The purpose of this blog is the creation of an open, international, independent and free forum, where every UFO-researcher can publish the results of his/her research. The languagues, used for this blog, are Dutch, English and French.You can find the articles of a collegue by selecting his category. Each author stays resposable for the continue of his articles. As blogmaster I have the right to refuse an addition or an article, when it attacks other collegues or UFO-groupes.
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Deze blog is opgedragen aan mijn overleden echtgenote Lucienne.
In 2012 verloor ze haar moedige strijd tegen kanker!
In 2011 startte ik deze blog, omdat ik niet mocht stoppen met mijn UFO-onderzoek.
BEDANKT!!!
Een interessant adres?
UFO'S of UAP'S, ASTRONOMIE, RUIMTEVAART, ARCHEOLOGIE, OUDHEIDKUNDE, SF-SNUFJES EN ANDERE ESOTERISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN - DE ALLERLAATSTE NIEUWTJES
UFO's of UAP'S in België en de rest van de wereld Ontdek de Fascinerende Wereld van UFO's en UAP's: Jouw Bron voor Onthullende Informatie!
Ben jij ook gefascineerd door het onbekende? Wil je meer weten over UFO's en UAP's, niet alleen in België, maar over de hele wereld? Dan ben je op de juiste plek!
België: Het Kloppend Hart van UFO-onderzoek
In België is BUFON (Belgisch UFO-Netwerk) dé autoriteit op het gebied van UFO-onderzoek. Voor betrouwbare en objectieve informatie over deze intrigerende fenomenen, bezoek je zeker onze Facebook-pagina en deze blog. Maar dat is nog niet alles! Ontdek ook het Belgisch UFO-meldpunt en Caelestia, twee organisaties die diepgaand onderzoek verrichten, al zijn ze soms kritisch of sceptisch.
Nederland: Een Schat aan Informatie
Voor onze Nederlandse buren is er de schitterende website www.ufowijzer.nl, beheerd door Paul Harmans. Deze site biedt een schat aan informatie en artikelen die je niet wilt missen!
Internationaal: MUFON - De Wereldwijde Autoriteit
Neem ook een kijkje bij MUFON (Mutual UFO Network Inc.), een gerenommeerde Amerikaanse UFO-vereniging met afdelingen in de VS en wereldwijd. MUFON is toegewijd aan de wetenschappelijke en analytische studie van het UFO-fenomeen, en hun maandelijkse tijdschrift, The MUFON UFO-Journal, is een must-read voor elke UFO-enthousiasteling. Bezoek hun website op www.mufon.com voor meer informatie.
Samenwerking en Toekomstvisie
Sinds 1 februari 2020 is Pieter niet alleen ex-president van BUFON, maar ook de voormalige nationale directeur van MUFON in Vlaanderen en Nederland. Dit creëert een sterke samenwerking met de Franse MUFON Reseau MUFON/EUROP, wat ons in staat stelt om nog meer waardevolle inzichten te delen.
Let op: Nepprofielen en Nieuwe Groeperingen
Pas op voor een nieuwe groepering die zich ook BUFON noemt, maar geen enkele connectie heeft met onze gevestigde organisatie. Hoewel zij de naam geregistreerd hebben, kunnen ze het rijke verleden en de expertise van onze groep niet evenaren. We wensen hen veel succes, maar we blijven de autoriteit in UFO-onderzoek!
Blijf Op De Hoogte!
Wil jij de laatste nieuwtjes over UFO's, ruimtevaart, archeologie, en meer? Volg ons dan en duik samen met ons in de fascinerende wereld van het onbekende! Sluit je aan bij de gemeenschap van nieuwsgierige geesten die net als jij verlangen naar antwoorden en avonturen in de sterren!
Heb je vragen of wil je meer weten? Aarzel dan niet om contact met ons op te nemen! Samen ontrafelen we het mysterie van de lucht en daarbuiten.
04-06-2019
Humans May Have Been Crafting Stone Tools for 2.6 Million Years
Humans May Have Been Crafting Stone Tools for 2.6 Million Years
A new study pushes the origins of early human tool-making back by some 10,000 years earlier than previously believed
The latest findings suggest that separate groups of early humans invented stone tools on multiple occasions (David R. Braun)
Members of the Homo genus have been making stone tools for at least 2.6 million years, a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests. The findings, based on the discovery of a collection of sharp-edged stone artifacts at the Bokol Dora 1 site in Ethiopia’s Afar Basin, push the origins of early human tool-making back by some 10,000 years earlier than previously believed. Additionally, the research suggests that multiple groups of prehistoric humans invented stone tools on separate occasions, adapting increasingly complex techniques in order to best extract resources from their environment.
Although 3.3 million-year-old stone instruments known as "Lomekwian" tools predate the newly described trove, these were likely made by members of early hominin groups such as Australopithecus afarensis rather than members of the Homo genus. Until now, the oldest known Homo tools—dubbed “Oldowan” in honor of the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania where the first examples of such artifacts were found—dated to between 2.55 and 2.58 million years ago. Excavated in Gona, Ethiopia, the sharpened stones are technologically distinct from the more rudimentary Lomekwian tools, which were first catalogued by researchers conducting fieldwork in West Turkana, Kenya, in 2015. Compared to the Oldowan tools found in Gona and now Bokol Dora, the earlier Lomekwian tools are decidedly less advanced.
The Bokol Dora trove, also known as the Ledi-Geraru collection, consists of 327 stone tools likely crafted by striking two rocks together to create sharp edges capable of carving up animals, as Phoebe Weston reports for the Independent. The ancient artifacts were found three miles away from the site where the oldest known Homo fossil, a 2.8 million-year-old jawbone, was unearthed in 2013, pointing toward the tools’ connection with early modern humans rather than ape-like hominins belonging to the Australopithecus genus.
“This is the first time we see people chipping off bits of stone to make tools with an end in mind,” study co-author Kaye Reed, an anthropologist at Arizona State University, tells Weston. “They only took two or three flakes off, and some you can tell weren’t taken off quite right. The latest tools seem slightly different in the way they’re made from other examples.”
Compared with the Gona tools and other Oldowan artifacts, the latest finds are actually rather crude. The instruments have “significantly lower numbers of actual pieces chipped off a cobble than we see in any other assemblage later on,” lead author David Braun of George Washington University explains to New Scientist’s Michael Marshall, adding that it’s possible the humans making them were less skilled than their later counterparts or simply didn’t have a need for extremely sharp tools. Still, the Ledi-Geraru artifacts are distinct enough from the older Lomekwian tools to warrant their classification as Oldowan.
The 2.6 million-year-old implements “have nothing to do whatsoever with what we see later on,” Braun tells Marshall. “It’s possible there are multiple independent inventions of stone as a tool.”
The 2.6 million-year-old stone tools are technologically distinct from more primitive 3.3 million-year-old tools likely used by members of the Australopithecus genus (David R. Braun)
According to Cosmos’ Dyani Lewis, Lomekwian tools are roughly on par with the primitive instruments fashioned by modern primates such as capuchin monkeys. Oldowan tools, on the other hand, reveal a basic understanding of what Braun calls the “physics of where to strike something, and how hard to hit it, and what angles to select.”
“Something changed by 2.6 million years ago, and our ancestors became more accurate and skilled at striking the edge of stones to make tools,” study co-author Will Archer of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and the University of Cape Town notes in a press release. “The artifacts at BD 1 capture this shift.”
Given the fact that the Ledi-Geraru tools were found alongside the bones of animals, including gazelles and giraffes, the team argues that early humans’ shift toward skilled stone tool-making coincided with a rise in scavenging opportunities. As Science News’ Bruce Bower points out, Homo individuals inhabited open grassland expanses, whereas their earlier Australopithecus ancestors had to contend with dense tree coverage that limited hunting prospects.
Interestingly, the Independent’s Weston writes, the shift from Lomekwian to Oldowan tools appears to be associated with a change in early humans’ teeth. In the statement, Archer explains that processing food with the help of stone tools led to a reduction in the size of our ancestors’ teeth, offering a striking example of how “our technology and biology were intimately intertwined even as early as 2.6 million years ago.”
To date the Ledi-Geraru trove—likely dropped by early humans at the edge of a body of water and subsequently buried for millions of years—researchers drew on volcanic ash found several feet below the excavation site, as well as the magnetic signature of various sediment samples.
But as Bower notes, some scientists have expressed skepticism regarding these dating methods. Paleontologist Manuel Domínguez-Rodrigo of Madrid’s Complutense University says a detailed analysis of sediment formation is needed to verify the artifacts’ age, and Yonatan Sahle, an archeologist at Germany’s University of Tübingen, calls it “simply unwarranted” to deem the tools the oldest known Oldowan specimens without conducting further testing.
For now, Braun says, the team must focus on finding additional evidence of stone tools made between 2.6 and 3.3 million years ago. He concludes, “If our hypothesis is correct then we would expect to find some type of continuity in artefact form after 2.6 million years ago, but not prior to this time period. We need to find more sites.”
A new archaeological site reveals that prehistoric stone tools were invented at least 2.58 million years ago, and were invented multiple times between 2.58 and 2.55 million years ago.
A large green artifact found in situ at the Bokol Dora site. Right: Image of the same artifact and a three dimensional model of the same artifact.
David R. Braun.
The site in Ethiopia is called Bokol Dora 1, and is very close to where the oldest fossil of our genus was found in 2013. The fossil, a jaw bone, is important to our understanding of human evolution. It’s also 200,000 years older than the first evidence of flaked stone tools. Researchers have been trying to find a connection between these two elements, and now they finally have it.
