Partyflock
 
Flockonderwerp · 89976
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Piri Reis-kaart:
[img width=781 height=1024 cacheid=00056189000df7cacc4ace7a1b0041bb1b]http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj51/vk3ukf/pirireisxmapB.jpg[/img]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piri_Reis_map


Kristallen Schedels:
[img width=300 height=208 cacheid=0005619e000df7f361e643a81b0041bb1b]http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s194/lotusland2002/skull/Crystal-Skull-museum_sm.jpg[/img]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_skull

Nazca-lijnen:
[img width=497 height=319 cacheid=000561ab000df8184528edd21b0041bb1b]http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk225/exotykah/nazca.jpg[/img]
[img width=273 height=290 cacheid=000561b3000df8309161b3291b0041bb1b]http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s225/sinnatra_2007/Nazca_monkey.jpg[/img]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazca_Lines

Misvormde schedels
http://www.burlingtonnews.net/skulls.html

Bovenmaats grote skeletten
http://www.stevequayle.com/Giants/charts/charts.html http://www.xpeditionsmagazine.com/magazine/articles/giants/holocaust.html http://s8int.com/giants1.html

Dubieuze oude kunstuitingen
http://www.crystalinks.com/ufohistory.html

Stonehenge
[img width=1024 height=768 cacheid=000561c3000df849da1cda7e1b0041bb1b]http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z314/kellybras/UK/Bath%20Stonehenge%20and%20Devon/Stonehenge16.jpg[/img]
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonehenge

Sphynx van Gizeh
[img width=449 height=337 cacheid=000561cf000df881806a7c081b0041bb1b]http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q195/lahawkfan/The-Sphynx.jpg[/img]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Sphinx_of_Giza

Pyramides, over de hele wereld
[img width=400 height=300 cacheid=000561da000df8a24f08e48a1b0041bb1b]http://i516.photobucket.com/albums/u321/pawpaw_015/sun_pyramid.jpg[/img]
[img width=798 height=597 cacheid=001289bc000df8c2377a2bba1b0041bb1b]http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd37/CatsMeow_07/IMG_0978.jpg[/img]
[img width=399 height=265 cacheid=000561e6000df8ca9bca49d31b0041bb1b]http://i318.photobucket.com/albums/mm422/Tarabold/ancient%20sites/generalviewofpyramid.jpg[/img]
[img width=571 height=461 cacheid=000561f0000df8ed510b03ab1b0041bb1b]http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii3/arthistory_photos/3%20-%20egypt/268_Egypt_Khufuplan.jpg[/img]



Veel onduidelijkheid hangt om sommige archeologische vondsten die tot nog toe geen echte verklaring toegeschreven hebben gekregen, of een zeer twijfelachtige.
Waarom laat de wetenschap deze vondsten veelal links liggen?
En als ze er al iets mee doen..waarom vaak zulke schutterende verklaringen die bovendien niets eens echt wetenschappelijk genoemd kunnen worden?
Wat is de echte betekenis en waarom mag het klootjesvolk als jij en ik daar niet achter komen?
 
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Uitspraak van Soul Survivor op maandag 10 november 2008 om 16:44:
De Piri Reis-kaart is wel 1 van mijn favorieten hoor...

kaart uit 1513 met oa Antarctica en Zuid-Amerika er op..
de kustlijnen van Antarctica vrij goed terwijl er ten tijde van fabricatie al honderden
cq duizenden jaren een dikke ijslaag op ligt..

lang werd de kaart niet begrepen vanwege de rare vormen
tot de kaart over een globe werd gelegd, en precies pastte als je van een bepaald punt
uitgaat


Dat punt is Gizeh


Ik kan je het boek: Waren de goden kosmonauten van E. von Daniken sterk aanraden
 
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Iedereen trouwens, want alles wat hier ter sprake is geweest is in dat boek van toepassing
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Uitspraak van verwijderd op zondag 16 november 2008 om 21:31:
Ik kan je het boek: Waren de goden kosmonauten van E. von Daniken sterk aanraden


heb m al jaren staan ;)
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Is er soms een nederlandse vertaling van het boek chariots of the gods?? Ben vandaag achter enkele boeken geweest ;)
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donateur
Von Däniken is leuk om te lezen, deed ik ook toen ik 7 was, maar die boeken zijn bijna 40 jaar oud dus inmiddels zijn er nieuwe ontdekkingen gedaan door andere onderzoekers die Von Däniken ook gelezen hebben. Wellicht is het zinvoller om hún boeken te lezen.
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En welke zijn dat?
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Uitspraak van Eibhlin op dinsdag 18 november 2008 om 21:47:
En welke zijn dat?


Nou ja Sitchin kwam niet veel later, maar hij kan Sumerisch lezen zegt ie. Of je alles wat hij schrijft zomaar moet aannemen weet ik niet.
Uit iets recentere tijden (1989) heb ik hier bijvoorbeeld William Bramley's The Gods of Eden, dat is me ooit aangeraden maar ik heb het nog niet gelezen.
 
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Uitspraak van Soul Survivor op maandag 10 november 2008 om 16:51:
[img width=565 height=406 cacheid=00056d6a000e1d0cffa281a31b00443275]http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l315/bbwolf3pigs/nazca.jpg[/img]


die net gecheckt op google earth (14 41 46.67 S 75 10 39.84 W)

daar in dat gebied zitten er nog veel meer van dat soort vormen
en als je goed kijkt, loopt er een streep van allemaal naar 1 middelpunt,
waar ze bij elkaar komen
 
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donateur
Ivm die lijnen: Fingerprints of the Gods, daar staan ze ook in.
 
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Uitspraak van Coming soon op dinsdag 18 november 2008 om 19:44:
Von Däniken is leuk om te lezen, deed ik ook toen ik 7 was, maar die boeken zijn bijna 40 jaar oud


Dus? Plato's wijsheden zijn ook duizenden jaren oud.
Wat ik wil zeggen is dat selectie op data een beetje onzinnig is. Het gaat er uiteindelijk om wat er verteld wordt.
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donateur
Uitspraak van verwijderd op dinsdag 23 december 2008 om 17:48:
Dus?


Dus inmiddels is er misschien meer bekend over de betreffende onderwerpen, dat niet in deze boeken staat.
Uitspraak van verwijderd op dinsdag 23 december 2008 om 17:48:
Wat ik wil zeggen is dat selectie op data een beetje onzinnig is. Het gaat er uiteindelijk om wat er verteld wordt.


Dat klopt in essentie. Maar in de meeste gevallen mag je aannemen dat er meer verteld wordt naarmate het van latere datum is.
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Uitspraak van Coming soon op dinsdag 23 december 2008 om 18:05:
Dat klopt in essentie. Maar in de meeste gevallen mag je aannemen dat er meer verteld wordt naarmate het van latere datum is.


het is wel een standaardwerk dat aan de basis stond van de huidige generatie literatuur
over dit soort onderwerpen, en werpt eigenlijk alleen maar vragen op, om je aan het denken te zetten
wat dat betreft een prima instap-boek, imo
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Uitspraak van Soul Survivor op maandag 10 november 2008 om 17:35:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingoodie_hammer


[img width=450 height=271]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r198/OzScot/Kingoodiehammer.jpg[/img]

The Kingoodie hammer refers to an object that has the characteristics of a corroded iron nail found in a block of sandstone in 1844 in the Kingoodie Quarry in Kingoodie, Scotland.

Sir David Brewster reported to the British Association that the nail was found when a rough block of stone was being prepared for dressing. The nail was discovered when the overlying clay was cleared from the stone, half an inch (12.5 mm) of the nail projecting into the clay and the remainder of the nail lying along the surface of the stone to within an inch of the head which went down into the stone. It is not known from what part of the quarry the stone came from, and it was handled at least four or five times between being found in the quarry and moved to where it was dressed.[1] In 1985, Dr. A. W. Medd of the British Geological Survey stated that the sandstone bed from which the object supposedly derives is Lower Old Red Sandstone (Devonian, between 360 and 408 million years old).


(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingoodie_hammer)

"Queries and Statements concerning a Nail found imbedded in a Block of Sandstone obtained from Kingoodie (Mylnfield) Quarry, North Britain" :
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=R9k4AAAAMAAJ&printsec=titlepage
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Uitspraak van Soul Survivor op maandag 10 november 2008 om 17:00:
Pyramides in Bosnie:


STONE BLOCKS FROM THE BOSNIAN PYRAMIDS ANALIZED; RESULT – ANCIENT CONCRETE

http://www.piramidasunca.ba/en/index.php/STONE-BLOCKS-FROM-THE-BOSNIAN-PYRAMIDS-ANALIZED-RESULT-ANCIENT-CONCRETE.html
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Ancient Technology: The Extraterrestrial Connection

[img width=171 height=247 cacheid=00059389000e8e4ca7b4b9021b004741d6]http://xfacts.com/store/2007_xfacts_DVD.jpg[/img]

Do the stories in the bible and other sacred texts speak of GODS or Extraterrestrials? The history of the human race and the origins of where we come from can be traced back through efforts in archeology and a careful study of our past. Many of the ancient sites and amazing artifacts still exist show ancient man harnessed technology. How did they gain this knowledge?







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Nazaten eisen schedel Geronimo terug van Skull and Bones



Het geheime studentengenootschap Skull and Bones (Schedels en Knekels) is vorige week door de achterkleinzoon van de Amerikaanse indianenleider Geronimo gedaagd wegens vermeende grafschennis.

Leden van de besloten broederschap aan de Yale universiteit zouden in 1918 de stoffelijke resten van Geronimo hebben opgegraven. Zijn schedel, twee beenderen, een teugel en stijgbeugels zouden ze vervolgens hebben opgeslagen in hun clubhuis ‘De Tombe’. Onder de grappenmakers zou ook Prescott S. Bush zijn geweest, de grootvader van de vorige Amerikaanse president Bush – evenals zijn vader, ex-president Bush Sr. (1989-1993) een clublid.
Geronimo (echte naam: Goyathlay) bleef zich als leider van de Apache-stam tot het laatst met geweld verzetten tegen de Europese nieuwkomers. Pas in 1886 gaf hij zich met zijn tot 35 man uitgedunde militie over aan het leger. Hij zou in 1908 in krijgsgevangenschap sterven op de legerbasis Fort Sill, in Oklahoma, waar hij ook begraven werd.

Het genootschap, de universiteit en de overheid worden nu gedaagd door Harlyn Geronimo (61). Hij en andere nazaten willen openheid van zaken, omdat ze alle stoffelijke resten willen herbegraven in New Mexico.

Een woordvoerder van Yale reageerde vorige week dat De Tombe niet op universiteitsterrein staat. De club zelf, die officieel niet aan de universiteit gelieerd is, onthoudt zich van commentaar.

http://www.nrc.nl/buitenland/article2160696.ece/Nazaten_Geronimo_dagen_genootschap_Skull_and_Bones
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http://www.unitedearth.com.au/forbidden.html#z :

"The Brain Police" and "The Big Lie"

Any time you allege a conspiracy is afoot, especially in the field of science, you are treading on thin ice.
We tend to be very sceptical about conspiracies--unless the Mafia or some Muslim radicals are behind the
alleged plot. But the evidence is overwhelming and the irony is that much of it is in plain view.

The good news is that the players are obvious. Their game plan and even their play-by-play tactics are
transparent, once you learn to spot them. However, it is not so easy to penetrate through the smokescreen
of propaganda and disinformation to get to their underlying motives and goals. It would be convenient if
we could point to a plumber's unit and a boldface liar like Richard Nixon, but this is a more subtle operation.

The bad news: the conspiracy is global and there are many vested interest groups. A cursory investigation
yields the usual suspects: scientists with a theoretical axe to grind, careers to further and the status quo to
maintain. Their modus operandi is "The Big Lie"--and the bigger and more widely publicised, the better.
They rely on invoking their academic credentials to support their arguments, and the presumption is that
no one has the right to question their authoritarian pronouncements that:

1. there is no mystery about who built the Great Pyramid or what the methods of
construction were, and the Sphinx shows no signs of water damage;
2. there were no humans in the Americas before 20,000 BC;
3. the first civilisation dates back no further than 6000 BC;
4. there are no documented anomalous, unexplained or enigmatic data to take into account;
5. there are no lost or unaccounted-for civilisations.

Let the evidence to the contrary be damned!



Personal Attacks: Dispute over Age of the Sphinx and Great Pyramid

In 1993, NBC in the USA aired The Mysteries of the Sphinx, which presented geological evidence
showing that the Sphinx was at least twice as old (9,000 years) as Egyptologists claimed. It has become
well known as the "water erosion controversy". An examination of the politicking that Egyptologists
deployed to combat this undermining of their turf is instructive.

Self-taught Egyptologist John Anthony West brought the water erosion issue to the attention of geologist
Dr Robert Schoch. They went to Egypt and launched an intensive on-site investigation. After thoroughly
studying the Sphinx first hand, the geologist came to share West's preliminary conclusion and they
announced their findings.

Dr Zahi Hawass, the Giza Monuments chief, wasted no time in firing a barrage of public criticism at the
pair. Renowned Egyptologist Dr Mark Lehner, who is regarded as the world's foremost expert on the
Sphinx, joined his attack. He charged West and Schoch with being "ignorant and insensitive". That was a
curious accusation which took the matter off the professional level and put the whole affair on a personal
plane. It did not address the facts or issues at all and it was highly unscientific.

But we must note the standard tactic of discrediting anyone who dares to call the accepted theories into
question. Shifting the focus away from the issues and "personalising" the debate is a highly effective
strategy--one which is often used by politicians who feel insecure about their positions. Hawass and
Lehner invoked their untouchable status and presumed authority. (One would think that a geologist's
assessment would hold more weight on this particular point.)

A short time later, Schoch, Hawass and Lehner were invited to debate the issue at the
AmericanAssociation for the Advancement of Science. West was not allowed to participate
because he lacked the required credentials.

