Dit is ons nieuw hondje Kira, een kruising van een waterhond en een Podenko. Ze is sinds 7 februari 2024 bij ons en druk bezig ons hart te veroveren. Het is een lief, aanhankelijk hondje, dat zich op een week snel aan ons heeft aangepast. Ze is heel vinnig en nieuwsgierig, een heel ander hondje dan Noleke.
This is our new dog Kira, a cross between a water dog and a Podenko. She has been with us since February 7, 2024 and is busy winning our hearts. She is a sweet, affectionate dog who quickly adapted to us within a week. She is very quick and curious, a very different dog than Noleke.
DEAR VISITOR,
MY BLOG EXISTS ALREADY 13 YEARS.
ON 06/06/2024 MORE THAN 2.056.610
VISITORS FROM 134 DIFFERENT NATIONS ALREADY FOUND THEIR WAY TO MY BLOG.
THAT IS AN AVERAGE OF 400GUESTS PER DAY.
THANK YOU FOR VISITING MY BLOG AND HOPE YOU ENJOY EACH TIME.
The purpose of this blog is the creation of an open, international, independent and free forum, where every UFO-researcher can publish the results of his/her research. The languagues, used for this blog, are Dutch, English and French.You can find the articles of a collegue by selecting his category. Each author stays resposable for the continue of his articles. As blogmaster I have the right to refuse an addition or an article, when it attacks other collegues or UFO-groupes.
Druk op onderstaande knop om te reageren in mijn forum
Zoeken in blog
Deze blog is opgedragen aan mijn overleden echtgenote Lucienne.
In 2012 verloor ze haar moedige strijd tegen kanker!
In 2011 startte ik deze blog, omdat ik niet mocht stoppen met mijn UFO-onderzoek.
BEDANKT!!!
Een interessant adres?
UFO'S of UAP'S, ASTRONOMIE, RUIMTEVAART, ARCHEOLOGIE, OUDHEIDKUNDE, SF-SNUFJES EN ANDERE ESOTERISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN - DE ALLERLAATSTE NIEUWTJES
UFO's of UAP'S in België en de rest van de wereld In België had je vooral BUFON of het Belgisch UFO-Netwerk, dat zich met UFO's bezighoudt. BEZOEK DUS ZEKER VOOR ALLE OBJECTIEVE INFORMATIE , enkel nog beschikbaar via Facebook en deze blog.
Verder heb je ook het Belgisch-Ufo-meldpunt en Caelestia, die prachtig, doch ZEER kritisch werk leveren, ja soms zelfs héél sceptisch...
Voor Nederland kan je de mooie site www.ufowijzer.nl bezoeken van Paul Harmans. Een mooie site met veel informatie en artikels.
MUFON of het Mutual UFO Network Inc is een Amerikaanse UFO-vereniging met afdelingen in alle USA-staten en diverse landen.
MUFON's mission is the analytical and scientific investigation of the UFO- Phenomenon for the benefit of humanity...
Je kan ook hun site bekijken onder www.mufon.com.
Ze geven een maandelijks tijdschrift uit, namelijk The MUFON UFO-Journal.
Since 02/01/2020 is Pieter ex-president (=voorzitter) of BUFON, but also ex-National Director MUFON / Flanders and the Netherlands. We work together with the French MUFON Reseau MUFON/EUROP.
ER IS EEN NIEUWE GROEPERING DIE ZICH BUFON NOEMT, MAAR DIE HEBBEN NIETS MET ONZE GROEP TE MAKEN. DEZE COLLEGA'S GEBRUIKEN DE NAAM BUFON VOOR HUN SITE... Ik wens hen veel succes met de verdere uitbouw van hun groep. Zij kunnen de naam BUFON wel geregistreerd hebben, maar het rijke verleden van BUFON kunnen ze niet wegnemen...
07-02-2023
REUSACHTIGE NESTELDRANG: 256 ONTDEKTE TITANOSAURUSEIEREN LEREN ONS VEEL MEER OVER DIT ENORME BEEST
REUSACHTIGE NESTELDRANG: 256 ONTDEKTE TITANOSAURUSEIEREN LEREN ONS VEEL MEER OVER DIT ENORME BEEST
Jeannette Kras
De titanosaurus spreekt met zijn maximale lengte van 30 meter tot de verbeelding. Dankzij de vondst van 256 dino-eieren weten we nu veel meer over dit gigantische beest.
In Centraal-India zijn 92 fossiele nesten vol met reuzeneieren gevonden, die zo’n 18 centimeter groot zijn. Ze blijken afkomstig van de titanosaurus (letterlijk: reusachtige of titanische hagedis), met een lengte tot wel 30 meter en een gewicht van 75.000 kilo waarschijnlijk de grootste dinosauriër die ooit op het Indische subcontinent heeft rondgelopen. Ondanks zijn enorme postuur was het waarschijnlijk een goeiige lobbes. Hij at louter planten, maar kon wel een vernietigende klap uitdelen met zijn staart of met zijn lange nek als een bloeddorstig monster het lef had om een hap uit hem te willen nemen.
Prehistorische kraamkamer De Lameta-formatie, gelegen in de Narmada-vallei in Centraal-India, staat bij paleontologen bekend om zijn vruchtbare bodem. Er zijn in de afgelopen 200 jaar al ontzettend veel fossielen van dino-skeletten, botten en eieren gevonden, die stammen uit het laatste stukje van het Krijt-tijdperk, tussen 70 miljoen en 66 miljoen jaar geleden, vlak voordat de dinosaurussen uitstierven.
Maar er lagen nog een aantal onaangeroerde prehistorische verrassingen op de wetenschappers te wachten. Liefst 256 titanosauruseieren kwamen na zorgvuldig onderzoek uit de aardlagen naar boven en geven ons een prachtig inkijkje in de leefwereld en leefgewoonten van deze gigantische dinosaurussen.
Ondiepe kuilen Onderzoekers van de Universiteit van New Delhi analyseerden de versteende eierresten en vonden uiteindelijk zes verschillende eiersoorten die allemaal onder de noemer titanosaurus vallen. Dit was een verrassing voor het team, omdat zij niet eerder zoveel diversiteit in skeletresten uit de omgeving waren tegengekomen. Ook de plaatsing van de tientallen nesten was interessant. Het kan niet anders dan dat de reusachtige dieren hun eieren in ondiepe kuilen begroeven, net als hedendaagse krokodillen dat doen. Er werden daarnaast verschillende afwijkingen gevonden in de eieren. Zo vonden ze bijvoorbeeld een ‘ei in een ei’. Dit is iets wat zelden voorkomt en erop duidt dat de fysiologie van de voortplanting van titanosaurussen erg lijkt op die van moderne vogels, die op dezelfde manier het ene na het andere ei produceren en in het nest leggen.
Broedkolonie Er zijn verspreid over het gebied heel veel nesten dicht bij elkaar gevonden. De wetenschappers concluderen dan ook dat de titanosaurussen, net als 13 procent van de hedendaagse vogelsoorten (waaronder veel zeevogels, maar ook roeken, kauwen en zwaluwen), gezamenlijk broedden in een titanische broedkolonie. Maar de kleine afstand tussen de nesten liet weinig ruimte over voor de immense dinosauruspapa’s en mama’s, waardoor het er sterk op lijkt dat de volwassen dieren de pasgeborenen al snel aan hun lot overlieten.
Het is zonder zulke archeologische vondsten onmogelijk om dit soort dingen over de voortplanting te ontdekken. De fossiele nesten leveren een schat aan gedetailleerde informatie en dragen enorm bij aan het begrip van paleontologen over hoe dinosaurussen leefden en evolueerden.
1000 kilometer aan eieren “Ons onderzoek heeft een grote broedplaats van een kolonie titanosaurussen blootgelegd. We hebben nieuwe inzichten opgedaan over het nestgedrag en de eerste levensfase van de reusachtige dieren. Er zijn door ons werk veel nieuwe details bekend geworden over de voortplantingsstrategie van deze dinosauriërs, vlak voordat ze zijn uitgestorven”, zegt onderzoeker Harsha Dhiman.
“De dinosaurusnesten in Centraal-India van Jabalpur in de oostelijke Narmada-vallei tot Balasinor in het westen, zijn nu gekoppeld aan de nieuwe broedplaatsen van het Dhar-district in Madhya Pradesh. Al met al is er een 1000 kilometer lang gebied ontstaan, dat een van de grootste dinosaurusbroedplaatsen ter wereld vormt”, besluit onderzoeksleider Guntupalli Prasad. En vermoedelijk zijn de onderzoekers nog lang niet uitgegraven. Het is een kwestie van tijd tot er nieuwe interessante details bekend worden over het leven van de reusachtige dinosauriërs.
Are the Misty Peaks of the Azores Remnants of the Legendary Atlantis?
Are the Misty Peaks of the Azores Remnants of the Legendary Atlantis?
Jutting from the deep briny mists of the mid-Atlantic, some 800 miles (1287 km) due west of Portugal, the Azores strike one as bejeweled, fern and flower-encrusted baubles in a vast expanse of blue oblivion. Largely a dormant volcanic archipelago today, to most, the region is a popular exotic getaway, but to some, these verdant islands represent the best case for a present-day fragment of the famed sunken landmass of Atlantis.
In a summary of a 2014 keynote speech given by legendary ocean explorer Thor Heyerdahl and Dr. Dominique Görlitz in Oslo, Norway, event planners state;
“In the last three years, the president of the Portuguese Association of Archaeological Research, Nuno Ribeiro, has been claiming that archeological remains of structures discovered on several Azorean islands are of pre-Portuguese origin. Together with the Portuguese archaeologist Anabela Joaquinito, he has identified dozens of similar pyramidal structures in the Madalena area of Pico Island. Artifacts were also found on site which may predate the Portuguese settlement on the island. They believe the structures may have been built according to an oriented plan, aligned with thesummer solstices , which suggests they were built with an intended purpose. They also believe that the Madalena pyramidal structures are analogous to similar prehistoric structures found in Sicily, North Africa and the Canary Islands which are known to have served ritual purposes.”
This is quite interesting in and of itself, but consider that if one takes Plato's account as detailed in Critias and Timaeus at face value, then geographically, the primary Atlantean landmass from which sprang its sprawling seaborne empire would have been situated almost directly where the modern Azores island chain currently peeks out of the deep Atlantic. That is, directly “in front of the Pillars of Hercules,” i.e., Straits of Gibraltar. Ignatius Donnelly, the U.S. Congressman and dear friend of Abraham Lincoln who wrote the iconic 1882 book Atlantis: The Antediluvian World , was among the first to note this, as were the crew of the survey ship H.M.S. Challenger, whose 1877 article inScientific American , entitled “Glimpses of Atlantis,” stated;
“While the new America was thus forming, the ancient Atlantis was no doubt sinking as well as washing away. When its final disappearance occurred remains to be determined; quite recently however, two or three lines of research seem to converge in support of the truth of the ancient story, long considered mythical, in regard to the geologically recent occurrence of that wonderful catastrophe. Archaeo-geology has sufficiently demonstrated that the memory of man runs back vastly farther than history has been willing to admit; so that there remains no inherent improbability in the story the Egyptian priests told to Solon .”
Sao Jorge island in the Azores. Could it be that the Azores are actually the location of the legendary Atlantis?
Quite a conclusion from some of the most respected oceanographic pioneers, and one whose honest and open tone struck me as fundamentally different from the snide and condescending assessments of many mainstream discussions today, who in the ever-evolving debate surrounding Atlantis that we have thus explored, largely preclude a serious discussion of its historical or geographic reality before the conversation even begins. Yet until quite recently, historically speaking, this was not necessarily the case.
In a lighthearted Washington Post article from 1988 entitled “São Miguel, the Azores: Misty Fragments of Atlantis,” for example, travel correspondent David Yeadon flew to the Azores to meet with a local tour guide in São Miguel to catalog some choice sightseeing spots, only to find himself debating Atlantis over drinks with his host, something I can certainly relate to as this book was taking shape over the years. In the article he writes;
“Most Azoreans have no doubts on the matter at all.
‘Of course, this is Atlantis!’ Antonio Pinero insisted.
We sat sipping coffee and aguardiente (Azorean firewater made from the remnants of grape pressings) in an outdoor café overlooking the broad harbor at Ponta Delgada, capital of São Miguel Island and largest town in the nine-island archipelago of the Azores.
Antonio had been a modest, soft-spoken companion during my first hours in this little outpost of Portugal, 800 miles due west of Lisbon in the North Atlantic Ocean. But about this particular subject he tolerated no ambiguity whatsoever. From inside his worn wool jacket, he pulled a much-thumbed book titled Plato's History of Atlantis.
‘Was Plato a wise man?’ he challenged, obviously preparing for an extended semantic foray.
‘Yes, he certainly was,’ he responded. ‘Now please listen to what he wrote.’
He turned the grubby pages with solemnity.
‘For in those days,’ he began, ‘the Atlantis (sic) was navigable from an island situated to the west of the straits, which you call the Pillars of Hercules.’
He paused. ‘That's Gibraltar - the way out from the Mediterranean.’
I nodded; he nodded.
‘… and from it could be reached other islands and from the islands you might pass through to the opposite continent.’
He paused again. ‘That’s America.’
‘Plato knew about America?’ I laughed (a little).
Tony was not amused.
‘Plato knew everything. ’”
Back in Athens, 2,345 years before this little exchange at the São Miguel cafe was unfolding, Plato wrote in his Timaeus, describing a portion of the Atlantean capital city;
“In the next place, they used fountains both of cold and hot springs; these were very abundant, and both kinds wonderfully adapted to use by reason of the sweetness and excellence of their waters. They constructed buildings about them, and planted suitable trees; also, cisterns, some open to the heaven, other which they roofed over, to be used in winter as warm baths, there were the king’s baths, and the baths of private persons, which were kept apart; also, separate baths for women, and others again for horses and cattle, and to them they gave as much adornment as was suitable for them.”
While this may seem like a trivial aspect of our investigation, consider that today, one of the Azores’ main tourist attractions is its numerous healing springs. As a travel guide recently explained, “São Miguel Island is home to an exceptional array of mineral hot springs sure to elevate you to unmatched levels of relaxation. The Azores’ unique volcanic origins make these islands a thermal paradise, featuring steamy, iron-rich pools tucked amid lush green vegetation and tropical trees, and even a natural ocean pool heated by a volcanic vent and cooled by the ebbing tides of the Atlantic.” Sounds pretty nice.
The Azores were also briefly in the spotlight in 2013 when a chance discovery revealed a strange object at the bottom of the ocean. Diocleciano Silva, a Portuguese fisherman, noticed an unusual image on his yacht’s depth-finder while trolling between the islands of São Miguel and Terceira. According to his instruments, the pyramidal structure's base measured a whopping 86,111 square feet (8,000 sqm.), and its apex was submerged only 40 feet (12.2 m) beneath the surface, while the structure itself stood nearly 200 feet tall (61 m) from its base. It was also determined to be directly oriented to the four geophysical cardinal directions.
Reporting the findings to the Portuguese government in short order, they began their own investigation which naturally led to the official pronouncement that Silva had simply been using cheap and inaccurate equipment which gave an artificially sharp contour to what they claimed was a long-known natural volcanic formation in the area despite the iconic image of what is clearly a pyramid, which Portuguese television showed in a live broadcast at the time.
2021 oceanographic chart of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
Geographically, regarding the working hypothesis – and description by Plato – that the region we call the Azorean Archipelago is the true geographical location of a former Atlantean home-island, in final reduced size after the continent´s previous two destructions as detailed by Edgar Cayce and others like Rudolf Steiner and William Scott-Elliott, what is truly astounding to me is that when one views a modern chart of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, one can clearly see the almost identical outline of the remaining Atlantean landmass hand-drawn by a teenage Frederick Oliver around 1886 during his clairaudient dictations of the past life of his muse Phylos in Atlantis in 11,160 BC on the island of Poseid.
