Was it practiced in Atlantean times?By R. Cedric Leonard "Of all the cultural innovations created by man, certainly one of the most profound in its effects has been the invention of agriculture. This seemingly simple discovery of planting, cultivating and harvesting food provided the basis for larger populations and opened the way to all of the complex societies and higher civilizations that followed. Why and how it came about after more than a million years of hunting are questions that archaeologists and natural scientists are today trying to answer." The above words penned by Dr. Robert H. Dyson (1973), professor of anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania and Curator of the Near Eastern Section of the University Museum, express clearly the importance of agriculture to civilization. The invention of writing is important and can do much to consolidate a culture, but without agriculture high civilization can never occur. It is generally held that agriculture began six to eight thousand years ago at Catal Huyuk in Turkey, at Jarmo in northeastern Iraq and among the Starcevo Koros sites in Rumania and Yugoslavia. But was this beginning an "invention," or merely a resurgence? Dr. Philip E. L. Smith (1976), professor of anthropology at the University of Montreal, utilizes the term "invent" to describe the shocking appearance of agriculture in the Nile Valley thousands of years too early in the so-called "Late Paleolithic". An alternative explanation for this apparent "anomaly" might be that this is a case of an Atlantean colony making use of techniques already "invented" in Atlantis. Let's take a look at these archeological discoveries. NILE VALLEY At several sites on the Kom Ombo Plain (10,000-13,000 B.C.) numerous grinding stones used for the processing of food have been excavated. Elsewhere in Egypt during the same period flint blades, polished with use and looking suspiciously like sickles, have also been found. (Smith, 1976) Several workers, Dr. J. Desmond Clark, professor of African prehistory at the University of California among them, have found evidence of similar activity, not only at Kom Ombo but in several other places in the lower Nile Valley. Prof. Clark writes: "It is all the more surprising, therefore, that the appearance of food production in north Africa is relatively sudden and we have as yet no evidence of the initial stages towards incipient cultivation there that we know in the Levant and Mesopotamia." (Clark, 1970) 1955). Late Aterian sites have been found as far east as Kharga Oasis in the western deserts of Egypt. et al. near Abu Simbel. tandem Accelerator-Mass-Spectrometer tests conducted at the AMS facility in Tuscon Arizona indicated that modern charred wheat and barley grains (originally thought to be as old as the archeological artifacts) had somehow contaminated the lower levels of the site (a phenomenon yet to be explained). Prof. Grinding stones.C.000 to 14. which created a degree of excitement. and several harvesting implements have turned up. both of the Department of Anthropology at Southern Methodist University. and also along the Nile in Nubia. 1976). 1970) The Aterian people were type de Mechta (Cro-Magnon-like).C.300 B. and a third group [a whole series of sites] near Esna..000 to 16." The Esna sites. All these are in the Nile Valley. 1981) Typical grinding stone Cereal grains were also found at the same levels as the agricultural implements.1984) The two archeologists offered this observation concerning the abundance of agricultural sites being discovered: "These are not the only Late Paleolithic sites which have been discovered in Egypt along the Nile.C." date from 13. therefore. However. (Wendorf & Schild. which is the North African version of European Cro-Magnon Man: skeletal specimens increase in numbers in the direction of the Atlantic Ocean—strong evidence pointing to an origin in the west (Briggs. Physically the inhabitants of the Kom Ombo Plain were fully modern Homo sapiens. which Smith describes as "rather robust" in build (Smith. indicating that they were used as sickles in harvesting grain.. C-14 dates ranged from 15. 1981) (To compare with Ice Age temperature variations click on Last Ice Age.C. 1981) After excavating numerous grinding stones associated with the Sebilian and Mechian cultures dating 10. (Wendorf. which exhibit "extensive use of cereals.850 B. Smith writes: "With the benefit of hindsight we can now see that many Late Paleolithic peoples in the Old World were poised on the brink of plant cultivation and animal husbandry as an alternative to the hunter-gatherer's way of life" (Smith. 