Author Archives
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May 1 – Part 3: “May Day” in Medieval, Renaissance, and Early Modern Europe
For most people nowadays, late June marks the beginning of Summer with the occurrence of the Summer Solstice, the day which holds the longest period of sunshine. However, this view is relatively recent. Even in some societies to this day,… Read More ›
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May 1 – Part 2: Beltane, the Celtic Festival of Summer
Lo, dawning o’er yon mountain greyThe rosy birth-day of May!Glen-Shira knoweth well ‘tis Beltane’s blissful day. — Evan MacColl Summer is a-comin’ in! May 1 is the date of the ancient Celtic festival of Beltane, which marks the first day… Read More ›
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May 1 – Part 1: The Month of Maia, the Ancient Roman Goddess of Motherhood
May is named in honor of the ancient Roman goddess Maia, the goddess of motherhood. Maia was also referred to by the Romans as Bona Dea, “the Good Goddess”. She might be one-and-the-same with Tellus, the ancient Roman “Mother Earth”… Read More ›
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April 21 – Happy Birthday, Rome!
A scene from the movie The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964). For many people including myself, it is utterly impossible to imagine a world without Rome. The fabled “Eternal City of the Seven Hills” dominated the ancient world for… Read More ›
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The “Other” Windtalkers: The Comanche Code-Talkers of the US Army in World War II
IntroductionThanks to the 2002 movie Windtalkers starring Adam Beach and Nicolas Cage, many people have become aware of the Navajo code-talkers who served with the US Marines in the Pacific Theater against the Japanese during World War II. Numerous books… Read More ›
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April 12-19 – The Cerealia: The Feast of Ceres, the Ancient Roman Goddess of Agriculture
Wheat in a field. Public domain image, Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wheat_in_field.jpg. It is now mid April. The cold chill of Winter has been banished, and there will only be warmer days to come. New green growth is springing up everywhere. The… Read More ›
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The Cedar Mountain Allosaur
The Cedar Mountain Formation is a geological formation located in the western United States, mostly within the state of Utah, with rocks dating to the early and middle parts of the Cretaceous Period. The Cedar Mountain Formation is most well-known… Read More ›
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List of articles about the Hell Creek Formation
Since I started this blog in the Summer of 2013, I have written several articles and I have posted several examples of my artwork associated with the Hell Creek Formation. This geological formation, dated to the very end of the… Read More ›
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Nedcolbertia: A North American elaphrosaur?
IntroductionNedcolbertia (named in honor of the American paleontologist Dr. Edward “Ned” Colbert, 1905-2001) was a mysterious and intriguing creature which inhabited western North America during the early Cretaceous Period about 140-130 million years ago. When it was officially named and… Read More ›
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Lepisosteus occidentalis – the Western Gar
Introduction The Hell Creek Formation of the western United States is understandably known for its dinosaur fossils, including Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops. However, in terms of sheer physical numbers, there are other species found here which surpass them by far. One… Read More ›
DINOSAURS AND BARBARIANS 