This was contained in a loose collection of notes that later became the book A Dweller on Two Planets , privately published by his mother in 1904, years after Oliver’s early death in 1899, and not reaching wider audiences until a second publishing in 1920. Oliver’s channeled sketch is uncannily accurate given that he did not have access to detailed maps of the ocean floor at the time his manuscript was written in 1884-86, as none existed.
To my knowledge the only map he could have seen, had he visited a research library, would have been a basic contour map made by Sir Wyville Thomson in 1877 and released shortly after the H.M.S. Challenger survey, which contains no explicit details of the full boundaries and shape of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Compared to a modern oceanographic or bathythermic chart, there is no comparison regarding the level of detail, making Oliver’s sketch a bizarre and statistically improbable coincidence.
Frederick Oliver’s sketch of Poseid, 1886 (oriented).
(Author provided)
Yet if one traces the shape of Oliver’s channeled drawing, the curvature and geographical indentations of the landmass of Poseid are uncannily similar to the actual modern image of the Azorean seabed. In fact, it fits over the modern chart like a puzzle piece if exploded to equal size and oriented. “Pitach Rokh,” the highest point in Poseid according to Frederick Oliver’s book, was an enormous snow-capped active volcano in 11,160 BC.
Now note its location in his hand-drawn map's extreme southeast quadrant. This is very close to where the Azores jut out of the mid-Atlantic, straight “in front of the Pillars of Hercules ” as Plato stated. And from Plato’s description of the famed circular capital of Atlantis, whose central feature was a monumental statue of Poseidon surrounded by the Nereids, it would make sense that Oliver and Cayce both refer to the island as Poseid, and the culture as Atlantis.
Don’t forget that today, Mount Pico - a dormant stratovolcano and the highest point in the Azores which officially towers over the countryside at almost 7,700 feet (2,347 m) - when measured from its base deep in the ocean where once likely stood dry land some 13,000 years ago, is even taller; in fact, it would be one of the tallest mountains on earth. And so we are left with another interesting clue in our survey of these fragments of Atlantis, another piece of the puzzle as it were. Are Pitach Rokh from A Dweller on Two Planets and Mt. Pico one and the same? Time will tell, I suppose.
Athanasius Kircher's map of Atlantis, turned upside down, which located Atlantis in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
Even the map the Jesuit polymath Athanasius Kircher claims to have found in the Vatican Library during the Renaissance (above), copied from an alleged original brought to Rome from Egypt during the time of Octavian in the 1st century B.C., when flipped upside down so that Spain is oriented to the right, does, if you pay attention, show a more-similar-than-not, fin-shaped top portion of Atlantis divided by two rivers where the true-north compass symbol was placed.
And Edgar Cayce, one of the most studied clairvoyants in modern history, whose over 500 hypnogogic trance readings on Atlantis we have already explored at length, claimed that after many destructions and disturbances, but before the final separation into the separate islands of Poseid, Aryan and Og, the Atlantean landmass was crisscrossed by said rivers, even giving a date of 28,000 BC for this second of three destructions due to an unintended over-tuning of the massive Tuaoi crystal powering the civilization, which fractured the substrata. Perhaps this is the phase portrayed in Kircher’s map, whose upper portion too encompasses the Azores, and where our oceanographic chart displays that curious triangular seamount beneath the ocean.
At the end of the day, it’s all quite a coincidence if skeptics and debunkers claim unequivocally that Plato’s account of Atlantis was a pure fiction designed to glorify Athens, or at best, simply a fantastical reprise of more mundane Mediterranean disasters like the volcanic eruptions on the island of Thera in historical times, both of which I categorically reject based on the evidence thus presented throughout this book, as well as on Plato’s own frank and specific account from his dialogues which, like it or not, seems to point to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge as the nucleus of the vast and powerful final iteration of the empire of Atlantis, whose imperial ambitions against the peoples of the Mediterranean were checked by its infamous and catastrophic destruction around 9,600 BC according to his seminal account.
But don’t take my word for it; it was Critias himself who explained in Plato’s Timaeus, “Let me tell you this story then, Socrates. It’s a very strange one but even so, every word of it is true. It’s a story that Solon, the wisest of the seven sages once vouched for.”
This article is an extract taken from the book Visions of Atlantis: Reclaiming our Lost Ancient Legacy by Michael Le Flem. View it on Amazon.
Top image: The verdant Azores islands represent the best case for a present-day fragment of the famed sunken landmass of Atlantis. Image depicts Mount Pico in the Azores.
A body is embalmed in an underground chamber (artist’s impression).
Credit: Nikola Nevenov
Labelled pots found in a 2,500-year-old embalming workshop have revealed the plant and animal extracts used to prepare ancient Egyptian mummies — including ingredients originating hundreds and even thousands of kilometres away.
Chemical analysis of the pots’ contents has identified complex mixtures of botanical resins and other substances, some of them from plants that grow as far away as southeast Asia. The discovery was reported in a 1 February paper in Nature1.
Previously, insights into the embalming process have come from two main sources: historical texts and chemical analyses of the mummies themselves. But linking these strands of information has proved difficult, says Salima Ikram, an archaeologist and mummy specialist at the American University in Cairo. “You might have the name of something, but you don’t know what the hell it is, except the hieroglyphics suggesting it’s an oil or a resin.”
That has now changed thanks to an underground embalming workshop discovered in 2016 at Saqqara, an ancient Egyptian burial ground in use from 2900 BC or earlier. The site also includes burial chambers, and it is likely that elite members of society were interred there, the authors say. Inside the Saqqara workshop, which dates to 664–525 BC, archaeologists discovered dozens of ceramic vessels used in the embalming process, many labelled with the ingredients they contain and their use. “This is the first time you’ve got jars with labels of the contents,” says Ikram.
Vessels from the embalming workshop display a variety of colours and shapes.
Credit: Saqqara Saite Tombs Project, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany; Photo: M. Abdelghaffar
To identify the specific contents of the vessels, an Egyptian–German team analysed the mixtures using a technique called gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, at a National Research Centre laboratory in Giza, Egypt. This showed that the pots contained substances previously linked to mummification, including extracts from juniper bushes, cypress trees and cedar trees, which grow in the eastern Mediterranean region. The team also found bitumen from the Dead Sea, along with animal fats and beeswax, probably of local origin.
But the researchers also identified two surprising ingredients: one resin called elemi, which comes from Canarium trees that grow in rainforests in Asia and Africa; and another called dammar that comes from Shorea trees found in tropical forests in southern India, Sri Lanka and southeast Asia.
“Egypt was resource poor in terms of many resinous substances, so many were procured or traded from distant lands,” says Carl Heron, an archaeological scientist at the British Museum in London.
The Saqqara Saite Tombs Project excavation area, overlooking the pyramid of Unas and the step pyramid of Djoser.
Ancient trade networks connected India and southeast Asia with the Mediterranean region. But it’s not clear whether Egyptian embalmers sought out these specific ingredients or came across them through trial and error, says Ikram. “Absolutely amazing”, she says. “Who would have thought that they were getting stuff that might be coming from India?”
Ancient Egyptian embalmers had a sophisticated understanding of the raw materials’ properties, the authors say. Pots contained complex mixtures of ingredients that, in some cases, had been carefully heated or distilled. Many of the resins had antimicrobial properties — one bowl containing elemi and animal fat was inscribed “to make his odour pleasant” — or characteristics that promoted preservation.
“Their knowledge of these substances was incredible,” says study co-author Maxime Rageot, a biomolecular archaeologist at the University of Tübingen in Germany.
Chemical studies of mummies suggest that embalming recipes became more complex over time, notes Rageot. But one open question is how ancient Egyptians developed specific embalming procedures and recipes — and why they selected certain ingredients over others, said study co-author Mahmoud Bahgat, a biochemist at Egypt’s National Research Centre in Cairo, at a press briefing. “We need to be as clever as them to discover the intentions.”
Neanderthals hunted enormous elephants that weighted up to 12 tonnes and could feed 100 people for a month, new research has shown.
The study, carried out by Johannes Gutenberg University in Germany, analysed the 125,000-year-old skeletal remains of a prehistoric species known as Palaeoloxodon antiquus.
These giant elephants were twice the size of the modern-day animal, standing up to 15ft tall with tusks that reached up to 10ft in length.
Of the 70 elephants studied by scientists, few were found with complete skeletons.
But marks found on the bones suggest the mammals - bigger than woolly mammoths - had been thoroughly butchered to ensure all meat and fat was stripped from the bone.
Neanderthals hunted enormous elephants that weighted up to 12 tonnes and could feed 100 people for a month, a study carried out by Johannes Gutenberg University in Germany has revealed. Pictured: Dr Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser examines the femur of a large adult male elephant for the presence of cut marks
The researchers calculated that all the flesh from one of the elephants would have fed about 100 adults for a month, with them being 'really big calorie bombs'.
The findings, published in Science Advances, led scientists to believe that Neanderthals, who hunted in large groups, used tools to slaughter the elephants.
Lead author Dr Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser said: 'With male elephants weighing as much as 12 tonnes, butchering an animal of this size must have involved multiple tools and butchers.
'It would have taken days to complete, and yielded copious amounts of meat that could have lasted for up to three months for as many as 25 people.'
Even the elephants' brains and pads on the bottoms of their feet had been scrapped off.
Further to this there were few gnaw marks from other scavengers found on the bones, showing very little meat was left.
Neanderthals hunted in groups to boost their chance of survival, where they would have to defend themselves against hyenas and lions, who would have been attracted to the deceased elephant.
Wil Roebroeks, a co-author of the study said: 'Hunting these giant animals and completely butchering them was part of Neanderthal subsistence activities at this location.
'This constitutes the first clearcut evidence of elephant-hunting in human evolution.'
This photo reveals the longest cut mark found on the bone of the of the elephants discovered, which is about 4cm long
This photo reveals cut marks on a foot bone of one of the elephants, showing that Neanderthals tried to grab as much meat and fat off the animal as possible
Neanderthals and humans coexisted for up to 2,900 years in France and Spain
Humans and Neanderthals may have coexisted in Europe for up to 2,900 years, giving them time to learn from and breed with each other.
The study, carried out at Leiden University in the Netherlands, carried out the research looking at tools and bounds found on two archaeological sites in France and Spain.
Archaeologists then determined that humans were present around 42,500 years go.
The subspecies of archaic humans appeared 40,000 years before disappearing 1,000 years later.
This means the two species lived alongside each other in the region for 1,400 to 2,900 years, marking the first evidence showing how long and where the pair mingled before subspecies of archaic humans went extinct.
The bones showed that the animals had been punctured with spears - the oldest example of hunting marks in the history of hominins, or early humans.
Neanderthals used sophisticated close-range techniques to capture their prey - indicating they were much smarter than we once gave them credit for, the researchers said.
They added that the stereotypical image of the ancient human species being knuckle dragging brutes was incorrect.
Instead, they were complex and empathetic - creating symbolic art, producing geometric structures and controlling fire to use on tools and food.
Roebrokes added: 'Neanderthals were not simple slaves of nature, original hippies living off the land.
'They were actually shaping their environment, by fire … and also by having a big impact on the biggest animals that were around in the world at that time.'
The research gives significant insights into Neanderthals communities and ways of life.
As these elephants were the largest terrestrial mammals of their, it shows that the hunting communities were bigger and less mobile than previously thought.
Dr Gaudzinski-Windheuser added: 'They must have lived more stationary lifestyles in larger units than commonly supposed.'
Male elephants would have been the best option for the Neanderthals to capture as they were generally solitary beings, unlike female elephants who move in groups to protect their young.
The male species would have been easier to immobilise by being driven into mud and pit traps.
They also would contain more calories than their female counterparts, as Roebroke said 'these elephants are really big calorie bombs'.
The bones were first discovered alongside other animal remains and old tools at a quarry near Halle, Germany in 1988 but only now have they been studied in more depth.
Dr Gaudzinski-Windheuser said: 'Cutmarks suggest they were routinely hunted and butchered by Neanderthals.
'By evaluating bone surfaces under a microscope and reviewing what was already known about the remains, we inferred Neanderthals methodically cut, hacked, and extracted parts of the animal, leaving distinct markings on the bone surface.'
The study gives further insight into the lives of Neanderthals, challenging the perception that they lived in small groups.
Professor Britt Starkovich, an anthropologist at Tubingen University who was not involved in the study, said: 'It is increasingly clear that Neanderthals were not a monolith and, unsurprisingly, had a full arsenal of adaptive behaviors that allowed them to succeed in the diverse ecosystems of Eurasia for over 200,000 years.'
TIMELINE OF HUMAN EVOLUTION
The timeline of human evolution can be traced back millions of years. Experts estimate that the family tree goes as such:
55 million years ago - First primitive primates evolve
15 million years ago- Hominidae (great apes) evolve from the ancestors of the gibbon
7 million years ago - First gorillas evolve. Later, chimp and human lineages diverge
5.5 million years ago- Ardipithecus, early 'proto-human' shares traits with chimps and gorillas
4 million years ago - Ape like early humans, the Australopithecines appeared. They had brains no larger than a chimpanzee's but other more human like features
3.9-2.9 million years ago- Australoipithecus afarensis lived in Africa.
2.7 million years ago - Paranthropus, lived in woods and had massive jaws for chewing
2.6 million years ago- Hand axes become the first major technological innovation
2.3 million years ago - Homo habilis first thought to have appeared in Africa
1.85 million years ago - First 'modern' hand emerges
1.8 million years ago - Homo ergaster begins to appear in fossil record
800,000 years ago- Early humans control fire and create hearths. Brain size increases rapidly
400,000 years ago - Neanderthals first begin to appear and spread across Europe and Asia
300,000 to 200,000 years ago - Homo sapiens - modern humans - appear in Africa
54,000 to 40,000 years ago - Modern humans reach Europe
The Mysterious Stone Kingdom of the Great Zimbabwe
The Mysterious Stone Kingdom of the Great Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is home to one of the most stunning historical monuments in Africa – the monument of the Great Zimbabwe. Built 900 years ago, the massive stone structures of the Great Zimbabwe create a breathtaking view, leaving visitors to wonder about the historical events that transpired many centuries ago. How were these massive stone structures built? What kind of society lived here? Why was such an impressive and durable structure ultimately abandoned?
The name ‘Zimbabwe’ is an anglicized form of an African word meaning ‘stone houses’, for the ruins of the Great Zimbabwe are comprised of several stone walls, monuments, and buildings built mainly of granite. The structures were created using a method called dry stonewalling, which requires a high level of masonry expertise. The internal structure contains many passageways and enclosures. It spans almost 1800 acres of the southeastern area of the country of Zimbabwe. While it may seem that the structure was named after the country, it is actually the other way around.
It is estimated that construction spanned more than 300 years, and that the complexes housed a civilization of up to 18,000 people. The Great Zimbabwe would have been used as a political seat of power, serving as a palace for the Zimbabwean monarch. It is not known who constructed the Great Zimbabwe, but there are several groups that may have been involved, including the Bantu people of the Gokomere, ancestors of the Southern African ethnic group known as the Lemba or Venda, or a branch of the Shona-speaking people known as the Karanga.
Preserved wall of the Great Zimbabwe ruins.
Image source: Wikipedia
The Great Zimbabwe was ultimately abandoned, with parts of it falling into ruin. However, many of the structures are still standing today, and the site has been recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. According to some, the most impressive remains of the Great Zimbabwe are the massive stone walls. The walls were constructed of granite; a local natural resource that was collected from the exposed rock in the surrounding hills. The large slabs were easy to remove, transport, and construct, creating an expansive set of walls around the complex.
Great Zimbabwe, stone imitation of a wooden lintel.
The ruins of the Great Zimbabwe form three distinctive architectural groupings, which have been labeled as the Hill Complex, the Valley Complex, and the Great Enclosure. There is some disagreement as to the meaning or purpose of the three groupings. Some say that each group represents a different king, with new rulers creating a new residence upon taking power. This would suggest that the focus of power shifted throughout the Great Zimbabwe over the centuries. Others suggest that the groupings were used consistently throughout the lifespan of the Great Zimbabwe, with each complex serving a specific purpose within society; the Hill Complex possibly served as a temple, the Valley Complex was where citizens resided, and the Great Enclosure housed the king.
