New Evidence Proves that the Santorini Eruption was a Blockbuster and Bigger than Currently Assumed - LexiLine Journal 429

As we reported in LexiLine at
33 LexiLine Newsletter 2006 IMPORTANT New Chronology of the Ancient World
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LexiLine/message/1464
mainstream science has erred significantly in the chronology
of the explosion of the volcano Santorini (Santorin) on the island of Thera (Thira).

Thera is the ancient name for the island whereas Santorini is the modern name for that same island, naming it after the volcano. I have often thought that Thera as a name for this volcanic island is related to the heavenly smithy Thor, since prior to Thera, the island is said to have been called Kalliste and Kalejs is "smithy" in Latvian, i.e. it has the equivalent meaning to Thor.

If the explosion of Santorini is currently misdated, as it clearly is by the available PROBATIVE evidence, then this also means that the chronology of the entire Mediterranean area is flawed, including that of Egypt and the ancient Near East, and also including Biblical chronology.

Egyptologists have matched their view of the chronology of Egypt with the presumed - now provenly erroneous - date of explosion of Santorini. Egyptian chronology for that period will have to be moved backward in time. We conlcuded that already years ago, based on other overwhelming evidence in the same direction of argument.

See
http://www.lexiline.com/lexiline/lexi760.htm - Our Revised Chronological Timeline
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LexiLine/message/974 - Chronological Errors of Flinders Petrie
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LexiLine/message/1019 - Our Challenges on Chronology to Mainstream Scientists
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LexiLine/message/1440 - The Tomb of Moses, The Chronology of Exodus

Via StonePages Archaeo News
http://www.stonepages.com/news/archives/002034.html
we now read an August 23, 2006 press release from the University of Rhode Island, Department of Communications, News Bureau, titled
"Santorini eruption much larger than originally believed "
http://www.uri.edu/news/releases/?id=3654
which demonstrates additionally that mainstream science has also significantly erred in assessing the size of that explosion and its impact on the Mediterranean area, including Egypt and the ancient Near East, and also including the Biblical world of that region.

To put it bluntly, what the scholars have been publishing about that era as the history of Egypt, the history of the ancient Near East, and the history of Biblical regions, is tantamount to a fairy tale.

Obviously, if the Santorini eruption was massive then of course the ancient written records of that period in Egypt and the ancient Near East, including Biblical regions, will have clear reference to this gigantic happening - of course, not in the scientific terms that we use today, since in those regions they could not know that a volcano in the Mediterranean had exploded, nor could they draw a causal connection to the catastrophic events that they witnessed far from that exploded volcano.

Rather, the ancients wrote about the observed effects of the explosion in the only terms that they knew in that period of time - referring to the calamities and events which were experienced as the acts of God. But of course they specifically DESCRIBE what they observed, without knowing its cause - the River Nile running red, frogs and burning coal falling from the skies, the sea parting, etc.

Instructive in this regard are
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LexiLine/message/1439 - Egypt (Thebes) and Judah, Where was Judah? (Giza)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LexiLine/message/1431 - Judah and Judea are NOT the same, Judah was NOT Israel
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LexiLine/message/1207 - Egypt, the Jews and Exodus

The reader quoted in an e-mail which led to that last posting wrote:

"The things you have said have made a lot of sense. I hope someday you are proven correct !"

Well, exactly that is happening ... sooner than expected.

IAU (International Astronomical Union) Zaps Pluto as a Planet - LexiLine Journal 428

In a decision which in our opinion is difficult to support, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and its 26th General Assembly have just zapped the status of Pluto as a planet.

THE IAU

The International Astronomical Union (see IAU.org ) was founded in 1919 and regards itself to be the naming authority for astronomical bodies .

STARRY CONSTELLATIONS

In addition, in 1930 the IAU fixed the present boundaries of the stellar (starry) constellations by adopting a system devised by Joseph Delporte, which fixed those boundaries along lines of right ascension and declination for the epoch B1875.0 , a so-called Besselian epoch (365.242198781 days), which has since been superseded in mainstream astronomy by Julian epochs (based on Julian years of 365.25 days and calculated by the formula
J = 2000.0 + (Julian date - 2451545.0)/365.25.

The fixing of starry constellations at its present number of 88 had the drawback that not all ancient constellations are included in this system, nor did the ancients necessarily use the exact same stars for a given constellation as used by more ancient astronomers.

See generally in this regard, Richard Hinckley Allen, Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning, Dover, N.Y. 1963, see StarPath (the book online) or Amazon.

Moreover, different cultures saw the stars somewhat differently in terms of their representations, even if there are substantial overlaps among cultures in the way they saw the sky.

Finally, the present "fixed" constellations give the appearance that the stellar constellations were always viewed the same way we view them today, which is simply false.

PLANETS

The IAU has now dimply redefined what a "planet" is and in the process has eliminated Pluto from its previous classification as a planet. See the CNN article, Pluto gets the boot

As reported there by Associated Press:

"For now, membership will be restricted to the eight "classical" planets in the solar system: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

Much-maligned Pluto doesn't make the grade under the new rules for a planet: "a celestial body that is in orbit around the sun, has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a ... nearly round shape, and has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit."

Pluto is automatically disqualified because its oblong orbit overlaps with Neptune's.

