Corinth Canal

The famous Corinth Canal, which separates the Peloponnese from mainland Greece, connects the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf. The Corinth Canal, though only completed in the late 19th century, was an idea and dream that’s dates back over 2000 thousand years.

The strip of land that connects the Peloponnese and mainland Greece is called the “Isthmus”. At it’s narrowest point, it is only 4 miles wide, and in ancient times, one could see from one side to the other.

Before the Corinth Canal was constructed, ships had to travel all around the Peloponnese, which added approximately 185 nautical miles, and several days more travel to their journey time.

The Ancient Greeks devised a solution to the problem of the extra length of the ships’ journey when the “Diolkos” was constructed. This was a stoned path, paved with limestone, which ran along from Schinous on the Saronic Gulf to Poseidonia on the Corinth Gulf. The name “Diolkos” means a “movable platform”.

The tyrant of Corinth, Periander, was the first who envisioned the Corinth Canal in 602BC, but the technical capabilities in ancient times made his idea impossible to carry out. Instead, he developed the “Diolkos”, which more than served its’ purpose.

Along the “Diolkos” ran the “olkos”, which was a wheeled vehicle onto which ships were actually lifted onto, and taken over land from one side to the other.

Not all ships could use the “olkos” due to their size, but in many cases, the cargo of ships was taken off at one side, and transported to the other, where a second ship would be waiting to load on the cargo. Today, there are still sections of the “diolkos” that one can still see.

There were many others who intended to start the construction of the Corinth Canal, but for a number of varied reasons, the project never took off. Demetrius Poliorkitis, King of Macedon was one who tried in 300 BC, but with no positive results.

Amongst reasons stopping him was the belief that Poseidon, God of the Sea, opposed the joining of the Aegean and the Adriatic. This was also a fear that stopped Julius Caeser and Emperors Caligula and Hadrian from starting construction of the canal.

The first serious attempt at the canals construction was by Emperor Nero, who in 67AD, announced to spectators at the Isthmian Games that he was going to dig the canal that would "connect the two seas".

Nero in fact dug the first piece of land out himself, using a golden pick, and carried this first basket of earth and turf on his own back. However, even though Nero had approximately 6000 slaves who would work on the canal, again, the plan never materialized, for several reasons, including financial ones.

The idea for the canal was left unfinished, until it was revived again during the late 1800’s. After several false starts, the Corinth Canal was finally completed, and put in use, on October 28th 1893.

The work on the canal was carried out by a combination of French and Greek workmen. The Corinth Canal was actually based on the “Panama ans Suez Canals”, and has often been referred to as the “step-child” of these canals.

The Corinth Canal is still in use today, though many newer and larger ships are too large to pass through any more. However, the canal is still used by many smaller ships, and there are also cruises organized where you can travel on a boat along the canal.

For those with a little more adventure inside them, there is also a bungy jump, which is organized by Zulu Bungy, where you can jump off the bridge and experience the bungy jump of your life. For those of you with not so much adventure, you can stand on the bridge and watch the bungy jumps, as well as look down on the passing ships that sail slowly along the canal.

Found Here: http://www.aroundgreece.com/corinth-canal-peloponnese-greece.html

The Corinth Canal (Greek: Διώρυγα της Κορίνθου) is a canal that connects the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean Sea. It cuts through the narrow Isthmus of Corinth and separates the Peloponnesian peninsula from the Greek mainland, thus effectively making the former an island. The canal is 6.3 kilometres (3.9 mi) in length and was built between 1881 and 1893.

Several rulers in antiquity dreamed of cutting a canal through the Isthmus.^{[citation needed]} The first to propose such an undertaking was the tyrant Periander in the 7th century BC.^[1] He abandoned the project due to technical difficulties, and instead constructed a simpler and less costly overland portage road, named Diolkos.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} According to another theory, Periander feared that a canal would have robbed Corinth of its dominating role as entrepôt for goods.^[7] Remnants of the Diolkos still exist next to the modern canal.^[8][9][10]

The Diadoch Demetrius (336–283 BC) planned to construct a canal as a means to improve his communication lines, but dropped the plan after his surveyors, miscalculating the levels of the adjacent seas, feared heavy floods.^[7][11]

The historian Suetonius tells us that the Roman Dictator Julius Caesar (r. 49-44 BC) projected, among other grandiose engineering schemes, a canal through the Isthmus.^[12] He was assassinated before he could bring the scheme to fruition.

