But Stephen's two expeditions to Mexico and Central America in 1839 and 1841 yielded the first solid information on the culture of the Maya Indians. In this work, and in his other masterpiece Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, he tells the story of his travels to some 50 ruined Mayan cities.In this book, he describes the excitement of exploring the magnificent ruined cities of Copan and Palenque, and his briefer excursions to Quirigua, Patinamit, Utatlan, Gueguetenango, Ocosingo, and Uxmal. For all these cities, his details are so accurate that more recent explorers used the book as a Baedeker to locate ruins forgotten by even the Indians.In addition to being a great book on archaeological discovery, Stephen's work is also a great travel book. Telling of journeying by mule back on narrow paths over unimaginable deep ravines, through sloughs of mud and jungles of heavy vegetation, describing dangers of robbery, revolution, fever, mosquitoes and more exotic insects, Stephen's narrative remains penetrating and alive. His account of his attempt to buy Copan for $50 is told with the adroitness of a Mark Twain, and his descriptions of Indian life — primitive villages a few miles from the ruins, burials, treatment of the sick, customs, amusements, etc. — never lose their interest.Frederick Catherwood's illustrations virtually double the appeal of the book. Highly exact, remarkably realistic drawings show overall views, ground plans of the cities, elevations of palaces and temples, free-standing sculpture, carved hieroglyphics, stucco bas-reliefs, small clay figures, and interior details.

    Take an adventurous trek to these wilds of South America and the great civilizations of the ancients. In 24 eye-opening lectures, you'll take an in-depth look at the emerging finds and archaeological knowledge of more than 12 seminal civilizations, giving you rich insight into the creative vision and monumental achievements of these wellsprings of human life. The ancient South Americans show us striking models of how societies can function and organize themselves. The technologies and social structures seen here were wholly invented, using no preexisting models, as these dynamic peoples struggled to tame their environment and carve out societies and empires. Recently unearthed marvels include elaborately prepared and adorned mummies that predate Egypt's by 2000 years; imposing palaces, solar observatories, and dramatically decorated pyramids; stunning art objects in gold, turquoise, lapis lazuli, and ceramic; and evidence of huge urban civilizations in the Amazon. In their amazing sophistication and scale, the sites reveal some of the most remarkable ancient artifacts found anywhere in the world. The breathtaking valleys, mountains, and deserts you will study in this course reveal wonders that rival anything we know of the ancient world. Travel with us to a lost and splendorous past - a fountainhead of civilization that speaks unforgettably of human striving, vision, and the indomitable will to endure.Listening Length: 11 hours and 54 minutes

    But who were the early speakers of this ancient mother tongue, and how did they manage to spread it around the globe? Until now their identity has remained a tantalizing mystery to linguists, archaeologists, and even Nazis seeking the roots of the Aryan race. The Horse, the Wheel, and Language lifts the veil that has long shrouded these original Indo-European speakers, and reveals how their domestication of horses and use of the wheel spread language and transformed civilization.Linking prehistoric archaeological remains with the development of language, David Anthony identifies the prehistoric peoples of central Eurasia's steppe grasslands as the original speakers of Proto-Indo-European, and shows how their innovative use of the ox wagon, horseback riding, and the warrior's chariot turned the Eurasian steppes into a thriving transcontinental corridor of communication, commerce, and cultural exchange. He explains how they spread their traditions and gave rise to important advances in copper mining, warfare, and patron-client political institutions, thereby ushering in an era of vibrant social change. Anthony also describes his fascinating discovery of how the wear from bits on ancient horse teeth reveals the origins of horseback riding.The Horse, the Wheel, and Language solves a puzzle that has vexed scholars for two centuries--the source of the Indo-European languages and English--and recovers a magnificent and influential civilization from the past.

    Friedman's twenty-one year search for the truth about the mysterious Operation Majestic 12, President Truman's top-secret UFO investigation team. In this updated edition of his landmark book, he tells the incredible tale of the July, 1947 recovery of a crashed flying saucer near Roswell, New Mexico, and the establishment by President Truman of a truly all-star cast to deal with the saucer and its non-human inhabitants. The first four Directors of Central Intelligence, the first Secretary of Defense, and several outstanding scientists and military leaders were part of the team. Through painstaking research and startling evidence—including documents that have never before been published—Friedman effectively exposes the U.S. government's biggest-kept secret: a fifty-eight year UFO cover-up.

