The Ancients

One long standing mystery is what happened to the Neanderthals? Once modern man came on the scene it wasn’t long before they disappeared, so naturally their disappearance is blamed on us by many people. Many believe we beat them with superior technology, but it seems they may have had the same technology, spears and probably bows and arrows. A new book is about to hit the stands titled, The Invaders: How Humans and Their Dogs Drove Neanderthals to Extinction, by a leading US anthropologist named Pat Shipman of Pennsylvania State University. It has a very intriguing theory and that is early modern human joined forces early with wolves and bred them into dogs far further into the past than we suspected. This partnership let modern humans become the master hunters on earth. It was good for both the dogs and us. The dogs would run the hunted animal until it was tired and the humans would finish it off with bows and arrows thus helping us and the wolf dogs, because they didn’t have to get close to the beast. The theory says the meat was shared. This certainly is one of the better theories I have heard.

It is amazing how we just keep finding things which were created so very long ago. Something has been found in the Sahara desert which boggles the mind, partially because of its age and partially because of its art. Some parts of the Sahara are more desolate than others and one of the most desolate areas is the TΓ©nΓ©rΓ© desert. The name means where there is nothing. This area is extremely large and it is estimated to cover thousands of miles and reach an altitude of 11,000 feet. You just wouldn’t expect to find anything there. While this is a wasteland today, if we turn back the clock to about 8,000 years ago it was a lush fertile area and humans no doubt lived there. Two carvings of life sized giraffes have been found carved into the rock. A male giraffe was created which is a perfect representation and is 18 feet high and a smaller female was carved behind him. The workmanship is superb. The carvings have been dated between 7,000 and 10.000 years old which puts them before the Egyptian Civilization. It is unknown who carved these animals, but it is thought it was not any of the known people who lived in the area at the time because none of their artifacts have been found near or around the carvings.

Archaeologists think they have found a clue which shows humans from Africa went to Saudi Arabia. Stone artifacts were found in Saudi Arabia which are very similar for the same time period as those in ancient Africa. "Understanding how we originated and colonized the world remains one of the most fascinating and enduring questions, because it is our story as humans," said an archaeologist from France. It was believed until recently that modern humans began to leave Africa between 70,000 years ago and could have even been possibly only 40,000 years ago. This changed when a genetic analysis gave hints that it was more like 130,000 years ago when humans began to leave Africa. The stone artifacts found in Saudi Arabia date back over 100,000 years ago. The artifacts were found in the Saudi Arabian desert, but it was not a desert when the objects were left there, it was more like Africa with grasslands and savannas.

Incredible finds were made in Mexico in a tunnel which was sealed about 2,000 years ago. The tunnel is under the ancient city of Teotihuacan. The archaeologists found thousands of relics and maybe even more important was the discovery of three chambers which could be filled with wonders. The archaeologists said they entered the tunnel which was 340 feet long and slowly worked their way to the end gathering all the object they found. They found seeds, pottery and animal bones. It is said a large offering found near the entrance to the chambers which are below the Temple of the Plumed Serpent, may mean the city’s elite may be buried in tombs there. "Because this is one of the most sacred places in all Teotihuacan, we believe that it could have been used for the rulers to ... acquire divine endowment allowing them to rule on the surface," said the head archaeologist. One of the things which makes this find so special is the fact while other pre-Columbian ruins have yielded the bodies of previous rulers, no such bodies have been found in Teotihuacan.

When we think of the Vikings we think of crazed warriors who attack their prey in wooden ships with the head of a dragon on them. We do not think of them as builders or architects. We may be wrong in thinking they didn’t have this ability, because a new discovery in Denmark may prove this idea wrong. A Viking fortress which dates to the 10th century has been unearthed. People began to suspect the Vikings were decent builders when three other Viking fortresses were discovered in Denmark. "We recognize the 'Trelleborg' fortresses by the precise circular shape of the ramparts and by the four massive gates that are directed at the four corners of the compass," said Nanna Holm, curator of the Danish Castle Centre in Denmark. She went on to say, "Our investigations show that the new fortress was perfectly circular and had sturdy timber along the front. We have so far examined two gates, and they agree exactly with the 'Trelleborg' plan."

We just keep finding ancient things which amaze us and recently archaeologists found microscopic gold work near Stonehenge which was from the Bronze Age. How does a primitive people create microscopic engravings and work, when they were so primitive and supposedly had no way to magnify an object of work for engraving? One theory is only children or adults with extreme shortsightedness could have done this work and it would have damaged their eyes. Could it be the archaeologists don’t want to admit there may have been another way, perhaps by using a crystal to magnify the work? Bronze Age technology might have been more advanced than thought.

Egyptologists discovered a tomb which was described by Egyptian Lore in the necropolis of Sheikh Adb el-Qurna. It is the tomb of Osiris. Unlike other tombs this one does not contain a body or mummy but a statue of Osiris. The tomb was built to the exact specifications. The statue has emerald skin and is sitting in a central vaulted room and faces a statue of Osiris in the afterlife. There is a shaft connected to several rooms. The Egyptians went to a lot of trouble to construct this tomb since it was not a real tomb to start with.