The Bosnian Pyramid Phenomenon

By Robert M. Schoch
Boston University

Semir Osmanagic announced it to the press with fiery conviction: “The history of civilization has to be rewritten,” he said. “Bosnia will become a giant on the world archeological map” (quoted from a May 4, 2006 Reuters Report By Daria Sito-Sucic). On the outskirts of the Bosnian town of Visoko, half an hour drive northwest of Sarajevo, Osmanagic claimed there were two monstrous pyramids (dubbed the “Pyramid of the Sun” and the “Pyramid of the Moon”), and perhaps several smaller pyramids as well. Even the prestigious New York Times picked up the story: “Some See a Pyramid to Hone Bosnia’s Image. Others See a Big Hill.” (New York Times, May 15, 2006, page A8). At least four different websites were devoted to the “Bosnian Pyramids” (http://www.bosnianpyramids.org/ http://www.bosnianpyramid.com/ http://www.bosnian-pyramid.com/ and http://www.piramidasunca.ba/). The supposed pyramids formed the stuff of heated debate at other websites (most notably, perhaps, that of the Archaeological Institute of America, http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/osmanagic/update.html), chat-rooms, and blogs across the Internet.

Were they really man-made pyramids, perhaps dating back thousands of years? (Some advocates placed them as much as 12,000 or 14,000 years in the past.) Now covered with soil, trees, and other vegetation, Bosnian pyramid buffs argued that the “pyramids” needed to be excavated to reveal their glory and prove that Bosnia, of all places, was the virtual origin of, well not just pyramids, but perhaps even civilization. Tunnels reputedly associated with the pyramids were said to contain cryptic engravings that could just possibly be the oldest writing ever discovered. Detractors, on the other hand, saw the so-called pyramids as simply interesting, but perfectly and completely natural, geomorphologic features - - that is, they are just big hills. Some even argued that the whole notion of the Bosnian pyramids was not just a mistake or an ill-conceived notion, but a downright hoax designed to bring prestige, fame, power, and money to Bosnia, Visoko, and the head of the Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun Foundation, the Bosnian-American (he now resides in Houston much of the time where he maintains a business) Semir (“Sam”) Osmanagic (also spelled Osmanagich). Indeed, on May 12, 2006, National Geographic ran an article on their website titled “Pyramid in Bosnia -- Huge Hoax or Colossal Find?” (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/05/pyramid-bosnia-1.html). It did not help Osmanagic’s case, at least in the eyes of the traditional academic community, that he is an advocate of “alternative history” (see his website http://www.alternativnahistorija.com/), and of his numerous books (mostly published in Bosnian), the one widely available in English, titled The World of the Maya, almost seems purposefully written to provoke the ire of traditional archaeologists.

Having more than a casual interest in ancient pyramids (after all, I am the author of two books focusing on pyramids: Voyages of the Pyramid Builders, and Pyramid Quest), I wanted to see first-hand what all the pyramid fuss in Bosnia was about. If there really was a huge pyramid, larger than the Great Pyramid of Egypt, in Bosnia, then I wanted the opportunity to study it. On the other hand, if there were no pyramids in Bosnia, that would be important to know too. But how to get to Bosnia? The answer turned out to be easy. My friend and professional colleague, Dr. Colette M. Dowell, simply contacted the Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun Foundation and Semir Osmanagic. Initial contact was followed up with emails and phone calls, and quickly we received an invitation to visit Visoko and see the “pyramids” for ourselves. We made the trip to Bosnia during July and August 2006.

The afternoon we arrived in Bosnia, Osmanagic insisted on taking us straightaway to the so-called “Pyramid of the Sun.” I observed the excavated areas of huge stone blocks; blocks that I was told were most definitely not natural. Clearly, Osmanagic insisted, they were man-made concrete blocks that cannot be explained geologically, put into place with a sophisticated ancient technology that has now been lost. Amazingly, he explained, the “concrete” blocks proved to be harder and more durable than any modern concretes or cements. But he and I were apparently seeing different things, perhaps viewing an entirely different world. Where he saw concrete blocks and human intervention, I saw only perfectly natural sandstones and conglomerates that had broken into larger or smaller blocks due both to tectonic stresses and gravity slumping. For a week and a half this seemed to be the dominant theme: Osmanagic and others who worked with and for him insisting that this or that feature can never occur in nature, and thus must be artificial and human-made, versus me finding a perfectly reasonable geological explanation for each of the same features.

The geology around Visoko is incredibly rich, and I suggested to Osmanagic that, in lieu of “pyramids,” he might redefine his “Archaeological Park” as a “Geological-Archaeological Park” and focus more on the geology. Visocica Hill (the one dubbed “Pyramid of the Sun”) and Pljesevica Hill (“Pyramid of the Moon”) are composed of layers of sandstone, clay, mudstone, siltstone, and conglomerates apparently deposited in an ancient lake and river system during Miocene times (about 5.3 to 23 million years ago). The rocks have been tilted and bent due to tectonic stresses. The tectonic forces plastically deformed the clays and mudstones, but the sandstones and conglomerates broke into semi-regularly shaped pieces that Osmanagic and his team have excavated in numerous places, interpreting them as “pavements,” “terraces,” “concrete blocks,” “foundation stones,” and so forth. Interestingly, and tellingly, the sizes of the sandstone and conglomerate blocks found are a function of the thickness of the original rock layers. Thin sandstone layers, stressed tectonically, broke into small blocks while thick and durable conglomerate layers broke into massive blocks. This is exactly the pattern expected among natural rock formations. The sandstones also typically preserve various sedimentary and depositional features, such as ripple marks and the traces of ancient burrowing animals. These same rocks are also rich in paleontology. In some of the sandstone layers, and in many of the mudstone layers, I found large accumulations of fossil leaf debris and even some fairly complete Miocene fossil leaves. I believe that the real treasure of Visoko may be a huge fossil biota just waiting to be uncovered, not some imaginary pyramids.

