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"ALTERNATIVE EGYPT" A Conference of exclusive in-depth lectures on historical enigmas, forbidden archaeology and ancient Egypt PROGRAMME 10.00 OPENING ADDRESS 10.15 MICHAEL CARMICHAEL 11.05 Break 11.20 MICHAEL CREMO It proposed that firm evidence exists to demonstrate that modern man has been on the earth not for 200,000 years, as is commonly believed, but tens of millions of years. Moreover, that he co-existed with species of now extinct hominids that evolved not into homo sapiens but into the illusive sasquatch or yeti. Human remains, stone tools and more advanced artefacts have cropped up repeatedly in geological strata which correspond to ages that greatly predate the accepted evolution of humanity. Systematically, this evidence has been either ignored or suppressed by the academic community who refuse to even consider its validity. Michael will speak about the dozens of stone tools and implements found by gold miners deep inside Table Mountain, California, and recorded in 1880 by state geologist Dr J. D. Whitney. The strata in question belongs to the Eocene epoch, which corresponds to a time-frame between 65 and 38 millions years ago. Then there is the mystery of the footprints of modern man found at Laetoli, Tanzania, by Mary Leakey in 1979. The rock layer in question is 3.7 million, the age of the oldest known hominid, or ancestor of modern man. He will talk also about the case of Virginia Steen-McIntyre, an American geologist, called in to date stone artefacts and human remains found at two site excavations in Mexico - Hueyatlaco and El Horno. After careful consideration of the rock strata in question she concluded that the finds came from a layer corresponding to 250,000 years ago. Archaeologists only believe that ancient man entered the American continent from northeast Asia around 30,000 years ago. These and many more cases are cited by Michael in this extraordinary lecture which, if valid, is set to change our entire perspective of human evolution. Not to be missed. 12.10 Break 12.25pm VICTOR CLUBE
Apart from upsetting civilisation through periodic catastrophes, the evolution of each giant comet also provides intervals of respite from catastrophe when mankind largely survives and establishes new evolutionary heights. The picture that emerges therefore is one of punctuated equilibrium not just with respect to biological/geological evolution but with respect to recent sociological evolution as well. Victor Clube is co-author of several books (e.g. THE COSMIC WINTER, THE ORIGIN OF COMETS and THE COSMIC SERPENT) and is currently Senior Visiting Fellow at Armagh Observatory. In his lecture, Victor will outline and build on pioneering work explored in his books which explore how certain myths and legends from Egypt and elsewhere preserve a memory of comet impacts and other similar cosmic events. 1.15pm Lunch 2.30pm COLIN WILSON If their discoveries are valid, it suggests that both the concept of latitude and the 360-degree division of the earth was devised, perhaps, tens of thousands of years ago. Moreover, that before its destruction around 9500 BC the civilisation responsible for having first mapped the earth was perhaps 90,000 years old.These subjects, and many more featured in Colin and Rand's new book THE ATLANTIS BLUEPRINT, are examined in this unmissable lecture. 3.20 Break 3.35pm GRAHAM PHILLIPS 4.25 Break 4.40pm ANDREW COLLINS 5.45pm MICHAEL BAIGENT In this exclusive lecture, Michael will speak about the loss of past civilisations through the rise in sea-levels in the Mediterranean and the inundation by sand in the Western Desert. He will look at the residues of their knowledge among shamanic cultures from Turkey to Egypt, and also throw new light on the age of the Sphinx and the importance of the Egyptian sources of the Hermetica. 6.40 Break 7.pm NEIL STEEDE He was invited by NBC to work on the ancient Bolivian city of Tiahuanaco, located some 3,200 kilometres above sea-level and 55 kilometres south of Lake Titicaca. He was able to confirm the work conducted here by German-Bolivian scholar Arthur Posnansky, who determined that the city's Kalasasaya Court bore solar orientations which reflected a construction date between 9,000 to 11,000 years ago. Neil will outline his discoveries at Tiahuanaco and then speak on the origins and antiquity of the Giza monuments. Time permitting, he will examine some recent evidence of a foreign influence on the development of Mesoamerican cultures such as the Olmec and Maya. 8pm CLOSING ADDRESS Andrew Collins sums up the day's presentations and advises delegates to check out what they have heard today and then help provide further pieces of the jigsaw that is ancient history.
UNSOLVED
MYSTERIES It will bring together for the first time out-of-place artefacts from all over the world. Key speakers are also being invited to deliver lectures at an opening seminar. Altogether over 150 items have been secured so far for the two month exhibition. They include various crystal skulls, gold models of aeroplanes from Peru, copies of reliefs of ancient 'bulbs' from the Temple of Denderah in Egypt; carved stones from Ica, Peru, as well as some quite remarkable pieces from private collections in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Andrew Collins has been invited to present a lecture at the opening seminar and has also seen photographs of some of the artefacts to go on display, and believe me you have just got see this lot. For instance, from Colombia there are black stone surgical instruments fashioned into strange amphibian like beasts with wavy blades, as well as strange carved disks with curious stars and beasts and unfathomable cups. These last mentioned items are fashioned from black stone. Yet incised, flush, into their surface are circular specks of a red stone. They seem to spiral towards a centre which is the only spot on the cup that it magnetic. Other similar vessels with strange designs also have inexplicable magnetic qualities. There is an eerie quality about some of these artefacts - something that just does not compute with the mindset of the ancient world. For example, the cult centre at Nevali Çori in southwest Turkey was constructed around 8000 BC. Yet its design resembles any place of worship built since that time, for it has four walls, is rectilinear in shape, has a flat floor, an entrance portal, niches, statues, and probably even an altar (as per neighbouring Çayonu). The same format is still being used in the design of churches, synagogues, shrines, temples and mosques today. Yet these items from South America fit no known design ideology found among pre-Columbian cultures, or any ancient world civilisation. There is a true mystery here and it is one that might lead us to better identify traces of a lost civilisation that may not have derived from the mindset of the ancient world. I will bring you more news on this fascinating event as and when I receive details. In the meantime, for more information and to see images of these objects, visit their web site at www.unsolved-mysteries.net.
