Filmmakers search for Montezuma's treasure in Kanab pond

KANAB, Kane County – For 100 years, locals have believed Montezuma’s treasure lies at the end of a tunnel below Three Lakes pond in Kanab, Utah. Now, filmmakers hope to discover just what is there.

Producer Mike Wiest along with landowner Lon Child and a crew of filmmakers are setting out to tell the story of Three Lakes, Montezuma and the treasure hunters whose attempts of recovering the gold have been foiled.

The pond that lies along U.S. 89 is the site of Montezuma’s lost treasure that could be worth more than $3 billion, according to local legend. Though some details vary, locals believe Aztecs dug the Three Lakes pond to cover the treasure’s cavernous hiding place in a water trap on the west side of the pond. Once dug, they could divert a river to the pond, fill it up and walk away from an ordinary looking pond with a valuable secret.

While it sounds far-fetched, the story has circulated throughout Southern Utah since 1914, when Freddy Crystal showed up with a map he claimed showed the treasure’s location. It wasn’t until the 1920s, when he found a series of sealed tunnels in nearby Johnson’s Canyon that people started believing him and joining his unsuccessful hunt for the gold.

In 1989, Brandt Child, a Kanab resident, bought the pond and surrounding area. He said he knew the clues in Johnson Canyon were decoys, and the real treasure lay in a water trap 36 feet below the pond’s waterline, indicated a symbol on the cliff above the cave. Multiple efforts to dive into the caves were ended after divers said they became disoriented and saw the ghosts of Aztec guardians, but they were able to detect metal at the end of the tunnel.

Child’s next move was to drain the pond. His plans were halted, however, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service put the amber snail on the endangered species list in 1992. The small creature is so rare, its only known habitat is Three Lakes pond, and each one killed can incur a $50,000 fine.

"I can't do anything to my own property that might disturb those snails," Child told Deseret News at the time. "It doesn't look like anyone will get the gold."

The pond is surrounded by mystery, which is what Jubal Productions hopes to uncover.

“No one’s gone there yet. We’re only talking 140 feet away from shore,” Wiest said. “It’s so close, yet no one’s gotten there and no one’s ever documented it.”

Wiest has been interested in the property since he was 12 years old and his father mentioned the pond was haunted. He didn’t learn more until a few years ago, when his friends told him about Three Lakes’ history.

“We think more importantly than finding if there’s in fact treasure there, it’s knowing why it’s there, who put it there, who it was being hidden from and who was it intended for,” Wiest said. “We’ve actually read several books on Montezuma and Cortez and the conquering of Central America and the wars that were fought there and the reasoning for the gold to be gathered and taken and hidden. It’s been fascinating.”

Now, the production team is raising funds to send remote operated vehicles, particularly submarines carrying lights and cameras, into the cave. The ROVs are well-situated to high water pressure and immune to human fears of the supernatural that have impaired scuba divers in the past, Wiest said.

“The property has such a rich legacy as far as the stories and hearsay goes, that I think anybody at this point that knows of it and is certified to put on the scuba gear and go down there, they’re already going to have that preconceived notion that people have seen something down there,” he said. “It makes it that much easier for them to interpret that in their mind or to see something. I think bringing in the robots eliminates that unnecessary variable.”

The ROVs would also be better able to avoid smashing any of the small snails.

They intend to use their footage in a documentary about Montezuma’s treasure, its hiding place and protectors. The crew believes there is something down there, and something is protecting it, whether it’s supernatural or explained away by science.

Wiest said he isn’t ready yet to discredit the supernatural as an explanation for the strange occurrences surrounding the cave. He said he wants to go into the filming with an open mind and is even ready to send in a scuba diving exorcist, if necessary.

“Nothing is too far fetched at this point only because, at this point, we can’t afford to discredit anything,” Wiest said.

If the submarines do find anything, Wiest said, they likely wouldn’t remove it from the cave. Lon Child, one of Brandt Child's 10 children the land was parceled out to, has expressed that it belongs down there.

“I’m most excited to actually get a camera and film something that’s never been filmed ever in the history of mankind, that’s never been seen and recorded., Wiest said. "I’m thrilled to get some footage, as poor as the footage may be. I’m just thrilled to get something. At the end of the day, we’re just storytellers. Hopefully this will be a good story.”

Source: KSL

The controversial Petralona skull and Greek government suppression of information.

