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Grotto Point (Sydney, Australia)
 
Kur-ing-gai Chase National Park (Sydney, Australia)


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The Timeline of Humankind

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It is part of human nature to differentiate between "us" and "them", and it is through this differentiation that humans define the groups that they belong to, including cultural, ethnic and language groups. This is how we form aspects of our identity.  But if we take a moment to search beyond the differences between us and look into the past, we can see that we all have common origins. The timeline below is a brief summary of some key moments since the evolution of humans that have defined how we have developed as a species.  This timeline is definitely not to scale, but rather an approximate representation of the history of humans. The left side of the timeline starts about 200 000 BCE when homo sapiens evolved, and as we progress towards the right, the scale becomes smaller and smaller, meaning that the distance between two events in human history are closer together in time. What is BCE and CE?  BCE = Before Common Era CE = Common Era BCE and CE
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Archaeology and Nationalism

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Nationalism is the identification with one's nation and the promotion of the interests of a country. Throughout history archaeology has been used by governments and national leaders for political purposes, serving to unify a nation and its people under a common ideology and narrative of the past. Here are two examples of how archaeology has been entangled in nationalism and used to promote political agendas. Fascist Italy and ancient Rome In 1926, Benito Mussolini established a dictatorship in Italy through his fascist party and emphasised the connections between his party and ancient Rome to establish supremacy. The term 'fascist' links to the Latin word fasces , meaning bundles of birch or elm rods with an axe on one end. In ancient Rome, fasces  was a symbol of the power of the magistrate and central authority. The version of the fasces  that was chosen as the symbol of Mussolini's party was the original symbol used in Roman times. The concept of Romanness or romanit
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The New Year: the organisation of time

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The concept of the New Year is something that exists cross-culturally, originating in ancient and possibly even prehistoric times, and continuing into the present day where the first day of the year is celebrated around the world. The new year is observed through the tracking of time in calendars, which can be organised by different principles. Given the passing of days as marked by sunrise and sunset, ancient practices of timekeeping were based on this regular occurrence.   Lunar Calendar Lunar calendars are based on the cycle of the Moon, measured by lunar (also known as synodic) months which cover the phases of the Moon including new, full, gibbous and crescent moons. The appearance of the Moon from Earth is determined by the position of the Moon in relation to the Sun and Earth, with the naming of the Moon phases referring to the portion of the Moon that is illuminated by the Sun at a point in time. This cycle covers about 29.5 days with small variations. Eight phases of the Moon,
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