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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <rss version="2.0" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"> <channel> <title>Atlas Obscura - Latest Articles and Places</title> <description>New wonders and curiosities added to the Atlas.</description> <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com</link> <language>en-us</language> <item> <title>Caprock Canyon State Park in Quitaque, Texas</title> <pubDate>Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:00:00 -0500</pubDate> <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/caprock-canyon-state-park</link> <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/caprock-canyon-state-park</guid> <description> <![CDATA[<img alt="This landscape in this park is truly striking." data-width="4032" data-height="2268" width="300" height="200" src="https://img.atlasobscura.com/AdqccXC5Y_ltR1CWh03-tOhswEI5754J3A3qGFsIBPc/rs:fill:300:200:1/g:ce/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL3BsYWNl/X2ltYWdlcy9lYTJi/YWE1Mi1lNmUxLTQz/ZGItODZjMi1iZWJk/OWViYmQ1ZmFkNDA5/YjIyNDI0YTMwODk3/OWNfMjAyMTExMjdf/MTExMzE5LmpwZw.jpg" /> Less than two hours southeast of <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/amarillo-texas">Amarillo</a>, Texas is a little known, yet decent-sized park. Driving through the cotton fields and passing oil pumpjacks of Texas' Panhandle Plains you would not expect to find a geologic marvel like Palo Duro Canyon let alone the untouched expanse of Caprock Canyon. Caprock Canyons State Park is home to the Texas State Bison Herd. The bison roam over 10,000 acres in the park. If you camp on-site, you may be able to catch a glimpse of them walking by. Prairie dogs have also been known to poke their noses up right near one of the main roads. There are plenty of trails to explore in this park, the state park map is a great resource for highlights to check out as well. For anyone who yearns for the real Texas, rather than the mythologized Hollywood version, this place is a must-see. You know the films, where tumbleweed, a non-native, highly invasive species, rolls through and Saguaro cacti stand tall. The landscape in Caprock Canyons evokes awe in the way its fictional counterpart never could. Like those pioneers long before you'll feel just like one passing through this majestic land.]]> </description> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/wildlife">wildlife</category> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/state-parks">state parks</category> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/parks">parks</category> </item> <item> <title>Lovers of Modena in Modena, Italy</title> <pubDate>Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:00:00 -0500</pubDate> <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/lovers-of-modena</link> <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/lovers-of-modena</guid> <description> <![CDATA[<img alt="These “lovers” turned out to be both male." data-width="6000" data-height="4000" width="300" height="200" src="https://img.atlasobscura.com/A7qTUicRV1Bap90kA-LeoJT3eSplrAIgEpcUMBLhojY/rs:fill:300:200:1/g:ce/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL3BsYWNl/X2ltYWdlcy8yNWZm/ZWUwZS1lNmMwLTRh/ZGUtOGI0MC1lYWRl/MGY2YzJjYmQwMmIz/YzkyOTBkYjkwNzFi/NzlfRFNDXzAyNDIu/anBlZw.jpg" /> In 2009, a pair of human skeletons were found with their hands interlocked in <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/modena-italy">Modena</a>, Italy. Dating back to some time between the fourth and sixth centuries, the remains were assumed to be of a man and a woman. Archeologists quickly drew comparisons to the famous <a href="https://allthatsinteresting.com/lovers-of-valdaro">Lovers of Valdaro</a> and dubbed the pair the "Lovers of Modena." However, when the University of Bologna analyzed the enamel peptides found on the skeletons in 2019, they were confirmed to belong to two males. It immediately sparked a debate on their relationship. Were they brothers, cousins, comrades, or lovers after all? There have been multiple instances of embracing skeletons, but so far the Lovers of Modena are the only example in which the two bodies are both male. Some archaeologists have doubts that a pair of homosexual lovers would be buried in such a way and have instead proposed that they were relatives of close age who had died together in battle. Since several other skeletons displaying signs of trauma have been exhumed in the area, it's quite possible they died in conflict. Yet we have few other clues as to their identity or cause of death. To this day, these "Lovers" remain shrouded in mystery. ]]> </description> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/archeology">archeology</category> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/love">love</category> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/skeletons">skeletons</category> </item> <item> <title>SMoMA - The Snail Museum of Miniature Art in New Orleans, Louisiana</title> <pubDate>Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:00:00 -0500</pubDate> <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/smoma-the-snail-museum-of-miniature-art</link> <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/smoma-the-snail-museum-of-miniature-art</guid> <description> <![CDATA[<img alt="Welcome to SMoMA." data-width="4039" data-height="4069" width="300" height="200" src="https://img.atlasobscura.com/-M2LVQtyiNzG131rwLoSch8FaIdy8vojinP5NGwPjeI/rs:fill:300:200:1/g:ce/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL3BsYWNl/X2ltYWdlcy8zZTM4/ZDE5MS1mOTNhLTQx/ODQtOWFjMy03MjIx/MDc2NTFmOWZkYjky/MzJhOTE3M2Y4Yzdm/ODFfSU1HXzAzMTcu/anBlZw.jpg" /> Sunlight filters through the window cutouts of the SMoMA - The Snail Museum of Miniature Art, illuminating the tiny artwork affixed to dollhouse walls and displayed on little columns. Located in Slow Down, a shop on Magazine Street in <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/new-orleans-louisiana">New Orleans</a>, this tiny oddity is part diorama and part gift shop, all rendered on snail scale. Step up and grab one of the provided magnifying glasses to observe the miniature paintings and sculptures on display in this tiny museum. The museum is complete with its own snail-sized seating areas for tiny patrons to appreciate the art should they visit. It’s a great experience for humans too, of course! You can see the tiny details, sign the guest book, and even take some mini art home. This mini museum’s exhibits appear to change regularly, so slide on in and give it a visit. ]]> </description> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/small-worlds-and-model-towns">small worlds and model towns</category> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/oddities">oddities</category> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/museums">museums</category> </item> <item> <title>Petroglyphs at Signal Hill in Tucson, Arizona</title> <pubDate>Fri, 21 Feb 2025 09:00:00 -0500</pubDate> <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/petroglyphs-signal-hill</link> <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/petroglyphs-signal-hill</guid> <description> <![CDATA[<img alt="Check out the petroglyphs at Signal Hill." data-width="2272" data-height="1704" width="300" height="200" src="https://img.atlasobscura.com/VWerB1xhJMWEyUwnFLaOSgGe1VK4kIWCncvY3lqCuC4/rs:fill:300:200:1/g:ce/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL3BsYWNl/X2ltYWdlcy8wZGVj/Yzg2NS00MGZmLTQ4/NDUtYTE2NC1lY2Y5/MTc1MTE5NTk2YmNm/MWRhNDZmZmY4MGUx/YjRfcGV0cm9nbHlw/aHMxLmpwZw.jpg" /> One of southern <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/arizona">Arizona’s</a> most prominent petroglyph sites is Signal Hill in the Tucson Mountain District of Saguaro National Park. This location features over 200 petroglyphs created by the Hohokam (the predecessors to today’s Akimel O’odham and Tohono O’odham tribes). The exact dates have been difficult to establish, but archeologists believe the petroglyphs were first etched sometime between 550 and 1550 years ago. The designs, which were created by pecking into the desert varnish coating the rocks on the hills, feature depictions of people, animals including bighorn sheep, snakes, and lizards as well as many geometric symbols such as segmented circles and spirals. The most notable petroglyph at the site is a very large spiral on a rock near the hill’s summit. As with many petroglyphs, the exact purpose and meaning of the artwork has been lost to time. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, visitors began to travel west into the desert and over the Tucson Mountains to see the petroglyphs. In the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps created both the picnic area at the base of the hill as well as the trail to the top that are now as much a part of the history of the park as the petroglyphs themselves. The area was incorporated into Saguaro National Monument in 1961, and the monument became a park in 1994. Tourists visiting today can now follow this trail to the top to see the site’s petroglyphs and to admire the views of the surrounding Sonoran Desert wilderness.]]> </description> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/national-parks">national parks</category> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/petroglyphs">petroglyphs</category> </item> <item> <title>Women’s Wrongs: Our Favorite Reads</title> <dc:creator>Roxanne Hoorn</dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 21 Feb 2025 06:00:00 -0500</pubDate> <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/womens-wrongs</link> <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/womens-wrongs</guid> <description> <![CDATA[“Well-behaved women seldom make history.” So said Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, a historian whose work demonstrates that women’s important contributions to society are <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/she-was-there">often overlooked</a>. Taken wildly out of context, the quote could apply to any of the women highlighted in our five stories below. Often born into struggle and fed up with the men who underestimated them, these women stole, schemed, and conned their way into history. <h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd"><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/who-was-madame-rachel-scam">The Victorian Influencer Who Peddled Poisonous Beauty Elixirs</a></h3> <h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd">By Sabrina Imbler</h3> Sarah Rachel Russell grew up poor in <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/london-england">London</a>’s East End. After selling rabbit furs, working as a fortune teller, and a brief stint as a prostitute, she set her sights on the beauty industry. Russell sold exotic makeup with a dark twist: it contained a heavy dose of highly toxic arsenic. <h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd"><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/burglar-countess-riviera-crime">How the ‘Queen of Thieves’ Conned French Riviera Wealthy</a></h3> <h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd">By Caroline Elenowitz-Hess</h3> From the late 19th century into the early 20th century, Comtesse de Monteil—a cat burglar, jewel thief, and fake countess—wreaked havoc across the <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/mediterranean">Mediterranean</a>’s most lavish tourist destinations. She led a crew of highly skilled thieves, targeting only the wealthiest of victims and establishments until her arrest in 1908. <figure class="article-image-full-width contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/lg/104777/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> <h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd"><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/bobbed-hair-bandit">How We Forgot the Bobbed Haired Bandit</a></h3> <h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd">By Lauren Young</h3> The Roaring ‘20s were known for jazz music, <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/speakeasies">speakeasies</a>, and a new generation of female criminals. Celia Cooney wasn’t America’s only “Bobbed Haired Bandit,” just one of several robbers the press glorified as provocative women’s rights icons. <h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd"><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/minnie-dean-baby-farmer-murder-new-zealand">Was Minnie Dean Really the Wickedest Woman in New Zealand History?</a></h3> <h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd">By Natasha Frost</h3> The only woman ever executed in <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/new-zealand">New Zealand</a>, Minnie Dean, was labeled a baby farmer, a murderer, and a monster—but was she really any of these things? What we do know is that Frost took in kids without a home, 17 died in her care, and three were buried in her garden. Was she a killer, a crook, or a woman doing what she could to help? <figure class="article-image-full-width contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/lg/104779/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> <h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd"><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/new-yorks-first-female-crime-boss-started-her-own-crime-school">New York’s First Female Crime Boss Started Her Own Crime School</a></h3> <h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd">By Eric Grundhauser</h3> Prussian immigrant Marm Mandelbaum, also known as the Queen of Fences, was one of the most influential crime bosses in New York’s history. Not only was she well-versed as a con artist and financial fraud, but she started her own school of crime for young people living on the streets.]]> </description> </item> <item> <title>Šerefudin's White Mosque in Visoko, Bosnia and Herzegovina</title> <pubDate>Fri, 21 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate> <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/serefudins-white-mosque-bijela-dzamija</link> <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/serefudins-white-mosque-bijela-dzamija</guid> <description> <![CDATA[<img alt="The unusual green pipes on the roof set the building apart." data-width="4032" data-height="3024" width="300" height="200" src="https://img.atlasobscura.com/xNbBHyBT5vjIPaOPMIIEBeEEfqMnyWWzblYNx3IANYA/rs:fill:300:200:1/g:ce/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL3BsYWNl/X2ltYWdlcy8zYjBi/NWI3OS00MzlmLTRk/ZDEtODBkYi1jNjQ0/MWNlNTFjZjQyYzc3/OTc0YWEwNjZjYWU3/ZjRfdmlzb2tvIG1v/c2tlZS5KUEc.jpg" /> In a town that's stirred up archeological <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/visocia-the-bosnian-pyramid-of-visoko">controversy over its pyramids</a>, there is another historic site that is too cool to miss. Šerefudin's White Mosque is a striking concrete modernist building designed in 1969 by Zlatko Ugljen, a leading modernist in then Yugoslavija. The builder was Ismet Imamovic. The building stands on the historic site of an older Ottoman mosque and some of the graves still remain. It took 11 years to finish and was rewarded with the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. After this award, the copper roof was constructed with a distinctive series of green pipes to prevent leaking. That finishing touch makes it stand out even more. ]]> </description> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/architecture">architecture</category> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/religion">religion</category> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/mosques">mosques</category> </item> <item> <title>The Artist Who Turned Dublin's Pubs Into Galleries</title> <dc:creator>Ailbhe MacMahon</dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:00:00 -0500</pubDate> <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/dublin-pubs-art</link> <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/dublin-pubs-art</guid> <description> <![CDATA[There’s a good chance you have never heard of Harry Kernoff. But if you have enjoyed a pint in <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/dublin-ireland">Dublin</a>’s oldest pubs, there’s also a good chance you have seen his artwork. Born in London to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents, Harry Kernoff moved to <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/ireland">Ireland</a> with his family in 1914. He would go on to spend a lifetime making art from his attic studio on Stamer Street, in a small Jewish neighborhood known as Dublin's “Little Jerusalem.” Though he was formally trained at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art and regularly exhibited in the city’s Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts, it was Dublin’s smoky, stout-soaked pubs that became his place of artistic refuge. To trace his career is to do a bar crawl through historic pubs in the city center. <figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/104740/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> Kernoff was known for drinking in these pubs, painting their patrons, and selling his work from their walls. With work that spanned from painting to block printing, Kernoff became “one of the main artistic chroniclers of social life” in urban 20th-century Ireland, says Sarah McAuliffe, curator of post-1900 Irish art at the National Gallery of Ireland. His work is often compared to that of famed British artist L.S. Lowry, as the two were “drawn to representing daily life as it was, without embellishment,” says McAuliffe. Last December marked the 50th anniversary of Kernoff’s death, but the publicans who display his artwork on their walls keep him sewn into the city’s fabric. “It’s gas where they can show up,” says publican Willie Aherne. (In Irish slang, “gas” means funny.) Kernoff’s go-to order was a half-pint of Guinness, then called a “glass of stout,” says Willie’s father Liam Aherne, whose own father purchased the Palace Bar in 1946. “He was known well in the Palace,” says Liam, who was 17 when he started working in the pub, a 19th-century jewel with a stained glass skylight and low leather seats. Liam remembers the artist as a small man who “always dressed in a long black overcoat.” A scene that stands out in Liam’s memory is one of Kernoff chatting with Patrick Kavanagh, a lauded Irish poet. “Himself and Kernoff were friends,” Liam says. McAuliffe suggests that Kernoff was drawn to pubs for two reasons. He saw them as "places of both social and cultural importance, in which poets, writers, artists, journalists, and intellectuals, many of whom were Kernoff's friends, congregated regularly," she explains. McAuliffe also believes that Kernoff, as an immigrant, immersed himself in the bustle of Dublin’s city life to “feel as though he was an insider." <figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/104790/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> Hanging in the Palace Bar’s back room is a 1940 cartoon titled Dublin Culture. It shows Kernoff amidst the elite of Ireland’s art and literary scene in the bar. “The great minds of the time used to hold court” in the