Argentinean Stone-Head - New Find

bigfatfurrytexan
reply to post by SLAYER69

 

Yea....this ball game. Talk about an interesting subject. I would believe that if there were solid connections globally in the ancient world, you would find this ball game paralleled somewhere.

That's a good point to make.
Also, if the Polynesians could cross the Pacific you may also find parallels in the form of surfing. The Polynesians were surfing 3,000 years ago. It began as a way for fisherman to get their catch to shore and quickly evolved into a sport, and even a lifestyle.

It surely would have been shared. You could look for when surfing popped up in Peru and what they CALLED it. The Hawaiians called it "he'enalu"

reply to post by SLAYER69


Very intriguing and even though I haven't done much research yet regarding the Olmec heads, one could think that this is the same kind of 'handwriting' by whoever crafted these huge slabs.

And again, I keep wondering: where's the link between these cultures that created such amazing megalithic artwork?

JayinAR :

Yes, surfing was known in Peru about 3000 to 3500 years ago. The same boards are still used today by fishers or just for fun. They call them "Caballito de Totora". I remember Huanchaco Beach (Peru), I went there in one of my trips many, many years ago. The Caballitos are really cool.

Caballitos de totora are reed watercrafts used by Peruvian fishermen for the past 3,000 years, archaeologically evidenced from pottery shards.
Named for the way they are ridden, straddled ('little reed horses' in English), fishermen use them to transport their nets and collect fish in their inner cavity. The name is not the original name as horses were not introduced to South American until after the Spanish arrived in the 15th Century. They are made from the same reed, Scirpus californicus, used by the Uros in the Lake Titicaca region.
Fishermen in the port town of Huanchaco famously, but in many other locations practically, still use these vessels to this day, riding the waves back into shore, and suggesting some of the first forms of wave riding. There is currently a minor debate in the surfing world as to whether or not this constitutes the first form of surfing.

en.wikipedia.org...
correrolas.com...

reply to post by SLAYER69


WTF is that last picture?

Looks like something out of Star Trek or Star Gate!!!

Although, granted, it could be a fancy artistic representation of a sports helmet.

reply to post by SLAYER69


The positioning of the body in this photo is very hindu?

Always such strange connections!!!

reply to post by LightAssassin


Yes, I thought so as well. Notice how the figurine's eyes seem to be closed?

Come on guys.Regarding the very first picture in this thread.......That is just a rock !
There you go Arken,my pleasure !!

bigfatfurrytexan
reply to post by SLAYER69

 

Yea....this ball game. Talk about an interesting subject. I would believe that if there were solid connections globally in the ancient world, you would find this ball game paralleled somewhere.

Here is another figurine..

Linky

“The Mesoamerican Ballgame” in the MFAH’s pre-Columbian galleries, the five objects depict athletes and their protective gear. Four of the five come from ceremonial centers in the Mexican state of Veracruz. Teams played the ritual game on an I-shaped court using a heavy rubber ball that they could hit with any part of their body except the hands and feet.

The outcome was a foregone conclusion. Players from the team representing the rulers were guaranteed victory. Their opponents, drawn from the ranks of captive enemies, never got a chance to overcome their underdog status.

reply to post by SLAYER69


You are always able to find the most interesting thought provoking subject matter Slayer69. My hat is off to ya!

The facial features of the head(sharp angles and brow), or at least what we can see of them reminds me of the chap at the start of the Prometheus movie.

reply to post by jeep3r

And again, I keep wondering: where's the link between these cultures that created such amazing megalithic artwork?

Not sure what the link itself is or was, many practices seem to be shared by disparate cultures around the world.

There are various hypotheses among those who work professionally in archaeology and among those who don't, but the general thinking is that there were many instances of independent, but curiously parallel cultural innovation and development.

IOW, while not exactly identical, very similar examples of pyramid building, head-binding, carving megalithic masonry heads, megalithic stone circle building, mound building and many other areas of development, including technological, spiritual, religious, organisational, heirachical etc. all began independently in different, and in some cases widely separated and disparate cultures and peoples.

