The Middle East is called the "Cradle of Civilization" because it is where our hunter-gatherer ancestors first established sedentary farming communities. Recently, the traditional dating of humans’ first agricultural attempt was shaken up by the discovery of the earliest-known example of plant cultivation in the Levant, 11,000 years earlier than previously accepted. The team of archaeologists, botanists, and ecologists from Bar-Ilan University, Haifa University, Tel Aviv University, and Harvard University published their work in the scientific journalPlos One (Open Access). The team’s conclusions rest on three inter-connected findings, says the lead researcher, Prof. Ehud Weiss of Bar-Ilan University’s Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology. First is the higher-than-usual presence at the site of domestic-type, rather than wild-type, wheat and barley dispersal units. Second, the researchers noted a high concentration of proto-weeds … [Read more...] about Evidence for plant cultivation at 23,000-year-old site in Galilee
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Best and most affordable golf course villas in Asia
The Dune Residences represent the latest offering at Danang Beach Resort - Vietnam's only truly integrated resort based upon global standards. With 15 villas all of three bedroom configuration, the project is located in an exclusive compound set within The Dunes Course at Danang Golf Club, designed by world renowned golfer and course designer Greg Norman. Further projects within the resort include The Ocean Villas, which is now 95 per cent completed and sold, Norman Estates and The Cham Condominium. Danang Beach Resort is delivered by VinaLiving, Vietnam's first residential lifestyle and tailored-living brand that caters to the new generation of Vietnamese homeowners and backed by VinaCapital, one of the leading foreign real estate developers in the country. David Henry, managing director of VinaCapital Real Estates, said: "At VinaLiving we don't just build houses but communities that last from one generation to the next and The Dune Residences is a prime example of this." … [Read more...] about Best and most affordable golf course villas in Asia
Vietnam gives away the best coal mine to foreigners
An open cast coal mine with the best coal quality in Vietnam has become the “fief” of an Indonesian company. Every year, the company pockets 90 percent of the profit, while the Vietnamese side can enjoy the remaining modest profit of 10 percent only. Coal mine given for next to nothing On April 19, 1991, the Uong Bi Coal Company (TUB), a subsidiary of the Vietnam Coal and Minerals Group (Vinacomin), signed a business cooperation contract with Pt.Vietmindo Energitama (VMD), a 100 percent Indonesian invested enterprise on the coal exploitation at Uong Thuong, Dong Vong mine. Under the business contract, VMD would bring equipment and technologies to exploit coal for 30 years at the mine. The share profit ratio was fixed as follows: 90 percent of profits would belong to VMD, and 10 percent to TUB. This is an open cast mine located on Vang Danh ward of Uong Bi City, where there is the best coal bed in Quang Ninh province. Since this is an open cast mine, VMD just needs to … [Read more...] about Vietnam gives away the best coal mine to foreigners
EVENTS ON NOVEMBER 21-30
Exhibition "Fullness of Absence" Exhibition: 10 Nov - 16 Dec 2011 Sàn Art, 3 Me Linh, Binh Thanh District, HCM City San Art presents a solo exhibition "Fullness of Absence" by artist Nguyen Thai Tuan. Nguyen Thai Tuan is one of Vietnam's most significant artists of his generation, whose artistic practice is anchored in the symmetry of fullness and absence. Where are our memories fullest? What triggers/limits our imagination to recall the facts of the past? For Nguyen Thai Tuan, space and its objects, the relationship between body and matter, is of unquestionable import. A woman with no body, dressed in a crème suit wearing hotel-like slippers, sits in a chaise lounge chair. The knees of this figure push the linen of her trousers, as do the elbows and stomach. Her suggestive volume lies in contrast to the objects around her that appear to have no depth - a cupboard, a chest of drawers with a mirrored closet and footstool. The room is dark in its surroundings, rendered in a palette … [Read more...] about EVENTS ON NOVEMBER 21-30
World Heritage Committee inscribes five new cultural sites on World Heritage List and approves two extensions to existing properties
The World Heritage Committee meeting in Brasilia has inscribed new cultural sites in Viet Nam, China, Tajikistan, France, the Netherlands, on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The Committee also agreed to the extension of two cultural properties in Germany, Norway. The latest cultural sites inscribed include (in order of inscription): The Imperial Citadel of Thang Long-Hanoi (Viet Nam)Hanoi. It was the centre of regional political power for almost 13 centuries without interruption. The Imperial Citadel buildings and the remains in the 18 Hoang Dieu Archaeological Site reflect a unique South-East Asian culture specific to the lower Red River Valley, at the crossroads between influences coming from China in the north and the ancient Kingdom of Champa in the south. Historic monuments of Dengfeng, in the “Centre of Heaven and Earth” (China)Mount Songshang is considered to be the central sacred mountain of China. At the foot of this 1500 metre high mountain, close to the city … [Read more...] about World Heritage Committee inscribes five new cultural sites on World Heritage List and approves two extensions to existing properties