Pyramids in Europe

I ran across an interesting lecture that Philip Coppens gave at the Nexus Conference 2007 in Brisbane about pyramids in Europe. The article he's posted has pictures of each site he discusses which go a long way toward showing the similarities and differences between the sites.

He does a really nice job of discussing some of the known pyramids in Europe, while leaving open the idea that there's more to discover. As odd as that seems, that a pyramid could go "undiscovered" it does seem to be the case quite often.

For instance, he gives a lot of time to the remarkable discoveries of apparent pyramids in Bosnia. As large as they are, and as apparent as they seem in photos, no one seems to have thought about them being anything more than freaks of nature until a few years ago. The base of the largest is 365 meters on each side forming a perfect square, and it stands 220 meters high. This, according to the research team, would make it the largest pyramid on Earth.

The reason seems to simply be that no one believed that pyramids that large could exist in Europe, and, therefore, they must be very strange natural occurrences. However, upon further research, evidence seems to be growing by the day that these are, in fact, man made pyramids.



The evidence to support that hypothesis is mostly structural, in the fact that large blocks have been found in place, reminiscent of the size of the blocks used in the Giza Plateau, a floor seems to be in place made of rectangular stones much like modern paving stones, and it's a well known fact in the local community that a "cement" exists on and around the pyramid, approximately 1 meter underground, which locals have been unable to dig through for wells or basements. Beyond that, the corners of the pyramid line up the the cardinal points, and tunnels also seem to travel in many locations underneath and around the sites of the pyramids.

In fact, just about 6 weeks ago a research team of Egyptian archaeologists and pyramid experts released a statement based on their first hand look at the Bosnian pyramids, which read, in part:

...the Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun is the largest pyramid ever witnessed; it is an amazing structure of a great importance for the entire world.

It seems as though they're sold on the idea that at least the largest of the Bosnian pyramids is man-made.

Obviously, with these pyramids in Bosnia being fairly new discoveries, research is currently ongoing, and more is bound to come out about them along the way. Much of the archaeological excavation is slow work and time consuming, and many of the tunnels have been sealed by the locals over the years, probably for safety's sake. Stalagtites found in one of the tunnels, though, has already yielded a minimum growing time that pushes the creation date into the BC era, and as with any study of ancient history, it's almost certainly likely to be pushed back further as the research develops.

Beyond the fascinating story of the Bosnian Pyramids, Phillip explores pyramids in France, Spain, Italy and Greece. None are as impressive or large as the Bosnian or Egyptian pyramids, but each has a fascinating story to go with them. One of the things that stood out to me reading about each one was the lack of research that's gone into them. Each is largely unexplored, or has much exploration left to go, so the stories that each holds are bound to come out over the years.

For instance, at a pyramid site in France it took almost one hundred years from discovery until exploration, and even then tunnels were located which were not explored extensively at the time. When the lead researcher came back three years later he found the tunnels sealed, and it seems they likely still are to this day.

Perhaps the stigma of saying that there's pyramids outside of Egypt and other well known locations is wearing off, and serious research will continue, and in some cases begin, giving us more answers about our shared history. I think the story that will eventually come out of this will continue to tie various ancient cultures from around the world together in ways we never realized before.

National Geographic is reporting the discovery of stone tools in Minnesota that might be 13,000 years old, dating them to the late Ice Age. While they've only been dated by the layer in which they were found at this point, the discovery hints at the continual pushing back of the date at which humans are believed to inhabited North America. If confirmed, the tools would push back known habitation in Minnesota at least 4,000 years.

In an article titled "Fossils: myths, mystery and magic" Steve Connor explores the history of fossils, their discoveries throughout history, and some of the myths which unfolded from early discoveries of strange looking fossils. Some of the stories show quite clearly how certain stories may have been propagated, and most I'd never actually heard of. For instance:

Fossil trees and giant serpents

The fossil Lepidodendron is an extinct genus of a tree-like plant related to club mosses. They could sometimes grow to heights of 30 metres and have trunks a metre thick, and thrived during the Carboniferous period (360 to 300 million years ago).