1976). Smith that incipient agriculture was bring practiced in North Africa during the Late Paleolithic leading into . (Wendorf & Schild.500 years ago.000-13. have made discoveries related to agriculture in Upper Paleolithic times at Wadi Kubbaniya. This seems to be clear admission by Prof. (±200 years) and 15." (Wendorf & Schild.000 B. the Tushka site yielded several pieces of stone with lustrous edges. at Kom Ombo. Romuald Schild.The reason such "initial stages" can't be found may be that they occurred previously in Atlantis. north of Aswan. a mortar and pestle.130 B. (±200 years). Such a description fits the type de Mechta.) They further elaborate: "While the flaked stone industries from them are different from those found at Kubbaniya. we gather that the Cro-Magnon invasions of North Africa had spread eventually into Egypt and the Nile Valley. (Clark. Fred Wendorf and Dr. Among others are several sites at Wadi Tushka. Specific C-14 dates were 15. nor are they alone in containing stone artifact assemblages which seem to indicate the harvesting of grain. 1976). leader of an anthropological team from the University of Missouri. there are indications that during the Final Paleolithic Age in Greece both plant and animal domestication had taken place. Identical microliths are found among numerous other Upper Paleolithic sites throughout Spain. Robert Banfer. We could be looking at a "twilight" of an agricultural practice.000 B. to fishermen as harpoon barbs. THE AMERICAS Agriculture in South America has also been continually pushed back by new discoveries. classical archeologist at the University of Pennsylvania. denticulates—all dating from the Upper Paleolithic. going back thousands of years into the Upper Paleolithic: and they have also been found in abundance among the Mouillian and Capsian sites of North Africa (Briggs. and possibly even to the collectors of plants as a cutting edge for primitive sickles . Some time ago Prof. Microliths are found among the Magdalenians (also Cro-Magnons). It is possible that all these Late Paleolithic people were using the sickle to harvest grain." which tells me he thinks it's a fluke.C. yielded numerous microliths in various geometric shapes—triangles. Intensive study of wear patterns along the edges of the microliths should eventually reveal their specific uses. (Hammond. Where Dr. 1955). Thomas W. and even North Africa. and that the practice was interrupted by the horrendous climatic changes and seismic disturbances accompanying the end of the Ice Age. It's equally possible that these people were actually continuing an activity familiar to them in Atlantis. the microliths. the required analyses remain to be carried out" (Jacobsen. .the Mesolithic Age. . For instance. Franchthi Cave in the Peloponnese. 1976) The site. Smith and I part company is when he refers to such activities as a "false dawn. It seems some rethinking of the function of microliths might be in order. Jacobsen. at Mas d'Azil in southern France Edouard Piette found a quantity of barley seeds along with microliths. many of them geometric. but generally their connection with harvesting has gone unrecognized. Peru. France. would have been equally useful to hunters as projectile points. formed the cutting edge for sickles used in the harvesting of grain. Jacobsen comments: "The microliths. (Jacobsen. Crete. Carbon-14 dates of charcoal fragments place the date of the village at no later than 8. discovered an ancient farming village near Paloma. In his opinion. embedded in hardwood or bone. trapezoids. A mortar and pestle (drawing) EUROPE According to Dr. suggesting that the Azilians (a Cro-Magnon people) had been cultivating that species of cereal. rather than a so-called "false dawn". 1981) . 