Probably the worst day in history
April 22, 2017 7:47 AM Subscribe
Computer models date ancient catastrophe Recent analysis of carvings from the Vulture Stone may indicate ancient astronomers in modern Turkey recording a strike by comet fragments. The strikes likely induced a mini-ice age. The symbol of a headless man may symbolize great loss of life.
More information on the Gobekli Tepe archaeological site.
At first glance I saw a critter with eight zig-zag legs and talks of stardust and thought, damn, that guy had a long career.
Nah, it's a scorpion.
posted by adept256 at 8:11 AM on April 22, 2017 [4 favorites]
Nah, it's a scorpion.
posted by adept256 at 8:11 AM on April 22, 2017 [4 favorites]
Computer models date ancient catastrophe
I mean, computer dating isn't news anymore, and besides, that's a hell of a way to talk about your ex.
posted by a car full of lions at 8:33 AM on April 22, 2017 [31 favorites]
I mean, computer dating isn't news anymore, and besides, that's a hell of a way to talk about your ex.
posted by a car full of lions at 8:33 AM on April 22, 2017 [31 favorites]
But it seems unlikely that a Chemical Engineer has the appropriate context and expertise for this kind of work.
As a Chemical Engineer, I agree entirely with this assessment, and as someone who delightedly hate-watches Ancient Aliens I am so into this. I've literally only heard of Gobekli Tepe through fantastical conspiracy theories involving aliens, I can't wait until someone weaves this comet theory into some broader chariots of the gods narrative.
posted by selenized at 8:49 AM on April 22, 2017 [6 favorites]
As a Chemical Engineer, I agree entirely with this assessment, and as someone who delightedly hate-watches Ancient Aliens I am so into this. I've literally only heard of Gobekli Tepe through fantastical conspiracy theories involving aliens, I can't wait until someone weaves this comet theory into some broader chariots of the gods narrative.
posted by selenized at 8:49 AM on April 22, 2017 [6 favorites]
Oh I think we're already in Ancient Aliens territory. The Telegraph article where I first saw this stuff explicitly says "The idea had been originally put forward by author Graham Hancock in his book Magicians of the Gods." I'm not up on my fake archaeology woo so I don't know of van Danikan and Hancock are buds or mortal enemies or what, but I think they sipped from the same ergot-contaminated-well.
posted by Nelson at 9:19 AM on April 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Nelson at 9:19 AM on April 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
The whole "Clovis Comet" theory (same comet as this one) has been fairly substantially disproven, or, the evidence proposed for it has been seriously questioned at least. But anyway, there's something like 150 pillars at Gobekli Tepe and only one has a "comet".
Anyway, the Journal is a minor journal but appears real enough, and says it is peer-reviewed. It has numerous credible articles. The article in question can be downloaded here (PDF). A huge amount of it appears to me to be pure projection of handbags and frogs and belt buckles and zoomorphs and constellations. I wouldn't rule out an astronomical significance to this site, which is indeed one of the most important sites in the world, but you really need something rock-solid for this kind of argument, like the solar alignments at many Neolithic and Pueblo/Anasazi sites.
"The idea had been originally put forward by author Graham Hancock in his book Magicians of the Gods. " Enough said?
posted by Rumple at 9:24 AM on April 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
Anyway, the Journal is a minor journal but appears real enough, and says it is peer-reviewed. It has numerous credible articles. The article in question can be downloaded here (PDF). A huge amount of it appears to me to be pure projection of handbags and frogs and belt buckles and zoomorphs and constellations. I wouldn't rule out an astronomical significance to this site, which is indeed one of the most important sites in the world, but you really need something rock-solid for this kind of argument, like the solar alignments at many Neolithic and Pueblo/Anasazi sites.
"The idea had been originally put forward by author Graham Hancock in his book Magicians of the Gods. " Enough said?
posted by Rumple at 9:24 AM on April 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
What a bunch of skeptics, TFA has a flipping picture of the comet impact that was obviously taken from orbit. Teach the controversy!
posted by ActingTheGoat at 9:46 AM on April 22, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by ActingTheGoat at 9:46 AM on April 22, 2017 [4 favorites]
I WANT TO BELIEVE
posted by yhbc at 9:48 AM on April 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by yhbc at 9:48 AM on April 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
Gobekli Tepe previously: 1, 2, 3.
The fact that this place exists is mind-boggling.
posted by homunculus at 11:20 AM on April 22, 2017 [7 favorites]
The fact that this place exists is mind-boggling.
posted by homunculus at 11:20 AM on April 22, 2017 [7 favorites]
Computer models date ancient catastrophe
“. . . and when we dug down to this strata, right below the black carbon layer, we found a ZX81 — confirming our carbon dating and narrowing it down to within a 100-year period between . . .”
posted by D.C. at 12:58 PM on April 22, 2017 [5 favorites]
“. . . and when we dug down to this strata, right below the black carbon layer, we found a ZX81 — confirming our carbon dating and narrowing it down to within a 100-year period between . . .”
posted by D.C. at 12:58 PM on April 22, 2017 [5 favorites]
but I think they sipped from the same ergot-contaminated-well.
And just like that, I've got a new favorite expression.
posted by leotrotsky at 2:03 PM on April 22, 2017
And just like that, I've got a new favorite expression.
posted by leotrotsky at 2:03 PM on April 22, 2017
A very quick skim of the paper suggests a whole lot of conclusion-leaping when it comes to interpreting the symbols on the stone.
