Top 10 Bizarre & Controversial Archeological Discoveries
Many strange archeological discoveries have been made in modern history. Hundreds of artifacts have been unearthed that have baffled scientists and challenged modern man’s view of history. Many of these objects have been labeled out of place artifacts or anachronisms. These archeological discoveries are always controversial and the scientific community is extremely selective in what they accept as fact. Every object on this list has been accused of being an elaborate hoax. In many cases, a conspiracy is the only explanation, without an extensive rewriting of the world’s history books. These artifacts tell a story of ancient civilizations, Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contracts, and mysterious technological advancements. Many of these archeological discoveries challenge the scientific theory of evolution, as well as many religious beliefs.
10. Acámbaro Figures
Discovered: 1944
The Acámbaro Figures are a collection of small ceramic figurines allegedly found in Acámbaro, Guanajuato, Mexico. They were discovered by Waldemar Julsrud in July of 1944. According to accounts, Julsrud stumbled upon the artifacts while riding his horse in the Acámbaro area. He hired a local farmer to dig up the remaining figures, paying him for each object he found. Eventually, the farmer and his assistants discovered over 32,000 figures, which included representations of everything from dinosaurs to people from all over the world, including Egyptians, Sumerians, and bearded Caucasians. The Acámbaro Figures have been cited as out of place artifacts, as they are clearly human made and portray a large variety of dinosaur species. According to all history books, humans did not live in the time of the dinosaurs. Upon the discovery of the figures, many creationists from all over the world proclaimed the artifacts legitimate. If these figures are genuine, it could stand as credible evidence for the coexistence of dinosaurs and humans, which would severely damage the theory of evolution and offer support for the literal interpretation of the Bible.
Attempts have been made to date these figures using Thermoluminescence, or TL dating, and the results suggested a date around 2500 BCE. A man named Don Patton claims he found radiocarbon dates for the figures ranging from 6500 years to 1500 years ago; however, the objects are in very good shape and show no characteristic evidence of having been in the ground for at least 1500 years. If they were authentic artifacts, they should be scratched and marred from the rocky soil, which is characteristic of other objects found in that area of Mexico. Other supporters of the figures claim that the incredible detail of the dinosaurs suggest a firsthand experience with the creatures. The sheer number of the figures discovered is often cited as evidence for a hoax. To date, no credible scholars of archaeology or paleontology accept the discovery as valid.
9. The Dropa Stones
Discovered: 1938
The alleged story of the Dropa Stones is as follows. In 1938, an archeological expedition was sent to investigate a secluded area of the Baian-Kara-Ula Mountains on the border that divides China and Tibet. The group discovered a series of caves at the summit of the mountains. The caves contained a large collection of graves and the walls were decorated with drawings of people with elongated heads together with images of the sun, moon, and stars. The archeologists uncovered the graves and discovered the remains of ancient beings. The skeletons were a little more than three feet tall, with abnormally large skulls. Inside of the tombs a collection of stone disks were recovered. The disks were almost twelve inches in diameter, with a hole in the center. The objects had a groove on the surface of the disk and spiraled outwards from the center hole forming a double spiral. Closer inspection showed that the grooves were actually a line of small carvings or signs.
The disks were labeled the Dropa Stones. Subsequent investigations have found a total of 716 Dropa Stones in the Baian-Kara-Ula Mountain caves. The Dropa Stones were sent to a variety of scholars for investigation. One of them, Professor Tsum Um Nui of the Beijing Academy for Ancient Studies, found that the spiral grooves were actually a line of characters written in an unknown language. In 1962, he announced that he had managed to translate the language. For a long time, the Peking Academy of Prehistory forbade the professor from publishing anything about the Dropa Stones. However, after many years of debate he published his hypothesis.
Tsum Um Nui claims that an alien spacecraft crashed in the Bayan Har Shan region 12,000 years ago. The occupants were aliens called Dropa or Dzopa. The Dropa could not repair their craft, so they tried to adapt to the conditions on Earth. Meanwhile, the local Ham tribesmen hunted down and killed most of the aliens. Supposedly, the aliens had intermarried with the locals, making identification of the origins of the skeletons more difficult. Many people have challenged these claims and Tsum Um Nui was forced to resign from the Beijing Academy. The Dropa Stones have been disappearing all over the world and are not available for public viewing at any museum. However, pictures of the artifacts do exist.
8. Horned Human Skull
Discovered: 1880s
Sayre is a borough in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, 59 miles northwest of Scranton. The exact year is not clear, but during the 1880s a large burial mound was discovered in Sayre. It was reported that a group of Americans uncovered several strange human skulls and bones. The skeletons belonged to anatomically normal men with the exception of bony projections located about two inches above the eyebrows. It appeared that the skulls had horns. The bones were characterized as giant, as they were representative of people over seven feet tall. Scientists estimated that the bodies had been buried around A.D. 1200. The archeological discovery was made by a reputable group of antiquarians, including Dr. G.P. Donehoo, the Pennsylvania state dignitary of the Presbyterian Church; A.B. Skinner, of the American Investigating Museum; and W.K.Morehead, of Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts.
It was not the first time that gigantic horned skulls have been unearthed in North America. During the 19th century, similar skulls were discovered near Wellsville, New York and in a mining village close to El Paso, Texas. At one time in history, human horns were used as signs of kingship. Alexander the Great was depicted with horns on some of his coins. In Moses’ time, horns were a symbol of authority and power. Many gods, including Yahweh, have been depicted with horns. According to historical accounts, the Sayre bones were allegedly sent to the American Investigating Museum in Philadelphia. However, the artifacts were stolen and never seen again. Apparent pictures of the skulls do exist, but many people claim the discovery to be a hoax. Many websites suggest that the objects are of extraterrestrial origin.
7. Map of the Creator
Discovered: 1999
In 1999, a professor at Bashkir State University in Russia named Alexander Chuvyrov made a remarkable archeological discovery. He was called to the house of Vladimir Krainov, who reported a strange slab buried in his backyard. Chuvyrov was instantly intrigued, as he had been searching for similar slabs that have been cited in various historical manuscripts. The slab was so heavy that it took over a week to unearth. The discovery was named the Dashka stone and later titled the Map of the Creator. The artifact is approximately 5 feet high, 3.5 feet wide, .5 feet thick, and weighs at least one ton. The stone was investigated and determined to be some sort of three-dimensional relief map of the Ural Region. Today’s military uses similar maps to measure elevation and terrain. The Dashka stone reportedly contains representations of civil engineering work, weirs, an irrigation system, and powerful dams. To date, the ancient technology used to make the map is unknown and extremely advanced.
