Chaordic: any self-organizing, adaptive organization the
behavior of which harmoniously combines both characteristics
of chaos and order.
-word coined by Dee Hock, founder of VISA
__________________________________________________
Amidst a kaleidoscope of changes we hope that you are
experiencing progress toward your personal and organizational
goals!

In addition to updates on Michael Cremo's Forbidden Archeology
research, media outreach, and feedback, we welcome your
contributions to facilitate critical thinking and networking amidst
our diverse community of Forbidden Archeology compatriots.
–Lori Erbs, Newsflash Editor.

NEWS

Article on Carlos Ribeiro in Nexus magazine

The current issue of Nexus magazine (vol. 8, no. 1,
Jan-Feb 2001) includes an article by Michael Cremo
“The Excavations of Carlos Ribeiro.”  The Nexus
blurb reads: “In the 1860s, Portuguese geologist Carlos
Ribeiro found worked flints in Miocene strata dated at
five to 25 million years old, but his findings on this early
date for the emergence of toolmaking humans are largely
unknown today.”
 
NEWS ROUNDUP

Ancient Aussie: The oldest human DNA ever recovered
dents “out-of-Africa” theory

Australian scientists studying ancient human fossils have
recovered DNA that throws into question the theory that
modern Homo sapiens spread throughout the world in a
single migration out of Africa about 100,000 years ago.
Go to: http://more.abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/DailyNews/evolution_outofafrica010109.html

“Millennium Man” predates “Lucy”

The discovery of “Millennium Man” by a French and Kenyan
science team is at least six million years old, predating “Lucy”
and other previous finds.
Go to: http://more.abcnews.go.com/sections/science/dailynews/hominid_kenya001204.html

Australian Zircon Crystal dated at 4.4 Billion Years

January 14, 2001 – A Science Team announced in the journal
Nature that a small zircon crystal collected from Jack Hills, Australia
dates back to 4.4 billion years. This find is catalyzing yet another
paradigm shift in scientists’ theories of the origin of planet earth.
Go to: http://www,earthfiles.com/earth203.htm
(story courtesy of Linda Moultin Howe)

Memories: Rethinking History

The Centre for Neural Science at New York University has
discovered that every time a memory is pulled into consciousness,
the brain takes it apart, updates it and then makes new proteins
in the process of putting the memory back into long-term storage.
(Article by Sandra Blakeslee in New York Times Sept. 19, 2000)
http://www.nytimes.com

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

MUFON of Orange County hosts Michael Cremo
for a guest lecture on Wednesday, March 28, 2001 at 7:30 pm
in Costa Mesa, California.
Go to: http://www.mufonoc.org for details

Michael Cremo featured speaker at First Annual Northwest
UFO/Paranormal Conference
Memorial Day Weekend (May 25 – 28) 2001 in Seattle.
Now is not too early to register!
Go to: http://www.seattleartbellchatclub.com for full details.

Star Knowledge “Heart of the Heart” Conference
March 2-4, 2001 - Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Sheraton Four Points
Center Go to: http://www.star-knowledge.com for more info.

10th Annual International UFO Congress
March 4-10, 2001 – River Palms Resort, Laughlin, Nevada
Go to: http:///www.ufocongress.com for more info

