The Klerksdorp Spheres.
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The Klerksdorp Spheres
The Klerksdorp Spheres are small objects, often spherical to disc-shaped, which have been collected by miners and rockhounds from 3-billion-year-old pyrophyllite deposits mined by Wonderstone Ltd., near Ottosdal, South Africa. These objects have been cited by alternative researchers and reporters in books, popular articles, and many web pages, as inexplicable out of place artifacts that could only have been manufactured by intelligent beings. Conventional geologists, who have personally studied these objects, have argued that these objects are not manufactured, but are rather the result of natural processes.
The Klerksdorp "Spheres" typically range in diameter from 0.5 to 10 cm. As illustrated by Heinrich, they vary widely in shape from either approximate or flattened spheres to well-defined discs and often are intergrown. Through petrographic and X-Ray diffraction analyses of specimens of these objects Heinrich found that they consist either of hematite (Fe2O3) or wollastonite (CaSiO3) mixed with minor amounts of hematite and goethite (FeOOH). Observations by Cairncross and Nel and others indicated that many of the Klerksdorp "Spheres" found in unaltered pyrophyllite consist of pyrite (FeS2). The color of the specimens studied by Heinrich ranged from dark reddish brown, red, to dusky red. The color of those objects composed of pyrite is not known. All of the specimens of these objects, which were cut open by Heinrich, exhibited an extremely well-defined radial structure terminating on either the center or centers of a Klerksdorp "Sphere". Some of these objects exhibit well-defined and parallel latitudinal grooves or ridges. Even specimens consisting of intergrown flattened spheres exhibit such grooves.
Geologists agree that the Klerksdorp "Spheres" originated as concretions, which formed in volcanic sediments, ash, or both, after they accumulated 3.0 billion years ago. Heinrich argues that the wollastonite nodules formed by the metamorphism of carbonate concretions in the presence of silica-rich fluids generated during the metamorphism of the volcanic deposits containing them into pyrophyllite. It was also argued that the hematite nodules represent pyrite concretions oxidized by weathering of near surface pyrophyllite deposits. Below the near-surface zone of weathering, which has developed in the pyrophyllite, pyrite concretions are unaffected by weathering and, thus, have not been altered to hematite. The radial internal structure of these objects is a pseudomorph after the original crystalline structure of the original carbonate or pyrite concretion.
Observations :
One problem with the hypothesis that the objects are limonite concretions concerns their hardness. As noted above, the metallic spheres cannot be scratched with a steel point, indicating they are extremely hard. But standard references on minerals state that limonite registers only 4 to 5.5 on the Mohs' scale, indicating a relatively low degree of hardness (Kourmisky 1977). Furthermore, limonite concretions usually occur in groups, like masses of soap bubbles stuck together. They do not, it seems, normally appear isolated and perfectly round, as is the case with the objects in question. Neither do they normally appear with parallel grooves encircling them.
It is the sphere with three parallel grooves around its equator that most concerns us. Even if it is conceded that the sphere itself is a limonite concretion, one still must account for the three parallel grooves. In the absence of a satisfactory natural explanation, the evidence is somewhat mysterious, leaving open the possibility that the South African grooved sphere--found in a mineral deposit 2.8 billion years old--was made by an intelligent being.
The riddle of the rotating spheres, that rotate completely, twice a year, on their own axis – baffle NASA scientists"
Man and rock. Stones, which are billions of years old and rotate on their axes, while in a vibration free environment, captured the attention of Mr. John Hund of Pietersburg fifteen years ago. Review previously published reports about Hund's journey to the Gestoptesfontein mine near Ottosdal in the Northern Province where he found a stone just like the one he read about and saw in the Klerksdorp museum.
While playing with the stone on a very flat surface at a restaurant one day, Hund realized it was very well balanced. He took it to the California Space Institute at the University of California to have tests done to determine just how well balanced it was. "It turned out that the balance is so fine, it exceeded the limit of their measuring technology and these are the guys who make gyrocompasses for NASA.
The stone is balanced to within one-hundred thousandths of an inch from absolute perfection," explains Hund. Nobody knows what these stones are. One NASA scientist told Hund that they do not have the technology to create anything as finely balanced as this. He said the only way that either nature or human technology could create something so finely balanced would be in zero gravity.
Here is an extract of Mr. Hund's letter:
The excistence of the sphere came to my attetion ca 1977 while removing endangered rock engravings from the site where pyrophyllite or "wonderstone", as it is commonly known in the region, is mined on the farm Gestoptefontein (meaning plugged fountain) near the little village of Ottosdal about 110 km from Klerksdorp in South Africa's Northwest Province.
I was intrigued by the form of the spheres, grooves around the middle and the fact that they are as hard as steel, while the material (pyrophyllite) in which they are found, is as soft as limestone with a count of only 3 on the Moh scale.