The map also contains numerous inscriptions. At first, the scientists thought that it was an Old Chinese language, although it was later reported that the inscriptions were done in a hieroglyphic-syllabic language of unknown origin. A group of Russian and Chinese specialists in the fields of cartography, physics, mathematics, geology, chemistry, and Old Chinese language researched the artifact and were the ones that identified it as a map of Ural region, with rivers Belya, Ufimka, and Sutolka listed. Dating of the slab was reported to be over 100 million years old, but I couldn’t find any reliable resources citing evidence of what type of test was used or the exact results. If the Map of the Creator is genuine then it would suggest the existence of an ancient highly developed civilization. Researchers have claimed that a three-dimensional map of this order could have only been used for navigational purposes. Many websites claim that the slab is proof of ancient flight. Recent discoveries indicate that the slab is a piece of a larger artifact. The Dashka stone continues to undergo scientific testing and is not available for public viewing.
6. Aluminium Wedge of Aiud
Discovered: 1974
The Aluminum Wedge of Aiud is a wedge-shaped object found two kilometers east of Aiud, Romania, on the banks of the Mures River in 1974. The object was reported to be unearthed 35 feet under sand and alongside two mastodon bones. A mastodon is an extinct large tusked mammal species. Physically, the artifact looked similar to the head of a hammer. The wedge was allegedly taken to the Archeological Institute of Cluj-Napoca to be examined, where it was found to be made of an alloy of aluminum encased in a thin layer of oxide. The alloy of the wedge is composed of 12 different elements. This artifact is considered strange because aluminum was not discovered until 1808 and not produced in quantity until 1885. Aluminium requires 1,000 degrees of heat to be made. The fact that the wedge was found in the same layer of earth as mastodon bones would make it at least 11,000 years old.
Many people have claimed that the artifact is proof that aliens visited Earth. Engineers have reported that the object resembles the foot of landing gear, not unlike the technology used on spaceships. The scientific community believes the wedge was made on earth and its purpose is not yet identified. Due to the limited amount of information that exists on the subject, the antiquity and origin of the artifact is unclear. The Aluminium Wedge of Aiud is not on display to the public and remains in an undisclosed location. However, pictures of the wedge do exist.
5. Los Lunas Decalogue Stone
Discovered: 1880s
The Los Lunas Decalogue Stone is a large boulder on the side of Hidden Mountain, near Los Lunas, New Mexico, about 35 miles south of Albuquerque. The stone bears a regular inscription carved into a flat panel. The inscription is interpreted by some to be an abridged version of the Decalogue or Ten Commandments in a form of Paleo-Hebrew. A letter group resembling the tetragrammaton YHWH, or “Yahweh,” makes four appearances on the stone. The first recorded mention of the artifact is from 1933 when Professor Frank Hibben, an archaeologist from the University of New Mexico, reportedly saw it. Hibben was led to the stone by an unnamed guide who claimed to have found it as a boy in the 1880s. If this information is accurate, a forgery would be unlikely because the Paleo-Hebrew script was unknown to scholars in the 1880s.
One argument against the stone’s authenticity is the apparent use of Modern Hebrew punctuation, although epigrapher Barry Fell argued that the punctuation is consistent with antiquity. Other researchers dismiss the artifact based on the numerous stylistic and grammatical errors that appear in the inscription. The stone is controversial because many feel the artifact is Pre-Columbian and proof of early Semitic contact with the Americas, providing evidence that people from Israel settled in America. Because of the stone’s weight of over 80 tons, it was never moved to a museum or laboratory for study and safekeeping. The stone is accessible to visitors by purchasing a $25 Recreational Access Permit from the New Mexico State Land Office.
4. Piri Reis Map
Discovered: 1929
The Topkap? Palace is a historical structure that is located in Istanbul, Turkey. The palace was the official and primary residence of the Ottoman Sultans for 400 years of their 600-year reign, from 1465 to 1856. In 1929, the Topkap? Palace was converted into a museum. Many ancient artifacts were found during the building’s reorganization and the Piri Reis map was discovered. The map drew immediate attention as it was one of the earliest maps of America, and the only 16th century map that shows South America in its proper longitudinal position in relation to Africa. The map is drawn on gazelle skin and was compiled in 1513 by Ottoman-Turkish military admiral and cartographer Piri Reis. The half of the map which survives shows the western coasts of Europe, North Africa, and the coast of Brazil. Various Atlantic islands, including the Azores and Canary Islands are shown, as is the mythical island of Antillia and possibly Japan.
The most puzzling aspect of the map is its depiction of Antarctica. According to the history books, the first confirmed sighting of Antarctica occurred in 1820 by the Russian expedition of Mikhail Lazarev and Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen. The Piri Reis map not only shows a land mass near present day Antarctica, but it depicts Antarctica’s topography as not being masked by ice and in great detail. It has been estimated that Antarctica has been covered with ice for around 6000 years. Many people have raised the question, how could a Turksih admiral from half a millennium ago map a continent’s topography that has been covered with ice for thousands of years? Reports have been published claiming that the Ottoman Empire had knowledge of some form of ancient Ice Age civilization. However, these claims are generally considered to be pseudo-scholarship, and the scholarly opinion is that the region sometimes thought of as Antarctica is more likely Patagonia or the Terra Australis Incognita (Unknown Southern Land) widely believed to exist before the Southern Hemisphere was fully explored.
On the map, Piri Reis gives resource credit to a map drawn by Christopher Columbus, which has never been discovered. Geographers have spent several centuries unsuccessfully searching for a “lost map of Columbus” that was supposedly drawn while he was in the West Indies. After the discovery of the Piri Reis map, an unsuccessful investigation was launched to find the lost Columbus source map. The historical importance of the Piri Reis map lies in its demonstration of the extent of Portuguese knowledge of the New World in 1510. The Piri Reis map is currently located in the Library of the Topkap? Palace in Istanbul, Turkey, but is not currently on display to the public.
3. Giants of North America
This is not a real photo. It does not support the Giants of North America discoveries below. We just like the photograph. -Ed.