Some evidence of the peoples that inhabited the Great Zimbabwe comes from the artifacts that have been discovered in the area, including soapstone figurines, pottery, iron gongs, elaborately worked ivory, iron and copper wire, iron hoes, bronze spearheads, copper ingots and crucibles, and gold beads, bracelets, pendants and sheaths. One of the most notable artifacts discovered to date is known as the eight Zimbabwe Birds. The birds are 16 inches tall, carved from soapstone and had been placed atop massive stone monoliths that were about a yard tall. Unfortunately, the birds were not discovered in situ, so it is not known where they were placed when constructed. There are some physical indications that the Zimbabwe Birds were placed at the Eastern Enclosure of the Hill Complex. The birds contain both human and bird-like features, including lips for a beak, and five-toed feet for claws. They may have been symbols of a royal presence. Determining exactly where the birds were located could provide insight as to where the king or leader lived within the Great Zimbabwe.
Copy of one of the soapstone birds found at the Great Zimbabwe.
There has been much speculation as to what led to the decline of the inhabitants of the Great Zimbabwe, mostly adducing to a decline in available resources. Some say it may have been due to declines in trade from the North, or exhaustion of the resources in the nearby gold mines. Others cite political unrest, famine, and water shortages caused by climate changes, which would have forced the citizens to move to an area with a higher abundance of resources available.
The Great Zimbabwe give visitors a glimpse into the landscape of past human civilization, but it remains a great enigma. So much is still unknown about the ancient site – how it came to be, why it was built, how it was used, and why it was abandoned. We may never know the answers to these questions, but we can still marvel at the breathtaking ruins that gave the country of Zimbabwe its name.
Featured image: Skyview of the Citadel of Great Zimbabwe.
Most of us know someone who is a bit of a mummy's boy.
But scientists have discovered a 2,300-year-old teenager who takes the crown – after being buried with 49 precious amulets.
Researchers from Cairo University used CT scans to 'digitally unwrap' a mummy who had been discovered more than 100 years ago in a cemetery in Nag el-Hassay in southern Egypt.
They found dozens of different amulets, many of which were made of gold, had been carefully placed on or inside the body.
The 'Golden boy' mummy had been laid inside two coffins – an outer coffin with Greek inscription and an inner wooden sarcophagus
Researchers from Cairo University used CT scans to 'digitally unwrap' a mummy who had been discovered more than 100 years ago in a cemetery in Nag el-Hassay in southern Egypt
Mummies and golden tongues
Gold tongues made from foil are commonly found among ancient Egyptian mummies.
They were placed on the tongues of the dead during the funeral to ensure that once in the other world the spirit could speak to Osiris.
Osiris is said to rule over the underworld and would judge the spirits of those who had died.
These included a two-finger amulet next to the uncircumcised penis, a golden heart scarab placed inside the thoracic cavity, and a golden tongue inside the mouth.
He was also clad in sandals and draped in garlands of ferns.
The 'Golden boy' mummy had been laid inside two coffins – an outer coffin with Greek inscription and an inner wooden sarcophagus.
Apart from the heart, his internal organs had been removed through an incision, while the brain had been removed through the nose and replaced with resin.
CT scans showed the boy was 128cm tall, between 14 and 15 years old, had good teeth and had no obvious known cause of death.
The amulets represent a wide range of Egyptian beliefs.
For example, a golden tongue leaf was placed inside the mouth to ensure the boy could speak in the afterlife, while a right-angle amulet was meant to bring balance.
Trinkets included a two-finger amulet next to the uncircumcised penis (see arrow), a golden heart scarab placed inside the thoracic cavity, and a golden tongue inside the mouth
CT scans showed the boy was 128cm tall, between 14 and 15 years old, had good teeth (pictured) and had no obvious known cause of death
First author Dr Sahar Saleem said: 'Here we show that this mummy's body was extensively decorated with 49 amulets, beautifully stylized in a unique arrangement of three columns between the folds of the wrappings and inside the mummy's body cavity.
'These include the Eye of Horus, the scarab, the akhet amulet of the horizon, the placenta, the Knot of Isis, and others.
'Many were made of gold, while some were made of semiprecious stones, fired clay, or faience.
'Their purpose was to protect the body and give it vitality in the afterlife.'
Apart from the heart, his internal organs had been removed through an incision, while the brain had been removed through the nose and replaced with resin
A golden heart scarab was placed inside the thoracic cavity. Pictured: a 3D printed copy of the scarab
Writing in the journal Frontiers in Medicine, the researchers added: 'Findings from this study suggest that ancient Egyptians valued their children and provided them with ritual treatment.'
The ancient Egyptians believed that when we died, our spiritual body sought out an afterlife similar to this world.
But entry into this afterlife was not guaranteed – it first required a perilous journey through the underworld, following by an individual last judgement.
For this reason, relatives and embalmers did everything they could to ensure that their loved one might reach a happy destination.
EMBALMING THE DEAD IN ANCIENT EGYPT
It is thought a range of chemicals were used to embalm and preserve the bodies of the dead in ancient cultures.
Russian scientists believe a different balm was used to preserve hair fashions of the time than the concoctions deployed on the rest of the body.
Hair was treated with a balm made of a combination of beef fat, castor oil, beeswax and pine gum and with a drop of aromatic pistachio oil as an optional extra.
Mummification in ancient Egypt involved removing the corpse’s internal organs, desiccating the body with a mixture of salts, and then wrapping it in cloth soaked in a balm of plant extracts, oils, and resins.
Older mummies are believed to have been naturally preserved by burying them in dry desert sand and were not chemically treated.
Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) techniques have been deployed in recent years in find out more about the ancient embalming process.
Studies have found bodies were embalmed with: a plant oil, such as sesame oil; phenolic acids, probably from an aromatic plant extract; and polysaccharide sugars from plants.
The recipe also featured dehydroabietic acid and other diterpenoids from conifer resin.
The Saqqara necropolis at Egypt's ancient capital of Memphis has been an archeological gold mine recently … and to prove it, one of the latest discoveries there is covered with gold leaf. Gold seems to be the theme when it comes to mummies these days as the mummified remains of a boy that was never unwrapped was digitally unwrapped with a CT scanner and it show the boy covered with 49 golden amulets, including a gold tongue and a gold cover for his private part. Will this trigger a ‘gold rush’ of mummy hunters to Egypt?
Not all mummies are in good condition.
“This mummy may be the oldest and most complete mummy found in Egypt to date.”
Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass, the director of Egyptian excavation team which discovered the gold-covered mummy, made the announcement this week at the site of the Step Pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara, near Cairo. This has been a year-long excavation which also uncovered a 52-foot-long papyrus containing the complete Book of the Dead. However, that discovery pales in comparison to the finding of the mummied remains of a man named Hekashepesy. Hawass told the media that the mummy was found at the bottom of a 49-foot (15 meters) shaft in a group of tombs dating back to the fifth and sixth dynasties of the Old Kingdom – putting them in the 2500 BCE to 2170 BCE timeframe. The tombs are near the Step Pyramid of Djoser, which was completed around 2650 BCE. That gave Hawass and his team a good idea how old the limestone sarcophagus might be when they pulled it up from the shaft. While the coffin was sealed in mortar, Hawass was able to inspect its interior. (Photos can be seen here.)
“I put my head inside to see what was inside the sarcophagus: a beautiful mummy of a man completely covered in layers of gold. This mummy may be the oldest and most complete mummy found in Egypt to date.”
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES - Image caption,
One of four newly discovered tombs at the Saqqara archaeological site south of Cairo
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES
Image ca - ption,Various statues and items of pottery were found in the tombs
It is a challenge to accurately determine the age of Egyptian mummies. A naturally mummified body was found in a near Gebelein (now called Naga el-Gherira) in 1896 – the so-called Gebelein Man was estimated to have died around 3400 BCE and is nicknamed ‘Ginger’ for his red hair. The mummified body of Lady Rai, the nursemaid to Queen Ahmose-Nefertari, the first Queen of the 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, was found in 1891 and dates to around 1530 BCE. The mummy of Amenhotep I is considered to be the oldest royal Egyptian mummy, dating to about 1506 BCE. Based on that, Hekashepesy is certainly in the running, if not the current leader, in the ‘oldest Egyptian mummy’ contest. Hawass stresses the significance of this discovery is not in its age or gold leaf but in the fact that Hekashepesy and the others found there were ordinary Egyptians.
“The most important tomb belongs to Khnumdjedef, an inspector of the officials, a supervisor of the nobles, and a priest in the pyramid complex of Unas, the last king of the fifth dynasty. The tomb is decorated with scenes of daily life.”
The team found another shaft that was 30 feet deep and contained three other tombs and many wooden statues. In addition to Khnumdjedef, they found the mummified remains of Meri, the “keeper of the secrets and assistant to the great leader of the palace” who oversaw the Pharaoh's archive documents, which were considered to be magic to common Egyptians who could not read. The wooden statues were of individuals and families, not just gods, and included three of one person, a judge and writer identified as “Fetek,” which were next to his mummy. Finally, this ancient burial site contained burial artifacts - amulets, stone vessels and other items.
While the discovery of the gold-covered mummy was significant, it didn’t overshadow an announcement just a few days before of another mummy taking a lot of gold into the afterlife.
"Here we show that this mummy's body was extensively decorated with 49 amulets, beautifully stylized in a unique arrangement of three columns between the folds of the wrappings and inside the mummy's body cavity."
In an interview with CNET, Sahar Saleem, a radiologist at Cairo University, explains how she and her team revealed new information about another old mummy – one which has been stored and unexamined in the Cairo Egyptian Museum since 1916. Saleem is the first author of the research paper, “Scanning and three-dimensional-printing using computed tomography of the “Golden Boy” mummy.” Published in the journal Frontiers of Medicine, which describes how she and her team used Computed Tomography (CT) and 3D-printing to scan the mummified remains and learn enough to call it the “Golden Boy.”
“Biological sex could be determined from the presence of male genitalia; epiphyseal fusion and tooth eruption indicated an approximate age at death of 14–15 years.”
The CT scan provided a non-invasive view of the body and the 3D printing helped to digitally reconstruct the boy’s bones, blood vessels, soft tissues and more. It showed he wore a pair of white sandals, which appear to be the least expensive part of his burial outfit. The amulets, many made of solid gold, included the Eye of Horus -- a scarab beetle inside his chest – and a two-finger amulet beside his penis. (Many photos can be seen here.) The amulets were placed in specific areas in accordance with the aforementioned Egyptian Book of the Dead. A gold tongue amulet was placed inside the mouth to ensure the deceased boy could speak in the afterlife, and the two-finger amulet by the penis was to protect the embalming incision. The mummy’s eye lines and eyebrows were inlaid with stones, and the eye pupil was made of black obsidian.
A typical gold mummy mask (not the one in the article)
Other amulets included a gold double-falcon-plume, gold scarab, stone serpent head, and a gold double ostrich plume, and the Golden Boy’s face was covered with golden head mask. On the medical side, the CT scan showed the boy had excellent teeth and had no signs of trauma, so the researchers assume the cause of death, even at such a young age, was natural. The mummy and coffin were discovered in 1916 at a necropolis in Nag el Hassaya, the cemetery of the city of Edfu. The scan helped date the boy’s death to between 330 BCE and 30 BCE, and the gold mask indicated he was of high status.
The mystery of ancient Egyptian mummification continues to unfold and goes on to fascinate us. These recent discoveries of a complete Book of the Dead, the gold-covered oldest known mummy and the Golden Boy show the Egyptians long had a strong belief in the afterlife and a reverence for the dead – and not just the deceased of the royal families but of ordinary Egyptians as well. We would do well to follow their examples rather than portray their mummified deceased in horror movies.
Latvia’s Enigmatic Virtaka Cliff and Mysterious Gauja River Petroglyphs
Latvia’s Enigmatic Virtaka Cliff and Mysterious Gauja River Petroglyphs
Petroglyphs,cave paintings , and different rock carvings are some of the earliest forms of expression of early man. In the Baltic, Pomeranian, and Scandinavian regions of Europe, petroglyphs have been utilized for various purposes for thousands of years in the lives of its inhabitants. Popular in the Paleolithic, Neolithic, and well into the Bronze and even Iron Age, petroglyphs became a unique heritage of Europe. Today we will examine one of the most intricate and intriguing petroglyph examples in the Baltic region, known as the Virtaka Cliff in Latvia.
But what are petroglyphs? Petroglyphs are elaborate incisions in prominent rocks, boulders, and cliff walls that served a religious or similar purpose for the various cultures and tribes that lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. They often depicted mythical creatures or the hunting of game. All the various symbols are still a subject of a lot of study to decipher and understand their purpose and meaning.
The Virtaka Cliff petroglyphs are located on sandstone cliffs along the Gauja River Basin in Latvia. (BirdsEyeLV / CC BY-SA 3.0 )
Belated Discovery of the Virtaka Cliff
The Krimulda parish and municipality is located close to the shores of the Baltic Sea in Latvia. This is the home of the Virtaka Cliff, a remote sandstone cliff that boasts a dense grouping of petroglyphs, one of the richest such collections of markings in the whole Baltic region. Latvia is the second largest of the three Baltic nations, and boasts a rich and lengthy history, seeped in the traditions and heritage of the Balts, and the Virtaka Cliff is a crucial insight into its oldest historical periods.
As it is situated in the so-called East European Plain, prominent rock outcrops and rock faces are somewhat of a rarity across the nation. Nevertheless, certain regions of Latvia still have suitable rocky canvases that the ancient peoples discovered and utilized for their enigmatic expressions. The Gauja River Basin is a critical example of this. The only truly Latvian river - emerging and ending entirely in Latvia – it carved out a deep river valley, with steep red rock cliffs all around its banks – a perfect canvas for some petroglyphs!
Natural caves are also in abundance in the region, many of them showing signs of ancient habitation. Many have been studied extensively and classed as sacred caves. There are roughly fifty of these in Latvia today. These are all important aspects of northeast European ancient cultures. But what is interesting is their geological background. These caves are formed through the same geological process as were the many cliffs in Latvia. Formed from sandstone, and relatively easy to work, they often show ancient carvings and symbols.
Sadly, visitors, travelers, wanderers, and tourists often exploited the softness of the sandstone by carving their names or goofy messages in the walls they chanced upon. Many of the ancient cliff faces and sacred caves have been thus defiled by “modern” writings. The rock faces of the popular Gutman Ala or Gutman’s cave have been extensively studied, but are also filled with tourist writings. The earliest of these dates to 1521!
The first discovery made by prominent cave researcher, Guntis Eniņš, was of mysterious carvings on the walls of the Lībiešu Upurala cave in 1971.
The very first ancient rock carvings in Latvia were discovered surprisingly recently. With centuries of outside interference and occupation from major regional powers, Latvia received its independence truly and formally around 1991. These occupations and internal struggles probably also influenced its scholarly world, limiting the extent of the archaeological studies until later decades of the 20th century.
In 1971, Latvia’s petroglyphs and rock carvings were discovered in earnest by a prominent cave researcher, Guntis Eniņš. His earliest discoveries were made in the Lībiešu Upurala cave. He discovered ritual remains in the cave, which were also corresponding to the mysterious carving on its walls. His next major discovery was made in 1986, on the face of the so-called Virtaka Rock. This prominent sandstone cliff face is located on the banks of the River Brasla.
The Virtaka Rock is one of the most stunning, primeval rivers of the Baltic region, with wild nature within its rugged valleys, and a truly heathenish ambience to it. The Virtaka Cliff is situated on its right bank, and its height is between 10 to 15 meters (32-50 feet), and length is roughly a 100 meters (~329 feet). At its base, secluded from sight, is a small niche cave, with a ceiling height of 2.5 meters (8.2 feet).
Upon close inspection, Guntis Eniņš was astounded by the majestic discovery he had made. The face of the sandstone cliff was covered with an intricate and dense grouping of ancient petroglyphs, covering a surface of 2 by 3.5 meters (6.5 by 11 feet). It was at once certain that this grouping of carvings was by far the largest and most significant such discovery in Latvia up to that point, and it made a big echo in the archaeological and historical scientific circles.
