Space Initiatives Research

Unexplained Portals Between the Earth and the Sun, NASA sets off to Investigate…

A NASA funded research project has discovered the existence of unexplained portals between the Earth and the Sun. NASA has turned science fiction into science fact by announcing the discovery of hidden ‘portals’ in Earth’s magnetic field.Called X-points or electron diffusion regions, rather than being intergalactic folds in space leading to different galaxies and planets, these portals aid in the transfer of the magnetic field from the Sun to Earth.Essentially, these portals aid in the transfer of tons of magnetically charged particles that flow from the Sun causing the northern and southern lights and geomagnetic storms.’We call them X-points or electron diffusion regions,’ said University of Iowa plasma physicist Jack Scudder, who is studying them.’They’re places where the magnetic field of Earth connects to the magnetic field of the Sun, creating an uninterrupted path leading from our own planet to the sun’s atmosphere 93 million miles away.

Double Vision? Not quite! Engineers and Technicians assembled the Propulsion Module/Thrust Tube with the Spacecraft Deck for the second of four MMS Observatories. Spacecraft #1 (left) was integrated in August, and Spacecraft #2 (right) just recently in October 2012. Although they are identical in build, the ribs of the thrust tubes were color coded to aid engineers during assembly.

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The Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission is a Solar Terrestrial Probes mission comprising four identically instrumented spacecraft that will use Earth’s magnetosphere as a laboratory to study the microphysics of three fundamental plasma processes: magnetic reconnection, energetic particle acceleration, and turbulence. These processes occur in all astrophysical plasma systems but can be studied in situ only in our solar system and most efficiently only in Earth’s magnetosphere, where they control the dynamics of the geospace environment and play an important role in the processes known as “space weather.”

The primary scientific objective of the MMS mission is to study the phenomenon of magnetic reconnection within the Earth’s magnetosphere. To accomplish this objective, the MMS mission configuration comprises four identical spinning spacecraft. These spacecraft form a tetrahedron formation within a predefined region of scientific interest.

The top plot shows where the formation is while the lower plot shows the relative dynamics as seen by the reference spacecraft. The spacecraft form a regular tetrahedron as it enters the region of interest.

Animation was done in MATLAB.
k.parsay

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NASA has turned science fiction into science fact by announcing the discovery of hidden ‘portals’ in Earth’s magnetic field.

Called X-points or electron diffusion regions, rather than being intergalactic folds in space leading to different galaxies and planets, these portals aid in the transfer of the magnetic field from the Sun to Earth.

A NASA funded research project has discovered the existence of unexplained portals between the Earth and the Sun

Essentially, these portals aid in the transfer of tons of magnetically charged particles that flow from the Sun causing the northern and southern lights and geomagnetic storms.

‘We call them X-points or electron diffusion regions,’ said University of Iowa plasma physicist Jack Scudder, who is studying them.

‘They’re places where the magnetic field of Earth connects to the magnetic field of the Sun, creating an uninterrupted path leading from our own planet to the sun’s atmosphere 93 million miles away.’

Surrounding the Earth at distances from 10,000 to 30,000 miles away, the portals have been observed by NASA’s THEMIS spacecraft and Europe’s Cluster probes.

Usually the Earth’s magnetic field deflects particles from directly traveling to the Earth, but the portals provide a direct route to our atmosphere

In 2014, the U.S. space agency will launch a new mission called Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS) which will consist of four spacecraft which will circle the earth to locate and then study the ‘X-points’

Specifically where the Earth and the Sun’s magnetic fields connect and where the unexplained portals are formed.

While Scudder and his team at the University if Iowa are unclear as to what the portals are yet, they have observed charged particles flowing through them, causing electro-magnetic phenomemon in the Earth’s atmosphere.

‘Magnetic portals are invisible, unstable and elusive. They open and close without warning and there are no signposts to guide us in,’ said Scudder.

Some of the portals are miniscule and disappear almost instantly, while some are large and fairly stable.

The magnetic force of lines between the Earth and the Sun is outlined here and it when these lines cross that portals can form

‘Magnetic portals are invisible, unstable and elusive. They open and close without warning and there are no signposts to guide us in,’ said Scudder.

Looking forward to the launch of the MMS mission in 2014, Scudder and his team have calibrated the technology sufficiently to locate the portals.

‘We have found five simple combinations of magnetic field and energetic particle measurements that tell us when we’ve come across a X-point,’ said Scudder.

‘A single spacecraft, properly instrumented, can make these measurements.’

 

Earth’s magnetosphere as a laboratory to study the microphysics of magnetic reconnection

The Magnetospheric Multiscale mission will use four identical spacecraft, variably spaced in Earth orbit, to make three-dimensional measurements of magnetospheric boundary regions and examine the process of magnetic reconnection. Credit: Southwest Research Institute

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I most definitely plan to keep you updated and informed.

In the meantime, here’s a great video explaining the in’s and out’s of the sun’s interaction with our magnetosphere:

sources: http://mms.gsfc.nasa.gov, http://americankabuki.blogspot.com/2012/07/nasa-discovers-portals-in-space-between.html

Surprising Spiral Structure Spotted by Astronomers

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Observations using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array have revealed an unexpected spiral structure in the material around the old star R Sculptoris. This feature has never been seen before and is probably caused by a hidden companion star orbiting the star. This slice through the new ALMA data reveals the shell around the star, which shows up as the outer circular ring, as well as a very clear spiral structure in the inner material. (Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO))

(Oct. 8, 2012) — Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have discovered a totally unexpected spiral structure in the material around the old star R Sculptoris. This is the first time that such a structure, along with an outer spherical shell, has been found around a red giant star. It is also the first time that astronomers could get full three-dimensional information about such a spiral. The strange shape was probably created by a hidden companion star orbiting the red giant.

source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121010131403.htm

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Large Water Reservoirs at the Dawn of Stellar Birth

(Oct. 9, 2012) — The European Space Agency’s Herschel space observatory has discovered enough water vapour to fill Earth’s oceans more than 2000 times over, in a gas and dust cloud that is on the verge of collapsing into a new Sun-like star.

Close-up of L1544 with the water spectrum seen by Herschel, taken from the centre of the pre-stellar core. The peak of the graph shows an excess in brightness, or emission, while the trough shows a deficit, or absorption. These characteristics are used to indicate the density and motions of the water molecules within the cloud. Emission arises from molecules that are approaching the centre where the new star will form, from the back of the cloud from Herschel’s viewpoint. The amount of emission indicates that these molecules are moving within the densest part of the core, which spans about 1000 Astronomical Units. The absorption signature is due to water molecules in front of the cloud flowing away from the observer towards the centre. These water molecules are in less dense regions much further away from the centre. Together, the emission and absorption signatures indicate that the cloud is undergoing gravitational contraction, that is, it is collapsing to form a new star. Herschel detected enough water vapour in L1544 to fill Earth’s oceans more than 2000 times over. (Credit: ESA/Herschel/SPIRE/HIFI/Caselli et al.)

source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121009111238.htm

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Mars Reports

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Puzzling Little Martian Spheres That Don’t Taste Like ‘Blueberries’
Small spherical objects fill the field in this mosaic combining four images from the Microscopic Imager on NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The view covers an area about 2.4 inches (6 centimeters) across, at an outcrop called “Kirkwood” in the Cape York segment of the western rim of Endeavour Crater. The individual spherules are up to about one-eighth inch (3 millimeters) in diameter.

The Microscopic Imager took the component images during the 3,064th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity’s work on Mars (Sept. 6, 2012). For a color view of the Kirkwood outcrop as Opportunity was approaching it two weeks earlier, see PIA16128 .

Opportunity discovered spherules at its landing site more than eight-and-a-half years earlier. Those spherules were nicknamed “blueberries.” They provided important evidence about long-ago wet environmental conditions on Mars because researchers using Opportunity’s science instruments identified them as concretions rich in the mineral hematite deposited by water saturating the bedrock. A picture of the “blueberries” from the same Microscopic Imager is PIA05564 .

The spherules at Kirkwood do not have the iron-rich composition of the blueberries. They also differ in concentration, distribution and structure. Some of the spherules in this image have been partially eroded away, revealing concentric internal structure. Opportunity’s science team plans to use the rover for further investigation of these spherules to determine what evidence they can provide about ancient Martian environmental conditions.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Univ./ USGS/Modesto Junior College
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Researchers Produce Database of Martian Impact Craters

Researchers have finished counting, outlining and cataloging a staggering 635,000 impact craters on Mars that are roughly a kilometer or more in diameter.