Instead, it will be reclassified in a new category of "dwarf planets," similar to what long have been termed "minor planets." The definition also lays out a third class of lesser objects that orbit the sun -- "small solar system bodies," a term that will apply to numerous asteroids, comets and other natural satellites."

The idea that sheer "size" (i.e. mass) and gravitational effect rather than "orbit" should be the determining factor for defining a planet shows in our opinion a serious lack of insight into the nature of the universe, which seems to us to be defined more by principles of "distribution" of matter, rather than by the "mass" of the matter per se. Indeed, the ancient Greeks (as in our opinion also ancient man) saw the stellar constellations as consisting not only of stars of the heavens but also of the spaces inbetween. Modern astronomers have often lost sight of the "spaces" inbetween, also as far as the planets are concerned.

Not only the Titius-Bode Law (more correctly called a "rule of the distribution of planetary mass by orbits""), but also an analysis of other known orbital systems such as the moons of Jupiter, shows that there is always an orderly "spacing" of "planetary" bodies around an orbited object.

In fact, according to the orderly spacing of objects around the Sun in our own Solar System, it is not only the Asteroid Belt (including Ceres) - which appears to us to be a disintegrated planet at that location - but also the "brothers" Neptune and Pluto (whose orbits overlap) should be regarded as planetary orbits, because their astronomical spacing around the Sun follows an orderly orbital system- in the case of Pluto, it is Pluto and not Neptune which actually occupies the orbital position predicted by the Titius-Bode Law. Keeping Neptune but throwing Pluto out of this system is just ludicrous.

As written at the Wikipedia :

"One plausible explanation other than chance is that orbital resonance from major orbiting bodies creates regions around the Sun that are free of long-term stable orbits. Results from simulation of planetary formation seem to support the idea that laws like the Titius-Bode law are a natural consequence of planetary formation, according to the current theories in this area.

Dubrulle and Graner have shown that power-law distance rules are a natural consequence of collapsing-cloud models of planetary systems possessing two symmetries: rotational invariance (the cloud and its contents are axially symmetric) and scale invariance (the cloud and its contents look the same on all length scales), the latter being a feature of many phenomena considered to play a role in planetary formation, such as inverse-square force fields and turbulence."

The elimination of Pluto as a "planet" by the IAU does not take orbitals of heavenly bodies into account, which in our view is a grievous mistake, since it is not size (mass) which should be determinative of planetary status, but rather the orbital location of the orbiting body, regardless of its size.

We think the IAU has made a serious mistake.

Decipherment of Cahokia as a hermetic Sky Map (planisphere) of the Heavens - LexiLine Journal 427

Cahokia Mounds (see photo gallery) in Collinsville, Illinois comprise a UNESCO World Heritage Site and as written there:

" Cahokia Mounds, some 13 km north-east of St. Louis, Missouri,
is the largest pre-Columbian settlement north of Mexico. "

To our LexiLine Files at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LexiLine/files/ in the file North America - USA Canada (Megalithic Sites Rock Art Earthworks)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LexiLine/files/North%20America%20-%20USA%20Canada/
under the heading
Cahokia Decipherment as the Heavens by Andis Kaulins
I have added my just-made decipherment of the Cahokia Mounds as
cahokiadecipherment.png (the graphic below)


This decipherment was made possible through the map recently sent to me by Steve Burdic as
Cahokia12Circles.pdf, which was presented in the previous LexiLine posting and is also found in our LexiLine files.

My alleged decipherment shows that the Cahokia Mounds were intended as hermetic representations of the stars of the heavens, including stars from the following modern constellations: those marking the four seasons in the heaven of stars - Aquila (Winter), Scorpio (Autumn), Perseus (Spring) and Leo (Summer).

In addition, Cahokia shows the Pole Star position as well as the position of the North Ecliptic Pole.

Lastly, stars of Ursa Major, Draco, Cepheus, Cassiopeia, Cygnus, Ophiuchus, Bootes, Virgo, Coma Berenices, and Leo Minor are shown.

There may be solar lines here, but that is not my interest at the moment. The major "architectural" features are intended to represent the starry constellations at night.

The correspondences are not always perfect, but the relationship is clear when one views the whole. The Ursa Major equivalence, e.g. is very well represented. Cepheus and Cassiopeia are both excellently reproduced. Scorpio on the other hand is missing one star at the head, the left one - although this was the first group of stars identified nevertheless due to Antares - do we have traces of a mound there? Some of the other alleged star positions show too few stars to be certain. Nevertheless, that the mounds represent the stellar heavens is clear, and the principle used is the same as we previously have found throughout the world, also e.g. at Tikal (see http://www.megaliths.net/mesoamerica.htm).

Using the positions of the stars as obtained, the original plan of Cahokia must be substantially older than currently dated by the scholars - or - their builders relied on long outdated stellar parameters.

[The above decipherment has been amended here.]