Lepidodendrons had tall, thick trunks that rarely branched and were topped with a crown of branches bearing leaves. The leaf scars on their trunks and stems looked like tyre tracks or alligator skin.

The folklore Lepidodendrons' rotted and compacted remains formed the coal seams exploited in Britain. After their leaves had fallen off, their trunks became covered with diamond-shaped scars, which resembled the scales of a reptile. As late as 1851 a specimen of this fossil tree was exhibited in Neath as a gigantic fossilised serpent. Visitors could view the 8ft-long specimen for the sum of one shilling (tradesmen six pence and working classes three pence).

Lepidodendrons are now known as scale trees.

I can imagine that fossil would look quite strange to an uneducated observer!

The Guardian has a really interesting article on prehistoric tools found in the Amazonian jungle. That alone would make for a good find, however, these tools were made and used by chimps, not humans, and point to a "chimpanzee stone age" 4,300 years ago. They suspect that the idea of using stone tools might have even been passed on to both humans and chimps from a common relative even further back, and are hoping to find evidence of older stone tool use in the region.

I read two archaeological articles today that I thought were worth sharing.

First one was yet another discovery of a Stonehenge-like formation, this time in Brazil in the midst of the Amazon.

The second one was an article on archaeologists making the best of looters, and even using some of the looters work, in South America in the heart of ancient Mayan territory.

Recent fossil evidence has pushed human ancestors back closer to the dinosaur age. The primates fossils have moved the known date of their first emergence back quite a long time, possibly as much as 10 million years.

As we further our knowledge of the history of this planet I've always believed that the time line of human evolution would be changed. We continue to push our history on the planet back further, in every aspect. First civilizations on every continent are constantly being pushed back. First technological evolutions are continually moving back, and now our ancestors are, geologically speaking, pretty close to the dinosaur age. As more of the fossil evidence of former life gets discovered, I always wonder what we'll find out about ourselves next.

I've always enjoyed stories of incredible archaeological finds involving giants, underground burial chambers and sometimes even huge caches of riches. I've always thought it was interesting that so many of the stories seemed so similar, and many come from the same region of the southwest US. Interestingly, stories of cover-ups from Darwinian scientists and the Smithsonian seem to go along with these finds in many cases as well. While many pieces of solid proof haven't surfaced to date, I like to think that someday there's a chance that they will. So, having said all of that, there's a great article from UFO Digest that covers many of these stories, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading through it. Even if they're just fictional accounts, they're good reading.

Bigfoot and the so-called "Bigfoot professor" have found their way into the news a few times the last few days.

Jeff Meldrum, aka the Bigfoot professor, was the focus of a couple of articles that made some headlines recently. Both seem to make the same point that I have before, namely, that as long as he's doing real science, and searching for the truth, why is it that his fellow professors are so against him?

The first article, while I don't completely agree with it, centers around these three main points:

One, unlike the study of, say, intelligent design and other forms of creationism, researching bigfoot does not come burdened with a political or religious agenda that trumps the scientific method or leads a researcher to distort data. Meldrum is not hell bent on using his status as a public university professor to promote a sectarian agenda or “prove” some right-wing point.

Two, Meldrum’s research is not hurting anyone. Dr. John Mack, the late, controversial psychiatrist who taught at Harvard, became convinced that alien abductions were real and wrote several books on the topic. I think Mack committed a form of malpractice. The people who believe they are being abducted by aliens suffer from a form of neurosis, and Mack, instead of helping them, fed their delusions by saying, “Yes, you really are being sucked out of your window at night and probed by evil gray aliens.” This is irresponsible. Harvard never cracked down on Mack, but in my view the university would have been justified in doing so. Meldrum’s work looks harmless by comparison.