The reason is thought to be simply because we're all Human beings, and have brains and needs pretty much identical to one another which would invariably innovate to fill a requirement, that since were are the same species, would often result in similar solutions to presented problems or needs being developed.

I don't personally buy that. For me, it's a stretch too far, yes parallel development does exist and does happen for the reasons given - that basically we're all Human and will innovate and design according to our specific Human needs.

The large numbers of different areas of Human activity, where this hypothesised isolated parallel development has supposedly taken place, seems to me to be more about professionals in the field, looking for an admittedly logical, but all too easy an explanation that can fit accepted dogma, rather than upset the archaelogical apple-cart.

There seem to be too many occurrences of isolated, but very similar constructions, such as pyramids scattered around the world, dolmens and circles and other megalithic structures, religious iconography that appears to have similar roots or themes, funarary rites and practices, self mutilations - like head-binding, the list goes on.

A few of these could reasonably be attributed to isolated, but parallel development i feel, but not all IMO.

As far as the specific subject of this thread, the large stone heads being discovered...notice that while not all, many of the heads have their eyes closed?

I believe the purpose of these heads were similar, that they are actually larger than life, but accurate representations of people, probably rulers or other official or important people, like religious leaders or warriors, perhaps architects or doctors / shamans, even talented sportsmen.

They could be funarary memorials of the people they were carved to represent, preserving their appearence as it was in life, forever in stone.

Like tombstones or death masks, these may have been made as ancient memorials when people died.

reply to post by MysterX


Good points. I agree, the closed eyes do seem to hint at the passing of someone important, like a leader. That would seem to be a pretty logical explanation.

I've always found it peculiar that pupils and irises are missing on many stone heads. It certainly takes a high level of craftsmanship to make one of these, and some stone heads are quite elaborately detailed. So why leave the eye blank? What's up with that?

reply to post by SLAYER69


S&F These are neat. Makes one wonder how far advance ancient civilizations really were. The more I read the more intrigued I get. Thank you.

Hi mates, i´m from Argentina and never heard about this "head", I know the area pretty well, right now living in new zealand but I will research a little bit. I have already contacted the photographer and i´m waiting for an answer, I dont really think it is ancient or even in that lake, but who knows.

foofighter00
Hi mates, i´m from Argentina and never heard about this "head", I know the area pretty well, right now living in new zealand but I will research a little bit. I have already contacted the photographer and i´m waiting for an answer, I dont really think it is ancient or even in that lake, but who knows.

wind eroded rock released from a rising chinese lantern.Arken,quit staring at that rover mother o'pearl on the mars thread & be gittin' in here !

It's funny you mention it looking more Caucasian, that's the first thing I thought when looking at it. Whatever ancestry that guy came from, it certainly looks like a shared one. This isn't unlikely if you consider that there was some interaction going on between the separate worlds at some time. Which I think is likely considering the similarities we find between the cultures.

Anyway, interesting find. It's amazing how advanced and cultered these civilizations were back then. Really makes you wonder.

fotsyfots

foofighter00
Hi mates, i´m from Argentina and never heard about this "head", I know the area pretty well, right now living in new zealand but I will research a little bit. I have already contacted the photographer and i´m waiting for an answer, I dont really think it is ancient or even in that lake, but who knows.

wind eroded rock released from a rising chinese lantern.Arken,quit staring at that rover mother o'pearl on the mars thread & be gittin' in here !

Sorry, I dont get why you quote me.

really great stuff! thanks for posting!

reply to post by SLAYER69


Alright, Im in contact with the photographer, sadly it is not ancient. The pictures where not taken in Lake Traful but in a man made lake named Mari Menuco in Neuquen province, Argentina. This lake is pretty good for diving and has lots of different sculptures made from cement and resin by local artisans. They where put there within the last 50 years. Sadly nothing Ancient here, but i´m pretty sure that there must be something really good (speaking of ancient artifacts) waiting to be discovered in Patagonia.

Trojan influence in Argentina and south America


www.arqueologicas.com.ar...

www.arqueologicas.com.ar...

www.arqueologicas.com.ar...

www.arqueologicas.com.ar...

www.arqueologicas.com.ar...