While wondering the streets of Visoko, being offered all sorts of pyramid souvenirs, from tee shirts to copper plates bearing depictions of the Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun (stylistically rendered either as a stepped Mayan-style pyramid or, less frequently, as a smooth-sided Giza-style pyramid), I continued to hope against hope that I could find some “truth” underlying the “pyramid mania” that has gripped the region. One last possibility might be the evidence of the reputed tunnels found in the area that supposedly connect one pyramid to another. We had the opportunity to explore one tunnel that is currently open; to put it mildly, I was disappointed with what I saw. The tunnel had clearly been entered and modified in recent times, as evidenced by the graffiti found in places, the collapsed ceilings and walls, and the stories that the Yugoslavian army (Bosnia and Herzegovina was part of the former Yugoslavia) had once used the tunnels for military purposes, and possibly purposefully destroyed parts of them. If this was an ancient tunnel, it was difficult to tell now. The much-touted “ancient inscriptions” seem not to be ancient at all. I was told by a reliable source that the inscriptions were not there when members of the “pyramid team” initially entered the tunnels less than two years ago. The “ancient inscriptions” had been added since, perhaps non-maliciously, or perhaps as a downright hoax.

So, no pyramids, but there are many fascinating and genuine archaeological wonders in Bosnia. On the summit of Visocica Hill, which overlooks Visoko, are the remains of a medieval fort built on top of Roman ruins, and there is also evidence of Neolithic occupation of the hill, dating back perhaps 5,000 years. While in Bosnia we also visited megalithic ruins attributed to the Illyrians (circa 4th century B.C.), a possible Paleolithic cave (unfortunately, we had neither the time nor equipment to enter it; I would love to return and explore it), and fascinating medieval cemetery monuments to the dead.

Despite my failure to validate the Bosnian pyramid dreams, Semir Osmanagic and all the members of the Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun Foundation were most gracious hosts. They spared no effort to make sure that I could view all aspects of the so-called pyramids, even arranging for me to take a short airplane ride to see them from the air. Bosnia is a beautiful country with amazing scenery and a rich history. The people are extremely friendly and hospitable, and Bosnia exhibits a wonderful mixture of Western (Austro-Hungarian) and Eastern (Turkish and Islamic) traditions. Even in the absence of pyramids, it is certainly a country worth visiting.

Stonehenges on both sides of the Atlantic

By Robert M. Schoch
Boston University


North of Boston, near North Salem, New Hampshire, is a labyrinth of megalithic stones that have been the object of wonder and a topic of heated argument for more than two centuries. Sprawling over a couple of dozen acres are found stone walls and various structures that at first glance look like building foundations, cellars, tunnels, and caves - - all composed of laid stone, sometimes still in natural shapes and sometimes roughly worked. The largest placed stone has been estimated at eleven tons. Parts of the complex have been given evocative names, for example, the “Oracle Chamber” and the “Sacrificial Table.” Large erected stones on the periphery of the complex are aligned with significant astronomical positions such as the sunrise and sunset on the equinox, mid-summer and mid-winter sunrises and sunsets, and apparently various lunar motions and stellar alignments, some of which appear to date to the second millennium B.C. This is the site variously known as “Mystery Hill,” “Mystery Hill Caves,” or since the 1980s as “America’s Stonehenge.”

What is “America’s Stonehenge”? Superficially it bears little similarity to the Stonehenge on the Salisbury Plain of England. How old is America’s Stonehenge? Who built it and why? What was it originally like? These are all unanswered questions, but many answers have been proposed.

Solid historical records of America’s Stonehenge date back to the early nineteenth century when Jonathan Pattee lived on and at the site from 1826 to 1855. Pattee and his family used parts of the structure as foundations for buildings and as root cellars, and some people have suggested that Pattee and his five sons built the structures. But, based on one of the stones that is surrounded by a tree stump that began growing in 1769, at least part of the structure must date prior to Pattee’s time. In modern times a number of charcoal samples have been collected from the site, in more or less close approximation to the stone structures, and radiocarbon analyses have yielded dates from historical times to around 2,000 B.C.

Since Pattee’s time, the site has had a checkered history. It was used as a ready quarry (not unlike the Great Pyramid in Egypt during Muslim times), and the structures were dismantled and rock carried away to build local foundations, churches, and other buildings. It is estimated that perhaps 40% of the rock was removed during the nineteenth century.

In the 1890s a professor of architecture at Dartmouth College, Hugh Morrisson, argued that Native Americans who had no tradition of such stone building could not have erected the structures. In 1936/7 William B. Goodwin purchased the property, carried out various excavations and studies, and promoted the view that Culdee Monks from Ireland had circa 1000 A.D. crossed the Atlantic, settled in New Hampshire, and built the site. In the 1950s the area came under the control of Robert E. Stone who first leased and then purchased “Mystery Hill.” In 1958 Stone opened the site to the public, and he initiated a still-ongoing program of serious study, documentation, excavation, and restoration of the site.

