So, my comparative civilizations teacher wanted me to make a one page reply to the first chapter of our studies. I have a habit of having a lot to say, and I thought the world may be interested in it. I'm quite impressed with how structured it ended up being. We could address the full chapter, or just one aspect of the chapter. I quite enjoyed the ancient sacred sites aspect of this chapter, and have put my thought towards it and what I thought should of been included in this. It lacked aliens.
The Study of Archeology; Response
Ancient Sacred Sites
In this chapter I found the most interesting aspect to be surrounding the Ancient Sacred Sites; however I felt it was not expanded enough for my liking. I would imagine it would be because the chapter had to cover several topics, and if I had my way this aspect could have been a chapter in itself. Several of the aspects approached in this topic, Sacred Sites, were lacking much information that I have acquired due to my habit of listening to the History Chanel as I drift into sleep. There were several ideas, theories, concepts, and facts (well, facts according to the currently accepted theories) that were not addressed that I have come across.
Firstly, in regardance to the topics that were addressed, we approached the ideas of spirituality, religion, and electromagnetic (EM) upwelling’s. We also looked at astrological significance, the idea of calendars relating to the years, events within the years, and significant days (such as when the sun lined up with something, or when the day/night ratio is equal or at its greatest difference); along with the materials, natural significance, and beauty of the sites.
The idea that you are more likely to have a supernatural experience when at a location that has a higher EM charge, is a common theory regarding why the locations of these sites are picked. Religion has a decreasing amount of importance in modern societies; however at the times that we are examining it was often a staple of life and a uniform feature for an entire society. It was not until later in history, where trade and social interaction extended out of local regions, when religions began to spread from more than just their original source and intermingle with other ideologies. With this change in philosophies and views on life, came the loss of religious values of these sites. This was enhanced by the loss of several civilizations who originally constructed the sites. The relevance of the sites, in regardance to a supernaturally charged area, or EM charged area, is a newer development in the study of ancient significant site, and is one of the connecting pieces between sites all around the world.
Another common theme found in ancient sacred sites is a celestial significance. Buildings frequently line up with astrological bodies, such as stars, the sun, or the moon. Frequently they will have several alignments. It is impractical to think of this as just a coincidence, considering the number of stars and the number of buildings that have relation to various stars such as the North Star. This star is one of the brighter stars, from most perspectives of the world. Naturally, those who would worship being who were thought to live in the sky and those who simply observed the heavens would consider this star to be a significant ball of burning gas; however at the time the stars had more of a supernatural appeal than just burning balls of gas that are so far away the numbers are difficult for our human minds to comprehended. Imagine the stars were your only way to get home if you are far from your origin. What if your entire population relied on planting the crops or harvesting them within a small time period, only identifiable by the sun? Just as we have calendars today, they were needed in the past. Large, repeating objects in the sky were often worshiped for their significance to a calendar or their sheer power it appeared they must hold in order to stay there. No matter the reason why the sun or moon may have been worshiped, it is a common practice (or rather was) to create large scale objects or buildings to act as not just a practical piece of architecture, but also to please the Gods of the region. Who would not enjoy having the largest building in the world, at the time, to be devoted to them with such precision that every day when you came over the horizon to view your followers, it greeted you with perfect alignment.
The reasons to why a people may feel obligated to align a building with a group of stars or the sun has several theories; however I feel the reasoning behind the materials chosen to be used in construction to be a very simple idea. It is what was what was available, and it has proven to be very durable. If people were to cease to exist, in this very moment, what human structures would last the longest? Concrete breaks apart, paint peals, steel rusts, and plastic may last forever (or so it seems) but it isn’t used for building large structures. It’s the stone objects that are placed with such precision that they do not need to be jointed together with anything more than puzzle-piece resembling shape. The pyramids of Giza and of the Aztec still stand after hundreds to thousands of years, just as many other buildings still do. It is not uncommon for a building of modern building to be declared unsafe to live in, and is destroyed. Disregarding the historical value of the sites, no one will ever need to take down the Great Wall of China or an ancient city that has been buried under dirt for thousands of years. The use of natural building materials always brings about the idea of beauty. We, in modern times, find nature to have a strong aspect of beauty; just as the ancient people who came before us must have. If a site is devoted to a supernatural cause, it may be desirable for the surrounding area to be beautiful. This is only enhanced by the natural growth of plants, brought about by the sites being left absent for a great amount of time. The hard corners may become worn down, but they are replaced with a soft, vibrant moss. The dirt floors will become covered in lush vines and flowers. Even the natural destruction of some aspects of a monolithic structure will give it the sense of history, which we require to declare something ruins. This natural aging brings about significance to nature, which may have been intended or may have not. It is a matter of the individuals who built it was much more conscious of nature, in comparison to our modern views on the outdoors.
