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Ishmael
In: Toronto
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It's all the work of the Basques, I say.
BTW -- This entire thread ought to be moved to Pre-History.
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| Ishmael wrote: | It's all the work of the Basques, I say.
BTW -- This entire thread ought to be moved to Pre-History. |
I agree but I didn't place it in History, I simply started off what I thought may be a new topic and assumed the site's administrator made that judgement.
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Mick Harper
Site Admin
In: London
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Who's to say it's pre-history?
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Ishmael
In: Toronto
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True.
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It could be Boreades going around knife-sharpening I suppose...
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Ishmael
In: Toronto
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Wish he'd explain that hypothesis.
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| Ishmael wrote: | | Wish he'd explain that hypothesis. |
I think Boreades may have come across the work of R. W. B. Morris who in 1979 listed 104 possible explanations for cup and ring marks and ranked them on a plausibility scale from 0-10.
This list is referenced about half way down this article
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~call0031/folklore.html
and may have originally been published in Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society. Morris allocates 'knife sharpening', no. 90 on the list, a big fat zero.
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Ishmael
In: Toronto
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On the subject of Atlantic Crossings, I came across this today...
The Sargasso Sea was first fully crossed by the expedition of Christopher Columbus in 1492, who was amazed by the masses of seaweed he encountered.[3][4] However, the sea may have been known to earlier mariners, as a poem by the late 4th century author, Rufus Festus Avienus, describes a portion of the Atlantic as being covered with seaweed, citing a now-lost account by the 5th-century BC Carthaginian Himilco the Navigator.
-- Sargasso Sea
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Interesting, Ishmael.
I have continued to wonder how the Forsythe stone ended up in Georgia.
I have also wondered for years about the mysterious negroid heads found in Mexico. Many years ago I read Ivan Van Sertima's book They Came Before Columbus which introduced the topic to me for the first time.
This site takes the theme further,
http://www.nairaland.com/1212037/africans-discovered-america-thousands-years
and now I am thinking that the Olmecs - or the culture they inherited - may well have crossed the Atlantic from West Africa.
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| Mick Harper wrote: | | There is a detailed explanation of these in The Megalithic Empire by Harper and Vered. |
Yes, pp. 18-19, the gist of it being that they are there to warn travellers that they have strayed too far from the ley line. Perhaps the number of concentric rings may indicate the number of megalithic yards deviated.
There are standard types too, the one with the incomplete outer ring, the one with the 'tail', the one with a more carefully sculpted 'avenue' into the middle. Again, perhaps each of these has a related significance.
Did the authors find many specific examples where there was a maze in the opposite direction?
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Hatty
Site Admin
In: Berkshire
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There aren't any mazes left to examine in this country. Do you know of any apart from decorative or 'fun' ones?
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| Hatty wrote: | | There aren't any mazes left to examine in this country. Do you know of any apart from decorative or 'fun' ones? |
No I'm afraid I don't, though when I'm retired I wouldn't mind looking for some! Did you base your assertion on seeing them opposite Cup and Rings somewhere else?
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Hatty
Site Admin
In: Berkshire
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The only cup and ring markings I've looked at are in Yorkshire, for the Rombald's Moor walk, a rather unimpressive collection apart from the 'Swastika Stone' which is fenced off. Megalithic sites often are.
The moor is mostly used for grouse rearing and shooting.... it may have had some mazes once upon a time if our suggestion that mazes were bird traps is correct.
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| ...which is fenced off. Megalithic sites often are. |
...to protect them, I hope.
An autumnal week or so ago, concerned our terrier may take an intimate interest in some unidentified toadstools in our lawn, I browsed the Internet hoping to spot them. I googled 'fairy rings'.
Much to my surprise and amusement, this came up:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fairy_ring_on_Iceland.jpg
(Wish I could load the image, it's rather beautiful.)
Now what's going on here? The Wiki page for the settlement of Iceland tells me historians place it at 874 AD.
So, were cup and ring markings made by the settlers well into the Ninth Century? Are they modern graffiti? Or do we have clear evidence of earlier, Megalithic inhabitants, and if so, when did they leave Iceland or die out? I wonder if there is anything interesting in the Sagas...
Iceland is not included in the map on the dust jacket of The Megalithic Empire.
These rings are on a well known trekking route east of Reykjavik and apparently not fenced off.
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I am beginning to have my doubts about the age of the mossy Cup and Ring marks shown on my previous post. The present day Icelanders seem very fond of erecting standing stones and dolmen like constructions,
https://theurbanprehistorian.wordpress.com/2015/07/
probably in memory of their Viking origins and with an eye on tourism. Self-conscious the island apparently lacks pre-history, they are reconstructing a mythology just like the British and others have also done in the past. So on this basis I would have to conclude the rings may be fake.
What do you think, Hatty?
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