Numerous researchers have become involved with, or offered interpretations of, America’s Stonehenge. Opinions range from the notion that it is, after all, simply colonial foundations and root cellars, to linking it to ancient European cultures, such as those that constructed megalithic buildings in Malta and Greece, to thinking in terms of a medieval influx of Europeans across the Atlantic (variations on the themes of Norse warriors or Irish Monks), to attributing the sighting stones constructions to ancient Native Americans. The late Barry Fell, in particular, popularized the concept that some of the stones found at America’s Stonehenge (and many found elsewhere as well) contain cryptic inscriptions written in various Celtic or Gaelic (Ogham), Iberian, and Phoenician scripts, giving clues as to potential builders, or at least visitors to, the site (see Fell’s book, America B.C.). Other researchers have countered that the so-called inscriptions are simply plow marks, root remains, or natural erosion features in the stone.

I am convinced that there was contact between the Old and New Worlds in pre-Columbian times, but I would not hang the case on America’s Stonehenge. I have had the opportunity to explore the site firsthand, and I do not know what to make of it. I tend to think it is not all of one piece - - that is, it may be a mixture of modern (eighteenth and nineteenth century) and ancient structures, but even among the ancient portions I could find no definitive evidence of non-Native American influence. In some ways America’s Stonehenge is a microcosm of the general arguments often encountered in archaeology where the hard evidence is just too sparse to come to a definitive conclusion. It may seem like a copout, but in the case of America’s Stonehenge I rather not judge until, and unless, some compelling evidence is discovered that can be used to firmly attribute and date it.

Turning to the “real” Stonehenge in England, which definitely is thousands of years old and astronomically aligned, new theories and developments continue to be proposed. Last year (2005) Timothy Darvill, professor of archaeology at Bournemouth University, and archaeologist Geoff Wainwright announced that they had found the exact quarry from which the bluestones of Stonehenge were taken over 4,000 years ago. Site of the quarry: Carn Menyn, a mountain in the Preseli Hills of Pembrokeshire, in southwest Wales. This meant, according to their interpretation, that huge monoliths had been quarried and moved some 240 miles to the site of Stonehenge, a truly incredible feat. But just this month (June 2006), geologists from the Open University using geochemical analyses, led by Professor Olwen Williams-Thorpe, have countered that the bluestones used to construct Stonehenge were not moved over two hundred miles by humans, but brought the distance by Ice Age glaciers and then utilized by ancient humans. Even if this proves to be the case, and as a geologist it certainly makes sense to me, it was still a truly monumental feat to carve the bluestones and erect them as the magnificent structure that we see today.

Two Sides of Judas and the Gnostic Gospels

Robert M. Schoch
Boston University


Judas Iscariot, for some the archetypal villain, the man who betrayed Jesus for a pecuniary reward, has been all over the news since the National Geographic Society recently (April 2006) aired a documentary on the newly released “Gospel of Judas.” This third to fourth century manuscript, written on papyrus and found in a cave in Upper Egypt in the 1970s, is a Coptic translation of a text that was known to Christians of the second century A.D. Until now, however, modern scholars did not have an actual copy. Various persons, perhaps out to make a buck (not unlike the traditional Judas?) have hailed the contents as revolutionary, with the potential to turn Christian beliefs up side down, et cetera, et cetera.

The Gospel of Judas portrays this disciple not as a traitor, but as possibly the most beloved and trusted disciple, a man who was only carrying out his master’s orders, even to the point of arranging the arrest of Jesus (as he was ordered to do by Jesus himself) so that the apocalyptic kingdom of God could be ushered in. Well, how does this really differ from the traditional Judas? If, as Christians seem to believe (not being a member of the sect, I cannot speak firsthand on this issue), Jesus had to be sacrificed in accordance with the scriptures to save humanity, then there had to be a Judas, active or passive, either following orders consciously or simply caught in the drama and impelled by God’s will rather than his own, to accomplish the feat. Likewise, there had to be soldiers to take Jesus away, a Pilate to condemn him, and so on - - a cast of thousands to accomplish the divine will. None of these persons, including Judas, really had any choice in their roles perhaps. Is it not better to believe that at least Judas was conscious of his acts and thus undertook them knowingly, and unselfishly (unselfish, in that he did not want to see his rabbi, Jesus, suffer; but Judas knew it was a necessary part of the drama)?

This line of thinking can lead inexorably to the ultimate Christian heresy, that Judas was the real Christ and Jesus of Nazareth was just a pretender and a pawn of the Infinite Wisdom. In modern times, the great Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges has touched upon this idea in a short fictional piece (translated into English as “Three Versions of Judas,” and published in the collection entitled Labyrinths [New York: New Directions, 1964]). Think about it: The man (or god manifested as a man) that really suffered in terms of ignominy and, some believe, descent and everlasting hereafter in hell for his betrayal, is Judas, and it is this suffering that was the ultimate sacrifice to redeem sinful humankind. Jesus of Nazareth, in contrast, preached and gained a following, gathered power and fame, has been revered and worshipped for two thousand years by a loyal following, and all because he suffered for half a dozen hours on a cross and then appeared in a form that might have been a telepathic hallucination to a handful of followers (see The Easter Enigma by Michael C. Perry [London: Faber, 1959]). Some people would say that sounds like a pretty good tradeoff. Whose sacrifice was greater, that of Judas or that of Jesus? So who is the true redeemer, the true Christ?