10. And is it mere coincidence that the available evidence suggests that the so-called "beginning" of agriculture appears first among the Natufian people in Palestine—an Atlantean outpost. the evidence indicates that they practiced a primitive technique of farming which denuded the countryside. were also found by Carter (1957) in the San Diego area. since . neither will it allow people to establish permanent cities. But it illustrates clearly that the principles of agriculture were certainly known and used during those times by the very people who appear to have arrived in Western Europe and Northwest Africa from the direction of Atlantis! And this was thousands of years before agriculture began to be practiced in the Near East along the Fertile Crescent. and numerous fine plano-convex tools dating from 13. Greece. Small slender. but also utilized an extensive irrigation network. storage and control.000 B. during Atlantean times) prove that the Atlanteans practiced agriculture? No.000 B.e. According to Plato's Critias. California (I was stationed there in the U. This much we know for sure. squash. Among other crops.The village contained hundreds of grass-lined food storage pits. and during the intervening years the scientific community has conveniently swept this "under the rug". and likely in Atlantis.000 years ago at Point Loma and La Jolla near San Diego. broad-stemmed knives. Hunting and gathering will not support large aggregations of people living in one place. which greatly enhanced the natural productivity of the land. leaf-shaped points—looking for all the world like Solutrean flints —double-convex knives. and various kinds of peppers. Were there "Solutrean" people in North America at the same time the Solutreans were in western Europe? (Click on Atlanteans in America for answer.000 to 28. The archeological data presented in this article demonstrates that the principles of agriculture were known several thousand years before the Ice Age came to a close: yet we have been led to believe that the inhabitants of the Fertile Crescent "invented" agriculture for the very first time only 8.) CONCLUSION Does the above collection of data concerning the practice of (at least incipient) agriculture during the Upper Paleolithic (i.C. The civilization of Atlantis described by Plato could not have existed if agriculture was unknown to its people. they grew peanuts.000 years ago. whether occurring in Atlantis or elsewhere. Egypt. No doubt the beginning of agriculture was a momentous occurrence.. which eventually spread into other areas of the Fertile Crescent—a mere "restart" of an activity which had been going on for thousand of years in Nubia.000-80.S. According to Banfer. 1981) Even more startling is the discovery by archeologist G. they not only practiced agriculture.) as a "resurgence" (rather than an "invention") of agriculture. (Hammond. according to our hypothesis? I would classify the Natufian efforts (circa. This was a controversial find.C. F.000 to 9. eventually turning it into a desert. demonstrating that these early farmers were thoroughly familiar with food production. This was the "key" allowing them to attain a state of high civilization. Navy at the time). Carter (1957) of matates and manos dating to 55. New York. No. Glossary of Terms BIBLIOGRAPHY Briggs. June 1976. Jacobsen. No. Vol. Wendorf. G.. 1973. Carter. "New radiocarbon dates on the cereals from Wadi Kubbaniya. Robert H. 1970 Dyson. September-October 1981. Hammond. L. 1984." by Jonathan N.." Johns Hopkins Press. 34. . "Stone Age Man on the Nile. L. No. 2. "Unearthing the New World's oldest village. American School of Prehistoric Research. Thomas W. indicating that they either grew cotton or had domesticated the sheep. 5. but Plato's sources may have been accurate on this issue as well.. Wendorf.. Romoald. 6. Philip E.. Desmond. 1955. 2. We are also told that the domestication of animals did not occur until after Atlantis was long gone.com Last update: 29 Jul 2008. and according to Plato the Atlantean priests wore cloth robes. July-August 1981. Cambridge." Scientific American. No. Baltimore. New York. F.." Archaeology. "The Prehistory of Africa." Science 81. Nos. 225. et al. 1957. Vol. 234. 6. "The Stone Age Races of Northwest Africa. 18. "17. 645-6. Smith. 235. Vol.atlantisquest.. In Introduction to "The First Farmers. Allen L.000 Years of Greek Prehistory. Clark." Scientific American." Science." Bulletin No. I am finally offering a page on the Domestication of Animals. J. As promised some time ago. Cabot. "Pleistocene Man at San Diego. "The Earliest Food Producers. Vol. Fred & Schild.8 URL: http://www. August 1976. Vol.such populations must follow migrating herds when subsistence depends mainly on hunting. Atlantek Software Inc. Leonard and editors of Time-Life Books. Version 1. Plato mentions sacrificial bulls and a horse-race track." Praeger Publishers (University Series).
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