01.0 The Dawn of Civilisation 97-2003
-
Upload
andrew3822 -
Category
Documents
-
view
78 -
download
1
Transcript of 01.0 The Dawn of Civilisation 97-2003
The Beginnings of man
Evolution Of Man
persistence of gaps in the
fossil record
The inability to demonstrate
"life-or-death" determining
advantageous genetic
mutations
And the lack of experiments
or observations to truly
confirm the evidence for
speciation.
Overall, the evolution of man pervades as the accepted paradigm on the origin
of man within the scientific community.
This is not because it has been proven scientifically, but because alternative
viewpoints bring with them metaphysical implications which go against the
modern naturalistic paradigm.
Nevertheless, a closer examination of the evidence reveals evolution to be
increasingly less scientific and more reliant upon beliefs, not proof.Taken from AllAboutScience.org
• Up until about the turn of the 19th C it was generally agreed amongst the Scholars and teachers that the beginning of civilisation was traced back for a relatively short time of about 6-10 thousand years
• There were a few dissenters but they had no means of stating otherwise.
• The idea of a very old earth was not taken seriously until the middle of the 19th C, so in terms of a historical philosophical viewpoint it is about 150 years old.
• All the efforts of geologists and Paleontology and anthropology since 1850 has assumed a very old earth that has evolved in a uniformitarian environment
• The idea of a created earth by a omnipotent omniscient and omnipresent Deity was removed from any institution and replaced with a concept of chance
• Nobel Prize winner Jacques Monod calls it the
“central concept of modern biology” that “pure chance, absolutely free
but blind, (is) at the very root of the stupendous edifice of evolution.”
“The universe was not pregnant with life, nor the biosphere with man.
Our number came up in a Monte Carlo game.”
The concept of Blind Fate is not new
to the human psyche
• Fortuna (equivalent to the Greek
goddess Tyche) was the goddess
of fortune and personification of
luck in Roman religion.
• She might bring good luck or bad:
she could be represented as veiled
and blind, as in modern depictions
of Justice (justice is blind), and
came to represent life's
capriciousness.
• As Atrox Fortuna, She was also a
goddess of fate
• Her father was said to be Jupiter
and like him, she could also be
often depicted carrying a
cornucopia
• Popular gambling symbol
The Remains of Prehistoric Man• “Although the history of man probably covers a
period of more than one million years, the written evidence of his past goes back no more than five or six thousand years.
• For our knowledge and understanding of prehistory, that vast era preceding the invention of writing, we are dependent on the discovery and careful analysis of human and cultural remains.
• In spite of the great advances made in the
scientific study of man's distant past, there is still disagreement among experts on both the age and meaning of these remains.
• New discoveries are constantly broadening our
horizons and compelling us to revise our views.”
• .L. S. B. Leakey, British anthropologist who
has been conducting excavations in
Tanganyika in East Africa for many years in
his search of man's origins
A Brief Look at Archeology in History
What is Archeology? • The scientific study of past human culture and behavior, from the origins of humans to the
present.
• Archaeology studies past human behavior through the examination of material remains of previous human societies.
• These remains include the fossils (preserved bones) of humans, food remains, the ruins of buildings, and human artifacts—items such as tools, pottery, and jewelry.
• From their studies, archaeologists attempt to reconstruct past ways of life.
• Archaeology is an important field of anthropology, which is the broad study of human culture and biology.
• Archaeologists concentrate their studies on past societies and changes in those societies over extremely long periods of time.
First steps to archaeology
The development of scientific archaeology in 19th-century Europe from
the antiquarianism and treasure collecting of the previous three centuries was due to Three radical shifts in thinking.
uniformitarianism
assumes that the same natural laws and processes that operate in the universe now, have always operated in the universe in the past and apply everywhere in the universe. It is frequently summarized as "the present is the key to the past," because it holds that all things continue as they were from the beginning of the world.
Sir Charles Lyell, (14
November 1797 – 22
February 1875) was a
British lawyer and the
foremost geologist of
his day. He is best
known as the author of
Principles of Geology,
which popularised
James Hutton's
concepts of
uniformitarianism – the
idea that the earth was
shaped by slow-
moving forces still in
operation today.
Lyell was a close and
influential friend of
Charles Darwin.
1. A geological Shift – the earth is very old• The principles of uniformitarian stratigraphy (which
determines the age of fossil remains by the stratum they occupy below the earth)
• Lyell, in his Principles of Geology (1830-33), paved the way for the acceptance of the great antiquity of man.
• Up until this date it was universally accepted that the history of mankind was a few thousand years, in keeping with the Biblical record
Lyell's uniformitarianism
Is a family of four related propositions, not a single idea
1. Uniformity of law – the laws of nature are constant across time and space.
2. Uniformity of methodology – the appropriate hypotheses for explaining the geological past are those with analogy today.
3. Uniformity of kind – past and present causes are all of the same kind, have the same energy, and produce the same effects.
4. Uniformity of degree – geological circumstances have remained the same over time.
• For the theory of Evolution to have any chance of credibility, it is vital for the theory of uniformitarianism to be a fact.
• But how do you prove it ?
Methodological assumptions
1. The two methodological assumptions are universally acclaimed by scientists, and embraced by all geologists.
2. Gould further states that these philosophical propositions must be assumed before you can proceed as a
scientist doing science. 3. "You cannot go to a rocky outcrop and observe
either the constancy of nature's laws or the working of unknown processes. It works the other way around.
4. " You first assume these propositions and "then you go to the out crop of rock."
Gould, Stephen J (1987). Time’s Arrow, Time’s Cycle: Myth and Metaphor in the Discovery of Geological Time. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press. pp. 120.
2. An antiquarian Shift – progressive stages from simple to complex
1. . Half a century before this, Scandinavian archaeologist C.J. Thomsen postulated, on archaeological grounds, successive technological stages in man's past
2. The successive ages of Stone, Bronze, and Iron
3. In his Pre-historic Times, Lubbock expanded the three-age system of Thomsen and Worsaaeto a four-age system, dividing the Stone Age into Old and New periods (Paleolithic and Neolithic).