Such thoughts invert tradition, and in the first centuries of the common era there was a sect of Christianity that held many ideas such as these that were suppressed by the future mainstream Christians (mainstream simply because they won the battle of ideas that would dominate later centuries). This grouping of so-called heretical ideas is now often referred to by the collective name of Gnosticism. Gnosis refers to “knowledge,” and in this context knowledge of the secret mysteries and understanding of the divine. The Gospel of Judas can therefore be viewed by some people as just one more Gnostic writing that may be interesting in terms of the light it sheds on beliefs held by certain sects during the second through fourth centuries A.D., but is not really too important, and certainly nothing to overturn standard Christian doctrine.

Indeed, besides the canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, there are literally dozens of other gospels known from the first two or three centuries following the death of Jesus. Besides the Gospel of Judas, there is the Gospel of Thomas (sometimes referred to as the “fifth gospel,” see for instance Marcello Craveri, The Life of Jesus [New York: Grove Press, 1967]), the Gospel of Peter, the Gospel according to the Hebrews, the Gospel of the Egyptians, the Gospel of Truth, the Gospel of James, the Gospel of Philip, the Gospel of Mary (Mary Magdalene), and many others, including such related texts as the Apocryphon [Secret Book] of John and the Sophia of Jesus Christ. Of course, as is the case with the four synoptic gospels, these various texts (including that of Judas) were almost certainly not written by the persons whose names they carry. In fact, all were almost surely written generations after the events and sayings they reputedly report.

To truly understand Christianity, one must look at the canonical writings of the New Testament in the context of other early Christian writings. Such texts have been known to varying degrees since ancient times, but were greatly augmented by the 1945 discovery in Upper Egypt of the Nag Hammadi library of Gnostic codices dating to the early centuries A.D., including copies of the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Philip. The recently uncovered Gospel of Judas comes from the same general area and is clearly related to the texts of Nag Hammadi. When it comes right down to it, there is nothing necessarily special about the texts that made it into the New Testament, except that they were the ones picked by those early church fathers who gave rise to what is now considered the orthodox Christian view of Jesus and his followers. If a Gnostic sect had survived and reached the status of orthodoxy, the world might now be discussing with amazement the discovery of some ancient text portraying St. Judas Iscariot, head of the pantheon of Christianity, as a villain and traitor extraordinaire.

The International Conference on Ancient Studies Dubai, November 29 & 30, 2008

A news report
by Robert M. Schoch, Ph.D.
Boston University

For two days (November 29 & 30, 2008) a star-studded group of ancient history researchers and an enthralled audience congregated at the pyramid-shaped Raffles Hotel, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for “The International Conference on Ancient Studies: The Mysteries of Ancient Civilisations” [note the British spelling].

Day one was devoted to Egypt. Robert Bauval summarized his work on the correlation of the three major pyramids of Giza with the Belt of Orion (representing Osiris to the ancient Egyptians), commemorating the period of circa 10,500 B.C., which for the ancient Egyptians may have represented Zep Tepi, or the First Time. Next, moving our gaze from the stars to the stones, I (Robert Schoch) summarized my work on re-dating the Great Sphinx. The traditional date is circa 2500 B.C.; I presented evidence that the earliest portions of the Sphinx must date back to at least 5000 B.C., and possibly much earlier.

In the afternoon, Mahmoud Marai presented his discoveries in the Western Desert of Egypt, some 700 kilometers west of Abu Simbel. Dating from the Middle Kingdom (circa 2000 B.C.), hieroglyphic inscriptions mention the legendary Kingdom of Yam. Once considered merely a myth, it appears that Yam was a genuine place, perhaps located in the Western Desert, and there was a caravan route from Egypt to Yam. Dr. Thomas Brophy ended the day with a presentation on the astronomy of archaeological sites, dating circa 4800 B.C. and earlier, in the Nabta Playa region of the Western Desert.

Michael Cremo opened day two, addressing the evidence for modern humans hundreds of thousands to millions of years earlier than recognized by conventional archaeologists. Next were discussions of Central and South American archaeology. John Major Jenkins summarized his work on the Mayan long count calendar, culminating in the date of December 21, 2012, when the Solstice Sun will be aligned with the Galactic Center. Dr. Constantino Manuel Torres followed with a presentation on the ancient peoples of San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, analyzing the well-preserved mummies, art, and other cultural remains of the region. In the final presentation, Dr. Luis Eduardo Luna explored the indigenous peoples of the Amazon rainforest, an area of extreme cultural diversity and antiquity. The conference concluded with a lively panel discussion among the presenters as they fielded questions from the audience.

The International Conference on Ancient Studies was unlike anything that had previously been held in Dubai. Grateful thanks go to His Royal Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, president of Dubai Event Management Corporation, under whose patronage it was held, as well as to the sponsors: The Trade Commission of Chile, Raffles Dubai, the Dubai Convention Bureau, Al Husn Real Estate, Arab Media Group, BurJuman Rotana Dhamani, and AdBox Events. Special thanks go to Dr. Mohammad Naeemat (Chairman of AdBox), Ali Bin Karam (Chief Executive Officer of AdBox), and Jean-Paul Tarud-Kuborn (Trade Commissioner of Chile to the Gulf Cooperation Council). Given the success of the conference, I hope that it will become an annual event.


Photo: International Conference on Ancient Studies, Dubai, panel discussion on November 30, 2008. From left to right, Dr. Robert M. Schoch, Dr. Thomas Brophy, Dr. Constantino Manuel Torres, John Major Jenkins, Robert Bauval, Michael Cremo, Dr. Luis Eduardo Luna, and Mahmoud Marai. (Photo Credit: Courtesy of Robert M. Schoch, copyright 2008.)

