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...and now a sample writing from the book.......

The Atlantians, Heritage of the Dan

Introduction

It is easy to formulate and contemplate our ideas and perspectives of human existence as it might have been in the distant past. It is another thing to personally view their world and live as their contemporary from the perspective of what they have left behind in structures and artifacts. With modern transportation it is possible for modern man to travel the world in a day to see, interpret and appreciate most of our ancestors’ ancient accomplishments.

      Where and how we can travel today took thousands of years for our forefathers to likewise accomplish as they migrated across continents and seas. They walked and carried in their arms and minds what was important to their livelihoods. They had no domesticated animals of burden. They had no backpacks. Moving from one place on the Earth to another, re-establishing security, gaining life provisions and settling in many inhospitable environments were great accomplishments. The building of structures along the way was a necessary but grueling task for survival.

      From where did this collective social organization originate and how did man’s migration all start? Africa was the best environment for man starting some four million years ago. People generally remained in Africa for thousands of generations since it was the only place where humans could survive—ice covered Earth as far south as the 40^th parallel until 50,000 years ago. Man’s migration started with the onset of climate change and the phenomenon now known as global warming that occurred at the end of the last great ice age. If it were not for that simple elevation of temperature, civilization would still be concentrated in Africa and perhaps we would still be a hunter gatherer society.

Some 100,000 years ago in the most dismal habitat, a marvelous genetic mutation beset humankind . A woman paused, breathed deeply again and again until she pushed from her body a girl child, the first female with a dramatically new mitochondrial DNA. A gene which had mutated instantaneously powered the human race forward in a chromosomal quantum leap with this girl child whose descendants will have the mental powers to change the course of human evolution. Although this gene mutated instantaneously, the resultant cognitive and behavioral changes evolved gradually. Around 60,000 years after the birth of the first female with this new mtDNA, a “creative explosion” among her descendants indicates that “something happened to affect the architecture of the brain."

      So began the race of modern Homo-Muliers (Homo sapiens sapiens). With no pretense and with some humor, we coin the expression Homo-Mulier (Man-Woman) since evidence strongly suggests that women were then and remain every bit as wise (sapiens) as men. For the same reason, we use Mulier erecta since women as well as men know how to stand on their own two feet. Latin scholars will correctly object that “homo” actually means “mankind,” “human being” or “person.” Our intent is simply to make an explicit distinction in a balanced expression: Homo (man)-Mulier (woman).

       Prior to the birth of that girl child, Homo-Muliers simply survived—well, perhaps not so simply. They endured a harsh and unrelenting environment, droughts and floods, pluvial periods and extended droughts. They were indeed survivors. But it was only after this mutated gene leapt into the evolutionary chain that Homo-Muliers began to understand their environment and advance from victim to master. Instead of seeking refuge in a cave, they learned how to erect free-standing structures. They became fascinated with their world, studied its elements and learned how to use the natural resources they found on land and in the sea. Like their predecessors, they hunted wild beasts and gathered grains. However, these Homo-Muliers learned how to domesticate animals and plant seeds. They studied the heavens and figured out how things worked—nature’s cycles, time cycles, human cycles. They fashioned tools and pottery, built waterproof boats, constructed temples and adorned them with intricate symbols which only modern scholars have learned to interpret accurately. Prior to writing, they found ways to record and pass on to their children what they understood about their world.

The history of human evolution prior to the 20th century might be likened to an old canvas painted in sharp definition but with insipid tones. Modern technology allows us to create a bold pastiche using vibrant colors and subtle shadows. Unlike the older monochrome history, The Atlantians, Heritage of the Dan draws from multiple, complementary scientific disciplines and discoveries made by late 20^th and early 21^st century scholars who are credited in the Bibliography. We do not pretend to have painted the definitive picture of our ancestors’ migrations and creations. A pragmatic scientist might question this eclectic approach but we are confident that the conclusions we have drawn from multiple scientific disciplines are reasonable and that our observations will be substantiated by future discoveries.