1. Neatly conforming to
the new paradigm . . .
2. From simple to complex
3. The Paleolithic naturally
is more simple, primitive
and a linear progression
is clearly evident as
primitive man
progresses from simple
to advanced
technologically
• Late 18th century, when John Frere suggested a great age for artifacts found in Suffolk, England, based on their location in certain strata.
• The discoveries of Jacques Boucher de Perthes in the Somme Valley in France, and of William Pengelly in the caves of South Devon in England, were used to demonstrate the antiquity of man in 1859, the same year that saw the publication of Darwin's revolutionary Origin of Species.
• Not a Coincidence
• Approximate dates for the Paleolithic Period (Old Stone Age) of the prehistoric past were thus established, although the expression "Palaeolithic" was not used until John Lubbock coined it in his book Pre-historic Times (1865).
3. The propagation of the doctrine of evolution.
1. Amongst the highest echelons of the learning establishment, the theory of evolution quickly became adopted as the paradigm of the day
2. It was confidently concluded that the evidence of archeology and the new science of Paleontology would in time reveal the truth of these confident assertions
3. Charles Darwin regarded Lyell's Principles as one of the two germinal works in the formation of his own ideas on evolution.
4. Darwin's Origin of Species implied a long past for man, and the acceptance of the idea of human evolution in the last four decades of the 19th century created the climate of thought in which archaeology flourished and any alternative view was simply ridiculed.
5. But there was as yet no concrete evidence for this theory but the need to believe was so overwhelmingly adopted by the education and scientific community it was simply assumed that it was only a matter of time before all the evidence would emerge.
• This was not exactly an objective viewpoint
much less a scientific one, sooner or later the
cracks would start appearing as indeed they
did . . .
• Lets examine a famous classic case of putting
the cart before the horse.
Marcellino de Sautuola and the Altamira debacle
• In the last quarter of the 19th century
remarkable Paleolithic discoveries were
made in France and Spain; these
included the discovery and
authentication of actual works of
sculpture and cave paintings from the
Upper (later) Paleolithic Period (c. 30,000-
c. 10,000 BC).
• When Marcellino de Sautuola discovered
the cave paintings at Altamira, Spain
(1875-80), most experts refused to
believe they were Paleolithic.
• but after similar discoveries at Les Eyzies
in France around 1900, they were
accepted as such and were recognized as
one of the most surprising and exciting
archaeological discoveries.
• A succession of similar finds has
continued in the 20th century. The most
famous of these was at Lascaux, France,
in 1940.• Why was the most famous cave paintings of all time rejected and even declared a hoax at the
time?
• Why was Sautuola denounced as liar and completely shunned by the entire scientific
community?
The story of Altamira • Sautuola lived on the land
where the caves were
situated and was an amateur
archeologist
• The caves were well known
but the paintings were not
noticed until
• his daughter Maria, twelve
years old at the time,
incidentally noticed that the
ceiling was covered by
images of bisons.
• Sautuola, having seen similar
images engraved on
Paleolithic objects displayed
at the World Exposition
in Paris the year before,
rightly assumed there was a
connection.
• He therefore engaged an archaeologist from the University of Madrid (Professor Juan Vilanova y Piera) to help him in his further work.
• He supported Sautuola's assumptions, and they published their results in 1880. To great public acclaim.
• But the scientific society was reluctant to accept the presumed antiquity of the paintings. The French specialists, led by their guru Gabriel de Mortillet, were particularly adamant in rejecting the hypothesis of Sautuola and Piera and their findings were loudly ridiculed at the 1880 Prehistorical Congress in Lisbon.
• Due to the supreme artistic quality, and the exceptional state of conservation of the paintings, Sautuola was even accused of forgery.
• A fellow countryman maintained that the paintings had been produced by a contemporary artist, on Sautuola's orders.
Gabriel de Mortillet and Emile Cartailhac
1. Surely such eminent Scientists could be
relied upon to be objective?
2. Surely they would examine the evidence
and draw their conclusions from the facts?
3. Numerous attempts have been made to
explain the bizarre and disgraceful behavior
of these men in their calculated (and
successful) attempt to discredit and silence
any claim made by Sautuola on the Cave of
Altamira
4. But the story reveals nothing more than a
sad side of human nature that does not like
to share glory
5. Is full of insecurity and jealousy
6. Pride and Prejudice
1883 – Gabriel de Mortillet published his grand survey of the pre historic world - Le Prehistorique. Since the paintings of Altamira were considered a hoax – a laughing stock, a joke, a disgrace, he naturally made no mention of them
1886 – Don Alberto Lemus y Olma head of Spain’s copper printing industry thoroughly convinced by the decries of the Scholars, scornfully
declared the paintings to be ‘Not in the least characteristic of the Stone Age ‘ More publications followed in which the paintings were completely ignored
1888 – Sanz de Sautuola died, his spirit and his heart broken. In his grandsons assessment written much later he observed that his grand father had tried to shrug of the insults but obviously took them to heart and this continuous hostility from the scientific establishment had much to do with his premature death
The power of preconceived ideas• Looking back it seems unbelievable that intelligent Scholars were unable to make a simple comparison
between the images seen on the pottery fragments of ice age animals they already knew.• From their own account it is easy to see they were deeply immersed in a world view derived from the
then recently adopted Darwinian theory of evolution.• This requires Stone Age people to be “primitive”, “savage”, “ignorant”, “barbaric”.• But the Altamira paintings were sophisticated and ‘modern’ (they were also in Spain where up until
then, no prehistoric art had been found)• What is amazing is the refusal to even examine the site, and even those who went there were so full
of prejudice they had reached their conclusions long before even witnessing the paintings
• If the works they had discovered had been primitive and crudely executed, this would have been far more readily accepted
• Instead the art work is of a very high standard indeed, placing the artist on a par with just about any famous master who comes to mind.
• Professor Garcia Guinea*
• . . . “One might say that Sautuola’s mark on the scientific thought of the time was so trenchant that a produced at first a commotion of excitement and denial and then a rapid bound forward, a revolution. . .”