Oldest Script Found in the Indus Valley

A new discovery made by archaeologists in Pakistan may help prove that Mesopotamia was not the first civilization to develop a system of writing, and that the invention of script itself is far older than previously thought. Graham Hancock, a journalist and amateur archaeologist who has been the target of criticism from mainstream academics for his controversial theories, firmly believes that civilization as we know it is merely a vestige of a once glorious age on which many of our Atlantean myths are based. To a limited degree, this find may help support his contention.
The site, known as Harappa, the location of the ancient Indus valley civilization which also bears its name, was settled in 3500 B.C., and over the succeeding millennia grew in a vast urban sprawl that became one of the chief civilizations of ancient times. The new find itself, however, changes all the rules. The artifact uncovered was an ancient piece of pottery dating back almost eight thousand years to around 5500 B.P.
The pottery had etched into its surface various “plant-like” and “trident-shaped” symbols. According to BBC Online News, “Experts believe these may have indicated the contents of the jar or signs associated with a deity.”
Most recently, it was Egypt that was credited as the birthplace of writing. A collection of small, clay tablets engraved with an archaic form of hieroglyphics was found in 1998 in the tomb of the Scorpion King, one of the rulers of Egypt prior to the foundation of the glorious Old Kingdom. Carbon-14 dating revealed that the tablets had been inscribed around 3300-3200 B.C., a few centuries earlier than the supposed invention of cuneiform writing around 3100 B.C. by the Sumerians.
Archaeologists now believe that this system of writing did not develop as a natural outgrowth of a spoken language. They contend that it was invented at the order of a ruler who needed to find the best way to make records and levy taxes. A uniform system of writing would be the perfect agent for not only civic leaders, but priests wishing to put down in writing their various incantations, descriptions of holy rites and the stories which their faiths were based upon. It is very probable that pre-Columbian civilizations such as the Aztec and Maya also were based on such practical necessity.
The key to understanding the Indus Valley script is an extrapolative comparison to known Egyptian hieroglyphics. But unlike the Scorpion inscriptions, as the author of a recent BBC article on the subjects states, there was nothing that could be used to compare with the Harappan script, no common Rosetta stone from which to unlock its mysteries.
“It’s a big question as to if we can call what we have found true writing,” Dr. Richard Meadow told BBC News Online, “but we have found symbols that have similarities of what became Indus script.” Meadow told BBC that his excavators will continue to search for more examples of this unique writing system in order to determine if it is indeed a genuine form of writing, and, if so, how it developed from its primitive form to the more advanced writing we see today. The Harappan Civilization left no linguistic descendents; their language is essentially dead, which makes the task of deciphering it next to impossible. The Rosetta Stone was important because it contained two other known languages: ancient Greek and Demotic. Champollion, the eighteenth century linguist who cracked the code of the hieroglyphs, used these two languages to cross-reference it, after which the ancient writing could be read at last. No such relic for the Harappan Civilization exists today, at least to our present knowledge.
Dr. David Whitehouse made the following observation in an article in BBC News:
“What we know of the Harappan civilizers makes them unique. Their society did not like great differences between social classes or the display of wealth by rulers. They did not leave behind large monuments or rich graves. They appear to have been a peaceful people who displayed their art in smaller works of stone. Their society seems to have petered out. Around 1900 B.C., Harappa and other urban centers started to decline as people left them to move east to what is now India and the Ganges.”
Whitehouse closes his article by stating that perhaps writing arose independently in three places at once between 3500 B.C. and 3100 B.C. Doubtless, there is much more to this story than mainstream scientists or archaeologists are prepared to admit. The clock is constantly turning back the antiquity of civilization, as new evidence is uncovered. This teaches us that the truth is subjective to the discoveries of the hour, leading to a veritable transformation of our understanding of modern archaeology. In time, more relics will be unearthed and perhaps the visions of Graham Hancock and others will be forever validated. n

