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Category: Archaeology

Mayan Ruins: Chichén Itzá – Yucatan, Mexico

The legendary ruins may not be the only Mayan “must see” archeological site, but it is the only one with El Castillo – the Temple of Kukulcán

Tom Lonero
08/25/2021

Chichén Itzá

One of the Seven Wonders of the World and a UNESCO World Heritage Site

PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero

El Castillo (Temple of Kukulcán)
Gran Juego de Pelota - Ballcourt

An Important Mayan Archaeological Site

The legendary archaeological site is located in the State of Yucatan smack between the resort town of Cancún and the City of Mérida. Both Mérida and Valladolid are worth visiting as are the beaches of Cancún.

While Chichén Itzá is by far not the only fantastic archaeological site in Mexico it is the only one that has El Castillo, aka the “Temple of Kukulcán”. It carries the distinction of being voted one of the new Seven Wonders of the World. The entire site has also been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Archeologists who have been studying the area have discovered many different architectural styles, which leads them to believe that Chichén Itzá may have been a melting pot city for the Mayan empire. Different groups may have traveled there and exchanged ideas.

ALL PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero

A Little History

Although Chichén Itzá later on in history fell into complete abandonment as the jungle took back what was rightfully its to begin with, Chichén Itzá was never a lost city. It existed when the Spanish Conquistadors settled the region in 1519. At one point the Spanish even attempted to name Chichén Itzá a capital. Eventually the Maya pushed back against the Spanish but as we all know, the Spanish inevitably won out. As Spanish towns starting popping up throughout Yucatan and Mexico proper, the Maya started to abandon their old cities for the newer towns and cities that grew up around them. Some Mayan cities and buildings were even dismantled in areas as the stone was repurposed for newer construction of churches and other newer modern buildings. Those Mayan structures now lost forever.

Chichén Itzá means “At the mouth of the well Itza”. It’s well documented how the Maya held cenotes in high regard. It’s believed they held and still hold a spiritual significance. Artifacts and human remains found at various cenotes seem to confirm the notion that at least some cenotes are indeed sacred. It’s also been confirmed in recent years that El Castillo is built over one such sacred cenote. Yes... under that massive mound of stone is a sparkling pool of water.

ALL PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero

UNESCO and Archaeoastronomy

The reasons for Chichén Itzá‘s UNESCO designation are obvious. It’s simply magnificent. It receives over 2 million visitors a year. Ancestral Mayan are permitted to set up markets within the Archeological park. In some areas there are literally table after table of competing merchants. Sometimes selling the same thing. They will negotiate with the savvy.

The reasons why El Castillo was named a Seventh Wonder may not be immediately apparent. Its not only due to the overall magnificence of the pyramid but its also due to its secret archaeoastronomy. Every year at the spring and fall equinox a snake like shadow moves down the staircase of El Castille (Temple of Kukulcán) to meet with the giant foreboding snake heads at the bottom of the staircase. The snake represents the feathered serpent god that is completely embedded in mythology throughout Mesoamerica. The entire pyramid was build for the worship of the great-feathered serpent - Kukulcán.

The major pyramid is not the only structure on site that has elements of archaeoastronomy. El Caracol, also known as “the Observatory”, is another important location you should visit while at Chichén Itza. The observatory can pinpoint several astrological events including the location and alignment of Venus every 8 years.

ALL PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero

A Must See if Traveling to the Yucatan 

If you are going to visit the Yucatan, then Chichén Itza would make a perfect addition to your visit. The 1000 Columns, Ball Court and Temple of the Warrior are awe-inspiring by themselves.  

About 15 minutes from the site is the town of Vallidolid. It is often skipped over by the tourist buses from Cancun but it makes for a great stop afterwards to pick up lunch or dinner if you can find a way. The town square and the people are beautiful. The food is completely authentic and inexpensive. The exposure to the culture is obviously priceless.

El Castillo
The Maya and I both love chocolate

ALL PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero

McConkie Ranch Petroglyphs

Utah and some of the other surrounding states are really a treasure trove of ancient rock wall art. Petroglyphs of “Bigfoot” and severed heads pop up along the way.

Tom Lonero
08/23/2021

McConkie Ranch Petroglyphs

The enduring mystery of the Fremont Culture

PHOTOS BY: Thomas Lonero

In August of 2021, I had the honor of visiting the famed petroglyphs at McConkie Ranch just outside of Vernal, Utah. With only one stop along the way, the trip from Salt Lake City took about 3 hours.

