What if ancient sites such as Machu Picchu, Chichen Itza, the Acropolis, and Temple Mount are not only thousands of years old but much older? Until recently, a lack of hard evidence has led mainstream archaeologists to dismiss theories of past civilizations as pseudoscientific attempts to resurrect ancient myths and legends. However, new archaeological discoveries are beginning to challenge conventional explanations. Inspired by Charles Hapgood’s hypothesis that the ice ages were the result of shifts in the geographic location of Earth’s poles, independent researcher and author Mark Carlotto has discovered that numerous sites throughout the world are aligned to what appear to have been four previous positions of the North Pole over the past 100,000 years. By virtue of their alignment to ancient poles, Dr. Carlotto proposes a new that the original sites were first established by a previous advanced technological civilization who existed throughout the world tens of thousands of years ago and later co-opted by our ancestors who rebuilt and expanded over and around the older structures while preserving the layout and orientation of the site to the original pole. Before Atlantis considers the possibility that this previous technological civilization could have developed from an earlier migration of modern humans out of Africa, which later co-existed with our primitive hunter-gatherer ancestors, and that past encounters with this older civilization were the source of ancient myths and legends of powerful gods, lost continents, and even Atlantis.
This book is a mixture of mathematics, history, geology, and geography. As a whole, it is quite fascinating.
The introduction though does not set the stage well at all. Carlotto discusses is background and areas of interest & expertise, including investigation possible alien artifacts on other planets, crop circles and UFOs of ours, and what I know to be conspiracy theories about archaeological sites and ancient civilizations.
But everything takes an abrupt 180 when he turns our attention to the fact that it has been hypothesized by Hapgood that the North Pole has not always been in the Arctic Circle. Carlotto’s analysis makes it sound like the pole itself moved, when instead the reason for the change would be due to shifts in Earth’s crust [due to natural events/disasters] and the continental drift overall. This could even be before the countries drifted apart to form the continents as we know them. Note: He DOES mention Earth’s shifting crust, but as the eponymous book written by Hapgood. As the book continues, until over 75% in, it almost sounds like the pole changes essentially just happened.
Instead of reconstructing history from myth, Carlotto reconstructs history with aerial archaeology and geometry.
Carlotto thus takes Hapgoods conclusions and implements modern technology (including Google Maps) along with geometric and astronomical alignments of various landmarks to best determine where former places of the North Pole likely were.
Because of over 200 sites he examined, only half of them are aligned in known geographical or astronomical directions. Using various images (regular pictures, Google Maps, regular maps, and other things), Carlotto reveals the possible nature of many of these uniquely designed places...and that some may actually be older than we realize, despite the fact that even without metal tools--or the wheel!--civilizations were able to cut and transport bedrock to develop structures. And no, there is actually no evidence to suggest that this was done by aliens.
What this does mean though is that humans, or at least a human subspecies (like the Denisovans) existed tens of thousands of years before leaving Africa. And when modern humans DID leave Africa, they’d have thought these beings gods. There are even the Naacal, the ancient Maya who spread their culture to the rest of the world--and that culture was more advanced than ours for a long time. These are ideas that Carlotto bounces back and forth between, and is thus repetitive in the first few chapters and the last few.
He also doesn’t use many commas, so the editing could definitely have been tightened up.
But then things get interesting. Carlotto brings in a lot of geometry and how the positions of the moon, sun, and even the Earth can be calculated in different ways. Many sites are directed towards the sun’s position on an equinox, as it changes by even 1 or 2 degrees between the spring and fall equinoxes, which I didn’t know. I’m a math person and even the trig in the equations boggled me. I can do the math, but applying it to geology and astronomy throws me off. It’s still fascinating...even if some of the graphs confuse me. But these equations can be inverted to determine when an alignment at a specific angle would have lined up with some type of solar or seasonal event. And the graphs do help analyze changes over time.
Something that sparked this type of research, even nearly 100 years ago, is how strange certain sites are. For example, using the above information, many sites are directed in the same general direction but don’t actually align perfectly with a solar or lunar event (if it’s even close), or the north pole. Others have names that contrast with their orientation. Or there are some places, like a few in China, that seem to disregard the element of Feng shui.
It wasn’t until the 1960s that paleomagnetic evidence of polar changes was confirmed, which is pretty neat.
