Spain Continues Plunder of Peru

Posted on February 26, 2012 by Darrick Dean

After a legal battle, gold found in a sunken Spanish warship, from the days when they still had colonies in South America, arrived in Spain. If I understand correctly, because this is a warship, international law states Spain has rights to it and the discoverers do not. Perhaps, but what about Peru? This gold was taken from them after the Spanish forcibly took their country and destroyed the Inca civilization.

So centuries later, Spain apparently sees no problem with this dark chapter in its history and continues its legacy of stealing treasure. Perhaps if this were really an enlightened age, they would give it back.

Categories: Ancient America, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

John Carter of Mars

Posted on February 11, 2012 by Darrick Dean

If you’ve seen the movie previews of John Carter and the name is not familiar, you’ve missed out on an epic sci-fi series. The classic eleven-book series from Edgar Rice Burroughs, written decades ago, was ahead of its time. During the era when Mars was still the subject of many a fantasy and full of life, Burroughs created this swashbuckling adventure. John Carter, earthling and Civil War vet, finds himself somehow on Mars (Barsoom) in the midst of a war. Fantasy, sci-fi and high adventure form these best of Burroughs’ works, even though he is often better remembered for Tarzan and The Land that Time Forgot. Hopefully, the film-makers do the first book justice and we can look forward to more.

All eleven books in four volumes: Books 1-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-11.

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Mysteries of Arizona

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Darrick Dean

I dug out of the archives an article I wrote awhile back on the ancient world of Arizona’s past. Part travelogue, some history and of course a few lessons for today. Enjoy.

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Viking Ghosts

Posted on December 29, 2011 by Darrick Dean

I’ve discussed here and in books about the Viking voyages to America prior to Columbus. Once thought fanciful, ruins discovered in Canada in the 1960s changed all that. Yet any potential Viking finds other than these ruins are viewed with intense skepticism. True, science needs to weed out frauds. However, historians acknowledge the Norse visited here for centuries, so what’s the possibility of other artifacts?

At Last Kings of Norse America, cases for the authenticity of long-debated runestones found here are presented.

I’ve mentioned before the Newport Tower, which is detailed at length here. Many believe this to have been built by the Norsemen.

So what was their impact and scope in the Americas? Did these accomplished explorers that once traveled much of Europe only build one short-lived settlement and leave?

Someday, perhaps, we’ll know.

Categories: Ancient America | Tags: , , , | 2 Comments

To the End of the Universe

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Darrick Dean

So I was strolling around in one of those overstock/surplus stores and this particular one has a large books section. New books, cheap. Every once in a while one finds a treasure digging through the stacks. A hardback sci-fi trilogy by Chris Walley caught my attention.

Never heard of it. Nice hardcover editions, though. Someone invested in these. All the comparisons to Tolkien and Lewis a bit much, as are the hokey nameless internet reviews on the back. Well, I’ll buy the first one and see how it goes. Haven’t had much luck with sci-fi lately.

Needless to say, I went back and bought the other two. Walley’s series is a genuine, sci-fi epic. Original and engrossing. Mankind thousands of years into the future has settled among the stars. Conflict and evil are virtually unheard of.

Of course, that all changes.

How Walley shows evil’s subtle re-entry into the universe and its effect on people is a unique perspective. Epic action abounds. There is a religious worldview in the background, but to label this “Christian Fiction” does it a disservice (no one labels The Lord of the Rings that way and rarely the Narnia books even though the parallels are more obvious), because the way publishing works that means it probably won’t be on the sci-fi shelf.

Thus many will miss this bright spot in the sci-fi world. For those of you afraid of such things, the religion is neither preachy or contrived nor overwhelming. Walley does it the right way and his beliefs inform his work, not overpower it.

So if you are in need for an escape to another part of the universe, check these out soon:

The Shadow and Night
The Dark Foundations
The Infinite Day

Categories: Books, Writing | Tags: , , | 2 Comments

History…or Something of Christmas Cards

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Darrick Dean

In my latest entry on Christmas history I was going to discuss Christmas cards, but it’s not that exciting. The tradition started in the 1800s and for more you’ll have to Yahoo! it. It is, however, a great tradition, beyond being the yearly end-of-year bailout for the USPS.

It lets people know you are still alive, not having made contact since the previous year. Some say the electronically-connected society we live in is making this tradition obsolete. Afterall, everyone is constantly texting, Facebooking and what ever other -ing they do (blogging would be another). For some, perhaps. For others, even with all of this stuff they still can’t seem to find the time to communicate. Others have lost the ability to function socially face-to-face with other humans entirely.