 

Arriving at the ranch I could see I wasn’t alone. A few cars were in the parking lot. There appeared to be at least one other hiking trail in the area and since I never encountered another soul on my hike up into the hills, I’ll assume the owners of those vehicles opted for that hike. My hike was to take me up into the hills along the butte or mesa that encompassed the valley. That is considered the main hike. The other hike, which I did not take, explores the “Three Kings” panel to the south. Online I had read it should take about two hours for my hike, but with my picture taking and filming, I expected it would take a bit longer.

 

Currently I have some anthropology classes under my belt for which I am sporting a 4.0, I’ll suggest that I would qualify for the term less than that of an amateur archaeologist, which would probably be “Non-Archaeologist”. That doesn’t mean I am without knowledge and inspecting these petroglyphs brought on some different questions based off some of the knowledge I have acquired over the years. Questions that I’m sure qualified archeologists have asked and in some cases may have answers to.

 

Rock art is notoriously hard to date. There are different methods. Some attempt to test patina, which erodes and comes back, making that method unreliable. Others attempt to use the uranium-thorium method, which sounds expensive and has its own set of problems that can affect reliable dating. Some check for sand deposits below where the sandstone rocks were etched. It is my understanding that none of the rock art at McConkie has been dated using otherwise expensive dating technology, which if used, still might not be a confirmation of exact dates. The techniques used there are based solely on artifacts found in the area that resemble the rock art found at McConkie. Artifacts like figurines, which have been found in the area that can be dated using the usual sedimentary methods of dating. It is assumed that the trapezoidal style figurines found are part of the same culture that drew trapezoidal humanoids on the cliff walls. Is it a stretch to assume one automatically means the other? Couldn't the people who made the figurines have simply copied what they seen carved into the hills around them?

A brief history

 

In 1925, a Mormon bishop and amateur archaeologist named Ephraim Pectol discovered what became known as the Pectol Shields. Three amazingly preserved buffalo hide shields were discovered by him in a dry cave called Calf Creek. Today it is known as Sulfur Creek in Capital Reef National Park. The National Park designation is one that Ephraim had fought for and won. At the time of the discovery, some things had been known about the people who had inhabited the area. That knowledge came largely from Navajo oral history, the abundance of rock art and various artifacts found throughout the area. They were not aptly referred to as “Fremont” until a book written in 1931 called “The Ancient Culture of the Fremont River in Utah” connected the title of “Fremont” to the culture that inhabited the area over a thousand years before. The Fremont River had been named after John Charles Fremont, an American who explored the region in the early 1800’s. In other words, the name Fremont has nothing to do with who the people were or what they were actually called.

The Navajo however do have a word for them and refer to them as the “Ancient Ones”. The actual word is “Anasazi’, which also referred to the ancestral Puebloans, who inhabited the Four Corners region and are famous for their cliff dwellings. Interestingly the name Anasazi also means “Ancient Enemy”. Today’s modern Hopi tribe lay claim to the Anasazi as their ancestors. However, oral and written history from the Aztecs suggest that their ancestral homeland may have originally been somewhere in Utah until some event forced them to move south into modern day Mexico (war maybe?). Interestingly, the Aztecs are believed to have taken over the Central Mexico Region at about 1300 CE, which fits precisely into the same time period the Freemont and the Ancient Puebloans disappeared from Utah and the Four Corners region. It seems possible they could have split off into splinter groups with one group becoming Hopi while another group became Aztec. One authority on the Aztec Calendar, a Dr. Cecilio Orosco of California State University, Fresno, as well as Alfonso Rivas-Salmon, a respected anthropologist from Universidad Autonoma de Guagalajara, have advocated for years the Aztec Culture originated in Utah. Still, some archeologists and anthropologists push back on this notion.

Differences in cultures

Some simple differences in cultures or technology seem to be apparent between the Fremont, the ancient Puebloans as well as the Aztecs and Hopi. Both the Puebloans and Aztecs wore sandals although in Aztec culture, only the hierarchy wore sandals, since they were considered a form of status. The Fremont wore moccasins.

 

Going back to the three buffalo shields found in the 1920’s that are now attributed to the Navajo. To my knowledge no older shields have been discovered in the Utah or Four Corners region that I can find. Shield making of the Aztecs is well known and while some animal hides were used, they were mostly formatted from wood or bamboo. That could have been a simple technological change since the Bison’s historic range was still somewhat north of present day Mexico City. A make do with what you have type of situation.

