Category Archives: ASIA

ASIA, ISRAEL, WORLD

Ancient Humans Tamed Fire as Early as 1 Million Years Ago, Study Suggests

Ancient Humans Tamed Fire as Early as 1 Million Years Ago, Study Suggests

Ancient Humans Tamed Fire as Early as 1 Million Years Ago, Study Suggests
The heat of a fire can make lasting changes to nearby stones

An artificial intelligence tool has revealed hidden evidence of ancient fire at a 1-million-year-old archaeological site in Israel. Applying the technology at other sites could revolutionise our understanding of when and where humans first began controlling fire, which is widely considered to be one of the most significant innovations of all time.

Archaeologists already have a few techniques for identifying whether ancient humans used fire. For instance, you can look for signs that prehistoric bones are discoloured – or that stone tools are warped – in a way that is consistent with exposure to temperatures of 450°C or more.

But this sort of evidence is rarely found at sites that are more than 500,000 years old.

Last year, a group of researchers in Israel unveiled a deep-learning AI tool that can identify subtler signs of fire caused by exposure to temperatures of between 200 and 300°C.

The team trained the algorithm by gathering chunks of flint from non-archaeological sites in the Israeli countryside, heating them to particular temperatures in the lab and then tasking the AI with identifying subtle changes in the flint’s response to UV light.

Now, the team, working with Michael Chazan at the University of Toronto in Canada, has used the algorithm to look at flints from a 1-million-year-old ancient human site called Evron Quarry in Israel.

“The reason we chose Evron Quarry was that it uses the same kind of flint they had used in the previous study,” says Chazan. “But there was just no reason to think there would be evidence of burning there.”

To Chazan’s surprise, the AI tool suggested that many of the flint tools at the site had been heated, mostly to temperatures of about 400°C.

Flint tools found at the Evron Quarry.

The team then took a closer look at chunks of bone recovered from the site and, using existing techniques, confirmed that they had been heated too.

Chazan says no one would have bothered testing the bones for heat exposure without the flint results from the AI.

The clustering of the heated stones and bones hints that ancient humans had control over the fire at Evron Quarry, rather than this being evidence of natural wildfire.

At the moment, there is a small amount of evidence that humans were using fire 1.5 million years ago. However, Chazan thinks the AI tool could be used to test a popular hypothesis that fire – and cooking – was widespread between about 1.8 and 2 million years ago.

“In the past, I’ve said: no, I don’t really think that’s right,” says Chazan. Now he isn’t so sure.

ASIA, CHINA, WORLD

A trove of 13,000 Artifacts Sheds Light on Enigmatic Chinese Civilization

A trove of 13,000 Artifacts Sheds Light on Enigmatic Chinese Civilization

A trove of 13,000 Artifacts Sheds Light on Enigmatic Chinese Civilization
Bronze sacrificial altar unearthed at the Sanxingdui archaeological site

For hundreds of years, the Sanxingdui culture flourished in what is now southwest China, producing ornate bronze masks and precious wares before vanishing abruptly around 1100 or 1200 B.C.E.

Believed to be part of the broader Shu state, the civilization continues to fascinate more than 3,000 years after its demise. As state-run news agency Xinhua reports, a trove of 13,000 artefacts unearthed at the Sanxingdui Ruins site over the past two years is poised to offer new insights into the mysterious Bronze Age culture.

Found in six sacrificial pits, according to China Daily’s Wang Kaihao, the cache includes 1,238 bronze wares, 543 gold artefacts and 565 jade objects.

Among the highlights of the discovery is a bronze box with a tortoise-shaped lid, dragonhead handles and bronze ribbons. Green jade is tucked inside the container, which appears to have once been wrapped in silk.

“It would not be an exaggeration to say that the vessel is one of its kind, given its distinctive shape, fine craftsmanship and ingenious design,” Li Haichao, an archaeologist at Sichuan University, tells Xinhua. “Although we do not know what this vessel was used for, we can assume that ancient people treasured it.”

Bronze head with gold mask excavated at the Sanxingdui archaeological site

Other key finds include a bronze sacrificial altar, a giant bronze mask, and a bronze statue with a human head and a snake’s body. Per the Global Times’ Ji Yuqiao, the hybrid figure rests its hands on a lei drinking vessel; another type of vessel known as a zun is painted on the statue’s head in vermillion hues.

