Megalithic Marvels - New Discovery of Huge Megalithic Site in Spain / Giant Celts of Europe

Episode Date: August 21, 2022

Derek Olson starts out this episode by breaking down the exciting news of the recent discovery of a huge megalithic complex in near Huelva, Spain called "La Torre-La Janera," that features more than 500 standing stones. Next we will explore the overall ancient stone circle phenomenon that spreads from Turkey and Israel in the Middle East, to the western most corners of Europe in Portugal. We will explore answers to the questions - Why were stone circles built? How were stone circles built? What mystical properties do stone circles possess? Who built the stone circles? This last question will lead us into a section where we talk about the legends, oral traditions and even ancient writings that document the existence of an ancient race of giants who lived and ruled among ancient people throughout Europe, namely the Celts. SHOW NOTES Egypt Tour Previous episode about the Great Sphinx of Giza  Follow Megalithic Marvels on the following platforms: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/megalithicm... Blog - https://megalithicmarvels.com/ Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpiP... Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/megalithicma... TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@megalithicmarvels Facebook group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/10186... Twitter - https://twitter.com/MegMarvels

Marbles. Derek Olson here to reconstruct the prehistoric past with you. In this episode, we are going to look at the exciting news about a new discovery of a huge megalithic complex in Spain, as well as talk about the overall phenomenon of ancient stone circles and their possible relation to a race of ancient giants. But before we do, I want to let you know that registration is now live for our second annual megalithic marvels of Egypt tour coming this May, and I want to invite you to join me

and renowned Egyptologist and tour guide Muhammad Ibrahim for the adventure of a lifetime, a 12-day expedition to see and touch the world's greatest superstructures. And for a limited time only, you can receive $300 off your registration by using code Egypt, 2003. One word, all caps, Egypt, 2023.

So I hope you will come. consider joining us. You can click the first link below in the show notes or go to megalithicmarvels.com forward slash tours. Lastly, please subscribe to this podcast from wherever you are listening. Okay, so it was reported just a few days ago at the Guardian.com and many other news outlets that a huge megalithic complex of more than 500 standing stones was discovered in Spain and the archaeologists there are saying that this prehistoric site could be one of the largest of its kind in Europe. The stones were discovered on a plot of land in Huelva. I believe that's how you pronounce it.

It's a province flanking the southernmost part of Spain's border with Portugal. So southern Spain, and it spans about 1,500 acres. And check this out. The land had been earmarked for an avocado plantation. But before granting the permit, the regional authorities requested a survey in light of the site's possible archaeological significance. And the survey went on to reveal the presence of the stones. I mean, how angry do you think those poor avocado farmers are right now? However, if you're an archaeologist or in ancient history, not like myself, you're pretty excited that this huge megalithic site did not

get wiped out and mowed over. Jose Antonio, one of the researchers at Huelva University and one of the project's directors, says, quote, this is the biggest and most diverse collection of standing stones grouped together in the Iberian Peninsula. End quote. He went on to say that it was probable that the oldest standing stones at the site were erected during the second half of the sixth or fifth millennium BC. This is incredible.

At this site, they found a large number of various types of megaliths, including standing stones, dolmens, mounds, coffin-like stone boxes, they call cists, and enclosures. And the standing stones were the most common finding. There was 526 of them still standing or lying on the ground, according to the archaeologists. The height of the stones is anywhere between one and three meters high, but one of the most striking things was that they unearthed such a diverse, megalithic

group of different elements that were all grouped together in one location. One of the co-directors said that finding alignments and dolmens on one side is not common. And here they found it all together, what they call alignments, Cromlex, and Dolmens. And that's very striking, they said. Most of the menhurs were grouped together in 26 different alignments and two Cromlecks, both located on hilltops, and they have a clear view to the east for viewing the sunrise during the summer and winter solstices in the spring and autumn equinoxes. So we can see there how they're aligned. And many of the stones are still buried deep in the earth, and they say it's going to take until 2026 to probably fully and,

carefully excavate this site. I mean, this is incredible. And then the directors also said there will be a part of the site that will be able to be visited by tourists at the start of next year. This is a really amazing modern day discovery. And this got me thinking about the overall phenomenon of ancient stone circles. So I wanted to read some parts from Hugh Newman's book called Stone Circles. He says, Stone Circles conjure up a world of mysterious ceremonies, Druid astronomers, pagan dances, and inquisitive antiquarians.

