Historical story

• Did ancient Egyptians transport pyramid stones over wet sand?

  Kennislink reported at the beginning of this month about physics research showing that the tensile force halves when sand is wetted. The Ancient Egyptians would have used that trick to make it easier to transport pyramid stones. But according to two professors from KU Leuven, that is nonsense. How

• Dizzying Years

  Exactly one hundred years ago, World War I wiped out nineteenth-century Europe of kings and emperors and the devastating twentieth century began. But the certainties of the old days were already disappearing before that, partly due to the many new scientific insights at the turn of the century. Soo

• The remediation of Diemerpark

  It is one of the largest historic garbage dumps in the Netherlands, the Diemerzeedijk, east of Amsterdam. Until 1982, this old seawall, which traditionally protected Amsterdam against high water from the Zuiderzee, was used for dumping household and chemical waste. Despite the remediation, the pollu

• Pre-colonial Caribbeans were real networkers

  Networking seems like a modern phenomenon, but it is as old as the road to Rome, or rather:as the sailing route to the Caribbean. Archaeologist Angus Mol analyzes social networks in the pre-colonial Caribbean in his dissertation. Before Mol started his research, a network science approach was not y

• Everyone was genuinely pro-Europe

  In stark contrast to what it is today, around 1950 the enthusiasm for European cooperation was overwhelming. All Dutch political parties saw some of their own ideological dreams reflected in the European project. Elections to the European Parliament will be held on 22 May. Polls predict a low turno

• Ancient Egyptians transported pyramid stones thanks to a handy trick

  By wetting sand first, the required pulling force is halved. The Ancient Egyptians used this trick to transport pyramid stones. Physicists from the FOM Foundation and the University of Amsterdam discovered this. The Ancient Egyptians transported giant blocks of stone across the desert to create imp

• Gold treasure shows last convulsions of Roman authority

  Archaeologists found a complete Roman gold treasure in a field in Echt, Limburg. The treasure consists of gold coins and very expensive cut silver dishes. The latter in particular shows how desperately the Roman rulers tried to control the areas on their northern border. For centuries the Romans ru

• Birth of the Netherlands

  The Netherlands was born around 1580 through three important documents confirming its independence from Spain. Historians Coos Huijsen and Geerten Waling show why the Union of Utrecht, the Apology of William of Orange and the Placard of Abandonment were so important. When US President Barack Obama

• Roman skulls smashed at Velsen

  The Roman remains of a fortress near Velsen are part of the Odyssey research plan. Archaeological excavations from the past are not always documented. In fact, millions of archaeological finds, which have surfaced in the last two centuries, are gathering dust due to lack of money and manpower. A sta

• Police approach Moroccan young people can be improved

  In tackling the Moroccan youth problem, the police are still too often looking for a short-term policy with an emphasis on repression and too little attention is paid to the possibilities that local residents can offer. That is the conclusion of Eric Bervoets, researcher at the Police Academy, who w

• Cuban Women and the Revolution

  Cuba, one of the few countries that still has a communist regime. And also a dictator with the associated misery. Censorship, secret service, fear…. But not everything is bad about the 1959 revolution. The position of women developed positively. Havana, the Cuban capital, has the oldest colonial ci

• The Winding Road to Auschwitz

  Throughout the 1930s and the subsequent early years of World War II, the Nazis attempted in various ways to solve the Jewish question. The terrible final solution (Final Solution), as the Holocaust came to be known in the Nazi bureaucracy, did not come about overnight. The road to Auschwitz, in othe

• A straight face

  Anyone who has ever seen the movie The Man in the Iron Mask knows how creepy it is to look at an expressionless face. The Romans already knew that. Several face helmets were found near Nijmegen that Roman horsemen wore in battle. Modern techniques have been used to investigate how and what the helme

• More protest against slavery than expected

  The Netherlands was late with the abolition of slavery. Especially compared to other countries. Maartje Janse explains that this was not due to the lack of resistance from the population. The researcher contributed to the NTR series De Slavernij and provides additional background information on the

• Sinister lunar calendar discovered

  In the 1970s, German archaeologists discovered an early Celtic tomb in the Black Forest. Dozens of additional graves were scattered around the central tomb, at first glance randomly scattered. New research reveals that the graves are part of a gigantic, ancient lunar calendar. Researchers from the

• Student column:Temporary can last forever

  “The emergency housing must be regarded as a means of emergency. Once the housing shortage has been curbed, the emergency housing can disappear.” This quote comes from 1920, but is still highly topical, especially in Amsterdam. The container homes that the municipality of Amsterdam started installin

• Priests lax towards Reformation

  Historians already knew that Catholics meant a lot to the Revolt in the Netherlands. But what did the Revolt do to the Catholics? Judith Pollmann investigated why Catholics initially reacted passively to Protestant religious and political aggression. In her recently published book ‘Catholic Identit

• Book special Month of History 2011

  History Month takes place throughout October. Time to organize another book special and choose your favourite. As part of the History Month, the History &Archeology editors of Kennislink have once again listed a number of books. We invite you to choose your favorite from these books. You can vote a

• Successful integration in the 16th century

  The theme of History Month this year is “Me &We”. Kennislink is also participating in this month:you will find a historical photo competition on the History page and articles on the theme. We kicked off with an article about our long relationship with immigrants. Economic immigrants from the 1970s

• Aboriginals were first out-of-Africa wave

  Todays Australian Aborigines descend directly from an early migration wave of modern humans (Homo sapiens ) from Africa to Asia, which occurred about 70,000 years ago; that is at least 24,000 years before the migration of Africans from which modern Europeans and Asians descend! This is shown by geno