-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- http://atlantisrising.com/pdfs/mammoths.pdf Number 22 - ATLANTIS RISING - page 23 ANCIENT MYSTERIES the Mystery of the Quick Frozen Mammoths New Attention for One of Science's Most Disturbing Puzzles BY BEVERLY C. JAEGERS Editor's note: The recent wave of publicity surrounding the discovery of an intact Mammoth frozen in Siberian permafrost has rekindled debate over the sudden and mysterious demise of the species. While the extraction of the beast from the ice and possible plans to clone it -- a la Jurassic Park -- have fired the imagination of millions, few have considered the implications of such discoveries in the great debate between proponents of the "gradualist" school of evolutionary theory and the "catastrophist" camp. At stake are the theoretical underpinnings of current orthodoxy, opposed as it is to the notion that natural -- and for that matter, human -- history on Earth may have been far more dramatic and tumultuous than we have thus far dared to properly consider. Since the late 1700s, carcasses of long-vanished prehistoric mammoths have been located in the heavy ice and muck of frozen northern Siberian tundra. The first of record was located by Tungus Chief Ossip Shamakov, who spotted something large and dark inside a huge ice block lying along a Lena delta riverbank during his late-summer hunt for tusks. It was 1799. Superstitious fear kept the native ivory hunter from approaching the creature or seeking advice until six years later, when an observer with a science background was taken to view the carcass which was then partially exposed and half eaten by predators. The skeleton and much of the hide were recovered and placed eventually on display in the Russian St. Petersburg Museum where it delights the observer to this day. Unfortunately, no notations were kept of the condition of the extinct animal, nor any conclusions formed as to how it had come to be embedded in its icy tomb. Earlier finds in the Siberian area had not been brought to the attention of authorities, nor any reliable records kept other than folk tales of these ice-locked hairy giants suddenly appearing during the usual summertime hunts for scattered ivory tusks. Siberian north-lands have long been the most lucrative field for tusk hunters and traders, who paid the hunters 25 rubles for the immense ivory tooth, often fifteen feet long and more. It was, however, rare indeed to find such an intact animal as was located by Shamakov. Less than 20 perfect specimens have turned up in modern times. A FAST FROZEN FIND Global weather shifts regularly cause alternate melting and freezing of icepacks in sub-arctic and even polar areas to which the Siberian wastes now belong. These cycles occur on a yearly basis, which allows mammoth hunting, and on much longer epochal scales which are now under investigation. Science and weather authorities have warned officially that the immediate future holds more obvious warming trends through storms and changes in ocean currents. Such warming trends, according to the current academic consensus, are shown in the records to precede ice age onsets. This is believed to be a natural process, although the rapid warming period now in evidence is being ascribed to human pollutants. It was such a mini-melt that allowed the mammoth find of 1799, and the currently celebrated 1997 location of an intact mammoth which may hold answers to the disappearance of the furry behemoths into myth and legend, as well as a potential vehicle for cloning. This most recent discovery may provide evidence and clues to the unknown factors of climate and landscape at the exact time this mammoth still ranged the land. Bits of pollen and vegetation could be recovered from its body and two- to three-foot-long hair, while possibly more evidence could come from within its internal digestive system as was the case of the Berekovka `find' in 1900. Intact baby mammoth found in Yakutsk in 1977 Most fully intact mammoths have been located standing upright along riverbanks or crevices in retreating glacial areas, either completely in ice or partially exposed. A very young specimen was accidentally unearthed in the permafrost of USSR's Yakutsk Republic in almost perfectly preserved condition. Its presence had not been suspected, nor was there evidence of whether it had been frozen in the usual upright posture, although leg positions hint that it could well have been standing at the time of death. Such extraordinary circumstance points toward a very sudden death and freezing for these extinct cousins of the contemporary Asian elephant. Investigation of the full-grown animals found in 1900 revealed a stomach cavity full of undigested fodder, and fresh yellow buttercup blossoms clung to the frozen tongue. No data exists about the condition of its lungs, which might have suggested asphyxiation as a cause of such sudden death. Theorists have long debated, often hotly, what inconceivable set of circumstances may have prevailed in Siberia both 10,000 and 30,000 years ago; dates provided by radio-carbon dating tests on various mammoth specimens. PERIODS OF MASS DESTRUCTION? Already mostly ruled out are volcanic explosions in both areas of time, which might have released poisonous gases which could wipe out huge animal populations, freezing them in their tracks as they grazed. Local geology does not show sufficient high concentrations of volcanic dust and debris which would be expected in such a scenario. Huge seismic upheavals which could cause rivers of frozen mud and ice to instantly trap and envelop these animals between bites of herbage as they chewed might provide a better answer. Another cause could be climatic reversal, first proposed in the December 1976 issue of Science, where it was stated "changes in the earth's orbital geometry are the fundamental cause of the ice ages." This finding was the result of examining Indian ocean cores and bottom samples representing 450,000 consecutive years of earth's climate. These contain a clear record of all climatic reversals, from whatever cause, during that immense period. How and why such reversals occur, or how rapidly they occur, is still under study. Pole shifts, perhaps an artifact of earth's eccentric orbit, are a popular theory of some researchers, and would definitely increase the potential