Discovered in 1986, the Virtaka Cliff petroglyphs in Latvia.
The carvings on Virtaka Cliff are very dense and very numerous, perhaps indicating a long period of “worship” or use by ancient inhabitants of the region. While the meaning, the role, and the symbolism behind the carvings remains largely a subject of debate, we can nevertheless spot some of the widely used symbols of the ancient times.
Some of them are various basic symbols used throughout Europe in the neolithic and the later ages, such as swastikas, sun crosses, circles, zig-zag lines, animal shapes and human shaped motifs. Important to note are the use of swastikas - which are ancient symbols of the sun in Old European cultures and civilizations. Some of them are arrayed in combined groups of four, while others are solitary. Sun crosses and similar shapes are also very old and very widespread in Ancient Europe.
The petroglyph carvings on Virtaka Cliff are very dense and numerous and were discovered in 1986 by Guntis Eniņš.
But more important to note are several symbols that are very recognizable in the later Balto-Slavic cultures. Many of them are best described as angular geometric symbols, and as such they are commonly observed in later Baltic andSlavic (Balto-Slavs diverged into these two distinct cultural groups) embroidery, carvings, and religious symbolism. The Hands of God (Slavic: Ręce Boga ) are one such symbol on the Virtaka Cliff, as are the numerous linear triangular formations that are identified as Slavic symbols of fertility, the tree of life, or the Sun.
As such, Virtaka Cliff could be an important indication into the traces of earliest Balto-Slavic cultural groups in the region, a remnant of the crucial amalgamation of the Proto and Indo Europeans. Alas, archaeological excavations at the foot of the cliff yielded no considerable finds that could help determine the age or the extent of its use in history. The uncertainty of the age of the carvings led to a lot of scholarly debate and a concentrated effort that could determine their age with certainty.
Eniņš, with the help of a prominent Latvian geologist, Vilma Venska, deduced that the carvings are between 500 and 1000 years old at most. This could place them into a time period of “late” Early Medieval Period, when some of Europe’s last pagans still held to their fate in the Baltic and Pomeranian region. As such, this dating by Eniņš does make sense. However, it could be even older than this.
Several key Latvian scholars offered their interpretations of these carvings, most of them largely agreeing as to their origins. However, it is the age that is subject to debate. The influential linguist Konstantīns Karulis offered his suggestion in 1988, saying that the Virtaka Cliff petroglyphs are motifs left behind by the early Balts, corresponding to their mythology and ancient world view. Several world tree symbols are clear suggestions of this.
The date the Virtaka cliff petroglyph were created has been a subject of debate.
But, surprisingly, Karulis somewhat shockingly suggested that the age of the carvings was no older than 200-300 yeas, which seems to be an almost impossible suggestion. Most other scholars across Latvia and Europe agree that the carvings are quite archaic, with a millennium of age being the lowest possibility. They also agree that these carvings can be easily connected to the Proto Indo-European symbolism and world view as it was commonly depicted through similar motifs thousands of years ago.
Guntis Eniņš devoted his efforts to further research and went on to discover several similar places in Latvia, especially in the Gauja River basin and Gauja National Park. In 1987, merely 50 meters (~165 feet) from the Virtaka Cliff, Eniņš discovered another smaller group of rock carvings. These were much simpler, consisting mainly of groups of vertical lines arranged in groups of nine. Eniņš deduced that it was a form of an ancient lunar calendar, and thus named this new site Kalendāra klints (Calendar Rock).
After this flurry of activity, interest in Virtaka Cliff quickly subsided after that - mainly due to inability for scholars to agree on its age. Meanwhile enthusiasts kept up their devoted explorations. Eniņš was at the head of a group of amateur explorers, and they went on to make several important discoveries. Some other local historians also made discoveries in this region, such as Ansis Opmanis, Imants Jurģītis, and Sarmīte Ansberga.
The inspector of the Gauja National Park also discovered petroglyphs in his rounds. Guntis Eniņš conducted thorough cleaning and excavations at these sites, notably at Krusti Rock and Re¸ģi Rock, copying the petroglyphs for preservation. However, it is interesting to not that Eniņš refrained from publicly announcing the exact locations of these new petroglyphs, in order to protect them from tourists and desecration.
After the discovery of the Virtaka cliff petroglyphs, Guntis Eniņš refrained from publicly announcing the exact locations of these new petroglyphs, in order to protect them from tourists and desecration, as you can see at the bottom in a carving from 2004.
Most - if not all - of Latvia’s discovered rock carvings and petroglyphs are situated in the area of Gauja River, where Brasla and Amata Rivers flow into it. Some of these locations have up to 300 symbols carved. However, dating these carvings has proved to be a very difficult task. One of Latvia’s leading archaeologists, Juris Urtāns, helped determine their age after his critical 2001 academic study.
This work was centered on the then-recently discovered petroglyphs on the so-called Raksti Cliff on the banks of the Rakstupīte river. The majority of those carvings were depictions of ships, and as such their discovery was a sensation. Urtāns’ academic publication was thus the first such work regarding the discussion of rock carvings in Latvia as a cultural and historical source. By a careful and complex analysis of the ship carvings, Urtāns managed to compare them to some later church graffiti and medieval symbols, dating the petroglyphs at Raksti Cliff to 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries AD.
This pointed that at least a part of petroglyphs discovered in the region are dated positively to the medieval period, showing that the custom of rock carving was preserved in the region of Latvia much longer than elsewhere. But then again, the Baltic nations were the last in Europe to be Christianized, and thus their pagan customs survived for much longer than elsewhere. Lithuania was Christianized around 1387 through severely violent means.
One of the proposed theories of the meaning of the carvings placed them in relation to the so-called “cross tree” tradition. This old custom had funerary origins. Inhabitants of Latvia would carve crosses in trees, usually pine, which was selected for that purpose. When the deceased was laid to rest, a cross was carved in the cross-tree, so his soul would not go past the spot marked with the cross.
It is proposed that the numerous markings on Virtaka Cliff had the same purpose, and were left there by mourners over the ages. The custom of cross-trees died out in the early 20th century with the onset of Russian rule over Latvia. Virtaka Cliff could thus be an important insight into the regional funerary traditions that date far back in time.
The Virtaka petroglyphs are an important part of Latvia's history. In 2016 the National Library of Latvia opened a lecture room called the Virtaka classroom, named in honor of the Virtaka rock on the Brasla River. The rock patterns have been replicated with an image on the wall in the room.
The European pagan heritage is undoubtedly an important aspect of our collective history. The period of Old Europe, and the emerging of later cultures as shaped by the Indo European touches, both showcase a complex world view and a far-reaching mythology. And although much of it is still shrouded in mystery, ancient caves and sites such as the Virtaka Cliff can help us greatly in piecing the numerous puzzles of our past.
Top image: Discovered in 1986, the Virtaka Cliff petroglyphs in Latvia
Mummified Crocodiles Sacrificed to the Gods Uncovered in Egypt
Mummified Crocodiles Sacrificed to the Gods Uncovered in Egypt
While performing excavations at a site known as Qubbat al-Hawā in southern Egypt in 2019, archaeologists from the University of Jaén in Spain made a strange and startling discovery. They unearthed a tomb that contained the remains of 10 mummified crocodiles, which once swam the waters of the River Nile in large numbers during the time of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs.
Two of the Spanish archaeologists have joined forces with a pair of Belgian scientists to produce a full and complete analysis of the skeletons of these mummified crocodiles and their tombs, published in the journal PLOS One .
“More than 20 burial sites with crocodile mummies are known in Egypt, but to find 10 well-preserved crocodile mummies together in an undisturbed tomb is extraordinary,” explained study lead author Bea De Cupere, an archaeozoologist from the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences(RBINS), when discussing the mummified crocodiles. “Of most mummies collected by museums in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, often hatchlings, we don’t know exactly where they come from.”
Ten mummified crocodiles unearthed in an undisturbed tomb in Qubbat al-Hawā, discovered in 2019.
Excavations of Rock-Cut Tombs Revealed Mummified Crocodiles
Qubbat al-Hawā is the site of an ancient Egyptian necropolis and is located on the western bank of the Nile opposite the historic city of Aswan. Its collection of over 100 tombs features the resting places of many aristocrats and priests, mostly from the age of the Old and Middle Kingdoms (2,700 to 1,800 BC).
The small, rock-cut tomb of the crocodiles, which contained five skeletons and five crocodile skulls, was located right next to six tombs that held the bodies of many local dignitaries, signifying the importance of this unique ritual burial. While the necropolis at Qubbat al-Hawā was still in use as late as the Roman period, the Belgian researchers have confirmed that the crocodiles were entombed sometime during the pre-Ptolemaic era, or before 304 BC.
Overview of some of the Qubbat al-Hawā tombs, including the crocodile tomb on the right.
(José Luis Pérez Garciá)
Sacrifices to Sobek, the Crocodile-Headed God
In ancient Egypt, crocodiles were used in rituals dedicated to Sobek, the god of water, fertility and pharaonic power and influence. In addition to his role in helping Egypt’s pharaohs achieve and preserve political and military strength, Sobek was also said to protect the people from the dangers associated with the Nile.
These would have included rapid and massive flooding, exposure to waterborne diseases, and attacks by ferocious creatures including venomous snakes, hippopotami, and crocodiles - the same crocodiles that were used in rituals meant to appease the mighty Sobek, who was usually portrayed with a man’s body but a crocodile’s head.
The skeletal remains found in the tomb belonged to two different species: the West African crocodile and the iconic Nile crocodile , both of which proliferated in the Nile region thousands of years ago.
The crocodile five bodies ranged in size from six to 11 feet (1.8 to 3.5 meters) long, which is average size for a West African adult but on the small side for the Nile version (the latter can grow to twice the length of a West African type). Three of the five skeletons were virtually complete, but the other two had a lot of missing parts.
Statue of Sobek, the crocodile-headed god, from the mortuary temple of Amenemhat III, on display at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. (BVBurton / CC BY-SA 4.0 )
Rare Discovery of Intact Mummified Crocodiles at Qubbat al-Hawā
“The crocodiles were first buried elsewhere, possibly in sand pits,” De Cupere said. “This allowed the crocodiles to dry out naturally. Then the remains were unearthed, wrapped and moved to the tomb in Qubbat al-Hawā. Body parts must have been lost during wrapping and transport.”
One of the intact mummified crocodiles was so perfectly preserved that the archaeologists found stones known as gastroliths still present it its intestines. These are small rocks that reptiles will sometimes swallow to help them digest food, or in the case of crocodiles to help them maintain their balance while immersed in water. The presence of gastroliths helped confirm that the crocodiles were not cut open and cleaned out after their deaths, but were mummified in a more natural state.
There were no signs of physical injury on the skeletal remains of the mummified crocodiles. Ancient Egyptians captured the dangerous creatures by ensnaring them with nets, and the researchers speculate the crocodiles buried in the tomb were either drowned, suffocated or baked in the hot sun to ensure they were dead before been sent off to the afterworld.
The unfortunate creatures were being offered to Sobek as sacrifices, with the proper rituals being carried out beforehand to make sure the sacrifices would be accepted and would bring favor to the Egyptian people.
Archaeologist Vicente Barba Colmenero excavating the skull of one of the mummified crocodiles from the tomb at Qubbat al-Hawā.
Sometimes, an Unwrapped Mummy is Better than a Wrapped One
The skeletal remains of the mummified crocodiles were no longer wrapped. But samples taken from the tomb contained microscopic traces of linen, palm leaves and rope, showing that the bodies and skulls had been mummified at the time of burial. The archaeologists determined they’d been entombed more than 2,300 years ago, based on stratigraphic evidence and on the advanced decay of the bandaging and the lack of pitch or bitumen covering the crocodile skeletons (later burials featured these added preservatives).
“Although several hundred crocodile mummiesare available for study in museums worldwide, not many specimens have been subjected to detailed investigation,” the study authors noted in their PLOS One paper. “This is undoubtedly due to the fact that observations of these mummies are complicated by the bandages and because large amounts of resin orbitumen are often applied to the animal bodies.”
Because they could look at the skeletons of the animals directly, instead of being forced to rely on non-invasive imaging technologies (CT-scanning and radiographing) to peer through layers of bandages and resin, the archaeologists were able to examine the skeletons of the mummified crocodiles more thoroughly and completely than would normally be the case.
“I'm thrilled that finds like these give us another glimpse into the life of ancient Egyptians,” said De Cupere, in acknowledgement of the scientific and historical significance of this anomalous but highly revealing discovery.
Top image: Bea De Cupere from the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences with one of the mummified crocodiles.
When asked to name the top place in the world they would like to live, it is a safe bet that few people choose Siberia. That makes it difficult to accept the idea that it was the chosen home of early humans, Neanderthals and Denisovans. Why would they migrate from Africa and other warmer climates to the frigid air and frozen ground of Siberia? Well, the mystery just got a little deeper – researchers analyzing prehistoric DNA from North Asia were surprised to find out it was from a previously unknown group of hunter-gatherers that lived there 10,000 years ago or more. Another strange discovery – the group disappeared 7,500 years ago. And one more … the people may have not only migrated east from Europe but west from North America across the Bering land mass as well. Who were they? A new species? An amalgam of other species? Why would they leave North America to go to Siberia? Can they help solve the mysterious attraction of Siberia?
“The peopling history of North Asia remains largely unexplored due to the limited number of ancient genomes analyzed from this region. Here, we report genome-wide data of ten individuals dated to as early as 7,500 years before present from three regions in North Asia, namely Altai-Sayan, Russian Far East, and the Kamchatka Peninsula.”
In a study published in the journal Current Biology, study senior author Cosimo Posth, an assistant professor in archaeo- and paleogenetics at the University of Tübingen in Germany, explains the frustration archeologists have had in identifying what people lived in an area now known as North Asia, stretching from western to northeastern Siberia. In particular, the researchers were interested in an area known as the Altai, which was known to have been traversed by prehistoric people traveling between northern Siberia, Central Asia and East Asia for thousands of years. This area – in what is now the place where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan meet – became famous when fossils found in a cave were identified as Denisovans, another extinct human relative. The Denisovan fossils are merely a few teeth and bone fragments, but those plus eDNA helped identify their genome. Now, Posth was present with 10 prehistoric human genomes found in Altai dating back more than 7,500 years.
“(They were) "a mixture between two distinct groups that lived in Siberia during the last Ice Age."
According to the study, researchers have previously found multiple distinct human genetic lineages in this area dating back to the Upper Paleolithic or Old Stone Age which began 50,000 years ago. At a location in the Altai region known as the Afontova Gora site, they found remains dating back 17,000 years showing ancient North Eurasian ancestry, a common gene pool. After that, there is a 12,000 years gap where the genomic profile of the populations are unknown. Fortunately, the 10 prehistoric human genomes helped solve some of the mystery of their identity.
No, we're not there yet - stop asking.
Posth explains in Smithsonian Magazine that the ten individuals lived previously in three regions: Siberia’s Altai Mountains, the Kamchatka Peninsula and other parts of the Russian Far East. These regions had the kind of conditions that make one wonder why they moved there - cold climates at high latitudes – but Posth points out that this is the perfect climate for optimal preservation of ancient DNA. As he puts it: “You can actually generate a genome of the same quality as a modern genome. It’s amazing stuff.” How amazing? Posth and his team were able to identify an entirely new population of humans that lived in Siberia’s Altai Mountains during that ‘lost’ time period. That genome was then found in lineages in both Europe and the Americas – so these people eventually headed for warmer and lower altitude regions. The ancient DNA revealed a second group – members of Japan’s Jomon culture who originally came from Siberia and them migrated back west to Altai thousands of years later. Here’s the biggest shocker from the ancient DNA – it revealed that Native Americans migrated back over the Bering Land Bridge into Asia several times over a span of thousands of years.
“Our analysis reveals a previously undescribed Middle Holocene Siberian gene pool in Neolithic Altai-Sayan hunter-gatherers as a genetic mixture between paleo-Siberian and ancient North Eurasian (ANE) ancestries. This distinctive gene pool represents an optimal source for the inferred ANE-related population that contributed to Bronze Age groups from North and Inner Asia, such as Lake Baikal hunter-gatherers, Okunevo-associated pastoralists, and possibly Tarim Basin populations.”
