Chronology & Catastrophism REVIEW 2013 Click here for cost
Dark Earth: a challenge to the chronology of Britain in the first millennium AD, by Steve Mitchell
There is an archaeological puzzle known as dark earth which lies over Roman towns in Britain. Its appearance often signals a worrying gap in the chronological sequence of up to 500 years or more. The appearance of dark earth will be examined in a number of Roman urban centres, especially in Roman Leicester and London, using the very latest published and unpublished evidence. The hiatus and the appearance of dark earth are explained in terms of catastrophic sea-level rise and the action of pigs. An attempt is made to define the limits of the chronological gap which is characterised by a marked lack of evidence – hereafter called the ‘evidential gap’ – and to expose problems with the scientific methodology used to measure it. A theory is advanced which seeks to explain the ‘evidential gap’ in terms of a possible ‘phantom’ period of at least 150 years hidden in the historical chronology.
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Through the Looking Glass, Darkly, by Frederic B. Jueneman
For all of our technological advances, we may still be looking through a glass darkly in our attempts to view what is beyond the horizon. There are those who claim to see farther by standing on the shoulders of giants. Just so, but I would advise these same folk to keep at least one eye on the ground, in order not to miss something that might otherwise be overlooked.
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A Review of Palestinian Stratigraphy in relation to the Velikovsky Chronology, by Barry Curnock
Over the decades since the Society for Interdisciplinary Studies was founded, the research of several past and present members has demonstrated that Palestinian stratigraphy requires revision. In particular, the work of John Bimson, Peter James, David Rohl and Bob Porter, has led to a consistent picture of the dates for strata in the period of the Divided Israelite Monarchy (900-600 BC). This paper extends that work into earlier Israelite history and shows that the overall view endorses the chronology of this period, originally proposed by Immanuel Velikovsky. The evidence is used to estimate the floruit of Egypt’s greatest pharaoh, Ramesses II. …….
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Radiocarbon Dating and Chronology, by David Barker
‘Radiocarbon dating is not employed to test theories, but to support them … radiocarbon always gives a scattered set of dates. The theorists
then pick the ones they believe to be correct.’ – Charles Ginenthal, 1997.
…………. It is generally understood that C14 is radioactive – therefore it decays over time. It can be used as a dating tool because creatures and plants accumulate C14 during their lifetimes and cease doing so when they die. What seems to be ignored is that, for an age to be calculated with precision, four facts must be known. They are: (1) the C14 concentration in a speciment at the time of death; (2) the radioactive decay rate; (3) the current C14 concentration in the specimen being ‘dated’; and (4) if anything else has affected the specimen’s C14 content. Note – only the third of those four necessary facts can be measured, the other three must be estimated…………….
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The Writings of the Ancients and their Relevance to Chronology up to 332 BC, by Trevor Palmer
One important category of information availabe to chronologists, particularly if used in association with archaeological evidence, is that found in the writings of authors from the classical period of Greece through to the first few centuries of the Roman Empire. This article will examine these ancient sources to test whether they present a picture of the past consistent with that revealed by archaeology, particularly inscriptions indicating sequences and timescales, and also to see the extent to which they support, or otherwise, the orthodox chronology and a number of representative alternative chronologies. …….
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A Response to Cardona’s Objections, by Marinus Anthony van der Sluijs
In his book Metamorphic Star, Dwardu Cardona raises a number of objections to my ideas [1]. I thank him for considering my work and furthering research into the intriguing topics at hand. In answer, I submit the following reply. ……..
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A Reappraisal of Deep Time in a Nova Scotia Coalfield, by Milton B. Zysman
…. the edict of Deep Time proclaimed in Victorian England by Sir Charles Lyell and his protegee Charles Darwin has moved from a fundamental tenet of Earth Sciences to a necessity for a ‘rational mind set’.
This paper is not intended to support ………. creationist beliefs, though some of their arguments deserve and are given consideration here, but it is a principle objective of this work to put the question of rational mind set into play. We will track the centuries old history of Deep Time to argue that it may well be that it is Earth Scientists……………. that have lost their rational mind sets. …….