bar’s back room, says Willie. The space became an informal gallery for Kernoff. Liam remembers cycling to the Gresham Hotel to deliver one of Kernoff’s paintings to an American buyer who had spied it on the pub’s walls. It sold for 20 Irish pounds. His paintings now fetch tens of thousands in auction. Several years after Kernoff’s death, the artist’s sister sold off some of his portfolio. Though Liam bought a few artworks, “why the hell didn’t we go to a bank manager to get the money to buy more!” he laughs. Many of the artworks he did acquire are now part of the decor in the Palace. There are several of Kernoff’s woodcut prints, as well as a wind-swept portrait of a woman. In recent years, the Ahernes found another “tattered” artwork by Kernoff in the space above the ceiling— “a caricature of a customer that drank in the Palace back in the day,” says Willie. <figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/104788/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> Pub patrons were a treasured subject for Kernoff, with the drinkers in Davy Byrne’s pub on Duke Street appearing in several paintings. The bar is immortalized in James Joyce’s Ulysses; it’s here that hero Leopold Bloom orders a gorgonzola sandwich and a glass of Burgundy, a meal that still appears on the menu today. Kernoff would have come into contact with Joyce as a member of the 1920s “Radical Club,” a group of artists and writers that gathered in the heady years following the Civil War, an era that Kernoff referred to as Dublin’s own “jazz age,” McAuliffe notes. A portrait he made of Joyce, the writer’s head surrounded by psychedelic swirls that spell out titles of his stories, hangs on the wall of Davy Byrne’s today. William Dempsey, who bought the Art Nouveau-style bar in 2019 and restored it, says Kernoff is remembered as “an elusive character” who didn’t share the hard-drinking reputation of contemporaries such as Joyce and the writer Brendan Behan. Behan appears with a flop of dark hair and a louche open shirt in a different portrait by Kernoff, a print of which hangs in Molloy’s pub on Talbot Street, one of Dublin’s last remaining “early houses”—it serves pints from seven in the morning. Years spent apprenticing with his cabinet-maker father taught Kernoff how to skillfully carve woodcuts for block printing. Several of his striking woodcut prints dot the walls of Peter’s Pub, a snug wood-panelled bar with a 300-year history. “My father knew Harry Kernoff and that’s how he got them,” explains publican Enda Keogh. <figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/104786/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> Kernoff occasionally offered up his artwork to settle pub bills, though sometimes bar owners purchased them. In Neary’s bar hangs Kernoff’s most famous work, titled A Bird Never Flew on One Wing. Publican James Hardy’s father bought the painting from Kernoff. The price, 75 Irish pounds, is scribbled on the back. Various iterations of A Bird Never Flew on One Wing exist. McAuliffe notes that it was not unusual for Kernoff to rework his compositions in different mediums. The painting’s background is filled with the names of more than a hundred Dublin pubs, while in the center, two men cradle pints. One of the pair has pointed ears and high cheekbones, leading to speculation that the painting inspired a visiting Hollywood designer to create the character of Spock in the sci-fi series Star Trek, according to Kevin O’Connor’s biography Harry Kernoff: The Little Genius. A copy of this painting was reproduced on a 1986 poster celebrating Dublin’s pubs. This poster, with its miniature representation of Kernoff’s work, still hangs in many of Dublin’s time-honored pubs today, from the Brazen Head (Dublin’s oldest pub) to Mulligan’s, where a young JFK once pulled up a barstool. In his lifetime, Kernoff recognised the virtue of Dublin’s pub culture. While the city has changed greatly since his death, its pubs maintain the same unique character that so inspired him. Should you stumble across Kernoff's artwork on a Dublin pub crawl, raise a glass to his memory.]]> </description> </item> <item> <title>Şengüloğlu Baklava in Berlin, Germany</title> <pubDate>Thu, 20 Feb 2025 17:00:00 -0500</pubDate> <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/senguloglu-baklava</link> <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/senguloglu-baklava</guid> <description> <![CDATA[<img alt="Order a coffee to accompany your order of sweets." data-width="1440" data-height="1440" width="300" height="200" src="https://img.atlasobscura.com/4ElZ802deYS0j05JmUJZ8t7-iFov-g2CnhsOM2ekF10/rs:fill:300:200:1/g:ce/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL3BsYWNl/X2ltYWdlcy8xMjcz/ZDU1MzBjN2E4ZWNh/OTVfNDM3NTk1OTAz/XzQxNzU1OTgxNzcy/NjIyMV8xNzI0NzMy/MDcxODk5NDcxNDg0/X24uanBlZw.jpg" /> A little under 150 miles from the Syrian border, Gaziantep is renowned for its distinctive cuisine. A historic melting pot, the small city has been inhabited by the Hittites, Assyrians, Persians, and Romans, among other civilizations. Few international tourists make it over to the westernmost part of the southern region of Anatolia. Luckily, some of Gaziantep’s best-known pastries can be found far beyond the city. One of the most prized of all is Antep baklava. Just as baklava originated in Ottoman kitchens and became popular throughout the empire, the Antep version is well-known in <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/berlin-germany">Berlin</a>, where a local Turkish confectioner proudly claims to make one of the best renditions outside of Gaziantep. Şengüloğlu Baklava, opened in 2009 in the German capital’s own melting pot, the multicultural neighborhood of Neukölln, and has since opened several locations around the city. For Berlin’s 250,000-some strong population of Turkish immigrants and diaspora, Şengüloğlu Baklava provides nostalgic homeland tastes. The dessert café presents the whole gamut of Turkish sweets—cakes, künefe (a cheesy pastry) and lokum (Turkish delight), plus several types of baklava. The Antep baklava here is made according to a secret family recipe which includes the traditional ingredients of phyllo dough, butter and rosewater-flavored sugar syrup. The skill with which it's made, though, is the real chef’s kiss. Just take one bite and the rich, creamy texture reveals great care and attention: flaky phyllo layered tightly, just enough syrup to not be overpowering, and the finest point, pistachios incredibly finely chopped to perfection.]]> </description> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/diaspora">diaspora</category> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/bakery">bakery</category> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/sweets">sweets</category> </item> <item> <title>The Glimmer Twins in Kent, England</title> <pubDate>Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:00:00 -0500</pubDate> <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-glimmer-twins</link> <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-glimmer-twins</guid> <description> <![CDATA[<img alt="" data-width="2677" data-height="2677" width="300" height="200" src="https://img.atlasobscura.com/X9BtDHdIFkq0nw-r7Rq5e_sI7DZUM2a8fPRMJO_iExE/rs:fill:300:200:1/g:ce/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL3BsYWNl/X2ltYWdlcy9lMGFl/ZDA5OS1mOTdhLTRl/NjUtOWI5ZC1jM2Fm/YWQ2YjEwNGIzYWM4/ZWViZjgyODkyOGM5/Y2NfOEEyMzBBODct/M0I1MC00RUZCLUE1/NDUtNjc0NjJEREU2/OTUyMjAyNC0wOC0z/MF8yMS0zNi0zM185/NDMgKDIwMjQtMDkt/MDFUMTJfNTZfMjAu/ODMyKS5qcGVn.jpg" /> The statues of <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/mick-jagger-urinal-san-diego">Mick Jagger</a> and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones were unveiled in Dartford, <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/kent-england">Kent</a>, in 2023. Created by sculptor Amy Goodman, the <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/bronze">bronze statues</a> celebrate the rock legends’ local roots, freezing the rockstars in dynamic poses that embody their stage energy and musical chemistry. The statues, called The Glimmer Twins, are installed at One Bell Corner in Dartford’s High Street, near where the musicians grew up and met as young men, later leading them to start their band. The project was funded through a public art subscription by Bellway London as part of a local development initiative. Dartford Borough Council, which commissioned the artwork, views these statues as both a tribute to Jagger and Richards’ legacy and a symbol of community pride.]]> </description> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/music-history">music history</category> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/statues">statues</category> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/music">music</category> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/rock-and-roll">rock and roll</category> </item> <item> <title>What Did the Ancient Egyptians Eat? AO Wants to Know.</title> <dc:creator>Andrew Coletti</dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:50:00 -0500</pubDate> <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-did-the-ancient-egyptians-eat</link> <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-did-the-ancient-egyptians-eat</guid> <description> <![CDATA[<div> <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/ao-wants-to-know">AO Wants to Know</a> is an ongoing interview series where we ask experts in extraordinary subjects to share their knowledge with us. </div> For most people, the phrase “Ancient <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/egypt">Egypt</a>” conjures images of treasure-filled tombs, linen-wrapped mummies, and monuments to departed kings. But archaeologists know Ancient Egypt as a vibrant society in which people enjoyed the best life had to offer. Just ask Mennat-Allah El Dorry, an <a href="https://www.aucegypt.edu/fac/mennat-allah-el-dorry">assistant professor of Coptic studies</a> at the American University in <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/cairo-egypt">Cairo</a>. The Ancient Egyptians “weren’t obsessed with the afterlife,” says El Dorry. “They were obsessed with life.” As in any society, Ancient Egyptian joie de vivre included a healthy appreciation for food and drink. The first written references to food appear very early in Egypt’s long history. “Somewhere in the fourth millennium, between 3300 BC and 3100 BC, we’ve got little ivory labels that were tied around the necks of jars,” says El Dorry. “These were wine labels, and they said the quality of the wine and the vineyard.” Food also appears prominently in Egyptian art. With no surviving Ancient Egyptian cookbooks, the oldest-known Egyptian recipe is a comic strip–like illustration on the walls of a tomb from the 15th century BC, showing how to make a sweet from <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/ancient-egyptian-recipes">native African tiger nuts</a>. “Historically, everyone relied on the tomb scenes and the texts in interpreting Ancient Egyptian cuisine,” says El Dorry. “But now, more and more people are doing these more advanced analyses, and more importantly, bringing things together.” She cites <a href="https://www.futurelearn.com/info/courses/archaeology/0/steps/15267">isotope analysis</a> as being a particularly significant innovation because it allows us to identify trace organic material, like the contents of a cooking pot, that may no longer be visible. <a href="https://archive.org/details/foodgiftofosiris0000darb">Food: The Gift of Osiris by William J. Darby</a>, which El Dorry calls “the last really substantial work” dedicated to Ancient Egyptian cuisine, was published in 1977, meaning that today’s scholars of Egyptian food history still have plenty of new evidence to uncover and outdated claims to revise. <figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/104767/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> El Dorry specializes in archaeobotany, the study of ancient plant remains. She holds degrees in both Egyptology, which covers Ancient Egypt, and Coptology, which covers Egypt’s early medieval Christian era, giving her a broad perspective on Egypt’s culinary past. As an Egyptian herself, El Dorry finds food to be an ideal way of bridging the gap between past and present. “It’s a way I can get Egyptians excited about our heritage,” she says. “Everyone knows about Ancient Egypt, everyone thinks it's kind of cool, but food is another, very dynamic way of tying people with their history.” And beyond that, she says, compared with some other areas of study, food is “just more fun.” Atlas Obscura spoke with El Dorry about how archaeologists study ancient diets, what nourished the workers who built the pyramids, and whether Egyptians are still eating dishes from the distant past. What kinds of evidence do archaeologists look at to learn about food? Of course, we've got the remains of plants and animals that tell us a little bit about how people cultivated and what they cultivated. In archaeological remains, you get to see the butchering marks on the bones of animals, so you actually know what kind of cut [of meat] people wanted. A friend of mine discovered quite a few big jaws that had burn marks at the bottom, so you can tell the animals were being spit-roasted, probably. If you're preparing a stir-fry, you'll do it in a wok. If you are preparing rice, you'll do it in a pot that you can close. Different containers are used in different ways, and we have a lot of different containers from throughout history that can tell us how food was prepared. Because it’s all mostly made out of clay, we can take microsamples from the walls of the clay vessels for DNA and lipid [fats] analysis. <figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/104764/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> There's a particular type of vessel called the “Bes vessel” [after the Egyptian god Bes] because they've got <a href="https://egypt-museum.com/bes-vessel/">a grotesque Bes face</a>. Scholars thought maybe they were used for milk. Then, when someone actually took samples and analyzed them, they found cow DNA, and the percentage of fats in the sample they took was very similar to cow’s milk. So it was clear that this was, most likely, cow’s milk. And of course there are texts, and we've got all these beautiful tomb scenes of food preparation and food offerings left for the deceased to eat in the afterlife. They wanted to make sure [the dead] would keep living in the afterlife to the same standard, or even better. So they would have food offerings in tombs—like ducks, geese, beef, fruits, and grains—and they would also draw these in the tomb scenes, because then they would symbolically [manifest] in the afterlife. “Ancient Egypt” covers thousands of years. Did the Egyptian diet change a lot over time? We don't always have the evidence to tell us how the diet is changing. You would need two sites from different time periods that are close geographically, and close in terms of class and social background, so you can compare them. But we do what we can. We know, for example, that pomegranates were introduced to Egypt in the New Kingdom [<a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Goddesses_Elixirs_and_Witches/o3_GAAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=pomegranates+introduced+to+egypt+new+kingdom&pg=PA49&printsec=frontcover">in the 1500s BC</a>]. Chickens were introduced in the Ptolemaic period [<a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/egypt-egg-ovens">between 323 and 30 BC</a>]. The borders with Nubia [to the south] were always fluctuating, but at the times where the Nubians were more powerful and pushing back Egyptian control, you would find a lot more fine dining ware that was Nubian, because they're maybe throwing more lavish banquets. And at the times when you have the Egyptians taking more control, you would have more Egyptian fine ware. <figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/104766/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> How would you describe the Ancient Egyptian diet in general? Everyone says it's bread and beer, and that's not an exaggeration; I think that those were the main staples. We have a lot of archeological evidence of bread production and beer production, which were very often related, because you sometimes used old loaves to start off the beer. But bread and beer were also used for salaries, and they were presented as offerings to the gods. We find lentils in archaeological sites from all time periods in Egypt, not just Ancient Egypt. In tomb scenes, we see a lot of beautiful leafy green lettuce and spring onions, which we still eat today. That hasn’t changed at all. We have less [material] evidence of cheese and dairy products, but certainly they had them. On a day-to-day basis, fish and pigs would have been the main sources of animal protein. They had many different types of Nile fish, including tilapia. Interestingly, Ancient Egyptians rarely show pork on tomb scenes—we never see pig slaughtering or pig fattening—but based on the archeological evidence of bones, they ate a lot of pork. It was a very cheap, easy source of protein. Beef was reserved for celebrations or offerings and things like that. Where do we see echoes of Ancient Egyptian cuisine in the food of modern Egypt? We don't eat as much fish today, unless you live in coastal cities on the Red Sea or the Mediterranean. And of course, Muslims don't eat pork, and a lot of the Christians don't eat pork, so it's not a very important source of animal protein today. There are traditions that we think are ancient, like the fermented fish with spring onions [<a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/fesikh-feseekh-egyptian-salted-fish">fesikh</a>] that we eat for Easter, which may have roots in Ancient Egypt. But I'm not sure, and I don't want to assume continuity just because. <figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/104768/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> But we still eat lentil soup, and lentils are still the cheapest food and easiest to store. And dates, of course! Even in the Pre-Dynastic period [<a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Atlas_of_date_palm_in_Egypt/b6WoDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=pre+dynastic+egypt+eating+dates&pg=PA21&printsec=frontcover">up to 3200 BC</a>], they were eating dates, but we have been eating a lot of dates ever since manual pollination of the palm trees was introduced, either in the Middle Kingdom or the New Kingdom. A lot of the traditional production methods of cheese, like the curdling bag, have probably continued [since ancient times]. There's a type of cottage cheese that, when you produce it, you have to wrap it in little mats to drain the whey. A colleague of mine has actually seen, in some tomb scenes, these little mats tied up as part of the offerings going into a tomb, which is really amazing. I keep nagging him about publishing it. Do you have a favorite archaeological site that you have worked on? For my Ph.D., I worked on a Coptic monastic settlement called the <a