    Consider the possibility that the evolutionary scientific explanation for mankind has ignored critical facts that are buried deep within the fossils and mankind's DNA. Consider the possibility that the religious stories that have often been the core basis for mankind's understanding of where it belongs in the history of creation may actually reveal a planet occupied with tyrannical giants and an elite highly intelligent race bent on genetic mutation.As horrifying as such possibilities are, Genes, Giants, Monsters, and Men sets forth a plausible theory revealing a hidden history of mankind and a possible reason that it has remained veiled for hundreds of thousands of years. With his well-documented style and breathtaking conclusions, Dr. Joseph P. Farrell pulls back the veil and takes the reader on an odyssey behind the mysterious history and myths of the human race.Joseph P. Farrell is a recognized scholar whose credentials include a PhD in philosophy from the University of Oxford. His literary contribution is a veritable resumé unto itself covering such fields as Nazi Germany, sacred literature, physics, finances, the Giza pyramids, and music theory. A renowned researcher with an eye to assimilate a tremendous amount of background material, Farrell is able to condense the best scholastic research in publication and draw insightful new conclusions on complex and controversial subjects.

    After the Ice is the story of this momentous period--one in which a seemingly minor alteration in temperature could presage anything from the spread of lush woodland to the coming of apocalyptic floods--and one in which we find the origins of civilization itself.Drawing on the latest research in archaeology, human genetics, and environmental science, After the Ice takes the reader on a sweeping tour of 15,000 years of human history. Steven Mithen brings this world to life through the eyes of an imaginary modern traveler--John Lubbock, namesake of the great Victorian polymath and author of Prehistoric Times. With Lubbock, readers visit and observe communities and landscapes, experiencing prehistoric life--from aboriginal hunting parties in Tasmania, to the corralling of wild sheep in the central Sahara, to the efforts of the Guila Naquitz people in Oaxaca to combat drought with agricultural innovations.Part history, part science, part time travel, After the Ice offers an evocative and uniquely compelling portrayal of diverse cultures, lives, and landscapes that laid the foundations of the modern world.

    What was the mysterious solid object that struck a Comet jetliner in flight over India? - Has modern science already communicated with intelligent beings from outer space? - Why have UFO's undergone drastic design changes in the past sixty years? - What was the thing that followed a Polaris missile in 1961 and caused the radar tracking gear to lock on it instead of the missile? How could British television viewers pick up signals form a Texas TV station that had gone out of business three years earlier? What was the strange substance that dribbled from a crippled disc over Brazil in 1954? What was the reason for the mysterious power blackouts of the Northweat and the Southwest in the fall of 1965? What will the next UFO phase be and what are its unprecedented implications for the human race? FLYING SAUCERS -- SERIOUS BUSINESS The most revealing and astonishing story on UFO's ever to appear in print!

    What kind of society could produce such spectacular treasures only to bury them forever?Lost in a frenzy of speculation-anthropological, scientific, and commercial-was Tutankhamen himself. Thirty-five hundred years ago, the mightiest empire on earth crowned a boy as its king, then worshipped him as a god. Nine years later, he was dead. Despite the young monarch's almost universal recognition in death, Egyptologists know very little about his life. Traditional histories, founded on incomplete investigation and academic dogma, shed almost no light on the details of a life as complicated and as fascinating as it was short.In Tutankhamen: The Life and Death of the Boy-King, Christine El Mahdy finally delivers a coherent portrait of King Tut's life and its historical significance. Based on stunning tomb records, lost since their discovery, this revolutionary biography begins to answer one of the twentieth century's most compelling archaeological mysteries: Who was Tutankhamen?

    It gives an in-depth view for the reader on enigmatic topics like Atlantis, Eldorado, Stonehenge, Easter Island, Indus Valley civilization, Teotihuacan, Pyramids of Egypt and Americas, Nazca lines etc. The text is accompanied with full color illustrations, photographs and maps.Voyage to Atlantis --The search for Eldorado, land of gold --The land of the Queen of Sheba --Who really discovered the new world? --Strange stones of western Europe --Soul-statues of Corsica --The secrets of Stonehenge --The giants of Easter Island --Teotihuacán, city of the gods --The lost empire of the Indus Valley --The silent stones of Tiahuanaco --The world's first cities --The last refuge of the Incas --The men who built the Tower of Babel --Pyramids in the Americas --Inside the pyramids of the pharaohs --When the Sahara was green --The Scythians, fierce horesmen of the steppes --Zimbabwe, Africa's lost civilisation --Splendour in the jungle at Angkor --The Olmecs, a race of precursors --The magnificent realm of the Mayas --Enigmatic messages of the Nazcas --Did a black hole hit Siberia?