The Roman Emperor Nero (r. 54–68 A.D.) launched an excavation, personally breaking the ground with a pickaxe and removing the first basket-load of soil,^[13] but the project was abandoned when he died shortly afterwards. The Roman workforce, consisting of 6000 Jewish prisoners of war,^[14] started digging 40–50 m (130–160 ft) wide trenches from both sides, while a third group at the ridge drilled deep shafts for probing the quality of the rock (which were reused in 1881 for the same purpose). As the modern canal follows the same course as Nero's, no remains have survived.^[15]

The modern attempt at construction began in the 1870s following the successful opening of the Suez Canal. A French company was hired to build it, but due to financial difficulties, the company ceased work after only the two ends had been dug. Finally, in 1881 the Hungarian architects István Türr and Béla Gerster, who had also been involved with early surveys for the Panama Canal, were hired to plan a new canal. A Greek company led by Andreas Syngros (the main contractor being Antonis Matsas) ultimately took over the project and completed it in 1893.

On April 7, 2010, Australian daredevil Robbie Maddison performed a motocross jump over the canal.^[16]

Found Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corinth_Canal

Annunaki Hieroglyphics - New Jersey Coast

Canal Complexes in America .................. This site is a review of some empirical evidence that will forever change the history of pre-diluvial America, shifting our paradigm from what we think we know about America to a whole new standard of 'Truth' about pre-historic civilizations on the North American continent.

Ancient Cities on our Coasts .... ...... .... .There are hundreds of miles of coastline, from Maine to Florida, continuing across the Gulf States including Texas and parts of Mexico, that are covered with vestiges and remnants of a very sophisticated, enormously large water borne culture or civilization that existed BEFORE current sea level rose an average of 12 to 25 feet, or more.

Sophisticated Geo Engineers: The evidence you are about to see, shows nearly every swampy piece of marsh land on most of the Eastern US Coast and Gulf of Mexico, to have been 'worked' and 'inhabited' by a very large, very sophisticated population of canal builders during some remote pre-flood period.

Found Here: http://www.ancientcanalbuilders.com/index.html

Submitted by Gordon J. Gianninoto on Mon, 11/15/2010 - 12:57

I was perusing the site Ancient Canal Builders Dot Com and came across these incredible hieroglyphics on Marshelder Island, New Jersey. The site is focusing on ancient coastal canals and it is clear that drainage canals and canals for other purposes were cut into almost the entire east coast of the United States. Now you do not need ETs or Atlanteans to explain them. Clearly, without any documents detailing this work, it predates 'history' and therefore could have been done by anyone, almost. I say almost because one section of the canals are not canals but lines defining various messages.

Now I do know about you, but if you have ever been in a salt marsh, the idea of creating a canal is a monumental task. The water table comes right up to the base of the marsh plants, and is a spongy, soft, wet mess to try to cut into. Even if you remove some of the mats of vegetation and the mud, just to put it into a wheelbarrow makes the wheelbarrow too heavy to move, as the wheels sink into the muck, that is, if you could even get a wheelbarrow into the area to begin with. In Louisiana, at the mouth of the Mississippi, huge canals, thousands of miles of them, were cut by floating barges starting in open water and cutting and dredging their way into areas where drilling for oil would occur. So the task in Mississippi required massive machinery and the canals all connect to deep water where the machinery came from.

So you see from the attached photos that we could have a similar explanation for these ancient canals. Whether that is actually the explanation for these ancient canals is another matter.