As you probably know, pyrophyllite (Al2 Si4 O10 (OH)2) is a secondary mineral and the deposits were formed by a process of sedimentation. On Gestoptefontein volcanic activity was responsible for the forming of outcrops varying in height from about 10 to 100 meters. The smooth and relatively soft surface on the slopes were ideal for the prehistoric dwellers (San) to make their engravings of animal and abstract designs.
On Gestoptefontein these outcrops were "swan" into huge pieces by means of twisted steel cables running zig-zag on pulleys for several kilometers. These blocks were then sawn by the same method into more manageable pieces of about 500 x 500 mm. Occasionally the "sawing cable" got stuck on one of the metal spheres embedded in the pyrophyllite.
They vary in size from " 30 – 50 mm in diameter and have perfectly concentric grooves round the center as if they were molded. Inside the hard "shell" some have a spongy substance, while in others it resembles charcoal.
When only partly embedded so that they can be seen on the surface, they are not all spheres, but some are also oblong in form.
According to Professor Andries Bisschoff of the University of Potchefstroom (retired some years ago) they are limonite concretions. Due to the relative scarcity of the spheres and the almost impossibility for outsiders to obtain samples from the mine, his conclusions have not been verified by other scientists.
It is very strange that the grooves are always and only round the center. Mr. Credo Mutwa, a notorious witch doctor from the city of Soweto was brought to the museum by a TV – team some years ago and he as well as some amateur archaeologists believed the spheres to be from outer space. It is also hard for me to believe their theory. The original sphere exhibited in this museum was stolen by a white sangoma (witch – doctor) - not Mr. Mutwa, for its supposedly magic qualities and was never retrieved.
Inquiries were made from all over the world about this phenomenon. Countries include Canada, Switzerland, Denmark, Germany, England, USA, Norway, France and Botswana. Institutions such as the University of South Florida, Miles Price and Associates, the Society for Physic Advancement (S.A), Kokkolan Kaupunchi (Finland), Esotera (Germany) Geologisches Institut der Universiteit Pleicherwall (Germany), the Department of Philosophy UICC (Chicago), Danfoss (Denmark), Illustreret Videnskab (Copenhagen), Louisiana Geological Survey, Gale Research Company (Michigan) and Search and Research Institute of Florida also made inquiries.
The Stone Spheres
Costa Rica -Mexico
In Southern Costa Rica, there are a vast number of unusual spherical stone artifacts! These Giant Stone Spheres ranging in size from mere inches to yards (or meters) in diameter.
Of all the existing remnants of Costa Rica's Precolumbian cultures, none are more mysterious than these stone spheres! Principally because we have few clues of their origin, and fewer still of their intended use.
The stone spheres have been found in clusters of up to twenty, and often in geometric patterns such as triangles, rectangles or straight lines. Such alignments often point to the earth¹s magnetic north. A large number of the spheres have been located in the Diquis River Delta, with other popular sites being the southern cities of Palmar, Sur, Buenos Aires and Golfito as well as in the province of Guanacaste to the north and in the central valley. Archaeologists have been able to date the stones by the artefacts that have been found lying alongside them. Some of them have, thus, been dated as far back as 400 B.C.E.
The majority of them have, however, been dated between 800 and 1200 B.C.E. Many of these stones have been found near the remains of dwellings and in close proximity to grave sites. Some believed that the stones contained some hidden treasures and a few of them have been smashed to try to get at this supposed treasure. None has been forthcoming, however. Despite these losses, however, the National museum of Costa Rica has catalogued some one hundred and thirty existing stone spheres. However, many of them are not catalogued. This is because of the fact that many of the spheres have been removed from their original sites and used as ornaments in private homes, gardens and churches. Clearly, there are also many stones that still lie undiscovered.
Just how the ancient people of Costa Rica made these perfectly cylindrical stone spheres, remains largely a mystery. It is clear that some sort of mechanical procedure was needed in order to attain the precision displayed by the stones. Statues emanating from the same period show that the ancient Costa Ricans were very skilled sculptors. The existence of gold artefacts from about 800 C.E. also show that the people living at that time were experienced at working with high temperatures. It is, therefore, believed by some researchers that the stones were moulded into their perfectly cylindrical shapes by extreme heating followed by cooling, to remove any outer layers of rock. The rocks could have been finished by polishing with sand or leather.
Some spheres found in the Diquis Delta were apparently rafted and hauled to their present location from places many miles (kilometers) distant. The spheres have been found in various alignments on the surface, with some placed on mounted cobbled platforms, presumably to be more visible from a distance, or safe from flooding. Although no burial remains have been found beneath them, there have been found pot shards, and the spheres are often grouped in the vicinity of a Diquis cemetery zone.
At least 300 spheres have been recorded in the literature. Surely many more were destroyed and others remain undiscovered. No immediate local source exists for the granite (where the stones were found); and no stone-working tools have been found near the spheres. "The best spheres are perhaps the finest examples of precision stone carving in the ancient world." The maximum circumference error in one 6-foot, 7-inch diameter sphere in only 0.5 inch, or 0.2% . The spheres are often grouped, but no general system or alignment mode seems to exist. "One very disturbing mystery emerges in examining the Diquis culture. The superb stone-carving skill necessary for the creation of the spheres was not applied to any other object."