Recently, we posted an article about the discovery of a skull that has the potential to challenge what we know about human evolution. We have now received an update directly from the head researcher, Dr Aris Poulianos, who has been working against all obstacles to get the information out about this controversial skull.

In 1959, Dr Poulianos worked under the Greek Government on the discovery of a cave in Petralona, Chalkidiki, where numerous ancient fossils were found, including the important discovery of a human skull that Dr Poulianos dated at 700,000 years old (read more about the dating process in the original article).  The consensus among paleoanthropologists today is that the cranium belongs to an archaic hominid distinguished from Homo erectus, and from both the classic Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans, but showing characteristics of all species and presenting strong European traits. According to Dr Poulianos, the age of the skull challenges the Out of Africa hypothesis and suggests the independent evolution of Homo sapiens in Europe.

According to Dr Poulianos’ latest update, the Greek government has been making systematic efforts to hide, diminish and discredit his work, as well as blocking him from further research and excavations in the cave of Petralona.  They have also requested him not to discuss the finding made in the cave. Multiple false accusations have been made by the government to try to spoil his name and his 50 years of research on the cave, yet the European Anthropological Association supports him and has submitted complaints to the Greek Government for this unacceptable situation.

Dr Poulianos has claimed that the government destroys more than 90% of the anthropological evidence found in Greece, and that people who do not hold paleoanthropology qualifications are put in positions of responsibility over important archaeological excavations. 

Recently, Dr Poulianos gave a talk at a high school in Athens, and immediately faced an attack from the authorities, which was directed at both him and the high school that allowed him to talk. The Director of the school has since spoken of the “unacceptable and defiant attitude of the authorities” and wrote: “It is really depressing that a government scientific department writes so many inaccuracies, misrepresentations, lies and threats to a head master”.

It is very sad to see the consistent efforts of the Greek government to hide the truth from the public and destroy the life of people that devoted their lives to investigating and researching for the truth.

You can read the official letter in greek and in english sent by Dr Poulianos to the Greek Government a few days ago.

Source: AO

Bamiyan Buddha work halted over 'secret rebuilding project'

Any attempt to rebuild statues destroyed by Taliban could lead to the site losing its World Heritage status.

Afghanistan has halted conservation work at a site once occupied by ancient Buddha statues destroyed by the Taliban because the team involved is suspected of secretly trying to rebuild one of the statue's feet, the United Nations said.
Any attempt to rebuild the statues without official permission could lead to the site losing its World Heritage status.

The Taliban's supreme leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, decreed in early 2001 that two ancient giant Buddha statues in the valley in Bamiyan province were un-Islamic and ordered they be destroyed. They were blown up with dynamite the next month.
The German wing of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (Icomos) had been working alongside the United Nations in the valley, aiming to reinforce the cliff into which the Buddha statues were carved.
But the work was halted after a team from the UN cultural agency Unesco visited the site in December and found pillars built into the rock which looked suspiciously like feet, according to a Unesco official.
"These pillars are the controversial issue ... Questions were raised concerning their design, that they resembled somehow the feet or the legs," said Unesco's Brendan Cassar.
Cassar said the pillars were never meant to look like part of the original statue and his office was unaware of their design when the work started.
"That should have been cleared not just by us, but the government and potentially the World Heritage Committee."
The Ministry of Culture and Information has ordered that the work be stopped as recommended by Unesco.
The Icomos office in Germany referred Reuters to a statement that said it had acted with the permission of the Afghan authorities for monument conservation.
It also said its work had been stopped by Unesco's head in Kabul who had recommended that it be bulldozed. Icomos described this as "an insulting proposal for a brutal action, which would continue the destructive work of the Taliban".

The destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas in 2001 shocked the world and drew attention to the hardline rule of the Taliban.
Six months later, the Taliban's al-Qaida allies launched the 11 September attacks on the United States. US-backed Afghan forces ousted the Taliban weeks later.
Since then, there have been proposals for the statues to be rebuilt but the government has yet to settle on a plan.
The government's director of historical monuments said he was in favour of rebuilding the statues if the World Heritage Committee (WHC) approved of a design.
"The WHC has not approved but the government of Afghanistan has requested to rebuild the statue," the director, Abdul Ahad Abassi, told Reuters at his office in Kabul.
"If the WHC accepts this request, then we will proceed."
The controversial work had taken place over two weeks in an eastern niche, where the smaller, 38 metre (124 foot), statue once stood overlooking the valley. Its larger companion, to the west, towered 55 metres (180 feet) over the ancient Silk Route.
Abassi said he hoped the statues could be rebuilt with old fragments.
"We'll put the original pieces in their place and maybe use some fillings for those that have vanished."

