Posted on 05/25/2008 8:29:53 PM PDT by blam
Star watch - Archaeologists discover a “cosmic clock”
Overcrowded in their lower reaches they might be, but the Canary Islands still possess some solitary mountain wilder-nesses, places little visited thanks to their rugged inaccessibility, and which have hardly changed since they were frequented by the pre-colonial aboriginal islanders.
And traces of their presence are still turning up, often in the form of petroglyphs, enigmatic scratched marks on rocks and boulders which held some special significance about which we can only guess today.
The latest find is, say archaeologists, one of the most exciting. They are calling it a cosmic clock, a description guaranteed to get the imagination of any sci-fi fans racing.
But there are no flashing lights and strange dials. The reality, a piece of stone 44 centimetres high and 34 wide, would certainly disappoint them, but the experts are hailing the Summer Stone as a major discovery.
Found on the rarified heights of Cabeceras de Izcagua in La Palma, at an altitude of 2,140metres, on a site inhabited by the Awaras (as the original inhabitants of that island were called), it is thought that the stone was instrumental in calculations to mark the equinoxes. The stone has symbols of the sun facing north-east scratched upon it. The system used depended upon the alignment of three piles of stones with a facing mountain, from behind which the spring and autumn equinoctial sun rose – and still does.
Strangely enough that mountain is still associated with sky-watching. The Roque de Los Muchachos is the site of a world famous observatory which houses one of the world’s largest telescopes. An odd case of back to the future. AW
Primitives - it’s not even digital.
Nah. Their yDNA is mainly R1b like mine and most other Europeans. They probably migrated to the Canary Islands from the Iberian refuge at the end of the Ice Age.
Guanches-Canary Islands-DNA Project
DNA migration patterns 12,000 years ago...at the end of the Ice Age
the Guanches.
Cool.
Bit of trivia — that observatory is where Brian May (guitarist/songwriter for Queen) did the research for his Ph.D. The cover photos for his 1998 album “Another World” were shot there. Rumor has it he wrote “Tie Your Mother Down” on an observing run in one of the domes.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.