Nexus - 0223 - New Times Magazine-pages

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Assuming a reduction scale of one for could not be used to redesign the original _there was no ice on the Antarctic continent twelve million, these dimensions would prehistoric maps. Another explanation which, also, was farther from the South have represented on the surface of the would be that spherical trigonometry was_ Pole. The equator was 23 1/2 degrees far- Earth a hemispherical projection with a _used for the projection, making distances _ther north than it is now and Stonehenge in radius of 6,468 km and a circumference of on the map shorter as they were farther England, for example, was at 27.72°N and 40,656 km, which could have been the from the centre. That also would indicate | enjoyed a warm climate like that of Tampa equatorial circumference of the Earth a _an advanced civilisation. in Florida now. That could also explain long time ago when the axial rotation of Another strange fact about the mediae- why prehistoric navigators knew the exis- _ the Earth was faster than it is now. val map is that it does not show any tropi- _ tence of northern islands such as Svalbard, However, from a high altitude of 4,300 km —_cal or Antarctic circles. That could indi- now at less that 10 degrees from the North above Egypt or 10,800 km above the cen- _ cate that when the prehistoric map was __ Pole and inaccessible to modem sailors. tre of the Earth, an astronaut could only _—_ designed, the rotation axis of the Earth was In France, Brittany had a large inland see 80 per cent of its circumference, corre- _ perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic. lake and its western tip was an island. In - sponding on the Earth to 32,52§_,--—-————————_____________________ Spain, a large lake in the centre km or 3,388 metres on the map —, “1 | was feeding two large rivers now with a scale of 1/9,600,000 or 1 ' ° : ai called the Tagus and the millimetre for 9.6 kilometres. a Guadalquivir. In Morocco, # large In comparing the angles and : “| lake in the Sahara was feeding the distances on the Piri Reis map A Sebou River. In Mali, a very large with those of a corresponding lake near Bamba was feeding modern map, I made an interest- wide rivers such as Gambia, ing discovery. In the northern Senegal and Niger, whose delta section of the mediaeval map, the { near Port Harcourt is out of the distances from the centre of the ; 2241 map. There is an important circle to such places as Cape dimension, the distance between Lagos in Spain, Tangiers, Cape Palmas and the Antarctic Agadir, and Ifni in Morocco, coast, which seems to be 8,400 were exactly the same as those km on modem maps and should measured on the moder map. therefore be 700 mm on the medi- But on the southern part of the a aeval map, while it is only 385 map, the distances in millimetres mm on that map. That discrepan- between the centre and Cape cy could have been made on pur- Juby, Villa Cisneros, Cape pose by Piri Reis so that he could Bianco, Dakar, Freetown and include, at the bottom of his map, Cape Palmas were increasingly the Antarctic continent which he shorter on the mediaeval map probably considered as imaginary, than on the modern map. And I since it was only discovered on 18 found the explanation. November 1820 by an American The north-south axis from « | seal hunter named Nathaniel Cape Lagos in Spain to Cape Palmer. Palmas in Liberia is oriented to The map of Piri Reis, made ~ an approximate azimuth of 345 from several prehistoric maps, degrees on the mediaeval map, constitutes indisputable evidence while it is oriented to 355 of the existence before the ice degrees on the modern map. In other There were no seasons and the climate was _ ages of an advanced civilisation which had words, the tilt of ten degrees to the weston _ always the same at any given latitude. If already explored and measured the entire the mediaeval map could explain why the __ the equator really was at 23 1/2°N and 30° _ surface of the Earth. It also indicates that distances are the same on the northern E in Egypt, which is the most logical _ the equator has not always been where it is coast of Africa and different on the explanation for the map, the North Pole __ now, and that prehistoric maps had been Souther coast. must have been at 66 1/2°N and 150°W on _ designed with an inch of 25.666 mm which I had always thought that the mediaeval _ the Arctic Circle in Alaska, and the South _is contained 9,000 times in the base length map was correct inside the circle butI was _ Pole at 66 1/2°S and 30°E on the Antarctic of 231 m of the Great Pyramid. That also wrong. The scale and measuring units Circle in the Rilser Peninsula. That also indicates that a long time ago there existed were correct, but the azimuths were wrong could explain why there was no ice in the on the Earth an advanced civilisation that with a tilt of ten degrees to the west of | Bay of Ross from 40,000 to 30,000 and _could observe the surface of Africa from 224 67 north. I did not try to make any calcula- from 15,000 to 5,000 years ago. an altitude of 4,300 kilometres. °° tions or measurements out of the circle The caster patofhindievwl_ Ss hh ~==_=_===__= since many others had already done it and the most interesting. It shows large lakes Mr Chatelain is a retired space scientist. proved that the islands, coasts and rivers that do not exist any longer and rivers = book, Our sant prepare, a in had been copied from several different pre- much wider than they are now, when they _‘‘¢ 4ncien! astronaut field, is avallable in over- we F . 7 am size paperback; several other books available historic maps and placed on the mediaeval still exist. This could indicate that at that j, photocopy format. For prices and ordering map at random, with wrong latitudes, lon- _ time the sea level was much higher and the _ information, write to Maurice Chatelain, 3976 gitudes and orientations, and therefore climate much warmer, and explain why _ Kenosha Ave, San Diego, CA 92117, USA. could not be used to redesign the original prehistoric maps. Another explanation would be that spherical trigonometry was used for the projection, making distances on the map shorter as they were farther from the centre. That also would indicate an advanced civilisation. Another strange fact about the mediae- val map is that it does not show any tropi- cal or Antarctic circles. That could indi- cate that when the prehistoric map was designed, the rotation axis of the Earth was perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic. There were no seasons and the climate was always the same at any given latitude. If the equator really was at 23 1/2°N and 30° E in Egypt, which is the most logical explanation for the map, the North Pole must have been at 66 1/2°N and 150°W on the Arctic Circle in Alaska, and the South Pole at 66 1/2°S and 30°E on the Antarctic Circle in the Rilser Peninsula. That also could explain why there was no ice in the Bay of Ross from 40,000 to 30,000 and from 15,000 to 5,000 years ago. The eastern part of the mediaeval map is the most interesting. It shows large lakes that do not exist any longer and rivers much wider than they are now, when they still exist. This could indicate that at that time the sea level was much higher and the climate much warmer, and explain why NEXUS e 13 DECEMBER 1994 - JANUARY 1995