This points to a questionable assumption that is part of the establishment's arsenal: only degreed scientists
can practise science. Two filters keep the uncredentialled, independent researcher out of the loop:
(1) credentials, and (2) peer review. You do not get to number two unless you have number one.

Science is a method that anyone can learn and apply. It does not require a degree to observe
and record facts and think critically about them, especially in the non-technical social sciences.
In a free and open society, science has to be a democratic process.

Be that as it may, West was barred. The elements of the debate have been batted back and forth since
then without resolution. It is similar to the controversy over who built the Giza pyramids and how.

This brings up the issue of The Big Lie and how it has been promoted for generations in front of God and
everyone. The controversy over how the Great Pyramid was constructed is one example. It could be
easily settled if Egyptologists wanted to resolve the dispute. A simple test could be designed and arranged
by impartial engineers that would either prove or disprove their longstanding disputed theory--that it was
built using the primitive tools and methods of the day, circa 2500 BC.

Why hasn't this been done? The answer is so obvious, it seems impossible: they know that
the theory is bogus. Could a trained, highly educated scientist really believe that 2.3 million
tons of stone, some blocks weighing 70 tons, could have been transported and lifted by
primitive methods? That seems improbable, though they have no compunction against lying
to the public, writing textbooks and defending this theory against alternative theories.
However, we must note that they will not subject themselves to the bottom-line test.

We think it is incumbent upon any scientist to bear the burden of proof of his/her thesis; however, the
social scientists who make these claims have never stood up to that kind of scrutiny. That is why we must
suspect a conspiracy. No other scientific discipline would get away with bending the rules of science. All
that Egyptologists have ever done is bat down alternative theories using underhanded tactics. It is time to
insist that they prove their own proposals.

Why would scientists try to hide the truth and avoid any test of their hypothesis? Their motivations are
equally transparent. If it can be proved that the Egyptians did not build the Great Pyramid in 2500 BC
using primitive methods, or if the Sphinx can be dated to 9000 BC, the whole house of cards comes
tumbling down. Orthodox views of cultural evolution are based upon a chronology of civilisation having
started in Sumeria no earlier than 4000 BC. The theory does not permit an advanced civilisation to have
existed prior to that time. End of discussion. Archaeology and history lose their meaning without a fixed
timeline as a point of reference.

Since the theory of "cultural evolution" has been tied to Darwin's general theory of evolution, even more is
at stake. Does this explain why facts, anomalies and enigmas are denied, suppressed and/or ignored?
Yes, it does. The biological sciences today are based on Darwinism.



Pressure Tactics: The Ica Stones of Peru

Now we turn to another, very different case. In 1966, Dr Javier Cabrera received a stone as a gift from a
poor local farmer in his native Ica, Peru. A fish was carved on the stone, which would not have meant
much to the average villager but it did mean a lot to the educated Dr Cabrera. He recognised it as a
long-extinct species. This aroused his curiosity. He purchased more stones from the farmer, who said he
had collected them near the river after a flood.

Dr Cabrera accumulated more and more stones, and word of their existence and potential import reached
the archaeological community. Soon, the doctor had amassed thousands of "Ica stones". The sophisticated
carvings were as enigmatic as they were fascinating. Someone had carved men fighting with dinosaurs,
men with telescopes and men performing operations with surgical equipment. They also contained
drawings of lost continents.

Several of the stones were sent to Germany and the etchings were dated to remote antiquity.
But we all know that men could not have lived at the time of dinosaurs;
Homo sapiens has only existed for about 100,000 years.

The BBC got wind of this discovery and swooped down to produce a documentary about the Ica stones.
The media exposure ignited a storm of controversy. Archaeologists criticised the Peruvian government for
being lax about enforcing antiquities laws (but that was not their real concern). Pressure was applied to
government officials.

The farmer who had been selling the stones to Cabrera was arrested; he claimed to have found them in a
cave but refused to disclose the exact location to authorities, or so they claimed.

This case was disposed of so artfully that it would do any corrupt politician proud. The Peruvian
government threatened to prosecute and imprison the farmer. He was offered and accepted a plea bargain;
he then recanted his story and "admitted" to having carved the stones himself. That seems highly
implausible, since he was uneducated and unskilled and there were 11,000 stones in all. Some were fairly
large and intricately carved with animals and scenes that the farmer would not have had knowledge of
without being a palaeontologist. He would have needed to work every day for several decades to produce
that volume of stones. However, the underlying facts were neither here nor there. The Ica stones were
labelled "hoax" and forgotten.

The case did not require a head-to-head confrontation or public discrediting of non-scientists by scientists;
it was taken care of with invisible pressure tactics. Since it was filed under "hoax", the enigmatic evidence
never had to be dealt with, as it did in the next example.



Censorship of "Forbidden" Thinking: Evidence for Mankind's Great Antiquity

The case of author Michael Cremo is well documented, and it also demonstrates how the scientific
establishment openly uses pressure tactics on the media and government. His book Forbidden Archeology
examines many previously ignored examples of artifacts that prove modern man's antiquity far exceeds the
age given in accepted chronologies.

The examples which he and his co-author present are controversial, but the book became far more
controversial than the contents when it was used in a documentary.

In 1996, NBC broadcast a special called The Mysterious Origins of Man, which featured material from
Cremo's book. The reaction from the scientific community went off the Richter scale. NBC was deluged
with letters from irate scientists who called the producer "a fraud" and the whole program "a hoax".

But the scientists went further than this--a lot further. In an extremely unconscionable sequence of bizarre
moves, they tried to force NBC not to rebroadcast the popular program, but that effort failed. Then they
took the most radical step of all: they presented their case to the federal government and requested the
Federal Communications Commission to step in and bar NBC from airing the program again.

This was not only an apparent infringement of free speech and a blatant attempt to thwart commerce, it
was an unprecedented effort to censor intellectual discourse. If the public or any government agency made
an attempt to handcuff the scientific establishment, the public would never hear the end of it.

The letter to the FCC written by Dr Allison Palmer, President of the Institute for Cambrian Studies,
is revealing:

At the very least, NBC should be required to make substantial prime-time apologies to their viewing
audience for a sufficient period of time so that the audience clearly gets the message that they were
duped. In addition, NBC should perhaps be fined sufficiently so that a major fund for public science
education can be established.

I think we have some good leads on who "the Brain Police" are. And I really do not think "conspiracy" is
too strong a word--because for every case of this kind of attempted suppression that is exposed, 10 others
are going on successfully. We have no idea how many enigmatic artifacts or dates have been labelled
"error" and tucked away in storage warehouses or circular files, never to see the light of day.



Data Rejection: Inconvenient Dating in Mexico

Then there is the high-profile case of Dr Virginia Steen-McIntyre,
a geologist working for the US Geological Survey (USGS), who was dispatched to an
archaeological site in Mexico to date a group of artifacts in the 1970s. This travesty
also illustrates how far established scientists will go to guard orthodox tenets.

McIntyre used state-of-the-art equipment and backed up her results by using four different methods, but
her results were off the chart. The lead archaeologist expected a date of 25,000 years or less, and the
geologist's finding was 250,000 years or more.

The figure of 25,000 years or less was critical to the Bering Strait "crossing" theory, and it was the
motivation behind the head archaeologist's tossing Steen-McIntyre's results in the circular file and asking
for a new series of dating tests. This sort of reaction does not occur when dates match the expected
chronological model that supports accepted theories.

Steen-McIntyre was given a chance to retract her conclusions, but she refused. She found it hard
thereafter to get her papers published and she lost a teaching job at an American university.



Government Suppression and Ethnocentrism:
Avoiding Anomalous Evidence in NZ, China and Mexico

In New Zealand, the government actually stepped in and enacted a law forbidding the public
from entering a controversial archaeological zone. This story appeared in the book,
Ancient Celtic New Zealand, by Mark Doutré.

However, as we will find (and as I promised at the beginning of the article), this is a complicated
conspiracy. Scientists trying to protect their "hallowed" theories while furthering their careers are not the
only ones who want artifacts and data suppressed. This is where the situation gets sticky.

The Waipoua Forest became a controversial site in New Zealand because an archaeological dig apparently
showed evidence of a non-Polynesian culture that preceded the Maori--a fact that the tribe was not happy
with. They learned of the results of the excavations before the general public did and complained to the
government. According to Doutré, the outcome was "an official archival document, which clearly showed
an intention by New Zealand government departments to withhold archaeological information from public
scrutiny for 75 years".

The public got wind of this fiasco but the government denied the claim. However, official documents
show that an embargo had been placed on the site. Doutré is a student of New Zealand history and
archaeology. He is concerned because he says that artifacts proving that there was an earlier culture which
preceded the Maori are missing from museums. He asks what happened to several anomalous remains:

Where are the ancient Indo-European hair samples (wavy red brown hair), originally obtained from a
rock shelter near Watakere, that were on display at the Auckland War Memorial Museum for many
years? Where is the giant skeleton found near Mitimati?

Unfortunately this is not the only such incident. Ethnocentrism has become a factor in the conspiracy to
hide mankind's true history. Author Graham Hancock has been attacked by various ethnic groups for
reporting similar enigmatic findings.

The problem for researchers concerned with establishing humanity's true history is that the goals of
nationalists or ethnic groups who want to lay claim to having been in a particular place first, often dovetail
with the goals of cultural evolutionists.

Archaeologists are quick to go along with suppressing these kinds of anomalous finds.
One reason Egyptologists so jealously guard the Great Pyramid's construction date has to do
with the issue of national pride.

The case of the Takla Makan Desert mummies in western China is another example of this phenomenon.
In the 1970s and 1980s, an unaccounted-for Caucasian culture was suddenly unearthed in China. The arid
environment preserved the remains of a blond-haired, blue-eyed people who lived in pre-dynastic China.
They wore colourful robes, boots, stockings and hats. The Chinese were not happy about this revelation
and they have downplayed the enigmatic find, even though Asians were found buried alongside the
Caucasian mummies.

National Geographic writer Thomas B. Allen mused in a 1996 article about his finding a potsherd bearing
a fingerprint of the potter. When he inquired if he could take the fragment to a forensic anthropologist, the
Chinese scientist asked whether he "would be able to tell if the potter was a white man". Allen said he was
not sure, and the official pocketed the fragment and quietly walked away. It appears that many things get
in the way of scientific discovery and disclosure.

The existence of the Olmec culture in Old Mexico has always posed a problem. Where did the Negroid
people depicted on the colossal heads come from? Why are there Caucasians carved on the stele in what
is Mexico's seed civilisation? What is worse, why aren't the indigenous Mexican people found on the
Olmec artifacts? Recently a Mexican archaeologist solved the problem by making a fantastic claim: that
the Olmec heads--which generations of people of all ethnic groups have agreed bear a striking resemblance
to Africans--were really representations of the local tribe.



Stormtroopers For Darwinism

The public does not seem at all aware of the fact that the scientific establishment has a double standard
when it comes to the free flow of information. In essence, it goes like this... Scientists are highly educated,
well trained and intellectually capable of processing all types of information, and they can make the correct
critical distinctions between fact and fiction, reality and fantasy. The unwashed public is simply incapable
of functioning on this high mental plane.

The noble ideal of the scientist as a highly trained, impartial, apolitical observer and assembler of
established facts into a useful body of knowledge seems to have been shredded under the pressures and
demands of the real world. Science has produced many positive benefits for society; but we should know
by now that science has a dark, negative side. Didn't those meek fellows in the clean lab coats give us
nuclear bombs and biological weapons? The age of innocence ended in World War II.

That the scientific community has an attitude of intellectual superiority is thinly veiled under a carefully
orchestrated public relations guise. We always see Science and Progress walking hand in hand. Science as
an institution in a democratic society has to function in the same way as the society at large; it should be
open to debate, argument and counter-argument. There is no place for unquestioned authoritarianism. Is
modern science meeting these standards?

In the Fall of 2001, PBS aired a seven-part series, titled Evolution. Taken at face value,
that seems harmless enough. However, while the program was presented as pure, objective,
investigative science journalism, it completely failed to meet even minimum standards of
impartial reporting. The series was heavily weighted towards the view that the theory
of evolution is "a science fact" that is accepted by "virtually all reputable scientists
in the world", and not a theory that has weaknesses and strong scientific critics.

The series did not even bother to interview scientists who have criticisms of Darwinism: not "creationists"
but bona fide scientists. To correct this deficiency, a group of 100 dissenting scientists felt compelled to
issue a press release, "A Scientific Dissent on Darwinism", on the day the first program was scheduled to
go to air. Nobel nominee Henry "Fritz" Schaefer was among them. He encouraged open public debate of
Darwin's theory:

Some defenders of Darwinism embrace standards of evidence for evolution that as scientists they would
never accept in other circumstances.

We have seen this same "unscientific" approach applied to archaeology and anthropology, where
"scientists" simply refuse to prove their theories yet appoint themselves as the final arbiters of "the facts".
It would be naive to think that the scientists who cooperated in the production of the series were unaware
that there would be no counter-balancing presentation by critics of Darwin's theory.

Richard Milton is a science journalist. He had been an ardent true believer in Darwinian doctrine until his
investigative instincts kicked in one day. After 20 years of studying and writing about evolution, he
suddenly realised that there were many disconcerting holes in the theory. He decided to try to allay his
doubts and prove the theory to himself by using the standard methods of investigative journalism.

Milton became a regular visitor to London's famed Natural History Museum. He painstakingly put every
main tenet and classic proof of Darwinism to the test. The results shocked him. He found that the theory
could not even stand up to the rigours of routine investigative journalism.

The veteran science writer took a bold step and published a book titled The Facts of Life: Shattering the
Myths of Darwinism. It is clear that the Darwinian myth had been shattered for him, but many more
myths about science would also be crushed after his book came out. Milton says:

I experienced the witch-hunting activity of the Darwinist police at first handÉit was deeply
disappointing to find myself being described by a prominent Oxford zoologist [Richard Dawkins] as
"loony", "stupid" and "in need of psychiatric help" in response to purely scientific reporting.

