I want to pursue a career in History/Archaeology by going abroad

I want to pursue a career in History/Archaeology by going abroad. I am in Std XII and am planning to write the SAT in December (as the subject World History is only available in December and June). I want to know how to apply for a good scholarship as I come from a middle class family. Can I get a job in the U.S. after studying there? What is the scope for this field?

History graduates work in a wide variety of areas, e.g., business, law, politics, social service, and education. Knowledge of history is also an asset in journalism. Newspapers and journals often give assignments to historians for the preparation of background material to enlighten the public on the historical importance of an event. History is a very popular choice for various competitive examinations at state and central level, like civil services. If you continue to study history and go for an advanced degree, you will be qualified for jobs in teaching, research or as an archivist.

Studying in the U.S. can be quite expensive without financial aid or scholarships. But many colleges do offer some sort of aid to help students from overseas pay for college. You can visit these sites for resources on financial aid, college scholarship and other information related to studying in US.

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These 200,000-Year-Old Hand and Footprints Could Be the World’s Earliest Cave Art

Between 1,69,000 and 2,26,000 years ago, two children in what is now Quesang, Tibet, left a set of handprints and footprints on a boulder. Seemingly placed intentionally, the now-fossilised impressions may be the world's oldest known parietal or cave art a new study published online on September 10, 2021 in the journal Science Bulletin suggested.

Researchers used uranium, a naturally found radioactive element, to date the prints. They estimated that the impressions were left in the Pleistocene epoch – which occurred 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago. The marks were likely left by two children, one the size of a modern-day 12-year-old and the other the size of a 7-year-old. 

Still, the team couldn’t tell what species of archaic humans actually left the prints. Study co-author Matthew Bennett told Live Science that “Denisovans are a real possibility,” but also mentioned that Homo erectus was also known to inhabit the region. He said “there are lots of contenders” but that they don’t know at this point. 

As the researchers explain in an article, hand shapes can be commonly found in prehistoric caves. The hand is usually used as a stencil, spreading pigment around the edge. The oldest known examples are the caves in El Castillo, Spain, and Sulawesi, Indonesia. Now, whether this is art or not, that’s a big debate.

Credit : ZME Science 

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World’s Largest Handmade Drawings Discovered in Thar

In a paper published online in Archaeological Research in Asia on May 12, 2021 by researchers Carlo Oetheimer and Yohann Oetheimer, they said the geoglyphs found near Boha village, in Rajasthan's Thar Desert-spread over 51 acres are the largest discovered worldwide and the first in the Indian subcontinent. They are unique as regards their enigmatic signs. The researchers first discovered the lines on Google Earth in 2014 while conducting a virtual survey of the region.

The researchers say that these geoglyphs are the largest ones discovered worldwide, and the first of their kind in the Indian subcontinent. The largest figure was named Boha 1, and is a giant asymmetrical spiral made from a single line that loops and runs for around 12 kilometres. “The Boha 1 unit interpreted as a series of 12 eccentric ellipses, was revealed to be a huge spiral,” the paper reads.

Boha 2 is a serpentine figure, around 11 km long. “By analogy these curves replicate a boustrophedon. This term refers to primitive writings whose lines can be read from left to right and then from right to left, in the same way a plow travels in a field. The inflection points in the lines generate a gap of 4.7–14 m between them,” reads the paper.

Boha 3 and 4 included a series of meandering lines, and “two iconographic units, adjacent to the previous ones, draw about 80 serpentine lines between 40 and 200 m long. Boha 3 forms a cluster of lines oriented towards the NE, immediately at the apex of the giant spiral. Boha 4, on the other hand, is located about 50 meters away, SW of the boustrophedon. We experienced more difficulty achieving a precise mapping because many of these lines are heavily eroded. They have generally random sinuosities and adopt rhythmic undulations that look like braids in two areas”.

Credit : The Better India

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Stone slab found in France thought to be Europe’s oldest 3D map

According to media reports in April 2021, a Bronze-Age stone unearthed in France was confirmed to be the oldest three-dimensional map in Europe. The five-ft-by-6.5-ft slab, first uncovered in 1900 and forgotten, was found again in a cellar in a castle in 2014. Archaeologists who studied patterns engraved on the 4,000-year-old stone said they believe the markings were the map of an area in western Brittany.

After analysing marks and engravings on the stone, the researchers suspected it could be a map.

The "presence of repeated motifs joined by lines" on its surface suggested it depicted an area of Finistere, a study in the Bulletin of the French Prehistoric Society said.

The researchers say the indentations are a 3D representation of the River Odet valley, while several lines appear to depict the area's river network.