    In The Death of Trotsky, Cecelia Holland brings this fated and fatal day to life, from its quotidian beginnings to its dramatic close. Between Trotsky’s waking and his final rest, she probes the outer-workings and inner thoughts of those who were with him till the end, illuminating a man who exited life as he lived it: defiantly. Cecelia Holland, author of more than 30 books and articles, lives in northern California with her family.Cover Design by Adil Dara.

    This world-famous bestseller has withstood the test of time, inspiring countless books and films, including the author's own popular sequel, The Eyes of the Sphinx. But here is where it all began--von Daniken's startling theories of our earliest encounters with alien worlds, based upon his lifelong studies of ancient ruins, lost cities, potential spaceports, and a myriad of hard scientific facts that point to extraterrestrial intervention in human history. Most incredible of all, however, is von Daniken's theory that we ourselves are the descendants of these galactic pioneers--and the archeological discoveries that prove it... * An alien astronaut preserved in a pyramid * Thousand-year-old spaceflight navigation charts * Computer astronomy from Incan and Egyptian ruins * A map of the land beneath the ice cap of Antarctica * A giant spaceport discovered in the Andes Includes remarkable photos that document mankind's first contact with aliens at the dawn of civilization.

    It's about reaching back in time, to find ourselves, and our place in the world.We often think of Britain springing from nowhere with the arrival of the Romans. But in Ancestors, pre-eminent archaeologist, broadcaster and academic Professor Alice Roberts explores what we can learn about the very earliest Britons - from their burial sites. Although we have very little evidence of what life was like in prehistorical times, here their stories are told through the bones and funerary offerings left behind, preserved in the ground for thousands of years.Told through seven fascinating burial sites, this groundbreaking prehistory of Britain teaches us more about ourselves and our history: how people came and went; how we came to be on this island.

    Such anomalous evidence, contradicting Darwinian evolution, catalyzed a global inquiry: “If we did not evolve from apes then where did we come from?”Human Devolution is Michael A. Cremo’s definitive answer to that question: “We did not evolve up from matter; instead we devolved, or came down, from the realm of pure consciousness, spirit.” Basing his response on modern science and the world’s great wisdom traditions, including the Vedic philosophy of ancient India, Cremo proposes that before we ask the question, “Where did human beings come from?” we should first contemplate, “What is a human being?” For much of the twentieth century, most scientists assumed that a human being is simply a combination of ordinary physical elements. In Human Devolution, Cremo says it is more reasonable to assume that a human being is a combination of three distinct substances: matter, mind, and consciousness (or spirit). He shows how solid scientific evidence for a subtle mind element and a conscious self that can exist apart from the body has been systematically eliminated from mainstream science by a process of “knowledge filtration.”

    However, recent discoveries of astonishing accomplishments from the Neolithic Age - in art, technology, writing, math, science, religion, medicine and exploration - demand a fundamental rethinking of humanity before the dawn of written history.In this fascinating book, Richard Rudgley describes how:* The intrepid explorers of the Stone Age discovered all of the world's major land masses long before the so-called Age of Discovery* Stone Age man performed medical operations, including amputations and delicate cranial surgeries* Paleolithic cave artists of Western Europe used techniques that were forgotten until the Renaissance* Prehistoric life expectancy was better than it is for contemporary third-world populationsRudgley reminds us just how savage so-called civilized people can be, and demonstrates how the cultures that have been reviled as savage were truly civilized. The Lost Civilizations of the Stone Age shows the great debt that contemporary society owes to its prehistoric predecessors. It is a rich introduction to a lost world that will redefine the meaning of civilization itself.

    There must have been a Civilization One. The authors show how this very precise unit of 82.966656cm, proven to have been used in the construction of thousands of megalithic structures in Britain and France, was derived from observing the rate of the spin of the Earth - based on a form of geometry that had 366 degrees to match the 366 rotations of the Earth in a year. They reveal how this is part of an integrated system, far more advanced than anything used today, which forms the basis of both the Imperial and the Metric systems. The ancient scientists understood the dimensions, motions and relationships of the Earth, Moon and Sun - they measured the solar system and even understood how the speed of light was integrated into the movements of our planet. The implications of these revelations go far beyond the fascination of discovering