Zecharia Sitchin

“And so, starting with one word (Nefilim), I told the tale of the Anunnaki, “Those who from Heaven to Earth came”--space travelers and interplanetary settlers who came from their troubled planet to Earth in need of gold and ended up fashioning The Adam in their image. In doing so I brought them to life--recognizing them individually, unraveling their tangled relationships, describing their tasks, loves, ambitions, and wars--and identifying their inter-species offspring, the ‘demigods’.” [1]

It is with regret that we learn that Zecharia Sitchin passed away earlier this month at the age of 90. He was born in the Soviet Union, grew up in Palestine but spent a fair part of his life in New York writing a series of 14 books that retell the history and prehistory of mankind by weaving together threads from archaeology, the Bible, ancient Mesopotamian and Egyptian texts with up to date scientific discoveries. His first book, The 12th Planet (1976) launched the Earth Chronicles series promoting the ancient astronaut theory, (paleocontact), as an explanation for human origins, attributing the creation of the ancient Sumerian culture to the Anunnaki, which he claimed to be a race of extra-terrestrials from a planet beyond Neptune called Nibiru, on an elongated, elliptical orbit in the Earth's own Solar System.

Being able to read ancient Sumerian cuneiform tablets, Sitchin's writings treat ancient sources not as myth, but as true records of actual events, resulting in a reconstructed history of ancient astronauts, the gods from a distant planet and resulting bio-engineered earthlings. This mythological aspect of Sitchin's books fascinated a generation and perhaps explains the popularity of his books which continue to sell millions of copies worldwide.

Of course Sitchin's theories are not accepted by mainstream scientists and academics alike who class his unorthodox views as pseudo-history and pseudo-science, and debunked by claims of 'flawed methodology' and 'mistranslations of ancient texts' in addition to his 'speculative astronomical claims'; for example, some scholars argue that Jupiter is the planet associated with the god Marduk in Babylonian cosmology, not Nibiru as Sitchin asserts. Well they would wouldn't they – but what if Sitchin was right?

Sumerian Cylinder Seal
Zecharia Sitchin suggests that the star-shaped symbol and 11 other dots
represent the sun, moon and 10 planets, including the mysterious 12th planet Nibiru.

Sitchin's interpretation of Mesopotamian iconography and symbology found on clay tablets that were found in modern day Iraq, ancient Sumeria, being some of the oldest recorded writings known to mankind, were outlined in his book The 12th Planet and the further Earth Chronicle sequels, claiming his view is reflected in Sumerian mythology, that there is an undiscovered planet beyond Neptune, called Nibiru, which follows a long, elliptical orbit, crossing Earth's orbit and reaching the inner solar system roughly every 3,600 years.

Sitchin proposed that Nibiru's moons collided with another planet, Tiamat, once located between Mars and Jupiter, split in two and the resulting debris formed formed the planet Earth, the asteroid belt, and the comets. Nibiru, Sitchin's 'twelfth planet' owing to the Sumerians' conception of the Solar System of eight planets, plus Pluto, the Sun and the Moon, was the home of a technologically advanced extraterrestrial race called the Anunnaki of Sumerian myth. Sitchin identified the Anunnaki with the Nephilim of Genesis, and claimed they first arrived on Earth about 450,000 years ago in their search for minerals and gold. Sitchin saw the Anunnaki as a colonial expedition from Nibiru to planet Earth, being instrumental in the development of mankind by genetically engineering Homo erectus as slave workers to extract these minerals.

Since the release of The 12th Planet, Zecharia Sitchin has developed this hypothesis further in the seven other books of his Earth Chronicles series as well as a further six companion books, his last book There Were Giants Upon the Earth: Gods, Demigods and Human Ancestry, published in May 2010, in which he discloses the existence of physical evidence that can settle the issue of alien intervention on earth once and for all: Skeletal remains, discovered in the Royal Tombs of Ur, the remains of a goddess whose genetic lineages, which according to Sitchin involve Alien DNA.

The Mystery of Queen Puabi
Puabi's remains were unearthed from a tomb in present-day Iraq during the 1920s and 1930s, roughly the same time frame as the discovery and study of Tutankhamun's tomb in Egypt. Forensic experts at London's Natural History Museum determined that Puabi was about 40 years old when she died, and probably reigned as queen in her own right during the First Dynasty of Ur. Sitchin contends she was something more than a queen - specifically, that she was a 'nin', a Sumerian term which he interprets as 'goddess'.

