-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">
</A> -Cui Bono?-
EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE: 9 FEBRUARY 2000 AT 14:00 ET US
UK Contact: Claire Bowles
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
44-20-7331-2751
US Contact: New Scientist Washington office
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
202-452-1178
New Scientist
Did Romans shake hands with ancient Mexicans before Columbus?
COULD Romans have landed in the New World before Columbus? Quite possibly,
say two anthropologists, who have produced the first reliable evidence that
an artefact found in Mexico is of Roman origin, and that it almost certainly
arrived in the New World before the Spanish.
Roman Hristov, an independent anthropologist formerly at Southern Methodist
University in Dallas, decided to investigate a black terracotta head that was
first unearthed in 1933 in the Toluca Valley, approximately 65 kilometres
west of Mexico City (see Map). The head, which is just a few centimetres
tall, represents a bearded man and is different in style from any other known
pre-Columbian artwork.
Although much had been written about the head since its discovery, Hristov
found that no one actually knew where it was. With the help of Mexican
anthropologist Santiago Genovs, he finally found it in 1994, locked away in a
Mexico City museum.
To determine when the head was made, Hristov drilled some material from the
remains of its neck. He then took the sample to be tested at the Max Planck
Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg using a technique called
thermoluminescence.
In this method, heat forces high-energy electrons that have accumulated in
the sample over time to release their energy as light. By measuring the light
released, the researchers were able to estimate that the terracotta was fired
1800 years ago.
Hristov also consulted art experts, who agreed that the head was Roman,
dating roughly to AD 200. Furthermore, a review of the circumstances
surrounding the head's original discovery confirmed that the head was placed
in the burial ground where it was found no later than 1510, a decade before
the Spanish arrived in Meso-America.
Crucially, the head was excavated from the site by professionals, says David
Kelley, an archaeologist at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada.
"This was sealed under three floors. It's as close to archaeological
certainty as you can get."
Hristov believes the head is the first hard evidence of pre-Hispanic
transoceaniccontacts between the Old and New Worlds. But it is unclear
whether it will resolve what is one of the most contentious debates in modern
cultural anthropology.
"I see no reason why ancient contact is not possible," says Betty Meggers, an
anthropologist at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC,
who says that ancient Ecuadorian and Japanese pottery have identical
features.
David Grove, an archaeologist at the University of Illinois in Urbana,
Champaign agrees the head is Roman, but questions its significance. It could,
for example, have been taken off a Roman shipwreck on the Mexican coast,
which would not require significant interaction between ancient Americans and
Romans, he says. There is also no evidence of ancient cultures from Europe or
elsewhere making a significant mark on pre-Columbian cultures.
###
Author: Jonathan Knight, San Francisco
New Scientist issue 12th February 2000
Source: Ancient Mesoamerica (vol 10, p 207)
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soap-boxing! These are sordid matters
and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright
frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects
spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL
gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers;
be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and
nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