Some other sites of interest in this regard are:

Cahokia Mounds Topography - Maps of Cahokia - http://www.museum.state.il.us/vrmuseum/jshape/cahokia2.html
Cahokia Site Map and Virtual Tour - http://www.cahokiamounds.com/virtual_tour.html
Illinois Historic Preservation Agency - http://www.illinoishistory.gov/hs/cahokia_mounds.htm
Archaeological Sites - Cahokia - http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/archaeology/sites/northamerica/cahokia.html
Cahokia Mound 72 - http://lithiccastinglab.com/gallery-pages/2001augustmound72excavation1.htm
National Park Service - Cahokia - http://www.cr.nps.gov/worldheritage/cahokia.htm
Mississippian Civilization - http://www.hp.uab.edu/image_archive/up/upi.html
Mississippi Artifacts - http://www.mississippian-artifacts.com/
Gottschall Site - http://www.tcinternet.net/users/cbailey/Gottsiteoverview.html
Indian Mounds of Mississippi - http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/mounds/
FAMSI - http://www.famsi.org/

Map of Cahokia Mounds - LexiLine Journal 426

To the LexiLines Files at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LexiLine/files/ in the file
North America - USA Canada (Megalithic Sites Rock Art Earthworks) at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LexiLine/files/North%20America%20-%20USA%20Canada/
under the heading Map of Cahokia Mounds from Steve Burdic I have added a map of the Cahokia Mounds sent to me by Steve Burdic as Cahokia12Circles.pdf (the map is too large to present here) accompanied by the following message from Steve:

"The map attachment is my latest attempt to bring order (design) to the 100 plus Indian mounds at Cahokia. The base map is made up of the blue mounds. The scale is approximately 1 mile high by 2 miles wide. The base map is in an arc view file furnished by the University of Southern Illinois. This map is a new approach using circles of 3049 meters centered on the top and bottom mounds. The two center points of the circles form a north/ south line and the intersections of the circles form and east west line. Diagonals from the north point to the east and west intersections and from the south to the east/west intersections form a diamond made up of two equilateral triangles. These diagonals form fairly accurate solstice lines.

I believe the solstices and equinox were sighted on the sides of the mounds as well as from the top of the mounds. This belief comes from the way the mounds are aligned with each other and from pottery designs showing mound type structures with circles next to them. Mounds are often aligned so that solstice events have mounds on either side of the line giving extreme accuracy. In some cases five or more mounds line up this way. The archeologists believe there are solstice alignments at Cahokia and they call it the city of the sun. There are many solstice/equinox alignments in the mounds. That is obvious with a little work with a ruler.

The overall design however is elusive. Starting points, units of measure and angles or other geometrical designs are rampant with this many data points. One of my biggest problems is determining statistical proof of figures like circles and three, four, five, six and up to twelve sided figures. I believe there are multiple designs overlapping each other. The whole thing is like a geometrical exercise relating astronomy to earth based mapping. The site is at W 38 39 27 N 90 03 42. This is one of the Latitudes on the planet that give solstice diagonals equal to equilateral triangles. The nearly 90 degree north figure ties the site in with Giza and Stonehenge.

There are Indian mounds as you move up the Missouri River that have similar relationships. I am sure they are tied in with Cahokia and the rest of the world. The design will remind you of the Phaistos Disc design I sent you years ago. I have been trying to find organizational or design regimes ever since. I keep coming up with that basic diamond shape however. Cahokia is now thought of as a religious center that dominated the eastern and central United States from 800 to 1200 An D. It was not a trade center or political empire. I believe it was a geodetic center that brought the geometry, astronomy and mapping together in this special place and that is acted like a university to teach these disciplines.

There is complexity here. The equilateral triangles can be scaled up or down and moved over the map of the mounds giving many solstice and equinox alignments. http://www.cahokiamounds.com/mystery_04.html has a graphic of the birdman tablet with a cross hatch design said to be reminiscent of rattlesnake skin. To me it is the same design of the mounds and the reason for the importance of the area. Post this message and graphic if you like.

Steve Burdic"

Chinese Neolithic Stone Carving of Big Dipper (Ursa Major) Discovered - LexiLine Journal 425

The Xinhua News Agency reported on August 16, 2006 that a Neolithic stone carving of the stellar constellation of the "Big Dipper" (Ursa Major) has been discovered in China on Baimiaozi Mountain near Chifeng City in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

They write as follows:

"Neolithic Stone Carving of Big Dipper Discovered 2006-08-17 11:16:01 Xinhua News Agency

[Image of the cupmarks identified as Ursa Major at http://english.china.com/zh_cn/culture_history/news/11020710/20060817/images/13548226_2006081711161687805300.jpg ]

A neolithic stone carving of the Big Dipper star formation has been found on Baimiaozi Mountain near Chifeng City in northwest China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, according to experts. The stone carving was discovered by Wu Jiacai, a 50-year-old researcher in literature and history with Wongniute Banner of Inner Mongolia. Wu found a large yam-shaped stone, 310 centimeters long, onto which 19 stars had been carved. The representation of the Big Dipper is on the north face of the stone. The stars are represented by indentations in the stone. The biggest indentation is 6 centimeters in diameter and 5 centimeters deep, said Wu. "The stone was carved by neolithic dwellers," said Gai Shanlin, researcher with the Inner Mongolia Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology (IMICRA) and an expert in stone carving. The carving style proves this, said Gai. Astronomers' conjectures about the shape of the Big Dipper some ten thousand years ago also match the carving.

