Giraffe women, mysterious jugs and cities of giants are the mystical reality of Indochina. Last summer, the results of research by Australian archaeologist Damian Evans were published. Using aerial laser scanning technology, he discovered several completely overgrown cities in the jungle of Cambodia. In the hope of solving their riddle, Viktor Melnikov, a Russian traveler and scientist, went to the Indochina Peninsula.
Stupas of Baba Yaga
- The authoritative scientific journal of Archaeological Science wrote about Evans's discovery. The age of the cities he found in the jungles of Cambodia is at least 1400 years. This confirms the hypothesis that on the Kulen plateau in the northern part of this country there are numerous ancient buildings hidden from view. Detailed maps revealed many geometrically flat areas that are believed to have once been gardens. Traces of complex water supply systems were found. They were built many centuries before this technology, according to scientists, even appeared …
On the way to Cambodia, I stopped in Laos. In this country of Indochina, too, a lot of amazing things. It is home to the Padaung tribe, whose women have long necks. Starting from about 5 years old, girls are put on copper rings around their necks, or rather - spirals about 1 cm thick. Every year the number of rings increases, the neck stretches. This continues until the girl gets married. In an adult female giraffe (as tourists call them), the number of rings can reach two dozen, and their weight is 4-5 kg. The rings can be removed and put on again - this will not harm your health.
There is a myth that female giraffes can no longer live without them, that their neck will simply break. But this is not the case. Women who have taken off their rings do not suffer from their absence. And if you completely abandon this attribute, after a year or two the neck will take on a normal appearance. Scientists have examined the representatives of the tribe using X-rays. It turned out that their neck is not stretched, but under the weight of the rings the shoulder area gradually descends.
Also in Laos there is an amazing Valley of Jugs, where hundreds of huge jugs of unknown origin stand on the tops of the hills, similar to the stone stupas of Baba Yaga. Their height is from 1 to 3.5 m, diameter is about 1 m. The largest weighs 6 tons. The jugs are made of rocks that are not found in this area.
Little is known about the purpose of these artifacts. Some believe that they stored rice or wine. Others - that these are furnaces in which ancient people burned the bodies of the dead. Many pitchers have a rim around the hole, suggesting that they once had lids as well. Inside and near these vessels, archaeologists found teeth, bone remains, as well as glass beads, fragments of stone and bronze items.
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One thing is certain: the age of the giant jugs is several thousand years. And the inhabitants of Laos believe that once upon a time giants lived on these lands, and they left behind mysterious objects. After all, the locals themselves could not create such sculptures (and even in such a quantity!).
Dragon footprint
Here comes Cambodia. Not far from the place where Damian Evans' expedition discovered previously unknown cities in the forests, there is a huge Angkor Wat temple complex. It is striking in its scale. The dimensions of the building are 1.5 km by 1.3 km. It is surrounded by a moat along the perimeter, the width of which is 190 m. This is one of the world's largest religious buildings.
It is officially believed that the complex dedicated to the god Vishnu was built in the first half of the 12th century. during the reign of the Khmer king Suryavarman II. But a number of researchers put forward versions that Angkor Wat is much older. British historian and archaeologist John Grigsby drew attention to the fact that the temple complex is a terrestrial projection of the constellation Draco, or rather, an entire section of the starry sky around it. But there is a nuance: in the position corresponding to the main temples of Angkor Wat, these stars were … in 10500 BC. e. This result was given by computer simulation. It is unlikely that the Khmers in the XII century. knew how the stars were located over this place more than 11 thousand years ago! Therefore, the scientists concluded: the buildings were erected on some more ancient structures. But who created them?
It is hard to believe that these buildings were built by an ordinary person. The steps and door openings are clearly designed for creatures much taller than us. Stone blocks weighing up to 250 t have no joints. The masonry was made without mortar, while the blocks are so tightly fitted to each other that the seams between them sometimes cannot be found. Presumably, the stones were installed in place using elephants, but this could not be repeated in modern conditions. The stones themselves are extremely smooth - almost like polished marble. All surfaces, columns, lintels, roofs are covered with carvings. It is done with amazing precision. And the texts of the scriptures on the stone look like they were made with a laser.
As local researchers explain, neither Khmer rulers, nor mere mortals lived in these buildings, but only prayed to their gods in them. For housing, they built wooden buildings around. They did not know sophisticated building technologies and believed that giants had erected grandiose buildings long before the Khmer empire appeared. The Khmers themselves came to these temples and began to live nearby.
According to another version, the city of Angkor was founded by descendants of the inhabitants of Atlantis. It would be extremely interesting to get to the cities hidden in the jungle of Cambodia (it is not yet possible to do this), and to see the legacy of the Atlanteans with your own eyes.