahoe Community College with pieces that span from 100 to 100,000 years old, is entering its 20th year and is still going strong.

The Perry Foundation Collections and Loans will celebrate its two-decade anniversary with an open house from 2:30 to 7:30 p.m. Friday and 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday in room B-103 at LTCC.

The foundation was started by John Perry, faculty member emeritus at the college. Each year he shows the recent acquisitions that fit themes appropriate for the history, humanities and archaeology classes that he teaches at the college. The theme for the 2006 exhibit is "The Development of Ancient Human Skills" and consists of 111 authentic ancient artefacts and artistic items, nearly half of which have changed since last fall's exhibit...

Ancient wonders: Open house at college features priceless artefacts and rare antiquities, Nancy Oliver Hayden, Tahoe Daily Tribune, California, September 08, 2006.

Is King Tut art or science? Is he still museum magic? Philadelphia will find out Feb. 3 [2007], when a travelling exhibition of more than 130 precious objects from Egyptian royal tombs stops at the Franklin Institute for an eight-month run.

Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs combines material from the young pharaoh's burial chamber and the tombs of other royal personages to tell the story of Tut and his family and the 18th dynasty. Like the landmark Tut show of 30 years ago, this one, a blend of art and science, promises to be dazzling.

A related exhibition, "Amarna: Ancient Egypt's Place in the Sun," will open at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology on Nov. 12 [2006]. Tutankhamun grew up in Amarna, and most of the more than 100 ancient artefacts to be displayed date to his time.

If you're immune to Tut mania, the region's art museums have many other attractive options on tap...

That golden boy, King Tut, Edward J. Sozanski, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Pennsylvania, USA, September 10, 2006.

Jean Revez studies old things, but that doesn't make him wedded to old ways.

The professor of Egyptian history at the University of Montreal in Canada is developing one of several emerging techniques for electronically recording and interpreting ancient stone inscriptions.

Today most archaeologists record writing and other architectural details using pencils, pens, and paper, "tools that are really quite ancient," Revez said.

In his vision of the future, epigraphists — archaeologists who study inscriptions — will rely instead on digital cameras, specialized computer software, and their dexterity with a mouse...

Egyptian Writing "Scanned" Using High-Tech Methods, Ben Harder, National Geographic News, District of Columbia, USA, September 08, 2006.

cf. PDF: Assessing the historical value of investigating ancient monuments by means of an intelligent digital model: The case of the temple of Karnak in Egypt., J. Revez, T. Tidafi, G. De Paoli, C. Parisel, Université de Montréal, Quebec, Canada, The Fifth International Conference on Computer Graphics and Artificial Intelligence, Limoges, France, May 14 - 15, 2002.

cf. Previously on this blog: Egyptian inscriptions saved by software.

The Oklahoma City Museum of Art is the first stop of a five-city tour of an 85-piece exhibit from The British Museum titled "Temples and Tombs: Treasures of Egyptian Art From The British Museum."

Hardy George, chief curator for the museum, said the items are representative of the rule of the pharaohs, from around 2686 B.C. to the fourth century A.D.

"The timeliness of the art will be felt by those that visit this exhibit," George said. "There is something of grandeur and the feeling of permanence in these items..."

Oklahoma City shows Egyptian exhibit, Judi Boland, AP via The Boston Herald, Massachusetts, USA, September 06, 2006.