|
| |
Pre-Clovis Cultures in North America
An independent overview of Day’s Knob Archaeological Site in Ohio
(text modified June 27, 2007)
For decades it has been the consensus that the Clovis people, also known
as ‘Paleo-Indians’, were first to inhabit North America about 11,500 years ago,
but now many amateur archaeologists, as well as several professionals, are
beginning to believe America could have been inhabited much sooner, or about
35,000-50,000 years ago. Discoveries within the last 10-15 years at South
Carolina's Topper Site, Saltville and Cactus Hill sites in Virginia and
Meadowcroft in Pennsylvania, have prompted a re-thinking and, as a result,
a new term is being tossed around…‘Pre-Clovis’.
Potentially the best evidence Pre-Clovis peoples existed is at
the Day’s Knob site
in Ohio and the similar Nichol’s
site in Tennessee plus the Lost
Valley site in Pennsylvania. New and exciting finds are not just limited
to just those three sites however; a half dozen more could exist as suggested
by some convincing-looking photographs circulating.
While there is a growing popular belief the Clovis culture was not the first to
inhabit the Americas, typically however, there remains the skeptics. Not all
archaeologists believe what is being found lately are indeed manmade artifacts
or that they were from an earlier time period. Authenticity is in the eye of the
beholder apparently and radiocarbon dating, it seems, is constantly being
challenged. So, are these cases of some archaeologists (or enthusiasts) seeing
only what they want to see and/or others seeing more than there is? Is
archaeological objectivity in the air today or not? Whatever the case, one
cannot summarily discount artifacts barely distinguishable as such… because
crudeness is a common characteristic of most ancient artifacts. Importantly too,
whether an artifact is finely crafted or crudely made should not be determining
factors as to their historical importance. After all, it was the featureless
‘pebble stones’ which defined the beginnings of humanity some 2,000,000 years
ago. Yet, as these photographs illustrate, not all the artifacts being found at
Day's Knob can be considered so typically 'crude'.
At present, human antiquity in America is anyone’s guess. While probably few
subscribe to the idea humans were in the Americas during the lower Paleolithic
period (of the Old Stone Age), or prior to
100,000 B.C., a single find could change all that. That possibility can’t be
ruled out. In fact, it can never be ruled out… at least not by rational beings.
While it is doubtful the 1987 find at Day’s Knob in Ohio and the similar sites
in Tennessee and Pennsylvania are lower Paleolithic, although the possibility
exists, they both beg for (and await) scientific analysis. It seems apparent
this culture existed in America long ago and perhaps before Clovis. This culture
was distinctly different; the artifacts found are not your
typical American Indian artifacts, nor typical
to Clovis, ‘officially’ recognized as the most ancient culture. The Day’s Knob
people had a special reverence for birds… seemingly an intense reverence. In
addition, many of these artifacts were composites, while others were
anthropomorphic in nature. Even their tools were fashioned into a bird in one
abstract form or another. As an indication of substantial age, anthropomorphic
art is very ancient tradition. In Europe, bird-human figures have been associated
with findings 100,000 to 400,000 years old.
“Primitive peoples believed the sea and land were inhabited by strange
creatures, and early books on zoology contain curious illustrations of composite
beasts, reptiles, and fishes, which did not exist at the time the mediæval
authors compiled these voluminous books. In the ancient initiatory rituals of
the Persian, Greek, and Egyptian Mysteries the priests disguised themselves as
composite creatures, thereby symbolizing different aspects of human
consciousness. They used birds and reptiles as emblems of their various deities,
often creating forms of grotesque appearance and assigning to them imaginary
traits, habits, and places of domicile, all of which were symbolic of certain
spiritual and transcendental truths thus concealed from the profane. The phœnix
made its nest of incense and flames. The unicorn had the body of a horse, the
feet of an elephant, and the tail of a wild boar. The upper half of the
centaur's body was human and the lower half equine. The pelican of the
Hermetists fed its young from its own breast, and to this bird were assigned
other mysterious attributes which could have been true only allegorically.”
From Sacred Texts
While most all the artifacts found at Day’s Knob are typically crude (as most
ancient artifacts go), some indistinguishable as artifacts initially, closer
inspection reveals all, or at least most, were crafted by humans. Some are
clearly artifacts however, without a doubt. Whether for symbolic purposes or
decorative, these artifacts were fashioned from limestone, sandstone, leather,
twine, wood, bone, clay and compacted mud. One was even fashioned with a
pinecone… but to-date an unidentified pinecone. In that no pine trees exist in
the vicinity of the site… was it because that particular variety of conifer
retreated from the area following the last Ice Age?