(Does this sound like stories that came out of the Soviet Union 20 years ago when
dissident scientists there started speaking out?)

Dawkins launched a letter-writing campaign to newspaper editors, implying that Milton was a "mole"
creationist whose work should be dismissed. Anyone at all familiar with politics will recognise this as a
standard Machiavellian by-the-book "character assassination" tactic. Dawkins is a highly respected
scientist, whose reputation and standing in the scientific community carry a great deal of weight.

According to Milton, the process came to a head when the London Times Higher Education Supplement
commissioned him to write a critique of Darwinism. The publication foreshadowed his coming piece:
"Next Week: Darwinism - Richard Milton goes on the attack". Dawkins caught wind of this and wasted no
time in nipping this heresy in the bud. He contacted the editor, Auriol Stevens, and accused Milton of
being a "creationist", and prevailed upon Stevens to pull the plug on the article. Milton learned of this
behind-the-scenes backstabbing and wrote a letter of appeal to Stevens. In the end, she caved in to
Dawkins and scratched the piece.

Imagine what would happen if a politician or bureaucrat used such pressure tactics to kill a story in the
mass media. It would ignite a huge scandal. Not so with scientists, who seem to be regarded as "sacred
cows" and beyond reproach. There are many disturbing facts related to these cases. Darwin's theory of
evolution is the only theory routinely taught in our public school system that has never been subjected to
rigorous scrutiny; nor have any of the criticisms been allowed into the curriculum.

This is an interesting fact, because a recent poll showed that the American public wants the theory of
evolution taught to their children; however, "71 per cent of the respondents say biology teachers should
teach both Darwinism and scientific evidence against Darwinian theory". Nevertheless, there are no plans
to implement this balanced approach.

It is ironic that Richard Dawkins has been appointed to the position of Professor of the Public
Understanding of Science at Oxford University. He is a classic "Brain Police" stormtrooper, patrolling the
neurological front lines. The Western scientific establishment and mass media pride themselves on being
open public forums devoid of prejudice or censorship. However, no television program examining the
flaws and weaknesses of Darwinism has ever been aired in Darwin's home country or in America. A
scientist who opposes the theory cannot get a paper published.

The Mysterious Origins of Man was not a frontal attack on Darwinism; it merely presented evidence that
is considered anomalous by the precepts of his theory of evolution.

Returning to our bastions of intellectual integrity, Forest Mims was a solid and skilled science journalist.
He had never been the centre of any controversy and so he was invited to write the most-read column in
the prestigious Scientific American, "The Amateur Scientist", a task he gladly accepted. According to
Mims, the magazine's editor Jonathan Piel then learned that he also wrote articles for a number of
Christian magazines. The editor called Mims into his office and confronted him.

"Do you believe in the theory of evolution?" Piel asked.

Mims replied, "No, and neither does Stephen Jay Gould."

His response did not affect Piel's decision to bump Mims off the popular column after just three articles.

This has the unpleasant odour of a witch-hunt. The writer never publicly broadcast his private views or
beliefs, so it would appear that the "stormtroopers" now believe they have orders to make sure
"unapproved" thoughts are never publicly disclosed.




Taboo Or Not Taboo?

So, the monitors of "good thinking" are not just the elite of the scientific community, as we have
seen in several cases; they are television producers and magazine editors as well. It seems clear
that they are all driven by the singular imperative of furthering "public science education",
as the president of the Cambrian Institute so aptly phrased it.

However, there is a second item on the agenda, and that is to protect the public from "unscientific"
thoughts and ideas that might infect the mass mind. We outlined some of those taboo subjects at the
beginning of the article; now we should add that it is also "unwholesome" and "unacceptable" to
engage in any of the following research pursuits: paranormal phenomena, UFOs, cold fusion,
free energy and all the rest of the "pseudo-sciences". Does this have a familiar ring to it?
Are we hearing the faint echoes of religious zealotry?

Who ever gave science the mission of engineering and directing the inquisitive pursuits of the citizenry of
the free world? It is all but impossible for any scientific paper that has anti-Darwinian ramifications to be
published in a mainstream scientific journal. It is also just as impossible to get the "taboo" subjects even to
the review table, and you can forget about finding your name under the title of any article in Nature unless
you are a credentialled scientist, even if you are the next Albert Einstein.

To restate how this conspiracy begins, it is with two filters: credentials and peer review. Modern science is
now a maze of such filters set up to promote certain orthodox theories and at the same time filter out that
data already prejudged to be unacceptable. Evidence and merit are not the guiding principles; conformity
and position within the established community have replaced objectivity, access and openness.

Scientists do not hesitate to launch the most outrageous personal attacks against those they perceive to be
the enemy. Eminent palaeontologist Louis Leakey penned this acid one-liner about Forbidden Archeology:
"Your book is pure humbug and does not deserve to be taken seriously by anyone but a fool." Once again,
we see the thrust of a personal attack; the merits of the evidence presented in the book are not examined
or debated. It is a blunt, authoritarian pronouncement.

In a forthcoming instalment, we will examine some more documented cases
and delve deeper into thesubtler dimensions of the conspiracy.



References and Resources:

¥ Cremo, Michael A. and Richard L. Thompson, Forbidden Archeology, Govardhan Hill, USA, 1993.

¥ Cremo, Michael A., "The Controversy over 'The Mysterious Origins of Man'", NEXUS 5/04, 1998;
Forbidden Archeology's Impact, Bhaktivedanta Book Publishing, USA, 1998, website
http://www.mcremo.com.

¥ Doore, Kathy, "The Nazca Spaceport & the Ica Stones of Peru", http://www.labyrinthina.com/ica.htm;
see website for copy of Dr Javier Cabrera's book, The Message of the Engraved Stones.

¥ Doutré, Mark, Ancient Celtic New Zealand, Dé Danann, New Zealand, 1999, website
http://www.celticnz.co.nz.

¥ Milton, Richard, The Facts of Life: Shattering the Myths of Darwinism, Corgi, UK, 1993,
http://www.alternativescience.com.

¥ Steen-McIntyre, Virginia, "Suppressed Evidence for Ancient Man in Mexico", NEXUS 5/05, 1998.

¥ Sunfellow, David, "The Great Pyramid & The Sphinx", November 25, 1994, at
http://www.nhne.com/specialrepots/spyramid.html.

¥ Tampa Bay Tribune, October 12, 2001 (Darwinism/evolution quote), http://www.tampatrib.com.



About the Author:
Will Hart is a freelance journalist, book author, nature photographer and documentary filmmaker. He lives
and does much of his research in the Lake Tahoe area in the USA, and writes a column titled "The Tahoe
Naturalist" for a regional publication. He has produced and directed films about wolves and wild horses.
Waarschuw beheerder
Antikythera Mechanism


I'm not quite sure how much people have been following this. I've been a buff of the Antikythera Mechanism for years.

There's been some new news released on this interesting little gizmo late in 2006. If you're interested in it you've probably heard about it. If you haven't really noticed this machine before it probably slipped right on passed you. But at any rate its an interesting and historically very significant little device...and normally doesn't get talked about much in terms of the whole flow of technology and its history. So i thought it would be an interesting subject for a little bit of context. Let's start when this thing was discovered.

Early in 1900 a ship of sponge divers took shelter from a storm at a small island called Antikythera which is roughly midway between the Greek mainland and the island of Crete. And being sponge divers, after the storm broke they decided they might as well look for some sponges around where they were before they set sail for home. And while they were diving they stumbled across the wreck of a very old ship on the ocean floor in about 40m of water. The deck of the ship was just littered with statues and other very old luxury items.

An interesting anecdote which may or may not be truthful depending on which account of the discovery you believe is that the statues scared the living daylights out of the diver who found the ship. Basically when his captain winched back on board the ship apparently babbling about he called a heap of dead naked women, which were basically ancient statues. At any rate, the captain of the sponge vessel, Captain Condos, told the Greek government about the discovery and at the government's behest went back with his crew to salvage what they could in 1901.

In the interim local divers had looted some amounts of material. Fortunately only minor amounts of material; mostly anchors and some small statues. Basically things that they could easily get to the surface. Since this was long before the invention of scuba diving this was all free diving; hold your breath and go down 40m and come back up. So that definitely helped to limit the amount of damage that these pot hunters basically could do.

But at any rate the salvage of the Antikythera wreck was the first real underwater archaeology that was undertaken so it wasn't done by anything resembling modern methods but it was still done with care given the perspective on archaeology at the time. And again this was a good 40 years before the invention of scuba diving.

So the way the salvage was done was the divers doing the salvage had to hold their breath for 10 minutes. And so you had a couple of mintues to go down, you had 5 minutes of bottom time and then a very rapid ascent back to the surface with no decompression stop.

Ten divers worked on salvaging the wreck. Because of the lack of decompression stops and doing freedives basically to 40m plus in depth, one of the 10 divers died and two more were permanently disabled in the process.

At any rate, turns out the ship was a Roman merchant vessel of 300 plus tonnes and about 50m long. So a pretty big guy for the time. And had sunk on a well used trade route from the eastern to the western Mediterranean. Based on coins that were recovered at the time from the wreck it was deemed to have sunk somewhere around 85 to 60BC. And later analysis of wood from the ship shows that it was probably made much earlier maybe even around 200BC.

The ship sank about 25m from a cliff so there are a number of theories as to why it sank. There's some speculation that maybe it ran aground in a storm and sank near where it hit. There's also speculation that the ship may have sunk because of its age. Also possibly because it was overloaded with treasures as it was carrying some particularly large statues.

Included in what was brought up from the ship was a rather uninteresting lump of corroded bronze and wood with some protruding things that looked sort of like gear teeth. And as this lump dried out shortly after reaching the surface since, again, marine archaeology was a new thing so nobody really knew what to do with wood that was brough up. As this lump was dried out, what was left of the the woodframe crumbled into dust and the bronze portion which was covered with a couple of thousand years of corrosion and marine growth broke into a number of pieces.

The mechanism at first was thought to just be broken pieces of stautary of some kind. It was only 8 months after the thing was brought to the surface that an archaeologist realised the lumps of brass were orginally something mechanical. And even after this was realised the mechanism was almost overlooked. The statues and coins that were recovered drew an awful lot more attention. I guess it was just what people were expecting to see.

So when the mechanism was first discussed the majority of experts thought well maybe it's some sort of an astrolabe. A navigational instrument which hadn't been seen before 625AD. A number of others thought the mechanism was too complicated to be an astrolabe while another large group thought that the artisans who made the statues found on the wreck couldn't have been sophisticated enough to build even an astrolabe.

The device itself is amazingly small. In metric units 33cm high, 17cm wide, 9cm thick. In imperial units 13 inches high, 6.7 inches wide and 3.5 inches thick approximately since nobody's really quite sure what the original size was. Basically it's about the size of a good sized dictionary. And the gears are made of a low tin bronze. Almost pure copper.

At any rate, this interesting little device then essentially disappeared into obscurity a second time for about another 50 years. In the meantime it was being very painstakingly cleaned of a lot of accumulated marine growth.

About 1950 the mechanism was finally available for real study. And in 1951 a British physicist and historian of science named Derek de Solla Price went to the Athens museum to do a little bit of inside study on the fragments taken from the wreck. And Price was familiar himself with the construction of medieval astrolabes. And so looking at the device and what few astronomical inscriptions were visible on the surface set him off to really try and study and figure out what this machine was.

And in June of 1959 Price had an article called An Ancient Greek Computer as the lead article in Scientific American of that month. And in that article Price proposed that the Antikythera Mechanism was a device for calculating the motions of stars and planets which would make it really the first known analog computer; essentially it was an Orrery.

This was so out of the blue and so unthinkable to the experts of the time that one professor claimed that someone in the middle ages must have accidentally dropped a medieval machine into the sea at the same spot and it just sort of wound up on the wreck accidentally. The whole idea that the ancient Greeks could have done something this sophisticated just didn't at all fit the normal conceived pattern of technology development for the time.

At any rate, in 1971 the Oakridge National Laboratory in the US published an article on the use of high energy gamma rays to examine the interiors of metalic objects. And so Price who by now was the first Avalon Professor of the History of Science at Yale University teamed up with Carolumpos Caracalos, a professor of nuclear physics at the Greek National Centre of Scientific Research. And Caracalos had gamma and X-ray photographs made of the mechanism which allowed the two of them to puzzle out some of the gears arrangements and also based on lettering styles to estimate the date of construction as being somewhere around 87BC.

Now from the few inscriptions that could be read on the device which at the time were just a couple hundred characters of text, Price decided that the device was linked closely to Geminus of Rhodes. Rhodes being an island off the southern coast of modern day Turkey and likely had been built there. Aside from the text similarity to a surviving book by Geminus, the presence of pottery from Rhodes among other items from the wreck supported Price's approximate date and the whole idea that it was built on Rhodes.

Price also noted that Rhodes was a centre for astronomical thought. And a little bit of as an aside. To give you a little bit of history on Rhodes, the Greek astronomer Hipparchus, whose widely considered to be the greatest astronomer of ancient times, is thought to have worked at Rhodes from around 140 to 120BC. And later the philosopher Poseidonius set up a school on Rhodes which among other things continued Hipparchus' astonomical traditions.

At any rate, in 1974 Price wrote a small book called Gears from the Greeks: The Antikythera Mechanism, a Calendar Computer from Circa 80BC, where he presented a model of how the mechanism could have worked. This was the first theoretical attempt at reconstructing the device. Unfortunately, what Price was working from - just traditional gamma and X-ray images, essential just 2D images of the device - so they left a lot of room for imagination in the reconstruction. And unfortunately too Price apparently massaged some of the data to make things work out the way he expected them too. An so in the process he came up with a reconstruction that's been called 'unecessarily complicated' and as a result historians and archaeologists pretty much ignored the book and he died in 1983.

