WEIRD HISTORY

 

World’s oldest runestone found in Norway, archaeologists say

The 2,000-year-old inscription is among the earliest examples of words recorded in writing. The discovery of millennia-old runic writing is a ‘sensational’ find, say archaeologists. Photograph: Javad Parsa/NTB/AFP/Getty Images – AP in Copenhagen Last modified on 2023 Jan 17 – Archaeologists in Norway …

Pepper changed the world – but how many people know that?

Colonialism was born from the greed for spices and led to today’s globalised world. I know because it’s my family’s story. ‘The desire for spices such as pepper drove European expeditions eastwards.’ Photograph: fcafotodigital/Getty Images – By Anna Sulan Masing Last modified on …

Why is astronomy a science but astrology is not?

Your zodiac sign – like Sagittarius, the archer – might be in the stars, but your future isn’t. Scaliger/iStock via Getty Images Plus – By Talia Dan-Cohen, Associate Professor of Sociocultural Anthropology, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis and by …