The sculpture’s blend of artistic styles reflects the “early exchange and integration of Chinese civilization,” says Ran Honglin, a researcher at the Sichuan Provincial Cultural Relics and Archaeology Research Institute, to Xinhua. It’s human and snake components are typical of the Shu state, while the lei is more commonly associated with the pre-Western Zhou Dynasty. The zun is historically found in the Zhongyuan region.

“These three factors are now blended into one artefact, which demonstrates that Sanxingdui is an important part of Chinese civilization,” Ran adds.

According to an official government FAQ, a farmer stumbled onto the Sanxingdui Ruins in 1929. The first archaeological excavation at the site took place in 1934, but work soon drew to a halt amid the political tumult of the mid-20th century.

It was only in 1986 that scholars recognized the significance of the ruins: As Live Science’s Tia Ghose wrote in 2014, archaeologists found two pits filled with 1,000 artefacts, including eight-foot-tall bronze sculptures whose artistry points to an “impressive technical ability that was present nowhere else in the world at the time.” Because the objects were broken or burned before burial, experts concluded that they’d been placed in the pits as part of a sacrificial ritual.

A large bronze head with protruding eyes is believed to be a depiction of Cancong, the semi-legendary first king of Shu

In addition to the towering figurines, excavators discovered oversized bronze masks with exaggerated facial features. Measuring around three feet wide, the masks share several key characteristics, per the Saxingdui Museum: “knife-shaped eyebrows, protruding eyes in [a] triangle shape, big stretching ears, snub nose and fine mouth.” Experts posit that the masks may have memorialized their creators’ ancestors or gods.

No written records or human remains associated with the Sanxingdui survive today, reports Kathleen Magramo for CNN. But scholars generally agree that the culture was part of the kingdom of Shu, which thrived on the Chengdu Plain until its defeat by the state of Qin in 316 B.C.E. The exact reasons for the Sanxingdui’s decline are unknown, but theories abound, with earthquakes, war and flooding all proposed as possible explanations.

Based on the discovery of similar artefacts at Jinsha, about 30 miles away from the Sanxingdui Ruins, some archaeologists argue that the Sanxingdui moved to Jinsha and rebuilt their community there.

Between 2020 and 2022, a renewed slate of excavations uncovered six additional pits at the Sanxingdui site. Last year, archaeologists revealed fragments of a gold mask, traces of silk, bronzeware adorned with depictions of animals, ivory carvings and other artefacts.

The current round of excavations is slated to conclude in October. As Ran tells the Global Times, “The number of unearthed cultural relics will keep increasing with further work.”

ASIA, SYRIA, WORLD

Remains of Possible Early Muslims Identified in Syria

Remains of Possible Early Muslims Identified in Syria

A new study combining archaeological, historical and bioarchaeological data provides new insights into the early Islamic period in modern-day Syria. The research team was planning to focus on a much older time period but came across what they believe to be the remains of early Muslims in the Syrian countryside.

Remains of Possible Early Muslims Identified in Syria
Excavation at the Neolithic site of Tell Qarassa in modern-day Syria.

The Middle East is well known as a region with a rich and fascinating history embracing a wide range of ethnicities, cultures and religious practices.

While a great part of this diverse and dynamic history is known through historical records, the impressive material culture and archaeological sites in the region until recently important bioarcheological data was more difficult to retrieve due to the poor preservation of organic materials in harsh environments.

New technologies that are more capable of analysing degraded material, however, have changed this and stories from prehistoric to historic times have emerged, enriching our knowledge of this region at the crossroads between three continents.

Now, a multinational and interdisciplinary team is presenting new bioarchaeological insights into the early Islamic period in modern-day Syria.

Before the Syrian civil war

During 2009 and 2010, excavations at the Neolithic site of Tell Qarassa in modern-day Syria encountered a number of burials.

These excavations were coordinated by a Spanish-French team integrating Syrian students in all archaeological campaigns, thereby contributing to their training in archaeology.

The research was conducted with permission from and in constant coordination with the General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums (DGAM) of the Syrian Arab Republic. Shortly after these excavations, the Syrian civil war began, which continues to this day.