href="https://egyptology.yale.edu/expeditions/current-expeditions/yale-monastic-archaeology-project-north-ymap-north/monastery-john#:~:text=The%20archaeological%20remains%20of%20the,Bishoi">Monastery of Saint John the Little</a> (so-named because he was a very short man) in the western desert of Egypt. And there, we found tons of grape-pressing remains that indicate wine production. That was really cool, because that was the very first time those kind of remains were found and documented in Egypt, especially in such large amounts, because the monks would have been producing a lot of wine for Mass. For Ancient Egypt, I think the coolest site is always going to be where the workers built the Giza pyramids. I worked there briefly, but there have been a lot of these fantastic finds I wasn't involved with that colleagues of mine have worked on. Archaeologists found tons of pig and cow feet, and one of the Egyptian students suggested that the workmen who built the pyramids <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/How_to_Survive_History/BS2JEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=cow+feet+pyramids+workers&pg=PA37&printsec=frontcover">were eating these</a>. I think that's such a cool find, because we still eat them now, with all that beautiful gelatin. It's a very nutritious, very cheap food, and if you're building a pyramid, this is what you have to eat. From the same site, you have an area where the workmen lived, and an area where their supervisors lived, and you can see a very clear differentiation in the quality of food they're both eating. The workmen are eating cuts of meat that have less on the bones, smaller fishes, less diversity in plants, but their overseers have the better cuts of meat and the bigger fishes. <figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/104769/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> Do you ever try to recreate historical recipes yourself? I really enjoy recreating recipes. I do that in two different ways. Either I try to be as accurate as possible for scientific research reasons, or I just get inspired, and I do whatever I want with what’s available. In my family, I don't cook as often as I'd like, but I try to incorporate little details as much as I can. Every year at the beginning of Ramadan, there's one dish that my cousins always ask me about, which is a 14th-century beef and apple stew that I make quite often when we have friends and family over. How has studying food history affected your own relationship with food? I have gained more appreciation for the role that food plays. It's not just about eating and nourishing yourself. It's the cultural aspect, the religious aspect, how it plays a role in the economy, how food is used to forge or erase identities. It feels like food is connected to everything in some way. Food is at the base of most wars and most struggles; it’s one of the most important things, if not the most important. This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.]]> </description> </item> <item> <title>Gabrielle Petit Statue in Brussels, Belgium</title> <pubDate>Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:00:00 -0500</pubDate> <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/gabrielle-petit-statue</link> <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/gabrielle-petit-statue</guid> <description> <![CDATA[<img alt="Gabrielle Petit was executed at the age of just 23." data-width="6000" data-height="4000" width="300" height="200" src="https://img.atlasobscura.com/WHbr_8we6VgpxGjJr6jhJuUXJ1LQmt41yQ1gylYARfE/rs:fill:300:200:1/g:ce/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL3BsYWNl/X2ltYWdlcy80ZDc4/ZTdkNy05NDA4LTRk/M2ItODVlZi1hODg5/MDk4MTFkNmY1OTQw/YjAxMTg1MjNmNjg5/ZmZfRFNDXzAxNDcu/anBlZw.jpg" /> Gabrielle Alina Eugenia Maria Petit was born on February 20, 1893, to working-class parents in Tournai, Hainaut. She was living in <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/brussels-belgium">Brussels</a> as a saleswoman when the First World War broke out, and immediately volunteered to serve with the Belgian Red Cross. In 1914, Petit helped her wounded fiancé cross the border into the neutral Netherlands to reunite with his regiment, and in the process passed some valuable information about the Imperial German Army along to the British. Seeing her potential as a secret agent, MI1 (which would later develop into MI6) soon hired her and sent her to spy on Germans after brief training. Petit's career in espionage lasted for less than two years, during which time she collected information, assisted the underground mail service Mot du Soldat, and helped soldiers cross the Dutch border. Her fate, however, was not quite to be a real-life James Bond. In 1916, she befriended a German agent posing as a Dutchman, who exposed her identity to the military police. She was arrested, tried and convicted as a spy, sentenced to death. Petit's bravery did not falter even during her trial, and she refused to reveal the identities of her fellow agents despite offers of amnesty. On April 1, 1916, she was shot by a firing squad in Schaerbeek and died at the age of 23. Her alleged last words were: "I will show them that a Belgian woman knows how to die. Long live the King! Long live Belgium!" After the war, Petit's story began to circulate and the brave young agent was praised as a national martyr. In May 1919, a state funeral was held for her, attended by the Queen, and her remains were buried with full military honors. A life-size bronze statue of her was also erected at Place Saint-Jean in her honor in 1923, created by Égide Rombaux, the first sculpture to be dedicated to a working-class woman.]]> </description> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/she-was-there">she was there</category> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/military-history">military history</category> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/war-history">war history</category> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/world-war-i">world war i</category> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/statues">statues</category> </item> <item> <title>Millennium Camera in Tempe, Arizona</title> <pubDate>Thu, 20 Feb 2025 14:00:00 -0500</pubDate> <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/millennium-camera</link> <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/millennium-camera</guid> <description> <![CDATA[<img alt="" data-width="4032" data-height="3024" width="300" height="200" src="https://img.atlasobscura.com/3BCC8KWgxNN2VVZ_DQpX_-beWdtEx_rz7qr_YSKhCf0/rs:fill:300:200:1/g:ce/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL3BsYWNl/X2ltYWdlcy9kMDY1/MDVkYS03NTQ3LTQ2/ZDUtOTNiMy1iMDgz/NWM0MzE2NjVkZjcz/ZjIzYTQ3MjYwMTUz/ZGZfSU1HXzg0ODAu/anBlZw.jpg" /> While the ASU Art Museum primarily contains temporary exhibits, one of them is expected to remain there until the year 3015. That is because the Millennium Camera, installed in 2015, has the world’s longest exposure time of 1,000 years. (The current record for a completed exposure photo is a mere eight years and one month.) If successful, it will show a millennium of change at a single Tempe intersection in just one photograph. The ASU Art Museum has ambitiously committed to displaying the final photo in March 3015. Creator Jonathon Keats is an experimental philosopher and conceptual artist whose art and thought experiments often push the boundaries of traditional media and thought. This was evident from his debut work, “Twenty Four Hour Cogito,” in which he sat and thought in a gallery for 24 hours straight. One could buy his thoughts by the minute for an amount indexed to one’s own per-minute income. Among his other projects are a choreographed ballet for honeybees, an attempt at genetically engineering God, and copyrighting his mind as a unique neural network he himself had created. The Millennium Camera was inspired by San Francisco, where Keats lives. Noticing rapid change due to gentrification, he wanted to create a medium that makes people more aware of gradual change. This way, he hopes that we become more aware of what we want to see preserved around us. He chose a pinhole camera design that was as low-tech as possible to prevent it from breaking. It is made of copper, which develops an oxidized protective layer over time, and the front interior is also covered with 24-karat gold which does not corrode. Rose madder is used as a pigment because it fades very slowly in the sunlight. Although there is no guarantee that the camera will work the first time, Keats hopes that future generations will improve on his design if it fails. Keats chose to install the Millennium Camera in <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/tempe-arizona">Tempe</a> because Arizona could be especially hard hit by climate change and a scarcity of water. He has also since created additional millennium cameras at Amherst College in Massachusetts, Lake Tahoe, and Tumamoc Hill in Tempe, and hopes to install more cameras in Los Angeles, China, and the Austrian Alps. Keats refers to all of them as a “global network observing our changing environment.”]]> </description> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/art-outside">art outside</category> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/exhibit">exhibit</category> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/camera-obscura">camera obscura</category> </item> <item> <title>NASA Goldstone Visitor’s Center in Barstow, California</title> <pubDate>Thu, 20 Feb 2025 13:00:00 -0500</pubDate> <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/nasa-goldstone-visitors-center</link> <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/nasa-goldstone-visitors-center</guid> <description> <![CDATA[<img alt="A small portion of the exhibits at the Goldstone Visitor's Center!" data-width="2048" data-height="1536" width="300" height="200" src="https://img.atlasobscura.com/3JmYrW15yz5u7bEQyPhm86ekesKE6G6DpcJkwWRRBw4/rs:fill:300:200:1/g:ce/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL3BsYWNl/X2ltYWdlcy85NjNj/MDkwZi1mY2Y3LTRm/M2UtODEzNS0zYTEx/NTZiZGU0YTg2ZDdm/M2VkY2VjZDRjYWVl/YjZfNDQ4NDA2ODM0/XzEwMTU5OTk3ODk5/MDU1MjIyXzc5MzQx/ODM0MDM0NjkyNjg4/NzVfbi5qcGc.jpg" /> Space nerds will delight at finding this hidden gem of a small exhibition. Located in the Harvey House in <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/barstow-california">Barstow</a>, California, alongside the railroad tracks, the Visitor Center is located on the second floor. It features models, audiovisual exhibits, and plenty to read. You can collect some free stickers and materials and even have yourself photographed behind a <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/space-exploration">spacesuit</a> standee. The Visitor’s Center for the Goldstone Deep Space Network, which is currently leased by NASA from the Department of Defense, had to be located off-site, hence its presence in the Harvey House. There are also plenty of locomotive engines, rail cars, and cabooses to photograph outside as well.]]> </description> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/museums-and-collections">museums and collections</category> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/exhibit">exhibit</category> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/space-exploration">space exploration</category> </item> <item> <title>Hailes Quarry Hermit in Edinburgh, Scotland</title> <pubDate>Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:00:00 -0500</pubDate> <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/hailes-quarry-hermit</link> <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/hailes-quarry-hermit</guid> <description> <![CDATA[<img alt="" data-width="2048" data-height="2048" width="300" height="200" src="https://img.atlasobscura.com/ZHPjpcLkE9RfnKvtTCKAS4WMPUHDJRF-GloGk2L-grw/rs:fill:300:200:1/g:ce/c:1873:1249:nowe:50:232/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL3BsYWNl/X2ltYWdlcy81Y2Vh/NmM1Ny04OTk1LTQ0/MmQtOTBlMi0yZjNm/ZDYyNDI3N2FmMzIy/MDI0ZGFlOTY1N2E5/ZTdfNDM2NjE0MjY1/XzEwMTYwMDM1MzQ4/MTAyMDgzXzMyMzk0/Njc4MTI4NTE4ODM4/OTNfbi5qcGc.jpg" /> Should one happen upon a detached head in a public space, it would raise concerns and cause alarm. However, this cannot be said of the face that lies in a public park a few miles west of <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/edinburgh-scotland">Edinburgh</a>’s city center. Commonly referred to as the “Hermit” of Hailes Quarry Park, this stone facade, with a whimsical smile, is a homage to a character from the capital’s history. During the late-18th century, the area of Wester Hailes was known for its rock quarries. These large open pits would provide the city with much needed raw materials for the construction of the <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/charlotte-square">NewTown</a>. They also provided the capital with plenty of employment opportunities. It was these quarry workers who witnessed a lone man living in among the rubble. Whether there ever was such a person is up for debate; it didn’t diminish the urban folklore surrounding this character from flourishing. The pit continued operations for another hundred years, when it was closed in the early part of the 20th century due to flooding. Over the proceeding decades it became a dumping ground. That was until the 1970s, when plans were put in place to turn the derelict area into a more amenable use. It would take until the early part of the 2000s for the government to allow plans to go forward with the park one sees today. The giant face of a grinning man was meant to be an admiration of the city’s rich historical figures, fictional or otherwise. Besides the “Hermit,” there is an area dedicated to promoting wetlands and a patch of flowers to attract any number of insects and other species. Hailes Quarry Park is one of city’s more than nearly 150 public green spaces, making Edinburgh one of the UK’s most sustainable cities.]]> </description> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/stone">stone</category> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/public-art">public art</category> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/giant-heads">giant heads</category> </item> <item> <title>‘The Container’ in Brussels, Belgium</title> <pubDate>Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:00:00 -0500</pubDate> <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-container-brussels</link> <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-container-brussels</guid> <description> <![CDATA[<img alt="" data-width="6000" data-height="4000" width="300" height="200" src="https://img.atlasobscura.com/mqq4ZY0kSMWVylgHhuwA4P27dYTOmajWExLxAYAlINg/rs:fill:300:200:1/g:ce/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL3BsYWNl/X2ltYWdlcy84OTVk/NzI5NS0xYTdhLTRi/ZTktODYyMy03MmQ0/NGZhNjNmOGFhMmQ1/ZGY1Y2YxYTJhYmVm/OWFfRFNDXzAzMjQu/anBlZw.jpg" /> <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/brussels-belgium">Brussels</a> is a fascinating city, both elegant and humorous, associated with comic strips and surreal art (as is Belgium itself). It’s home to many pieces of public art, and some are undeniably unusual, to put it simply. Since 2013, the roundabout on Boulevard Pachéco has been occupied by a curious artwork titled The Container, and that’s what it is: a cargo container balancing on one of its corners. Without context, it looks like a freight truck had an accident there, except no one ever stops by to take a look. Created by Belgian architect Luc Deleu, the artwork has often been a subject of mild controversy, some considering it an eyesore that hardly fits the neighborhood’s vibe. Nevertheless, in 2020, the City of Brussels made a move on acquiring the piece permanently for €70,000 before Antwerp, another Belgian city, could get its hands on it. Now it looks like it’s going to stay there for a while.]]> </description> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/public-art">public art</category> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/outsider-art">outsider art</category> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/art-outside">art outside</category> </item> <item> <title>A Man in 19th-Century Italy Preserved His Own Brain to Fight Eugenics</title> <dc:creator>Dania Rodrigues</dc:creator> <pubDate>Tue, 18 Feb 2025 14:50:00 -0500</pubDate> <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/preserved-brain-italy</link> <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/preserved-brain-italy</guid> <description> <![CDATA[Tucked between the tibias of a standing skeleton in a museum in <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/turin-italy">Turin</a>, <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/italy">Italy,</a> is a peculiar glass dome. The small container almost escapes notice, located in the last room of the <a href="https://www.museoanatomia.unito.it/en/museum/intro/">Luigi Rolando Museum of Human Anatomy</a>. Despite the wooden plaque below the item, the explanation just raises more questions. “Being neither an advocate of cremation nor cemeteries, I would like my bones to be laid to rest in the Anatomical Institute,” the inscription reads. “I would also like my brain to be preserved with my method and placed in the Museum together with the others.” The words are taken from the last will of Carlo Giacomini, and the item on display is his brain. Giacomini was an anatomist, neuroscientist, and museum director from the 1800s who proposed a new way to preserve brains. His recipe essentially dried the organ out, while maintaining all the significant features. <figure class=" contains-caption zoomable-image"><img class="article-image with-structured-caption zoomable-image" src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/lg/104717/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-article-image-id="undefined" data-full-size-image="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/full/104717/image" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> Today, his own brain is slightly shrunken and has a dark brownish color. And it’s not the only one. Within the museum are five cases filled with 800 human brains, all prepared by the same man. Some of them are labeled Cervelli di criminali, or “Criminals’ brains.” Though he didn’t know it at the time, Giacomini’s work became part of a bigger conversation involving eugenics, Nazis, and a division of neurocriminology today. <hr class="baseline-grid-hr" /> When Giacomini was in medical school, scientists of the day were <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-19thcentury-zombie-dogs-revealed-the-workings-of-the-brain">hotly debating phrenology</a>, a new school of thought that claimed physical characteristics could reveal internal aspects of an individual. Franz Joseph Gall first proposed the idea in the early 1800s that criminal behavior was determined by biology and was even apparent in the shape of a skull. But it was Cesare Lombroso who popularized the theory when he established the <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/cesare-lombrosos-museum-of-criminal-anthropology">Positivist School of Criminology</a> in Italy. Lombroso believed the brain’s morphology