Tiny
Roman Bust Shows Pre-Columbian Contact With Mexico (Revision III) 'Did Roman explorers discover America 1,300 years ahead of Christopher Columbus' was the headline on page 25 of the DAILY MAIL for Thursday, 10 February 2000. On the same day THE EXPRESS ran a story on page 28 under the banner 'Oldest Latin in America: Bust may prove Romans got there first'. Both stories sought to highlight claims being made in the new issue of the magazine NEW SCIENTIST concerning the recent realisation that a small ceramic head found in 1933 at a site in the Toluca Valley, 72 kilometres west of Mexico City, is in fact Roman in origin. A dating process known as thermoluminescence, which determines the age of ceramics, has found that the tiny bust is approximately 1800 years old. How it might have reached Mexico is the big mystery. The implication, however, is that the head, which shows a full-bearded individual in typical Latin style, was introduced to the New World prior to the age of Columbus. David Kelley, an archaeologist at Canada's University of Calgary stated that the bust was found 'sealed under three floors. It is as close to archaeological certainty as you can get'. Such statements led anthropologist Roman Hristow, formerly of the Southern Methodist University, to conclude that the bust is firm evidence of transatlantic contact between the Old and New World as early as AD 200. Having become interested in the Roman piece, he managed to track it down to a museum in Mexico City, where it had remained since its discovery. It was the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, Germany, who conducted the tests which determined the age of the bust. Afterwards art experts were more willing to accept that it was of Roman manufacture. Hristow who then checked original excavation reports and realised that the bust must have been buried at least nine years before the arrival in Mexico of Hernando Cortés in 1519. Yet this realisation begs the real question of whether or not Roman explorers were making journeys to the Americas around AD 200.Betty Meggers, an anthropologist at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC, has stated that: 'I see no reason why ancient contact is not possible'. She herself has made an extensive study of the similarities between the prehistoric pottery of the Joman culture of Japan and the Valdivia culture of Ecuador. This she believes is evidence of transpacific contact with the Americas as early as 3000 BC. In contrast, other archaeologists remain sceptical over the claims being made by scholars such as Hristow and Meggers. Andrew Selkirk, the editor of CURRENT ARCHAEOLOGY, is of the opinion that: 'It is a big leap to claim that the Romans reached Mexico City when scientists are not certain whether they even reached the Canary Islands. 'You could imagine a ship being wrecked off Newfoundland and you could argue that it had been blown across the ocean, but to claim that a boat got as far as Mexico sounds a bit over the top'. Indeed, Selkirk even went so far as to say: 'It could have been dropped out of someone's pocket in the 1930s or [was] put there as a spoof. If you had three similar finds in three different places, then maybe that would be more credible'. On a slightly different tack, David Grove, an archaeologist with the University of Illinois, while accepting that the head is Roman, suggests that it could have been taken from a shipwreck during some later age. If this were so, it would remove any significance the bust might play in re-interpreting the history of Mexico. He also points out that there is no significant evidence of the influence of Old World cultures on the development of Mesoamerican civilisations prior to the age of Columbus. Speaking in the wake of lingering rumours and stories of Roman wrecks awaiting investigation off the coasts of Central and South America, Simon Keay, a Roman expert at Southampton University, says that although evidence of Roman contact has been found as far east as India, there are no records of trading routes to the Americas. A Mystery of Two Heads Indeed, I feature the bust in the chapter of GATEWAY TO ATLANTIS entitled 'Shipwrecks and Sailors'. After highlighting the discovery of North African amphorae disgorged from possible Roman wrecks in the so-called Bay of Jars outside of Rio de Janeiro during the 1980s, I introduce the evidence for Roman contact with Mexico. I cite the fired clay bricks used to construct various classical Maya sites in the Yucatán peninsular, in particular the great city of Comalcalco. The walls of its great palace show a remarkable similarity to fired clay structures of the Roman world, while maker's marks have been said to resemble characters from a south-east Asian script. This is territory dealt with in extraordinary detail by British transoceanic expert David Eccott and American archaeologist Neil Steede. I go on to cite the tiny sculpted Roman head highlighted in the NEW SCIENTIST article and in subsequent national news stories in British papers such as THE DAILY MAIL and THE EXPRESS. The ceramic piece came originally from a site named Calixtlahuaca, located some 72 kilometres west of Mexico City. It was excavated in 1933 by archaeologist José Garcia Payón of Mexico's National Museum. According to the reports, it was found, along with various grave goods, in a truncated pyramid structure dating to the twelfth century and belonging to the Toltec culture which thrived during this era. This would then imply that the Roman bust could have been in Mexico for up to 1,000 years, not simply nine or ten years as has been claimed by anthropologist Roman Hristow. Initially it was thought that this fascinating artefact, which takes the form of a terracotta vessel several centimetres in height, is the one pictured in several books on transoceanic contact with a bushy beard and conical cap, like the Phrygian caps worn by the classical gods Perseus and Mithras. Yet the Roman bust that appeared originally in the NEW SCIENTIST article, and subsequently in THE EXPRESS, was an entirely different one without a hat and with much sharper features. After some initial confusion it has now been established that this picture had nothing whatsoever to do with the Calixtlahuaca head, and was used simply, and rather sloppily, to illustrate the news story. American Odyssey I have no objection to the view that Roman explorers, or indeed traders, might have made transpacific journeys to Mexico as early as AD 200. However, we must also not ignore the clear evidence for transatlantic contact by Romans during this same epoch. We have the evidence of the amphorae and possible wrecks (yes, wrecks in plural) awaiting investigation off the coast of Brazil. There is another Roman wreck lying off the coast of Honduras in Central America. As early as 1976 it was disgorging amphorae which have been determined to be of Punic, i.e. North African, origin. There is also the case of the Roman coin hoard found washed up in a jar on a beach in north-east Venezuela. The age of the coins span an immensely-long period that stretches between the reign of Caesar Augustus (63 BC-AD 14) and a date of around AD 350. Since the hoard includes many duplicates, there seems very little likelihood that it could have been a discarded or buried collection of colonial origin, or that it might have been part of a national treasure trove on its way either to or from the New World. What seems more likely is that it is the wealth of a Roman trader lost overboard when his ship was wrecked sometime around AD 350. Remember, a vessel that follows the North Equatorial Current westwards from the Cape Verdes will be carried directly to the northern coast of Venezuela, almost precisely where the hoard was found. The coins are now in the possession of the Smithsonian Institution. In addition to this evidence there are numerous examples of Roman amphorae and coins having been found in New England, indicating that Roman vessels were also using the so-called Northwest Passage to reach North America via the Faeroes, Iceland, Greenland, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Lastly, the sheer fact that Dr Heine-Geldern cites the fact that the Calixtlahuaca head sports a cap found among the sailors of Pylos hints at a possible maritime connection between this object and its arrival in Mexico. Pylos, by the way, was a town of Messenia, located on the western coast of the Peloponnesus, opposite the island of Sphacteria in the Ionian Sea. So when considering the possibility of Roman contact across the Pacific, one should also not forget the Atlantic trade routes that were inherited by the Romans most probably from the Berbers and Taureg peoples of North Africa after the fall of Carthage in 147 BC. With respect to Simon Keay's statement in the DAILY MAIL to the effect that there is no evidence of trade routes to the Americas I need only to cite the words of Statius Sebosus, a Roman geographer quoted in the works of Caius Solinus and Pliny the Elder. He recorded that the islands of the Hesperides lay 40 days' sail beyond the Gorgades. Since it can be adequately demonstrated that the Gorgades, or the islands of the Gorgons, were the Cape Verde islands, located off the coast of Senegal in West Africa, and the Hesperides were located in the Far West, there is every reason to believe that Sebosus was alluding to a transatlantic journey time between Africa and the West Indies. The Hesperides were certainly taken to be the West Indies by Spanish explorers and chroniclers shortly after the discovery of the New World, and there is every reason to believe that they got it right. Solinus and Pliny would seem to have preserved a knowledge of transatlantic contact either prior to or contemporary with Sebosus' lifetime (he is thought to have lived in c. 100 BC). If so, then who exactly was making these journeys? Was it the Romans, or could Sebosus have been recalling much earlier journeys made to and from the West Indies by Iberic Phoenicians and Carthaginians? With respect to the statement made by David Grove of the University of Illinois to the effect that although the Calixtlahuaca bust is Roman it could have come from a Roman shipwreck, I can say only this. If it did come from a shipwreck then it is yet further evidence that Roman vessels reached as far as Mexico. However, I feel it is far more likely that goods for trade were brought to the American mainland by Roman explorers in the time period of its manufacture. I cannot accept that the Roman head was introduced to the site during excavations in the 1930s, or that it is part of some kind of elaborate hoax. What seems most important is that some scholars are now openly accepting that an item of Roman manufacture has been found through professional excavations at an archaeological site of Mesoamerican origin that predates the time of the conquest. This is an incredible revelation and one which is as significant as the announcement in the 1960s that evidence of Viking occupation had been found at a site named l'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland. Previous to this time scholars have always considered that Roman artifacts found in the Americas were either dropped accidentally or planted deliberately in colonial times. This news also helps strengthen my own theories regarding the manner in which Plato appears to have constructed his Atlantis story from maritime lore reaching the Mediterranean world via Iberic-Phoenician and Carthaginian traders. They, it seems, were making journeys in secret to the West Indies, which were known in Roman times as the Hesperides (after Sebosus and others), as well as the islands left above sea-level following the break up of the Atlantean landmass (after Marcellus and Proclus). I suggest that readers examine GATEWAY TO ATLANTIS for a more detailed account of the evidence for transatlantic journeys to the Americas in ancient times.