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The Literary Velikovsky: An Essay-Review of the Socio-Political Dimension of James P. Hogan’s The Anguished Dawn, by Paul Sukys
The fact that the work of Immanuel Velikovsky is controversial comes as no surprise. Such controversies pre-date the publication of Worlds in Collision in 1950 and have continued uninterrupted until the present day. However, most of these controversies involve the scientific credibility of his conclusions and the verifiability of the events that emerge from his radical rewriting of ancient history. There are other aspects of that controversy, however, many of which are expressed by James P. Hogan in his novel The Anguished Dawn. … Hogan examines the socio-political reactions to the global trauma caused by a neo-Venusian event. This paper focuses on the nature of the socio-political reality that emerges in the world of a post-neo-Venusian event and critically examines Hogan’s rejection of a social system based on the neo-liberal market ethic. Hogan implies that the pervasiveness of such an ethic helps create a disconnect between human values and human activity, leading to the type of inflexible scientific thinking evident in the rejection of unorthodx scientific theories such as those proposed by Velikovsky. …….
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Radiocarbon, Thera, Tell ed-Daba and Official Recognition of a Problem, by Robert M. Porter
… Of interest to us are a set of articles relating to the East Mediterranean area in the second millennium BC, in which radiocarbon scientists and archaeologists have admitted there is a problem over the dating of Thera/Santorini, a volcanic island in the Aegean, and at Tell ed-Daba, a town in the eastern Nile delta with palaces from the Hyksos period and early 18th Dynasty. The problem is that historical/archaeological estimates are well over a century later than calibrated radiocarbon dates. It has taken over ten years for the radiocarbon scientists to accept that there is a problem, but both scientists and archaeologists are now trying to co-operate to solve the discrepancy. …
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Chronology & Catastrophism REVIEW 2012
Tree-ring Dating and Bible Chronology, by David M. Barker
Tree-ring dating (dendrochronology) provides many age estimates inconsistent with Bible chronology. This article explores some of the challenges in tree-ring dating.
Tree-ring dating seems to be a straightforward means of age estimation. For years we’ve been taught that trees grow ‘annual rings’. ……. these are then counted to estimate ages. ….
A crucial question is: do all tree-rings correspond to annual growth periods? The answer is no. Ring growth is not directly tied to annual cycles. It is affected by temperature, water availability, insect infestation, competition from nearby plants, light intensity, and other factors [2]. N. T. Mirov indicated that ‘The term “annual ring” is not accurate; it originated in the northern countries where the periods of summer growth and winter rest are well-defined, but … formation of rings does not always coincide with the calendar year.’ Furthermore, he found that ‘in semi-arid parts of the world, such as the south-western United States, where precipitation during the growing season is in the form of occasional violent outbursts, several rings may be formed in pines during one year.’ [3]
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Aboriginal Recollections, by Dwardu Cardona
By the end of the 1950s one found it flatly stated that: ‘No reliable evidence of the antiquity of the human occupation of Australia has been found.’ [1] Moreover, it was widely held that great antiquity ‘need not be postulated’ to allow the original inhabitants to spread and occupy the entire continent [2]. By 1999 it could still be found stated that no-one knows exactly when the first humans arrived in Australia [3]. Somewhat earlier, however, around 1968, it was beginning to be claimed that humans had been in Australia since about 8,000 years ago [4] and although by 1991 it was still being claimed that ‘few details of their history are known’, the date of human arrival in Australia was first raised to 20,000 years ago [5], then to 30,000 years ago [6] and earlier still. ……’human occupation has been pushed steadily further back into prehistory.’ [9] By 1995, as a famous encyclopedia told us, ‘some scholars’ began to suggest that ‘human occupation [in Australia] may date back 60,000 years.’ [10] In an endeavour to push the date of the Aborigines’ arrival as far back as possible, more than one authority has latched on to this earlier date. ……..human presence in Australia was eventualy dated to 65,000 years ago on the basis of … discoveries in the Northern territory [13]. … Where did these Aborigines come from?
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When and Why they Changed the Calendar – From Tiberius to Bede, by Laurence Dixon
Many different calendars were introduced between the beginning of the reign of Emperor Tiberius in Rome and the death of the monk Bede in Northumberland. In this paper, this development will be followed and it will be shown that most were linked with natural catastrophes and/or changes in religion.