[Image of the stone at http://english.china.com/zh_cn/culture_history/news/11020710/20060817/images/13548226_2006081711161727372600.jpg]

"Finding a stone carving in China`s desert hinterland is a rare occurrence," said Tala, director of IMICRA, who said it might help prove how ancient celestial bodies evolved. Apart from the Big Dipper, Wu also found some "unexplained images" on the stone. He thinks they may depict ancient gods, such as the god of the sun and the god of horses. Further study would be needed to determine when the pictures were painted. Many neolithic jade articles from the Hongshan Culture -- such as a dragon with a pig's mouth and a cloud-shaped pendant -- have already been unearthed around Baimiaozi Mountain. The Hongshan Culture was an aboriginal culture that existed in northern China about 6000 years ago. Tala believes the discovery will contribute to knowledge about the origin and spread of Hongshan Culture. (Xinhua News Agency August 16, 2006)"

This discovery fits in with the ancient hermetic system of land survey by astronomy discovered by Andis Kaulins in China (see Stars Stones and Scholars), according to which the Great Wall of China marks the Milky Way as the Dragon of Heaven and where e.g. Yumen marks Gemini at the West end of the Great Wall and Shanhaikuan and this region of China mark the Head of the Azure Dragon (Tang Shay) in the East.

Baimiaozi Mountain near Chifeng City in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is located near the area where the eastern part of the Great Wall of China ends and many other ancient artefacts have been found in this region.

As we write in our book, this is ALL ancient astronomy, and we are glad to see that at least Chinese astronomers have recognized the cupmarks on the rock drawings as marking stars of the sky, as we have alleged all along for years.

Human Migrations and the Rh Blood Protein - LexiLine Journal 424

We are subject to all kinds of laws and chief among these are the laws of genetics, which are definitely supreme over the laws made by men. Religious zealots of all persuasions should consider the fact that what some might view to be "God in action" is found in all of us in the unique genetic blueprint of each of our organisms, regardless of our religious affiliation.

A special category in genetics is comprised by our blood types, especially the ABO and Rh blood groups. In our modern age, many citizens of civilized nations know their own ABO blood group (A, B, O, or AB) and most also know whether they are Rh-positive or Rh-negative, since this knowledge can be essential for healthy childbearing.

A recent question from a reader of LexiLine about the origin and mutation of the Rh protein led the me to do a bit of research, which is my specialty, leading to a remarkable potential discovery about the cause for the Rh-negative mutation.

For a bit of background information, we refer to a mathematically produced dendrite of the world distribution of blood groups, adapted from A. Kelus and J. Lukaszewicz (authors of Taksonomia wroclawska w zastosowaniu do zagadnien seroantropologii Archiwum Immunol. terap. Doswiadizalnej 1 245-254 , 1953), as presented in Ludwig Hirszfeld (also Hirschfeld or Hirsfeld), Probleme der Blutgruppenforschung (book review here, or see Footnote 1 below).

Also for background, we refer to a very short discussion of the prevalence of Rh-negative in certain ethnic groups by Steve Mack, Post-doc/Fellow, Molecular and Cell Biology, Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute.

A chart of the ethnic distribution of Rh+ (Rh-positive) and Rh- (Rh-negative) blood alleles (based on data from the American Association of Blood Banks, AABS) is found at the bottom of the article at http://www.pjms.com.pk/issues/aprjun05/article/article14.html [link no longer active but the chart showed that Rh- distribution in Europe is very high whereas there is almost none in Africa.]
The distribution table is located just before the conclusion section of the article at the end.

All modern genetic DNA evidence points to an "out-of-Africa" origin for humanity. Hence, it is our view that Rh+ (Rh-positive) is the original Rh blood allele in humans, since black Africans in Africa who have not mixed either with white populations or with mixed-race persons have ONLY this Rh allele and no evidence of Rh- (Rh-negative).

Since Rh- (Rh-negative) is an allele which is found predominantly among white populations (ca. 40-45% in Europe), it must clearly be a mutation which followed after man's migrations from Africa to Europe.

Moreover, Rh-negative is found much more frequently among A and O blood groups, which are the major blood types in Western Europe, whereas Rh-negative is much rarer among persons with B and AB blood types, i.e. the more Asiatic blood types. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type

New research has been published about the Rh protein by Sydney G. Kustu and William Inwood, and we think that it is so important that it will ultimately be awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine because of its fundamental potential impact on biological and genetic research.

See http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2005/05/25_rhesus.shtml and
S. Kustu and W. Inwood, Biological gas channels for NH3 and CO2: evidence that Rh (Rhesus) proteins are CO2 channels, Transfus. Clin. Biol. (Transfusion Clinique et Biologique (Paris), 13:103-10, 2006. [TCB (abstract)] and
Kwang-Seo Kim, Eithne Feild, Natalie King, Takuro Yaoi, Sydney Kustu, and William Inwood, Spontaneous Mutations in the Ammonium Transport Gene AMT4 of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, Genetics, Vol. 170, 631-644, June 2005, [Abstract] [Full Text] [Supplemental Data] )

As noted in the Berkeley article (under the graphic caption) the Rh protein plays a significant role as a channel for CO2 gas (carbon dioxide) across cell membranes in the body:

"Rh proteins act as gas channels that help speed the transfer of carbon dioxide (CO2) in and out of red blood cells. CO2 can also pass through the cell membrane unaided (above right), but not quickly enough."

