Prehistory Decoded

I recently gave a seminar at the University of Rome, "La Sapienza", as part of their Syn_Nat research programme, which focuses on representations of time in early history and prehistory. There was an error with the slides, noticed at ~7 min. Nevermind, we recovered from it. Synchronized with Nature - SYN_NAT Seminars Records Below is the paper contribution. I have never before converted a seminar to a paper like this - I suppose it is like a conference paper. The paper is essentially a condensed version of the Time and Mind paper. A solar calendar at Göbekli Tepe, and a comet cult at the origin of civilisation   Martin B. Sweatman   Institute for Materials and Processes, School of Engineering, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FB, UK. Abstract: An earlier 2017 interpretation of Göbekli Tepe's symbolism ( Sweatman and Tsikritsis, 2017) suggested that it was largely astronomical, and in particular that Pillar 43 in Enclosure D displayed a date using precessi...

Alistair Coombs brought these images of symbols at Kortik Tepe to my attention recently. I have seen them before, but think they deserve to be highlighted now. Kortik Tepe's symbolism is discussed by Benz and Bauer in 2015 in the Journal of Ritual Studies. They attribute the symbolism to shamanism, much like the archaeologists working at Gobekli Tepe who attribute its symbolism to shamanism as well. Kortik is not that far from Gobekli, being part of a group of settlements near the other great Mesopotamian river, the Tigris. Gobekli is much closer to the Euphrates. The Kortik settlement is thought to have begun during the early part of the Younger Dryas and therefore is thought to predate Gobekli. But since we don't know Gobekli's true age, this is conjecture. Since it is obvious that Gobekli's shamanistic symbolism is strongly linked to astronomy and the Younger Dryas impact, we can expect the same of Kortik, and this is indeed borne out by the evidence. Note that there...

Another paper that rejects Holliday et al.'s (2023; HEA) Gish gallop has been accepted for publication in Earth Science Reviews, the journal that published HEA. Because of the word limit imposed by ESR on our rebuttal, we could publish only a summary paper that points out only the major errors in each section of Holliday et al. (2023). We sought other journals but the editors refused our request to publish our response in their journals, stating that ESR is the appropriate vehicle. Given this limitation, we had little option but to publish a summary in ESR with the extended details in Airbursts and Cratering Impacts (see the previous blog post ). So the longer paper in ACI should be seen as an extension of the summary paper in ESR. Note that, originally, ESR limited our response to 3000 words, which is clearly inadequate when rebutting an article of over 96,000 words! After appeal, ESR relented by allowing a word length limit of 6000 words. Ultimately, we were allowed to publish a ...

Our rebuttal to Holliday et al. (2023) is finally published in Airbursts and Cratering Impacts. Rebuttal of Holliday et al.’s Comprehensive Gish Gallop of the Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis Martin B. Sweatman, James L. Powell, Allen West In an article comprising some 96,000 words, Holliday et al. (2023)  (HEA) claim to have “comprehensively refuted” the Younger Dryas impact hypothesis (YDIH), even though it has been corroborated by scores of articles in dozens of peer-reviewed journals based on the discovery of some combination of synchronous nanodiamonds, exotic microspherules and platinum enrichment at more than 50 Younger Dryas boundary sites on five continents. No hypothesis or theory is immune from criticism, but to “comprehensively refute” one so well established should require dispositive falsifying evidence. However, HEA provide no new evidence of their own and many of their arguments are based on faulty reasoning. Their remaining differences of opinion do not lend themsel...

The following paper will be presented at the conference " Fourth International Symposium on Megalithic Monuments and Cult Practices", October 10-14, South West University "Neofit Rilski", Bulgaria. METEOR STRIKES RECORDED IN PREHISTORIC ART: FROM GÖBEKLI TEPE TO LASCAUX   Martin B. Sweatman   Abstract: Earth has endured an episode of coherent catastrophism over the last 20-30 thousand years or so. This means strikes by comet fragments were much more common and violent during this period than the long-term average. Over most of this time, humans were unable to record these comet strikes in writing. But, it seems they were still able to record what happened to them, and when, with a form of proto-writing that involved constellations and precession of the equinoxes. Here, I describe evidence for two cosmic impacts recorded on stone; Pillar 43 at Göbekli Tepe and the Lascaux Shaft Scene. Each is an artistic masterpiece designed to endure. The impact described at...