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Amazonian Stonehenge Found

Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2006 1:29 pm
by Minimalist
http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=300118&sid=FTP

One hundred and twenty-seven granite blocks are arranged at an equal distance from one another on a flat surface 390 kilometers away from the administrative center of the Amapa state, Macapa. It is yet hard to say when and why the stones might have been arranged in the peculiar manner, but excavations may give an answer. So far, their age is estimated at 500 to 2,000 years.

Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2006 1:33 pm
by Beagle
Wow - more and more I am beginning to think that South America is the "undiscovered country".

Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2006 4:00 pm
by Minimalist
Is it just me or does it seem a little bizarre to continue attributing these ubiquitous stone circles as "astronomical calculators." You don't need a whole circle of huge rocks for this. In fact, if you pick a point on the ground you could do it with 3 rocks. One for the summer solstice, one for the winter solstice and one for the equinox. If primitive man built these circles, he had a reason for doing it.

Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2006 4:24 pm
by Beagle
Well - that is the enduring mystery of the henges. If you have a good theory you should write it down and copyright it.

They probably served as a multi-purpose temple (or what passed for a temple) served by a priesthood of sorts. Probably any person having the ability predict astronomical events was seen as a magician of sorts.

Most of the planet still checks their daily horoscope. :roll:

Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2006 4:26 pm
by Beagle
But..... why the same formation on at least 4 continents???

Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2006 4:27 pm
by Barracuda
I was in the Amazon for a while back in '75. In Leticia, Colombia. There are still many thousands of square miles that have not been explored by science, and I am amazed that anyone can find anything in the three canopy rain forest. And the climate destroys any organic material in a short time. One telling what might be down there.

Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2006 4:34 pm
by Beagle
Never been there except for books and pics. The things that have been discovered in that part of the world so far really deepen the mystery.

Probably the next frontier, for better or worse.

Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2006 4:34 pm
by Minimalist
I don't know.... this:

Image

Looks nothing like Stonehenge.

http://www.visitcumbria.com/kes/casstone.htm

Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2006 4:37 pm
by Beagle
No but it is a henge nonetheless. Hard to see what function that would have.

Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2006 4:59 pm
by Minimalist
Maybe they strung ropes around the outside of the rocks to make corrals. There are hundreds of stone circles across Europe. One does not need that many ritual spots or astronomical calculators.

Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2006 3:48 am
by Beagle
That would look a little like an African (Zulu) kraal. Could be if Europe was domesticating animals during the megalithic perod. Seems to me that they were.

Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2006 10:03 am
by Minimalist
An interactive map showing stone circles in Britain, alone.

http://www.megalith.ukf.net/bigmap.htm

Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2006 10:46 am
by Leona Conner
Thanks for the link. It was like getting lost in a cave with many tunnels. FUN. Well, I guess getting lost in a real cave wouldn't be much fun, but that site sure was. I saw several stone circles that didn't look nearly as sophisticated as the one shown above. I hadn't realized just how many of these there are, and now I unfortunately have added another branch to my tree of "gotta know more."

Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2006 10:50 am
by Minimalist
When I get the time I need to go digging around on that. Graham Hancock points out one circle which is partially submerged by the sea. The obvious implication is that it was built before the water rose and that takes its construction back into the dim recesses of history.

Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2006 1:19 pm
by Beagle
The one you're referring to is on the coast of France. I'm pretty sure anyway. Also on Malta there are what appear to be wheel tracks disappearing into the sea.

And yes, I think that's a big clue to their age.