Mars: every red dot on the globe is a single crater larger than 1 km in diameter (Robbins SJ / Hynek BM)

“As the largest single database ever compiled of impacts on a planet or moon in our Solar system, the new information will be of help in dating the ages of particular regions of Mars,” said project leader Dr Stuart Robbins, a researcher at the University of Colorado in Boulder. “The new crater atlas also should help researchers better understand the history of water volcanism on Mars through time, as well as the planet’s potential for past habitability by primitive life.”

“This database is a giant tool that will be helpful in scores of future Mars studies ranging from age-dating and erosion to planetary habitability and to other applications we have not even thought of yet,” Dr Robbins said.

A paper on the subject appears in the Journal of Geophysical Research.

“The assembly of the new Mars crater database was tedious,” Dr Robbins explained. “We have all this new information coming from Mars orbiters and landers that have helped generate far better maps illustrating the planet’s topography and surface details. I basically analyzed maps and drew crater rim circles for four years.”

Co-author Dr Brian Hynek, also of the University of Colorado in Boulder, said knowing more about the history and extent of Martian cratering has implications for better understanding the potential for past life on Mars.

“Many of the large impact craters generated hydrothermal systems that could have created unique, locally habitable environments that lasted for thousands or millions of years, assuming there was water in the planet’s crust at the time,” Dr Hynek said. “But large impacts also have the ability to wipe out life forms, as evident from Earth’s dinosaur-killing Chicxulub impact 65 million years ago.”

Dr Robbins said most of the smaller diameter craters on Mars are younger than the largest craters and form the bulk of the planet’s crater population. “The basic idea of age dating is that if a portion of the planet’s surface has more craters, it has been around longer. Much of the planet has been resurfaced by volcanic and erosional activity, essentially erasing older geological features, including craters.”

“The new database is expected to help planetary scientists better understand erosion on the planet,” said Dr Robbins. “Our crater database contains both rim heights and crater depths, which can help us differentiate between craters that have been filled in versus those that have eroded by different processes over time, giving us a better idea about long-term changes on the planet’s surface.”

“Having a better handle on the size and distribution of Martian impact craters also has implications for future, manned missions to the planet,” Dr Hynek said. “NASA wants to know where the craters are and their particular features both from a safety and research standpoint. Craters act as a ‘poor man’s drill’ that provide new information about the subsurface of Mars.”

Cataloging the cratering of Mars is helping scientists understand a time a few hundred million years after the inner Solar system formed, including an event about 3.9 billion years ago known as the “Late Heavy Bombardment” in which asteroids as large as Kansas rained down on Earth.

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Bibliographic information: Robbins SJ, Hynek BM. 2012. A new global database of Mars impact craters ≥1 km: 2. Global crater properties and regional variations of the simple-to-complex transition diameter.Journal of Geophysical Research 117, E06001, 21 pp.; doi:10.1029/2011JE003967

source: http://www.sci-news.com/space/article00429.html

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Live Now: NASA Webcast for Mars Rover Curiosity

The huge Mars rover Curiosity has begun its second month exploring the Red Planet, and you can tune in to find out the latest details straight from NASA during a live webcast today (Sept. 12).

NASA will hold a teleconference today at 2 p.m. EDT (11 a.m. PDT/1800 GMT) update reporters and the public on the Curiosity rover’s status. The Curiosity Mars rover team is expected to release new photos of the Martian surface during the briefing, which will be streamed live.

You can listen in on the conference and see related visuals live here:http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl

You can also see the briefing’s audio and visuals below:

Video streaming by Ustream

Images only, without the audio, will be available here:  http://go.nasa.gov/curiositytelecon

NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity landed on the Red Planet on Aug. 5, beginning a two-year mission to explore its Gale Crater landing site. The rover is designed to study the Martian environment in unprecedented detail and investigate whether the region could have ever supported microbial life.

The car-size rover is the largest, most capable rover ever sent to the Red Planet and has already snappedjaw-dropping photos of Mars, as well as of itself.  NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., is overseeing the $2.5 billion rover mission.

JPL will also host a lecture about the Curiosity rover on Thursday (Sept. 13) at 7 p.m. PDT (10 p.m. EDT/0200 Sept. 14), NASA officials said. The lecture will be open to the public and be held in JPLS’s von Karman Auditorium, and will also be streamed live here:http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/events/lectures_archive.cfm?year=2012&month=9#NASA

source: http://www.space.com/17555-mars-rover-curiosity-nasa-update-today.html

Images from Mars

Portrait of APXS on Mars
This image shows the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) on NASA’s Curiosity rover, with the Martian landscape in the background. The image was taken by Curiosity’s Mast Camera on the 32nd Martian day, or sol, of operations on the surface (Sept. 7, 2012, PDT or Sept. 8, 2012, UTC). APXS can be seen in the middle of the picture.

This image let researchers know that the APXS instrument had not become caked with dust during Curiosity’s dusty landing.

Scientists enhanced the color in this version to show the Martian scene as it would appear under the lighting conditions we have on Earth, which helps in analyzing the terrain.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Wheels and a Destination
This view of the three left wheels of NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity combines two images that were taken by the rover’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) during the 34th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity’s work on Mars (Sept. 9, 2012). In the distance is the lower slope of Mount Sharp.

The camera is located in the turret of tools at the end of Curiosity’s robotic arm. The Sol 34 imaging by MAHLI was part of a week-long set of activities for characterizing the movement of the arm in Mars conditions.

The main purpose of Curiosity’s MAHLI camera is to acquire close-up, high-resolution views of rocks and soil at the rover’s Gale Crater field site. The camera is capable of focusing on any target at distances of about 0.8 inch (2.1 centimeters) to infinity, providing versatility for other uses, such as views of the rover itself from different angles.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems

Camera on Curiosity’s Arm as Seen by Camera on Mast
The left eye of the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity took this image of the camera on the rover’s arm, the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), during the 30th Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s mission on Mars (Sept. 5, 2012). MAHLI is one of the tools on a turret at the end of the rover’s robotic arm. When this image was taken, the arm had raised the turret to about the same height as the camera on the mast. The Mastcam’s left eye has a 34-millimeter focal length lens.

The image shows that MAHLI has a thin film or coating of Martian dust on it. This dust accumulated during Curiosity’s final descent to the Martian surface, as the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft’s descent stage (or sky crane) engines were disrupting the surface nearby.

Effects of the dust were seen in the first image taken of Mars by MAHLI, on the day after landing (http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA15691). The MAHLI lens is protected from dust accumulation by a transparent dust cover. If the dust cover were clean, the images would appear as clear as if the cover were open.

The reddish circle near the center of the Mastcam Sol 30 image is the window of MAHLI’s dust cover, with a diameter a little less than a soda can’s diameter. Inside the lens, each of the nine glass lens elements and the front sapphire window are bonded or cemented in place by a red-colored silicone RTV (room temperature vulcanizing) material. This is a space-qualified “glue” that holds the lens elements in place. When the MAHLI is viewed from certain angles, this material gives one the impression that the inside of the lens is red.

The mechanism at the right in this image is Curiosity’s dust removal tool, a motorized wire brush.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Curiosity’s Location During Arm Checkouts
This scene shows the surroundings of the location where NASA Mars rover Curiosity arrived on the 29th Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s mission on Mars (Sept. 4, 2012). It is a mosaic of images taken by Curiosity’s Navigation Camera (Navcam) following the Sol 29 drive of 100 feet (30.5 meters). Tracks from the drive are visible in the image. For scale, Curiosity leaves parallel tracks about 9 feet (2.7 meters) apart.

At this location on Sol 30, Curiosity began a series of activities to test and characterize the rover’s robotic arm and the tools on the arm.

The panorama is centered to the north-northeast, with south-southwest at both ends.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Belly Check for Curiosity
This view of the lower front and underbelly areas of NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity was taken by the rover’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) during the 34th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity’s work on Mars (Sept. 9, 2012). Also visible are the hazard avoidance cameras on the front of the rover.

MAHLI is located in the turret of tools at the end of Curiosity’s robotic arm. The Sol 34 imaging by MAHLI was part of a week-long set of activities for characterizing the movement of the arm in Mars conditions.

The main purpose of Curiosity’s MAHLI camera is to acquire close-up, high-resolution views of rocks and soil at the rover’s Gale Crater field site. The camera is capable of focusing on any target at distances of about 0.8 inch (2.1 centimeters) to infinity, providing versatility for other uses, such as views of the rover itself from different angles.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems

3-D View from Bradbury Landing Site
This 3-D image from NASA’s Curiosity was taken from the rover’s Bradbury Landing site inside Gale Crater, Mars, using the left and right eyes of its Navigation camera. Between the rover on the right, and its shadow on the left, looms the rover’s eventual target: Mount Sharp. The mountain’s highest peak is not visible to the rover from the landing site.