In this book Sitchin proposes that Puabi was an ancient demigod, genetically related to the visitors from Nibiru, arguing that the story of Adam and Eve may actually refer to the aliens' genetic tinkering; the ancient myths suggesting that "whoever created us deliberately held back from us a certain thing - fruit, genes, DNA, whatever - not to give us health, longevity, and the immortality that they had. So what was it?"

Before he died Sitchin proposed that he was willing to stake everything he had ever written about alien astronauts on the results of DNA tests that could be performed on the 4,500 year old remains of the high status Sumerian woman; the long-dead Puabi's genome could contain the signature of the gods and demigods he's been writing about since 1976.

The Natural History Museum stated that any request to conduct DNA tests on Puabi's remains would have to come from "a researcher with recognized experience and skills in this field, or with access to the necessary facilities required to undertake ancient DNA analysis." [2]

In the introduction to There Were Giants Upon the Earth Sitchin summarises:

“I have been asked at times where my interests would have taken me were the teacher to compliment rather than reprimand me. In truth, I have asked myself a different question: What if indeed “there were giants upon the Earth, in those days and thereafter too”? The cultural, scientific, and religious implications are awesome; they lead to the next unavoidable questions: Why did the compilers of the Hebrew Bible, which is totally devoted to monotheism, include the bombshell verses, [Genesis, Chapter 6] in the prehistoric record--and what were their sources?

I believe that I have found the answer. Deciphering the enigma of the demigods (the famed Gilgamesh among them), I conclude in this book--my crowning oeuvre--that compelling physical evidence for past alien presence on Earth has been buried in an ancient tomb. It is a tale that has immense implications for our genetic origins--a key to unlocking the secrets of health, longevity, life, and death; it is a mystery whose unraveling will take the reader on a unique adventure”. [3]

Regardless of whether one agreed with his views or not, the impact of Sitchin's theories on alternative history cannot be denied. Always at odds with mainstream science, he opened new perspectives in the study of ancient civilisations; his boldness must be recognised in exploring the previously uncharted territory of genetic manipulation in human origins.

Hopefully, now he will have found the answers.

Zecharia Sitchin
11th July 1920 – 9th October 2010
RIP

*

Bibliography:

The Earth Chronicles series
The 12th Planet, 1976
The Stairway to Heaven, 1980
The Wars of Gods and Men, 1985
The Lost Realms, 1990
When Time Began, 1993
The Cosmic Code, 1998
The End of Days: Armageddon and Prophecies of the Return, 2008

Companion volumes
Genesis Revisited: Is Modern Science Catching Up With Ancient Knowledge?, 1990
Divine Encounters: A Guide to Visions, Angels and Other Emissaries, 1995
The Lost Book of Enki: Memoirs and Prophecies of an Extraterrestrial God, 2002
The Earth Chronicles Expeditions, 2004
Journeys to the Mythical Past, 2007 The Earth Chronicles Handbook, 2009 There Were Giants Upon the Earth: Gods, Demigods, and Human Ancestry: The Evidence of Alien DNA, 2010

DVD
Are We Alone in the Universe? (Genesis Revisited documentary 1978), 2003

Website:
www.sitchin.com


Notes:
1. Zecharia Sitchin, There Were Giants Upon the Earth. Bear & Co., 2010.
2. Unfortunately Zecharia Sitchin died before analysis could be carried out. However, further to his “Goddess of Ur Genome Project,” his publisher, Bear & Company (Inner Traditions) is spearheading a petition Demand the Evidence for Alien DNA appealing to the museum to allow the extraction of Puabi’s DNA for genetic testing.
3. Zecharia Sitchin, There Were Giants Upon the Earth. Bear & Co., 2010.

* * *

Before Fátima

The Key to the Gates of Heaven

Part II

There are many theories and speculations to what actually happened at Fátima during 1917. The Catholic Church have accepted they were visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary, others argue that unusual meteorological conditions caused the solar phenomena, and others propose Alien contact. But one thing that is beyond dispute is that events at Fátima occurred exactly as predicted.

The Pre-Apparition Angel
An event of some special significance seemed to be destined to happen on 13 May 1917. Not only had the event been predicted on the Spiritual Plane and released in the Portuguese press prior to the event, Lúcia had experienced sightings of an angel a couple of years previous. In the first of Lúcia's Memorias she claimed that angels appeared before the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1917 to prepare her for the visions. At the age of eight Lúcia saw her first Apparition in 1915.

