The Cycle of Cosmic Catastrophes: How a Stone-Age Comet Changed the Course of World Culture

416 Pages·2006·21.92 MB·English

by  Richard Firestone

Flood, Fire, and Famine
in the History of Civilization
Richard Firestone,
Allen West, and
Simon Warwick-Smith
Bear & Company
Rochester, Vermont
Bear & Company
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Bear 6c Company is a division of Inner Traditions International
Copyright © 2 0 06 by Richard Firestone, Allen West, and Simon Warwick-Smith
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Firestone, Richard B.
The cycle of cosmic catastrophes : flood, fire, and famine in the history of
civilization / Richard Firestone, Allen West, and Simon Warwick-Smith,
p. cm.
Includes index.
Summary: "Newly discovered scientific proof validating the legends and myths of
ancient floods, fires, and weather extremes"—Provided by publisher.
ISBN-13: 9 7 8 - 1 - 5 9 1 4 3 - 0 6 1 -2
ISBN-10: 1 - 5 9 1 4 3 - 0 6 1 -5
1. Natural disasters—History. 2. Catastrophes (Geology) I. West, Allen. II.
Warwick-Smith, Simon. III. Title.
G B 5 0 1 4 . F 57 2 0 06
9 0 4 ' . 5 — d c 22
2 0 0 6 0 0 7 2 48
Printed and bound in the United States by Lake Book Manufacturing
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 21
Text design and layout by Priscilla Baker
This book was typeset in Sabon, with Avenir and Century Gothic used as display
typefaces
C O N T E N TS
Acknowledgments
Introduction
PART ONE: THE SEARCH
1. T he Search for Clues
2. "Bullets" in the Dirt
3. M a m m o th under the Black M at
4. Hunting M a m m o t hs
5. Bright Yellow Bones
6. To Clovis from Czechoslovakia
7. T he Horse and the Clovis Spear
8. The Mystery of the Drumlins
9. Out on a Limb in Carolina
10. T he Mystery of the Carolina Bays
PART TWO: THE M A IN EVENT
11. W h at Really Happened?
PART THREE: THE EVIDENCE
12. Scientists and Storytellers
13o The Ominous "Guest Stars"
14. Explosions in the Sky
15. Giant Bubbles in Space
16. Radiation from the Heavens
17. The Carolina Bay Craters
18. T he M a r t i an Connection
1 9. The Main Craters
20. Bays on the High Plains
21. Streaks across the Plains
22. Earth, the Radiation Detector
. Supernova 4 1, 0 00 BP
24. Solar System Impact
25. Chemistry of the Comet
26. Crater below Lake Michigan
27 M o m e nt of Impact
a
28. Possible Canadian Impact Craters
29. Impacts on Other Continents
30. Fires across the Land
31. Fast-Moving Ice and Water
32. T he Waters Cover the Land
33. Endless Waves
34. Diamonds from the Sky
35. W r a p p i ng It Up
Appendix A. Find Your O wn Stardust
Appendix B. Chemistry of the Comet
Appendix C. Lakes with Firestorm Charcoal
Appendix D. Key Clovis-era M a r k e rs
Bibliography
Index
A C K N O W L E D G M E N TS
First, the authors want to acknowledge the contributions of Dr. William
Topping, who uncovered the first crucial pieces of scientific evidence and
realized that a cosmic event of outstanding significance had occurred. Bill's
work was partially funded by a grant from the National Science Founda
tion ( # 9 9 8 6 9 9 9 ), which made possible the initial scientific discoveries.
Some of the people who made significant contributions to Bill's discov
eries and to the authors' work are listed below in roughly chronological
order, as of the publication date, and other contributors are mentioned
throughout the book. All provided crucial information, research, samples,
or access to key sites. Their listing here, however, does not imply that they
endorse any of the authors' theories or conclusions.