› Right-eye view › Left-eye view

This full-resolution, 360-degree stereo panorama was taken on sols 2 and 12 of the mission, or the 2nd and 12th Martian days since landing (Aug. 8 and 18, 2012). It requires viewing with the traditional red-blue 3-D glasses, with red going over the left eye. The right and left stereo pairs are also available for creating your own 3-D imagery.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Camera on Curiosity’s Arm as Seen by Camera on Mast
The left eye of the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity took this image of the camera on the rover’s arm, the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), during the 30th Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s mission on Mars (Sept. 5, 2012). MAHLI is one of the tools on a turret at the end of the rover’s robotic arm. When this image was taken, the arm had raised the turret to about the same height as the camera on the mast. The Mastcam’s left eye has a 34-millimeter focal length lens.

The image shows that MAHLI has a thin film or coating of Martian dust on it. This dust accumulated during Curiosity’s final descent to the Martian surface, as the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft’s descent stage (or sky crane) engines were disrupting the surface nearby.

Effects of the dust were seen in the first image taken of Mars by MAHLI, on the day after landing (http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA15691). The MAHLI lens is protected from dust accumulation by a transparent dust cover. If the dust cover were clean, the images would appear as clear as if the cover were open.

The reddish circle near the center of the Mastcam Sol 30 image is the window of MAHLI’s dust cover, with a diameter a little less than a soda can’s diameter. Inside the lens, each of the nine glass lens elements and the front sapphire window are bonded or cemented in place by a red-colored silicone RTV (room temperature vulcanizing) material. This is a space-qualified “glue” that holds the lens elements in place. When the MAHLI is viewed from certain angles, this material gives one the impression that the inside of the lens is red.

The mechanism at the right in this image is Curiosity’s dust removal tool, a motorized wire brush.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/telecon/index.html

Topographic Anomalies

Bermuda Triangle:

The images used on this page have been enhanced for legibility.

The Bermuda triangle area is home to more than odd disappearances, it is also a haven for topographic, linear features that exist on the topographic map available via Google Earth, provided by NASA.  The lines are all about the same width, approximately 5 miles wide and they continue on the map for many hundreds of miles.  It is uncertain if the features are data glitches or if they are a part of the underwater landscape.

The length of Site 1 below is over 30 miles and the width of the blips is approximately 3 miles:

The red arrow below points to a linear feature in the Atlantic Ocean that continues to the North for over 700 miles.  The width of the lines all seem to be about the same size of 5 miles:

The line below extending North of the Bermuda Island is over 5 miles wide, continues on to the North for 400 miles and is truncated by another line.  Line appears to be raised instead of a depression due to the shadows that can be seen from the ancient volcano underneath Bermuda.  The shadows fall in the same direction:

Another line that continues on for over 400 miles:

Theories of the Linear features:

• Signals caused by ship radar transmitting along the shipping routes.
• Unknown Fault lines.
• Data Anomalies.
• Pollution from large oil tanker vessels.
• A Gigantic transportation system for the Lemurians.
• Submarines getting too close to the bottom of the ocean.

Google Earth has recently been updated to a newer version that includes updated topographic image data.  Many of the features have disappeared as a result of this update which implies the anomalies are more than likely data anomalies.

Topographic Anomalies: NC Area:

This rectilinear feature has been spotted off the coast of NC, 22 miles SE of Harkers Island, North Carolina.

The rectilinear feature is approximately 17 miles long by 2 miles wide:

This triangular feature is composed of arms approximately 6 miles long by 1200 feet wide:

It is uncertain if the features are a result of processing artifacts or are actually on the underwater landscape.  If anyone has any information on this anomaly site, please leave a comment.  Several e-mails were sent about this site and it has been added to the main anomaly database.

Yucatan Peninsula Linear Features:

Linear features, apparently ancient roads can be seen off the coast of the Yucatan peninsula.  The linear features are approximately 6 feet wide and existed before the area was below sea level.

Egypt- Possible Egyptian Pyramid Complex Site:

This mound is approximately 150 feet wide and has a distinct square center which is very unusual for a mound of this size and it almost seems pyramidal when seen from above:

Enhanced Image reveals 4 distinct sides and a truncated top.:

The ruins of the ancient town of Dimai are SE of this site which is dated to the Ptolemaic Period but it was built on top of an earlier neolithic settlement.  It’s Greek name means ‘Island of the Crocodile-god’ and is referred to as Dimeh of the Lions in Egypt.

The color of the mounds is dark and is similar to the material composition of Dimai’s walls which are made of mudbrick and stone.

The average size of the 3 mound features is approximately  68 feet.  Notice how the alignment of the mounds is very similar to the alignment of the Giza pyramids in Cairo.  However, the larger, truncated mound feature is not aligned to true North which is another unusual characteristic of this site.

Atlantic Ocean Gridded Site:

Site is approximately 104 miles long by 77 miles wide.  The gridded, rectilinear lines are approximately 2 miles wide.  It is uncertain if the gridded lines are actually a part of the ocean floor topography or if they are a result of shipboard sonar or data collection methods associated with the creation of this combined satellite altimetry and shipboard bathymetry topographic map.  However, the current information does point to the data collection methods as the primary culprit.

 

Underwater Topographic Mound Anomalies, California:

An interesting mound area can be seen on the topographic data off the coast of California.  Hundreds of “mound-like” features are clustered close to each at approximately 20 miles from land, heading due west from the shoreline. The closest city is Salinas, CA.  The features all seem to be a similar width of around 500 feet.

Topographic Mound Features: CA Area 1

Topographic Mound Features: CA Area 2

If you have any information on the feature in question, please send us acomment via e-mail or post a comment to this article.

Source: http://www.googleearthanomalies.com/Anomalies/tabid/56/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/32/Default.aspx

Archaeology and Ancient History

Gobekli Tepe

The World’s First Temple, Gobeklitepe … a pre-historic site, about 15 km away from the city of Sanliurfa, Southeastern Turkiye. What makes Gobeklitepe unique in its class is the date it was built, which is roughly twelve thousand years ago, circa 10,000 BC.

Archaeologically categorised as a site of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A Period (c. 9600–7300 BC) Göbeklitepe is a series of mainly circular and oval-shaped structures set on the top of a hill. Excavations began in 1995 by Prof. Klaus Schmidt with the help of the German Archeological Institute. There is archelological proof that these installations were not used for domestic use, but predominantly for ritual or religous purposes. Subsequently it became apparent that Gobeklitepe consists of not only one, but many of such stone age temples. Furthermore, both excavations and geo magnetic results revealed that there are at least 20 installations, which in archeological terms can be called a temple. Based on what has been unearthed so far, the pattern principle seems to be that there are two huge monumental pillars in the center of each installation, surrounded by enclosures and walls, featuring more pillars in those set-ups.

All pillars are T-shaped with heights changing from 3 to 6 meters. Archeologists interpret those T-shapes as stylized human beings, mainly because of the depiction of human extremities that appear on some of the pillars. What also appears on these mystical rock statues, are carvings of animals as well as abstract symbols, sometimes picturing a combination of scenes.

Foxes, snakes, wild boars, cranes, wild ducks are most common. Most of these were carved into the flat surfaces of these pillars. Then again, we also come across some three-dimensional sculptures, in shape of a predator depicting a lion, descending on the side of a T-pillar.

The unique method used for the preservation of Gobeklitepe has really been the key to the survival of this amazing site. Whoever built this magnificent monument, made sure of its survival along thousands of years, by simply backfilling the various sites and burying them deep under, by using an incredible amount of material and all these led to an excellent preservation.

This site has some great photos: http://www.ancient-wisdom.co.uk/turkeygobekli.htm

E.I.R.S. researcher Sema Yilmaz has recently provided a preliminary report of Gobekli Tepe prior to her arrival on site.

See this report here:

http://independent.academia.edu/EarthsInternationalResearchSociety/Papers/1961105/Gobekli_Tepe_Report

Other Nearby Sites of Interest:
Karahan Tepe, a site only discovered in the late 1990s and still awaiting full excavation. This is located near Sogmatar on the Harran Plain, and dates back 11,000 years at least. Already a large number of T-Shaped pillars and stone rows have been uncovered here.

Karahan Tepe lies 60 km east from Urfa in an area called Tektek Daglari. Some 266 in situ pillars (Like the Göbekli pillars…only smaller) cover the field and are visible 50-60 cm above ground level. The rest of the pillars are still covered under the earth.