April 1915, Lúcia was reciting the rosary near Fátima when she saw a human form shrouded in a white sheet suspended in the air over a small tree, looking like a statue made of snow that became quite transparent when struck by the rays of the sun. She did not seem to know how to explain it, she could not distinguish its features but described it as looking like a person shrouded in a sheet, without eyes or hand. In her first Memorias, written down in 1937, she said she judged it to have been an angel although it did not manifest in its entirety. She experienced this a second time and third time that year. The third occasion being in October.

In 1916, Lúcia experienced yet more pre-apparition events. While tending their sheep Lúcia and her friends took shelter from the rain in a cave. When the rain stopped they heard the rumble of a powerful wind and a white light appeared gliding through the valley above the tree tops. She saw the same figure shrouded in a sheet above the olive grove, but this time she began to make out his features and described it as a youth of incredible beauty, about 14 or 15 years of age, whiter than snow who became transparent like crystal in the sunlight. The youth identified himself as the “Angel of Peace”, then taught them a prayer before disappearing. The next appearance of the angel was during the summer and he commanded the children to offer prayers and sacrifices continually. The event left the children confused and helpless. Lúcia saw the same Angel again on a third occasion in October or September that year at the cave at Cabeso where he gave communion to her.

During interrogation of Lúcia by Canon Formigao, on 27 September 1916, he asked if she had seen a figure wrapped up in a white sheet the previous year. She was rather evasive and when asked if she was hiding something, she replied “I guess I am”. Lúcia said she did not know how to describe the figure she saw which appeared above a tree; it was neither Our lady or an angel. Lúcia did not seem sure what she had seen and the Cannon instructed her to keep silent about it as it might compromise the admirable work that had already been done with regard to Apparitions of the Most Holy Virgin. During the Church investigation Lúcia took an oath to testify that she saw nothing but Our Lady, but later she would produce accounts of apparitions of angels that were granted by God to prepare her for the visions of Mary.

The Psychic Component of Fátima
Typically, from the paranormal behaviour displayed at Fátima, and similar events, it is common to experience an association with psychic activities of various sorts. These events also encompass prophecy and loss of ordinary consciousness on the part of the witnesses – termed as the psychic component of contact with the paranormal.

However, as we have seen with the Apparitions of Angels these strange events did not start on 13 May 1917; the Fátima event was predicted beforehand by various persons in Portugal and reported in several newspapers.

A Sensational Revelation
On 13 May 1917 Porto’s most prominent newspaper 'The First of January' (O Primeiro de Janeiro), with the largest circulation in Northern Portugal at that time, printed a front-page story dated 11 May, two days before the occurrence of the first apparition at Fátima. The article claimed group of psychics in Porto had received distinct foreknowledge that something important “with respect to the war, of great transcendence and great consequences, would occur” on 13 May.

The prediction was not revealed until 13 May 1917 when it was printed in other major daily newspapers throughout Portugal. On the morning of the day of the apparitions, two more Porto newspapers, 'News Journal' (Jornal de Notícias) and 'Liberty' (Liberdade), published that something of major significance would be happening on that date. The text was dated two days previously and signed by a psychic named Antonio who's prediction stated: “On the 13th of this month, there will occur an event, with respect to the war, that will strongly impress all the world.”

Perhaps the most significant precognition was received a few months earlier that year on 7 February when a group of psychics which included a well known Portuguese medium called Carlos Calderon received a transmission from the Spiritual Plane in the form of automatic writing. During the meeting Calderon was given paper and pencil and began to write automatically, from right to left, but reversed so the message could not be read unless it was placed in front of a mirror, apart from the last phrase which seemed to have been written normally:

“Judge ye not. He who would judge you would not be pleased with your prejudice. Have ye faith and be ye patient. It is not our custom to predict the future. The mystery of the future is impenetrable, though at times God permits a corner of the veil to be lifted over that which it covers. Have ye confidence in our prophecy. The day of May 13th will be one of great happiness for the good souls of the world. Have ye faith and be ye good. Ego Sum Charitas (“I am Love”). Always at your side shall ye have your friends, who will guide your steps and who will assist ye in your work. Ego Sum Charitas. The brilliant light of the Morning Star will illuminate the path. ~ Stella Matutina”.

