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Hundreds of Stonehenge-Like Monuments Found In The Amazon Rainforest (yahoo.com)
turkeydance quotes The Telegraph: Hundreds of ancient earthworks resembling those at Stonehenge were built in the Amazon rainforest, scientists have discovered after flying drones over the area. The findings prove for the first time that prehistoric settlers in Brazil cleared large wooded areas to create huge enclosures meaning that the 'pristine' rainforest celebrated by ecologists is actually relatively new.
The researchers believe the monuments appeared roughly 2,000 years ago -- so after Stonehenge (by about 2,500 years). "It is thought they were used only sporadically," reports the BBC, "possibly as ritual gathering places similar to the Maya pyramids of Central America, or Britain's own Stonehenge."
The researchers believe the monuments appeared roughly 2,000 years ago -- so after Stonehenge (by about 2,500 years). "It is thought they were used only sporadically," reports the BBC, "possibly as ritual gathering places similar to the Maya pyramids of Central America, or Britain's own Stonehenge."
Only the earthworks are visible. Seems somebody messed up on the units for the stones.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Translation: I try to minimize the qualifications of people who say things I don't like to hear.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
The book 1492: The Year the World Began, by Felipe Fernández-Armesto, is not a new book. However, it goes into detail about the not so ancient American civilizations. It does promote the crowded Americas theory; which is gaining prominence. Essentially, the records of the first explorers and settlers is very different from the Americas seen by the large waves of explorers and settlers, only a few years later.
Terra preta has been found along the Amazon over wide areas. This manmade soil type is evidence of not just occasional occupation but regular long term occupation. So these new findings don't really newly establish that there were settlements. The soil has already done this.
Earth work and ditches would have been the earliest form of defenses. Let us not belittle the discovery. These earthworks tell us a lot about early settlers in the Amazon region. Also they discovered agriculture late. Eincorn wheat was domesticated in the Levant 11000 years ago, rice in China 9000 years ago. Corn was domesticated in South America just 3000 or 4000 years ago. Domestication of crops correlates with sedentism, and a transition from hunter/gatherer to farmer. We remember that transition in the New World as the story of Cain (farmer) and Abel (hunter). We need to learn the transition in the New World from these clues. So the findings are very very significant.
It is already a great and significant find. Comparing it to stonehenge is counterproductive. Stonehenge was 5000 years after domestication of crops in the New World. These geoglyphs seem to be concurrent with the domestication of corn. It is unfair to compare geoglyphs with stonehenge.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
shocking that some coder dudebro doesn't know what actual scientists are.
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
At certain hours that were preannounced through the week, the local townspeople would gather round these so-called meeting places and show off the tinier stones and rocks that they have collected prior to their arrival at the area. When the warning horn has been sounded, the townsfolk would grab as many of these rocks as they can in their fists, and await the first of the drones. As soon as the first one is spotted, the populace would start casting their rocks and stones, without giving a damn about gravity's tug and its sometimes painful consequences. Not many of these drones returned, nor have any been spotted since.
WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
The article states that " the 'pristine' rainforest celebrated by ecologists is actually relatively new." The discovery shows nothing of the sort. This must have been funded by an oil company. Only a tiny fraction of the rainforest was cut and for only a relatively short time. As soon as the use of the sites stopped,the surrounding pristine rainforest reclaimed the sites. This was not a distrubance of biological significance.
"He took a duck in the face at 250 knots." -- William Gibson, Pattern Recognition
The assumption that he puts forth is that between the first explorers, and the large wave that followed later, there was a massive death rate due to the introductions of Western diseases. This large die-off was not seen or recorded, by Westerners, because the bulk of it occurred between the exploration stages.
He discusses many of the records of the second wave of explorers, they wrote of well tended, but empty, forests and fruit plantations. Many of their observations reflected that there was a recent, and large population; yet they were not seeing that large population. here is the wikipedia summary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
The, essential, anarchy seen by later explorers, and settlers as not a fair look at how the Americas had been. What those of the later stages were seeing was the result of a societal collapse to below the levels need for continuation.
To put this in geek terms, imagine that you arrived on earth after the zombie apocalypse, your assumptions would be different than they would be if you arrived today.
Just for reference, population estimates for all of Europe (where it hasn't been inflated by agendas) at the dawn of the bronze age was about 100,000. Estimates of 10s of millions of natives living in the Americas is simply politicised nonsense. The land couldn't support that many people at their technology level.
This whole thing is driven by the scammy nature of most early American colonization, explorers claimed 'streets of gold' to raise funds in Europe. Now dumb people take _all_ these claims on face value to claim 40 million natives had lived in the Americas. before smallpox killed them. It's just hippy mythology.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
An English archaeologist is digging and finds some copper fragments. He concludes that the ancient Britons were very advanced for their time because they had a telephone system.
A French archaeologist is digging and finds some bits of glass. He concludes that the Gauls were even more advanced because they had fibre-optics.
A Scottish archaeologist is digging and finds nothing at all. He concludes that the Picts were the most advanced of all, as they all had satellite phones.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."