The breakthrough came when Arizona State University geologist Christopher Campisano noticed some sharp-edged stone tools sticking out of the sediments on a steep, eroded slope.
“At first we found several artifacts lying on the surface, but we didn’t know what sediments they were coming from,” says Campisano. “But when I peered over the edge of a small cliff, I saw rocks sticking out from the mudstone face. I scaled up from the bottom using my rock hammer and found two nice stone tools starting to weather out.”
It took a few years to delicately excavate the sediments, a dig that exposed hundreds of animal bones and small pieces of stone tools. The site turned out to offer a trove of valuable archaeological data about how and when humans developed and started using stone tools. Remarkably, everything was in excellent shape — the site is close to a water source which quickly buried the remains in sediment.
“Looking at the sediments under a microscope, we could see that the site was exposed only for a very short time. These tools were dropped by early humans at the edge of a water source and then quickly buried. The site then stayed that way for millions of years,” noted geoarchaeologist Vera Aldeias of the Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and Behavioral Evolution at the University of Algarve, Portugal.
Kaye Reed, who studies the site’s ecology, also noted something interesting about these tools: they are very similar to those found a few kilometers away, although the environment is very different. There doesn’t seem to be any connection between these tools either, indicating that the invention was made on separate occasions, multiple times.
The overall picture is extremely complex, but it does seem that at some point around 2.6 million years ago our ancestors became more accurate and skilled at producing these tools, which are very different from the ones made by chimps or other animals. It was a crucial and defining moment in human evolution, paving the way for mankind’s emergence as a dominant species.
The study “Earliest known Oldowan artifacts at >2.58 Ma from Ledi-Geraru, Ethiopia, highlight early technological diversity,” has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
900,000 Year Old Human Footprints Found in Layer of Rock via Coast To Coast AM
900,000 Year Old Human Footprints Found in Layer of Rock via Coast To Coast AM
COAST TO COAST AM. The standard idea is that the Neanderthals came into existence about 300,000 to 400,000 years ago, and humans like us came much later.
But Cremo believes there is plenty of evidence to show that anatomically modern humans were present in Europe at the same as the Neanderthals and even before.
For example, a couple years ago, archaeologists found footprints resembling modern humans in a layer of rock in Happisburgh, England dating back to around 900,000 years ago, he cited. News segment guests: Steve Kates
Experts have discovered a unique ancient tool that was used by Maya salt workers more than 1,000 years ago.
Fashioned from the mineral jadeite, the chisel-style implement was found at the site of Ek Way Nal, a Maya salt works in southern Belize that is now submerged in a saltwater lagoon. The tool’s Honduras rosewood handle was also discovered, offering a glimpse into the ancient Maya culture.
The jadeite tool McKillop is the first of its kind recovered with its wooden handle intact.
(Photo Credit: Heather McKillop, LSU.)
Surrounded by a forest, the lagoon’s soggy mangrove soil preserved the wooden handle. “This jadeite tool is the first of its kind that has been recovered with its wooden handle intact,” said anthropologist Heather McKillop of Louisiana State University, who led the research project, in a statement.
A paper on the research was published in the journal Antiquity.
The tool was analyzed at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. A paper on the discovery was recently published in the journal Antiquity.
Also in 2018, archaeologists harnessed sophisticated technology to reveal lost cities and thousands of ancient structures deep in the Guatemalan jungle, confirming that the Maya civilization was much larger than previously thought.
LiveScience reports that hundreds of Maya artifacts that may have been used in ritual animal sacrifices have also been discovered at the bottom of a Guatemalan lake.
From its heart in what is now Guatemala, the Maya empire reached the peak of its power in the sixth century A.D., according to History.com, although most of the civilization’s cities were abandoned around 900 A.D.
The Associated Press contributed to this article. Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers
Ancient Aliens – New Discovery In Mexico Changes Everything
Ancient Aliens – New Discovery In Mexico Changes Everything
A whole host of newly discovered extraterrestrial architecture has been released in Mexico. The finds could be exponential and prove once and for all ancient aliens visited our early ancestors’ thousands of years ago.
These new ancient sculptures depict UFO’s, extraterrestrial humanoid entities, and mysterious texts, and have been the topic of much alien news discussion.
This ancient art appears to depict what many believe to be a human laying on a table surrounded by bizarre creatures with UFO’s in the sky.
The aliens appear reptilian. This may indicate the theory that alien astronauts visited our planet thousands of years ago and interfered with our evolutionary process. This ancient art discovered in Mexico certainly displays numerous unanswered anomalies.
Could this piece of ancient art be proof of the ancient alien theory?
Is it just a coincidence that ancient cultures from around the world recorded similar activities? From UFO sightings to alien abductions, our ancient ancestors spoke of visitors from another world. They always mentioned another race of beings that inhabited our planet long before mankind arose. Could these pieces of ancient art confirm popular conspiracy theories about extraterrestrial beings?
A video uploaded to YouTube discusses questions about the incredible artifacts discovered in Mexico.
Alien Contact in Mexico
Many Ufologists believe this is evidence that the ancient Mexican civilization documented extraterrestrial contact. Alien beings visited the ancient man and an alien intervention was underway. This is essentially the concept of the ancient alien’s theory.
However, there are those who question its authenticity. Due to the artifacts being in almost perfect condition after being discovered, many skeptics say that they cannot date back thousands of years ago.
Take a look at a few other ancient artifacts found in Mexico to see if you believe they could be in reference to alien extraterrestrial visitors.
The ancient alien artifact may demonstrate extraterrestrial life.
So, could this ancient artifact show three aliens inside a UFO?
Alien figures displayed in ancient artifacts.
YouTube image.
The bizarre artifact could tell the story of an alien intervention.
YouTube imagery.
These artifacts are in the typical design style of ancient Mayan culture, which thrived in what is now called Mexico. They display strange figures that many have interpreted as evidence of aliens visiting our planet many thousands of years ago.
Furthermore, a number of other discoveries from Mexico show alien-like beings in astronaut suits and disc-shaped objects flying in the skies.
This ancient sculpture seems to depict a ritual happening. The beings in the art may be humanoid in structure, but certainly are not humans.
Many see these creatures as the typical “Grey aliens” and “Draconic aliens” from pop culture.
What exactly did our ancient ancestors see and hear? Has there been a cover-up about the truth of the history of mankind? Since we do not know the answer, we can only guess.
Michael Halsall, our own alien news writer, is currently asking the same questions. He is currently writing a book about the truth being a cover-up of extraterrestrial life called “You Can’t Spell ‘Alien’ Without ‘A Lie’“.
Not only is there clear evidence of the UFO phenomena, but there is an ever-growing amount of proof that aliens exist.
Just one of many ancient artifacts recently discovered in Mexico.
So, please feel free to leave your own thoughts and opinions in a comment.
What Archaeologist Discovered in a Peru Cave May be About To Change Everything
Genetics research has transformed our understanding of human history, particularly in the Americas. The focus of the majority of high profile ancient DNA papers in recent years has been on addressing early events in the initial peopling of the Americas. This research has provided details of this early history that we couldn’t access though the archeological record.
Collectively, genetics studies have shown us that the indigenous inhabitants of the Americas are descended from a group that diverged from its Siberian ancestors beginning sometime around 23,000 years before present and remained isolated in Beringia (the region of land that once connected Siberia and North America) for an extended period of time. When the glaciers covering North America melted enough to make the Pacific coast navigable, southward travel became possible, and patterned genetic diversity across North and South America reflects these early movements.
Recent ancient DNA studies indicate that approximately 13,000 years ago, two clades (genetic groups) of peoples emerged; one exclusively consisting of northern Native Americans, and one consisting of peoples from North, Central, and South America, including the 12,800 year old Anzick child from a Clovis burial site in Montana. All genetics research to date has affirmed the shared ancestry of all ancient and contemporary indigenous peoples of the Americas, and refuted stories about the presence of “lost tribes”, ancient Europeans, and (I can’t believe that I actually have to say this) ancient aliens.
Events that occurred after people first entered the Americas – how they settled in different parts of the continents, adapted to local environments, interacted with each other, and were affected by European colonialism – have received somewhat less attention in the press, but as can be seen in the links above, there have been some very significant research papers published on these topics. One such paper that I’ve recently found very interesting (in fact, I wrote up a short article for Current Biology that discusses its significance), Genetic Discontinuity between the Maritime Archaic and Beothuk Populations in Newfoundland, Canada by Duggen et al. (2017), explores the genetic diversity within three different ancient groups who lived in Newfoundland and Labrador.
One reason this region is of particular interest is that it’s on the furthest northeastern margin of North America and so was one of the last areas in the Americas to be peopled. It appears to have been occupied successively by three culturally distinct groups beginning about 10,000 years before present (YBP) in Labrador and 6,000 YBP in Newfoundland: the Maritime Archaic, the Paleo-Inuit (also referred to as the Paleo-Eskimo), and the indigenous peoples that Europeans called the Beothuk. Today the region is home to several indigenous groups, including the Inuit, the Innu, the Mi’kmaq and the Southern Inuit of NunatuKavut.
Iceberg Alley, Newfoundland, Canada Photograph: Grant Faint/Getty Images
The members of the Maritime Archaic tradition created the oldest known burial mounds in North America (dating to 7,714 YBP) and subsisted upon coastal marine resources. Approximately 3,400 YBP they seem to have abandoned Newfoundland, either in response to the appearance of Paleo-Inuit in the region or because of climate changes. The Paleo-Inuit’s presence on the island overlapped with the peoples referred to as the Beothuk beginning around 2000 YBP. The Beothuk encountered European settlers in 1500 AD, and in response to their presence gradually moved to the interior of the island, where their populations declined.
According to Duggen et al:
The last known Beothuk, Shanawdithit, died of tuberculosis in captivity in 1829. Although it remains possible that Beothuk traces of ancestry persist in contemporary residents of NL, including members of the Innu, Mi’kmaq, and European communities, it is generally accepted that the Beothuk became culturally extinct with the death of Shanawdithit.
Portrait of Demasduit, the aunt of Shanawdithit, by Lady Henrietta Hamilton, 1819Illustration: Hamilton , Lady Henrietta Martha (ca. 1780 -1857 ) (Artist)/Library and Archives Canada
By analyzing mitochondrial haplogroups (groups of closely related maternal lineages) present within individuals from all three populations, Dugan et al. addressed the question of whether they were genetically similar or whether all three groups were biologically as well as culturally distinct from each other. This happens to be one of the most fundamental questions that arises when studying the past: do cultural changes in the archaeological record of a region represent the arrival of new groups, or did one group of people living in the same region over time adopt new cultural practices and technologies from others?
In the case of Newfoundland, the three groups were genetically distinct; they do not share any maternal haplogroups except for haplogroup X2a, lineages of which were found in both the Maritime Archaic and Beothuk. (The presence of haplogroup X2a in North American populations has sometimes been cited as evidence for European ancestry in ancient Americans. If you’re interested in why I and most other geneticists specializing in Native American populations disagree with that, you can read about it here).
Apart from that single exception, the Maritime Archaic, Paleo-Inuit, and Beothuk are clearly genetically distinctive from one another. However, it’s important to note that this study was done on mitochondrial DNA, which is exclusively matrilineally inherited, and so we can only say that the three groups were not maternally related. While they indicate that the groups are genetically different from each other, does that mean that there was no shared ancestry between them at all? It’s unclear without looking at the rest of the genome whether, for example, there might have been any paternal lineages shared between the populations. I hope that the authors of this study will follow up with analyses of complete genomes from these ancient individuals, as there is a great deal more to be learned by looking more deeply at their ancestry.
As this study shows, we can learn a lot about the past by characterizing the genomes of ancient and contemporary peoples. This paper by Duggen et al. adds to decades of study of the genomes from ancient and contemporary peoples of the Americas, which reveals a nuanced picture of their complex and remarkable history of evolution, interaction, and resilience in the face of unbelievable oppression.
But it’s also important to understand what genetics can’t tell us. While writing up this article, I was appalled (although not surprised) that there is at least one personal ancestry testing company that has made the claim that they can help you determine whether or not you are Beothuk based on your DNA.
Let’s be clear: all claims that a person’s tribe or indigenous nationality can be determined from their genomes are scientifically inaccurate. First, this is because there simply are no currently known genetic markers that allow us to identify individual tribes or nations; although we see geographically patterned genetic variation throughout the Americas in ancient and contemporary populations which allows us to differentiate them (as done in this study), genetic lineages are not tribal or nation-specific.
More importantly, who is or is not a member of a particular community is determined by indigenous groups’ own standards of belonging, which are often just as much about relations and community ties as they are about biological descent. Geneticists can’t determine who is or is not authentically Beothuk, Cherokee, or anything else based on the percentage of “Native American DNA” they might have. (For more in-depth discussions of the issues regarding genetics and Native American identity, see here and hereand the reading below).
Batman Existed in Mesoamerican Mythology and His Name Was Camazotz
Batman Existed in Mesoamerican Mythology and His Name Was Camazotz
As social media is abuzz with who might be cast in the next Batman movie, with concerns that some of the candidates might not be menacing enough to fill those big black boots, it might be time to look again at one of the bat figures that featured as an imposing power in Mesoamerican mythology – Camazotz.
Camazotz, (meaning ‘death bat’ in the Kʼiche’ Mayan language of Guatemala) originated deep in Mesoamerican mythology as a dangerous cave-dwelling bat creature. A cult following for the creature began amongst the Zapotec Indians of Oaxaca, Mexico and the figure was later adopted into the pantheon of the Maya Quiche tribe and the legends of the bat god were later recorded in Maya literature.
Bats are considered to be menacing creatures in many cultures. They are nocturnal and thus associated with the night, which is also often associated with death. Many common species also have a relatively bizarre appearance, which makes them all the more off-putting for humans. It doesn’t help that there is a species that actually sucks blood (the vampire bat, Desmodus Rotundus ).
In the Maya culture , the bat god Camazotz is linked to death. Camazotz is also the name of a monstrous creature which inhabited a cave called “the house of bats” in the Popol Vuh . Most scholars believe that Camazotz was inspired by the common vampire bat, but others have suggested that it was based on a giant vampire bat that (probably) went extinct sometime during the Pleistocene or Holocene periods.
In the Popol Vuh , an ancient Mayan mythological text, Zotzilaha was the name of a cave inhabited by the Camazotz, a monster with a roughly humanoid body, the head of a bat, and a nose that resembled a flint knife. The monster was said to attack victims by the neck and decapitate them. In the Popol Vuh , it is recorded that this creature decapitated the Maya hero Hunahpu. Camazotz is also one of the four animal demons responsible for wiping out mankind during the age of the first sun.
Bat-like demons and monsters are common in South America and Central America. Another example of such a story is the Chonchon in Peru and Chile, which is thought to be created when a sorcerer, known as a kaku, performs a magical rite causing his severed head to sprout giant ears and talons at death. The giant ears become wings.
This ubiquity of giant bat monster legends leads many archaeologists to propose that the monsters have a basis in encounters with a real animal - such as the vampire bat. The vampire bat is favored because of its historical association with bloodletting and sacrifice. It is, however, possible that the legends could be derived from a giant bat that was present during the Pleistocene or early Holocene – one which may still exist today.
In 1988, a fossil of a vampire bat was discovered in the Mongas province of Venezuela. The bat was larger than the modern vampire bat by 25% and was dubbed Desmodus Draculae . It is more popularly known as the giant vampire bat.
Sites containing examples of it have been found in the Yucatan, Belize, northern Brazil, and Venezuela. In 2000, a tooth from D. Draculae was found in Argentina - much farther south of the modern range of the Desmodus genus. It is difficult to date exactly when D. Draculae went extinct, or if it went extinct at all. All of the sites have been dated so far to between the Late Pleistocene and Late Holocene.
The latest age found for a D. Draculae site is 300 BP (circa 1650 AD). The latest age in central America is hard to ascertain, but it is probably either Late Pleistocene or Holocene. These dates make it very possible that D. Draculae coexisted with humans in South America and Central America, and humans could have come into contact with D. Draculae, though towards the Late Holocene they would have been vanishingly rare.
D. Draculae Sightings
In addition to this evidence, there have been mysterious sightings of giant bats or bat-like creatures. One of the earliest sightings dates to 1947 when J. Harrison claimed to have seen several large flying creatures which were described as giant bats (though some people also claimed that they were living pterosaurs).
In the early 1950s, a Brazilian couple claimed that they encountered a bat-like creature in the same valley that fossils of D. Draculae were discovered in Brazil. Another incident occurred in 1975 when an outbreak of animal mutilations hit Puerto Rico. A farmer said that he was repeatedly attack by two grey bird-like creatures. These creatures were also seen by others throughout the mutilation outbreak. Another sighting occurred in the mid-1970s in Texas, when a farmer asserted that he had encountered bald bat or pterosaur-like creatures with short beaks and gorilla-like faces. Three toed prints of this creature were also said to have been found.
The common vampire bat, D. Rotundus has an eight-inch (20.32 cm) wingspan. Since D. Draculae was 25% larger, it would have required more blood and probably would have attacked larger animals - and possibly even humans. It is undoubtable that an attack by a rare giant bat would give rise to legends of supernatural monsters.
Comparisons of the fossil skulls of Desmodus draculae (left) with the Common Vampire Bat, Desmodus rotundus .
(Illustrations by Jan Freedman , based on the Figures in Morgan et al. 1988)
Despite the tantalizing fossil evidence, and the strange stories about encounters with giant bats, there isn’t any indisputable evidence at the moment that D. Draculae was common enough to be encountered by ancient inhabitants of South America and Central America on a regular basis, or that the giant vampire bat is still alive today and could thus be the creature reported in giant bat sightings.
Nonetheless, the fact that the fossil evidence suggests that D. Draculae may have coexisted with humans for thousands of years in the Americas and the ubiquitous legends of bat-like monsters all over south and central America does make it a plausible connection.
Top image:Camazotz Maya style Batman suit created by Mexican designer Kimbal, Batman Exhabition, 2015. Source: Kimbal Design
A Massive City And Several Pyramid-Shaped Structures Found Beneath Lake Fuxian In China
A Massive City And Several Pyramid-Shaped Structures Found Beneath Lake Fuxian In China
Archeologists have recently discovered the remains of a group of large ancient buildings at the bottom of Fuxian Lake in Yunnan Province, China.
Also found were placed stones with carvings that can be classified as mysterious. These findings question previous assumptions by experts. According to Chinese newspaper outlets, recorded in historical documents was a city named Yuyuan. Yuyuan was founded in the Fuxian Lake demographic during the Western Han Dynasty from 206 BC to 24 AD. Yuyuan disappeared from the historical record during the Sui and Tang Dynasty from 589 AD to 907 AD. Urban legend claims the city sank to the bottom of Fuxian Lake.
An Ancient Undocumented City
These recent findings suggest otherwise since the remains of the buildings were made of stone. Yuyuan buildings were found to be mostly built with wood.
Through Sonar surveys, it was revealed that the architecture found at the bottom of Fuxian Lake covered around 2.4 square kilometers. This constitutes a large city that was never documented in history.
A Pyramid and Enigmatic Carvings
Also found at the bottom were the remains of a pyramid thought to be more complex than the famous Egyptian pyramids.
One of the many stones found has gathered some special attention. On the top right section of the stone is a small circle that was carved with seven radial lines surrounding it. This carving resembles the sun. A smaller circle is carved on the left side of the same stone, but with only four radial lines. These types of carvings are considered rare by experts and are estimated to be over 1,800 years old. No such similar carvings are known in that time frame.
Carvings found on one of the stones in the underwater ruins in Fuxian Lake
Also found on the stones were carvings resembling masks. These masks do not resemble masks that were made for humans based on the teeth marks.
Experts are stumped as to what these findings mean, as more research is needed.
Artist’s impression of Bajadasaurus pronuspinax, a newly discovered sauropod dinosaur from South America.
Illustration: Jorge A. González
Paleontologists in Argentina have uncovered a dinosaur unlike anything ever seen before. Alive some 140 million years ago, these majestic herbivores featured long, forward-pointing spikes running along their necks and backs. These spikes may have served a defensive role, but their exact purpose now presents a fascinating new mystery.
New research published this week in Scientific Reports describes a new species of dinosaur its discoverers are calling Bajadasaurus pronuspinax (pronounced “BA-HAD-AH-SAURUS” “PRONE-OO-SPIN-ACKS”). The first half of its binomial references to the geological formation where its fossils were found, the Bajada Colorada Formation in Northern Patagonia, Argentina. The latter part of its name means “bent over forward spine,” owing to its most distinctive feature. The fossilized remnants of this extraordinary creature, including a nearly complete skull with some teeth, were uncovered in 2013 by paleontologists from CONICET, Universidad Maimónides, and several other institutions.
Bajadasaurus was a sauropod, a wildly successful group of long-necked, four-legged dinosaurs. A Lower Cretaceous dinosaur, it lived 140 million years ago in what is now Argentina, and it belonged to a subgroup of sauropods called dicraeosaurids—medium-sized sauropods with distinctive vertebrae and long spines along their necks and backs.
Lead author Pablo Gallina posing with the new reconstructions.
Image: Secretariat of Science
Analysis of the Bajadasaurus skull and teeth suggests they grazed on low-lying plants. Their eye sockets were located near the roof of the skull, allowing them to keep watch for predators while they munched on foliage. In the beautiful art produced by Jorge A. González, a small pterosaur can be seen perching on a Bajadasaurus spike—a nice touch, given how prolific these winged reptiles were in South America at the time. Reconstructions of the spikey beast were recently unveiled at the Cultural Science Center in Buenos Aires (pictured above).
Prior to this latest discovery, paleontologists had uncovered another South American dicraeosauridae with spikes, Amargasaurus cazaui. This sleek-looking sauropod lived around 15 million years after Bajadasaurus, but its spikes were much shorter and they leaned backward instead of forward. Bajadasaurus is notable both for the size of its spikes and their forward-leaning orientation. The longest of the rod-like neural spines measured nearly 5 feet in length, close to 150 centimeters.
“We’re barely into February, butBajadasaurusmight end up being the most awesome dinosaur of 2019. The name looks a lot likeBadassasaurus, which is actually pretty fitting, as this looks like a punk dinosaur,” Steve Brusatte, a University of Edinburgh paleontologist not directly involved with the research (though he edited the paper for Scientific Reports), told Gizmodo. “The long, spindly spikes sticking out of the neck give the appearance of a Mohawk haircut, or the spiky hair of Johnny Rotten. I can’t help but think that the spines functioned in the same way as Johnny Rotten’s hair: to get attention. These must have been display structures, to attract mates or intimidate rivals, or maybe to rock out in other ways that only the dinosaurs would have known.”
Indeed, the exact function of the spikes isn’t clear. Possibilities include heat regulation (an issue for large-bodied sauropods), sexual display (horns to make dinos horny), a fat reservoir (the fat stores would be located between the spikes, and similar to a camel’s humps), and defense against predators. The authors of the new study, led by Pablo A. Gallina from Universidad Maimónides, favor the idea that the spines served as “passive defense structures.” Any would-be predator, the authors surmised, would risk impaling themselves on these formidable structures during an attack. For that hypothesis to work, however, the long spines would need to be strong enough to avoid shattering or fracturing.
Fossil elements of Bajadasaurus pronuspinax.
Image: P. A. Gallina et al., 2019
“We believe that the long, pointed spines—extremely long and thin—on the neck and back of Bajadasaurus... should serve to deter potential predators,” said Gallina in a CONICET statement. “However, we think that if they were only bare bone structures or covered only with skin they could have broken or fractured easily with a blow or when attacked by other animals. This leads us to suggest that these spines should have been protected by a corneal keratin sheath similar to what [is observed] in the horns of many mammals.”
Brusatte isn’t convinced.
“The paleontologists who described the new dinosaur suggest that the spines may have been used for defense, but it’s hard for me to imagine that such thin, delicate, gaudy structures would have been much use in deflecting the bite of a big meat-eating dinosaur,” said Brusatte. “It’s an interesting idea, and maybe the authors are correct, but I think display is much more likely.”
Eric Gorscak, a postdoctoral research scientist at The Field Museum in Chicago who wasn’t affiliated with the new study, said “Bajadasaurus is certainly a bizarre discovery,” but like Brusatte, he’s skeptical about the authors’ defense hypothesis.
“Their reconstruction is somewhat speculative as it is based on only one recovered neck vertebra with the curved neural spines,” Gorscak told Gizmodo. “The trouble with such unique features in extinct animals is that there are rare, if any, living examples to compare to better understand potential functions. But at the very least, Bajadasaurus demonstrates that life will find a way to modify pre-existing structures in response to ever-changing ecological and biological demands—even if we’re not entirely sure what those were.”
Stephen Poropat, a paleontologist from Swinburne University of Technology in Australia, thought the new discovery was significant owing to how much of the skull was recovered, but he was “intrigued” by the significance the authors afforded to the forward-pointing spines, which appeared on only one of the three neck vertebrae recovered.
“They seem not to consider the possibility that these processes [fossils]—which are very long and exceedingly thin—might have been subjected to some degree of post-mortem deformation due to geological processes,” Poropat told Gizmodo. “In other words, when Bajadasaurus was alive they might have pointed forward to a lesser degree, or not pointed forward at all.”
He also said it’s difficult to know the kind of soft tissue that once covered these spines. He agreed that keratin is a possibility, as the authors suggest, but it’s also possible the spines were surrounded by soft tissue, or used to support a frill, he said.
“It is important to remember that these structures were actually part of the vertebrae of these animals, unlike the plates of stegosaurs or the armor of ankylosaurs, which were separate bones, not fused to the spine,” Poropat said, adding that “the conclusions the authors draw about Bajadasaurus using its spines for defense are speculative.”
A reasonable next step for the authors would be to put their theories to the test, and conduct some experimental paleontology. This could be done using computer simulations or with materials that approximate the strength of the Bajadasaurus spikes. Similar experiments have been done before, for example, with researchers using models to estimate the maximum running speed ofTyrannosaurus rex before it would snap its legs with its tremendous bulk.
The exact purpose of the spikes aside, there’s no question Bajadasaurus is one of the more spectacular dinosaurs we’ve seen in quite some time. It’s incredible to think of all the things we’re still learning—and still hope to learn—about the remarkable creatures that lived long before humans.
This post was updated to include comments from Stephen Poropat.
Meet Camazotz; the Ancient Maya ‘Batman god’ Worshiped 2,500 Years Ago
Meet Camazotz; the Ancient Maya ‘Batman god’ Worshiped 2,500 Years Ago
Some 2,500 years ago, and even before DC Comics introduced us to Batman, the ancient Maya worshiped Camazotz, an ancient god that had the body of a person and the head of a bat.
Meet Camazotz, the Ancient Mayan Batman
Many things we think originated in recent times are actual copies from much older sources.
There’s plenty of evidence of such cases throughout history.
But did you know that thousands of years ago, the ancient Maya worshiped a god that had the body of a person and the head of a bat? The ‘creature’ had pointy ears and was referred to by the ancient Maya as Camazotz.
Curiously, that description may sound awfully similar to a character most of us are familiar with, seeing him in movies, series, and comic strips.
His name is Batman.
Batman, not the only Bat Man
You guessed it.
Batman’s origins can (sort of) be traced back to a long lost civilization that existed in modern-day Mexico.
Before the DC Comics ‘invented’ the Batman, there was Camazotz, a mysterious pre-Hispanic deity that symbolized night, death and sacrifice.
He was popular among the ancient Maya.
And his description is awfully similar to our modern-day Batman.
But there isn’t really much about him on the internet.
In fact, most of the details describing Camazotz can be traced back to the Popol Vuh.
Origins
Camazotz or Camazot is a relatively unknown character from Mayan mythology. The ancient Mayan god is considered as the murderous bat god.
Representations Camazotz can be found in the museum of Copán, in Honduras although description about him can be found in a few Mayan codices as well.
The ancient deity was dubbed as a master of mysteries, life, and death.
Camazotz comes from two ancient Maya (K’iche ) words ‘kame, which means “death”, and sotz’, which is translated as “bat”.
The worship of Camazotz can be traced back to around 200 B.C. and it is believed to have started among the Zapotecs of Oaxaca, Mexico, who worshiped an anthropomorphic monster with the body of a man and the head of a bat.
The bat was associated with night, death and sacrifice.
Camazots eventually found his place among the pantheon of the Quiche, a Mayan tribe that lived in the jungles of what is now Guatemala and Honduras.
The K’iche quickly identified the bat-god with their god Zotzilaha Chamalcan, which is the god of fire.
Some scholars even believe that the myth surrounding Camazotzs went far beyond the land of the ancient Maya, as stories of similar beings spread across Guatemala, and as far as Brazil.
Featured
It was back in 2014 when Warner Brothers gathered as many as thirty artists for them to reinterpret the looks of Batman for the 75th anniversary.
There were quite a few results.
But one of them was a stunning piece made by Christian Pacheco, owner of a design agency in Yucatan. In fact, it was his examples that stood out the most.
With his piece, Pacheco reminded everyone, that DC Comics was not the first to actually have their very own Batman.
Pacheco’s design gave a heads up to many people that the very first ‘bat’ man can be traced back to the ancient Maya, more than 2,500 years ago.
You can see more images of his version of ‘If Batman was a Mayan god’ in his Behance gallery.
The Popol Vuh and Camazotz
If we take a look at the Popol Vuh we find a few descriptions of this mythical god.
The Popol Vuh, the book of the council ‘or’ book of the community’, is a compilation of mythical, legendary and historical narratives of the K’iche; the Mayan people inhabiting modern-day Guatemala.
The book, of great historical and spiritual value, has been called Sacred Book or the Bible of the Maya Quiche.
In the Popol Vuh, Camazotz was a common name making reference to the bat-like monsters that the Mayan twin heroes Hunahpú and Ixbalanque stumbled across, during their trials in the underworld of Xibalbá.
Temples
It has been found that the Nahua horseshoe-shaped temples were dedicated to the worship of the bat god.
Their altars were made of pure gold and oriented towards the East.
It was believed that the bat god had power to cure any disease, but also power to cut the divine cord of life that unites the body to the soul.
The Nahua priests invoked the bat god when asking for health.
The villages of Longyou County, in Zhejiang province, China, have long been renowned for their scatted ponds of extraordinary depth, which have become over the centuries wellsprings of myth and folklore and which are often collectively called the “Bottomless Ponds,” said to stretch infinitely down into the bowels of the earth. It was at one such pond that in 1992 a local farmer by the name of Wu Anai, from the village of Shiyan Beicun, got it into his head to see how true the legends were, and how deep the pond near his own village really was. To this end he went about gathering up a powerful water pump to actually begin emptying the pond. What he found in the “Bottomless Pond” would astound everyone who saw it, become known as the “‘the ninth wonder of the ancient world,” and launch an intriguing historical mystery that has never been solved.
As the water was laboriously siphoned out, a process that took days, it became apparent that this was no normal, naturally made pond, but rather an immense, underground cavern system that seemed to be manmade, carved right into the sandstone beneath them and inundated with water. The cave sprawled out beneath them was fully equipped with stone rooms, pillars, all decorated with cryptic lines and symbols that have been meticulously etched into the stone and with meanings unknown. This discovery soon had other nearby villages draining their own ponds, until over the years 36 similar grottoes were unearthed, all within an area of just one square kilometer. They penetrate down into the earth for 100 feet or more, each an average of 11,000 sq. ft. in area, and although not connected they are often separated only by very thin walls, and were obviously made by the same builders. Despite being examined by numerous experts and scientists, no one has any more understanding of them they did back when that first cave was discovered, and their mysteries are deep.
One of the Bottomless Ponds
Perhaps the biggest mystery of what have come to be called the Longyou Caves is that no one really knows who built them, why, or how. They have been estated as dating back to perhaps 200 BC, but there is absolutely no record of their construction in any of the historical records, nor even any reference to their existence, and so that is about all we know. The purpose of the caves is equally evasive, with no artifacts to show that they were used as tombs, no signs of any mining having been done, and there are no traces of anyone ever having inhabited them. They are just there, their meaning for existing just as inscrutable as the identity of their creators. All that can be known is that these caves took an enormous amount of manpower and time to create, so they must have been important for something to justify such a massive and ambitious project.
Just as perplexing is the mystery of how they were built. In total, it is estimated that around 1,000,000 cubic meters of rock and dirt would have had to be removed, which would have taken around 1,000 workers working 6 years straight, laboring day and night to accomplish, and yet there is no mention of any such project underway in the historic records, nor any clue as to where all of that rock went. Then there is the remarkable precision in the workmanship and the way the caves are so incredibly symmetrical and accurately laid out. Interestingly, the caves are all very similarly designed and laid out, with indeed some of the caves almost identical to each other, so how did they do that without any modern equipment? One Yang Hongxun, an expert at the Archaeological Institute of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, has said of this:
At the bottom of each cave, the ancient builders wouldn’t be able to see what the others were doing in the next grotto. But the inside of each cave had to be parallel with that of the other, or else the wall would be holed through. Thus the measure apparatus should have been very advanced. There must have been some layout about the sizes, locations, and the distances between the caves beforehand.
The Longyou Caves
This is not to mention that it is uncertain even what tools the builders used, with no signs of any tools and no hints as to how these caves were dug. Also odd is the strange presence of numerous tiny chisel marks along the walls that are so symmetrical and uniform to look almost as if they were produced by some sort of machine, and which would have taken a mind-boggling amount of work to meticulously etch by hand. Their significance, of course, is just as enigmatic as anything else about this place. Adding to all of this is that the builders would have had to have done this down in the dark, yet there is no evidence of torches having been used, nor any other source of light, so how could they see down there in the eternal gloom? However they did all of this, it is a remarkable feat of engineering and made even more so by how incredibly well-preserved the caves are. Considering that they are thousands of years old, one would expect that there would be some collapses or signs of wear or damage, yet there are none and the caves are remarkably pristine.
Although they have been studied by scientists and a few are even open to tourism, no one has ever been able to figure out all of the pieces to the mystery of the Longyou Caves. We don’t know who built them, how they did it, or why. They are a complete enigma, buried down there underwater for millennia with their secrets long gone with those who crafted them. In the void of any new findings on the mysterious complexes it is quite likely that we will never get the answers we seek, and that these caves will continue to remain curious anomalies flitting out past our understanding.
Sometimes it feels like the ancient Egyptians are teasing us. As if everything we’ve uncovered about ancient Egypt is an elaborate prank meant to confound and frustrate all proceeding civilizations. So much of what we’ve discovered under the Egyptian sands has a cruel habit of hinting at something mysterious and perhaps even cosmic. Of course, if you were a pharaoh whose whole shtick was that you were a living god, that’s the exact impression you would want to give. One of the pharaohs most successful—if not the most, by name recognition alone— at cultivating the image of a cosmic deity was King Tutankhamen, AKA King Tut. Themore we learnabout King Tut, the more that “cosmic” part of his image seems to be literal. Arecent study in the journal Geologyof a ceremonial breastplate worn by the boy king found that the gemstone scarab in the center is made of an extremely rare desert glass that was created during amassive meteorite impact. If you’re trying to be a god-king, that’s some top-notch imagery to channel.
The breastplate holding the gemstone was found in 1922 by British archaeologist Howard Carter when he discovered King Tut’s tomb. Like many of the artifacts of the ancient pharaohs it is stunning in its opulence and artistry. In the middle of the breastplate sits a greenish-gold gemstone scarab beetle symbolizing the god Ra, the sun god and creator of the universe. When first discovered, it was believed to be made out of a type of quartz. In 1998, it was discovered that the scarab gemstone was actually made of Libyan Desert Glass, one of the rarest minerals on Earth, found only in the Great Sand Sea of Libya.
King Tut’s pectoral breastplate with the desert glass scarab in the center.
How the desert glass was formed was a mystery. Other types of naturally occurring glass, like Obsidian, are formed by volcanoes, but there are no extinct volcanoes anywhere near where the Libyan Desert Glass exists. Up until now, the prevailing explanation was that a comet with a high percentage of water exploded in the atmosphere—an event called an airburst—and the resulting heat created the glass. A new paper refutes that claim, finding that Libyan Desert glass contains a very rare mineral called Reidite, which is formed through the extremely high pressures. An airburst alone does not generate enough pressure to create Reidite, only an actual, very large, meteorite impact can generate the necessary pressure.
Like many things, this finding creates more mysteries than it solves. If Libyan Desert Glass had to have been made by a meteorite impact, there must be an impact crater. However, there have been no impact craters found in the same area as Libyan Desert Glass. Also, it is unknown how King Tut got his hands on his desert glass gemstone. So far, King Tut is the only Egyptian pharaoh we know of who had any jewelry made of this particular glass. Dating of the glass suggests that the impact occurred 28 to 26 million years ago, well before King Tut’s time. Is it just a coincidence that a symbol of the sun god was carved out of the glass left behind by a massive, violent explosion that came out of space? Of course, it’s also a perfect color to symbolize the sun. Still it’s intriguing, and it’s yet another example of how much we still don’t know about ancient Egypt.
Graham Hancock: America Before-Exposing the Cover-Up of Ancient Advanced Civilizations
Graham Hancock: America Before-Exposing the Cover-Up of Ancient Advanced Civilizations
We speak to Graham Hancock about his new book America Before: The Key to Earth’s Lost Civilization.
Graham Hancock discusses how dogmatism in archaeology has covered up 130,000 years of human history in the Americas and evidence of advanced civilizations that lived in the Americas thousands of years ago, which challenges colonial narratives of uncivilized natives incapable of high culture.
The Sumerian Ishtar Mystery that Experts Cannot Fathom
The Sumerian Ishtar Mystery that Experts Cannot Fathom
In the ancient world, it is difficult to overstate the importance of Inanna/Ishtar. As the most famous Mesopotamian goddess, her substantial influence was embedded in many aspects of her worshippers’ lives, and she was revered across the broad geographical reach of the Ancient Near East for a period of history spanning thousands of years.
Ishtar comes from a very early time in the history of complex civilizations, attested at Uruk as early as the late 4th millennium BCE.
In our new animated documentary series we will describe the history of Ancient Mesopotamia and the first episode will be covering Sumer and its rise in the Fertile Crescent, which is rightly considered the cradle of civilizations. Our series will cover all the major civilizations of this region and then will move on to other regions.
Sumer is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia, modern-day southern Iraq, during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze ages, and arguably one of the first civilizations in the world along with Ancient Egypt and the Indus Valley.Wikipedia
ANCIENT ROMANS landed in America: Staggering discovery will 'change history'
ANCIENT ROMANS landed in America: Staggering discovery will 'change history'
HISTORIANS claim they have found evidence Romans arrived in North America, more than a thousand years before Christopher Columbus set foot on the continent.
Lead historian Jovan Hutton Pulitzer believes the haul is firm evidence the great empire landed there first and is the "single most important discovery" ever for the Americas.
It remains unclear how ancient Romans could have made the epic journey across the Atlantic Ocean but, according to the Ancient Artifact Preservation Society (AAPS), the haul was discovered in a shipwreck off Oak Island on the south shore of Nova Scotia, Canada.
Mr Pulitzer said: "The ceremonial sword is 100 per cent confirmed as Roman.
"I began my forensic work into it using an XRF analyser - which is a leading archaeological tool for analysing metals.
"And we found all these other metals that tell you this was made from ore that came directly from the ground.
"It has the same arsenic and lead signature in it. We've been able to test this sword against another one like it and it matches."
IG
A Roman sword, a legionnaire's whistle, Gold Carthage coins and a Roman shield were found
GETTY
Are these Roman soldiers?
Mr Pulitzer insists that the shipwreck from which the sword was recovered years ago is "beyond a shadow of a doubt Roman."
He said: "We have scanned it, we know exactly where it lays, but it will be a touchy thing for the Canadian Government to allow an archaeological team to survey it.
"I think this is the single most important discovery for the Americas - an event that will re-write history.
"This is a gunshot to be heard around the world. It changes all of our history."
The shipwreck lies near the infamous 'Money Pit' - a 230ft booby-trapped shaft which is thought to contain valuable artefacts.
IG
It remains unclear how ancient Romans could have made the epic journey across the Atlantic Ocean
HALIFAX
Gold Carthage coins were found in Canada
Pulitzer's team also discovered ancient burial mounds in shallow water on the island dating back to less than two centuries after Christ.
Professor James Scherz, from the University of Wisconsin, said: "These mounds are consistent with ancient European and Levant burial mounds, not native American.
"I am in agreement the underwater mounds being of a foreign ancient mariner style and not native to Nova Scotia or traditional North American.
"These mounds, in looking at the known ocean levels for the area, give a possible date of occurring between 1500BC and 180AD."
As well as the graves, the experts also uncovered carved stones on Oak Island that "possess a language from the ancient Levant".
Another clue, in his report, is the presence of an invasive species of plant which was once used by Romans.
GETTY
As well as the graves, the experts also uncovered carved stones on Oak Island
Mr Pulitzer said: "There are also 50 words in the native M'kmaq language.
"These are ancient nautical sailing terms used by ancient mariners from Roman times - but they were not a seafaring culture.
"Another very interesting 'coincidence' is a bush on Oak Island and one on the mainland which is listed in Canada as an invasive species called Berberis Vulgaris.
"This was used by ancient mariners, including Romans, to season their food and fight scurvy.
"It grows in Oak Island and across the way in Halifax. All these things, signs and symbols add up to more than just coincidence."
Other historians dismissed the finding as inaccurate, insisting the artefacts were simply dropped by collectors in modern times.
Mainstream history states Columbus was the first non-indigenous person to arrive in the continent when he landed in the Bahamas in 1492.
However, over the years several radical theories have emerged that the Vikings, the Polynesians and the Chinese, arrived before Columbus.
Mr Pulitzer added: "We have absolutely been lead to believe that nothing happened on this side of the pond before Christopher Columbus.
"I think anything that challenges history is very risky, very dangerous and extremely political.
"I think we should all fight for the truth and people should make up their own minds."
In the southeast region of the country of Brazil lies Guanabara Bay, off the coast of the major metropolis of Rio de Janeiro. It is the second largest bay in Brazil, but other than that there is nothing particularly special about it other than perhaps the large amount of pollution here. However, lying approximately 15 miles offshore, buried down in 100 feet of water across an area around the size of three tennis courts is a rather strange oddity. Here scattered along the bottom are various relics from ancient Rome, far from where they have any business being, and which have remained a baffling historical anomaly and conundrum that remains unsolved.
The unusual spot was originally first discovered in 1976, when some lobster divers reported having come across what appeared to be ancient, barnacle encrusted jars at the bottom of the bay. It wasn’t long before a diver named Jose Roberto Teixeira actually produced two of the strange artifacts, which were found to be a type of tall, tapered ceramic jars with two handles called amphorae, typically used by the ancient Greeks, Romans, and Phoenicians to carry around all manner of things such as wine, oil, water or grain during long sea voyages. This was certainly a rather odd thing to be pulled up from Guanabara Bay, as the first known European presence in Brazil is thought to date back to 1500, when Portuguese navigator Pedro Alvares Cabral reached these shores.
Guanabara Bay
The unusual find caught the attention of author, underwater archeologist, and treasure hunter Robert Marx, who in 1982 decided to try and locate more of the objects, along with the help of Dr. Harold Edgerton of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Marx was able to get permission for his expedition from the Brazilian government and then went about combing the bottom of the bay with sophisticated sonar technology, peering down there through the waves to try and catch a glimpse of anomalous history. At first he was actually rather skeptical of the whole thing, thinking that the jars that had been found were hoaxes, but what he found was beyond anything even he could have expected.
After finding a promising spot, Marx dove down to find an accumulation of 200 amphorae found down there in the murky, heavily polluted water, where they had been for thousands of years, some on the surface and others buried deep, covered with muck, barnacles or even ensconced in coral and some of them entirely intact even after so many centuries lying there on the sludge of the bottom. It was a remarkable find to say the least, and it was thought by the team that these jars could not have been planted there in modern times, but were rather from some unknown, hidden past. It was Marx’s speculation that the mysterious jars had come from an ancient Roman ship, and he even claimed that there had been evidence of a possible wooden wreck buried down there, but if this was the case then how did such an ancient voyage manage to make it to Brazil many centuries before the first known European presence here, when the Romans were never known to have made it any farther than India in an era when South America might as well have been another planet across a sea of stars? These were things that Marx wanted to find out, and he went about trying to organize a further expedition to the area to uncover more information and look for any wreck that might be there or any other artifacts such as hull fragments, coins, or weapons, for as he has said, “If authentic, it would be one of the most important discoveries in the field of marine archaeology.”
Amphorae
In the meantime, Marx had the jars studied by experts, claiming that everyone who looked at them confirmed that they were from the 2nd or 3rd century and of Roman origin. One of these experts was a professor of classics and specialist in ancient Roman amphoras at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst a specialist by the name of Elizabeth Will, who has said of them:
The highly publicized amphoras Robert Marx found in the ship are in fact similar in shape to jars produced in kilns at Kouass, on the west coast of Morocco. The Rio jars look to be late versions of those jars, perhaps datable to the third century A.D. I have a large piece of one of the Rio jars, but no labs I have consulted have any clay similar in composition. So the edges of the earth for Rome, beyond India and Scotland and eastern Europe, remain shrouded in mystery.
According to Marx, the jars likely came from a Roman ship that had made it to Brazil, and that it could not have been merely a wandering derelict that had blown away across the ocean unmanned because it had managed to navigate all the way up the bay without crashing on the rocks or reefs along the way. His theory was that it had likely made it to Brazil under human control and then perhaps been blown off course to end up where it had. It was an incredible mystery, and one which Marx had hoped to solve before a series of setbacks kept him from it.
Roman ship
In 1983, the Brazilian government, which had been cooperative up to that point, suddenly and without any real explanation denied Marx’s request for permission to further explore the area. In fact, they even went as far as to ban him from entering the country at all, citing the allegations that he had stolen numerous historical objects from shipwrecks all over the country, and with Guanabara Bay this would extend into a full ban on any underwater exploration by anyone whatsoever. The frustrated Marx then accused the Brazilian government of a cover-up, saying that they were trying to wipe out anything that would clash with the established known history of the country, and this was why no effort had ever been made to investigate the fishermen’s claims in the past. He even went as far as to accuse the Brazilian Navy of burying the jars and possible shipwreck in silt in order to keep them hidden, which they denied.
So what is going on here? How did ancient Roman jars get all the way over in Brazil? Were these from a derelict ship blow out across the sea? Were they from some Roman voyage overseas that actually managed to cross the Atlantic? Is the Brazilian government trying to cover it up and subdue any further research on the matter? Or is it all a hoax perpetrated by Marx? Are the jars really even ancient at all? It is still undetermined, and considering that the area has been closed off to any more expeditions, it seems likely that if there is anything there, then it will remain down there in its watery final resting place for many millennia more, forever eluding answers.
Over the years (decades, in fact) rumors have circulated suggesting that the CIA has a deep interest in nothing less than the final resting place of Noah’s Ark. There are tales of clandestine treks up Mount Ararat, Turkey to find ancient remains. There are also stories of pieces of the Ark having secretly beentaken to the Smithsonianfor study and storage. The big question, of course, is this: how much of all this can be vindicated? Can any of it be vindicated? Certainly, the CIA has a “file”on the Ark, but having a dossier does not mean that its staff have found the Ark, or have uncovered something amazing about it. Under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act, the CIA has declassified a number of interesting papers on the Ark, mostly from the 1970s and the 1980s. Let’s take a look at the content. The following words are taken directly from the CIA’s files. The first document of any significance reads as follows: “Noah’s Ark 1974 – 1982. On 13 May 1974, DCI [Director of Central Intelligence] Colby sent a letter to the DS&T, Sayre Stevens, asking if the Agency had any evidence of Noah’s Ark on Mt. Ararat. Mr. Colby said that Lieutenant Colonel Walter Brown of the US Air Force Academy had asked ‘whether it would be appropriate or possible to exploit satellite photography to examine the glacier systems there to see whether any evidence of the Ark could be found.’ On 21 May, the Center responded that no evidence of the Ark could be discerned on U-2 photography acquired on 10 September 1957 or on any satellite imagery available at the Center.”
Moving on to August 6, 1974, the CIA recorded the following: “Congressman Bob Wilson asked the Agency whether any aerial photos of Mt. Ararat could be released to a friend of his, Dr. John Morris, son of Dr. Henry M. Morris, the head of the Institution of Creation Research of San Diego, California. Mr. Hicks stated in a letter to the Agency legislative liaison staff that several U-2.photos dated 1957 were available but were still classified ‘Confidential.’ The younger Dr. Morris wrote to the Agency later requesting the photos. His request was denied by Angus Theurmer, the Agency’s press spokesman who stated ‘We have looked into this matter in some detail and we regret that we are unable to provide any information.’ In September/October 1974, Admiral Showers of the Intelligence Community Staff, in response to a query from Lieutenant Commander Lonnie McClung, asked about the availability of intelligence information concerning the location of Noah’s Ark. He was told that a search had been made of aerial photography with negative results.”
One year later, 1975, there was this from the CIA: “On 30 January 1975, Dr. John Morris again wrote Congressman Bob Wilson noting that aerial photos “were taken in August 1974, as a result of my request. They were not to be classified, but have been classified since and are not available.” Congressman Wilson again contacted the Agency with the request. On 27 February 1975, Mr. Hicks again denied the request. On 11 March 1975, Dr. Morris was notified that the photography of Mt. Ararat was classified and, therefore, could not be provided. An additional request made through Dr. Charles Willis of Fresno, California to Mr. Arthur C. Lundahl, retired Director NPIC on 5 March 1975 was also denied on 31 March 1975.” For those who may not know, “NPIC” means “National Photographic Interpretation Center.”
The CIA continued: “On 3 April 1975, NPIC Section Chief [deleted] sent a memo to the Chief, IEG, detailing the efforts of Messrs. [Deleted] and [deleted] who had searched unsuccessfully all available U-2 and satellite imagery for possible evidence of Noah’s Ark. This search had been prompted by the visit to the Center, on 14 March 1975, of Captain Howard Schue of the IC Staff with a ground photo “showing a long range view of the purported Ark.” The [deleted] Division of NPIC was tasked to determine if the Ark’s features in the photo had been altered; tests failed to identify any manipulation. Attempts to compare the ground photo with satellite imagery for identification and location purposes also proved negative. From 27 March to 5 April 1975, a French archeological explorer, Fernand Navarra was at Iverson Mall in Washington, D.C. publicizing his book Noah’s Ark: I Touched It. As part of the sales pitch for the book, there was a display which included a supposed wood fragment of the Ark. Several NPIC analysts concerned with the Ark problem visited the display but found nothing that would help their search efforts.”
And, there was even more from 1975, as the CIA recorded: “On 10 April 1975, Colonel Paul Tanota and Captain Howard Schue, of the IC Staff visited NPIC to discuss Mt. Ararat and to see the August 1974 aerial photography of the mountain. At the request of Captain Schue, a print of Mt. Ararat showing the 13,000 and 14,000 foot elevations was provided. On 5 July, 1975 a book entitled The Ark of Ararat by Thomas Nelson was released. Mr. Nelson maintained that the CIA had photos of Ararat and that they had been analyzed in the search for the Ark. On 12 October 1975, Tom Crotser from a group known as The Holy Ground Mission of Frankston; Texas showed a ground photo supposedly of the Ark taken during their 1974 expedition to Mt. Ararat. Sometime in 1977, Bill Chaney Speed of Search Foundation, Inc. requested the aerial photos of Mt. Ararat. His request also was denied.”
Senator Barry Goldwater wrote DCI Turner on September 1, 1978, “You may think this is a screwball request and it may be, but I would like to know if you can do anything about it.” The letter went on to ask if satellite photography could be searched “to determine whether or not something in the way of an archeological find might be located near or on top of the Mount.” Goldwater explained that a letter he had received had come “from a man in whom I have great confidence, who certainly is no nut, who knows Turkey rather well but who feels that there is reason to believe the Ark may be resting at or near the top of the mount. I assure that I will keep this at any classification you want it kept and if you desire me to go to the devil, I know the way.” DCI Turner replied “we have been requested on several occasions if we could determine whether there was remains of the Ark on Mt. Ararat. We have, as a result, carefully reviewed the photography of the area but have not found any evidence of the Ark.”
Moving onto the 1980s, the CIA added this to the Noah File: “On 27 May 1981, [deleted] of the Center received a telephone call from Air Force Talent Control Officer, Major Ray Abel, requesting information on Noah’s Ark. Major Abel said he had received a request from General Lew Allen, Air Force Chief of Stall, who, in turn, was answering a, requirement from Congressman Bill Archer of Texas. Congressman Archer had indicated that some of his constituents from Houston, Texas were going on an expedition to Mt. Ararat and would like to have as much information as possible. [Deleted] told Major Abel that NPIC had conducted a study of Mt. Ararat in the 1970s and had found no evidence of the Ark. In February 1982, former Astronaut James B. Irwin of the High Flight Foundation, a Christian group in Colorado Springs, Colorado, called former NPIC official Dino A. Brugioni, at his home and asked about the aerial photos of Mount Ararat. Irwin was informed that no evidence of the Ark had ever been seen on aerial photography.”
A fair amount of material has surfaced from the CIA from the latter part of the 1980s and the early 1990s (the 2000s, too), but it’s almost completely comprised of photocopies of magazine articles and newspaper features on Noah’s Ark. So, what does all of this tell us? Well, that very much depends on how we interpret the data. It’s pretty clear that the CIA was notsitting on some deep and dark secret concerning the Ark. In other words, there’s no evidence that the CIA has portions of the Ark locked away in some kind of “Hangar 18” vault and akin to the final moments of the 1981 Indiana Jones movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark. But, the fact is that the CIA does refer in its own files to “the Ark problem.” And, as the files also show, back in 1975, “… Several NPIC analysts concerned with the Ark problem visited the display but found nothing that would help their search efforts.”
Was the “problem” somehow connected to something amazing? Some might very well say “Yes.” On the other hand, though, maybe the problem was actually something else entirely. Namely, a case of the CIA becoming more and more sick and tired of being asked about the Ark and the conspiracy-tinged issues surrounding it. When you’re trying to chase down Russian spies and Chinese espionage agents, being asked repeated questions about a rotted old boat may not be high on your list of priorities. But, it might very well be a pain in the neck. A problem, in other words. As for those 1975 “search efforts,” that does kind of sound like someone in the NPIC wasactively looking for the Ark. Unless, that is, the “search efforts” the CIA referred to were not to find the Ark, but to help find the alleged photos that astronaut James B. Irwin and Congressman Bob Wilson asked for. The latter scenario is far less exciting than the former, but it may very well be the correct scenario. So, at the end of the day, what can we say about this saga of Noah’s Ark? Let’s see.
It’s clear that, on this ancient issue, most of the CIA’s time was spent explaining that they didn’t have much – if anything – in the form of evidence when it came to the Ark. But, a file wascreated, and not all of it is in the public domain. Maybe, one day, we’ll learn that the CIA does hold some extraordinary data on the Ark. But, right now we are a long, long – very long – way away from that. In fact, there’s no solid evidence of it at all in the slightest. While the CIA’s papers don’t provide us with anykind of smoking guns, I still find the whole thing very interesting. Maybe one day, someone will write a book on the whole “Noah’s Ark Conspiracy Theory.” It definitely won’t be me, but I would certainly look forward to reading it, whatever the conclusions might be.
CROWNING ROOTS An analysis of hominid tooth evolution, including specimens from Spanish Neandertals (top row), pushes back the age of a common Neandertal-human ancestor to more than 800,000 years ago. The bottom row shows Homo sapiens teeth.
A. GÓMEZ-ROBLES, ANA MUELA AND JOSE MARIA BERMUDEZ DE CASTRO
People and Neandertals separated from a common ancestor more than 800,000 years ago — much earlier than many researchers had thought.
That conclusion, published online May 15 in Science Advances, stems from an analysis of early fossilized Neandertal teeth found at a Spanish site called Sima de los Huesos. During hominid evolution, tooth crowns changed in size and shape at a steady rate, says Aida Gómez-Robles, a paleoanthropologist at University College London. The Neandertal teeth, which date to around 430,000 years ago, could have evolved their distinctive shapes at a pace typical of other hominids only if Neandertals originated between 800,000 and 1.2 million years ago, she finds.
Gómez-Robles’ study indicates that, if a common ancestor of present-day humans and Neandertals existed after around 1 million years ago, “there wasn’t enough time for Neandertal teeth to change at the rate [teeth] do in other parts of the human family tree” in order to end up looking like the Spanish finds, says palaeoanthropologist Bernard Wood of George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
Many researchers have presumed that a species dubbed Homo heidelbergensis, thought to have inhabited Africa and Europe, originated around 700,000 years ago and gave rise to an ancestor of both Neandertals and Homo sapiens by roughly 400,000 years ago. Genetic evidence that Sima de los Huesos fossils came from Neandertals raised suspicions that a common ancestor with H. sapiens existed well before that (SN Online: 3/14/16). Recent Neandertal DNA studies place that common ancestor at between 550,000 and 765,000 years old. But those results rest on contested estimates of how fast and how consistently genetic changes accumulated over time.
With that molecular debate in mind, Gómez-Robles calculated the rate at which eight ancient hominid species evolved changes in tooth shape. That enabled her to gauge how long it must have taken for Sima de los Huesos teeth to evolve after Neandertals diverged from a common ancestor with H. sapiens.
Gómez-Robles used two possible evolutionary trees for the eight hominid species to estimate dental evolution rates. Aside from the Spanish Neandertals and Stone Age H. sapiens, teeth in her study came from African hominids dating to as early as 3.2 million years ago.
Moving back the date of an evolutionary split between Neandertals and H. sapiens appears reasonable based on the new data, says paleoanthropologist Aurélien Mounier of Musée de l’Homme in Paris. The timing of that split could still change, though, if further research modifies the Spanish fossils’ age, he says.
Other Spanish hominid teeth dating to nearly 800,000 years ago display some Neandertal features, supporting the new study’s conclusions, says New York University paleoanthropologist Shara Bailey. But it’s unclear if Gómez-Robles’ contention that hominid teeth evolved at a steady rate will hold true, Bailey says.
A piece of Libyan desert glass that weighs 22 grams and is about 55 mm wide.
Credit: Wikimedia Commons.
An exotic and beautiful type of glass found in the Sahara desert has a cosmic origin, according to a new study. After analyzing the chemical makeup of Libyan desert glass — a naturally occurring glass whose striking yellow color made it a much-sought-after decorative material — researchers found that it was produced by ancient meteorite impacts.
Cosmic glass fit for kings
Breastplate found in King Tutankhamun’s tomb. The scarab is made out of Libyan desert glass.
Credit: Wikimedia Commons.
The rare Libyan desert glass has been prized for its beauty for thousands of years. The glass — the purest natural silica glass ever found on Earth — is generally yellow in color and can be very clear, although most pieces are milky and may even contain tiny bubbles, white wisps, and inky black swirls.
By one estimate, over a thousand tons of Libyan desert glass are strewn across the deserts of eastern Libya and western Egypt. Most are the size of pebbles, although some chunks can have a considerable size and weight — the biggest piece ever found weighs around 26 kg.
Local inhabitants in the Neolithic period made tools out of the glass, and later the Egyptians used it to fashion jewelry. In fact, the carved stone on the breastplate of the famous Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun was made of Libyan desert glass. But these piece of glass were created long before King Tut was born — about 29 million years by one estimate.
Silica glass at the Great Sand Sea.
Credit: Mohamed El-Hebeishy.
For more than a hundred years, scientists have debated what forces could have created the enchanting glasses. There are two major hypotheses that explain their formation: either a meteor impact or an airburst (an atmospheric explosion which happens when meteoroids explode in the lower atmosphere) was responsible. A recently published study supports the former theory.
In a new study, Aaron Cavosie from Curtin University in Australia and colleagues performed chemical analyses of Libyan desert glass samples that unequivocally supports the meteorite formation theory.
While they were examining zircon minerals embedded in the glasses, the researchers found traces of another mineral called reidite. This mineral only forms in high pressure and heat — so far, it hasn’t been found anywhere other than meteorite impact craters.
“Both meteorite impacts and airbursts can cause melting, however, only meteorite impacts create shock waves that form high-pressure minerals,” says Cavosie.
“So finding evidence of former reidite confirms it was created as the result of a meteorite impact.”
Whatever meteorite impacted the desert all those millions of years ago, it must have caused a gigantic explosion. It vitrified (glassified) a huge area, resulting in a broad range of glasses ranging from cloudy dark to stunningly luminous lemon yellow — all depending on the kind of contaminants that dissolved into the liquid silica created by the powerful impact.
A variety of Libyan Desert Glasses.
Credit: Corning Museum of Glasses.
The findings published in the journal Geology are useful for establishing how often near-Earth objects come in contact with our planet’s surface. The study seems to suggest that the kind of impacts that are powerful enough to create Libyan desert glass are, thankfully, quite rare.
“Meteorite impacts are catastrophic events, but they are not common,” says Cavosie.
“Airbursts happen more frequently, but we now know not to expect a Libyan desert glass-forming event in the near future, which is cause for some comfort.”
Fossils of Giant Prehistoric Beasts Discovered in Underwater Ice Age Death Cave
Fossils of Giant Prehistoric Beasts Discovered in Underwater Ice Age Death Cave
More than 10,000 years ago, as the last Ice Age ended, vast sheets of ice receded, scarring and causing massive cracks to appear on the bridge between North and South America. At that time, the land bridge was known to have been inhabited by fearsome beasts; now new evidence shows these prehistoric beasts included giant ‘wolf-like carnivores’ and the ‘largest bear’ ever to have walked on planet Earth.
‘10,000 BC’ was a 2008 American epic adventure film set in prehistory. It told the adventures of a prehistoric tribe ofmammoth hunters. After its world premiere on February 10, 2008 in Berlin, although it was an immediate box office hit, the film became regarded by professional critics as one of the worst films of the year. The Sunday Times review section noted that the film was “archaeologically inaccurate and contains many factual errors and anachronisms.” But now it would appear this movie was based firmly in reality!
A diver in the Hoyo Negro pit, holding a Protocyon jaw and vertebrae.
At the bottom of an underwater cave in Mexico archaeologists have discovered an ancient graveyard including the skeletons of ancient sloths, sabretooth cats, cougars, elephant-like gomphotheres, bears, and dog-like animals. According to the researchers’ new paper, published in Biology Letters , they have recovered the skull of an enormous short-faced bear ( Arctotherium wingei ) and remains of a wolf-like dog known as Protocyon troglodytes.
Furthermore, in 2007, researchers even found “two human skeletons dating to more than 12,000-years-old.” These are now thought to be two of the “oldest human skeletons ever found in the Western hemisphere” and they inform experts that our ancestors once lived alongside giant ground sloths, towering bears, and fierce wolf-like carnivores.
Arctotherium wingei and Protocyon troglodytes from Hoyo Negro.
The remarkable discoveries were made in the Hoyo Negro pit (Spanish: blackhole) in the Sac Actun cave system on the eastern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula . Researchers have described it as “an underworld of exquisitely preserved fossils” naturally formed from limestone in the Late Pleistocene. It is thought that animals fell nearly 60 meters (200 feet) into the death pit and when the melting glaciers filled the pit the remains became a permanent installation.
This large-scale archaeological project is being financially support by a consortium including INAH (National Institute of Anthropology and History), National Geographic Society, the ETSU Center of Excellence in Paleontology, the Archaeological Institute of America, and DirectAMS and Strauss Family Fund. Among the bones recovered by scientists over the past 12 years, the team of US and Mexican researchers were most impressed by the remains of a giant bear and a wolf-like creature .
Divers in the expansive underwater cave of Hoyo Negro, Tulum, Quintana Roo.
While having been collected several years ago, both giant species were misidentified until now. But it’s not only the awe inspiring size of these two skeletons that is fascinating scientists, it’s the fact that they are causing anthropologists to redress their theories about ancient animal populations in South America .
How so? Up until their correct identification, scientists were convinced that the short-faced bear and wolf only populated the southern aspects of the South American continent, “more than 2,000 kilometers away.”
When Did these Prehistoric Beasts Travel Such Vast Distances?
Lead author and paleontologist from the East Tennessee State University, Blaine Schubert, told reporters at Live Science , “The whole previous record of this particular type of bear is just known from a few localities in South America, and those are fragmentary remains.” And having come from almost no knowledge of this bear, the scientists now have what is being called “the best record of this type of bear from the Yucatán of Mexico.”
Trying to account for how the bear and wolf got as far north as Mexico, scientists refer to “many cross-over events between North and South America.” Another possibility being proposed by the authors is that having walked all the way south, during or after the last full glacial event between 35,000 and 12,000 years ago, they returned northwards to the region of the cave. The scientists wrote, “We suggest that landscape and ecological changes caused by latest Pleistocene glaciation supported an interchange pulse that included Homo sapiens.”
When 10,000 BC was released in 2008 critics at Variety wrote: “10,000 BC reps a missed opportunity to present an imaginative vision of a prehistoric moment.” However, in April 29, 2008 the movie had grossed approximately $268.6 million worldwide, which was said to be “dead money.” Now, it appears the movie was a really, really expensive archaeological lesson.
Top Image:A diver holds the skull of an ancient bear known as an Arctotherium. It is one of the species of “prehistoric monsters” found in an underwater Yucatan cave. Source: Copyright Roberto Chavez-Arce
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Over mijzelf
Ik ben Pieter, en gebruik soms ook wel de schuilnaam Peter2011.
Ik ben een man en woon in Linter (België) en mijn beroep is Ik ben op rust..
Ik ben geboren op 18/10/1950 en ben nu dus 74 jaar jong.
Mijn hobby's zijn: Ufologie en andere esoterische onderwerpen.
Op deze blog vind je onder artikels, werk van mezelf. Mijn dank gaat ook naar André, Ingrid, Oliver, Paul, Vincent, Georges Filer en MUFON voor de bijdragen voor de verschillende categorieën...
Veel leesplezier en geef je mening over deze blog.
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