In the last few centuries, many strange archeological discoveries have been made in the Americas. It seems that people are unearthing extremely unusual and giant human remains. Many documented accounts of these findings exist. Giant human remains are classified as any bones representative of a person between seven and twelve feet in stature. A human skeleton measuring 12 feet tall was unearthed at Lompock Rancho, California, in 1833 by soldiers digging a pit for a powder magazine. The specimen had a double row of teeth and was surrounded by numerous stone axes, carved shells, and porphyry blocks with abstruse symbols associated with it. In 1856, a decaying human skeleton measuring 10 feet 9 inches tall was unearthed by laborers plowing a vineyard in what is now West Virginia. A mound discovered near Toledo, Ohio in 1895 held 20 skeletons; they were seated and facing east with jaws and teeth “twice as large as those of present day people.” In 1928, a farmer digging a pit to bury trash near Waterproof, Louisiana unearthed a 9 foot 11 inch tall skeleton.
The list of these discoveries is quite extensive and many claims have been made about the origin of these giant bones, usually starting and ending with Sasquatch. Others have suggested an ancient race of giant humans. In 1947, a strange article was posted in a Nevada state newspaper, titled ‘Atlantis in the Colorado River Desert’. The article discussed an incredible archeological discovery of 32 underground caves within a 180 square mile radius. The report indicated that the caves were discovered close to the Nevada and California border. The remains of ancient, strangely costumed 8 -9 foot giants were inside. They had been laid to rest wearing the skins of unknown animals similar to sheepskins fashioned into jackets with pants described as “prehistoric suits.” The same burial place had been cited 10-15 years earlier by another man who supposedly made a deal with the Smithsonian. Claims have been made that the evidence of his find was stolen and covered up by Darwinian scientists to protect the theory of evolution.
The caves were reported to have been discovered by Dr. F Bruce Russell. He initially described the finding as the burial place of a tribal hierarchy. He felt that some unknown catastrophe had driven these beings into the caves. All of the implements of their civilization were there, including household utensils and stoves. Well-preserved remains of dinosaurs, saber-toothed tigers, imperial elephants, and other extinct beasts were found. No physical archeological evidence of these claims has ever been displayed. Photo: worth1ooo.com.
2. Kensington Runestone
Discovered: 1898
In 1898, a Swedish American farmer named Olof Öhman claims to have discovered a large stone while clearing his land of trees and stumps. The object was attached to the roots of a small tree. Öhman didn’t realize what he had discovered, so he took the 200 pound stone to the prominent citizens of Kensington. Kensington was a settlement in Douglas County, Minnesota. The Kensington Runestone is full of ancient writing and carved text. It is thirty-one inches high, sixteen inches wide, and six inches thick. Nine years after the discovery of the artifact, Hjalmer R. Holand from Wisconsin University announced that he had deciphered the writings. He claims the text to read “8 Goths and 22 Norwegians on exploration journey from Vinland over the west. We camp by 2 skerries one day-journey from this stone. We were and fished one day. After we came home, 10 men red with blood and tortured. Hail Virgin Mary, save from evil. Have 10 men by the sea to look after our ship, 14 day -journeys from this island year 1362.”
After Holand published his findings, a massive investigation was conducted. If the translation is correct, the Kensington Runestone would provide evidence that Scandinavian explorers reached the middle of North America in the 14th century, nearly 130 years before Christopher Columbus. Basically, it raised eyebrows over the possibility that North European explorers predated Columbus in America. The runestone has been analyzed and dismissed repeatedly. Almost all runologists and linguists consider the artifact to be a hoax. However, many people believe it is authentic. If the legend on the stone is true, it means that Vikings were in central Minnesota in 1362. That would require a major rewriting of world history and geography. The Kensington inscription consists of thirty different runic characters.
In July 2000, just over a hundred years after the Kensington Runestone was found, a detailed physical analysis of the artifact was conducted. In November 2000, geologist Scott F. Wolter presented preliminary findings suggesting the stone had undergone an in-the-ground weathering process of a minimum of 50–200 years in natural conditions. Scott F. Wolter has written a number of books on the Kensington Runestone. He has suggested that the stone was made by the Vikings Knight Templar in 1362, fifty years after the dissolution of the Knight Templar and several hundred years after the end of the Viking age. He also claims that the North American expedition helped Columbus find his way around the West Indies in 1492. The artifact remains a mystery. You can view it at the Runestone Museum in downtown Alexandria, Minnesota.
1. The Shroud of Turin
The Shroud of Turin is a linen cloth bearing the image of a man who appears to have suffered physical trauma in a manner consistent with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The linen is a full body portrait and measures 14 feet, 3 inches long by 3 feet, 7 inches wide. The shroud is wrapped in red silk and has been kept in a silver chest in the Chapel of the Holy Shroud in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin, Italy since 1578. The origins of the artifact and its image have been the subject of intense debate among scientists, historians, and researchers. Believers contend that the shroud is the cloth that was placed on the body of Jesus Christ at the time of his burial, and that the face image is the Holy Face of Jesus. Detractors contend that the shroud cloth material postdates the crucifixion of Jesus by more than a millennium. In 1988, radiocarbon dating was done on the shroud in an attempt to determine the relic’s authenticity. The test indicated that the cloth was woven between 1260 and 1390 A.D, much later than the time of Jesus.
These results have been challenged by peer-reviewed journals and many critics have raised questions about the original nature of the sample used in the test. The Catholic Church has neither formally endorsed nor rejected the shroud, but in 1958 Pope Pius XII approved the image in association with the Roman Catholic devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus. On May 28, 1898, amateur Italian photographer Secondo Pia took the first photograph of the shroud and was startled by what he discovered. The negatives gave the appearance of a positive image, which implies that the shroud itself is a negative of some kind. Image analysis by scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory found that rather than being like a photographic negative, the image unexpectedly has the property of decoding into a 3-D image. This property could not be replicated by researchers. One theory is that the image on the shroud is simply painted on. Both skeptics and proponents tend to have very strong positions on the formation and discovery of the Shroud of Turin. At times the controversy is pitting science versus divine formation, which makes dialogue very difficult. The Shroud of Turin remains one of the most mysterious artifacts in the world.
While I don’t know for certain whether or not th story behind number 3 is real I do know the photo is not real Worth1000 is a website dedicated to photoshop
The photo was just used as fun shot. We didn’t mean to imply that photo was real.
Oops I didn’t think anyone would think that was a real picture, sorry! I didn’t write this list, but I did add the images: I also included a link to the site you mention (at the end of the paragraph). The link goes straight to a whole bunch of photoshopped giant skeletons…
I’m just glad no body was trying to pass that off as a real picture. This is one of the few sites that my works internet filter doesn’t block and I would be a bit annoyed to find out you are putting up such obvious decceptions.
Glad your faith in us has been restored. And glad your work lets you visit.
