Ancient archaeological site destroys our current notion of "history"

This is a pretty interesting book that covers quite a bit about ancient structures, [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Fingerprints-Gods-Graham-Hancock/dp/0517887290]Amazon.com: Fingerprints of the Gods (0045863887290): Graham Hancock: Books[/ame] it's worth reading if you are interested in this sort of thing.
 
ARCHAEOLOGY
A publication of the Archaeological Institute of America

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Yeah, big fucking surprise

No way ... there is no way a media station which relies on getting viewers with a lot of "what if's" was *gasp* making it up for ratings ... or at least sensationalizing it. No, we must listen to our mass media and completely disregard all real science if they say so.
 
I thought I knew about anomalies and archaeological sites but what I saw last night on the History channel floored me.

Located near Tiauanco, which is mysterious enough in itself, is a site know as Puma Punku. The stones weigh up to 400 tons and are cut with precision that is far beyond the capabilities of the Geico Caveman.

Again, another civilization that built monolithic structures that show a total disregard for gravity.

The site lays in ruins so it's anyone's guess how old it is. 15,000 years not being unreasonable.

YouTube - Great Pyramids vs Puma Punku

Interesting coincidence, this thread appears on the anniversary of the discovery of the remains of the Kennewick Man.

Kennewick Man is the name for the skeletal remains of a prehistoric man found on a bank of the Columbia River in Kennewick, Washington, USA on July 28, 1996. The discovery of Kennewick Man was accidental: a pair of spectators (Will Thomas and David Deacy) found his skull while attending the annual hydroplane races.[1]

The remains became embroiled in debates about the relationship between Native American religious rights, archaeology and other interested stakeholders.[2][3] Based on the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), five Native American groups (the Nez Perce, Umatilla, Yakama, Wanapum, and Colville) claimed the remains as theirs, to be buried by traditional means. Only the Umatilla tribe continued further court proceedings. In February 2004, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that a cultural link between the tribes and the skeleton was not met, allowing scientific study of the remains to continue.[4] The discovery of Kennewick Man, along with other ancient skeletons, has furthered scientific debate over the exact origin and history of early Native American people."
Kennewick Man - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The find has interesting political ramifications, as the Native American tribes want the bones buried, and there be no question as to who the first Americans were.

"The remains of one of the oldest North Americans ever found have been recovered in Washington state. The 9,300-year old skeleton is 90% complete and belongs to a Caucasian male about five foot ten inches tall.The Indians had no explanation as to how one of their "ancestors" could be Caucasian. At stake at the center of this controversy is the rewriting of American pre-Columbian history--sooner rather than later. "
Kennewick Man or Dead "Indians" Don't Lie - Essay by Louis Beam

Calling Charlie Bass.

No, he was not European.

Kennewick Man Skeletal Find May Revolutionalize Continent's History

What the experts were able to ascertain from their brief encounter with Kennewick is that he did not look like a Native American. In fact, Berryman says Kennewick’s facial features are most similar to those of a Japanese group called the Ainu, who have a different physical makeup and cultural background from the ethnic Japanese.

Some Ainu’s facial features appear European. Their eyes may lack the Asian almond-shaped appearance, and their hair may be light and curly in color. However, this does not mean that Kennewick Man necessarily was European in origin. His features more closely resemble those of the natives of the Pacific Rim than those of Native Americans
 
I thought I knew about anomalies and archaeological sites but what I saw last night on the History channel floored me.

Located near Tiauanco, which is mysterious enough in itself, is a site know as Puma Punku. The stones weigh up to 400 tons and are cut with precision that is far beyond the capabilities of the Geico Caveman.

Again, another civilization that built monolithic structures that show a total disregard for gravity.

The site lays in ruins so it's anyone's guess how old it is. 15,000 years not being unreasonable.

YouTube - Great Pyramids vs Puma Punku



Interesting coincidence, this thread appears on the anniversary of the discovery of the remains of the Kennewick Man.

Kennewick Man is the name for the skeletal remains of a prehistoric man found on a bank of the Columbia River in Kennewick, Washington, USA on July 28, 1996. The discovery of Kennewick Man was accidental: a pair of spectators (Will Thomas and David Deacy) found his skull while attending the annual hydroplane races.[1]

The remains became embroiled in debates about the relationship between Native American religious rights, archaeology and other interested stakeholders.[2][3] Based on the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), five Native American groups (the Nez Perce, Umatilla, Yakama, Wanapum, and Colville) claimed the remains as theirs, to be buried by traditional means. Only the Umatilla tribe continued further court proceedings. In February 2004, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that a cultural link between the tribes and the skeleton was not met, allowing scientific study of the remains to continue.[4] The discovery of Kennewick Man, along with other ancient skeletons, has furthered scientific debate over the exact origin and history of early Native American people."
Kennewick Man - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The find has interesting political ramifications, as the Native American tribes want the bones buried, and there be no question as to who the first Americans were.

