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Blobrana


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RE: Brazilian Stonehenge
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In May 2006, reports emerged of an "Amazon Stonehenge", found in the Amazon Basin, in Brazil. It is made up of 127 blocks of granite, each 3 metres high, standing upright in even circles in an open field, according to ABC News and Mongabay.com. According to MSNBC, some of the blocks are has high as 9 feet tall, and crown a grassy hilltop. Based on ceramic fragments found nearby, archaeologists believe this structure is between 500 and 2000 years old.
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Latitude:   2°29'52.00"N, Longitude:  50°56'59.25"W

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Blobrana


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Amazon Stonehenge
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Carbon dating and further excavation must be carried out, the find adds to a growing body of thought among archaeologists that prehistory in the Amazon region was more varied than had been believed.

"Given that astronomical objects, stars, constellations etc., have a major importance in much of Amazonian mythology and cosmology, it does not in any way surprise me that such an observatory exists" - Richard Callaghan, a professor of geography, anthropology and archaeology at the University of Calgary.

Brazilian archaeologists will return in August, when the rainy season ends, to carry out carbon dating and further excavations.

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Blobrana


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A grouping of granite blocks along a grassy Amazon hilltop may be the vestiges of a centuries-old astronomical observatory — a find that archaeologists say shows early rainforest inhabitants were more sophisticated than previously believed.



The 127 blocks, some as high as 2.75 metres tall, are spaced at regular intervals around the hill, like a crown 30 metres in diameter.


Credit Gilmar Nascimento

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-- Edited by Blobrana at 04:50, 2006-06-28

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Blobrana


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Brazilian archaeologists have found an ancient stone structure in a remote corner of the Amazon that may cast new light on the region's past.

The well preserved site pre-dates European colonisation and is said to suggest a sophisticated knowledge of astronomy.
Its appearance is being compared to the English site of Stonehenge.

It was traditionally thought that before European colonisation, the Amazon had no advanced societies.
The archaeologists made the discovery in the state of Amapa, in the far north of Brazil.

A total of 127 large blocks of stone, each weighing several tons, were found driven into the ground on top of a hill.
The layout suggests a temple or an observatory.
The 127 upright stones were evenly spaced and pinpointed the winter solstice which might have been used to determine crop cycles. The structure is thought to be around 2,000 years old while the British Stonehenge dates to between 3000 and 1600 BC.


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