Christmas cards force people to remember how to use the mailbox and perhaps dust off some handwriting skills. Or at least use the printer. Of course there is the age-old dilemma, “Do we send one to people who didn’t send one last year?”

It’s kind of funny during the season of love that our loving side and belligerent side still find time to argue. Sure, we may reason, “Why bother when we haven’t heard from them in months?” I say that is the best reason to send them out.

On the other hand, I don’t want to bailout the USPS and the mess they created, but hey, it’s about the only time of year we buy stamps anymore.

So if you haven’t yet, you still have time to buy some cards and stamps and let people know you are still holding up somewhere.

Maybe it might even make someone happy.

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Looking for the Empire of Atlantis

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Darrick Dean

Early this year, we learned of a possible location of Atlantis in Spain. For centuries, the elusive legend told to us by Plato has been studied, researched and ridiculed by countless people. Does Atlantis have any roots in history? It has become almost a taboo subject because so many people have incorporated it into their wild theories — everything from aliens to some super-advanced civilization flying planes and spaceships.

Gavin Menzies has now entered the fray with his new book, The Lost Empire of Atlantis. His main theory – Atlantis was based on the destroyed Minoan civilization – is not new. What is new is his detailed effort of showing the scope of this lost empire and why its destruction could very well be the basis for Atlantis.

It’s an intriguing idea. The destruction of the Minoans was part of a series of catastrophes that ended the bronze age. To some extent the turmoil of the times erased much of the past into myth. We know the ancients weren’t primitives and disasters did change the course of history more than once. And was it the Minoans that mined the “missing” copper in Michigan? Another age-old mystery.

We may never know the answers for sure, but history may surprise us yet and teach us a thing or two (like nature can reach out and nuke us anytime it wants).

Categories: Legend, Mysteries, Prehistory | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

“The Myth of 2012”

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Darrick Dean

The current issue (Winter 2011/2012) of American Archaeology has a great article that all 2012 enthusiasts should read. Find out about the one (and only) vague Mayan 2012 reference. Learn that most believe this is simply an end of their calendar cycle, not the end of the world. Also see how 2012 has been made into a commercial opportunity, much like Y2K.

It’s going to be a fun year as the 2012 business gears up. I’m already having flashbacks to 2000. Stay tuned for more.

P.S. I fully expect the return of End Times Hysteria surrounding creative interpretations of Revelation and other biblical books. To head this off, try End Times Fiction and The Apocalypse Code.

Categories: Ancient America, Native Americans | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Easter Island, End of the World or Gateway to America?

Posted on December 3, 2011 by Darrick Dean

For decades, the study of the settlement of the Americas has focused on entry through Alaska or, to a lesser extent, across the Atlantic. To look at the Pacific and its distant islands, it would seem ancient travel was “impossible.”

Yet we have known for decades that it is possible and did happen.

Most famously, the remote Easter Island is covered in hundreds of statues from a lost culture. Many other islands across the Pacific have ruins of structures, megaliths and statuary. Cultures who arrived in dugouts created all of this?

The diversity in American native cultures (especially South America) have led people to start re-examining the Pacific routes. We already know that certain foods and animals were introduced to the Americas this way. Now the attempt to discover who and how many of these people were there. Where did they come from? And how much of the legends of ancient America of travelers and light-skinned people are rooted in truth?

There are many studies of this out there, to start: Axis of the World traces peoples who crossed the Pacific, some possibly from India. The Statues that Walked zeros in on Easter Island, the possible remote last outpost of a dead civilization.

Are the Pacific ruins markers of a lost oceanic trail? Or are they remains of a destroyed Pacific civilization? Perhaps we will never know, but we do know something happened out there.

Categories: Ancient America, Ancient Sites, Forgotten Places, Mysteries, Native Americans, Prehistory | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

“Out of Africa” Origins Theory in Question, Again

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Darrick Dean

Ancient artifacts found in the Arabian Peninusula are altering the origins of early man.

Notice that genetics show man appeared 70,000 years ago in Arabia, give or take a few thousand, and these finds seem to support that (and push the date to the earliest that genetics usually allows for). Adherents to the “Out of Africa” theory, however, continue to make a leap of faith and connect the two (Africa and Arabia). Why? Not because of progressive evidence connecting the two, but because the philosophical underpinnings of their theory demands it. This really isn’t science. For more on the controversy of man’s origins, see Who was Adam?.

Categories: Ancient Sites, Critical Thinking, Origins of Man, Prehistory | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

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