 

 

As there is no evidence of habitation; the structures are interpreted as temples. After 8000 BC, the site was abandoned and purposely covered up with soil. (1) It is thought that the hill top was a site of pilgrimage for communities within a radius of roughly a hundred miles. The tallest stones all face southeast,

In the Jan. 18 issue of the journal ‘Science‘, German archaeologist Klaus Schmidt is interviewed about his work at the 11,000-year-old site of Gobekli Tepe (“navel hill”) in Turkey.

According to Andrew Curry, the author of the Sciencearticle, Gobekli Tepe is situated on the most prominent hilltop for miles around. It consists of at least 20 underground rooms that contain a number of T-shaped stone pillars that are 8 feet tall and weigh about 7 tons. The pillars are engraved with images of animals, including leopards, snakes and spiders.

This is not a place where people lived. It’s as far away from water as you can get in this region. Instead, it’s a place of ceremony. And, according to Schmidt, it’s “the first manmade holy place.”

Göbekli Tepe – Video: Modeling Göbekli Tepe – Pictures, More From National Geographic Magazine.

 

   

Derinkuyu: (Underground City).

Carved from the living rock, Derinkuyu is one of five inter-connected underground complexes with a total estimated capacity of 100,000 people.

The historical region of Cappadocia where Derinkuyu is situated, contains several historical underground cities, carved out of a unique geological formation, many of which were largely re-used by early Christians as hiding places.

Over 200 underground cities at least two levels deep have been discovered in the area between Kayseri and Nevsehir, with around 40 of those having at least three levels. The cities at Derinkuyu and Kaymaklı are two of the best examples of underground dwellings. (2)

(Map of site – How to get there)

   Derinkuyu (‘Deep Well’): Melagobia, Malakopi.

The largest of the Cappadocia underground complexes is multi-storey (18 storeys, 85m deep), with fresh flowing water, ventilation shafts and individually separated living quarters or ‘apartments’, shops, communal rooms, wells, tombs, arsenals and escape routes. It has the potential to house up to 20,000 people. The complex was air conditioned throughout, with 52 air shafts discovered so far, one of which is 55m deep.. some wells were not connected with the surface, presumably in order to protect the dwellers from poisoning during raids. (1)

Derinkuyu underground settlement was opened to visitors in 1965, but so far only 10% can be visited. Entry is through tunnels that force one to almost crawl on occasion in order to force invaders into single file… One tunnel on the third level of Derinkuyu is said to connect to the nearby underground city of Kaymakli (5km distant). (3)

 

The massive circular doors – These circular doors are visible at all the local underground sites. They were rolled across the passages and sealed the citadels from the inside. At Derinkuyu Each level could also be sealed individually.

When were they constructed?

Wikipedia says of it: ‘First built by the Phrygians in the 8th-7th centuries B.C according to the Turkish Department of Culture, the underground city at Derinkuyu was enlarged in the Byzantine era. The oldest written source about underground cities is the writings of Xenophon (ca. 431 – 355 BC). In his Anabasis he writes that the people living in Anatolia had excavated their houses underground, living well in accommodations large enough for the family, domestic animals, and supplies of stored food’.

(Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derinkuyu)

Alternatively, they were believed to have ‘been constructed at around 1,400 BC by the Hittites’.

http://chopsueyblog.wordpress.com

A Hittite connection is confirmed by archaeology, but the exact date remains elusive:

In origin, the cities are thought to date back to Hittite times at least (1900–1200 BC). Hittite-style seals have been found during excavations and other Hittite remains, such as a lion statue, have turned up in the area. It is possible that the underground rooms were used as shelters during the attacks of 1,200 BC, when the Hittite Empire was destroyed by invaders from Thrace. Later the complexes were enlarged by other civilizations, and the presence of missionary schools, churches and wine cellars would seem to indicate that they were used by Christian communities.

http://www.roughguides.com

There are another 200 subterranean settlements in the area although only a few are open to the public. (2)

Kaymakli (Ozluce) Roughly 10 kilometres to the north of Derinkuyu, is smaller and less excavated but 5 levels are accessible.

Ozluce Underground settlement is different from the others in terms of its geological formation and architectural features. The underground settlement has tufa of different colours. There is only one floor in this underground settlement which has not been completely opened; however, it covers a very large area.

At the entrance is a place with two intertwining arches made of basalt. Access to the main tufa stone can be gained through a 15 m long passage, made of rubble stone. The stone places, which lead to the underground settlement, are more recent than the rock hollowed places that form the underground settlement. At the end of this passage there is a millstone door which is made of hard granite and is 1.75 m in diameter.

Being the largest area in the underground settlement, the main space at the entrance consists of two parts. To the right of the main space are storage rooms, and to the left are living areas. On the sides of the long corridors are cell-like rooms and on the floor are traps. (1)

Tatlarin (The Castle). – Christianised underground settlement.

The village of Tatlarin, located 10 km north of the town of Acigol, is one of the interesting places in Cappadocia because of both its underground settlement and churches and the architecture of its houses. Its underground settlement, located on the hill called ‘the castle’ by the locals of the village, was first discovered in 1975 and opened to the public in 1991. The size of the chambers in the underground settlement, only two floors of which can be visited; the presence of the toilets, which also can only be found at the Guzelyurt Underground Settlement; the abundance of the depots for food and of the churches make one think that this place was either a garrison or a monastic complex rather than an underground settlement.  (1)

Özkonak (Avanos). A smaller version than that at Derinkuyu. This is where E.I.R.S. researcher Sema Yilmaz is at the moment. 

Built on the northern slopes of Mt. Idis about 14 km northeast of Avanos in Turkey has many strata made up of volcanic granite. The larger areas of the city are connected to each other by tunnels. Özkonak had a built in communication system of pipes to each of its levels, unlike Kaymakli and Derinkuyu which have no such communication systems. Each carved out room had ventilation provided by holes when the city was closed against enemies.

Özkonak was discovered in 1972 by a local farmer named Latif Acar, who was curious about where his excess crop water was disappearing to. Latif discovered an underground room which, when later excavated, revealed a whole city which could house an incredible 60,000 people for up to three months. Although only four floors are now open, the complex contains a total of ten floors, to a depth of 40m.

(Other Prehistoric Turkish sites)

(Other Underground Sites)

(A-Z Index)

References:

1). http://www.cappadociaonline.com/

2). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derinkuyu

3). Tracy T. Twyman, Richard Metzger. The Arcadian Mystique. 2005.  Dragon Key Press.

 

 

Other Ancient Sites in Turkey:

 Ashikli Hüyük.

 Çatal Hüyük.

 Çayönu.

 Derinkuyu.

 Göbekli Tepe.

 Metsamor (Armenia).

 Nevali Çori.

 Troy.

 

Sources and image credits :

http://www.ancient-wisdom.co.uk/turkeyderinkuyu.htm

http://gobeklitepe.info

Maccu Pichu

Photograph by Frank Tophoven, laif/Redux

Brief Description

Machu Picchu stands 2,430 m above sea-level, in the middle of a tropical mountain forest, in an extraordinarily beautiful setting. It was probably the most amazing urban creation of the Inca Empire at its height; its giant walls, terraces and ramps seem as if they have been cut naturally in the continuous rock escarpments. The natural setting, on the eastern slopes of the Andes, encompasses the upper Amazon basin with its rich diversity of flora and fauna.

Other Languages:
English French Arabic Chinese Russian Spanish

© UNESCO

 

Long Description

Machu Picchu bears, with Cuzco and the other archaeological sites of the valley of the Urubamba (Ollantautaybo, Runcuracay, Sayacmarca, Phuyupamarca, Huiñay Huayna, Intipucu, etc.) a unique testimony to the Inca civilization. Cuzco and the old villages still retain traces of land occupation from the Inca Empire to preserve, in a more global manner, an archaeological heritage which has become susceptible to the effects of urbanization. Furthermore, Macchu Picchu is an outstanding example of man’s interaction with his natural environment.

Standing 2,430 m above sea level, in the midst of a tropical mountain forest in an extraordinarily beautiful setting, Machu Picchu was probably the most amazing urban creation of the Inca Empire at its height. Its giant walls, terraces and ramps seem as if they have been cut naturally in the continuous rock escarpments. The natural setting, on the eastern slopes of the Andes, encompasses the upper Amazon basin with its rich diversity of flora and fauna.

