Mysteries :
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For serious discussion of the controversies, approaches and enigmas surrounding the origins and development of the human species and of human civilization. (NB: for more ‘out there’ posts we point you in the direction of the ‘Paranormal & Supernatural’ Message Board).
Aine Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Oh, where to start? LOL
>
> I do believe that some disaster struck Earth
> around the end of the Ice Age, one that had
> far-reaching effects on our ancestors. A comet, a
> gamma ray burst, something that wiped out
> civilization, upset the climate and even
> topography, and spurred massive migrations as
> people did the best they could to survive.
The evidence seems to only be piling up to support this conclusion.
> I think
> that many of the myths that have come down to us
> are truly ancient--but unfortunately we have no
> way to date or cross-date them as yet.
I am skeptical of this though there are some, like aboriginal myths, that are curious. On balance I find it hard to accept myths were transmitted for several thousand years before the advent of writing, but I keep an open mind.
> As the dates for civilization get pushed back
> further and further, my hope is that they someday
> turn up an Ice Age civilization from remote
> antiquity. IMO the roots of what we now consider
> the beginnings of civilization began there, long
> before archaeologists and anthropologists are
> willing to admit or even consider.
As I have said, the existence of Gobekli Tepe all but assures this. This is not just one site, but several, and they are the most sophisticated at their very beginnings. Common sense dictates this was the culmination of a long period of development of which evidence of this predating GT is just waiting to be found.
> The end of the Ice Age was devastating to cultures
> around the world. If we're going to find evidence
> of their existence, we need to do some serious
> looking in the places that were above water 20,000
> or more years ago. We also need to dispense with
> the fairy tale that the Americas were unpopulated
> prior to 13,000 or so years ago. (Clovis First is
> alive and well, unfortunately.)
Times are a changing though.
> There is plenty of
> evidence that that's simply not true. I live 30
> miles from Meadowcroft and I know it isn't. And if
> people were in this part of the world that early,
> there is a two pronged dilemma: at the rate
> archaeologists claim people move, there have been
> people in the Americas for many tens of thousands
> of years and/or they didn't ONLY walk across the
> Bering Strait. There were other points of entry
> and other means of travel.
Like boats.
> Along with that, our ancestors were not dumb
> cavemen. It's past time we gave them credit for
> their intelligence and curiosity.
>
> I have a difficult time believing that AMH didn't
> advance at all culturally for over 100,000 years.
> It defies reason.
I accept it because to me "AMH" is a misnomer as in reality what is found prior to c. 50,000BP is not exactly one and the same as what is found after, namely the shape of the skull is different. I go into detail HERE.
> We're nothing if not curious and
> inventive. The ice sheets would limit their
> incursion into certain regions, but some places
> were quite pleasant and they could actually live
> near the glaciers comfortably. With so much water
> tied up in the ice sheets and so much more land
> exposed, there would have been places they could
> have settled year round.
The Mediterranean would have been a lovely place....
> A lot of our mythology and folklore reflects real
> events. Just because we don't have the proper
> context in which to place them doesn't mean they
> didn't happen or are just fanciful superstition.
I agree, but the question for me is when exactly are they talking about. The flood myths, for example, I have argued the case are not reffering to the end of the Ice Age, but rather a series of events that took place c.6,000BC.
> Either that or some of what was considered fringe
> 20 years ago is moving into the mainstream. Other
> than the idea that Antarctica was once the scene
> of a great civilization, I always thought GH's
> ideas weren't all that far from mainstream. At the
> time I thought he was asking questions that the
> archaeologists should have been asking.
Agreed.
> The
> hypothesis that there was an Ice Age civilization
> at least on par with Egypt and Mesopotamia is a
> reasonable one and doesn't deserve the scorn
> that's been heaped upon it.
Not so sure about that. Among other reasons against this, there is a quantum leap between the cultures of Dynastic Egypt and Mesopotamia with that of Gobekli Tepe. This is not where I started, I was all in on the idea, but after 25yrs of research and travelling the world, I have come to terms with the fact it is not likely this was the case.
> I still haven't read Magicians but I do want to
> read America Before.