• García Guinea, M.A. 1979. Altamira y otros cuevas de Cantabria[Altamira and other caves of Cantabria], Madrid: Silex
• What Revolution?
Facsimile of a Paleolithic painting of a bison in Spain's Altamira Cave
Just too sophisticated and brilliant for a knuckle dragging ape man, a forgery
would have been deliberately crude in order to fool the scientific community
• Perhaps the Scientific fraternity, after careful examination were able to come to a different conclusion and had the courage to admit it?
• No such change of heart or willingness to restore the reputation of Sautuola, is evident.
• BUT eventually it was the Evidence itself that could not be ignored
• New caves were discovered with similar artworks on their ceilings, which confirmed the authenticity beyond any doubt of the claims made on the Altamira caves
• Figuier 1890, La Mouthe 1895, Marsoules 1897, and Les Combarelles and Font de Gaume in 1901.
• Apparently Cartailhac had his work cut out for him as he doggedly tried to discredit the growing number of claims
• Finally after denial after denial he capitulated after a barrage of new finds at Les Combarelles and Font de Gaume in 1901
CAVE PAINTINGS FROM LASCAUX
• 1902 – Finally a Historic visit to Altamira with Abbe Henri Breuil*
• and at the end of a month study finally emerged declaring the paintings to be authentic
• What a turn around for poor Sautuola who could not be there to witness it!
• The question remains, what if this was the only remaining cave from this time?
• And how is it that only in when they were about to be exposed and discredited, did the scientists actually make an effort to examine the evidence
*(who took the mantle of leadership over from Cartailhac after he faded from prominence and died in 1921, and was later to prove even more rigid and authoritarian and even more arrogant and self confident.)
• Replica of the cave at the National Museum and Research Center of Altamira, near the original cave,
Cantabria, Spain.
• The artists used charcoal and ochre or haematite to create the images, often scratching or diluting
these dyes to produce variances in intensity and creating an impression of chiaroscuro.
• They also exploited the natural contours in the cave walls to give a three-dimensional effect to their
subjects.
• The Polychrome Ceiling is the most impressive feature showing a herd of bison in different poses, two
horses, a large doe and a possible wild boar.
What has to be mentioned is the next development after Cartailhac issued his famed Mea Culpa
• Today, opinions about this article vary. Some sing its praises as if his dedication to Science and basic integrity shone through as he ‘bravely’ admitted his mistake.
• Closer to the truth, according to some modern Scholars such as Lewis-Williams*, is a calculated attempt to regain credibility after being caught out and one’s career and reputation is on the line.
* James David Lewis-Williams (born 1934, Cape Town) is a South African scholar. He is professor emeritus of cognitive archaeology at the
University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.
Outline of the wall paintings
• BUT the problem did not end here. . .
• The basic world view of simple crude unintelligent moving over time towards a more intelligent cave man replaced the original expectation of crude markings by simpletons
• This produced endless problems as the chronology and purpose of the artwork simply defied any kind of evolutionary explanation.
• At this present time there are still no clear answers as to why the paintings were created in the first place, theory’s abound
• A modern interpretation of a bison from the Altamira cave ceiling, one of the most famous paintings from there.
• We can safely conclude. . .
• There is simply no evidence that can be taken from cave painting, that a primitive human being of a substandard intelligence ever existed.
• To the contrary the paintings show the activity of human beings every bit as intelligent and capable as those who live today.
• When it comes to the Archeological study of ancient buildings and cities we find the same disturbing results.
• Instead of primitive dwellings slowly developing into more sophisticated structures, we find highly developed cities with technology and abilities that very often are completely beyond our own capabilities today
A. H. Sayce* observed• Neither in Egypt or in Babylonia has any beginning of civilization
been found. As far back as archaeology can carry us, man is already civilized, building cities and temples, carving hard stone into artistic form, and even employing a system of pictorial record...The fact is very remarkable in view of modern theories of development and of the evolution of civilization out of barbarism...In any case, the culture and civilization of Egypt and Babylonia appear to spring into existence already fully developed. Archaeology at all events has failed to discover the elements out of which they ought to have grown.
• Archaeologists have since found some of these missing elements, yet the fact remains, none of them go back beyond a few thousand years. The period of development must still be reckoned in centuries rather than in millennia. How are we to account for this rapid development in the initial stages? When archaeologists first began to bring such facts to light, even the excavators themselves expressed their surprise.
*The Rev. Archibald Henry Sayce (25 September 1846 - 4 February 1933), was a pioneer British Assyriologist and linguist, who held a chair as Professor of Assyriology at the University of Oxford from 1891 to 1919.
Larson takes the micky out of
anthropology
The ‗primitive Tribe‘ have to hide
all their mod cons in order to keep
the benefits of being ‗studied‘
• Orthodox Teaching • Slow build up from primitive cave dwellers to simple farming communities and then . . • A sudden burst of activity lasting possibly a 1000 years, which witnessed some of the greatest cultural
achievements in Babylonia, Egypt, and the Indus Valley which the world has known, the process once more slowed up until many prosperous centers decayed and disappeared, and much of India, Africa, and Europe remained in a state of semi-barbarism till well on towards Roman times, and in some instances much later.
• The sequence is, then. . . a period of time which is explained in History text books as a time of evolving and primitivism. . . followed by a sudden spurt leading within a very few centuries to remarkably high culture; a gradual slowing up, and decay; followed only much later by recovery of lost arts and by development of new ones, finally creating our modern world.
• Much of our modern civilisation is occupied with the process of trying to uncover or rediscover a time when great learning and technological ability existed and seems to have been forgotten
SUDDEN APPEARANCE:
• A long preliminary period is not supported by archaeology.
• Before cities on earth, there was nothing. There was no transition whatsoever between the ancient
civilizations and any primitive forbearers. They were at their peak from the beginning. . .
• Great cities, enormous temples, pyramids of overwhelming size. Colossal statues with tremendous
expressive power. Luxurious tunnels and tombs. Splendid streets flanked by magnificent sculpture,
perfect drainage systems. A decimal system at the very start
First Stop – Lebanon
• Baalbek is the name of an archeological site in Lebanon.