Finally, there is a small possibility that Meldrum’s research could result in significant findings. I believe the possibility that the sasquatch exists is very remote — but there is a case for the creature, and Meldrum should have the right to make it. By contrast, people who try to debunk Darwinism, prove that the Grand Canyon is only 6,000 years old or deny the Holocaust are wasting their time since there is no possibility their “research” will ever add anything of value to science or history.

So, by this author's definition, Professor Meldrum practices science.

The second article takes a very similar tone. What Professor Meldrum does is science in its purest form. He's searching for unknown answers to questions.

Recently in the media, a particular academic at a university in the United States has been called to task by many of his peers for his support of a Sasquatch event that was held at the university. Indeed, many of the comments from his peers were pretty disparaging to sat the least. The gist of their comments was that the investigation of the Sasquatch was not a topic for "serious" science, and any scientist who did such an activity was not a scientist at all but a quack. I have always been bothered by this attitude of most academics and scientists, as from my point of view, it seems to be in opposition to what their professions are all about, namely the searching for facts within the natural world to produce useful models of reality.

Well said, I believe. At least, in the end, while Professor Meldrum may have to deal with pretentious colleagues who refuse to believe what he's doing has any scientific merit, the dean of sciences at ISU believes in what he's doing, and that should keep Professor Meldrum at the university doing exactly what he's been doing for a long time to come.

While Professor Meldrum is getting most of the press in the Bigfoot research realm lately, there are other professionals looking into the phenomenon. Stanislaus National Forest's archaeologist Kathy Strain is, literally, digging for evidence of Sasquatch. While she's never seen a Bigfoot herself, she's collected countless eyewitness accounts, cast footprints, ancient pictographs and other evidence, and calls herself a believer. She has spent hundreds of off-work hours dedicated to researching the animal, and believes that eventually rock-solid proof will be found.

If proof is ever found, it will be because of hard work from professionals like these two dedicated scientists.

Three archaeological stories that I read today all have fascinating discoveries, and each show how we're losing the history of our planet every day.


Dario Lopez-mills / AP

The first one is about a 2,500 year old Olmec influenced city which was, surprisingly, found hundreds of miles away from the traditional Olmec territory in Mexico. While the scientists don't think that the site was inhabited by true "Olmec people" they do think that trade routes existed between them and the Olmec society 250 miles away which influenced their buildings, statues and art. The problem with this site is that it's on the edge of a rapidly growing city with "10 housing developments, a gas station, a highway and a commercial building on the site now." This type of city encroachment has buried many archaeological sites, and threatens to do the same to this one.


Plinio Lepri / AP

In Italy police have recovered marble carvings from an ancient and widespread detriment to archaeology: grave robbers. Along with other artifacts, some of the best known carvings of gladiators in combat were recovered from a private residence which was the hiding place for a large cache of ancient artifacts stolen from grave sites. The carvings will eventually be shown at Rome's Villa Giulia Museum after some restoration work.


Allianoi Archive

Also, in an effort to construct a new reservoir for drinking water, Turkish officials are planning on flooding an area that holds an ancient site which includes an ancient spa and medical center. The site has only been approximately 20% excavated, and has yielded over 10,000 artifacts thus far. The site includes marble floors and walls, some of which still reach the ceiling, and is in an incredible state of preservation. While it seems as though there might be ways of preserving the site, apparently Turkish officials are going to go ahead with the flooding of the area anyway.

The pressures of modern society upon the ancient cities which could teach us about our past seem to be overwhelming. Everyday evidence of what's happened here on Earth previously is destroyed. Is it any wonder that there's so many questions as to the true history of our planet?

Farmers in Peru have discovered an unusual relic of the now extinct "Cloud Warriors" of the Amazon. The unusual site, an unfortified ruin of massive size, was left behind by the Chachapoya, a culture which was best known for taking on the Incan Empire, unsuccessfully, and attempting to side with the Spanish in their conquest, before dying off from disease brought by the Europeans. The site was reported to Peruvian officials and will be examined more thoroughly in the future.