Meanwhile in the 1970s more coins were found at the site of the wreck by Jacques Cousteau which have allowed the date of the shipwreck to be refined a bit to be sometime shortly after 85BC.

In the 1980s Michael Wright who at the time was Curator of Mechanical Engineering at the Science Museum in London and later of the Imperial College in London made a completely new study of the original fragments together with Allan Bromley. Bromley, who was a scientist at Sydney University in Australia, wanted to study the machine with X-ray tomography which essentially builds up 3-D images from a number of X-rays taken at various angles.

Now, since what's left of the mechanism is too fragile to move from the museum where it's kept in Athens and Bromley couldn't afford to ship a CAT scan machine to Athens, Wright basically built a simple CAT scanner on the site. And working from the data collected by their scans Wright developed a reconstruction and it's considerable different from that that Price came up with. The arrangement of the surviving gears isn't as Price described to the function of some dials on the back of the device are different than what Price thought.

There is also evidence that more mechanisms has been lost from under the front dial and that the dial display was more elaborate than previously thought. Basically the working model that Wright developed demonstrates that it could've been a full up Orrery. Corresponding to those mentioned in ancient literature but that had kind of been poo-pooed as being essentially the ancient version of science fiction.

Now the recent news that just came out in November comes from yet a third group studying the device and this group has given itself the name of the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project. I hope you all understand i'll just abbreviate this to just AMRP for the rest of this episode.

The AMRP is a joint program including Cardiff University in the UK, the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece, the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, a company called X-Tek Systems in the UK and Hewlett Packard of the US. And is funded by the Leverhulme Trust and supported by the Cultural Foundation of the National Bank of Greece. That's a mouthful isn't?

At any rate, the AMRP announced in Athens in October of 2005, that new pieces of the Antikythera Mechanism had been found and the total count of fragments of this mechanism is now up to 82. Most of the new pieces had been stabilised but were awaiting conservation which basically means they were back in the warehouse of the museum.

So what AMRP did was build a microfocus computerised tomographer at the museum. Microfocus basically means that the X-rays all sort of come out of a very very tiny focul spot which allows you to do much higher resolution CAT scans essentially. The system itself that they built weighed over 7.5 tonnes while all the equipment that they wound up shipping to Athens weighed over 12 tonnes. That's a fair amount of gear that they took down. And in the process it allowed them to generate detailed 3-D X-ray images of the device, even more detailed than Michael Wright came up with.

And the AMRP's first results from the scans that they took were announced at an international conference in Athens on the 30th November and the 1st December in 2006.

Now at the same time a lot of these results were published in the 30th November issue of the journal Nature including a reconstruction of the mechanism based on all this nice high-resolution X-ray tomography that AMRP did. What this new work essentially did was double the amount of repeatable text which basically means it went from about 1000 to 2000 characters of text that now can be read. In the process, correcting some prior transcriptions and also a new translation was done. Mind you some of the lettering is less than 2mm high and there are no spaces breaking up words so deciphering all this text is no small feat especially when some portions of it are still missing.

The new work based on the AMRP scans now propose that the mechanism must of had originally at least 37 gears of which 30 still survive and could be used to predict the position of the sun, moon and probably the planets; at least the five the Greeks knew of. On the front face of the device were graduations for the solar cycle and the zodiac along with pointers that would indicate the position of the sun, moon and lunar phase. It's the inscriptions that talk about stationary points of the planets and such that cause people to speculate that planetary motions were probably also part of the device. Although part of the device, at least for the time being, is still lost. On the back of the mechanism a couple of spiral pointers indicated the state of a couple of other astronomical cycles: the Saros cycle which is a period of about 18 in the geometry of the sun, moon and earth which is a handy thing to have if you are trying to predict eclipses. And also something called the Callipic cycle which had 940 cycles spread over about 76 years also useful in terms of predicting earth, moon, sun geometry.

At any rate, to sort of wrap all this stuff up, the Antikythera Mechanism was a stunning piece of work for its time. The mechanism's level of miniaturisation and complexity in its parts are really comparable to those of the 18th century clocks. So you can imagine why this was a pretty hard sell among the archeaological community. This thing just was way ahead of its time in many ways. There are, for what it's worth, no signs of rework. No evidence of any mistakes in the device. So there are really no signs to suggest that the design changed as the mechanism was built. It wasn't a prototype. It wasn't a one-off. It must have had a number of predecessors. Based on scans of the gears it was likely repaired in at least one place so obviously it actually saw daily use, it was a sort of decorative object.

Price dated it to 87BC, the AMRP thinks the date now based on the style of text on the device probably dates at more between 150 and 100BC. Since the shipwreck occured somewhere between 80 and 60BC the device had to be in use for at least a few years, probably decades before it was lost at sea.

One of the really amazing things about this mechanism is just how stubbornly its lessons have been fought. Cicero who was a Roman statesman in the 1st century BC wrote about a couple of devices similar to the Antikythera Mechanism. The first was built by Archimides and brought to Rome after Archimedes at the siege of Syracuse in Sicily in 212BC and apparently the device showed the motions of the sun, moon and five planets. Cicero also says another similar device was built 'recently' by his friend Poseidonius and showed the movements of the sun, moon and five known planets at the time. But since both these devices were located in Rome at least 50 years after the Antikythera shipwreck neither one of them could be the Antikythera Mechanism. So the device had to be the product of a technology that existed in the Greek world for really hundreds of years.

The development of science and technology rarely follows a simple linear path. The real mystery here is how such an established, really advanced technology could almost drop off the face of the planet. Some of the technology seems to have made its way to the muslim world where simpler but still somewhat similar devices were made for hundreds of years and then that knowledge may have made its way back to the west at the birth of the Renaissance. But still the level of sophistication that is seen in the Antikythera Mechanism wouldn't be seen again for more than 1000 years.

Again, for folks who like viewing the development of science and technology as sort of a straight linear process this deadend almost in technology is a tough thing to swallow just because it has so little follow-up for a long, long time.

The mechanism also has some odd little ironies attached to it. One of them being it was discovered by divers on their way home from Tunisia in North Africa to Syme which is a small island north of Rhodes. And they only stopped at Antikythera to take shelter from a storm. Meanwhile the mechanism was probably built in Rhodes and may well have gone to the bottom of the ocean during a similar storm off the coast of Antikythera. So there is sort of an odd bit of circularity there.

Another irony in its history is that mechanism is awfully hard to puzzle out due to damage done by more than 2000 years of immersion in sea water. But at the same time the sea water also protected the mechanism because along with the craft value of bronze you know it was easily remelted for reuse. Bronze at the time of the mechanism's constuction was used for low denomination coinage. So as a result bronze finds from antiquity and in particular from ancient Greece are very rare. Really most of the more significant historical bronze finds have been made underwater where they have escaped being remelted and reworked.

Fortunately for all of us AMRP isn't just going to sit on what they've collected from the device. They plan on forming an archive of data on the mechanism as research gets completed on various parts of it. Apparently this should start by the end of 2007. So stay tuned i would say there'd be some more interesting news coming out on the Antikythera Mechanism over the course of the year. And again, once all these nice scans are online then it'll pretty much open up for anybody to peruse at their leisure and maybe make their own knew discoveries about.

So that's pretty much it for this week. Again, as is usually the case i've got copious links in the show notes if you'd like to dive more into this there's a lot of interesting new material online courtesy of the AMRP folks and others. If you'd like to comment on this; if you follow the links in the blog post for this episode at geekcounterpoint.net you can go straight to the forums or you can send me feedback through the contact page on the website. There's lots of ways to get feedback in and to join in on the whole discussion on this so that's it for this week.

And again, as always, thank you very much for your time.



Back to top


Go to Sources and background material



Following is the Antikythera Mechanism story in point form:



The discovery
* Early in 1900, ship of sponge divers took shelter from a storm at the small island of Antikythera, roughly midway between Greek mainland & island of Crete.
* After the storm broke, decided to look for sponges before they set sail for home. While diving, stumbled across the wreck of a ship on the ocean floor in about 40 meters of water, carrying statues and other luxury items.
* Interesting anecdote -- the statues scared the daylights out of the diver who found the ship. When his captain winched him back on his ship, he was babbling about a "heap of dead naked women."
* The captain of the sponge vessel (Cpt. Kondos) told the Greek government about the discovery, and at the government's behest went back to salvage what they could in 1901. Fortunately, local divers had looted only minor amounts of material in the interim, primarily the anchors and some small statues.
* Salvage of Antikythera material was first real underwater archaeology ever undertaken, not done by anything resembling modern methods, but still done with care. Well before invention of SCUBA diving, divers held their breath for the 10 minute dive duration. As a result, bottom time was limited to 5 minutes per dive; ascents were rapid, with no decompression stops. Ten divers worked to salvage the wreck; one died, two more were permanently disabled in the process (well before decompression sickness was understood).
* Ship was a Roman merchant vessel of 300+ tons, about 50 meters long, and had sunk on a well-used trade route from Eastern to Western Mediterranean. Based on coins recovered from the wreck, it probably sank around 85 - 60 BC. Later analysis of wood from the ship shows it was made much earlier -- around 200 BC. Sank about 25 meters from a cliff; may have run aground in a storm and sank nearby. Also speculation that the ship sank because of its age, and possibly because it was overloaded with treasures (including some particularly large statues).
* Included in the haul was a lump of corroded bronze and wood, with some protruding gear teeth. As this dried out, shortly after reaching the surface, what was left of the wood frame crumbled, and the bronze portion (covered in corrosion and marine growth) broke into a number of pieces.
* The mechanism was at first thought to be broken pieces of statuary. It was only 8 months after its discovery that an archaeologist realized the lumps of brass were originally a mechanism. Even after this, the mechanism was nearly overlooked -- the statues and coins that were recovereddrew far more attention. When the mechanism was first discussed, the majority of experts felt it must be some sort of astrolabe -- a ship's navigational instrument not known before 625 AD. Others thought the mechanism was too complicated to be an astrolabe, while some thought the artisans who made the statues found in the wreck could not have been sophisticated enough to build even an astrolabe.
* The device itself is surprisingly small, about 33 cm (13 in) high, 17 cm (6.7 in) wide, and 9 cm (3.5 in) thick. It's made of a low-tin bronze, nearly pure copper.
* In any event, the mechanism then disappeared into obscurity a second time, for another 50 years. In the meantime, it was being painstakingly cleaned of much of its accumulated marine growth.



20th century studies


Derek Price
* In 1951, a British physicist and historian of science named Derek De Solla Price went to the Athens Museum for his own analysis of the fragments taken from the Antikythera wreck. Price himself was familiar with construction of medieval astrolabes, and the complexity of the device and the astronomical inscriptions visible on the surface led him to eight years of informed study.
* In June 1959, Price's "An Ancient Greek Computer" was the lead article in Scientific American. Price proposed the theory that the Antikythera mechanism was a device for calculating the motions of stars and planets, which would make the device the first known analog computer. The idea was sufficiently unthinkable to the experts of the time that one professor claimed someone in the Middle Ages must have coincidentally dropped a machine of that era into the sea at the same spot off Antikythera's coast.
* In 1971 the Oak Ridge national laboratory published an article on the use of high-energy gamma radiation to examine the interiors of metallic objects. Price, who by now was the first Avalon Professor of the History of Science at Yale University, teamed up with Charalampos Karakalos, professor of nuclear physics at the Greek National Centre of Scientific Research. Karakalos had gamma- and X-ray photographs made of the mechanism, which not only allowed them to puzzle out some of the gears' arrangements, but also to estimate its date of construction as being approximately 87 BC.
* From the few inscriptions that could be read on the device (just a few hundred characters of text), Price decided that the device was linked closely to Geminus of Rhodes (island off the southern coast of modern-day Turkey), and likely had been built there. Aside from the text's similarity to a surviving book by Geminus, the presence of Rhodian pottery among other items from the wreck supported Price's deduction and date. Price also noted that Rhodes was a center for astronomical thought. Hipparchus (Greek astronomer, considered to be the greatest of ancient times) is thought to have worked at Rhodes from around 140 to 120 BC. Later, the philosopher Posidonius set up a school in Rhodes which continued Hipparchus' astronomical traditions.
* In 1974, Price wrote "Gears from the Greeks: the Antikythera mechanism - a calendar computer from ca. 80 B.C.", where he presented a model of how the mechanism could have functioned. This was the first theoretical attempt at reconstructing the device. Unfortunately, Price was working from just traditional gamma- and X-ray images (2D), so it left room for imagination in the reconstruction. Apparently, Price also massaged some of the data, and in the process came up with a reconstruction that's been called "unnecessarily complicated." As a result, historians and archaeologists largely ignored the book, and he died in 1983.
* Meanwhile, in the 1970's, more coins found at the site of the wreck by Jacques Cousteau have allowed the date of the shipwreck to be modified to sometime shortly after 85 BC.



Michael Wright
* In the 1980's, Michael Wright, at the time Curator of Mechanical Engineering at The Science Museum, London, and later of Imperial College, London, made a completely new study of the original fragments together with Allan Bromley. Bromley, a computer scientist at Sydney University in Australia, wanted to study the machine with X-ray tomography, which essentially builds up 3-D images from cross-sections.
* Since the mechanism's fragments are too fragile to move from the museum, and Bromley couldn't afford to ship a CT machine to Athens, Wright built a simple CT scanner on the site.
* Working from the data collected by their CT scans, Wright developed an entirely different reconstruction. The arrangement of the surviving gearing is not as Price described. The function of both back dials is changed. There is evidence that further mechanism has been lost from under the front dial and that this dial display was more elaborate than previously supposed. Wright's working model demonstrates the possibility that it might have been a fully-elaborated orrery, corresponding to those mentioned in ancient literature.