Radiocarbon (C-14) dating has not yet been attempted however... the expertise
from within the archaeological community is still being sought. So what is the
holdup? It seems largely due to the prevailing institutional mindset that
Clovis, and only Clovis, were the first inhabitants in North America. Since no
Clovis points or other typical Indian artifacts were claimed to have been found,
few archaeologists invited to look at the site have accepted the invitation.
Dr. Arsen Faradzhev, an anthropologist and rock art expert from Moscow visited
the site, accompanied by Dr. James Harrod. From microscopic examination, both
determined to their satisfaction that many of the rocks were human-modified.
A few other archaeologists and geologists have also visited, but remain skeptical
although acknowledging that they have no explanation for many of the carving
marks on the rocks.
The reluctance of most professionals to get involved is typical. Scientific
institutions, just like religious institutions, will invariably resist any
notion which threatens the foundation of their long-heralded beliefs.
Reputations are also at stake.
Actually, aside from a chance to garner some unbiased opinions, the
archaeological expertise most likely will be found in the Middle East… in old
Babylonia. Archaeologists from the Middle East would be more knowledgeable about
matters of ancient idolatry. After all, the ancient Babylonians were infamous
bird worshipers. Mesopotamian archaeologists would have a better eye for such
things. Comparisons could also be made to the works of the ancient Phoenicians and
Philistines who also practiced bird-worshipping. On the other hand, the Day’s
knob site may predate these Middle East cultures and if that were the case, then the
situation begs for paleoanthropologists from Europe who are experienced in the
most ancient of artifacts.
In that bird worship is thought to be the most ancient form of idolatry, who
knows how far back in time this may place the Day’s Knob site. Regardless of the
time frame however, the inhabitants of Day’s Knob were seemingly neither Clovis,
nor Folsom (circa 8,000 B.C.) nor even American Indians or Asians… but perhaps
being of Middle East or African decent.
We know of course idol worshipping has been around a long time, going back
to the Old Stone Age… an abundance of ancient works testify to that. While
nothing was actually written about it before the Sumerians developed the art of
writing around 5,000 years ago, as far back as 1473 B.C.E. Moses said (Deut. 4:
16, 17)… “Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the
similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any
beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the
air, ---“
Contrary to Christian dogma, idol worshipping isn’t necessarily ‘evil’
however… and in most cases, quite the contrary. To early man, without knowledge
of physical forces involved in aerodynamics, birds, understandably, must have
been looked upon as divine creatures. These ancient idols were merely symbolic;
their crafting merely expressed an awareness of divine omnipresence (they
believed in an Almighty).
The following is an insightful observation by Alan Day, the discoverer of the
artifacts on Day’s Knob:
"It is interesting to speculate on the origin of the Bird Spirit image.
Cave paintings by humans of the Paleolithic, with their magnificent depictions
of animals of all sorts, often include people only as stick figures if at all.
It has been conjectured that humans of that time considered themselves to be
separate from the natural world, having come from above. One of this author's
possibly bizarre hypotheses is that this Bird Spirit figure is the manifestation
of a sort of "collective unconscious". Many or perhaps most of us have had
vivid flying dreams, particularly in childhood. It seems reasonable to think that if
we do it, people hundreds of thousands of years ago did it also, and took it
much more seriously and literally. And early humans poking around on the ground
must have regarded birds with more than a little wonder. When people first began
to think of themselves as transcending their earthbound condition, birds must
have quickly come to mind, and a "morphing" of human and bird in their
physically rendered imagery seems a logical extension of this." Alan Day
This picture should be considered the ‘Rosetta Stone’ of this site… in that,
without it, picturing a bird in some of the other artifacts would be asking too
much of one’s imagination. With it however, one has an idea what to look for.
This was surely how Mr. Day was able to find even more such artifacts. Yet, how
does one explain why most of these were not perfected? Considering the time it took
to fashion dozens to a limited degree… why didn’t they spend it perfecting just
a few? Or does this site hold only their unfinished works? Their rejects? Are
their perfected works yet to be found?
