Solar Mystery — What Happened to the Sun in 5480 BC?

Methuselah, a nearly 5,000 year old bristlecone pine, the second oldest known. Image source.

An international team of researchers from universities in Japan, the US and Switzerland have discovered evidence that indicates a heretofore unknown solar phenomenon having taken place in 5480 BC. The evidence comes from anaylsis of carbon-14 levels in specimens taken from the rings of a bristlecone pine, a member of an extraordinarily long-lived triad of tree species.

Like other organisms, trees take in carbon-14 from the atmosphere. What makes trees particularly useful as a record of atmospheric concentrations of carbon-14 is the growth rings which contain different levels of carbon-14 from ring to ring, year to year, reflecting those concentrations.

As you can see in the below image, carbon-14 is typically formed in the atmosphere when cosmic rays strike atoms, releasing neutrons that then collide with nitrogen-14 nuclei, knocking out a proton as they're absorbed, transforming nitrogen-14 into carbon-14.

Image source.

What's not clear from the sources that I've found, is which of the species the tree belonged to or where it was located. It seems likely to have been a specimen of Pinus longaeva (the Great Basin bristlecone) which is found in isolated stands in Utah, Nevada and California. Given that the oldest known tree, a specimen of P. longaeva, is 5,066 years old, it stands to reason that the samples originated with a long dead tree. My guess would be that the researchers compared rings in the specimen with those from a living tree were used to establish the date of the felling of the tree from which the samples were taken.

Whatever the case may be, three samples were tested in labs in three universities (on three continents) to confirm the levels of carbon-14 and what they found was the most abrupt increase in carbon-14 in the atmosphere seen, 20% from 5481 BC to 5471 BC.

Daily Galaxy - Sun's Powerful Outburst in 5480 BC --"Most Abrupt Ever"

"We measured the 14C levels in the pine sample at three different laboratories in Japan, the US, and Switzerland, to ensure the reliability of our results," A. J. Timothy Jull of the University of Arizona says. "We found a change in 14C that was more abrupt than any found previously, except for cosmic ray events in AD 775 and AD 994, and our use of annual data rather than data for each decade allowed us to pinpoint exactly when this occurred."

The team attempted to develop an explanation for the anomalous solar activity data by comparing the features of the 14C change with those of other solar events known to have occurred over the last couple of millennia.

"Although this newly discovered event is more dramatic than others found to date, comparisons of the 14C data among them can help us to work out what happened to the sun at this time," Fusa Miyake of Nagoya University says. She adds, "We think that a change in the magnetic activity of the sun along with a series of strong solar bursts, or a very weak sun, may have caused the unusual tree ring data."

I'm sure the fevered imaginations around here could make reasonably good doom porn out of those possible explanations but since this is ATS, why stop with the relatively mundane when there's wild-eyed speculation to be had?

In the 20th century, mankind found a way to substantially ramp up the production of carbon-14 in the atmosphere — nuclear bombs! I'm not saying the spike in C14 was a consequence of hostilities between waring factions of extraterrestrials... but I'm not saying it wasn't either!

On a serious note though, I am curious as to what the other effects on the Earth would have been, what of those would be readily perceptible to humans living at that time (intense auroras, visible much much further from the poles?) and what the results of those observations might have been? Would they have ascribed to the events some religious significance? Is there some sort of record in petroglyphs or other art?

Interesting stuff to ponder. And before I forget, here's the link to the paper.

Interesting and I'm trying to find correlative historical events but am unable to find specifics. We need a history buff and as far as the solar science……

I made a Phage Call



feel free to copy and use, I did get his permission

I soooooooo much enjoy your great posts on science, the political ones I just pass by. (We all know your leanings) this is why I still come to ATS! Star & flag!

a reply to: theantediluvian

I am not a scientist . Could it be that the account of the Biblical Flood has a clue ? When I try to imagine the pre-flood post-flood narrative a rainbow is given as a marker .It mentions or suggest that up until that time it had not rained ....What might the have been the system and how did it work ? We know that the Amazon receives little rain if any at all but the system may be a mini-model to a one time larger phenomenon .

Could there have been a kind of canopy that blocked most of the suns rays ? Could the earths magnetosphere been more powerful and repelled those charged rays ? In the electrical universe model , did the sun start getting a boost from its external sources ? All I got is questions and suggestions . Neat find though OP eta ...it would be interesting to look at ice cores to see if another signature could be correlated to that date . off to see what I can find
Found this .9,400 years of cosmic radiation and solar activity from ice cores and tree rings www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...

Fantastic thread OP!

a reply to: the2ofusr1

Sounds about the right timing.

This was roughly the time the early Sumerian culture began to flourish.
Perhaps the radiation burst produced genetic changes resulting in another evolutionary advance of human civilization.

originally posted by: the2ofusr1
a reply to: theantediluvian

t mentions or suggest that up until that time it had not rained ....

Have not heard about this but find the idea intriguing, I'll have to do more.diggong.

We know that the Amazon receives little rain if any at all

Back up a sec. You say that but it's called a rainforest, do you know why it's called that?

a reply to: theantediluvian

:The old saying "You learn something new every day" is especially true on ATS. Cheers for bringing this to our attention. I wonder if this mystery will ever be solved, I'd like to hear what it was that happened.

Is it just me or does this pic...



remind anyone else of the tree from the Sleepy Hollow movie?

originally posted by: IAMTAT
This was roughly the time the early Sumerian culture began to flourish.
Perhaps the radiation burst produced genetic changes resulting in another evolutionary advance of human civilization.

