The latest debate erupted within the field of archaeology Monday over the discovery of a roughly 3,000-year-old stone disk that appears to show a celestial map.
A giant stone disk, about the size of an average car tire, featuring what appears to be a celestial map, was discovered in northeastern Italy some years ago, according to a study published in the journal Astronomical Notes. The disks were found at the entrances to graveyards near two Protohistoric hill forts, believed to have been settled between 1800 and 1650 B.C.
Patterns carved into the stone were analyzed by researchers, and appear to line up with existing asterisms (star charts, or the placement of stars in our night skies). Of the 29 marks on the stones, nine line up with the Tail of Scorpius, five with Orion’s Belt, including Rigel and Betelgeuse, Pleiades and Cassiopeia. Twenty-eight of 29 of the marks line up with existing astronomy.
But there’s at least one mark that suggests a failed supernova event in our deep past, which is why we can’t see the same mark in the sky today.
A carved stone disk discovered at a hillfort in northeastern Italy that was in use between 1800 and 400 B.C. may have been an ancient celestial map.https://t.co/zX1tlwWIlC pic.twitter.com/7RbnmCVXCG
— Archaeology Magazine (@archaeologymag) January 10, 2024
But at least one astronomer is unconvinced by the work put forward by the researchers, according to Live Science. Griffith Observatory director Ed Krupp, who had nothing to do with the original research, thinks our ancient ancestors lined up their carvings on this stone disk accidentally.
“Could these marks represent asterisms? They could,” he said. But “does the paper argue a persuasive case? No, it doesn’t,” Krupp said, getting his 15 minutes of fame and contributing absolutely nothing of substance to the discussion. So why say anything at all? (RELATED: ‘100% Probability’ Major Global Catastrophe Destroys All Technology, Dennis Quaid Explains To Tucker Carlson)
My gut tells me that if we finally admit our ancestors were far more technologically savvy than we’ve given them credit for, we’ll have to start asking big scary questions about why we aren’t more developed as a species today. And if we really dig into why we’re going backward in our scientific exploration and social standing, a lot of very powerful people stand to lose all the control and money they’ve made from making our lives worse.
And we simply can’t have that, can we?
