ParaWorld

Issue 3 Published Dec. 13, 2011

New photo of Nessie! College offers a course on ghost hunting! Are we close to finding alien life?

The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown. H. P. LOVECRAFT

Is the world really going to end in 2012?

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Contents
1. Cryptozoology
. The 8 legged monster behind Chupacabra Mystery . Why do so many cultures have a version of bigfoot? . New loch ness monster photo surfaces

7. Ghosts/hauntings
. Paranormal power influencing kids to self-immolate? . Man builds device to speak to dead daughter . Is anyone there?

13. Extraterestrial
. Scientists could find alien life within 40 years . Strange tale: Ojibwa tale of a Skyman visitor may have been alien

17. Ancient Mysteries

. Ancient text confirms Mayan calendar endate . Stonehenge a monument to unity, new theory claims

Cryptozoology

The 8-legged Monster Behind Chupacabra Mystery

To me, the most interesting aspect of this whole system is the fact we are talking about a human parasite that has moved from us onto other animals, as opposed to all the things that have gone in the other direction, OConnor told LiveScience. Reports of chupacabras began in Puerto Rico in 1995, where the creature was said to stand on two legs and have spines on its back. Sightings spread, with reports of the creature being spotted elsewhere, particularly Mexico, where it was described as a four-legged animal, but still hairless and ugly. People began taking pictures, which, according to OConnor, revealed the truth.
A Coyote with severe sarcopti mange. Courtsey Phylis B. Canion

The photos clearly show coyotes or dogs with very severe sarcoptic mange, he said. The mites burrow into the animals skin causing them to lose their hair and provoking an immune response that causes their skin to become thickened and ugly. Their faces swell, and their canine teeth become more prominent, resembling fangs. Weakened by the infection, they may be more prone to attack livestock, rather than their usual prey, such as rabbits, he said. There is evidence for other sources as well. A strange, hairless carcass found on a golf course in Texas was dubbed a chupacabra. But a wildlife biologist examination revealed a close resemblance to a raccoon. The creature also apparently suffered from several diseases that can cause hair loss.
Published October 29,2010 Live Science

By Wynne Parry Sightings abound of a four-legged, hairless, fanged monster that kills and sucks the blood, and sometimes milk, from livestock in the United States and Latin America. Its name chupacabra literally means goat sucker. There is, in fact, a real monster behind the sightings, but it has eight legs, measures at most 0.02 inches (0.5 millimeters) long and burrows into skin, rather than sucking blood. Its name: Sarcoptes scabiei, the mite that causes scabies in humans ... and coyotes. The chupacabras themselves are actually coyotes with severe infections by these mites, called sarcoptic mange, according to Barry OConnor, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Michigan. Infections in humans are usually mild, causing patches of itchy skin. Over our long evolutionary history with the mite, we have gained the ability to fight off the infections. Domesticated dogs and other animals have less experience with the mite than we do, and for them sarcoptic mange infections can be severe. But the prospects are much worse for their wild relatives who have no experience with the disease, and it often kills them, he said.

Why do so many cultures have a version of Bigfoot?

By Natalie Walchover More than a quarter of Americans believe in Bigfoot, a recent poll found. They claim this legendary bipedal ape, a "long lost relative" of humans, evades detection in remote woodland areas. Although it may seem strange to think a 7-foot-tall land mammal could go unnoticed for so long, the notion is actually widespread. Along with that sizable minority of Americans, an Angus Reid Public Opinion poll found that 21 percent of Canadians also believe in an undiscovered hairy humanoid, which they prefer to call Sasquatch. In Russia, belief in a similar creature, called the Yeti, is so common that local branches of the Russian government have funded Yeti expeditions, and the country has even considered founding an entire institute devoted to the study of Yetis. The Yeti is also said to roam the Himalayas, sometimes going by the name of Meh-Teh, or the "Abominable Snowman." Not to be outdone, Australia has the Yowie, and South America, a mythical beast called Mapinguari. Malaysians, meanwhile, fear the orang minyak, or "oily man" monster. Why do so many disparate cultures have their own version of a "wild man?" Although no one knows for certain how the various legends got started, they appear to have arisen independently in each culture rather than being spread by travelers or through trade, said Benjamin Radford, deputy editor of Skeptical Inquirer magazine and author of three books on myths and mysteries, including "Scientific Paranormal Investigation: How to Solve Unexplained Mysteries" (Rhombus, 2010). [ The Best Bigfoot Hunting Expeditions] Most of the myths trace back much further than the 1950s, when the explorer Eric Shipton photographed what he took to be "Abominable Snowman" footprints on Mount Everest. "While the famous Abominable Snowman snow track photographs ... led to worldwide interest in the creature, they didn't create the beast but instead