Machu Picchu covers 32,500 ha in some of the scenically most attractive mountainous territory of the Peruvian Andes. As the last stronghold of the Incas and of superb architectural and archaeological importance, Machu Picchu is one of the most important cultural sites in Latin America; the stonework of the site remains as one of the world’s great examples of the use of a natural raw material to provide outstanding architecture which is totally appropriate to the surroundings. The surrounding valleys have been cultivated continuously for well over 1,000 years, providing one of the world’s greatest examples of a productive man-land relationship; the people living around Machu Picchu continue a way of life which closely resembles that of their Inca ancestors, being based on potatoes, maize and llamas. Machu Picchu also provides a secure habitat for several endangered species, notably the spectacled bear, one of the most interesting species in the area. Others animals include: dwarf brocket, the otter, long-tailed weasel, pampas cat and the vulnerable ocelot, boa, the Andean cock of the rock, and the Andean condor.

The natural vegetation is of humid and very humid lower montane forest of the subtropical region, mainly with genera and ferns of the Cyathea and palms.

Set on the vertiginous site of a granite mountain sculpted by erosion and dominating a meander in the Rio Urubamba, Machu Picchu is a world renowned archaeological site. The construction of this amazing city, set out according to a very rigorous plan, comprises one of the most spectacular creations of the Inca Empire. It appears to date from the period of the two great Incas, Pachacutec Inca Yupanqui (1438-71) and Tupac Inca Yupanqui (1472-93). The function of this city situated at least 100 km from the capital, Cuzco, has not been formulated which are not verifiable given the absence of written documentation and sufficiently explicit material evidence.

Without making a judgement as to their purpose, several quite individual quarters may be noted in the ruins of Machu Picchu: a quarter ‘of the Farmers’ near the colossal terraces whose slopes were cultivated and transformed into hanging gardens; an ‘industrial’ quarter; a ‘royal’ quarter and a ‘religious’ quarter. Inca architecture reveals itself here in all of its force with the titanic earthen works which multiplied the platforms, levelled the rocky relief, constructed ramps and stairways and literally sculpted the mountain whose cyclopean constructions appear to be a prolongation of nature.

Source: UNESCO/CLT/WHC

Species

The species listed below represent a small sample of iconic and/or IUCN Red Listed animals and plants found in the property. Clicking on the number in brackets next to the species will reveal other World Heritage Properties in which a species has been identified. These species are identified in an effort to better communicate the biological diversity contained within World Heritage properties inscribed under criteria ix and/or x.

• Leopardus colocolo / Pampas Cat
• Leopardus pardalis / Ocelot (5)
• Lutra longicaudis / Neotropical Otter (3)
• Mazama chunyi / Peruvian Dwarf Brocket
• Mustela frenata / Long-tailed Weasel
• Penelope montagnii / Andean Guan
• Rupicola peruviana / Andean Cock-of-the-rock (2)
• Tremarctos ornatus / Spectacled Bear (3)
• Vultur gryphus / Andean Condor (2)

Media

• Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu (UNESCO/NHK)
• NHK World Heritage 100 Series [Windows Media required]

Activities

• The World Heritage Forest Programme

 

News

• Damage evaluated at Machu Picchu after torrential rains Feb 12, 2010
• Torrential rains cause death and damage at Peruvian World Heritage sitesJan 28, 2010
• World Heritage Committee requests close surveillance of Bordeaux, Machu Picchu, Timbuktu and Samarkand Jul 10, 2008
• UNESCO joins United Nations effort in response to Peruvian earthquakeAug 21, 2007
• UNESCO sends mission to assess the state of conservation of Machu Picchu World Heritage Site Apr 19, 2007
• Fire At Machu Picchu, Peru, 6-11 September Sep 12, 1997

 

Links

•  View photos from OUR PLACE the World Heritage collection
• Machu Picchu

 

Miscellaneous Documents

• Arqueología del Santuario Histórico Nacional y Sitio Patrimonio Mundial de Machu Picchu: Estado de la Conservación y Propuestas para un Plan Maestro 1993

Pumapunku, also called “Puma Pumku” or “Puma Puncu”, is part of a large temple complex ormonument group that is part of the Tiwanaku Site near Tiwanaku, Bolivia. In Aymara, its name means, “The Door of the Cougar”. The processes and technologies involved in the creation of these temples are still not fully understood by modern scholars. Our current ideas of the Tiwanaku culture hold that they had no writing system and also that the invention of the wheel was most likely unknown to them. The architectural achievements seen at Pumapunku are striking in light of the presumed level of technological capability available during its construction. Due to the monumental proportions of the stones, the method by which they were transported to Pumapunku has been a topic of interest since the temple’s discovery.

  MYSTIC PLACES – PUMAPUNKU ( PUMA PUNKA )

 
Puma Punku (Puma Punka)Puma Punku, truly startles the imagination. It seems to be the remains of a great wharf (for Lake Titicaca long ago lapped upon the shores of Tiahuanaco) and a massive, four-part, now collapsed building. One of the construction blocks from which the pier was fashioned weighs an estimated 440 tons (equal to nearly 600 full-size cars) and several other blocks laying about are between 100 and 150 tons.

Puma Punku ruins, Tiahuanaco, Bolivia
(courtesy of www.sacredsites.com and Martin Gray)The quarry for these giant blocks was on the western shore of Titicaca, some ten miles away. There is no known technology in all the ancient world that could have transported stones of such massive weight and size. The Andean people of 500 AD, with their simple reed boats, could certainly not have moved them. Even today, with all the modern advances inengineering and mathematics, we could not fashion such a structure.Just out of the aerial picture (below) to the bottom left is the site of the Puma Punku. This is another ‘temple area’ with many finely cut stones some weighing over 100 tonnes. Its position to the south of the Akapana may have been important because it gave a good view to a sacred mountain far to the east.Of course there is no certainty that this was the reason as the ancient builders left no written records.
All the legends have been handed down through the generations.

Puma Punku ruins, Tiahuanaco, Bolivia
(courtesy of www.sacredsites.com and Martin Gray)How were these monstrous stones moved and what was their purpose?
Posnansky suggested an answer, based upon his studies of the astronomical alignments of Tiahuanaco, but that answer is considered so controversial, even impossible, that it has been ignored and censured by the scientific community for fifty years.

Carved stone block at Puma Punku. This precision-made 6 mm wide
groove contains equidistant, drilled holes. It seems impossible that this
cuts were made with use of stone or copper tools.

The so-called Gate of the Sun seen at the back side.
Made of one piece of hard rock. Possibly it was a part of a large wall.
By the courtesy of http://www.inkatour.com, nr. 3696

Puma Punku doesn’t look impressive: a hill as remains of an old pyramid and a large number of megalithic block of stone on the ground, evidently smashed by a devastating earthquake. However, closer inspection shows that these stone blocks have been fabricated with a very advanced technology. Even more surprising is the technical design of these blocks shown in the drawing below. All blocks fit together like interlocking building blocks.

Source: Jean-Pierre Protzen & Stella E.Nair, “On Reconstructing Tiwanaku Architecture”, Jpurnal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. 59, Nr.3, 2000, pp. 358-371

Artistic interpretation © World-Mysteries.com

Artistic interpretation © World-Mysteries.com

A wall of the Akapana, the pyramid of Tiahuanacu, shows similar modular design. Blocks that are piled one on top of the other but the underside of the upper stone is cut at an angle. The top of the standing stone is cut at the same angle, as shown on the figure below.

Source: Jean-Pierre Protzen & Stella E.Nair, “On Reconstructing Tiwanaku Architecture”, Jpurnal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. 59, Nr.3, 2000, pp. 358-371

This stone technology plainly contradicts what official archaeology suggests about the general state of development of the ancient peoples of South-America.

Source:
“Die Ruinenstätte von Tiahuanaco im Hochlande des alten Peru”
(The Ruins of Tiahuanaco in the Highlands of Ancient Peru)
1892 book about Tiahanaco written by two German
discoverers and engineers Alphons Stübel and Max Uhle

The architectural achievements seen at Pumapunku are striking in light of the presumed level of technological capability available during itsconstruction. Due to the monumental proportions of the stones, the method by which they were transported to Pumapunku has been a topic of interest since the temple’s discovery.  The largest of these stone blocks is 7.81 meters long, 5.17 meters wide, averages 1.07 meters thick, and is estimated to weigh about 131 metric tons. The second largest stone block found within the Pumapunka is 7.90 meters long, 2.50 meters wide, and averages 1.86 meters thick. Its weight has been estimated to be 85.21 metric tons. Both of these stone blocks are part of the Plataforma Lítica and composed of red sandstone. Based upon detailed petrographic and chemical analyses of samples from both individual stones and known quarry sites, archaeologists concluded that these and other red sandstone blocks were transported up a steep incline from a quarry near Lake Titicaca roughly 10 km away. Smaller andesite blocks that were used for stone facing and carvings came from quarries within the Copacabana Peninsula about 90 km away from and across Lake Titicaca from the Pumapunka and the rest of the Tiwanaku Site.

