Travel Forum - Traveler Mania

3. The Sphinx
 
 
 
 
 
 The Sphinx, partnered alongside The Great Pyramids of Giza, has been a target of mystery for many years. It is commonly supposed among some archaeologists and Egyptologists the Sphinx dates back to the reign of Pharaoh Khafre, circa 2500 BCE.
 
 In the early 90s, however, geological evidence surfaced that dates The Sphinx much earlier than previously speculated. The crux of this evidence revolves around erosion. Erosion by means of water, and that by means of wind and sand, has two very different looking results. The evidence of erosion on The Sphinx points directly to that of water. Not only that, but as some conservative Egyptologists suggest flooding of the Nile as possibility for this water erosion, the heaviest signs come from the top of the body, suggesting heavy rainfall, not the bottom. This evidence possibly dates the Sphinx much earlier than commonly supposed, at 5000-6000 BCE.
 
 Additionally, the head of The Sphinx is disproportionally smaller than the rest of the body, which lead to assumptions that the head was more recently carved from the original structure, possibly in the epoch of original dating at 4500 years ago.

5. Japanese Under Water Pyramid
 
 
 
 
 Beginning In March of 1995 with excavations continuing to this date, divers off the coast of Okinawa have discovered several structures resembling pyramids, roads, and some semblance of an ancient city.
 The most notable of these stone structures is a rectangular ziggurat type structure 90 ft high and 600 ft wide. Smaller pyramids were located nearby. As the area of under water land was last at the surface before it was submerged at end of the most recent ice age, these structures could date to 8000 BCE, 5,000 years older than the oldest recorded pyramid in Egypt.
 
 Many scientists, however, believe natural processes of erosion and splitting rocks could have created the pyramid, and underwater road-like structures created by natural phenomena are not uncommon. While natural erosion is a possibility, examples of natural erosion and rock splitting in the conspicuous sharp nature of these underwater pyramids have not been seen elsewhere in underwater geology.

7. Stonehenge
 
 
 
 
 A giant prehistoric monument, *****ed between 3000-2200 BCE, Stonehenge has been a subject of mystery and legend for thousands of years. Folklore suggests they were built by the devil from stones purchased from an Irish woman, and according to Old English Arthurian legend, magician Merlin had the stones removed from Ireland and reconstructed it near Amesbury.
 
 Know one knows exactly the purpose of Stonehenge, but speculations have been made with suggestions as a celestial calendar, burial monument or gateway between life and death, or a ritual place of healing. Because the creators of Stonehenge had no written documentation, knowing the exact function is impossible. The stones were constructed symmetrically, with their axis of symmetry aligned perfectly with the summer and winter solstices.
 
 The bluestones involved in Stonehenge are not indigenous, with the closest natural location being from Wales, transportation for the bluestones from Wales to Amesbury has presented scholars with the mystery of their transportation. Several methods have been tried; proving advanced feats of engineering and that even with an incredibly organized tribe, moving the multiple stones through the densely wooded landscape would have come with tremendous difficulty. One geologist, Aubrey Burl, suggests instead the bluestones were carried to near Amesbury with the help of glacial activity.