Archaeologist: 12,000-Year-Old Underground Tunnels Are Real And Stretch From Scotland To Turkey7/7/2021 Is it possible that ancient cultures were interconnected thousands of years ago? According to thousands of underground tunnels that stretch from North Scotland towards the Mediterranean the answer is a big yes. While the reason behind these sophisticated tunnels remains a mystery, many experts believe that this huge 12,000 year old network was built as a protection against predators and other dangers. Some experts believe that these mysterious tunnels were used as modern-day highways, allowing the transition of people and connecting them to distant places across Europe. In the book Secrets Of The Underground Door To An Ancient World (German title: Tore zur Unterwelt) German archaeologist Dr Heinrich Kush states that evidence of huge underground tunnels has been found under dozens of Neolithic settlements all over the European continent. These tremendous tunnels are often referred to as ancient highways. According to Dr Kusch, the fact that many of these tunnels still exist today, after 12,000 years indicates that the tunnels must have been both complex and huge in size. “Across Europe there were thousands of them,” says Dr Kusch. “In Germany we have discovered hundreds of meters of underground tunnels. In Austria we have found hundreds more. These underground tunnels can be found everywhere across Europe and there are thousands of them,” said the German archaeologist. While some of the tunnels are relatively small — some of them measure over a meter in width, — there are other tunnels that have been found with underground chambers and storage areas. The fact that these tunnels have been found points towards incredible ancient ingenuity which is anything but what history books tells us today. Ancient mankind had the knowledge and tools to build complex structures over ten thousand years ago. Evidence of that are the Pyramids of Bosnia in Europe and their incredible underground tunnels that go on for kilometers. Dr Kusch states that: ‘Across Europe there were thousands of these tunnels – from the north in Scotland down to the Mediterranean. They are interspersed with nooks, at some places it’s larger and there is seating, or storage chambers and rooms. They do not all link up but taken together it is a massive underground network.’ Cappadocia in Turkey is another incredible example. The underground city of Derinkuyu is another piece of evidence which points towards the perfection and long-lost construction methods of our ancestors. The underground city of Derinkuyu is perhaps one of the greatest achievements in underground construction together with the huge network of tunnels. The geological features of the stone from Derinkuyu is something that is very important; it is very soft. Thus, the ancient builders of Derinkuyu had to be very careful when building these underground chambers providing enough pillar strength to support the floors above; if this was not achieved, the city would have collapsed, but so far, archaeologists have not found evidence of any “cave-ins” at Derinkuyu. Other ancient monuments such as Gobekli Tepe are more pieces of crucial evidence that point towards incredible skills and knowledge by people who inhabited our planet over ten thousand years ago. According to Dr Kusch, chapels were often built at the entrances to the underground tunnels because the Church were afraid of the heathen legacy the tunnels might have represented, and like many other things, the church wanted to make sure word about the tunnels was kept as a secret. In some of the tunnels writings have been discovered which refer to these underground tunnels as gateways to the underworld.
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There have been many books over the eras that promise other worldly powers to those that read it. It makes since that many texts had magical powers in ancient times. Many people could not read so the words on the paper were inherently mysterious. The knowledge gained by reading these texts provided otherwise unknown information and could hear the opinions of people long dead. All of this combined, would definitely color how the masses saw certain books. In the famous grimoire Lesser Key Of Solomon, there is a book called Ars Notoria, or ‘The Notory Art Of Solomon’. This portion of the Lesser Key Of Solomon is from the thirteenth century though parts were written as early as the twelfth centuries. There were many grimoires and other magical texts of the time, this one was more focused on prayers, meditations, and oral exercises rather than spells, potions and rituals. The oldest of the texts found in The Lesser Key Of Solomon, it promises a silver tongue, a ‘perfect memory’, and wisdom. As the book has gone through numerous and unauthorized revisions through the ages, it’s hard to quantify its success. Also, the