      To complete our bold pastiche, we set out on a literary “reality adventure” which begins in Africa, takes us to the Pison delta in the Persian Gulf, to the Fertile Crescent, an arc spanning the northern rim of Saudi Arabia, and to Anatolia, the broad region which stretched from present-day Turkey through Syria, Armenia and Azerbaijan to the northern regions of Iraq and Iran. Time passes and the environment changes forcing a return to Africa. More meteorological events impact our Homo-Muliers who migrate again, now to Crete, the Cyclades, Malta and the across the entire Mediterranean region. Gradually and strategically they extend their empire westward to the coasts of Iberia and northward to the shores of Ireland.

Genetics and archaeology facilitate our adventure as we trace the travels of small clans like Magdalenians and Maglemosians, hardy men and women who left a wonderful testimony to their brief sojourn on planet Earth. Our focus will be on the descendants of the first female born with enhanced mitochondrial DNA, intelligent Homo-Muliers who left Africa, reached the Pison delta, established trading centers throughout the Middle East, developed new technologies and later created a unique culture on the Mediterranean islands of Gozo and Malta.

From generation to generation, these Homo-Muliers added knowledge to knowledge. They mastered the sea which enabled them to extend their trade and their culture across the entire Mediterranean region and beyond. After they learned how to navigate the ocean, they brought their culture and their technology to Ireland where they were called Tuatha de Danann. We believe the Tuatha de Danann possessed the Stone of Destiny, an ancient rock which may have been inscribed with symbols that represented numbers, as well as celestial phenomena and seasonal cycles. They advanced from hunter-gatherers to farmers and seafarers, architects and artisans, mathematicians and astronomers. They figured out ways to pass on to their descendants the knowledge which enabled them to manage their environment.

Surges of survival energy kindled the determination of prehistoric nomads who, across many generations, trekked thousands of miles over sheets of ice and stretches of sand in their search for food and water. Millennia later, sparks of spiritual energy charged the intellect and suffused the imagination of a group of Homo-Muliers who sailed the seas and navigated the oceans. This is their story—the evolution of women and men on the move, exploring their own terrestrial environment with its enigmatic cycles of life and death. They pondered possible connections between what they saw in the sky and what happened on the land.

Somewhere along that great migration out of Africa, people moved along and sustained their existence along the Mediterranean Sea. Some landed in the middle of that body of water and settled on an island now known as Malta. With neither pen nor paper nor telescope nor any modern measuring device, ancient artisans on Malta aligned the first free-standing structures to celestial phenomena. Later they devised humankind’s first accurate lunar and solar calendars and chiseled them into megaliths at the great passage tombs in the valley of the River Boyne in Ireland. These “primitive” people traced an indelible mark on history and carved an incredible legacy in stone.

Chapter One

Before the Dans

Legends, myths and epic poems take us back to the era of prehistory. These tales fascinate children, authors and film makers with tales of cataclysmic floods, mysterious islands and magical stones. Scientific research, satellite data and laboratory testing invite the serious student to consider facts about what happened during those “dark” ages tens of thousands of years ago before anything was written down.

Lured by legend but guided by science, we set out on an adventure which begins in a very real place. As with most adventures, ours starts with questions. Is it even possible that, thousands of years ago, a group of primitive people left their island home in the Mediterranean Sea, sailed westward, navigated the Strait of Gibraltar and plowed the rough seas of the Atlantic Ocean all the way to a northern land which, millennia later, would be called the land of legends and leprechauns? Did conditions force them to leave their homeland? Or was it their own adventurous spirit that drove them to dare the seas in search of new opportunities? What was their Stone of Destiny?(note 1) A good luck piece like Aladdin’s Lamp? A talisman to ward off evil? Or a key to knowledge which meant survival?