The following item appeared in the Maltese national newspaper Il Mument, Sunday 31 October 1999. Unique Discovery in the Maltese Seas Discovery of Structures that resemble megalithic temples in Maltese waters Recently, structures that resemble megalithic temples have been discovered in Maltese waters. These are currently being studied to establish whether they are actually unique megalithic temples. These studies are being carried out by foreign archaeologists, as this discovery has been considered to be of great archaeological importance, and has raised great interest amongst foreign archaeologists. Based on the information that Il-Mument has, this discovery has already been reported in Augsburg, Germany by Professor and Archaeologist Hubert Zeitlmair, in a Paleo Astronaut Society meeting, on the 18th of August 1999. Effectively, the discovery occured on the 13th of July 1999 at 10 a.m. and was photographed. The diver/cameraman who filmed the structures was Shaun Arrigo, while the photographer who took the photos was his brother Kurt. Il-Mument interviewed professor Zeitlmair, who explained that these structures seem to form 2 stone circles. Also, with them are other fallen and broken structures which are long and rectangular and on a sort of platform. They were found in depth of approximately 8 to 15 meters around 3 km off the East coast of Malta. Prof. Zeitlmair also said that these structures are full of vegetation, however it can clearly be seen from the photos and film footage that they resemble a lot of the temples from the period of Hagar Qim. In the zone where the underwater structures have been found, it seems there are also some form of (cart) ruts which resemble those found around on the island. The discovery of these structures will have diverse archaeological interpretations and the first implications are that this could be compared with the temples of Hagar Qim, Hypogeum, Ggantija and Mnajdra, which go back to around 3500 BC. This archaeological discovery has also brought about the discussion amongst archaeologists regarding the period in which they were built. Prof. Zeitlmair sustains that these structures were built a lot earlier than the megalithic temples in Malta and the questions that he is trying to answer are; who built these structures, when did they build them and for what purpose? The inspiration of archaeologist Zeitlmair comes from Zecharia Sitchin's book 'The Earth Chronicles' which talks about the origins of ancient civilization. From this book, and based on how the prehistoric temples were built in Malta and Gozo, Zeitlmar came out with the possibility of more temples and prehistoric structures that are not excavated or discovered. It seems that the thesis of the German archaeologist was built around the possibility that these structures will be found in the Maltese territorial waters.
1st World
Symposium on the Origins of Civilisation and the Anacronisms of Archaeology
As Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh tell us in their book THE ELIXIR AND THE STONE, the spread of the European renaissance in Hermetica began in Italy, more specifically in fountains of wisdom such Venice, Naples and Florence. Today it seems as if it is the Italian academia who are acknowledging and embracing the alternative views of world history and human evolution promoted by many authors, writers and researchers in this field. Over the weekend of Saturday, 25th and Sunday 26th March the tiny republic of San Marino, located between Florence and Rimini, played host to an international conference which brought together a plethora of scientists, writers and scholars who delivered their own quite profound views on the antiquity of the human race and the origins of civilisation. Some of Italy's leading archaeologists, geologists and historians rubbed shoulders with paid up members of the Ancient Astronauts Society, including grand-daddy of the 'Was God an astronaut?' theory Erich von Daniken. Among the subjects covered over the two days was the nature of world catastrophes, the true location of Atlantis, the source of ancient portolan maps, the origins of Pacific culture, the Flood of Noah, ancient technologies of Egypt and China and, of course, evidence of extra-terrestrial visitations in the past. Organisers Robert Pinotti, a well-known Italian writer, and Professor Emilio Spedicato of Bergamo University invited me to deliver a paper on Atlantis in the Caribbean, which was simultaneously translated from English into German and Italian. Since so much of what was said in these lectures was of relevance to both my own work and the subjects of forbidden archaeology, ancient mysteries and lost civilisations in general, I want to outline the contents of as many of these as possible. Please stay with me as I review the two days for there is something in here for everyone. FORBIDDEN ARCHAEOLOGY In 1996 the largest American broadcasting network NBC commissioned the making of a documentary which heavily featured Michael Cremo's forbidden archaeology material. They asked the Museum of Natural History at the University of California whether they might be allowed to film the stone tools of Tuolumne Table Mountain. Not only were they refused permission to even see the items, but Darwinian scientists attempted to persuade NBC to drop the whole project. They didn't, thank God. Indeed, the television channel henceforth promoted the documentary, which was entitled THE MYSTERIOUS ORIGINS OF MAN and presented by actor Charlton Heston, as the programme the scientists don't want you to see. By the way, the BBC flatly refused to broadcast the programme in Britain. FORBIDDEN FOOTPRINTS The situation was made all more complex when it was announced in the mid 1990s that paleontologists in South Africa, led by Ron Clarke, had uncovered at Sterkfontein the skeleton of what they called the oldest ancestor of the human race. a member of the species known as Australopithecus, this hominid stood upright and had toes one and half times larger than those of modern man. Furthermore, his very long big toe stuck outwards at an angle, like a human thumb. in 1999, Michael Cremo told the audience, he lectured at a conference on archaeology where Dr Ron Clarke, the finder of the 3.7 million year old remains, also presented a paper. Mchael asked him why the foot of his Sterkfontein ape man was so different from Mary Leakey's footprints, which resembled those of modern man and were the same age. Clarke replied that these obviously showed Australopithecus walking with his big toe in and the rest of his long toes turned under. at this suggestion, Michael laughed to himself - not because of the throwaway answer but because the entire audience was nodding in agreement! They were not prepared to accept that in Mary Leakey's footprints there was clear evidence here that a form of human being comparable to us today existed in Africa 3.7 million years ago, at the same time as Clarke's ape man. AMERICA'S OLDEST INHABITANTS? Not only did the archaeologist leading the excavation ignore Dr Steen-McIntyre's findings in his report, but he concluded also that the stone tools were just 23,000 years old based on a Carbon-14 date obtained from a site five kilometres away! Sadly, Steen-McIntyre was not only hounded for attempting to defend her findings, but she also lost her position as a university geologist. So bad did this debacle affect her that she became a recluse. Thankfully the whole affair was highlighted by Cremo in FORBIDDEN ARCHAEOLOGY and in the aforementioned NBC documentary, with the result that the site is now being restudied by more open-minded archaeologists. Cremo went on to highlight evidence of stone tools which have been discovered in Belgium within rock strata dated to 30 million years' old. He was able to inspect and photograph the boxes full of these implements on a visit to the museum a few years ago. Although crude in design, they seriously contradict the view currently held by paleontologists, which proposes that sophisticated human beings only appeared around 300,000 years ago. So what is the answer to this perplexing enigma? Perhaps this is a solution in some cases. However, Michael Cremo then detailed a case in which a human skeleton, anatomically similar to modern man, was found beneath a solid layer of slate. The rock strata in question was 300 million years' old! THE OLDER THEY GET Finally, Michael Cremo showed the audience a slide of one of a number of metal spheres, each between one and seven centimeters in diameter, found in mines in South Africa. All of them are perfectly formed and at least one has a series of three parallel grooves running around its equator. Metallurgists say the spheres are not formed naturally, implying that they are of artificial manufacture. The problem here is that the rock strata in which they were found is three billion years' old. There were not even any apes on the planet until 50 million years ago. Geologists will, inevitably, argue that the metal spheres are of natural formation. Yet the possibility remains that intelligent life existed on this planet two billion years ago, and it doesn't even have to have been human in nature. Michael Cremo's presentation quite simply was stunning. If he is correct in his findings it means that the emergence of humanity has taken place on various occasions during the earth's long history (the earliest evidence of life dates to three and a half billion years ago). It is therefore a cyclic process, whereby the current human race is destroyed and reborn time and time again. How advanced it becomes is dependent on how long it is allowed to evolve before its inevitable destruction, most probably through catastrophes caused by cosmic bodies such as comets and asteroids. More disturbing, however, about the evidence presented by Michael Cremo is that the older the human artefacts appear to be the more advanced they seem to become. What this means I am not sure, but certainly it is scary to think about (I blame American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft for unnerving me in this respect!). Over the weekend I was able to spend a considerable amount of time with Michael, discussing his theories and sharing viewpoints. More importantly, I was able to convince him to present his remarkable lecture at this year's Questing Conference to be held at London's Institute of Education on Saturday, 14 October. This therefore becomes an unmissable event, and I urge each and every one of you to listen carefully to what he has to say and read FORBIDDEN ARCHAEOLOGY. It will alter your whole perspective on human evolution, forever! Next up on stage was myself, to be followed after lunch by Emilio Spedicato. He presented an abbreviated version of the lecture he gave at the MYSTERIES OF THE PAST conference in London on 4 March this year (click here for a review), although he did not have time to present his findings with respect to Atlantis being Hispaniola. From the reception he received over the weekend, it is clear that Professor Spedicato is a greatly respected and very influential figure in his field of study. ANTARCTICAN ANTIQUITY