original texts were written in mash up of ancient Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. King Solomon himself used the original content of Ars Notoria to become as wise, compassionate and clever as he was made to be famous. Another famous user of the Ars Notoria was John of Morigny, a fourteenth century monk When he tried to achieve academic mastery, he bacema afflisted with demonid visions. He went on to create his own grimoire, Libor Visonum. He believed that the Ars Notoria worked but came at too high a price. There is a communication trick inside that modern readers will find fascinating. Labeled a ‘magnetick experiment’, details how to use a lodestone and two compass needles to communicate great distances. If the two needles are rubbed against the same lodestone (a lodestone is a natural magnet), the needles will be ‘entangled’. In this fashion, if one needle moves the other does as well. By placing the needles in the center of a circle of letters and pictures, two individuals across great distances, could talk to each other by spelling out words. The book has many clever ideas and notions that were ahead of its time. It was also attached to prominent occult and political names. All this combined with the fact we discussed earlier, that many people can’t read, lead people to believe it had magical properties. The expansion of perspective and attainment of knowledge made others believe that the book itself was magical. If we were able to get an unabridged and original copy of the book, then my mind could be easily changed. If the book did have inherently dangerous information, authorities of various types would have worked to contain and limit the public’s access to this information. If you’d like to see an example of the text here is a pretty good translation. Aleister Crowley’s Lesser Key of Solomon is available on Amazon. The Ancient Anunnaki are said to have created the human race by genetically modifying early humans in order to use them as a labor force. But before humans were created, the Igigi were used by the ancient Anunnaki as their main labor force. It is said that the Igigi — they who turn and see — were the Ancient Astronaut Gods of the younger generation, the servants to the mighty Anunnaki who came to Earth to mine gold. The terminology used to describe the gods is extremely complicated and still needs much study.- Researchers believe the term Igigi is of Semitic origin and indicates the group of gods in the Mesopotamian pantheon. Unfortunately, it is still unclear which ancient gods belonged to the Igigi. Mainstream scholars use the term Igigi to make reference to the Sumerian mythological deities. According to mainstream scholars, mythologically speaking, the Igigi were the younger servants of the Anunnaki who initiated a rebellion against their masters and dictatorship of Enlil. Eventually, the Anunnaki replaced the Igigi with human slaves. In the myth of Atrahasis – the Babylonian story of the Flood and a precursor to the flood story in the Gilgameš Ep – the Sumerian paradise is described as a garden where lower gods (the Igigi) were put to work digging a watercourse by their masters, the Anunnaki: “When the gods like men bore the work and suffered the toil, the toil of the gods was great, the work was heavy; the distress was much.” (Source) “The Seven great Anunnaki were making the Igigi suffer the work.” (lines 5-6) (Source) “When the gods, man-like, Bore the labor, carried the load, The gods’ load was great, The toil grievous, the trouble excessive. The great Anunnaki, the Seven, Were making the Igigi undertake the toil.” Ancient Astronaut hypothesis suggests that the Igigi were similar to the Anunnaki, remaining in constant orbit around our planet. They were basically considered as intermediaries between our planet and Nibiru – home of the Anunnaki. Many believe that the Igigi remained in constant orbit around our planet in giant platforms which processed ores which were delivered from Earth. After processing the minerals, the material was transferred to other ships and eventually transported to the home planet of the Anunnaki. The Igigi were apparently ever encountered by mankind. It is said that several texts make reference to them, saying the Igigi were “too high up for Mankind,” and consequently “ were not concerned with the people.” After years of tenuous and hard work for the Anunnaki, the Igigi rebelled against their masters. It is sad that they ‘set fire to their tools and surrounded Enlil’s great house by night’ forcing the ancient Anunnaki to find another source of labor. This is why the ancient Anunnaki replaced the Igigi after genetically engineering ancient humans creating a greater workforce. Many authors suggest that the human ‘slave race’ was created after the ancient Anunnaki genetically modified their genes and that of early humans nearly 500,000 years ago. Ancient