If one did even the slightest bit of research into these they would find that they lack even the slightest shred of credible evidence.
Specifically to number 10, and taken from Wikipedia (just like the author of this site has done but not attributed)
“Archaeologist Charles C. Di Peso was working for the Amerind Foundation, an anthropological organization dedicated to preserving Native American culture. Di Peso examined the figures and determined that they were not authentic, and had instead been produced by local modern-day farmers, publishing his results in the journal American Antiquity.
‘He concluded that the figurines were indeed fakes: their surfaces displayed no signs of age; no dirt was packed into their crevices; and though some figurines were broken, no pieces were missing and no broken surfaces were worn. Furthermore, the excavation’s stratigraphy clearly showed that the artifacts were placed in a recently dug hole filled with a mixture of the surrounding archaeological layers. DiPeso also learned that a local family had been making and selling these figurines to Julsrud for a peso apiece since 1944, presumably inspired by films shown at Acámbaro’s cinema, locally available comic books and newspapers, and accessible day trips to Mexico City’s Museo Nacional.’”
In regards to the Acámbaro figures, I used many resources when creating this article, including Wikipedia. I usually don’t bother to post the sources unless asked. Personally, I tend to agree with you that the Acámbaro figures are fabricated and the article clearly states that no credible scholars of archaeology or paleontology accept the discovery as valid. It also says that every entry on the list has been accused of being an elaborate hoax.
Here are some resources I used for this particular entry. Many of these articles are older, as the Acámbaro topic was more heated in the 1960s and 70s.
1. Mystery at Acámbaro, Mexico: Did Dinosaurs Co-exist With Humans by Alex Pezzati.
“Professional Mexican archaeologists immediately pronounced these artifacts to be fakes, observers outside the archaeological community were intrigued, and a number of popular articles soon appeared questioning the archaeologists.” Between 1969 and 1972 the Museum’s Applied Science Center for Archaeology (MASCA) reignited the debate when it tried to date some of the figurines using a relatively new technique known as Thermoluminescence, or TL dating. The results produced a date around 2500 BC, and Rainey eagerly proclaimed it to be correct, much to the chagrin of other archaeologists.”
The Acámbaro figures are listed as valid on many creationists’ web pages, including the Wikipedia article titled Category: Creationism. It is an argument that has been going on since 1944 when they were discovered.
2. Charles Hapgood. “Mystery in Acambaro: An Account of the Ceramic Collection of the Late Waldemar Julsrud in Acambaro.” GTU. (Self Published: Mexico, 1972).
3.World Explorer Magazine, Vol. 1 Number 9. Lost Civilizations of Central America, David Hatcher Childress.
And that is why you are one of my favorite writers for Toptenz.net, Bryan. Thanks for the followup.
Should have called this list “Top Ten Archeological Hoaxes” because that is what they all are.
Even a hoax has to be discovered. But your comment is duly noted. Thanks for reading.
The first is not a hoax; at least not a modern one. Read on the Shroud of Turin. There was a documentary about it and it’s authenticity. Leonardo Da Vinci was the one who ‘faked’ the Shroud of Turin to make it look like it belonged to that of Jesus. This was on Nat Geo about 3 months ago. Heck, you can even find the story through wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shroud_of_Turin
And yes, it is in line with the documentary.
This was entertaining stuff to read, and it sure does appeal to my inner child’s sense of wonder and mystery. I don’t actually believe that any of this is true though. You mention a few times that some of these things have been researched and debated about by scientist and reputable people. However, you never offer any factual evidence to support any of that. I think it would be really cool to check up on the research behind some of these mysteries, so if you do have any links or references (though I highly doubt you do) i would highly appreciate it if you posted them
I agree that the article could have been named 10 Controversial Archeological Discoveries. When creating the list I was looking for items that tell a bizarre story. Many Internet pages include information on these objects and I would suggest doing a Google search if you are interested in learning more.
You forgot the ica stones en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ica_stones
Hey TopTenz. Have you ever heard of Puma Punku. It was featured on the History Channel special “Ancient Aliens”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQbRrNv2UmU
Skip ahead to 7:00. I found this to be the most interesting portion of the program. You should check it out. Its pretty cool.
Some of these have been proven to be hoaxes, but the Piri Reis map is not. It has a lot of detail for a map made in its time.
The shroud of Turin is an obvious fraud. If a cloth were laid over a dead body (and left a lasting image on the cloth, possibly from chemical reactions over time between the biological matter of the rotting body and the …different biological matter of plant matter that was woven into cloth) the image left on the cloth would be grossly stretched horizontally. Since the shroud displays no distortion it’s an obvious hoax.
um, its said to be radiation from when jesus resurrected.
It’s an obvious fraud for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that the person who made it confessed.
Can you please offer a source for that information? I’m no Shroud of Turin buff, but I think it would be all over the world in seconds if there had been some sort of confession, and I can’t find it anywhere on the internet.
The only thing obvious is your lack of knowledge. Go to: http://www.shroud.com/
Sorry but you are WRONG. If you bother to go to the Official Site of The Shroud of Turin, you will see that there is anything but fraud involved. The scientist who runs the site is an Orthodox Jew who has been studying it for over twenty years. He tells you that the the more they study it with more of the latest technology, the more it is inexplicable. Here is the link: http://www.shroud.com/
Thanks, but I’m going to base my opinion on what the vast majority of the scientific and historical community has said, rather than what one guy who owns a website says. Anybody can start a website and claim to be whoever they want to be. This is why you should always cross check your facts between various sources. It’s very easy on the internet to find a website that supports any given opinion, but it usually isn’t an accurate indicator of what the actual truth of the matter is.
You obviously did not read my comment. The man who runs the web-site is part of the scientific team who has studied the shroud for over twenty years. HIS CREDENTIALS ARE IMPECCABLE. He was recently featured in a new two hour special shown on the History Channel about new findings on the authenticity of The Shroud. The vast majority of the scientific community CANNOT make an objective opinion on The Shroud because they have not studied it. The only various sources worth checking are those who have studied it.
UNDERSTAND!!!!
Remember, all things such as this are subject to the scientific method.
The Scientific Method refers to a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering observable, empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning.
You seem to misunderstand me. What I am saying is that anybody can make a claim to their credentials on the internet. Even if his credentials are accurate, he is still in a very small minority among scientists.
As I said, there are a vast majority of people in the scientific community who believe that it is a hoax. They believe this because they have evidence that has been objectively tested by many, many people over a period of many, many years. There will always be a few people on the fringe of any community who believe things that are completely rejected by everyone else. Just because you find one person who makes a claim supposedly on behalf of science doesn’t mean it is true in any way.