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A Critique of David Rohl’s ‘New Chronology’ and the Unwarranted Rejection of Relevant Data Supporting Velikovsky’s ‘Revised Chronology’, by Emmet J. Sweeney
In 2009 David Rohl gave an in-depth presentation of his chronology to an SIS audience in Redhill. A detailed report of the lecture meeting appeared in C&C Review 2010 and the appearance of the report invites comment.* Rohl’s reconstruction of ancient Near-Eastern history has gained wide publicity over the past decade and a half and can be credited with introducing a new generation of readers, on both sides of the Atlantic, to the idea that the chronology of the ancient world is wrong and that entire kingdoms and dynasties need to be moved down the timescale by several centuries. … As many are aware, I am critical of Rohl’s chronology and disagree with him on almost every issue – the one exception being that we both hold conventional chronology to be wrong. … In his work, Rohl draws attention to some … material, although he, … ignores, or seems unaware of, a lot of evidence which would undermine his own reconstruction. This is a serious allegation to make so it is necessary to substantiate it in detail in this paper. …
* However, it is important to note that my paper deals with several mattewrs that fall outside of the ‘New Chronology’ periods and issues that Rohl dealt with in those particular lectures.
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Fitting Lunar Dates and Misfits: A Reply to Rose and Ginenthal, by Daphne Chappell
Responding to Lynn Rose’s article in C&C Review 2006 and Charles Ginenthal’s criticism of her C&CR 2007 article in Vol. III of his book Pillars of the Past.
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Putting a Spike into Global Warming
Two letters from the late Peter Warlow, one dated 18th December 2001 to Dr. David Viner, then senior research scientist at the Climatic Research Unit, at the University of East Anglia, and the second, a more general letter on Global Warming, on February 2002. Both were published on the ‘Spiked Science’ website and we thank the editors of ‘Spiked Science’ and Peter’s son, Matthew Warlow, for permission to reprint the letters.
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Discovering the Electric Sun – Part I, by David Talbott
In the twentieth century, pioneers of plasma cosmology began to identify the crucial role of electric currents in interstellar and intergalactic space.
The ‘electric universe’ hypothesis extends plasma cosmology into domains that were, at best, only partially touched by its pioneers. This paper will present a brief summary of the ‘electric Sun’, a core theme of the electric universe. Additionally, we will offer pointers to the recent interdisciplinary contributions of others toward a new understanding of electricity in space……….
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Chronology & Catastrophism REVIEW 2011 Click here for cost
Calendar Reforms of Caesar and Gregory XIII, by Heribert Illig
This paper intends to present the updated calendric evidence to show that the connection made by the Pope between the Gregorian Calendar Reform and the Council of Nicea cannot be upheld. The time elapsed between the Gregorian and Julian Calendar reforms needs to be shortened, which means a large part of the rule of the Merovingians and Carolingians needs to be omitted. ………. ‘in recent years the date has been pushed steadily further back into prehistory
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Archaeological Evidence of an Ancient Pole Shift and the Geological Implications, by F. Slade Barker
The intersection of the extension of Teotihuacan’s ‘Avenue of the Dead’ and Tiahuanaco’s Akapana’s north azimuth is hypothesised as the position of an ancient pole of rotation. An examination of nine other ancient sites demonstrates an approximate alignment with this ancient pole. Evidence indicates that this pole position lasted until about 3000 BC. All sites with approximate cardinal alignments to this pole are then used to get a refined ‘least squares’ position of the hypothesised ancient pole. The geological implications of hot-spots are used to approximate a crustal shift displacement pole. It is shown that both areas of greatest crustal thickness, the Altiplano and the Tibetan Plateau, were areas of greatest geocentric radial displacement in the shift. It is conjectured that the shift was caused by the close approach of a celestial body which either affected the Moon’s orbit or was, in fact, the capture of the Moon. ………
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The Dating of Alalakh, by Barry Curnock
Introduction – In a previous article (‘Suppiluliumas I and Tutankhamun – A Bridge Too Far?’, in C&C Workshop 2007:2), I presented evidence to question one of the universally accepted chronological links between Egyptian and Hittite history. I showed that the identification of the Hittite King Suppiluliumas I as the ‘King of Hatti’ of the Amarna letters was fraught with inconsistencies and suggested that an alternative candidate for the ‘King of Hatti’ would be Mursilis I. Mursilis reigned at least one hundred and fifty years earlier than Suppiluliumas, so such a change would require Hittite history to slip by this amount in relation to Egyptian history. My arguments were based on the information provided by Egyptian and Hittite texts. This current article will look at the evidence from archaeology and, in particular, that provided by the excavations at Alalakh. ……….