More Pictures of Puma Punku

Shattered stones of the Pumapunku (Photo by Clark Erickson)

Image Source: http://www.paleoseti.com/pumapunku.htm

Image Source: http://www.paleoseti.com/pumapunku.htm

Image Source: http://www.paleoseti.com/pumapunku.htm

Image Source: http://www.paleoseti.com/pumapunku.htm

The following set coutesy of
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=886390&page=2

       

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Here are few subject related movies from “YouTube”:

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Stone Technology

The Sun Temple was constructed with huge red porphyry (pink granite) boulders. The stone quarry is named Kachiqhata (Salt Slope) and is located about 4 km (2.5 miles) away on the other side of the valley, by the upper side of the opposite south-western mountains. The boulders were carved partially in the quarries, and taken down to the valley’s bottom. In order to cross the river Quechuas constructed an artificial channel parallel to the natural river bed that served for deviating the river’s water according to conveniences. Therefore, while that water flowed through one channel the other was dry, thus stones could be taken to the other side of the valley. More over, the boulders were transported to the upper spot where the temple is erected using the inclined plane that is something like a road which silhouette is clearly seen from the valley’s bottom. They had the help of log rollers or rolling stones as wheels, South-American cameloids’ leather ropes, levers, pulleys, andthe power of hundreds and even thousands of men. Today, on the way from the quarry to the temple there are dozens of enormous stones that people know as ” tired stones” because it is believed that they could never be transported to their destination; those stones are the reason why some authors claim that the Sun Temple was unfinished when the Spanish invasion happened.

Massive, multi-sided blocks were precisely fitted together in interlocking
patterns in order to withstand the disastrous effects of earth quakes.

Scientists speculate that the masonry process might have worked like this: after carving the desired shape out of the first boulder and fitting it in place, the masons would somehow suspend the second boulder on scaffolding next to the first one. They would then have to trace out a pattern on the second boulder in order to plan the appropriate jigsaw shape that would fit the two together. In order to make a precise copy of the first boulder’s edges, the masons might have used a straight stick with a hanging plum-bob to trace its edges and mark off exact points for carving on the second boulder. After tracing out the pattern, they would sculpt the stone into shape, pounding it with hand-sized stones to get the general shape before using finger-size stones for precision sanding. Admittedly, this entire technique is merely scientific speculation. The method might have worked in practice but that doesn’t mean this is how the ancient Quechua stonemasons did it.

“How were such titanic blocks of stone brought to the top of the mountain from the quarries many miles away? How were they cut and fitted? How were they raised and put in place? Now one knows, no one can even guess. There are archaeologists, scientists, who would have us believe that the dense, hard andesite rock was cut, surfaced and faced by means of stone or bronze tools. Such an explanation is so utterly preposterous that it is not even worthy of serious consideration. No one ever has found anywhere any stone tool or implement that would cut or chip the andesite, and no bronze ever made will make any impression upon it.”

A. Hyatt & Ruth Verrill —-America’s Ancient Civilizations

Jean-Pierre Protzen thinks the Verrills was wrong. He went to Cuzco and showed how river rocks could be used as hammers to pound stones into the desired shape.

“It appears that the Inca technique of fitting the blocks together was based largely on trial and error. It is a laborious method, particularly if one considers the size of some of the huge stones at Sacsahuaman or Ollantaytambo. What should be kept in mind, however, is that time and labour power were probably of little concern to the Incas, who did not have a European notion of time and had plenty of tribute labour from conquered peoples at their disposal.”

Jean-Pierre Protzen —Scientific American —Feb. 1986

Was this monolith carved with stone tools?

Eric Von Daniken, in his series of books beginning with Chariots of the Gods theorized that the Andean stone-works were build by Alien/Gods who visited the earth long ago, bringing civilization to primitive man. The scientific community simply snickered.
Whatever one thinks of his theories, he brought to the public an awareness of the many ancient monuments on earth that seem to defy rational explanation.

Everybody who has traveled to Egypt, Mesopotamia, South America and many ancient places has seen it: the astonishing craftsmanship of these ancient stoneworkers. The precision fit of large stone blocks is eminent in both the Old and New World. It is hardly imaginable, that all of this should have been done by pure manual work alone. This very interesting link, Ancient Stone Technology, also  includes theories of Professor Davidovits from the Geopolymer Institute in France.
In short, his theory is that the 2 million blocks of limestone that make up the core of the pyramid of Chufu (Cheops), have not been cut into shape, but the limestone was solved in water, brought to the building place in small portions and then the blocks were cast in situ.  Even more interesting are his ideas on the precision-fit Inca walls: He puts forward a technique to soften the stone by use of acid plant extracts!
Another interesting website is STONE TECHNOLOGY. The ancient Egyptians were masters in working with stone. These pages document photographic evidence, historical research and contemporary debates on stone technology. Topics include predynastic stonewares, straight saws, circular saws, tube drilling and lathes – Photos, Research Papers and Newsgroup Debate Summaries.

More about Inca Stone Technology>>

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Aramu Muru

Another similar in nature megalithic structure is Aramu Muru near the Lake Titicaca.

Lake Titicaca, on the borders of Peru and Bolivia, is where Inca legends say life on Earth was first created by Viracocha. In the center of the lake is the Island of the Sun, with an ancient, sacred temple. Nearby is Sillustani, where mysterious burial towers called chulpas were once plated with gold and held the remains of Inca royalty.

A few miles away is Aramu Muru’s Portal, a doorway-shaped niche in a stone outcropping, located in a region known as the Valley of the Spirits. The local villagers who walked with us refused to come close to the portal. They tell stories about people disappearing through the solid rock.

Photograph courtesy of SacredSites.com

Mysterious giant stone sculpture of Aramu Muru, north of Chucuito, Peru

LINKS

• Ancient mysteries: vitrified and moulded rocks HOT
• http://www.world-mysteries.com/gw_rnincas.htm
• http://www.world-mysteries.com/mpl_piscovalley.htm
• http://www.sacredsites.com/pilgrim/3/3erd.html  
  Martin Gray – A Spiritual journey through Latin America
• ANDES WEB RING PAGE  by James Q. Jacobs
• http://www.edwebproject.org/altiplano/index.html
• http://www.harunyahya.com/books/darwinism/stoneage/stoneage04.php
• http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=886390&page=2
• http://www.paleoseti.com/pumapunku.htm

Don’t miss our article about Tiwanacu >>

We are currently researching this for new data. We will be updating soon.

 

 

Easter Island and current excavations

http://www.eisp.org/3879/

The Easter Island Statue Project (EISP) is a private research program and archive created by Jo Anne Van Tilburg, Principle Investigator and EISP founder and director, with Cristián Arévalo Pakarati, Rapa Nui artist and co-director of EISP.  The profound and immediate need for conservation actions on the moai became apparent over the course of more than 20 years of subjective observation and field experience acquired by us during our island-wide archaeological survey, which was conducted in association with our Chilean and Rapa Nui colleagues.

The Easter Island Statue Project office is located at 225 Arizona Avenue, Studio 500, Santa Monica, CA, 90401. The EISP field office is located at the Mana Gallery, Petero Atamu s/n, Hanga Roa, Easter Island (Rapa Nui), Chile.

The excavation of this moai, nicknamed “Papa” by Katherin Routledge in 1914, began in spring of 2010. Quarry bedrock is visible in one of the excavation squares and the color variation on the statue’s stone surface reflects previous soil levels.
Source: Easter Island Statue Project / J. Van Tilburg

View of one statue from an excavation trench.
Source: Easter Island Statue Project / J. Van Tilburg

The back of a partially excavated statue.
Source: Easter Island Statue Project / /Colin Montgomery

Laser scannning Hoa Hakananaia at the British Museum.
Source: Easter Island Statue Project / J. Van Tilburg

Source: Easter Island Statue Project / J. Van Tilburg

Christian Fischer, Mónica Bahamondez P. and Jo Anne Van Tilburg in the Rano Raraku quarry with unexcavated statues ‘Mama’ and ‘Papa.
Source: Easter Island Statue Project / J. Van Tilburg

The statue backs are covered in petroglyphs (pictogram engravings).
Source: Easter Island Statue Project / J. Van Tilburg

Collecting samples of the various rock tools used to carve the statues on Easter Island.
Source: Easter Island Statue Project / J. Van Tilburg

The front view of one the more than 1,000 statues that dot the island, carved over an 800 year span.
Source: Easter Island Statue Project / J. Van Tilburg

Excavation progress on the statues have been steady.
Source: Easter Island Statue Project / Jo Anne Van Tilburg / Vaiheri Tuki Haoa

Here is a brief summary of research conducted by Dr. Robert Schoch along with some pictures from his website www.robertschoch.com:

Located in the South Pacific, some 2300 miles (3,700 kilometers) west of South America, Easter Island is one of the most remote locations on Earth. It is a tiny island steeped in ancient mysteries. Here are found hundreds of giant heads and torsos carved from stone, known as moai. Some are up to 33 feet (10 meters) tall, and an unfinished moai is about 69 feet (21 meters) long. They boggle the imagination. How, when, and why were they carved and erected?