Personally, I do not there to be much of a religious or supernatural value to these sites; however I have not visited any of the sites we have looked at nor any sites I would consider to be ancient or modern sacred sites. I understand the idea of there being an EM charge higher than most areas, but I do not know if I would be able to note it at all. Perhaps the people who built these sites, due to their different views surrounding nature and their knowledge of it, would be more sensitive to the slight differences. The significance to the stars, sun, and moon (and a handful of other celestial bodies) must have been a great idea for the people who created them but they are no longer needed. It is interesting though, to consider how they would have created these and the efforts put into them. I have very little of the stars, and if I were to learn about them I doubt I would try to learn from first hand observations. We have become so disconnected to nature, and do not take the time to observe the stars. Far as I’m concerned, once the sun has gone down and the sky’s are clear the stars are nice to watch as I walk home but nothing I would spend the time watching to learn their patterns. I have books and the Internet for that. I think it’s great that the natural beauty of the sites can be addressed, still after such time. Many of the sites I would love to see as they were built, to see the original paint and all the features that time has deprived us of. Perhaps, in some cases, time has enhanced the appearance of the sites. Ruins have an ancient, mystical appearance. Modern large scale buildings have a sense of functionality, and rarely many artistic features. I think it’s nice though, that more buildings are leaning towards an artistic view. Perhaps we are moving back to our origins?
In regardance to the aspects we did not approach, I can think of a few however the large, largely conspiracy theory based concepts, that I felt were not even glanced upon, was the (often farfetched but still interesting) idea of aliens. Almost every one of the sites we examined has ancient astronaut or ancient alien theories attached to them. Construction of many of the large scale buildings are thought to be related to advanced technologies that could have come from the assistance of extraterrestrial beings. Along with this is the ideas of magic, and even ideas regarding ancient civilizations having much more advanced technologies than us but many of these have become lost (Atlantis anyone?). Cities that have become engulfed by the sea are found worldwide, and I thought should have been included in to underwater archaeology section.
The idea that aliens may of visited Earth, long before modern civilization was around, is often the fall back idea for those who cannot devise a method for the buildings or technologies that were before us. It has been proven that many buildings may have been built with the materials that were in the areas naturally, and projects were built with much more man power than what is considered reasonable now-a-days. It is thought that levitation may have been actually the simple use of levers and pullies. The lift a stone weighing several tones simply needed many strong ropes and a huge line of people all pulling at the rope. This does not allow the explanation of some stones that have been found, weighing amounts overcoming thousands of tones (well maybe only hundreds, but the numbers are quite large).
Another problem to address, that is frequently given the answer of ‘aliens!’ is of some icons that have been found worldwide despite a lack of communication between areas. There have been some figurines with remarkable similarities worldwide that cannot be explained. I don’t think I’ll go into detail about this, but it’s something fun to look into.
As for underwater cities, they did not start there, but the Earth has a bad habit of shifting and pulling stuff underwater. Occasionally it even spits out land where it previously was covered in a saline solution. The idea of Atlantis existing as an advanced civilization is up for debate; however the search for it has lead to the finding of several underwater cities. Some very famous underwater cities that have been located exist in the Eastern hemisphere; such as an ancient, lost, Buddhist city off the coast of India. Between China and Japan, as well as off the coast of Eastern Japan, there have been many cities located. These have suggested that the land that is now under the water there may have been previously elevated. Other structures in the Indian Ocean suggest that India may have previously been attached to Australia by a sunken land bridge. The same goes for China and Japan. Along with continental drift, land lowering and rising is a common occurrence over long amounts of time.
These cities have given us insight to civilizations that we have never considered, and filled into the missing gaps of information that the sea has eaten up. Just because I enjoy the alien theories I think I will point out a handful of the underwater cities that have been discovered have had relation to alien theories.
I’ve enjoyed this chapter, for what we have looked over and the knowledge I’ve already had retaining around what we have not looked at. Me and Will have had a great time trading alien theories through the chapter, often getting odd looks from those who are around us. I’m looking forward to the future chapters, which will likely go into more detail to several of these topics we have introduced. I’m sure I will have lots to say in regardence to much of what we will be doing.
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