Scientific evidence of their advanced culture prompts us to pose another question: Could these island people be the fabled lost civilization of Atlantis? Enough writers, ancient and modern, have written about Atlantis.(note 2) In the fourth century B.C., the Greek philosopher, Plato, (the primary source for the tale) described an Atlantis in some detail in his dialogues, Timaeus and Critias. Other authors repeat some of Plato’s description of the lost island. In the second century A.D., Ptolemy, an Egyptian historian-geographer, identified Atlantis as an island with two volcanoes in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. Writing hundreds of years later, these authors related that a catastrophic event destroyed a grand civilization in about 9,500 B.C.(note 3) Mayan, Hindu, Greek and Egyptian myths also describe a devastating event which took place within the same time frame. Millennia after this island supposedly vanished, modern authors continue to muse about the existence of a grand Atlantis, whether an island in the Mediterranean Sea, in the Atlantic Ocean or even in the Indian Ocean. Although Atlantis is not our primary focus, as we pursue our reality adventure we will look for evidence of an advanced civilization in the place and within the time frame described by Plato.

In the 21^st century of gadgetry and space travel, it is almost impossible to imagine what life was like for primitive Homo-Muliers. Despite “reality” films and television programs which attempt to recreate original experiences, most of us remain viewers who never experience life in the raw and rarely consider what so-called primitive humans dared and achieved. The question of whether the venturesome sailors who settled on Mediterranean islands and later reached Ireland were the grand culture of Atlantis actually dims before their courage and their achievements. Their Stone of Destiny far exceeded the value of any modern gadget.

The long, silent era of prehistory when there was no written language is a challenge to any historian. Although dating errors were made in the past, modern carbon and fluorine dating technologies enable scientists to specify with increasing accuracy when and where certain prehistoric events occurred. Human remains are particularly significant because they can now be accurately dated. Archaeology (the study of material remains like fossil relics, artifacts and monuments) and anthropology (the study of human evolution) help us trace humankind’s progression from hunter-gatherers to farmers and from star gazers to cosmologists. Genetics (the study of organisms, heredity and variations) adds greater definition to anthropology. Meteorology (the study of weather conditions and effects), geology (the study of rocks and rock formations) and oceanography complement the preceding “ologies.” Although mythology does not offer scientific evidence, ancient myths provide valuable insights into what people thought about their world, about natural phenomena like floods and droughts, about “supernatural” forces like storms and fire and about personal experiences like illness and death. Data from scientific studies points to where Stone Age humans traveled and settled. Mythology helps us understand the beliefs which shaped their lives and found expression in their art. Despite considerable research, what we can never know about people who did not write anything down seems to exceed what we know for sure from available evidence.

Unlike cultural artifacts, genes have ancestors. Millions of entities containing genetic information dance deep in the DNA of every human cell. Highly specialized genetic archaeologists and molecular scientists study DNA in the cytoplasm and in the nucleus of the human cell. DNA found in the cytoplasm is called mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). This DNA, tiny in size but rich in information, is inherited only through the maternal line and does not recombine which makes the mitochondrial genome an ideal piece of DNA with which to trace family lineages. The mtDNA of modern Homo-Muliers stems from one woman who lived in Africa around 100,000 years ago. The woman at the root of all these groups is the matrilineal most recent common ancestor (MRCA) for all currently living humans. She is commonly called Mitochondrial Eve. 

     Y DNA in the male chromosome is found in the cell’s nucleus.(note 4) Mutations occur slowly in nuclear genes which are inherited from both parents and which do recombine making a garbled genetic history. However, polymorphisms (variations) in the DNA of the Y chromosome do not recombine and are therefore both extremely informative and easier to analyze. Y DNA contains miniscule entities called SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms). Inherited only from the father, SNPs mutate very slowly and are therefore key to genetic anthropology. These long term tracers are useful for identifying stable paternal lineages that go back in time over thousands of years. Y DNA also contains short tandem repeats (STRs) which mutate more rapidly and provide recent lineage tracers. The combination of a SNP and a STR forms a new ethnic family called a haplogroup.

