Posted on 05/13/2006 4:26:36 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) - Archaeologists discovered a pre-colonial astrological observatory possibly 2,000 years old in the Amazon basin near French Guiana, said a report.
"Only a society with a complex culture could have built such a monument," archaeologist Mariana Petry Cabral, of the Amapa Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (IEPA), told O Globo newspaper.
The observatory was built of 127 blocks of granite each three meters (10 feet) high and regularly placed in circles in an open field, she said.
Cabral said the site resembles a temple which could have been used as an observatory, because the blocks are positioned to mark the winter solstice. In December, the path of the sun allows rays to pass through a hole in one of the blocks, possibly to calculate agricultural activity and religious rituals.
Its exact age has been difficult to determine, but based on ceramic fragments found nearby, archaeologists estimate it between 500 and 2,000 years old.
The discovery is in Calcoene, 390 kilometers (240 miles) from Macapa, the capital of Amapa state, near Brazil's border with French Guyana.
Archaeologists said the find holds mysteries similar to Stonehenge, in Salisbury, England, another monument of huge stones, whose purpose is also unclear.
Part of the group of 127 granite monoliths up to three-meters-high discovered 12 May, 2006 in the middle of the Amazonian florest, in the state of Amapa, northern Brazil. According to the archaeologists of the Scientific and Technological Research Institute of the state of Amapa (IEPA) this could possibly be the oldest astronomical observatory in Brazil.(AFP/SECOM/Gilam Nascimiento)
fyi
A woman prays to her ancestors during sunset in an area of the Amazon forest in central Brazil. Archaeologists discovered a pre-colonial astrological observatory possibly 2,000 years old in the Amazon basin near French Guiana, said a report.(AFP/File/Antonio Scorza)
Thanks!
Was it 2,000 years ago? Could be. Was it 500 years ago? Could be.
Its exact age has been difficult to determine...
But we'll hazard a guess based on some other junk we found laying around in the same general area.
In December, the path of the sun allows rays to pass through a hole in one of the blocks, possibly to calculate agricultural activity and religious rituals.
Or it's possible they just like looking through the hole on that particular day after imbibing coca beer and having coffee and cacao enemas. Who knows?
These kinds of statements are my favorites:
Only a society with a complex culture could have built such a monument
Oh really. You mean it's absolutely impossible for a couple of dozen drunk and stoned natives to have hauled these rocks into these positions just because they were....well...drunk and stoned? Why do they always insist this kind of stuff is indicative of a 'complex culture'? How do they know that?
Oh well. I'm sure it's a really cool thing to see. I just can't fathom how they can read all this other stuff into it.
L
Thanks, but alas...
'Brazilian Stonehenge' discovered
BBC | May 13, 2006 | Steve Kingston
Posted on 05/13/2006 3:19:52 AM EDT by Jedi Master Pikachu
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1631551/posts
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Someone has been there for a long time.
Ancient Hearths Test Carbon Dating (Humans In Brazil 56K+ Years Ago)
Obviously signs of an ancient and highly intelligent civilization.
the first one:
2 men discover what may be hemisphere's oldest seasonal calendar
Orange County Register via Duluth News Tribune | Tuesday, May 2, 2006 | Tom Berg
Posted on 05/02/2006 12:15:49 PM EDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1625347/posts
oops, my mistake, this is the first:
Professor shares Andean discovery, a 4,000-year-old temple
Columbia Missourian | April 25, 2006 | Ryan B. Schreiber
Posted on 04/26/2006 11:44:19 PM EDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1622258/posts
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