It's hard to believe a Discovery Channel program on mummies led to the uncovering of a mysterious 8,000 year-old civilization on the steppes of Kazakhstan. That is the tale in the New York Times story on amateur archaeologist Dmitriy Dey who spotted the mounds, swastika-like structures, and other geoglyphs using Google Earth. NASA later assisted with satellite imagery, shown in the photos provided. The article goes on to describe the site:
The rich lands of the steppe were a destination for Stone Age tribes seeking hunting grounds, and Mr. Dey’s research suggests that the Mahandzhar culture, which flourished there from 7,000 B.C. to 5,000 B.C., could be linked to the older figures. But scientists marvel that a nomadic population would have stayed in place for the time required to lay ramparts and dig out lake bed sediments to construct the huge mounds, originally 6 to 10 feet high and now 3 feet high and nearly 40 feet across.
Archaeologist Persis
B. Clarkson from the University of Winnipeg said these Kazakhstan geoglyphs
Just when we think we understand our own past, we stumble on the unknown again. It goes to show that not all telescopes should be pointed at the heavens. We still have much to learn back here at home....has caused archaeologists to deeply rethink the nature and timing of sophisticated large-scale human organization as one that predates settled and civilized societies.