Source: Guardian

Stolen artifact from Montreal museum recovered in Edmonton.

Quebec provincial police have found an ancient artifact in Edmonton after it was stolen in broad daylight from the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

Police have been searching for more than two years for two pieces of art, which were stolen from the museum in September 2011.

Investigators said they believe a man slipped the antiquities into his pockets and slipped outside.

The recovered artifact — a fragment from a fifth century BC Persian bas-relief  — was found in an Edmonton home on Jan. 22 when officers from the Sûreté du Québec/RCMP Integrated Art Crime Investigation Team and the Alberta RCMP carried out a search warrant.

Police in Quebec say that a tip led them to the home last month. Sgt. Joyce Kemp from the Quebec Provincial Police said investigators believe the artifact was purchased for much less than its value. 

"I cannot give you details to how it was purchased because the investigation is still ongoing it might interfere with the next steps of the investigation," she said. 

"I cannot give you the exact number but it's worth $1.2 million and clearly the person paid much less than the value of the artifact."

Simon Metke, 33, is charged with possessing stolen property over $5,000, possessing a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking and possessing the proceeds of crime.

Metke told CBC News he bought the piece for $1,400 from a "friend of a friend" while on a trip to Montreal. 

"I thought this thing was an interesting replica or some kind of Mesopotamia look-a-like souvenir-type thing."

In December 2011, two months after the artifact was stolen, CBC interviewed Metke on a separate story. Caught on video in behind Metke, is the artifact. 

"I admired the craftsmanship of it," he told CBC Thursday. "It symbolized part of my spiritual journey to me."

Metke's 26-year-old girlfriend is also charged with possessing the proceeds of crime and possessing a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking. 

Police are still searching for the second stolen artifact, a Roman marble statue of a head, dating back to the first century BC.

The two pieces were not in glass cases, but they were securely anchored to their displays, and investigators said they are not sure how the thief managed to take off with the antiquities.

On security footage, a suspect is seen strolling through the museum wearing jeans, a dark jacket and a baseball cap.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the SQ at 1-800-659-4264 or email art.alert@surete.qc.ca.

The museum's insurance company has been offering what it calls a "substantial reward" for information leading to the recovery of the pieces.

Source: CBC

Rare wooden anthropoid sarcophagus discovered in Luxor

A 17th dynasty painted sarcophagus belonging to a top governmental official was unearthed at Draa Abul-Naga necropolis on Luxor's west bank

 A Spanish-Egyptian archeological team working on Luxor's west bank has discovered a rare wooden human-shaped sarcophagus from the 17th dynasty.

The find came during routine excavation work at the tomb of Djehuty, treasure holder for Queen Hatshepsut, at Dra Abul-Naga necropolis.  

The sarcophagus is important for the detailed depictions of bird feather shapes and sizes painted on its lid, motifs that have earned it the title of Feathers Sarcophagi, according to Egypt's antiquities minister Mohamed Ibrahim.

The 2 metre long, 42 cm tall sarcophagus is in very good condition, Ibrahim said, and also engraved with titles of the deceased, which archeologists have not yet been able to identify.

Studies reveal that the sarcophagus belongs to a top governmental official from the 17th dynasty, whose mummy was enclosed inside, said Ibrahim.

The archeological team found two other burials at the site, which were both empty. It is believed that they were robbed in antiquity.

The Spanish mission began excavation work at Djehuty's tomb 13 years ago, when many artefacts from New Kingdom dynasties were found.

Last year the team unearthed a sarcophagus of a 17th dynasty child, along with a number of clay pots and ushabti figurines wrapped in linen.

Excavation at the site remains in full swing, said Gose Galan, head of the Spanish team.

Source: Ahram Online

Advanced Technology Could Reveal Ancient Temple Secrets.

A conference on archaeoacoustices, taking place on Malta beginning Feb. 19th, will bring together experts and researchers from around the world to study and survey the acoustical and electromagnetic energy properties of the ancient temples on Malta.
http://www.otsf.org/conference.htm

The Temples of Malta, a UNESCO World Heritage site, are considered the oldest free standing buildings on Earth and are thousands of years older than the Egyptian Pyramids or Stonehenge.