 

as mentioned earlier, the Anasazi name to the Navaho meant “Ancient Ones” or even “Ancient Enemy”, but interestly the original name of the Hopi is Hopituh Shi-nu-mu, which means “Peaceful People”. There seems to be evidence that the ancient Puebloans as well as the Fremont practiced some form of cannibalism. That’s also been proven in Aztec culture at least ritualistically. Maybe, the Hopi turned over a new leaf when they became Hopi? There seems to be some controversy regarding this. The Hopi lay claim to the ancient Puebloans but don’t want to lay claim to ancestral cannibalism, which is maybe understandable… or was there someone else in the area? Another tribe perhaps?

Still puzzles to solve

 

I personally find it interesting and odd that we attribute so many of the petroglyphs from the Fremonts that appear to be shields as actual shields and yet we haven’t found any shields older than the Navajo ones. We only assume they had them because thats how we interpret the petroglyphs. Leather dating back to 5000 BCE has been discovered around the world but we haven’t found a something the size of a shield? Sure conditions matter but Utah’s a fairly dry place and has been that way for a long time. Since rock art dating techniques are sketchy at best, is it possible that the petroglyphs are even older or from a previous culture? Native American oral history doesn’t go against this idea. That could explain why we have found so little of the culture including the shields they seemed to value, so much so that they etched petroglyph after petroglyph depicting one. Of course the value they placed on the shields could also suggest they kept them close and passed them down through generations. Maybe ‘losing one’ wasn’t a common occurrence? Maybe when the shield seen betters days they ritually burned them? Or maybe the shield petroglyphs are not depictions of shields at all. Maybe they are something entirely different. The Hopi have oral history legends about “flying shields” but nothing I seen would seem to prove the round humanoid figures are extraterrestrial… and I looked hard.

 

While the cultures of the Fremont and the ancient Puebloans absolutely crossed paths and were maybe even generally the same culture, not a lot is known about their connections. We do know today both cultures built round structures partly into the earth with probable wooden roofs. It’s assumed the structures were used to store corn and grains since both cultures practiced farming.

 

As far as cannibalism goes? It’s likely they both practiced some form of it. What was the purpose? Who knows. Was it purely ritualistic or based off survival? Maybe that was what was in store for whomever they conquered? It’s hard to deny that latter possibility when one sees the McConkie petroglyphs of severed head after severed head. Of course cutting off a head doesn’t mean you ate the person but the archeological discoveries of human bones that show they were likely boiled in pots certainly allude to that.

Enduring Mysteries and Legends

 

Various tribes in the southwest and plains have legends surrounding either cannibal dwarfs or cannibal giants.

 

The legendary child-sized dwarfs were called the Teihihan by the Arapaho and were supposedly destroyed in a great war by an allied group of Indian Nations. It’s interesting that so many tribes have these smaller humanoids in their oral history.

 

Were the petroglyphs marking territory or maybe giving warning about other humanoids in the area that were dangerous? It could be a signpost that simply means, “Go past this point and the cannibals will get you!” or “Come into our territory and we will remove your head!”.  A form of propaganda wouldn’t be too hard to imagine.

 

Then there’s the enduring story that Southwestern tribes like the Paiute have told about a clan of giant red-haired cannibals called the Si-Te-Cah that lived in Southwest region of the United States. Tired of losing people to the cannibals, they went to war with them and eventually cornered the remaining giants in Lovelock Cave, which they attacked with arrows and by building a bonfire to smoke them out. Eventually, the story found its way to amateur archeologists in the early 1900’s who went to Lovelock and actually dug up bones and artifacts.

 

There’s no denying that archeological evidence was dug up there and that the skulls appeared to be larger than your average human from that time period. In fact archaeological evidence seems to indicate that Lovelock may have been in use as far back as 2,600 BCE. The skulls were eventually housed at the Humboldt Museum outside of Lovelock, NV up until an airing on the TV show “Ancient Aliens” actually showed the skulls. Producers and hosts of the show were  permitted to compare the skull size to normal human skulls. That comparison showed the Lovelock skulls were much larger. That television showing brought immediate outrage from the Native American community and the display was removed in order to comply with NAGPRA (North American and Graves Repatriation Act). The remains were repatriated for burial. Up until then the skulls had long been housed in a cupboard and were only available for private viewing.

The Hike

 

The petroglyphs I found along the way at McConkie do seem to indicate shields, severed heads and bigger men, one of which has huge feet. Yes, they call that petroglyph “Bigfoot”. The land is beautiful and more petroglyphs can be found off-trail but the off-trail is more difficult and rugged. If you get hurt, it’s on you. My two-hour hike turned into almost four. When I got back to the parking lot, all the cars were gone.