That is an interesting theory. It's especially interesting given all of the solar and gamma bursts that have been going on for the last 10 years or so.

5600 BC
According to the Black Sea deluge theory, the Black Sea floods with salt water. Some 3000 cubic miles (12,500km) of salt water is added, significantly expanding it and transforming it from a fresh-water landlocked lake into a salt water sea.

5500 BC
Beginning of the desertification of north Africa, which ultimately leads to the formation of the Sahara desert from land that was previously savannah, though it remains wetter than today. It's possible this process pushed people in the area into migrating to the region of the Nile in the east, thereby laying the groundwork for the rise of Ancient Egypt Egyptian civilization.

5300 BC,
Vinča script among the oldest writing systems

Subsequent radiocarbon dating on the Tărtăria finds pushed the date of the tablets (and therefore of the whole Vinča culture) much further back, to as long ago as 5500 BC, the time of the early  phase of the Sumerian civilization in Mesopotamia.  Still, this is disputed in the light of apparently contradictory Stratification archeology evidence.

If the symbols are indeed a form of writing, then writing in the Danubian culture would far predate the earliest Sumerian  cuneiform script or  Egyptian hieroglyphs. They would thus be the world's earliest known form of writing. This claim remains controversial.

 Source Link

Fascinating alternate topic and mystery. Forced me to go to check out a quick timeline of Enviromental History, to jump off my own research and thought I would share.  One question often branches out like a tree of more questions. I hope others more knowledgeable may save me digging deeper so if this post isn't interesting to the topic in hand, please tell me! 

a reply to: SpeakerofTruth

I think these massive bursts play a critical role in biological evolution on earth.
The OP's is still relatively recent...but large extinction events have gone hand in hand with evolution.

This example falls within the so-called ongoing Holocene extinction event (10,000 BCE--Present)...which is erroneously attributed to humans...but has more to do with solar and celestial events.

a reply to: waftist

LOL..... that's the best thing I've seen in a while.

I'm going to have to make one for Zaphod.

a reply to: visitedbythem

I first became interested a few years back when I read a piece by the guy in the vid interview . The paper he put out was real doom porn at the time

it stands to reason that the samples originated with a long dead tree. My guess would be that the researchers compared rings in the specimen with those from a living tree were used to establish the date of the felling of the tree

If this is true, then they just proved young earth creationism wrong!!

On a serious note though, I am curious as to what the other effects on the Earth would have been, what of those would be readily perceptible to humans living at that time (intense auroras, visible much much further from the poles?) and what the results of those observations might have been?

Very strong flares can produce what is known as a solar proton event, which could account for a spike in 14C levels. Flares are often, but not always, associated with CMEs. So, if there were a CME associated with the flare and if that CME encounted Earth, there could well have been a nice light show to go along with it.

phys.org...

a reply to: djz3ro

Go to the 8 min mark of the vid

“One of the main goals of research in this area, as in many other areas of China, has been the search for early Neolithic cultures. Until the mid-1980s the Hongshan, dated to c.4500–3000 B.C., was considered to be the earliest Neolithic culture of northeast China, and it attracted much attention both in China and in the West, not least because of its advanced jade industry and unique ritualistic expressions. Recognition of the pre-Hongshan occupation of northeast China started to emerge during the mid-1980s (Zhongguo Neimenggu 1985, 1987, 1988; Su 1986; Liaoning 1988) but only gained official recognition in the early 1990s with the classification of two pre-Hongshan techno-chronological entities (or “cultures”), the Xinglongwa dated to c.6200–5400 B.C.)and the Zhaobaogou dated to about 5400–4500 cal. (calibrated years) B.C.. During the 1990s and the first decade of the 21st century, more research confirmed the relatively early date of the Xinglongwa and Zhaobaogou. This, along with the analysis of the unique features of their material cultures, is used to ascertain the indigenous nature of the social-economic trajectory of the region. ~|~

bolding my emphasis.

There seems to be a lot of newer research coming in on the earlier Neolithic Cultures in China. The Xinglongwa lands have seemed to have changed from forested pines to more arid region. Took notice that these two older cultures were mainly hunters and society was forced to change. The Zhaobaogou tribe to the north was perhaps even earlier and seemed to have sacrifices and a pig-dragon as one of the first dragon religious relics. Searching more on archaeology finds and symbolism for these cultures. Perhaps, will give some insight on Enviromental change for this solar anonomaly.

Edit add: Source

a reply to: theantediluvian

Interesting.
I imagine the Earth somehow stopped rotating for that ten year span, for the general area to continually receive the sun's rays, thereby increasing the carbon 14?

I wonder if the Earth's core/magnetic property was altered somehow; stopped flowing, then restarted ten years later?

originally posted by: loveguy
a reply to: theantediluvian

Interesting.
I imagine the Earth somehow stopped rotating for that ten year span, for the general area to continually receive the sun's rays, thereby increasing the carbon 14?

I wonder if the Earth's core/magnetic property was altered somehow; stopped flowing, then restarted ten years later?

I don't think it means the earth stopped rotating. Simply, this specific tree was old enough to capture this anomaly within its rings. I am focusing currently in this area of history, but certainly any culture on the globe at this time may reflect on some historical moment.

Edit add: earlier cultures of mankind, before science took hold, often related a religious ideology to celestial events. If there is a record it would be found there and naturally, simple changes in the society normal activities.