Be it Sasquatch, Yeti or Abominable Snowman, wild men might be part of human psyches for the first time offered tantalizing, tangible evidence of a regional legend," Radford told Life's Little Mysteries. But the existence of so many separate "wild man" myths don't necessarily count as mounting evidence that we really do have feral cousins out there in the woods. Instead, the myths may all stem from the same aspect of the human psyche: the desire for and fascination with an "other." Radford said, "The idea of a wild, man-like 'other' creature co-existing with us but just beyond our understanding is heavily rooted in mythology."

Does this Nessie photo show the real Loch Ness Monster?
Steve Feltham, who has been searching for Nessie for 21 years from Dores, further up the loch, said: It is the best photograph I think I have ever seen. I think the images are fantastic thats the animal I have been looking for all this time. I would say it doesnt prove what Nessie is, but it does prove what Nessie isnt a sturgeon, which is a fish that has been put forward as one of the main explanations as to what Nessie could be, but this hasnt got a serrated spine like the sturgeon. However, Adrian Shine, a naturalist and leader of the Loch Ness Project, had a different interpretation. He said: It looks like the object is stationary in the water, and a matter of metres from the photographer, who is at a higher elevation. Looking at the texture of the water, the object is about 2ft long, but it could be anything.
A mysterious dark hump in the water. Picture: Cascade News

I have friends in the USA who have friends in the military. They had my photo analysed and they have no doubt that I photographed an animate object in the water. Im convinced I was seeing Nessie, as I believe in these creatures. Gary Campbell, president of the Official Loch Ness Monster Fan Club, said the photo was as good as the evidence gets. Its been taken by a local man who knows all the things that can appear in the loch that others

mistakenly think is Nessie, he said. From this, it is an unknown animal in Loch Ness, which means it must be Nessie. Tourist businesses were delighted. David Bremner, a director of the Loch Ness Centre and Exhibition at Drumnadrochit, said: Any publicity for Nessie sightings is great at this time of year.
Published August 4, 2012 Scotsman.com

By Alastair Dalton A PHOTOGRAPH of a dark grey shape rising out of the water has been hailed as the clearest picture yet of the elusive Loch Ness Monster. Loch Ness cruise boat operator and veteran Nessie hunter George Edwards yesterday published his photograph, which drew praise from a fellow monster expert, who described it as the best evidence that Nessie exists. However, a rival monster hunter raised doubts about the shape in Mr Edwardss photograph being Nessie, accusing him of faking a previous picture of the monster 26 years ago. Mr Edwards, who runs Drumnadrochit-based Loch Ness Cruises, said he had taken the new photograph from his boat near Urquhart Castle at 9am on 2 November last year. He explained it had not been published before, because he had sent it for analysis to check the object was not inanimate.

Dick Raynor, who runs the Loch Ness Investigation website and used to work with Mr Edwards, has claimed a photograph Mr Edwards took of the monster in 1986 was a fake. Mr Edwards said Mr Shines observations about his latest photograph were his opinion, and he dismissed Mr Raynors claims as just lies. He said: I dont care. People can believe it or not. I know what I saw. Mr Edwards, 60, whose quest began in 1986, added: It was slowly moving up the loch towards Urquhart Castle and it was a dark grey colour. It was quite a fair way from the boat, probably about half a mile away. He said he had watched the object for between five and ten minutes before it slowly sank below the surface. He failed to trace it using the boats sonar, despite searching for at least half an hour. He said: I did not want to mention my sighting until I was sure I had not photographed a log or something inanimate in the water.

Urquart Castle overlooking Loch Ness, a freshwater loch in Scottish Highlands, infamous for its alleged beast

Ghosts

Paranormal power influencing kids to self-immolate?