In other words, the Altai region was a Siberian melting pot 12,000 years ago. And “melting” it was – research shows that the region was slowly warming. That could have been part of the attraction for some of these hunter-gatherers to migrate to a new area or return to the land of their ancestors. The Paleo-Siberians were part of the first wave of humans to migrate over the bridge to the Americas and their genome is in many Native Americans today. The reason for their re-migration back over the Bering bridge before it disappeared is still a mystery. Posth was surprised by the amount of migration across this area: “I expected movement maybe from one valley to another, but here we’re talking about large-scale movement and mobility among these groups across vast areas of North Asia.”
The final surprise was the discovery of one individual in Nizhnetytkesken Cave who was buried with stone points, ornaments and animal claws that indicated he was quite possibly a shaman. Dating back 6,500 years, he lived more recently than the other individuals and his genetic profile was closer to populations from the Russian Far East – a culturally distinct and geographically distant region more than 900 miles west.
Feels warmer today.
One more thing – the Altai mystery group of hunter-gatherers disappear from that region 7,500 years ago. Where did they go? The study suggests that the continued to migrate – they may be the source of the ancient North Eurasian genomes found in groups like the Tarim Basin mummies and the Bronze Age cultures of the Lake Baikal region of southern Russia.
“(These) geographically distant hunter-gatherer groups showed evidence of genetic connections to a much larger extent than previously expected. This suggests that human migrations and admixtures [interbreeding between groups] were not the exception but the norm also for ancient hunter-gatherer societies."
According to Posth, it appears these ancient humans – and perhaps we modern humans – are genetically predisposed to be wanderers and migrators. Could our modern preference to settle in one area for life – and for generations – be going against our nature and causing some of the problems we have? After all, the song was about a Happy wanderer, not a sad, depressed, sick and lonely one.
Ancient “Hieroglyphs” Discovered In Ukrainian Caves
A Ukrainian explorer followed his grandmother's clues and discovered a lost cave system in the middle of Kyiv. Professors are “amazed” that such a treasure was hidden in plain sight for thousands of years.
The cave system is located at Voznesenskyi Descent in Kyiv, Ukraine. Dmytro Perov, a conservationist at the Center for Urban Development in Kyiv reported on Radio Kultura that the caves were found beside a dismantled house that Kyiv housing authorities had deemed as unsafe for inhabitation.
A report in Suspline says that in August this year Perov learned that the Kyiv City Council were drawing up plans to develop this area. His attention was drawn to a particular house address: Voznesenskyi Uzviz, 25, in which his great-great-grandmother Daria Volosova used to live at the beginning of the 20th century, at which time it was a three-story family manor.
A report in Rubryka says Perov’s Grandmother used to speak about a big stone house next to an ancient cave, but no one knew where it was located. Perov told Radio Kultura that he had examined the area several times in the past and that only the front facia of the house remained, hidden in bushes.
The conservationist told reporters that he decided to team up with his friends to go to the old house “on a small expedition to look for caves” and they identified an entrance. Last Saturday, Perov and a team of researchers from the Institute of Archaeology conducted the first archaeological explorations in the Voznesensky Caves. And having spent 3 hours inspecting the cave, Timur Bobrovskyi, a professor of archaeology at the Sofia Kyivska reserve said he was “amazed that such a treasure was found in the center of Kyiv”.
The entrance to the cave system, and one of the silted-up cave entrances within it.
Perov says the team explored two of the four caves, because the other two are full of silt that needs to be cleared out prior to any exploration. In the northern part of the cave the team identified fragments of pottery from the Late Kyivan Rus’ era, which was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.
Perov wrote on Facebook that the team scoured around 40 meters (131 ft) of caves including the lower cave complex, which he said is twice as long as the upper passage and it has a series of “radial branches.” However, the most significant discovery was, in Petrov’s words: “a set of Kyivan Rus hieroglyphs and Varangian symbols from the Early Rus period” when the region was under the control of Varangian rulers.
Dmytro Perov said that while more research is needed to confirm it, they suspect some of the carved symbols might date all the way back to the 5th to 6th centuries BC. He says “ animistic images of animals and graffiti” from the Varyaz period were also found on the walls including the rune Algiz ("chicken's foot"). This was an ancient Varangian charm, a symbol of protection and long life.
Between the 7th–6th centuries BC several Hellenic Greek colonies were founded on the northern coast of the Black Sea on the Crimean Peninsula and along the Sea of Azov. After a period of control by the Roman empire, during the 1st millennium BC, the steppe hinterland was occupied by the Cimmerians, Scythians, and Sarmatians who traded with the Greek/Roman colonies.
Viking Bloodlines And Trade Routes
The Kyivan state was founded by the Varangian, or Viking, Prince Rurik in the late 9th century. His descendants developed and controlled an international trade route to the west until the 13th century. According to Britannia the Kyivan state comprised East Slavic, Norse, and Finnic peoples, so it will perhaps be impossible to identify who left the carved symbols on the cave walls.
For several months the Kyiv City Council has been planning to transfer the land plot to a private developer. However, Perov said that until more data is gathered from the caves the issue of transfer of the plot for development has been removed from the agenda of the Kyiv City State Administration.
Top image: The team exploring the cave system found in Kyiv.
The ancient city of Lacedaemon – is it the legendary Atlantis?
The ancient city of Lacedaemon – is it the legendary Atlantis?
Artist’s depiction of Atlantis. Credit: BigStockPhoto
The name Lacedaemon is derived from the verb, λαγχάνω (lachano), to assign somebody something by lot, and δαίμων (daemon), which means God in ancient Greek. Lacedaemon therefore denotes the divine lot, a piece of the world given to the God Poseidon, according to Plato, who identifies Lacedaemon with Atlantis.
I consider it worthwile to mention a remark by J. Spanuth in his book, ‘ Atlantis: Heimat, Reich and Schicksal der Germanen ’, (Tuebingen 1965), that Atlantis is “the oldest, most disputed, most hazardous and clearly most thankless, but still the most rewarding and most intriguing matter that Antiquity has bequeathed to us”.
There is a vast bibliography about Atlantis, but the modern scholarship concluded that to locate Atlantis and to prove the validity of its identification, four points of agreement must be met and generally accepted. (See E.Bloedow. ‘ Fire and Flood from Heaven: Was Atlantis at Troy ?’ La Parola del Passato 48, 1993, pp.109-160.
Atlantis was an island.
It lay beyond the “Pillars of Hercules”.
It was larger than Asia and Libya together.
Its destruction (sinking) produced a barrier of impassable mud.
These four prerequisites are completely fulfilled in the case of Lacedaemon.
The name, features, and location of Lacedaemon have been hotly debated from Antiquity to modern times. Lacedaemon was mentioned for the first time in the second Book of Iliad, in the so-called Catalogue of the Ships, verse 581, as the first city of the Kingdom of Menelaos in Lakonia – “Οι δ’ είχον κοίλην Λακεδαίμονα κητώεσσαν” (‘E de ichon kili Lacedaemon kitoesan’). Κοίλη (‘kili’) and κητώεσσα (‘kitoesan’) are the two traditional epithets steadily connected with Lacedaemon. ‘Κili’ means hollow, everybody agrees on that, but the epithet ‘kitoesan’ has been variously interpreted. It might refer either to its geological formation and identity – that it is full of ravines and subterranean caustic splits – or to its island nature, in this case abounded with κήτη (‘kiti’), sea monsters or big fish (dolphins, turtles, whales, seals etc.).
The Iliad by Homer. Credit: BigStockPhoto
Taking for granted that in northern Lakonia there once existed a huge lake from the Pleiocene period, measuring 35 square kilometres, the epithet ‘kitoesan’ may well fit the geology of the site of Lacedaemon. The lake is now dry and contains big deposits of lignite layers, similar to those in the adjacent plain of Megalopolis. The date of dessication or draining of the lake in the area of mount Taygetos is of paramount importance for the history of Lacedaemon, its identity, and identification with Atlantis.
Plato, in Timaeus and Critias, describes Atlantis as an island in what he calls a ‘Pontos’, a word meaning Sea or Sea-lake (Timaius 24E Critias 113-114 B). The other geological and geographical coordinate of the area is the Πέλαγος (‘Pelagos’), erroneously interpreted by Atlantologists as ‘Ocean’. Pelagos in Greek signifies a large and extensive area, such as the Aegean Pelagos or the Ionian Pelagos. Pontos was the huge lake of Lacedaemon, Pelagos was the large and navigable river Eurotas.
The inhabitants of Atlantis, known by various names, like Hyperboreans, Phaeakes, Phoinikes, Atlantes, Minyans etc, were thought to live in a remote area, safe in their natural environment, reluctant to be visited by other people. There they lived a whole millenium, eternally young, and they were beloved to the Gods. Tyndareos, the father of Helen and the divine Twins Kastor and Polydeukes lived where Lakonia ended, very close to Arcadia - “εν τοις εσχάτοις της Λακεδαιμονίας” (‘En tis eshatis tis Lacedaemonias’).
We have reasons to suppose that the area of the lake was covered by small islands, some natural, others artificial, founded upon wooden tree trunks, taken from the densely forested mount Taygetos, an activity described by Plato in reference with the works of the Atlantians in the main island in the Pontos. The work and the plan may be paralleled with the miraculous achievements of the Venetians in the large Lagoon in the Adriatic. This “Civitas Serenissima” was built entirely upon wooden trunks and was composed of numerous islands, constructed densely to each other.
The city of Venice was built on wooden foundations.
Plato himself speaks of other islands, besides Atlantis, in the same Pontos. Atlantis lay at the eastern fringes of the sea, near the exit of the river, beyond the Pillars of Hercules and was surrounded by islands, which were approached from Atlantis both by sea and land (Timaeus: “εξ ης επιβατόν επί τας άλλας νήσους τοις τότε εγένετο πορευομένοις”). Plato seems to know well not only the geophysical conditions of the area of Lacedaemon, he also knew the geography of the island group and most probably the names of the islands, at least of some of them.
Taking that into consideration, we may come to the solution of the most difficult of the Platonic references to Atlantis, which is described by Plato as being larger than Asia and Libya together. What was known as ‘Asia’ and ‘Libya’ at the time were small islands in the lake of Lacedaemon, and we know that Asia and Libya were Laconian toponymics (see my book LACEDAEMON, volume II, p. 399 ff).
Accordingly, we fix one of the four points of agreement posed by Atlantologists. Plato’s trustworthines is strengthened by the reference in ‘The Odyssey’ that Ithaca, the original homeland of Odysseus, lay in a similar landscape. It is described as “χθαμαλή εν αλί, πανυπερτάτη προς ζόφον”, i.e. hollow and the most remote to North-West, though many other islands that were close to each other, lay to the East and South (“νήσοι πολλαί, μάλα σχεδόν αλλήλησιν”, Odyssey, book 9, 22-3).
Arethusa fountain old view, Ithaca island, Greece. Created by Provost, published on L'Illustration. Credit: BigStockPhoto
Odysseus, the Argonaut, was at home in Lacedaemon, where he acquired the famous composite-bow of Iphitos and it was not a mere coincidence that his descendant Telemachos came to Lacedaemon many years or centuries thereafter to visit Menelaos and Helen in order to be informed about his farther’s return to Ithaca.
Featured image:Artist’s depiction of Atlantis. Credit: BigStockPhoto
Archaeology may be the discovery of and research of things that happened long ago, but it is an ever-changing field. Every year new discoveries are made that either teach us something new or show us what we thought we knew was wrong. 2022 was no different, it was a year full of exciting discoveries. From a close-up inside look at an Egyptian pharaoh’s coffin to a 9,000-year-old shrine found in Jordan, 2022 was a great year to be a history fan. As we prepare to move into next year let’s take a look at 10 of the most exciting archaeological discoveries of 2022.
Amenhotep I’s outer sarcophagus and his head and body after scanning inside.
Historically we haven’t always been great at looking after or showing respect to important archaeological discoveries. A disturbing example of this is Egyptian mummies. Rather than being treated with the respect and reverence, a body deserves, all too often mummies have been treated as novelties.
The Victorians went as far as throwing exclusive mummy unwrapping parties . Sadly this has left modern historians and archaeologists with precious few royal mummies that have not been unwrapped and damaged.
Which “Lost Culture” Created This 2,000-Year-Old Tomb?
Thankfully the mummy of Amenhotep I, which was first discovered in 1881, was never unwrapped because it was believed to be too beautiful to destroy. For over a hundred years, Egyptologists have been desperate to take a look at the face of Amenhotep. This year, thanks to the use of noninvasive CT scans, they finally got to see inside Amenhotep’s mummy.
The team based at the University of Cairo was struck by how much the mummy resembled his father, Ahmose. The CT scans used allowed the team to see what Amenhotep had looked like when alive, rather than just a desiccated piece of meat.
Amenhotep was originally found in a cache of mummies that had been collected, rewrapped, and reinterred in the 21st Dynasty after tomb robbers had damaged them. The scans show just how badly Amenhotep had been damaged and how much care the 21st Dynasty priests had taken in repairing his mummy.
His neck had been broken when looters had torn off a necklace and the priests carefully reattached his head with a resin-treated linen band. They also repaired his broken left arm, covered a hole in his stomach, and added new gold amulets.
For a long time, it had been believed that these priests uncovered and rewrapped old royal mummies so as to be able to rob them. The scans show the opposite is true. The priests not only treated these royal mummies with the utmost respect but even added new valuables to the old mummies in a show of veneration.
Antarctic explorer Earnest Shackleton’s long lost Endurance shipwreck, which sank in 1915, has finally been found at a depth of 10,000 feet or 3050 meters off the coast of the icy continent.
Source: Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust / National Geographic / Endurance22
Few archaeological discoveries grab headlines like the discovery of a long-lost shipwreck. 2022 was the year that the long-lost ship of the legendary explorer Ernest Shackleton, the Endurance, was discovered.
The ship first sank off the coast of Antarctica in 1915. Shackleton had hoped to make the first land crossing of Antarctica but his plans were scuppered when his ship became stuck in a dense pack of ice. He and his crew of 28 were left with no choice but to abandon their ship. For the next several months they camped on ice floes which carried them northward until they finally reached the uninhabited Elephant Island.
From there Shackleton and some of his men traveled another 800 miles until they reached the island of South Georgia where they finally found help and managed to rescue the rest of their crew.
Of course, by this time the Endurance, a 144-foot-long, three-masted ship, had run out of endurance and sunk. Over the last century there have been numerous attempts to find it, but the same ice that sank it doomed any attempts. However this year thanks to historically low ice levels, the members of Endurance 22 (a team of devoted historians and underwater explorers) finally managed to find it.
Using a remotely operated submarine the Endurance was found 10,000 feet underwater, around 4.6 miles south of its last estimated position. It turns out the ship is in remarkably good shape, thanks to the frigid sea’s lack of wood-eating parasites. Sadly, it has been deemed unsalvageable as the ship is completely flooded with water. Still, the team’s work is a fascinating look into a long thought lost piece of history.
Ice Age animal bones, including this woolly rhinoceros jaw, have been discovered in Devon.
So this next discovery is technically more paleontology than archaeology, but it’s still one of the most interesting discoveries of the year. When you think of British wildlife the biggest thing that comes to mind is perhaps the red deer. And the most dangerous thing that comes to mind might be a particularly grumpy badger.
It turns out that not that long ago British wildlife was a bit more exotic. During the construction of new houses in Sherford, near Plymouth, some rather peculiar bones were found in a previously undiscovered cave. A team of archaeologists, led by Rob Bourn, was brought in.
They discovered the bones of mammoths, woolly rhinoceros, and hyenas in a cave that had been uncovered during construction. The bones date back to around 60,000 to 30,000 years ago during the middle of the last ice age. While ice age fossils aren’t a particularly rare discovery in the United Kingdom, finding so many in one cave is a much rarer occurrence. A petition is now being held to try and protect the site to make sure the cave isn’t sealed and houses built on top of it.