“With the goal of studying the first farming groups in the region, we subjected the remains of 14 humans to ancient DNA analysis,” says archaeogeneticist Cristina Valdiosera of the University of Burgos, Spain, who coordinated the study.

Human remains in graves dated to the Umayyad era in the late 7th and early 8th centuries (the second caliphate).

“Only two individuals from the upper layers of the site contained sufficient amounts of endogenous DNA and these came from graves that we assumed belonged to a later prehistoric period. After radiocarbon dating, it became clear we had something unexpected and special.”

Umayyad Era

The graves dated to the Umayyad era in the late 7th and early 8th centuries (the second caliphate). In light of these surprisingly recent dates, a reassessment of the burial style showed that it would be consistent with early Muslim burial practices.

It would have been impossible to pinpoint this cultural identity without the radiocarbon dates as there were no previously known Muslim settlements or burial sites in the area and the archaeological site itself was only known as a prehistoric site.

“The genomic results were also surprising as the two individuals seemed genetically different from most ancient or modern-day Levantines. The most similar – though not identical – modern-day groups were Bedouins and Saudis, suggesting a possible connection to the Arabian Peninsula,” says evolutionary biologist Megha Srigyan, who conducted the data analysis during her Master’s studies at Uppsala University, Sweden.

“Most of our evidence is indirect but the different types of data, taken together, point to this man and woman belonging to transient groups far from home, suggesting the presence of early Muslims in the Syrian countryside,” says population geneticist Torsten Günther at Uppsala University, who co-coordinated the study.

The analysis of one man and one woman provided evidence of new cultural/religious practices arriving in the Levant.

“It is extraordinary that by studying just two individuals, we were able to uncover a small but remarkable piece of the colossal puzzle that makes up the history of the Levant,” says Cristina Valdiosera.

“In this particular case, there was no way we could have reached a conclusion without combining the archaeological, historical and bioarchaeological data, as each of these provided essential clues, highlighting the importance of a multidisciplinary approach,” Torsten Günther concludes.

The human remains recovered in Qarassa, as well as the rest of the archaeological material, was deposited at the Archaeological Museum of Sweida (Syria) and, from that moment, they have been under the responsibility of the Syrian DGAM, as per their regulations. 

ASIA, CHINA, WORLD

China’s mysterious 8,000-year-old structure ‘guarded by the military could hold key secrets

China’s mysterious 8,000-year-old structure ‘guarded by the military could hold key secrets

More than 100km outside the ancient city of Xi’an, among the overgrown forests, rise scores of pyramid-shaped mounds that have been shrouded in mystery for thousands of years. The West learnt about them when Fred Meyer Schroder, an American trader, first reported the enigma in 1912.

At the time, he was travelling through the Shaanxi Province with a guide, where he recorded a thorough description in his diary, noting he had seen one giant pyramid approximately 1,000 feet tall and nearly twice that size in length, surrounded by a number of smaller pyramids.

Fast-forward three decades and US Airforce pilot James Gaussman would be left mesmerised by a “pure white” structure spotted while flying over Asia, said to be twice the size of the Great Pyramid of Egypt.

He said: “The remarkable thing was the capstone, a huge piece of jewel-like material that could have been crystal.

“There was no way we could have landed, although we wanted to. We were struck by the immensity of the thing.”

Two years later, Colonel Maurice Sheahan, the Far Eastern director for Trans World Airline, reported the same experience.

China’s mysterious 8,000-year-old structure 'guarded by the military could hold key secrets
China has a mysterious structure that could be key to understanding the country’s history.
China has a number of pyramid structures

In the early Nineties, German investigator Hartwig Hausdorf searched for the massive pyramid, but he was unsuccessful in finding it.

Instead, he found “the Chinese military meticulously patrolling the area,” according to reports.

Today, Google Earth will show anyone with the right coordinates evidence of not just one, but around 40 known pyramids, but not all are easily distinguishable to the human eye.

They are covered with trees and grass, and many date back 8,000 years. This region, in essence, is China’s version of both Egypt’s Giza and the Valley of the Kings in one, particularly because there is a huge amount of royalty rumoured to be beneath the surface that no one has disturbed.