- THE EVIDENCE AT LAST He rejected Charles Hapgood's hypothesis that these same conditions might have been caused by a crustal displacement of the earth's surface brought on by the instability of the ice fields at the poles. He pointed out that Hapgood himself admitted that there were problems with this solution, especially as it could not have taken place instantaneously but would instead have taken place over a period of 5000 years with long periods of inactivity followed by sudden violent shifts in the crust at irregular intervals. The manner in which a cosmic impact might shift the poles is too complex to explain here. Suffice to say that it involves a shift in the bulging of the earth's surface, something which Flavio Barbiero has confirmed through mathematical probability. Antarctica stood in the middle of a huge ocean surrounded by the other great landmasses, making it an ideal location for a high culture displaced when the polar shift took place. Indeed, Barbiero has believed for the past 20 years that Atlantis was Antarctica. Moreover, he suggests that the Antarcticans belonged to an Austronesian race that occupied either Australia or Island Southeast Asia around 40,000 and 50,000 years ago. Having taken advantage of the prevailing currents that would carry a vessel westwards towards the tip of Africa, and the waters between Antarctica and the base of South America, they settled on the landmass which was free of ice in its north-western sector. He cited a recent report in the SUNDAY TIMES newspaper announcing that scientists had identified a human skull, found in Brazil, as that of an Austronesian who lived around 15,000 BC. We also know that there is now mounting evidence of a high culture in Brazil that Carbon-14 dating has suggested is up to 50,000 years old. Yet the Antarcticans' end came when the earth was struck by an Apollo object in 9500 BC, Barbiero proposes. The sudden great freeze that would have accompanied the movement of the south pole from a position in the waters between Antarctica and Australia to central Antarctica (its present location) would have meant the rapid displacement of the Antarctican peoples to other parts of the globe. Moreover, since they probably inhabited coastal regions of the mainland as well as various offshore islands then much evidence of their presence will have been lost, not beneath the ice fields but below the freezing waters. These would have risen as the previous ice caps melted in North America and Northern Europe. Barbiero's map of 9500 BC shows suggested migrational routes from the ice-bound continent to South America, India, Indonesia and Africa. He even has arrows ending in Ethiopia, Egypt and Northern Europe. This then represents his displacement of the proposed Atlantean race. Flavio Barbiero then made reference to my own lecture citing Atlantis as being located in the Caribbean. Acknowledging my findings, he suggested that the culture, which inhabited the former Bahaman landmass, Cuba and the Caribbean in general, belonged to a post-Atlantis period. As you might imagine, I sat intently through Barbiero's lecture making copious notes and attempting to find good reason to counter his argument that Atlantis was Antarctica. In the end, however, I could only but agree with him on everything other than two main points:- 1. In my opinion the cataclysmic event to which he refers occurred post 9500 BC and involved the formation of the Carolina Bays in the eastern United States. The evidence presented in GATEWAY TO ATLANTIS and taken originally from primary scientific papers of the past 40 years, strongly suggests that the date of this event was 8500 BC (+/- 500 years), with the sea-level rise beginning sometime around 300-500 years later. The higher date of 9500 BC is generally derived from Greenland ice-core samples, the dates of which are determined by identifying so-called acid peaks within the yearly layers made by snow-fall accumulation. These peaks are produced when sulfuric acid settles after volcanic eruptions or other similar events. Exactly which eruption might have been involved is based on our current knowledge of such events determined through Carbon-14 dates recalibrated using a mixture of mathematics and dendrochronology (tree-ring analysis). This can increase raw Carbon-14 dates by up to 1000 to 1200 years, meaning that a date of 8500 BC alters to become 9700-9500 BC. There are reasons to doubt the accuracy of dates reached through dendrochronology and I have therefore chosen not to use recalibrated Carbon-14 dates, a stance also adopted by my colleague David Rohl. What I am getting at here is that the date of 9500 BC attached to the Greenland ice core samples does not simply come from counting yearly snow-fall layers. It is derived from a number of different sources that may or may not turn out to be correct. 2. Where as I have no problem accepting that Antarctica was once inhabited (indeed, it is more or less certain - see below), I am convinced that whatever was going on here relates to a much earlier age. I find no good reason to link this human activity with Plato's story of Atlantis, which was clearly located in the Far West, the watery domain of Atlas, from which it derived the title 'daughter of Atlas'. It is my belief that the peoples of Antarctica were initially displaced from the continent at a much earlier date, plausibly one in the region of 15,000 BC. They migrated to South America (as originally proposed by Arthur Posnansky, the noted archaeologist who determined that the orientation of Tiahuanaco's Kalasasaya court was decided by the rising and setting of the solstitial sun sometime between 15,000 and 10,000 BC). I consider that these peoples continued to move northwards, both by sea and land, and ended up founding the Caribbean Atlantean culture focused on Cuba and the former Bahaman landmass. This was to be the original proposal of GATEWAY TO ATLANTIS before I finally came to realise that Plato was alluding to an island in the vicinity of the Caribbean and not to a major landmass in the south. So how were we to resolve these issues? After his lecture, Flavio Barbiero came up and introduced himself. We entered into an hour long debate of immense importance. I cited my differences of opinion and after much discussion the two of us agreed that we are dealing with two separate periods of activity - one surrounding the dispersal from Antarctica of its culture and the second concerning the cessation of the Caribbean culture. He suggested dates in the region of 9500 and 8000 BC respectively. I doubted this possibility, proposing that the two dates were simply a confusion of one single event around 8500 BC (+/- 500 years). Instead, I suggested that the dates were in the region of 15,000 and 8500 BC. The earlier date can be taken as the earliest time-frame for the beginning of the end of the last Ice Age, an event which was dramatically curtailed with the rapid melting of the ice caps post 8000 BC. Only time will tell whether either one of us is correct in our assumptions. EVIDENCE OF HUMAN OCCUPATION
ON ANTARCTICA In an area of exposed land he is said to have come across various fossils, showing a prior warmer climate, as well as numerous small cylinders and balls of clay, which appeared to be of artificial construction. Flavio and his colleagues have been trying to follow up this story, with one of them even travelling to Sweden to interview Larsen's descendents. Although the artefacts were destroyed when the family home was lost in a fire, copies of Larsen's report, which includes an account of the discovery of the strange objects, has been found. I have requested a copy of this report and will follow up this story in due course. In addition to the strange cylinders and clay balls found on Seymour Island, it seems that core-samples taken from beneath the ice off South Shetland Island, north of Antarctica, by a Chilean research vessel produced more evidence of a human presence in prehistoric times. Evidently, two separate sediment cores revealed flint tools of unquestionable human manufacture. How old they might be or how they came to be in the sediment is open to speculation. However, the fact that they were found in cores taken from different locations suggests that there must be further evidence of human life so close to Antarctica. Once again, I will bring you further news of this story as and when it becomes available. Over the years I have come across various stories relating to curious discoveries being made on Antarctica. However, not one of these has ever produced any kind of hard evidence. Do you have any stories of discovery relating to Antarctica, or can you add to the existing cases cited above? SKID-MARKS OF THE GODS Later, there was the inevitable flight above the Nazca plain where the outlines of a monkey, humming bird and spider were etched out of the desert sands by ancient hands. These, so Erich informed us, only made sense if observed from the air. The audience was then shown the