These ancient Iraq carvings dating to the Assyrian Empire were unearthed near the Mashki Gate in Mosul, escaping destruction by IS in 2016.
Tragically over the last few years, the terrorist group ISIS has made a concerted effort to destroy as many archaeological artifacts as they can across the Middle East. Museums have been raided and monuments that survived millennia have been looted and destroyed. While the group has claimed they seek to destroy anything they consider to be harem or immoral, the truth is they have been selling much of what they looted on the black market to fund their war.
Two of the ancient monuments destroyed by ISIS were the Mashki and Adad gates at the ancient site of Nineveh in Iraq. The site dates back over 4000 years and at its height was the capital of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The gates were iconic and their destruction was a tragedy.
Happily, there is a sliver of a silver lining. Archaeologists digging through the ruins of one of the gates found a sealed door that hadn’t been opened for over two and a half thousand years. Inside they found stunning artworks that date back to roughly 700 BC. It is believed the seven carved stone panels depict the Assyrian king of the time’s various military campaigns.
5. The Discovery of Queen Neith’s Tomb in Egypt
Back to Egypt for another Royal discovery. Ancient Egypt may be one of the most widely studied periods in human history but what many people don’t realize is that we still have huge gaps in our knowledge when it comes to Ancient Egypt. Ancient Egyptian civilization lasted for over 3,000 years and there are huge chunks of time where we have blanks.
In November of 2022, the tomb of Queen Neith was found at the ancient necropolis of Saqqara. A previously unearthed pyramid was discovered which held 300 coffins and 100 mummies as well as a series of interconnected tunnels. What made the discovery so exciting was archaeologists had no idea who Neith was when she was unearthed.
They soon discovered her name was Neith and that she was completely missing from the historical record. As Zahi Hawass, an Egyptologist working at the site put it, "It is amazing to literally rewrite what we know of history, adding a new queen to our records."
Reconstructed use of the oldest drinking straws, found in the Maikop kurgan.
Not all exciting archaeological discoveries have to be earth-shattering or rewrite the history books like the discovery of Neith did. Sometimes they just give us an interesting glimpse into the lives of our ancestors.
Back in 1897 archaeologists found hundreds of artifacts in a richly furnished burial ground in Russia known as Maikop kurgan. The site dates back to 3500 BC and amongst the artifacts found were ceramic vessels, metal cups, weapons, jewelry, semi-precious stones, and gold.
The strangest things found were hollow eight gold and silver tubes that measured 3.7 feet long. Historians were stumped and decided they were either scepters or poles used to hold up canopies. In 2022 their true purpose was discovered.
Russian archaeologist Viktor Trifonov had long suspected the tubes had had a different use. He believed they were communal drinking straws like the ones depicted in some Mesopotamian artwork. To find out if he was right he analyzed residue that was left on the tubes’ silver tips.
He discovered traces of barley starch granules, fossilized plant tissue, and pollen grain from a lime tree. These traces all suggest that the tubes were used to drink barley beer. While Trifonov’s discovery may not have made it into the papers it is an important reminder of just how wrong archaeologists sometimes get things. These 8 tubes went from being glorified tent poles to evidence of a Mesopotamian drinking tradition all thanks to the hard work of one determined archaeologist.
One of the six sacrificed children found in the tomb of an important man in the ancient Andean city of Cajamarquilla. The tiny skeletons were wrapped tightly in cloth.
Not all archaeological discoveries are as pleasant as discovering ancient drinking straws. In 2022 researchers working in a digital 15 miles (24km) east of Peru’s capital, Lima, made a rather macabre discovery.
They were excavating the grave of a high-ranking pre-Inca noble or wealthy merchant dating back 1000-1200 years ago when they found the mummified remains of eight children all swathed in cloth. The team’s leader, Pieter Van Dalen, believes the children were likely close relatives of the grave's owner.
It is believed that they were sacrificed so that they could accompany him to the underworld. This was a common part of funeral rituals for elite individuals in pre-Inca cultures as Andine societies saw death as a beginning rather than a passing.
The discovery just outside of Lima backs up previous archaeological discoveries in the area regarding the pre-Inca sacrifice of children. In 2018 a team of international archaeologists uncovered the remains of 140 young people at a site near Trujillo dating back 550 years.
Buddhism is believed to have been founded in Northern India at some point between the late sixth and early fourth centuries BC. In 2022 in the Northwestern part of northwest Pakistan known as Greater Gandhara a Buddhist temple dating back to the second century BC was found.
The temple, found in the city of Barikot, was found by Luca Maria Olivieri and his team from the ISMEO (International Association of Mediterranean and Oriental Studies). It is the oldest known Buddhist temple in the region and one of the oldest in the world.
Before the unearthing of the temple, no evidence of a Buddhist presence in Barikot had been found before the end of the first century AD. Olivieri and his team didn’t expect to find a temple in the area that dated back to such an early era.
Its discovery indicates that when the temple was built Barikot was a center of Buddhist teaching and a sacred pilgrimage site as early as the second century BC, much earlier than historians had thought. Archaeologists had already known that Barikot had been of strategic importance, being at the nexus of various major expansions such as the Persian Achaemenid Empire and Alexander the Great but this discovery shows Barikot “Barikot had its importance for Buddhist communities.”
We all love a good story. Here is one that dates back over 11,000 years. In 2022 two benches were found at excavations in Sayburc, a village in South Eastern Turkey. While the discovery of two benches may not be particularly exciting, what was carved into them is.
The benches feature two carved scenes that depict people interacting with animals. One shows a man flanked by leopards and holding his penis while the other shows a man squatting and shaking a rattle at a bull.
The fact that these two benches are neolithic, dating back 11,000 years, makes them the first known examples of a holistic scene. In short, they may well be the oldest narrative ever discovered. Researchers believe the scenes might depict either historical characters or mythical figures that were an important part of this particular neolithic group's beliefs and traditions.
As the dig and research into the site continues it is hoped more important insights into the traditions of these neolithic people will be discovered.
One of the ancient faces carved in stone at a remarkably well-preserved Neolithic shrine found at a prehistoric gazelle hunting camp in Jordan’s eastern desert.
2022 saw another important Neolithic discovery, this one dating back around 9000 years and originating in the deserts of Southeastern Jordan. Mohammad Tarawneh and his team of archaeologists from Al-Hussein Bin Talal University and Wael Abu-Azizeh of the French Institute found a stone shrine believed to be the earliest ritual structure ever unearthed.
The shrine was found at a Neolithic campsite near a network of “desert kites”. These are pairs of rock walls that crisscross the desert. The shrine is a scale model of one of the desert kites. Along with the shrine a large stone altar was also unearthed. It is believed the altar was used for the butchering of gazelle as a part of rituals held at the shrine. The team believes rituals were held to invoke the aid of supernatural forces in future hunts.
Much like the discovery of the benches in Turkey researchers hope further research would give us a better insight into the beliefs and practices of these Neolithic hunters.
Conclusion
2022 was a year full of exciting archaeological discoveries and picking only 10 was a tough task. All over the world thousands of teams of archaeologists are hard at work, unearthing discoveries that continue to shape our understanding of human history.
We must recognize and support their work. For hundreds of years, many of these important historical sites didn’t receive the respect or protection they deserved. Thankfully this is changing and the 21st century is a great time to be interested in ancient history. Who knows what discoveries 2023 will bring?
Top image: Montage of images of the finds throughout the article
Bronze Treasures Beyond Belief: The Fabulous Dowris Hoard of Ireland
Bronze Treasures Beyond Belief: The Fabulous Dowris Hoard of Ireland
Main: Castle ruins in Offaly, Ireland, close to where the Dowris Hoard was found. ( CC / Mike Searle ). Inset: Part of the Dowris Hoard. (Trustees of the British Museum/ CC BY NC SA 4.0 )
Over 200 pieces of a precious treasure were hidden underground in Dowris, County Offaly, in Ireland. When the artifacts were discovered by farm workers in the 1820s, no one could imagine the importance of their find.
Trying to date this hoard isn't an easy task. The remarkable treasure has been dated back to 900-600 BC (the Late Bronze Age), however, some researchers suggest that the treasure belongs to the Stone Age - which is also logical. In Ireland, the Stone Age took place until about 750 BC. In other parts of Europe, this period is called Hallstatt culture C, but that group never arrived to Ireland. The people who lived during Hallstatt culture C/ the Stone Age/ the Late Bronze Age left impressive artifacts such as unique and high quality gold jewelry, tools, weapons, trumpets, and other artifacts that are greatly valued.
Over 200 pieces of a precious treasure were hidden underground in Dowris, County Offaly, in Ireland. When the artifacts were discovered by farm workers in the 1820s, no one could imagine the importance of their find.
Trying to date this hoard isn't an easy task. The remarkable treasure has been dated back to 900-600 BC (the Late Bronze Age), however, some researchers suggest that the treasure belongs to the Stone Age - which is also logical. In Ireland, the Stone Age took place until about 750 BC. In other parts of Europe, this period is called Hallstatt culture C, but that group never arrived to Ireland. The people who lived during Hallstatt culture C/ the Stone Age/ the Late Bronze Age left impressive artifacts such as unique and high quality gold jewelry, tools, weapons, trumpets, and other artifacts that are greatly valued.
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Part of the Dowris Hoard. (Trustees of the British Museum/ CC BY NC SA 4.0 )
Finding the Mysterious Hoard
The historian T.D. Cooke reported the find in the Dublin Penny Journal of 1833. He wrote that about ten years earlier a man known as Ed Hennessy and another person accidentally dug up the bronze pieces in a potato patch. The site is located half way between the Whigsborough House and Dough Cowra. The hoard consisted of cauldrons, horns, axe heads, bronze spearheads, and some smaller artifacts. The Earl of Rosse and T. D. Cooke took all the objects. They did not inform any other specialists about the hoard’s existence for some time. Cooke finally reported the discovery to the Royal Irish Academy many years later. Most of the site’s archaeological evidence was lost forever because of his delay.
Copper alloy latchet found in the Dowris Hoard. Source: Trustees of the British Museum/ CC BY NC SA 4.0
A majority of the artifacts were made of bronze and their quality transformed the perception of Bronze Age people who lived in Ireland. A lack of resources makes analysis of artifacts from before St. Patrick’s arrival in Ireland (432 AD) very difficult. The famous saint’s arrival relates to the area’s Christianization, but also to the destruction of old documents created by people who didn't follow Christianity. Although the first traces of humans in Ireland comes from the 6th millennia BC, information about their lives is limited.
The lack of information from original resources, damaged archaeological sites, and an absence of cataloging discoveries brings more questions than answers about Ireland’s earliest history. Regarding the Dowris Hoard, it is known that pieces are located now at the British Museum and the National Museum of Ireland, however, this is not the complete collection that was discovered in the early 19th century.
The Meaning of Bronze in the Dowris Phase
The collection of bronze pieces from the Dowris Hoard has also influenced archaeological terminology. The Irish Late Bronze Age is known the Dowris Phase due to the magnificent discovery made in Dowris.
Part of the weapon collection of the Dowris Hoard. ( Trustees of the British Museum/ CC BY NC SA 4.0 )
According to Michael J. O'Kelly, and Claire O'Kelly: “The Dowris Hoard contained no less than twenty-four horns in varying degrees of preservation, the majority of them of Class I, some of them now in NMI and some others in the British Museum. The Dowris Hoard and another from Co. Clare provide the only two instances where Irish Horns were found in association with other metal objects, and for this reasons it is difficult to assign a range of dates of the instrument. (…) Bronze was also used to fashion ornaments such as rings, bracelets, pins, etc. There is great variety in the latter from the simple straight-shanked pin with a swelling on the head, often ornamented, to the plain disc-headed pin with sideloop on the stem. In the Dowris Phase the disc on the head of the pin has a central knob surrounded by fine concentric grooves, and in some examples the disc is attached so as to be parallel to the line of the pin. These are known as sunflower pins. Eoghan distinguishes another type of pin in the Dowris Phase, the cup headed pin, of which at least nine are known in Ireland. Instead of the disc, the top of the pin, at right-angles to the shank, has a slight depression or cup-like hollow, undecorated.”
A copper alloy musical horn from the Dowris Hoard. ( Trustees of the British Museum/ CC BY NC SA 4.0 )
These descriptions help one to understand the magnificence of the Dowris Hoard. The people who created the artifacts were sophisticated artists and their methods were well-developed.
An Ancient Offering and Modern Marvel
The Dowris Hoard is so large that researchers had to ask why someone decided to accumulate so many precious items in one place. Unfortunately, the hoard’s discoverers didn't think to record if they found it in one deposit or in a multiple of small deposits in the same area. This information would be priceless to understanding the hoard’s meaning.
Although the old lakes in Dowris are now drained, Eoghan Cole believes the hoard could have been a ritual offering related to water, lakes, or rivers. Cole also suggests that the hoard’s horns and crotals might represent a ceremonial practice that involved a bull. The artifacts representing the animal’s fertile features may be the key to unlocking the hoard’s mystery.
The Dowris Hoard is one of the most popular treasuries in Ireland today. It is a symbol of a lost culture and a mysterious group of people whose relics are still visible in many parts of the country. The Dowris Hoard is important to deciphering Irish origins, yet it is also a riddle that has yet to be completely solved.
A collection of items from the Dowris Hoard in the National Museum of Ireland. ( Rick Neal )
Top Image: Main: Castle ruins in Offaly, Ireland, close to where the Dowris Hoard was found. ( CC / Mike Searle ). Inset: Part of the Dowris Hoard. (Trustees of the British Museum/ CC BY NC SA 4.0 )
Researchers digging in the ancient city of Aizanoi have announced the discovery of many new artifacts and works. But the discovery of an “almost intact” statue of a giant man with one foot takes the archaeological biscuit.
The ancient city of Aizanoi was founded as a Phrygian city on the western end of the Phrygia kingdom, in the present-day Çavdarhisar district of the western Anatolian province of Kütahya in Turkey. Aizanoi was home to the Aizanitisians, Phrygians, Greeks, Romans and Byzantines and the site was rediscovered by European travelers in 1824. The German Archaeological Institute began excavating in 1926 and works resumed in 1970, with them having accelerated significantly over the last two years.
At this site, that’s listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List , over the years archaeologists have unearthed ancient stone heads and bodies depicting Greek gods and goddesses such as Eros, Dionysus, Aphrodite and the demigod Herakles. This season, archaeologists greatly added to their expanding haul from this site and they have announced the discovery of “many large and small pieces of marble sculptures,” including an “almost intact” giant man carved in stone.
Excavation leader, Gokhan Coskun of Dumlupınar University, said if these newly discovered statues were complete they would reach “3 meters (9.84 ft) to 3.5 meters (11.48 ft) in height.” The “almost intact statue,” representing the only one of its type so far discovered, features a gigantic (in ancient Roman terms) man measuring 2 meters 10 centimeters (6’ 10”) high. The statue is missing only half of its pedestal and one foot. And besides all of these unearthed human and god forms, the archaeologists also discovered building blocks from bridge No 3, and they even unearthed a sundial.
From the Bronze Age till the late seventh century, and then again by the Çavdar Tatars in the 13th century, the ancient city of Aizanoi was constantly occupied. Ancient Origins reported in November 2021 that the site’s excavation coordinator, Gokhan Coskun, told the Greek Herald that “the bodies of the statues were found in a previous dig, whilst the 5000-year-old Greek statue heads of the Greek goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite and Greek god of wine, Dionysus, were unearthed in a creek bed in the ancient city.
During the Hellenistic Period the ancient city of Aizanoi was controlled by the hegemonies of the Pergamon and Bithynia Kingdoms, only coming under Roman control in 133 BC. Gökhan Coşkun told Hurriyet Daily that the newly discovered statues date back “2,000 years”, and said “new artifacts are found every day.” Coşkun declared that this season's “surprising finds made the team very excited,” and especially in the area where the bridge crossed the Penkalas Stream.
