History at 30,000 feet: The Big Picture

A place for discussing history in general.

Why do you read history? What does it mean to you? How do you approach various interpretations of the past? What are the limits in trying to understand past peoples and periods? How do you think about various approaches to history and alternate philosophies of history? Do you have particular interests in history that others might find intriguing? How did you get into this arcane subject in the first place?

Please feel welcome to introduce any other questions, ideas or threads relevant to The Big Picture.

TopicTopicMessagesLast Message 
The Big Picture is rarely as big as a new theory of life3 unread / 3stellarexplorer, September 5
Deciphering and Cuneiform texts9 unread / 9Macumbeira, August 19
The picture of early-human origins in Africa grows more complex5 unread / 5clamairy, August 15
Dingo ancient DNA10 unread / 10stellarexplorer, August 5
Most ancient human genome found and it’s Denisovan2 unread / 2clamairy, July 20
Caring among the Neanderthals1 unread / 1stellarexplorer, July 3
Neandertal and Denisovan blood groups deciphered11 unread / 11clamairy, July 2
How 10,000 years of plagues left their mark on our DNA2 unread / 2stellarexplorer, July 1
Oldest Stone Tools Ever Found Were Not Made by Human Hands, Study Suggests2 unread / 2stellarexplorer, July 1
Big History Books - suggesting The Dawn of Everything9 unread / 9stellarexplorer, January 2023
New void identified in the Great Pyramid17 unread / 17clamairy, November 2022
COVID-19 Pandemic in Comparison12 unread / 12stellarexplorer, September 2022
Monekypox Spread Declared a Global Health Emergency2 unread / 2aspirit, August 2022
An interesting study: the history of milk consumption in Europe7 unread / 7stellarexplorer, August 2022
The Peopling of the Americas6 unread / 6stellarexplorer, July 2022
11-13,000 yr old megalithic complex in Turkey4 unread / 4stellarexplorer, July 2022
False History: Jesus, King of Edessa203 unread / 203Cynfelyn, April 2022
Ancient Footprints Push Back Date of Human Arrival in the Americas6 unread / 6stellarexplorer, November 2021
It Wasn't Just the Asteroid!2 unread / 2stellarexplorer, November 2021
Is "Lox" the world's oldest unchanged word?2 unread / 2aspirit, June 2021
Earliest Known Burial Site in Africa2 unread / 2aspirit, May 2021
New Views of Historical Figures3 unread / 3stellarexplorer, February 2021
8 miles of ice age paintings in the Amazon14 unread / 14dougb56586, December 2020
Wuhan Virus: Is this the big one?158 unread / 158stellarexplorer, June 2020
Peopling of Australia (Sahul)8 unread / 8stellarexplorer, June 2020
Neanderthal string ...3 unread / 3stellarexplorer, May 2020
Why can't you be more like your brother?4 unread / 4stellarexplorer, May 2020
Step Pyramid of Djoser3 unread / 3aspirit, March 2020
Ghost DNA Hints at Africa’s Missing Ancient Humans3 unread / 3rocketjk, February 2020
Neanderthal genes in all humans; much earlier migration from Africa likely1 unread / 1stellarexplorer, February 2020
Neanderthals Could Swim. They Even Dived.7 unread / 7stellarexplorer, February 2020
They Wait to Feast on Alligators4 unread / 4stellarexplorer, February 2020
Big Picture History within your own Lifetime?5 unread / 5stellarexplorer, January 2020
African - Australian Connections2 unread / 2Bushwhacked, November 2019
Deep Impact — or the Day the Dinosaurs Died16 unread / 16stellarexplorer, October 2019
First Finding of Water in Exoplanet Atmosphere4 unread / 4stellarexplorer, September 2019
Malaysian Plane194 unread / 194stellarexplorer, August 2019
Skull Bone Discovered in Greece May Alter the Story of Human Prehistory4 unread / 4Rood, July 2019
Who Were the Ancestors of Native Americans? A Lost People in Siberia, Scientists Say5 unread / 5stellarexplorer, July 2019
Ancient Philistines: DNA Speaks!2 unread / 2clamairy, July 2019
First Denisovan Outside Denisova11 unread / 11Macumbeira, May 2019
Old Bird Lays Egg3 unread / 3stellarexplorer, April 2019
Hi unknown nephew !2 unread / 2stellarexplorer, April 2019
Humans in California 130,000 years ago?4 unread / 4dypaloh, April 2019
Galileo's original letter of 1613 found in Royal Society library2 unread / 2stellarexplorer, April 2019