Also, I know what the scientific method is and I don’t really understand why you have cut pasted a definition here, seeing as you haven’t integrated it into your argument in any way.
Once again, you have not addressed my main points.
Who freaking cares? Seriously, how many of us here have actually examined any of the artifacts here ourselves? How many of us have conducted scientific experiments on the artifacts to determine if they were real or fake? How many of us have conducted scientific experiments and studies (other then text book studies) on evolution? I would guess that the vast majority that have commented on this site have not conducted scientific experiments outside of experiments required to pass a high school or college science course. I would also guess that the vast support for given arguments is based on someone else’s work or opinion. As far as the Shroud itself, though I am Roman Catholic myself, I do not need any type of artifact to prove the existance of Christ anymore then I need an innocent child sacrificed by being entombed in up in a newly built building so that the building would be protected from the devil and therefore, wouldn’t collaspe. Superstition does not belong in matters of science or faith. Religion and science themselves are two separate entities and should never be mixed together. I do not know if the Shroud is fake or authentic and I really don’t care even though for the record that it’s my opinion that the shroud is a fake. Scienctists have other issues in the world that they need to be worried about other than a piece of fabric or involving themselves in a religious debate. As far as faith, how strong can faith really be if it has to be based on some type of artifact? I really don’t like to judge and I do my best to respect the beliefs and opinions of others but I would consider myself pathetic if I had to rely on a piece of fabric to justify my belief in God.
Sorry, what points have I not addressed? I have explained why you shouldn’t believe one person when the majority of scientific opinion is against them, I have explained that the evidence is almost universally accepted in the scientific field to mean that the Shroud was a hoax from the 14th century. I’m honestly not sure what other points you want me to address.
But if you want I will add another. The fact remains that even if the Shroud is not a hoax, even if they did find that it came from the right time period (which all evidence is against), there is absolutely no indication, let alone evidence, that it is in any way a sacred artifact. The religious association with the artifact is all based on speculation and there is simply no way of ever proving that it is anything other than an old sheet. There is no record of any shroud in first century Christian texts.
And the fact remains that through years of testing using that scientific method that you apparently love to define have concluded that it is a hoax. All analysis points to hoax. Here:
Further examinations were conducted in 1978 by the Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP), a group whose leaders were on the Executive Council of the Holy Shroud guild, a Catholic organisation that advocated the cause of the supposed relic.
STURP pathologist Robert Bucklin claimed the images were anatomically correct, yet a footprint on the cloth is inconsistent with the position of the leg, the hair falls as for a person standing rather lying down, and the physique is unnaturally elongated (similar to figures in Gothic art).
Microanalyst Walter C. McCrone examined tape-lifted samples from the shroud and identified the supposed blood as tempera paint containing red ochre and vermilion along with traces of rose madder.
In 1988, three laboratories (at Oxford, Zurich, and the University of Arizona) used accelerator mass spectrometry to carbon-date samples of the linen. The results all stated that the linen was produced around 1250-1390 CE.
If there are any more points I have yet to address, please have the foresight to actually make them first.
Yes, but many things surrounding God and Jesus are miraculous.
No, that’s just the stock answer given by the uninquiring minds of people who would dismiss all contradictory evidence before they gave up their primitive beliefs.
@Steve
And that is a stock answer of all those who don’t respect the religious beliefs of others. Just because you don’t understand the idea of religious faith doesn’t mean you can insult others. It’s called respect, look into it.
Of course he can. And I think he well understands the idea of religious faith. You do not. Understanding and faith do not co-exist.
Faith is a magician who says ‘just trust me its magic’. Try asking some questions and watch your religion unravel. There are answers you’ve ignored.
Only the ignorant can be insulted.
Stuart, we will obviously disagree on many things, we will only find out who is right after we die. Best of luck to you.
But I don’t allow religious insults on my site, although I have been far too lenient of late, I believe.
And you last statement is preposterous. Only the ignorant can be insulted? So you are saying you have never been insulted as I assume you don’t consider yourself ignorant and anyone who has ever been insulted is ignorant? Rethink your statement.
This is the end of this comment thread. Feel free to move over the the post Top 10 Arguments that Can’t be Won and continue to argue it there: http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-arguments-that-can%E2%80%99t-be-won.php
dropa stones are fake:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dropa
even the chinese professor is fake
I read that article Sungods in Exile when creating the list and I realized that the Dropa Stones were a highly skepticized artifact. In response to the the claim, I read some webpages that suggested a Chinese cover-up, which isn’t that hard to imagine when it comes to the Internet and Chinese censorship.
If #10 were real, it would be the most important artifact of all time. Scary…
I recall hearing in a history channel program that the Shroud of Turin had take damage from a fire and had been repaired with a different material, and that what had been dated was from that new material.
Yes, actually, History Channel made a recent episode on the Shroud of Turin
From your intro: “Many of these archeological discoveries challenge the scientific theory of evolution…” No, they really don’t. Unless, of course you already don’t believe in evolution, which, from the pro-religion biased slant of this list, looks to be the case.
The most highly suspect items on the list are the ones that would disprove parts of the theory of evolution, such as the Acámbaro Figures and the existence of an ancient civilization of giant people. When writing articles, I always attempt to show both sides of an issue and usually don’t include my personal beliefs. That is what I was trying to accomplish with the statement “Many of these archeological discoveries challenge the scientific theory of evolution, as well as many religious beliefs.”
Ironically, I have also written another list for toptenz.net titled Top 10 Recent Signs Evolution is Real. That list should give you more of an insight into my personal beliefs. Here is a link: http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-recent-signs-evolution-is-real.php
There is a difference between giving ‘both sides of an argument’ and disseminating information that has been solidly proven to be false. There are more actual scientists who deny that the holocaust happened than deny that evolution is real. There’s very little debate about it in the scientific community, because there is simply enough evidence that has been through enough rigorous examination.
This whole ‘both sides of the argument’ thing is a ridiculous idea, simply because it suggests that this is an argument with two distinct sides. In the scientific community, that second side barely exists. If we take this concept outside of the scientific community, then there are quite a lot more than two sides of the argument. There is just as much evidence for creationism as there is for humans being planted on earth by alien overlords. Are we supposed to teach that as well?
I have no problem with parents teaching their children what they believe. As long as there is no overt lying. But putting forward evidence that has been proven to be falsified is not ‘teaching both sides’. It is lying.
