Tags: conspiracy | history | lost worlds

What do a 15th century map showing the coastline of frozen Antarctica, the Mayan calendar, Noah's flood and the Pyramids of Egypt have in common?

Perhaps evidence of a forgotten civilization, well over 15,000 years old and remembered only in the myths, legends and religions of the past? Such is the thesis of Fingerprints of the Gods, by Graham Hancock (Crown, 1996).

Hancock begins with a study of the 15th century Piri Reis map, which accurately portrayed the original coastline of Antarctica, four centuries before it was first "discovered" by modern explorers, despite its being buried for eons under two miles of ice. He then turns to a variety of other cartographic inheritances from the medieval era, which likewise display an inexplicable knowledge of the lost landscape beneath the icy southern continent. Even the US military, which confirmed the accuracy of the Reis map, were at a loss to explain how it was possible.

Moving on to the civilizations of South America, Hancock informs us of many exceptional similarities (if not identities) between the cyclopean architectural styles of the Incas and the Egyptians as well as the uncannily (and indeed unnecessarily) accurate calendar of the Mayans.

He then turns to the freakish similarity of myths between the Inca, Aztec and Egyptian civilizations (among others), each of which had myths of a white skinned, bearded God who came from far away (often from the sea), taught humanity how to grow crops and live in peace. The Egyptians named him Set, the Aztecs Quetzalcoatl; both write of his departure, in one way or another, on a boat made of serpents.

Continuing, he notes how nearly every ancient civilization, as well as many isolated contemporary stone age cultures had a myth of a great flood, each having their own Noah figure. Even more unnerving, the civilizations of the Himalayas have a similar myth of years of constant snow, with only a handful of survivors who were told by their Gods to seek shelter and gather up pairs of all the animals of the world.

Turning to the Pyramids, Hancock reveals that the terrestrial alignment of the Pyramids accurately reflects the layout of the constellation of Orion, circa 15,000 years ago; this is nearly 12,000 years before the accepted dating of these Wonders. The same is true of the layout of the pyramids of the Aztec civilization. Furthermore,

the Sphinx displays evidence of weathering, not only by wind, but by water, characteristic of an environment that only existed in Egypt almost 10,000 years before the archaeologically accepted dawn of the Egyptian civilization. Coincidence? A reflection of the commonality of human nature?

Perhaps, or could it be that what Hancock reveals are the surviving relics of a great, global, seafaring civilization unknown to modern scholars, who left their traces, indeed their fingerprints in the eternal ruins, myths and legends of our lost gods. What global catastrophe erased their existence? Read the book and learn for yourself.