Geo-location revealed the territory represented on the slab bears an 80% accuracy to an area around an 18 mile-long stretch of the river.

"This is probably the oldest map of a territory that has been identified," Dr Clement Nicolas from Bournemouth University, one of the study's authors, told the BBC.

"There are several such maps carved in stone all over the world. Generally, they are just interpretations. But this is the first time a map has depicted an area on a specific scale."

Dr Nicolas said the map may have been used to mark a particular area.

"It was probably a way to affirm the ownership of the territory by a small prince or king at the time," he said.

"We tend to underestimate the geographical knowledge of past societies. This slab is important as it highlights this cartographical knowledge."

Credit : BBC

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3,000-year-old ‘lost golden city’ of ancient Egypt discovered

On April 8, 2021, famed Egyptologist Zahi Hawass announced the discovery of the "lost golden city" near Luxor, Egypt. He said the find was the largest ancient city, known as Aten, ever uncovered in Egypt. It was unearthed within weeks of the excavation starting in September 2020. The city dates to the reign of Amenhotep III, one of Egypt's most powerful pharaohs, who ruled from 1391 to 1353 BC. The city continued to be used by pharaohs Ay and Tutankhamun, whose nearly intact tomb was discovered in the Valley of the Kings by British archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922.

After seven months of excavations, several neighbourhoods have been uncovered, including a bakery complete with ovens and storage pottery, as well as administrative and residential districts.

Amenhotep III inherited an empire that stretched from the Euphrates to Sudan, archaeologists say, and died around 1354 BC.

He ruled for nearly four decades, a reign known for its opulence and the grandeur of its monuments, including the Colossi of Memnon – two massive stone statues near Luxor that represent him and his wife.

“The archaeological layers have laid untouched for thousands of years, left by the ancient residents as if it were yesterday,” the team’s statement said.

Bryan said the city “will give us a rare glimpse into the life of the Ancient Egyptians at the time where the empire was at his wealthiest”.

The team said it was optimistic that further important finds would be revealed, noting it had discovered groups of tombs it reached through “stairs carved into the rock”, a similar construction to those found in the Valley of the Kings.

“The mission expects to uncover untouched tombs filled with treasures,” the statement added.

After years of political instability linked to a popular revolt in 2011, which dealt a severe blow to Egypt’s key tourism sector, the country is seeking to bring back visitors, in particular by promoting its ancient heritage.

Last week, Egypt transported the mummified remains of 18 ancient kings and four queens across Cairo from the Egyptian Museum to the new National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation, a procession dubbed the “Pharaohs’ Golden Parade”.

Among the 22 bodies were those of Amenhotep III and his wife Queen Tiye.

Credit : The Guardian 

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What scope does Architecture have other than designing buildings?

I am a second year Architecture student with an interest in design. I currently fancy the animation and gaming industries, but I would like to know more about further specializations after architecture. What scope does Architecture have other than designing buildings?

Video games are for entertainment and architecture relates to real life. Still, game design and architectural design have some crossover, because a game's ability in its countless visuals affects a person's thoughts and actions. By balancing and contrasting different types of spaces, architecture can unfold, and choreograph the player experience to produce a much more powerful emotional impact and reaction to gameplay.

Architects are increasingly moving into virtual realms to construct their designs, for there, anything is possible. The architecture students of today are equipped with many of the game designer's tools: 3D modelling, rendering, and the like.

Still the specialization available at Master's level is all related to architecture only, like urban design, industrial design, environmental planning, transport planning, etc. But if you're keen on the gaming industry, do some short term course in that and experiment with the two fields.

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I want to be an architect

I am currently studying in Class 10. I want to be an architect. Which subjects should I take up in Class 11 and beyond?

Architecture is the art of planning, designing, and constructing buildings and other physical structures. You can become an architect after completing Bachelor of Architecture (B. Arch.), a 5-year course available at many universities all over India. Eligibility is 10+2 with mathematics and English as compulsory subjects.

Almost everywhere, selection is through a written examination and an aptitude test. The Council of Architecture conducts an aptitude test, NATA, on an All India basis for colleges of architecture private and government. Many engineering colleges having architecture courses admit students on the basis of the results of the entrance examination common to other engineering courses and the aptitude test especially for architecture branch.

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How are giant cranes erected?



How can a giant crane built without the help of another equally large crane? The answer is that most tower cranes can build themselves once they reach a certain height, and some can haul themselves up completely unassisted.



Freestanding tower cranes are usually bolted to large steel angle brackets that are set deep into concrete, or weighed down under huge concrete blocks. The tower is made up of steel sections about 20ft (6m) tall that are pinned and bolted together.