To help determine this, one must take into account the following factors which
surely lurk at all discovery sites. Surely… an abandoned site does not go
undisturbed for thousands of years. Surely… worthwhile tools would have been
highly prized during the Stone Age, and if left behind (for whatever reason),
they would have been quickly taken by any wanderer who happened by later. It
would be naïve to believe these sites had not been sifted through countless
times. So where did these better-made tools and decorative artifacts end up?
Everywhere… lost or left laying in gullies here and there, in creek beds, on
various hillsides, plains and mountaintops. Most tools were probably just worn
out, and being of no further use, discarded… perhaps miles from where they
were first fashioned. Unlike Tutankhamen’s tomb, archaeological discoveries are
rarely ‘time capsules’. It is therefore likely that the best-made artifacts from
American antiquity will be found scattered about in nondescript places without
any supporting evidence nearby which might testify to their origins.
While the Day's Knob site itself should indeed prove very important, a
testimonial to a manufacturing site is as good as it gets, most importantly Mr.
Day found America’s version of the Rosetta stone. It enables one to look for and
recognize (decipher) other bird-depicting artifacts otherwise appearing
nondescript.
The ‘worship of birds’, or ‘reverence for birds’, was not entirely unique to any
one culture however… the historical records of almost all ancient societies
demonstrate this, occurring within American Indian cultures as well, except, a
distinction can be made here by the exclusiveness of this reverence. Other
cultures had a reverence not just for birds but for other creatures as well, all
types of animals, reptiles, fish and insects. Conversely, the society that once
existed at Day’s Knob seems to have been devoted ONLY to birds.
“Most North American Indians were careful not to worship any part of
creation, but held the whole of creation sacred. They constructed no idols or
temples to worship animals, birds or reptiles but made fetishes, art and others
works honoring their animal cousins.”
(from Animal
Spirit Guides & Totems by Takatoka)
To end any speculation about the age of this site, future radiocarbon dating
will tell the tale. If, however, the Day’s Knob site isn’t proven as old as it
appears, nonetheless it should fill in some blanks about American antiquity. Ah,
but what blanks? Compared to the Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, North America
doesn’t have any ancient history... even less than South America.
The Day's Knob site may be what North America needs.
Update - June 2007: Alan Day isn't planning on getting any radiocarbon
dating done until organic material appears in secure context at sufficient depth
so he had some confidence the material is not contaminated.
A.O. Kime
These incredible books by A.O. Kime are available here!
~ purchase through Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Authorhouse ~
 |
Wisdom from the Golden Ages!
As the ancients did, learn how to discover the secrets of life... |
 |
The real story of the Stone Age!
Learn we didn't evolve from an ape nor crawled from the sea...
|
Ask your bookstore for titles by A.O.
Kime
~ America's finest metaphysician and philosopher ~
click here to read some of his great articles
This website and contents are explained in our Introduction
>TOP
>HOME
... the place of smoke signals from
the spirit world
| |
A.O. Kime
articles
—AGRICULTURE
Biocontrols
Bio-oddities
DDT ban
Family farmers
Family farms
Farm socialism
Kansas Settlement
—ANTIQUITY
American cavemen
Ancient history
Ancient pyramids
Caveman facts
Caveman story
Cavemen-cultural
Charles Darwin
Cumbemayo
Evolution
Kennewick Man
Montezuma Castle
Neanderthals
Pre-Clovis cultures
Shoofly Village ruins
Stone Age history
Stone Age timelines
Stone Age tools
—METAPHYSICAL
Bodhisattva
Death
Divine
intelligence
Dreams
Enlightenment
Ethics
Guardian angels
Hope
Imagination
Immortality
Instincts
Land (the)
Matrix (real)
Metaphysics
Mnemosyne
Muse
Phenomena
Plotinus
Poetry
Polytheism
Semantics
Sixth sense
Spiritual soul
Spirit world
Subconscious mind
Suicide
Supernatural
—SOCIOPOLITICAL
19th Century
Arrogance
Civil wars
Civilization
Coolness
Economic injustices
Establishment
Foreign policies
Freedom
Globalization
Grand Jury
Herodotus
Int'l Criminal Court
Majority rule
Megalomania
Politesse
Proposition 203
Power lust
Rule of law
Sovereign immunity
Tobacco taxation
War criminals
World wars
|
METAPHYSICS·
ANCIENT HISTORY· SOCIOPOLITICAL ISSUES· AGRICULTURE· DIRECTORIES