According to a report on DPU Habar , the ancient city of Aizanoi, which dates back to 3,000 BC, was equipped with a theatre, stadium, agora and Zeus Temple . This year, “80 workers and 20 technical staff” focused on the Penkalas Stream area where they restored a Roman-era marble bridge (No: 2) and continued rebuilding the currently completely ruined bridge (No: 3). While the recovery of these bridges will inform the archaeologists about ancient building methods and processes, the world looks on in awe at the swelling collection of human bodies and heads dating back 1,800-2,000 years ago”.
Heads of gods and humans just kept emerging from the mud.
Every year archaeologists dig a little deeper into the rubble that is the ancient city of Aizanoi, and more and more bodies and heads of humans and gods are brought to the surface. However, as the artifacts pile up a big outstanding question becomes amplified, among both the researchers and the public. How, or rather why, did all of the carved heads become detached from the statue’s bodies?
In 2021 Mail Online reported that it was “not yet clear” how the heads and bodies were separated, and still today this remains unanswered. But so far as educated guesses go, it is thought most probable that an ancient stone masons' school, or a sculpture workshop “produced the magnificent statues,” according to Gokhan Coskun. The researcher concluded that his team was “very excited” about the statue they found in the recent excavations, which is ‘almost’ completely preserved, and he said they hope to find the giant man’s missing half pedestal and foot in 2023.
Top image: Statue emerging from red mud at Aizanoi.
Over the centuries many stories related to the existence and mysterious disappearance of Atlantis have been written . That is why it is considered one of the most widespread and interesting myths of classical prehistory. According to the legend, this advanced civilization sank under the waters without leaving any trace.
Unfortunately, ruins or archaeological remains could never be located, suggesting its possible location somewhere on the planet. Although different personalities throughout history have published their research providing interesting data on the subject.
One of those characters was the famous Greek writer Plato, who described a probable place where Atlantis would have been . But he was not the only one who dared to do it, in recent times other researchers have done it too. As incredible as it may seem, there is a coincidence on these possible places, it is about what is currently Tunisia.
Evidence of the existence of a Tunisian Atlantis
The country that we know today as Tunisia , has one of the oldest historical records of humanity. Archaeological excavations carried out to the south revealed that the region was inhabited by people 100,000 years ago .
Hence, Tunisia has been the cradle of some of the most developed cultures and civilizations in Europe. It was also recognized and mentioned by both ancient Greek and Egyptian writers.
Even the prestigious philosopher Plato of Greece, 2,400 years ago, came to point out that in ancient Tunisia there was a specific place, where the extinct Atlantis could have been based. It is not a secret that Plato dedicated himself for many years to that unsuccessful search and the tests led him to that conclusion.
In particular, Plato was referring to a place that by his description corresponds to the current city of Tozeur, very close to the many salt lakes that exist in the region.
Modern scholars agree with Plato
Efforts to try to find the location of the disappeared Atlantis have lasted over time, involving people of different times and nationalities. There are two personalities who, in the 1920s, agreed with Plato, when mentioning a certain place in Tunisia as the location of the lost civilization.
One of them was the scholar Albert Herrmann, who by deduction managed to establish a connection between the Chott el Djerid salt lake , with the Tritonis lake mentioned by Plato in his investigations. According to several writings made by the Greek literati, they located said lake in some part of the south of present-day Tunisia.
On the other hand, Dr. Paul Borchardt , a great scholar of the 20s, toured Tunisia driven by his research to establish the location of Atlantis. After years of collecting information and comparing ancient data, he concluded that under the sands of that country was the lost civilization.
Specifically, he pointed out that it could have been found somewhere between the modern city of Gabes ( Tacapae ) and the dry lake of Tritonis or Chott el Djerid. Gabes’s roots are very ancient, so much so that the ancient Greeks mention her by name in several of their reviews.
The salty lakes of Tunisia: a great enigma
Borchardt ‘s research highlights that the Hammeina dry lake was possibly an offshoot of the Chott el Djerid. This led him to conclude, by simple deduction, that on some occasion this lake had the name ” The Lake of the Atlanteans “, which was later called Tritonis.
It is interesting to note that Paul Borchardt himself led, for some time, a series of excavations around the Gabes dry lakes. The results were surprising, since ruins of an ancient city were found , as well as parts of an irrigation system. Unfortunately he was forced to suspend the excavations.
The change in topography
The historical records of the region where Tunisia is currently located, has undergone great changes in its topography. This is pointed out by several historians, among whom is the Greek Diodorus Siculus . According to him, a cataclysmic event devastated that vast area of North Africa around the year 1250 BC. c.
These devastating earthquakes may be the same ones that caused the collapse during the so-called ” Bronze Age ” . They are also credited with being responsible for the appearance of the many salt lakes that are now dry, because seismic activity separated the great Gulf from the rest of the Mediterranean.
So far they are just theories based on many coincidences, but nothing concrete due to the lack of physical evidence. The truth is that Atlantis continues somewhere under the earth, it may really be in Tunisia.
Over the centuries many stories related to the existence and mysterious disappearance of Atlantis have been written . That is why it is considered one of the most widespread and interesting myths of classical prehistory. According to the legend, this advanced civilization sank under the waters without leaving any trace.
Unfortunately, ruins or archaeological remains could never be located, suggesting its possible location somewhere on the planet. Although different personalities throughout history have published their research providing interesting data on the subject.
One of those characters was the famous Greek writer Plato, who described a probable place where Atlantis would have been . But he was not the only one who dared to do it, in recent times other researchers have done it too. As incredible as it may seem, there is a coincidence on these possible places, it is about what is currently Tunisia.
Evidence of the existence of a Tunisian Atlantis
The country that we know today as Tunisia , has one of the oldest historical records of humanity. Archaeological excavations carried out to the south revealed that the region was inhabited by people 100,000 years ago .
Hence, Tunisia has been the cradle of some of the most developed cultures and civilizations in Europe. It was also recognized and mentioned by both ancient Greek and Egyptian writers.
Even the prestigious philosopher Plato of Greece, 2,400 years ago, came to point out that in ancient Tunisia there was a specific place, where the extinct Atlantis could have been based. It is not a secret that Plato dedicated himself for many years to that unsuccessful search and the tests led him to that conclusion.
In particular, Plato was referring to a place that by his description corresponds to the current city of Tozeur, very close to the many salt lakes that exist in the region.
Modern scholars agree with Plato
Efforts to try to find the location of the disappeared Atlantis have lasted over time, involving people of different times and nationalities. There are two personalities who, in the 1920s, agreed with Plato, when mentioning a certain place in Tunisia as the location of the lost civilization.
One of them was the scholar Albert Herrmann, who by deduction managed to establish a connection between the Chott el Djerid salt lake , with the Tritonis lake mentioned by Plato in his investigations. According to several writings made by the Greek literati, they located said lake in some part of the south of present-day Tunisia.
On the other hand, Dr. Paul Borchardt , a great scholar of the 20s, toured Tunisia driven by his research to establish the location of Atlantis. After years of collecting information and comparing ancient data, he concluded that under the sands of that country was the lost civilization.
Specifically, he pointed out that it could have been found somewhere between the modern city of Gabes ( Tacapae ) and the dry lake of Tritonis or Chott el Djerid. Gabes’s roots are very ancient, so much so that the ancient Greeks mention her by name in several of their reviews.
The salty lakes of Tunisia: a great enigma
Borchardt ‘s research highlights that the Hammeina dry lake was possibly an offshoot of the Chott el Djerid. This led him to conclude, by simple deduction, that on some occasion this lake had the name ” The Lake of the Atlanteans “, which was later called Tritonis.
It is interesting to note that Paul Borchardt himself led, for some time, a series of excavations around the Gabes dry lakes. The results were surprising, since ruins of an ancient city were found , as well as parts of an irrigation system. Unfortunately he was forced to suspend the excavations.
The change in topography
The historical records of the region where Tunisia is currently located, has undergone great changes in its topography. This is pointed out by several historians, among whom is the Greek Diodorus Siculus . According to him, a cataclysmic event devastated that vast area of North Africa around the year 1250 BC. c.
These devastating earthquakes may be the same ones that caused the collapse during the so-called ” Bronze Age ” . They are also credited with being responsible for the appearance of the many salt lakes that are now dry, because seismic activity separated the great Gulf from the rest of the Mediterranean.
So far they are just theories based on many coincidences, but nothing concrete due to the lack of physical evidence. The truth is that Atlantis continues somewhere under the earth, it may really be in Tunisia.
Solomon and Sheba: Were a Famous Pharaoh and Queen the Real Protagonists in this Love Story?
Solomon and Sheba: Were a Famous Pharaoh and Queen the Real Protagonists in this Love Story?
The story of Solomon and Sheba is well known as one of love. But it is only when we learn their true identities that we see how much affection and adoration Solomon had for his favorite Queen. He literally moved mountains to express that love for her - well mountains of sand and soil to be precise. They still stand as long lines of great Hills today which we can look upon and sense a greater love than what went into the building of the Pyramids.
The Famous Meeting of Sheba and Solomon
Let us look back at that famous meeting when Sheba first entered Solomon’s Palace.
“She was bidden to enter the Palace, and when she saw it she thought it was a pool of water, and bared her legs. But Solomon said, ‘It is a palace paved with glass.’ Koran, Chapter of the Ant.
‘Solomon and the Queen of Sheba’ by Giovanni Demin.
“Steadying herself on Solomon’s arm, she bent down, and removing her sandals modestly lifted the hem of her robe, and stretched out a toe to test the water. The King was taken back with surprise, fooled automatically into a momentary belief that she really did believe a river in some way flowed through the hall.
Now it was his turn to express confusion. “It isn’t water. They are only glass tiles.” Then he saw that she was only teasing, and stammered, “Well, some of my guests have thought it very true to life. But it is well done isn’t it?” The Tutankhamen Code.
Fragments of glazed tiles depicting water, fish, reeds and birds have only ever been found in the ruins of one ancient Palace, that of Ymn Htp III at Malqata near Luxor.
This fact, along with a number of other finds in Luxor, are examined in “Out of Egypt” by the British/Egyptian historian Ahmed Osman and every-one of them points only to one man as having been the legendary King Solomon , namely the Pharaoh YmnHtp III.
We are told in the Book of 1 Kings that Solomon’s Temple and Palace were so grand and sumptuous that there has to be some archaeological evidence for them - yet nothing has ever been found in modern day Israel despite umpteen digs over more than a hundred years. The fabulous remains in Luxor not only match all we are told in the Bible, but many of the ancient walls and columns still stand, shouting out their message that these were built by the 18th Dynasty Kings David and Solomon, otherwise known in Ancient Egypt as Dayhut and Salim Amen.
Top: Artistic interpretation of Solomon’s Temple ( CC BY 4.0 ). Bottom: Temple of Amenhotep III, Luxor, Egypt.
I can only put the blindness of those who do not see down to a religious zeal that just will not allow any belief that the Bible time-line is out by four centuries or that Israel was once a large part of Egypt, a country that they have been taught to hate, even though the Bible itself places Israel in Egypt in the Book of 1 Samuel.
Solomon and Sheba: Pharaoh Ymn Htp III and Queen Etiye Azeb
Ahmed Osman not only identified both Kings but also Solomon’s father-in-law, Joseph. The evidence is so extensive that there cannot be any doubt about either of them. The full details of such proof can be studied in Osman’s books and, if one prefers a lighter approach, in my novel The Tutankhamen Code .
Apart from some 13 facts pointed out be Ahmed Osman which match quite precisely all we are told in the book of 1 Kings I have been fortunate in recognizing 11 more. When these are also taken into account then not one iota of doubt can remain. Solomon was the Pharaoh Ymn Htp III and the love of his life was his Queen Etiye Azeb, better known to us as Sheba. Here are a few of the most significant matches of my own finds with the Bible account.
Solomon and the Queen of Sheba (Gates of Paradise).
It was the Greek Egyptian historian Manethos who wrote, “Thus it came about that 80,000 unclean individuals were rounded up and dispatched to the stone quarries”. This is the same figure given in 1 Kings 5:15. The term ‘unclean’ was used to denigrate anyone not conforming to the writer’s own religious beliefs.
In year 10 of Solomon’s reign he married a foreign princess named Gilukhepa and a Marriage Scarab was issued with these words, “Gilukhipa, persons in her harim: 317 women”. 1 Kings 11:3 gives it as 300 concubines, a very close match.
A commemorative scarab of Amenhotep III. This scarab belongs to a class called the "marriage scarabs," which affirm the divine power of the king and the legitimacy of his wife, Tiye. Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.
The Bible tells us that Solomon’s father was King David. The father of Ymn Htp III was actually named in separate hieroglyphs as DHWT, which has to be the same for it would have been spoken something like ‘Dayhut’. A shortcut hieroglyph was occasionally used, hence a different translation of ‘DJHWT’. Like many other names this sometimes had the letter ‘Y’ added on the end just as we do in English and another suffix ‘Ms’ simply meant ‘Born of’.
The Kebra Nagast names MenyELEk as the eldest son of Solomon and that he was also known as David. MenyELEk has the very same meaning as YmnTwtAnkh, better known today as ‘King Tut’.
The Hall of Columns at Malqata, Luxor has the same length and breadth as the measurements given in 1 Kings 7:6, within two to three centimeters.
The clincher is in his name Ymn Htp III. Ymn, the God name for the setting Sun in the West was always written as ‘AMEN’, even in Greek letters, by Manethos who was still versant with the old Egyptian language. Hetep or Hotep was the Egyptian word for Peace or Rest, which at that time in Hebrew was Salim. As a Hebrew King of Egypt, his own family and his own people would have called him Salim Amen which evolved into Salomon then Solomon. Foreign Kings ruling other countries speaking other languages and for many generations is not that unusual. Guillaume I of England is a case in point as is Georg I of England (who never spoke English.)
Colossal statue of Amenhotep III in the British Museum.
Robert Feather in his “The Mystery of the Copper Scroll of Qumran” suggests that the Egyptian word ‘Heprew’ is the origin of the name Hebrew and this has to be true for the hieroglyph for Heprew (Creations) was a Scarab Beetle - in Greek ‘Scarabaeus’ - and this is what St. Ambrose called the mythical Ever Coming Son, IWSA - Iesous - in the 4th century AD.
More Evidence on Solomon and Sheba’s True Identities
Ralph Ellis tells us in his “Jesus Last of the Pharaohs” that the names of Biblical patriarchs are nearly all those of other Egyptian Kings and some are even spelled exactly the same such as the Pharaoh Jacob. But there were also Kings called Joshua, Abel, Cain, Abram, Salah, Isaac, as well as Jacob, David, and Solomon.
Ahmed Osman also notes in his book that both the Koran and Jewish traditions have it that Joseph’s brothers entered the City by different gates. Ancient Thebes, now Luxor, was renowned for its many Gates and Pylons and there wasn’t another city in those days that could compare.
It is quite surprising that not one Egyptologist has ever noticed the legend found by Sir Wallis Budge which tells us that Solomon’s Queen was an Abyssinian girl named Eteye Azeb and then realized that the name of Ymn Htp III’s Queen they translate as ‘Tiye’ should begin with an ‘E’. This vowel was never written in Egyptian but we now know that it was from the Ethiopian spelling. Syllables were often reversed in writing so Azeb has to be Zeba or Sheba. The Kebra Nagast even tells us that Solomon and Eteye’s son was called Meny EL Ek and that he was also known as ‘David’ which is ‘Dwd’ in Hebrew and ‘Twt’ or Tut in Egyptian. Both EL and TWT were seen as Moon Gods, which explains the variation from Ymn Twt Ankh to Meny EL Ek.
We do know that the mother of Etiye, namely Tuya or Etuya, the wife of Joseph, came from the south and what is today Northern Sudan. That places a question mark over the lovely story told by Ahmed Osman about Ymn Htp having a pleasure lake built for Etiye at Zarw and presenting her with a Summer Palace. The loving Royal Couple ‘sailed thereon in the Royal Barge ‘Aten Gleams’. Osman then places Zarw as being somewhat east of the Suez Canal, which would have been close to her Israelite relatives in Goshen.