Genetic mutations along with cranial development and improved diet explain why modern Homo-Muliers progressed as they evolved. Genetic anthropology has established that the current population of Europe derived from two mtDNA types who, during different time periods, migrated out of Africa into Europe. Genetic research confirms that the correct human evolutionary hypothesis is, in fact, the out of Africa scenario, a position which anthropological and archaeological data confirm. (note 5) An alternative which we do not follow holds that less progressive and more archaic human forms evolved over hundreds of millennia at different geographical locations around the world into the current population diversity. We will use genetic anthropology (more recently called population genomics) to trace the migrations and identify the lineage of particular late Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic western Homo-Muliers.

Population genomics is a relatively young, fascinating and complex science. (References in the Bibliography complement our broad-brush overview.) Hopefully our pictures are worth 1,000 words─the cell diagrams on page 16 depict possible combinations of Y and mtDNA in a population sample. The outer band represents the cell wall. The cytoplasm containing the mtDNA fills the space between the nucleus and the cell wall.(note 6) The cell’s nucleus contains SNPs and STRs. The numbered points in each STR represent Y DNA haplogroups. We will focus on those haplogroups which spread throughout the Middle East, the Indus and Europe.

Our reality adventure follows specific families of Homo-Muliers who migrated out of Africa at different periods during the last ice age when the glacier which had covered most of northern Europe began to recede. Alternating eras of freezing and warming determined when and where hunters abandoned a habitat to pursue wild game, their only sustenance. For simplification, we reference these groups as type 1, type 2 and type 3 people. In a broad sense, Neanderthals are grouped in the classification of type 1, Cro-Magnons are type 2 and modern humans are type 3. Many archaeologists designate both Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons as Homo sapiens, and modern humans as Homo sapiens sapiens. Type 3s are also called “anatomically modern homo sapiens” (AMHS) because their significant cranial growth and formation distinguishes them from earlier humans.(note 7) We prefer the designation “anatomically modern homo sapiens” to the redundant Homo sapiens sapiens—which our spell checker consistently signals as an error.

     Type 1 Neanderthals originated from one mother in a West African tribe. When Neanderthal hunter-gatherers first migrated from West Africa, they settled around the oases of the Sahara. Type 1 migration out of Africa peaked about 100,000 years ago. During the warmer periods between ice ages, groups of Homo-Muliers migrated into Europe where they hunted mammoths and reindeer on the desolate tundra and in the Arctic Circle. Artifacts retrieved from an arctic riverbed indicate that humans reached Siberia and Alaska. As the giant ice sheet which had covered all of Europe receded, the pressure and movement of the ice deposited a layer of powdered stone which formed fertile soil which in turn became rich grassland. Animals soon appeared in herds of mammoth, mastodon, deer and bison. Radiocarbon-dated stone tools, reindeer bones and a mammoth tusk with hand carved markings prove that people reached Mamontovaya Kurya in Russia between 35,000 and 40,000 years ago.(note 8) Neanderthal human remains found in the Zafarraya cave in southern Spain confirm that hunters lived there some 30,000 years ago.(note 9) In this distant period of prehistory, type 1 Homo-Muliers survived cruel elements and endured harsh conditions eons before maps, a weather channel or thermal underwear. Nevertheless, Neanderthals remained hunter-gatherers, did not develop an advance culture anywhere and generally disappeared from Europe by about 25,000 B.C.

Since some authors suggest that Atlantis flourished as early as 50,000 B.C., we will trace the paths of type 2 Cro-Magnons and examine evidence found at their settlements to determine if these Homo-Muliers realized what, even at that period, would be considered an advanced civilization. Cro-Magnons originated in Tanzania, southeast Africa. The region of Tanzania has yielded fascinating artifacts like beads made from the shells of ostrich eggs. (Some hold these were shaped by mother nature.) Archaeologists who found this “jewelry” at the Loiyangalani dig have dated it to about 70,000 B.C. (note10)

(continued in the book)

(c) Edmund Allen Whedon, 2009

The

Atlantians

Heritage of the Dan

First Edition

© Copyright 2009

BB’

Published by Better Books’

Note:

The The Atlantians © book is being published bound in a library quality hardcover book with an illustrated dust jacket in August, 2009.  Buy your limited signed first edition hardcopy by contacting the seller now on this eBay site.

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