Littlestone
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Re: Circles under churches
May 10, 2005, 17:48
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Fascinating site (http://www.cvni.org/news_and_articles/yew/yew.html) FourWinds - thank you.* I wonder if the author of the article, Carol Hutton, is related to Ronald Hutton? Coincidently, I received a copy of Ronald Hutton's book <b>The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles</b> in the post this morning.
* And yet another Megalithic Poem at the end of the article (see latest post under that Thread :-).
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follow that cow
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Re: see yews!
May 10, 2005, 20:24
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Hi Pete,
>myceleum network under Dartmoor<
is that some kind of secret society? ;)
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Pete G
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Re: see yews!
May 10, 2005, 20:28
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Not Mushroom for any new members tho ;)
PeteG
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baza
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Re: see yews!
May 10, 2005, 22:29
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Fungal spores found in Oetzi's boots were grown, so they must be the oldest verified living thing in Europe.
5,300 years.
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PeterH
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long lived
May 10, 2005, 22:58
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In 1982 in Japan, a settlement was excavated that was 2000 years old. In a grain pit, was found a single seed of a magnolia. It was alive and germinated into an unknown variety with flowers like no modern magnolia.
A wrapped statue of Osiris was found in the tomb of Tutankhamun (1329 BC) When it was unwrapped, he sprouted - his moulded shape having been filled with Nile mud into which seeds had been presed - a literal resurrection!
Older than the fungus in Oetzi's boots are the seeds of the Arctic lupin. Buried in permafrost and then excavated from layers 10,000 years old, they were warmed and watered. Most were dead, but a few germinated.
The bristlecone pines of California are generally regarded as the oldest living organisms. A few have been dated by inserting an auger into them and counting tree rings. Resulting age of over 4,600 years established.
Any more contenders?
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Littlestone
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Re: see yews!
May 10, 2005, 23:31
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> the myceleum network under Dartmoor.
Isn't that <i>largest</i> life form in Europe rather than the oldest? I may have got that wrong however...
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Pete G
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Re: see yews!
May 10, 2005, 23:34
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I can't find the source at the momoent but I think it was both.
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mort
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Re: Circles under churches
May 10, 2005, 23:42
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fact: the irish yew is a variant on the common yew (taxus baccata), and most yew's in ireland today are derived from this yew discovered in 1760. its latin name is taxus baccata 'fastigiata' which means 'to grow upwards, hence its suitability and use in ornimental hedges and topiary.
both grow upwards, but the english spreads out ball like, instead of in a conical manner like the variant.
its use for bows stems from the fact that is is so elastic, it is hard and extremely durable. also, bowmen tipped their arrow heads with a poison made from the berry arils (stones), extremely poisonous, unlike the berry flesh, which is apparrently edible!
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FourWinds
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Re: Circles under churches
May 11, 2005, 06:36
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This page answers my points about how the yews in churches survived the long bow era - the British yew was crap for making bows!
http://www.engin.swarthmore.edu/~jsarmie1/Design.html
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mort
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Re: Circles under churches
May 11, 2005, 08:22
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have you ever tried to break yew staves yourself?
i beleive your comment is unjustified and you seem to regurgitate the first thing that youve found.
fuck man, the archers for the english kings(mostly welsh archers by the way) fucked up most military campaigns for throne hunters (including the scots as well as the french) by their well documented use of this bow. if the bows were that shit, do you really beleive that even today, bowmen would give their right arm for a stave of yew.
as i said, the irishyew is no different to the common/english yew except for its growth shape, and fact, it was used for longbows, the fact that none remain on show doesnt prove a thing.
also to note, you cant carbon date an yew correctly, as the relly old growth has rotted away, so technically, all that remains would be a few hundred years growth. it regenerates itself and grows on old wood. what you see would not have been there 2000 years previously
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