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slowly dissipating remnant of the ocean, its shoreline now lying some 12 miles distant from the docks. Could this same geological upheaval have caused the Pleistocene extinction, ended the ice age, decimated Palaeolithic mankind and sunk Atlantis around 12,000 years ago? earthquake proof, even though many are 60 feet (that's six storeys) high. Again, we have the same mysterious characteristics of massive stone quarrying and ben nan cetatinn (Mawenin es 1AT7A) transportation (Hemming, 1979). We also have the same problems in understanding how anyone without cranes and pulleys, etc. (in other words, modern technology) could shape and lay these blocks, often weighing over 100 tons, with such precision (Mason, 1968). Certainly the technology used is beyond that of any South American culture known to us. a Cuzco and Sacsahuaman blocks, often weighing over 100 tons, with such Cuzco was the capital city of the Inca Empire, and _ precision (Mason, 1968). Certainly the technology Sacsahuaman seems to have been a place of refuge to —_ used is beyond that of any South American culture which the Inca people retreated when attacked. The nown to us. Inca Empire had only been in existence about 100 years or so before the Spanish conquest. So, what The Lixus Ruins could these ruins have to do with Atlantis? Another interesting ruin is that of Lixus in Morocco, Even the non-professional visitor to any of these orth Africa. Lixus has been largely ignored by ruins will notice something which jumps out at first | archaeologists; only about 20 per cent of the ruins glance: the beautiful ashlar blocks for which the Incas have been excavated. There are no overseeing are so well known are always sitting directly atop much personnel or facilities anywhere nearby, and tourists larger stones, known as polygonal-style (also called are allowed to roam around the premises at will, megalithic) constructions. Most archaeologists, picnicking, scattering trash and picking up anything American and Peruvian alike, they see that looks interesting agree that while the evenly laid to them, which is a deplorable ashlars are classical Inca, the situation. larger, more complex, . Located between Rabat and polygonal blocks belong to an Lixus has been largely Tangier, and perched on a earlier, undated, "megalithic" ignored by archaeologists; hilltop overlooking the culture. The archaeologica Atlantic Ocean near the dating of the earlier megalithic only about 20 per cent of meanders of the Loukkos ruins "hangs in the air" (Mason, the ruins have been River, Lixus was once a 968). prehistoric seaport. The It is the "megalithic" parts o excavated. Carthaginians, building on top he ruins which are of interes of ancient megalithic walls here. They have never been and foundations, occupied dated, and therefore no one his port around 800 BC, but nows how long they had been there before the _ work needs to be done to determine the date of the ohnny-come-lately Incas exploited their existence to _ older ruins which already occupied this site. heir own advantage. Most of the Inca-style ashlars According to Dr Gerald S. Hawkins of the weigh two to three tons. The largest megalithic stone | Smithsonian Astronomical Observatory, the lower at Sacsahuaman weighs in the neighbourhood of 300 (megalithic) walls are carefully aligned with the Sun. ons! A human being is dwarfed standing near one of _ In fact, the earlier name for the city was Maqom hese Cyclopean giants. Shemesh, or "City of the Sun" (Hawkins, 1973). The Another impressive fact concerning the megalithic | Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl noticed the style is that instead of cutting the stone entirely | marked similarity of the polygonal style of masonry regularly in shape, as in the Inca style, the megalithic | with that of Peru and Bolivia. This same style of builders chose to use very irregular shapes. Incredibly, | masonry can also be found in Andalusia in southern one very large stone in particular has a total of 32. Spain and among submarine ruins along both different angles, yet it fits the stones around it so coastlines of the Atlantic. perfectly on every side that a knife blade cannot be Stones of various shapes (polygonal) are mixed in inserted into the joints (Mason, 1968). And it doesn't with more regular ones, which is one of the masonry look as if mortar has been used. techniques used by the ancients to guard against All the stones are slightly convex, giving them a earthquakes. It seems that the jigsaw-puzzle slightly bulging appearance, and they are bevelled at arrangement of the stones breaks up the effect of the edges, so they are not rough fieldstones. They seismic waves coming from below (each sized stone have been precision-cut and shaped to fit perfectly at | would respond only to its own frequency), with the all sorts of angles, and for a very good reason. The _ result that such walls are all but earthquake proof. Andes region is known for its numerous earthquakes, Continued on page 81 and these odd-shaped blocks make the walls virtually Lixus has been largely ignored by archaeologists; only about 20 per cent of the ruins have been excavated. 44 «NEXUS Continued on page 81 APRIL - MAY 2009 www.nexusmagazine.com