Two farmers discovered the famous terracotta army of China’s First Emperor

As early as the 17th century, a Roman Jesuit wrote about the pyramids, and in 1785, the French orientalist and sinologist Joseph de Guignes wrote ‘An Essay in Which We Prove The Chinese Are an Egyptian Colony’.

Western archaeologists have, to this day, rarely been permitted to investigate the sites and some have claimed photos show shrubs have been deliberately planted to keep the secret under wraps.

But experts theorise there are almost certainly lost emperors and artefacts below the mounds that would dwarf Howard Carter’s 1922 discovery of Tutankhamun. In 1974, the world got a peek at a truly extraordinary history of China when two farmers were digging just outside Xi’an and discovered the famous terracotta army of China’s First Emperor – Qin Shi Huang.

There were legends that he had been buried inside a veritable mini-city with palaces, carriages, treasures, and anything else he’d need in the afterlife – and through luck, or fate, these farmers hit the jackpot. The site is so massive, that researchers are “going to be digging there for centuries,” archaeologist Kristin Romey told Live Science in 2012.

The mounds are shrouded in secrecy
Some can be seen on Google Earth

But the Emperor himself has never been found.

The authorities have opened up sites like the Han Yang Ling Mausoleum to tourists, but no one is allowed to excavate them.

Xi Jinping’s government say the technology does not exist yet to disturb the pyramids without damaging their contents, citing King Tut’s discovery for reference.

Dr Romey previously remarked: “It’s really smart what they’re doing.

“Think about all the information we lost just based on the excavation techniques of the 1930s.


“There’s so much additional [information] that we could have learned, but the techniques back then weren’t what we have now.

“Even though we may think we have great archaeological excavation techniques [at present], who knows, a century down the road if we open this tomb [they could be even better].”

Chinese strong “veneration of tradition” culture could mean they simply wish to leave their royalty at peace, which means there will be no choice but to watch them recede back into the Earth with their secrets – until someone decides otherwise.

But, due to the area being shrouded in secrecy, there are also doubts from some experts about whether the White Pyramid even exists.

Experts have squabbled over both the location and the feasibility of such a monumental structure.

ASIA, IRAQ, WORLD

3,400-year-old ‘lost’ city re-emerges from Tigris River in Iraq

3,400-year-old ‘lost’ city re-emerges from Tigris River in Iraq

The tightening grip of climate change on our planet is revealing secrets buried for millennia. As waters and ice recede under warming conditions, the traces of people and civilizations long gone from the mortal realm emerge.

3,400-year-old ‘lost’ city re-emerges from Tigris River in Iraq
The archaeological site of Kemune in the Mosul Dam.

In recent months, Iraq has been hit particularly hard, battered by extreme drought, with the Mosul reservoir shrinking as water is extracted to keep crops from drying.

Amid this crisis, the ruins of an ancient city, submerged for decades, are once again on dry land. Since the dam was created in the 1980s before the settlement was archaeologically studied and catalogued, its re-emergence represents a rare opportunity for scientists to explore it. The archaeological site has been named Kemune.

The ruins consist of a palace and several other large structures, dating back to the Bronze Age in the region, around 3,400 years ago. Scientists think the ruins might be from the ancient city of Zakhiku, a bustling centre for the Mittani Empire, which thrived on the banks of the Tigris River between 1550 and 1350 BCE.

This isn’t the first time that the city has risen from the waters like a lost Atlantis. In 2018, the dam waters receded enough to give archaeologists a brief window in which to discover and document the ruins, before the water level rose and covered them again.

So, in December of 2021, when the city began to emerge once more, archaeologists were ready to leap in and take advantage of the second brief window.

In January and February of this year, archaeologist Hasan Ahmed Qasim from the Kurdistan Archaeology Organization in Iraq, along with fellow researchers Ivana Puljiz of the University of Freiburg and Peter Pfälzner from the University of Tübingen in Germany, set about mapping the mysterious city.

The walls of a storage building. (Universities of Freiburg and Tübingen, KAO)

In addition to the palace that was uncovered in 2018, the researchers found some other interesting structures. These included a large fortification with a wall and towers, an industrial complex, and a huge, multi-story storage building, all dating back to the Mittani Empire.

“The huge magazine (storage) building is of particular importance because enormous quantities of goods must have been stored in it, probably brought from all over the region,” Puljiz says.