The group decided to record the minutes of the meeting so there could be “no doubt as to the veracity of the occurrence,” and put a discrete announcement in the Lisbon daily newspaper the 'Daily News' (Diário de Notícias) with the number “135917” and a small message on 10 March 1917 and published the message in the Lisbon newspaper, a full TWO MONTHS before the first apparition at Fatima on 13 May. Under the heading of a “Special Revelation” the message predicted “The day of May 13th will be one of great happiness for the good souls of the world”. The publication of the number, a cipher for the date 13 May 1917, seemed to hold special significance across the Spiritual Plane. [1]

Of course there are those who claim that these press releases prior to the Fátima event are part of a massive hoax and discounted by the Church who generally tend to hold all things “psychic” in total contempt. But the fact remains that the predictions of a major event on 13 May 1917 were printed in Portuguese national newspapers several months before they occurred. The mention of Stella Matutina indisputably linking the prediction to the Virgin Mary. What is more, there is no evidence to directly connect the psychics who received these messages foretelling of the events of 13 May with the the primary witnesses of Fátima; the three young shepherds.

The Morning Star
Stella Matutina is Latin for 'Morning Star' and and is one of the titles used in the 14th century Padua version of the Marian Litany of Loreto for the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Virgin was born as the day broke. In a 12th century Parisian manuscript we find the expressions Stella marina 'Star of the Sea' and lux matutina, 'light of the morning'. It is thought that the author of the Padua Litanies combined these two titles into one to become 'Stella Matutina'.

The title 'Star of the Sea', Stella Maris, is thought to have its origin in the Biblical passage 1 Kings 18:41-45, which speaks of a cloud above the sea seen from Mount Carmel as a sign of hope. Later the Stella Maris Monastery on Mount Carmel, Israel would become the foundation site of of The Carmelite Order. Perhaps as if destined, Sister Lucia would later enter the Carmelite Order becoming a Discalced Carmelite nun on 31 May 1949.

The 'Star of the Sea' is also the ancient title for Venus, the Celestial Virgin, used by seafarers and others associated with the sea. Traditionally dependant on the stars for navigation; ancient mariners put their trust in the protection and guidance of Our Lady, Star of the Sea, the ancient title for the Blessed Virgin Mary. Venus is universally associated with the sea, and with the Morning and Evening Star, bearing the title 'Star of the Sea'. The sacred flower of both the Virgin Mary and Venus is the rose, and indeed she was sometimes called simply 'Mari' meaning Mother or Sea-Goddess.

'Miriam', the Hebrew name of Mary, was interpreted by St. Jerome, who's 4th century translation of the Bible into Latin was known as the Vulgate version, as 'stilla maris', thought to have been miscopied from 'stella maris'. The evening hymn Ave Maris Stella, (Hail Star of the Sea), to the Virgin Mary, is of uncertain origin but thought to be dated to at least the 8th century. The first reliable use of the term 'stella maris' is found in the 9th century writings of Paschasius Radbertus who wrote of Mary, Star of the Sea.

However, Venus has been venerated as a goddess since ancient times.

Onto Part III: The Mound of the Goddess

*

Note:
1. Filipe Furtado de Mendonça – A Ray of Light on Fátima, 1974, cited in Joaquim Fernandes and Fina D'Armada, Celestial Secrets, Anomalist Books, 2007. In his booklet Furtado de Mendonça reproduced the transcript of the meeting together with facsimiles of the original pages of backwards script. Copies of this newspaper from March 10, 1917, can still be viewed with the announcement appearing on page 4, column 13, with the headline “135917,” indicating the date “13 May, 1917.”

* * *

The Key to the Gates of Heaven

"The solar phenomenon of October 13, 1917, described in the papers at the time, was something marvellous and caused a great impression upon those who had the happiness to witness it. The children had previously announced the day and the hour when it would occur. The news spread rapidly over the whole of Portugal, and despite the day being a tempestuous one, with copious rain, the thousands who had assembled at the hour of the final Apparition (October 13, 1917), witnessed all the manifestations of the sun, paying, as it were, homage to the Queen of Heaven and earth.