Caucasian Mummies of China

In ancient times, many Westerners found themselves in intimate contact with China and other parts of Asia, and vice versa. This story is about the Aryans, forerunners of both Western and Eastern cultures; Western cultural connections to the East; Chinese influence on Western civilization; and their interaction leading up to the Tarim Basin discoveries. This essay concentrates on the Steppes and Western China, but it will not rule out the Wesstern connection and will discuss it quite candidly. The word Aryan is a derivative of the word Arya, which in Sanskrit means “noble.” The Aryans created the great culture of the Hindus, sweeping southward across the Himalayas and pressing deep into the Indian subcontinent, a land which got its name from another Sanskrit word Sindu, which refers to the Indus river, and the fertile land along its banks, which saw the rise of many great civilizations. (Chouinard, 211) Geographically speaking, there are four possible homelands of the original Proto-Indo-European race. (Renfrew, 89) The first is an Asiatic cradle, from which a primordial civilization spread out in numerous directions, colonizing most of Europe, Asia, and other regions as well. (Renfrew, 90) The second is that of Southern Russia, in the area of the Caucasus, a place which gave its name to the Caucasian race, or white population of Europe and their descendants. The third is Central Europe, and the fourth is the Northern European plain, most specifically Scandinavia. (Renfrew, 90–92) V. Gordon Childe, in his book The Aryans: A Study of Indo-European Origins, discussed at length the various contending theories concerning a European, rather than Asiatic origin for the Indo-Aryans. (Mallory, 6) Omalius d’Malloy was the first to suggest that the Aryans had their origins in the North-central European plain. His view was countered by Latham’s conviction that it was in the Ukraine where the Aryan homeland can be found. (Mallory, 42) “They showed extraordinary prevision; it may at once be said that in the present state of our knowledge the cultural conditions are fulfilled only in one of those two directions.” (Mallory, 44) Childe notes that Poesche in 1878 supposedly determined that the Rokitno Swamp as the most logical nesting place of the Indo-Aryan nations. This view was spurred by his erroneous conception that Nordic blondness and albinism were synonymous. Indeed, not only was the climate not suited for the evolutionary development of the Aryan people, it also lacked the necessary environment for a horse-driven society, or for the development of agriculture, two institutions which must be considered characteristic of the ancient Aryans, if not originated by them. (Renfrew, 92–94) Around 1100 b.c., a mass migration of Aryan-speaking Nordics penetrated southward beyond the Caucasus. (Grant, 104) They most certainly assimilated into the existing population. The old Darwinian law which states the more progeny produced the greater chance a species has for continuance and survival definitely applies here: there were too few Aryan invaders to adequately “modify the blood of the autochthonous race and to substitute Aryan languages for the ancient Mediterranean and Asiatic tongues.” (Grant, 105) It was from the steppes of Mother Russia that these first “Northmen” came, two races which we now call the Achaeans and Phrygians. (Grant, 105) Records of their early migrations were recorded by Mesopotamian scribes. They told of fierce, light-skinned nomads descending from the north and establishing key settlements throughout the region. As these Russian Nordics expanded outwards, they colonized not only Europe and the Middle East, but regions far from their homeland in Central Asia, Siberia, Japan, and beyond. (Pierce) One of the places our ancestors went to colonize and conquer was a harsh, unforgiving realm known as the Tarim Basin, an autonomous province on the western frontier of China, which includes as part of its exotic landscapes the desolate Takla Makan Desert. (NOVA) Takla Makan is a wasteland of unrelenting sand dunes, winding slopes of whirling dust extending to the horizon. Patches of scorched vegetation litter the terrain. Rising from the sea of rippling sands stand immense mountain ranges and rocky enclaves, burning hot in the summer and frigid cold during the winter. These treacherous rock formations stand in silence, speaking only to the dead and to the memories of a past long forgotten by men, but remembered by the sentinels of eternity. (NOVA) Any visitor to the region would be quick to point out that the ancient gods have never left; the desert is still ruled by them. The inhabitants of this rugged landscape still depend on them for their survival. In many ways it remains as it did 3,000 years ago when the newcomers first arrived. These places speak of primordial mysteries unmatched both in their beauty and their cruelty. Who can comprehend the glorious miracles that were performed here, the classic stories of the ancient barbarians who made a home for themselves in one of the most unlikely of places? (NOVA) It was here that two worlds, East and West, met face to face on the battlefield of human endeavor, and for an instant became one. (Chouinard, 201) It was here that the city of Niya flourished for five centuries before being left in ruins sometime around the third century c..e. The masters of Niya were not Chinese, nor were they Mongolian, Siberian, or Turkic. In fact they didn’t resemble any known Asian races at all. Their appearance was striking; their tall stature, blond hair, and round, deep-set eyes set them apart from the native population; they were an entirely different race and not members of the Oriental world. The Chinese were resentful of this, feeling their long-held beliefs of Chinese supremacy under attack. (Mallory and Mair, 209) The excavation of a large burial site in Niya was the first transgression. It was set inside an elaborate temple that exhibited architectural styles showing Indian, Persian, and even Greek and Roman influences. (NOVA) Pieces of pottery and metalwork were marked by swastikas, a racial archetype which also signifies a religious connection to both Hinduism and Buddhism. To demonstrate the Chinese authorities’ audacious attempts to conceal the truth, the author of an article published by National Geographic told an infuriating story. They found a piece of pottery which bore an impression of the potter’s thumb. The author asked if he could take with him to the United States for further examination. (NOVA) Chinese archaeologist Wang Binghua then asked, “Would you be able to tell if the potter was a white man?” The author said he didn’t know. Binghua stuffed the artifact into his pocket, and neither the author of the article nor anyone else ever saw it again. On the temple there was an engraving with a sun disc, as well as a swastika, which hinted at the cult of Mithras, an Indo-Iranian religion which, although much older than Christianity, was a rival image to Christ and spread rapidly throughout the Roman Empire during the first to third centuries c.e. Dr. Kamberli is confident that Western societies built great cities and civilizations along the Silk Road, a pathway connecting Western and Eastern Europe with China and the central Asian steppes. (NOVA) British archaeologist Sir Aurel Stein made a map of Niya in the early 20th century. He also retrieved hundreds of wooden documents, written in an obscure script similar to an Indian alphabet or some form of Aramaic, the language that Jesus probably spoke. Ancient Chinese texts, dating as far back as the second century b.c.e., identified a group of people known as the Yuezhi. They were depicted as treacherous, yellow-haired barbarians with a propensity for destruction. In 1980, there was an expedition to the lost city of Loulan. A unit of archaeologists, funded by the Chinese government, was sent to confirm or deny certain rumors regarding the racial composition of some of China’s earliest peoples. Lying in the sweltering heat was just the kind of evidence they were looking for: the mummified remains of a 40-year-old, brown-haired woman with clear Caucasian traits. Team leader Mu Shun Ying was impressed by its immaculate state, and dubbed the woman the “Loulan beauty.” Radiocarbon dating set this mummy at around 3,800 years old. (Barber, 132) In close proximity to the “beauty” was another mummy, in a tomb constructed from wood. Radiocarbon dating on the materials used to construct the tomb placed its origins as early as 6,000 B.P. (Barber, 132) One hundred and fifty miles from the site of the ancient metropolis of Niya is the humble village of Zaghunluq. It was there that a Uygur archaeologist named Dolkun Kamberti discovered a burial site which would later prove instrumental in debunking many of the beliefs held by Red Chinese scholars, which they endured with much consternation. (Mallory and Mair, 24) It wasn’t until the early 1990s that an American team was permitted to go beyond the city of Niya and taste the forbidden fruit of knowledge, a reality that lay rotting in a storeroom at a sweltering Chinese museum. These 4,000-year-old relics could change China’s relationship to the West forever.An expedition mounted in 1996 comprising Dr. Victor Mair, a professor of Chinese literature at the University of Pennsylvania, and a group of his colleagues, including Dr. Jeannine