But all of a sudden if you zoom in on Google Earth, you see hieroglyphs set into lines with Sumerian measurements. Not to say the Sumerians made the lines, but what is that between the lines? It is hieroglyphs of a type not known previously. As far as I know, there is no interpretation of what these say, nor is there any expert who was ever aware of, studied, or made conclusions about them. Perhaps the messages are in Sumerian. Perhaps they predate the Sumerians, as Sumeria or Sumer is dated to 5,000 years ago. But Sumerian tablets describe the Annunaki, Niburu and mining for gold and creating us as slaves, going back a million years. You would know this if you have read any of the recently deceased Zecharia Sitchin books about what those tablets say, including "The Twelfth Planet" and seven more volumes after that, available in paperback. How old are these messages, and can we preserve them for study? Very old and no.

Even without pole shift, these areas are about to be submerged from rising ocean levels. Count in pole shift where all of New Jersey is about to go under water permanently, and you can see there is no likelihood of this becoming the national park it really should be. Just as Nazca has been featured in the history channel series "Ancient Aliens" and is the best known proof of ET presence on Earth as popularized by Von Daniken, so too could these hieroglyphs and symbols be proof.

So what is 'proof'? We have to remember that on the ground these are nothing but a series of open water wet spots in a marsh, and appear to have no meaning. But from the air they make a pattern of an unmistakable message. Surely salt marshes are alive and growing, and the width of these lines narrows as plants expand; but even with what is left, this is a spectacular site. Also, rising sea levels may have overtaken and obscured many sections of the 'message' but THIS IS NOT NATURAL.

Anyone can theorize that these things are many different things. But being visible only from the air means that flight was necessary to appreciate them. And who had the means of appreciating them from the air?

So take a look and if you have any ideas how to translate them, let me know. If you have been watching the tv show 'Jersey Shore' you know about the area just east of the hieroglyphs. If you live near there and have hip waders, you might walk to the end of Taylor Lane and try to cross the channel at low tide to look at the symbols up close. But be careful, that marsh is all muck and you do not want to get stuck or lost. From the ground there is very little to indicate where you are or where you might be able to go. Based on my experiences with salt marshes, the only time to go is low tide and you could consider it a tip for your safety to keep out of there! Things change when the tide comes in and all of a sudden you cannot see where to put your feet.

A marsh like that can be quicksand. This only makes it more likely an ancient civilization with very high technology made them. Far enough back in time this may have been a dry field, flat and a perfect canvas for messages. But then, where did all the dirt they scooped out go? As you can see, there are no berms or spoil piles of what was removed to make them. This is our national Nazca, and all we will have are photographs from space. Too bad.

As I have said before, Nancy Lieder telepathically answers some written questions by submitting them to the human ET Zetas who give her an answer. Here I had a question about the hieroglyphs at Marshelder Island so I asked her and got the following answer. It makes sense and is very logical, and until you prove differently, I am saying that IS the answer.

On a related topic, if I can ask questions so can you. First of all you have to go to http://poleshift.ning.com and join. Then you should be asking only new questions not asked before. To learn what has been asked, go to http://Zetatalk.com and start reading. Personal questions are not allowed. Questions relating to pole shift are the main focus, with contacting ETs being of equal importance to the issue of spiritual orientation and coming dimensional change. If you want to see an index of previous weekly 'chat' questions and answers go to http://poleshift.ning.com/forum/categories/zetatalk-1/listForCategory

As I have said before, you cannot make this stuff up. It is the single most incredibly detailed, accurate and really, astonishing body of work since all 14,000 soul readings by Edgar Cayce were put on the internet at the A.R.E. website in Virginia, including his predictions of pole shift.

Gordon

Found Here: http://www.ufodigest.com/article/et-annunaki-hieroglyphics-discovered-coast-new-jersey-spectacular-images-cut-salt-marsh-be-o



ET Annunaki Hieroglyphics Discovered On Coast Of New Jersey: Spectacular Images Cut Into A Salt Marsh To Be Only Seen And Recognized From The Air: Photos




"SOZT
As with the Nazca, Peru hieroglyphs, these designs in New Jersey were meant to be seen from the sky. The hieroglyphs in Peru are high desert and thus survived, while New Jersey has steadily lost elevation during past pole shifts. If the waters of the world were to recede, there would be many MORE such sites with hieroglyphs emerging.