of `sudden death' as well as the severity of ice onsets. A group of geophysicists working in Greenland in 1971 discovered evidence of "fairly abrupt" climatic change from deep ice cores. But how `abrupt'? Today's newest studies may indicate a much more rapid onset than was thought. Recent findings show that Earth's core is a sphere of molten iron and moves in tiny but constant rotation. Could this rotation be possibly suddenly interrupted by some outside force, thus effecting the same type of geologic upheaval that is caused by sudden slippage of continental plates? These plates are sometimes stopped from movement over a short or long period. It was a shift of only a few inches in the San Andreas fault that caused the devastating quake and fire in San Francisco in 1906 (the coast-line southeast of Siberia is a known area of seismic instability). Could such a catastrophic event have caused immense ice and mud flow across Siberia in hours rather than days? Highly in dispute is the ice buildup theory of H.A. Brown, who in 1911, theorized that an accumulation of ice at one or both poles periodically upsets the earth's equilibrium, causing it to suddenly wobble or tumble like an overloaded canoe, throwing oceans of icy water over entire continental areas and instantly freezing animals with food in their mouths. A. T. Wilson found evidence that the Kutiak Glacier in northern India was reliably observed to have advanced as much as 360 feet a day at times. No such rapidity has been observed in recent times. However, if this were the case, such ice surges may have preceded or precipitated an ice age. It might also `unbalance the globe' as he thought, and could conceivably upset its usually regular orbital spin. A contemporary writer, Francis Hitching, defending the pole shift theories of the late Charles Hapgood, points out that most climate change theories of science overlook completely the `quick-frozen' perfection of the mammoth's physical condition, which would not have been possible under any slow-moving system of extinction. "We know that planetary catastrophes did not occur in the last few thousand years, so there has to be another explanation." He asks, "What extraordinary series of events can have taken place to leave the massive bulk of hardy, tough-skinned beasts as quick-frozen as a TV dinner?" CHANGES IN POLAR POSITION If the earth's poles have moved, suddenly or slowly, there could be one of these geophysical events at work or perhaps an unforeseen combination of them. Photographs of Mars seem to show evidence, according to some analysts at California Institute of Technology, that concentric features on that planet's surface are not centered on the present polar locations as they would have expected, but are displaced, hinting that Mars, too, is subject to changes in its spin axis. Martian icecaps have undergone recent scans, though the recent loss of NASA robotic scanner technology has prevented closer study of that planet's poles. This finding could indicate that sudden polar shifts might be common to all planetary bodies. That some radical changes are obvious in the case of earth's climate zones has been long known to explorers. Deep deposits of coal and carbon deposits exist under today's Polar regions, indicating that either polar climate was once almost tropical, or that some kind of displacement occurred, whether slow or very sudden in nature. Even Albert Einstein gave consideration to the theory that earth's crust itself sometimes, for whatever reason, undergoes sudden and perhaps catastrophic shifts, displacements or `slips'. Evidence of magnetic polarity changes has been noted in cores from many areas of the globe. Changed directions of continental movement called `drift' have been uncovered as well, showing that sudden inner or outer events may have effected these changes. But are these events abrupt? Can they fit the facts? An offbeat but plausible theory has been proposed concerning the close approach to earth of a comet or a heavy asteroid, which could affect both earth's inner core and its upper-most crust of continents and icecaps. No comet of sufficient size has yet been recorded, although the idea is not without merit. If we accept that none of the existing theories can be entered in the books as the final answer, that none fit the existing facts of almost instantaneous freezing, what is the answer? The findings and evidences of science are accumulating much more rapidly today than in previous years. Perhaps the reason for this is the increasing education and professionalism of the participants. Or perhaps their more open attitude to anomalistic findings. Modern forensic techniques will be applied to the frozen body of the most recent mammoth to be found, and may show more data than the previously discovered specimens could provide. Whether comet, sudden pole shift, continental slippage or seismic event -- something yet unknown -- caused the mysterious death of this immense creature. Finally, it must be restated that little evidence exists for any of these events as a direct cause of giant mammoths expiring on their feet as suddenly as they must have done to freeze so quickly and so perfectly as to be still fresh millennia later. Although many prehistoric animal populations may have been affected by mass kills, these are fossils, and only the largest, frozen in such an apparently lightning-like moment of time, remain to tantalize the theorist. No single piece of this fascinating scientific puzzle yet covers all the gaps. None answers all the questions. The silent, unmoving bulk of the quick-frozen mammoth eternally chewing its buttercups remains one of the great enigmas of the ages. The Author, Beverly Jaegers, is a journalist writing in varied fields since 1968, and a regular contributor to Atlantis Rising, Hera Magazine and others. She is also founder of the U.S. Psi Squad, a group involved in research into the frontiers of the mind. Their website is www.alltel.net/ ~computir/uspsisquad/ Email: USP-siSquad@ aol.com. The Discovery Channel shows workers cutting Mammoth-containing block from Siberian permafrost last summer so it can be airlifted to the laboratory. . <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soap-boxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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