 

Utah and some of the other surrounding states are really a treasure trove of ancient rock wall art. I’m sure not all of it has been discovered and hopefully someday more money will be thrown at dating the rock art that has been discovered properly. To me it’s obvious that the rock art at McConkie comes from different time periods, possibly over hundreds if not a thousand years or so. Unfortunately some are also fakes but there is enough there to realize the significance of the enduring mysteries that surround them. Until more archaeological proof is discovered, guys like me will simply look at them with the eyes of an adolescent and wonder if somehow we are not missing a more fantastic story about mans ancient past. A history that, so far, has only been passed down through legends and oral histories of the Native Americans. A history we still need to discover.

Easter Island: A Legendary Location

Far out in the Pacific lies one the worlds greatest mysteries; Isla de Pascua, AKA Easter Island, home of the Rapa Nui & the legendary Moai.

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Isla de Pascua - Easter Island - Rapa Nui

A LEGENDARY LOCATION

Vaihu at Easter Island -South Pacific

November 2019 


Tom L.

Chile: Easter Island, Rapa Nui, Isla de Pascua

 

An opportunity to visit a legendary location 

 

I never thought I’d ever get to see one of the most remote locations on the planet - Easter Island. It was so named because Dutch Explorer Jacob Roggeveen discovered it on Easter Sunday, April 5th, 1722. While I can go into the remarkable history of Easter Island, I’d rather you did some research yourself online so instead, for now, I’m going to mostly concentrate on our trip and what it took to make this happen. 

 

I’ll start by stating once again it really never occurred to me that I’d be visiting this particular World Heritage site. Going there has given me a new outlook on how I can best travel. I had originally planned to go to South America, but in truth I had planned to go to Peru, Bolivia and Northern Chile. My main goal was to see Cusco, Machu Picchu and Tiwanaku, but after looking at how to best spend some airline points as well as being concerned about altitude sickness possibly ruining a trip, I decided to revamp the plans by looking at visiting further in South America like Santiago, Chile and Buenos Aires, Argentina. Once I spent time researching a completely different trip than I originally thought I’d be going on I realized that I’d be completely missing out on many megalithic sites that I yearned to see. I started researching archeological sites in Chile and Argentina. The main one that kept popping up in searches that was of immediate interest was Easter Island. There are plenty of amazing archeological sites in the deserts of Northern Chile and some other interesting archeological sights in the other countries we intended on visiting, but the only one that rivaled and maybe even surpassed Machu Picchu in my mind... was Easter Island.

edso named

Vaihu - Ahu Hanga Te’e

ALL PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero

A lesson in patience

 

Now if I’m to be honest, I never even knew Easter Island was part of Chile. It never occurred to me. Besides, even from Chile it was still a 5 hour flight out into the middle of the Pacific Ocean, so could we even afford the trip? A quick Google search showed me that if we were going to go about 4 weeks out, which we weren’t because our trip was still about 6 months out, we absolutely could have afforded it. Round trip air was floating around $300.00 RT from Santiago about 3-4 weeks out on the day I happened to perform the Google search. The catch was that it was floating around $1200 to $1600 Round trip 6 months out when our trip was scheduled, which unfortunately was definitely out of our price range. It also looked like LATAM Airlines was the only airline that did regular flights to Easter Island from Santiago. We were likely going to be out of luck. I told myself I’d loosely keep an eye on airfare just in case. I went about planning our stay in Chile on the mainland.

Besides

Rano Raraku Quarry

Quarry Volcano Rano Raraku
Rano Raraku Volcano and buried Moai - and me

ALL PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero

Volcano Rano Raraku Moai Quarry
Tukuturi Moai (Kneeling Moai) 2

ALL PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero

Due diligence

 

As the months went by, I noticed an interesting trend when I would go to check on prices. The prices were always more expensive 3-9 months out and seemed to be cheaper 4-6 weeks out. I kept my fingers crossed that we’d be able to book a reasonable flight, as our trip got closer. About 5 weeks out the RT air from Santiago came down to about $330. Afraid the price would go back up, I pulled the trigger on the tickets. I’m not sure if the price went up or down a week later to under $300. I’m glad I bought the tickets when I did because when it came time to board the plane, it was packed. We had even been able to snag plus seating when we booked. That extra leg room is nice on 5-hour flights. If I had waited a little while longer there’s a real good chance the flight would have been booked and we wouldn’t have been able to book another flight in the narrow window we would be in Chile. The rest of our South American trip was already booked, flights and all. It wasn’t an option to change everything around at this point. If we were going to add Easter Island to our already packed itinerary then I needed to do so at that moment. I can’t stress enough how happy we are that we decided to add Isla de Pascua to our trip.. It wound up being a spectacular part of our journey and a truly once in a lifetime experience. It was an honor to visit such a unique island, the Moai and the people that call it home.