New news -- Antikythera Mechanism Research Project
* AMRP -- a joint program between Cardiff University, the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, X-Tek Systems UK and Hewlett-Packard USA, funded by the Leverhulme Trust and supported by the Cultural Foundation of the National Bank of Greece.
* It was announced in Athens on 21 October 2005 that new pieces of the Antikythera mechanism had been found. There are now 82 fragments. Most of the new pieces had been stabilized but were awaiting conservation.
* AMRP built a microfocus (small X-ray focal spot) computerised tomographer at the museum. The CT system itself weighed over 7.5 tons, while the whole set of equipment weighed over 12 tons. This allowed the generation of detailed, 3D X-ray images of the device.
* The AMRP's first results were announced at an international conference in Athens on November 30 and December 1, 2006.
* In parallel, on 30 November, the journal Nature published a new reconstruction of the mechanism based on the high resolution X-ray tomography performed by the AMRP. This work doubled the amount of readable text (from about 1,000 to 2,000 characters), corrected prior transcriptions, and provided a new translation. Since some of the lettering is less than 2 mm high, and there are no spaces breaking up words, decyphering the text is no small feat.
* The new work proposes that the mechanism originally had at least 37 gears, of which 30 still survive, and was used for prediction of the position of the sun, moon, and probably planets.
* On the front face were graduations for the solar cycle and the zodiac together with pointers that indicated the position of the sun and the moon, and the lunar phase. Based on the inscriptions, which mention the stationary points of the planets, the authors speculate that planetary motions may also have been indicated here.
* On the back, two spiral pointers indicated the state of two further important astronomical cycles: the Saros cycle, the period of approximately 18 years separating the return of the sun, moon and earth to the same relative positions (essential in eclipse prediction); and the Callippic cycle that spread 940 cycles over approximately 76 years.



Wrapup


By any measure, the Antikythera mechanism was a stunning piece of work for its time.
* The mechanism's level of miniaturization and complexity of its parts are comparable to those of 18th century clocks.
* No signs of rework, no evidence of any mistakes. No signs to suggest that the design changed as the mechanism was built. So the mechanism wasn't a prototype, and must have had a number of predecessors.
* Based on scans of the gears, it was repaired in at least two places -- so it obviously was in use, not a decorative object. Dated by Price to 87 BC, by AMRP to 150-100 BC; shipwreck occurred between 80 and 60 BC so it was in use for at least a few years, possibly decades.



One of the amazing things about the mechanism is how stubbornly its lessons have been fought.
* Cicero, a Roman statesman in the 1st century BC, wrote about two devices similar to the Antikythera mechanism. The first was built by Archimedes and brought to Rome after Archimedes' death at the siege of Syracuse (in Sicily) in 212 BC. The device showed the motions of the sun, moon and five planets were shown by the device. Cicero also says that another such device was built 'recently' by his friend Posidonius, "... each one of the revolutions of which brings about the same movement in the sun and moon and five wandering stars [planets] as is brought about each day and night in the heavens..."
* Since both these devices were located in Rome at least 50 years after the Antikythera shipwreck, neither could be the Antikythera mechanism. So the Antikythera device had to be the product of a technology that had existed in the Greek world for hundreds of years.
* Development of science & technology rarely follows a simple, linear path. But one mystery here is how such an established, advanced technology could nearly drop off the face of the planet. Some of the technology seems to have made its way to the Muslim world, where simpler but similar devices were made for hundreds of years. This knowledge then may have made its way back to the West at the birth of the renaissance. Still, the level of sophistication seen in the Antikythera mechanism wouldn't be seen again for more than a thousand years.
* One of the odd little ironies of this mechanism -- it was discovered by divers on their way home from Tunisia (N. Africa) to Syme, a small island north of Rhodes. Only stopped at Antikythera to take shelter from a storm. Mechanism was likely built in Rhodes, and may well have sunk during similar storm off coast of Antikythera.
* Another irony -- mechanism is hard to puzzle out, due to damage done by 2000+ years of immersion in sea water. Yet the water also protected the mechanism -- along with the craft value of bronze (easily remelted for reuse), bronze was used for low-denomination coinage at the time the mechanism was built. As a result, bronze finds from antiquity are rare -- many of the more significant historical bronze finds have been made underwater, where they escaped being remelted and reworked.
* AMRP plans on forming an archive of data on the mechanism as research is completed. This should start by the end of 2007, so stay tuned...



Sources and background material


Background
* http://en.wikipedia.org Antikythera Mechanism
* www.antikythera-mechanism.gr The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project
* www.uh.edu Antikythera Mechanism
* www.giant.net.au The Antikythera Mechanism Links
* www.etl.uom.gr Simulation of the Antikythera Mechanism
* ccat.sas.upenn.edu Physical and Intellectual Salvage from the 1st Century B.C.
* ccat.sas.upenn.edu Gears, Galleys, and Geography: The Antikythera Mechanism's Implications
* www.giant.net.au An Ancient Greek Computer (Price in June, 1959 Scientific American)


Older news
* www.economist.com The clockwork computer (Sept. 19, 2002)
* go.theregister.com Scientists probe 2,000-year-old Greek computer (June 7, 2006)
* observer.guardian.co.uk Revealed: world's oldest computer (Aug. 20, 2006)


Recent news
* www.xtekxray.com X-Tek's Inspection of the Anitkythera Mechanism with X-rays
* www.hpl.hp.com Antikythera Mechanism Relighting Demonstration
* www.physorg.com Enigma of ancient world's computer is cracked at last (Nov. 29, 2006)
* news.bbc.co.uk Ancient Moon 'computer' revisited (Nov. 29, 2006)
* www.gizmodo.com Ancient Computer Found, Can't Play Doom (Nov. 29, 2006)
* archaeoastronomy.wordpress.com The Antikythera Mechanism (Nov. 29, 2006)
* archaeoastronomy.wordpress.com Mystery of ancient astronomical calculator unveiled (Nov. 29, 2006)
* www.eurekalert.org Mystery of ancient astronomical calculator unveiled (Nov. 29, 2006)
* blog.wired.com Antikythera Conference Begins Thursday (Nov. 29, 2006)
* www.nytimes.com An Ancient Computer Surprises Scientists (Nov. 29, 2006)
* blog.wired.com 2,000 Year Old Computer Yields Her Secrets (Nov. 29, 2006)
* asymptotia.com The Antikythera Mechanism (Nov. 30, 2006)
* www.nytimes.com Early Astronomical ‘Computer’ Found to Be Technically Complex (Nov. 30, 2006)
* www.nature.com In search of lost time (Nov. 30, 2006)
* feeds.feedburner.com Unravelling the secrets of a 2,000-year-old computer (Nov. 30, 2006)
* rss.cnn.com Ancient astronomical device thrills scholars (Nov. 30, 2006)
* www.cognition.ens.fr The Ghost of the Machines (Dec. 1, 2006)
* www.arsmathematica.net Antikythera Mechanism (Dec. 2, 2006)
* www.space-travel.com Mystery Of Ancient Astronomical Calculator Unveiled (Dec. 4, 2006)


http://www.unitedearth.com.au/antikythera.html
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Digitalisering Dode Zeerollen gestart
28-08-2008 10:10 | Van onze correspondent

De Israëlische Oudheidkundige Dienst is gestart met het digitaliseren van de Dode Zeerollen.

JERUZALEM - De Israëlische Oudheidkundige Dienst is gestart met het digitaliseren van de Dode Zeerollen. Doel is wetenschappers en andere geïnteresseerden via internet toegang te geven tot de 2000 jaar oude manuscripten.

Dat heeft de dienst woensdag bekendgemaakt.

De ongeveer 900 manuscripten, die ruim zestig jaar geleden zijn gevonden in grotten bij de Dode Zee, zijn in duizenden stukjes uiteengevallen. De dienst heeft in samenwerking met een internationaal team van deskundigen op het gebied van beeldtechnologie een procedé ontwikkeld om de fragmenten te digitaliseren. Daarbij is ook de Amerikaanse wetenschapper Greg Bearman betrokken, die bij de ruimtevaartorganisatie NASA heeft gewerkt.

In een grijs geverfde kamer worden verschillende soorten opnames gemaakt: een gewone kleurenfoto in hoge resolutie, een infrarode foto die letters leesbaar maakt die met het blote oog niet meer te onderscheiden zijn en foto’s die kunnen worden gebruikt om de omstandigheden waaronder de manuscripten worden bewaard, desgewenst te verbeteren. Bij het fotograferen wordt ernaar gestreefd de fragmenten zo weinig mogelijk aan het licht bloot te stellen.

De verwachting is dat het project binnen vijf jaar is afgerond. De afbeeldingen worden voorzien van een vertaling en van uitleg.

Bedoeïenen vonden de eerste rollen ruim zestig jaar geleden in een grot bij de Dode Zee. Prof. Eleazar Sukenik van de Hebreeuwse Universiteit in Jeruzalem concludeerde in november 1947 dat de rollen die hij onder ogen kreeg van de Essenen waren. Een van de rollen bleek het boek Jesaja te zijn. Dit document was duizend jaar ouder dan het oudste manuscript dat toen bekend was. Het bleek dat de teksten nagenoeg identiek waren.

Na de spectaculaire vondst werd de zoektocht naar manuscripten rond de Dode Zee voortgezet. In totaal vonden archeologen ongeveer 900 Bijbelboeken, commentaren en sektarische geschriften, die werden geschreven tussen het einde van de derde eeuw voor Christus en de eerste eeuw van onze jaartelling. De rollen bieden wetenschappers een schat van informatie over de periode van de tweede tempel (van 536 voor tot 70 na Christus).

Wetenschappers maken zich zorgen over de vraag of de rollen in de toekomst leesbaar zullen blijven. Ze werden immers na 2000 jaar verwijderd uit de droge omgeving van de Dode Zee. In 1991 richtte de Oudheidkundige Dienst een laboratorium op dat bestemd was voor de conservering van de rollen. Het doel is de nieuwste technieken toe te passen die wereldwijd bekend zijn.


Vele duizenden fragmenten zijn in de jaren vijftig van de vorige eeuw al gefotografeerd. Daarna werd fotografie slechts beperkt toegestaan. Het digitaliseringsproject van nu moet verzoeken om foto’s overbodig maken.

http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1357744/Digitalisering+Dode+Zeerollen+gestart.html
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OOPArts: het raadsel van de grote stenen



In Libanon, zo’n 86 kilometer noordoost van Beiroet, liggen de ruïnes van het tempelcomplex van Baalbek. Op een heuvel in de Bekaa-vallei zijn tempels te vinden die door verschillende beschavingen en in verschillende tijdvakken gebouwd zijn. Toen de Romeinen vanaf 64 v. Chr. er hun Jupitertempel bouwden, en daarvoor de Feniciërs (vanaf 323 v. Chr.) hun tempel ter ere van de Baal neerzetten, stonden er al gebouwen die nog veel, veel ouder waren. Historici schatten dat de eerste bouwselen dateren van zo’n 5000 jaar geleden, duizenden jaren voordat de Feniciërs en Romeinen er neerstreken de plek tot Heliopolis werd omgedoopt. Het meest bijzondere echter aan dit tempelcomplex is de tempel van Jupiter. Niet zozeer vanwege de bouwkunst van de Romeinen, maar meer vanwege de stenen waarop zij de fundering van hun tempel legden. Deze stenen dateerden van de eerste bouwers en zijn simpel gezegd gigantisch. Zo gigantisch, dat er geen beschaving bekend was die deze stenen op hun plaats had kunnen leggen. Zelfs zo gigantisch, dat in de huidige tijd deze stenen niet geplaatst zouden kunnen worden…

Het staat ook wel bekend als het enigma van Baalbek: een opeenstapeling van enorme stenen, gelegd door een nog onbekende beschaving ongeveer 5000 jaar geleden. Een bijzondere constructie die ook nog ondersteboven geplaatst is, wat wil zeggen: enorme monolieten uit één stuk geplaatst op kleinere (maar nog steeds gigantisch) stenen die weer op kleinere rusten. De grote topstenen (de trilithon) zijn de grootste bewerkte stenen op aarde: drie perfect rechthoekig uitgehouwen megalieten die elk meer dan 1000 ton wegen. We praten 5000 jaar geleden, toen koper en brons de enige metalen waren waarmee men deze stenen kon trachten te bewerken. Los van de bewerking van deze enorme stenen is het raadsel hoe ze zo precies op hun plaats zijn gekomen: het tempelcomplex staat op een heuvel van 1150 meter hoog en de hele omgeving is ongelijk en rotsachtig en kent geen rechte vlakken voor het maken van een helling of een stevige ondergrond die machinerie zou kunnen ondersteunen om de blokken te plaatsen. Nog ongelooflijker wordt het wanneer je het enorme gewicht van de blokken in ogenschouw neemt: de drie grootste blokken waren ieder meer dan 1000 ton zwaar en in de steengroeve een halve kilometer verderop ligt nog een blok te wachten dat tussen de 1200 en 1500 ton zwaar is en waar men kennelijk niet aan is toegekomen om het de heuvel op te transporteren. Overigens, de blokken onder de drie megalieten zijn ook geen kattenpis: negen blokken van 450 ton werden ook hier perfect uitgehakt, getransporteerd en vervolgens naadloos op hun plaats gelegd.