was responsible for violent, antisocial, or genius behavior. He claimed that criminal dispositions were biologically inherited, identified from a unique physiological signature, and therefore unchangeable—in other words, individuals were born criminals and were predetermined to commit violent crimes. <figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/104739/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> Lombroso’s ideas were widely influential in criminal law in both Europe and the United States in the late 1800s, and were often used to support crude racial and class-based stereotypes of criminal behavior. “Such theories confirmed the superiority of the white male intelligence and the legitimization of colonial power,” says Cristiane Augusto, a researcher and expert in Penal Right at the Universidade Federal do <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/rio-de-janeiro-brazil">Rio de Janeiro</a>. Lombroso wanted anatomical proof of his theories, so he enlisted Giacomini, who ran in the same scientific circles. Lombroso procured the brains from recently deceased individuals and gave them to Giacomini. Most of the specimens came from a hospital, but some were from individuals who died in prison. The only problem in studying brains was <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/mystery-preserved-brains">how quickly they fell apart</a>, so something had to be done to preserve them. Scientists had previously attempted to preserve the brain with both liquids and dehydration, but Giacomini had deemed all known methods unsatisfactory. Liquids were expensive, needed to be changed every few years, and made observations more difficult, whereas current drying methods caused cracks and a marked reduction in volume. The organ is extremely delicate. “In certain seasons of the year,” Giacomini wrote in Guide to the Study of the Cerebral Convolutions, “the brain is so soft when it is extracted from its cavity 24 hours after death, that it would be almost impossible to remove its membranes to make the convolutions more visible.” The only solution, he thought, was to try to harden the brain. <figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/104719/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> Giacomini injected the brains with or immersed them in zinc chloride, glycerine, nitric acid, or potassium bichromate. After a few days, the organs would dry out, becoming “more durable and less subject to deterioration,” he wrote. “Preparations made with the drying method not only gave the anatomical specimen greater consistency but, more importantly, eliminated deformations, making observations more reliable,” says Giacomo Giacobini, the current scientific director of Turin’s anatomical museum. Giacomini prepared more than a thousand brains using his new methods. He then carefully studied the organs for years, measuring and comparing the cerebral matter of different specimens. And his conclusions did not make Lombroso and many of his colleagues very happy. He stated unequivocally: “We do not find that the brains of social misfits have a specific type of conformation, but rather the same variations, in the same proportions, as other brains, and we can in no way relate these variations to their malevolent actions.'’ <figure class="article-image-full-width contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/lg/104718/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> However, his views were never acknowledged by a wider audience. Some of his opponents claimed Lombroso was improving upon Darwin’s theory of evolution by expanding the idea to social evolutionism. They therefore dubbed Giacomini as a “theologian and fearful individual” who stood against Darwin (which was false), and discarded his conclusions altogether. Though Giacomini’s method was used extensively by some Italian scientists, it became obsolete as new technologies, such as digital angiography, allowed a more sophisticated <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/nimhans-brain-museum">mapping of the human brain</a>. His conclusions, though, became prevalent in the aftermath of World War II. In the wake of Nazism, Lombroso’s views were widely dismissed, considering their problematic relationship with scientific racism and eugenics. But the idea of linking positive or negative attributes to the cerebral cortex didn’t disappear. Today, the scientific community at large assumes that all mental activities produce electrical, magnetic, or metabolic signals that new technologies are able to read. Highly technological tomographies perform exams in which it is possible to see the brain in action. Neurocriminology defends the idea that alterations in the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and hypothalamus can lead to reduction of self control and anger management, predisposing a person to violence. “Of course we emphasize that brain mechanisms underlying aggression do not stand in isolation, but represent a component of the larger biopsychosocial framework from which we view crime,” remarks Adrian Raine, author of The Anatomy of Violence and one of the most notable proponents of neurocriminology. “But as we begin to see the evidence for biomarkers as incontrovertible, then what should we do about them?” <figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/104738/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> Some legal defense teams, particularly in the U.S., have started using brain scans and neuroscience as mitigating evidence in the trials of violent criminals and sex offenders. Yet sociologists and bioethicists express concerns about the dangers of such an approach. “While it is certainly possible to observe a correlation between biological mechanisms and behavioral patterns, this does not directly imply causality,” explains Giorgio Gristina, a researcher at the <a href="https://fchampalimaud.org/champalimaud-research">Systems Neuroscience Laboratory in the Champalimaud Center for the Unknown</a>. In the debate of nature versus nurture, it’s difficult to disregard someone’s surroundings, since, as neurocriminology affirms, the brain is a malleable organ. “Environmental factors can change the physical structure of the brain,” adds Jaime Arlandis, a researcher also at the Champalimaud Center. Gristina and Arlandis believe one’s actions are not predetermined by the brain they were born with, but that the brain can change over the course of one’s life. Who knows if Carlo Giacomini would have realized this debate would continue well beyond his own death. His work in preserving and studying brains was a precursor to neuroscience today, but the answers are still as mysterious as the brain itself, which <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10585277/">modern scientists are only beginning to understand</a>. Did Giacomini realize more work was needed? Is that why he preserved his own brain and left it for all to see? Those answers may be locked in the hardened cerebral mass sitting on display in Turin. All we can do is quietly look at his physical mind and wonder.]]> </description> </item> <item> <title>Birds-of-Paradise Can Emit Light Through Their Feathers</title> <dc:creator>Atlas Obscura</dc:creator> <pubDate>Tue, 18 Feb 2025 11:06:00 -0500</pubDate> <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/birds-of-paradise-biofluorescent</link> <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/birds-of-paradise-biofluorescent</guid> <description> <![CDATA[<div> This story was originally published in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/feb/12/many-birds-of-paradise-species-emit-light-through-their-plumage-study-finds">The Guardian</a> and appears here as part of the <a href="https://www.climatedesk.org/">Climate Desk</a> collaboration. </div> Birds-of-paradise are known for their bright and colorful plumage, but it turns out they are even more dazzling than previously thought. Researchers have found 37 of the 45 species show <a href="https://www.hunterlab.com/blog/biofluorescence-vs-bioluminescence/">biofluorescence</a>—in other words, patches of their plumage or other body parts absorb UV or blue light, and emit light at lower frequencies. "At a minimum, it would make these biofluorescent areas brighter—a yellow feather may be more green-yellow, a white feather may be brighter and slightly more green-yellow," said Dr Rene Martin from the American Museum of Natural History in <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/new-york">New York</a>, who was first author of the study. Published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.241905">Royal Society Open Science</a>, Martin and colleagues reported how they studied preserved specimens of each bird-of-paradise species, held in the <a href="https://www.amnh.org/explore/news-blogs/ornithology-collections">ornithology collection at the American Museum of Natural History</a>. <figure class="article-image-full-width contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/lg/104736/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> The team placed males and females of each species under blue light in a dark room and recorded the wavelengths and intensity of light emitted. In some cases, they also shone UV light on the skins. The results revealed that males of 21 species showed biofluorescence on parts of their plumage such as their head, neck, belly, and tail feathers, or on fleshy lobes known as face wattles. In addition, these species plus an additional 16 species showed—or were deemed likely to show—biofluorescence in their inner mouth and throat. Females of 36 of these species, and most likely all 37, also showed biofluorescence. Several showed this on their chest and belly, or on feathers that form an eye stripe on the side of their head. The team said the emitted light ranged from light or teal blue wavelengths to green and green-yellow. "It may not have the effect of making something look different, but becoming brighter and more eye-catching," said Martin. The team added that biofluorescence did not occur in species in the genera of Lycocorax, Manucodia, and Phonygammus. That, they said, fits with the idea that biofluorescence was present in the common ancestor of all birds-of-paradise, but was lost in the ancestor of these three groups. <figure class="article-image-full-width contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/lg/104737/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> The researchers said the <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/great-argus-pheasant">elaborate courtship displays</a> shown by males of many of the biofluorescent species would be enhanced by the phenomenon—for example, <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/new-species-birds-of-paradise-animals-spd">male Lophorina gape their mouths open</a> towards females while performing. "Male birds-of-paradise often have these patches next to stark black [or] dark plumage, so the added effect of biofluorescence may aid in making these signal areas even brighter while being used during displays," added Martin. In females, however, the phenomenon might have a different function. “The location and patterns of their biofluorescent plumage of many species are much more in line with its possible use as camouflage,” she said. Martin added that the research sheds fresh light on the well-studied birds. "Even a charismatic group like the birds-of-paradise, that have been studied extensively, can still offer new insights into avian vision, behavior, and morphology," she said.]]> </description> </item> <item> <title>A Guide to the Cardamoms of the World</title> <dc:creator>Andrew Coletti</dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 17 Feb 2025 10:00:00 -0500</pubDate> <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-to-use-cardamom</link> <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-to-use-cardamom</guid> <description> <![CDATA[<div> This article is adapted from the February 15, 2025, edition of Gastro Obscura’s Favorite Things newsletter. You can <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/newsletters/gastro-obscura">sign up here</a>. </div> My favorite source for Thai recipes is Pailin Chongchitnant’s blog and YouTube channel Hot Thai Kitchen, and I recently decided to make her <a href="https://hot-thai-kitchen.com/kao-mok-gai/">Thai-style biryani</a>. Thailand has a lot of Indian influence, and I was intrigued to learn there was a Thai version of what I usually think of as a South Asian dish. I was also interested to notice two differences from typical South Asian biryanis in the spices Chongchitnant uses. Her recipe calls for bay laurel, which I know as the bay leaf of China and Europe, rather than <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-is-a-bay-leaf">the bay leaf of India</a>. And the cardamom she uses was neither of the two kinds I was familiar with from cooking Indian food (green and black). It turns out that the typical cardamom in Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries is a third species called white cardamom. Green cardamom pods are sometimes bleached and sold under that name, but true white cardamom is almost spherical in shape, with a mild flavor. I was able to find white cardamom pods for my biryani relatively easily at a Chinese grocery store in my neighborhood. But, confusingly, I noticed that they were labeled as tsaoko, a name that usually refers to yet another kind of cardamom. There are at least five different entries in the cardamom expanded universe. Cousins of ginger, turmeric, and lesser-known culinary gems <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/52496-Zingiberaceae">like galangal</a>, all cardamoms carry a distinctive cocktail of <a href="https://www.harlembrands.com/blogs/journal/featured-scent-what-does-cardamom-smell-like#:~:text=Some%20of%20the%20chemicals%20responsible,%2C%20sage%2C%20and%20tea%20tree.">scent chemicals</a>, like terpinyl acetate, also found in pine, and cineole, also found in sage, eucalyptus, and bay leaf. But each has its own unique qualities. This week, Gastro Obscura is diving into the surprisingly diverse world of cardamoms, with a primer on the major types and how to use them. <figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/104733/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> <h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd">Green Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum)</h3> I tend to associate green cardamom with Persian or Indian desserts, but the popular and versatile <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-King-and-Queen-of-Spices_fig3_343416656">“Queen of Spices”</a> features in a staggering variety of sweet and savory dishes, beverages, and spice blends across much of Asia and Africa. It’s also popular for <a href="https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20231213-swedens-enduring-love-for-cardamon-and-buns">traditional sweets</a> like cardamom buns in Sweden, which consumes <a href="https://www.thekitchn.com/cardamom-scandinavias-favorite-spice-the-art-of-fika-219626">about 60 percent more</a> cardamom per capita than the U.S. The green cardamom plant favors a tropical climate and is said to have originated in South India, where it is still cultivated extensively. There’s even a region in the state of Kerala called <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Handbook_of_Spices_in_India_75_Years_of/Vz4QEQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=cardamom+hills+region&pg=PA1583&printsec=frontcover">the Cardamom Hills</a>. Pods start out as ripe fruits, which are painstakingly harvested by hand and <a href="https://www.keralaspicesonline.com/cardamom-harvesting/">dried in the sun</a>. There are two major varieties, both named for regions in South India. Mysore pods are pointier, while Malabar pods are more rounded. Mysore cardamom is also more prized—and expensive—due to its brighter color and <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Natural_Food_Flavors_and_Colorants/Jr3VDQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=mysore+vs+malabar+green+cardamom&pg=PA106&printsec=frontcover">stronger fragrance</a>. Malabar pods are the ones sometimes sold as false “white cardamom.” Be wary of inferior relatives marketed as the real thing: One such impostor was even known historically as <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Dispensatory_of_the_United_States_of/ARVBAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=bastard+cardamom&pg=PA295&printsec=frontcover">“bastard cardamom.”