The PubMed Abstract writes:

"Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, 111 Koshland Hall, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-3102, USA. kustu@nature.berkeley.edu

Physiological evidence from our laboratory indicates that Amt/Mep proteins are gas channels for NH3, the first biological gas channels to be described. This view has now been confirmed by structural evidence and is displacing the previous belief that Amt/Mep proteins were active transporters for the NH4+ ion. Still disputed is the physiological substrate for Rh proteins, the only known homologues of Amt/Mep proteins. Many think they are mammalian ammonium (NH4+ or NH3) transporters. Following Monod's famous dictum, "Anything found to be true of E. coli must also be true of elephants" [Perspect. Biol. Med. 47(1) (2004) 47], we explored the substrate for Rh proteins in the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. C. reinhardtii is one of the simplest organisms to have Rh proteins and it also has Amt proteins. Physiological studies in this microbe indicate that the substrate for Rh proteins is CO2 and confirm that the substrate for Amt proteins is NH3. Both are readily hydrated gases. Knowing that transport of CO2 is the ancestral function of Rh proteins supports the inference from hematological research that a newly evolving role of the human Rh30 proteins, RhCcEe and RhD, is to help maintain the flexible, flattened shape of the red cell.
PMID: 16563833 [PubMed - in process]"

Hence, it would seem to be a likely hypothesis to this observer, presented here for the first time, that Rh- (Rh-negative) developed due to a (presumably beneficial) change mandated in our human breathing of the Earth's air in the more northerly European latitudes.

This would make sense since there is in fact a global air-sea flux of CO2 (carbon dioxide) which could correspond to the mutation we see in Rh from Africa (Rh+) to Western Europe (Rh-). As noted in a Colloquium of the US National Academy of Sciences:

"Temperate and polar oceans of the both hemispheres are the major sinks for atmospheric CO2, whereas the equatorial oceans are the major sources for CO2. The Atlantic Ocean is the most important CO2 sink, providing about 60% of the global ocean uptake, while the Pacific Ocean is neutral because of its equatorial source flux being balanced by the sink flux of the temperate oceans. The Indian and Southern Oceans take up about 20% each."

(The above is quoted from the Abstract of Taro Takahashi, Richard A. Feely, Ray F. Weiss, Rik H. Wanninkhof, David W. Chipman, Stewart C. Sutherland, and Timothy T. Takahashi, Global air-sea flux of CO2: An estimate based on measurements of sea–air pCO2 difference, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, Vol. 94, pp. 8292–8299, August 1997, colloquium paper presented at a colloquium entitled "Carbon Dioxide and Climate Change," organized by Charles D. Keeling, held November 13–15, 1995, at the National Academyof Sciences, Irvine, CA.)

In other words, the Rh mutation from Rh+ (Rh-positive) to Rh- (Rh-negative) is arguably environmental in cause, with the human body adjusting to different CO2 and oxygen conditions as present in Western Europe and as opposed to those prevalent in the original homeland of Africa, as evidenced by the differing atmospheric CO2 sinks prevailing in oceans bordering on the two different geographic locations. Presumably, the reason for the mutation was in part "the air" (and climate) and the human body's changed oxygen (O2) / carbon dioxide (CO2) balance.

We presume that the reason for the mutation can also be analogized to the body's reaction to decreased levels of oxygen at higher altitudes, which leads to substantial biological reactions:

"Adaptation to a lower oxygen environment causes the body to produce a chain of biological reactions. The heart and lungs are stimulated to increase their functions and even over the long term, to increase in size. Blood vessels dilate and new capillaries are formed in the heart, brain and skeletal muscles. In the blood, levels of erythropoietin (EPO), haemoglobin, myoglobin and 2,3 diglycerophosphate increase. All these factors make the blood capable of carrying more oxygen and on a cellular level there is a growth of the cellular structures needed for the metabolism of oxygen. After IHT (Intermittent Hypoxic Treatment) the lactate threshold increases indicating that the body is utilising available oxygen more efficiently."

The same holds true for thermoregulation, i.e. the body's response to temperature. The Medical Department of the U.S. Army has published a book titled Medical Aspects of Harsh Environments (Volume I), which contains a great amount of relevant information about human adaptation and human physiological responses to heat and cold. A map of the average wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) index in the northern hemisphere during July is shown at page 103 of that volume and a similar map at page 105 of that volume shows the relationship between selected regional skin temperatures and core body temperature at rest over a range of temperate and hot climatic conditions.

It is clear from the discussion in subsequent pages of that volume that thermoregulation is related to oxygen uptake and thus of course, conversely, to carbon dioxide expulsion. Moreover, not only does the respiratory system react significantly to heat and cold (see page 366 of that volume), but this is accompanied by changes in the solubility of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood (p. 368):

"as the temperature decreases, the solubility of carbon dioxide in blood increases."

Since the Rh protein affects the rate at which carbon dioxide "channels through" cell membranes, its role may well be comparable in respiration to that found for ion pathways in the plasma membrane. As noted at page 179 of that volume:

"Ions do not readily cross lipid bilayers despite their large concentration gradients across plasma membranes. In general, they require specialized channels or carriers to do so..... Membrane channels are proteins that contain hydrophilic pores that penetrate the lipid bilayer, permitting the diffusion of specific ions down their electrochemical gradients to enter or leave cells."