The preservation of the mud-brick walls was rather remarkable, considering they had been underwater for over 40 years, but that was a result of the city’s rather abrupt fall in 1350 BCE.

During this, an earthquake devastated the region, toppling buildings, which resulted in a protective coating of rubble falling over the remaining intact walls, covering their painted murals and the buildings’ contents.

One of the ceramic vessels contains cuneiform tablets. (Universities of Freiburg and Tübingen, KAO)

Fascinatingly, the city also yielded some ceramic jars containing over 100 unfired clay tablets inscribed in cuneiform, dating to the Middle Assyrian, shortly after the earthquake.

The team hopes that these records might contain some information about who lived in the city, and maybe even about the earthquake itself that led to its demise.

“It is close to a miracle that cuneiform tablets made of unfired clay survived so many decades underwater,” Pfälzner said.

The dam has since been refilled, submerging the city once more, but steps have been taken to make sure that it will be preserved for future excavations when the water recedes once more. The ruins have been sealed under plastic coverings that will prevent future erosion and degradation in the years ahead.

In the meantime, the frenzied work has given the archaeologists material to study that may shed light on the lives of the ancient Mittani who lived in the once-great city.

“The excavation results show that the site was an important centre in the Mittani Empire,” Qasim said.

ASIA, CHINA, WORLD

The Largest And Oldest Pyramid On The Planet: The Great Pyramid Of China

The Largest And Oldest Pyramid On The Planet: The Great Pyramid Of China

The story behind the Great Pyramid of China is beyond fascinating. For years, the government has not allowed proper studies to be performed on the numerous pyramids near the city of Xi’an. Excursions that managed to sneak into the area where the pyramids are discovered numerous anomalies like a metallic material which could not be identified by researchers. The Pyramids are believed to be over 8,000 years old.

The Largest And Oldest Pyramid On The Planet: The Great Pyramid Of China

Are the Pyramid of China among the largest on the planet? According to many, one of the Pyramids – kept a secret for years — in China is so large that the Great Pyramid of Giza seems like a miniature monument.

The story of the Chinese pyramid began at the end of the Second World War when American pilot James Gaussman was about to complete a resupply mission to the forces of the Chinese Army.

Suddenly, a fault in the aircraft engine forced him to return to the Assam base located in northern India, for safety reasons, he decided to fly at a lower altitude.

Shortly after flying over the city of Xi’an, heading southwest, the pilot encountered what looked like a gigantic pyramid.

Surprised, after making several passes over the humongous structure, he decided to take a number of photographs, which later included a detailed report which was handed to his superiors as soon as he returned to base.

The incident was forgotten among the files of the US Air Force until 40 years later, the ‘Great Pyramid of China’ was brought back to light through the work of Australian writer Brian Crowley, who published one of the photographs of the Pyramid in his book.

As a result, it was known that this wasn’t the first time pilots saw the humongous Chinese Pyramid.

In fact, on March 147, when the war was already over, the New York Times published an article making reference to the sighting made by Col. Maurice Sheehan from his plane, when he flew over a gigantic pyramid, described by Col. Maurice Sheehan as having approximate dimensions of 300 meters in height and 450 meters on each side.

It is noteworthy to mention that these dimensions would make the Chinese Pyramid the largest one ever discovered on Earth, dwarfing the Great Pyramid of Giza with a mere 147 meters in height and 320 meters in width.

Even more fascinating is the fact that the Great Pyramid of Egypt has around 52,900 square meters, the ‘Great Pyramid of China’ exceeds the number with a staggering 202,000 square meters.

Over the years, numerous pilots claimed to have observed gigantic Pyramids in China, and there is a great number of images, taken by pilots and satellites which support the existence of the mysterious structures in Asia.

However, inexplicably, the Chinese authorities have rejected the existence of such monuments.

The Forbidden History Of Ancient China: Aryan Mummies And Hundreds Of Pyramids.

In the early twentieth century, explorers and traders, like German citizens Frederick Schroeder and Oscar Maman, testified to the presence of not only one, but several pyramids located around the Chinese city of Xi’an.

But the mystery behind the Pyramid of China is even more fascinating. According to reports, numerous European excursions managed to take samples of objects and metals around the Pyramids of China.