"The remains of one of the oldest North Americans ever found have been recovered in Washington state. The 9,300-year old skeleton is 90% complete and belongs to a Caucasian male about five foot ten inches tall.The Indians had no explanation as to how one of their "ancestors" could be Caucasian. At stake at the center of this controversy is the rewriting of American pre-Columbian history--sooner rather than later. "
Kennewick Man or Dead "Indians" Don't Lie - Essay by Louis Beam

Calling Charlie Bass.

No, he was not European.

Kennewick Man Skeletal Find May Revolutionalize Continent's History

What the experts were able to ascertain from their brief encounter with Kennewick is that he did not look like a Native American. In fact, Berryman says Kennewick’s facial features are most similar to those of a Japanese group called the Ainu, who have a different physical makeup and cultural background from the ethnic Japanese.

Some Ainu’s facial features appear European. Their eyes may lack the Asian almond-shaped appearance, and their hair may be light and curly in color. However, this does not mean that Kennewick Man necessarily was European in origin. His features more closely resemble those of the natives of the Pacific Rim than those of Native Americans

UPDATE:
We have been informed that the bones were, in fact, not buried with the remaining artifacts and have been handed over to the safekeeping of a University until the petitions for further study can be heard and a decision on their ultimate use will made. The Clinton administration, keeping a very low profile, has been trying to align itself with the Native American concerns, but also now has been made aware of the importance of Kennewick Man to science. Inside sources tell Viewzone that the eventual examination of these remains will prove that it is Caucasian and, as such, DNA analyses and detailed forensic research now looks hopeful.
Kennewick Man: caught in the middle again.

and this from July 2007:
If Kennewick Man had the features of a Mongoloid (Asian), then little doubt would remain… but he didn’t have Mongoloid features, he had the features of a Caucasian which begs future testing. The Indian tribes could have a lot at stake here if it was ultimately proven Caucasians had been in America first... or even if they arrived about the same time. Perhaps this suggests the real reason behind the tribes claim... they want to 'bury the evidence'. If, however, testable samples were extracted and preserved for future DNA testing, and if the results substantiated the Kennewick Man was Caucasian... then the exasperated soul could be destined to another re-burial somewhere else. Surely not permanently however, with the snowballing effect of politically correctness, those of English heritage will soon be buried all in one place, those of Germans heritage in another, and so on and so forth. Of course then, cowboys would be forced into being buried with city-slickers and Democrats with Republicans. At any rate, the business of grave-moving is sure to flourish in the coming years.
The Caveman from Washington State

and from your post, dated 2006:
"Some Ainu’s facial features appear European. Their eyes may lack the Asian almond-shaped appearance, and their hair may be light and curly in color. However, this does not mean that Kennewick Man necessarily was European in origin."

So, he could be Caucasian? Then why your answer in bold? What makes you so incensed that he could be a whitey?
I get such a kick out of libs.
Did you note the reference to 380 bones in the article?
Did you know that human adults have 206 bones?

BTW, was the hypothesis based on DNA analysis or facial reconstruction?
Important because facial reconstrution is a 'guess.'

"This method is often used as a last resort to identify the skeletal remains of an unidentified person, and it suffers from an ongoing skepticism caused by the advent of the personal computer and modern software technology. There are numerous techniques to sculpture a face onto the skull, all of which rely on the reproduction of a potentially recognizable face using the published soft tissue thicknesses in different racial groups (Phillips and Smuts 1996; Rhine and Campbell 1980; Rhine, Moore, and Weston 1982; Suzuki 1948).

"For liberals, feeling passes for knowing." (Me)
 
Tiwanaku and PumaPunku are 2 totally different cities. Your article discusses Tiwanaku of which I'm well aware. The OP is about a city that must predate Tiwanku because, well it's it ruins, so whatever disaster befell it would have leveled Tiwanaku as well.

Also, I've been searching to see it anyone can accurately how far back in antiquity you'd have to go to have Titicaca lap on the shoreline of Puma Punku since part of the remaining structure is obviously a dock.

My statement about a "total disregard for gravity" is merely how I continue to express my amazement at how ancient civilizations could handle stone weighing as much as 1,000 tons as they do at Baalbek.

If you bothered to look at the information on the site of the actual archaeologists, you would see that pumapunku is part of the overall archaeological site Tiwanaku. It is the main temple and means "gateway of the puma".

From the same site I have already linked to, in the Q and A section:

Q: Since it has been stated that the Gateway is 14,000 years old, is it possible to prove or disprove this? Also, how do you account for images of Africans and Chinese features in the small temple?

A: Tiwanaku is a magnet for Atlantis hunters and a variety of new agers. The idea that Tiwanaku is 14,000 years old is based on a rather faulty study done in 1926. Since then, there has been a huge quantity of work both on the archaeology and geology of the area, and all data indicates that Tiwanaku existed from around A.D. 300-500 to 900-1000.
Still, the Atlantis hunters flock to the site. I believe the Discovery Channel is even making another documentary on the possibility that the Andes is the lost continent described by Plato.
As for the elephants and other animals that are supposed to be on the Gateway, I really can't find them myself. One carving that is frequently cited as an elephant (including by several guides) is in fact a condor.--Alexei Vranich​

There is no indication that I could find on the site that the archaeologists believe Pumapunku is somehow separate from the overall site. Pumapunku is just the large temple in the Tiwanaku site. Alexei Vranich is one of the primary archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania. You can see him standing next to Pumapunku on the webpage.