Indore: A bizarre ghost story is in circulation in a part of old Indore after the parents of a 14-yearold girl, who was found with cent percent burn on Wednesday afternoon , told the police that two mysterious girls had asked their daughter to pour kerosene on self. Their neighoburs are also attesting to the ghost story and claiming that around 20 girls died under similarly mysterious circumstances in the last few years. Goma Ki Phel and Kazi Ki Chawl, the two downtown localities in Indore, are agog with feverish rumours of paranormal power behind the death of Henna, who succumbed to burns in MY hospital. Hennas father Abdul Razzaq and brother Feroz were shocked when the dying girl told them that two girls had come to her and asked her to douse with kerosene and accompany them. However, no one saw the mysterious girls entering in or going out of the house before or after the incident. They were also shocked as Henna was absolutely normal and had meal with family before she was found 100% burnt. Investigating officer sub-inspector Qureshi told us the family members and neighbors stated that Henna had told them she was under influence of some paranormal power who asked her to commit suicide and she followed the order. The police officer claimed similar incidents occurred in the past too where minor girls committed suicide by immolating inside their houses and they cited the same reason behind the extreme steps. Vimla Bai, who had taken Henna to hospital, claimed that she too had lost her son Dharmendra in similar grotesque circumstances. He immolated self inside the small house, the woman said. She also claimed before her death Henna told her about two girls who asked her to accompany them. Two years ago, a minor girl Aatesha, daughter of Atiq, was found with cent percent burns in the house. Atiq had then claimed that barring his daughter all the other items in the house were found intact. Besides, the reason behind her suicide is unclear till date. In her dying declaration Aatesha had also told about some paranormal powers influencing her. Rafiq Khan, a resident of Kazi Ki Chawl claimed that family members do not get wind about immolation of girls until they burn completely even in a adjacent room. A family after losing a school going daughter had shifted from the locality before Aateshas death.
Published by daily.bhaskar.com

Is anyone there?
By Taryn Plumb On a bone-cold night, with Venus hanging in the sky and the moon not having yet made its appearance, a building high on a hill in Groveland sits completely dark. Dark, but not empty.

Ghost hunting is now among class offerings at Haverhill college In particular, hes curious about two women - one big, one little - who have reportedly been seen walking right through a wall or hovering in the kitchen. in dorm rooms on the property. Over the years, they added a church and function hall. Finally, in 1996, the town of Groveland bought the 47.5-acre property. There have been more than a few unexplained encounters since, which is what drew Kolek and his team on a harshly cold Saturday night in mid-January. They show up in a convoy of cars and SUVs a little after 7 p.m., the 9,000-square-foot building a dark silhouette against the snow and crooked trees. Moving with a rhythm of routine, the crew of a half-dozen hauls in black cases full of equipment, runs long strings of electrical cords along linoleum and hardwood, positions cameras (four in all) in various rooms, and sets up a control station with several monitors, all the while communicating back and forth on walkie-talkies. One team starts going room to room, scanning with a hand-held temperature gauge and an electromagnetic fields meter. Elsewhere, others record different impressions. Self-described medium Lesley Marden of Laconia, N.H., and Karin Ruck of Boxford (she claims to have sensitivities, but doesnt call herself as a medium), feel out the different rooms.There are a lot of different energies here, Marden says as she taps her impressions on an iPad, a walkietalkie clipped into the back pocket of her jeans. For instance, in the great room, Marden feels the 1940s; in the kitchen, they both pick up something having to do with head trauma; in other areas, they touch the walls and get a sense of sickness. And in the basement, they describe a male energy and a well-defined path from the entry door to the kitchen. In a room used by the local Veterans of Foreign Wars, Marden stops, looking around, one hand on a hip. Nervous energy, Ruck whispers. I feel like I have to pace, Marden says, beginning to do so, then blurting out, male. As a whole, this place has a nice energy; its kind of inviting, she says a few minutes later. Nearby, in the control room, Kolek makes sure everything is in place, readying meters, testing walkie-talkies, checking the four-way split screen monitor. In the decade-plus hes done investigations of government buildings, private residences, lighthouses - he says hes seen and heard a lot of things he cant explain, from phantom dogs to books flying off shelves. He expects to share some of these experiences in his upcoming class, and hell also teach participants how to use equipment and perform different methods. Theyll investigate Veasey, then write a paper on their own conclusions. Its always different, he said of ghost hunting, and you can never, ever plan on anything. Soon, all is prepped, and the lights go off, one by one. Its 9:05 p.m. Holding cameras, digital recorders, and electromagnetic readers, the team starts in the living room off the entry porch. Lights from their equipment shine like tiny red eyes; the floorboards