But not only in Costa Rica, similar stones have been found in Mexico,
Bosnia , Easter Island , Peru and China .
Bosnia - Easter Island
So, despite what some might assume, stone spheres are not an isolated phenomenon. First: as in Bosnia, the stone balls of Costa Rica are not limited to one location. They have been uncovered in a number of locations, including the Isla del Caño, and over 300 kilometres north of the Diquis Delta in Papagayo on the Nicoya Peninsula.
But apart from Bosnia and Costa Rica, similar stones have been found at Easter Island, Peru and Mexico.
The stone sphere on Easter Isle is at the northern coastal area of the island, just north of the statue quarry at the volcanic crater of Rano Raraku. This single round stone is said to have been used by the “Masters” of the island to focus their mental powers through, as a sort of lens to levitate the statues and make them “walk” around the island. This is, of course, a highly imaginative conclusion. If we were to apply it to Bosnia, the explanation would make little sense, as in this case, it are the balls themselves that had to be moved – and apparently nothing else. The same conclusion applies to Costa Rica, where it is known that the spheres were hewn from a quarry 48 kilometres away. But it does underline that the stones’ creators went through great trouble to transport these objects, underlining that both their destination site was important – most likely sacred – and that this specific type of rock was desired, as otherwise, no doubt more local stone would have been quarried.
The majority of Costa Rican stone balls are sculpted from gabbro, an intrusive igneous rock similar to granite – a rock type also used for some of the Bosnian stone spheres.
Lothrop and others since have speculated that the spheres were probably roughly shaped as they were hewn from natural blocks and then polished with smaller stones, with wet sand as an abrasive medium, to give them their polish. It has also been noted that when granodiorite is heated and then quickly cooled, a thin layer of stone comes off in flakes, a technique that might have greatly assisted in rounding the stones. But the fact that stone spheres in Bosnia and Costa Rica exist, but that both are furthermore polished, should be of some interest too. The variety of the material used is equally interesting, but at present, no-one has ever been able to conclude whether there is any special significance as to which material was used where – let alone for what purpose.
In Costa Rica, the stones were often placed in groups, or in straight or curved lines – perhaps not dissimilar to the standing stones of Western Europe, which are often found in the same formations. Of course, we find that the same applies to Zavidovici (and some other Bosnian sites), where the spheres are also found in groups. Of interest therefore should be the fact that in 1981, Ivar Zapp, a Professor Archictecture at the University of Costa Rica, took his students to the site and at the end of his study, which was also based on Lothrop’s diagrams of how he found the balls in situ, he noted that two groups seemed to be arranged on either side of a straight line that pointed directly at the magnetic North Pole.
So despite some interesting correlations, so far, exploration into Costa Rica has revealed few real answers. But the balls of Costa Rica do tell us that some were found over human graves. Despite this possible explanation, their specific purpose remains nevertheless unknown. If there was a funerary connotation, however, we should remember the stories of the dead wedding guests, which are connected with the stone spheres of Zavidovici.
Though Bosnia has the Pyramid Valley, the various stone spheres – apart from one, small sphere – are not in its immediate vicinity. They are found in several towns in Bosnia and the only general conclusion one can draw, is that they are within the catchment area of the Vinca Culture. But whether the stone balls are part of that culture, and are hence thousands of years old, is impossible to conclude, as there are no techniques to determine the date of when the stones were shaped. Indeed, the Costa Rican stones are also hard to date and are believed to have been carved between 200 BC and 1500 AD – but this doesn’t specifically narrow things down.
China
A large number of "stone eggs" were recently discovered along with a copper sword at a construction site in Bandeng Hill and Zhanlong Hill, Gongxi Town of Hunan Province. The discoveries were made by highway construction workers while they were digging the foundation for a road.
The origin of the stone eggs is currently unknown as it is reported that further analysis by experts will be required to determine what they are and where they came from.
The construction workers said that Bandeng Hill is quite simply a stone-egg mountain. They found multiple nests of unique stone eggs throughout the course of digging the road's foundation. The eggs are oval in shape, with a wide range of sizes; the smallest one being no bigger than a water melon, while the largest is reported as being the size of a big table. Upon closer examination they look like eggs from the outside, but are very shiny and black on the inside.
The copper sword which the construction team had also discovered was found to weigh over 1,000 pounds. Unfortunately the sword disappeared later and there are no leads as to the identities of the people involved in the theft. The incident has been reported to the police.
Upon photo analysis geologists believe that the stone eggs are rare, large concretions of the carbonate rock. They were formed, starting from a tiny nucleus in the center, snowballing slowly in the oscillating sea water. The exact ingredients and the purpose of the stone eggs can only be determined through further analysis.
Many natural stone eggs have also been found in the Shennongjia Nature Reserve Area of Hubei Province, adjacent to Hunan. These eggs also range in size from being as small as a human palm, to standing over three feet tall. Some people call them volcano eggs.
