Archaeology: Secrets in Stone

By Dr. Diana Prince

History has its secrets. Archaeology is the key that gives us insight into the people who walked here before us. Their buildings, writing, and art left their unique and indelible mark on history.

Even the small artifacts they left behind give us a glimpse into the lives of those who shaped the world we know today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Dec 28, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524655211

Dr. Diana Prince

Dr. Diana Prince has a Master’s Degree in English and a Master’s Degree in Philosophy from California State University at San Diego. She has a PhD in Psychology from United States International University.

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© 2017 By Dr. Diana Prince. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 12/28/2016

ISBN: 978-1-5246-5522-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5246-5523-5 (hc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016921028

Photo Credits:

Getty Photos:

Cover, pages 3, 13, 29, 35, 37, 39, 42, 47,

56, 57, 67, 79, 89, 93, 95, 99, 102, 105, 113, 117, 119, 125 and 129

Author Photos:

9, 15, 19, 21, 23, 25, 44, 45, 50, 53, 62, 63,

71, 73, 77, 83, 85 and 111

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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Table of Contents

1 Machu Picchu

2 The Stone Soldiers of Xian

3 Ancient Thebes

4 Noah’s Ark

5 Stonehenge

6 Santorini – Finding Atlantis

7 Angkor Wat

8 The Sumerian Cuneiforms

9 Pompeii

10 Tutankhamun

11 Petra

12 The Pyramids of Giza

13 Ancient Ephesus

14 The Nazca Lines

15 Easter Island

16 The Dead Sea Scrolls

17 The Parthenon

18 The Cave Cities of Cappadocia

19 Lascaux Cave Paintings

20 Ancient Troy

21 The Stone City of Great Zimbabwe

List of Illustrations

Machu Picchu, Peru

1 Aerial View of Machu Picchu

The Stone Soldiers of Xian, China

2 The Terracotta Army in Xian

Ancient Thebes, Egypt

3 Great Hypostyle Hall of Karnak at Thebes

4 Queen Hatshepsut Temple at Deir el-Bahari

5 Porch at Hatshepsut Temple at Deir el-Bahari

Noah’s Ark, Turkey

6 Noah’s Ark Site in Turkey

7 Anchor Stone in the Village of Kazan

8 David Fasold with Striated Reed-Covered Ballast Fragment

Stonehenge, England

9 Stonehenge on the Salisbury Plain

Santorini, Greece

10 View of Volcanic Caldera that Formed the Bay seen from atop Santorini Island

11 Thera Excavation Site on Santorini Island

12 Recovered Pottery at Akrotiri Site

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

13 Courtyard of Angkor Wat Temple

14 Jungle Encroaching on Angkor Wat

15 Ta Prohm Temple, Angkor Wat

16 Sacred Shrine at Angkor Wat

The Cuneiforms of Van, Middle East

17 Cuneiform Inscription on Cliff at Van Kalesi

18 Xerxes the Great Cuneiform at Van Kalesi

Pompeii, Italy

19 Porta Nocera at Pompeii

20 Excavated House of Meander in Pompeii

Tutankhamen, Egypt

21 Entrance to Tutankhamun Tomb, Valley of the Kings

22 Tutankhamun in Sarcophagus, Valley of the Kings

Petra, Jordan

23 Al Khazneh, also known as the Treasury

The Pyramids of Giza, Egypt

24 Sphinx on Giza Plateau

25 Closeup View of Cheops Pyramid

26 Passageway Inside the Great Pyramid

27 Cheops Pyramid

Ephesus, Turkey

28 The Ruins at Ephesus

29 Last Remaining Pillar of the Temple of Diana at Ephesus

The Nazca Lines, Peru

30 Nazca geoglyph known as The Hummingbird

Easter Island, South Pacific

31 Buried Moai Statues on Easter Island

32 Ahu Tongariki on Easter Island

The Dead Sea Scrolls, Israel

33 Cave 4 at Qumran

The Parthenon, Greece

34 The Parthenon, Temple of Athena

35 Parthenon Columns

The Cave Cities of Cappadocia, Turkey

36 Ancient Cappadocia Homes Carved Inside Caves

37 Inside the Underground City of Kaymakli

Lascaux Cave Paintings, France

38 Prehistoric Cave Paintings at Lascaux

39 President Sarkozy at Lascaux Cave

Ancient Troy, Turkey

40 Pillar House and City Walls at Troy Site

The Stone City of Great Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe

41 Ancient Walls of Great Zimbabwe

Chapter One

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu sits among the clouds in the Andes Mountains of Peru. The city was built by the Incas in the 1400’s, and was unknown to most of the world since that time. The name Machu Picchu in the Quechua language means old peak or ancient peak.

The isolated citadel clings precariously to the side of a mountain in one of the most spectacular settings on earth.

Below the steep mountain in the Urubamba River Valley, a train clatters along the old tracks. Villagers stand in their doorways, while shy children huddle against their mothers’ skirts. The braver ones run out into their yards to wave to the daily visitors to the mountain.