long linear tracks that accompany the images at which he pointed out that he has never claimed that these were air-strips or skid-marks of the Gods! Instead, he suggests that they were made in order to revere the ancient astronauts whose vehicles had left similar marks when landing and taking off from the desert. In other words, they are the result of what might be described as an ancient astronaut cargo cult of the type that developed in the Pacific islands when the Americans first reached them during the Second World War. The indigenous peoples made sacrifices of pigs to the amphibious planes that came out of the sky. They also fashioned crude models of the aircraft in order that they might venerate them as symbols of their gods. Cargo cults are themselves a very fascinating subject, highlighted in greater detail during a lecture on the second day by German speaker Peter Krassa. We were treated next to a series of images taken from rock art worldwide. All were then compared either to astronauts in suits or man-made space vehicles. What got me about this comparison is that the human hardware shown as examples of alien technology is now virtually out of date and relates more to the space race at the time when CHARIOTS OF THE GODS was first published in the late 1960s. Would extraterrestrial visitors really be caught wearing out of date spacesuits and travelling in antiquated rocket ships? The tomb lid of the Maya king Pacal, who lived c. AD 600, was also given the same treatment as were various images from Olmec sites such as La Venta in the Gulf state of Tabasco. In my estimates, the most convincing evidence of aerial visitors in ancient times is the tradition preserved by the Kayapo Indians who live in the upper reaches of the Amazon in Brazil. They say that one day countless generations ago a strange being appeared out of nowhere on a local mountain, following an earthquake accompanied by fire and smoke. Warriors surrounded the visitor and attempted to kill him, but their spears, poison arrows and clubs simply bounced off his suit. Yet he did not attempt to retaliate and instead provided the tribe with profound wisdom and knowledge before climbing back up the mountain and disappearing in the same way that he had appeared. In remembrance of this first encounter with Bep Kororoti, as he was named, each year members of the tribe dance in a circle around a representation of this individual who is dressed in a fat reed suit resembling that of an astronaut. I have no explanation for this curious tradition. However, are we immediately to presume that the visitor was from another planet or another star system? Did he say he came from another planet? According to von Daniken his name, Bep Kororoti, means 'I come from space'. If this is true, then there is a genuine mystery here. However, I would first like to read this fact in a anthropological report on the creation myths of the Kayapo Indians of the Upper Amazon. Don't get me wrong. I believe there is life on other planets and do not rule out the possibility that human evolution might well have an extra-terrestrial dimension. Yet in my opinion this contact does not necessitate the involvement of nuts and bolts spacecraft and men in astronaut suits. Despite my reservations about von Daniken's evidence of extraterrestrial visitations, I must admit that I smiled repeatedly during his audio-visual presentation. Here was a legend delivering a lecture he had probably been giving to audiences worldwide for the past 35 years. I bought CHARIOTS OF THE GODS in 1975. I was 18 at the time. It was the first book I read on the subject of ancient civilisations and, like so many people, it helped confirm to me that the world views the past in the wrong way. There are mysteries and enigmas to be solved and von Daniken was the first person to bring this idea to the notice of millions of people. Some of those readers went on to become writers, historians, archaeologists and researchers who are now in a position to alter the way we perceive the nature of prehistory. For this alone von Daniken should be applauded. A SLIGHT CASE OF DÉJÀ
VU Cesare then turned his attention to one scroll in particular. Known to Hebrew scholars as the Testament of Amram, it was written around 200 BC. He said it concerned two strange beings that appeared to Amram, the father of Moses. One was unnamed (although in my translation of the fragmentary text he is identified as Michael or Melchizedek), while the other was Belial, the teacher of the Children of Darkness. Amram is asked to choose between the two, who represent, respectively, the truth and the lie. This was a concept that came originally from the Iranian religion of Zoroastrianism. It entered the Jewish religion at the time of the Babylonian captivity following the conquest of Babylon in the mid sixth-century BC by the Persians under Cyrus the Great. Yet it was the appearance of Belial that Cesare focused on here. The being is said to have been dark with a viper-like face and compelling eyes. Serpents, he said, are universally associated with the principles of knowledge and wisdom. Cesare showed next a slide of one of the snake-headed clay figurines found with frequency by Sir Leonard Wolley alongside burials excavated during the 1920s at sites in Lower Iraq. Many, for instance, were found in cemeteries at Ur, the former great city identified by scholars as the biblical 'Ur of the Chaldees'. Since the level at which these figurines was found corresponded to the time period in which Iraq was inhabited by the so-called Ubaid peoples, who came originally from the Zagros mountains of Kurdistan, it meant that they dated to c. 3500 BC (although Cesare spoke of them as dating to 6500 BC). Cesare said that mystery surrounded the purpose of the statues, which showed males, females and females holding a baby. He suggested that they were buried in order to protect the souls of the dead and to prevent the deceased from becoming victims of vampires, a common belief among the peoples of ancient Iraq. Cesare saw the Ubaid statues as representations of the same serpent-like figure featured in the Testament of Amram. He went on to propose that these beings were an actual race that lived in the Near East in prehistoric times and were responsible for providing the knowledge of civilisation. Anyone who has read my books FROM THE ASHES OF ANGELS and GODS OF EDEN
will understand why I started feeling a sense of déjŕ vu as Vittorio di
Cesare's lecture unfolded (the same sort of feeling I had when I read
Bob Lomas and Chris Knight's book URIEL'S MACHINE). I found myself leaning
across to colleagues such as Professor Spedicato and Adriano Forgione,
the editor of HERA, Italy's premier news-stand magazine on ancient mysteries,
and saying: I listened carefully as Cesare turned his attentions to the significance played by the abstract eye goddess statues found at Tell Brak in Northern Syria. They, he said, were yet another link to the serpent cult. Yet he failed to note that the veneration of the eye in the Near East derived from its associations with the vulture, the ultimate representation of the Neolithic cult of the dead, which went hand-in-hand with the serpentine symbolism associated with the Watchers. Cesare then showed slides of other 'guardian' statues from Palestine, Syria and even Italy that bore a resemblance to the Ubaid figurines, suggesting that these were likewise connected with the same tradition. This is a matter I also deal with in FROM THE ASHES OF ANGELS, published in Italy in 1997 under the title GLI ULTIMI DEI (The Last Gods) by Sperling and Kupfer. In here I point out that the beak-like faces of these statues, some of which have cobra hoods (and are thus representations of Astarte, the Canaanite form of Eve, the serpent mother of the Nephilim), derive from the earlier association with abstract vulture symbolism. Was it possible that one of Italy's top archaeologists had independently hit on many of these same ideas? Cesare went on to show a group of Mesopotamian figurines that he said were Anunnaki, the Sumerian pantheon of lesser gods. Like me, he too identified these beings with the strange figures featured in the Testament of Amram and the Ubaid serpent-faced figurines. This was all getting a bit too much. The only topic he subsequently covered which is not in FROM THE ASHES OF ANGELS was the possible link between the serpent-like 'guardians of knowledge', as he referred to them, and the phallic standing stones found at many Canaanite and Phoenician sites in Syria and Lebanon. He said that such stones were thought to be the houses of the god or goddess, most usually the goddess Asherah. He concluded his lecture by suggesting that we have here evidence of a widespread cult which revered an ancient race, connected with the symbol of the serpent and the eye. As soon as Vittorio di Cesare came off stage I asked him whether he had come across my work before. From his reaction, it seemed clear that he had not read my books and so I offered to send him Italian translations of both works as quickly as possible. It also transpires that he has published material on this serpent cult, which I look forward to reading. I am left with the prospect that one of Italy's most eminent archaeologists has independently confirmed the existence of a previously unrecognised race connected with serpentine symbolism and the spread of ancient knowledge. As you will know, this shamanic ruling elite are to be associated with the Watchers of Enochian/Dead Sea literature (and through them the angels of Judeo-Christian tradition), the Ubaid statues of Lower Iraq, the eye goddesses of ancient Syria and the Anunnaki of Mesopotamian myth and legend. We must not forget, however, that some of these ideas, especially the connection between the Watchers of Eden and the Anunnaki, were explored originally by Christian O'Brien in his landmark work GENIUS OF THE FEW, first published in the UK during 1985. However, I believe I was the first writer to identify the Watchers as a shamanic ruling elite that controlled the spread of the Neolithic revolution and paved the way for the foundations of ancient world civilisation. MAPS OF THE ANCIENT SEA-KINGS