Here's an article from Salon about bad archaeology. It demonstrates the sort of company this type of archaeology keeps,

Alternative archaeology and creation science converged spectacularly in a notorious television special called "The Mysterious Origins of Man," which aired on NBC in February 1996. Hosted by Charlton Heston, the show presented an incoherent farrago of mutually contradictory hypotheses from "a new generation of scientific researchers," as Heston soberly intoned.

Hancock appeared to announce that the pre-Incan archaeological site of Tiwanaku in the Bolivian Andes might be 12,000 years old and a remnant of his lost civilization; creationist Carl Baugh held up molds of egregiously phony human footprints found alongside dinosaur footprints in a Texas riverbed. Pseudoscience researcher David Hatcher Childress discussed the alleged plesiosaur dredged up by a Japanese fishing boat in 1977 (probably a rotten shark carcass). (emphasis added)​

I can absolutely understand Archaeologist Kenneth Feder's position when he says,

"Why the hell would I spend six weeks out in the broiling sun, picking bloodsucking ticks off myself, if it didn't make any fucking difference?" he asks. "If the truth doesn't matter, I can sit at home and make up good stories."​

The history channel is interesting and sometimes informative. However, no one worth their salt would consider it vigorously scientific or a credible source. It's primary purpose is to entertain, not enlighten.
 
If you bothered to look at the information on the site of the actual archaeologists, you would see that pumapunku is part of the overall archaeological site Tiwanaku. It is the main temple and means "gateway of the puma".

Spare me the insults, I read the whole fucking article. It's like calling New York and New Jersey the same place because they're close by each other.

From the same site I have already linked to, in the Q and A section:

Q: Since it has been stated that the Gateway is 14,000 years old, is it possible to prove or disprove this? Also, how do you account for images of Africans and Chinese features in the small temple?

A: Tiwanaku is a magnet for Atlantis hunters and a variety of new agers. The idea that Tiwanaku is 14,000 years old is based on a rather faulty study done in 1926. Since then, there has been a huge quantity of work both on the archaeology and geology of the area, and all data indicates that Tiwanaku existed from around A.D. 300-500 to 900-1000.
Still, the Atlantis hunters flock to the site. I believe the Discovery Channel is even making another documentary on the possibility that the Andes is the lost continent described by Plato.
As for the elephants and other animals that are supposed to be on the Gateway, I really can't find them myself. One carving that is frequently cited as an elephant (including by several guides) is in fact a condor.--Alexei Vranich​

But you notice, she does not address the question! How do you account for images of Chinese and Africans in pre-historic Bolivia?

Also, when, oh when, oh when, was Titcaca 10 miles bigger to put Puma Punku on the its shoreline? I've not seen an answer to that yet, but I'm still looking.


There is no indication that I could find on the site that the archaeologists believe Pumapunku is somehow separate from the overall site. Pumapunku is just the large temple in the Tiwanaku site. Alexei Vranich is one of the primary archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania. You can see him standing next to Pumapunku on the webpage.

They have to be 2 different sites because one is in total ruins and the other isn't! How many times must I state the 2 big facts about Puma Punku:

1. It's a megalithic site, but it is in ruins so something REALLY BIG must have happened, ahs

2. It's a dock so it must have been built when Titicaca was 10 miles bigger! When was that?


Here's an article from Salon about bad archaeology. It demonstrates the sort of company this type of archaeology keeps,

Alternative archaeology and creation science converged spectacularly in a notorious television special called "The Mysterious Origins of Man," which aired on NBC in February 1996. Hosted by Charlton Heston, the show presented an incoherent farrago of mutually contradictory hypotheses from "a new generation of scientific researchers," as Heston soberly intoned.

Hancock appeared to announce that the pre-Incan archaeological site of Tiwanaku in the Bolivian Andes might be 12,000 years old and a remnant of his lost civilization; creationist Carl Baugh held up molds of egregiously phony human footprints found alongside dinosaur footprints in a Texas riverbed. Pseudoscience researcher David Hatcher Childress discussed the alleged plesiosaur dredged up by a Japanese fishing boat in 1977 (probably a rotten shark carcass). (emphasis added)​

Google Image Result for http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/day/dayimages/zuiyo_maru.jpg

I can absolutely understand Archaeologist Kenneth Feder's position when he says,

"Why the hell would I spend six weeks out in the broiling sun, picking bloodsucking ticks off myself, if it didn't make any fucking difference?" he asks. "If the truth doesn't matter, I can sit at home and make up good stories."​

The history channel is interesting and sometimes informative. However, no one worth their salt would consider it vigorously scientific or a credible source. It's primary purpose is to entertain, not enlighten.
 
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I thought I knew about anomalies and archaeological sites but what I saw last night on the History channel floored me.