people of the Pueblo culture of Chaco Canyon, in what is now New Mexico, decorated their houses with six-digit handprints and footprints. Although it is not really known why these images were depicted in homes, researchers suggest that having an extra finger or toe made the person more important and respected in this society. According to National Geographic, researchers were aware of the examples of polydactyly (‘many fingers’) among the Pueblo culture for many years. Several skeletal remains showing extremities with extra toes and fingers have also been found. One of the discovered remains had an ornate anklet around its six-toed foot but carried no such offering on its five-toed foot. The team of researchers, led by anthropologist Patricia Crown of the University of New Mexico conducted the project, initially intrigued by the evidence that divine powers were attributed to polydactyls among the pre-Columbian tribes, such as the Maya. However, according to the report, the Puebla culture did not view six-toed individuals as supernatural like the Maya, but this form of polydactyly did grant people exalted status in life and in death. The researchers maintain that people with six toes were usually associated with important ritual structures and were buried with high-status objects like turquoise. Discover The researchers also sought to determine how common polydactyly was among the Puebla people. They analyzed 96 skeletons excavated from the Pueblo Bonito site, the largest great house in Chaco Canyon. In this group of remains, they identified three individuals with a sixth toe on the right foot, which equates to 3.1% of the sample. Pueblo Bonito, the largest great house in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. (public domain) The researchers identified several handprints and footprints plastered into the walls and floors throughout the great houses. Moreover, an abundance of sandals, sandal-shaped stones, and images of sandals, which all include evidence of a feature to accommodate an extra toe, have been found. The 6-toed footprints and 6-fingered handprints were clearly honored elements in the society and could have held a ritual meaning. “What is important about this study is the strong case the authors make for significance and meaning. Using biology, art, architecture, and spatial distribution… they have built a substantial body of evidence where we only had some intriguing hints before.” Kelley Hays-Gilpin, an anthropologist at Northern Arizona University concluded. 6-toed footprints behind Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon, NM. Photo: 1994, Peter Faris. The researchers still don’t understand why the rate of polydactyly was higher among the Chacos than other tribes. It is also unclear whether the rate of polydactyly found in the skeletal remains from Pueblo Bonito is fully representative of the living population at the time. Therefore, the research will be continued. The prehistoric Pueblo culture dominated the high desert of the Chaco Canyon circa 1,000 years ago. The Puebla people are still very mysterious. As April Holloway from Ancient Origins wrote: “For over 2,000 years, ancient Pueblo peoples occupied a vast region of the south-western United States. Chaco Canyon, a major center of ancestral Pueblo culture between 850 and 1250 AD, was a focus for ceremonials, trade and political activity for the prehistoric Four Corners area. The Puebloans quarried sandstone blocks and hauled timber from great distances, assembling fifteen major complexes that are thought to have been the largest buildings in North America until the 19th century. The massive multi-storied buildings oriented to solar, lunar, and cardinal directions, the high level of community social organization, and its far-reaching commerce, created a cultural vision unlike any other seen before or since in the country. However, all of this suddenly collapsed in the 13th century when the centers were mysteriously abandoned and were never revived. Chetro Ketl, an Ancestral Puebloan great house and archeological site located in Chaco Culture National Historical Park, New Mexico (public domain) The long-held theory is that the downfall of the Chaco Canyon culture occurred because of the poor land-use and deforestation that took place to build the cities. It is popularly cited by environmentalists and others as an example and warning of how human society employs unsustainable land-use practices. However, new research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has drawn this perspective into question. According to a report published in Popular Archaeology, the study conducted by scientists from the Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, shows that there is no substantial evidence to support the claim that the ancient Puebloan peoples, who constructed highly advanced towns and cities, simply overused their resources.” The