"This phenomenon, which no observatory had registered and which was therefore not a natural one, was observed by persons of all social ranks and classes, believers and unbelievers, journalists of the principal Portuguese dailies and even by persons kilometers away, all of which destroys the idea that it was a collective illusion”. - Jose, Bishop of Leiria, 13 October, 1930

What Happened at Fátima
On 13th October 1917 the last in a series of apparitions occurred at Fátima, a small village some eighty odd miles north of Lisbon in Portugal. The events at Fátima consist of a series of visions and prophecies proclaimed to have been delivered by an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to three young Portuguese shepherds, Lúcia Santos and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto, during the summer months of 1917, popularly known as Our Lady of Fátima, probably the most significant religious event of the 20th century.

The events have been well documented over the years and some accuse the Vatican of creating a conspiracy of cover ups over the content of the prophecies, known as the Three Secrets of Fátima. Although some 70,000 had witnessed the final apparition known as the “Miracle of the Sun” only the three shepherd children had claimed to have seen and heard the Blessed Virgin Mary who said a beautiful lady surrounded by a brilliant light first approached them while they tended their sheep on 13 May 1917.

The apparitions have been variously described as being caused by natural phenomena, Marian visitations or a classic case of alien contact. What happened at Fátima?

13 May 1917 - the first apparition.
Three children were alone watching their sheep when a bright flash took them by surprise. They walked toward a large hollow pasture called Cova da Iria (Cave of St Irene), known as an ancient sacred place. They found themselves caught in a glowing light so bright it almost blinded them. In the centre of this light they perceived a small woman, about 3' 6” (1.10m), who appeared to have the appearance of a fifteen year old, who spoke to them, requesting them to return to this same spot every month.

13 June 1917 – second apparition
Word had spread about the first apparition and about fifty people were at Cova da Iria this time. They watched while the young shepherds knelt before the observation. Lúcia, the eldest, addressed an unseen entity whose answers were not heard by others in the group. One witness described perceiving a faint voice or the faint buzzing noise of a bee. As the dialogue came to an end all the witnesses reported hearing an explosion and saw a small cloud rise from near a tree, the point were all future manifestations would occur.

13 July 1917 – third apparition
About 4500 people had turned out this month to witness the event which turned out to be quite remarkable in several respects; some spectators could see enough to provide detailed descriptions of the phenomena, including a buzzing or humming sound, a decrease in the sun's glow and heat, a small whitish cloud over the vicinity of the tree and a loud noise at the end of the manifestation at the Little Lady's departure. Around noon, the Little Lady appeared and is said to have entrusted the children with three secrets. The three young shepherds were shown a vision of hell that terrified them and were given a specific prophecy announcing further apparitions

13 August 1917 – fourth apparition
For the fourth apparition the crowd had grown to 18,000 people. Lúcia claimed they had been “imprisoned” by a local official who had decided it was time to put an end to all this “nonsense”.
A few days later, after being released, the children were tending their sheep near Aljutrel, when they noticed a sudden drop in temperature. They said the sun turned a yellowish hue, then once again the colours of the rainbow filled the countryside. It was later ascertained that adults in the vicinity had experienced the rainbow effect also. A clap of thunder was heard followed by a bright flash. Then a small whitish cloud was forming around the tree. It hovered for a few minutes then rose and melted away. A glowing light came to settle on the tree and the Little Lady appeared clothed in white and gold, standing in the middle of the glow. A dialogue followed in which the children were asked to make “sacrifices for sinners”. After about ten minutes the entity left with a roaring sound heading slowly eastward. The clouds in the sky are reported to have turned crimson red, changing to pink, yellow and then blue, “like a rainbow” with the clouds around the sun reflecting all these different colours. Then witnesses saw “falling flowers”. Some reported seeing a “luminous globe spinning through the clouds.”

13 September 1917 – fifth apparition
A reported 30,000 people had turned out for the fifth apparition. As noon approached the sun became dimmer although no clouds were in the sky. Thousands were heard to cry out “there she is” as a globe of light advanced slowly down the valley from east to west towards the children. A white cloud formed and out of the sky shiny white “petals” began to fall. One witness provided the following description of events:

“As the people stare at this strange sight they soon notice that the falling, glistening globules, contrary to the laws of perspective, grow smaller and smaller as they near them. And when they reach out their hands and hats to catch them they find that they have somehow melted away”.

Again, the children saw the Little Lady in the centre of the globe and the dialogue began once more between her Lúcia resumed. The lady repeated the promise of a miracle on the 13 October then the globe of light rose and disappeared in to the sun.