In Roman times it was known as Heliopolis or City of the Sun.
• An example of how ancient is the site can be found in that its
holiest area (in pagan times) was the Temple of Baal-Jupiter —
a hybrid between the ancient Canaanite god Baal (lord) and the
Roman Jupiter.
• Moreover, this temple was built on a ―tel‖ or ruin mound,
indicating a place that had long been held sacred, though what
had caused this area to be significant or ―sacred‖ is unknown.
• Long before the Romans conquered the site and built their
enormous temple of Jupiter, long even before the Phoenicians
constructed a temple to the god Baal, there stood at Baalbek
the largest stone block construction found in the entire world.
• In the Seleucid (323-64 BC) and Roman (64 BC-312 AD) periods, the town became known as Heliopolis, the ‘City of the Sun.'
• The sky/sun god Jupiter became the central deity of the shrine during this time.
• Arguably the most important deity of the Romans and taking over the role of Zeus in the Greek pantheon, Jupiter was probably chosen to replace the much earlier worship of the Phoenician god Baal who had many characteristics in common with the Greek Zeus.
• Many Roman emperors were of Syrian birth, so it would not have been unusual for them to have promoted the worship of the country's indigenous deities under their adopted Roman names. Whatever the nature of the pre-Roman worship at Baalbek, its veneration of Baal created a hybrid form of the god Jupiter, generally referred to as Jupiter Heliopolitan.
Roman structures atop massive pre-Roman stones, At the base of the far wall, the great stones of Baalbek,
Next Stop – South America
The reconstruction of the ancient History of South America
When did sophisticated cultures first appear in South America?
• What mean the myths of great cataclysms of ages past?
• Who was the enigmatic figure Viracocha?
• There are no certain answers. . . A legion of colonial-era Spanish chroniclers, 18th century antiquarians, 20th century archaeologists, and a mixed assortment of mystics, charlatans, and grave robbers have excavated and speculated for four hundred years.
• They have posed far more questions than they have answered.
• There is the usual talk of Paleo Indian cultures who wore animal skin and hunted and fished, this then developed (according to the evolutionary model) into a more settled community called the Archaic Transition or the Preceramic.
• It was characterized by seasonal nomadism and subsistence food gathering giving way to sedentary life (both coastal and montane locations), technological proliferation, and the first experiments with plant and animal domestication.
• By 5000 BC we find evidence of cultivated beans, tubers, peppers, and corn, and by 2500 BC the first clear signs of domestication of llamas and alpacas, the camelids of the Andes.
• The problem for Archeology is that the proliferation of ruins particularly in South America would appear to have
already been there
• AS in other sites in Europe etc. the Incas and other tribes simply copied and/or built on top of existing sites.
• The Bering land bridge was a land bridge
roughly 1,000 miles (1,600 km) north to
south at its greatest extent, which joined
present-day Alaska and eastern Siberia
• The bridge has since disappeared with
the rising of oceanic levels
• It could have been the route by which the
American Indians North and South could
have populated the land after spreading
out from the fertile Crescent
• Following the Archaic Transition, from roughly 2000 BC to around 1400 AD and the rise of the Inca, archaeologists have delineated seven major periods. Each of these periods is represented by prominent cultures and their definitive styles of architecture, ceramics, and textiles. These periods and cultures are:
– Lower Formative or Initial (2000-1000 BC)
– Early Horizon (1000-300 BC); Chavin and Pukara cultures; Primary sites: Chavin de
– Huantar and Sechin Alto.
– Early Intermediate or Upper Formative (300 BC-100AD); Paracas and early
– Tiahuanaco cultures; Primary site: Paracas Necropolis.
– Florescent or Classic (100-700 AD); Nazca, Moche, and middle Tiahuanaco cultures;
– Primary sites: Huacas del Sol and de la Luna, Sipan, and Tiahuanaco.
– Middle Horizon (600-1000 AD); Huari and Final Tiahuanaco cultures; Primary sites:
– Huari and Tiahuanaco.
– Late Intermediate (1000-1400 AD); Chimu, Chachapoyas, and Chancay cultures;
– Primary sites: Chan-Chan, Kuelap, and others.
– Late Horizon (1400-1538); Inca; Numerous Inca sites from modern day Ecuador to Bolivia.
When the Spaniards came to Peru, the Incas told them that the colossal
monuments that stood deserted about the landscape were erected by a race of
white gods who had lived there before the Incas themselves became rulers.
1. Mysterious Lake Titicaca on the Borders of Bolivia and Peru
2. The famous Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun)
• The chronicler Bernabé Cobo documented two versions of an Inca origin myth that took place on the northern part of Isla del Sol.
• The first Inca Manco Capac is said to have emerged from a prominent crag in a large sandstone outcrop known as Titikala (the Sacred Rock).
• Manco Capac is the son of Inti the Andean deity identified as the sun. In one version of the myth, the ancient people of the province were without light in the sky for many days and grew frightened of the darkness. Finally, the people saw the Sun emerge from the crag and believed it was the Sun's dwelling place.
• In another version related by Cobo, others believed the crag was dedicated to the Sun because it hid under the crag during a great Flood. Isla del Sol was the first land that appeared after the flood waters began to recede and the Sun emerged from Titikala to illuminate the sky once again.
• A temple was built at this rock and later expanded by the 10th Inca Tupac Inca Yupanqui. He built a convent for mamaconas (chosen women) and a tambo (inn) for visiting pilgrims.
Copacabana • Before 1534 Copacabana was an outpost of Inca
occupation.
• The Incas held it as the key to the very ancient shrine and oracle on the Island of Titicaca.
• When the Spaniards first visited the Islands of Titicaca and Loati, in 1534 and 1538, the Dominicans made Copacabana the centre of their missions replaced later by the Augustinians
• In 1582 the grandson of Inca ruler Manco Kapac, struck by the sight of the statues of the Blessed Virgin which he saw in some of the churches at La Paz, tried to make one himself, and after many failures, succeeded in producing one of excellent quality, and it was placed at Copacabana as the statue of the tutelar protectress of the community.
