"Handbags"

Jason Wilde @JasonWilde108 photographer from Ontario thinks he's onto something:

The mysterious “handbag” motif is a recurring symbol found across various ancient civilizations, all sharing a similar design despite large geographical distances and thousands of years of separation. This motif is generally depicted as a rectangular object with a rounded top and a handle, resembling a modern-day handbag. What makes this motif fascinating to me is how closely its design resembles itself across cultures, suggesting either a shared concept or a global diffusion of a significant idea. Artifacts showing this motif have been discovered in places like Göbekli Tepe, Jiroft, Mesopotamia, and Mesoamerica, each depicting similar stylistic features despite differences in artistic mediums.

A chronological breakdown of the handbag motif starts with Göbekli Tepe (Turkey, circa 9600 BCE), where carvings of handbag-like shapes are engraved on T-shaped stone pillars, appearing to be held by divine figures or suspended as ritual symbols. Following this, the motif appears in Jiroft, Iran (circa 2500 - 2200 BCE), where chlorite vessels and carvings found at Konar Sandal display similar objects, often associated with mythological beings or ceremonial scenes. Around the same time, the Sumerians and Akkadians of Mesopotamia (circa 2500 - 2000 BCE) also depicted these handbags in their reliefs, usually held by divine figures like the Anunnaki, often shown in conjunction with the Tree of Life. Later, the motif appears in the Neo-Assyrian period (circa 900 - 600 BCE), prominently featured in palace reliefs, again in the hands of divine beings or priests.

The same motif resurfaces thousands of miles away in Mesoamerica, particularly among the Olmecs (circa 1200 - 400 BCE), where similar objects are depicted on ceremonial stelae and statues held by priestly or god-like figures.

Despite differences in cultural context, the handbags are almost always depicted as objects of importance carried by divine or significant figures. The consistency in design...a rectangular base with a rounded top and handle...is too precise to be coincidental. It suggests to me either a shared symbolic meaning or perhaps an item of practical or ceremonial use that ancient cultures regarded as sacred or essential. Whether this motif represents a common technological tool, a symbolic container of spiritual power, or something else entirely remains a mystery to me, but the fact that such a unique object appears in nearly identical form across distant and unrelated civilizations is a mystery that I think deserves a second look.

So these representations of bags/pouches/busckets are found in various places, but there is not a single preserved item of this kind, anywhere. This could mean that they are an abstract symbol rather than an object. Anyway they are found in the Near East in three peroods 9000BC, 2500/2000 BC and 900/600BC. That is hardly evidence of anything like continuity or a connection between them. We are talking about the same gaps as between Cheddar Caveman, Stonehenge 3b and Soshenq II succeedings Osorkon I as king of Egypt. Rather a wide span. As for appearing the other side of teh Atlantic, among the Olmecs, even later it is even more far fetched. Especially if you look at the areas (vast areas) between them where NO depictions of this type are seen. This is grasping at straws with the "looks like" paradigm.

Petroglyphic "looks-like"

The New Gnostics @BCEsupernova
Left Utah North America:
Up to 5000 years old

Right Siberia Khakassian:
5000 years old

Is this evidence of pre-Columbian, transoceanic transfer of information? Aka Atlantis? Or something much more?

Well, is it? How would you test that? DID you?

Archaeology Exposed -

Archaeology Exposed - Wandering Wolf Productions
my article is featured in ‪@QuiteFrankly‬ newsletter w/a full video release mid-March covering what I write about here ⬇️ See the dirty secrets behind some of the world’s 🌎 most famous sites exposed after a decade of travel & documenting

"Looks Like" a Sunken City off Cuba's Coast

In 2000-2001 there was some discussion of some images retrieved by echo-sounding of the seabed off the coast of the Guanahacabibes Peninsula in Pinar del Río, a province of Cuba. The images resembled, some said, stone structures with certain geometric features that could lead to their interpretation as the ruins of ancient human constructions. 

 The feature was first identified in 2000 by a team led by marine engineer Paulina Zelitski and her husband Paul Weinzweig, owners of the Canadian company Advanced Digital Communications (ADC), which was conducting seafloor surveys in collaboration with the Cuban government. In 2001, the team conducted further exploration using sonar, detecting regular geometric formations covering an area of approximately 20 km² at depths ranging from 600 to 750 meters. An underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV) equipped with video captured images of what appeared to be circular and pyramid-like structures, possibly made from massive granite blocks. Zelitski described the formations as "a truly marvelous structure that really does resemble a large urban centre. However, it would be totally irresponsible to say what it is until we have proof". The depth rather precludes them being anthropogenic. No further studies have confirmed the existence of the feature or expanded upon the original findings. 