results of the latest research were published in the journal American Antiquity. Earlier this month we reported on an investigation into the story of Father Crespi and his missing artifacts. by John Black The story of Father Crespi is a mysterious and controversial account of a priest in Ecuador involving claims of unknown civilizations, strange golden artifacts, a subterranean cave system containing a metallic library, depictions of figures connecting America to Sumeria, symbols depicting an unknown language, and a Vatican conspiracy involving thousands of missing artifacts. Ancient Origins undertook an investigation to find out how much of the story is true. “While our initial enquiries produced valuable information, our latest explorations resulted in threats and a warning to stop pursuing further investigations into the missing artifacts.” If you have not yet read the first article, please read it here before proceeding with this update. To summarize the results of our findings, our investigations determined that:
On Wednesday the 30 th March, Dr Ioannis Syrigos, Co-Founder of Ancient Origins, arranged an appointment with Dr Luis Alvarez, expert on Father Crespi and Editor General of the Universidad Politécnica Salesiana (a University founded by Father Crespi), to clarify a few missing pieces to the Crespi puzzle for a video Ancient Origin’s is preparing about Father Crespi’s life. This is an important video that will present the great personality of Father Crespi and his immense help to the people of Cuenca, Ecuador. The missing pieces of the puzzle are of course the golden artifacts depicting hieroglpyhs and Sumerian figures, the ones that Crespi presents and supports in his videos with Stanley Hall and the ones that Professor Barry Fell of Harvard University identified as original. Read more on the subject here. Some of these artifacts can be seen in the video below. Shambhala is round but depicted as an eight-petalled lotus blossom, which is a symbol of the heart Chakra. Many ancient texts refer to ‘magical’ and ‘mythical’ lands, which is fascinating, particularly when you consider how much of the writings in ancient Buddhism, Vedic philosophy, or other Eastern traditions is being confirmed by modern day science. Quantum physics in particular has gained a lot of momentum recently. One great example is the conundrum of consciousness, which is directly correlated with quantum physics and goes hand in hand with other realms of existence. Perhaps this is why some of Nikola Tesla’s ideas were influenced by ancient Eastern philosophy. Not many people know this, but most of our pioneering scientists were also mystics, including Issac Newton, who studied alchemy, among other subjects. “Broadly speaking, although there are some differences, I think Buddhist philosophy and Quantum Mechanics can shake hands on their view of the world. “We can see in these great examples the fruits of human thinking. Regardless of the admiration we feel for these great thinkers, we should not lose sight of the fact that they were human beings just as we are.” – The Dalai Lama (source) This is precisely why we shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss other possible knowledge that remains hidden within ancient texts, especially when evidence is increasingly proving the strength of the connection between ancient wisdom and modern day knowledge. We are surprisingly and inexplicably selective about which parts of ancient writings we hold to be true, and which we dismiss as fantasy. We might take, for example, a description of ancient Greek society written by a philosopher living at the time, such as Plato or Socrates, at face value, yet when confronted with the same philosopher’s description of an advanced ancient civilization, find some excuse to ignore it. We can take Plato’s description of things that are believable to the mind and accept them as fact, but as soon as we are confronted with something outside our known experience, our minds shut down, even in the face of mounting evidence lending credibility to many of these ‘mythical’ stories. Shambhala Several ancient texts from various traditions mention beings from ‘another world’ that exist within our own. One such world, referenced in Tibetan Buddhist and Hindu traditions, is Shambhala, which is a hidden kingdom within our own planet, a place which we do not understand and is difficult to find. It’s a “Spiritual” Place According to the Dalai Lama at a speech he gave in 1985 during the Kalachakra Initiations: Although those with special affiliation may actually be able to go there through their karmic connection, nevertheless it is not a physical place that we can actually find. We can only say that it is a pure land, a pure land in the human realm. And unless one has the merit and the actual karmic association, one cannot actually arrive there. (sources) This closely resembles