A team of specialists will assemble and, each working in their own field, will define and execute independent but coordinated collection and analysis of data.

Healthy volunteers will be measured and monitored for changes in brain activity, blood pressure, and skin temperature on exposure to natural sound stimulation and reverberant conditions. In addition to voice, data may be collected from the sounding of horn and shell instruments, a primitive drums as well as electrically generated tones

Visual impacts related to Cymatics or energy patterns, may also be observed: sand on a drumhead, water in a pottery and/or stone vessel. Correlations will be sought between these patterns and those found in the Stone Age art of the site. Does one reflect the other?

Architectural evaluation by an acoustic engineer and a concurrent digital acoustic and electromagnetic mapping of the site are also being conducted.

An exercise that is sensational: aural, visual and dramatic. The testing will be dramatic – whatever the outcome is. Observations will be made by experts in a wide range of fields in order to augment the known archaeology. Results may be compiled in a book for publication.

The full study will take years and hopes to reveal the original intended purposes of these highly unusual structures, while shedding light and better understanding on how and why ancient cultures controlled unseen energy forces, such as acoustical and/or EM energy, with architecture.  http://www.otsf.org
Source: CNN

'Priceless' bronze statue of Greek god Apollo found in Gaza Strip

Lost for centuries, a rare bronze statue of the Greek god Apollo has mysteriously resurfaced in the Gaza Strip, only to be seized by police and vanish almost immediately from view.
Word of the remarkable find has caught the imagination of the world of archaeology, but the police cannot say when the life-sized bronze might re-emerge or where it might be put on display.
A local fisherman says he scooped the 500kg (1,100lb) god from the seabed last August, and carried it home on a donkey cart, unaware of the significance of his catch.
Others soon guessed at its importance, and the statue briefly appeared on eBay with a $500,000 (£300,000) price tag - well below its true value. Police from the Islamist group Hamas, which rules the isolated Palestinian territory, swiftly seized it and say they are investigating the affair.
Archaeologists have not been able to get their hands on the Apollo – to their great frustration- and instead must pore over a few blurred photographs of the intact deity, who is laid out incongruously on a blanket emblazoned with Smurfs.
From what they can tell, it was cast sometime between the 5th and the 1st century BC, making it at least 2,000 years old.

"It's unique. In some ways I would say it is priceless. It's like people asking what is the [value] of the painting La Gioconda [the Mona Lisa] in the Louvre museum," said Jean-Michel de Tarragon, a historian with the French Biblical and Archaeological School of Jerusalem.
"It's very, very rare to find a statue which is not in marble or in stone, but in metal," he told Reuters television.
The apparently pristine condition of the god suggested it was uncovered on land and not in the sea, he said, speculating that the true location of where it was unearthed was not revealed to avoid arguments over ownership.

"This wasn't found on the seashore or in the sea … it is very clean. No, it was [found] inland and dry," he said, adding that there were no signs of metal disfigurement or barnacles that one normally sees on items plucked from water.
Palestinian fisherman Joudat Ghrab tells a different tale. The 26-year-old father of two said he saw a human-like shape lying in shallow waters some 100 metres offshore, just north of the Egyptian-Gaza border.
At first he thought it was a badly burnt body, but when he dived down to take a closer look he realised it was a statue. He says it took him and his relatives four hours to drag the treasure ashore.