Analysis showed that these structures could be well over 8,000 years old, but the most fascinating detail isn’t the age of the Pyramids: Interestingly, the metallic material present at the Pyramids has not been identified so far; since it is made out of materials that are unknown to modern science.

Check out the images:

ASIA, INDIA, WORLD

Experts: 1.7 Million-Year-Old Man-Made Bridge Shatters Mainstream History

Experts: 1.7 Million-Year-Old Man-Made Bridge Shatters Mainstream History

A 1.7 million-year-old ‘bridge’ is the ultimate evidence that humans have been on Earth much longer than thought claims experts.

“The ratio of 10:1 (length: width) fits the actual measurements of the bridge observed today.”

The former director of the Geological Survey of India believes he has found the ultimate evidence of a 1.7 million-year-old man-made bridge which indicates mankind existed on Earth millions of years ago and had the ability to erect ‘sophisticated’ structures long before mainstream experts suggest. This, however, goes against everything we’ve been told since according to mainstream scientists, humans have been on Earth for roughly 200,000 years, but the alleged bridge throws everything that scientists believed true into questions. The structure — which is visible from space — occupies a relatively large area stretching from India to Sri Lanka. Curiously, ancient Hindu legends suggest that King Rama, a Hindu deity built a bridge of similar proportions more than a million years ago.

Experts: 1.7 Million-Year-Old Man-Made Bridge Shatters Mainstream History

According to the Hindu tradition, this “strip of land” is a bridge built by the Hindu god Rama, as told in the Hindu epic Ramayana. Rama is one of the most famous manifestations of the Supreme God and is recognized as the image, the spirit, and consciousness of Hinduism, one of the oldest religions in the world. In fact, since ancient times it is known as the “Bridge of Rama” or “Rama Setu”.

The Indian epic Ramayana tells the story of the land bridge and how it was built to serve Hindu god Rama, in order to help him cross the water to reach the large island and rescue his beloved one from the clutches of the demon king Ravanna. It is a story of love, brave deeds and incredible constructions as it seems. Some refer to the alleged bridge as the Rama Setu, while others call it Adams Bridge and many believe it is one of the best pieces of evidence that humans have existed on Earth much longer than we’re told.

Ok, that’s cool but… who’s the supposed scientist who said it’s real?

We are talking about Dr. S. Badrinarayanan, former director of the Geological Survey of India and former coordinator of the survey division of the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT).

He studied core samples of the bridge and is apparently convinced that we’re not looking at a natural formation — as other scientists suggest — but at a man-made structure, and one that was ‘erected’ more than a million years ago. According to reports, Dr. Badrinarayanan performed a survey of this structure and concluded that it was man-made. Dr. Badrinarayanan and his team drilled 10 bore holes along the alignment of Adam’s Bridge.

What he discovered was startling. About 6 meters below the surface he found a consistent layer of calcareous sand stone, corals and boulder like materials. His team was surprised when they discovered a layer of loose sand, some 4-5 meters further down and then hard rock formations below that. A team of divers went down to physically examine the bridge. The boulders that they observed were not composed of a typical marine formation. They were identified as having come from either side of the causeway.

Dr. Badrinarayanan also indicates that there is evidence of ancient quarrying in these areas. His team concluded that materials from either shore were placed upon the sandy bottom of the water to form the causeway.

In a special discussion board on Rediff, Dr. Badrinarayanan said:

“It is not a natural formation; the top portion of it appears to be a man-made structure.”

“To understand what I am saying from the geological point of view, you have to get to know several things.”

“What is known as Adam’s Bridge is originally a natural grade divide separating the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean to the south. So, the geological aspects are different on either side.”

Dr. Badrinarayanan added:

“We found marine sands on top and below that was a mixed assemblage of corals, calcareous sand stones, and boulder-like materials.

“Surprisingly below that up to 4–5 meters [13–16 feet], again we found loose sand and after that, hard formations were there.”

He added that “below the corals and boulders, we are getting loose sand, which means it is not natural.”

However, the “Ramayana,” the bridge is said to have been built upon a wooden foundation (which was placed atop a preexisting natural elevation) that was then covered with large and small stones.

But obviously, there are many who disagree with Dr. Badrinarayanan.