A smaller mobile crane is needed to place the first few sections on one another before the crane can start building itself.



When the mobile crane can no longer lift the sections high enough the tower crane takes over, using a specialized tower section called a climbing frame. The climbing frame – positioned near the top of the tower – is slightly larger than a standard section, and it has one open side to allow a new section to fit inside it.



The stages of the process are carried out in the following way. Once the crane’s jib and hook have been attached to the top of the tower, the crane lifts a new section up, so that it can be fitted into climbing frame.



A hydraulic ram at the base of the climbing frame then pushes up the new section until it locks into position above.



Another new section is slotted into the now empty climbing frame and fixed in position.



The climbing frame then moves up around the section it has just raised, and again pushes it up, together with the rest of the top of the crane. It is once again empty to receive a new section, and the whole process is repeated. It can sometimes take a whole day to add three new sections to a crane.



When the crane has reached its final height the climbing frame is usually removed from the tower. But sometimes the crane will operate with the frame still in lace. And if the crane’s height need to be altered regularly, the frame may remain on the tower the whole time.



To dismantle a crane the process is reversed – the climbing frame is used to lower the sections rather than raise them.



 



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How concrete is compressed to make elegant buildings?



Many of the world’ most elegant modern buildings have been constructed with a material bearing the unromantic name of prestressed concrete. Skyscrapers, graceful bridges, slender dams, even the Sydney Opera Hose, all rely on its enormous strength.



Prestressed concrete has steel cables running through it that have been stretched by hydraulic jacks. As the cables try to their original length, they pull inwards – compressing the concrete.



The idea of prestressed concrete was first used effectively in 1928 by the French civil engineer Eugene Freyssinet. He developed two sorts – pre-tensioned concrete in which the wires are stressed before the concrete has set, and post-tensioned concrete, stressed after it has set.



In bridge construction today, steel cables are threaded through ready-made holes in precast concrete blocks. Then the cables are stretched and anchored with conical plugs in the blocks at each end of the bridge to maintain their tension. the principle is the same as picking up a row of books by squeezing the ends together. In effect the books create a beam, and the harder you squeeze the stronger the beam becomes. And within limits, the more a bridge’s concrete blocks are compressed, the stronger the bridge will be.



Pre-tensioned concrete is made in factories. Wet concrete is poured over stretched steel wires while they are held under tension. Once the concrete has set, the wires can be cut off at each end of the concrete block, pulling it together. this method is used to produce railway sleepers and strong concrete beams anything up to 150ft (46m) long.



Demolishing a structure built with prestressed concrete can be dangerous and quit unpredictable. When the building does to start to collapse, the locked-up forces and tension in the cables often sends rubble in all directions.



 



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How the world’s tallest building rose into the sky?



The fastest method of erecting tall concrete buildings is called slip forming. It is widely used for grain silos, chimneys and offshore oil platforms. But the most spectacular example of slip forming is the CN Tower in Toronto, Canada. It is the world’s tallest self-supporting tower at 1815ft (553m).



The usual way of building a high concrete wall is to pour wet concrete into a mould, called ‘shuttering’ or ‘formwork’, and compact it. Once the concrete has set, the shuttering is dismantled and re-erected on top of the new piece of wall, and the next layer of concrete is poured into it.



In slip forming, the shutters are not dismantled but slide continuously up the wall, hanging on vertical steel rods. Quick-drying cement is used which is soon strong enough to support the shutters as they move up.



Hydraulic jacks are fixed to the steel rods, which lift the shuttering up in frequent small steps, 1in (25mm) at a time. The CN Tower was built at an average speed of 20ft (6m) a day.



Slip forming can be used only on buildings that are suitably shaped, circular walls are the simplest. The concrete has to be exactly the right quality, placed evenly and compacted immediately. It is difficult to get the slip going, so once it has started the work usually continues day and night, until the building is finished.



Concrete takes days to harden completely. Although it can support the weight of the shuttering and the fresh concrete above, it is still relatively soft. This resulted in the CN Tower being twisted by the force of the Earth in rotation, and engineers had to use steel ropes to pull the tower through six degrees back to its correct shape.



Another method of continuous construction using jacks is the jackblock system. The top floor is built first, then it is jacked up, allowing the next floor to be built under it. The jacks then lift the two completed floors, and the next storey is built underneath them, and so on.



A Dutch insurance company’s head office in the Hague was built using the jackblock system, and the final weight lifted by the jack was 32,000 tons. This method of building allows work to be done inside the building as it rises, so the top floor is finished first.



 



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