A comprehensive exploration of Earth’s ancient past, the evolution of humanity, the rise of civilization, and the effects of global catastrophes

• Explores biological evidence for the aquatic ape theory and 20-million-year-old evidence of pre-human cultures from which we are not descended

• Traces the genesis of modern human civilization to Indonesia and the Central Pacific 75,000 years ago after a near-extinction-level volcanic eruption

• Examines the profound similarities of megaliths around the world, including Nabta Playa and Gobekli Tepe, to reveal the transoceanic civilization that built them all

Exploring emerging and suppressed evidence from archaeology, anthropology, and biology, Frank Joseph challenges conventional theories of evolution, the age of humanity, the origins of civilization, and the purpose of megaliths around the world. He reveals 20-million-year-old quartzite tools discovered in the remains of extinct fauna in Argentina and other evidence of ancient pre-human cultures from which we are not descended. He traces the genesis of modern human civilization to Indonesia and the Central Pacific 75,000 years ago, launched by a catastrophic volcanic eruption that abruptly reduced humanity from two million to a few thousand individuals worldwide.

Further investigating the evolutionary branches of humanity, he explores the mounting biological evidence supporting the aquatic ape theory--that our ancestors spent one or more evolutionary phases in water--and shows how these aquatic phases of humanity fall neatly into place within his revised timeline of ancient history. Examining the profound similarities of megaliths around the world, including Nabta Playa, Gobekli Tepe, Stonehenge, New Hampshire’s Mystery Hill, and the Japanese Oyu circles, the author explains how these precisely placed monuments of quartz were built specifically to produce altered states of consciousness, revealing the spiritual and technological sophistication of their Neolithic builders--a transoceanic civilization fractured by the cataclysmic effects of comets.

Tying in his extensive research into Atlantis and Lemuria, Joseph provides a 20-million-year timeline of the rise and fall of ancient civilizations, both human and pre-human, the evolutionary stages of humanity, and the catastrophes and resulting climate changes that triggered them all--events that our relatively young civilization may soon experience.

Frank Joseph was the editor in chief of Ancient American magazine from 1993 until 2009. He is the author of several books, including Atlantis and 2012 and Advanced Civilizations of Prehistoric America. He lives in the Upper Mississippi Valley.

Introduction: Godhood or Extinction?

1 Evolutionary Baptism
2 Homo Aquaticus
3 The Cradle of Life
4 Genes Don’t Lie
5 The Ascent of Man
6 Discovery as Heresy
7 Stone Age Sophistication
8 The Mother of Invention
9 Older than Sphinx or Pyramid
10 Stone Age Astronomers in America
11 Red Paint People
12 Sacred Hoops
13 Little Hell
14 Secret of the Stones
15 The First Atlantean
16 Stone Age Déjà Vu
17 After Atlantis

An Unconventional Time Line of Our Human and Cultural Origins

Notes

Bibliography

About the Author

Index