Mysterious Stone Sites

There are mysteries in the woods of the Hudson Valley of New York and northern New Jersey. There are stone sites that are assumed to be the work of colonial farmers, but why do they have precise astronomical alignments? Could they be the work of Native Americans or Pre-Columbian voyagers? Author and researcher Linda Zimmermann explores stone chambers, perched boulders, standing stones, and massive walls that may just be unique historical treasures that must be studied and preserved.

ON THE EDGE of the Isleta Indian Reservation in New Mexico lies Los Lunas Mystery Stone, inscribed with a version of the Ten Commandments in Phoenician Hebrew characters. The Indians, Spanish and Americans knew of its existence, which they considered of time immemorial. Recently, it has been the subject of intense controversy. For the first time, in this unique monograph, its true origin is elucidated in a connection to a forgotten eighth-century Jewish colony in the American Southwest known as Calalus. If you are interested in Christianity, Judaism, Native American traditions, Southwest history or archeology, this book will fascinate you!

Unforgettable Ancient Sites includes mysterious megalithic sites that appear to have been built using geometric principles far in advance of their time, pyramids that once ran with sacrificial blood, vast temple complexes, lost cities and stunning works of ancient architecture, these sites all have one thing in common - through them, we can connect with the grandeur of our own history. Fully illustrated with superb photography, it gives each site's history as well as some little known facts and insights into how little we actually know about some of these places. Some of the amazing sites included are the Pyramids of Giza, The Acropolis, the Carnac Stones, the Meroë Pyramids, Carthage, Hierapolis-Pammukale, The Great Wall, Borobudur Temple, Nazca Lines, and Chichen Itza. Around the globe are places that have the power to transport us back through the ages; places where humankind has left magical monuments that speak to us across the centuries of people and civilizations that have long since passed. Some are wrapped in mystery. Why did early hunter-gatherer humans paint fantastic beasts across cave walls at Lascaux? Who raised Stonehenge or the Carnac Stones, and for what purpose? If the Great Pyramid of Giza was built as a tomb why does its builder's name not appear anywhere on the massive building? others are less enigmatic but remind us of what wonders humans can uild. Place like Angkor Wat, the Colosseum, and Machu Picchu stand witness to the architectural and engineering genius of ages past. You'll get to experience monuments across continents like the Knossos, Hadrian’s Wall, Luxor Temple, Bagan, the Great Serpent Mound, Easter Island, the Olmec Colossal heads, and much more. Unforgettable Ancient Sites is a world tour of some of the most remarkable human achievements on the planet. Visiting Europe, Asia, the Americas, Africa, and of human civilization to the relatively recent, it takes the reader to the world's most breathtaking monuments.

The ancient standing stones, stone circles and burial chambers of Wales - remarkable feats of construction that are surrounded by legend.

How was Stonehenge created? Did circle builders use math to arrange the stones? What happens on Midsummer Day? Some things are so strange that they cannot be explained. This series explains the connection between science and natural phenomena and how science can be used to try to explain mysteries.

The #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller, named one of the best books of the year by The Boston Globe and National Geographic: acclaimed journalist Douglas Preston takes readers on a true adventure deep into the Honduran rainforest in this riveting narrative about the discovery of a lost civilization -- culminating in a stunning medical mystery. Since the days of conquistador Hernán Cortés, rumors have circulated about a lost city of immense wealth hidden somewhere in the Honduran interior, called the White City or the Lost City of the Monkey God. Indigenous tribes speak of ancestors who fled there to escape the Spanish invaders, and they warn that anyone who enters this sacred city will fall ill and die. In 1940, swashbuckling journalist Theodore Morde returned from the rainforest with hundreds of artifacts and an electrifying story of having found the Lost City of the Monkey God-but then committed suicide without revealing its location. Three quarters of a century later, bestselling author Doug Preston joined a team of scientists on a groundbreaking new quest. In 2012 he climbed aboard a rickety, single-engine plane carrying the machine that would change everything: lidar, a highly advanced, classified technology that could map the terrain under the densest rainforest canopy. In an unexplored valley ringed by steep mountains, that flight revealed the unmistakable image of a sprawling metropolis, tantalizing evidence of not just an undiscovered city but an enigmatic, lost civilization. Venturing into this raw, treacherous, but breathtakingly beautiful wilderness to confirm the discovery, Preston and the team battled torrential rains, quickmud, disease-carrying insects, jaguars, and deadly snakes. But it wasn't until they returned that tragedy struck: Preston and others found they had contracted in the ruins a horrifying, sometimes lethal-and incurable-disease. Suspenseful and shocking, filled with colorful history, hair-raising adventure, and dramatic twists of fortune, THE LOST CITY OF THE MONKEY GOD is the absolutely true, eyewitness account of one of the great discoveries of the twenty-first century.

Full of unforgettable figures and an unrelenting spirit of adventure, Strange Stones is a far-ranging, thought-provoking collection of Peter Hessler’s best reportage—a dazzling display of the powerful storytelling, shrewd cultural insight, and warm sense of humor that are the trademarks of his work. Over the last decade, as a staff writer for The New Yorker and the author of three books, Peter Hessler has lived in Asia and the United States, writing as both native and knowledgeable outsider in these two very different regions. This unusual perspective distinguishes Strange Stones, which showcases Hessler’s unmatched range as a storyteller. “Wild Flavor” invites readers along on a taste test between two rat restaurants in South China. One story profiles Yao Ming, basketball star and China’s most beloved export, another David Spindler, an obsessive and passionate historian of the Great Wall. In “Dr. Don,” Hessler writes movingly about a small-town pharmacist and his relationship with the people he serves. While Hessler’s subjects and locations vary, subtle but deeply important thematic links bind these pieces—the strength of local traditions, the surprising overlap between apparently opposing cultures, and the powerful lessons drawn from individuals who straddle different worlds.