• On 2 February and 6 August, Church festivals are celebrated with indigenous dances that the clergy have not been able entirely to reform.
• Copacabana is surrounded by pre-Columbian ruins of considerable interest.
• Copacabana usually associated with an exotic beach front Holiday destination in Rio has a fascinating History
• The district was originally called Sacopenapã until the mid-18th century.
• It was renamed after the construction of a chapel holding a replica of the Virgen de Copacabana, the patron saint of Bolivia. It was incorporated into the city on July 6, 1892.
La Companía Church near the Plaza de Armas in Cuzco
The Plaza de Armas, the Main Square of Cuzco
A combination of Inca and Spanish architecture at the Coricancha (Qorikancha)
Cusco is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range
Cusco - Sacsayhuaman Inca Fortress
Cuzco
• Following the siege of Cuzco, the Spaniards began to use Sacsayhuaman as a source of stones for building Spanish Cuzco and within a few years much of the complex was demolished.
• The site was destroyed block-by-block to build the new governmental and religious buildings of the city, as well as the houses of the wealthiest Spaniards. In the words of Garcilaso de la Vega “to save themselves the expense, effort and delay with which the Indians worked the stone, they pulled down all the smooth masonry in the walls.
• There is indeed not a house in the city that has not been made of this stone, or at least the houses built by the Spaniards.”
• Today, tragically, only the stones that were too large to be easily moved remain at the site
Tambo Machay – Inca water shrine, near Cusco, Peru
There is no knowledge of how these enormous stones were built so intricately into each other.
There is no technology existing today that could do this on such an enormous scale
These huge monolithic stones were in place long before the Inca arrived
The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu
• The ruins of Machu Picchu, rediscovered in 1911 by Yale archaeologist Hiram Bingham.
• The Inca people used the Andean mountain top (9060 feet elevation), erecting many
hundreds of stone structures from the early 1400's, legends and myths indicate that
Machu Picchu (meaning 'Old Peak' in the Quechua language) was revered as a sacred
place from a far earlier time.
• Two thousand feet above the rumbling Urubamba river, the cloud shrouded ruins have
palaces, baths, temples, storage rooms and some 150 houses.
• These structures, carved from the gray granite of the mountain top are wonders of both
architectural and aesthetic genius.
• Many of the building blocks weigh 50 tons or more yet are so precisely sculpted and
fitted together with such exactitude that the mortarless joints will not permit the
insertion of even a thin knife blade.
Machu Picchu
1. The official story is the Incas started building the estate around AD 1400
2. It was abandoned as an official site for the Inca rulers a century later at the time of the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire.
3. There are many unanswered questions about this site
4. For example
5. Why would these ancient people build a city at such a high and treacherous altitude, where the valleys below would provide all their needs.
How Old is Machu Picchu?1. In the 1930’s, Prof Rolf Muller, controversially concluded from the alignments of the
buildings, and using the procession of the equinox as a slide-rule, that the site could have only been built during ‘the era of 4,000 BC to 2,000 BC.
2. Today it is considered to have been built around the year 1,460, but was abandoned as an official site for the Inca rulers a hundred years later, at the time of the Spanish conquest around 1530 AD.
3. The site appears to demonstrate several astronomical orientations in the structures, including solstice, equinoxes and lunar movements.
• Intithuatana ‘hitching post
of the sun’ carved into a complex geometrical form of curves and angles.
• Surmounted at the centre by a stubby vertical prong
• What was it made for? And how?
• No answers yet
• The stonework on the architecture shows great skill and indeed the Inca’s were masterful stone masons
• But there is good cause to believe their use of stone was limited and there is stone work In Machu Pichu that is far in advance of the abilities of the Inca
• For example there are several areas which appear to be for ceremonial purposes that are engineered to an infinitely higher standard and incorporated Giant blocks similar to sites such as Sacsayhuaman, blocks as large as several meters long by a meter and a half thick and as wide. Many others demonstrate the habit of building ‘jigsaw’ shape walls; on one block for example there were a total of 33 angles
Using a technique called ashlar, in
which blocks of stone were cut to fit
together tightly without mortar.
Although they were able to create
whole citadels such as Machu
Picchu with its intricate block-work,
no tools have been found that
explain how. It is rumored the Inca
had knowledge of a plant that could 'dissolve' stone.
Inca terraces and ruins overlooking the town of Ollantaytambo.
Ollantaytambo is a town and
an Inca archaeological site in
southern Peru some 60 kilometers
northwest of the city of Cusco.
Inca terraces at pre-Inca site of OllantaytamboMysterious Pre-Inca megalithic stonework at
Ollantaytambo
At the northern end of the Sacred Valley, Ollantaytambo is rare if not unique in Peru.
Ollantaytambo is a massive citadel located 50 kilometers from Machu Picchu. The citadel served as both a
temple and a fortress. At some time unknown, and for reasons unknown, work mysteriously stopped on
this huge project.
Megalithic stones, Inca ruins of Ollantaytambo, Andes Mts, Peru
1. "How were such titanic blocks of stone brought to the top of the mountain from the quarries many miles away?
2. How were they cut and fitted? 3. How were they raised and put in place? 4. No one knows, no one can even guess. There are
archaeologists, scientists, who would have us believe that the dense, hard andesite rock was cut, surfaced and faced by means of stone or bronze tools.
5. Such an explanation is so utterly preposterous that it is not even worthy of serious consideration. No one ever has found anywhere any stone tool or implement that would cut or chip the andesite, and no bronze ever made will make any impression upon it."
A. Hyatt & Ruth Verrill ----America's Ancient Civilizations
Aramu Muru‘s PortalAnother similar in nature megalithic structure is
Aramu Muru near the Lake Titicaca.
Lake Titicaca, on the borders of Peru and Bolivia, is
where Inca legends say life on Earth was first
created by Viracocha.
