Introduction:
- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... Italy.html -Despite thousands of years of hard work by brilliant scholars, the great enigma of where Hannibal crossed the Alps to invade Italy remained unsolved.
But now it looks like we may just have cracked it - all thanks to modern science and a bit of ancient horse faeces.
...
Even Napoleon is known to have shown an interest, but until now, there’s not been any solid archaeological evidence.
An international team, led by Bill Mahaney of York University in Toronto, has finally provided such evidence for the most likely transit route - a pass called the Col de Traversette.
Body:
HOW THEY IDENTIFIED THE ROUTE
With the help of geological expeditions, the researchers were able to fit the location of Col de Traversette to descriptions of the terrain and rockfalls to historical accounts of Hannibal's journey.
They then used a combination of microbial analysis, environmental chemistry and pollen analysis to identify a mass deposition of faecal material around a pond close to Col de Traversette.
The dung can be dated to around 200BC using carbon isotope analysis.
Analysis of the soil from the site revealed high levels of Clostridia bacteria, which are found in high concentrations in horse dung.
The pond would also have provided a natural watering hole for Hannibal's animals.
Experts believe he may have taken this dangerous route to avoid ambushes from the local Gaul tribes that roamed the area.
Accomplishment:
- search a mass deposition of faecal material of tapirs ***
- check it for tapir-dung-specific bacteria
- write an essay about dung
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***
The search area can be (take Your pick...)
- the two Americas - south and north
- middle America
- the New York area
- Italy
- Far East
- any other
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Epilogue:
