The Akkadian Empire ruled over ancient Mesopotamia between the 24th and 22nd centuries BCE … until it mysteriously fell and disappeared. The answer to what happened may have finally been found in a stalagmite in a cave in Iran. Dragons? Giant bats? Small enemy soldiers who can see in the dark?

Researchers attempting to recreate events which occurred thousands of years ago often study soil samples, rock formations, glacier ice and other remnants of the era for evidence of what was going on both locally and globally at the time. A lesser-known but still reliable historic recording device is a speleothem – those cave structures formed in caves by the deposition of minerals from water that we like to call stalactites and stalagmites. As you may remember from elementary school, stalactites hang tightly from the cave ceiling while stalagmites might make it there someday as they grow on the cave floor. Not surprisingly, they might also last longer since they have less distance to fall. That’s the case in Gol-e-Zard Cave, located in the Alborz mountain range in northern Iran about 30 miles (50 km) from Tehran. The cave is popular with both explorers and tourists for its stunning stalactites and stalagmites and it’s there, hidden in an old stalagmite, that researchers might have found the secret to the mysterious fall of the Akkadian Empire.

Examples of stalagmites

The Akkadian Empire, with Ancient Egypt and the Indus Valley Civilization of India, is considered to be one of the three Bronze Age cradles of early civilization — three civilizations which all ended at about the same time – suggesting to many researchers that a global catastrophic event may have been the cause. However, the historical records of the Akkadian Empire are scant, so speculative reasons considered for its fall include wrath of the gods, overpopulation, revolts, invasions nomadic incursions and mismanagement by leaders. Furthermore, there’s no evidence of a major atmosphere-changing volcano or catastrophic solar winds or even man-made apocalyptic events at the time. That led Dr. Stacy Carolin of Oxford University and a team of scientists into Gol-e-Zard Cave to study a stalagmite which was there well before the empire rose and fell.

“A speleothem geochemical record from northern Iran captures significant climate fluctuations during the mid-to-late Holocene at high resolution. Two abrupt shifts in Mg/Ca last for more than a century and are interpreted as enhanced dust activity, indicating a threshold behavior in response to aridity.”

The results of Carolin’s study were published last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and the title says it all: “Precise timing of abrupt increase in dust activity in the Middle East coincident with 4.2 ka social change.” Sharp spikes in the magnesium to calcium ratio in the stalagmite point were caused by increased dust in the Alborz mountains above the cave 4200 years ago (4.2 ka or kiloannum) — dust caused by climate severe enough to result in the abandonment of the area and the demise of the Akkadian Empire.

“The extent to which climate change causes significant societal disruption remains controversial. An important example is the decline of the Akkadian Empire in northern Mesopotamia ∼4.2 ka, for which the existence of a coincident climate event is still uncertain. Here we present an Iranian stalagmite record spanning 5.2 ka to 3.7 ka, dated with 25 U/Th ages that provide an average age uncertainty of 31 y (1σ).”

Examples of stalactites

Dr. Carolin knows the non-scientific sensitivity to looking at climate change as a cause for social change leading to the end of civilizations, so she points out that stalagmite measurements are far more precise than others – with an accuracy to within 31 years. Ba-zinga! End of story! Right?

“Collapse of Earliest Known Empire Is Linked to Long, Harsh Drought”

That’s the headline from a 1993 New York Times story about a the discovery of soil evidence which suggested that the Akkadian empire was ended by a 300-year drought and called it “the first time an abrupt climate change has been directly linked to the collapse of a thriving civilization.” And yet, here scientists are 25 years later still trying to prove it to a non-scientific climate-change-skeptical public and leaders who pander rather than accept facts.

Where will we be 25 years from now? Where will OUR civilization be?

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

02-01-2019 om 16:23 geschreven door peter  

The discovery of seven virgins is big news, although it would be bigger if the virgins were men instead of women. In this case they’re women but their discovery after a massive flooding is huge in both archeological and Hindu religious contexts because they may be terracotta religious statues of a long-lost civilization that once lived along the Pamba River in southern India. Why were these Seven Virgins significant enough to honor with statues? It may not be what you think.

The Hindu reports that the terracotta statues of “male and female figurines, snakeheads, bust of a man and a twin female terracotta figurine” were found in late September in Edayaranmula, a town in the south western state of Kerala, when the banks of the Pamba (also referred to as the Pampa) river collapsed after a recent heavy deluge and destructive flash flooding. Fishermen in the area found the artifacts amongst uprooted trees and did the right thing by contacting the local Kerala Department of Archeology.

Pamba River (Wikipedia)

“Mostly, the idols had seven faces. A group of seven women sitting close together was a prominent kind of figurine. We also found male figurines and Naga (serpent) figurines. The idols look like they belonged to a place of worship — like a sacred grove for the naga gods (pambin kavu). The concept of Sapta Kanya (seven virgins) or Sapta Matrika (a group of mother goddesses) is a common theme in the idols. Votive sculptures or shilpams used for idol sacrifice was also excavated from the region.”

Krishnaraj K, a professor in the Department of Archaeology, told The News Minute that a few terracotta figures had been found in this region before so he knew immediately this was not a hoax. Teams descended upon the area and began careful excavations which unearthed the exposed statues and found many more. (Photos here.)

Sapta Matrikas unearthed from Aranmula

Naga idol found in Aranmula

Cist burial site discovered on the opposite banks of the Pamba during excavations 

“We are going to send them for Thermoluminescence dating, a process used to determine the exact age of the figurines by identifying the time elapsed since the material was exposed to sunlight or heat. We will be sending the samples to Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology in Dehradun.”

It is hoped that the artifacts will shed light on the long-lost Pamba River Civilization, a Bronze Age (3300 to 1200 BCE) culture significant to the beginnings of the Hindu religion but whose early history is a mystery. In the old Hindu Epics, Pampa was Lord Brahma’s daughter and later married Lord Shiva. Lord Ayyappan (Sri Dharmasastha), son of Lord Shiva, appeared as a child on the banks of the Pamba River and it is considered to be the southern equivalent of the Ganga, drawing devotees of Lord Ayyappan to bath in it and build temples on its banks. It’s suspected that the artifacts are from one of more such temples.

“Saying that is a bit much. A civilization stands as a huge era in history, consisting of many generations of people and their progress. Here we are talking about small tribes living close to the river. The idols found are mostly used for worship.”

Krishnaraj hesitates to say that these are terracotta missing links of the Pamba River Civilization, but they’re definitely religious artifacts used by a small group of its members. Archeologists know that when there’s a few there’s probably more so they will continue to excavate the area and research the statues.

And the Seven Virgins? The Sapta Kanya (seven virgins) or Sapta Matrika (seven mother goddesses) are still worshiped in southern India. More significant are the Naga figurines which represent a race of half-men and half-serpents (cobras) that are believed to be guardians of the water. All point to this being the likely site of an ancient temple of an ancient lost civilization.

Floods take away but they sometimes give back too.

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

31-12-2018 om 15:00 geschreven door peter  

30-12-2018 om 23:52 geschreven door peter  

Puzzling Palpa Lines In Peru Made By The Paracas Culture Are Even Older Than The Nazca Lines

Ellen Lloyd - AncientPage.com - The enigmatic Palpa lines in Peru are not as famous as the Nazca lines, but these puzzling lines and geoglyphs that can only be properly viewed from the air are equally interesting.

Archaeological examinations reveal the Palpa lines are older than the Nazca lines and were most likely created by the Paracas culture, an Andean society that existed about 800 BCE and 100 BCE, in what today is the Ica Region of Peru.

The Palpa lines are located in between the towns of Sacramento, Pinchango, and Llipata. The purpose of the lines and geoglyphs is unknown. There are as many as 600 geoglyphs of giant size and they represent a series of human and animal zoomorphic figures, including the Familia Real (Royal Family), a group of eight figures on a hillside.

Credit: Great Nazca Tours

The purpose of the Palpa lines and geoglyphs is unknown and just like the Nazca lines, these ancient carvings are regarded as one of archaeology's greatest enigmas because of their quantity, nature, size and continuity. Scientists suggest the geoglyphs had ritual astronomical functions

Over The Palpa Lines: The Sun Star

- Credit: gloetzner.net

These giant geoglyphs and lines must have been of great importance to our ancestors and they were undoubtedly not easy to create. Many consider the figures to be extraordinary example of the traditional and millenary magical-religious world of the ancient Pre-Hispanic societies which flourished in Peru.

The Familia Real (Royal Family)

-  Credit and copyright Brian J. McMorrow

The mysterious Candelabrum located about 130 miles from the Nazca Plain is one of the most enigmatic ancient giant ground drawings in the world

The Candelabra is 595 feet long and resembles a candlestick. It can be seen from as far as 12 miles out to sea. Who made it and why? This is a question no-one has been able to answer so far. Obviously, its creators believed it was important that the ground drawing must be clearly visible from the air.

It’s important to note that similar geoglyphs have been found In North America as well.  As we here at Ancient Pages wrote earlier, in the American Southwest and adjacent Mexico there are over 300 remarkable intaglios.

The most famous of those are the Blythe Intaglios, located west of the Colorado River about 15 miles north of Blythe, California.

Mastamho, the Creator of Earth and all Life.

Here we come across gigantic human and animal figures carved on the ground. Just like the Peru’s wonderful and intriguing Nazca lines, these figures can only be seen properly from the air, which is the reason they weren’t discovered by white man until the 20th century.

See also:

• Beautiful Ancient City Of Pisac In The Sacred Valley, Peru – Incredible Inca Ruins
• El Volcán: Mysterious Volcano-Shaped Pyramid With Never Revealed Secrets In Peru
• Cyclopean Fortress Of Sacsayhuamán – ‘Impossible’ Ancient Technology In Peru

According to the stories told by modern-day Mohave and Quechan Indians the human figures represent Mastamho, the Creator of Earth and all Life, while the animal figures represent Hatakulya, one of two mountain lions who helped in the Creation.

The geoglyphs are giant in size, but this doesn’t prevent them from being undetected for year. Just recently, researchers found a new giant geoglyph of orca with mysterious symbols and a ‘trophy head’ in the Nazca Desert. The figures are difficult to discovered because they can only be seen properly from the air. We can only wonder how many more giant geoglyphs are still hiding just in front of our eyes.

• Written by  Ellen Lloyd – AncientPages.com
• About the author:
  Ellen Lloyd – is the owner of AncientPages.com and an author who has spent decades researching ancient mysteries, myths, legends and sacred texts, but she is also very interested in astronomy, astrobiology and science in general

{ http://www.ancientpages.com/}

30-12-2018 om 00:00 geschreven door peter  

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.

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.

{ https://www.disclose.tv/ }

29-12-2018 om 00:15 geschreven door peter  

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.

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.

{ https://www.disclose.tv/ }

29-12-2018 om 00:10 geschreven door peter  

NG STAFF. SOURCE: MORISHIMA, K. ET AL. DISCOVERY OF A BIG VOID IN KHUFU’S PYRAMID BY OBSERVATION OF COSMIC-RAY MUONS. NATURE

{ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/ }

27-12-2018 om 23:10 geschreven door peter  

Long-Hidden 'Pyramid' Found in Indonesia Was Likely an Ancient Temple

25-12-2018 om 23:04 geschreven door peter  

‘Not of this earth’ Did ALIENS make daggers found in Tutankhamun’s tomb?

IRON daggers found in the tomb of ancient Egyptian Pharoah Tutankhaman which have baffled scientists for generations are made from metal “not from this earth” – sparking suggestions they could have been made using alien technology.

25-12-2018 om 01:20 geschreven door peter  

Egyptian CURSE? Six archaeologists DIE mysteriously within MONTHS of opening sarcophagus

SIX archaeologists died mysteriously just months after they opened up an ancient Egyptian coffin, a bombshell documentary has revealed.

20-12-2018 om 22:23 geschreven door peter  

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

19-12-2018 om 12:35 geschreven door peter  

Forget horsepower, Stonehenge was built with COW-power: Cattle that lived 8,000 years ago were used as 'animal engines' to lug around heavy objects for Neolithic people

• Stonehenge's bluestones originate from Wales and ended up in Wiltshire
• It has long been a mystery as to how they completed this 160 mile journey  
• Archaeologists have found wear patterns on the feet of bovines from 6,000 BC 
• This is 2,000 years before cattle was previously thought to be used as 'engines' 

By JOE PINKSTONE FOR MAILONLINE 

Stonehenge may have been built with the assistance of cows who helped carry the enormous rocks across the British Isles. 

It could help explain how the fabled bluestones managed to complete the journey from Wales to Wiltshire, where Stonehenge still sits today. 

Previous research has claimed the movement of glaciers deposited the huge slabs of rock 160 miles away from their original location. 

New research has found evidence of cattle being used by humans to pull and carry heavy loads for 8,000 years. 

Scroll down fro video 

Archaeologists at University College London discovered that the bones in the feet of Neolithic cattle demonstrated distinctive wear patterns, indicative of exploitation as 'animal engines' (pictured)

Archaeologists at University College London discovered that the bones in the feet of Neolithic cattle demonstrated distinctive wear patterns, indicative of exploitation as 'animal engines'. 

Neolithic cattle in the Balkans were therefore being used for our purposes two millennia earlier than previously thought. 

It is believed that the use of bovines stemmed from a need to create settlements from felled wood and move it to different locations. 

The use of the animals during this period of neolithic history opens up the possibility they were used to transport Stonehenge's rocks, which was erected at around 5,000 BC.

Research has revealed that cattle were being used for traction – to pull loads – from the earliest Neolithic habitation sites in the Balkans. 

Stonehenge may have been built with the assistance of cows who carried the enormous rocks. It could help explain how the fabled bluestones managed to complete the journey from Wales to Wiltshire, where Stonehenge still sits today (Stock)

'Our repeated identification of the exploitation of cattle for pulling heavy loads calls into question the current scope of the analysis and interpretation of the use of animals in prehistoric Europe.' 

Experts say that if these practices can be found to have been used elsewhere it will have major ramifications on our understanding of animal use in the Neolithic.

Dr Gaastra writes: 'A firm understanding of the nature of early traction evidence in prehistoric Europe has significant implications for our knowledge of both management practices and the nature of labour and movement in prehistoric societies'   

HOW WAS STONEHENGE BUILT?

{

18-12-2018 om 21:05 geschreven door peter  

The mystery of how the ancients travelled 160 miles across the British Isles from Wales to Wiltshire with the extremely heavy stones that we now know as Stonehenge may have finally been solved. Cattle were used as “animal engines” to help the Neolithic people carry around large objects. And while it is known that cattle were used as “engines”, this new information brings the dates back 2,000 years earlier than previously thought.

Earlier research indicated that the movement of glaciers brought the huge rocks to their current location, but now it seems as though it was actually cows that helped the ancients make the long journey. For approximately 8,000 years, cattle were used to carry heavy loads and this was proven by the discovery of foot bones in ancient cattle.

Archaeologists from the University College London found that the foot bones from Neolithic cattle from the Balkans showed specific wear patterns that could only come from being used as “animal engines”. The cattle were used to haul wood to help create settlements; therefore, it’s very possible that they were also used to carry Stonehenge’s large rocks – which weighed several tons each – to the location where the monument resides to this very day.

• Click here to see pictures of the distinct wear patterns in the cattle foot bones.

Dr. Jane Gaastra, who is the lead author in a study published in Antiquity about this discovery, said, “We have been able to provide the first conclusive evidence that farmers were using cattle for ‘traction’ almost 2,000 years earlier than the previous consensus date. There has only been one other foot sample from the Neolithic period found in Syria but this was inconclusive. The part of the Balkans where we found the bones was heavy forested in the Neolithic period, so chopping trees to create settlements would have required a lot of man power. Cattle would therefore have been a vital asset helping to transport items such as timber for housing.”

The study, which was conducted in the central and western Balkans, indicated that the earliest farmers from Europe used cattle for dairy and meat, but also as a type of power engine. And this happened two thousand years earlier than what they had initially thought.

Dr. Marc Vander Linden, who is the co-author of the study, said, “Until now it has generally been considered that traction only emerged by the 5^th and 4^th millennium BC, parallel to the introduction of the plough and the wheel, but our study demonstrates that this is not the case. We reveal that when the wheel and the plough became available farmers were already experienced in using cattle for traction, and this could have facilitated the spread of these innovations.”

Researchers studied twelve cattle foot bone samples that came from males and females from eleven Neolithic sites in the central and western Balkans between the years 6,000 and 4,500 BC. They also plan to conduct more studies across Europe in order to determine whether this form of traction happened only in a few Neolithic groups or if it was a popular practice across the continent.

Stonehenge is an incredible and mysterious site, and now that new information has been discovered suggesting that cows helped in the process of constructing the monument, that makes it even more fascinating.

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

18-12-2018 om 20:39 geschreven door peter  

Is this hillside hiding the world's oldest pyramid? Ancient structure in Indonesia could be up to 20,000 years old

• Geologist claims the site in West Java could be 9,000 to 20,000 years old
• Dr Danny Hilman says man-made hillside hides a pyramid structure
• Tests have established parts of the structure date to 7,000 BC
• Could re-write pre-history, but other experts claim excavation is flawed

By SARAH GRIFFITHS FOR MAILONLINE

Egypt’s oldest pyramid was built almost 5,000 years ago but a similar structure hidden beneath rubble could be up to four times older.

If true, the claim could rewrite prehistory and shed light on an obscure yet powerful and advanced ancient civilisation.

Geologist Dr Danny Hilman believes that a site in West Java is revered because it hides an ancient temple built between 9,000 and 20,000 years ago.

Scroll down for video 

A geologist claims that the world's oldest pyramid is hidden under rubble (pictured) in West Java, which if true, could re-write pre-history in the region and shed light on a powerful and advanced ancient civilisation

The Megalithic site of Gunung Padang was discovered in 1914 and is the largest site of its kind in Indonesia. 

It is nestled among volcanoes, banana palms and tea plantations, at 2,903 ft (885 metres) above sea level some 75 miles (120km) south of Jakarta.

Chunks of volcanic rubble jut out up from the stepped hillside, which is considered sacred by the Sundanese people who live locally.

Geologist Dr Danny Hilman believes the site is culturally important is because it is an ancient pyramid which was built between 9,000 and 20,000 years ago.

He suggests that it may have been built for worship or astronomy. 

The megalithic site of Gunung Padang (pictured) was discovered in 1914 and is the largest site of its kind in Indonesia. It's nestled among volcanoes banana and tea plantations, at 2,903 ft (885 metres) above sea level

Chunks of volcanic rubble stick up from the stepped hillside (pictured), which is considered sacred by the Sundanese people who live locally. Geologist Dr Danny Hilman thinks the reason the site is so revered is that it is an ancient pyramid which was built between 9,000 and 20,000 years ago

THE WORLD’S OLDEST PYRAMIDS 

If the structure in West Java is revealed to be a 20,000-year-old pyramid, it will be the oldest on Earth.

In 1996, archaeologists discovered pyramids on the Atlantic coast of southern Brazil that sate to around 3,000 BC, making them a few hundred years older than Egypt's oldest pyramid.

But both civilisations built them for religious reasons.

The Brazilian pyramids are made from shells and were probably built in phases over decades or even centuries, The Independent reported. 

For years, experts thought the pyramids were simply piles of domestic rubbish.

Egypt’s oldest known pyramid is the step pyramid of Djoser, which was built in around 2,700 BC.

It was built by a master builder called Imhotep for the burial of Pharaoh Djoser and is composed of six steps.

the ancient structure was rocked by a pyramid in 1992, leaving it unstable with a large hole in its domed roof, but restoration is underway.

If this is true, prehistoric people would have had to manoeuvre chunks of volcanic rock onto terraces built on the mountainside and stack them on top of each other to create a pyramid – a considerable feat of ancient engineering.

Dr Hilman, a senior geologist at Indonesia’s Centre for Geotechnical Research, says that proof of the structure’s organisation lies underground.

His excavations have been backed by the Indonesian government, which recently decreed that the upper part of Gunung Padang is 'the largest megalithic structure in south-east Asia,' The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

President Yudhoyono dubbed the dig a ‘task of history…of important value to humanity.' and it has yielded some ancient artefacts.

Dr Hilman said: ‘People think the prehistoric age was primitive, but this monument proves that wrong.’

He believes such a pyramid would be proof of an advanced ancient civilisation in Java and said that the majority of the stepped site is man-made, perhaps built by generations over a matter of centuries.

The geologist is now working to establish the authenticity of the site. 

Some rocks were originally stuck together with a form of ancient glue and have been carbon dated to be around 7,000 BC. 

Dr Hilman said that the ruins hide walls and rooms with steps and terraces below, which are evidence of a complex building. 

Dr Hilman said: ‘People think the prehistoric age was primitive, but this monument proves that wrong.’ Some rocks were originally stuck together with a form of ancient glue and have been carbon dated to be around 7,000 BC. The site is thought to have been built for worship or astronomy

The site (marked on the map) is nestled among volcanoes, banana palms and tea plantations, at 2,903 ft (885 metres) above sea level some 75 miles (120km) south of Jakarta, and south east of Sukabumi City (marked)

The terraces are bordered by retaining walls of stone that can be accessed by 400 steps rising around 311 ft (95 metres).

The structure is covered with massive rectangular stones of volcanic origin.

It has been subjected to multiple geoelectric surveys, where ground penetrating radar and samples have been used.

From this, he believes the terraced hill is 328 ft (100 metres) thick and is made up of a number of layers.

He said that so far man-made structures have been detected 49 ft (15 metres) underground. 

Experts dated rock between nine and 13 ft (three and four metres) below the surface as 6,500 years old and 12,500 years old below the surface.

However, Dr Hilman’s controversial findings are disputed and 34 Indonesian archaeologists and geologists have submitted a petition criticising the projects’ methods and motives.

They say that the excavation threatens the preservation of the site as it is and are annoyed at the prospect of involving civilian archaeologists in the excavation.

Volcanologist Sutikno Bronto believes that the structure isn’t a pyramid at all, but the neck of an old volcano and that the stones surveyed have been weathered by nature instead of being cut by humans.

Another anonymous expert is sceptical that such an ancient civilisation could have been advanced enough to build a pyramid so many thousands of years ago, when tools recovered from a nearby cave, dating to 7,000 BC were very primitive.

The terraces are bordered by retaining walls of stone (pictured) that can be accessed by 400 steps rising around 311 ft (95 metres). They date to at least 5,000 BC

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

18-12-2018 om 18:08 geschreven door peter  

(Danny Hilman Natawidjaja)

Here, scattered across a vast hilltop in the West Java province of Indonesia, lay the remnants of a massive complex of rocky structures and monuments – an archaeological wonder since described as the largest megalithic site in all of Southeastern Asia.

But those early settlers couldn't have guessed the greatest wonder of all might lay hidden, buried deep in the ground below their feet.

(Danny Hilman Natawidjaja)

In controversial new research presented at the AGU 2018 Fall Meeting in Washington, DC last week, a team of Indonesian scientists presented data to make their case that Gunung Padang is in fact the site of the world's oldest known pyramid-like structure.

Their research, which has been conducted over the course of several years, suggests that Gunung Padang is not the hill we think it is – but is actually a layered series of ancient structures with foundations dating back some 10,000 years (or even older).

"Our studies proves that the structure does not cover just the top but also wrap around the slopes covering about 15 hectares area at least," the authors write in the abstract for their new poster.

"The structures are not only superficial but rooted into greater depth."

Using a combination of surveying methods – including ground penetration radar (GPR), seismic tomography, and archaeological excavations – the team says Gunung Padang is not just an artificial structure, but a series of several layers built over consecutive prehistoric periods.

The topmost, megalithic layer made up of rock columns, walls, paths, and spaces, sits above a second layer some 1-3 metres below the surface.

(Danny Hilman Natawidjaja)

The researchers suggest this second layer has previously been misinterpreted as natural rock formation, but is actually another arrangement of columnar rocks organised in a matrix structure.

Below this, a third layer of arranged rocks - containing large underground cavities or chambers - extends as far as 15 metres deep, and this sits upon the lowest (fourth) layer, made of 'lava tongue' basalt rock, somehow modified or carved by human hands.

According to the researchers, preliminary radiocarbon dating suggests the first layer could be up to approximately 3,500 old years old, the second layer somewhere around 8,000 years old, and the third layer in the vicinity of 9,500 to 28,000 years old.

As for the purpose of these ancient, vast structures, the researchers – led by geophysicist Danny Hilman Natawidjaja from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences – suggest the ancient pyramid could have had a religious basis.

"It's a unique temple," Natawidjaja told Live Science.

For now, that's speculation, but if the researchers' other claims about the structures turn out to be right, it's a major finding that could challenge notions of what prehistoric societies were capable of.

'It's huge,'' Natawidjaja told The Sydney Morning Herald in 2013. ''People think the prehistoric age was primitive, but this monument proves that wrong.''

(Danny Hilman Natawidjaja)

Still, not everybody is convinced. Natawidjaja's research has been the subject of much controversy in Indonesia and elsewhere, with a large number of archaeologists and skeptics criticising the team's methods and findings.

The latest research presentations – which, for now, remain non-peer-reviewed – will probably add fuel to the fire, but they also give the world a closer glimpse at what could be one of the world's most ancient and mysterious structures.

As for what that structure really is, only time will tell.

The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in Washington, DC last week.

{ https://www.sciencealert.com/ }

18-12-2018 om 17:26 geschreven door peter  

Spectacular, colorful tomb of ancient Egyptian high priest revealed (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

The newly-discovered tomb at the Saqqara necropolis, 30 kilometers south of Cairo.

© AFP / Khaled Desouki

The tomb at the Saqqara necropolis is in good condition and its walls are lined with images depicting the tomb owner, a high priest, and his family, according to Egypt’s Minister of Antiquities, Dr. Khalid Al Anani.

Numerous colorful statues have also been found at the site, which dates back to the reign of King Neferirkare of the Fifth Dynasty, and archaeologists hope to find the sarcophagus of the high priest himself. Neferirkare was in power around the 25th century BC.

© AFP / Khaled Desouki

Excavations continue at the site, with archaeologists cleaning and restoring their finds as they continue deeper into the cemetery.

The discovery is “one of a kind in the last decades,” according to Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities.

© AFP / Khaled Desouki

The tomb's entrance

© AFP / Khaled Desouki

{ https://www.rt.com/ }

18-12-2018 om 16:42 geschreven door peter  

Does anyone worry about Egyptian curses guarding ancient tombs anymore? Apparently not since the country’s tourism ministry figured out how much money can be made by holding big ‘tomb opening‘ media extravaganzas as soon as they’re found. The curses don’t even seem to be scaring away tourists who are actually climbing up the Great Pyramid to take nude selfies — unless you count getting arrested as a curse). Whatever the case, any and all curses were ignored over the weekend as a 4,000-year-old “exceptionally well-preserved” tomb belonging to a royal purification priest under the reign of King Nefer Ir-Ka-Re was opened and exposed to the harsh lights of the world media.

Shouldn’t there be a “No climbing or nude selfies” sign?

“It is the most beautiful tomb discovered this year.”

If anyone should know, it’s Antiquities Minister Khaled Anany, who announced the opening of yet another tomb at the Sacred Animal Necropolis in Saqqara to Egypt Today and other media sources. “Royal purification,” a description found in the tomb’s hieroglyphics, means high priest “Wahtye” was a supervisor for the king whose duties included inspecting the holy boat, which is most likely the funerary vessel used for taking the king to the afterlife. Wahtye had no boat in his own tomb, but the fact that it has apparently never been looted or even opened since its sealing meant that the writings and paintings on the walls were in great shape (see the beautiful photos here) and told the stories of his life, his wife ’Weret Ptah’, his mother ‘Merit Meen’ and the rest of his family participating in activities such as making wine and pottery, religious ceremonies, sailing and hunting. Royal purification priest was obviously a pretty good gig during the reign of King Nefer-Ir-Ka-Re, who ruled during the fifth dynasty of the Old Kingdom, a period from the early 25th century BCE until the mid 24th century BCE.

Sailing on the Nile

“The color is almost intact even though the tomb is almost 4,400 years old.”

Secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Mostafa Waziri really didn’t need to put any more spin on the announcement. The tomb is a rectangular shape measuring 10 meters (33 feet) long, 3 meters (10 feet) wide and 3 meters high, with a basement with a basement, five burial shafts and two false doors. The colors are brilliant for being 4,000 years old and the statues carved into wall niches are in great shape. It’s no wonder the Antiquities Ministry opened the tomb just days after its discovery and is already preparing to open another one nearby that was just found.

Are the curses gone? Did they ever exist to begin with? Perhaps the only people being cursed by these ancient Egyptian tombs are the ones who were planning new mummy horror movies.

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

17-12-2018 om 22:44 geschreven door peter  

Laser Scans Reveal 60,000 Previously Unknown Maya Structures Hidden in Guatemalan Jungle!

In a monumental archaeological discovery, whose magnitude hasn’t been seen in decades, an aerial survey over northern Guatemala revealed tens of thousands of Maya structures, including pyramids, palaces, temples, fortifications, highways, houses, and farms, which had been hidden for centuries amidst the thick vegetation of the Guatemalan jungle. This incredible discovery indicates that the Mayas had an enormous, interconnected network of ancient cities, which revised estimates now say may have been home to as many as 7 to 11 million people some 1,200 years ago.

Archaeologists are Hitting the Ground Running

In February, National Geographic exclusively revealed that the previously unknown ancient structures were spotted using LiDAR (“Light Detection and Ranging”) technology, which can ‘see through’ the jungle canopy to identify monuments below . The aerial scanning technique is revolutionizing the field of archaeology as it quickly reveals man-made sites, which would be near impossible to discover through ground searches due to the dense vegetation and harsh conditions of the jungles of Central and South America.

Now the full study from Tulane University has been published in Science magazine and confirms the extent of the Maya civilization in the region.

Francisco Estrada-Belli, a researcher from Tulane commented:

“Seen as a whole, terraces and irrigation channels, reservoirs, fortifications and causeways reveal an astonishing amount of land modification done by the Maya over their entire landscape on a scale previously unimaginable.”

In a statement , Marcello Canuto, director of the Middle American Research Institute at Tulane listed some of the highlights, including 61,480 ancient structures in the survey region; an estimated population of 7-11 million; 362 square kilometers of terraces or otherwise modified agricultural terrain and another 952 square kilometers of viable farmland; 106 square kilometers of causeways within and between urban centers.

An earlier LIDAR scan that revealed a network of roads, canals, corrals, pyramids, and terraces at El Mirador.

Credit: Archaeological Project Cuenca Mirador.

“LiDAR is revolutionizing archaeology the way the Hubble Space Telescope revolutionized astronomy,” said Francisco Estrada-Belli , a Tulane University archaeologist and National Geographic Explorer [via National Geographic]. “We’ll need 100 years to go through all [the data] and really understand what we’re seeing.”

Now that the location of tens of thousands of monuments have been identified, archaeologists are hitting the ground running to begin excavations and explorations of some of the sites.

• Oldest Royal Tomb of the Classic Maya Centipede Dynasty is Unearthed in Guatemala
• 2,000-Year-Old Maya Superhighway Discovered in the Jungle of Guatemala
• Remarkable Secret Tombs of Maya Snake Kings Reveal Fascinating Story

Enormous ‘Megalopolis’ Revealed

The project mapped a 2,100 square kilometre (800 square mile) area around the popular tourist site of Tikal in the Petén region of Guatemala. The results of the aerial survey, which produced a series of 3D images of the landscape below the jungle canopy, revealed an enormous network of cities, which is being hailed as a ‘megalopolis’.

The images showed over 60,000 previously unknown structures, including complex agricultural systems with canals, dikes, and reservoirs for irrigation, and terracing for supporting food production for the masses. Also discovered was a huge highway network – raised to prevent flooding issues in the rainy season – which connected the cities and quarries, and had been constructed by hand, without the use of the wheel or ‘beasts of burden’.

Another surprising finding was the sheer scale of the defensive structures, including walls, ramparts, terraces and fortresses, which indicate that warfare was happening on a much larger-scale than previously realized.

“Warfare wasn’t only happening toward the end of the civilization,” said Thomas Garrison, an Ithaca College archaeologist and National Geographic Explorer. “It was large-scale and systematic, and it endured over many years.” [via National Geographic].

Population Estimates Dramatically Revised

One of the implications of the discovery is that archaeologists must now revise their estimates of the size and extent of the Maya civilization.

“The results suggest that Central America supported an advanced civilization that was, at its peak some 1,200 years ago, more comparable to sophisticated cultures such as ancient Greece or China than to the scattered and sparsely populated city states that ground-based research had long suggested,” reports National Geographic.

More generous population estimates had been around the 5 million mark, but the recent finding suggests that 7-11 million people had been living in the jungle cities at the peak of the Maya civilization Late Classic Period (approximately 250 – 900 AD).

• Archaeologists discover Royal Maya Burial at El Zotz Ruins in Guatemala
• The Stone Head of Guatemala that History Wants to Forget
• Mayan Child Sacrifices with ‘Divine’ Obsidian and Jade Discovered in Guatemala

Artist’s representation of what the Maya world may have once looked like (artist unknown)

This is Only the Beginning

The survey is just the first stage of a project spearheaded by the PACUNAM Foundation , a Guatemalan non-profit that fosters scientific research, sustainable development, and cultural heritage preservation.  Only 16% of the total area that the project will eventually map has been completed. Over the next three years, more than 14,000 square kilometres (5,000 square miles) of Guatemala’s lowlands will be scanned with the LiDAR technology, leaving open the question of just how many more thousands of monuments will be discovered.

It is an exciting time in archaeology as so much of the ancient world, which has been buried beneath sands, hidden below vegetation, or submerged by the sea, now has the potential to re-emerge from the pages of history.

Top image: LiDAR image revealing Maya structures beneath the jungle canopy in Guatemala             

Source: Marcello A. Canuto/ Tulane University

By Joanna Gillan

{ https://www.ancient-origins.net/ }

17-12-2018 om 15:05 geschreven door peter  

Atlantis Discovered in the Bermuda Triangle – The Sunken City Features Giant Pyramids and Sphinxes [Complete]

Two scientists, Paul Weinzweig and Pauline Zalitzki, working off the coast of Cuba and using a robot submersible, have confirmed that a gigantic city exists at the bottom of the ocean.

The site of the ancient city — that includes several sphinxes and at least four giant pyramids plus other structures — amazingly sits within the boundries of the fabled Bermuda Triangle.

According to a report by Arclein of Terra Forming Terra, Cuban Subsea Pyramid Complex, the evidence points to the city being simultaneously inundated with rising waters and the land sinking into the sea. This correlates exactly with the Atlantis legend.

Watch the video below:

{ http://aliensdocs.com/ }

17-12-2018 om 01:07 geschreven door peter  

Strange Castle-Like Structure Emerges In Antarctica – Proof Of Advanced Ancient Civilization?

An enormous castle structure revealed itself in Antarctica, striking immediate opinions that the icy continent was once a homeland to an ancient civilization.

The image of the castle taken from Google Earth depicts an oval-shaped formation. Theorists have estimated it measures around 400 foot across.

This structure appears to show signs of a tremendous, man-made building, similar to a medieval motte and bailey castle.

If we observe the image carefully, we can notice how the rings of the structure look like a man-made structure in ruins, covered with ice and snow.

If it’s not a product of mother nature, then who created this castle? This question does not provide an answer since the structure locates in the only place on Earth where people can’t seem to form a life.

It wasn’t a surprise that people quickly started debating whether an ancient civilization once lived here. On the other hand, there were others who claim the castle is only a natural phenomenon.

But, whether this enigmatic construction is, it is still quite remarkable and engaging.

What if, in the distant past, Antarctica was not the picture we see today, but something rather the opposite.

Perhaps it had civilization developing over there, building structures just like this one. And we are encountering evidence of it as the time goes by.

Besides this castle, there appeared several ancient maps that painted some Antarctica parts iceless.

One of them was the 1513’s map by Turkish Admiral Piri Reis. Namely, this map shows Antarctica which was in fact discovered between 1818-1820. Weird, huh?

Recently, modern beliefs have pushed down the aisle mainstream scholars. People increasingly believe that ancient civilizations were much more advanced than we think.

Several maps discovered in the past are evidence that the story we know lacks some important parts.

Maybe these ancient maps, together with satellite images of our planet are the ultimate proof that civilizations could have lived in the most desolate places on our planet in the distant past.

Experts explained the reason to be a natural cause. They said it’s an ice structure, built by the heavy snowfall, low temperature, and Antarctica’s freezing katabatic wind.

Experts believe that what satellites spotted over Eastern Antarctica may be weirdly-shaped Sastrugi – sharp irregular grooves formed on a snow surface by wind erosion.

However, sastrugi always appear in a different shape, depending on the wind’s direction. They very rarely emerge as an oval formation, as the image appears to depict.

This fort-like structure is not the first discovery to suggest issues about ancient civilizations living in Antarctica. There was also a pyramid, hidden inside the snow, which had a triangular, symmetrical shape.

{ http://notfromearth.org/ }

11-12-2018 om 20:48 geschreven door peter