Strangely enough, over a long period of geological development, there have not been any volcanic eruptions or volcanic deposits. Furthermore, the eggs are normally found right in the sedimentary rocks. And the greatest question still remains: Where did these round objects come from?
Except for the Easter Island the one thing they all have in Common is the Pyramids in their countries ,i remember reading a number of years ago a book called " Gods of the New Millennium " by Alan F. Alford in this book the author stated that the giant statues build on the Easter Island were erected by the ancient workforce of the gods after they were abondoned on the island, that could give an answer why there's no pyramid on Easter Island unlike in the other countries who have these stone balls .
But this is only me thinking loud .
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The Piri Reis Map
The Piri Reis map is a famous pre-modern world map compiled in 1513 from military intelligence by the Ottoman-Turkish admiral and cartographer Piri Reis. The half of the map which survives shows the western coasts of Europe and North Africa and the coast of Brazil with reasonable accuracy. Various Atlantic islands including the Azores and Canary Islands are depicted, as is the mythical island of Antillia and possibly Japan. The map has been used in pseudo-scholarship to claim an ancient knowledge of an ice-free Antarctica, transmitted either from extra-terrestrials or an Ice Age civilization, but the region in question better fits Patagonia. The historical importance of the map lies in its demonstration of the extent of Portuguese exploration of the New World by approximately 1510, and in its claim to have used Columbus's maps, otherwise lost, as a source.
The map is the extant western third of a world map drawn on gazelle skin, with dimensions reported as 90 cm x 63 cm, 86 cm x 60 cm, 90 cm x 65 cm, 85 cm x 60 cm, 87 cm x 63 cm, and 86 cm x 62 cm. The surviving portion primarily details the western coast of Africa and the eastern coast of South America. The map was signed by Piri Reis, an Ottoman-Turkish admiral, geographer and cartographer, and dated to the month of Muharram in the Islamic year 919 AH, equivalent to 1513 CE It was presented to Ottoman Sultan Selim I in 1517. In the map's legend, Piri inscribed that the map was based on about twenty charts and mappae mundi. According to Piri, these maps included eight Ptolemaic maps constructed during the era of Alexander the Great, an Arabic map of India, four newly drawn Portuguese maps of their recent discoveries, and a map by Christopher Columbus of the western lands. From Inscription 6 on the map:
From eight Jaferyas of that kind and one Arabic map of Hint (India), and from four newly drawn Portuguese maps which show the countries of Sint (modern day Pakistan), Hint and Çin (China) geometrically drawn, and also from a map drawn by Qulūnbū (Columbus) in the western region, I have extracted it. By reducing all these maps to one scale this final form was arrived at, so that this map of these lands is regarded by seamen as accurate and as reliable as the accuracy and reliability of the on the aforesaid maps.
There is some scholarly debate over whether the 20 charts and mappaemundi in Piri's inscriptions includes the eight Ptolemaic maps, the four Portuguese maps, the Arabic map and the Columbus map. From one perspective, the number of charts and mappaemundi used by Piri equals 20 while in the other, it could mean a total of 34 Some have claimed that the source maps were found in the ancient Library of Alexandria, based on Piri's allusions to Alexander the Great, the founder of Alexandria, Ptolemy I, who ruled Alexandria in the 4th century BCE, and Claudius Ptolemy, the Greek geographer and cartographer who lived in Alexandria during the second century CE
The map was discovered in 1929 while Topkapı Palace was being converted into a museum. It drew immediate attention as it was one of the earliest maps of America, and the only 16th century map that showed South America in its proper longitudinal position in relation to Africa. Furthermore, Piri's claim that he had based some portions of the map on a map drawn by Columbus also drew special attention, as geographers had spent several centuries unsuccessfully searching for a "lost map of Columbus" that was supposedly drawn while he was in the West Indies. After reading about the map's discovery in the The Illustrated London News, United States Secretary of State Henry L. Stimson contacted the United States Ambassador to Turkey Charles H. Sherrill and requested that an investigation be launched to find the Columbus source map, which he believed may have been in Turkey. In turn, the Turkish government complied with Stimson's request, but they were unsuccessful in locating any of the source maps.
The Piri Reis map is currently located in the Library of the Topkapı Palace in Istanbul, Turkey, but is not usually on display to the public.
The map was depicted on the reverse of the Turkish 10 million lira banknote of 1999-2005 and of the 10 new lira banknote of 2005-2009.
Charles Hapgood
Charles Hapgood began studying the map in the middle of the 20th century and published the book Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings in 1966.
Hapgood claims this and other maps support a theory of global exploration by a pre-classical undiscovered civilization. He supports this with an analysis of the mathematics of ancient maps and of their accuracy, which he says surpassed instrumentation available at the time of the map's drafting.
Hapgood argued that owing to the map being assembled from components, the Caribbean section was rotated nearly 90º from the top of South America. He attributed this to either copying from a polar projection, or to fit in the space available by hinging the map at that location and giving it an "alternate north", of which other examples are known in maps of the era.