Aramu Muru’s PortalIn the center of the lake is the Island of the Sun, with an ancient, sacred temple. Nearby is Sillustani, where mysterious burial towers called chulpas were once plated with gold and held the remains of Inca royalty.A few miles away is Aramu Muru’s Portal, a doorway-shaped niche in a stone outcropping, located in a region known as the Valley of the Spirits. The local villagers who walked with us refused to come close to the portal. They tell stories about people disappearing through the solid rock.
Next Stop – Bolivia
Tiahuanaco
Although some misguided scholars have attributed the buildings of Tiahuanaco to the Incas, it has now been established that the city was already in ruins when the first Incas came upon the scene.
The stone steps of the Kalasasaya, each of which is a rectangular block of
stone about 30 feet wide.
• If, over the past 3 or 4000 years Lake Titicaca has slowly receded, as appears to be the case-as all scientists agree, then how can we explain the existence of stone temples, stairways, and roads still under water'?
• The only answer is that they were built before the lake materialized.
• We must go back, then, to the remnants of Tiahuanaco and re-examine the more than 400 acres of
ruins, only 10 percent of which have been excavated. We have pointed out that dirt covers the ancient civilization to a depth of at least 6 feet. The only explanation for this accumulation is water.
• A large amount of water had to have inundated the city. When it receded it left the silt covering all evidence of an advanced civilization, leaving only the largest statues and monoliths still exposed.
• It is logical to conclude, therefore, that Tiahuanaco was built before the lake was created, and not as a port on its shore.
• As the waters today continue to recede, we should be able to find more evidence of the city's remote peoples.
The so-called idols, which are giant about 23 feet tall representatives of unusual looking
beings with typical Tiahuanaco head and trace, and the enormous monolithic stone blocks,
many of which appear to have been cast rather than carved, are some of these unusual
features.
At the area called Puma Punku, which is about 1 mile distant from the principal part of the ruins, the gigantic stones are bluish-gray in color and appear to have been machined, and they have a metallic ring when tapped by a rock.
The quarry for these giant blocks was on the western shore of Titicaca, some ten miles away. There is no known technology in all the ancient world that could have transported stones of such massive weight and size.
Even today, with all the modern advances in engineering and mathematics, we could not fashion such a structure.
• There is also a reddish rust or oxidation covering many of the stones. • Many of these enormous stone blocks probably have not been moved since they fell thousands of
years ago. • Archaeologists however speculate that the stones were dressed, but never erected that the
construction for which they were intended was interrupted. • It is equally valid, however, to assume that the buildings were completed and then toppled by some
natural catastrophe, such as the eruption of the Andes mountain chain or a world-wide deluge.
Carved stone block at
Puma Punku. This
precision-made 6 mm
wide
groove contains
equidistant, drilled holes. It
seems impossible that this
cuts were made with use
of stone or copper tools as
is supposed for the
estimated time of
construction. .
The architectural achievements seen at Pumapunku are striking in light of the presumed level of technological capability available during its construction. Due to the monumental proportions of the stones, the method by which they were transported to Pumapunku has been a topic of interest since the temple's discovery. The largest of these stone blocks is 7.81 meters long, 5.17 meters wide, averages 1.07 meters thick, and is estimated to weigh about 131 metric tons. The second largest stone block found within the Pumapunka is 7.90 meters long, 2.50 meters wide, and averages 1.86 meters thick. Its weight has been estimated to be 85.21 metric tons
Taken from a 1892 book about Tiahanaco written by two German discoverers and engineers Alphons Stübel and Max Uhle
according to Popol Vuh, Quetzalcoatl had provided powerful and unknown tools to Tulas that started a massive work of mining in the Andes, extracting tons of gold and other metals. Supposedly these mighty tools were used to cut the monster cornerstones that used to build the stunning Aztec and Mayans urban centers
Age Site Description
The rock in
which they
where found
is
Precambrian
– and dated
to 2.8 billion
years old! ’
Ottosdalin,
South
Africa
Grooved Metal Spheres. These were found by South
African miners. They are housed in museum in
Klerksdorp.
Two types of spheres have been found: one is
composed of a solid bluish metal with flecks of white;
the other is hollowed out and filled with a spongy
white substance. Who made them and for what
purpose is unknown.
Peru An Aztec craftsman made these objects which appear to be earplugs. They are polished to a thickness of less then a millimeter and completely symmetrical. The perfect geometrical shape and the somewhat small difference between the tube's diameter and the diameter of the flanges make them rather unusual. Hard to believe that these earplugs, made from obsidian, a fragile glass, were made by hand with primitive tools and sand as an abrasive.
The Puzzle of the Ooparts (out of place artifacts)
12000
years old
The
mountains
that border
China and
Tibet.
The Dropa Stones were first discovered in 1938, when a archaeological expedition led by Chi Pu Tei, stumbled across a cave high in the mountains that border China and Tibet.half-buried beneath the floor of the cave was an odd stone disk, which was approximately nine inches in diameter and three quarters of an inch thick. In the center was a perfect 3/4″ hole, with a fine groove spiraling out from the center, resembling that of an old phonograph record.A total of, 716 plates were found, and each held a secret. The groove on further inspection was a continuous line of strange carved hieroglyphic writing.
500,000 years
old
California Found in California,. On the left is the frontal view of the object which became visible when the object was broken open On the right is a side view x-ray of the obviously artificial object. The x-ray showed what looked like a spring on the end of the object similar to the metal springs on modern spark plugs
Age Site Description
’250 million
years oldFrance How does science explain semi-ovoid metallic tubes
dug out of what is supposedly 65-million-year-old
Cretaceous chalk in France?
In 1885, a block of coal was broken open to find a
metal cube obviously worked by intelligent hands.
In 1912, employees at an electric plant broke apart a
large chunk of coal out of which fell an iron pot! A
nail was found embedded in a sandstone block from
the Mesozoic Era which is an interval of geological
time from about 250 million years ago to about 65
million years ago known to Science as the Age of
Dinosaurs where no people were supposed to exist
which is also a problem. . .
Age Site Description Discovery
Peru The Inca Stones:Some believe that the stones belong to the ancient Inca civilisation while others consider it a hoax. Most of the stones depict erotic pictures but some of them clearly show the images of dinosaurs.
