“Wait, how is that possible? Africans were nowhere near Central America at that time.”
“That is exactly the issue alternative archaeologists point out. In fact, they were nowhere near Central America at the later time, never mind the earlier one. Which, of course, makes it rather difficult to explain how these heads were created.”
“Why do you think these people could be related to a site in Montana?”
“For four reasons. First, there doesn’t appear to have been any developmental phase in the Olmecs’ civilization. They appeared on the scene, with an incredible technological ability, essentially out of nowhere. Second, they sprang up in Central America, which is close enough to Montana if you’re not actually trying to settle too close. Third, if the Montana site is there and dates the same as Gobekli Tepe, then the timeline is consistent with the older dates given for the Olmecs. It’s the fourth reason, though, that really gives me pause.”
“And that is?”
“Remember how some academics argued that Gobekli Tepe was pristine because the builders intentionally buried it to protect it?”
“Yes.”
“Well, at the time of the Olmecs’ downfall, all building stopped. In fact, buildings were demolished and defaced. We don’t know if they did it themselves, or if it was done to them. But in the middle of this, the Olmecs dug and created these elaborate graves that were lined with blue tiles and multi-colored clay. And into these graves, they placed these huge stone heads and some smaller sculptures.”
Laney imagined the giant stone heads and their burial. What an incredible undertaking. Such an elaborate process could only have been done for something they cared for a great deal. “They were buried to preserve them for future generations.”
“Exactly. Just as with Gobekli Tepe and perhaps this Montana site, we see people burying something to protect it.”
CHAPTER 37
Chester, MT
Gideon glanced through the photos Priddle had brought from the dig site. He, Priddle, and Kensington were in the senator’s study at his Montana ranch. Kensington had flown in for a few days to see how the site was progressing, and he was growing impatient.
Gideon’s own patience was reaching an end as well. He couldn’t understand how no stones had been uncovered yet. Why was this taking so long?
He paced along the back wall of Kensington’s office. He quickly shuffled through the pictures, looking for any evidence of the stone. Where the hell was it?
Kensington leafed through an identical stack of pictures over at his desk. He pointed to a symbol in one of the photos.
“Is this a cross?”
Gideon knew what picture the Senator was referring to. He shifted to the photo and sighed. The photo was a close-up of a double crucifix with perfectly straight edges, etched deeply into the granite. The man was a true idiot. The site pre-dated Christianity by thousands of years.
Priddle grabbed the photo across the desk and then handed it back. “Not exactly. It’s more likely an ankh or crux ansata. It’s seen throughout ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs and denotes eternal life. It’s believed that the cross that’s used in Christianity was, in essence, borrowed from an older source, perhaps even linking it to the ancient Egyptian quest for immortality.”
“But it resembles a cross,” Kensington argued stubbornly.
Walking away from the two, Gideon rolled his eyes, knowing why Kensington was trying to tie this structure to Christianity. His conservative base would love it. The man couldn’t see beyond his own petty political desires. Oh, how he longed for the day the man was no longer of use.
“Yes. Yes, it does.” Priddle agreed.
Kensington continued to review the photos. “How much of the site is uncovered at this point?”
“Approximately fifty-five percent.”
“That’s it?”
“Senator, this site is huge, and you have to understand that archaeology is a painstaking process. They’ve been working on the Gobekli Tepe site since the mid-‘90s and only uncovered about six percent. In comparison, we’re moving at a lightning-fast rate.”
Kensington grunted in response. “What about the Belial Stone? Have there been any etchings that refer to it in these latest excavations?”
“Uh, yes.” Priddle stood up and took the photographs from the Senator.
Kensington curled his lip at Priddle’s proximity and leaned away from the professor. Gideon couldn’t blame him. The man always seemed to smell of old takeout.
Priddle pointed to the bottom of one of the photos. “Here, on photo twenty-seven. Look at the bottom of the lith.”
The Senator waved Priddle back to his seat and used his magnifying glass to get a better look. Gideon flipped to photo twenty-seven in his own stack. The frame depicted a priestess standing next to a glowing sphere. In the next frame, she took the sphere and used it to help a man who had been hurt. In the final frame, the man stood next to the priestess completely healed. The stone appears above them.