FIND: Australian archaeologists have uncovered this artwork in the Northern Territory. Source: Supplied
DISCOVERY: This charcoal-drawn fragment has been dated as being 28,000 years old. Source: Supplied
ARCHAEOLOGISTS have uncovered some of the earliest evidence of human painting in the world, making it Australia's oldest rock art.
University of Southern Queensland's Bryce Barker and Lara Lamb have had a charcoal-drawn fragment from a remote NT shelter dated at 28,000 years after excavating a small part of a massive rock shelter site named Narwala Gabarnmang.
Researchers have found that human occupation of the site dates back to 45,000 years ago, making it one of the earliest human occupation sites in the country.
Professor Barker said the site in Jawoyn country also revealed the earliest human use of edge ground axes at 35,000 years ago - a stone tool technology not developed elsewhere in the world until much later.
The Jawoyn Association of Katherine had asked for the work to be done for what it could tell about their culture.
Researchers consider the site one of the most extensive rock art sites in the world.
It has been described as the Sistine Chapel of rock art sites due to extensive art on the roof of the shelter.
"Rock art is notoriously difficult to date and although we know that people had occupied this site at least 45,000 years ago we did not know how old the art was," Professor Barker said.
Last year material excavated from the site included a fragment of charcoal drawing from a layer deep down in the earliest levels of occupation.
This meant the work could be accurately dated.
A specialist dating team led by Dr Fiona Petchey from the University of Waikato radiocarbon laboratory took scrapings of the charcoal which confirmed its age as among some of the earliest evidence of human painting in the world.
"When I turned over that little piece of rock and saw that art I couldn't believe it," Professor Barker said.
"There I was sitting in the lab at USQ in Toowoomba with a piece of art that I knew had to be more than 20,000 years old."
Source: www.couriermail.com.au
Gas Plant antique arcade revamps with retro retail a la 'Mad Men' - St. Petersburg Times
ST. PETERSBURG
The sign out front still touts it has "over 100 fine dealers," but the Gas Plant Antique Arcade, one of the first and best known antique malls in the area, has streamlined its retail offerings.
The first floor of the four-story pink building at 1246 Central Ave. still has antiques, but they all belong to one company, Pinkee's Antiques & Collectibles. The second floor now houses Audio Retro Lounge, a vintage audio equipment dealer, and Planet Retro, a vintage toy and record retailer.
Furnish Me Vintage, which could double as the set of Mad Men, occupies 7,000 square feet on the third floor, selling mid-century furniture and accessories. Modern used furniture may soon be sold on the fourth floor.
"We still get some of the old Gas Plant customers. It's 50-50 between people who want to see all their old antiques and others who say 'Oh, this is awesome what you did with this space,' " said Jackie Williams, who owns Furnish Me Vintage with her husband, Todd Wilson. They have become a destination for people from Tampa Bay, Jacksonville, Orlando and beyond looking for the clean lines of Danish and mid-century furniture, including stair-step end tables, bar cabinets, velvet sofas and egg chairs. Though the deflated housing boom has hurt the furniture business, the AMC hit about life in the advertising world of New York City in the 1960s has spurred interest in mid-century finds.
"The majority of our customers are Mad Men fans," Williams said. "I'll get messages on Facebook that say 'I saw this piece you have on Mad Men last night.' "
Luigi Defabrizio, who bought the 86-year-old Gas Plant building in 2010 for $650,000, said he wanted to be a landlord and not the manager of an antique mall overseeing dozens of dealers, so he thought it was time for a change in the building. He decided to lease each floor to one tenant.
"With (the antique mall) you have to track their inventory. You have to have your employees there to run their stuff through," said Defabrizio, who owns several other buildings on Central Avenue. "This way you eliminate all that management and you have people tracking their own inventory and their own space."
But for those shoppers who still love to browse through multiple dealers' ever-changing offerings, Antique Galleries at 450 34th St. N now houses some of the vendors who left Gas Plant. Co-owner Tom Larson, who was at Gas Plant for 15 years, bought the former Sun Bank building shortly after Gas Plant changed hands. His 16,000-square-foot store houses almost 90 dealers selling antique, shabby chic, contemporary and designer furniture along with home decor accessories.
"I don't want everybody with the same thing because then nobody will sell enough for it to be worthwhile for them. We try to make it interesting for the customers," he said. About 40 percent of his sales are to outside dealers who sell in the Carolinas, Miami, Sarasota and elsewhere.
Back at the Gas Plant, Pinkee's Antiques is a new store born of a Craigslist ad. Lisa Ragone and Kitt Fadgen of Palm Harbor were looking for a business to open. They saw a Gas Plant dealer selling a whole floor of inventory and decided to buy it and lease the first floor.
Sales have been up and down since opening May 1, but they are hopeful. Just arranging and staging the inventory and cleaning up the space has boosted sales.
"We went through three vacuum cleaners in one month," Ragone said, laughing. "People walk in here and say, 'Wow. It looks great.' '' The women are adding to the mix by buying estates and taking items on consignment.
The next floor up, Planet Retro sells everything from the original limbless Fisher Price people for $2 each to a Japanese vinyl Godzilla figure for hundreds of dollars.
"I grew up in the '70s watching Creature Feature with Dr. Paul Bearer every Saturday afternoon," said store owner Rob Sexton, who recently set up shop. "People are happy to see something in here besides tea sets and glass."
Defabrizio, who bought the Gas Plant from the Lew family, which had owned it since the 1940s, plans to put contemporary used furniture on the fourth floor. When asked if he ultimately would sell the building for other commercial or residential development along Central Avenue, Defabrizio said that's not his plan now. Ultimately he'd like to bring in lighting, rugs, fabrics, and other home decor and furnishings and make the Gas Plant somewhat of a design center.
Katherine Snow Smith can be reached at (727) 893-8785 or kssmith@tampabay.com.
Source: www.tampabay.com
Antique car show returns to Negaunee Township - ClickOnDetroit.com
The popular "Iron, Steel and the Automobile" antique car show is returning to the Michigan Iron Industry Museum in the Upper Peninsula.
Sunday's event in Negaunee Township features dozens of automobiles and light trucks dating from 1909 through 1969, in addition to a presentation by Ford Motor Company corporate historian Robert C. Kreipke.
The 23rd annual antique automobile exhibit will commemorate the historic link between Michigan's iron, steel and automotive industries, which has been a defining feature of the state for more than 110 years.
Michigan Historical Center historian Troy Henderson says in a release the event is a "unique way for car and history buffs to spend Father's Day."
Museum admission is free, with a suggested parking donation of $3 per vehicle to attend the car show.
Source: www.clickondetroit.com
$58k costs sought from disgraced ex-MP - New Zealand Herald
Source: www.nzherald.co.nz
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