500 Million Year Old Chinese Fossil Cache2 unread / 2stellarexplorer, April 2019
Scientists discover the oldest human fossils outside Africa2 unread / 2stellarexplorer, April 2019
America colonisation ‘cooled Earth's climate’1 unread / 1alaudacorax, January 2019
40,000 Year-Old Borneo Cave Paintings6 unread / 6Diane-bpcb, November 2018
Egypt2 unread / 2Diane-bpcb, November 2018
Who We Are and How We Got There22 unread / 22stellarexplorer, November 2018
Black Sea ship wrecks3 unread / 3Macumbeira, October 2018
Are elephant birds driving journalism into extinction?9 unread / 9Macumbeira, September 2018
Oldest Known Drawing by Human Hands Discovered in South African Cave3 unread / 3PhaedraB, September 2018
Amphora full of gold2 unread / 2stellarexplorer, September 2018
Study of Sea Level Fluctuations Over the Past 35,000 years8 unread / 8auntmarge64, September 2018
Rewriting Elephant History11 unread / 11stellarexplorer, August 2018
The new explanation for why we haven’t found alien intelligences20 unread / 20stellarexplorer, August 2018
Massive, Black Sarcophagus Found at Alexandria12 unread / 12bluepiano, July 2018
Ian Webster’s interactive globe of Ancient Earth4 unread / 4clamairy, July 2018
So, How Many Moons Does Jupiter Have?2 unread / 2clamairy, July 2018
Neutrino Found in Antarctica5 unread / 5geneg, July 2018
Drought, drone, discovery: Traces of a Neolithic structure3 unread / 3jjwilson61, July 2018
The emerging consensus against Recent African Origin3 unread / 3stellarexplorer, July 2018
My new YouTube Channel is up and running10 unread / 10stellarexplorer, July 2018
No bird soars too high...7 unread / 7petie1974, July 2018
My New Venture - Save the Date, sort of13 unread / 13stellarexplorer, June 2018
Antarctic Canyons20 unread / 20stellarexplorer, June 2018
space travel5 unread / 5stellarexplorer, May 2018
Lead Core as Window into Roman GDP7 unread / 7pmackey, May 2018
Why read history?9 unread / 9pmackey, May 2018
Big rock in the wrong place in the solar system3 unread / 3stellarexplorer, May 2018
King Harald Bluetooth treasure trove20 unread / 20stellarexplorer, April 2018
85,000 year old finger bone found on Arabian Peninsula7 unread / 7stellarexplorer, April 2018
To Hell and back. (Castration no longer required.)1 unread / 1bluepiano, March 2018
I am descended from royalty and so are you...18 unread / 18Rood, March 2018
Cognitive Gap Narrows with Neandertals5 unread / 5stellarexplorer, February 2018
DNA analysis of a very early Briton16 unread / 16pmackey, February 2018
Revealing Lasar scans in Guatemala Jungle7 unread / 7pmackey, February 2018
Tomb of Hetpet found in Egypt2 unread / 2stellarexplorer, February 2018
How cool is this ?6 unread / 6alaudacorax, February 2018
Israel: 180,000 year-old Homo sapien Fossil5 unread / 5stellarexplorer, January 2018
Tomb of Scythian prince found in Siberia2 unread / 2stellarexplorer, January 2018
Massive Black Hole3 unread / 3stellarexplorer, December 2017
What did go wrong on Easter Island10 unread / 10MarthaJeanne, November 2017
"Living fossil" frilled shark3 unread / 3timspalding, November 2017
The Illias gets older and older ?9 unread / 9LolaWalser, November 2017
Viking2 unread / 2Taphophile13, November 2017
500 year old astrolabe recovered9 unread / 9Macumbeira, November 2017
The tooth Fairy ?2 unread / 2stellarexplorer, October 2017
Prepare your mind to be blown7 unread / 7stellarexplorer, October 2017
The tunnel under the Feathered Serpent pyramid, Teotihuacan, Mexico2 unread / 2PossMan, September 2017
Dog Democracy3 unread / 3bluepiano, September 2017
Voynich finally explained ?2 unread / 2stellarexplorer, September 2017
World's Oldest Trigonometry table3 unread / 3stellarexplorer, August 2017
Tutankhamun's death2 unread / 2stellarexplorer, August 2017
Ancient DNA solves mystery of the Canaanites15 unread / 15pmackey, August 2017
The end of the dino's3 unread / 3stellarexplorer, August 2017
Ancient Roman Ruins Discovered in Vienne, France6 unread / 6MarthaJeanne, August 2017
Original site of Dog domestication questioned89 unread / 89stellarexplorer, July 2017
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