The real heart of the book though is when Carlotto walks us through the different Ages, and links them to Hesiod’s The Ages of Man. He provides a table of sites for each that align to each of the poles whether through an Equinox, Solstice, Major lunar standstill, and minor lunar standstill. These sites were determined by drawing great circles through the suspected pole. ~~~First Age: The Bering Sea Pole--this includes the Temple of the Sun, Machu Picchu, the Sacred Lake of Egypt, and the Tomb of Agamemnon in Mycenae. --Of the Tomb of Agamemnon, Carlotto describes various theories behind why the tomb would be misaligned with respect to the cardinal directions. ~~~Second Age: The Greenland Pole--this includes The Parthenon, Easter Island, various Temples in Egypt, the Western Wall in Jerusalem, and the Tower of Babel. --On Easter Island is the stone structure Ahu Tahai, which doesn’t face west but 8.2° north of west. It may have been placed on the foundation of a structure built there tens of thousands of years prior that was oriented in the direction of the Greenland pole. ~~~Third Age: Norwegian Sea Pole--this includes other temples in Egypt (including Horus and Ramses), Chichen Itza, and Por-Bajin in Siberia. --Of Por-Bajin, if it is assumed it was developed during the time of the Norwegian Sea Pole, then it would not have been in the middle of nowhere in the middle of a lake. The site would have been warmer, making its existence more plausible...save for the fact “that according to accepted timelines modern humans had not yet left Africa.” ~~~Fourth Age: Hudson Bay Pole--this includes Machu Picchu, Blythe Intaglios in California, and the Shri Martand Sun Temple. --Of Shri Martand Sun Temple, this is one with a name that makes no sense since it’s not currently aligned to the sun in any way. BUT it would have been facing due east during when the north pole was in the Hudson Bay
Instead of having a chapter on the Fifth Age (our current age, where the north pole is in the Arctic Circle, Carlotto goes into a chapter on looking back from this Fifth Age. ~ The Bering Sea to Greenland pole shift caused Europe from being sub-tropical to temperate; it then became polar during the Norewegian Sea pole shift. This can be a reason as to why modern humans didn’t migrate to Europe until about 40,000 BCE, which would be about 20K years after the Hudson Bay pole shift. ~ During the Fourth Age, humans were prevented from migrating from Asia to North America. Then about 20K years ago, the Arctic pole shift occurred, and the conditions allowed for humans to travel between the two continents via a land bridge (that is now underwater). (I am just glad I knew that the land bridge existed and was theorized to be the way in which humans traveled to North America)! ~ It’s quite interesting to know how few sites there are in Asia and North America that align to previous poles; but that the number of those in Mesoamerica increase over time.
Before Atlantis: New Evidence Suggesting the Existence of a Previous Technological Civilization on Earth [Print Replica] Kindle Edition
by Mark Carlotto (Author)
I borrowed this book via the Kindle Unlimited program. I am voluntarily leaving a fair and honest work. I was exposed to many of the ideas in this book by my father. He brought Charles Hapgood and other Polar Shift proponents when I was a Sophomore in High School, so I was fairly conversant with much of the information that Mr. Carlotto presents. However, he includes a little more science to his pseudo-science than normal which made me think and ask my own questions. For instance, has the advent of LIDAR made any change to the discussion of realigning our pre-history theories. What happened in 10,500? This date seems to pop up everywhere from Greece (Plato's Atlantis) to Golbeki Tepe to Antarctica. Something happened in that time, 12,000 +/- years BPE, something that may have influenced a lot of cultures. Do the discoveries of Desovins, Homo Floresiensis and Homo luzonensis change or support his opinion? The author used a 3D mapping program on Mars's Cydonia Region. Has he or anyone else used a 3D printer? Mr. Carlotto presents his journey into the ideas of a polar shift and a pre-existing, prior technologically advanced society. He uses his own algorithms to create and analyze images from all over the world and on Mars. His work, while using some hard science and math, does dip far more than a toe into the Ancient Aliens pool. Many of his theories reflect authors/personalities of Robert Bauval, Graham Hancock, David Wilcock and Robert Schoch. The author presents his case using Charles Hapgood's theory of crust displacement and pole shift. While the author uses his own locations that are relatively in the same place to help to adjust the alignment of buildings. There is not a lot of true connection between different continents that couldn't be explained as coincidence. Using this concept, he picks and chooses locations. Much like Graham Hancock, he also uses constellations to explain other alignments. He does this on continents that are half the world apart. For instance, he tried to tie constellations like Leo to sights named after cougar. There is an issue here, not all societies highlighted the same constellations and types. Ursa Major, the Big Dipper and the Cart all refer to the same set of stars, but in different places and different time. While nowhere near strictly orthodox science, there are several lines in study that would be interesting to follow through to their end. The writing is clear, but I so could have done without the equations and I had a great deal of technological problems on my Kindle for PC app. 3 stars out of 5 https://www.amazon.com/Before-Atlanti...
"Before Atlantis: New Evidence Suggesting the Existence of a Previous Technological Civilization on Earth" by Mark Carlotto is a thought-provoking and captivating book that challenges traditional perspectives on human history and civilization. Carlotto presents compelling evidence that suggests the possibility of a technologically advanced civilization that existed on Earth before recorded history.