Given the fact that "the Rh polypeptide is a major fatty acid-acylated erythrocyte membrane protein", i.e. an element of our red blood cells - which transport oxygen to the blood, the discovery that Rh proteins act as gas channels for carbon dioxide in living organisms is one of the most important discoveries made in medicine (and genetics) - ever.

__________
Footnote 1

The book review in German at SpringerLink.com by L. Ballowitz of Hirszfeld, L., Probleme der Blugruppenforschung, is reproduced here:

"BUCHBESPRECHUNGEN

Hirszfeld L.: Probleme der Blutgruppenforschung. Mit einem Geleitwort von Prof. Dr. O. Prokop, Berlin. 160 Seiten, 29 Abbildungen, 64 Tabellen. VEB Gustav Fischer Verlag, Jena 1960. Preis: Gln. DM 22,-

Für jeden, der an blutgruppenserologischen Fragen interessiert ist, wird diese ausgezeichnete Zusammenschau über die Entwicklung der Lehre von den Blutgruppen äußerst anregend sein. Hirszfeld ist seit etwa 40 Jahren durch zahlreiche, zum Teil bahnbrechende Arbeiten mit an dem raschen Anwachsen der Kenntnisse auf diesem Gebiet beteiligt. Auch in dem vorliegenden Buch ist vor allem die äußerst vielseitige, weitschauende und doch kritische Interpretation der erhobenen Befunde bemerkenswert. Besonders ausführlich sind Fragen der Vererbung von Blutgruppen, solche der Anthropologie, ferner Möglichkeiten der Vaterschafts- und Mutterschaftsausschließung sowie die Immunpathologie der Schwangerschaft abgehandelt. Eine gute Orientierung ist über die von dem Verf. entwickelte Pleiaden- und Abortus-Theorie möglich. Durch das Einfügen persönlicher Erfahrungen wird die Darstellung angenehm aufgelockert. Prokop gebührt Dank, daß er die Veröffentlichung dieses 1953 abgeschlossenen und vom Verf. hinterlassenen Buches möglich machte.

L. Ballowitz, Berlin"

______________

Joe Hare replied:

This is very reminiscent of the "nature" vs "nurture" argument in psychology. If I understand the argument it is that because Modern People of African descent are mostly positive vis a vis the RH factor and Modern day Europeans have the RH negative factor--AND --someone dicovered that there was a connection to CO2 levels--ergo Modern Europeans--are out of Africa?

Not saying it isn't possible mind you--but one wonders about the influence of the Cro-Magnon/Neanderthal occupation of the territory ---I want to say that was about a 20,000 year co-incident occupation period in Europe. Borrow a gene here --trade one there--who knows?

I'm thinking that blood chemistry is kind of a windy corner to posit a theory. I'm more inclined to go with DNA than blood chemistry. And yes I am aware that some studies were done in that regard to prove the Out of Africa Theory. However, I am not aware of any Cro-Magnon/Neanderthal DNA studies--But then my research is limited--read that--I am as smart as the last expert I talked to--or read.

Expanding on the above--has any RH data been gathered / corrollated with the Chinese or Indian populations? Again--I am thinking about large population segments existing --and Lord knows those Mongol lads did get around in Central Europe. And that was late in the game. When did the Scythians become Celts? I need to get out more--LOL!
______________

Andis Kaulins replied:

Based on your comments, I see that I need to express some things more clearly on my part.

I agree with you that DNA provides us with the best proof for the out-of-Africa hypothesis.

For the DNA evidence, we can look e.g. to: Mitochondrial DNA Clarifies Human Evolution

But also our blood groups are very close to the Chimpanzees and Gorillas. See e.g.:
The Long Foreground: Human Prehistory

However, I did not mean to imply in my Rh blood protein posting that the recent findings "prove" the out-of-Africa theory. Rather, my argument is that if the out-of-Africa hypothesis is true, as I think it is (even the Neanderthals are regarded to be out-of-Africa, but in another time frame) then the new knowledge about the Rh blood protein - derived from a study of the Rh protein in algae - points the way to explain the Rh blood proteins in humans as responses to oxygen and carbon dioxide environment.

Obviously, there is still a long way to go, but if the finding in algae is verified in humans that the Rh protein functions as a channel for carbon dioxide (CO2) transport through blood cell membranes - and this still needs to be verified - then scientific research will have made a gigantic leap in understanding fundamental changes in the genetic material of living things.

It is true that the current Neanderthal discussion is vexing. What I myself have seen written about the Neanderthals in past and present writings seems mostly to consist of overly broad conjectures based on very little evidence. I am of the impression that neither laymen, nor the news media, nor even mainstream scientists know enough about this yet. See in this regard also Michael P. Germano and his posting on Neanderthals Again? Has the Media Got It Right?

What is significant is the geographic area in which we have thus far found Neanderthal remains, which largely corresponds to what we would today call Europe. See http://anthro.palomar.edu/homo2/mod_homo_2.htm

A number of years ago, before it became fashionable, I suggested that humans formed from an interbreeding of two primate groups, based upon blood types. See http://www.lexiline.com/lexiline/lexi9.htm , see in this regard also http://www.dadamo.com/wiki/wiki.pl/Related_blood_group_factors_in_animals where it is written:

"In the ABO blood group system, humans and chimpanzees both have A blood group antigens, but the DNA nucleotide sequences are different. The differences are not minor.

