A few weeks ago, I watched “The Fourth Kind,” which fortuitously features Milla Jovavich as the main character. Although supposedly based on “actual events” in small-town Alaska, my research turned up little by way of fact to support that assertion. What intrigued me about the movie, however, was the Sumerian aspect (I won’t say more for spoiler reasons). The movie suggested that the Sumerians either were visited by ancient astronauts or themselves were ancient astronauts. Because the Sumerian city-states in Mesopotamia constitute one of the earliest (if not the earliest) complex societies, many people believe that the Sumerians have some connection to aliens or their technology.
This what prompted me to buy and read Samuel Noah Kramer’s The Sumerians: Their History, Culture and Character. Suffice it to say that 125 years of Sumerian archaeology has not revealed any alien technology or evidence of alien contact, and the pre-Sumerian culture sequence is just what one would expect. Smaller agrarian villages that constitute a culture known to archaeologists as the Ubaidians preceded the rise of Sumerian city-states. In this post, I reviewed Sumerian religion — which was entirely anthropomorphic, highly organized, and in many ways foreshadowed future organized religions, including the monotheistic ones. It does not appear to be “alien” in any way.
I mention all this because last night, I watched two separate programs on the History Channel, each two hours in length, addressing the possibility that contact with ancient astronauts (this is the “fourth” kind of contact as the schema goes) contributed to the rise of complex societies across the world, and that this contact resulted in advanced technologies and megalithic structures. Proponents of this idea also assert that humans mistook these ancient astronauts for gods, and that many religions originated from this contact and are reflected in various creation myths.
I have to admit that all this makes for fascinating (and sometimes thought provoking) story telling. Although there are many holes in the ancient astronaut hypotheses, I do think that archaeologists as a whole need to do a better job explaining culture sequences, culture similarities, and admitting there are certain things we simply do not understand. Of the many examples proffered during the two programs last night, I was particularly intrigued by these items:
- The precisely scored granite drill found in the Great Pyramid at Giza — modern machinists and stone workers have not been able to create a similar drill without using diamond-carbide machine technology.
- The large, long cuts in granite blocks found in Egypt; these cuts are perfectly straight and of even depth, suggesting that the Egyptians were using large saws and diamond-based technology.
Neither of these items, however, requires belief in ancient astronauts. It simply means that archaeologists have yet to find the tools responsible for these items and should be looking for them.
Other intriguing pieces of ancient astronaut “evidence” include the Piri Reis map and the sarcophagus lid of Pakal the Great (the Mayan god-king of Palenque), which supposedly depicts him in an astronaut suit and space capsule. You be the judge:
The final items of interest include the descriptions of flying machines described in the ancient Sanskrit Vedic literature. These supposed “rockets” are called Vimanas. If such machines existed, surely they would have left archaeological traces. To date, no traces have been found. The same can be said of the old Columbian gold carvings which appear to depict modern jets; these may actually depict flying fish.
As I was watching these shows last night with a friend, I commented that if all this is true and that fourth kind contact with alien astronauts accounts for the origins of early modern religions, my dissertation and book will become considerably shorter. The genealogy becomes quite simple: (1) the evolution of a mind prone to supernaturalism; (2) a shamanic phase associated with hunting-gathering; and (3) the modern religions which arose from humans mistaking aliens for gods. I am sure my committee would be impressed.
While simple explanations have great appeal and are quite useful to science, simple explanations that invoke the extraordinary require a good deal of evidence. I find it curious that these ancient astronauts left behind so little of their technology and that archaeologists across the world have not discovered more evidence of their existence and presence.
Interesting stuff — I was a big fan of Erich Von Daniken but haven’t given the ancient austronaut theories much thought since I took my first archaeology course back in 1974.
Ancient Astronaut Theory » Blog Archive » Fourth Kind Encounters with Ancient Astronauts — The Origin of … // Apr 23, 2010 at 4:00 am
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Fourth Kind Encounters with Ancient Astronauts — The Origin of … » All Mysteries // Jun 28, 2010 at 9:00 pm
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If your wondering why archeology to date has not officially found more evidence in support of highly advanced intervention with mankind then you need to take into account several factors. Largely that those in power behind the scenes have a vested interest in suppressing this information because it means that they can remain in control and keep human beings uniformed and thus disempowered. The same as modern education was derived from napoleonic times and was designed to create followers not leaders. The upper echelon of society have an entirely different form of education that allows them to continue to be leaders. And if you think that we should search for the tools responsible for drilling holes and lazer cutting precision required to create the amazing structures that remain from bygone eras – let alone the fact that modern engineering with modern super advanced cranes cannot lift the stones in question with the construction of the Ancient pyramids in Egypt, Sumerian Zigggurats and the Ankgor Wat Temples in Cambodia, let alone factor into consideration the celestial alignments of these ancient sites. I think, that you are afraid to look with unbiased eyes because it would mean that you would have to re-evaluate your entire world view. The word religion comes from the latin Root word ‘Religare’ which means that which binds. And it is by following these dogmatic unenlightened ‘teachings’ our potential is limited and we are bound to the ceiling that is evinced in the totality of that dogma. If you are truly honest with yourself and look at the evidence – the fact that the Dogon Tribe in Africa has knowledge that is handed down in verbal stories that Sirius is a binary star system, If you look to the foundation stones which are underneath the temple of Jupiter in Baalbek in Lebanon- a more ancient structure that the Romans Built upon with smaller blocks of stone (although in itself the temple of Jupiter is a marvel). If you look to the Hathors inscribed on the stone carvings in Ancient Egypt. Even to the origins of acupunture being linked to star systems developed in ancient china. If you look to the sumerian creation stories of ENKI and ENLIL and if you open your eyes you will see that the evidence is there. God did not just go ‘click’ and create mankind just as much as Mankind did not entirely evolve from humanoid – primate hybrid. Im sorry but i think you need to re-evaluate because your arguments are definitely not convincing in the face of this evidence that proliferates the planet that points to one glaring fact – we are not alone in the universe and we have not been left alone in the past. In the past we have been guided and instructed and people have worshipped these beings because of their display of technology. A civilisation is markedly recognised by its architecture are you really telling me that crude tools were made to construct these monolithic monuments around the world that are thousands of years old? Ask yourself what level of advancement would be required to conceptualise, design and produce the technology required for these ancient marvels to be constructed??? Don’t make a God out of your intellect. Start with certainty and you will end with doubts. Start with doubts and you will end with certainty. Namaste.
I wonder how “those in power behind the scenes” (whoever these people might be) have prevented me from finding ANY evidence of advanced intervention at megalithic sites around the world, many of which I have visited. One thing I have found at these sites, however, is evidence of domestic and daily activity of ordinary people. It seems exceedingly odd that I can find traces of domestic living wherever I look but can’t find anything suggestive of alien astronauts. Although you use the word evidence, you haven’t cited any. And yes I am telling you that megalithic structures were constructed by humans using human tools.
This idea was thoroughly debunked over thirty years ago on Nova.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DsOjqHm-VY
Now , a generation later von Daniken is back, pimping his bullshit.
Yes it was but it’s hard to fault von Daniken for making himself a wealthy man while pimping BS.