Located near Tiauanco, which is mysterious enough in itself, is a site know as Puma Punku. The stones weigh up to 400 tons and are cut with precision that is far beyond the capabilities of the Geico Caveman.

Again, another civilization that built monolithic structures that show a total disregard for gravity.

The site lays in ruins so it's anyone's guess how old it is. 15,000 years not being unreasonable.

YouTube - Great Pyramids vs Puma Punku

Interesting coincidence, this thread appears on the anniversary of the discovery of the remains of the Kennewick Man.

Kennewick Man is the name for the skeletal remains of a prehistoric man found on a bank of the Columbia River in Kennewick, Washington, USA on July 28, 1996. The discovery of Kennewick Man was accidental: a pair of spectators (Will Thomas and David Deacy) found his skull while attending the annual hydroplane races.[1]

The remains became embroiled in debates about the relationship between Native American religious rights, archaeology and other interested stakeholders.[2][3] Based on the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), five Native American groups (the Nez Perce, Umatilla, Yakama, Wanapum, and Colville) claimed the remains as theirs, to be buried by traditional means. Only the Umatilla tribe continued further court proceedings. In February 2004, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that a cultural link between the tribes and the skeleton was not met, allowing scientific study of the remains to continue.[4] The discovery of Kennewick Man, along with other ancient skeletons, has furthered scientific debate over the exact origin and history of early Native American people."
Kennewick Man - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The find has interesting political ramifications, as the Native American tribes want the bones buried, and there be no question as to who the first Americans were.

"The remains of one of the oldest North Americans ever found have been recovered in Washington state. The 9,300-year old skeleton is 90% complete and belongs to a Caucasian male about five foot ten inches tall.The Indians had no explanation as to how one of their "ancestors" could be Caucasian. At stake at the center of this controversy is the rewriting of American pre-Columbian history--sooner rather than later. "
Kennewick Man or Dead "Indians" Don't Lie - Essay by Louis Beam

Calling Charlie Bass.

Since anthropology, of which archaeology is a subset in the U.S., generally considers the idea of "race" to be fallacious, I don't imagine the author who wrote that was well versed in modern anthropology. The skeleton was identified as having some caucasoidal type features, but no professional believes he was "caucasian" because it is a meaningless term. This is what made the court battle difficult. Legally we make racial distinctions, but scientifically they cannot be justified. Mitochondrial DNA markers later showed him to be part of the same migration group as all other Native Americans. The court battle focused on which ethnic group, if any, could claim him. After all, if one goes back far enough there are ancestors that everyone can claim since all of us have an original ancestry in Africa. How far back can a group claim an individual as part of their culture? Those were the issues at stake.
 
Interesting coincidence, this thread appears on the anniversary of the discovery of the remains of the Kennewick Man.

Kennewick Man is the name for the skeletal remains of a prehistoric man found on a bank of the Columbia River in Kennewick, Washington, USA on July 28, 1996. The discovery of Kennewick Man was accidental: a pair of spectators (Will Thomas and David Deacy) found his skull while attending the annual hydroplane races.[1]

The remains became embroiled in debates about the relationship between Native American religious rights, archaeology and other interested stakeholders.[2][3] Based on the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), five Native American groups (the Nez Perce, Umatilla, Yakama, Wanapum, and Colville) claimed the remains as theirs, to be buried by traditional means. Only the Umatilla tribe continued further court proceedings. In February 2004, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that a cultural link between the tribes and the skeleton was not met, allowing scientific study of the remains to continue.[4] The discovery of Kennewick Man, along with other ancient skeletons, has furthered scientific debate over the exact origin and history of early Native American people."
Kennewick Man - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The find has interesting political ramifications, as the Native American tribes want the bones buried, and there be no question as to who the first Americans were.

"The remains of one of the oldest North Americans ever found have been recovered in Washington state. The 9,300-year old skeleton is 90% complete and belongs to a Caucasian male about five foot ten inches tall.The Indians had no explanation as to how one of their "ancestors" could be Caucasian. At stake at the center of this controversy is the rewriting of American pre-Columbian history--sooner rather than later. "
Kennewick Man or Dead "Indians" Don't Lie - Essay by Louis Beam

Calling Charlie Bass.

No, he was not European.

Kennewick Man Skeletal Find May Revolutionalize Continent's History

What the experts were able to ascertain from their brief encounter with Kennewick is that he did not look like a Native American. In fact, Berryman says Kennewick’s facial features are most similar to those of a Japanese group called the Ainu, who have a different physical makeup and cultural background from the ethnic Japanese.