REFLECTIONS OF A FORBIDDEN ARCHEOLOGIST

While some members of the orthodox archeological establishment are
striving the maintain their exclusive authority and control over the
process of picturing the past for the rest of society, some few
archeologists are starting to take notice of the evolving situation
represented by personalities such as this forbidden archeologist,
with his roots in the ancient Vedic tradition of India.  In a perceptive
article in Antiquity a couple of years ago (*), Cambridge University
archeologist Ian Hodder wrote: "Day by day it becomes more
difficult to argue for a past controlled by the academy. The
proliferation of special interests on the 'fringe' increasingly
challenges, or spreads to, the dominant discourse itself" (p. 699).
The "forbidden archeology" phenomenon has done both. Over
the past few years, I have certainly been working to challenge
the "dominant discourse," and, indeed, through my presentations
at mainstream archeological conferences, sometimes resulting in
my papers appearing in otherwise orthodox professional
archeological publications, the challenge has in fact spread
into the realm of the dominant discourse. Of course, this is
not just true of me and my work, but of that of many others
working in the fields of alternative history and archeology.
Ian Hodder took notice in his article of the varieties of virtual
alternative knowledge communities springing up on the web,
acknowledging that "many are extremely well informed."
(p. 699)  He then said that "it is no longer so easy to see
who is 'in' the academy and who is 'outside." (p. 700)
Hodder is not just a theorist. He is actively involved in the
excavations of the old Hittite city of Catal Huyuk in Turkey.
In a practical demonstration of his views expressed above,
he has involved New Age goddess worshipers and
ecofeminists, who have an interest in the site, in the ongoing
exploration and  development of the site. Hopefully, things
will continue to progress in this direction, with academy-trained
archeologists and well-informed representatives of alternative
wisdom traditions cooperating to produce new ways of
understanding the past. Hodder cited efforts by North American
archeologists  to "work together with native Americans and
integrate the use of oral traditions in archeological interpretation."
The American archeologists involved in one such effort said
that it shows "scientific knowledge does not constitute a
privileged view of the past . . . it is simply another way of
knowing the past." (**)  My own effort has been focused on
bringing the Vedic tradition of India into mainstream
archeological discourse, thus contributing another way of
knowing the past.

(*)Ian Hodder. Always momentary, fluid, and flexible:
toward a reflexive excavation methodology. Antiquity 71
(1997): 691-700.
(**) R. Anyon et al. Native American oral traditions and
archaeology.  American Archaeological Bulletin 14(2)
(1996):14-16.

Michael A. Cremo
____________________________
FORUM: Comrades in the Evolution Revolution

Letters to mail@mcremo.com:

Question: I read all your correspondence with great interest as
I too believe the universe to have a Creator, although I believe
this through faith in the Bible as the word of God, as well as
viewing the theory of evolution with common sense and a deep
lifelong interest in archaeology.
 
Even though I disagree with your opinion that the ancient
Indian writings portray the truth of our origins, you are still doing a
good work by lifting up God as the Creator and attempting to shine
light on the darkness.
 
I do have one concern, though.  It is that after you have used
impeccable science and stressed the importance of documenting
ancient finds in relation to others, using scientific proofs, etc.,
your work will be discounted because of your semi-religious view
regarding the Hindu writing.
 
If you would stick to the pure science, you would win many
converts.  These potential converts, upon hearing or reading of
your spiritual beliefs, will discount your discoveries as being the
work of a fanatic, or somehow not based in science.
 
Thank you for extremely interesting and enlightening reading.

Answer: Thank you for your words of encouragement. As for
your concern about my openly acknowledging my spiritual
commitment, I have a few things to say:

1. I find honesty to be the best policy in all fields of life, including
the scientific. I don't wish to behave diplomatically, pretending to
be something I am not.
2. I believe it is a genuine scientific question as to whether or
not God has an intelligible and scientifically meaningful role to
play in discussion of the  origin of our species. In general, I don't
think it is ultimately possible to consider this question, or any other
important scientific question, apart from the question of God. The
attempt to put God outside science is arbitrary and artificial, and I
don't wish to play along with that intellectual prejudice.
3. My practical experience is that I have not suffered too much from
openly acknowledging my Vedic perspective on science. For
example, earlier this year, I was invited to speak at the prestigious
Royal Institution in London, one of the world's oldest scientific
societies, even though in my proposal to them I openly announced
my Vedic perspective. Furthermore, I have been invited to present
papers at many scientific conferences, and in each case, the
proposals I submitted announced my Vedic perspective. In each
case, the proposals passed peer review, and were accepted, and
when I have actually presented my papers, I have found hearers
displayed considerable interest. I have presented such papers,
openly acknowledging my Vedic perspective, at the World
Archeological Congress, the European Association of
Archeologists, the International Congress for History of Science,
etc. In some cases, my papers openly acknowledging my
Vedic perspective have been published in peer-reviewed
conference proceedings volumes. For example, my paper
Puranic Time and the Archaeological Record, originally
presented at the World Archaeological Congress, came out
last year in a peer-reviewed conference proceedings volume
titled Time and Archaeology, edited by archaeologist Tim
Murray, and published by Routledge, as part of its One World
Archaeology series.
4. Actually, in the scientific world today there is a great interest in
questions of science and religion, and the barriers between the two
are not as strong as they were even a few years ago. Of course,
there are some who would like to keep the barriers up. But I am
more concerned with those who have more open minds.