Navigating its dusky passages, cavernous halls, and rooms cluttered with shadowy hulks of furniture, a team of investigators has come to seek out the unknown. Outfitted with cameras, voice recorders, and various types of meters, as well as metaphysical tools, they hope to connect with the dead that are believed to haunt this 100-year-old building that serves as the centerpiece of Veasey Memorial Park. You have no idea what to expect, says Ron Kolek, executive director of the New England Ghost Project, before the crew heads out in pursuit of the paranormal. You just go in being open, and whatever happens, you react to it. Ghost hunting - regardless of whether youre a believer, a skeptic, or indifferent - has its own unique methodology, requiring both sophisticated technology and otherworldly tools, along with analysis, deduction, calculations, and the ability to discern when something is merely a fluke, rather than a brush with the spirit world. Its a practice Kolek, of Dracut, has been honing for years, and now hes sharing his tactics in Paranormal CSI - Ghost Hunting 101. Offered for the first time through Northern Essex Community Colleges noncredit personal enrichment program, the six-week course begins Thursday at Veasey. Koleks recent investigation of its grounds was meant to acquaint himself with the former estates unseen inhabitants.

Ghost hunting - regardless of whether youre a believer, a skeptic, or indifferent - has its own unique methodology, requiring both sophisticated technology and otherworldly tools, along with analysis, deduction, calculations, and the ability to discern when something is merely a fluke, rather than a brush with the spirit world.
Then there have been less tangible specters. When the parks events manager, Dorna Caskie, stayed over one night, she and her two kids were startled awake at 3 a.m. by something absolutely electric and very profound, she says. I felt like I was in a room full of very excited and very happy children. The rich amount of activity seems to correspond with the rich amount of history: Built between 1909 and 1910, the building was at first a summer home for wealthy mill owner Arthur D. Veasey. His three-building operation, lost with time, was the once thriving Groveland Mills. Workers there produced fabric and wool, some for Henry Fords car seats, according to Caskie. But the mills were dismantled around 1930, and the property changed hands a few times before it was bought by the Little Missionary Sisters of Charity in the late 1950s. The nuns cared for women with special needs, many of them former patients at Danvers State Hospital, setting them up

creak as they walk around like moving shadows; their voices are disembodied in the dark. Do you feel anything? Kolek asks. As Im sitting here, I feel dizzy, Marden replies. Kolek gets on his walkie-talkie and reports this bit of info to the control room; they copy back. Definitely people were ill, Ruck agrees. Kolek and Marden then note an energy in one of the corners; Marden says she senses a man with dark hair and a mustache, then announces flash! and the room lights up for an instant as she snaps a photo. Investigator Jim Stonier begins to take voice recordings. Anyone in here who would like to communicate? he asks. We just want to make contact with you; we mean you no harm. We come with the utmost respect. Pause. What is your name? Pause. Kolek, this time: Are you a male? A few minutes later, they play it back; the spaces between questions are filled in by a deep rhythmic sound, like grinding teeth or humming machinery. They move on In the adjacent room, off the hall, with a ticking clock and rocking chairs, Ruck notes a headache on the left side of her head, and Marden reports a female energy. They continue like this for hours, pausing in each room from anywhere for a minute or two to several, taking pictures, recording video and sound, then moving along. By 12:30 a.m., they pack up. As they go, the house is dark again, holding its secrets.