descriptions of the spiritual principles that once guided Atlantis given by Plato and other scholars. According to Manly P. Hall, author, historian, and 33rd degree mason: Before Atlantis sank, its spiritually illuminated Initiates, who realized that their land was doomed because it had departed from the Path of Light, withdrew from the ill fated continent. Carrying with them the sacred and secret doctrine, these Atlanteans established themselves in Egypt, where they became its first divine rulers. Nearly all the great cosmologic myths forming the foundation of the various sacred books of the world are based upon the Atlantean Mystery Rituals. (source) And according to the modern theosophical tradition: Sambhala, however, although no erudite Orientalist has yet succeeded in locating it geographically, is an actual land or district, the seat of the greatest brotherhood of spiritual adepts and their chiefs on earth today. From Sambhala at certain times in the history of the world, or more accurately of our own fifth root-race, come forth the messengers or envoys for spiritual and intellectual work among men. Edwin Bernbaum, Ph.D., a lecturer, author, mountaineer, and scholar of comparative religion and mythology, writes that Shambhala is round but depicted as an eight-petalled lotus blossom, which is a symbol of the heart Chakra (left). He also makes it clear in his book, The Way To Shambhala, that the way is not clear. Shambhala is a physical place existing within the human realm, but it’s also a spiritual, even supernatural place, which many also believe exists within another dimension. Michael Wood, a BBC journalist, based on his research describes it as a lost kingdom buried somewhere in the Himalayas, and writes about how the name Shambhala first appears in a text known as the Kalachakra tantra – or Wheel of Time teaching. This Kalachakra doctrine belongs to the highest level of Buddhist Mahayana teaching. He writes that in Shambhala, the people live in peace and harmony, and are faithful to the principles of Buddhist. In this land, war, grief and sorrow were completely unknown. According to Michael, one commentator on the Kalachakra tantra puts it like this: The land of Shambhala lies in a valley. It is only approachable through a ring of snow peaks like the petals of a lotus… At the centre is a nine-storey crystal mountain which stands over a sacred lake, and a palace adorned with lapis, coral, gems and pearls. Shambala is a kingdom where humanity’s wisdom is spared from the destructions and corruptions of time and history, ready to save the world in its hour of need. The prophecy of Shambala states that each of its 32 kings will rule for 100 years. As their reigns pass, conditions in the outside world will deteriorate. Men will become obsessed with war and pursue power for its own sake and materialism will triumph over all spiritual life. Eventually an evil tyrant will emerge to oppress the earth in a despotic reign of terror. But just when the world seems on the brink of total downfall and destruction, the mists will lift to reveal the icy mountains of Shambala. Then the 32nd king of Shambala, Rudra Cakrin, will lead a mighty army against the tyrant and his supporters and in a last great battle, they will be destroyed and peace restored. (source) (source) Who Is Down There? What Evidence Do We Have? Who really knows? Legends speak of those who have wandered to the land and never returned, or have died making the journey, while more recently, connections have been made with the UFO/extraterrestrial phenomenon. You might not know this, but UFOs are commonly tracked on air and ground radar, while simultaneously watched by the pilots who are sent out to intercept them. Thousands of documents are available for public viewing, and hundreds of high ranking whistleblowers have shared their stories. If you would like to learn more about the UFO/ET phenomenon and see some of this evidence yourself, feel free to explore the exopolitcs section of our website. As former NASA astronaut and Princeton physics professor Dr. Brian O’Leary has said, “there is abundant evidence that we are being contacted, that civilizations have been visiting us for a very long time.” Based on my personal research into UFOs and extraterrestrials, which spans more than 10 years, stories of flying saucers coming in and out of the ocean are quite common. They are referred to as underwater submerged objects, and contactees, which today number in the millions, often speak of beings existing inside of our own planet — spiritual beings, ‘light beings’ of great intelligence. In addition to these rumours, there are people who claim to have actually experienced this place. Admiral Richard Byrd, a high ranking officer in the United States Navy who received a medal of honour and was the very first man to fly over the South Pole, supposedly journeyed to the hollow