Despite that a rambling You Tube video by Dan Richards seems to think they are traces of a lost ancient civilization that he somehow (how?) dates to 50kYBP.... “The Sunken City off Cuba’s Coast: Atlantis or Anomaly?”, the mystery remains unresolved."The Sunken City off Cuba's Coast: Atlantis or Anomaly?"The Cuban Underwater Structure

Pseudoarchaeology and "Primitive" Reasoning

Kula exchange items (Malinowski)   

 Over in pseudoarchaeology land, mouthy Jimmy Corsetti over in Trump's  America has what-he-thinks-is a "@BrightInsight6":

The term “Hunter-gatherers” is inherently simple/primitive. Gobekli Tepe, which may be the worlds oldest Lunar-Solar calendar, is anything but that. It was clearly created by those with advanced knowledge and capability. Archaeologists cannot see the forest through the trees

First of all hunter-gatherer is a subsistence strategy such as cash grain farming, fruit farming, dairy cattle raising, beef cattle etc. None is inherently more of less 'primitive' than any other in terms of simplicity, backwardness, or a lack of sophistication. That is an indictment of Corsetti's own lack of knowledge in the area rather than archaeologists.

In fact applying a label "primitive" to hunter-gatherer societies overlooks the intricate knowledge, planning, and adaptability groups employing this manner of subsistence exhibit. Far from being rudimentary, hunter-gatherers rely on a deep understanding of their environment, accumulated and refined over generations, to sustain themselves. If we look at it with an informed eye, it isn’t merely survival it is a dynamic, skilled way of life that demands both intellectual and social complexity.

It requires detailed knowledge, hunter-gatherers must be able to identify edible plants, track animal migration patterns, predict seasonal changes, and understand ecological relationships to avoid overexploitation. This isn’t instinct; it is expertise, often encoded in oral traditions, stories, and practices—essentially a living database of environmental data. Anthropological studies, like those of the San people in southern Africa or the Inuit of the Arctic, reveal how such groups store and transmit detailed information about hundreds of species, weather patterns, and terrain, rivaling any modern field guide. I bet Jimmy Corsetti has only a fraction of such knowledge about the resources near his home.

Planning is equally critical to this lifestyle unless a group is not going to be highly mobile and moving from one destroyed ecosystem to the next (which would seem not to be an option at sites like Abu Hureyra and Gobekli Tepe. Sustainability isn’t accidental, it requires foresight. Hunter-gatherers often organize their movements around scattered resources, timing expeditions to coincide with peak abundance, such as fruit ripening or herd migrations. The !Kung of the Kalahari, for example, coordinate group hunts and gathering trips, balancing immediate needs with long-term resource preservation. This might involve leaving certain areas untouched for years or rotating hunting grounds, practices that reflect a strategic calculus akin to modern resource management.

Specialization and social organization further complicate the "primitive" stereotype of people like Corsetti. This also is covered in the anthropological literature - he should read some. While not as rigid as in industrial societies, roles often emerge: skilled hunters, expert gatherers, toolmakers, or healers. Among the Australian Aborigines, for instance, individuals might master specific techniques—like crafting boomerangs or reading subtle landscape cues and then sharing their expertise within the group. Expeditions to distant resources, such as ochre deposits or coastal shellfish beds, could require coordinated efforts, negotiation with neighbouring groups, and even some form of exchange networks, as seen in the exchange of goods across vast distances in prehistoric times. An analogy in recent times is the persistence of the Kula ring ceremonial exchange system of Papua New Guinea studied by the Polish ethnographer Bronisław Malinowski ("Argonauts of the Western Pacific" 1922).

I really think it is not the "archaeologists" (who HAVE read the abundant literature and are among those who are ACTIVELY creating the academic research on this) who have here got the wrong picture of hunter-gatherer subsistence. It most certainly is not the primitive stumble through nature that Corsetti seems mistakenly to have imagined it. It is instead a sophisticated, knowledge-driven system tailored to its context. The assumption of simplicity stems more from a bias inherent in our society towards technological complexity than from any lack of ingenuity on the part of the indigenous groups the pseudoscientists wish to accuse them of to bolster their own notions of superiority. The tools of past and recent hunter gatherers and marginalised indigenous communities (I bet most pseudoarchaeologists could not even name them and say how they were made and used) may differ from ours, but the mastery of their world by such groups is no less impressive.

See also: Nicoletta Maestrim 'Complex Hunter-Gatherers: Who Needs Agriculture?' Thought.co May 26, 2019.

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Madison Grant (1916) "The Passing of the Great Race"

"The Passing of the Great Race: The Racial Basis of European History. " by Madison Grant (1916) C. Scribner's Sons. Influential early 20th century book echoing 19th-century trends,  was perhaps the most influential tract of American scientific racism. It was published in 1916 by the American lawyer, self-proclaimed anthropologist, and eugenics supporter Madison Grant (1865-1937). Grant presents a theory of Nordic superiority, claiming that the Nordic race is inherently superior to other human races. The theory and the book were praised by Adolf Hitler and other members of the National Socialist Party.Grant used the term "Aryan" loosely to mean Indo-European peoples, particularly northern Europeans, in a racialized framework. The book became a bestseller, shaping public perceptions of "Aryan" as a catch-all for Indo-European heritage, far beyond its original Indo-Iranian scope.