Surprisingly, humans and gorillas both have blood group B, and their DNA nucleotide sequences are pretty much identical, with only minor differences."

However, I would imagine that such interbreeding, if it occurred, would have to have taken place before Man arrived in Europe. Indeed, where the territories of gorillas and chimpanzees in Eastern Africa meet is where we find the first evidence of human skulls. How the Neanderthals fit into this picture is still anybody's guess and will ultimately have to be decided by deciphering their human genome, as is being done.

Star Navigation - If it is OK for Birds, why not for Neolithic Man? - LexiLine Journal 423

One of the things that has puzzled me greatly over the years is the remarkable (and in my view utterly unfounded) resistance that mainstream academics manifest: 1) against the idea that ancient (Neolithic) man navigated on Earth by astronomy, both by land and by sea, and; 2) against the corresponding idea that ancient man used the stars and other simple astronomical parameters in setting ancient landmarks and borders as "hermetic" marks of orientation.

How absolutely contrary to common sense (for the birds) the mainstream academic position waxes on this issue can be demonstrated by casting a glance at ornithology (bird watching), which is currently in the science news for some new insights on how birds migrate. See Physorg.com and their recent article "30-year puzzle solved: Light guides flight of migratory birds ".

It is not only light from the Sun during the day that guides migratory birds but also star patterns for nocturnal migrations. As written at the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center (NPWRC, U.S. Department of Interior, U.S. Geological Survey) on the Migration of Birds, Orientation and Navigation :

"Using the artificial night sky provided by planetariums demonstrated that nocturnal migrants respond to star patterns. (quite analogous to Kramer's work on solar orientation, Franz Sauer demonstrated that if the planetarium sky is shifted, the birds make a corresponding shift in their orientation azimuth. Steve Emlen was able to show that the orientation was not dependent upon a single star, like Polaris, but to the general sky pattern. As he would turn off more and more stars so that they were no longer being projected in the planetarium, the bird's orientation became poorer and poorer. While the proper direction for orientation at a given time is probably innate, Emlen was able to show that knowing the location of "north" must be learned. When young birds were raised under a planetarium sky in which Betelgeuse, a star in Orion of the southern sky, was projected to the celestial north pole, the birds oriented as if Betelgeuse was "north" when they were later placed under the normally orientated night sky, even though in reality it was south!"

My comment to all of this is - did they expect that birds oriented and navigated by magic? Obvious to this observer is the conclusion that other living things are going to use the same obvious basic systems for orientation and navigation that are/were available to modern and ancient Man, i.e. primarily the Sun during the day and the Stars at night.

But how do we get this message through to the people who occupy chairs of astronomy or archaeology (and related disciplines) at the world's universities? Any suggestions anyone has out there will be appreciated.

Our question for mainstream academia is the title of this posting: "Star Navigation - If it is OK for Birds, why not for Neolithic Man?" [nearly 4 years later - there is still no answer from the blindered men and women in the hallowed halls of the world's universities]
__________

John (*Northstar) replied:

Always enjoy your thoughts Andis. There are also studies that show
that long distance migration is influenced by the earths magnetic
field. Knowing the holistic tendencies of 'nature', there are
probably species that combine visual and magnetic, giving
different 'weights' to both systems. It would be interesting to
know how geomagnetics might counter or buffer precession, as an
example. But I digress...

Nice to see you use the term 'hermetics', albeit in a minimalist
form. We should not be so foolish as to believe that there were
civilizations preceeding all those presently known who were less
advanced than we are now. They may not have used oil for power and
advancement, but they were certainly NOT ignorant.

When I ponder on all the knowledge that was lost in the burning of
the Library at Alexandria, and more recently all the information
cleansed by the Roman Catholic Church in its 'information wars'...it
seems less strange that we would have no knowledge of those coming
long before these events...even if they had advanced language and
sciences. A society frowning on outward manifestations of 'ego'and
limited to natural material may not have left us the clues we are
used to looking for. I applaud you for your continued and accurate
thinking 'outside the box'. After my last error riddled email to
you, I do hope some of your ability rubs off on me.

Best Regards, John

Stars Stones and Scholars in Hardcover - LexiLine Journal 422

Stars Stones and Scholars: The Decipherment of the Megaliths,
is now available in hardcover(ISBN number141220135-7) at the following booksellers online:

AMAZON
Amazon.com - USA
Amazon.ca - Canada
Amazon.co.uk - UK
Amazon.de - Germany
Amazon.fr - France
Amazon.jp - Japan

BARNESANDNOBLE
BOOKSAMILLION
SUPERBOOKDEALS
PICKABOOK

The book is printed on demand - and the wonderful thing about this kind of printing is that a book published in this manner virtually never goes out of print and can be ordered at any time in the future, even 10, 20, 50 or 100 years down the road - in any quantity desired.

This book will become more and more important as the years go by as mainstream archaeologists and historians of astronomy - slowly - begin to grasp the fact that prehistoric man was an astronomer and that many aspects of man's life in ancient days, especially knowledge, landmarking and belief systems (religion), were closely related to astronomy.