Earth. Admiral Byrd also flew directly over the North Pole, writing that he saw an opening in the top. His diary describes his adventure into the opening, where he saw lakes, rivers, green vegetation, and more. He participated in many expeditions to the North Pole, with one being a government-backed program called operation Highjump. Organized by Admiral Byrd, its primary goal was to establish an Antarctic research base. He claims to have been greeted by a flying machine and this is when he first interacted with the beings that existed in a place that is known to many as “Agartha.” The beings told him they were concerned with the development of nuclear weapons and the overall well-being of the planet. Nicholas Roerich (1874-1947), a well known Russian explorer, also writes of Shambhala being located in the north. He travelled through Mongolia and China to the borders of Tibet, and says that, during a conversation with a Lama, he was told that the great “Shabmhala is far beyond the ocean. It is the mighty heavenly domain. It has nothing to do with our Earth. Only in some places, in the Far North, can you discern the resplendent rays of Shambhala.” He claimed the entrance was deep in the high mountains. The Lama also told Roerich: Shambhala is ever vigilant in the cause of mankind: he sees all the events of earth in his ‘magic mirror’ and the might of his thought penetrates into far-off lands. Uncountable are the inhabitants of Shamhala. Numerous are the splendid new forces and achievements which are being prepared there for humanity. (Nicholas Roerich, Shambhala: In search of the new era, Rochester, VE: Inner Traditions, 1990) Based on my research, if there is an entrance, it’s in Antarctica or deep within several mountain ranges, including the Himalayas. And one common theme about Shambhala is that its secrets are well guarded, and cannot be reached unless one is called there. Want To Learn More? My knowledge on Shambhala is next to nothing, and it’s hard to find credible sources for ancient stories such as these. A great place to start seems to be the work of Edwin Bernbaum. He’s certainly done his research, as mentioned in the Journal of The International Association of Buddhist Studies. That publication gives a description of his work, his book, and a few other links that can get you started. He has conducted research and published on a number of topics, including listing and microfilming rare Tibetan texts in the Himalayas, Tibetan myths and legends of hidden valleys, and myth and art along the Silk Route of western China. What Do We Currently Know Of Earths Core? Our current understanding about the makeup of Earth’s core is a theory, based on assumption that is taught as fact. The evidence for the composition of the Earth’s core is decent, however indirect. We have no means for directly sampling the deep interior of the Earth, humans (apparently, if they have we have not been privy to that information) have not been able to access that part of our planet. No one has ever ‘seen’ the inside of our planet, or any other planet for that matter. That being said, we do have instrumentation that can help us ‘see’ the unseen, but the theory of Earth’s core remains just that, a theory. Again, perhaps the Hollow Earth idea is a dimensional thing, who really knows. Many great minds from the past up until the present day believe there to be something unconventional that lay beneath our feet. For example, Leonhard Euler, a Swiss mathematician and physicist. He produced a large portion of modern mathematical terminology and notation, more specifically the notion of mathematical function. He is considered to be one the greatest mathematicians of all time, and has approximately one thousand publications. He believed the Earth was hollow as well as inhabited. The thousand-year-old telephone, a marvel of ancient invention, surprises almost all who hear about it. Reportedly found in in the ruins of Chan Chan, Peru, the delicate communication artifact is thought to have been made 1,200 to 1,400 years ago and is known as the earliest example of telephone technology in the Western Hemisphere. This seemingly out-of-place-artifact is evidence of the impressive innovation of the coastal Chimu people in the Río Moche Valley of northern Peru. Ramiro Matos, curator of the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) told Smithsonian, “This is unique. Only one was ever discovered. It comes from the consciousness of an indigenous society with no written language.” The early “telephone” appears to be a rudimentary speech transmission device, much like the “lover’s telephone” that has been known for hundreds of years but which became popular in the 19th century. It was usually comprised of tin cans connected with string, used to speak back and forth; and mostly seen as a novelty. This ancient Chimu device, described as an instrument, however, is composed