</a> <figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/104732/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> <h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd">Black or Brown Cardamom (Amomum subulatum)</h3> Unlike green, black cardamom is almost exclusively used <a href="https://www.seriouseats.com/spice-hunting-black-cardamom">in savory cooking</a>, and is not widely popular outside its native South Asia. While it doesn’t make a good substitute for green cardamom, especially in desserts, black cardamom is versatile in its own way. Its strength and depth allows it to complement gamy meats like goat, as well as enhance otherwise mild ingredients like lentils and rice. Cultivation of black cardamom is concentrated in the Himalayas, as the plant prefers a cooler, drier climate. The pods have a distinctive smoky flavor and aroma for a simple reason: They’re smoked. The ripe fruits are tomato-red when picked, but drying over an open flame darkens them and adds to their already powerful flavor, with deep notes of camphor, menthol, and pine. Jonathan Soma of education center The Brooklyn Brainery describes it as smelling <a href="https://brooklynbrainery.com/pictures/128-fun-loving-indian-black-cardamom-versus-world-destroying-chinese-black-cardamom">“like a medicinal campfire,”</a> an assessment I agree with. In Hindi and Urdu, the two major cardamoms are often distinguished by size rather than color. Black is moti or badi elaichi, both meaning “big cardamom,” while green is choti elaichi, “little cardamom.” Black cardamom pods are not only larger but tougher to open, so they’re usually added to dishes whole after tempering (frying to release flavor), but they can also be powdered. Mrs. Balbir Singh’s Indian Cookery Book, a North Indian classic originally published in 1961, favors black cardamom over green for garam masala. However, both cardamoms are often used together, in recipes like this <a href="https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/chicken-biryani-recipe/">chicken biryani</a>. <h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd">Chinese Black Cardamom (Lanxangia tsao-ko)</h3> I still remember how excited I was the first time I saw tsaoko at a Chinese grocery store several years ago (since then, it seems to have become more widely available). Also called cǎoguǒ, from its Mandarin name, and Amomum tsao-ko (from its former scientific name), tsaoko is comparable to black cardamom in appearance and smoky flavor, but its pods and seeds are much larger. The spice is primarily used in western China, in dishes like Lanzhou noodle soup and Sichuan hot pot. Chinese chefs typically add tsaoko to soups and meat braises, allowing the flavor to seep into liquid over long cooking times. As far back as the 14th century, Hu Sihui, an imperial dietician, included tsaoko pods in many of his soup recipes (including one for <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Soup_for_the_Qan_Chinese_Dietary_Medic/l_B5DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=wolf+soup+chinese+recipe&pg=PA286&printsec=frontcover">wolf meat</a>). Tsaoko is also used to flavor phở in Vietnam, where <a href="https://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2017/04/primer-on-pho-spices.html">it’s known as thảo quả</a>. <figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/104731/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> <h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd">White or Siam Cardamom (Wurfbainia vera)</h3> Scottish botanical illustrator Elizabeth Blackwell dubbed this species Amomum verum in 1757, making it the first plant to be scientifically <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274249267_Fewer_than_three_percent_of_land_plant_species_named_by_women_Author_gender_over_260_years">named by a woman</a>. However, like tsaoko, the species was later reclassified and given a new scientific name. This native Southeast Asian spice gives its name to the <a href="https://www.exotravel.com/blog/en/cardamom-mountains/">Cardamom Mountains</a> that span Cambodia and Thailand. True white cardamom pods are almost spherical, unlike bleached green cardamom, which is flatter and more oval. In my Thai biryani, white cardamom was lightly toasted and ground to mingle its delicate flavor with other spices like coriander seed and cinnamon. It’s also commonly included in the paste that forms the base of Cambodian and Indonesian curries. <h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd">Ethiopian Cardamom (Aframomum corrorima)</h3> If you’ve tasted Ethiopian food, you’ve probably tasted Ethiopian cardamom, or korerima. That’s because it’s usually included in the spice blend berbere and the spice-infused ghee niter kibbeh, which are foundational to many Ethiopian recipes, and this is how I’ve used it in the past. Korerima also flavors Ethiopian coffee and other spice blends, like sweet, warming mekelesha, which is sprinkled onto dishes <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Ethiopia/HaVbDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=mekelesha&pg=PT81&printsec=frontcover">as a finishing touch</a>. Native to East Africa, korerima is closely related to grains of paradise, and carries a similar hint of peppery brightness with notes of citrus. This cardamom can be trickier to source than the others, but the seeds are sold <a href="https://www.eleniskitchen.com/online-store/korerima-ground-black-cardamom">by online vendors</a>, often pre-removed from the pod. Though more versatile than black cardamom, korerima is stronger than green, so a little goes a long way.]]> </description> </item> <item> <title>Animal Courtships: Our Favorite Reads</title> <dc:creator>Roxanne Hoorn</dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 14 Feb 2025 06:00:00 -0500</pubDate> <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/animal-courtship</link> <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/animal-courtship</guid> <description> <![CDATA[Having trouble landing a date? Take some tips from the <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/animals">animal kingdom</a>. In these stories, meet the peacock <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/spiders">spider</a> that shakes its electric-blue butt to Beyoncé, the squid that puts on a seductive color show, and the fish whose guttural mating call can wake up a city. <h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd"><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/dancing-peacock-spiders-new-species-video">Disco-Dancing Peacock Spiders Are Impossible to Resist</a></h3> <h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd">By Eric Grundhauser</h3> Peacock spiders are particularly great dancers, shaking and shimmying their colorful abdomens to woo over mates. To get the full effect, watch these videos of peacock spiders throwing around their electric-blue behinds to songs including “Stayin’ Alive” and “Single Ladies.” <h3 class="article-subheading-pre-rd article-second-subheading-pre-rd"><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/animal-courtship-mating-extremes">In the World of Animal Courtship, These Males Go to Extremes</a></h3> <h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd">By Ashley Stimpson</h3> When it comes to love in the animal kingdom, some males are willing to go to extremes to get the girl. From a <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/bats">bat</a>’s use of urine-based perfumes to a bellbird with the loudest call ever documented, these guys will do just about anything to attract a mate. <figure class="article-image-full-width contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/lg/104710/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> <h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd"><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/great-argus-pheasant">This Bird’s Mating Dance Is Full of Stomp and Pomp</a></h3> <h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd">By Gemma Tarlach</h3> Argus pheasants know how to clean up and put on a show. Before starting their flashy mating dance, these birds clear away the rocks and branches off their soon-to-be stage, then proceed to shimmy their polka-dot plumage. <h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd"><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/weird-sea-sex-mating-courtship">The Weird and Wonderful World of Sex Under the Sea</a></h3> <h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd">By Roxanne Hoorn</h3> The sea is full of fascinating ways to attract a mate. Some species of <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/squid">squids</a> put on colorful shows, using their color-changing abilities to make elaborate flashing patterns on their flesh. Other species prefer deception, impersonating the opposite sex before sneaking in to steal a mate. <figure class="article-image-full-width contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/lg/104712/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> <h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd"><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/could-fish-sex-be-keeping-florida-residents-up-at-night">Could Fish Sex Be Keeping Floridians Up at Night?</a></h3> <h3 class="article-second-subheading-pre-rd">By Roxanne Hoorn</h3> This fish’s epic, city-shaking mating calls have been mistaken for nightclubs, airplanes, and construction. To produce its bumping-bass beat, the black drum fish flexes its muscles against its swim bladder. The result is a deep, rhythmic sound that moves through the water to far off females—and occasionally waking people across coastal communities.]]> </description> </item> <item> <title>In Rio, a Reincarnated Spirit Can Chase Away the Rain</title> <dc:creator>Constance Malleret</dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 13 Feb 2025 18:00:00 -0500</pubDate> <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/cacique-cobra-coral</link> <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/cacique-cobra-coral</guid> <description> <![CDATA[Rainstorms are a frequent occurrence in <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/rio-de-janeiro-brazil">Rio de Janeiro</a>’s tropical climate. Yet year after year, the Marvelous City defies meteorological forecasts and is blessed with dry weather and clear skies when it needs it the most, such as during its famed Carnival celebrations. This, locals will tell you, is not the result of good luck, but the work of a weather-controlling spirit called Cacique Cobra Coral. In <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/brazil">Brazil</a>, the spirit is widely credited with guaranteeing a clement climate during major events, including music festivals and presidential inaugurations. It is particularly well-known in Rio, where the mayor is said to have a long-running agreement with the Cacique Cobra Coral Foundation, an organization that claims to communicate with the spirit through a medium. Every year, as Carnival approaches, Cacique Cobra Coral pops up in conversations and on social media, as revelers hope the festivities will be spared the summer downpours. The belief that a religious or spiritual entity has the power to control the weather is widespread in Brazil, where there is “a ritualized understanding of nature,” says Renzo Taddei, an associate professor of anthropology at the Federal University of <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/sao-paulo-brazil">São Paulo</a><a href="https://www.revistas.usp.br/rieb/article/view/145653"> who has studied the Foundation</a>. In the Afro-Brazilian religion Umbanda, which blends Indigenous beliefs with African traditions, caboclos are the spirits of Indigenous elders who return through a medium to provide help or guidance to supplicants. The Cacique Cobra Coral—whose title cacique means “Indigenous chief” in Portuguese—belongs to this spiritual tradition, says Taddei. <figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/104722/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> What sets the Cacique Cobra Coral apart—and contributes to its fame—is the exposure that its meteorological feats have gained in the press. Then there’s the fact that both public bodies and private companies sign contracts with the mysterious Cacique Cobra Coral Foundation to ensure good weather. “Cacique Cobra Coral arrives in Rio for the G20 ‘to avert embarrassment,’”<a href="https://oglobo.globo.com/rio/noticia/2024/11/17/evitar-vexame-cacique-cobra-coral-chega-ao-rio-para-participar-do-g20.ghtml"> read one recent headline</a> in a Brazilian newspaper. “Medium from the Cacique Cobra Coral Foundation has agreement with [São Paulo] city hall,”<a href="https://vejasp.abril.com.br/cidades/medium-da-fundacao-cacique-cobra-coral-tem-convenio-com-prefeitura"> reads another</a>, from 2009, describing how the rain stopped for a papal visit. The spirit even works internationally: it was reportedly hired by an unnamed billionaire to clear the skies for<a href="https://oglobo.globo.com/mundo/medium-da-cacique-cobra-coral-esteve-em-windsor-contratada-por-bilionario-britanico-22695251"> Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding in 2018</a> and for<a href="https://oglobo.globo.com/esportes/olimpiadas-2012/abertura-dos-jogos-de-londres-tera-ajuda-espiritual-brasileira-5598607"> the 2012 London Olympics.</a> In 1987, the Cacique Cobra Coral Foundation told British newspaper The Guardian that it had offered its services to Margaret Thatcher to end a cold spell. The then-prime minister never replied, but the Foundation still claimed credit for a rise in temperatures. Cesar Maia, the former mayor of Rio who started the city’s now-legendary relationship with the Foundation, publicly credited the organization for sparing Rio from floods during his two terms in office between 2001 and 2008. The Foundation was also hired to ensure clear skies for the Rock in Rio music festival, according to businessman and festival founder Roberto Medina’s 2006 biography. Rio local Bruno Simas admits he is not familiar with the specifics of the spirit’s workings, but has faith in its ability to alter the weather. “People say, let’s ask for Cacique Cobra Coral’s help so that it doesn’t rain during Carnival. I like to believe in this, to direct my energy towards this,” he says. <figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/104724/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> For the initiated, the Cacique has a rich history. Originally, they believe, the Cacique was an Indigenous North American. “In the spiritualist line of thought, people say that the Cacique Cobra Coral is an incarnation who went through various stages throughout civilization. Some say he was Galileo Galilei, that he then incarnated as Abraham Lincoln,” says Luiz Antonio Simas (no relation), a historian and prolific author who writes about Brazilian beliefs and popular culture. “That’s the belief, that he is a spirit who has already been present in countless manifestations and that today advises a medium.” Said medium is Adelaide Scritori, president of the Cacique Cobra Coral Foundation. According to Osmar Santos, Scritori’s husband and the Foundation spokesperson, Scritori channels the spirit’s powers to make atmospheric changes over small areas, such as diverting a cold front to cause or prevent rain. Santos also says that Scritori consults meteorologists on what exactly needs to occur. “We call this a climate operation,” he says “Each one is carried out with advice from a scientist, who follows the operation from start to finish.” Although the Cacique is best known for guaranteeing sunny skies for entertainment, Santos says the spirit only interferes for the greater good. He also claims that the organization is contacted more and more these days, due to the extreme effects of climate change. The organization is described as “peculiar” by those who have studied it, but few dismiss it entirely. In his 2017 book Meteorologists and Rain Prophets, Taddei recounted a conversation with a respected meteorologist about his first contact with Santos, in the 1980s. “One day, someone called him and asked him what would need to be done to stop a cold front coming from Argentina and prevent it from entering Rio Grande do Sul. At first, he didn’t take it seriously,” Taddei wrote. The caller was Santos. “The meteorologist made some calculations and argued that, if the atmospheric pressure above the state was to rise, the cold front would probably lose its force. The next day, the atmospheric pressure rose, and the cold front dissipated.” The meteorologist went on to work for the Foundation. This marriage of the scientific and the supernatural might seem mystifying from a Western perspective, but this is perfectly acceptable in Brazil where there isn't such an entrenched distinction between the two, Taddei argues. “The hostile opposition between religion and science is a part of colonialism,” he says. “It makes no sense in Brazil.” This reasoning is part of why Cacique Cobra Coral is generally accepted. When questioned in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcBb1TVZ0Fo">2013 documentary</a> if it was contradictory to be a Catholic and believe in a spirit’s meteorological powers, Cesar Maia, the former mayor, simply replied, “I am Brazilian.” <figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/104720/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> The Foundation’s relationship with public bodies inevitably raises both eyebrows and questions about the improper use of taxpayers’ money. (Santos assures me that state bodies do not pay money for the Cacique’s work, but in exchange must keep the Foundation informed about environmental works carried out to prevent or mitigate climate catastrophes.) But this is not the only example of Brazilian authorities turning to the supernatural for help. In 1998, officials from the government’s Indigenous agency flew two Kayapó shamans to perform a ritual in the Amazon state of Roraima, where uncontrollable fires had been raging for over 60 days. It finally rained the day after, and the downpour put out most of the fires. In a subsequent inquiry, the Brazilian Senate did not rule out the possibility that the shamanic ritual had <a href="https://legis.senado.leg.br/sdleg-getter/documento?dm=3596518&disposition=inline">caused the rains</a>. More recently, as torrential rain fell on the Catholic World Youth Day gathering in 2013, Rio City Hall gifted a basket of eggs to the nuns of Saint Clare, a gesture that can clear rains according to Portuguese Catholic traditions. Coincidentally, the stormy weather eased off. For many people, these tales inhabit a murky area between myth and reality. Ultimately, the belief that the Cacique Cobra Coral can chase away the rains is a part of what the historian Simas calls brasilidades, or ‘brazilianisms.’ These, he says, are "a broad, symbolic grouping of elements from Brazil's [different] cultures, which involve beliefs, spirituality [and] a relation with the mysterious.” Many Brazilians, from Carnival-goers to elected political leaders, prefer not to question them too deeply. “I think anything is possible,” says Rio resident Julianna Paes on the sidelines of a sunny Carnival rehearsal. “I don’t pray to [Cacique Cobra Coral]. But if the mayor has an agreement with it, then great, because it looks like it’s working.”]]