Carl Lehrburger - Secrets of Ancient America: Archaeoastronomy and the Legacy of the Phoenicians, Celts, and Other Forgotten Explorers

SECRETS OF ANCIENT AMERICA

This is a fascinating exploration of the deep history of human migrations around the planet. Drawing from evidence systematically and irrationally dismissed by many of the professional archaeologists, Lehrburger shares his path of discovery, his pioneering field research, and his heartfelt observations about the peopling of the Americas. Clearly, there is a truer story here that has been right under our noses all along.

JOHN MAJOR JENKINS, AUTHOR OF MAYA COSMOGENESIS 2012 AND DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR 2012 STUDIES

Carl Lehrburgers comprehensive documentation of the dizzying number of ancient petroglyphs, artifacts, and sites in the Americas is stunning. This work proves beyond any doubt that many cultures from around the world came to the Americas and permanently left evidence of their extensive knowledge in the rocks and people who inhabited this land.

SCOTT WOLTER, FORENSIC GEOLOGIST, AUTHOR, AND HOST OF THE POPULAR TV SERIES AMERICA UNEARTHED

Threatening to topple the archaeopriests who still think Columbus discovered America, Lehrburger strikes at the heart of the matter with his New History. An intimate and brilliantly illustrated journey back to the time of ancient sky-watchers... a game-changing work.

SUSAN B. MARTINEZ, PH.D., AUTHOR OF THE MYSTERIOUS ORIGINS OF HYBRID MAN

Impressive insights into the spirituality of ancient stargazers abound in Carl Lehrburgers compelling, personally guided tour of archaeological sites from Stonehenge to Newport and from Serpent Mound, Ohio, to the Hindu campsites in the Mojave Desert. Fascinating research by an inquiring mind will inspire those who are curious about the new dimensions of archaeoastronomy and spirituality. Wherever a shaft of sunlight from the winter solstice has shined upon the ancient petroglyphs left by ancient Celtic seafarers in Ireland or along the eastern seaboard, you can bet Carl Lehrburger has been there to record it on camera. His easy-toread compendium of sacred sites and archaeoastronomy is a spectacular, exciting guide for our own journey.

GUNNAR THOMPSON, PH.D., ARCHAEOLOGIST, ANTHROPOLOGIST, AND AUTHOR OF AMERICAN DISCOVERY: OUR MULTICULTURAL HERITAGE

Acknowledgments

I was able to write a new history of America only by standing on the shoulders of others to whom I owe my gratitude, as follows:

Peter Shotwell, editor

Dorian Taddei for discoveries, insights, and reflections.

PRIMARY SOURCE MATERIAL

Martin Brennan: The Hidden Maya (1998) and The Stones of Time (1994).

Barry Fell: America B.C.: Ancient Settlers in the New World (1975) and Saga America (1980).

Epigraphic Society: The Epigraphic Society Occasional Papers (ESOP).

Wayne May, publisher: Ancient American magazine.

William McGlone, Phillip M. Leonard, James Guthrie, Rollin Gillespie, and James Whittall Jr.: Ancient American Inscriptions: Plow Marks or History? (1993).

William McGlone, Ted Barker and Phillip M. Leonard: Archaeoastronomy of Southeast Colorado and the Oklahoma Panhandle (1999).

Gunnar Thompson: American Discovery: Our Multicultural Heritage (1994).

Wikimedia Commons and its contributors (commons.wikimedia.org).

Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia and its contributors (wikipedia.org).

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCHERS, MENTORS, CONTRIBUTORS, AND COLLEAGUES

Ted Barker, Carl Bjork, Martin Brennan, Ida Jane Gallagher, Hugh Gardner, John Major Jenkins, Gerry Lehrburger, M.D., Phillip M. Leonard, Bill McGlone, Kean Scott Monahan, Roderick Schmidt, Dorian Taddei, Gunnar Thompson.

GUIDES, DUST KICKERS, AND FELLOW EXPLORERS

Arlo Acton, Rubin Amador, Tarry Carter, Shawn Davies, Liev Eenes, Sig Lonegren, Toby Hall and Cheryl Yambrach Rose, Keith Jefferies, Michael Mideke, Peter Oatman, Chris Patenaude, Marc Saxe, Richard Simmons Jr., Steve and Anne Smith, Todd Stoddard, Cathy Taddei, Bill Tilley, Crystal and Wayne Trickle, Jim Walter, Michael Waugh, Earl Wilson, Fred Templeton, and Jim Walton.

INSPIRATION AND ENCOURAGEMENT

The Lehrburger family and Julianaa Satie.

To all, including those unnamed:
Thank you!

Americans aspire to be a forward-looking people, often failing to look back. But if we were to look back in time, at our history, and discover the true story of this land, what would we see? And how different our world, our existence, and our lives would be today... and can be tomorrow.

Major sites of ancient discoveries in North America described in this book

INTRODUCTION

Challenging Long-Held Views

I set out to discover a new history of America. This is my story.

THE HEART OF THE MATTER

How then to express oneself clearly? By image and by myth, as the sages of all times have done.

REN ADOLPHE SCHWALLER DE LUBICZ (18871961)

I have always been fascinated with symbols, which, beginning in 1989, became an obsession in my study of ancient North American rock art. Yet, the more I studied, the more convinced I became that many of the petroglyphs and astronomical sites did not make sense if it was assumed that they were created by Native Americans alone, free from any outside influences, as established archaeology tells us. For some time now I have intended to write a chronicle of discovering a New History of America, as a record of what really happened, including the events lost or intentionally left out of the American creation myth that begins with Columbus discovered America. Thus, I began journaling, inspired by the ancient writers of old.

In the decades that followed, I read many books, visited hundreds of known and newly discovered archaeological sites, investigated claims by previous researchers, and became educated on the subject by meeting and collaborating with other researchers. All this resulted in a level of understanding that compelled me to write about these places, the guides I encountered, and the true stories behind historical events that have developed into what is now known as the New History of America; that is, I came to the conclusion that before Columbuss arrival this land had many, many visitors from the Old World. Phoenicians, Chinese, Celts, Africans, Indus Valley peoples, Hebrews, Romans, and othersI believe they were all here. Thus, the New History confronts the old historical paradigms, stories, and myths that, as I will demonstrate, were established to disguise an authentic past.

The New History as told in this book starts with two stories about Columbus. The first is the usual story we heard in school as childrenthat he thought the world was flat and that he believed he landed near the China of the great khan and that he accidentally discovered America. Based on this story, he was honored with his own special national holiday, not only in the United States, but also in all of Latin America and Spain. This is the legacy that we inherited. The real story, however, is very different. He knew where he was going and why. Then it highlights his lies about his slave trading and, most horrific of all, his cold-blooded, self-justified genocide of an entire Indian nation.

Following the stories of Columbus comes my journey of inquiry and enlightenment, which begins with an examination of some of the pioneers of the New History, which is largely based on the rock art, inscriptions, and artifacts left by the ancients. The New History I uncovered, complemented by the historical record and well documented by the research of others, reveals the travels and settlements of the pre-Spanish explorers, miners, immigrant settlers, and teachers who made it to the Americas. They left their marks carved in stone for us to discover, to know they were here. Those artifacts convey more than most of us can imagine or give them credit for. These teachings, prayers, cosmologies, and remembrances are keys to demonstrating a greater awareness of what it means to be an American and what it means to be human.