REVISITED Michele pointed out something that I didn't realise about such maps. As long ago as classical times it was believed by the Greeks that there had to exist a southern hemisphere and southern continent that counter-balanced the ancient world which is placed, of course, in the northern hemisphere of our world. They called this huge super-continent Terra Australis Incognita. It is for this reason alone that so many ancient portolans contain a continent in the position occupied by Antarctica, and not because the navigational world had clear knowledge of the ice-bound continent. Moreover, a careful study of the features of Terra Australis Incognita found on several maps, such as the Buache maps of 1737 and 1757, show that they bear geographical features belonging to the southern coastline of Argentina and Chile. On its discovery in the mid sixteenth century the peninsular of Tierra del Fuego was mistakenly thought to form part of the unknown southern continent. This said, Michele has concluded that certain maps, in particular the Piri Reis map of 1513, really do show features of Antarctica that could not possibly have been known before the mid nineteenth century, verifying the earlier findings of Charles Hapgood. Once more we must conclude that ancient mariners mapped the continent's coastline during some past epoch of mankind. If the work of Flavio Barbiero is correct, then this could have been as long ago as 9500 BC. EGYPTIAN GLIDERS The glider was one of six originally found in 1888 at Saqqara in the tomb of a man named Pa-di-imen, who lived around 300 BC. Unfortunately, the other five examples went missing long ago. Mercifully, the one remaining glider found its way to the Cairo Museum, where it can be seen today in the Late Dynastic room among a collection of wooden birds! Khalil Messiha was convinced, as his son is today, that the ancient Egyptians had an understanding of aeronautics and may well have made other gliders, plausibly of a much greater size. The next day I was fortunate to be able to take a courtesy car from San Marino back to Bologna airport with Dawoud, enabling us to share views on the existence of hitherto undiscovered secret chambers beneath the Giza plateau. It was his father's belief that the entrance to this complex existed beneath the floor of the Queen's Chamber inside the Great Pyramid. In March 1967 Khalil Messiha was granted permission by the Department of Egyptian Antiquities to excavate the Queen's Chamber under the supervision of various officials. Beneath a thick layer of mud Messiha uncovered a floor of huge limestone blocks not previously thought to exist. His team of workers also found, close to the western wall, two large stone slabs that Messiha believed marked the entrance to the secret chamber. Although the team was unable to remove these slabs, holes were drilled through them into which a long wire was inserted. This went down for some distance supporting the idea that a chamber lay below. From it they were able to obtain a powdered mortar, reddish in colour, which was sent to a laboratory for analysis. It was Khalil Messiha's belief that in this secret chamber the sarcophagus of King Khufu awaited discovery. Beneath this secret room was, he considered, the entrance to a corridor that would lead to the true 'Hall of Records'. Unfortunately, Messiha's excavations were halted by the Department of Egyptian Antiquities after just 10 days. It was not until 1986 that a Japanese team from Waseda University conducted further tests in the Queen's Chamber. Using ground penetrating devices they found that a cavity did indeed exist in the vicinity of its western wall. Until his death on 29 December 1998, Khalil Messiha remained convinced that the entrance to the Hall of Records was located here, although he prophesied that it would not be uncovered until the year 2000. Deadlines of this type come and go without any real discoveries being made. However, we can only hope that he was right and that sooner or later we will indeed enter the chamber which Khalil Messiha concluded would be 'the most precious gift to Egypt and the world in the 21st century from an Egyptian scientist who lived in the 20th century'. SECRETS OF THE PACIFIC Not only is there a remarkable similarity in the styles of architecture, as well as stories that the first gods emerged out of the east, but he has also uncovered a raised relief on a previously unknown altar stone. It shows what is clearly a lama, an animal quite obviously native to the Andes. Fiebag's presentation was compelling and I hope to see his findings published in English at some point in the not too distant future. HOMER IN THE BALTIC It was in 1876 that the British publisher Trubner and Co released a book entitled The Oera Linda Book, alleged to be the translation of a thirteenth-century ancient Frisian text. This recorded the apparent destruction of a landmass named by ancient mariners as Atland, and to the Frisians of the Netherlands and Denmark as the Aldland, the 'Old Land'. It was located in the North Sea between Denmark and the Shetland Isles, and was submerged by a deluge at a date given as 2193 BC. The book went on to detail how its displaced peoples, who worshipped the goddess Freya, eventually settled in Frisia, where they developed a major maritime culture which traded regularly with the Phoenicians of the eastern Mediterranean. Indeed, the Oera Linda Book suggests that a Frisian sea-king named Teunis founded the Phoenician port of Tyre on the Lebanese coast, c. 2000 BC. We do know that the Phoenicians entered the Baltic regularly seeking amber. The Oera Linda book was forgotten until 1977 when ancient mysteries writer Robert Scrutton took it upon himself to write a lengthy commentary and introduction for an abridged edition of the Oera Linda Book. Entitled The Other Atlantis, it was an instant bestseller. Once more the authenticity of the Frisian text was debated by scholars and historians alike. Furthermore, the close similarity between the name Atland and Atlantis made the former North Sea landmass a major candidate for the site of Plato's ancient kingdom. Despite this new leash of life, the Oera Linda Book was quickly forgotten and the only references to it which appear in books today right it off as a nineteenth-century hoax. The work of Felice Vinci might now create a new lease of life for the idea that the pre-Hellenic peoples came originally from Northern Europe, and that the Homeric geography does relate to the Baltic. Furthermore, it might open new discussion on the level of contact between the Phoenicians and the indigenous peoples of the Baltic who went on to become the sea-faring peoples known as the Vikings, who reached Newfoundland around the year AD 1000. FINAL WORD
The Horizon Documentaries It seems the tide is turning for the alternative archaeology community. In the last year of the twentieth century we have seen the publication of two books which have seriously criticised the theories, politics and methodology of key writers and researchers in this modern field of exploration (see the review of the 1999 Questing Conference). On top of this there have been some damning documentaries on a similar theme - the most recent being two BBC Horizon programmes, the first, screened in the UK on Thursday, 28 October 1999, attempted to destroy the concept of Atlantis as the motherland of civilisations. The second, screened a week later and entitled 'Atlantis Reborn', seriously criticised the theories of best-selling authors Graham Hancock and Robert Bauval. I feel it appropriate that I might be allowed to make some statement on the overall presentation and findings of the Horizon documentaries, especially as the cover of my book GODS OF EDEN was displayed on screen as an example of the recent books which have appeared on this subject. Atlantis - the Mother
of Civilisations With this introduction the narrator revealed that it was Ignatius Donnelly, a US congressman and author who had first championed this vision of Atlantis as the mother of civilisations in his highly successful book ATLANTIS: THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD, first published in 1882. Since then over 2000 books and publications have appeared on the subject of Atlantis. Today Atlantis remains big business, with a number of alternative archaeology books featuring this subject. Even though Graham Hancock's avoids using the 'A' word in his best-selling book FINGERPRINTS OF THE GODS, it is clear that his inferred location for Atlantis is Antarctica after the work of Rose and Rand Flem-ath, authors of the 1995 book WHEN THE SKY FELL. Having set the scene, the programme examined the proposed similarities in architecture and writing between civilisations in the ancient world and those of the Americas, evidence which Donnelly said proved the existence of Atlantis. American archaeologist Ken Feeder was interviewed extensively on the subject and in his opinion there is no logical reason to accredit these similarities to a lost civilisation such as Atlantis. His comments were interspersed with the views of a number of archaeologists who were able to demonstrate that the cultures in question developed in complete isolation. The arguments presented in the documentary were intent on disproving the legend of Atlantis. In doing this it would show hopefully that the theories presented originally by Ignatius Donnelly and reignited by Graham Hancock in his best-selling books were false. Yet the facts presented on this programme did nothing to destroy the historical reality of Atlantis. At no point did it investigate the writings of Plato in which the concept of Atlantis was originally introduced. For instance, there was no mention of the fact that in his dialogues Plato speaks of an Atlantic island called 'Atlantis' linked via a series of 'other islands' to an 'opposite continent'. In the past 'voyagers', presumably from his own world, were able