One of them is Suvrat Kher, a geologist who specializes in marine formations, who firmly believes we are looking at nothing more than a natural formation.

Writing about the alleged bridge, Dr. Kher said:

“During the Pleistocene ‘ice-age’ period, glacial buildup and melting forced fluctuations in sea-level by tens of meters, setting up the conditions for several episodes of coral reef and sand shoal formation.

“During periods of large sea-level drops in the Pleistocene, there would have been a land connection between India and Sri Lanka. ”

“But at the end of the last Wisconsin glaciation, the sea-level began to rise world-wide.”

ASIA, INDIA, WORLD

What Powered The Vimanas? India’s 6,000-Year-Old Flying Machines

What Powered The Vimanas? India’s 6,000-Year-Old Flying Machines

According to Ancient Indian history – one of the most extensive on the planet – their ancient sacred texts called the ‘Vedas’ speak of incredible flying ships that visited our planet over 6000 years ago. Throughout history, many common myths and legends mention incredible flying machines and how ancient people traveled great distances through the air: the flying carpets of ancient Arabia, Ezekiel’s wheel, Solomons’ ability to travel from one place to another and the magical chariots or ‘vimana’ mentioned in ancient Indian and Chinese texts.

What Powered The Vimanas? India’s 6,000-Year-Old Flying Machines

According to Ancient Indian history –one of the most extensive on the planet– their ancient sacred texts called the ‘Vedas’ speak of amazing flying ships that visited our planet over 6000 years ago. While there are many who oppose the existence of the Vimana, millions of people around the world are concerned that thousands of years ago, ancient mankind was visited by incredible flying machines, piloted by the ‘gods’.

With the help of the Vimana, ancient astronauts visited different places on our planet with ease, spreading knowledge and wealth among ancient, primitive civilizations. Reference to the ancient Vimana can be found in the Mahabharata, which is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India:

“At Rama`s behest, the magnificent chariot rose up to a mountain of cloud with a tremendous din. Another passage reads: Bhima flew with his Vimana on an enormous ray which was as brilliant as the sun and made a noise like the thunder of a storm. In the ancient Vymanka-Shastra (the science of aeronautics), there is a description of a Vimana: “An apparatus which can go by its own force, from one place to place or globe to the globe”.

Dr. Raghavan points out, “The text’s revelations become even more astounding. Thirty-one parts of which the machine consists are described, including a photographing mirror underneath.

“The text also enumerates 16 kinds of metal that are needed to construct the flying vehicle: `Metals suitable, lighare 16 kinds`. But only three of them are known to us today. The rest remain untranslatable.”

Another authority who agrees with Dr. Raghavan`s interpretations is Dr. A.V. Krishna Murty, professor of aeronautics at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore.

“It is true,” Dr. Krishna Murty says, “that the ancient Indian Vedas and other text refer to aeronautics, spaceships, flying machines, ancient astronauts. A study of the Sanskrit texts has convinced me that ancient India did know the secret of building flying machines and that those machines were patterned after spaceships coming from other planets.”

However, What Fueled this Ancient Vimana?

The Vaimānika Śāstra, an early 20th-century Sanskrit text on aerospace technology, makes a claim that the vimānas mentioned in ancient Sanskrit epics were advanced aerodynamic flying vehicles, similar to a rocket capable of interplanetary flight as backed up by the ancient alien theory. Revealed in 1952 by G. R. Josye, the texts contain 3000 shlokas in 8 chapters which Shastry claimed were psychically delivered to him by the ancient Hindu sage Bharadvaja. The propulsion of the Vimanas According to Kanjilal (1985) is by a “Mercury Vortex Engines”, a concept similar to electric propulsion. However, many people argue that a far greater, more accessible and ‘free’ power source was available to the ancient Vimana craft. It is noteworthy to mention that a couple of years ago, Chinese researchers discovered ancient Sanskrit documents in Lhasa, Tibet, dating back thousands of years. The ancient texts were sent to the University of Chandigarh for translation. The results were shocking. According to Dr. Ruth Reyna the translated texts, allegedly are ‘blueprints’ for the construction of interstellar spaceships.

