The Mystery Of The Stones

Maren at one of the megalithic doorways that is almost at the top of Ollantaytambo, an archaeological site in the Sacred Valley of Peru.

I've been home from Peru for a bit over a month and have recovered from an amazingly successful research trip and a challenging physical experience.  The good news is that now I know I can handle the altitude and that my body is in shape to deal with the physical rigors of climbing archaeological sites at between 12,000 to 14,000' above sea level.  Thanks to all who have followed my journey and for tuning in once again. 

The most immediate piece of information I want to share with you all is that I'm going to be giving an informational talk about my project entitled:
"The Mystery of the Stones."  
Date:  March 24th   Time:  2-4pm  
Place:  Center For Spiritual Awakening 
522 Central Avenue  Pacific Grove, CA  93950

Most of you know that the research I'm conducting is focused on the relationship between the people who live on the active archaeological site of Saqsaywaman and the people who manage the site at the Ministry of Culture.  But, what many of you may not know is the BIGGER reason why I feel it is important to preserve sites like Saqsaywaman.  This talk is going to talk about why it's important that archaeological sites around the world are preserved for posterity.

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The Amazing Stones In Peru

Stone is often the only remnant we have left that gives us clues about our human history. This is why preservation of sites like Saqsaywaman is so important!  And, the stones and stone structures in Peru are some of the most well preserved and enigmatic we have on Earth.   When you explore Cusco, Saqsaywaman, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu, the range of styles of stone engineering is mind blowing.  The size, precision construction, and unbelievable placement of HUGE, megalithic monoliths, that are often made of stone not found on the site, is just astounding!  One cannot visit these sites without coming away wondering "how did they do it."   Current theories about "who" range from the known Peruvian cultures to fringe ideas about ancient aliens.  Scientists from archaeologists, anthropologist, geologists and now new tech scientists using computer technology like Lidar and ground penetrating radar flock to Peru to try and answer the "who" question.  We've come a long way from when the Spanish showed up in the 14th Century and took one look at Saqsaywaman and thought demons must have built it. 

One development that has drastically improved the ability to study our human history is the Internet.  With the ability to share academic research and post photo archives of various archaeological sites around the world, everyone (both academics and lay people) can read about and see human cultural artifacts and stone structures around the world with minimal effort.  The downside of this is that some people are all too quick to jump to conclusions.  It personally drives me crazy when the people who appear on the Ancient Alien shows attribute anything they don't understand immediately conclude it must have been aliens! 

The benefit of the increased access to archaeological studies and photo archives is that people who are serious about trying to find out "who" built these sites now have a global perspective.

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I am a visual anthropologist.  The "visual" means that I study cultures with a camera and I look for patterns in the visual data.  And, with my access to worldwide sites via the Internet, I can expand my search to sites outside the one that I am currently working on.  When I first started working at Saqsaywaman, I certainly was impressed by the megalithic, polygonal walls, but I didn't realize that this type of stone architecture was not limited to Peru.  When I expanded my exploration of stone architecture to the global sphere, I found that there are many archaeological sites around the world that share building styles, stone engineering specifications, and the ever present question of "who" built these structures.  Despite the fact that many academic careers have staked their reputation on saying "who" built these structures, recent discoveries due to new technology are overturning long-held beliefs. 

The Younger Dryas cold interval as viewed from central Greenland. From: Quaternary Science Reviews Volume 19, Issues 1-5, 1 January 2000, Richard B. Alley

Long held beliefs are often vehemently defended in the face of new technology and scientific discoveries.  Galileo was persecuted for proposing the Earth was not the center of the Universe.  It took a long time for people to accept that the Earth is round. 

Recent science is now proving that the many cultural flood myths do have some basis in fact as there is evidence of a worldwide cataclysm around 12,800 years ago.  Ice core data shows that this cataclysm plunged our planet into a deep freeze called the Younger Dryas just as we were coming out of the last Ice Age.   Makes you wonder what else we currently believe will be overturned by the many new technologies that are peering into our past.

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Maren at the Qorikancha "Temple of the Sun" in Cusco, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

There's a reason UNESCO designates archaeological sites as important to preserve for humanity.  You can't study what doesn't exist.  Looting, weathering, destruction by war (as was done by ISIS recently at the ancient site of Palmyra in Syria), wear and tear by well-meaning tourists are just some of the ways we loose our human heritage.  We MUST preserve these sites if we are to understand our human history, and there's no where this is more important than in the Americas.  I've often told people that archaeological research in South America is akin to where explorers found themselves in Egypt 100 years ago.  There is still so much to be dug up and understood.  And, all you have to do it take a journey to the Sacred Valley and see sites like Ollantaytambo, Pisac and Machu Picchu to understand that work is still to be done to understand the "who" question.  And, then "when" question. 

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You Are Invited To The Talk - And If You'd Like To Continue The Conversation, We'll Be Having Dinner at Fandango Restaurant in Pacific Grove.

We will explore the various sites in Peru and their parallel sites around the world during my talk on March 24th.  Hope you can join me.  No need to RSVP to the talk, but if you'd like to join a few of us at the dinner (everyone will pay for themselves) at Fandango from 5-6pm, please call me at 831 238 5503 or email me at melwood44@gmail.com.

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