As the great Sir Bertrand Russell, "British philosopher, logician, essayist, and social critic " wrote 2 years after my birth in Human Knowledge: Its Scope and Limits, Simon and Schuster, Clarion Books, New York, 1948:

"Astronomy is the oldest of the sciences, and the contemplation of the heavens, with their periodic regularities, gave men their first conceptions of natural law."

Russell further opined that the legacy of astronomy in our "way of life" carries down to the present day, writing:

"Although we are taught the Copernican astronomy in our textbooks, it has not yet penetrated to our religion or our morals....

How far has the American outlook on life and the world influenced Europe, and how far is it likely to do so? And first of all: What is the distinctively American outlook? And what, in comparison, is the distinctively European outlook?

Traditionally, the European outlook may be said to be derived from astronomy. When Abraham watched his flocks by night, he observed the stars in their courses: they moved with a majestic regularity utterly remote from human control.

When the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, He said: 'Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?' The reply was in the negative. Even more relevant is the question: 'Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? Canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?" [emphasis added]

The Terrestrial Planisphere of Oesterholz Germany - LexiLine Journal 421

The German magazine SYNESIS (see Efodon) in its just published issue (Nr. 76, Volume 13, Issue 4, August/September 2006), contains the German-language printed version of my article,
"Der Bodenhimmel der Oesterholzer Mark um die Spitze der 'Externstein-Pyramide'",
[The Terrestrial Planisphere of Oesterholz at the 'Pyramid of the Extern Stones']
(the original, higher resolution .pdf is found here and the limited Power Point Presentation here)

which was initially presented this year as a paper at the 40th conference of the
Walther Machalett Association for Prehistory and Early History
(Arbeits- und Forschungskreis Walther Machalett für Vor- und Frühgeschichte e.V.)
[since then reconstituted and renamed as Der Forschungskreis Externsteine e. V.]
held May 24-28, 2006 in Horn/Bad Meinberg, Germany.

The German-language version of the article is also available from the
[Der Forschungskreis Externsteine e. V.] as
"Das Heinecke System Frühgeschichtliche Externsteiner Visurlinien"
(Schriftliche Fassung der Referate, gehalten auf der 40. Jahrestagung des Arbeitskreises
Walther Machalett am 27 Mai 2006 in Horn/Externsteine")
which contains articles relating to German archaeoastronomy
by Günter Heinecke, Gert Meier, Max Seurig and Andis Kaulins as follows
(content text taken from the CD-ROM):

"Inhalt:
1. Das Heinecke-System: Frühgeschichtliche Externsteiner Visurlinien auf Sonne und Mond
I. Teil: : Die Darstellung des Systems II. Teil: Die Deutung des Systems
(Meier)
2. Der Drachenkopf auf dem Wormsberg zu Berlebeck (Heinecke)
3. Der Bodenhimmel der Oesterholzer Mark um die Spitze der Externsteinpyramide
(Kaulins)
4. Die untere Grotte von Felsen 1 der Externsteine: Der Nabel der Welt? (Seurig)"

This CD-ROM as well as the preceding CD-ROM from the 39th Machalett Conference,
"Frühgeschichtliche Astronomie in Norddeutschland", can each be ordered through
[Der Forschungskreis Externsteine e. V.]
at the following address:

Forschungskreis Externsteine e. V.
Postfach 1155
32792 Horn – Bad Meinberg
fk-externsteine@gmx.de

I will try to publish this article in an English translation in the near future, but this will be a while yet.

Timelines on The Evolution of Civilization - LexiLine Journal 420

Steve Burdic recently sent the following links
involving attempted timelines
on the evolution of civilization
by R.D. (Dick) Garneau

http://www.telusplanet.net/public/dgarneau/euro.htm
http://www.telusplanet.net/public/dgarneau/euro2.htm
http://www.telusplanet.net/public/dgarneau/euro3.htm
http://www.telusplanet.net/public/dgarneau/euro4.htm
http://www.telusplanet.net/public/dgarneau/euro5.htm
http://www.telusplanet.net/public/dgarneau/euro6.htm
http://www.telusplanet.net/public/dgarneau/euro-e.htm

These should not be taken as any kind of official timelines but they do show the complexity of the immense scope of issues which are involved in determining the chronology of civilization and the events involved.

The Mysterious mtDNA Haplogroup U Subgroup U5 - LexiLine Journal 419

Steve Burdic recently sent the following message:

"I came across the attached web page and address
[ https://www3.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/atlas.html ]
concerning mapping of the human genome. They have used a lot of traditional archeological information to base their conclusions on. This has probably not been helpful in some instances.

However, the interactive maps and genetic information are very informative. Particularly interesting to me is the discussion of the U5 subgroup originating near the Black Sea, moving north into the Baltic and then moving back into north Africa. [Lexiline Comment: see https://www3.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/atlas.html , click "GENETIC MARKERS" lower right, then "Select a Marker" - U, which does not always result in text, you may have to try it once or twice to get the required text]

Do you know of other sites that contain this type of genetic mapping. I have been looking at your cultural Dendrite and blood group information for years. Thanks for that." [see http://www.lexiline.com/lexiline/lexi23.htm ]