"The "Spider" at the Nazca Lines, Peru.

Their purpose was to guide the rocket ships that shuttled between Earth and the Annunaki home planet, Nibiru. The Annunaki would unload the gold that had been collected on Earth, refresh or replace the mining crews on Earth and load them up with supplies, and then wait on their home planet for the passage.



All this had to be done AHEAD of the passage, as the outbound Nibiru (aka Planet X) takes off quickly after the actual passage, and the last weeks create too much turmoil for a shuttle to be in transit.



Then the pole shift, and Earth’s geography would be altered, and then the LONG period before they would return again to collect more gold. There was no TIME to draw new maps. The various places on Earth, with their various hieroglyphs, would aid the returning shuttles next time around to understand what PART of the globe they were flying over.
EOZT





Best regards,.
Bob Taft
"We hang the petty thieves and appoint
the great ones to public office." Aesop
http://www.freedomclubusa.com/the_tun
http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/archive.cgi?read=74897 "

Found Here: http://disc.yourwebapps.com/discussion.cgi?disc=149495;article=134042;

Burning Ship fractal

The Burning Ship fractal, first described and created by Michael Michelitsch and Otto E. Rössler in 1992, is generated by iterating the function:

in the complex plane which will either escape or remain bounded. The difference between this calculation and that for the Mandelbrot set is that the real and imaginary components are set to their respective absolute values before squaring at each iteration. The mapping is non-analytic because its real and imaginary parts do not obey the Cauchy–Riemann conditions.^[1]

1. ^ Michael Michelitsch and Otto E. Rössler (1992). "The "Burning Ship" and Its Quasi-Julia Sets". In: Computers & Graphics Vol. 16, No. 4, pp. 435–438, 1992. Reprinted in Clifford A. Pickover Ed. (1998). Chaos and Fractals: A Computer Graphical Journey — A 10 Year Compilation of Advanced Research. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. ISBN 0-444-50002-2

Found Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_Ship_fractal

The images described here are generated by analysing the following series for each point (c_x,c_y) on the plane.

The grey level assigned to each point (cx,cy) is determined by how fast the series tends to infinity. For example, the points shown in black in the center of the form don't ever diverge to infinity. The points shown in light grey diverge very quickly. This is exactly the same technique used to create the Mandelbrot image. In all cases the starting point (x0,y0) is (0,0).

This fractal gets its name from the images obtained by zooming into regions along y=0 (x axis) an example is shown below

Source code

This C source code gives the basic idea of how the images on this page were created. As it stands it is run given a centre coordinate, a image width in world coordinates, and the name of the output file. It writes a raw RGB or greyscale image, this can be opened with most image editors or you can modify the code to save the image in your favorite format.

Found Here: http://local.wasp.uwa.edu.au/~pbourke/fractals/burnship/

Puma Punku

Pumapunku, also called “Puma Pumku” or “Puma Puncu”, is part of a large temple complex or monument group that is part of the Tiwanaku Site near Tiwanaku, Bolivia. In Aymara, its name means, “The Door of the Cougar”. The processes and technologies involved in the creation of these temples are still not fully understood by modern scholars. Our current ideas of the Tiwanaku culture hold that they had no writing system and also that the invention of the wheel was most likely unknown to them. The architectural achievements seen at Pumapunku are striking in light of the presumed level of technological capability available during its construction. Due to the monumental proportions of the stones, the method by which they were transported to Pumapunku has been a topic of interest since the temple's discovery.

Of course there is no certainty that this was the reason as the ancient builders left no written records. All the legends have been handed down through the generations.