The Ica stones were popularized by Javier Cabrera, a Peruvian doctor who received an engraved stone as a birthday gift in 1961They were reportedly discovered in a cave near Ica, Peru not far from the Nazca Lines.
Age Site Description Discovery
unknown Costa Rica They were mixed in dimensions from as tiny as a cricket ball to an astonishing 8 foot in width and weighing over sixteen tons. In spite of the fact that the great stone balls are potentially created by the human hand, it continues to be unknown who constructed them and for what intention plus, most difficult to understand, how they attained such spherical accuracy
1930’s Workers chopping and burning their way throughout the compact tropical forest of Costa Rica to empty an space for banana groves in the 1930s fell upon some unbelievable things, scores of stone balls, many of which were faultlessly round
Age Site Description Discovery
400 000
years ago
Hanover
Germany
The six and one-half foot spears, superbly made and weighted for precision throwing, are, according to archaeologist HartmutThieme, "the oldest and most complete hunting weapons ever found."The difficulty with this discovery is that orthodox and conventional scientists have previously argued that humans did not begin hunting until 40,000 years ago.
In April 1997, word was released of a discovery of four finely crafted hunting spears dated at 400,000 years ago that were found in a coal mine sixty miles from Hanover, Germany.
Age Site Description Discovery
Estimated
age -
100,000
years.
Meeting
House Hill,
Dorchester
,
Massachus
etts.
two parts of a metallic vase dynamited out of solid rock on Meeting House Hill, Dorchester, Massachusetts. When the two parts were put together, they formed a bell-shaped vase, 4 1/2 inches high, 6 1/2 inches at the base, 2 1/2 inches at the top and an eighth of an inch thick. The metal of the vase was composed of an alloy of zinc and a considerable portion of silver. On the sides were six figures of a flower in bouquet arrangements, inlaid with pure silver, and around the lower part a vine, or wreath, also inlaid with silver. The chasing, carving, and inlaying are exquisitely done by the art of some unknown craftsman - yet this curiosity was blown out of solid pudding stone from 15 feet below the surface.
June, 1851 issue of Scientific American (volume 7, pages 298-299), a report was reprinted from the Boston Transcript
Unfortunately, the vase was circulated from museum to museum, and then disappeared. It is probably gathering dust in some curator's basement, its identity or source long forgotten. Or stashed away in a private collection, never more to be seen...
Age Site Description – Crystal Skull
Some of
the skulls
are
believed
to be
between
5,000 and
36,000
years old.
Discovered in 1924 in the Mayan ruins called "Lubaantun", City of Fallen Stones, in British Honduras, Now called Belize.
Made of clear quartz crystal, and both cranium and mandible are believed to havecome from the same solid block. It weighs 11.7 pounds and is about five inches high, five inches wide, and seven incheslong. Except for slight anomalies in the temples and cheekbones, it is a virtually anatomically correct replica of a human skull.Because of its small size and other characteristics, it is thought more closely to resemble a female skull -- and this has ledsome to refer to the Mitchell-Hedges skull as a "she."
1. The Mitchell-Hedges family loaned the skull to Hewlett-Packard Laboratories for extensive study in 1970
Researchers found that the skull had been carved against the natural axis of the crystal. Modern crystal
sculptors always take into account the axis, or orientation of the crystal's molecular symmetry, because if
they carve "against the grain," the piece is bound to shatter -- even with the use of lasers and other high-
tech cutting methods.
2. To add to the enigma, HP could find no microscopic scratches on the crystal which would indicate it had
been carved with metal instruments. Dorland's best hypothesis for the skull's construction is that it was
roughly hewn out with diamonds, and then the detail work was meticulously done with a gentle solution
of silicon sand and water.
3. The exhausting job -- assuming it could possibly be done in this way -- would have required man-hours
adding up to 300 years to complete.
4. All this gives a clear indication that at a certain time technology existed that we have no longer have any
knowledge of today.
Age Site Description – Dinosaur / human footprints
On the banks of the Paluxy River, in Glen Rose TX, a flood exposed rock with thousands of footprints- both dinosaur and human together, aside, and overlapping.
"The Paluxy River runs through Glen Rose, Texas. At the bottom of this river, there are thousands of layers of limestone. There was a bad flood in 1908 that ripped off 2 feet of solid rock. This rock was carried 20 miles downstream. This exposed thousands of dinosaur footprints. There were so many footprints that they decided to make the area into a State Park (Dinosaur Valley State Park). Many of the footprints were put into museums in order to be preserved, but there are still many there today.Many human footprints were also found. Sometimes the human tracks were next to the dinosaur tracks. Several human footprints were found inside of the dinosaur footprints and some dinosaur footprints were found on top of the human footprints. The human strides were perfect.
Site Description –
In 1987, paleontologist
Jerry MacDonald
discovered a wide variety
of fossilized tracks from
several different species
of animals and birds,
located in a Permian
strata. Among the various
fossilized tracks were the
clear prints of a human
foot.
The Permian strata has been dated from 290 to 248 million years ago- millions of years before animals, birds, dinosaurs, and yes, man, was supposed to exist. How then can these prints be explained?
In July 1992, the Smithsonian Magazine had an article on these tracks called "Petrified Footprints: A Puzzling Parade of Permian Beasts". The magazine acknowledged the mystery, acknowledging "what paleontologists like to call, 'problematica.'" It described what appeared to be large mammal and bird tracks that, "evolved long after the Permian period, yet these tracks are clearly Permian."
MacDonald and the Smithsonian clearly acknowledge the existence of these tracks in a strata that contradicts the current evolutionary theory, it is noteworthy that they highlight only the mammal and bird prints, and don't mention the human footprint found with them.
Interestingly enough, since these tracks have been discovered, evolutionists have not tried to argue their authenticity or debunk them. Nor have they tried to argue that the footprint isn't human. (Often they claim that it's a print that just "looks like" a human footprint.) Their very silence is deafening.