Charles Hapggod, in 1953, wrote a book called "Earth's shifting crust: a key to some basic problems of earth science", where he made up a theory to explain how Antarctic had been ice-free until year 4000 BC .
The theory summing up is as follows:
The reason Antarctic was ice-free, and therefore much warmer, it is to be found in the fact that, at one time, its location wasn't the south pole. It was located approximately 2000 miles further north. Hapgood says this "would have put it outside the Antarctic Circle in a temperate or cold temperate climate
In 1953, a Turkish naval officer sent the Piri Reis map to the U.S. Navy Hydrographic Bureau. To evaluate it, M.I. Walters, the Chief Engineer of the Bureau, called for help Arlington H. Mallery, an authority on ancient maps, who had previously worked with him.
After a long study, Mallery discovered the projection method used. To check out the accuracy of the map, he made a grid and transferred the Piri Reis map onto a globe: the map was totally accurate. He stated that the only way to draw map of such accuracy was the aerial surveying: but who, 6000 years ago, could have used airplanes to map the earth??
The Hydrographic Office couldn't believe what they saw: they were even able to correct some errors in the present days maps!!
The precision on determining the longitudinal coordinates, on the other hand, shows that to draw the map it was necessary to use the spheroid trigonometry, a process supposedly not know until the middle of 18th century.
Hapgood has proved that the Piri Re'is map is plotted out in plane geometry, containing latitudes and longitudes at right angles in a traditional "grid"; yet it is obviously copied from an earlier map that was projected using spherical trigonometry! Not only did the early map makers know that the Earth was round, but they had knowledge of its true circumference to within 50 miles!
On 6th July 1960 the U. S. Air Force responded to Prof. Charles H. Hapgood of Keene College, specifically to his request for an evaluation of the ancient Piri Reis Map:
6, July, 1960
Subject: Admiral Piri Reis Map
TO: Prof. Charles H. Hapgood
Keene College
Keene, New Hampshire
Dear Professor Hapgood,
Your request of evaluation of certain unusual features of the Piri Reis map of 1513 by this organization has been reviewed.
The claim that the lower part of the map portrays the Princess Martha Coast of Queen Maud Land, Antarctic, and the Palmer Peninsular, is reasonable. We find that this is the most logical and in all probability the correct interpretation of the map.
The geographical detail shown in the lower part of the map agrees very remarkably with the results of the seismic profile made across the top of the ice-cap by the Swedish-British Antarctic Expedition of 1949.
This indicates the coastline had been mapped before it was covered by the ice-cap.
The ice-cap in this region is now about a mile thick.
We have no idea how the data on this map can be reconciled with the supposed state of geographical knowledge in 1513.
Harold Z. Ohlmeyer Lt. Colonel, USAF Commander
Antarctica
Scholars believe the resemblance of the coastline to the actual coast of Antarctica to be tenuous. For centuries before the actual discovery of Antarctica, cartographers had been depicting a massive southern landmass on global maps based on the theoretical assumption by some that one must exist, if only to balance the landmass of the North. The landmass in question on the Piri Reis map may be a continuation of this tradition, with its resemblance to the actual coastline being coincidental. It was widely believed that South America and, once its northern coastline was discovered, Australia, must be joined to this land mass, which was thought to be very much bigger than the real Antarctica. This theoretical southern continent, the Great Southern Land or Terra Australis Incognita (literally Unknown Southern Land), in various configurations, was usually shown on maps until the eighteenth century. An alternate view is that the "Antarctic" coast is simply the eastern coastline of South America skewed to align east-west due to the inaccurate measurement of longtitude or to fit it on the page.
Hapgood suggests that the Antarctic section of the map was copied at an incorrect scale to the rest of the map and resulted in the distortion and enlargement of the continent on several ancient maps. This would explain why there is no waterway between South America and Antarctica. He suggests several points of continuity between the Piri Reis Map and modern maps of the continent below the ice caps. Since the Antarctic continent was not officially sighted until 1820 and its full coastline was not known until much later, this claim, if true, would require major revisions to the history of exploration, settlement, evolution, and technological advancements of the time.
tion and giving it an "alternate north", of which other examples are known in maps of the era
In fact Piri Reis himself admitted he based his map on way older charts; and those older charts had been used as sources by others who have drawn different maps still of great precision.
Impressive is the "Dulcert's Portolano", year 1339, where the latitude of Europe and North Africa is perfect, and the longitudinal coordinates of the Mediterranean and of the Black sea are approximated of half degree.
An even more amazing chart is the "Zeno's chart", year 1380. It shows a big area in the north, going up till the Greenland; Its precision is flabbergasting. "It's impossible" says Hapgood "that someone in the fourteenth century could have found the exact latitudes of these places, not to mention the precision of the longitudes..."
Another amazing chart is the one drawn by the Turkish Hadji Ahmed, year 1559, in which he shows a land stripe, about 1600 Km. wide, that joins Alaska and Siberia. Such a natural bridge has been then covered by the water due to the end of the glacial period, which rose up the sea level.