Actually I don’t believe any of these challenge the the theory of evolution or natural selection. Take into account the over sized people, if they died out that is a clear case of natural selection. That’s just my opinion.
Yes I agree with you, none of these artifacts have anything to do with natural selection. Modern day creationists point out the fact that the theory of evolution talks about the extinction of the dinosaurs occurring 75 million years ago and if evidence was discovered that dinosaurs co-existed with humans than scientists would have to explain this. Some people have websites that claim this fact hurts the credibility of the theory of evolution, but only a very small aspect of it.
there is no evidence of the 11 foot giants found in west virginia,
http://www.bibleufo.com/humanphenom7.htm
this site shows that they were found in wheeling, im from wheeling and have done a lot of research for the area and never heard of this before,
I took the reference about Wheeling from a book that was written by Robert Lyman. In the book he claims that “a decayed human skeleton claimed by eyewitnesses to measure around 3.28 meters (10 feet 9 inches tall), was unearthed by laborers while plowing a vineyard in November 1856 in East Wheeling, now in West Virginia.” West Virginia officially became a state 1863, so the discovery would have been before it was officially a state, but it does seem that Wheeling has a long and storied history before West Virginia was named a state. It was interesting to read about the Wheeling Conventions.
Lyman, Robert R., Sr. (1971). Forbidden Land: Strange Events in the Black Forest. Vol. 1. Coudersport, PA: Potter Enterprise.
interesting bryan,
do you have any links that you could post in relation to this, im always looking for new info, thanks
Sure, in regards to the giant bones I took the reference from the Wikipedia article titled Giants (Mythology). I know that the majority of this article is about mythological giants, but one section is titled â??Giant Human Remainsâ?? (about halfway down the page). This section is about historical reports of the discovery of giant bones.
There was only the one sentence about Wheeling, WV, but many other discoveries are mentioned. As for the book that is referenced on the page Forbidden Land by Robert Lyman (1971). I couldnâ??t find it anywhere on the web, not even e-bay. I will include a link to the Wikipedia page and to another interesting article I used on the discovery of giant bones around the world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_(mythology)
http://www.returnofthenephilim.com/GiantBonesDiscoveries.html
This site is one of my personal favourites when it comes to anomalies:
http://www.burlingtonnews.net/giants.html
Hey great article! Very interesting read!
The Piri Reis map depicting antartica is another way of people interpreting things with our current knowledge.
I does not depict the south pole in great detail, it doesn’t even show South America correctly and on top of that it shows a landbridge between the tip of south america and terra australis which is a bit strange for a supposedly accurate chart.
Moreover most of the places and names on the map are in Portuguese suggesting the map is actually a copy of portuguese maps …
How about the antikythera mechanism? This one IS accepted by the scientific community.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism
10 Or maybe ancient humans fund dino bones, and guessed what they looked like, like we do today. Why must primitive humans be clueless morons all the time?
9. So, what did they say?
5. Jews always were highly educated. Not too unlikely they’d be able to reach the Americas way before the Europeans did.
4. Why couldn’t others have found the Americas? Just because ti wasn’t widely published doesn’t mean it never happened. We know early man took tot eh seas earlier than thought, we know the vikings found the Americas before the Europeans. Why not people earlier still? Maybe we don’t know when Antarctica got iced. Some say it’s Atlantis, and it was destroyed when it migrated south.
3. If the “Hobbit” is really a different breed of man, proving little humans existed, why not giants as well? Our stories might be based off of fact. Both types intermingled with humans, and why we still have big and small people today.
None of these things disprove evolution. Just that we need to rework our time tables. Also, disproving evolution does not automatically prove Creationism. Just because we only acknowledge two possibilities doesn’t mean there’s only two possibilities .
One of the most interesting articles I have ever read! Well done.
Wow, this is awesome!
This is the first Internet article that I’ve read all the way though.
Great article. Though I really didn’t understand the reasons for all the attacks. I thought it was a fair presentation. One thing though I would like to mention is that Evolution is a theory and nothing more. It has not been proven to be scientific law (though I do believe in evolution to a certain extent). However, a key contribution to the theory of evolution that is scientific law was discovered by an Austrian monk by the name of Gregor Mendel. Mendel was a man of God and someone who obviously wasn’t an ignorant idiot. Some people appear just as retarded as those that ridiculed Darwin’s work when it first came out. Finally, when I was a student of Anthropology, we were taught that all myths were considered to be real. They were not dismissed as imaginations of a primitive people. Finally, everyone has a way of understanding and relating to the world that we live in and has the right to believe in whatever we want. It doesn’t make one ignorant; just human.
@Rhonda-
Evolution is a theory the same way gravity is a theory.
The word theory is often used incorrectly instead of the more correct “hypothesis”. There is no difference between the amount of evidence needed, instead a law defines that something does indeed happen whilst a theory defines why it happens. Theories require large amounts of evidence to support them and the majority of scientist must agree that with it before it can become a scientific theory.
I would advise you to check your facts in that regard.
-Mekkin
Yes, scientific theories may be more supported then a hypothesis, but that doesn’t make them a fact. I would suggest you check out the wikipedia page titled “theory.” Here is a quote.
“In modern science the term “theory”, or “scientific theory” refers to a proposed explanation of empirical phenomena, made in a way consistent with the scientific method. Such theories are preferably described in such a way that any scientist in the field is in a position to understand, verify, and challenge (or “falsify”) it.”
This is one of the most awesome articles i have ever read, i read all the way through and there arent many articles i do read.oh yeh i almost forgot, the shroud of turin is in display unrolled now in that chapel, which is really cool if you have the money to go over to italy and see it.
http://www.johnpratt.com/items/astronomy/science.html
“Truth. Note that you cannot prove any theory to be true. You might think up a thousand totally different tests to try to disprove the theory, and it might pass every one. Does that mean it is “true”? No, because the 1,001st test could prove it false. While scientific theories are never supposed to be considered to be absolute truth, some have passed so many tests that they are called “laws.” For example, we will learn Kepler’s laws, and Newton’s laws. A scientific law is like a theory that has been inducted into the “Science Hall of Fame.” But even then it might have to be modified. Einstein found some corrections even for Newton’s laws, but they are normally far too tiny to even be able to measure.” -Ã?©1998 by John P. Pratt. All rights Reserved.
http://www.madsci.org/
Subject: What is the difference between a theory and a law?