Man builds device to talk to dead daughter

By Lee Taylor Gary Galkas devices made for paranormal research He records a spirits voice on TV show Researcher thinks devices could be suspect A father has created a ghost hunting device to communicate with his dead daughter. Gary Galka, from Connecticut in the US, appeared on the TV show Ghost Adventures to demonstrate how the device can record the voice of a spirit. Mr Galka lost his daughter, Melissa, eight years ago in a car crash but said he constantly feels her presence, FoxNews.com reports. He said it was this connection that made him design over 30 different products for paranormal research, and has named them after his daughter. Mr Galka demonstrated one of his devices on the show by playing a recorded voice believed to be a spirit saying: Hi Daddy, I love you. No one was making products for these people, Mr Galka said. His devices are sold through the Professional Measurement website and range from $79 to about $350. The device used to capture the voice on Ghost Adventures is the Mel-8704- SB7-EMF meter, which is said to detect a range of electromagnetic and temperature changes. It also has an AM/FM scanner, includes glow-in-the- dark buttons, and includes an exclusive P-SB7 Integrated Sprit Box. However, paranormal researcher Joe Nickell at the Center for Inquiry said such electromagnetic frequency readings are suspect. Theyre surprised that theyre getting results in an old house, when in fact there are all sorts of non-ghost sources such as faulty wiring, nearby microwave towers, sunspot activity and so on, Mr Nickell told radio company NPR. He also said the electronic equipment being carried around by the TV crew has electromagnetic fields.
Published April7, 2012 haroldsun.com

Extraterrestrial

Scientists could find alien life within 40 years

The question of whether alien life exists could be answered within 40 years, according to the Queens astronomer. Martin Rees, former president of the Royal Society, said evidence of whether beings exist not only beyond earth but beyond our solar system, could be found in that time, a newspaper reported. Lord Rees said he believed that astro-physicists could be able to view images of distant planets outside the solar system as soon as 2025. This could potentially lead to the discovery of some form of life on them. When asked what changes could be expected in science in the next 40 years, he said understanding more about the origin of life, the place where it exists, and whether aliens exist, is going to be crucial, the Daily Mail reported. The astronomer was speaking at the launch of Professor Stephen Hawkings new series Grand Design, due to begin next Thursday on the Discovery Channel. Lord Rees, who has been Astronomer Royal - a senior position within the Royal Household offering advice to the Queen on astronomical matters - since 1995, said: Within 10 or 20 years we will be able to image other planets like the earth, orbiting other stars. That will be a really exciting subject to see if there is evidence for [extra-terrestrial] life or not. However it was suggested earlier this year that rather more earthbound concerns may hold such research back. It emerged in June that astronomers scanning the universe for signs of extra-terrestrial activity were facing a financial crisis that threatened to stall the 52-year search for intelligent life beyond Earth. The respected SETI Institute in California will be forced to curtail radio telescope operations, which search space for signals from other worlds, unless it can plug a multi-million dollar funding gap.
Published Septermber 7, 2012 The Telograph

Lord Martin Rees during his opening conference address, April 7, 2011.

Strange tale: Ojibwa tale of a Skyman visitor may have been alien
By Andrew Hind The modern Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) craze began in the late 1940s, when a wave of people reported seeing strange objects in the skies above America. Indeed, it was in 1947 the term flying saucer entered the popular consciousness after pilot Kenneth Arnold witnessed several brightly-lit saucer-like objects weaving in and out of distant mountain peaks while he was flying in Washington State. This wasnt the first wave of UFO sightings, however. An earlier wave occurred in Britain in 1909, when hundreds of people described flying objects shaped like dirigibles and emitting beams of light carrying out extremely advanced manoeuvres overhead. A decade earlier, throughout 1896 and 97, there was a rash on similar sightings in the United States. But these werent the first accounts of alien spacecraft on record. Legends of god-like beings coming from the heavens exist in many cultures. Throughout North America, there are numerous caves that date back thousands of years. These paintings figures and objects much like the modern imagery of aliens and flying saucers.
Arrow Maker an Ojibwa brave 1903 Native American