Sincerely yours,
Michael A. Cremo

Question:  You appear to make claims without any solid evidence
to back it up.  Where is your original research, where are your
empirical results? Have you done anything but try ineffectively
to debunk other theories by twisting facts?  I think not.

Answer: I am approaching things as an historian of archeology.
My claim is that if one looks at the entire history of archeology,
one will find that over the past 150 years, archeologists and
other earth scientists have reported in their professional literature
large amounts of evidence for extreme human antiquity, putting
humans back much further in time than current theories allow.
A further claim is that this evidence, recorded in the primary
scientific literature, is not transmitted through the secondary
literature (i.e. textbooks, popular presentations) or cited in today's
primary scientific literature because it contradicts evolutionary
preconceptions.  My original research has been to document
those two claims by showing the existence of such reports and
the process by which they have been eliminated from current
discourse in archeology.  The reports and the recorded process
of their elimination from discourse constitute empirical evidence
for my claims.
 
My work is highly controversial, and I expect varieties of
reactions. Yours represents one type of reaction, but it is not
the only one. My empirical results, as defined above, can be
found in my book Forbidden Archeology.  They can also be found
in the papers I have presented at professional archeological
conferences. For example, you can see my chapter in Time and
Archeology, a peer reviewed conference proceedings volume
edited by archeologist Tim Murray, and published last year by
Routledge (London). The chapter was orginally presented at the
World Archeological Congress. The paper I presented at the
XXth International Congress of History of Science was also
selected for publication in a peer-reviewed conference
proceedings volume (forthcoming) and the paper I presented
last year at the European Association of Archeologists annual
meeting is coming out in a peer-reviewed conference proceedings
volume to be published by British Archeological Reports. I was
also invited earlier this year to lecture for the Royal Institution of
Great Britain, one of the old, established scientific societies in
England.
 
Also, here are some selections from a review article about
reviews of Forbidden Archeology: "It must be acknowledged that
Forbidden Archeology brings to attention many interesting issues
that have not received much consideration from historians; and
the authors' detailed examination of the early literature is certainly
stimulating and raises questions of considerable interest, both
historically and from the perspective of practitioners of sociology
of scientific knowledge. . . . Has Forbidden Archeology made
any contribution at all to the literature on palaeoanthropology?
Our answer is a guarded 'yes', for two reasons. First, while the
authors go in for overkill in terms of swamping the reader with
detail . . . much of the historical material they resurrect has
not been scrutinized in such detail before. Second, . . .
Cremo and Thompson do raise a central problematic regarding
the lack of certainty in scientific 'truth' claims."  Jo Wodak and
David Oldroyd, in Social Studies of Science, Vol. 26(1), 1996,
pp. 196,  207.
 
So not everyone shares your opinion of my work. But some,
of course, do share your opinion, and you are all entitled to your
opinions.

Sincerely yours,
Michael A. Cremo

Question: I have read FORBIDDEN ARCHAEOLOGY. Great
Book!  I have a book entitled "Reincarnation, the Phoenix Fire
Mystery."  It's a very complete anthology of the subject.  One
person in that book claimed that she had a recollection of a
past life on the Moon.  She said that at one time, the planet
was habitable and inhabited.   Conditions deteriorated and we
had to move.  Both the Tibetan and the Theosophical tradition
(which are basically offshoots of the Vedic tradition to which
you subscribe) speak of a "Lunar Race" which came before
present day earthly humanity.  Most people have interpreted
this to mean a race of spiritual or astral beings.  However,
this person seems to recollect that it was an actual physical
race on that planet.  What do you think?