of two gourd tops bound with a length of cord. The gourds, each 3.5 inches (8.9 centimeters) long are coated in resin and act as transmitters and receivers of sound. Around each of the gourd bases is stretched-hide membrane. The 75-foot (22.8 meter) line connecting the two ends is made of cotton-twine. A man dressed as a Chimu elite or priest among the ruins of Chan Chan, Peru. ( Johnathan Hood, Flickr/CC BY-ND 2.0) The simplicity of the device disguises its implications. This one-of-a-kind artifact, reportedly predates the earliest research into telephones from 1833 (which began with non-electric string devices) by more than a thousand years. The gourd-and-string device is too fragile to physically test, but researchers can piece together how the instrument might have worked. The enigmatic ancient communication device. Credit: Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. What they must continue to speculate on, however, is how the Chimu used this ancient phone: what was its purpose? As the Chimu were known to be a top-down society, it stands to reason that only the elite or priest class would have been in possession of such a valuable instrument, posits Matos. The precious telephone, with the seemingly magical ability to channel voices across space to be heard directly in the ear of the receiver was, “a tool designed for an executive level of communication” said Matos. There might have been many applications, such as communication between novices or assistants and their higher-ranking elites through chambers or anterooms. No face-to-face contact would have been needed, preserving status and ensuring security. Like many other ancient marvels, it might also have been a device to astound the faithful. Disembodied voices emitting from a hand-held object might have shocked and convinced people of the importance and station of the upper class or priests. Or, there are some who consider the gourd and twine object as merely a child’s toy. If such novelties are not our modern sacred objects, why must they have been believed to be religious items or priestly tools to humans of the past? The artifact was in the possession of Baron Walram V. Von Schoeler, a Prussian aristocrat, who is less flatteringly described as a “shadowy Indiana Jones-type adventurer.” He participated in many excavations in Peru in the 1930s, and may have dug up the artifact himself from the ruins of Chan Chan. He distributed his collection among various museums, and the artifact eventually ended up at the storage facility of the National Museum of the American Indian in Maryland, USA, where it is treated delicately, preserved in a temperature controlled environment as one of the museums greatest treasures. Matos, anthropologist and archaeologist specializing in the study of the central Andes explained, “The Chimu were a skillful, inventive people,” who possessed an impressive engineering society. This can be shown by their hydraulic canal-irrigation systems and their highly detailed, elaborate metalwork and artifacts. The god Naymlap on his boat, gold plate, Chimu 1000-1450 AD. (CC BY 3.0) Chan Chan sculpture and architecture. (Belinda Grasnick, Flicker/CC BY-ND 2.0) The Chimu were the people of the Kingdom of Chimor, and their beautiful capital city was Chan Chan (translated as Sun Sun), a sprawling mud brick complex — the largest such adobe in the world — and it was the largest city in Pre-Columbian South America. Chan Chan was almost 20 square kilometers (7.7 square miles), and with 100,000 residents during its height around 1200 AD. The entire city was made from shaped and sun-dried mud, and was elaborately decorated with sculptures, reliefs and wall carvings on almost every surface. The amazing constructions of the Chimu capital city, Chan Chan. (Carlos Adampol Galindo, Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0) Chimu culture arose about 900 AD, but was eventually conquered by the Inca around 1470 AD. The Chimu telephone, and many other amazing ancient technologies, remind us that ancient cultures were capable of marvelous inventions, ideas, and creations long before our ‘sophisticated’ modern societies dreamed them up (sometimes for a second time). By Liz Leafloor / Featured image: Chan Chan, Peru (Wikimedia Commons). Inset: The enigmatic ancient communication device. Credit: Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian / References: Gascoigne, Bamber. “History of Communication: Better than shouting” HistoryWorld. From 2001, ongoing. [Online] Available here. Baldwin, Neil. 2013. “There’s a 1,200-year-old Phone in the Smithsonian Collections”. Smithsonian. [Online] Available here. Dhwty, 2014. “Chan Chan – The Largest Mud-Brick City in the World”. Ancient Origins [Online] Available here. Smithsonian Institution. 2014. “Meeting of the Board of Regents” PDF [Online] Available here. |
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