Stonehenge is also well known for its summer stulis sunrise and research over the last 60 years has shown that many other circles likewise use sky and landscape alignments to mark astronomical events, with many also sharing geometrical forms and measurement systems. How such mighty rings were constructed has long baffled archaeologists and other interested parties. Whoever made these magnificent structures had a very deep understanding of engineering, surveying geometry, and astronomy. Hugo's on to talk about the incredible stone circles found in at Gobeckli-Tepe. Now, these things are 6,500 years older than Stonehenge in Europe.

This is crazy to think about. So, Gobeckli-Tepe was flourishing and astonishing 12,000 years ago and its preserved stone circles, which are the oldest in the world as far, they number as many as 60 across the site. And they exhibit impressive degrees of technical and artistic skill, and they consist of like these T-shaped pillars which are up to 20 feet tall. Many of them decorated with these very enigmatic animal reliefs, scorpions, boars, lions, and abstract human forms as well wearing belts with these strange H and U shapes on them.

The taller stones rest in shallow nests on bedrock with small supportive dry stone walls built in between. In some enclosures, two central pillars orientate towards a hold stone, and the largest and oldest is 65 feet wide, and there's still an enormous limestone pillar that sits in the nearby quarry. It's a staggering 24 feet long. Now, a little bit more about Beckley-Tepa, over some 3,000 years, the circles were eventually filled in with rubble to create these mounds. and other circular enclosures are built on top of them. And then around 8,000 BC, this entire complex was like carefully reconstructed and covered up. And this is interesting because the oldest rings found at the site are the biggest and most sophisticated. So a lot going on with the stone circle universe, especially where it seems to have. all began at Gobeckley-Tepa.

Hugh makes some other great points about the Neolithic explosion of the earliest megaliths. And he says, as we have seen, the Turkish stone circles were being constructed over 12,000 years ago, but elsewhere around the Mediterranean, other early sites testify to similar activity. The Atlet Yim is a submerged semicircle off the coast of Israel, and it dates to 6,900 BC. And then the earliest phase of the Cromlech Das Amandres in Portugal dates to 6,000 BC. And then six and a half thousand years ago, what we now call megalithic structures begin to appear in Brittany, France and Britain. Ancient British tribes heaped earth upon dry stone walled chambers to create tomb temple,

called Long Barrows, or Barrow's. These enigmatic sites such as the West Kennet-Long Barrow date mostly from the early Neolithic and predate the much grander constructions like those at Avebury, Silberry Hill, and Stonehenge. So it's crazy to see how this phenomenon just kind of begin to explode all over the world, from the Middle East to Europe and elsewhere. as we're seeing down there in southern Spain. So how did they construct these ancient stone circles? I found this really interesting. In Jeffrey of Monmouth's 1150 book,

The History of the Kings of Britain, he shares a tantalizing legend that Merlin, in constructing Stonehenge used gears to move stones from Ireland. And this book also mentions giants, and the earliest known depiction of the site, which you can Google, depicts Merlin directing a giant moving a massive lintel in place. Now, unlike Stonehenge, which kind of has these beautifully cut stones, many stone circles are built from more just rough hewn stones.

However, they're still multi-ton. So they still had to be transported, aligned, and set in place. So there's some mystery and intrigue regarding how they were constructed. Let's talk now about archaeo astronomy. Discoveries in the late 1800s by Alfred Lionel Lewis and others showed that many of the megalithic sites had astronomical alignment. In the 1920s, Alfred Watkins and other lay hunters soon found that almost all the stone circles are on what we would call a line.