One of the strengths of this book is Carlotto's meticulous research and scientific approach. He presents a wide range of evidence, including geological anomalies, ancient structures, artifacts, and advanced technologies, that point towards the existence of a previous civilization with advanced technological capabilities. He uses satellite images, archaeological findings, and scientific analysis to support his arguments, presenting a compelling case for the existence of a lost civilization that predates our current understanding of history.
Carlotto's writing is clear, concise, and well-organized, making complex scientific concepts accessible to readers with varying levels of expertise. He presents his evidence in a logical and systematic manner, building his arguments step-by-step and providing readers with a well-reasoned and compelling case for his theories.
One of the most intriguing aspects of this book is the way Carlotto challenges conventional beliefs about human history. He questions the mainstream view of a linear progression of human civilization, suggesting that there may have been cycles of rise and fall of advanced civilizations throughout Earth's history. He also raises intriguing questions about the origins of ancient mythologies and their potential connections to a lost civilization.
However, it's worth noting that Carlotto's theories and evidence are controversial and not widely accepted by the mainstream scientific community. Some readers may find his ideas radical or speculative, and it's important to approach the book with an open mind and critical thinking.
In conclusion, "Before Atlantis: New Evidence Suggesting the Existence of a Previous Technological Civilization on Earth" is a thought-provoking and compelling read for those interested in alternative theories about human history and civilization. Carlotto presents a well-researched and compelling case for the possibility of a lost civilization with advanced technology, challenging conventional beliefs and opening up new perspectives on our understanding of human history.
Very worthwhile read - eye opening and open minded
This book is open minded and honest about what it is suggesting and the limits of knowledge. There is a tendency with other books that become bestsellers to make very strong and convincing claims to a sort of overriding, undeniable logical argument. Books like Guns, ,Germs and Steel do this very well. The problem is they don’t know the truth - they are making propositions, hypotheses, but they come across very convincingly as if they KNOW. This book doesn’t do this. It humbly and clearly sets out the arguments and the data, and makes clear it is suggesting a hypothesis, not making claims to absolute truth and knowledge. That is the true scientific spirit. There is far too much of the other kind, whose main merit is dressing up hypothesis as fact. Science is not like a law court - there is no need to prove things one way or the other. There is no ‘charge’, no sentencing. It’s just exploring and finding out more facts. This book does a great job of that.
An intriguing investigation of the possibility of human civilizations in the deep past, falling and rising again after shifts in the Earth's crust that bring about a change in the location of the poles (a theory first proposed by the geographer Charles Hapgood in 1958). The author, an aerospace engineer by training, examines the orientation of many archaeological sites around the world, which do not currently line up with the cardinal directions, but which can be shown to align to different polar positions in the past. His findings (with many color illustrations from Google Earth) are provocative.
While Wikipedia dismisses Hapgood as a "pseudoscientist," Mark Carlotto shows the spirit of real, unbiased inquiry that actually pushes knowledge forward. The pole-shift theory may or may not be true, but this author has marshaled evidence that seems to strongly support it.
It proposes a well supported theory of human origins and a possible common ancestor to Mayan, Egyptian, Inca and Greek civilizations among others. The approach is a bit technical but logical. It is an eye opener and makes sense. A great intelligent conversation piece.
Terrific read - though heavy on the science, especially math. Carl Sagan asked for extraordinary proof, and proof through science is what Carlotto provides. A very interesting read on multiple topics, although I can see where some readers might be put off by the jumping around from topic to topic, e.g., Gobekli Tepe, Machu Picchu, Mars, the moon, Antartica, NASA, and many more
Impossible to read due to presentation format incorrect for any Kindle device. Deceptively presented as Kindle compatible when clearly not. Had to return unread. Not worth the time to download even for free.
As much as one can be skeptical of the Ancient Aliens Theory, archeological findings clearly indicate at this point in time that there have been advanced civilizations long before mainstream scientists originally thought. Unfortunately, there is only much speculation around what really happened in the distant past.
A statement in Mark Carlotto's "closing thoughts" (page 127) sums up the content of his book: "Admittedly, we have used an unproven theory, namely Charles Hapgood's theory of crustal displacement, as the basis of a new approach for dating ancient structures based on their alignment to previous locations of the North Pole. Still, one has to wonder: if Hapgood's theory is wrong, why are so many ancient sites in the world aligned to what could be a past location of the North Pole? "
My understanding of geometry and astronomy is not good enough to judge if Carlotto's computations are correct. However if they are, then it is really astonishing what he found out. It makes a plausible explanation for the misalignment of ancient sites and also for ancient legends and myths, which might actually be based on real events. If there was just a scientific proof that these pole shifts really happened as extremely as Hapgood theorized.
I have the printed edition of the book, and I like that many images are included to support Carlotto's idea, even though not all clear to recognize. Still, one gets the idea better. I hope that one day we will find out what really happened in the distant past. In any case, Carlotto adds an interesting theory for those who keep an open mind.