In het midden van de muur is de trilithon duidelijk te zien. Daar bovenop ligt het kleinere broddelwerk van de Romeinen. Let op het verschil van de naden tussen de stenen


De grootste monoliet ter wereld ligt nog steeds in de groeve te wachten op transport naar het Baalbek-complex

Het wordt duidelijk dat deze prestatie onmogelijk was wanneer je ze afzet tegen de kennis en kunde die we denken dat dit vroege volk had. Het wordt echter nog raadselachtiger wanneer we ons bedenken dat een dergelijke prestatie zelf vandaag de dag praktisch onmogelijk zou zijn. Zelfs al zou je het gebied netjes plat bulldozeren om zware machines betere toegang te geven (wat dus niet gebeurd is), het is de vraag of de sterkste kraan die er op dit moment in de wereld bestaat in staat zou zijn deze blokken te tillen en op hun plaats leggen zonder ze te breken. De grootste rijdende kraan op dit moment heeft een maximaal hefvermogen van 1200 ton, weegt zelf ook ettelijke honderden tonnen en kost een paar weken om ter plekke in elkaar te zetten. Men kan wel met enige zekerheid stellen dat men destijds niet over dergelijke machines beschikte en wat ook zeker is dat zulke blokken met spierkracht en wat boomstammen alleen niet op hun plek waren te krijgen. Om het nog maar niet te hebben over de precisie waarmee de blokken uitgehakt en geplaatst zijn: zonder voegmiddel op elkaar gezet zo precies passend, dat er tussen de naden nog geen speelkaart tussen te krijgen is.

De piramide van Cheops en andere monumenten
Deze zelfde onverklaarbare bouwmethoden zien we op verschillende plekken op de wereld terug. Al sinds de vroege Steentijd werden er enorme blokken uitgehakt, over grote afstanden vervoerd en vervolgens gebruikt in tempels en monumenten. Stonehenge is een beroemd voorbeeld waar megalieten van 50 ton in steengroeven werden uitgehakt, die 40 tot 230 kilometer ver verwijderd waren van het prehistorische monument. Vervolgens werden deze blokken op elkaar gezet, waarbij men zo’n zeven meter de hoogte in moest. De piramides op het Gizehplateau zijn even raadselachtig: 2,3 miljoen bewerkte blokken van kalksteen en graniet, die tussen de 2,5 en 50 ton wogen en die met ongelooflijke precisie opgestapeld werden om de piramide van Cheops te maken; bijna 150 meter hoog en 230 meter breed. Even los van wanneer de tempels gebouwd waren, met de stand der techniek van de Egyptenaren was het een onmogelijk project. De Egyptenaren beschikten alleen over koperen en bronzen werktuigen welke te zacht zijn om kalksteen effectief te kunnen bewerken, om over het keiharde graniet maar niet te spreken.

Hoe al deze enorme stenen bewerkt, vervoerd en geplaatst konden worden is nog steeds een mysterie. De piramides van Gizeh zijn het meeste voer voor speculatie geweest, maar alle theorieën om de bouw van de Gizeh piramides te verklaren zijn tot op heden onuitvoerbaar gebleken. Zo wordt er door sommige onderzoeker gesuggereerd dat de grote piramide gebouwd zou zijn met behulp van een groot hellend vlak. Hiermee zouden de stenen omhoog gehesen worden en met het groeien van de piramide zou het steeds hoger worden. Sommigen hebben het zelfs over een opgang die als een wenteltrap om de piramide zou heen draaien. Feit is dat een dergelijk talud ruim 17,5 miljoen m3 aan materiaal zou vergen, wat zeven keer meer is dan de piramide zelf. Dit zou dan geen zand kunnen zijn, omdat dit uiteindelijk niet stevig genoeg is om het gewicht van dergelijke stenen en de werkers te dragen. Hiervoor zou dus veel steen gebruikt moeten worden. Waar al dat materiaal vandaan had moeten komen is niet bekend. Ook niet waar al dat materiaal gebleven zou zijn nadat de piramide klaar was. Dit is eveneens een mysterie dat niet door de theorie wordt verklaard. Ten slotte zou een dergelijke operatie een veelvoud van het aantal werkers vergen wat het geheel nog onwaarschijnlijker maakt. Andere theorieën die spreken van allerlei hefboomconstructies en liftsystemen hebben in recente experimenten om ze na te bootsen allemaal gefaald. Zelfs met moderne middelen zou de bouw van de piramides ongelooflijk moeilijk zijn, om het over de kosten nog maar niet te hebben.


Op de top van de piramide van Cheops zijn nog overblijfselen van de dekstenen te zien die ooit de hele piramide bedekten. Er werden 115.000 van deze gladgepolijste kalkstenen platen tegen de buitenkant van de piramide geplaatst die elk meer dan 10 ton wogen

Zo zijn er nog talloze voorbeelden over de aarde verspreid te vinden. In Tihuanaco, Bolivia, werden enorme blokken steen van 150 tot 400 ton over een afstand van 50 kilometer vervoerd en geplaatst zo’n 15 kilometer van het Titicacameer. Van deze pre-Inca stad wordt gezegd dat ze meer dan 2000 jaar geleden werd gebouwd, maar andere wetenschappers plaatsen de stad veel verder terug de prehistorie in. Dit komen we eigenlijk met alle megalithische bouwwerken tegen: historici en archeologen kunnen de bouwwerken en hun makers niet plaatsen in de geschiedenis. Er zijn veel aanwijzingen die duiden op veel oudere beschavingen dan tot nu toe aangenomen; hoogontwikkelde beschavingen die tot wel twaalf of vijftienduizend jaar terug gaan. Deze beschavingen vallen niet alleen buiten alle bestaande geschiedenisboekjes, ze beschikten duidelijk over technologie die we pas nu hebben kunnen evenaren. Toch staan deze monumenten er nog, na al die tijd, en niemand weet wie of wat ze daar neer heeft gezet of hoe en waarom.

De orthodoxe wetenschappers en onderzoekers hebben er kennelijk geen moeite mee om dit mysterie een mysterie te laten en doen af en toe nog de moeite om met een halfbakken theorie te komen die meteen de prullenbak in kan. Alternatieve theorieën proberen dit gat te vullen en komen met de meest uiteenlopende verklaringen. Zo zou een oud ras van zeevarende mensen – volgens sommigen Atlantis – de bouwkundige kennis (en meer) verspreid hebben op de continenten. Anderen spreken weer over buitenaardse inmenging. Weer anderen spreken van reuzen die deze “cyclopische” bouwwerken hebben neergezet. Hoe dan ook, het is duidelijk dat de Egyptenaren en Zuid –en Midden-Amerikaanse volkeren deze kennis volledig ontwikkeld hebben gekregen, want er is geen bewijs dat deze kennis zich progressief heeft ontwikkeld tot het niveau dat de tempels van de Maya’s, Inca’s en Egyptenaren laten zien. Deze kennis was opeens daar en was ook ineens weer weg. Wie het ook geweest zijn, hun bouwwerken zijn het bewijs dat er een geavanceerde beschaving op aarde heeft bestaan met een ontwikkelingsniveau dat dicht bij het onze lag en op sommige vlakken nog verder. Voor veel onderzoekers is dit moeilijk te verteren omdat de geschiedenisboekjes dan niet meer kloppen, maar stenen van over de 1000 ton zijn toch heel wat meer zwaarwegende argumenten dan een handvol halfbakken theorieën.

http://zapruder.nl/portal/artikel/ooparts_het_raadsel_van_de_grote_stenen/
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Seven pyramids identified on the African island of Mauritius

Photographs


Seven pyramids have been identified on the African island of Mauritius. Remarkably, in construction, they are identical to the ones found on the island of Tenerife, an island on the opposite side of the continent. It underlines the likelihood that one civilisation sailed to various islands off the coast of Africa and constructed these structures.

Map of MauritiusThe island of Mauritius is part of the Mascarene Islands and is in the Indian Ocean, about 900 kilometres (560 miles) east of Madagascar. The island is 61 km long and 47 km wide, and sits just north of the Tropic of Capricorn. In origin, it is a volcanic island.

The historical record shows that the island was known to Arab and Austronesian sailors as early as the 10th century; Portuguese sailors first visited in 1507. Mauritius was first plotted on a map in 1502, made by the Italian Alberto Cantino. The Arabs called the island Dina Harobi, while the planisphere identifies all three Mascarene islands (Reunion, Mauritius and Rodrigues) and calls them Dina Margabin, Dina Harobi and Dina Morare.

It is suspected that prior to the Arabs, Mauritius was known to certain people living on the African shores, as well as the famous Sea Peoples, a confederacy of seafaring raiders, which included the proto-Phoenicians. The Greek account of Periplus relates the story of Hanno (Hannan), the Carthaginian navigator, who lived in the 5th century BC, and who traversed the Straits of Gibraltar at the command of ships that would explore the African coastline along the Atlantic Ocean. Herodotus describes a Phoenician expedition leaving the Red Sea and traversing the “sea of the south”, and, following the orders of the Egyptian Pharaoh Necho II (610-595 BC), entered back into the Mediterranean Sea through the Straits of Gibraltar, which means they circumnavigated Africa.

The seven small pyramids that have been identified are located on the south side of the island, in a plain known as Whillem, between the Indian Ocean and Creole Mountain and Lion Mountain, at 20°26’.8.15”S and 57° 39’2.60”E. Their foundation is rectangular and in height, they do not exceed twelve metres; they have between 6 and 11 terraces. In appearance, they are similar to the pyramids located on another volcanic island off the – western – coast of Africa, Tenerife; similar structures also exist on the Mediterranean island of Sicily, which is also volcanic in origin.

There are many parallels between the pyramids of Mauritius and Tenerife. On both island, the pyramids are part of a complex: a series of pyramids grouped together in one location. On both islands, the pyramids are made from lava stone and the construction does not use any mortar or other connecting agent. Some of the structures on Mauritius have been partially dismantled, with the stones remployed nearby. In one coating of basalt rollers, there can be found limestone blocks underneath, no doubt of coral origin.

The Tenerife pyramids equally do not surpass 12 metres in height, and detailed photographs of the terracing makes it clear that one cannot distinguish whether one is observing a pyramid on Tenerife or Mauritius. In the case of “Mauritius Pyramid 1”, access to the upper platform is via a central staircase. This has been restored in a whiter stone, and is therefore more visible. Not all pyramids have such an access – again on par with their Tenerife cousins. It suggests that there is a commonality between the two islands that is beyond the coincidental.

Some of the Mauritius pyramids, with their platforms, could have been used for astronomical observations. This too would be on par with Tenerife, specifically at the Guimar complex. If this correlation were to apply to the Mauritius pyramids, these pyramids should be aligned to solar phenomena, and specifically the terraces associated with the pyramids should be aligned to the two solstices. Initial calculations suggest that this is indeed the case, though on-site verification needs to occur. Specifically Mauritius Pyramid 2 is likely to be aligned to the summer solstice (which in the Southern hemisphere occurs on December 21) and one should be able to observe a double sunset. The first sunset would occur behind the Creole Mountain, the second behind the neighbouring Lion Mountain. A double sunset behind a mountainous horizon is also a phenomenon observed at the Guimar complex in Tenerife.

Locally, as Stéphane Mussard experienced, the people claim these pyramids are merely stone piles, thrown together in efforts to clear the fields for growing sugar cane. Even the dismissals are therefore shared with those of Tenerife, where other complexes on the island (e.g. Icod de los Vinos) are equally labelled by locals as the result of farmers clearing their fields from unwanted stones. If this were true, the question is why some of the pyramids on Mauritius still have official panels, dating from the first half of the 20th century, which identifies the site as a protected site of historic interest? Remarkably, however, since, the site has lost its protected status, no doubt the consequence of a change in government (Mauritius was under British rule until 1968). It is clear that those dismissing these pyramids as “piles of stones” are afraid to see their agricultural lands repossessed, or having to conform to certain regulations that come with protected archaeological sites. It is nevertheless clear that with proper help, the government should be able to highlight the economic benefits of tourism to the local economy, which will hopefully result in scientific research carried out on the site.

The man responsible for the identification and promotion of the Guimar complex was Thor Heyerdahl, a pioneering sailor of Norwegian origin, who argued that our distant ancestors were able to navigate the oceans and organised various expeditions to prove his point. Heyerdahl found a pyramid in the Maldives, on Gan. This pyramid was aligned to the sun and measures 8.5 metres in height. It was baptised “Hawittas”. Heyerdahl argued that the Maldives were located on an Eastern maritime trading route that was used by various ancient civilisations, coming from the Middle East.

The ancient Egyptians used the Phoenician fleet to carry out expeditions, and it is known that the Phoenicians constructed astronomical temples that were perfectly aligned to the cardinal points and solar phenomena. With the discovery of identical pyramid complexes on Tenerife, Sicily and now Mauritius, it is clear that these are remnants of a seafaring culture, which has left traces on islands on various sides of the African continent.

http://www.histories-mysteries.com
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Oeroud beeldje gevonden in Duitsland


(Novum/AP) - Archeologen hebben in de Schwäbischer Alb, een gebergte in het zuidwesten van Duitsland een zeer oud beeldje ontdekt. Dat heeft een krant uit Ulm vrijdag bekendgemaakt.

Experts denken dat het om een vrouwenfiguur gaat van mogelijk 35 duizend jaar oud. De figuur werd gevonden in een grot, de zogenoemde 'Hohler Fels' (holle rots), bij Schelklingen.

Het beeld werd ontdekt door het team van Nicholas Conard van de Universiteit van Tübingen. voor woensdag staat een persconferentie gepland.

http://buitenland.nieuws.nl/555759/oeroud_beeldje_gevonden_in_duitsland
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RUSSIAN EXPEDITION OF DIVERS-EXPLORERS, LEAD BY ANDREY MAKAREVICH explores 80-100 feet high underwater manmade structure that composes a temple-pyramid YONAGUNI.















RUSSIAN EXPEDITION OF DIVERS-EXPLORERS, LEAD BY ANDREY MAKAREVICH explores 80-100 feet high underwater manmade structure that composes a temple-pyramid YONAGUNI. This is the best underwater footage in existence so far that I came across with about the legendary site. ANDREY commenting their manmade discoveries in Russian (I did not translate footage with adding English subtitles-translation), but just watching the footage one would come to the realization of the presence of manmade artifacts and constructions, including THE HEAD. The site included a square-shaped structure covered with coral, a giant platform with edges and corners, as well as streets, stairways, and an arched building. One could say that the ruins resembled an ALTAR IN THE ANCIENT CITY. It covered about 200 meters from west to east, and about 140 meters from north to south. Its highest point reached about 26 meters.