Oronteus Fineus was another one who drew a map of incredible precision. He too represented the Antarctic with no ice-cap, year 1532.
There are maps showing Greenland as two separated islands, as it was confirmed by a polar French expedition which found out that there is an ice cap quite thick joining what it is actually two islands.
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The Pear in a Bottle .
The Poire Williams is a colorless brandy made from the Williams pear. It is generally served chilled as an after-dinner drink.
Many producers of Poire Williams include an entire pear inside each bottle. This is achieved by attaching the bottle to a budding pear tree so that the pear will grow inside it.
The Williams pear is known as the Bartlett pear in the United States.
One of the most delicious and fragrant brandies made from Alsace's abundant supply of fruit is that of the Williams Pear, Eau-de-vie de poire Williams. It is made by fermenting crushed ripe fruit for up to six weeks, and then distilling it to a relatively low strength which preserves its distinctive bouquet. It is then allowed to age. Knowing exactly the necessary time for aging and mellowing of a brandy like Poire Williams is one of the secrets of a great distiller's craft
Many of you have seen bottles of Poire Williams Eau-de-Vie with a pear inside the bottle and may have wondered how this is possible. Believe it or not, empty bottles are hung on trees or bushes, and the young fruit bud is then made to grow inside each bottle. When fully ripe, the bottle and the pear are washed and cleaned, and then clear Williams Pear brandy is added to each bottle and sealed. To maintain the pear in perfect condition, it is essential to keep it always covered with brandy at all times.
For this it's best to buy the poire williams without a pear to top up your botle with the pear inside.
I have this product at home and it has a very exquisite taste it's at his best chilled on the rocks.
E . Massenez
HISTORY:
Founded in 1870 in Alsace, Distillerie G. E. Massenez remains today one of the last family-owned firms dedicated to the production of traditional, top-quality eaux de vie (fruit brandies) and liqueurs. It is in fact this dedication to the "distillerie artisanale" which led Eugène Massenez to develop a formula for raspberry eau-de-vie and make it commercially available to an appreciative public worldwide. The distillation method is still a closely guarded family secret.
Born in a family of distillers from father to son, G.E. Massenez with his exceptional savoir-faire continues with success the traditional art of distilling eaux de vie (fruit brandies) which is still particularly alive in the Villé region on Alsace (France).
BELIEFS:
All Massenez products are 100 percent natural with no added aromas, colorings or preservatives. Massenez has chosen to retain traditional methods of distillation, combined with the requirements of modern production. Only the best fruits are selected and stored in large fermentation vats prior to distillation according to the rules of the art. Following a careful and patient maturing over several years, the bottling is carried out on an automatic bottling line.
NOTES:
G. E . Massenez is today universally acclaimed for eaux de vie (fruit brandies), such as Wild Raspberry and Williams Pear, as well as crèmes liqueurs. Only choice fruit is picked, at the moment of perfect ripeness, and more than 20 pounds of fruits are required to make one bottle of eaux de vie. Distillation takes place in traditional copper stills, and aging occurs in stainless steel tanks for four years.
REGION DESCRIPTION:
The Villé region of Alsace, France.
As soon as they arrive, carefully selected stone fruits and williams pears are placed in wall-glassed tanks. Compressed under their own weight, the fruits soon form a sweety paste. Under the action of natural yeast contained in various species, fermentation begins after two days. The paste is then covered with froth and becomes tumultuous.
Most of the sugar from the fruits is transformed into alcohol in under ten days. Fermentation then slows down and finally stops after six weeks. This essential step is carefully controled by the distiller who supervises it using his own experience and 'knack'. The tanks are then hermetically sealed until distillation.
Recipe : Williams pear clafoutis ( Fruit Cake )
serves 6
1 lb/500 g Williams Pear, 1 pint/500 ml milk, 3 1/2 oz/100g flour, 2 3/4 oz/80g sugar, 4 eggs, 1 oz/30 g butter, 1 tasting glass Williams Pear eau de vie, a pinch of salt
Like when making pancakes, mix eggs and sugar and then add flour, salt and Massenez Williams Pear eau de vie .
Carefully pour milk.
Butter a pie-dish and put the williams pears cut in small dices.
Cover with the paste and cook in the slow oven (t.6) for 45 minutes.
Serve cold.
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The Antikythera mechanism .
The Antikythera mechanism (pronounced /ˌæntɪkɪˈθɪərə/ AN-ti-ki-THEER-ə), is an ancient mechanical calculator (also described as the first known ) designed to calculate astronomical positions. It was recovered in 1901 from the Antikythera wreck but its complexity and significance were not understood until decades later. It is now thought to have been built about 150–100 BC. Technological artifacts of similar complexity did not reappear until a thousand years later.
