Let's Fire Up Those Neurons!

Yes, the site is Wadi Al-Hatan a.k.a 'Whale Valley'


Significance of the site: The fossils in the site provide evidence for evolution of whales (or cetaceans) , how some of the mammals retreated to aquatic living foraging for food in rich mineral based waters in Africa.


Iain Stewart did a program explaining super-plume in 'Rise of the Continents' and in the 'Africa' edition he narrated throwback evolution of land mammals.


BBC Two - Rise of the Continents, Africa


(Ow! He is in fact pictured with one of the fossils in the home page)

 

Cracked the squared 'Round'!
Additional Clue: Soka is doing Simon Schama today!

 

Well, not enough to just identify that glum looking chap. We need the other image & the connection as well, although that should be easy! ;-)

 

Uh-Oh I forgot, we still had that connection to be ironed out! Duh ..

 

Got it! shall I tell or wait? (I'm always dithering about that...or should I resort to pm?)

 

That's up to you. If you have the time to lay out your Brownian meanderings to the solution, or if you have additional thoughts then so much the better!

I generally tend to first say "got it!" as you did - that conveys the notion that the clues are not too weak (I worry about that!), leaving room for others to play. I add a clue to nudge them closer or maybe farther away? ;-)

The goal is entertainment, so if you want to lay out the solution, go for it!
What I mean is: don't simply state the answer, entertain us with how you got there (if you feel like it, that is)!

I am trying to devise the puzzle so that even if you have never heard of the person, place, animal, mineral or thing or never seen an image remotely like it, you still have a good shot at solving it, working out from the clues. Familiarity with the subject at hand may be advantageous, but not mandatory. Hence my urge to find out how you interpreted the clues.

 

Soka, your clues were just right. Clue #2 is the strongest and most revealing and juxtaposed with clue #1 can point in only 1 direction. I'll admit the ship threw me off for a while but not for long.


Clue:

As square as his head was round,
Beheaded, but -
Of natural causes brought down,
Ne’er on that vessel
Was this Lord General found,
And Yet -
Well joined is he to her,
By their nom de guerre!

Only additional clue I can think of (though not really necessary): Part of a traditional curse in a certain country