Breaking the Chains
Page 16
It is not known how long Cro-Magnons persisted or what became of them. One theory has them being absorbed into the European populations that came after them. Emigration into Europe after the appearance of Cro-Magnon people could only have taken place from the east, south, and south-east. As mentioned elsewhere, the Pleistocene Epoch contained several ice ages. More than 30 percent of the world’s land area was covered by ice during periods of severe Pleistocene glaciation. Extensive ice sheets covered much of North America, Asia, and Europe - sea levels were as much as 200 metres lower than today. Almost half of Europe was under the Scandinavian Ice Sheet: it covered most of Britain, continued south across central Germany and Poland, and then stretched north-east across the northern Russian Plain to the Arctic Ocean. Much of Siberia was covered by mountain glaciers, and its north-western plain was under the Siberian Ice Sheet. Neanderthal man appeared before the last great Pleistocene glaciation, which began about 70 000 years ago. Cro-Magnon man appeared during the vertex of the last major glaciation. During this period (35 000 to 13 000 years ago) some European populations moved south, leaving much of the North European Plain unoccupied. About 25 000 years ago there was a late expansion of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet. The Pleistocene Epoch gave way to the Holocene Epoch about 10 000 years ago, and over the next 4000 years the melting of the great ice sheets resulted in a rapid rise in sea levels, the destruction of some land bridges (including the one between Britain and France), and extensive flooding of large areas of land in the North Sea Basin and Mediterranean region.
Two kinds of race are recognised: geographic and local. All European people belong to the European geographic race. However, the European geographic race contains several local races: Mediterranean local race, Alpine local race, north-east Europe local race, and north-west Europe local race. Members of a geographic race will be similar in hereditary make-up. Members of a local race will resemble each other in appearance. The Mediterranean local race is made up of people from southern Europe, the Middle East, the Arabian Peninsula, and north Africa. They are short of stature. People from the Balkan and Alpine regions of Europe make up the Alpine local race. Members of this race are of short stature. The north-east Europe local race is composed of people from north-western Russia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Poland. A characteristic of this race is a tendency towards brachycephaly - a head that is short from back to front. The north-west Europe local race is made up of people from Ireland, England, northern Germany, The Netherlands, Iceland, and Scandinavia. It is this race that has the greatest average height in Europe (most evident amongst Scots and Scandinavians). People entering north-west Europe from just about anywhere else in the Old World, including the south, east or south-east would have encountered a people taller than themselves. These ‘giants’ of north-west Europe probably descended, at least in part, from Cro-Magnon populations. Consequently, their religions may have derived from humankind’s first religion.
Statuettes of corpulent women were generated by this religion. Numerous examples have been found in an area ranging from France to Russia. Perhaps the best known example is the Venus of Willendorf. It dates from between 24 to 26 000 years ago, and seems an accurate representation of a fat woman; like all other examples, it has neither feet nor face. Viewed from the side, the figure is looking down. The ‘face’ is concealed by concentric circles of hair. Although described as a fertility idol, Mother Goddess, Earth Goddess or child’s doll, the rings around her head proclaim the Venus of Willendorf a solar deity and link her to the wood henges and stone circles of western Europe.
This part of ‘Breaking the Chains’ has seen much ground, time, and human activity covered concisely. Emphasis followed perceivable threads of Indo-European influence: Bodhidharma, Buddhism, Yoga, Hittites, Balts, etc. Yoga is, traditionally, viewed as the source from which most Chinese martial arts developed (via Bodhidharma). Sanskrit, the language of Yoga, is an Indo-European language. However, it is doubtful that Yoga is a product of Indo-European design. By implication Yoga descended from a naga or serpent influenced train of thought. Serpents and dragons keep company with golden apples. These apples are opium apples. Serpents, dragons, and nagas are the enemy of the sun-bird - in solar religions an eagle or other bird is often associated with the sun; one Chinese tradition mentions a three-legged crow. Material representative of the most remote stage of Indo-European religion may be preserved in Lithuanian, a language of the Balts. Baltic tradition says the sun is female. Balts acknowledge a sun-goddess (Saule). Sun-goddess worship appears as a feature of humankind’s first religion. Concentric circles were another feature of this religion. Humankind’s first religion originated in Europe.