Jacques-Yves Cousteau visited the wreck for the last time in 1978, but found no more remains of the Antikythera Mechanism. Professor Michael Edmunds of Cardiff University who led the most recent study of the mechanism said: "This device is just extraordinary, the only thing of its kind. The design is beautiful, the astronomy is exactly right. The way the mechanics are designed just makes your jaw drop. Whoever has done this has done it extremely carefully...in terms of historic and scarcity value, I have to regard this mechanism as being more valuable than the Mona Lisa."
The device is displayed in the Bronze Collection of the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, accompanied by a reconstruction made and offered to the museum by Derek de Solla Price. Other reconstructions are on display at the American Computer Museum in Bozeman, Montana and the Children's Museum of Manhattan in New York.
The mechanism is the oldest known complex scientific calculator. It contains many gears, and is sometimes called the first known analog computer, although its flawless manufacturing suggests that it had a number of predecessors which have not yet been discovered. It appears to be constructed upon theories of astronomy and mathematics developed by Greek astronomers and it is estimated that it was made around 150 to 100 BC. One hypothesis is that the device was constructed at an academy founded by the ancient Stoic philosopher Posidonius on the Greek island of Rhodes, which at the time was known as a centre of astronomy and mechanical engineering, and that perhaps the astronomer Hipparchus was the engineer who designed it since it contains a lunar mechanism which uses Hipparchus' theory for the motion of the Moon. Investigators have suggested that the ship could have been carrying it to Rome, together with other treasure looted from the island to support a triumphal parade being staged by Julius Caesar. However, the most recent findings of The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project, as published in the July 30, 2008, edition of Nature also suggest that the concept for the mechanism originated in the colonies of Corinth, which might imply a connection with Archimedes. The circumstances under which it came to be on the cargo ship are unknown. Consensus among scholars is that the mechanism itself was made in Greece. All the instructions of the mechanism are written in Greek.
The device is remarkable for the level of miniaturization and for the complexity of its parts, which is comparable to that of 18th century clocks. It has over 30 gears, although Michael Wright (see below) has suggested as many as 72 gears, with teeth formed through equilateral triangles. When a date was entered via a crank (now lost), the mechanism calculated the position of the Sun, Moon, or other astronomical information such as the location of other planets. Since the purpose was to position astronomical bodies with respect to the celestial sphere, with reference to the observer's position on the surface of the earth, the device was based on the geocentric model.
The mechanism has three main dials, one on the front, and two on the back. The front dial has two concentric scales. The outer ring is marked off with the days of the 365-day Egyptian calendar, or the Sothic year, based on the Sothic cycle. Inside this, there is a second dial marked with the Greek signs of the Zodiac and divided into degrees. The calendar dial can be moved to compensate for the effect of the extra quarter day in the year (there are 365.2422 days per year) by turning the scale backwards one day every four years. Note that the Julian calendar, the first calendar of the region to contain leap years, was not introduced until about 46 BC, up to a century after the device was said to have been built (and the leap year was implemented with errors until the early first century).
The front dial probably carried at least three hands, one showing the date, and two others showing the positions of the Sun and the Moon. The Moon indicator is adjusted to show the first anomaly of the Moon's orbit. It is reasonable to suppose the Sun indicator had a similar adjustment, but any gearing for this mechanism (if it existed) has been lost. The front dial also includes a second mechanism with a spherical model of the Moon that displays the lunar phase.
There is reference in the inscriptions for the planets Mars and Venus, and it would have certainly been within the capabilities of the maker of this mechanism to include gearing to show their positions. There is some speculation that the mechanism may have had indicators for all the five planets known to the Greeks. None of the gearing for such planetary mechanisms survives, except for one gear otherwise unaccounted for.
Finally, the front dial includes a parapegma, a precursor to the modern day Almanac, which was used to mark the rising and setting of specific stars. Each star is thought to be identified by Greek characters which cross reference details inscribed on the mechanism.
The upper back dial is in the form of a spiral, with 47 divisions per turn, displaying the 235 months of the 19 year Metonic cycle. This cycle is important in fixing calendars.
The lower back dial is also in the form of a spiral, with 225 divisions showing the Saros cycle; it also has a smaller subsidiary dial which displays the 54 year "Triple Saros" or "Exeligmos" cycle. (The Saros cycle, discovered by the Chaldeans, is a period of approximately 18 years 11 days 8 hours—the length of time between occurrences of a particular eclipse.)
The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project, with experts from Britain, Greece and the United States, detected in July 2008 the word "Olympia" on a bronze dial thought to display the 76 year Callippic cycle, as well as the names of other games in ancient Greece, and probably used to track dates of the ancient Olympic games. According to BBC news:
"The four sectors of the dial are inscribed with a year number and two Panhellenic Games: the 'crown' games of Isthmia, Olympia, Nemea, and Pythia; and two lesser games: Naa (held at Dodona) and a second game which has not yet been deciphered."