to use these 'other islands' to reach the 'opposite continent'. We also learn that following the apparent destruction of Atlantis all that remained was an impassable sea of mud and shoals which now prevented 'voyagers' from passing beyond to the 'opposite continent'. Although what Plato has to say about Atlantis proves to be at best garbled information, there seems little question that, like other writers of his day, his reference to an impassable sea of mud and shoals alludes to knowledge of the Sargasso Sea. This vast mass of sea-weed exists between the ocean currents and trade winds which encircle the North Atlantic and stretches between the Azores and the Bahamas. If this was so, it implies that the 'opposite continent' was the Americas and that both the 'other islands' and 'Atlantis' were located somewhere on the Western Atlantic seaboard. All this tends to suggest that Plato was aware of rumours and stories, perhaps circulating the philosophical circles in which he moved, of what a mariner might expect to encounter in the outer ocean. I will demonstrate in GATEWAY TO ATLANTIS (Headline, 17 February 2000) that these 'voyagers' entered the Mediterranean world via Iberic Phoenicians of south-west Spain and Carthaginians from North Africa (ancient Libya). I will also show that both nations were making transatlantic trading journeys in complete secrecy as early as 1200 BC, and very probably much earlier still. Donnelly's idea that Atlantis was the mother of civilisations is simply not tenable. I agree with the Horizon programme in this respect. My recent lecture at the Questing Conference showed that the various comparisons which have been drawn between, say, the architecture of Old Kingdom Egypt and indigenous American architecture accredited to the Maya, Olmec and Inca are inconclusive. There appears to be no obvious connections whatsoever between these different civilisations worldwide. Even if there was, it probably came about via a third party such as the Phoenicians or Carthaginians, who were both almost certainly trading with some of the civilisations highlighted in the documentary. All I can say is that the makers of the Horizon programme chose the wrong evidence if they thought they could destroy the historical validity of Atlantis in this manner. A Concerted Attack All I can say is that Egyptian mythology does indeed seem to reflect events which occurred in a distant epoch known as sep tepi, the First Occasion. This is particularly so if we look at the Edfu Building Texts, which speak of an enemy snake called the Great Leaping One. This closes the first period of creation in the primordial world by bringing a period of darkness and floods which drown the inhabitants of the Island of Creation, who afterwards become ddw-ghosts. There seems every reason to propose that this great snake is an abstract memory of a cometary impact at some point in the history of the world. In another creation account the lioness goddess Sekhmet reigns down fire on those who have turned away from the teachings of the sun-god Ra. People attempt to hide in holes to prevent their death, but still a large part of the human race is destroyed. Sekhmet is only stopped from destroying the rest of the human race after she drinks an intoxicating brew which the gods had sent to flood the land. This story clearly hints at a mighty conflagration and flood remembered in the minds of the dynastic Egyptians. Only recently it was realised that a layer of burnt ash exists in the geological records of Egypt for around 9000 BC (re-calibrated using dendrochronology to 11,000 BC). This same layer has been detected in several other regions of the globe including Siberia, Russia, the United States, South Africa, Europe and Australia. Full details will be revealed exclusively in GATEWAY TO ATLANTIS. Something devastating happened during this epoch and there is every reason to assume that it was recalled in the myths and legends of indigenous peoples around the world who preserved a memory of it across countless generations. Although 9000 BC is not 10,500 BC, it lies within the astrological age of Leo and may well account for conflagration legends worldwide - including those in Egypt. Is this why the pharaonic Egyptians appeared to preserve the significance of an epoch thousands of years before the advent of their own age? One Coptic legend speaks of a mythical king named Surid who learnt of an impending disaster which was to befall Egypt. In order to find out more, he instructed his priests to consult the altitude of the stars. They informed him that a deluge would 'overwhelm the land, and destroy a large portion of it for some years'. According to another Arab writer named Ahmad al-Makrizi (1360-1442), who quotes a variation of this story, in addition to a flood, a 'fire was to proceed from the sign (of) Leo, and to consume the world'. This same theme was also echoed in a now lost Coptic text known as the Abou Hormeis papyrus, which recorded that 'the deluge was to take place when the heart of the Lion entered into the first minute of the head of Cancer, at the declining of the star'. The 'heart of the lion' was an ancient term for the 'royal star' Regulus in the constellation of Leo. Since the constellation of Cancer follows Leo only in the precessional cycle (Leo follows Cancer in the yearly cycle), this suggests a time-frame when Leo marked the equinoctial horizon. The last time that the star Regulus rose in the eastern sky just prior to the sun was in approximately 9220 BC, indicating that the events recalled in the Coptic legends stem from this distant epoch. The documentary's handling of the Sphinx debate was atrocious. It never even considered the recent work of Boston University geologist Robert Schoch and instead dismissed any notion that rain precipitation during the Neolithic sub-pluvial (7000-5000 BC according to Schoch) might have been responsible for the characteristic erosion on the body of the monument and the surrounding enclosure. Even Ian Lawton and Chris Ogilvie-Herald in their backlash book GIZA: THE TRUTH (Virgin, 1999) accept that rain precipitation might have been responsible for the weathering of the Sphinx, albeit during a much later age. The age of the Sphinx is actually irrelevant. Since it faces east it is an equinoctial marker, watching the passage of time through its observation of the slow shift in the precessional cycle across its 25,773-year cycle. That the Sphinx takes the form of a lion is significant, since it is a lion in the form of the goddess Sekhmet that became an abstract symbol of the fiery conflagration which once nearly destroyed the human race. Indeed, Sekhmet is mentioned in connection with Rostau - the ancient name for the Giza necropolis - on the famous Dream Stela of Thutmosis IV, which stands between the paws of the Sphinx. Is it possible that the Sphinx stands as a reminder not so much of the age of Leo, but the leonine catastrophe which was thought to have befallen Egypt in this age - one which could well happen again. After Giza, the documentary turned its attentions to the proposals made by Graham Hancock and his wife, the photographer, Santha Faiia in their book HEAVEN'S MIRROR with respect to the temple complex at Angkor Wat in Cambodia. It introduced their view that the positioning of many of the temples connected with this complex form the shape of the constellation Draco as it would have appeared in the sky around 10,500 BC. Yet the narrator pointed out that Hancock and Faiia had been selective in their use of temples and that there were known reasons for the siting of the buildings in question (i.e. they commemorated battles or other localised events). Moreover, the shape of the highlighted temples did not match the true appearance of Draco, while there was no evidence that this constellation ever played a mythological function in the beliefs of the indigenous culture considered to have erected the structures around 1000 years ago. It is not up to me to pass judgement on accusations of the sort levelled against Graham Hancock and his wife Santha Faiia regarding their understanding of Angkor Wat. I was not there, and do not know the level of conviction they have in respect to their ideas. They themselves have chosen to respond to the criticisms on Graham's web site found at www.grahamhancock.com. However, I do accept that one must be very sure of your data if it hints at a ground-sky correlation connecting artificial structures with star constellations, otherwise theories of this type are wide open to criticism and abuse. In the mid 1980s a similar fate befell the proposed terrestrial zodiac modelled from manmade and natural structures known as the Glastonbury Zodiac, supposedly sculpted across the Somerset landscape by Sumerian priests around 2800 BC. I happen to believe through many years of personal experience that the Glastonbury Zodiac has some kind of mythic reality, although its subtly goes beyond drawing lines on maps. This is something that BBC producers will never understand, not in Glastonbury or in respect to Angkor Wat. After Giza and Angkor Wat, the Horizon documentary turned its attentions to the enigmatic city of Tiahuanaco in Bolivia. It dismissed the idea originally proposed by the archaeologist Arthur Posnansky, and reintroduced by Graham Hancock in FINGERPRINTS OF THE GODS, that its Kalasasaya temple court is aligned to the solsticial sunrise and sunset of 10,000 BC. This conclusion has been determined by examining the slow movement of the sun across its 41,000-year cycle known as the Obliquity of the Ecliptic. The narrator pointed out that conventional archaeology places the construction of Tiahuanaco not 12,000 years ago but just 2000 years ago, with evidence of the earliest occupation, perhaps a simple village, only going back 3500 years. These dates were determined by carbon-14 testing. All this might be so. However, the documentary ignored the fact that the findings made originally by Posnansky were confirmed only recently by American archaeologist Neil Steede, who was subsequently