> </description> </item> <item> <title>Ley Lines and the Allure of Imposing Order on History's Chaos</title> <dc:creator>Colin Dickey</dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 12 Feb 2025 20:00:00 -0500</pubDate> <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-are-ley-lines</link> <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-are-ley-lines</guid> <description> <![CDATA[<figure class=" "><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/eerie-feeling"><img class="article-image " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/104715/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></a></figure> I’m walking north on Broadway in <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/manhattan-new-york">Manhattan</a>, trying to imagine what seems impossible now: that this land was once wild, an island of swamps and forests that had to be navigated around and cut through. I can’t even begin to envision the natural landscape and features that once covered this island, but knowing that at some point there had been swamps and ponds here helps me make sense of the crook in the road that happens at 10th Street, when the street bends westward and begins the long diagonal slant that will take it across Manhattan’s fabled grid until it straightens out again around 78th Street on the Upper West Side. That stretch of Broadway was once known as the Bloomingdale Road, itself a Lenape pathway that first the Dutch, then the English, and finally New York City’s government gradually expanded and codified, and by the 1860s its meandering kinks and bends had straightened out into the clean diagonal we know today. It's a simple and straightforward enough story, one that’s easy to grasp even if the original reasons for the directions of these paths—what pond they skirted around, what rock formation caused a change in direction—are long gone and impossible to conceive of now. The way that our built world is the result of thousands of previous decisions—some known, some unknown—that gradually accrete over the years is something I find perpetually fascinating. You can walk through a place like Manhattan and feel its centuries-long history that includes the Lenape, Dutch and English colonists, and the endless waves of subsequent Americans and immigrants, corrupt politicians and politicians with utopian ideals, each of whom through design and habit put their mark on the landscape. To me, it’s the symphonic level of cacophony that all these decisions represent that makes a city like this so entrancing. There are so many layers of New York that are piled high on each other, some harmonious and some discordant, that it makes walking through it seem wild and strange. <figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/104705/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> There’s still mystery in this city, of course, but there are times you’re reminded that the streets are among the most over-determined in the world. Which is why perhaps I’m drawn to the idea of ley lines: supposedly supernatural or metaphysical axes of power that run through the landscape, connecting sites of significance in unexpected ways. Their existence is doubtful at best, but taken as fiction, they offer other ways of reading the landscape. I’d had a vague notion of them, but it wasn’t until the ley lines of Manhattan formed a major plot point in 2016’s Ghostbusters reboot that I began to think more seriously about them—not as any kind of metaphysical reality, but possibly as a different kind of way of looking at the world. <hr class="baseline-grid-hr" /> In 1925, Alfred Watkins published his book The Old Straight Track, in which he put forward his idea that there were unseen lines that connected pre-Roman archaeological sites in <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/united-kingdom">Great Britain</a>. Watkins, a British photographer and amateur archaeologist, had set out to visit the newly excavated Roman settlement Blackwardine a few years earlier when he noticed that a number of archaeological landmarks from various eras all lay along the same straight line—not just Blackwardine, but Croft Ambrey and Risbury Camp, both Iron Age forts in Herefordshire near the border with <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/wales">Wales</a>, as well as Stretton Grandison, another former Roman settlement. Connecting the dots became his hobby and his passion: Watkins gathered up scores of ancient sites—burial mounds and Roman ruins, footpaths and marker stones—and suggested that one could connect them through straight lines, arguing that these lines were once well-worn paths used by ancient cultures. “My main theme is the alignment across miles of country of a great number of objects, or sites of objects, of prehistoric antiquity. And this not in one or a few instances, but in scores and hundreds,” he wrote. Watkins himself didn’t attempt to offer much by way of explaining why this was so. His best guess was that these were pre-historical footpaths that had been long forgotten, even as the placement of monuments and settlements revealed their ghostly echoes. Beyond that, however, he felt it was “the task of other branches of archaeology to work out the full chronology of the matter, and I only attempt those few obvious deductions as regards periods which the mechanism of the sighted track reveals.” <figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/104466/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> But he did offer a name. He called these tracks “leys,” a term that originally signified a pasture or an enclosed field. But Watkins noted that this term had earlier meanings; there is evidence, he wrote, “indicating that ‘ley’ did not always mean pasture or field. Ley Hills and Leys Hills are frequent, and hills are not likely to be named from pastures.” Thus, the term, he argued, had been in use before the rise of agriculture, when there could have been no pastures to speak of, and suggested that it gradually evolved to its current meaning: “The sequence seems clear,” he wrote. “First, the straight sighted track, then a clearing of the woodland, through which it passed, then the fields which evolved in the clearing, the same name ley, lay, lee applying to each stage, a logical sequence.” From the beginning, archaeologists had called Watkins’s original theory sharply into question: There are simply too many pre-Roman sites throughout England and connecting any three or more of them in a line is remarkably easy. There is nothing statistically noteworthy about these lines, and they don’t suggest occult powers or ancient wisdom so much as the human tendency to find patterns in meaningless noise. One of Watkins’s heroes, Oxford-trained archaeologist Osbert Crawford (who’d been approvingly name-checked repeatedly in The Old Straight Track) spent decades trying to distance himself from Watkins and dissuade the public from embracing his theories, calling The Old Straight Track in 1953 “one of the craziest books ever written about archaelogy.” One of Crawford’s allies, Richard Clay, went further, describing Watkins as being “ignorant of the first principles of the science of archaeology” and accusing him of merely “attempting to startle the world with new theories.” <figure class="article-pullquote-container"> <aside class="article-pullquote"> <blockquote class="article-pullquote-content">What if, occultists wondered, these were lines of power, sacred unto themselves?</blockquote> </aside> </figure> In this, however, Watkins clearly succeeded. Never taken seriously by mainstream archaeologists as he’d hoped, his ideas instead quickly developed metaphysical overtones. What if, occultists wondered, these lines were not merely paths of convenience and convergence, well-weathered footpaths connecting sacred sites, but lines of power, sacred unto themselves? The idea was first put forward in the 1936 novel The Goat-Foot God, by British occultist Dion Fortune. Old centers of pagan power, the novel’s characters assert, became dominated by Christian churches and other modern structures, exorcising the original pagan influence. When the novel’s Hugh Pastons sets out to build a house that, he hopes, will “wake the Old Gods” (specifically the eponymous Pan), occultist Mona Wilton advises him to build it anywhere along any line connecting the stone circles at Avebury or <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/stonehenge">Stonehenge</a> to any other remains of pagan worship. Unseen tracks stretch between these places, she claims, demonstrating how Avebury lies on an axis that connects St. Albans and <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/tintagel-england">Tintagel</a>, and another connects Dorset and <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/lindisfarne-the-holy-island">Lindisfarne</a>—which, she claims, were the earlier centers of power before Christianity. Connected with supernatural force, they remain charged: “That’s why we who worship the Old Gods use the lines of force between the power-centres, and not the power-centres themselves because those power-centres have all been exorcised long ago. But they didn’t know enough to know of the lines of force, so they never exorcised them.” <figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/104427/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> Fortune was a member of the Order of the Golden Dawn and friend to Aleister Crowley. Her ideas found purchase in the occult circles of her day, but it wasn’t until the postwar era that they began to seep into the wider world of pseudoscience and beyond the confines of Great Britain. Once the idea of ley lines were liberated from Watkins’s original idea of footpaths that endured from one civilization to the next, they could be mapped onto any kind of supernatural phenomenon, and need no longer be tethered to archaeological ruins. In 1961, the British ex-pilot Tony Wedd, steeped both in Watkins’s book and a 1958 French UFO book, Flying Saucers and the Straight Line Mystery by Aimé Michel, began to assert that ley lines not only had metaphysical properties, but also helped explain the straight paths of the UFO sightings Michel had described. In his book Skyways and Landmarks, Wedd called these lines “orthotenies” and suggested that they contained magnetic currents. Such currents, he contended, not only were harnessed by UFOs for power, but also explained why earlier civilizations had built sacred temples along their routes. These ideas were further amplified by John Michell, who, in The Flying Saucer Vision (1967) and The View Over Atlantis (1969), propelled the idea of ley lines into the pseudoscientific mainstream. <hr class="baseline-grid-hr" /> In the 2016 Ghostbusters, the villain “charges” two ley lines that meet like an X over Manhattan (one of which runs roughly along Broadway’s diagonal), converging at a hotel that, Leslie Jones’s character reveals, was built on a location with a dubious history. “All sorts of massacres happened there before the building was built,” she explains. “A peaceful trade with Captain Warren and the Lenape Indians was supposed to take place…and suddenly everyone died.” This is of course nonsense; the violence that happened between the Lenape and the Dutch and English settlers was almost entirely one-sided, and attributing metaphysical causes obscures the genocidal intent of the colonial settlers. Still, the red leather-bound book that Kate McKinnon retrieves from the shelf, an atlas of Ley Lines of North America, seems tantalizing; I found more than one Redditor lamenting the fact that such a book doesn’t actually exist. In the absence of such reference works, most believers recommend making your own. As to how to locate a ley line: <a href="https://otherworldlyoracle.com/sacred-sites-how-to-find-ley-lines/">One website</a> suggests starting with local monuments, or really anything with historic significance (every state capital, they say, is on a ley line). From there, add in any known Indigenous landmarks: man-made mounds, burial grounds, caves. On top of this, the writer advises, you should look for haunted houses or other instances of the paranormal. Marking all of these out on a grid should start to reveal lines that you can connect. <figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/104465/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> As a purely practical matter, this makes sense, in that, if you plot enough points on a plane, you’re bound eventually to be able to find some lines that at least roughly connect three or more points. But on a metaphysical level, the allure of a belief in ley lines is that it takes several layers—naturally occurring geographical features, Native American and other prehistorical cultural civilizations, the paranormal, and more modern landmarks and cultural institutions—and folds them into one. It suggests that some unseen band of energy is behind all of these elements, and that they are merely the visible expression of that unseen energy. Everything you can think of, from Indigenous ways of understanding the land to contemporary urban theory, is all part of the same continuum. Ley lines don’t quite posit an order where none exists; instead, they posit a single order that unites and supersedes any number of pre-existing orders. They usurp the individual decision to build a house or forge a trail or found a capital—be those decisions carefully calculated or happenstance—and suggest that all such decisions are unconsciously directed. They offer a convenient explanation for fate and randomness; if things don’t seem to make sense at first, it may just be because you haven’t properly mapped out the lines yet. With enough sifting through the noise in search of the signal, believers promise, you can tap into a network of energy that will give you power over the ignorant around you. In a complex and chaotic world, it's easy to see the allure. <figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/104706/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> But it turns out that connecting the dots is easier said than done. One map I found of the Northeast U.S., called <a href="https://www.vortexmaps.com/gaia-matrix-points.php">Gaia Complex: Geometry in the Landscape</a>, lists a series of supposedly resonant towns and geographic features, which are connected via lines to form a tight, geometric shape, suggesting some sort of magnetic ordering that lies beneath our feet. The central vertical axis, according to this chart, runs south from Lake Willoughby in Vermont, through the towns of Topsham and West Fairlee, then to Mount Ascutney, Shelburne Falls in Massachusetts, the Barkhamsted Reservoir and Derby in Connecticut, and, finally, “Wappinger Falls, Massachusetts.” The various justifications for each of these places’ power is nebulous: Topsham, Vermont, for example, is described as containing Burnham Mountain, a vista point, and an art colony; Shelburne Falls also has an art center, and is further noted for its “Peace Treaty Site” and its Bridge of Flowers. But there are larger problems: Attempting to map these on an actual map creates difficulties, as these places are not aligned in a perfect North-South axis; they’re literally all over the map. There is no such place as Wappinger Falls, Massachusetts, and certainly it is not south of Derby, Connecticut; Wappinger Falls, New York, is far to the west, along the Hudson River. This is just one example, but it’s indicative of the ways in which ley line maps work: There’s a lot of fudging to make them make sense. If you want a clean, aesthetically-pleasing geometric shape formed by your ley lines, you not only have to stretch actual geography, but also stretch what does and does not constitute a data point significant enough to be charted. <figure class="article-pullquote-container"> <aside class="article-pullquote"> <blockquote class="article-pullquote-content">[Ley lines] posit a single order that unites and supersedes any number of pre-existing orders.</blockquote> </aside> </figure> Alternately, you can just start connecting lines on the map until you end up with something approaching visual chaos. Many online maps of ley lines more closely resemble a common trope of film and TV: the conspiracy wall. A cliché that’s now <a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/pepe-silvia">descended into parody</a>, the conspiracy wall—where a series of newspaper clippings, photographs, and other ephemera are tacked to a wall and usually connected with bright red string—first started appearing in films like Memento and A Beautiful Mind, where they offered a visual metaphor to reflect the troubled, paranoid minds of the films’ protagonists. They soon found their way to police procedurals like The Wire and True Detective, where often as not they represented actual conspiracies—the idea being that only by spreading out all the data visually and connecting individual pieces via string could the larger picture be understood. Ley lines offer the same tantalizing possibility: a hidden map that reveals unseen connections and, through them, a larger picture of the truth. They offer the forest for the trees, the puzzle for the pieces. They are a reaction, perhaps, against the seeming chaos of nature itself—why a swamp forms here, why a ridge of mountains pushes up there—along with the cacophony of human decision making (How did Sacramento end up winning out over San Jose in becoming California’s capital?). <hr class="baseline-grid-hr" /> But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t drawn to these maps, skeptical as I might be of their veracity. The appeal to me is not as any kind of representation of the real world, but as an aesthetic rendering divorced from the real world—a cartography gone haywire, a new strangeness underfoot. Perhaps it’s because we don’t have a great language for the actual way in which meaning accrues like a palimpsest on the land. Translating all this history, these conflicting layers, into something spurious offers a shape to the world, however illusory. I’m not the only one. Watkins’s original project quietly became an important—if subtle—influence on <a href="https://umfa.utah.edu/land-art/about">the land art movement</a> of the 1960s and ’70s. In 1967, British conceptual artist Richard Long took a photograph titled A Line Made by Walking, which depicts a straight line of trampled and dead grass in an otherwise verdant field: Long walked repeatedly the same route until the path itself was visible, and though he wouldn’t learn of Watkins’s old straight track until 1971, commentators noted the parallels almost immediately. The artist Hamish Fulton was far more explicitly influenced by Watkins; he sought out the first editions of Watkins’s work as inspiration for his 1969 piece Straight Line Walk. Dubious as archaeology, Watkins’s work offered inspiration for these artists in ways very different than it did for the pseudoscientific community. Art critic Stephen Daniels, tracing the influence of Watkins’s work on the land art movement, notes that his vision of England as connected by ley lines attempts to “articulate a free trade utopia, enabled by an enlightened planning regime, looking back and forward to a liberal landscape without landlordism,” offering a “pre-enclosure vision” of England that cuts “across established propertied interests.” The contemporary world, after all, is already gridded with lines—railway tracks, interstates, property lines, and the boundaries of towns, cities, counties and states—all of which are necessary to keep private property and capitalism functioning and running on schedule. To re-envision the world via ley lines is to argue for an alternative cartography in which these concerns are superseded by something more fundamental. <figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/104704/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> I began this column by trying to understand and work through Mark Fisher’s definition of “eerie,” which he posits is a feeling that accompanies either “absence where there should be presence,” or “presence where there should be absence.” The inexplicable coordination and seeming group sentience in Daphne du Maurier’s short story “The Birds” suggests presence where there should be only the wildness of nature; the unexplained mystery of the Mary Celeste unsettles because where we expect some kind presence, there is only absence. The metaphysical approach to ley lines, by this logic, attempts to suggest presence where we expect absence: a hidden but durable organizing feature that explains the seemingly random ordering of geography. It seeks to reduce all the cacophonous wonder of the world to something clear and uniform, a secret pattern that is the key to decoding everything. But the inspiration that land artists took from Watkins, divorced necessarily from any attempt at veracity—and certainly any metaphysical overtones—may be an attempt to wrest absence from presence. To think with ley lines as an aesthetic exercise is to attempt to imagine a world prior to rigorously divided property, and a world without firmly distinct eons and eras—a line that can cut through taxonomy and order and law, and create other kinds of meaning. Or, indeed, even the mere absence of meaning. The ley line–inspired land art I admire most undoes the lines that grid our lives for the purpose of circulating capital by positing alternatives. From <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/spiral-jetty">Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty</a> to the work of Andy Goldsworthy, they involve, in some form or other, creating or establishing lines that cut through nature, that give a shape and order to the freeform chaos of the natural world. These works do not “symbolize” anything, and they don’t substitute a new kind of meaning for an old one. They simply cut through the land, making the natural into the unnatural, undoing whatever we know of the world without seeking to replace that knowledge with anything new.]]