Found Here: http://www.world-mysteries.com/mpl_6.htm

They are arguably the oldest, and most baffling ruins on the face of the Earth. It is hard to imagine how they did not come to be known as one of the wonders of the world like the Great Pyramid. Spectacular in its own right, the Great Pyramid is, yet it pales in comparison to the ruins of Puma Punku in Tiahuanaco, in South America.

The ruins of Puma Punku are one of four structures in the ancient city of Tiahuanaco. The others three structures are; The Akapana Pyramid, the Kalasasaya Platform, and the Subterranean Temple.

Even with modern day technology and information, these structures defy logic, and confound those who seek to solve the mysteries that lie within them. The ruins of Puma Punku are said to be the most fascinating, and most confusing of all.

Who built these structures?

How were these structures built?

Why were these structures built?

These are all questions on the minds of those researching these ancient structures, and they are not easily answerable, if they can even be answered at all.

Puma Punku

If pyramids were more than difficult to create several thousand years ago, then how much more difficult would it have been to build Puma Punku?

Puma Punku is believed to have once contained a great wharf, and a massive four part structure. Yet all that remains today are megalithic ruins from some cataclysmic event in history. A great earthquake? A comet that came too close to the Earth? A worldwide flood? These are all possible causes to the destruction of the once great structure that is now the ruins of Puma Punku.

Not only is there evidence to support the claim of a cataclysmic flood, but there is even evidence to support the theory that people once lived there before such a flood even occurred. The suspected flood could have happened somewhere around 12,000 years ago, and there is scientific evidence of tools, bones, and other material within flood alluvia, which suggests that a civilized people were there prior to any flood. Other evidence, that being carvings of bearded people that are not Andean, have been recorded throughout the area.

Could the ruins of Puma Punku be evidence of a long lost civilization?

What Makes The Ruins Unique?

It is highly unlikely that any of the stones in Puma Punku were cut using ancient stone cutting techniques, at least not those that we are aware of.

The stones in Puma Punku are made up of granite, and diorite, and the only stone that is harder that those two, is the diamond. If the people who built this place cut these stones using stone cutting techniques, then they would had to have used diamond tools.

If they didn't use diamonds to cut these stones, then what did they use?

Not only were these stones really hard to cut, but they are also extremely heavy. One of these stone ruins weighs in at about 800 tons! These are big stones, and they are really heavy. The nearest quarry is at least 10 miles away from the site of the ruins. How in the world did these people move these blocks that weighed many tons, and how were they able to form a structure with them?

With the technology that we currently have today, it would be extremely difficult to recreate the site of these ruins, if possible at all. If we can't do it, then how did these ancient people accomplish this task? This could have taken place anywhere from 500 b.c. all the way back to the Ice Age.

These ancient people had to have been very sophisticated, knowing astronomy, geomancy, and mathematics. However, there are no records of this work. To build a place like Puma Punku, there must have been significant planning, and writing involved, but there is no record of any of this.

Interlocking Stones

There is one more significant thing to mention regarding the ruins of Puma Punku. Not only were these stones cut somehow, but they were finely cut. The cuts on these stones are perfectly straight. The holes cored into these stones are perfect, and all of equal depth.

How is it that these ancient people were able to cut stones like this?

It is as if only master builders were allowed to come in and construct Puma Punku. All of the blocks are cut so that they interlock, and fit together like a puzzle. There is no mortar. There are only great stones that once fit together creating a structure some four levels high.

If these people could have moved these large stones to this precise location, then obviously they also had a way to place them one on top of another, but how in the world was this accomplished?

There are no trees in the area, the nearest quarry is at least 10 miles away, and we have no records as to how any of this could have been done. As far as most are concerned, there is no way that the Andean people could have done this 2500 years ago. If they couldn't have done it, how is it possible that an even older group of people accomplished it?

Who Did All This???

The simple answer; we have absolutely no idea who did all this, or even how they could have done it.

There have been a few suggestions, but as you could imagine, they are widely criticized for the most part.

One suggestion has been made that there had to have been some kind of ancient aliens who interceded on humanity's behalf, and our ancestors learned how to do all of this from them.