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Retrocalculation and the Delta T Function, by Laurence Dixon
Abstract – This paper concerns the concepts of using retro-calculation and the Delta T function to explain ancient recorded observations of eclipses.
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Can the Neo-Babylonian Chronology Be Lowered, by Carl Olof Jonsson
A critique of Lynn E. Rose’s ‘Appendix’ to Charles Ginenthal’s Pillars of the Past, Vol. II: Mesopotamian, Anatolian, Mycenaean, Minoan and Harappan Chronology. ……….
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Chronology & Catastrophism REVIEW 2012 Click here for cost
Tree-ring Dating and Bible Chronology,by David M. Barker
Tree-ring dating (dendrochronology) provides many age estimates inconsistent with Bible chronology. This article explores some of the challenges in tree-ring dating.
Tree-ring dating seems to be a straightforward means of age estimation. For years we’ve been taught that trees grow ‘annual rings’. ….. A crucial question is: do all tree-rings correspond to annual growth periods? The answer is no. … It is affected by temperature, water availability, insect infestation, competition from nearby plants, light intensity, and other factors. …………
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Aboriginal Recollections, by Dwardu Cardona
‘By the end of the 1950s one found it flatly stated that: ‘No reliable evidence of the antiquity of the human occupation of Australia has been found.’ [1] Moreover, it was widely held that great antiquity ‘need not be postulated’ to allow the original inhabitants to spread and occupy the entire continent [2]. By 1999 it could still be found stated that no one knows exactly when the first humans arrived in Australia [3].’ ………
Cardona argues in detail against the above views.
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When and Why they Changed the Caldendar – From Tiberius to Bede, by Laurence Dixon
Many different calendars were introduced in Europe between the beginning of the reign of Emperor Tiberius in Rome and the death of the monk Bede in Northumberland. In this paper, this development will be followed and it will be shown that most [new calendars] were linked with natural catastrophes and/or changes in religion. ……..
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A Critique of David Rohl’s ‘New Chronology’ and the Unwarranted Rejection of Relevant Data Supporting Velikovsky’s ‘Revised Chronology’, by Emmet J. Sweeney
In 2009 David Rohl gave an in-depth presentation of his chronology to an SIS audience in Redhill. A detailed report of the lecture meeting appeared in C&C Review 2010 and the appearance of the report invites comment. ……………
As many are aware, I am critical of Rohl’s chronology and disagree with him on almost every issue – the one exception being that we both hold conventional chronology to be wrong. ……. much of what he says is plausible; where I find fault is not so much in what he says, but in what he leaves unsaid and this is a problem he shares with many other historians and, indeed, with all establishment historians ……… It is only when we read someone like Immanuel Velikovsky that we become aware of the problem. …………. There is, in fact a great quantity of evidence, drawn from many different disciplines and fields of knowledge, which would suggest that the Amarna Letters [18th Egyptian Dynasty] could only have been written in the last quarter of the 7th century BC. …………
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Discovering the Electric Sun – Part 1, by David Talbott
In the twentieth century, pioneers of plasma cosmology began to identify the crucial role of electric currents in interstellar and intergalactic space.
The ‘electric universe’ hypothesis extends plasma cosmology into domains that were, at best, only partially touched by its pioneers. This paper will pesent a brief summary of the ‘electric Sun’, a core theme of the electric universe. Additionally, we will offer pointers to the recent interdisciplinary contributions of others toward a new understanding of electricity in space. …….
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