According to the translated documents, the propulsion system designed for the spaceships was based on antigravitational technology, and based on a system analogous to that of “laghima,” the unknown power of the ego that exists in man’s physiological makeup, “a centrifugal force strong enough to counteract all gravitational pull.”

Interestingly, according to Hindu Yogis, the mysterious “laghima” force is what enables people to levitate.

Dr. Reyna explained that “on board, these machines which were called ‘Astras,’ the builders of the crafts could have sent a detachment of men to any planet. The manuscripts, however, do not mention how interplanetary communication was achieved, but they do mention a trip from the Earth to the Moon, though it is unclear whether the trip was just planned or actually carried out.”

However, one of the great Indian epics, the Ramayana, does have a highly detailed story in it of a trip to the moon in a Vimana (or “Astra”), and in fact details a battle on the moon with an “Asvin” (or Atlantean” airship.

Indian scientists were extremely reserved about the value of these documents but became less so when the Chinese announced that certain parts of the information were being studied for inclusion in their space program.

But can we actually ‘reverse engineer’ ANCIENT technology? Well… depends on what you think is possible. Interestingly in the Sanskrit Samarangana Sutradhara, it is written:

“Strong and durable must the body of the Vimana be made, like a great flying bird of light material. Inside one must put the mercury engine with its iron heating apparatus underneath. By means of the power latent in the mercury which sets the driving whirlwind in motion, a man sitting inside may travel a great distance in the sky. The movements of the Vimana are such that it can vertically ascend, vertically descend, and move slanting forwards and backwards. With the help of the machines, human beings can fly in the air, and heavenly beings can come down to earth.”

Interestingly, in the Law of the Babylonians, the Hakatha unambiguously states:

“The privilege of operating a flying machine is great. The knowledge of flight is among the most ancient of our inheritances. A gift from ’those from upon high’. We received it from them as a means of saving many lives.”

“The Pushpaka Vimana was a gigantic ‘plane’ the size of a large city entirely capable of holding unlimited numbers of people…”

“…Three flying cities were made for and were used by the Demons… One was in a stationary orbit in the sky, another moving in the sky and one was permanently stationed on the ground. These were docked like modern spaceships in the sky… and at a fixed latitude/longitude.

“Siva’s arrow obviously referred to a blazing missile fired from a satellite specially built for the purpose…Vestiges of onetime prosperous civilization destroyed in battles flicker through these legends…” – Prof. D.K. Kanjilal’s observations of the Matsyapurana

Harnessing Earth’s Natural Energy

But is it possible that the ancient Vimana’s were built so they could access the planet’s natural energy? What if thousands of years ago, ancient flying machines used Earth’s natural energy to charge and reload? Is it possible that ancient monuments like pyramids were, in fact, giant energy transmitters that fueled the ancient Vimana?

Interestingly Stone like metal can be charged and is able to carry out electrical charges. What if ancient sites on Earth were specifically placed on so-called magnetic vortexes or electrical ‘Ley Lines’?

What if there is a far greater meaning to the countless number of ancient Indian Pyramids, monoliths, megalithic statues, steles, obelisks and totems, and what if all of these structures, not only from ancient India but different civilizations around the world, had a special scientific purpose: to transmit vast amounts of energy. Many researchers argue that intricate ancient stonework attributed to the Incas, Egyptians, East Indians, Maya and other ancient civilizations has a specific purpose, and was not only aesthetic in nature. It is noteworthy to mention that many consider the Great Pyramid of Giza as one of the best examples of ancient energy machines. It was a Tesla-like power plant created thousands of years ago. It was a huge ancient structure that was capable of using the Earth’s natural properties in order to create or produce a great amount of energy. This energy is believed to have been used by the ancient Egyptians and other cultures such as the ancient Maya and other cultures around the globe for millennia. This theory, however, has been firmly rejected by mainstream researchers. If we approach the history of ancient civilizations from another perspective, we will encounter that ancient civilizations around the globe were, in fact, extremely sophisticated and used advanced technologies thousands of years before mainstream science ‘reinvented them’.

These advanced technologies were present in ancient Egypt, Ancient Sumer, and in North, Central and South America. Electricity, electrochemistry, electromagnetic technology, metallurgy, advanced engineering, including hydrogeology, chemistry, physics and advanced forms of mathematics and astronomy were all used thousands of years ago to great extents.