There are actual records of mythical origin, regarding gods and the part that they took in the creation of these places. Not sure how we have certain mythical records, yet no records of plans or writing that contributed to the creation of these places?

Another suggestion, is that a cataclysmic event such as a flood, wiped out these ancient peoples along with any records they may have kept. There is some evidence to support this suggestion. Perhaps these ancient people were technologically advanced at some point, and all but a few were wiped out by a major flood. The remnant would have had to start civilization all over again, and of course the ancient records would be lost.

These may be stretches of the imagination, but places like Puma Punku were constructed somehow, and if it would be very difficult for us today to build a place like Puma Punku, then how did these ancient people accomplish it?

Did they have advanced technology similar to ours, and then die off?

Maps have been found that would seem to support this theory. Maps such as the Piri Reis (1513), and the Oronteus Finaeus (1531), have been found that pre-date European discoveries. Not only are these maps precise, but they seem to claim that they are copies from even older maps.

These maps show the coastline of South America, rivers, and even part of Antarctica which was not thought to have been mapped until 1818. These maps contain landmarks, as well as depictions of the areas which appear to be very accurate. Some people don't believe that these maps could have been made without flying over these areas in the sky.

Just how much did these ancient people know, and what were they able to do?

The Bible records a worldwide flood that killed off everyone except for Noah, and his family. Some legends claim that there have been a total of 4 cataclysmic events that have wiped out the majority of the worlds population thus far.

Is this what happened to these ancient people who built Puma Punku?

To this day, it remains an ancient mystery.

Found Here: http://hubpages.com/hub/Ancient-Mysteries-Puma-Punku-in-Tiahuanaco

THE PORT OF PUMA PUNKU Strangely, Tiahuanacu appears to be a seaport (Posnansky, 1945), although the nearest body of water is Lake Titicaca, some 12-15 miles away (the distance depends on the level of the lake). There are several theories about how this happens to be. We will consider only one here. On the rock cliffs near the piers and warfs of the port area are yellow-white calcareous deposits forming long, straight lines indicating pre-historic water levels. These ancient shorelines are strangely tilted, although they must have once been level. The surrounding area is covered with millions of fossilized sea-shells. It appears, from the tilting of the ancient shoreline striations and the abundant presence of fossilized oceanic flora and fauna, that a tremendous uplift of land has taken place sometime in the ancient past. Geologists estimate that this happened roughly around 100 million years ago; but the data gathered from archeological and astronomical investigations indicate a different story.
Oceanic creatures live to this day in abundance in the salty waters of the lake, indicating that it was once a part of the ocean, although it is now over 2 miles above sea-level. What appears to be the original seashore is strangely tilted, as if a tremendous geological upheaval has taken place.
The port of Tiahuanacu, called Puma Punku or "Door of the Puma," is an area filled with enormous stone blocks scattered hither and yon like matchsticks, and weighing between 100 and 150 tons! One block still in place weighs an estimated 440 tons! One wonders, how were these blocks quarried, how were they transported from the quarries to the building site, and how did the builders manage to place these huge blocks so skillfully to form this massive complex of megalithic buildings? And above all, what tremendous forces of nature tumbled these gigantic stones over one another as if they were light as driftwood? Archeologists have not answered these questions.
The blocks, many of them weighing upwards of 200 tons, are in some cases held together by large metalic, I-shaped couplers, rather than enterlocking shapes as at Sacsahuaman or at Cuzco. Others were held together by silver rivets. The system used here is reminiscent of that used in the Egyptian ruins on Elephantine Island on the Nile. Most researchers believe that the metal was actually poured into I-shaped slots carved into the rock.
Some of the docks and piers in this area are so large that hundreds of ships could dock comfortably; yet there is nothing "oceanic" near these docks except a prehistoric coastline indicated by chalky deposits of ancient salt water fossils. Lake Titicaca, languishing miles away, is nearly 100 feet lower than the ruined docks. What tremendous geological upheaval has occurred in the last thousand years that could have tumbled these huge stones while heaving the entire altiplano region 2 miles into the sky? None at that recent date. But could a sudden, violent tilt of the axis of the earth occuring some 12,000 years ago have been responsible? Geologist will not admit to such an occurance in spite of the evidence (see my Geology and/or Paleontology page).