Some Ainu’s facial features appear European. Their eyes may lack the Asian almond-shaped appearance, and their hair may be light and curly in color. However, this does not mean that Kennewick Man necessarily was European in origin. His features more closely resemble those of the natives of the Pacific Rim than those of Native Americans

UPDATE:
We have been informed that the bones were, in fact, not buried with the remaining artifacts and have been handed over to the safekeeping of a University until the petitions for further study can be heard and a decision on their ultimate use will made. The Clinton administration, keeping a very low profile, has been trying to align itself with the Native American concerns, but also now has been made aware of the importance of Kennewick Man to science. Inside sources tell Viewzone that the eventual examination of these remains will prove that it is Caucasian and, as such, DNA analyses and detailed forensic research now looks hopeful.
Kennewick Man: caught in the middle again.

and this from July 2007:
If Kennewick Man had the features of a Mongoloid (Asian), then little doubt would remain… but he didn’t have Mongoloid features, he had the features of a Caucasian which begs future testing. The Indian tribes could have a lot at stake here if it was ultimately proven Caucasians had been in America first... or even if they arrived about the same time. Perhaps this suggests the real reason behind the tribes claim... they want to 'bury the evidence'. If, however, testable samples were extracted and preserved for future DNA testing, and if the results substantiated the Kennewick Man was Caucasian... then the exasperated soul could be destined to another re-burial somewhere else. Surely not permanently however, with the snowballing effect of politically correctness, those of English heritage will soon be buried all in one place, those of Germans heritage in another, and so on and so forth. Of course then, cowboys would be forced into being buried with city-slickers and Democrats with Republicans. At any rate, the business of grave-moving is sure to flourish in the coming years.
The Caveman from Washington State

and from your post, dated 2006:
"Some Ainu’s facial features appear European. Their eyes may lack the Asian almond-shaped appearance, and their hair may be light and curly in color. However, this does not mean that Kennewick Man necessarily was European in origin."

So, he could be Caucasian? Then why your answer in bold? What makes you so incensed that he could be a whitey?
I get such a kick out of libs.
Did you note the reference to 380 bones in the article?
Did you know that human adults have 206 bones?

BTW, was the hypothesis based on DNA analysis or facial reconstruction?
Important because facial reconstrution is a 'guess.'

"This method is often used as a last resort to identify the skeletal remains of an unidentified person, and it suffers from an ongoing skepticism caused by the advent of the personal computer and modern software technology. There are numerous techniques to sculpture a face onto the skull, all of which rely on the reproduction of a potentially recognizable face using the published soft tissue thicknesses in different racial groups (Phillips and Smuts 1996; Rhine and Campbell 1980; Rhine, Moore, and Weston 1982; Suzuki 1948).

"For liberals, feeling passes for knowing." (Me)

"The 'Caucasoid' Kennewick Man...has been the subject of extensive heated correspondence....To call it 'Caucasoid' is to connote aspects of ancestry, not simply morphology [form and structure]; it directly suggests that America was settled by Europeans and that those now called 'Native Americans' are actually less 'native' than they think. This is a strongly political statement requiring an exceptional level of validation....[The] 'racial' variation in cranial form of prehistoric Native Americans is well attested from earlier studies....Other material similar to Kennewick...also appearing 'Caucasoid' and with a very old date, nevertheless has mitochondrial DNA markers characteristic of American Indians, just as we should expect. So what is the point of racializing these remains? It serves only to clothe 21st-century issues like NAGPRA in the conceptual apparatus and vocabulary of the 19th century."
- Jonathan Marks, Physical Anthropologist, University of California at Berkeley, 1998​
 
Spare me the insults, I read the whole fucking article. It's like calling New York and New Jersey the same place because they're close by each other.

No, because Pumapunku is a temple complex. Which fucking one do you consider a temple complex? New York or New Jersey? I have never even seen crackpots advocating that Pumapunku is not part of Tiwanaku. This is like saying the Capitol is not part of Washington, D.C. to make a better analogy of your suggestion.

But you notice, she does not address the question! How do you account for images of Chinese and Africans in pre-historic Bolivia?
Also, when, oh when, oh when, was Titcaca 10 miles bigger to put Puma Punku on the its shoreline? I've not seen an answer to that yet, but I'm still looking.
Well, he did answer it. He suggests that anyone who sees chinese and afrcians and elephants are all crackpots because it's not there. Today's vocabulary word is "pareidolia". People "see" aliens and spaceships in ancient writing or drawing all the time. It's what they want to see, like Jesus cheetos or the many faces (and even Kermit the Frog) on Mars

As for the Titicaca being 10 miles bigger, I can only find wingnut sites that emphasize it as a port city. According to Paul Heinrich, geologist at LSU:

The available research shows that Tiwanaku was never
a port city on Lake Titicaca. Looking at available maps
and geomorphic studies, it is quite clear that Posnansky
(1943) was an inexperienced geomorphologist. His
so-called shoreline appears to be nothing more than the
valley wall of a river valley cut into the deposits of
Lake Ballivan on which Tiwanaku lies. The plain of Lake
Ballivan, except where cut out by younger fluvial valleys,
extends from the modern Lake Titicaca shoreline eastward
(up-valley) past Tiwanaku. The plain of Lake Ballivan
finally ends at a small fragment of the older and higher
lake plain of Lake Cabana at the easternmost tip of the
valley. Within this valley, younger and lower lake plains
are lacking (Lavenu 1981:Fig. 6, 1992:Fig. 4). The age of
Lake Ballivan is undetermined, but it is at least over a
100,000 years old (Clapperton 1993).