A Question of Location
The problem with that location is that the King did build a lake in front of her Palace at Malqata, with a ‘T’ shaped channel running from the Nile at Luxor and terminating in a large harbor by the Palace. A marriage scarab commemorating this wonderful gift from the King to his wife gives its length as 3,700 cubits (about 1,020 yards), and breadth about 700 cubits. One kilometer is 1093.61 yards, which is near enough the same.
Today a long line of hills marks the route of the Channel from the Nile to Malqata, each one once topped with a glorious shining Temple. Truly a Gift of Great Love.
Top Image: The visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon.
From an Ox to an “A”: The Ancient Egyptian Origins of the Latin Alphabet
From an Ox to an “A”: The Ancient Egyptian Origins of the Latin Alphabet
As crazy as it sounds, it’s now well attested that the letter “A” started out its evolution as the Egyptian hieroglyph for an ox. But its truly mind-blowing transformation came when turquoise miners in ancient Egypt adapted the hieroglyph, turning it into graffiti. This seemingly unimportant simplification actually spearheaded the creation of syllabic alphabets, such as the Latin alphabet, used all over the world today.
But who were these miners and why did they do this? The story starts in Egypt almost 4,000 years ago when the turquoise mines on the Sinai Peninsula gained importance on an industrial scale. Many people from different strata of Egypt’s Bronze Age society were involved in mining activities at this mountainous location now known as Serâbît el-Khâdim. In fact, there were many mining sites for different raw materials all over the Sinai Peninsula making it a quarrying hub.
From Egyptian Hieroglyphs to the Latin Alphabet
At that time, around 1900 BC, the Egyptian language was written using hieroglyphs. These were mostly logographic which meant each symbol represented a word rather than a sound. There were thousands of Egyptian hieroglyphs making learning, memorizing and writing them a specialist skill.
Similarly, the Bronze Age Mesopotamians wrote their Sumerian language using cuneiform pictographs on clay tablets. In both Egypt and Mesopotamia, the written language played a number of different roles from the cultic to the profane. Dedications to deities, pharaohs and kings were common, as were records of produce and land ownership.
However, in spite of the widespread use of these early writing systems , they were still incredibly complicated. It was the invention of the alphabetic system that was to revolutionize the way people could read and write because it simplified the whole process of literacy.
Temple of Hathor in Serâbît el-Khâdim in Egypt. (Felipe Ligeiro FL / CC BY-SA 4.0 )
Graffiti That Revolutionized Literacy: The Temple of Hathor in Serâbît el-Khâdim
Close to the Serâbît el-Khâdim mines, located in the southwestern Sinai Peninsula of Egypt, a temple to Hathor was in use for 800 years and offered spiritual protection to those working in them. The temple went through several phases of reconstruction, taking a central role in the lives of those who spent time or passed through this desert location.
This large sanctuary consisted of a processional avenue, multiple buildings and rooms and many stelae engraved with hieroglyphic inscriptions. Priests, miners, officials, interpreters, scribes and others all left inscriptions at the temple dedicated to the goddess Hathor who was known as the “mistress of turquoise,” amongst her other epithets.
Serâbît el-Khâdim was first discovered in 1762. Over the next hundred years, various visits were made by antiquarians who were interested in the area, especially after Egyptian hieroglyphs were deciphered in 1822. It was during an expedition to the abandoned mines and the temple in 1905 that two Egyptologists realized they had made an exceptional discovery. The married couple William and Hilda Flinders Petrie noticed graffiti in and around the mines which appeared to be a different script to the Egyptian hieroglyphs etched all over the site.
During their visit they documented, mapped and photographed fourteen turquoise mines, circular enclosures near the temple and the temple itself. References to many different pharaohs were found which showed how long the area had been in use, as well as tools, altars, figurines, amulets, pottery, seals and jewelry.
The unusual graffiti symbols were on fallen stones in the vicinity of the mines, as well as on several statues within the temple grounds. This was in contrast to the more formal stelae decorated with finely carved hieroglyphs leading up to the temple. There were very few etchings to work with compared to the many hieroglyphic inscriptions, but Petrie analyzed what there were and became convinced they had found the earliest evidence for an alphabetic system.
The Irish-born British Egyptologist Hilda Petrie and her husband the British Egyptologist Flinders Petrie were the first to notice the graffiti markings at Serâbît el-Khâdim. ( Public domain )
Ancient Graffiti as Earliest Evidence of an Alphabetic System
It took until 1916 for the graffiti to be translated by fellow Egyptologist Alan Gardiner. He noticed the repeated use of several characters that he thought spelled out the word Baalat when considered phonetically. In Canaanite this meant “the mistress” which he took to be the equivalent to the Egyptian goddess Hathor.
But the real key to understanding these inscriptions came when he analyzed bilingual engravings etched onto the sides of a tiny sphinx figurine found in the temple. On one side there was an inscription in Egyptian hieroglyphs saying “the beloved of Hathor,” while on the side there was an inscription in the strange graffiti saying “the beloved of Baalat.”
This was the Rosetta Stone of the day, but it went further than translating a second language. It showed that the second language was expressed in an adaptation of Egyptian hieroglyphs and was being used syllabically. It soon became apparent that Petrie’s hunch had been correct. Here was a simplified version of Egyptian hieroglyphs where each character had been used to represent a sound rather than a word. It was the earliest known syllabic script and was celebrated as the potential forerunner to alphabetic systems in general.
Now known by experts as Proto-Sinaitic, it was to evolve and spread through trade and a significant input from the Phoenicians. But who drew the graffiti and exactly when they did it is still debated. It’s most likely that these graffiti first appeared during the reign of Amenemhet III in the middle Bronze Age. The general consensus is that it was created by Asiatic people, most likely of Caananite origin hence the inscriptions featuring Baalat.
The stelae with hieroglyphic dedications by interpreters also suggest that people speaking different languages were making trips to the mines. At that time in Egypt, many Asiatic people lived in the eastern delta region and there are records of Egyptians discussing their mixed parentage. So it’s perfectly possible that these groups were part of the expeditions to the mines recorded as having taken place.
A Serabit inscription found by Flinders Petrie at Serâbît el-Khâdim which spell out the name of the goddess Baalat. ( Public domain )
Semi-Literate Origins of a Revolutionary Concept
Whether the people writing the graffiti were learned or not is another debatable point. It's been argued that they were probably drawn by semi-literate people who were not well-versed in Egyptian hieroglyphs, and so used this abstract version to express themselves in their own language. The crude and inconsistent forms of these early letters and their location on random rocks, certainly lend weight to this theory.
But there are experts who think it’s just as likely these workers were skilled and educated. If it was barely literate mine workers who invented the alphabet for their own personal use, then it’s a remarkable accident of history because it completely changed the way language is written and read in many countries and cultures.
In 1993, similar inscriptions to those at Serâbît were discovered in the Wadi el-Hôl near Luxor. The inscriptions consisted of two lines carved into limestone rocks in the valley. At first it was thought they might be older than those at Serâbît, but experts now think that they came later so it’s possible that miners from Serâbît, who were familiar with the script, travelled to Wadi el-Hôl.
The graffiti went through several transformations over a long period before forming the base of multiple alphabets in use today. Experts aren’t clear on exactly when and how these symbols travelled outside of the Sinai Peninsula to take center stage in the future of literacy. But it’s certain it took many years.
The Evolution of Egyptian Hieroglyphs into the Latin Alphabet
What’s fascinating is to see how certain Egyptian hieroglyphs evolved via this Proto-Sinatic script into the Latin letters used today. For example, the letter “B” was the Egyptian hieroglyph for a house. The letter “H” started its life as the Egyptian hieroglyph for a fence and the letter “K” originated as the Egyptian hieroglyph for a hand. The Proto-Sinaitic, Ugaritic, Phoenician and Greek alphabets all stemmed from these early symbols and made their changes to them.
Interestingly, the early alphabets were abjads, which means they only had consonants. In Phoenician their version of the Egyptian hieroglyph for an ox represented a glottal stop, something that was of no benefit to the Greeks when they started to use the alphabet. Therefore, they changed the Phoenician letter known as “aleph” into the letter “alpha” and made it represent the vowel sound “a.”
Anyone who studies and analyses the past knows how important written language is. Texts and inscriptions give a lot of insight into the historic period that is unfortunately absent in the Neolithic and earlier. But, if it wasn’t for the introduction of the syllabic alphabet, it’s possible even less textual evidence from the past few thousands years would exist.
Of course, other factors helped the proliferation of the written language. The manufacture of paper, the improvement in education and the invention of the printing press to name but a few. However, it's clear that the syllabic alphabet made a significant contribution to the way information was recorded and passed on from the end of the Bronze Age onwards.
The origins and evolution of alphabetic systems and the Latin alphabet are complex subjects quite simplified here. But the point is that many useful inventions often start as happy accidents of history. Spoken languages also have long and convoluted stories which cannot be isolated from the multitude of factors that influenced their development.
Top image: Archaeologists have deciphered what could be the origins of the Latin alphabet in graffiti found at the Temple of Hathor near the Serâbît el-Khâdim mines. Serâbît el-Khâdim in the background and the evolution of the letter “A” in the foreground.
Colless, B.E. (2014). The Origin of the Alphabet: An Examination of the Goldwasser Hypothesis. Antiguo Oriente: cuadernos del Centro de Estudios de Historia del Antiguo Oriente , (12), pp.71-104.
Gardiner, A.H. (1916). The Egyptian origin of the Semitic alphabet. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology , 3(1), pp.1-16.
Goldwasser, O. (2010). How the Alphabet was Born from Hieroglyphs. Biblical Archaeology Review, 36/2 pp. 40-53.
Mumford, G. (2015). The Sinai Peninsula and its environs: Our changing perceptions of a pivotal land bridge between Egypt, the Levant, and Arabia. ASAA Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections, 7(1), pp. 1-24.
It sometimes seems you can’t throw a stone in Central America without hitting a spot where there was once a Maya city, Maya temple or other hidden evidence of this civilization that once numbered in the millions and was noted for its architecture, highly developed writing system, art, mathematics, calendar and other amazing and advanced characteristics which were lost when their lands were invaded by the Europeans and their history was rewritten by them. While excavation and jungle clearing for development has revealed some of its lost past, much of the Maya culture is hidden under soil or thick vegetation.
LiDAR image showing triadic structures in the civic center of El Mirador.
That is why the new discovery in Guatemala is so significant – a geographically vast network of hundreds of long-lost settlements from 2,000 years ago has been found in the northern part of that country using LiDAR - "laser imaging, detection, and ranging" beamed from airplanes to create 3D images of hidden structures. This discover “challenges the old notion of sparse early human occupation” as it is comprised of roads, canals, a pyramid and dozens of ballcourts indicating this was a wealthy culture with leisure time for sports. What else is in this ancient Maya lost-and-found box called Guatemala?
The forests of Central America can hide a lot.
“LiDAR coverage of a large contiguous area within the Mirador-Calakmul Karst Basin (MCKB) of northern Guatemala has identified a concentration of Preclassic Maya sites (ca. 1000 B.C.–A.D. 150) connected by causeways, forming a web of implied social, political, and economic interactions.”
In a new study published recently in the journal Cambridge Core. Richard Hansen, an archaeologist at Idaho State University and the project director, introduces the Mirador Basin Project - one of the largest, contiguous, regional LiDAR studies ever done on the Maya Lowlands region of central America that includes parts of Guatemala, Mexico, and Belize. Hansen and his team spent years flying airborne LiDAR devices over the Mirador-Calakmul Karst Basin at altitudes of about 2,000 feet. The MCKB area is predominantly low-lying swamps, known as bajos, fed by rainfall on the surrounding hills. Infrared satellite images of the swampland taken in 1992 hinted that the bajo vegetation and the tropical forests on the hills were hiding something – but those same jungles and swamps made it nearly impossible for archeologists to get there, let alone do a proper job of excavating and searching for signs of Maya settlements. LiDAR has become a proven and valuable technique for penetrating this thick covers without damaging them and revealing detailed three-dimensional images of what lies underneath. And what lies underneath in the Mirador-Calakmul Karst Basin is much more than Hansen and his colleagues expected to find.
“The LiDAR survey revealed an extraordinary density and distribution of Maya sites concentrated in the MCKB, many of them linked directly or indirectly by a vast causeway network. Using hillshade models derived from a LiDAR DEM, at present 775 ancient Maya settlements (defined as an architectural cluster) have been identified within the southern lowland MCKB, of which 581 are unnamed. An additional 189 ancient Maya settlements of varying sizes were identified within the geomorphological borders of the southern MCKB, including the upland karst landscape along the Mirador Anticline, for a total of 964 settlements (of all periods), of which 645 are unnamed as yet.”
For starters, the LiDAR showed a network of 964 settlements in the basin, dating from around 1000 BCE to 150 CE – the Middle and Late Pre-Classic periods of the Maya civilization. The settlements or small villages were far from isolated from each other – the LiDAR shows them to be connected by causeways, dams, dikes, canals, common reservoirs, and common bajo areas in and around the center of the settlements as well as on their borders. The LiDAR scans showed that some settlements were so close and so well-connected to each other, as well as defined by swamp boundaries, they could be considered to be mega-settlements – cities, towns and larger villages numbering around 417. Besides the canals, the archeologists also identified 110 miles of raised roads which illustrated what a vast operation this was.
“(The) elevated Preclassic causeways suggest labor investments that defy organizational capabilities of lesser polities and potentially portray the strategies of governance in the Preclassic period. Settlement distributions, architectural continuities, chronological contemporaneity, and volumetric considerations of sites provide evidence for early centralized administrative and socio-economic strategies within a defined geographical region.”
But wait … there’s more!
The sites in the MCKB have a combined total of at least 30 ballcourts scattered throughout the settlements. The one excavated at Tintal is one of the larger ballcourts in the MCKB. The ballcourts in the MCKB consist of two parallel structures, often in a north–south axis, and measure between 30 and 60 feet long. The site of El Mirador has four small ballcourts and three larger ones in its Great Central Acropolis. IN addition to the numerous ballcourts, the LiDAR scan found a royal throne, specialized ceremonial sunken plazas, elaborate cosmological iconography, reservoirs and hydraulic systems, and massive platforms and constructions. All of this points to the Great Central Acropolis being the seat of power of the rulers in this area.
What else is hidden in the Guatemalan swamps and jungles?
Finally, the LiDAR revealed many more details of the pyramid of Danta in El Mirador. La Danta had three continuous elevated platforms and the archeologists estimated the surface was covered with 205,508 limestone blocks measuring an average size of 1.30 × 0.45 × 0.40 m (4.25 x 1.5 x 1.3 feet) – a mass that they estimate would have required 158 workers working continuously for five years just to quarry. Then, depending on the bedrock below the pyramid, it would have required 6 million to 10 million person-days of labor to build. That would need a high level of organization and management to accomplish – yet another trait of the Maya culture that has been lost in the retelling of its history. As the study concludes:
“The skeleton of the ancient political and economic structure as a kingdom-state in the Middle and Late Preclassic periods has a tantalizing presence in the Mirador-Calakmul Karst Basin.”
Ancient Mayan drawings carved on the stone wall.
Pictured: a map of the sites in the Mirador–Calakmul Karst Basin (Image: Hansen et al. / Ancient Mesoamerica)
A 3D LiDAR view showing of the pyramidal complex at La Danta
(Image: Hansen et al. / Ancient Mesoamerica)
LiDAR revealed hundreds of settlements — some sporting pyramids, platforms and ball courts
(Image: Hansen et al. / Ancient Mesoamerica)
Pictured: Examples of some of the causeways linking the sites
(Image: Hansen et al. / Ancient Mesoamerica)
The Maya are so much more than a calendar and some ballcourts. Let’s hope these LiDAR studies are allowed to continue and result in the preservation of their ancient structures and their history.
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Over mijzelf
Ik ben Pieter, en gebruik soms ook wel de schuilnaam Peter2011.
Ik ben een man en woon in Linter (België) en mijn beroep is Ik ben op rust..
Ik ben geboren op 18/10/1950 en ben nu dus 73 jaar jong.
Mijn hobby's zijn: Ufologie en andere esoterische onderwerpen.
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Veel leesplezier en geef je mening over deze blog.
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