13 October – final apparition
Despite the pouring rain for the sixth apparition a crowd of 70,000 had assembled. A flash of light at noon, together with a sweet fragrance, preceded the final manifestation. Again the children entered into dialogue with the Little Lady. Witnesses noted the dramatic change on the three children's faces as they became enraptured by the vision.


The October miracle occurred as the manifestation left Cova da Iria and lasted twelve minutes. The rain suddenly stopped and the heavy clouds parted, the sun appearing as a disk of brilliant of silver turning rapidly on its own axis casting off beams of coloured light in all directions. Shafts of red light were emitted from the edge of the sun's disk and reflecting on the clouds and people below. Revolving shafts of violet, blue, yellow and other coloured light followed in succession. Witness reports make mention of a “flat disk” rather than a globe, which after a while stopped spinning and suddenly plunged downwards towards the earth in zig-zag fashion. Witnesses believed this was the end of times and knelt in the mud and began to pray. Then, finally, the disk seemed to reverse its motion and disappeared in to the sun. The amazed crowd suddenly realised there clothes were now dry.

However, although the manifestations of the Little Lady came to an end on 13 October 1917 the strange aerial phenomena continued at Fátima ;

02 February 1918, solar phenomena seen on the sun identical to those of 13 October the previous year.
13 May 1918, twelve months after the apparitions started, white balls were seen descending from the sky.
13 June 1918, further solar phenomena, seen by a witness who experienced the Miracle of the Sun on 13 October 1917.
13 October 1992, solar phenomena, said to be similar to those of 13 October 1917.
13 May 1923, solar phenomena, coloured lights, falling petals.
13 May 1925, solar phenomena petals seen falling from the sky.
13 October 1925, solar phenomena; shadowy sphere rotating at the centre of the sun.

Similar sightings of aerial phenomena and falling petals were seen on occasion in the sky in the region for several years to follow.

The Vatican launched an intensive inquiry which lasted about 13 years. They concluded that, as there were witnesses of the meteorological events from several miles away and outside of the crowd, the actual sighting could not be dismissed as "mass hysteria" and were officially declared "worthy of belief" by the Catholic Church in in a pastoral letter released on 13 October 1930 by Jose, Bishop of Leiria which announced the results of the official canonical inquiry on the apparitions, and officially permitted devotion to Our Lady of Fátima:

"In virtue of the considerations explained, and others which we omit for brevity's sake, humbly invoking the Divine Spirit and placing our confidence in Mary most holy, after taking the opinion of the Rev. Consultors of our Diocese, we have the pleasure:

First, to declare as worthy of credence the visions of the children in Cova da Iria, parish of Fátima, of this Diocese on the days of 13th May to October, 1917;

Secondly, to permit officially the devotion of Our Lady of Fátima”.

The Catholic Church seems quite clear in its interpretation that these events were indeed the Blessed Virgin Mary. However, there must be serious doubt on the Church's interpretation of these being Marian apparitions and “miracles”. Where there is no doubt that it happened as it was witnessed by some 70,000 people, the so-called “Miracle of the Sun” had been predicted several months previous by the three shepherd children following their vision of the Little Lady dressed in white and gold. The children were instructed to return to the same spot every month until October when a miracle would occur so that “everyone may believe”.

Others are not so sure and sceptics are of course eager to provide alternative explanations. One such theory is that the visions were the product of seismic activity. Fátima lies in a geologically active area only 80 miles distant form the scene of Europe's most devastating earthquake at Lisbon in 1755. Earthquake lights, are an unusual luminous aerial phenomenon, that are said to appear in the sky at or near areas of tectonic stress, seismic activity, or volcanic eruptions. It was not until the 1960's that the link was accepted after photographic evidence was produced in Japan. Earthquake lights are reported to have shapes similar to those of the auroras, with a white to bluish hue, but occasionally having a wider colour spectrum. The luminosity can be visible for several seconds or last for several minutes. However, there was no abnormal seismic activity recorded at the time of the manifestations in Fátima and is it highly improbable, if not impossible, that it could occur six months in succession on the 13th day of each month exactly as predicted.