I have also examined the "wharf" described by Posnansky
(1943). So far, I find the same lack of evidence for it
having been a "wharf" as for Tiwanaku having ever been
a port. In my opinion, the claim that Tiwanaku was port
with a wharf is nothing more than the wishful thinking by
Posnansky (1943) for which proof is lacking. This claim
has become part of the mythology surrounding Tiwanaku
that various authors blindly repeat without evaluating
the facts for themselves.

[NOTE: The actual lake port was at Iwawe which was
connected to Tiwanaku by a land road (Browman 1981).]​
\

So in effect you're asking for someone to prove Posnansky's ideas correct when he is one of the people proposing these discrediting pseudoscientific theories. You haven't heard an answer, because it is based on bad information.

They have to be 2 different sites because one is in total ruins and the other isn't! How many times must I state the 2 big facts about Puma Punku:

1. It's a megalithic site, but it is in ruins so something REALLY BIG must have happened, ahs

2. It's a dock so it must have been built when Titicaca was 10 miles bigger! When was that?
Oh my! You're right! Just like Michigan Central Station in Detroit could not be part of the city of Detroit. Just look at it, it's falling apart while Detroit is still an actively occupied city. And look, MCS was a huge structure.

The central site, as is common in the rise of powerful historic civilizations, was abandoned as the power of the society collapsed. When war or famine or other problems cause the authority structure to break down, monumental sites are abandoned since the resources needed to maintain them are no longer available. But still people may occupy the regions around the central site. This appears to be the case here.

According to Alvaro Higueras, Ph.D, who helped with the excavation:

Survey of the Tiwanaku Valley has revealed a four-tier settlement hierarchy, pattern indicative of state-level organization (Albarracin-Jordan and Mathews 1990; McAndrews et al. 1997). The Tiwanaku site was surrounded by a set of secondary sites (e.g., Lukurmata, Pajchiri, Khonko, Wankani), themselves surrounded by extensive agricultural fields. Each of these sites contain lesser amounts of Tiwanaku-style public architecture, including semi-subterranean temples (Spickard 1985; Bermann 1990; Goldstein 1993; Stanish 1994b). biblio. But this spatial pattern will change in the last 200 years of Tiwanaku development: a drastic increase in small rural sites during the Tiwanaku V period (ca. A.D. 800, see below ), after a period clearly dominated by the secondary centers.

It has been suggested that the core of the Tiwanaku polity collapsed around A.D. 1000 in the aftermath of severe droughts that disrupted agricultural production (tubers) in the center's hinterland raised-fields (Ortloff and Kolata 1993). After the collapse of the Tiwanaku center (evidenced by abandonment of buildings and of large parts of raised-fields tracts), spatial patterns in the region (in the post A.D. 1000 period) will be dominated by small hamlets , whose population will continue to work the raised fields, although at a smaller scale (Graffam 1992).​

And it's not a dock, according to Paul Heinrich.

Thank you for proving my point. This picture from the Museum of Hoaxes presented as evidence for claims that are keeping company with these ideas about Tiwanaku. They were presented together.

And now, it's only fair for you to answer some questions. We'll start off easy.

Here are the records of all radiocarbon dating done at the site, including organic material beneath the site.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

The oldest date is around 1500 years ago. Why would the oldest material in the entire site be only 1500 years old? Did someone steal all the organic material from the site? Did the site build itself? How do you explain this?
 
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The funny thing about these many archeologic dig sites that quote about precision fitting stones is this:

There is no evidence of technology as far as metalurgy, cutting tools of very precise and advanced construction.......?

The Great pyramid's multi-ton blocks fit together with a precision that baffles archeologists.

Folks, the Romans invented concrete over 2,000 years ago, and then the formula was lost until the last few hundred years. Did the Romans have cars, and flying machines.............Nada!

Man is quite adept at making some precision carvings, and stone chipping with very crude tools. It just takes longer or requires a lot more stone masons per block.

Evidence that literally thousands of workers were housed near the Great Pyramids during their construction has been evidenced.

Ever wonder how Michael Angelo turned out his beautiful hand carved sculptures several hundred years ago. Just one look at the "MaDonna and Child" Sculpture, the wrinkles in her clothing, all done with such perfection...........

I have no qualms about folks thousands of years ago chipping away at heavy granite and other stones and making them very precise.

Look what the American Indian does with a deer antler, when making obsidian based arrow heads. Have you ever wondered how them made such beautiful arrow heads by just heating and cooling obsidian and chipping away at it with a deer antler?

Craftsmen and women have been around for thousands of years.

Knowing how to move heavy objects has been worked out by ancient man thousands of years ago. It might have taken much more manpower to accomplish the feats, but they had learned from trial and error. Man's been around long enough to develop some pretty good techniques.

Even cave paintings show pretty good artistic skills.

