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_VOYAGES OF THE PYRAMID BUILDERS: The True Origins of the Pyramids
from Lost Egypt to Ancient America. _

My colleague Robert Schoch's previous book VOICES OF THE ROCKS was a
state-of-the-art statement on 'catastrophe theory', the idea that in
the not so distant past (ca. 12000 BC) the earth was rocked by a
tremendous catastrophe (possibly a strike by an asteroid, bolide or
comet) that almost instantly annihilated a large proportion of the
larger land mammals then roaming the globe -- mammoths, woolly
rhinoceroses, saber-toothed tigers and many others. The extinction of
those mammals is of course a matter of record as are the accompanying
radical and permanent climatic changes; the North American ice sheet
melted, temperate Siberia became tundra, sea levels rose over three
hundred feet. There is no argument about the event itself. The
bolide/asteroid/ comet theory is, in scientific circles, controversial
to a certain extent, but generally 'respectable'. That is to say,
there is no doubt whatever that something disastrous happened; there
is debate over the exact nature of its cause. The real controversy
swirls about the state of human civilization at that time and prior to
it. The accepted academic view is that mankind was in a state of
global hunter-gatherer development. I.e., no civilization to speak of
in our currently held definition of that word.

As readers of these Eg-updates will know, we believe that our
geological work on the weathering to the Sphinx of Giza effectively
obliges a radical revision of that view. And the most recent
developments in archeo-astronomy (the astronomy of ancient times)
provides mounting complementary evidence from another hard-nosed
scientific discipline. We feel that there is fundamental factual basis
to the innumerable myths and legends around the world that hearken
back to a 'Golden Age', a long period or periods of highly
sophisticated civilization and a Deluge or other catastrophe that put
an end to this advanced culture or cultures. VOICES OF THE ROCKS
explores that possibility.

Schoch's new book VOYAGES OF THE PYRAMID BUILDERS_: The True Origins
of the Pyramids from Lost Egypt to Ancient America_ is the logical
sequel to VOICES OF THE ROCKS. It is a state of the art statement on
Diffusionist Theory -- the idea that the remarkable similarities
between the customs, architectural, artistic and manual techniques,
legends and beliefs of cultures all over the world (which seem to have
had no connection with each other past or present) stem from
'Diffusion' from an earlier and very ancient central or possibly
global 'master culture'. The prevailing view in archeology and in all
other disciplines devoted to the past is, at the moment, resolutely
anti-Diffusionist; that is to say, that these myriad similarities are
largely coincidental and correspond to a kind of innate (but quite
undemonstrable) evolutionary stage attained by humanity at large. In
simple terms: for no particular reason, certainly no practical reason,
cultures around the globe with no connection or communication with
each other suddenly decided to throw vast amounts of energy into the
construction of massive pyramids and pyramid-shaped (anyway, conical)
earth mounds. Schoch thinks otherwise (and so, of course, do I) and in
his typical thorough, methodical but quite readable fashion (aided and
abetted by science writer and poet Robert Aquinas McNally) he presents
his case.

Schoch focuses mainly on the pyramid shape and structure -- hardly an
architectural form or practice that one would logically associate with
cultures just emerging from putative primitivism. He traces and
describes the variants of the pyramid wherever it is found -- which is
just about everywhere: Mesoamerica of course, but also China, Japan,
the United States, England and elsewhere. In the process he argues
that in the most ancient times we can really document, the
shipbuilding techniques and navigational skills were already in place
for societies around the globe to communicate with each other ... in
short, there is no commanding reason, actually no reason at all to
dismiss the Diffusionist view and countless reasons to do away with
anti-Diffusionism. Like the redating of the Sphinx, this is no mere
academic quibble. Upon the outcome hangs the entire picture of the
development of humanity prior to recorded history and the level of
knowledge available to it.

Topics covered include:

*The significance of the striking similarities between pyramid
cultures in Africa, Asia, and the Americas, despite the long distances
of land and sea between

*The rituals, beliefs, and stories that underlie the pyramids

*How ancient peoples emigrated from the Old World into the New World

*How pyramid builders entered the New World from the west and
influenced the rising civilizations of Central and South America

*How the pyramid builders sailed

*A theory that ancient peoples may have migrated across vast distances
in response to catastrophic encounters with comets

*The possible existence of a lost pyramid-building civilization in the
period before 3,500 BC, the generally accepted date for humankind's
earliest taste of civilization

*What it means to know that the high civilizations of our planet may
have been interconnected for much longer than we imagined.

"Voyages of the Pyramid Builders" also includes a special appendix,
"Redating the Great Sphinx of Giza," in which Schoch provides his most
recent and persuasive evidence that the Sphinx is much older than we
think

As everyone on this list knows, Schoch is a friend and colleague. You
would not expect me to write a nasty review for him, but you might
legitimately question my objectivity -- though in fact we continue to
disagree on many issues big and small within the agreed-upon 'Lost
Civilization' hypothesis. So I'm pleased to be able to include a few
excerpts from notices in The Kirkus Review and Publisher's Weekly
(both are trade magazines which print pre-publication reviews that
serve as guidelines for booksellers. They use them to determine which
titles and how many copies to order for their shops). While reviewers
for both publications are not hard core skeptics at the Skeptical
Inquirer level, they are generally a pretty hard-headed lot and look
askance at what they consider overly New-Agey or wildly speculative
material. So, a favorable write-up of a book that is undeniably highly
controversial by accepted academic standards (actually, just about
anything that does not rigorously toe the party line is viewed as
'controversial' by academia) amounts to a testament to solid
methodology

'His case for the existence of prehistoric cultured societies with
both the inclination and capability to spread their influence and
hallmarks around the globe, including the Americas, is carefully
crafted. Artifacts like Roman masons' marks found on Mesoamerican
stonework, cultural "coincidences" (e.g., both the Aztecs and ancient
Chinese looked at the moon and saw a rabbit, not a man's face), and
even Old World plants and animals (mummified dogs in Peru resembling
those of Egypt) have all been scientifically shown to predate the
"first contact" voyages of Columbus. The presentation of this material
is as entertaining as science-writing gets, and Schoch doesn't shrink
from debunking spurious "facts," whether they support his case or not.
As for ocean barriers, the 20th-century rafting and reed-boat
adventures of, respectively, Kon-Tiki and Ra speak for themselves, he
says. His theory that huge astronomical disasters like comets or
meteor strikes provided the incentive for ancient mass migrations
comes, however, as an extended anticlimax. Gee-whiz industriously
wrapped in solid science.'

Kirkus Reviews (_[11]from Barnes & Noble_)

________________________________________

'Using geological, linguistic and geographical evidence, he contends
that a protocivilization of pyramid-building peoples was driven out of
its homeland... Schoch hypothesizes that the pyramids were built to
reach into the skies and to penetrate the mystery of the heavens,
source of catastrophe. Schoch also asserts that the pyramids point to
unity and symbolize the deep concerns shared by all humans. Schoch
builds his engrossing case on geological details of the pyramid sites
he has examined around the world.... As controversial as this book is
bound to be, Schoch's evocation of the pyramids forcefully reminds us
of their enduring power as monuments to the spirit of human
creativity. '

Publishers Weekly (from _[12]Amazon_).

[13]J.A.W. Credentials   _©_ John Anthony West 2002

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References

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11. http://barnesandnoble.com/
12. http://amazon.com/
13. file://localhost/www/sat/files/cul/credentials.htm
14. http://v1.nedstatbasic.net/stats?ABNM5woYCfVpkGFU8uKNH8QwEgbw