5000 BC, Ancient Aliens, CavePaintings. Photo by subharanjangupta

The natives approached the stranger and asked who he was and how he came to be in the field. I am not one of you. I do not belong to this land. I dropped down from above, the stranger explained. Showing unusual hospitality, the Ojibwa invited him back to their village. The stranger agreed, but on one condition: Go home and clean the place where I will stay, and when you come back for me, I will go with you for a few days. Agreeing, the Ojibwa men went back to their community, told their fellow villagers about their experience, and cleaned the hut where they would house the Skyman. The stranger did in fact accompany them to their village, but he was clearly restless. He watched the skies often and told people that in two days something would come and get him to take him back up to the sky. One afternoon, Skyman looked up and said, It is coming. The villagers craned their necks and turned their eyes above and saw something that looked like a bright shining star streak down from the heavens and hover near the ground. This was the most beautiful thing any of them had ever seen. Skyman entered the shining star and

disappeared from view. The shining star then shot back into the sky and faded away. This tale seems to be a description of an encounter with an ancient astronaut, as seen in many cultures and popularized by Swiss theorist Erich von Daniken of Chariots of the Gods fame. Many modern UFO theorists believe Skyman was a marooned extraterrestrial astronaut whose own craft was somehow damaged or destroyed. They point to the fact Skyman clearly entered the glowing star as proof the object was a spacecraft of some sort. Was he clean and shining bright because he wore a silvery pressure suit? Did he request his hosts clean his quarters out of fear of contracting human viruses against which he had no immunity? Many researchers believe Skyman was no mythological tale, but rather an actual encounter of the first kind between an ancient alien and an entire Ojibwa community. And it was said to have occurred somewhere nearby. Maybe we too should be craning our necks and scanning the skies.

One intriguing legend comes from the First Nations people of central Ontario. Their Skyman tale may in fact be one of the earliest alien encounters on record. According to the story recorded in 1917 by ethnologist Colonel G.E. Laidlaw, 500 years ago there was a large Ojibwa village about 550 native people living somewhere in our region. One day, a pair of them stumbled upon a stranger sitting on the grass in a field. This figure, a male, was notably clean and shining bright.

Ancient Mysteries

Ancient text confirms Mayan calendar end date

By Stephanie Pappas A newly discovered Mayan text reveals the end date for the Mayan calendar, becoming only the second known document to do so. But unlike some modern people, ancient Maya did not expect the world to end on that date, researchers said. This text talks about ancient political history rather than prophecy, Marcello Canuto, the director of Tulane University Middle America Research Institute, said in a statement. This new evidence suggests that the 13 baktun date was an important calendrical event that would have been celebrated by the ancient Maya; however, they make no apocalyptic prophecies whatsoever regarding the date. The Mayan Long Count calendar is divided into baktuns, or 144,000-day cycles that begin at the Maya creation date. The winter solstice of 2012 (Dec. 21) is the last day of the 13th baktun, marking what the Maya people would have seen as a full cycle of creation. New Age believers and doomsday types have attributed great meaning to the Dec. 21, 2012 date, with some predicting an apocalypse and others some sort of profound global spiritual event. But only one archaeological reference to the 2012 date had ever been found, as an inscription on a monument dating back to around A.D. 669 in Tortuguero, Mexico. [End of the World? Top Doomsday Fears] Now, researchers exploring the Mayan ruins of La Corona in Guatemala have unearthed a second reference. On a stairway block carved with hieroglyphs, archaeologists found a commemoration of a visit by Yuknoom Yichaak Kahk of Calakmul, the most powerful Mayan ruler in his day. The king, also known as Jaguar Paw, suffered a terrible defeat in battle by the Kingdom of Tikal in 695. Historians have long assumed that Jaguar Paw died or was captured in this battle. But the carvings proved them wrong. In fact, the king visited La Corona in A.D. 696, probably trying to shore up loyalty among his subjects in the wake of his defeat four years earlier. As part of this publicity tour, the king was calling himself the 13 katun lord, the carvings reveal. Katuns are another unit of the Maya calendar, corresponding to 7,200 days or nearly 20 years. Jaguar Paw had presided over the ending of the 13th of these katuns in A.D. 692. Thats where the 2012 calendar end date comes in. In an effort to tie himself and his reign to the future, the king linked his reign with another 13th cycle the 13th baktun of Dec. 21, 2012. What this text shows us is that in times of crisis, the ancient Maya used their calendar to promote continuity and stability rather than predict apocalypse, Canuto said. La Corona was the site of much looting and has only been explored by modern archaeologists for about 15 years. Canuto and his dig co-director Tomas Barrientos Q. of the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala announced the discovery of the new calendar text Thursday (June 28) at the National Palace in Guatemala. The researchers first uncovered the carved stone steps in 2010 near a building heavily damaged by looters. The robbers had missed this set of 12 steps, however, providing a rare example of stones still in their original places. The researchers found another 10 stones from the staircase that had been moved but then discarded by looters. In total, these 22 stones boast 264 hieroglyphs tracing the political history of La Corona, making them the longest known ancient Maya text in Guatemala.
Published June 28, 2012 livescience.com

