The age of the Great Sphinx and who built it remains perhaps the biggest archaeological mystery in the world. In October 1991, Robert Schoch and John Anthony West presented a paper at the annual Geological Society of America meeting in San Diego California. They claimed the Sphinx bears the unmistakable evidence of erosion by precipitation, pushing back construction by thousands of years. Making it much older than the Giza pyramids and other Egyptian monuments. Schoch is a PhD geologist/geophysicist at Boston University while West was an alternative archaeologist. Their paper became a worldwide news sensation, followed by an award-winning TV documentary. Evidence of an ancient lost civilization sent shock waves through the archaeological community. To this day their paper remains the cornerstone of alternative archaeology.

The Great Sphinx Debate

In February 1992, the American Association for the Advancement of Science held a debate between Schoch and Mark Lehner, who has a PhD in archaeology and is the world’s leading expert on the Sphinx. Lehner argued that prior to 5,000 years ago, people were hunter-gatherers incapable of constructing anything as complex as the Sphinx. Furthermore, without evidence of a civilization capable of constructing the Sphinx from so long ago, Lehner concluded that the lack of archaeological evidence itself was sufficient to dismiss the idea of an older Sphinx. Still, without archaeological evidence, Lehner failed to win the debate. Since then, numerous popular books have been published by alternative archaeologists while the scientific community has been largely silent regarding the age of the Sphinx.

The African Humid Period

Meanwhile geological and archaeological evidence was building that the Sahara had once been much wetter. Driven by slight perturbations in Earth’s axial tilt and orbit, the Sahara has been switching between green and desert conditions for millions of years. The last time the Sahara turned green was between 12,000–5,500 years ago. Precipitation turned the desert to a savanna grassland, filling the Nile Valley with so much water it became uninhabitable. Scientists, it seems, had discovered the precipitation that had eroded the Sphinx, just as Schoch and West had predicted.

Göbekli Tepe

Then in 1995 came the discovery of Göbekli Tepe in Turkey. The site consists of multiple adjacent stone enclosures, where each could loosely be described as a Turkish Stonehenge. Enclosure diameters vary from 10–30 m (30–100 ft). Most enclosures contain two monolithic T-shaped pillars some up to 5.5 m (18 ft) tall. The small portion of the site that has been excavated has been carbon dated to 11,700–9,800 years ago, making it by far the oldest megalithic architecture on Earth. According to some archaeologists, unexcavated enclosures could be as much as 15,000 years old. Built by hunter-gatherers, which according to mainstream archaeology was impossible, Göbekli Tepe was the final nail in the coffin that forced archaeologists to develop a new paradigm for the emergence of agriculture and civilization. Like an older Sphinx, the discovery of Göbekli Tepe became a worldwide news sensation. Here it seems was evidence of an ancient civilization capable of carving the Sphinx. Again, just as Schoch and West had predicted.

A Bigger Picture

Given such overwhelming evidence, it seems we have to consider the possibility that what we have been told about the origins of civilization may be wrong. Using little more than the water erosion hypothesis for the Sphinx, alternative archaeologists want to rewrite the entire prehistory of humans. The goal of this website is to explore the evidence no matter where it leads. Both archaeologists and alternative archaeologists who take the time to read this will discover evidence that may challenge what they think they know about our past, and the Earth itself. Alternative archaeology itself is not a unified community; its various incarnations encompass a wide range of often incompatible theories. The only thing they agree on is that mainstream science is wrong -- making it all the more difficult to address specific writers. Furthermore, many scientists balk at confronting alternative archaeologists, like creationists, it is seen as a waste of time. I disagree. The followers of alternative archaeology, like scientists, want to keep up to date on the latest research. They tend to be open minded and willing to challenge their beliefs, which is in fact what they are asking others to do. As in mainstream science there is no dogma, no holy book, no leader, they are just following the evidence. Still, perhaps the biggest mistake anyone can make is to rely solely upon information provided in books written by alternative archaeologists. Such books fail to provide a full picture of the evidence. Some writers do not claim to. They feel its their job to write thought-provoking books, not to convey cohesive scientific theories based on fact. Others, it seems, genuinely believe they have uncovered evidence of lost civilizations and ancient aliens. This is not to say that the evidence provided in their books is wrong; it’s just that contradictory evidence is omitted. For instance, located within the Nile River floodplain, the Sphinx would have been destroyed by flooding had it existed prior to 5,000 years ago. It turns out that Schoch is right: geology holds the key to understanding the origins of the Sphinx -- from a massive release of CO 2 40 million years ago, to the desertification of the Sahara 5,500 years ago, to shallow wicking groundwater today. By studying the geologic history of the limestone from which the Sphinx was carved I was finally able to decipher why it appears so eroded. Those looking for facts to debunk lost civilizations and ancient aliens will find those resources here. Proponents of alternative archaeology will discover thought-provoking evidence that could, if they keep an open mind, overturn their beliefs.

A Bigger Picture