The mystery of how these big old Egyptian monoliths were placed in the ground was solved. I saw that on the history channel. They simply filled the hole with sand or dirt and slowly removed the stuff, and the monolith gradually settled into a vertical position with the help of gravity. Wa La! Might have lost a few shovelers in the process when those heavy monoliths settled unexpectedly, but what the hey, labor was cheap. ;)

Sometimes answers are so simple that they escape our notice. :)
 
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For those that would like information on some of the techniques used by early civilizations, read 'The Ancient Engineers', by L. Sprague De Camp.
 
I looked at several sites, and the only one that I saw that dated the structure had it dated at 500 AD. Since it seems to be a wharf of some sort, dating the time that it would have been on the lake shore would provide a aproximate date for the structure. Looking at some of the pictures, I noted depressions in the stones where they would have set on top of each other much like those at the Partheon. Form and function. As far as the weight of the stones, there are many megalithic structures in the world that have stones of this size. But only a few where the finish is this nice.

That area of Bolivia is extremely geologically active, many large earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. There should be some associated ash falls that would provide a date for this structure.

Thank you for posting this information, this is a structure that I was not previously aware of.

I have a book at home, I'll have to pull it out tonight to quote the relevent portions about dating, it's called Fingerprint of the Gods. It agrees with the dating that Frank brought up. It is fascinating.
 
I looked at several sites, and the only one that I saw that dated the structure had it dated at 500 AD. Since it seems to be a wharf of some sort, dating the time that it would have been on the lake shore would provide a aproximate date for the structure. Looking at some of the pictures, I noted depressions in the stones where they would have set on top of each other much like those at the Partheon. Form and function. As far as the weight of the stones, there are many megalithic structures in the world that have stones of this size. But only a few where the finish is this nice.

That area of Bolivia is extremely geologically active, many large earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. There should be some associated ash falls that would provide a date for this structure.

Thank you for posting this information, this is a structure that I was not previously aware of.

I have a book at home, I'll have to pull it out tonight to quote the relevent portions about dating, it's called Fingerprint of the Gods. It agrees with the dating that Frank brought up. It is fascinating.

Yeah, that book has a giggle factor among actual archaeologists, geologists, and scientific researchers. You see, Hancock makes statements in it like, "we were just beginning to make headway with the deciphering of their (Mayan) intricate heiroglyphics". But actual researchers had already translated about 90% of Mayan heiroglyphics. Just a quick glance at a book published 3 years before Fingerprints called Breaking the Mayan Code would have informed Mr. Hancock of this.

Additionally, his crustal shift theory has been discredited. At first he was given some consideration, but geological testing demonstrated that antarctica has been near the south pole for the last 100 million years or so, and antarctica has been covered with ice for an bare minimum of 160,000 years. Evidence of flora and fauna do not match his predictions either.

Hancock has also written books about a martian civilization that built the famous "face" on Mars along with Hoagland. Despite NASA saying from the beginning that the face was simply an illusion due to shadows and poor resolution, these guys took the photos and constructed an elaborate Martian culture which communicated with ancient earth. Of course, when we sent better instruments to photograph Mars, it was proven to be just a hill- like NASA claimed in the first place.

It's ok to find these guys interesting- just like the history channel, or discovery channel- just realize they are out to make a profit through sensationalism and are not really interested in quality, accurate scientific investigation. That's why Hancock states concerning updates in his later edition of Fingerprints,

Writing new books, rather than going back to tamper with books already written, is also the way I prefer to respond to criticisms of my work. . . . I am proud of this book and continue to stand by it despite the unremitting hostility and criticisms of academics.​

A good scientists would either address the criticisms with detailed data and analysis or alter their hypothesis if the criticisms were valid. Of course, a good scientist would have submitted his hypotheses to peer reviewed journals first to have them critiqued, rather than reaching for a public audience with limited knowledge in the field.
 
I looked at several sites, and the only one that I saw that dated the structure had it dated at 500 AD. Since it seems to be a wharf of some sort, dating the time that it would have been on the lake shore would provide a aproximate date for the structure. Looking at some of the pictures, I noted depressions in the stones where they would have set on top of each other much like those at the Partheon. Form and function. As far as the weight of the stones, there are many megalithic structures in the world that have stones of this size. But only a few where the finish is this nice.

That area of Bolivia is extremely geologically active, many large earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. There should be some associated ash falls that would provide a date for this structure.

Thank you for posting this information, this is a structure that I was not previously aware of.

I have a book at home, I'll have to pull it out tonight to quote the relevent portions about dating, it's called Fingerprint of the Gods. It agrees with the dating that Frank brought up. It is fascinating.

Yeah, that book has a giggle factor among actual archaeologists, geologists, and scientific researchers. You see, Hancock makes statements in it like, "we were just beginning to make headway with the deciphering of their (Mayan) intricate heiroglyphics". But actual researchers had already translated about 90% of Mayan heiroglyphics. Just a quick glance at a book published 3 years before Fingerprints called Breaking the Mayan Code would have informed Mr. Hancock of this.

Additionally, his crustal shift theory has been discredited. At first he was given some consideration, but geological testing demonstrated that antarctica has been near the south pole for the last 100 million years or so, and antarctica has been covered with ice for an bare minimum of 160,000 years. Evidence of flora and fauna do not match his predictions either.

