This post is by researcher and author David Claerr.
The renowned wilderness guide and adventurer Don Monroe was exploring a cave in a remote area of the state of New Mexico. He was accompanied by his companion and fellow explorer. The cave was extremely well hidden and his long history of exploring caves had him pull back a great degree of growth to enter. As Don was suffering kidney stones at the time, he was getting antsy to leave, but he just had to know what this well-hidden cave had to offer. His companion took a single photo of a room that appeared to be completely worked over and fashioned for the display of some figures. Sadly, as Don's kidney stones became worse, the couple had to rush off to the nearest big city where he spent days on antibiotics and recovering. They headed back to his Montana base and began some other explorations, setting aside the cave find. Don was not sure of the importance of the find, and it left his mind for many years, although he kept the photo his companion had taken.
The two statue groups each had a pair of figures crouching back-to back, and each pair was connected in the back, having been hewn out of a single block of stone. They sat atop of a raised daiz of a sort made of thin sheets of stone.
The two statue pairings had similar, yet distinct styles, as though created by different artists. The type of stone used is also different.
The elements that the statues had in common were the crouching stances, arms folded across the belly, large heads with bulging eyes, pug noses, and thick-lipped wide mouths with protruding tongues.
The amazing fact is that these peculiar elements are found almost exclusively in the back-to-back conjoined tiki figures from the Polynesian islands of the Marquesas.
The Marquesas Island chain is in the South Pacific, about the same latitude as Peru. New Mexico is about 5,000 miles to the Northwest.
The montage below is comprised of sculptures from the Marquesas.
Another remarkable comparison is that the smaller pair of the New Mexico figures have the same type of round caps or hats with a distinct brim as do the Marquesas figures. The larger pair from the cave have rounded caps or hair-styles as do other Marquesas figures.
So how could the Marquesan-style figures make the transit from the Marquesas, far to the north and inland to New Mexico?
There must have been a set of remarkable circumstances leading to this conclusion.
However, it is an established fact that Polynesian voyagers in ancient times crossed the Pacific from west to east, originating with seafarers in Taiwan. Anthropological, Linguistic and now, Genetic Data has confirmed this.
The Polynesian culture, originating with the indigenous peoples of current-day Taiwan, after centuries of seas travel, coalesced in the Islands of Samoa, a base from which they eventually made very lengthy sea voyages on large double-hulled canoes or catamarans.
illustration by David Claerr
The catamarans had sails on pivoting masts that enabled them to sail in any direction, even against prevailing winds, by “tacking” or sailing at a diagonal into the wind.
The Polynesians also used the ocean currents for travel, drifting with the current, lowering their sails.
The Marquesas, at the farther eastern edge of their range were probably settled by Polynesians by about 800 AD/CE.
By sailing north from the Marquesas, the voyagers could catch the Equatorial Counter Current, which would carry them from west to east, enabling them to reach the shore of South America, most directly to Columbia.
The return trip was accomplished by riding the Southern Equatorial Current directly back to the Marquesas. The Trade Winds also blow from east to west in that area of the Pacific, and would speed up the voyage considerably.
A very interesting and significant result from a comprehensive Genetic Study revealed that Native South Americans from the region of Columbia had reached the Marquesas and interbred with the local populations, probably about 1150 AD/CE.
Since the genetic input from the Colombians indicate that just a few persons had interbred, it is most likely that they were brought from Columbia to the Marquesas. Alternatively, voyagers from Columbia may have reached the Marquesas.
It is noteworthy that there was a significant amount of maritime activity along the western coast of Peru, Ecuador, Columbia, Panama and Mexico that was well established before the arrival of the Spaniards and other Europeans.
For example, there is the account of the Incan prince Topa Inca Yupanqui, who voyaged with a fleet of thousands of hand-picked sailors on a voyage lasting at least nine months. He went in search of two islands that two merchants (likely Polynesian) had informed him about. Historians surmise that the islands Topa Inca Youpanqui reached were Mangareva and Pascua in Polynesia.
Another example of ocean travel was the modern voyage by Thor Heyerdahl on a primitive balsa wood raft, the Kon Tiki from Peru to French Polynesia, which is relatively near the Marquesas.
Paths and Timings of the Peopling of Polynesia from
Genomic Networks
On another trip, while visiting Easter Island, Heyerdahl found depictions of what appear to be reed boats with masts and sails. The one pictured below is carved on the stomach of a moai.
So it seems plausible that there were a significant amount of ocean voyages, not only for exploration and colonization, but also for trade and commerce.
The trade networks were most established along the pacific coast, ranging from South and Central America up through Mexico and possibly to California.
Voyagers traveling north along Mexico's Pacific coastline, would eventually sail into the Sea of Cortez (or Gulf of California) where the Colorado River empties into the sea. From the Colorado River delta, smaller craft, such as canoes could travel north along the Colorado, and head east along the Gila River from where it flows into the Colorado.
The Gila River crosses through Arizona and continues through New Mexico. The headwaters of the Gila would be only 35 to 75 miles overland from the current possible locations of the cave, which has yet to be determined exactly.
Therefore, traders following this route, or sculptors from the Marquesas could reach the cave in New Mexico. The sculpted figures could have been a trade item, or Marquesan sculptors could have carved them on location.
If the cave, together with the sculptures, can be relocated and thoroughly analyzed, many elements of this mystery could be determined, such as:
Is the stone local, or of Marquesan Origins? Perhaps dating by Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) could place the time period the images were placed in the cave.
Other methods, such as Uranium-Thorium dating may determine the age or time of creation.
It is also notable that the cave in New Mexico seems to have other carvings and symbols on the walls and surfaces that may have archaeological importance. The cave should be subject to a comprehensive search, using metal-detecting equipment, fluoroscopes and UV scanning devices, among other techniques.
(Note the cave surface on the left has a hand carved in bas-relief that resembles the hand of a tiki placed on the abdomen of a figure. Perhaps it is a part of a larger sculpture.)
In the future, there may be an expedition to re-locate the cave and a real-time documentary film produced. Follow Sharon Day on this blog and also on Facebook for more developments!
Below is the original photo -
Even the interior of the cave looks worked by chisel, as well, showing a carved ledge. As the two did not go further into the cave and had to get Don immediately to a hospital, there is no telling what all the cave was used for and by whom. It is hoped with more details of the location, this can be discovered as one of the most vital ancient finds in America.
Ghost Hunting Theories will keep you up to date.
Comments
Post a Comment