"I felt it was something gifted to me by God," Ghrab told Reuters. "My financial situation is very difficult and I am waiting for my reward."
His mother was less happy when she saw the naked Apollo carried into the house, demanding that his private parts be covered. "My mother said: 'What a disaster you have brought with you' as she looked at the huge statue," said Ghrab.
The discoloured green-brown figure shows the youthful, athletic god standing upright on two, muscular legs; he has one arm outstretched, with the palm of his hand held up.
He has compact, curly hair, and gazes out seriously at the world, one of his eyes apparently inlaid with a blue stone iris, the other just a vacant black slit.
Ghrab says he cut off one of the fingers to take to a metals expert, thinking it might have been made of gold. Unbeknownst to him, one of his brothers severed another finger for his own checks. This was melted down by a jeweller.
Family members belonging to a Hamas militia soon took charge of the statue, and at some stage the Apollo appeared on eBay, with the seller telling the buyer to come and collect the item from Gaza.
That would have been easier said than done, however, as Gaza is virtually sealed off from the outside world, with both Israel and Egypt imposing rigid controls on access to the impoverished enclave and its 1.8 million inhabitants.
Whether any potential buyers stepped forward is not clear, but when Hamas's civilian authorities found out about the artefact, they ordered the police to seize it.
Officials at Gaza's tourism ministry told Reuters the statue would not be shown to the public until a criminal investigation into who tried to sell it was completed.
However, Ahmed al-Bursh, the ministry's director of archaeology, said he had seen it and promised that Ghrab would receive a reward once the issue had been resolved.
"It is a precious treasure, an important archaeological discovery," said Bursh. Once the statue has been released by police, his ministry plans to repair it and put it on show in Gaza.
"International institutions have also contacted us and have offered to help with the repair process," he said, adding that a museum in Geneva and the Louvre in Paris wanted to take it on loan.
Like Ghrab, Bursh said the statue had been found at sea. The historian Tarragon said it was vital to know the true location of its discovery.
Some 5,000 years of history lie beneath the sands of the Gaza Strip, which was ruled at various times by ancient Egyptians, Philistines, Romans, Byzantines and crusaders.
Alexander the Great besieged the city and the Roman emperor Hadrian visited. However, local archaeologists have little experience to carry out any scientific digs and many sites remain buried.
Statues such as the Apollo cast would not have been held in isolation, meaning it may prove the tip of an historical iceberg, according to Tarragon.
"A statue at that time was [put] in a complex, in a temple or a palace. If it was in a temple, you should have all the other artefacts of the cult [at the site]," he said, adding that he hoped Hamas appreciated its potential importance.
"There is a feeling that they could find more and more [items] linked to the statue, more and more artefacts, so this is very sensitive," he said.

Source: Guardian

Drug References Found on Walls of Ancient Egyptian School.

Archaeologists working in the western desert of Egypt have discovered a school dating back about 1,700 years that contains ancient Greek writings on its walls, including a text about ancient drug use that references Homer's "The Odyssey."
The school — which contains benches that students could sit on to read, or stand on and write on the walls — dates back to a time when the Roman Empire controlled Egypt, and Greek was widely spoken.

In use for less than 20 years, the school structure eventually became part of a large house that contained colorful art, including images of the Olympian gods, the researchers said. [See Photos of the Ancient Egyptian School and Texts]

The house and school are located in the ancient town of Trimithis (modern-day Amheida), which is in the Dakhla Oasis, about 200 miles (322 kilometers) west of the Nile River. The house, and some of the art, was first discovered in 1979. In 2001, a new exploration project at Amheida, now sponsored primarily by New York University, led to the discovery of the school, its Greek writings and more art scenes from the house.

A unique discovery

In the ancient world, schools were often part of other places — like private residences, city halls or temples — and, as such, are very difficult for archaeologists to identify, Raffaella Cribiore, a professor at New York University, wrote in the journal Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik (a journal that publishes ancient texts).

Although archaeologists know of another ancient school in Egypt — a university in Alexandria — the school at Amheida is unique because it was found with texts on its walls, Cribiore said. The texts are "further proof that teaching and learning took place there, and confirm that they belong to the only building so far discovered from antiquity that was certainly a school and showed educational activities," Cribiore wrote.

For instance, The text referring to "The Odyssey" tells a legendary story of ancient drug use: Helen of Troy, for whom the Trojan War had been fought, gives her guests a drug (possibly opium) that "takes away grief and anger, and brings forgetfulness of every ill," the text reads. "Whoever should drink this down when it is mixed in the bowl would not let fall a tear down his cheek in the course of that day at least. Imitate." The word "imitate" appears to indicate the students should copy the passage in some way. Ancient records say that some people believed this passage had a magical quality to it that could calm young people. [In Photos: Two Black Magic Curse Tablets]

Source: DN

Mystery of Florence's Cathedral Dome May Be Solved.

Nearly six centuries after it was completed, the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral in Florence—a cathedral known around the world simply as il Duomo—remains that city's icon and greatest pride. Built without flying buttresses or freestanding scaffolding, using experimental methods that many contemporaries believed would surely fail, the 150-foot-wide (46-meter-wide) dome effectively ignited the creative explosion known as the Renaissance.