They are as follows: Denise Henry and Terrence Rettig of the National
Science Foundation; Dr. Henry T. Wright and Dr. William Farrand, Uni
versity of Michigan; Donald B. Simons, principal investigator, Gainey
Paleo-Indian site; Dr. Reginald M. Ronningen and Paul Rossi, National
Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory; Philip Simpson and Henry Griffin,
University of Michigan, Phoenix Memorial Laboratory; Dr. Dennis Stanford,
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian; Dr. Zsolt Revay, Dr.
Tamas Belgya, and Dr. Gabor M o l n ar (deceased), Budapest Neutron Centre;
Dr. Alan R. Smith, physicist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Dr.
C. Vance Haynes Jr., University of Arizona; Dr. Everett Lindsey, University
of Arizona; J a ne Pike-Childress, B L M, Arizona; Dr. J o hn Montgomery and
Joanne Dickenson, Eastern New M e x i co University, Blackwater Draw Site;
Maria and Anton Chobot; J o hn Issa, Canada Fossils, Ltd.; Dr. M a t t h ew
Boyd, Lakehead University; Dr. Brian K o o y m a n, University of Calgary;
William Baldwin and Cheves Leland; Dr. Ted Bunch, formerly of NASA,
and Dr. J im Wittke, both of Northern Arizona University; Dr. Luann Becker,
University of California, Santa Barbara; Dr. R o b e rt Poreda, University of
vn
viii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Rochester; Dr. J a m es Kennett, University of California, Santa Barbara; Dr.
H an Kloosterman, the Netherlands.
Karen Misuraca, of Warwick Associates, offered invaluable manuscript
suggestions and proofing. Last, we thank the team members at Bear & Com
pany who put the story of these discoveries in your hands: R ob Meadows,
J on Graham, Jeanie Levitan, Anne Dillon, Peri Champine, and others.
NOTES A B O UT THE TEXT
Measurements:
M o st scientists use the metric system, but most Americans
do not. In most cases, we provide measurements both ways.
Dating:
For the ancient times covered in this b o o k, most scientists use two
dating systems, calendar dates and radiocarbon dates, which are based
on the decay of c a r b o n - 1 4. They are not identical, so for consistency, we
have converted most dates to calendar dates, unless noted.
Style:
Each of the three authors wrote overlapping parts of this story. For
simplicity, we decided to refer to the writers as " I" throughout the book,
except in rare cases.
I N T R O D U C T I ON
Plato wrote about the catastrophic destruction of Atlantis, which occurred
in a day and a night about 1 1 , 6 00 years ago. T he Bible vividly describes
torrential rains and an immense flood in which most of humanity perished.
Native Americans have many rich stories about an enormous cataclysm
involving worldwide fires and flooding. Altogether, the myth and folk
lore of as many as fifty different cultures around the planet tell of similar
global devastations, during which humanity went through a trial by fire
and flood.
Are the cultural legends based on facts, or are they fables? Did a major
calamity actually happen? Lacking hard evidence, scientists have dismissed
the old tales of epic natural disasters, and even though popular writers
have speculated about such catastrophes, convincing p r o of has been elu
sive. Until now, no one has discovered and documented decisive evidence
of a specific event that caused mass extinction.
You are about to embark on an expedition to find the truth. Along the
way, across the United States, you will meet archaeologists, paleontolo
gists, geologists, and other scientists at their excavation sites and in their
laboratories. You will witness their electrifying discoveries, from solving
the mystery of thousands of Paleo-Indian hunters who suddenly vanished
to explaining the radioactive bones of " E l o i s e ," one of the last mammoths
to walk the planet.
In this book, we intend to prove that a cosmic chain of events began
4 1 , 0 00 years ago and culminated in a major global catastrophe 2 8 , 0 00 years
later. We refer to that culmination period of 1 3 , 0 00 years ago as simply the
"Event." During our search, we three authors, who are trained researchers
who have worked as government scientists, are joined in our quest for truth
by a wide variety of other experts, including a retired N A SA section chief
and others who are researchers at well-known universities.