> </description> </item> <item> <title>What Lies Beneath the Gravestone of a Fictional It Girl?</title> <dc:creator>Allegra Rosenberg</dc:creator> <pubDate>Tue, 11 Feb 2025 17:30:00 -0500</pubDate> <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/trinity-churchyard-charlotte-temple-grave</link> <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/trinity-churchyard-charlotte-temple-grave</guid> <description> <![CDATA[In the historic <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/trinity-churchyard">Trinity Churchyard</a> in lower Manhattan, just off Wall Street, lies the grave of a woman who never existed. But two centuries ago, any American in the habit of reading novels would have known the name engraved on the slab: Charlotte Temple. The sight of the tomb might have evoked sighs or even tears in the tender-hearted readers of Susanna Rowson’s 1791 novel Charlotte, A Tale of Truth, who would have recalled how Miss Temple, a naive 16-year-old British girl, had been seduced by the villainous rake Lord Montraville, brought to America, and then abandoned as he went off to marry another woman and fight in the Revolutionary War. The book was hugely popular—it was the bestselling novel in America for half a century, right up until the release of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Heartstrings across the new nation were pulled by the ending of the tale, in which Charlotte dies penniless in wintry <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/new-york">New York City</a> after giving birth, her father arriving too late to save her. Professor Ivy Linton Stabell, who teaches the book to her literature students at Iona University, says that the melodramatic tale appealed to all different kinds of Americans, because the story about a young, vulnerable woman being faced with difficult circumstances in New York, after betrayal by a powerful Englishman, paralleled the story of their nation. “The book resonated with people on the explicit character level, but also the implicit big-picture idea about America as a new country,” Stabell says. In Charlotte, Americans saw not only their own personal heartbreaks and miseries, but the United States’ struggle for independence and recognition in the post-Revolutionary era. <figure class="article-image-full-width contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/lg/104702/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> At the time of the book’s initial release in America, the novel was a genre viewed with suspicion by Enlightenment-era moral critics. The reaction to Charlotte’s death was the perfect example of why, explains the scholar Cathy Davidson, who has written extensively about Charlotte Temple and its author Susanna Rowson. Novels had the power to bring forth a deep emotional identification between reader and subject, one which “subverts moral censure.” Charlotte broke the rules by eloping and becoming pregnant out of wedlock—but instead of seeing her death as fitting punishment for immorality, readers pitied her, wept for her, and made her into something of a folk hero. Pilgrims to Charlotte’s gravestone—men, women, even newly married couples on their honeymoons—left flowers, cards, and their tears at the “shrine of the girl who died for love.” Many of the visitors believed she was a real person, a belief supported by churchyard caretakers who would answer in the affirmative if asked by visitors if Charlotte was really buried there. The grave was so popular that gardeners marked it with flowers—the only location in the churchyard so decorated—so that they could easily point it out when asked. Susanna Rowson always insisted that Temple was based on a real person. Although there was no evidence for this, it was taken as gospel by readers as well as reporters, who observed the continuing popularity of Temple’s tomb throughout the latter half of the 19th century. It became a popular topic for newspaper articles, often ones purporting to know the true story of the woman in the grave and her sad end. At the time, the grave bore a rectangular depression (often filled with water and visited by birds) that many assumed had once been filled by a marble or silver plaque with more details about the deceased. This apparent absence was cause for great speculation, and added to the mystique of the grave. Had someone stolen the plaque? If so, why? <figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/104686/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> In an 1888 interview, William Kelby, at the time the librarian of the New York Historical Society, told a reporter that decades earlier, “[people] were not so quick to discern between facts and fiction as they are now in this novel-writing and novel-reading age,” and thus were likely to believe that there really was a Charlotte Temple, and she really was buried beneath the slab at Trinity. The origin of the grave was much more mundane, Kelby asserted. It was most likely a stonecutter involved with the 1840s rebuilding of the church (after structural problems had condemned the 1790 edifice) who laid the stone and cut Charlotte’s name into it. This is the story still told by churchyard tour guides today, as Trinity archivist Kathryn Hurwitz explained. The timeline fits: There are no references to the tomb existing before the 1850s, and the current Trinity church building was built in the mid-1840s. The tombstone is made of the same New Jersey brownstone as the building, and so was probably laid around the same time, underneath one of the many temporary work tents that occupied the churchyard during construction. “There's nobody down there,” she clarified. “If there was at some point, they weren't Charlotte, because Charlotte [was] not a real person.” After over a century of curiosity, the Trinity archives team received the go-ahead to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/13/nyregion/13trinity.html">investigate the grave</a> in 2008. This involved lifting the slab to check if there was a burial vault underneath it—there wasn’t—and then inserting a scope into the packed earth to see if any remains could be detected—none were found. So it probably wasn’t the noblewoman Charlotte Stanley, who many pointed to as potential inspiration for Charlotte Temple’s story, nor any actual New York woman coincidentally named Charlotte Temple. Ivy Stabell points out that the grave might have been a kind of get-rich-quick scheme. Whoever created it might have been “someone who had kind of a savvy business sense about them,” she said. “[It was] the era where tourism was beginning, regular middle-class people are starting to [tour] around, and guide books to places like New York are being published.” <figure class="article-image-full-width contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/lg/104703/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> Stabell’s connection of the grave to commerce makes sense in light of the fact that beginning in the 1820s, popular stage adaptations of Charlotte Temple were being performed at theaters across New York, including in the 1840s at <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-cursed-history-of-pt-barnums-museums">P.T. Barnum’s incredibly popular American Museum</a>. The play version re-popularized the story for new generations of New Yorkers, and whether it was Barnum himself who paid a Trinity workman to illegally carve the slab, perhaps in order to earn a penny or two on giving sentimental audience members tours of the spot (much as an unscrupulous villager did for the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/shropshire/hi/people_and_places/religion_and_ethics/newsid_8468000/8468580.stm">reputed grave of Charles Dickens’s Little Nell</a>), or a workman who had seen the play and was moved enough by it to want to create a monument to the lost maiden, the grave ensured Charlotte’s legend would live on—for a while longer, at least. Professors from local schools will often bring their students to Trinity to explain the phenomenon of Charlotte Temple and what she represents about American literature and novel-reading culture, but these days, “other than academics, people are not coming specifically to see Charlotte,” said Hurwitz. Once upon a time, Charlotte was the most popular grave at Trinity, but today famous neighbors like Alexander Hamilton get more attention. But you don’t need to have been falsely convinced that someone like Charlotte Temple was a real person to want to pay your respects at an important site. Fan pilgrimage for fictional characters is popular worldwide, especially at places related to their deaths—from the <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-reichenbach-falls-schattenhalb-switzerland">Reichenbach Falls</a> in Switzerland, the famous spot of Sherlock Holmes’s “death,” to <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/iantos-shrine">the shrine to Ianto Jones of Torchwood</a>, which visitors have flocked to in Cardiff since 2009. As Charlotte’s visitors in the 1850s knew, the emotional experience of feeling connected to a character in a story, as if they were real, can be a powerful one.]]> </description> </item> <item> <title>This Island in Nova Scotia Seems More Like Scotland Than Canada</title> <dc:creator>Shoshi Parks</dc:creator> <pubDate>Tue, 11 Feb 2025 14:04:00 -0500</pubDate> <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/cape-breton-celtic-traditions</link> <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/cape-breton-celtic-traditions</guid> <description> <![CDATA[Outside the <a href="https://doryman.ca/">Doryman Pub & Grill</a> in Chéticamp, rain falls like a gray veil across Cape Breton’s Highlands. But inside the tavern, the crowd buzzes with warmth and electricity, as they wait for the afternoon’s music to begin. Up until the mid-1950s, this island at the farthest eastern reaches of <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/nova-scotia">Nova Scotia</a> was virtually cut off from the rest of <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/canada">Canada</a>. Isolated by the sea, its people held fast to the traditions they’d brought with them from <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/scotland">Scotland</a>. <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/beltane-origins">Celtic music and dance</a> became central to their new lives in North America. On the stage, the fiddler raises her instrument to her shoulder as the pianist stretches his fingers across the keys. When they begin to play, the tavern ignites at a quick-moving pace, often 108 to 160 beats per minute. When the dance—known as a strathspey—ends, only seconds pass before the musicians launch into the next tune, a reel played in 2/2 time, followed by a jig so frenetic the fiddler’s bow moves at lightning speed. <figure class="article-image-full-width contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/lg/104698/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> Soon, the island's matriarchs rise from tables set with pints and lobster rolls and join together on the dance floor. They step, hop, and heel-toe their way through a complex combination of movements. This dance style, almost lost in Scotland over the last few generations, has remained a powerful force in Cape Breton. Some even say that the island’s Celtic music and dance today have been more purely distilled from their Scottish roots than those found within Scotland itself. Kenneth MacKenzie, however—a musician, Gaelic language teacher, and the chair of the board of directors at the Montessori-style Gaelic immersion school <a href="https://taighsgoile.ca/">Taigh Sgoile Na Drochaide</a>—hesitates to use those terms when describing Cape Breton’s music. “I think it just evolved differently,” he says. Unlike in Scotland, where the connection between music and dance significantly unraveled over the years, “the dance tradition is absolutely critical to our tradition here, and that’s what keeps you true to what the music is or should be.” <figure class="article-image-full-width contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/lg/104697/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-to-make-beltane-bannock-oatcake">Celtic cultural traditions</a>—or more specifically, Gaelic cultural traditions, as Cape Bretonians would say—came to Nova Scotia along with the first immigrants from Scotland. Facing religious persecution and forced removal from their lands, Highlanders and those from islands like <a href="https://museum.novascotia.ca/fr/resources/gaels/gaelic-immigration-nova-scotia#:~:text=Between%201773%20and%201850%2C%20tens,similar%20traditions%2C%20dialects%20and%20beliefs.">Barra, Skye, and North and South Uist</a> began to move en masse across the Atlantic in the late 1700s to seek out new fortunes. Between 1774 and 1838, chain migration had caused Cape Breton’s population to <a href="https://dalspace.library.dal.ca/bitstream/handle/10222/57609/dalrev_vol21_iss3_pp313_324.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">skyrocket from around 1,000 to more than 35,000</a> people. “Those first years were horrendous for them,” says Dawn Beaton, the artistic director of the <a href="https://celtic-colours.com/">Celtic Colours International Festival</a>. “They came over here, and the winters were nothing like they were in Scotland. There was nothing waiting for them, barely any food. Many families were split, but they were fleeing something they had to flee.” So much was left behind in Scotland but, in Cape Breton’s inhospitable ecosystem, Gaelic music, dance, and language thrived. It was “literally picked up and dropped off” in a place where the scenery was remarkably similar to that of <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/highland-cow-battle-of-culloden">the Highlands back home</a>, says Beaton. At weekly square dances held in homes, halls, and taverns, the traditions were “nurtured and natured.” <figure class="article-image-full-width contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/lg/104696/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> While bagpipes remained one of Scotland’s three primary instruments, the style in Cape Breton came to be characterized by a fiddle and piano playing with enough energy to carry the percussive rhythm of step dancers. Locals often learn the step-dancing, fiddle, piano, piping, weaving, and Gaelic language at the <a href="https://gaeliccollege.edu/">The Gaelic College</a>, Colaisde na Gàidhlig, which opened in the 1930s. Today, the organization (which includes the <a href="https://www.celticmusiccentre.com/">Celtic Music Interpretive Centre</a> and Taigh Sgoile Na Drochaide) offers summer camps, the <a href="https://www.cbfm.ca/">CBFM</a> radio station that plays music 24/7, and a summer festival called <a href="https://kitchenfest.ca/">Kitchen Fest</a>. “There’s an outside perception that we have maintained something that has been lost in Scotland. An English TV presenter came over and said, ‘you’re more Scottish than the Scots,’” says Beaton. But the difference is that “Scotland had outside influences, it evolved like any place should, and the sound changed, and the dance changed. Cape Breton didn’t.” It's only over the last generation that cultural exchange between Cape Breton, Scotland, and other Gaelic regions has grown. Musicians, dancers, and other artists travel in both directions to participate in educational programs and events like Kitchen Fest and the Celtic Colours Festival, which has been held <a href="https://celtic-colours.com/about/#:~:text=Since%20its%20introduction%20in%201997,of%20Nova%20Scotia's%20tourism%20season.">every October since 1997</a>. <figure class="article-image-full-width contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/lg/104699/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> “It’s fun to see the regional variability, and try to celebrate those differences while exploring the similarities,” says MacKenzie. “At the end of the day, the mutual expression of character and culture really enriches us as humans, as a society.” And even though the ongoing cultural exchange with other Gaelic traditions has the potential to compromise the integrity of Cape Breton’s unique musical style, they are invaluable connections as long as local practitioners navigate their differences with intentionality. “The more we can do to celebrate all of our cultures on Cape Breton—the Gaelic, the Mi’kmaq, the French Canadian—the better we are,” MacKenzie concludes. Gaelic traditions like music, dance, and language “can’t just be for show,” confirms Beaton. “They have to be lived. We in Cape Breton, we’re still fighting for it all the time.” Just like it was in the late-18th and early-19th centuries, Gaelic culture is “a way of life, an identity in Cape Breton,” she says. “We’ll never be apathetic [to those traditions].” <figure class="article-image-full-width contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/lg/104695/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure>]]> </description> </item> <item> <title>Found in the Seine: DNA From a Nearly Extinct Mussel</title> <dc:creator>Atlas Obscura</dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 10 Feb 2025 14:00:00 -0500</pubDate> <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/seine-cleanup-rare-mussel-dna</link> <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/seine-cleanup-rare-mussel-dna</guid> <description> <![CDATA[<div> This story was originally published in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/04/dna-of-rare-mussels-found-in-river-seine-raises-hopes-that-paris-clean-up-is-working">The Guardian</a> and appears here as part of the <a href="https://www.climatedesk.org/">Climate Desk</a> collaboration. </div> Traces of rare mussels sensitive to pollution and thought to be on the point of extinction in <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/france">France</a> have been discovered in the Seine in <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/paris-france">Paris</a>, raising hopes that efforts to clean up the river that bisects the French capital might be succeeding. The findings were made after <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/jul/17/paris-mayor-anne-hidalgo-fulfils-olympic-promise-swim-in-the-seine-cleanup-pollution">Olympic swimming events were held in the Seine</a> last year—the first time swimming in the river has been deemed safe in a century. Scientists looking at large water samples from eight points on the river in the city center said they uncovered the DNA of 23 different types of mussels—including three classified as near extinct—and 36 species of fish, 10 times more than in the river in the 1960s. Researchers were looking at the effect of artificial urban lighting on biodiversity when they made the discovery. "All organisms lose skin cells all the time and we recover the DNA of these cells from the environment," said Vincent Prié, a hydrobiologist specializing in freshwater mussels at the Sygen laboratory that carried out the research. "We filter the water and sequence it. This potentially gives us a list of everything that lives. And that’s what’s so interesting, because we didn’t expect to find them in Paris at all, because they’re under threat." The groundbreaking study of environmental DNA (known as eDNA) consists of identifying the presence of species in an environment based on the traces they leave. The scientific team found traces of thick shelled river mussel, the black river mussel, and the depressed river mussel, three species classified as almost extinct. <figure class=" contains-caption "><img class="article-image with-structured-caption " src="https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/104680/image.jpg" alt="article-image" width="auto" data-kind="article-image" /></figure> The depressed river mussel, also known as the compressed anodont, which can grow up to 8 centimeters in length, had disappeared from almost all the country except the northeast. "It’s really surprising to find it in an environment like Paris," Prié <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/en/environment/article/2025/01/30/three-rare-and-endangered-mussel-species-discovered-in-the-heart-of-paris_6737578_114.html">told Le Monde</a>. The mussels, which are sensitive to water quality, would improve the aquatic environment as each mollusk can filter up to 40 liters of water a day, he said. "It contributes to the natural purification of the river," Prié said. Prié said it was too early to link the presence of the mollusks to any specific clean-up measures carried out by the city’s authorities, suggesting it could be down to warmer water or artificial lighting. "It’s a bit of a shortcut. Honestly scientifically we don’t know. It is quite possible that it has 'reappeared' in Paris from populations we don’t know about elsewhere in the Seine basin." Vincent Vignon, an ecologist who took part in the study, said the rare mussels were "very demanding and only settle in water that is not too polluted." He added: "There’s clearly something special going on in Paris that we don’t yet fully understand."]]