NOTE: The whole story started in 1986, when a diver near the island of Yonaguni Jima, off the southern tip of Japan (around Okinawa) came across some strange structures about 25 meters below sea level. They appeared to be stepped structures with terraces and ramps. One of the largest pyramid structures is 600 feet wide and 90 feet high with five separate levels of stone blocks with what appears to be road surrounding the structure. Tool marks and carvings have been discovered upon the stones (and documented) which indicate that they have were constructed rather than being natural stone structures. Masaaki Kimura, a marine geologist from Japans Ryukyus University, Japan has been studying and mapping the site for over 15 years and believes that the site is over five thousand years old but was sunk during an earthquake two thousand years ago. Others have estimated that the structure is far older including Teruaki Ishii, professor of geology at Tokyo University who determined that the submergence occurred at the end of the LAST ICE AGE which was around 14000 (12000 BC) years ago (allegedly over twice as old as the pyramids in Egypt by suggestion of the modern science) If this is the case, then our history books would have to be revised to take into account an advanced Eastern culture (LEMURIA, MU?) advanced than any early Western culture. It is interesting to note that a number of tools have been discovered both on land and in the sea around the structures. Close to the pyramid structure, what is thought to be the carving of a human head has been discovered (several feet tall), along with numerous unknown hieroglyphs (see hieroglyphs here www.pureinsight.org/node/1678).

NOTE 2: VEDIC TEXTS state that 4 types of people arrived on this planet UNCHANGED (were not created by Hebrew-Jewish, Christian & Muslim God) WHITES, called RASA all current white people of Europe, also all dispersed all over the planet from this race; BLACKS - all black people in Africa, also all dispersed all over the planet from this race; ORIENTALS - all oriental people including Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Mongolians, Evenki, Chukcha, etc, also all dispersed all over the planet from this race; REDS - all native American Indians - Inca, Maya, Aztec, etc, Australian Aborigines, also all dispersed all over the planet from this race. Taking in consideration Vedic knowledge - IT IS VERY OBVIOUS THAT UNDERWATER TEMPLE IN YONAGUNI BELONGS TO THE ORIENTAL RACE THAT EXISTED ON THIS PLANET IN PRE-DELUVIAN TIMES AND SUBMERGED UNDERWATER DURING THE END OF THE LAST ICE AGE.

NOTE 3: Studies show scientists now estimate that the earth was born 4.6 billion years ago. Pre-hominid primates did not appear until the Pleistocene time, the Quaternary of Cenozoic, namely the Ice Age, which was about 1.8 million years ago. Based on fossil studies, some scientists believe that social activities and culture did not emerge until Holocene, about 12,000 years ago, during the decline and ending of the last ice age. Therefore, during the next 7,000 years, these cultures didn't appear to advance much and remained in the Stone Age. Records of writings and symbols first appeared about 5,000 year ago. The era before that time was referred to as the prehistoric period. HOWEVER, to the scientists' bewilderment, more and more prehistoric relics discovered on the ocean floor are challenging this point of view. The architects of the undersea relics not only had ingenious building and artistic skills, but also showed signs of an advanced civilization. Moreover, they knew written language and were able to build the pyramids. Current technology indicates that the area was above sea level 12,000 or more years ago. It is thus apparent that advanced civilization existed during prehistoric times, long before the Neolithic Period. Due to unknown reasons, these civilizations disappeared and left only wreckage under the sea. Here is some evidence for their existence.


www.grahamhancock.com/gallery/underwater/yonaguni.htm
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Cave Complex Allegedly Found Under Giza Pyramids
Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News Print Email ShareThisYahoo! Buzz Facebook StumbleUpon Digg del.icio.us MySpace


Caves at Giza | Discovery News Video Aug. 13, 2009 -- An enormous system of caves, chambers and tunnels lies hidden beneath the Pyramids of Giza, according to a British explorer who claims to have found the lost underworld of the pharaohs.

Populated by bats and venomous spiders, the underground complex was found in the limestone bedrock beneath the pyramid field at Giza.

"There is untouched archaeology down there, as well as a delicate ecosystem that includes colonies of bats and a species of spider which we have tentatively identified as the white widow," British explorer Andrew Collins said.

Collins, who will detail his findings in the book "Beneath the Pyramids" to be published in September, tracked down the entrance to the mysterious underworld after reading the forgotten memoirs of a 19th century diplomat and explorer.

"In his memoirs, British consul general Henry Salt recounts how he investigated an underground system of 'catacombs' at Giza in 1817 in the company of Italian explorer Giovanni Caviglia," Collins said.

The document records that the two explored the caves for a distance of "several hundred yards," coming upon four large chambers from which stretched further cave passageways.

With the help of British Egyptologist Nigel Skinner-Simpson, Collins reconstructed Salt's exploration on the plateau, eventually locating the entrance to the lost catacombs in an apparently unrecorded tomb west of the Great Pyramid.

Indeed, the tomb featured a crack in the rock, which led into a massive natural cave.

"We explored the caves before the air became too thin to continue. They are highly dangerous, with unseen pits and hollows, colonies of bats and venomous spiders," said Collins.

According to Collins, the caves -- which are tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of years old -- may have both inspired the development of the pyramid field and the ancient Egyptian's belief in an underworld.

"Ancient funerary texts clearly allude to the existence of a subterranean world in the vicinity of the Giza pyramids," Collins told Discovery News.



http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/08/13/caves-giza.html
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Buzz Aldrin: monoliet op maan van Mars is niet natuurlijk!

De laatste weken worden we weer overspoeld door beelden en documentaires over de maanlanding. NASA viert niet alleen 40 jaar moonwalken (of wat daarvoor door moet gaan) maar probeert het publiek weer nat te krijgen voor een nieuwe maanmissie. In het onderstaande filmpje praat astronaut Buzz Aldrin over het belang van de maan en het verder ontdekken van ons zonnestelsel. Hij noemt met name de monoliet die op Phobos - de maan van Mars - gevonden is. Meestal zijn monolieten natuurlijk gevormde rotsformaties, maar Buzz hint duidelijk naar iets of iemand die deze monoliet hier heeft neergezet; hij noemt het een “structure”, een gebouw. Hij lijkt ook te zeggen dat er “andere volkeren” te bezoeken zijn vanaf de maan. Wat weet Buzz wat wij niet weten en is het de zoveelste cover-up van NASA? Of zit die oude man maar wat te zwetsen?



http://zapruder.nl/portal/artikel/buzz_aldrin_monoliet_op_maan_van_mars_is_niet_natuurlijk/
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http://zapruder.nl/portal/artikel/ooparts_goddelijke_kosmonauten_en_de_prime_directive/
 
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Grr ik kan iets niet vinden wat ik met jullie wil delen..

het gaat over vondsten in oude steenkoolmijnen..

Onder andere zijn daar puur zuivere koperen ketels/potten gevonden van 10 duizenden (?)
jaren oud. Hiervan heb ik fotos gezien op internet.

Wie o wie kan me hier meer over laten zien/ weten??
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Dorchester Pot misschien??

heb je niet meer info?
 
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Nee, was het maar waar.. Dit is het enigste wat ik er nog van weet..
 
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Site met ontzettend veel OOPARTS.. En andere vondsten op de wereld !!!!

http://s8int.com/
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OOPArts: The Pyramid Code (2009)


Over de piramides in Egypte zijn ontelbare documentaires gemaakt. De meesten borduren netjes voort op de geijkte egyptologische theorieën en letten op vooral niet buiten de gebaande paadjes te treden, bang als ze zijn de Egyptische opper-egyptoloog en overall antiquiteiten-Führer Zahi Hawass voor het hoofd te stoten. Wanneer een onderzoeker iets doet of roept dat niet in de genade valt van deze Napoleon, dan kan die verder onderzoek in Egypte wel vergeten. Hoewel Hawass Egypte zeker meer verbonden heeft met haar rijke historie en zelfs bezig is de belangrijke artefacten uit het buitenland terug te halen, is hij voornamelijk bezig met zichzelf en het tegen de klippen op bewijzen van zijn eigen theorieën. Hierbij worden feiten die niet handig uitkomen genegeerd of zelfs verborgen gehouden worden. Alternatieve theorieën over de piramides waarbij men stelt dat de Egyptenaren de piramides niet gebouwd hebben of dat ze veel ouder zijn dan tot nu toe wordt aangenomen, worden door Hawass verketterd. Dergelijk onderzoek kan dus ook amper plaatsvinden. Dit terwijl op de orthodoxe theorieën nog voldoende af te dingen valt. In een recente vijfdelige documentaire getiteld The Pyramid Code tracht de aan de Universiteit van Calgary verbonden Carmen Boulter PhD. een ruim beeld te schetsen van de piramides, waarbij de alternatieve theorieën wel een plaats krijgen.

Coulter laat de meest buitenissige theorieën à la Däniken en antieke astronauten buiten beschouwing. Dit doet ze slim, want hoewel deze theorie wetenschappelijk niet uit te sluiten valt is het natuurlijk wel de standaard Deus Ex Machina als het gaat om het opvullen van gaten in de historie. Wel geeft ze aan dat het ontwikkelings –en beschavingsniveau van de Egyptenaren veel hoger was dan men tot nu toe heeft aangenomen; misschien wel veel hoger dan waar we nu staan. Ze baseert dit op het ongekend hoge niveau van technologie dat nodig was om de piramides zo perfect te bouwen. Zoals we eerder konden lezen zijn de piramides zelfs naar huidige technologische maatstaven ongelooflijke staaltjes van bouwkunst en is het maar de vraag of we dergelijke prestaties vandaag de dag zouden kunnen halen. Dit duidt op een verloren technologie en kennis die weleens geavanceerd zou had kunnen zijn dan de onze nu is. Voor veel mensen is dit ondenkbaar, omdat de orthodoxe historici vast blijven houden aan de min of meer lineaire ontwikkeling van de mens, iets dat al door verschillende andere historische ontdekkingen gelogenstraft is.

Volgens Coulter zijn de piramides geen koningsgraven – aangezien ze geen versieringen of namen van de overleden koningen dragen – maar enorme machines. Waarvoor en hoe deze gebruikt werden is niet duidelijk, maar ze maakt het aannemelijk dat ze net zoals stuwdammen gebouwd waren om energie te ontwikkelen. Ook de astronomische functie wordt aangehaald, maar het technologische aspect zoals het gebruik van elektriciteit en het bestaan van afbeeldingen van vreemdsoortige machines, zoals die van de Tempel van Abydos. Hier is het de gidsen verboden de op helicopters en vliegtuigen lijkende afbeeldingen te laten zien aan toeristen.

Tevens stipt Coulter de Egyptische matriarchale maatschappij aan, die vreedzamer zou zijn en beter functioneren dan de patriarchale variant die we daarna bijna uitsluitend in de wereld tegenkwamen. Ze laat ook mensen als Bauval en Schoch aan het woord, die vertellen over precessie en het nabootsen van sterrenbeelden. Ook de lokale archeoloog en linguïstisch kenner Abdel Hakim Awyan geeft interessante inzichten. De documentaire brengt geen schokkend nieuwe alternatieve inzichten aan het licht, maar is als geheel een sterk tegenwicht tegen de orthodoxie die zich begraaft in haar eigen nauwe paradigma en waarbij andere theorieën worden afgeserveerd omdat ze anders teveel reuring veroorzaken. Coulter is erin geslaagd een verhaal te vertellen dat wel aanzet tot denken maar tegelijkertijd met de beide beentjes op de grond blijft.


http://zapruder.nl/portal/artikel/ooparts_the_pyramid_code_2009/

de docu:
http://podblanc.com/pyramid-code-1-band-peace
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De zon komt op. Staand op een heuvel, toezichthoudend op een team van 40 Koerdische gravers, wijst de Duitse archeoloog Klaus Schmidt naar zijn ontdekking, die een revolutie in het denken over de menselijke oorsprong betekent.

Schmidt heeft in het oosten van Turkije een groot en prachtig tempelcomplex blootgelegd, een structuur zo oud dat het misschien wel het oudste is wat mensen ooit gebouwd hebben. De plek is niet alleen oud, ze geeft een nieuwe definitie van oud: de tempel is 11.500 jaar geleden gebouwd - 7.000 jaar eerder dan de Grote Piramide, en meer dan 6.000 jaar voordat Stonehenge in de steigers stond.

http://zaplog.nl/zaplog/article/geschiedenis_herschreven
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History in the Remaking
A temple complex in Turkey that predates even the pyramids is rewriting the story of human evolution.

They call it potbelly hill, after the soft, round contour of this final lookout in southeastern Turkey. To the north are forested mountains. East of the hill lies the biblical plain of Harran, and to the south is the Syrian border, visible 20 miles away, pointing toward the ancient lands of Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent, the region that gave rise to human civilization. And under our feet, according to archeologist Klaus Schmidt, are the stones that mark the spot—the exact spot—where humans began that ascent.

Standing on the hill at dawn, overseeing a team of 40 Kurdish diggers, the German-born archeologist waves a hand over his discovery here, a revolution in the story of human origins. Schmidt has uncovered a vast and beautiful temple complex, a structure so ancient that it may be the very first thing human beings ever built. The site isn't just old, it redefines old: the temple was built 11,500 years ago—a staggering 7,000 years before the Great Pyramid, and more than 6,000 years before Stonehenge first took shape. The ruins are so early that they predate villages, pottery, domesticated animals, and even agriculture—the first embers of civilization. In fact, Schmidt thinks the temple itself, built after the end of the last Ice Age by hunter-gatherers, became that ember—the spark that launched mankind toward farming, urban life, and all that followed.

lees verder:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/233844

[img width=520 height=427 cacheid=00061165000ffc419ff51ce91b0054bdf6]http://media.smithsonianmag.com/images/gobeklitepe_nov08_2.jpg[/img]

[img width=420 height=668 cacheid=0006116f000ffc5e561cb8271b0054bdf6]http://mathildasanthropologyblog.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/gobekli-tepe-3.jpg[/img]
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The Pyramid Code


The Pyramid Code is a documentary series of 5 episodes that explores the pyramid fields and ancient temples in Egypt as well as ancient megalithic sites around the world looking for clues to matriarchal consciousness, ancient knowledge and sophisticated technology in a Golden Age. The series is based on the extensive research done in 23 trips to Egypt and 50 other countries around the world by Dr. Carmen Boulter in the Graduate Division of Educational Research at the University of Calgary.