See "Petrified Footprints: A Puzzling Parade of Permian Beasts" by Jerry MacDonald, Smithsonian, July 1992, Vol. 23, Issue 4, p. 70-79
Site Description
In Laetoli, (in the east African country of Tanzania), a team headed by Mary Leakey found a sequence of 70 humanlike footprints in 1976.
The official explanation is that these tracks were made by Australopithecus afarensis (a hominid). Yet there is nothing in the print that indicates it is other than a modern man- so how have scientists concluded that it is hominid?
Or, as R. H. Tuttle put it in his book- "If the prints were produced by a small species of Australopithecus (southern ape) then we must conclude that it had virtually human feet which were used in a manner indistinguishable from those of slowly walking humans. The feet that produced the G trails are in no discernible features transitional between the feet of apes and those of Homo sapiens. They are like small barefoot Homo sapiens
Site Description
In early July, 2000 AlvisDelk, assisted by James Bishop (both of Stephenville, Texas), was working in the Cretaceous limestone on the McFall property at the Paluxy River near Glen Rose, Texas and discovered a pristine human footprint intruded by a dinosaur footprint.
Scientific Verification of Footprint Authenticity:The fossil was transported to a professional laboratory where 800 X-rays were performed in a CT Scan procedure. Laboratory technicians verified compression and distribution features clearly seen in both prints, human and dinosaur. This removes any possibility that the prints were carved or altered.
http://ianjuby.org/delk/commentary.html
Professor Steven M. Stanley in The New Evolutionary
Timetable opined that “any topsy-turvy sequence of
fossils would force us to rethink our theory…As Darwin
recognized, a single geographic inconsistency would
have nearly the same power of destruction.”[
Age Site Description
"An amateur geologist
discovered a fossilized
imprint of a shoe
complete with thread
marks and broken heel in
Fisher Canyon, Pershing
County, Nevada. On
October 8, 1922, the
American Weekly section
of the New York Sunday
American ran a prominent
feature titled "Mystery of
the Petrified 'Shoe Sole,'
by Dr. W. H. Ballou.
The print was inspected by geologists and admitted that the print is authentic and the rock is from the Triassic Period (205 - 250 million years ago). The threads of the print have been examined under a microscope and the twisted threads are visible."While some try to debunk this footprint as a "natural formation" that just happens to "look" like a sandal, that is patently absurd given that the detailed stitching is clearly visible. Once again we have evidence that man existed more than 200 million years ago.
'Some time ago, while he was prospecting for fossils in Nevada, John T. Reid, a distinguished mining engineer and geologist, stopped suddenly and looked down in utter bewilderment and amazement at a rock near his feet. For there, a part of the rock itself, was what seemed to be a human footprint! Closer inspection showed that it was not a mark of a naked foot, but was, apparently, a shoe sole which had been turned into stone. The forepart was missing. But there was the outline of at least two-thirds of it, and around this outline ran a well-defined sewn thread which had, it appeared, attached the welt to the sole. Further on was another line of sewing, and in the center, where the foot would have rested had the object really been a shoe sole, there was an indentation, exactly such as would have been made by the bone of the heel rubbing upon and wearing down the material of which the sole had been made. Thus was found a fossil which is the foremost mystery of science today. For the rock in which it was found is at least 5 million years old.'
Lost Cities in the Ocean
Gulf of Cambay, India It was generally believed that well organized civilizations could not have existed prior to 5500
BP.
Many were reluctant to accept that the flood myths mentioned in many ancient religious
writings. The recent discovery made in the Gulf of Cambay, India, shocked many and made
some to sit up and watch with interest. I
t clearly established the existence of an ancient civilization that was submerged in the sea.
The traditional but conservative archaeologists found it hard to accept Initially when the
sidescan sonar images of underwater structures were shown, some called it a magic of
computer software.
When hundreds of artifacts were collected and shown, they opined that it could have been
transported by the ancient river!
Again detailed scientific studies were undertaken to prove that the artifacts are insitu.
The discovery of the city seems to have caused a certain
amount of disruption among Archaeological circles. This is
because archeologists hold a completely different view of
the ancient world regarding the fact that the origin of
mankind would have to be completely altered.
Besides, there were almost no signs of early civilizations in
this part of the world. However, since the civilization lies so
deep underwater, the task of finding out more about the
culture of the civilization seems to be a treacherous one.
The Yonaguni Monument.
• The fame of Yonaguni island began in
1995, when a Japanese marine
explorer, Kihachirou Aratake, by chance
discovered a set of very singular
architectonic structures allegedly
belonging to an ancient civilization and
previously unknown in archaeology and
history.
• Shortly thereafter, a group of scientists
directed by Misaki Kimura, of the
University of the Ryukyus, confirmed the
existence of the vestiges.
• They appear, at least superficially, to be
comparable to the pyramids of Egypt,
Mesopotamia, Mexico, and Peru
• This antiquity has created discord and
controversy among historians and
archaeologists since it goes against the
accepted chronological history of
humanity.
• Several noted archaeologists, argue that
under inspection, the "ruins" turn out to
be largely explicable by ocean erosion
and coral reef settlements
Conclusion
• Obviously, there is something wrong with the official theory of how civilizations evolve, since we have the first known civilization, as well as others, which appear suddenly and *very* advanced.
• Further, there is no explanation how several of these type of civilizations appear suddenly at the same time and around the world...
• Adding to the mystery, we have evidence that not only did these civilizations inexplicably appear at the same time worldwide, but that they have a common origin. This is also unexplainable by official archaeology. To accept this as a "coincidence" is beyond plausibility or rationality.
• What does all this mean? As mentioned, most cultures have a myth of an ancient golden age, followed by a global disaster.
• It would seem that these myths are indeed based upon actual events. If so, then we have an explanation (which archaeology doesn't) for not only the appearance of these full-blown civilizations, but also their simultaneous appearance worldwide- their common origin. Obviously, the only rational explanation is that there was an advanced culture which was devastated by a global catastrophe, and these global scattered cultures were the survivors.
• This is the only theory that explains all the evidence- unlike official archaeological explanations which ignores evidence that doesn't fit their theory.