Stonehenge Landscape Inhabited By Humans Over 10,000 Years

 

A new archaeological dig in the Stonehenge environs has revealed that the area around the ancient stone circle is officially the longest continuously occupied settlement in Britain currently known about.  Radiocarbon dating of artifacts found 1.5 miles east of the prehistoric monument has shown that the Stonehenge landscape has been inhabited for some 10,000 years.  The finding suggests that the area was of considerable significance for thousands of years before Stonehenge and other monuments in the region were built.

 

“The site blows the lid off the Neolithic Revolution - deemed the first agricultural revolution in Middle Eastern history - in a number of ways,” said archaeologist David Jacques of the University of Buckingham. “It provides evidence for people staying put, clearing land, building and presumably worshipping at monuments.”

 

According to a news report in The Independent, the newly dated Mesolithic site, known as Vespasian’s Camp, was located around a spring, and has so far revealed more than 31,000 pieces of worked flint and over 1000 animal bones.  

 

The findings suggest that the area was a center for tool-making and was used for huge feasts where an ancient species of cow, called aurochs, as well as red deer and wild pig were consumed.  Virtually all the tools found were in pristine condition, so much so that some of the team members cut their fingers on them as they are still sharp.

 

The Stonehenge landscape is not only unique for its ancient roots, dating back to the pre-agricultural Mesolithic period, but it also stands out from other prehistoric sites in England because the area was subsequently inhabited during the Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Romano-British, Anglo-Saxon and later medieval periods.

 

“The area was clearly a hub point for people to come to from many miles away and in many ways was a forerunner for what later went on in Stonehenge itself,” said Mr. Jacques.

 

The findings suggests that the construction of Stonehenge was a response to long-term use of the area, rather than a new build in an empty landscape, and helps to explain why the area became ritually and politically so important and therefore why Stonehenge itself was ultimately built there.

 

 

Massive Stone Pyramids of Mesoamerica

China Finds Pyramid in Ancient Tomb - ROBERT SEPEHR

BEIJING - Chinese researchers say they have found a strange pyramid-shaped chamber while surveying the massive underground tomb of China's first emperor. Remote sensing equipment has revealed what appears to be a 100-foot-high room above Emperor Qin Shihuang's tomb near the ancient capital of Xi'an in Shaanxi province, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

The room has not been excavated. Diagrams of the chamber are based on data gathered over five years using radar and other remote sensing technologies, the news agency said.

Archaeologist Liu Qingzhu of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences was quoted as saying the room is unlike any ever found in a Chinese tomb.

"Qin himself was very unusual, so it's not unexpected that his tomb should also be unique," Liu told the news agency.

Archaeologists theorize that because the room was built on top of Qin's mausoleum and seems to have ladder-like steps leading up, it was intended as a passageway for his spirit, Xinhua said.

Qin is credited with starting construction of the Great Wall and commissioning an army of Terracotta soldiers to guard his tomb.  Thousands of the Terracotta warriors were discovered more than 20 years ago by peasants from a local commune who were sinking wells.

The new finds are forcing a re-examination of old Chinese books that describe historical or legendary figures of great height, with deep-set blue or green eyes, long noses, full beards, and red or blond hair. Scholars have traditionally scoffed at these accounts, but it now transpires that these accounts were correct.

The discoveries in the 1980s of the undisturbed 4,000-year-old ”Beauty of Loulan” and the younger 3,000-year-old body of the ”Charchan Man” are legendary in world archaeological circles for the fine state of their preservation and for the wealth of knowledge they bring to modern research.

"From the evidence available, we have found that during the first 1,000 years after the Loulan Beauty, the only settlers in the Tarim Basin were Caucasoid.” East Asian peoples only began showing up in the eastern portions of the Tarim Basin about 3,000 years ago, Mair said.

The Mongol leader Temujin (AD 1167-1227), better known by his title Genghis Khan (Universal Ruler), was a man of strongly Nordic racial ancestry. According to the Persian historian Ab ul Ghasi, the tribal clan to which Temujin belonged, were known as the Bourchikoun (Grey-Eyed Men).

The ancestral mother and founder of this clan was known as Alan goa (beautiful Alan).

According to the Mongol and Chinese legends on the subject, she was said to have been visited in her tent by a divine being, who possessed golden hair, a fair complexion and grey eyes. Shortly after this visitation, she gave birth to the first member of the Bourchikoun clan.

Temujin himself was noted in Chinese descriptions of him, for his tall stature and heavy beard. We should also note the following depiction of Temujin's appearance, as given by Harold Lamb, in his biography of the great Khan:

"He must have been tall, with high shoulders, his skin a whitish tan. His eyes, set far apart under a sloping forehead, did not slant.

And his eyes were green, or blue-grey in the iris, with black pupils. Long reddish-brown hair fell in braids to his back."

Ab ul Ghasi also observed that the family of Yesugai, the father of Temujin, were known for the fact that their children often had fair complexions, and blue or grey eyes. Temujin's wife, Bourtai, bore a name which means "Grey-Eyed".

Temujin's relatives and descendants also possessed fair features: Temujin's son and successor Ogadei, had gray eyes and red hair; Temujin's grandson Mangu, had reddish eyebrows and a red-brown beard; Subatei, who conquered China, had a long, reddish beard. Indeed, it was said that people were surprised Kubilai Khan had dark hair and eyes, because most of Genghis Khan's descendants had reddish hair and blue eyes.

The Naga and Serpent Mythology

Mummy of Most Powerful Female Pharaoh Identified

Archaeologists using DNA testing said they have identified a mummy as Queen Hatshepsut, Egypt's most powerful female pharaoh. "We are 100 percent certain" that the mummy is that of Hatshepsut, Egypt's antiquities chief Zahi Hawass told The Associated Press.

 

The mummy was discovered in 1903 in the Valley of the Kings, but it was left in place until being moved recently.

 

Archaeologists then took the mummy to the Cairo Museum for testing, said Hawass, setting up a DNA lab in the basement of the Museum. The study was funded by The Discovery Channel, which is set to air an exclusive documentary on the find.

 

The key clue turned out to be a molar. The royal tooth was found in a beautiful jar bearing the queen's insignia and containing some of her embalmed organs. The tooth was found to perfectly fit a gap in the mummy's jaw.

 

The Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, Egypt

 

The mummy identified as Hatshepsut died in her 50s, Hawass said. He said she probably had diabetes and may have also suffered from liver cancer. When the mummy was discovered, the left hand was positioned against her chest, which is a traditional sign of royalty in ancient Egypt. The archeological team is still conducting DNA testing that they hope will conclusively confirm the find.

 

The Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, Egypt

Molecular geneticist Yehia Zakaria Gad said DNA samples were taken from the mummy's pelvis and femur, so that more genetic tests can be run that compare the mummy to the queen's grandmother, Amos Nefreteri, who was previously identified. Gad said preliminary results are "very encouraging."

 

 

Hatshepsut ruled Egypt in the 15th century B.C. and was known for dressing like a man and wearing a false beard. When her reign ended, all traces of her disappeared. Her 22-year rule ended in 1453 B.C. and was the longest among ancient Egyptian queens.

 

 Faces of Ancient Egypt☥ - Species with Amnesia