Date: Fri Oct 22 14:59:28 1999
Posted by John C. Hall
Grade level: teacher/prof School: Fitzgerald High School
City: Fitzgerald State/Province: GA Country: USA
Area of science: Science History
ID: 940618768.Sh
A post I recently read a journal article* that spurred my curiosity. The
author stated, “Individuals often hold a simplistic, hierarchical view of
the relationship between theories and laws whereby theories become laws
depending on the availibility of supporting evidence.” He added, “theories
and laws are different kinds of knowledge and one can not develop or be
transformed into the other” and, “theories are as legitimate a product of
science as laws.”
Throughout my years of undergraduate and graduate education, I have
been taught this “hierarchical view” of theories and laws. As a former
biology professor and current teacher of secondary education, I need to
know, “What is the difference between a theory and a law?” and more
importantly, CAN a theory eventually become a law based on supporting
evidence? I need these questions answered in order to produce
“scientifically literate” citizens, I would surley hate to continue
misleading my students.
*Lederman, N.G. 1998. The state of science education: subject matter
without context. The Electronic Journal of Science. 3(2).
Now, I am sure that a very heated debate could unfold to what was originally taught to be scientific law and scientific theory. I was taught the “simplistic” view of what a scientific theory and that leaves me in complete disagreement to the way a scientific theory that is now currently taught as a complete scientific truth. It is my opinion that some scientists have become so biased in their efforts to prove the theory of evolution as undisputable scientific truth that they actually almost eliminated the difference between scientific theory and scientific law and in doing so have attempted to discredit their peers that do believe in creationism. Nor does it end there because it’s just not enough to attempt to discredit those that don’t accept evolution as undisputed scientific evidence but further insult is layed by labeling anyone that doesn’t agree that evolution is undisputed scientific evidence as “simple-minded”, unscientific individuals that just can’t accept “real” science. On the other end of the spectrum, just because there are those that do not believe in evolution doesn’t mean that the theory of evolution has been disproven. It has passed tests conducted through the scientific method and to completely refute the theory of evolution is just as biased as those individuals that try to pass it off as an absolute truth. An open mind is what is needed when one studies science and should be excluded from both egotism and superstition. This is my opinion and everybody is entittled to one. If someone else’s opinion differs from mine, then I accept it even if I don’t agree with it. I have no need to bolster my self-esteem by making an idiot of myself through a self-delusion of “superiorty” over individuals that do not have the same interpretation of what is considered to be scientific or having a different interpretation of the meaning of a scientific theory. Did I base my first statement on facts? Yes I did, as taught to me by teachers and professors of science. Just because some scientists have changed their opinion of the meaning of the scientific method does not mean the way I was taught what the scientific method meant is wrong. It’s just a difference of opinion.
Interesting thoughts
Fascinating article, not just because of the content but because of the unbiased manner in which it was written. Thank you for writing it and I look foward to reading more of your work.
regarding #2: never mind that Christopher Columbus never set foot in North America, ever.
Great article. I’d heard of most of them before but there were a few new ones (at least to me).
Shroud of Turin is absolutely fake of XIV century
Go to: http://www.shroud.com/. The only thing obvious about it is that it still cannot be explained by the top scientists in the world; one of whom runs the official web site listed above.
If you wrote the lengths in both feet/inches and centimeter/meter, it would be nice. Then everyone non-English/American/Australian wouldn’t have to recalculate it to our measurement system
Good point, I will keep that in mind for future articles.
I have so far only read the first one, but I need to comment before people go around putting forward that bullcrap as evidence for creationism.
All you need to do is visit the wikipedia page of the Acambaro figurines to see how absurd this is. There is much more evidence that this is a hoax than simply ‘there was too many of them’:
“According to Di Peso, the surface of the figures was practically brand new and they showed no characteristic evidence of having been in the ground for at least 1500 years. If they were authentic artifacts, they should be scratched and marred from the rocky soil, which is characteristic of artifacts found in that area of Mexico. Also, while people were digging up the artifacts, Di Peso observed them crush through authentic artifacts to reach the figures, yet none of the figures themselves displayed any marks of damage. Other evidence includes fresh manure and fingerprints found under the ground, and black fill from other strata which was discovered in sterile red earth, all of which is evidence of tampering with the site”
It was a hoax. No scientist accepts it as anything more than one misguided creationist’s attempt at propaganda.
Even if the figurines were real, this isn’t evidence for humans and dinosaurs living together. We have dinosaur figurines. Why? Because we dug up their bones and made guesses as to what they would have looked like. The Incans were advanced enough to build pyramids, it would seem logical if they dug up a few bones and made some figurines to try and make sense of them.
But that’s irrelevant, because the odds are overwhelmingly in favour of a hoax.
For the record, I have no problem with creationism itself. But the minute you try to manipulate facts to push your own idealogy, that’s when it starts to get dangerous.
“For the record, I have no problem with creationism itself. But the minute you try to manipulate facts to push your own idealogy, that’s when it starts to get dangerous.”
I agree with your comment.
However, evolutionists have also tried to manipulate facts to push their own ideology. One example is Piltdown Man.
This is true, however the difference is that once the Piltdown Man was discovered to be a hoax (which unfortunately wasn’t for many years after it was ‘discovered’), not a single respectable scientist or supporter of evolution would present it as fact. One reason being that there is enough non-hoax evidence to support the theory (evolution is only a theory in the scientific sense of the word rather than the colloquial sense, a semantic mistake a lot of creationists seem to make) that they can throw the whole thing out without it having any effect on the likelihood that evolution is correct. But more importantly, respectable scientists will never refer to any evidence that they know is false because it is the aim of science to further INFORMATION rather than simply to prove evolution. I have heard many, many scientists in the field of evolutionary biology say to creationists that if they can provide any evidence for their claims that stands up to the scientific method, they would love to see it because it would be extremely important to their work.
Above all, scientists want to understand life by evaluating the evidence and clinging to any falsified evidence is completely contrary to that aim. The Piltdown Man was a terrible hoax, but it was perpetrated by an individual with a history for hoaxing his way through his entire career. It was completely disowned by the scientific community when they discovered the truth, I actually learned about it in high school as an example of how harmful falsified information can be.
Right. Especially because no misguided scientist has ever produced a false aritfact in order to produce propaganda for their own purpose. Anyway, why is it when some of these false out of place artifacts is discovered it appears to be blamed on a creationist? Wouldn’t it make more sense that it was fabricated by someone who is just looking to make a little bit of a fortune and maybe a little bit of fame?