THE CEREMONIAL CENTER A quarter of a mile or so northeast of the port area are the temples, pyramids and palaces of the main city of Tiahuanacu. (Recent excavation is turning up evidence of a population of 30,000 to 40,000 people, although this may represent a much later influx of settlers.) The main part of the city consists of several buildings. The placement and proximity of several of them--the Acapana Pyramid, the Kalasasaya, the semi-Subterranean Temple, and a so-called "Palace"--indicate that they are components of a ceremonial center.

Tiahuanacu is in the Bolivian Andes lying 12,500 feet (over 2 miles) above sea-level. It is located several miles from the shores of Lake Titicaca. Archeology in general dates the city at c. 200 A.D., but it was not always so. Its first investigator, Prof. Arthur Posnansky, a Polish engineer who dedicated fifty years to its study, dated its origins to 15,000 B.C. As we shall see, this date is based on the convergence of several varieties of physical and astronomical data. THE PORT OF PUMA PUNKU Strangely, Tiahuanacu appears to be a seaport (Posnansky, 1945), although the nearest body of water is Lake Titicaca, some 12-15 miles away (the distance depends on the level of the lake). There are several theories about how this happens to be. We will consider only one here. On the rock cliffs near the piers and warfs of the port area are yellow-white calcareous deposits forming long, straight lines indicating pre-historic water levels. These ancient shorelines are strangely tilted, although they must have once been level. The surrounding area is covered with millions of fossilized sea-shells. It appears, from the tilting of the ancient shoreline striations and the abundant presence of fossilized oceanic flora and fauna, that a tremendous uplift of land has taken place sometime in the ancient past. Geologists estimate that this happened roughly around 100 million years ago; but the data gathered from archeological and astronomical investigations indicate a different story. Photo courtesy of South American Pictures/Tony Morrison Oceanic creatures live to this day in abundance in the salty waters of the lake, indicating that it was once a part of the ocean, although it is now over 2 miles above sea-level. What appears to be the original seashore is strangely tilted, as if a tremendous geological upheaval has taken place. The port of Tiahuanacu, called Puma Punku or "Door of the Puma," is an area filled with enormous stone blocks scattered hither and yon like matchsticks, and weighing between 100 and 150 tons! One block still in place weighs an estimated 440 tons! One wonders, how were these blocks quarried, how were they transported from the quarries to the building site, and how did the builders manage to place these huge blocks so skillfully to form this massive complex of megalithic buildings? And above all, what tremendous forces of nature tumbled these gigantic stones over one another as if they were light as driftwood? Archeologists have not answered these questions. One of several large meticulously carved Andesite blocks at Puma Punku. (Photo by Holly Ahlberg, used by permission.) The blocks, many of them weighing upwards of 200 tons, are in some cases held together by large metalic, I-shaped couplers, rather than enterlocking shapes as at Sacsahuaman or at Cuzco. Others were held together by silver rivets. The system used here is reminiscent of that used in the Egyptian ruins on Elephantine Island on the Nile. Most researchers believe that the metal was actually poured into I-shaped slots carved into the rock. Some of the docks and piers in this area are so large that hundreds of ships could dock comfortably; yet there is nothing "oceanic" near these docks except a prehistoric coastline indicated by chalky deposits of ancient salt water fossils. Lake Titicaca, languishing miles away, is nearly 100 feet lower than the ruined docks. What tremendous geological upheaval has occurred in the last thousand years that could have tumbled these huge stones while heaving the entire altiplano region 2 miles into the sky? None at that recent date. But could a sudden, violent tilt of the axis of the earth occuring some 12,000 years ago have been responsible? Geologist will not admit to such an occurance in spite of the evidence (see my Geology and/or Paleontology page). THE CEREMONIAL CENTER A quarter of a mile or so northeast of the port area are the temples, pyramids and palaces of the main city of Tiahuanacu. (Recent excavation is turning up evidence of a population of 30,000 to 40,000 people, although this may represent a much later influx of settlers.) The main part of the city consists of several buildings. The placement and proximity of several of them--the Acapana Pyramid, the Kalasasaya, the semi-Subterranean Temple, and a so-called "Palace"--indicate that they are components of a ceremonial center. Map of the ceremonial center of Tiahuanacu. (Map redrawn from site report by Wendell C. Bennett.) The Acapana Pyramid is a step pyramid (found in Egypt as well as Mesoamerica), and is aligned perfectly with the cardinal directions. It originally had a covering of smooth Andesite stone, but 90% of that has disappeared. The ruinous state of the pyramid is due to its being used as a stone quarry for later buildings at La Paz. Its interior is honeycombed with shafts in a complicated grid pattern, which incorporates a system of weirs used to direct water from a tank on top, going through a series of levels, and finally ending up in a stone canal surrounding the pyramid. The function of this hydraulic system is baffling to archeologists, who have drummed up a number of theoretical explanations. Found Here: http://www.atlantisquest.com/prehistcity.html