There are more mysteries on Easter Island than just giant heads. Easter Island is one of the few areas of the Pacific that developed an indigenous written language. The rongorongo script is a beautiful artistic creation that was carved in hieroglyphic-like characters on wooden tablets. It has yet to be definitively deciphered (although we have a compelling theory as to what it represents–see the Plasma/Ice Age page), and unfortunately nineteenth-century missionaries to Easter Island encouraged the natives to burn most of the ronogoronogo tablets.

The eighteenth-century European discoverers of Easter Island described living “giants” (men some 12 feet tall [3.65 meters] and women 10 feet tall [3 meters]). Could these stories be true? Ancient legends of giants abound throughout the world. Could there be some truth to such legends and could a relict population have persisted on Easter Island right up to European contact? Until recently such a notion might have seemed impossible, but with the discovery of a diminutive species of humans (Homo floresiensis), commonly known as “hobbits,” that persisited until relatively recent times geologically (up to the end of the last ice age, and some suggest possibly much later) perhaps the notion of a relict population of “giants” is not so crazy after all.

In January 2010 I traveled to Easter Island with my then fiancée, now wife (we married on Easter Island), for a mini geological excursion in the company of Gary Baddeley and a few other friends and colleagues. We found so many fascinating things that we really would like to return for a full-scale expedition. To that end, we are currently soliciting donors and sponsors to continue the research.

Aside from the ancient mysteries of Easter Island (also known as Rapa Nui), I must mention here how warm and generous we found all of the Rapanui people. They not only helped us with our preliminary research (and assured us that they will continue to help us upon our return), but they literally took us into their hearts, even arranging and hosting our wedding! Katie and I send out a big Thank You to everyone on Rapa Nui. We can hardly wait to return!

 

Sources and image credits if not listed above:  http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/slideshow/2012/05/15/easter-island-statues-unearthed/#slide=10, http://www.robertschoch.com , http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/274, http://www.world-mysteries.com/mpl_PumaPunku.htm

Evidences of Alternative Human History

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Evidences of Alternative Human History

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Various Articles

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A half billion year old hammer embedded in rock that formed 400 million years ago.

    In June 1936 Max Hahn and his wife Emma were on a walk beside a waterfall near to London, Texas, when they noticed a rock with wood protruding from its core. They decided to take the oddity home and later cracked it open with a hammer and a chisel. What they found within shocked the archaeological and scientific community. Embedded in the rock was what appeared to be some type of ancient man made hammer.A team of archaeologists analysed and dated it. The rock encasing the hammer was dated to more than 400 million years old. The hammer itself turned out to be more than 500 million years old. Additionally, a section of the wooden handle had begun the metamorphosis into coal.  The hammer’s head, made of more than 96% iron, is far more pure than anything nature could have achieved without assistance from relatively modern smelting methods.In 1889 near Nampa, Idaho, whilst workers were boring an artesian well, a small figurine made of baked clay was extracted from a depth of 320 feet. To reach this depth the workers had to cut through fifteen feet of basalt lava and many other strata below that. That in itself does not seem remarkable, until one considers that the very top layer of lava has been dated to at least 15 million years old!It is currently accepted by science and geology that coal is a by-product of decaying vegetation. The vegetation becomes buried over time and is covered with sediment. That sediment eventually fossilises and becomes rock. This natural process of coal formation takes up to 400 million years to accomplish.

Anything that is found in lumps of coal or in coal seams during mining, had to have been placed or dropped into the vegetation before it was buried in sediment.

In 1944, as a ten year old boy, Newton Anderson, dropped a lump of coal in his basement and it broke in half as it hit the floor. What he discovered inside defies explanation based upon current scientific orthodoxy.

Inside the coal was a hand crafted brass alloy bell with an iron clapper and sculptured handle.

When an analysis was carried out it was discovered that the bell was made from anunusual mix of metals, different from any known modern alloy production (including copper, zinc, tin, arsenic, iodine, and selenium).

The seam from whence this lump of coal was mined is estimated to be 300,000,000 years old!

These extraordinary discoveries although bizarre, are not unique or even uncommon. There are literally thousands of them collecting dust, locked away from public scrutiny in the vaults of museums throughout the world.

There are many other unusual reported finds including the following:

The Morrisonville, Illinois Times, on June 11, 1891, reported how Mrs. S. W. Culp found a circular shaped eight-carat gold chain, about 10 inches long, embedded in a lump of coal after she broke it apart to put in her scuttle. The chain was described as “antique” and of “quaint workmanship.”

Displayed in a museum at Glen Rose, Texas, is a cast iron pot reportedly found in a large lump of coal in 1912 by a worker feeding coal into the furnace of a power plant. When he split open the coal the worker said the pot fell out, leaving its impression in the coal.

Yet another report found in the Epoch Times told of a Colorado rancher who in the 1800’s broke open a lump of coal, dug from a vein some 300 feet below the surface, and discovered a “strange-looking iron thimble.”

The Salzburg Cube is yet another ancient puzzle found by a worker named Reidl, in an Austrian foundry in 1885. Like the others, this man broke open a block of coal and found a metal cube embedded inside. Recent analysis established the object was of forged iron and obviously hand crafted. The coal it was found in was millions of years old.

The list of such items goes on and on and on.

Welcome to the world of Ooparts, or Out of Place Artefacts.

Out of place artefacts (Ooparts) are so named because conventional scientific wisdom (an oxymoron if ever there was one) states that these artefacts shouldn’t exist based upon currently accepted beliefs regarding our origins and history. These discoveries are “out of place” in the orthodox timeline of human history.

The usual methods of the conformist scientific community, when faced with such anomalies is to attempt to debunk their reported age, or perhaps endeavour to discredit the source of the report or even the reporter. If this approach fails then usually the artefacts themselves are banished to the shadowy vaults of museums and warehouses, never to be seen again.

If these unusual artefacts were “one offs” then perhaps one could be forgiven for accepting the view espoused by the mainstream scientific and archaeological community that they are hoaxes or misreported stories. However, when one realises that thousands upon thousands of these anomalous artefacts have been discovered and reported over the years, then one may need to re-evaluate ones acceptance of the integrity of mainstream archaeology and science.

Occasionally an honest archaeologist will attempt to reveal to the public the true age and origin of such anomalous objects. They will question the accepted beliefs of their mainstream peers. They usually find that their career ends quite abruptly.

Unfortunately, the majority just accept what they are taught in school and university without question. That is how our educational system is designed. It does not encourage individuality and originality. It purely indoctrinates one with established beliefs and dogma.

If one requires evidence of this “mainstream” mentality, one need look no further than the realms of psychiatry. Modern psychiatry seeks to demonize and declare mentally ill anyone who deviates from what is regarded as the norm.

These so called “mental health professionals” have even invented a new mental disorder named Oppositional Defiant Disorder, or ODD (love the irony of the abbreviation).

This newly invented condition is listed in the latest instalment of the industry’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM, which dubs people who do not conform to what those in charge declare to be normal, as mentally insane.

So there you have your proof – I’m obviously an unmitigated nutter and completely insane. At least that is what those in authority would like everyone to believe!

Anyway, I digress.

On one side of the field we have the Darwinists and their theory of evolution, trying to establish the extremely flawed view that we have somehow evolved into highly intelligent sentient beings from a primordial blob of gunge, miraculously brought to life by an electrical storm billions of years ago. (Perhaps one of this cults followers could explain to me when “consciousness” evolved, and provide proof – I await with baited breath!)

On the other side we have the creationists with the belief that some omnipotent invisible being who lives in the clouds, waved his magic wand about 7,000 years ago and created the earth and everything on it. Again the adherents of this equally flawed theory rely on nothing more than a book called the Bible for their “proof” of this concept. The fact that this book has been bastardised during translation numerous times during its existence, has been re-written to certain individuals personal preference on a number of occasions, and has had many complete chapters omitted, is irrelevant to its followers. All they require is “faith”. Proof and evidence is not a prerequisite!

