Underwater caves off Yucatan yield three old skeletons—remains date to 11,000 B.C.
by Dr. Greg Little
September 10, 2004
At the international "Early Man in America Seminar" in Mexico City on September 9, 2004, an archaeological team from Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History reported one of the most significant finds ever made in American archaeological history. Three well-preserved skeletons were discovered in underwater caves off the Caribbean coast of Yucatan during dives during 2001 and 2002. The skeletons were found in 65-foot-deep water. The University of California in Riverside carbon-dated charcoal samples found with one of the skeletons to over 13,000 calendar years ago—11,000 B.C. The find represents the oldest carbon date associated with any human bone remains found in the Americas. Mexican archaeologist Arturo Gonzalez led the dive team.
Gonzalez noted that during the last Ice Age, sea levels were much lower, but as we reported in our book and video documentary, "The ARE's Search for Atlantis," archaeologists from Florida State University's Underwater Archaeology Department (FSU) found that in the area "of the Bahamas in 10,500 B.C., the water levels were only about 100 feet lower than today. But areas of human occupation on these ancient shores tend to cluster at depths around the 45-foot level."
The major problem with Edgar Cayce's placement of a portion of Atlantis in the Bahamas and Caribbean region has long been the lack of archaeological finds definitively placing humans in the area earlier than 4000-6000 B.C. But FSU has found the remnants of human settlements along the continental shelf off Florida—dated to 10,000 B.C.—consistently in 45-feet of water. The Yucatan find now confirms that humans were in the region where the Cayce readings state that Atlanteans went just prior to the final destruction, which occurred circa 10,500 B.C.
According to Cayce, the Yucatan Hall of Records was established by a small group of Atlanteans, led by a priest named Iltar. They first went to coastal areas of Yucatan and then deeper inland. The location of the Yucatan Hall of Records is believed to be in Piedras Negras, Guatemala. But other Atlanteans fled to areas of Central and South America at the same time.
The new discovery of Yucatan remains dated to 11,000 B.C. comes as we are completing the video documentary, "The Yucatan Hall of Records," scheduled for release at the ARE's Annual Ancient Mysteries Conference. The discovery has been incorporated into the video and confirms several statements made by Andrew Collins, which were made during a videotaped interview for the documentary. Collins, author of the best selling, "Gateway to Atlantis," tells the story of Votan, the Guatemalan highlands version of Itzamna. In both the stories of Itzamna and Votan, related in Maya codices, the founder of the Maya culture was said to have come from an island in the east. Collins stated that substantial research has shown that Votan's origin was definitely Cuba. Both Itzamna and Votan carried written records with them. According to Collins, Votan landed on the shores of the Yucatan coast and gradually moved north. We believe that Cerritos Island, which we visited in August 2004, may have been the initial landing site of Iltar/Itzamna/Votan.
When he reached the first river he found, Votan followed it upstream for a long distance. When he reached a desirable location, he stopped and established the beginning of Maya civilization.
The Usumacinta River is the first river encountered when one follows the coast to the north. Collins now believes that Votan may well have stopped at the site of Piedras Negras, which lies on the Usumacinta and established "an outpost of Atlantis." The records carried by Votan would, therefore, probably have been placed where Votan stopped.
Of course, the major problems with dating this event to circa 10,000 B.C. are twofold. The first is that no human remains had ever been found in the Yucatan region definitively showing human occupation there anytime near 10,000 B.C. That problem has now been resolved. The second problem is that few, if any, Maya archaeologists are willing to concede dates earlier than 1000 B.C. for the beginnings of the Maya. But archaeologists at Piedras Negras have already confirmed dates at the site of at least 1000 B.C. and they believe that far older dates are highly likely to be found at the barely excavated site. For example, an altar at Piedras Negras has dates on it that relate to the beginning of the current Maya era in 3114 B.C. and stellar alignments of pyramids at Piedras Negras point to the rise of Orion's Belt in 3114 B.C. as well as the setting of Orion's Belt in 2012 A.D., the end date of the current Maya era. The same altar, however, also relates that a Piedras Negras ruler was present at an important event in 4900 B.C. meaning that either the event described is a complete fiction—or that Piedras Negras was occupied far earlier than thought. Finally, other monuments in the Maya world have dates extending to an astonishing 400 million-years ago.
In sum, as time passes, the pieces to the puzzle of the origin of the Maya civilization are slowly coming together. While we know that humans were in the Americas as long ago as 50,000 years, the area of the Caribbean has long presented an enigma in that evidence of human occupation there around 11,000-years ago has been absent. Now, the story related in Edgar Cayce's readings on Atlantis, The Yucatan Hall of Records, and the establishment of Maya civilization are gradually being confirmed.
http://www.edgarcayce.org/am/11,000b.c.yucata.html