Stonehenge, a monument to unity

By Stephanie Pappas The mysterious structure of Stonehenge may have been built as a symbol of peace and unity, according to a new theory by British researchers. During the monuments construction around 3000 B.C. to 2500 B.C., Britains Neolithic people were becoming increasingly unified, said study leader Mike Parker Pearson of the University of Sheffield. There was a growing islandwide culture -- the same styles of houses, pottery and other material forms were used from Orkney to the south coast, Parker Pearson said in a statement, referring to the Orkney Islands of northern Scotland. This was very different to the regionalism of previous centuries. By definition, Stonehenge would have required cooperation, Parker Pearson added. Stonehenge itself was a massive undertaking, requiring the labor of thousands to move stones from as far away as west Wales, shaping them and erecting them. Just the work itself, requiring everything literally to pull together, would have been an actof unification, he said. [Photos: A Walk Through Stonehenge] The new theory, detailed in a new book by Parker Pearson, Stonehenge: Exploring the Greatest Stone Age Mystery (Simon & Schuster, 2012), is one of many hypotheses about the mysterious monument. Theories range from completely farfetched (space aliens or the wizard Merlin built it!) to far more evidence-based (the monument may have been an astronomical calendar, a burial site, or both).

Stonehenge appears to have been the last gasp of this Stone Age culture, which was isolated from Europe and from the new technologies of metal tools and the wheel, Parker Pearson said. Stonehenges site may have been chosen because it was already significant to Stone-Age Britons, the researchers suggest. The natural land undulations at the site seem to form a line between the place where the sun rises on the summer solstice and where it sets in midwinter, they found. Neolithic people may have seen this as more than a coincidence, Parker Pearson said. This might explain why there are eight monuments in the Stonehenge area with solstitial alignments, a number unmatched anywhere else, he said. Perhaps they saw this place as the center of the world.

suggest that it may have been a place for sun worship, or an ancient calendar. A nearby ancient settlement, Durrington Walls, shows evidence of more pork consumption during the midwinter, suggesting that perhaps ancient people made pilgrimages to Stonehenge for the winter solstice, Parker Pearson and his colleagues have found. Stonehenge may have also been a burial ground, or a place of healing. Tombs and burials surround the site, and some skeletons found nearby hail from distant lands. For example, archaeologists reported in 2010 that theyd found the skeleton of a teenage boy wearing an amber necklace near Stonehenge. The boy died around 1550 B.C. An analysis of his teeth suggest he came from the Mediterranean. Its possible that ill or wounded people traveled to Stonehenge in earch of healing, some archaeologists believe. Other researchers have focused on the sounds of Stonehenge. The place seems to have lecture-hall acoustics, according to research released in May. One archaeologist even suggests that the setup of the stones was inspired by an acoustical effect in which two sounds from different sources seem to cancel each other out.
Published June 22, 2012 LiveScience.com

The Culture of Stonehenge

Along with fellow researchers on the Stonehenge riverside Project, Parker Pearson worked to put Stonehenge in context, studying not just the monument but also the culture that created it. What they found was evidence of a civilization transitioning from regionalism to a more integrated culture. Nevertheless, Britains Stone Age people were isolated from the rest of Europe and didnt interact with anyone across the English Channel, Parker Pearson said.

Theories and mystery

These days, Stonehenge is nothing if not the center of speculation and mystery. The monument has inspired its fair share of myths, including that the wizard Merlin transported the stones from Ireland and that UFOs use the circle as a landing site. Archaeologists have built some theories on firmer ground. Stonehenges astronomical alignments