> </description> </item> <item> <title>Nectar Soda</title> <pubDate>Tue, 03 Dec 2024 11:00:00 -0500</pubDate> <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/nectar-soda</link> <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/nectar-soda</guid> <description> <![CDATA[<img alt="An Aglamesis nectar soda." data-width="4344" data-height="4043" width="300" height="200" src="https://img.atlasobscura.com/gLqA8RaTQNIL0MupnRjPCWB4QRxXZdJs1eCFvMqaXY8/rs:fill:300:200:1/g:ce/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL3RoaW5n/X2ltYWdlcy80YTQw/MzA1NC04MjBhLTQw/MmEtYmU5My1iYWZi/YWU5ZGViNDc5Y2Rk/YjY1YjA4NGY1MmFm/YzRfQWdsYW1lc2lz/IG5lY3RhciBzb2Rh/IG9uIHRhYmxlIDIu/anBn.jpg" /> Though Cincinnati is best known for breweries, another effervescent beverage has a long history in the Queen City: the nectar soda. Home to the oldest pharmacy college in the U.S. west of the Alleghenies, the<a href="https://lloydlibrary.org/research/archives/eclectic-medicine/"> Eclectic Medical Institute</a> (1845-1952), and<a href="https://lloydlibrary.org/about/a-brief-history-of-the-lloyd-library-and-museum/"> Lloyd Brothers Pharmacists</a>, Cincinnati was long on the forefront of the pharmaceutical industry. The city had a number of apothecaries with soda fountains, as well as confectioners serving countless carbonated concoctions—some claiming to cure a variety of ailments, and others simply providing customers with something sweet and refreshing to drink. Enter the nectar soda. The flavor is a combination of vanilla and bitter almond, and the drink is pastel pink in color—a nod to the hue of almond flowers, according to <a href="https://dannwoellertthefoodetymologist.wordpress.com/">Dann Woellert</a>, a Cincinnati food historian, etymologist, and the author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Cincinnati-Candy-History-American-Palate/dp/1467137952">Cincinnati Candy: A Sweet History</a>. Nicknamed the “<a href="https://www.proquest.com/hnpcincinnatienquirershell/historical-newspapers/august-2-1942-page-55-108/docview/1882746511/sem-2?accountid=39387">drink of the gods</a>,” the bitter almond flavor of nectar soda balances out what would otherwise be overly sweet vanilla, creating an addictive taste that grows on you with each sip. Nectar sodas have been served in Cincinnati since at least the late 1870s, though, like many iconic foods and beverages, its precise origins are murky. The only other U.S. city to embrace nectar sodas was New Orleans, but unlike Cincinnati, the tradition fizzled out in the Big Easy in the mid-20th century. Plus, Woellert says that the Queen City popularized them first. “They were served in Cincinnati nearly a decade before New Orleans,” he says. While the Cincinnati nectar soda has multiple origin stories, each crediting a different pharmacist or confectioner, Woellert has concluded that <a href="https://www.proquest.com/hnpcincinnatienquirershell/historical-newspapers/april-13-1947-page-98-151/docview/1882885311/sem-2?accountid=39387">John Mullane</a> created the flavor after traveling to Quebec City to learn the art of confectionery from a prominent Canadian candymaker. He began serving nectar sodas in his confectionery shop in downtown Cincinnati in the late 1870s. So, why did the nectar soda end up in Cincinnati and New Orleans, of all places? Wollert suspects that the bitter almond and vanilla flavor was used by the French Acadians who settled in both Quebec City and New Orleans. Though nectar sodas aren’t as common as they were in the early 20th century, when they could be found at countless confectioneries and pharmacy soda fountains across Cincinnati, they’re still served at establishments throughout the city and the surrounding area. Nectar sodas have been on the menu at ice cream and chocolate shop <a href="https://www.aglamesis.com/">Aglamesis Brothers</a> since it opened in Cincinnati in 1908, if not shortly thereafter. That’s according to company president and CEO Randy Young, who is also a third-generation family member. It’s unclear when nectar sodas were added to the <a href="https://digital.cincinnatilibrary.org/digital/collection/p16998coll32/id/2220/rec/19">menu</a> at <a href="https://www.graeters.com/">Graeter’s</a>, a Cincinnati ice cream and chocolate shop that opened in 1870 and now has locations throughout the city and the Midwest, but Chip Graeter, chief of retail operations and a fourth-generation family member, says that they were especially popular throughout the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. In a <a href="https://www.proquest.com/hnpcincinnatienquirershell/historical-newspapers/january-28-1947-page-2-26/docview/1882876222/sem-2?accountid=39387">January 28, 1947 article</a> in the Cincinnati Enquirer, Tom Moore, the head of the soda department at Dow Drug Store—which operated 32 soda fountains throughout the metropolitan area at that time—said that “nectar is one of the most popular flavors in all of their stores, and has been for many years.” Five years prior, <a href="https://www.proquest.com/hnpcincinnatienquirershell/historical-newspapers/august-16-1942-page-63-99/docview/1882739776/sem-2?accountid=39387">Dow ran an ad</a> in the same newspaper which read: “Be glad you live in Cincinnati, the only place in the country where you can enjoy a Dow double-dip nectar soda.” Originally, nectar syrup was made by combining half-and-half or milk with water, bitter almond extract, vanilla extract and red food coloring. While Aglamesis eventually switched to a dairy-free shelf-stable syrup, Graeter's recipe has never changed—it still contains milk and needs to be refrigerated. Both Aglamesis and Graeter’s make nectar soda by mixing nectar syrup with a dollop of whipped cream, adding a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream, then topping it off with some soda water and more whipped cream. Though Young says that nectar sodas are most popular with older adults, they’re also a hit with members of younger generations who try them. “People who grew up with them still love them today,” Graeter says. “We still make them in all of our stores, but they're not nearly as popular today as they once were, simply because milkshakes and smoothies have taken over.” According to Young, there is a commercially available descendant of <a href="https://www.coca-cola.com/us/en/brands/barq-s">the nectar soda</a>. “Commercial soda companies like Barqs and others came out with their version of cream soda—a bright pink soda—which got its flavoring from nectar soda,” he explains.]]> </description> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/soda">soda</category> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/drinks">drinks</category> </item> <item> <title>Tiquira</title> <pubDate>Wed, 03 Apr 2024 19:17:00 -0400</pubDate> <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/tiquira</link> <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/tiquira</guid> <description> <![CDATA[<img alt="" data-width="5456" data-height="3632" width="300" height="200" src="https://img.atlasobscura.com/AVz4e7Gut8Wj5dEAKjG4GdVeQ-Naog6rw3iXhMFXb0k/rs:fill:300:200:1/g:ce/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL3RoaW5n/X2ltYWdlcy9mMjk5/MWM1Mi05NDFkLTRk/ODYtYjMxZC0xZTU1/OTI0ZjI2M2Q3MDUx/Mzk4NTM2MTc1YzZh/ZDhfRFNDMDk5MTUu/SlBH.jpg" /> Indigenous Brazilians have fermented alcoholic beverages from the cassava root for thousands of years. These beer-like beverages go by names like cauim, caxiri, and tarubá. Fermentation is an important step in cassava processing—the raw root has chemicals that can turn into cyanide in the human body. Native peoples found that a bit of human saliva and some naturally occurring yeast could eliminate these toxins and improve the nutritious value of the tuber. When the technology of distillation arrived to the Munim River region (now in Maranhão), locals who already drank lightly alcoholic cassava beverages began to distill them. Tiquira was born. The name tiquira is likely derived from the Tupi word tykyre meaning "to drip." But it is a curiosity that the spirit has flourished in only one Brazilian state, Maranhão. Margot Stinglwagner, founder of <a href="https://www.guaajatiquira.com/en/index.html">Guaaja Tiquira</a>, the first modern brand to produce the spirit starting in 2016, says “It’s a spirit that is also unknown in Brazil. A few people have heard about tiquira—but usually only people who have gone to Maranhão once.” Accordingly, the state moved to declare the spirit as a piece of Cultural and Intangible Heritage <a href="https://www.al.ma.leg.br/noticias/48515">in September 2023</a>. Part of the reason that tiquira has remained so isolated is that cachaça, Brazil’s rum, is far easier to produce. Because the rum comes from sugarcane, the sugar for fermentation is already there. “With cassava, you don’t have sugar,” Stinglwagner explains. “You must first transform the carbohydrates into sugar and then you can ferment and distill it.” To achieve this end, Guaaja Tiquira uses food enzymes instead of the traditional human saliva. Guaaja also differs from other distillers because they use full cassava roots where most tiquira moonshiners rely on processed farinha de mandioca, or cassava flour. “The majority of people produce it illegally,” laughs Stinglwagner. “The state does nothing about it.” Outside of the urban center, tiquira is invariably a homemade product. Generally, tiquira makers don’t separate the "heads" (the first drops of liquor from a distillation, which contain harsher alcohols including toxic methanol and other pungent and volatile flavor compounds) from the "tails" (the final liquid produced from distillation, which has a low alcohol content and can have unwelcome bitter flavors), meaning the spirit is stronger and may contain more toxins and impurities. Some even macerate marijuana into the combined spirit to produce the doubly-illicit tiquiconha. Maranhenses believe that you cannot get wet or bathe after drinking tiquira, lest you become faint or dizzy. Zelinda Machado de Castro e Lima, one of the great chroniclers of folk culture in Maranhão, has recorded other traditions surrounding the drink. Firstly, it is typical to pierce a cashew with a toothpick and soak it in a glass of tiquira for several hours. It is then sucked as a sort of boozy lollipop. She also writes about the belief that those drinking coffee should avoid tiquira, while locals say that fishermen on the coast used the liquor to sanitize wounds incurred on the job. Finally, there is the curious question of the color of tiquira. In the tourist markets of São Luís, the spirit is always blushing a translucent violet. “They say that the color of tiquira is from tangerine leaves, but we tried to do it and the color from the leaves is not stable,” says Stinglwagner. “It is also not a strong color. The norms and laws for tiquira prohibit the addition of the leaves.” The violet color may be artificial (perhaps from food dyes), but some tiquiras do have a citrusy flavor. Tiquira today is still largely relegated to the world of moonshining, but with the government’s recognition of the spirit and new legitimate ventures like that of Guaaja Tiquira, Brazil could be seeing more of the cassava liquor outside of its home in Maranhão. “All the people say to me, ‘What is this new spirit?,’” says Stinglwagner. “I say, ‘It’s not a new spirit, it’s the oldest spirit from Brazil.’” Know Before You Go Tiquira is widely available in the downtown markets of São Luís, Maranhão. Both the local Mercado Central and touristic Mercado das Tulhas have many vendors selling tiquira. The commercial brand, Guaaja Tiquira, is also available in São Luís at Empório Fribal, in addition to Copacabana Palace and Fairmont Hotel in Rio de Janeiro, and Mocotó Bar e Restaurante in São Paulo. ]]> </description> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/distillery">distillery</category> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/colorful-consumables">colorful consumables</category> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/alcohol">alcohol</category> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/drinks">drinks</category> </item> <item> <title>Maultaschen</title> <pubDate>Wed, 21 Feb 2024 11:00:00 -0500</pubDate> <link>https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/maultaschen</link> <guid>https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/maultaschen</guid> <description> <![CDATA[<img alt="Maultaschen can contain a number of different fillings. " data-width="2500" data-height="1875" width="300" height="200" src="https://img.atlasobscura.com/ra2_Vn6gdr9tweWqKKQljzyxXDXHA_0H-9IkiLmOorM/rs:fill:300:200:1/g:ce/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL3RoaW5n/X2ltYWdlcy8zYzNl/ZTFjZi0wMDRmLTQ3/NGUtYTVmMS0yY2My/ZjQxZDFhOWVmZjJh/YTFkNTcxYzIwNmJl/MjdfTWF1bHRhc2No/ZW5fMi5qcGc.jpg" /> The origins of Germany’s Maultaschen are deliciously devious. Legend has it that, in the late Middle Ages, a lay brother named Jakob invented the stuffed pasta dumplings at the Maulbronn Monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage site founded in 1147 by Cistercian monks in southwest Germany. One direct translation of Maultaschen is “mouth pockets,” though “Maul” could just as easily refer to Maulbronn. Maultaschen are usually square dumplings (though sometimes they're rolled) and can be fried in a pan or served in broth. Commonly described as Germany’s version of Italian ravioli, they allegedly emerged as a way to use up an unexpected bounty of meat that Brother Jakob stumbled upon in the forest outside the monastery walls. The twist? Although they abhorred waste, these monks weren’t allowed to eat the meat of four-legged animals, especially during the Catholic fasting period of Lent in the spring. So Brother Jakob minced the meat with herbs and onions and wrapped everything inside pasta dough, hiding the forbidden flesh from the eyes of his fellow monks—and even from the eyes of God. In Swabia, the region encompassing much of Baden-Württemberg and part of Bavaria where Maultaschen originated, one of the colloquial names for the food references this deception directly: Herrgottsbescheißerle means “little God-cheaters.” Everyone in Swabia has their version of the legend with more or less embellishment. Ludwig Nestler holds a master’s degree in heritage conservation and works for the State Palaces and Gardens of Baden-Württemberg, a government organization that oversees monuments like Maulbronn Monastery. His version of the tale includes a sack of stolen meat dropped in the woods by a fleeing thief, which inspires Brother Jakob’s trickery in the kitchen. But he acknowledges that there’s no undisputed “historically correct version” of how Maultaschen came to be. Similarly, everyone in Swabia has their own Maultaschen recipe, with unique ingredients for the minced filling, called Brät. “Traditionally the Brät is made from pork mixed with herbs, onions, and occasionally bread crumbs for texture and stability,” says Nestler. Swabia, however, “was a rather poor region with limited amounts of meat due to rather unfertile land, so being adaptive and innovative has always been a part of the people’s nature.” As Maultaschen became popular, fish and seasonal vegetables like spinach, carrots, beets, and mushrooms became common inclusions. Today, the European Union ties Maultaschen to Swabia with a <a href="https://www.tmdn.org/giview/gi/EUGI00000013631">Protected Geographical Indication</a>, which lists required ingredients the authentic product should feature, but even the necessary inclusions are pretty loose, such as “pork and/or beef and/or veal” for meat Brät and “typical regional vegetables” for meat-free Brät. It speaks to the way the dumplings developed as subsistence food, used to stretch leftovers and reduce food waste. Today, Germans throughout the country enjoy Maultaschen in dozens of flavors in all seasons thanks to grocery stores that stock packaged varieties made by companies like Ditzingen-based Bürger, whose mascot, <a href="https://www.buerger.de/buerger-welt/erwin/">Erwin</a>, is a Maultasche (the singular form of the plural Maultaschen). But the dumplings remain most popular in southern Germany. Maulbronn Monastery offers a special tour that pairs Maultaschen with wine from the monastery’s vineyards. And many locals, including Nestler’s family, still make them from scratch on special occasions—even during Lent, when meat might otherwise be off the menu. There’s no telling if it’s a fraud good enough to fool God, but it’s worth a shot.]]> </description> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/lent-food">lent food</category> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/food">food</category> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/monasteries">monasteries</category> <category domain="https://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/dumplings">dumplings</category> </item> </channel> </rss>