Someday I'll get around to it but my enthusiasm level is low.
Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 08-Jul-19 01:24 by Thanos5150.
-------------------------------------------------------
> Oh, where to start? LOL
>
> I do believe that some disaster struck Earth
> around the end of the Ice Age, one that had
> far-reaching effects on our ancestors. A comet, a
> gamma ray burst, something that wiped out
> civilization, upset the climate and even
> topography, and spurred massive migrations as
> people did the best they could to survive.
The evidence seems to only be piling up to support this conclusion.
> I think
> that many of the myths that have come down to us
> are truly ancient--but unfortunately we have no
> way to date or cross-date them as yet.
I am skeptical of this though there are some, like aboriginal myths, that are curious. On balance I find it hard to accept myths were transmitted for several thousand years before the advent of writing, but I keep an open mind.
> As the dates for civilization get pushed back
> further and further, my hope is that they someday
> turn up an Ice Age civilization from remote
> antiquity. IMO the roots of what we now consider
> the beginnings of civilization began there, long
> before archaeologists and anthropologists are
> willing to admit or even consider.
As I have said, the existence of Gobekli Tepe all but assures this. This is not just one site, but several, and they are the most sophisticated at their very beginnings. Common sense dictates this was the culmination of a long period of development of which evidence of this predating GT is just waiting to be found.
> The end of the Ice Age was devastating to cultures
> around the world. If we're going to find evidence
> of their existence, we need to do some serious
> looking in the places that were above water 20,000
> or more years ago. We also need to dispense with
> the fairy tale that the Americas were unpopulated
> prior to 13,000 or so years ago. (Clovis First is
> alive and well, unfortunately.)
Times are a changing though.
> There is plenty of
> evidence that that's simply not true. I live 30
> miles from Meadowcroft and I know it isn't. And if
> people were in this part of the world that early,
> there is a two pronged dilemma: at the rate
> archaeologists claim people move, there have been
> people in the Americas for many tens of thousands
> of years and/or they didn't ONLY walk across the
> Bering Strait. There were other points of entry
> and other means of travel.
Like boats.
> Along with that, our ancestors were not dumb
> cavemen. It's past time we gave them credit for
> their intelligence and curiosity.
>
> I have a difficult time believing that AMH didn't
> advance at all culturally for over 100,000 years.
> It defies reason.
I accept it because to me "AMH" is a misnomer as in reality what is found prior to c. 50,000BP is not exactly one and the same as what is found after, namely the shape of the skull is different. I go into detail HERE.
> We're nothing if not curious and
> inventive. The ice sheets would limit their
> incursion into certain regions, but some places
> were quite pleasant and they could actually live
> near the glaciers comfortably. With so much water
> tied up in the ice sheets and so much more land
> exposed, there would have been places they could
> have settled year round.
The Mediterranean would have been a lovely place....
> A lot of our mythology and folklore reflects real
> events. Just because we don't have the proper
> context in which to place them doesn't mean they
> didn't happen or are just fanciful superstition.
I agree, but the question for me is when exactly are they talking about. The flood myths, for example, I have argued the case are not reffering to the end of the Ice Age, but rather a series of events that took place c.6,000BC.
> Either that or some of what was considered fringe
> 20 years ago is moving into the mainstream. Other
> than the idea that Antarctica was once the scene
> of a great civilization, I always thought GH's
> ideas weren't all that far from mainstream. At the
> time I thought he was asking questions that the
> archaeologists should have been asking.
Agreed.
> The
> hypothesis that there was an Ice Age civilization
> at least on par with Egypt and Mesopotamia is a
> reasonable one and doesn't deserve the scorn
> that's been heaped upon it.
Not so sure about that. Among other reasons against this, there is a quantum leap between the cultures of Dynastic Egypt and Mesopotamia with that of Gobekli Tepe. This is not where I started, I was all in on the idea, but after 25yrs of research and travelling the world, I have come to terms with the fact it is not likely this was the case.
> I still haven't read Magicians but I do want to
> read America Before.
Someday I'll get around to it but my enthusiasm level is low.
Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 08-Jul-19 01:24 by Thanos5150.
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