The Pyramid Code features interviews with prominent scholars and authors in multidisciplinary fields: geology, physics, astrophysics, archaeology, bilogical engineering, magnetic field theory, hieroglyphics, and Egyptology. The series explores penetrating questions:

* Who were the ancients and what did they know?
* Could the pyramids be much older than traditional Egyptology would have us believe?
* Could it be that the ancients were more technologically advanced than we are today?
* Why do we have so little understanding of the ancient Egyptians?
* Are there still secrets hidden in plain sight?
* Do new discoveries force the issue of establishing a new chronology?
* Are there little known sites that provide clues to a new understanding of our distant past?
* Are we really the most advanced civilization to ever live on Earth?

Episode 1 - The Band of Peace

This episode raises questions about the purpose of the pyramids challenging the story traditional Egyptology tells. See rare footage of 6 distinct pyrmaid sites near the Great Pyramid with evidence of superior technology and sophisticated knowledge of science and the cosmos.

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Episode 2: High Level Technology

In this episode, evidence that the ancient Egptians used high level technology to construct pyramids and temples is shown. Scientists discuss the source of this power and its applications in the ancient world. Our science is just beginning to grasp what the ancients clearly understood long ago.

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Episode 3: Sacred Cosmology

Deciphering the meaning of strange symbols in Egyptian art gives insight into the ancient's knowledge of sacred cosmology. A new way of interpreting hieroglyphics is presented indication the ancients had sopisticated understanding of physics, biology, and celestial mechanics. A team goes on an expedition into the open desert in search of a remote site of extreme antiquity called Nabta Playa. Here, neolithic stone circles were found marking the motion of the same stars as were tracked in pharonic civilization. The possible connection is discussed.

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Episode 4: The Empowered Human

The Empowered Human proposes that the pyramid builders were living in a Golden Age, they had more refined senses, experienced higher levels of consciousness which gave them superior abilities than we have today. The sacred feminine was honored and existed in balance with the sacred masculine.

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More info:pyramidcode.com


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Egypt's Cave Underworld Under Investigation

[img width=700 height=400 cacheid=000611db000ffcfef96a34b91b0054c97e]http://www.viewzone2.com/pyramids3.jpg[/img]

Inside Giza's cave underworld

Today, Egypt's leading Egyptologist, Dr Zahi Hawass, has revealed that an excavation team under his charge is investigating an ancient tomb at the centre of claims regarding the alleged discovery of a cave underworld beneath the Pyramids of Giza.

This is a surprising announcement for several reasons, not the least being that the "alleged" cave system has already been explored and photographed by British writer and explorer Andrew Collins. In August 2008, Collins announced that he had rediscovered the entrance to a previously unexplored cave system, entered via a mysterious tomb several hundred meters west of the Great Pyramid. Perhaps it was how Collins discovered the cave entrance that has caused the controversy.

[img width=383 height=336 cacheid=000611d8000ffd0013207b171b0054c97e]http://www.viewzone2.com/pyramidcaves.orion.jpg[/img]
The alignment of the three pyramids with the stars of Orion's belt [above] is not perfect.

Much has been made observation that the three pyramids on the Giza plateau appear slightly mis-aligned. They are not on a straight line. Since we marvel at the mathematical perfection of the early Egyptians, this has bothered investigators. Thus when in 1993 Robert Bauval and Adrian Gilbert in their bestselling book The Orion Mystery saw the three 'belt' stars of Orion as defining the ground-plan of the Giza Pyramids the theory was met with cautious enthusiasm. However, not all were convinced by the "Orion Correlation Theory" (OCT), as it became known.

The alignment wasn't "perfect" but it was close enough for many Egyptologists. But not for Andrew Collins.

[img width=500 height=409 cacheid=000611e9000ffd9900564d671b0054c97e]http://www.viewzone2.com/pyramidcaves.cygnus.jpg[/img]
The alignment with the "wings" of Cygnus [above] is perfect.

Collins discovered another group of stars in the constellation Cygnus that matched with the same perfection that was the trademark of the Egyptians. By superimposing the stars of Cygnus over the three pyramids he could see that one star, Deneb, was not aligned. Looking where something should be -- a pyramid or temple -- there was nothing. Perhaps time had destroyed it? Perhaps it was buried? Or perhaps it was a sign that something else was under the plateau, waiting to be discovered.

Collins later found clues left in the 200-year-old memoirs of British diplomat and explorer Henry Salt. Salt wrote how, in 1817, he and Italian explorer Giovanni Caviglia had investigated cave "catacombs" at Giza for a distance of "several hundred yards" before coming across a "spacious" chamber. This chamber linked to three others of equal size, from which went various labyrinthine passages, one of which the Italian later explored for a distance of "300 feet further".

Collins decided to look for these caves in the area where the unmarked star of Cygnus would align in relation to the three pyramids. He discovered a series of catacombs, as Henry Salt had described, but no sign of any caves. Then, as he was about to leave the site he noticed a break in the catacomb wall which eventually revealed the entrance to this huge complex network of caves.

Excited by this monumental discovery, Collins immediately went to inform the Egyptian authorities and expected them to be as excited as he was. Wrong!

Why Cygnus x-1 is unusual

Several thousand light-years away, near the "heart" of Cygnus, the swan, two stars are locked in a gravitational embrace. One star is a blue supergiant, known as HDE 226868. It is about 30 times as massive as the Sun and 400,000 times brighter. The other star is 5 to 10 times the mass of the Sun, but it's extremely small. The object must be the collapsed core of a star. Its mass is too great to be a white dwarf or a neutron star, though, so it must be a black hole -- the corpse of a star that once resembled the supergiant.

The system is called Cygnus X-1, indicating it was the first source of X-rays discovered in the constellation Cygnus. Discovered by the Uhuru X-ray satellite in the early 1970s, it was also one of the first suspected black holes.
[img width=400 height=230 cacheid=000611e3000ffd9cb11035d61b0054c97e]http://www.viewzone2.com/pyramidcaves.cgx1.jpg[/img]
The X-rays come from a disk of gas that's spiraling into the black hole. As the two stars orbit each other once every 5.6 days, the black hole's gravitational pull causes the blue supergiant to "bulge" toward it. In profile, the supergiant would resemble an egg, with the small end aimed at the black hole. But this egg doesn't have a smooth edge. Instead, hot gas flows away from the star toward the black hole. The gas forms a wide, flat accretion disk that encircles the black hole. Friction heats the gas to a billion degrees or more, causing it to emit a torrent of X-rays -- enough to fry any living thing within millions of miles.

But the X-ray glow isn't steady. Instead, it flickers, which is one bit of evidence that identifies the dark member of the binary as a black hole. Gas enters the outer edge of the accretion disk then spirals closer to the star. If the center of the disk contained a normal star, or even a superdense neutron star, then the disk would get hotter and brighter all the way in to its center, with the brightest X-rays coming from the middle. Instead, the X-ray glow cuts off well outside the center of the disk. Observations with Hubble Space Telescope reveal that the central region occasionally flares up as blobs of gas break off the inner edge of the disk and spiral into the black hole.

These blobs are accelerated to a large fraction of the speed of light, so they circle the black hole hundreds of times per second. This causes the system's X-rays to "flicker." If the blobs of gas were orbiting a larger object, they would not move as fast, so their high-speed revolution is one bit of circumstantial evidence that identifies the dark companion as a black hole.

The black hole's strong gravitational field "redshifts" the energy emitted by this gas to longer and longer wavelengths. Eventually, as the gas approaches the event horizon, the redshift becomes so great that the material disappears from view -- just before it spirals into the black hole.

Egyptian authorities try to hide the cave discovery

According to Collins,

"Dr Hawass [Secretary General for Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities] actually denied the existence of the caves. He has done this publicly. Why he has done this is a matter of debate.

The most easiest explanation is that the preliminary investigations that he did following our visit to inform him of the discovery of this cave, in April 2008, meant that his people went in the tomb overlooked the entrance, as we did initially."

Fifteen months later, bowing to the inquiries made by the press and Egyptian scholars, Dr Hawass confirmed that he has ordered an all-Egyptian team to explore the tomb at the center of the "controversy". Controversy? How could a discovery on such a scale be controversial?

"We are clearing this system now, and it is a Late Period catacomb, like many others around Egypt," he stated this week. "There is no mystery about it, and there is no connection with esoteric topics. We will publish our results as part of our normal process."

While applauding Dr Hawass's new interest in the site, Collins remains sceptical of his motives. "We knew in August that he had started clearing the tomb," he said. "The excavations began almost immediately after knowledge of the cave discovery hit the internet."

Collins is also unconvinced by Hawass's explanation of what he calls the "catacomb". "Does his use of the term 'system' now suggest that he has found and entered the caves, which he previously denied even existed? he asks.

"My colleagues and I have examined photographic evidence of dynastic catacombs throughout Egypt, and these all appear to be carved by human hands." --Hawass

But photographs don't lie. Collins says, "Those at Giza are natural, and penetrate the bedrock for many hundreds of metres, perhaps following the course of local geological faulting."

Although Dr Hawass suggests there is no mystery surrounding the "catacomb", Collins suspects that the caves extend beneath the Second Pyramid, where ancient tradition puts the legendary Tomb of Hermes [right], Egypt's legendary founder. This is significant because Hermes is known as the Great Wisdom Bringer and Collins suspects that the chambers could possibly reveal something left behind by Hermes -- something like the legendary Hall of Records.

The Hall of Records -- as prophesied by Edgar Cayce?

According to the legendary psychic, Edgar Cayce, the pyramids were constructed by an ancient civilization that had its origins in Atlantis. This great civilization existed somewhere around 10,000 to 11,000 BC and was responsible for building the Great Pyramid, and for burying the lost history of mankind in a chamber called "The Hall of Records."

"The records are one... [They contain] "...a record of Atlantis from the beginnings of those periods when the spirit took form or began the encasements in that land." -- Cayce

The records extend through the first destructions of that ancient civilization, the exodus of Atlanteans to other lands, and the final destruction of Atlantis. They contain a description of the building of the Great Pyramid, as well as a prophecy of "who, what, where, would come [to make] the opening of the records."

Collins says,

"This has never been found. So perhaps it is still there, awaiting discovery, somewhere close to where Salt and Caviglia reached nearly 200 years ago.

"I do believe that the caves that we have entered are part of a much larger complex that stretches right beneath the entire Giza plateau."

Collins explains that the network of caves are natural and resemble Swiss Cheese. He believes they were formed long before the pyramids were built and suggests that they could be the reason the pyramids were built on this site. The early civilizations believed that part of the dying process involved traversing the so-called "underworld" and these caves might have been viewed as the entrance to this underworld. There is evidence of human activity in the deepest parts of the caves.

According to Collins, "Satellite images would tend to suggest that the caves... go all the way to the Second Pyramid." A little west of here archaeologists have found a collection of bird mummies. Since the constellation of Cygnus is historically depicted as a bird, specifically a swan, it is theorized that worshippers left mummified birds as an offering associated with this star configuration or perhaps to Socar, the bird-like figure that was the ruler of the underworld.
[img width=550 height=356 cacheid=000611ef000ffdaf7c49e0f41b0054c97e]http://www.viewzone2.com/pyramidcaves.bottom.jpg[/img]
From the entrance of the caves it appears that you can travel towards the Second Pyramid and directly under the spot where the Cygnus star, Deneb, would be aligned with the three pyramids and the wings of Cygnus. Is this where we will find the famed "Hall of Records"? Will the Egyptian government allow the world to know about what's really there? Why are they being so secretive?

Source:Viewzone.com


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After examining the evidence presented in the series, it seems clear that the dates given by traditional Egyptology do not fit. Carefully considering cycles of time through the Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Iron Ages of Plato's Great Year, a new chronology is emerging that illumines ancient Egypt.

Episode 5: The New Chronology

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Massive Maya City Revealed by Lasers

aya City in 3-D

Image courtesy University of Central Florida Caracol Archaeological Project

Airborne lasers have "stripped" away thick rain forests to reveal new images of an ancient Maya metropolis that's far bigger than anyone had thought.

An April 2009 flyover of the Maya city of Caracol used Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) equipment—which bounces laser beams off the ground—to help scientists construct a 3-D map of the settlement in western Belize. The survey revealed previously unknown buildings, roads, and other features in just four days, scientists announced earlier this month at the International Symposium on Archaeometry in Tampa, Florida. (Read about the rise and fall of the Maya in National Geographic magazine.)

University of Central Florida anthropologists Arlen and Diane Chase have spent decades hacking through the tangled undergrowth that has engulfed the powerful city—which thrived between A.D. 550 and 900. So far they've uncovered only a tiny fraction of the ruins.

"It's like literally removing all of the plant growth, so that we can see down below," Arlen Chase said.

The Chases direct the University of Central Florida Caracol Archaeological Project, a collaborative effort with the Belize Institute of Archaeology. NASA funded the 2009 LiDAR survey, which was carried out by the National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping.

—Brian Handwerk

Published May 20, 2010

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/05/photogalleries/100520-ancient-maya-city-belize-science-pictures/#ancient-maya-city-belize-lidar-temple_20698_600x450.jpg

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