What do they make of the line of car doors at the top of the rock?
posted by ZenMasterThis at 2:17 PM on April 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
What do they make of the line of car doors at the top of the rock?
posted by ZenMasterThis at 2:17 PM on April 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
Surely this can be correlated with Lemurian records?
posted by The Gaffer at 2:58 PM on April 22, 2017
posted by The Gaffer at 2:58 PM on April 22, 2017
...but I think they sipped from the same ergot-contaminated-well.
And you can get this in bottled form ?
posted by y2karl at 3:34 PM on April 22, 2017
And you can get this in bottled form ?
posted by y2karl at 3:34 PM on April 22, 2017
This story is fantasist nonsense, right?
This comet theory may be. But these guys are hardly lone rangers. There is a ton of evidence that something very major happened in this 'Younger Dryas' era. Along with loads of theories, of which impacts are one, a massive release of freshwater is another.
EG There's a carbon-rich black layer, dating to ~12.9 kya, has been previously identified at ~50 Clovis-age sites across North America. (PNAS article)(Younger Dryas impact)(Widespread platinum) ... and that's just touching on it.
posted by Twang at 5:07 PM on April 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
This comet theory may be. But these guys are hardly lone rangers. There is a ton of evidence that something very major happened in this 'Younger Dryas' era. Along with loads of theories, of which impacts are one, a massive release of freshwater is another.
EG There's a carbon-rich black layer, dating to ~12.9 kya, has been previously identified at ~50 Clovis-age sites across North America. (PNAS article)(Younger Dryas impact)(Widespread platinum) ... and that's just touching on it.
posted by Twang at 5:07 PM on April 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
There is that wall of lava that came over the sandstone and down into Snow Canyon about that time. There are those meteor craters on the coast of Yemen. All kinds of stuff has gone on here, during recorded history. Surely someone took notice. Inanna was asking God about the fire from the sky. I more want to know than believe. Oh ye of the superior sheepskin, just let the investigation continue.
posted by Oyéah at 6:18 PM on April 22, 2017
posted by Oyéah at 6:18 PM on April 22, 2017
The Telegraph article where I first saw this stuff explicitly says "The idea had been originally put forward by author Graham Hancock in his book Magicians of the Gods."My first thought reading the first paragraph or so, was "Graham Hancock's gonna love this, he has this big theory about an impact about that long ago."
My second thought, reading this ---:
One image of a headless man is thought to symbolise human disaster and extensive loss of life.-- was, "this smells like bullshit."
posted by edheil at 7:50 PM on April 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
And you can get this in bottled form ?
...maybe? Does anyone really know what kombucha actually is?
posted by sebastienbailard at 8:54 PM on April 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
...maybe? Does anyone really know what kombucha actually is?
posted by sebastienbailard at 8:54 PM on April 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
I had Kombucha earlier today, and I am still alive, I was not struck by meteorites, large, or small.
posted by Oyéah at 9:50 PM on April 22, 2017
posted by Oyéah at 9:50 PM on April 22, 2017
The Gobelki Tepe research team responds with understated ridicule:
A purely substitutional interpretation ignores these more subtle but significant details. This also can be demonstrated for instance with the headless man on the shaft of Pillar 43, interpreted as symbol of death and mass extinction in the paper – however silently omitting the emphasised phallus in the same depiction which somehow contradicts the lifeless notion and implies a much more complex narrative behind these reliefs.
posted by Rumple at 10:31 AM on April 23, 2017 [6 favorites]
A purely substitutional interpretation ignores these more subtle but significant details. This also can be demonstrated for instance with the headless man on the shaft of Pillar 43, interpreted as symbol of death and mass extinction in the paper – however silently omitting the emphasised phallus in the same depiction which somehow contradicts the lifeless notion and implies a much more complex narrative behind these reliefs.
posted by Rumple at 10:31 AM on April 23, 2017 [6 favorites]
MetaFilter: silently omitting the emphasised phallus
posted by Nelson at 3:11 PM on April 23, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Nelson at 3:11 PM on April 23, 2017 [3 favorites]
For real science and history, 774–775 carbon-14 spike is interesting.
...posted by sebastienbailard at 8:09 PM on April 23, 2017 [3 favorites]
The 774–775 Carbon-14 Spike is an observed increase of 1.2% in the concentration of carbon-14 isotope in tree rings dated to the years 774 or 775 CE, which is about 20 times as high as the normal background rate of variation. It was discovered during a study of Japanese cedar trees, with the year of occurrence determined through dendrochronology.[1] A surge in beryllium isotope 10Be, detected in Antarctic ice cores, has also been associated with the 774–775 event.[2]
...
«Annus Domini 774. This year the Northumbrians banished their king, Alred, from York at Easter-tide; and chose Ethelred, the son of Mull, for their lord, who reigned four winters. This year also appeared in the heavens a red crucifix, after sunset; the Mercians and the men of Kent fought at Otford; and wonderful serpents were seen in the land of the South-Saxons».
— Anglo-Saxon Chronicle[7]
MetaFilter: silently omitting the emphasised phallus
MetaFilter? Phallus? Silently omitting?
Unpossible!
posted by y2karl at 11:46 AM on April 24, 2017
MetaFilter? Phallus? Silently omitting?
Unpossible!
posted by y2karl at 11:46 AM on April 24, 2017
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This story is fantasist nonsense, right? I mean I'm not equipped to evaluate the archaeoastronomy and I have no idea how reputable a journal Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry is. But it seems unlikely that a Chemical Engineer has the appropriate context and expertise for this kind of work. A very quick skim of the paper suggests a whole lot of conclusion-leaping when it comes to interpreting the symbols on the stone.
posted by Nelson at 8:07 AM on April 22, 2017 [4 favorites]