Eric Fortune

Illustrator and gallery artist Eric Fortune creates images that are at once fantastical and emotionally immediate. His subjects, often elongated and in motion, seem isolated but straining to connect, adrift in worlds just beyond their understanding.

His paintings, are done in acrylic on watercolor paper, and always have a strong element of texture, complimenting his often muted palette and tonally complex compositions. Shadows and half light play a frequent role, with areas of illumination moving your eye to the core elements.

Fortune studied at Columbus College of Art and Design. His clients include Simon & Schuster, Tor Books, Harcourt Brace, Scholastic and Realms of Fantasy. Lately he has been focusing more in gallery work with showings at Opera Gallery (NY), Copro Nason Gallery (LA), LeBasse Projects (LA), Roq La Rue Gallery (Seattle), Gallery 1988 (LA) and others.

There is a step-by-step process of the image above, bottom on Arrested Motion, and a step through of another image on a blog post from Irene Gallo on Tor.com.

Fortune also has a blog, and there is a nice introductory gallery on the Tor.com site.

Found Here: http://www.linesandcolors.com/2010/02/05/eric-fortune/

Lyrical, haunting, yet poignant at the same time, Eric Fortune’s paintings make lasting impressions. These are characters who are neither out of place in the world, nor at home in it — they are characters wrapped in their own worlds. The emotionally complex metaphors Fortune paints are richly evocative. His imagery is quiet yet dynamic, and seasoned with a touch of surrealism that takes us to captivating places, beyond our everyday experience but filled with truth.

Packed with emotional nuances he creates soft yet riveting lighting and atmosphere. With uncompromising patience and discipline he slowly builds up his luminous characters and worlds until they radiate life.

And so what sometimes seems to be a simple image to the viewer becomes richer and richer as he or she becomes increasingly entranced by the emotional presences within the art. A true original, Fortune is emerging as a subtle yet powerful artistic voice.

Eric is an artist based out of Columbus, Ohio. He received his BFA from Columbus College of Art and Design where he was honored with the Outstanding Senior Award upon graduation. His work continued to garner acclaim with the acceptance into such prestigious annual competitions as The Society of Illustrators NY and LA as well as Spectrum and others. He was the Artist Guest of Honor for ConGlomeration and was recently awarded the Jack Gaughan Award for Best Emerging Artist of 2009.

Currently Eric is focusing his efforts on personal paintings and upcoming gallery shows. He has shown or will be showing at the Opera Gallery (NY), Copro Nason Gallery (LA), LeBasse Projects (LA), Roq La Rue Gallery (Seattle), Gallery 1988 (LA), and many others.

Found Here: http://www.ericfortune.com/bio