Its creator, Filippo Brunelleschi, a homely, hot-tempered goldsmith with no serious architectural training, is a hero to his fellow Florentines—and to one modern architect in particular. (Read more about il Duomo in the February 2014 issue of National Geographic magazine.)

Last April 15, on the 567th anniversary of Brunelleschi's death, I stood in the portal of the Florence cathedral, a few feet from his grave, as a procession in Renaissance dress entered the basilica—double ranks of halberdiers with gleaming weapons and breastplates, maidens in sweeping brocade gowns carrying wreaths of laurel and myrtle, drummers and trumpeters whose music filled the church and echoed in

Brunelleschi's dome as on the day he was buried.

The procession descended into the crypt to lay the wreaths on Brunelleschi's slab. A portly gentleman in his early 70s bent down and laid his hand on the marble, his head bowed reverently, his breathing audible. No one in history has devoted himself more wholeheartedly to Brunelleschi and his memory than this man, Massimo Ricci, an architect from an ancient Florentine family who walks at the head of this memorial procession each year.

Ricci has spent much of his life trying to work out the construction techniques that Brunelleschi used to build the dome—still the largest masonry dome on Earth.

Ricci's identification with Brunelleschi has been so intense that at times he says he almost feels the great architect standing, silent and invisible, beside him.

"We've developed a special, almost spiritual relationship," Ricci says in his throaty growl.  "Sometimes I'm filled with gratitude for what he accomplished, what he left us. Other times he frustrates me so much, I tell him to go to hell."

Having Brunelleschi's spirit whisper in your ear may be about the only way to know for sure how he worked. Secretive to the end, he carried many mysteries of his dome to the grave.

To this day, we don't know where he got the inspiration for the double-shell dome, the herringbone brickwork, and the other features that architects through ensuing centuries could only marvel at. (Explore the hidden details of Brunelleschi's daring design.)

Perhaps the most haunting mystery is the simplest of all: How did Brunelleschi and his masons position each brick, stone beam, and other structural element with such precision inside the vastly complex cathedral—a task that modern architects with their laser levels, GPS positioning devices, and CAD software would still find challenging today?

For 40 years, Ricci has tried to answer these questions in the same way that Brunelleschi did:  by trial and error. He has built scale models of Brunelleschi's innovative cranes, hoists, and transport ships. He has scoured the interior and exterior of the dome for clues, mapping each iron fitting and unexplained stub of masonry and cross-referencing them against the archival documents concerning the dome's construction.

And since 1989, in a park on the south bank of the Arno River half a mile downstream from Santa Maria del Fiore, he has been building a scale model of the dome that's 33 feet (10 meters) across at its base and consists of about 500,000 bricks.

"Theoretical models are fine for grasping the dome's geometry," Ricci says, "but of limited use in understanding the problems Brunelleschi dealt with while building the dome. And that's what really matters to me: how Brunelleschi put bricks together."

In the process of putting together half a million bricks, Ricci may have solved one of Brunelleschi's biggest secrets: how a web of fixed and mobile chains was used to position each brick, beam, and block so that the eight sides of the dome would arc toward the center at the same angle.

Inspired by documentary references to "the star of the cupola," Ricci started by suspending a star-shaped hub in the center of his model dome. From the eight points of this star he stretched eight chains radiating outwards and downwards to the walls of his model, attached to hooks in the walls, in the corners of the octagonal plan (similar hooks are present in the dome itself).

Next he linked these eight chains with horizontal ropes, which traced arcs along the eight sides of the octagon where the walls were rising. Seen from above, these ropes resemble the petals of a flower.

After last year's memorial procession ended, Ricci laid out for me some of the evidence for his theory of the dome's flower, which he considers to be the breakthrough in his conception of Brunelleschi's method. "In fact, Santa Maria del Fiore means Saint Mary of the Flower," Ricci notes. "And the symbol of Florence is a flower, the lily."

He smiles with evident satisfaction. "You see? The pieces of my theory fit together, as solidly as the duomo itself."

Source: NG

Why Pointed Skulls Spawn Alien Theories

The discovery of deformed skulls in southern Peru has one researcher speculating that it may be evidence of "a new human-like creature" unknown to science.