1
2 INTRODUCTION
Through a series of unusual and unpredictable on-site investigations,
we turn up clues to a violent calamity that doomed millions of animals to
extinction, caused widespread major mutations, decimated the human race,
and set the stage for the rise of modern civilization.
Now, for the first time, this work presents tangible explanations for the
following:
• Mass extinctions.
W h at caused the sudden annihilation of Ice Age
mammoths, mastodons, saber-toothed tigers, and 40 million other
animals, along with much of the human race?
• Fire and flood stories.
Is there any hard evidence to corroborate the
megafloods and cataclysms recorded in the Bible, Plato's story of
Atlantis, Native American lore, and the myths and literature of other
cultures?
• Ice Age warming.
W h at caused the sudden end of the last Ice Age,
when Greenland's temperatures suddenly shot up an amazing seven
teen degrees within a few hundred years and the great continental ice
sheets began to melt away?
• The Carolina Bays.
W h at was responsible for the formation of hun
dreds of thousands of puzzling miles-long depressions on the Atlantic
Coast that look just like Martian impact craters?
• The "black mat."
W h at is the mysterious layer of black sediment
found spanning North America that rests directly over the bones of
the last mammoths to walk the Earth?
• Black glass.
H ow does this unique and unusual material provide a
crucial clue to the nature of the Event?
THE SIXTH EXTINCTION
T he Earth has been shaken by five major extinctions in the last 5 00 mil
lion years. In the most destructive of these events, about 90 percent of life
on Earth disappeared, and even in the mildest of the extinctions, hundreds
of millions of living things vanished. L o ok around you and imagine that
90 percent of every species you see suddenly disappeared, including trees,
fleas, flowers, dogs, frogs, fish, cats, bats, and, of course, your family and
friends.
We are now living in the period of what is called the "sixth extinction,"
which some scientists believe will be equally devastating. In our time, the
extinction of modern species and the gradual worsening of our climate and
environment appear to be due primarily to the actions of human beings.
INTRODUCTION 3
This is what we are facing today:
• Overpopulation.
Every day, more than one in six of the world's 6 bil
lion people do not have enough to eat.
• Unpredictable climate.
Weather is more unstable and extreme; tor
nadoes and hurricanes are more destructive; and global temperatures
are rising.
• Natural disasters.
M o st of history's costliest earthquakes and tsuna
mis have occurred in the last 1 00 years.
• Environment.
Humans are destroying forests, wetlands, and grass
lands, which are crucial to environmental balance worldwide.
• The nuclear threat.
Terrorism and nuclear proliferation are on the
rise.
• Warfare.
Recent and current wars reflect frequent struggles over
increasingly scarce land, oil, water, and other natural resources.
This litany of dangers confronting our planet may be familiar to you,
yet there is a hidden side to the story that we reveal in this b o o k. Our
current species extinction, overpopulation, and environmental degradation
were in fact kicked off 41,000 years ago by the Event, and they continue
today—they have a cosmic cause, not just a man-made one.
T he Event nearly wiped out the entire human race at that time, and after
our extensive research, important answers emerged that affect us today.
THE STORY OF THE EVENT
Our evidence indicates that a colossal cosmic catastrophe culminated 1 3 , 0 00
Cycle of Cosmic Catastrophes
years ago, and is about how we uncovered
that evidence.
Part 1 ( " T he S e a r c h ") describes the hunt. We started with just a few
compelling clues and used them to unravel the mystery of an awesome cos
mic event.
In Part 2 ( " T he M a in E v e n t " ), we set a dramatic scene for you, with a
descriptive chronological overview of what happened.
In Part 3 ( " T he Evidence"), we lay out the evidence and explain how it
all fits into the bigger picture. Along the way, we hear from some ancient
storytellers through their cultural legends, which we maintain are the
accounts of those who survived the disaster. While we do not purport their
stories to be accurate in all details, we believe them to be valid recordings
of subjective impressions of actual ancient events.
Are you ready to begin the search for answers?