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one of them was under the floor of his _ ists who can process the data on the south- is an extremely homogeneous material, but, house. It was being used as the base for the ern Urals. Part of the analysis was carried in the map, dolomite layer quartz—which stairs, but its weight was making it sink out in China, on the ideograms carved in is normally present—was missing, and also into the ground, causing seepage. For that the stone, the cartography principles and magnesium silicate wasn't there. reason, he wanted to destroy it and make _ the porcelain on the surface. The goal was We excavated in the Chandar area and concrete grit out of it. So we traded a to understand the process the stone has took almost 10,000 samples of local truckload of grit for the slab, and we gone through, given the Chinese connec- dolomite, the analysis of which showed it promised we would build all the roads he _ tions we spoke of before. wasn't the same dolomite as in the map. In needed. AF: Can you explain the study of the — such conditions it can't be fortuitous, so we Eventually, I went back there with a lot map's layered materials in more detail? can say that the dolomite layer is not of students and some archaeologists and It could be a key to understanding the homogeneous compared to the local physicists. It took us two days to get it out. whole map... dolomite and is 180 million years old. The stone is 148 centimetres high, 103 cm AC: As I said before, the map has three Even if it's so old, I think this is artificial wide and 16 cm deep. To lift it, we used layers. The first is a dolomite layer. The dolomite—again, the result of advanced the Egyptian method, making the slab roll second is a diopside layer, on which the | technology—for those who made it were on wooden cylinders. We took it to the canals, the rivers and all that the map repre- able to prompt an artificial dolomitisation laboratories, washed it and immediately — sents are carved. To avoid reflections, the process, or at least they could bring realised that it was the map of a large area. _—_ diopside was covered with a layer of porce- dolomite clay from Western Europe to the I couldn't believe what I saw. I knew it lain only two millimetres thick. It's the Urals and process it. was a map from the start—a 3-D The diopside layer is also not map. Something like that simply common, and shows a kind of couldn't exist, because the place nanostructure. The size of its where it was found was a small crystals is 15 nanometres. It's valley where the first roads were astonishing, because I can't built just 10 years ago. Before understand how they could do that, it was only possible to get it. The diopside structure looks there in small boats because the like a pudding with vertical village is surrounded by marshes. insertions. Moreover, its The village is still made of a few microhardness is equal to that wooden houses, belonging to of corundum. Thanks to that those who were monitoring the fact, the relief map is still behaviour of the river, so it's perfectly preserved, while the impossible that 100 years ago, underneath dolomite layer is when the map was found, . already breaking up. somebody could take it there. . — — i To blend the dolomite layer AF: What was the next Close-up of a section of the map, which is made up of three layers. with the upper diopside layer, . . The thin surface is porcelain. The method of manufacture is unknown, but " ono step? Has it been possible to the "creators" used the tech- Professor Chuvyrov is convinced that nanotechnologies were involved. . : a make a scientific analysis of (Photo courtesy of Professor A. Chuvyrov and HERA Magazine) nique of replacing the silicon the stone? atoms of the diopside with the AC: In the first place, right after the dis- result of advanced technology. Why porce- carbon atoms of the dolomite [from covery of that stone, it was stolen andsome lain? The answer came from the CaMg(SiO03)) to CaMg(CO3)o], so that the fragments were lost for good. The slab fell Cartography Department of the University _ two layers looked like they were welded. into a river and the lost parts have never _ of Moscow. It's a nanotechnology that implies atomic- been found. Looking at photos of the map, To make a 3-D map, you need the sur- level accuracy. I'm a physicist and I know it's evident that a part is missing. When we _ face to be white in colour and flawlessly _ what I'm talking about. These people knew found it, it was intact. Anyway, with the modelled so that when you read it you can't exactly what they were doing. I wouldn't help of local police we found the stone __ be deceived by shadows and gleam. It's the know how to do it. The problems linked to again and took it to the laboratories to exact way they do this kind of map today. _ the layers are mainly two: (a) how to make examine it. I started to work on it with a It's surprising that this technology was artificial dolomite; and (b) how to make team of mathematicians, archaeologists, already in use that far in the past. The nanostructures from diopside, because its philologists and physicists. We found out dolomitisation process ended 250 million melting temperature is 2,650°C. Only car- that the slab has three layers: the lowest years ago. The fossilised shells are 180 bon has a higher melting point. We can one is dolomite, the central one is diopside _ million years old, and there is no way they speculate that they knew how to make and the uppermost one is porcelain. could have been incorporated in the diop- _ these materials with a chemical method. When we faced problems during the _ side layer later. Moreover, that kind of Either way, the technology used is analysis, we asked other institutions to help _ shell didn't exist in that area of the Urals. extremely advanced. us. With the map being of a vast area, the We made chemical and X-ray analyses AF: Is this possible today? first great problem was the palaeohydrolog- _ of the structure. We took dolomite samples AC: I don't think so! I'd like to remind ical analysis, because there are no special- from different parts of the map. Dolomite you that dolomite is an accumulation result of advanced technology. Why porce- lain? The answer came from the Cartography Department of the University of Moscow. To make a 3-D map, you need the sur- face to be white in colour and flawlessly modelled so that when you read it you can't be deceived by shadows and gleam. It's the exact way they do this kind of map today. It's surprising that this technology was already in use that far in the past. The dolomitisation process ended 250 million years ago. The fossilised shells are 180 million years old, and there is no way they could have been incorporated in the diop- side layer later. Moreover, that kind of shell didn't exist in that area of the Urals. We made chemical and X-ray analyses of the structure. We took dolomite samples from different parts of the map. Dolomite 62 = NEXUS JUNE — JULY 2003 www.nexusmagazine.com