Answer:  My thoughts are based on my understanding of the
Vedic literature, as I have learned it from my guru, Bhaktivedanta
Swami. According to these sources, the moon is one of the
material heavenly planets and it is inhabited by demigods, which
would correspond to astral beings, I suppose.  Spiritual beings
would be living in the spiritual world, in spiritual bodies. The
demigods have souls, but covering the soul is a body made of
subtle material elements (an astral body).  However, the
demigods do seem to have the ability to further materialize
their bodies with denser elements. Sometimes they visit the
earth, and there are cases where there have been children
born of contacts between terrestrial humans and demigods.
According to Vedic histories, there are two principle dynasties
that traditionally ruled the earth--the solar dynasty and the lunar
dynasty. The solar dynasty is descended from the sun god, and
the lunar dynasty is descended from the moon god. So the
members of the lunar dynasty were kings and queens ruling
on this earth. But it would seem to me that the beings that
actually reside on the moon planet would be in their demigod
forms, with subtle material bodies.

Sincerely yours,
Michael A. Cremo
______________________________________________________
ANOMALOUS DISCOVERIES

Hi Mr. Cremo: I would like to relate a small but interesting item
to you. I believe that I may have come across an article that, if
a person could track down the artifact, could prove the existance
of past ancient and intelligent civilizations.

In 1996 was doing some research on a specific group of native
people.   Part of the research included finding references to the
natives in any local papers. In doing my research I came across
an article from 1899 that described the discovery of a coin by
some miners. The coin was found by men who were digging a
shaft to bedrock in search of gold. The shaft was in permafrost
and the coin was found over 50 feet down on bedrock under a
piece of blue glacial ice. The paper described the coin as having
very fresh looking edges as if minted recently. The writing on
the coin was described as being similar to egyptian hieroglyphics.

The article was of considerable size considering the topic and
the mentality of the time. An interesting note to the article was
that the reporter who had written it was pondering the question
of whether they had found evidence of a past unknown intelligent
society. The article also reported the coin was sent to a museum.

If you are interested in this at all I would be obliged to help you
out as much as I could by finding the article again.

Michael Cremo responds: I am very interested in the coin.
Please try to track down the article and send me a copy.  You
mention you were doing some research into native peoples.
Does this mean you are an anthropologist?  Also, how did you
learn about my work?  It helps me to know by what channels
it is circulating.

Hello Michael: My wife and I were reading some article yesterday
about ancient travel.  She recalled reading/seeing on video/film
some stories about pre-columbian roads about 30-35 years ago.
The thing she remembers most was that the “cement” used on
the roads was still in excellent shape and that modern concrete
manufacturers were unable to duplicate it (at least at the time she
read about them).  The other thing she remembered was that they
were straight and followed the contour of the land, and the
intersecting roads came in at definite angles, i.e., 30, 45, 60, and
90 degress.  She also remembers seeing photos from aerial/
satellite photography of the roads and believes that was how they
were located.
 
I have spent all morning looking/searching for any information
on these roads and have been unable to find anything.  I went
through the normal search engines and all the “alternative” sites
I know of and no luck.  I thought that you may have run across
information on these roads during research on your books.  If you
have any information on them I would greatly appreciate any
direction for further study.
 
I read your first book “Forbidden Archaeology” and found it
very enlightening.  It further solidified my own thoughts on how
the current “establishment”, of what ever discipline, crushes any
attempt at change of the current status quo.  My experience has
been in the field of early american rock art and its impact on
when did man first come into the americas.  It certainly can
get messy!
 
Keep up the excellent work!

Editor’s note:  Do any of our readers have leads on this?

Send us your stories about those anomalous skeletons
discovered in the back yard! We are looking for solid,
well-documented evidence, but all accounts are welcome.
Send to: mail@mcremo.com

The information presented here is not necessarily endorsed
by Michael Cremo or the Forbidden Archeology Newsflash
editor.  All material is shared in the spirit of open and free
inquiry to our unique cadre of evolution revolutionaries.