Nexus - 0705 - New Times Magazine-pages

Page Content (OCR)

appeared in the British journal Nature (no. 170) in 1952. Said the not found in Tutankhamen's tomb, as according to Wright a piece author, Kenneth Oakley:* was found. Pieces of natural silica-glass up to 16 lb in weight occur At any rate, the vitrified areas of the Libyan Desert are yet to be scattered sparsely in an oval area, measuring 130 km north explained. Are they evidence of an ancient war—a war that may to south and 53 km from east to west, in the Sand Sea of the have turned North Africa and Arabia into the desert that it is Libyan Desert. This remarkable material, which is almost today? pure (97 per cent silica), relatively light (sp. gin. 2.21), clear and yellowish-green in colour, has the qualities of a gem - The Vitrified Forts of Scotland stone. It was discovered by the Egyptian Survey Expedition One of the great mysteries of classical archaeology is the exis- under Mr P.A. Clayton in 1932, and was thoroughly investi - tence of many vitrified forts in Scotland. Are they also evidence gated by Dr L.J. Spencer, who joined a special expedition of of some ancient atomic war? Maybe, but maybe not. the Survey for this purpose in 1934. There are said to be at least 60 such forts throughout Scotland. The pieces are found in sand-free corridors between north- Among the most well-known are Tap o'Noth, Dunnideer, Craig south dune ridges, about 100 m Phadraig (near Inverness), Abernathy high and 2-5 km apart. These (near Perth), Dun Lagaidh (in Ross), corridors or "streets" have a . Cromarty, Arka-Unskel, Eilean na rubbly surface, rather like that One of the great mysteries of Goar, and Bute-Dunagoil on the of a "speedway" track, formed i i Sound of Bute off Arran Island. by angular gravel and red classical archaeology Is the Another well-known vitrified fort is loamy weathering debris overly - existence of many vitrified forts the Cauadale hill-fort in Argyll, West ing Nubian sand: . Th H Scotland. pioces of glass lie "on this sur - in Scotland. Are they also “One of the best examples of a vitri- face or partly embedded in it. evidence of some ancient fied fort is Tap o'Noth, which is near Only small ts A the village of Rhynie in northeastern were fant below Ieee atomic war? Scotland. This mnassive fort from pre- and none deeper than about one history is on the summit of a moun- metre. All the pieces on the sur - tain of the same name which, being face have been pitted or 1,859 feet (560 metres) high, com- smoothed by sand-blast. The distribution of the glass is mands an impressive view of the Aberdeenshire countryside. At patchy... first glance it seems that the walls are made of a rubble of stones, While undoubtedly natural, the origin of the Libyan silica- but on closer look it is apparent that they are made not of dry glass is uncertain. In its constitution it resembles the tektites stones but of melted rocks! What were once individual stones are of supposed cosmic origin, but these are much smaller. now black and cindery masses, fused together by heat that must Tektites are usually black, although one variety found in have been so intense that molten rivers of rock once ran down the Bohemia and Moravia and known as moldavite is clear deep- walls. green. The Libyan silica-glass has also been compared with Reports on vitrified forts were made as far back as 1880 when the glass formed by the fusion of sand in the heat generated Edward Hamilton wrote an article entitled "Vitrified Forts on the by the fall of a great meteorite; for example, at Wabar in West Coast of Scotland" in the Archaeological Journal (no. 37, Arabia and at Henbury in central Australia. 1880, pp. 227-243). In his article, Hamilton describes several Reporting the findings of his expedition, Dr Spencer said sites in detail, including Arka-Unskel:* that he had not been able to trace the Libyan glass to any At the point where Loch na Nuagh begins to narrow, where source; no fragments of meteorites or indications of meteorite craters could be found in the area of its distri - bution. He said: "It seemed easier to assume that it had simply fallen from the sky." It would be of considerable interest if the time of ori - gin or arrival of the silica-glass in the Sand Sea could be determined geologically or archaeologically. Its restriction to the surface or top layer of a superficial deposit suggests that it is not of great antiquity from the geological point of view. On the other hand, it has clearly been there since prehistoric times. Some of the flakes were submitted to Egyptologists in Cairo, who regarded them as "late Neolithic or pre-dynastic". In spite of a careful search by Dr Spencer and the late Mr A. Lucas, no objects of silica-glass could be found in the collections from Tut-Ankh-Amen's tomb or from any of the other dynastic tombs. No potsherds were encoun - tered in the silica-glass area, but in the neighbourhood of the flakings some "crude spear-points of glass" were found; also some quartzite implements, "quernstones" and ostrich-shell fragments. _ ; 7 Oakley is apparently incorrect when he says that LDG was Distribution of tektites, with their theoretical ages STE FIELD # i aa Let PE et 7 2 MUST REL Aen = = STAM FELD ie PMVOOO Teams. ~f , ae 1 % wa Pe Coe ® a en ae not found in Tutankhamen's tomb, as according to Wright a piece was found. At any rate, the vitrified areas of the Libyan Desert are yet to be explained. Are they evidence of an ancient war—a war that may have turned North Africa and Arabia into the desert that it is today? One of the great mysteries of classical archaeology is the existence of many vitrified forts in Scotland. Are they also evidence of some ancient atomic war? NEXUS - 55 Distribution of tektites, with their theoretical ages AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2000