Another common suggestion is that it was a dust cloud blown up from the Sahara that caused the sun to appear to shift and change colour. It has also been proposed that The Miracle of the Sun was the result of a “Sun Dog”, also known as a “mock sun” or parhelion, that creates bright spots of light in the sky, often on a luminous ring or halo on either side of the sun. Sun Dog's are a relatively common atmospheric phenomenon caused by the refraction of sunlight through ice crystals found in certain cloud formations, which act as prisms, bending the light rays passing through them. They are most conspicuous when the sun is low and they always remain at the same altitude as the sun. However, this fails to explain the zig-zag motion of the flat disk at different altitudes to the sun and The Miracle of the Sun occurred at noon when the sun was at its zenith.

Abnormal solar activity has been dismissed as a explanation as no unusual or atmospheric conditions were reported anywhere except within 40 miles of Fátima. Mass hallucination has also been discounted as a viable explanation owing to the repeated and predicted series of apparitions.

Most explanations of the events at Fátima, even that of the Church, tend to concede that it involved non-human intelligences. Ufologists see the behaviour of the strange aerial phenomena as conforming to typical alien interaction claiming that the occurrences at Fátima were the first major alien contact of the 20th century. But events at Fátima are much more than just a series of UFO sightings.

Onto Part II: Before Fátima

* * *

Boy with the Amber Necklace came from Wessex

Widely reported last week (28th September 2010) was the news that archaeologists had uncovered the remains of a Bronze Age teenager from the Mediterranean area who died 3,550 years ago and was buried near Stonehenge adorned with an amber necklace.

The Boy with the Amber Necklace
The remains of the teenager discovered next to a Bronze Age burial mound at Boscombe Down, who has become known as the "Boy with the Amber Necklace," was found in 2005, about 5km south-east of Stonehenge but does not seem to have been widely reported at the time with the recent press release giving the impression it is a new archaeological discovery. [1]

However, what is new is the results of recent analysis of the tooth enamel of the teenager indicated that he grew up around the Mediterranean Sea placing him amongst the group of people known to have travelled long distances to visit Stonehenge, joining the Boscombe Bowmen, perhaps a 'band of brothers' from a collective Bronze Age grave. Tooth enamel analysis of the Bowmen suggests these people could have come from Wales or Brittany, if not further afield. Analysis of tooth enamel of the Amesbury Archer, discovered around 5km from Stonehenge, indicated that he probably spent his childhood in the German Alpine region before travelling to ancient Wessex.

Jane Evans of the British Geological Survey said of the teenager, "He's around 14 or 15 years old and buried with this beautiful necklace," adding“the position of his burial, the fact he's near Stonehenge, and the necklace all suggest he's of significant status”. Professor Evans compares Stonehenge in the Bronze Age to Westminster Abbey today - a place where the "great and the good" were buried.

Much significance has been placed on the amber necklace, Dr Andrew Fitzpatrick, of Wessex Archaeology, told BBC News, that such finds are not common and that the teenager was of some importance. Dr Fitzpatrick said, “The beginning of the Bronze Age was a period of great mobility across Europe. People, ideas, objects are all moving very fast for a century or two but at the time when the boy with the amber necklace was buried, there are really no new technologies coming in [to Britain]... We need to turn to look at why groups of people - because this is a youngster - are making long journeys."

He speculated: "They may be travelling within family groups... They may be coming to visit Stonehenge because it was an incredibly famous and important place, as it is today. But we don't know the answer."

Amber, fossilized tree resin, from the Baltic Sea has been extensively traded since antiquity. The Baltic coast around Königsberg in Lithuanian (formerly Prussia) was the world's leading source of amber. In ancient times Amber was probably collected by hand from coastal regions were it is ripped up from the seabed washed ashore by the tides. It is estimated that about ninety per cent of the world's extractable amber is still located on the Baltic coast.

Was the Boy with the Amber Necklace from the Mediterranean?
Contact with the Mediterranean seems certain with the discovery of carvings, mainly of axes and a dagger being recognised on three of the sarsens of Stonehenge in 1953. The shape of the dagger is similar to weapons found far away in southern Greece and today it is generally agreed that it is in the form of a Mycenae dagger. Archaeologists generally consider that the knowledge flow was from Greece to Britain, indeed in the nineteenth century the suggestion was made that Stonehenge was built by Mycenaeans. However, as Stonehenge is much older than the Mycenaean culture the knowledge transmission would seem to be in the other direction; ancient Greek science, including Pythagoras, born around 540 BC, probably originated in Europe - the exact reverse. [2]

According to the British Geological Survey the chemical tests on the teeth of the teenager suggest he grew up around the Mediterranean Sea. This conclusion is reached from analysis of different forms of the elements oxygen and strontium in his tooth enamel which forms in a child's first few years, thereby storing a chemical record of the environment in which the individual grew up. These two chemical elements found in enamel - oxygen and strontium - exist in different forms, or isotopes. The ratios of these isotopes can be use to determine where a person originated; drinking water containing a higher ratio of heavy oxygen (O-18) in warmer climates, to light oxygen (O-16) found in cold climates.