Davis-Kimball, executive director at the Center for the Study of Eurasian nomads, was dispatched to further investigate.. (Mallory and Mair, 24-26) They first arrived at the Urumchi Museum, where they were waved into a large chamber filled with rows of mummies, some looking as they had died within the past 48 hours, others seriously deformed or in a state of advanced decomposition. Some appeared Mongolian, perhaps the ancestors of Genghis Kahn, but others, as shocking as it might seem, were clearly Western and were dated as far back as 4,000 B.P. (Barber, 44) The expedition members were motioned to a table on which was lying a young maiden, half-covered in a thin shroud. She appeared to have been sacrificed. Her eyes were gouged out, her limbs directly under her pelvis had been ripped out, and her arms above her elbows were missing. Underneath her, laying face-down in the choking dust of the earth was a young child, no older than a year, its face screaming for air: mouth open, hands clenched, even remnants of mucus and tears. (NOVA) Attached to these unfortunate sacrificial victims was the honored mistress of the tomb, clearly of Aryan origin: tall and long-nosed with a narrow visage and blond hair. She must have been a real beauty when she was alive, said Dr. He, one of the archaeologists who found her. Her long blond hair, still almost perfectly preserved, caressed her narrow shoulders and ran downward towards her once ample breasts. (Barber, 94) She had been rescued from an ancient burial site in 1978 by Chinese archaeologist Wang Binghua at Qizilchoqa, east of Urumqi, which is the capital city of Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region. (Barber, 93) Due to its anomalous nature, the discovery was intentionally buried by the Communist regime for almost 20 years. But you cannot annihilate truth, no matter how hard you try. Looking into the mummy’s lifeless eyes, one could catch a fleeting glimpse of the world’s grand design. In time, she would transcend her earthly demise and gain near-immortality, for it would soon become clear that she represented a turning point in contemporary archaeology. (Barber, 93–96) Scientific reconstructions of the faces reveal the startling appearance of Anglo-Saxons and other Teutonic tribes. Astounding as it may seem, many scholars in the United States still maintained that their authenticity was in question. Yet after this expedition Mair confirmed unequivocally that they are indeed genuine. (Chouinard, 208) Like Kennewick Man, this series of awesome discoveries challenges us to rethink Europe’s role in the development of global history and civilization. Now, not only are Caucasians appearing in prehistoric North America, but also in China. Found with the mummies were wool tartans, like those of the Celtic tribes of Western Europe. The Chinese were incapable of producing wool textiles. (Chouinard, 89) Victor Mair and his company then took a perilous trek into the heartland of the Basin. The government had forbidden expeditions into this region, but an exception was made. This should have been an indication that something was seriously wrong. The Chinese Communists had maintained strict control on the exchange of information regarding the 4,000-year-old mummies and the white population they represented. (Mallory and Mair, 19) Nevertheless, the group was led to a burial site which, according to the Chinese authorities, contained the remains of a Yuezhi. The American team was not impressed. First, the alleged Yuezhi’s head was missing, making it extremely difficult to determine ethnicity. (Mallory and Mair, 51) Its body was also covered with fungus, and it was clear that the grave had been tampered with. Obviously the Chinese officials had intended to show them a mummy which would discourage them from validating the discovery that China was not alone in its technological, yes, even spiritual development. (Mallory and Mair, 51–52) Scientists and scholars made the perilous trek to Western China. There are reports of a vast civilization of fair-haired giants, who were once nomadic but settled along what is known today as the site of the ancient Silk Road. This was known as the Tocharian civilization. The creators of this great society, the Tocharians, were often called Arsi, a word which was derived from the Sanskrit arya and the Old Persian ariya meaning Aryan. (Mallory and Mair, 7–8) Tocharian has been positively identified as one of the earliest branches of the Indo-European family of languages. Though now extinct, many of its linguistic patterns resemble those of Celtic, Slavic, and other now-defunct dialects that can be traced to a group of peoples who had their origins on the Russian steppes near the area of the Ural Mountains. (Mallory, 67) Some scholars were so bold as to proclaim that Tocharian was in fact a Celtic dialect. It is very likely that the original homeland of the Indo-Europeans was either the north Caucasus or Central Russia, from which a large extent of the population moved west into Europe, as others pushed southward into India, Persia, and the Middle East, and a smaller complement, the ancestors of the Tocharians, moved eastward into China. (Mallory 67–69) Dr. Mair investigated a cave-like temple at Kizil and Kumtura located in the Tien Shan Mountains north of the Tarim Basin. In it were examples of Indo-European script, a linguistic link to the peoples of the West. (Mallory and Mair, 13–19) Despite a melding of Buddhist and Hindu imagery, and the fact that parts of the paintings were purposefully defaced by peoples of other faiths, the European signature was not to be mistaken. (Mallory and Mair, 21–34) Victor Mair noted it immediately. The images showed hundreds of finely dressed men, with red or blond hair always parted in the middle, an obvious European hair-style. Their pinkish skin tone, blue or green eyes, and long, pointed faces showed that they were in fact of Indo-Aryan extraction; their bodies were by far much taller and slenderer than most Asians. These same people eventually spread throughout northeastern and central Asia, moving into Ferghana and Bactria, north of China just beyond the Pamirs. (Mallory and Mair, 102)In his book The Wanderings of Peoples, published 1912, A. C. Haddon affirmed that Chinese civilization was spurred by the firebrand of “semi-cultured” peoples from the west. Dr. Han Kangxin believes, as does Dr. Mair, that the original inhabitants of the Basin were related to the European races. Indeed, Kangxin even believes they were related to the Cro-Magnons, although others disagree. Some share the opinion that it was the European rather than Asiatic races that led to the establishment of early Chinese civilization. In 1951, the German archaeologist Robert Heine-Geldern showed similarities of metallurgy in Europe and China around 800 b.c..e. Socketed battle-axes and spearheads which were used in abundance in early China were compared to those of Hallstatt and the Indo-European homeland, indicating they were brought there by nomadic Aryans some 3,000 years prior. Although it might be considered the product of an overactive imagination, Heine-Geldern also claimed that the first Chinese Empire of Chi’n Shih Huang Ti, founded in 221 b.c.e., was the creation of Aryan invaders. (Pierce) Many formerly disputed theories are now being exonerated. Dr. David W. Anthony, an anthropologist at Hartwick College in New York, linked the awesome migration patterns of the Indo-European race to the invention of wheeled wagons. Extensive excavations in southern Russia and Kazakhstan have revealed 5,000-year-old burial mounds containing traces of numerous wagon wheels. Not only were such artifacts found in Eastern Europe, but also in the Gobi Desert, which lies on the northeastern border of the Tarim Basin. (Pierce) It is now accepted by almost all archaeologists that the Ukraine was the birthplace of mounted culture, entirely discrediting assertions that identify the origins of horse-riding and the chariot with China or the Middle East. The mummies of the Tarim Basin are a link to not only the human past, but also to the evolution of both Eastern and Western culture. This is not the story of one culture overtaking the other, but rather an East-West synthesis. Regardless of invasion, colonization, and oppression, the contact of two distinct peoples can have ramifications beyond the imagination. ■WORKS CITED:Barber, E. J. W. The Mummies of Urumchi. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1999.Chouinard, Patrick. A Legacy of Gods and Empires: The Quest for Ancient Mysteries. Clearwater: Shadow Books, 2003Grant, Madison. The passing of the great race, or, The Racial Basis of European History. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1918.Mallory, J. P.; Mair, Victor H. The Tarim mummies: Ancient China and the Mysteries of the Earliest Peoples from the West. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2000.Mallory, J. P. In Search of the Indo-Europeans. Language, Archaeology and Myth. London: Thames and Hudson, 1989Pierce, William L. “Aryans: Culture Bearers to China.” National Vanguard, July 1998, updated 2004.Renfrew, Colin. Archaeology and Language: The Puzzle of Indo-European Origins. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 1988.NOVA: The Mysterious Mummies of China. PBS, August 1997
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Enigma of the North Atlantic Crescent