Hancock has also written books about a martian civilization that built the famous "face" on Mars along with Hoagland. Despite NASA saying from the beginning that the face was simply an illusion due to shadows and poor resolution, these guys took the photos and constructed an elaborate Martian culture which communicated with ancient earth. Of course, when we sent better instruments to photograph Mars, it was proven to be just a hill- like NASA claimed in the first place.

It's ok to find these guys interesting- just like the history channel, or discovery channel- just realize they are out to make a profit through sensationalism and are not really interested in quality, accurate scientific investigation. That's why Hancock states concerning updates in his later edition of Fingerprints,

Writing new books, rather than going back to tamper with books already written, is also the way I prefer to respond to criticisms of my work. . . . I am proud of this book and continue to stand by it despite the unremitting hostility and criticisms of academics.​

A good scientists would either address the criticisms with detailed data and analysis or alter their hypothesis if the criticisms were valid. Of course, a good scientist would have submitted his hypotheses to peer reviewed journals first to have them critiqued, rather than reaching for a public audience with limited knowledge in the field.


I know that he's a giggle factor for them; however, they are not always completely credible themselves. I've seen them ignore evidence that doesn't fit in with their theory.

Personally, I like to read ALL versions and then come up w/my own opinion.
 
The funny thing about these many archeologic dig sites that quote about precision fitting stones is this:

There is no evidence of technology as far as metalurgy, cutting tools of very precise and advanced construction.......?

The Great pyramid's multi-ton blocks fit together with a precision that baffles archeologists.

Folks, the Romans invented concrete over 2,000 years ago, and then the formula was lost until the last few hundred years. Did the Romans have cars, and flying machines.............Nada!

Man is quite adept at making some precision carvings, and stone chipping with very crude tools. It just takes longer or requires a lot more stone masons per block.

Evidence that literally thousands of workers were housed near the Great Pyramids during their construction has been evidenced.

Ever wonder how Michael Angelo turned out his beautiful hand carved sculptures several hundred years ago. Just one look at the "MaDonna and Child" Sculpture, the wrinkles in her clothing, all done with such perfection...........

I have no qualms about folks thousands of years ago chipping away at heavy granite and other stones and making them very precise.

Look what the American Indian does with a deer antler, when making obsidian based arrow heads. Have you ever wondered how them made such beautiful arrow heads by just heating and cooling obsidian and chipping away at it with a deer antler?

Craftsmen and women have been around for thousands of years.

Knowing how to move heavy objects has been worked out by ancient man thousands of years ago. It might have taken much more manpower to accomplish the feats, but they had learned from trial and error. Man's been around long enough to develop some pretty good techniques.

Even cave paintings show pretty good artistic skills.

The mystery of how these big old Egyptian monoliths were placed in the ground was solved. I saw that on the history channel. They simply filled the hole with sand or dirt and slowly removed the stuff, and the monolith gradually settled into a vertical position with the help of gravity. Wa La! Might have lost a few shovelers in the process when those heavy monoliths settled unexpectedly, but what the hey, labor was cheap. ;)

Sometimes answers are so simple that they escape our notice. :)

Yeah, it's all so simple.

It just requires machinery and engineering before the time of Christ.

The stones at Puma Punku have carved slots where they were reinforced with rebars. I for one seriously doubt they found a way to combine llama skins and dried grass into rebars.

So we have concrete evidence, in a manner of speaking, that our notion of "History" and "progress" is quite fucked.
 
I know that he's a giggle factor for them; however, they are not always completely credible themselves. I've seen them ignore evidence that doesn't fit in with their theory.

If you've seen them ignore evidence, they were wrong to do so. However, they tested these ideas, and they were found wanting. Scientific researchers develop consensus by intensely scrutinzing and criticizing each other's work, and using multiple approaches to confirm or discredit a given hypothesis. It's understood that even if you're part of the scientific community, any research you present will be submitted to peers who almost take a perverse joy at shredding your methods and results. If it is so sound that it can withstand this attack, and if it is confirmed by other lines of evidence, then it begins to be accepted.

Hancock proposes ideas that would falsify a large body of research and testing if it were true. But if his ideas were so sound, why not submit them to scrutiny like every other scientist? The entire idea is that the researcher is very careful to make sure that all of his data, methods, and analysis have a solid basis that would withstand such assault. But he didn't seem to think he should go that route. Still, scientists gave his ideas consideration, but evidence did not conform to what you would expect if his theories were true. So they were rejected. This happens all the time to scientists. Real scientists accept that they were wrong and move on. Einstein did this after it was proven the universe was expanding, though he had spent most of his life arguing and believing it was static- (even adding an unnecessary constant into his equations). Hancock just says it's the man keeping him down.
 
I for one seriously doubt they found a way to combine llama skins and dried grass into rebars.

Argument from personal incredulity
"I can't believe this is possible, so it can't be true." (The person is asserting that a proposition must be wrong because he or she is [or claims to be] unable or unwilling to fully consider that it might be true, or is unwilling to believe evidence which does not support her or his preferred view.)
 

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