transferred to Mexico's Yucatán peninsular where he has been working at the Maya cult centre of Comalcalco. Here too he has made incredible discoveries, including evidence which demonstrates that the fortress-like buildings made of fired stone brick show evidence of having been built around AD 200 using techniques from the ancient world. I saw a documentary on Tiahuanaco a few years back on the Discovery Channel which showed that organic materials taken from the large occupational mound near the city were producing carbon-14 dates in the region of 2500 BC. I am sorry I can't be more specific as this would be very useful information now (if anyone saw this documentary let me know). Moreover, Posnansky's book TIHUANACU: The Cradle of American Man, (Vols. I-II, J. J. Augustin, New York, 1945; Vols. III-IV, Ministerio de Educacion, La Paz, Bolivia, 1957) shows elongated skulls found in the hills overlooking the ancient city which are fossilised. Although no dates are given for these items I feel sure that fossilisation of this sort takes more than 3500 years. No one can prove that the city of Tiahuanaco goes back 12,000 years. However, there seems to be ample evidence that it is more than 2000 years old and that for some inexplicable reason the Kalasasaya temple court does indeed hint at a solar alignment predating this time-frame by many thousands of years. The narrator turned next to Graham Hancock's inferred belief that Antarctica provides the best answer to the source of his lost civilisation. Crucial to this theory is that parts of the continent were relatively free of ice prior to a suspected polar shift around 11,500 years ago (after the work of Charles Hapgood). It is pointed out that ice core samples have shown conclusively that the landmass is covered in ice flows up to 3 1Ž2 miles thick. These took as much 400,000 years to form, not 11,500 years as Graham Hancock has suggested. I cannot argue with such statements. However, it is also clear that ice core samples taken from the Ross Sea area have revealed evidence of pollen spectra as late as 4000 BC, suggesting that parts of the continent were free of ice as late as 4000 BC. Furthermore, the evidence for a polar shift at the end of the glacial age is very strong indeed. What caused this shift is a matter of speculation with the most likely candidate being an oceanic impact in the Western Hemisphere. This means that although some parts of the continent might have been under ice for up to 400,000 years, other areas could have been free of ice until comparatively recent times. Graham Hancock admitted that he no longer needed Antarctica (see Graham's view), since he has found even greater evidence of a lost civilisation in the Pacific Ocean. We are then treated to rare underwater footage of Yonaguni, a stone formation lying in the waters off Okinawa. It has been proposed that this feature is an artificial structure made of steps and terraces. It faces 'due south', is orientated east-west, and has all the hallmarks of being of artificial construction, presupposing that the formation was once above sea-level. Although various Japanese experts have come out in favour of Yonaguni being manmade, I am not convinced, and nor is Robert Schoch of Boston University. The makers of the Horizon programme interviewed him with respect to his views on the structure following a number of dives on to the site (although they omitted to allow him to cite his evidence for the greater antiquity of the Sphinx). Schoch voiced his opinion that the feature was natural. Furthermore, he pointed out that other similar rock formations exist on nearby islands which greatly resemble the Yonaguni monument. In my opinion, the only features which defy immediate explanation are the circular 'cave' entrances which from the photographs offered on the Laura Lee web site have a regularity strongly suggesting artificiality. Graham tells me that a flint tool has been found close to the structure, although it has been impossible to determine its relationship to the Yonaguni structure (it could have been dropped over the side of a boat). Graham Hancock felt that Schoch should have spent even longer familiarising himself with the structures before deciding that they were mere natural rock formations. This might be so. However, the sheer fact that he does not support its artificiality is a crushing blow for those who believe that Yonaguni was built by a peoples proficient in astronomy some 10,000 years ago. I would love to believe the feature is artificial, so show me the evidence if you believe this to be true. The narrator goes on to tell us that 'Graham Hancock is still scouring the oceans of the world for his lost civilisation.' Indeed, he and his wife Santha are exploring every region of the world looking for evidence of possible archaeological features for an upcoming book entitled UNDERWORLD, and this I can only applaud. No one else has ever done it, and the experience they will pick up along the way will be unique. They, if anyone, will be able to tell us whether there really is evidence of a lost civilisation which was swallowed up by the rising sea-level at the end of the last ice age. Graham Hancock may well have made a few mistakes in his time (we all have). He may also have made a lot of money out of feeding people's belief in a lost world ignored by conventional archaeology, but he is still seeking the truth - and good luck to him. I hope he finds what he is looking for, it will ultimately benefit us all.
Recently, evidence has come to light of a sophisticated human culture existing on Florida's Gulf coast as early as 10,000 BC. Human remains dating back 7,000 years and tools and weapons dating back 12,000 years have been found over a period of many years at a now threatened site at Fort Myers. Current excavations being conducted by marine archaeologist John Gifford of the University of Miami hope to uncover evidence of the oldest humans in North America. However, archaeologists fear that they are fighting a losing battle as pollutants from ever encroaching urban development flood the site. The finds are coming from a 75-yard-wide sinkhole that descends to a depth of 220 feet. Known as Little Salt Spring, it is located between Fort Myers and Sarasota, and was donated to the University in 1982 following the discovery of artefacts there during the 1970s. These were found to have been preserved in a good condition due to the unique nature of the water, which has been described as 'brackish' and 'anoxic', in that it has very little oxygen whatsoever. Regular scuba dives have been made into the sinkhole by a team led by Gifford, who has argued against the artificial construction of the Bimini Road. They have removed objects such as tools and weapons from ledges, caves and basins placed at different levels of different time periods. The items found include a completely new type of wooden tool which has been named a 'putter', due to its resemblance to a golf club. Six of these tools have been found which are thought to be around 8,500 years ago. In addition to the 'putters', a weapon has been found similar to the boomerang of Australia, Egypt and Europe. This 'nonreturning' variant, as it has been described, is thought to be 9,000 years old and is perhaps the oldest example of this weapon so far discovered. More significantly, a form of atlatl, a kind of spear thrower well-known among Pre-Colombian cultures of Mexico such as the Aztecs, has also been retrieved from the sinkhole. There was also a bead made from a bird's bone, which has been drilled and is thought to be around 8,500 years old. One of the most interesting finds was the discovery on a ledge 85 feet down of a collapsed shell of an extinct species of land tortoise. It had been pierced through by a wooden stake which revealed a Carbon-14 date of 12,000 BP (before present). The whole thing was perfectly preserved, and now Gifford and his colleagues hope to find human remains of the same age on the same ledge. If this were to be the case, they would predate North America's oldest accepted human remains, which are those of the greatly controversial Kennewick Man, which was found in Washington State around four years ago and is around 9,000 years old. In addition to the artefacts, an ancient cemetery has been found in peat on the edge of the sinkhole. It has produced 7000-year-old human bones, some of which were ceremonially wrapped in grass. In past ages Little Salt Spring was filled with fresh water which would have attracted peoples from far and wide. Yet as the sea-levels rose in the nearby Gulf of Mexico at the end of the last Ice Age, the waters would have become more and more salty, driving away settlers but preserving their artefacts through to the present day. Yet now the area is being encroached once more, and this time by modern habitation and recreational facilities. Housing estates, schools and golf courses threaten the equilibrium of the sinkhole because the water run off from this urban development is pouring pollutants into the sinkhole. Gifford is currently making a number of tests in the hope that he can preserve the quality of the water for future generations. (For further information check out the Miami Herald web site. Thanks to David Southwell for bringing this story to my attention). The importance of Little Salt Spring is to emphasise just how easy it would have been for this fairly sophisticated prehistoric culture to have ventured across the Florida Straight to the Bahamas, which I suggest was inhabited prior to a major natural catastrophe around 9000-8500 BC, and plausibly afterwards in areas which were finally reclaimed by the rising sea-level between approximately 8000 and 3000 BC. The Little Salt Spring material is clear evidence that some of the most advanced ancient Americans were in Florida at exactly the right time, and so could have constituted the memory of a former Bahaman culture - Plato's Atlantean race. I look forward to further evidence of a human presence from the Little Salt Spring site. |
"Photo
copyright Romeo H. Hristov"