I agree that the Acamboro figurines are a hoax. I also agree that it would seem logical that the Incas could have made them if they weren’t a hoax and in no way could ever prove that Homo Sapiens walked with Dinasours (because, duh, in reality Homo Sapiens never walked with dinasours). Not everyone that believes in creationism accepts these artifacts to be authentic, nor would push them as proof that God exists.
The last point that was made, I firmly agree with except that there are some scientists that have done the same. A valid argument should be a fair one and pointing a finger at one side without acknowledging that the other side is guilty of the same could be perceived as biased (though I would concede that it probably wasn’t the intent behind that statement). It’s really sad that both sides are so blinded that they fail to be logical and just stick to facts. Creationists cannot prove that God exists using the Scientific Method but neither can scientists prove that God doesn’t exist. Yet a battlefield exists and a line is drawn between the two.
If someone that believes in God accepts science differently than how a creationist accepts science, then that person is considered a non-believer. If a scientist believes in God, then the scientist is considered to be brainwashed and unreasonable because it is claimed that the majority of scientists are atheists, believe God is nothing but a myth, and therefore, those that do believe are unscientific. What about those that stand in the middle? Those that do believe in God but are open-minded enough to embrace science as a wonderful never-ending mystery and accept that scientists are sincere, hard-working individuals that have contributed greatly to mankind (and in some cases might prove to be the downfall of mankind)?
I fail to see how someone that is open-minded is brainwashed. I have read supporting arguments on both sides. Everything that I have read so far appears to be nothing more than an attack from both sides though I would have to admit that scientists seem to have the upper hand in this argument and have very impressively countered just about every pro-creationist arguement I have read (seriously, there are some pro-creationists that need to get their facts in order). Still, I don’t believe in magic, ghosts, vampires or other superstitious nonsense but I do believe in God. I don’t judge others if they choose to believe in God or not to believe in God and I am tired of science, in all it’s beauty and glory, being used as a weapon in order to look down upon, degrade, and taunt those seemingly ignorant and small-minded individuals that do believe in God.
The reason why I suggest creationists is not because of my own assumptions but because from looking further into this hoax, there is suggestions that it was perpetrated by people wishing to push a young-earth creationist agenda. As well as the fact that these figurines appear on numerous creationist websites as fact, despite having been pretty conclusively determined to be a hoax. Regardless of the ideology, it is completely irresponsible to put information out there that is misleading to this degree. It takes away the right of the individual to make an informed choice for themselves.
I have looked over my comment, and I never once implied anything about brainwashing. All I was seeking to do is point out how irresponsible it is to use false evidence to suggest that a scientific theory has no merit, when this is something that people have dedicated their lives to, furthering the concrete knowledge of mankind.
I never criticised anyone for having an ‘open mind’. I actively encourage people to have an open mind, it’s just that the kind of open mind I encourage is one where people question what they hear, think of the motives someone would have to fabricate a notion, and check their sources. Every idea is given the same weight until other information suggests otherwise. I see this as much more responsible than simply believing something because a book passed through multiple edits and translations over thousands of years said so.
I never said I looked down on people who believe in God. I think faith can be a beautiful thing. And I agree that science and religion both have sociological merits when kept separate. The reason that there is such a battlefield between religious faith and science is simply because there are religious people going out there and actively manipulating facts, ignoring studies that hard-working scientists have dedicated their lives too. These specific religious figures, the likes of Ray Comfort and so on, purposefully seek to undo what people have gone through years of education, years of lab-work and years of research to figure out. These people decry science as ‘anti-religion’, try to get creationism taught in science classes, yet take full advantage of scientific advances such as modern medicine.
Faith, God and Christianity CAN EXIST without having to try and falsify evidence and downplay the work of scientists, and that is all I ask. I am in no way trying to villify the average Christian – my own family are devout Anglicans. All I ask is that people, whether they be religious or not, stop disseminating false information as fact. It’s insulting to the people who have worked hard to find the real answers.
I did not intend to indicate that you in anyway implied anything about brainwashing, that you were critical of any individuals lack of ability to have an open mind or that you in particular looked down upon those that do believe in God. That part of my argument was not directed toward you and I apologize for any perception that I might have given that led you to believe otherwise. I think that we both have the same conclusion on this subject and I could not have stated better than you did.
I think Rhonda and SJL are the only two sane people on the internet.
On a side note, this is the first article I’ve read on this site, and I can’t stress enough how nice it is that the author of the article posts (more than once!) in the comments to defend/elaborate on what he wrote. Thank you.
“I see the learned man in what you say!
What you don’t touch, for you lies miles away;
What you don’t grasp, is wholly lost to you;
What you don’t reckon, you believe not true;
What you don’t weigh, that has for you no weight;
What you don’t coin, you’re sure is counterfeit.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
the shroud of turin has been found to be the burial vestiges of Jacques De Molay, the last grandmaster of the Knights Templar. circa early 1300′s CE
the piri reis map is far from a hoax. there are many maps in existance some of them portolans from portugal, copied from earlier sources that depict antarctica without ice, and which clearly depict the main island separations and mountain-ranges that were only surveyed through satellite imagery in modern times. charles hapgood has a great source of information on this subject in his book “map of the ancient sea kings”.
thanks for the round up of mysteries. i appreciate your research and interest. for those with an anterest in following up on the piri reis maps, graham hancock’s ‘fingerprints of the gods’ starts off with a pretty good summary of the numerous mystery maps. perhaps the most remarkable shows the antartic continent with open water across the center–go to that book for the details. there is some controversy on the topic but i would recommend you start there. as a surveyor i find his comments very compelling.
the subject of giants and their remains found buried in the earth seems fantastic on the surface. but, through the 1800′s as america’s indian burial mounds were being carefully excavated by the reputable scientists of the day, many 8-12 foot tall remains were documented. over time, inconvient data that didn’t fit the agreed upon history disappeared through ridicule and loss of evidence. it seems the founders of the national geographic society played a role. the true, lost history of our past is out there–but mainstream archeology shunts it to the side in the same way corporate mainstream media control the news of the day.
a few highly recommended items:
weird america, by jim brandon **all time classic, out of print but available
book of the damned, etc by charles fort **again, all time classic. check out forteantimes.com
forbidden archaeology, michael cremo
underground! the disinformation guide to Ancient Civilizations, Astonishing Archaeology and Hidden History ***highly recommended group of essays that will bring the topic of lost history to life.
thanks, please share any other good information~
This is some realy intresting stuff, will this page be updateing current Information and Keep adding these most crazy discovery.
I realy like History, just crazy how littel we konw of our past!