Ahu Tongariki

ALL PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero

Ahu Tongariki - Grateful for the Journey
Who wore it better?

ALL PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero

A few things to keep in mind

 

If you’re planning to visit Easter Island as a US tourist know that you can only stay up to 30 days and not the 90 days you can stay in Chile because the island is considered a special territory. The island is small. You really only need a few days to see the entire island. Any more than that would just be for the R & R. You’ll need to show your return ticket if requested at the airport, which proves you’re not staying over the legal amount of time. You’ll obviously need your passport, which no longer gets a special stamp at the Rapa Nui airport when you land. If you want the super cool passport stamp (Moai heads) you’ll need to get it at a special government location in the local town of Hanga Roa. The locals can direct you where you need to go. You'll also need, and this is important, a reservation letter provided by the establishment you booked your stay at to give to customs to prove you have a place to stay when you get to the island. Wherever your stay is needs to be approved by Sernatur, the national tourism service of Chile. You’ll also need to fill out a Rapa Nui entry form (IRN) online. After filling out the IRN you’ll get a confirmation email that you’ll need to print so you can also present that to the PDI at the airport. Make sure you have your ducks in a row by the time you get to the airport. The information on what you need is available and provided online.

Anakena Beach - Ahu Nau Nau and Ahu Ature

ALL PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero

Bottom Line. If it's someplace you'd like to see, make it happen.

 






















Times is ticking. Even the Moai with their weathering know that. Someday in somebodies lifetime, they won't exist as they do today. The ability we had to move freely around the island may not exist even in the near future. When we took this trip we had complete access. Of course no one can touch the Moai because of preservation issues, but we took our own tour at our own pace. That was priceless. We were able to take enough time to bond with the island and its past. That's all we really wanted. The town on the island is Hanga Roa. By itself, it is a completely unique experience and was worth discussing in a separate blog post you can also find on this site.









imes ticking

Mayan Ruins: Uxmal

A PICTORIAL TOUR

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Uxmal Mayan Ruins

(500 AD -1200 AD, Estimated)

Puuc Region, Yucatan, Mexico

Magician's Pyramid

PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero

The Nunnery

PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero

Ball Court, El Juego de Pelota

PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero

Great Pyramid and the Temple of the Gaucamayas

PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero

House of Pidgeons - Dovecote

The Governor's Palace and Courtyard

PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero

House of Turtles, the Plaza, Quadrangle of the Birds, Water Management

PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero

Grave Creek Mound: Moundsville, West Virginia

A BRIEF HISTORY AND PICTORIAL TOUR

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Grave Creek Mound

Moundsville, West Virginia, U.S.A

PHOTOS BY: Thomas Lonero

A BREIF HISTORY

The largest conical mound in the United States is sixty-nine feet tall and with circular base of about 300 yards

It was built by the so-called Adena people and is estimated to be roughly 2,000 years old. The real name of the people that built mounds across much of the area below the great lakes is unknown. They were so-named after an Ohio Governor named Thomas Worthington discovered a mound in the early 19th century on his Estate he had named “Adena”.

A view from the top

All we have are stories of what was found inside the mound. Rumors of extra large skeletal remains persist to this day. A stone with odd markings was apparently found during early unofficial excavations and although record of it seems to have been recorded at the Smithsonian where it was believed to have wound up, the current whereabouts of the stone is unknown. All we have remaining are drawings. The glyphs or “writing” on the stone have never been deciphered. Proof that Native Americans have a written language, during the time period the Adena culture persisted, has not yet been conclusively proven and is generally not accepted among academics.

Directional Obelisk Marker

A low wall and a directional stone compass built over the last hundred or so years can be found at the top of the mound. A short pathway encircles the mound, which leads to the top. It’s a great view of the surrounding area including the now retired West Virginia State Penitentiary, which offers tours year round and ghost tours near Halloween.

At the base of the Mound sits the Delf Norona Museum and the Grave Creek Archaeological Complex. They offer lectures throughout the year. Additional information can be found HERE.

The Stone Artifact