One couldn’t get more opposing beliefs if one tried, and both camps adhere to their beliefs voraciously, and with unshakable fervour. Yet neither are based on any kind of factual or hard evidence.

The reality is that the origin of the human race is a total enigma. No one, anywhere, actually knows how old humanity is or how and where it originated. It is a complete mystery. Yet from birth one is indoctrinated into one or the other of the above factions, with no questions asked or alternative opinions allowed.

The problem the mainstream has with these anomalous Ooparts is that they throw into question every single established belief there is regarding our past.

It seems that everywhere we look, we find things that contradict much of the scientific orthodoxy of today.  The scientific establishment will never acknowledge or admit that these artefacts are authentic.  To do so would be to admit that they are completely wrong about our origins, and consequently, invalidate all of the text books used to indoctrinate us and our children.

The discovery of Ooparts completely annihilates the [comparatively recent] theory of evolution. If, as this hypothesis would have us believe, modern humans only evolved 200,000 years ago (or thereabouts), one has to ask how man made artefacts, found in substrata originating millions of years ago, could be explained?

Alternatively, the advocates of creationism have a very quaint way of “acknowledging” the existence of Ooparts, and bizarrely, actually believe that Ooparts substantiate their world view.

Creationists just completely disregard the established dating methods, and declare every single recognized archaeological and geological process null and void. They would have us all believe that coal seams, rock strata, fossils, minerals, precious stones and every other antediluvian element, took only a few thousand years to form.

Yet the psychiatric establishment would have me labelled as the loony for questioning this baloney. Go figure!

There will no doubt be readers who, similar to predictable conservative archaeologists, and probably due to their indoctrinated belief system, will also dismiss the aforementioned Ooparts as hoaxes or forgeries. Perhaps they would like to consider and offer an explanation for the following.

It is an accepted belief that humans and dinosaurs did not co-exist. According to conventional academia, dinosaurs roamed the earth between 65 and 225 million years ago, whereas the earliest upright biped humanoid, homo erectus, only appeared about 1.8 million years ago.

However, in 1968 a palaeontologist named Stan Taylor began excavations of fossilised dinosaur footprints, discovered in the bed of the Paluxy river near Glen Rose, Texas. What he unearthed shocked and dumbfounded the scientific community. Alongside the dinosaur tracks, in exactly the same cretaceous fossilised strata, were well preserved human footprints.

The immediate reaction of evolutionists, archaeologists, and science in general, was to debunk the find as a hoax. “They were carved into the rock by hoaxers” or “They are not human footprints, but more dinosaur footprints that have been eroded to look human” were the arguments most commonly proposed.

However, their line of reasoning falls somewhat flat when one asks why only the human prints were eroded and not also the 3 toed dinosaur prints? Additionally one has to consider, if the human prints were carved as a hoax, how did the hoaxers manage to carve further human footprints that continued under bedrock that was later removed from the side of the river bed?

Since the initial discovery, hundreds more human footprints have been discovered and unearthed, both in Paluxy and in many other places around the globe. Either those hoaxers have unlimited time and budget – or someone is telling porkies!

Next one needs to consider another find discovered in 100 million year old cretaceous limestone. A fossilised human finger, which was found along with a childs tooth and human hair. This finger has been subjected to numerous scientific tests and analysis. Sectioning revealed the typical porous bone structure expected in a human finger. Additionally a Cat-scan and MRI scan identified joints and traced tendons throughout the length of the fossil. This is one find that science cannot explain away as a hoax.

There is however another find of recent years that blows all of the others into a cocked hat regarding age.

Over the past few decades, miners near the little town of Ottosdal in Western Transvaal, South Africa, have been digging up hundreds of mysterious metal spheres. These spheres measure between 25 and 100 mm in diameter, and some are etched with three parallel grooves running completely around the equator. Two types of spheres have been found. One is composed of a solid bluish metal with flecks of white, the other is hollowed out and filled with a spongy white substance.

These spheres are reportedly so delicately balanced that even with modern technology, they would need to be made in a zero gravity environment to attain these characteristics. These objects have become known as the Klerksdorp spheres.

Geologists have attempted to debunk these artefacts as natural formations or “limonite concretions”. They fail to explain sufficiently how these formations occurred naturally with perfectly straight and perfectly spaced grooves around the centres.

Perhaps the real reason for such fervent attempted debunking by the scientific community, is that the rock in which these spheres where found is Precambrian – and dated to 2.8 billion years old!

Whether one wishes to accept these out of place artefacts as genuine or not is I suppose, down to personal beliefs.

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Old tools — and poison — push back Stone Age  20,000 years

New analysis of artifacts from cave in South Africa helps fill gap in human civilization

Courtesy Paola Villa, University of Colorado

Border Cave in South Africa was occupied by humans for tens of thousands of years.

By Stephanie Pappas

The late Stone Age may have had an earlier start in Africa than previously thought — by some 20,000 years.

A new analysis of artifacts from a cave in South Africa reveals that the residents were carving bone tools, using pigments, making beads and even using poison 44,000 years ago. These sorts of artifacts had previously been linked to the San culture, which was thought to have emerged around 20,000 years ago.

“Our research proves that the Later Stone Age emerged in South Africa far earlier than has been believed and occurred at about the same time as the arrival of modern humans in Europe,” study researcher Paola Villa, a curator at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History, said in a statement.

The Later Stone Age in Africa occurred at the same time as Europe’s Upper Paleolithic Period, when modern humans moved into Europe from Africa and met the Neanderthals about 45,000 years ago.

“(T)he differences in technology and culture between the two areas are very strong, showing the people of the two regions chose very different paths to the evolution of technology and society,” Villa said. [ 10 Mysteries of the First Humans ]

Image courtesy of Francesco d’Errico and Lucinda Backwell

Tools and beads found at Border Cave, South Africa, date back as far as 40,000 years.

Hints of culture
Traces of civilization have been found going back nearly 80,000 years in Africa, but these fragments — bone tools, carved beads — vanish from the archaeological record by about 60,000 years ago.

In fact, almost nothing is known about what happened in Southern Africa between 40,000 and 20,000 years ago, Villa and his colleagues wrote online Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This gap makes it hard to link middle-Stone Age societies to the ones that came later.

The researchers brought the latest in dating technology to bear on a site on the border of South Africa and Swaziland called Border Cave. They found that a number of the artifacts in the cave were much older than expected. [ See Amazing Cave Photos ]

Ostrich eggshell beads, sharp bone points likely used for arrowheads, and notched bones were among the fragments of life dating back thousands of years before the San were thought to have emerged. One long-bone tool is decorated with a spiral incision that was then filled with red-clay pigment. A set of warthog or pig tusks shows signs of grinding and scraping. Other bones are marked with notches, as if they were used to keep a tally of something.

The researchers also found beads, several apparently deliberately blackened by fire, one dating back more than 38,000 years. A piece of wood associated with a stone with a hole through it was dated to about 35,000 years ago. The tool appears to be an early digging stick of the sort used by the later San people to unearth roots and termite larvae.

Oldest poison
The researchers also dated a lump of beeswax mixed with toxic resin that was likely used to haft, or attach, stone points to the shafts of arrows or spears. The beeswax dates to about 35,000 years ago, making it the oldest known example of beeswax being used as a tool.

Finally, researchers dated a thin wooden stick scarred with perpendicular scratches. A chemical analysis revealed traces of ricinoleic acid, a natural poison found in castor beans. It’s likely that the stick was an applicator used to put poison on an arrow or spearheads, the archaeologists reported. At about 20,000 years old, the applicator marks the first use of poison ever discovered.

“The very thin bone points from the Later Stone Age at Border Cave are good evidence for bow and arrow use,” Villa said. “The work by d’Errico and colleagues (published alongside Villa’s group’s report in the same journal) shows that the points are very similar in width and thickness to the bone points produced by San culture that occupied the region in prehistoric times, whose people were known to use bows and arrows with poison-tipped bone points as a way to bring down medium and large-sized herbivores.”

The ancient dates help fill in a continuity gap of human civilization, said study researcher Lucinda Backwell, a researcher in palaeoanthropology at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa.

“The dating and analysis of archaeological material discovered at Border Cave in South Africa has allowed us to demonstrate that many elements of material culture that characterize the lifestyle of San hunter-gatherersin southern Africa were part of the culture and technology of the inhabitants of this site 44,000 years ago,” Backwell said.

It seems plausible that these technologies arose 50,000 to 60,000 years ago in Africa and later spread to Europe, Villa said.

source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48403738/ns/technology_and_science-science/#.UFceTUJRpT7