A group of scientists who recently formed the North Atlantic Bio-Cultural Organization (NABO) have made it clear that Asiatic migration is not the only possible path taken by prehistoric peoples into the New World. They posed the question "Could Kennewick Man, the 10,000 year old Caucasian-like skeleton found in the Columbia River in Washington State, be related to the oldest cultures of Western Europe?" This question is part of a new theory emerging about how North America developed, and how the dispersal of peoples across the North Atlantic could have formed a circumpolar Mesolithic culture which was responsible not only for mass migration between the two major continents, but also the interbreeding and establishment of hybrid cultures. The Center for the Study of the First Americans at Oregon State University recently began to process genetic testing of human remains found both in Eastern North America and Western Europe. Further examination of the human mitochondrian cells, may now prove a Caucasoid link to the origins of the first Americans dating as far back as 28,000 BC. Known as the "power packs" of DNA, these cells helped scientists form four categories of ancestral groups or lineages which are viewed as the founding genetic material on which Native Americans are based. Congruent with existing dogma, and fueling the argument in favor of Asiatic origins for the New World population, they could be traced back to Siberia and northeast Asia, specifically in the Baikal and Altai-Sayan regions. However, there is a fifth lineage that is also credited as one of the founding genetic strains of present-day Native Americans. Known as the "haplogroup X," this genetic signature is the vestige of either a later population found in Europe and the Middle East or a possibly primeval population of Caucasoid ethnic groups that inhabited Asia and was also part of the tribes that followed the coastline on small boats to a point where they could disembark and settle. Kennewick and Spirit Cave Man, are one of the most compelling pieces of evidence for the idea that Europeans settled and lived in North America thousands of years before the first Viking expeditions. Such widely-distributed journals as Ancient American magazine have been instrumental in validating and bringing to light the idea of contact between Old World and New World cultures before Columbus, but such finds make even these ancient dates seem relatively recent. If the genetic testing is correct, than our attitude towards Native Americans and are whole view of the world must inevitably change for good or for bad. I hope this brief article has prompted more curiosity about this subject. My curiosity is already peaked. ■