On 30 November 2006, the science journal Nature published a new reconstruction of the mechanism by the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project, based on the high resolution X-ray tomography described above. This work doubled the amount of readable text, corrected prior transcriptions, and provided a new translation. The inscriptions led to a dating of the mechanism to around 100 BC. It is evident that they contain a manual with an astronomical, mechanical and geographical section. The name HISPANIA (ΙΣΠΑΝΙΑ, Spain in Greek) in these texts is the oldest reference to this country under this form, as opposed to Iberia.
The new discoveries confirm that the mechanism is an astronomical analog calculator or orrery used to predict the positions of heavenly bodies in the sky. This work proposes that the mechanism possessed 37 gears, of which 30 survive, and was used for prediction of the position of the Sun and the Moon. Based on the inscriptions, which mention the stationary points of the planets, the authors speculate that planetary motions may also have been indicated.
On the front face were graduations for the solar scale and the zodiac together with pointers that indicated the position of the Sun, the Moon, the lunar phase, and possibly the planetary motions.
On the back, two spiral scales (made of half-circles with two centres) with sliding pointers indicated the state of two further important astronomical cycles: the Saros cycle, the period of approximately 18 years separating the return of the Sun, Moon and Earth to the same relative positions and the more accurate exeligmos cycle of 54 years and one day (essential in eclipse prediction, see Eclipse cycle). It also contains another spiral scale for the Metonic cycle (19 years, equal to 235 lunar months) and the Callippic cycle that proposed a more accurate periodicity of 940 lunar months in approximately 76 years.
The Moon mechanism, using an ingenious train of gears, two of them linked with a slightly offset axis and pin in a slot, shows the position and phase of the Moon during the month. The velocity of the Moon varies according to the theory of Hipparchus, and to a good approximation follows Kepler's second law for the angular velocity, being faster near the perigee and slower at the apogee (see Kepler's laws of planetary motion).
On 31 July 2008, a paper providing further details about the mechanism was published in Nature (Nature Vol 454, Issue 7204, July 31, 2008). In this paper, among other revelations, it is demonstrated that the mechanism also contained a dial divided into four parts, and demonstrating a four-year cycle through four segments of one year each, which is thought to be a means of describing which of the games (such as the ancient Olympics) that took place in two and four-year cycles were to take place in any given year.
The names of the months have been read; they are the months attested for the colonies of Corinth (and therefore also traditionally assumed for Corinth and Syracuse, which have left less direct evidence). The investigators suggest that the device may well be of Syracusan design, and may descend from the work of Archimedes.
Source : Wikipedia
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The Wicker man .
The Wicker Man was a large wicker statue of a human allegedly used by the ancient Druids for human sacrifice by burning it in effigy.
Did you know that the first reference to the Wicker man came from Julius Caesar’s "Commentaries on the Gallic War" it's his account of the nine years he spent at war in Gaul (named by the Romans, a large area of western Europe, comprising modern day France, Belgium and parts of Italy, Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands). Druids are all over the place with all kinds of weird customs. Did you know that the wicker man, was a method of mass sacrifice, employed by the druids on behalf of the Celtic people to appease gods and ward away disease, or some other misfortune that has befallen them. A giant, hollow effigy of a man was made from sticks and then filled with human undesirables. Thieves and other criminals made the best stuffing material, though in a pinch, the average Joe might be used. The whole thing was then set alight, roasting those inside in one big bonfire.
“XVI.–The nation of all the Gauls is extremely devoted to superstitious rites; and on that account they who are troubled with unusually severe diseases and they who are engaged in battles and dangers, either sacrifice men as victims, or vow that they will sacrifice them, and employ the Druids as the performers of those sacrifices; because they think that unless the life of a man be offered for the life of a man, the mind of the immortal gods cannot be rendered propitious, and they have sacrifices of that kind ordained for national purposes. Others have figures of vast size, the limbs of which formed of osiers they fill with living men, which being set on fire, the men perish enveloped in the flames. They consider that the oblation of such as have been taken in theft, or in robbery, or any other offence, is more acceptable to the immortal gods; but when a supply of that class is wanting, they have recourse to the oblation of even the innocent.”
While other Roman writers of the time described human sacrifice among the Celts, (Cicero, Suetonius, Lucan, Tacitus, and Pliny the Elder refer to Celtic human sacrifice.) there is no other evidence for the use of the wicker man beyond Caesar's account.
Julius Caesar’s book is the only written record of this practice. The veracity of his account has been criticized by several historians for different reason, chief being that Caesar does not claim to have witnessed the sacrifices himself and that in trying to drum up support among the citizens of Rome for his campaign, he might have exaggerated or invented the ritual in order to further paint the image of the Celt as barbaric and uncivilized.
Today, a wicker man is burned as part of neopagan festivities, especially Beltane, a rite of spring. Wicker men are tall, humanoid wooden structures, woven from flexible sticks such as those of willow as used in wicker furniture and fencing. The Wickerman Festival is an annual rock and dance music event that takes place in Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland; its main feature is the burning of a large wooden effigy on the last night. Similarly, a Wicker Man is burned each year at Butser Ancient Farm in Hampshire, England, and the American Burning Man festival features a large burnable man as well.
Source : Wapedia
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