Contents Index

Part I - Race, Language, and Nationality
I. Race and Democracy
II. The Physical Foundations of a Race
III. Race and Habitat
IV. Competition Between the Races
V. Race, Language, and Nationality
VI. Race and Language
VII. European Races in the Colonies

Part II - The History of the European Races
I. The Man of the Eolithic
II. The Man of the Paleolithic
III. The Neolithic and the Ages of Metals
IV. The Alpine Race
V. The Mediterranean Race
VI. The Nordic Race
VII. The Teutonic Europe
VIII. The Expansion of the Nordic Race
IX. The Nordic Homeland
X. The Nordic Race Outside Europe
XI. Racial Aptitudes
XII. Arya
XIII. The Origin of the Aryan Languages
XIV. The Aryan Language in Asia


The first section of the book addresses the foundations of ethnicity and Grant's positions on the political issues of the time, particularly eugenics. Grant views human races as biologically determined, attributing different characteristics to each race, and believes these races are in conflict with one another. His focus is on the increasing number of immigrants from non-Nordic European countries, whom he sees as a threat to the fabric of American society. He argues that members of contemporary Protestant American society who can trace their ancestry back to colonial times are being overtaken by immigrants from what he calls "inferior" racial groups. For Grant, the United States has always been a Nordic country, formed by Nordic immigrants from England, Scotland, and the Netherlands during colonial times, and later by immigrants from Ireland and Germany. He expresses particular concern about the immigration of Italians, Eastern European Jews, and the Great Migration of African Americans to the northern United States. He claims that these new immigrants are creating separate societies within the country, forming ethnic lobby groups, criminal syndicates, and political machines that undermine the socio-political structure of the United States and, by extension, its traditional culture. Grant uses population studies, economic utility factors, and labor supply analyses to support his claim that this growing immigration is having a negative impact on American society. He argues that the consequence of this "subversion" is evident in the decline of quality of life, lower birth rates, and the overall corruption of American society. Grant predicts that the Nordic races will eventually become extinct, and that the United States, as it was known, will cease to exist, replaced by a fragmented country or a corrupt caricature of itself. As a countermeasure, he proposes the sterilization of all "undesirable individuals" in order to eradicate the "inferior" races and preserve what he sees as the Nordic purity of the nation.

The second part of the book provides an overview of European prehistory as it was understood at the time of writing, while postulating the existence of three European races—Nordic, Alpine, and Mediterranean—along with their distinct physical and mental characteristics. Grant ties together threads of theory, ethnology, anthropology, and the history of Aryan migration, offering a broad survey of the historical rise, fall, expansion, and contraction of these races from their countries of origin. He speculates about hereditary connections between the Nordic peoples and the Trojans, and between the Prussians and the Spartans. Grant argues that the Alpines would be best suited as farmers, while the Mediterranean peoples would excel in the arts and intellectual pursuits. In contrast, he claims that the Nordic peoples were superior soldiers, sailors, explorers, and, above all, great leaders. Grant follows the racial classifications of Arthur de Gobineau and William Z. Ripley, categorizing the Alpines as the lowest of the three European ethnic groups, with the Nordics representing the pinnacle of civilization. Although he considers the Mediterranean race to be intellectually superior, he argues that the great civilizations of Rome and Greece were only possible through intermixing with the Nordic race. Grant asserts that desirable traits of a people—such as "family life, loyalty, and truth"—are exclusive products of the Nordic race. Whenever such traits appear in non-Nordic cultures, he claims, in a circular argument, that they are evidence of Nordic influence or intermingling, rather than questioning the supposed exclusive Nordic origin of these traits. In addition, this section connects the history of America with that of Europe, particularly focusing on its Nordic nations. 

Toward the end of the book, Grant explores the origins, language, and culture of the Aryans.

The book is credited with having a lasting influence on the modern white supremacy movement in the United States, even in the early 21st century. The book was also the earliest approach to the "Great Replacement" and "white genocide" conspiracy theories due to the mention in it of "race suicide" of Northern Europeans.

Facsimile reprints can be found on the Internet.

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Ariowie Słowianie Polacy. Pradawne dziedzictwo Międzymorza Mariusz Kowalski

         Happy Poles          

Mariusz Kowalski 2024, 'Ariowie Słowianie Polacy. Pradawne dziedzictwo Międzymorza' Biblioteka Wolności (in Polish)

Truly bonkers book  Description

The latest genetic research, combined with recent archaeological discoveries, is fostering new concepts regarding the history of civilization. Recent findings have shown that the Aryans, who founded the Indian and Iranian civilizations and became a symbol of European civilizational superiority, not only originated from the lands of present-day Poland (from a society that developed the Globular Amphora culture between 3000 and 2500 BCE) but were also, in genetic terms, most closely related to modern-day Poles.

A description of the first edition:

The book discusses the history of the formation of Eastern Europe’s distinctive characteristics and presents forecasts regarding its future. It explains the genetic and genealogical foundations of the region’s societal distinctiveness, as well as the geopolitical, civilizational, and cultural implications of these differences. It also illustrates the generational rhythm of transformations that have taken place over the past centuries. We hope that the information and reflections presented in this work will contribute to strengthening the self-worth of Poles, the inhabitants of the Intermarium region, and all of Eastern Europe, while also inspiring optimism about the future of our part of the world and European civilization as a whole....

It is pretty annoying to see the archaeology mistreated in this way eine hervorragend nationale Wissenschaft?