Ley the line where their orientation is often a clue to another site in the corresponding direction. So why were they built? That's kind of really the big question in a lot of people's minds. Here's some interesting stuff. Hugh points out many stone circles have acoustic properties that can enhance and relocate the human voice. Some stones when hit, they actually reverberate and were these used to affect human consciousness in ancient times. There's a mysterious kind of stone structure circle called the Men Antal in Cornwall. And this is, the oral legends say that it was used to cure sick infants. And research by John Burke suggests that the circle builders were interested in the Talleric currents and underground awards. And research,

water as a way of charging seeds and grains to increase yields. Man, I found that very interesting. Man, that got my wheels spinning. This is a whole other rabbit trail, but, you know, it makes me wonder all these crazy crop circles that are appearing in Europe. And it seems like on an accelerated rate, did those have any relation to these ancient sites and these stone circles? in Europe. So being that we're talking a lot about megaliths of Europe and down there in Spain and Stonehenge in the UK, I wanted to pull a few nuggets out of Steve Quayle's book, Genesis 6 Giants, where he talks about the relationship in the oral legends of megaliths and ancient giants. And he talks about how not a lot is known about the people who would become known as the Celts.

It is known that they migrated across Asia Minor through Northern Europe and into what have become the Celtic countries of Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. Most accounts of them include references to the giants that were often found among them. The ancient Greek historian Posenius called them, quote, the world's tallest people, end quote. Modern historians now believe that, in fact, the giants among the Celts were a ruling class that held contests. over the indigenous population that formed the majority of the Celtic tribes. Modern historian Gerhard Herm agrees that the Celts were blonde giants who struck terror in the hearts of every foe. Even in the mightiest of mighty Rome, as such, the Celts fought several ferocious wars with Roman captured, sacked, and burnt many Roman. an outpost to the ground. Although the Romans would eventually devise methods of defeating these giant

warriors, attacking long legs that couldn't be guarded by the massive shields these creatures carried, the blue-eyed blonde giants inspired terror among those facing them in battle for the first time. So this fast-expanding nation that comprised the Celtic peoples and the giants who supposedly commanded them, according to Strabo, eventually grew to some 60 different tribes, each with its own name. But once they settled in Europe, they decided to shed their derisive name, which means robbers, and begin calling themselves the Kelty, which denotes like potent and valiant men. The Greeks, however, understood them to say, Galate, while their Roman neighbors heard their name as Galais. And then the Aborigines of France, meanwhile, called them

the Gauls. So these potent and valiant men continued to rob and pillage everywhere they went, but in their new land, their new name of Kelty better fit their appearance, which alone was supposedly enough to demoralize their enemies. Even the Romans, ordinarily, very brave warriors, came to dread the sight of the Celties. And concerning their frightening look, Latin historian of Greek origin, Amaneus Marcellinus wrote this,

quote, Nearly all the Gauls are of a lofty stature, fair and of ruddy complexion. Terrible from the sternness of their eyes, very quarrelsome and of great pride and insolence. A whole troop of foreigners would not be able to withstand a single gall if he called his wife to his assistants, who is usually very strong and with blue eyes.

Least of all, when she swells her neck and gnashes her teeth and poisoning her huge white arms proceeds to rain punches mingles, mingled with kicks, like shots discharged by the twisted cords of a catapult. The voices of most of them are formidable and threatening alike when they are good natured or angry. The ancient historian Deodorus in a similar account writes this, quote, The Gauls are terrifying in aspect, and their voices are deep and altogether harsh. When they meet together, they converse with few words and inrored.

riddles, hinting darkly at things for the most part and using one word when they mean another. And they like to talk in superlatives to the end that they may extol themselves and depreciate all other men. Tall and stature with rippling muscles and white of skin and their hair is blonde and not naturally so. But they also make it their practice by artificial means to increase the distinguishing color which nature has given it. So there are some legends and oral traditions for you regarding possible ancient giants that once lived in Europe.

I should also state there are countless old newspaper articles that you can find from the late 1800s, early 1900s, that document giant discoveries of skeletons between 8 and 10, Feet Plus found in Europe. I mentioned Hugh Newman. He documents a lot of those in his books regarding giants. So the big question is, is there a connection between ancient giants of antiquity and these megaliths, these stone circles we see all across Europe and that new discovery down in Spain? Well, I hope you enjoyed this episode.

make sure to check out my last episode with dr robert shock discussing the various mysteries of the great sphinx you can click the link below in the show notes and i'll see you over there until next time keep exploring megalithic marvel