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A CYCLOPEAN SKULL OR A CASE OF CHEMICAL WEATHERING? A CYCLOPEAN SKULL OR A CASE of at least six individuals, including two Energy builds up in trapped quartz because OF CHEMICAL WEATHERING? children, in marble-like rocks that were it is exposed to radiation from natural An skulls allegedly bearing a single once soft mud, on a mountain slope 85 radioactive elements such as uranium and eyeball socket have been found in _ kilometres from the Tibetan capital, Lhasa.'_ thorium in surrounding minerals. It emits limestone caves in the hinterlands of They also found a fireplace nearby with this energy as light: the longer the expo- Bohol, Bukidnon, at Mt Palaupau in _ the remains of a primitive stove, suggesting sure time, the higher the energy and so the Sumilao and in some parts of Agusan in the that the site was a camp, perhaps even a __ brighter the light. Because heat or sunlight southern Philippines. settlement. releases the trapped energy, the quartz The existence of the skulls, which resem- Until now, the oldest known settlements grain clock would have been set to zero ble those of the cyclops—a race of giants on the Tibetan Plateau dated from late when the grains became embedded in the in Greek mythology with a single eye in Neolithic times, around 4,000 years ago. warm mud from the spring. the middle of the forehead—has triggered This had led some researchers to conclude speculations that one-eyed ancient settlers that humans first migrated into Tibet Endnote once lived in the country's southern islands. around this time. 1. Zhang, D. D. and Li, S. H., "Optical dat- Tribal folklore has it that giants once ing of Tibetan human hand- and foot- roamed the plains of central and north- prints: an implication for the ern Mindanao, the most popular of palaeoenvironment of the last glacia- whom, according to Bukidnon legend, tion of the Tibetan Plateau", way “ARO” whe Touah'azan te | Until now, the oldest known Seve sear eres Bukidnon's tribal people are reportedly settlements on the Tibetan (Source: Reported in Nature, March eeping skeletal remains, which they elieve to be Agyo's, in a sacred cave Plateau dated from late 27, 2002, http://www.nature.com) as an object of worship. Neolithic times, around CURIOUS ARTEFACTS FOUND Reports about the strange skulls had IN NEW HAMPSHIRE CAVE rompted archaeologists of the 4,000 years ago. he following article is reprinted National Museum to launch an excava- from the Ohio, USA, Zanesville tion in Bohol, and they managed to Gazette of May 18, 1852: find one such skull. "A correspondent of the Boston Archaeologist Rey Santiago said that Herald, who signs himself Charles G. intensive study of the skull showed it Proctor, states that he is engaged with elonged to an "ancient settler". However, The encampment is also a nail in the cof- a party of surveyors in locating a railroad e theorises that limestone in caves where fin for the "ice-covered plateau" hypothe- through New Hampshire, and that the party the "cyclops skulls" were discovered could sis. It indicates that at least part of the discovered a curious cave at a place called ave triggered a chemical reaction, creating plateau, which today is 4,000 metres high Nester Gap, on 27th ult [ultimo, of the past a new eyeball socket in the skull. on average, was free of ice even during this month]. The writer says: "Human bones and limestone have _ frigid period of Earth's history. "After descending seven steps, the similar [composition]," he said. The very hot spring that probably attract- aperture winding all the way, we found Despite Santiago's explanation, though, ed the Ice Age settlers also preserved their ourselves in a spacious cave, with the roof tribal folklore maintains there were two marks for posterity. The spring water is ascending until it reached a height of nearly races of giants in ancient times: the kapre, rich in dissolved minerals and gases. As 40 feet. The size of the cave was, by actual who were associated with evil, and the one- carbon dioxide gas bubbles out of the measurement, 94 feet long and 64 feet in its eyed giants, whom early settlers regarded water, minerals such as calcite precipitate widest part; beyond this, another flight of as their heroes. out, forming a soft mineral mud. As the steps seemingly deeper than the first (Source: by Perseus Echeminada, The mud dries, it turns into a hard, durable — extended to another chamber, but we have Philippine Star, February 24, 2002) limestone called travertine. not explored it. What lay beyond the first So, thanks to the hot spring, the moun- room, to what extent the cave reaches or EVIDENCE FOR HUMAN tainside made plaster casts of the Ice Age what it contains, remains to be seen; but SETTLEMENT IN ICE-AGE TIBET _ people who lived on it. Nineteen hand- judging from what we have already | and footprints 20,000 years prints and footprints are clearly visible in discovered, the investigations that are to be old reveal that people lived on the _ the stone surface. made will possess the most overpowering Tibetan Plateau at the height of the Ice Zhang and Li date the travertine deposit _ interest. Age, 16,000 years earlier than scientists by the tiny grains of quartz that became "When we had been in the cave long had thought. The newly found signs of life — trapped within it while the mud solidified. enough to accommodate our eyes to the cast doubt on the idea that a kilometre- Quartz acts as a mineral clock. When dim light furnished by the opening we had thick glacier covered the plateau at that heated, it emits light in proportion to the made, we began to make observations. We time. time that has elapsed since it was last were filled with astonishment at what lay David Zhang and S. H. Li of the warmed or exposed to sunlight. This tech- before us. The cave or grotto had evidently University of Hong Kong found the marks nique is called thermoluminescence dating. been used as a hiding place for treasure and Energy builds up in trapped quartz because it is exposed to radiation from natural radioactive elements such as uranium and thorium in surrounding minerals. It emits this energy as light: the longer the expo- sure time, the higher the energy and so the brighter the light. Because heat or sunlight releases the trapped energy, the quartz grain clock would have been set to zero when the grains became embedded in the warm mud from the spring. Until now, the oldest known settlements on the Tibetan Plateau dated from late Neolithic times, around EVIDENCE FOR HUMAN SETTLEMENT IN ICE-AGE TIBET Hewes and footprints 20,000 years old reveal that people lived on the Tibetan Plateau at the height of the Ice Age, 16,000 years earlier than scientists had thought. The newly found signs of life cast doubt on the idea that a kilometre- thick glacier covered the plateau at that time. David Zhang and S. H. Li of the University of Hong Kong found the marks 68 ¢ NEXUS JUNE - JULY 2002 4,000 years ago. www.nexusmagazine.com