In addition, most rocks carry a small amount of the element strontium and the isotope ratio found in tooth enamel can provide information on the geological setting where an individual grew up. The ratio of strontium 87 and strontium 86 isotopes varies according to local geology.
However, the exact location where the Boy with the Amber Necklace grew up has not yet been determined; all we have to go on is that the oxygen isotope ratio indicates the boy grew up in a significantly warmer climate than Boscombe Down, a climate found for example in the Mediterranean area.

The Boy from Wessex

As part of Salisbury Museum's 150th Anniversary Conference on 2nd October, an archaeological debate entitled 'Solving Stonehenge' was held between leading Stonehenge archaeologists who have all directed work within the Stonehenge landscape over the last 30 years but hold conflicting opinions on the role of the monument. Chaired by Andrew Lawson, the panel consisted of Timothy Darvill, Mike Parker Pearson, Mike Pitts and Julian Richards.

Mike Parker Pearson informed the conference that 'The Boy with the Amber Necklace' is almost certainly NOT from the Mediterranean, despite the press reports this week. Parker Pearson stated the British Geological Survey were initially of the opinion that the oxygen isotope value compared closely with those of the Mediterranean area, and consequently the press release was prepared before the Beaker Isotope Project had reviewed the data, who determined that the teenager sits right in the middle of the Wessex Group. [3]

'The Boy with the Amber Necklace' came from Wessex.

*

UPDATE JULY 2012
Since writing this post, over two years ago, I have sought verification of Mike Parker Pearson's comments that the 'Boy with the Amber Necklace' did in fact come from Wessex. I have not found any other source supporting his comments.

However, with the publication of Mike's book Stonehenge: Exploring the Greatest Stone Age Mystery in June 2012, he explains the unusual oxygen isotope signature of the Early Bronze Age skeleton known as the 'boy with the amber necklace'. On page 214, he states:

"....at first glance his oxygen isotope values are much higher than would be expected for anyone living east of Land's End in Cornwall. Yet, when the archaeological scientists compared the results of ALL his isotopes with those of the Beaker People Project's individuals from Wessex, it became clear that he was actually a local, one of many whose origins were on the Wessex chalk. The mystery is why the Wessex chalk-dwellers, and indeed all of the Beaker people in the study, have such high oxygen values relative to the regions where they had grown up. The project has clearly discovered a problem with the calibration. A likely explanation for the unusual values can be traced to what these people were drinking."

Oxygen isotope values are mapped geographically from below-ground water that supplies rivers and streams. However, values of 'processed' water from rainwater, milk, beer or boiled food for example, from these same areas would be quite different and yield significantly higher values than ordinary drinking water. It would appear that people's liquid diet has a major effect on their oxygen isotope values.

Time to Rethink the Beaker Culture

Pre-historians tell us that late in the Neolithic period, c.2500 BC, an influx of people, physically different from the indigenous people, being shorter and more round-headed, from Europe came to settle in the South West of Britain. These newcomers have been called the Beaker People because of the shape of the pottery vessels found in their round barrow graves. They brought metal-working skills with them and buried their dead individually, which until this period had been communal. Originally thought to be invaders but now considered more likely to be  immigrants.

Clearly much of the convential wisdom of the Beaker Culture in Britain is wrong as the 'Boy with the Amber Necklace' being from Wessex demonstrates. We really should not assume the spread of a culture is evidence of invasion or migration; it is time to reconsider the Beaker People in Britain.

Notes:
1. 'Stonehenge boy was from the Med'. BBC News 28 September 2010
& British Geological Survey Press Release 28 September 2010.
2. Pythagorean geometry is seen in many megalithic constructions of the British Isles.
See: The Apollo Code – Anne Macaulay.
3. Report on the Solving Stonehenge Debate.

* * *