There is nothing unusual about finding deformed skulls in the Americas; archaeologists have found them for years. Cranial deformation is a widely known practice, and in 2012 archaeologists in Mexico found a burial ground of twenty-five skeletons; of those, more than half showed intentional skull deformation.

However, according to a widely discussed blog on the AncientOrigins web site, the skulls found near Paracas, Peru, appear to be unusually --and possibly genetically -- deformed: "A DNA analysis has now been conducted on one of the skulls and expert Brien Foerster ... reports on the geneticist's findings: 'It had mtDNA (mitochondrial DNA) with mutations unknown in any human, primate, or animal known so far. But a few fragments I was able to sequence from this sample indicate that if these mutations will hold we are dealing with a new human-like creature... ."

Foerster states that his (as-yet anonymous) scientist found DNA with unknown mutations in a single sample. If it's true -- a big assumption given that Foerster's geneticist is unknown and no one has seen the study or any other information -- it's not clear what exactly that means. It could simply mean that the results are inconclusive, which would not be unusual, given the age and condition of the bone. Or it could mean a "new human-like creature." Or it could mean nothing at all. For now, it's nothing more than an attention-grabbing headline with nothing behind it except bold bluster.

The Starchild Skull
This is not the first time that deformed skulls have been offered as evidence for extraordinary claims about new, unknown species of humans. One skull -- dubbed the "Starchild skull" -- was found in Mexico and later obtained by a UFO researcher named Lloyd Pye, who exhibited it at UFO and paranormal-themed conferences for years. I interviewed Pye and examined his famous Starchild skull while it was on tour in Roswell, N.M. The presence of a deformed skull at a UFO conference -- instead of, say, a medical conference -- reveals less about the skull than what its owner believes about its origin.

Pye, who died last year, was adamant that his research proved (he used that word, "proved," several times) that the skull must have been the result of humans having sex with aliens. The title of Pye's 2007 book, "The Starchild Skull: Genetic Enigma or ... Human-Alien Hybrid?" offers two choices for the origin of his skull.

But this is a textbook example of a "false choice" logical fallacy. In fact, the Starchild skull, like hundreds of other skulls deformed to a greater or lesser degree found in the Americas, is neither a "genetic enigma" nor a "human-alien hybrid." Two sets of DNA tests (one in 1999 and another in 2003) confirmed that the skull was human: a male child from North America or Mesoamerica who likely suffered a condition which leads to skull elongation and deformation called hydrocephalus.
Pye disagreed, claiming that the deformation is too extreme to be human, a curious position, given that human physical deformities appear in a spectacularly wide variety. Most normal humans have approximately the same features and dimensions; we don't see healthy adults with skulls the size of an orange, for example, or hands growing from ears.

The vagaries of nature and genetic disorders can and do create very rare, but perfectly natural, non-extraterrestrial, humans, ranging from primordial dwarfs to conjoined twins. There's even a famous two-headed woman, Abigail and Brittany Hensel, whose lives have been documented on various television shows. It's possible that, hundreds of years from now, a future version of Lloyd Pye or Brien Foerster will locate the Hensels' nearly unique skeleton and issue a sensational press release proclaiming it a new human species or even the result of alien breeding.

The mystery of Foerster's Peruvian skulls has been embraced by many, though skeptics abound. Sharon Hill, a researcher specializing in the public understanding of science and editor of the Doubtful News website, told Discovery News that the way the skulls' DNA results were released smacks of pseudoscience.
"This is an unconventional way of making 'groundbreaking' claims," Hill noted. "It's not supported by a university, but by private funding. The initial findings were released in this unprofessional way (via Facebook, websites and an Internet radio interview) obviously because Foerster and the other researchers think this is very exciting news," she said.

"But science doesn't work by social media. Peer review is a critical part of science and the Paracas skulls proponents have taken a shortcut that completely undermines their credibility. Appealing to the public's interest in this cultural practice we see as bizarre -- skull deformation --instead of publishing the data for peer-review examination is not going to be acceptable to the scientific community."

While it may be tempting and entertaining to look for extraterrestrial, or even supernatural, reasons for strange human deformations, there is no need to do so. Those who have mystery-mongering books and DVDs to sell (and documentary films to promote) will always find an audience. For anthropologists and anatomists, however, there's little mystery about their origins.

Writer Benjamin Radford examining a model of the Starchild Skull, claimed to be of an alien-human hybrid, in 2007.

Source: DN