Getting to the city on the mountain top, usually involves a bumpy bus ride up a narrow and curving road that hugs the side of the mountain.

The elevation of Machu Picchu is nearly 8,000 feet. The buildings, monuments and temples are set amid wide green terraces. The city was built by Emperor Pachacuti who once ruled over all of Peru – a mountainous kingdom of over 16 million people.

Machu Picchu was abandoned only a century after it was built, during the time of the Spanish conquest of Peru. There were a number of factors that led to its demise. After the death of the emperor, Pachacuti, the further expansion of the empire resulted in power struggles among his remaining heirs, and left the government unstable. This made it vulnerable to the Spanish armies who had come to stake their claims in this new land, most notably under the Spaniard Francisco Pizarro in 1528. After over four decades of war, in 1572 the last of the Inca leaders was executed.

However, despite the turmoil of Peru’s civil war and the invasion by the Spaniards, while much of Peru was destroyed, Machu Picchu remained untouched. While whole populations of other towns had been decimated, the isolated city had escaped destruction because the Spanish soldiers were unaware that it existed.

Had Machu Picchu been found, it would have been plundered and destroyed like so many other parts of the country. Yet its demise corresponded with the Spanish victory. Archaeologists have some theories about the factors that brought about the downfall and abandonment of Machu Picchu. Many scholars believe that the widespread smallpox epidemic brought by the foreign conquerors may have been a major factor. Another is that some of the war casualties may have been citizens of Machu Picchu who fought elsewhere. Also, the city would certainly have been affected by the overall destabilization in their region, with respect to trade and commerce in their daily lives. Ultimately, for a number of reasons, the city fell into obscurity for almost four centuries.

It was not until 1911 that the existence of Machu Picchu was brought to the attention of the world by an American explorer, Hiram Bingham. Only 36 years old at the time, Bingham was a professor in South American history. He was born in Hawaii where his father was a missionary. At the age of 36, he had already received degrees from Yale and the University of California at Berkeley, as well as his PhD from Harvard.

In 1911 he organized the Yale Peruvian Expedition. After viewing different Peruvian sites, on July 24 of that year a local farmer named Melchor Arteaga offered to take him to some ruins known only to a handful of the locals in the area.

That day, after a difficult climb scaling the steep mountain, he had his first glimpse of Machu Picchu. In his book, Lost City of the Incas, he recalled suddenly coming upon the ruins of ancient walls, which he immediately recognized as the skilled stonework of the Incas. He wrote,

It was hard to see them for they were partially covered with trees and moss, the growth of centuries … Dimly I began to realize that this wall and its adjoining semi-circular temple over the cave were as fine as the finest stonework in the world. It fairly took my breath away.

(Atheneum, United States/Canada, 1948)

He returned the following year, and also in 1914 and 1915, funded by the National Geographic Society and Yale University’s Peabody Museum. Bingham later became a pilot during World War I and was elected Governor of Connecticut.

In 2007, negotiations were made between Yale and the Peruvian government to return mummies, pottery and other artifacts removed from Machu Picchu during Bingham’s excavations.

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City in the Sky

On either side of Machu Picchu, two peaks rise steeply. The highest is the mountain of Machu Picchu, and the other is the peak of Huayna Picchu. Cradled between the two mountains is the 600-year-old city. Machu Picchu is divided into an upper and lower town. The temples and public buildings are largely in the upper city. In one section, there are approximately two hundred dwellings arranged around a central square.

The agricultural part of the city is divided into terraces. The barrier walls in these terraces were designed to provide adequate irrigation and to prevent landslides and minimize erosion. These retaining walls are built at a slight angle inward to ensure stability.

Temple of the Sun

The Temple of the Sun, also known as the Torreon, is a tower that may have been used for astronomical observations. It is a semi-circular building, atypical of the other buildings. Observation windows are oriented in different directions. Inside there is a platform which is called the stone altar.

Inti Watana

The Inti Watana refers to a huge stone used for astronomical purposes. This stone is said to anchor the sun, as if by an unseen rope, as it appears to travel across the sky. It is aligned with the winter solstice.

Inti Mach’ay

One unusual construction is the cave-like Inti Mach’ay located on the eastern side of Machu Picchu. During the Festival of the Sun, a ceremony was held here to initiate young boys into manhood. This was done by a ceremonial piercing of their ears. The ceremony was held at sunrise on the December Solstice. The room in which this is done is a narrow tunnel, and has an elongated window which only permits sunlight for the few days of the year before the winter solstice.

The Temple of Three Windows

The spacious stone terrace that features three windows was part of what Bingham named the Sacred Plaza. The large size rocks in this temple weigh over 3 tons each. There are three windows oriented to watch the sunrise in the east. Originally there were five windows, however rocks were later put into place to seal two of them. An upright stone near the windowed wall appears to have had some astronomical use.

The Temple of the Moon

This temple has exquisite and detailed masonry built into the recesses of a gigantic cavern. The ceiling of the temple is not masonry, but the