Fingerprints of the Gods: The Evidence Of Earth’s Lost Civilization by Graham Hancock - 1996

Three Rivers Press. 1996. S Soft Cover. New. 1996 592p. The bestselling author of The Sign and the Seal reveals the true origins of civilization. Connecting puzzling clues scattered throughout the world, Hancock discovers compelling evidence of a technologically and culturally advanced civilization that was destroyed and obliterated from human memory. An exciting journey of discovery that spans continents and centuries, seeking evidence of humanity's first great civilization. A fancy piece of historical sleuthing...intriguing and entertaining and sturdy enough to give a long pause for thought. He begins the book with a chapter introducing us to an ancient map of Antarctica, made in AD 1513. It is called the Piri Reis map drawn up in Constantinople. It is an enigma because the 'modern' world only "recently" discovered Antarctica in AD 1818. Graham Hancock ends his book with more information and theories about the reason Antarctica may have shifted about 2,000 miles south of its original location, believed to be a subtropical climate, similar to that of the Mediterranean. Antarctica is believed to have been situated about 30 degrees north of its present position on the planet. The explanation for its movement is based on an idea endorsed by Albert Einstein who wrote of it in 1953 *before* the scientific community had yet formulated the continental drift theory or the earth-crust shift theory. Graham Hancock provides numerous references from science and archeology to support his theories and conclusions. The author contends the builders of these monuments and structures were trying to leave us, the future generation of the human race ... a message. They did this through archeological, mathematical, and scientific evidence, along with information passed down in myths and legends. Once started, this book is difficult to put down. Although it is not easy reading, it keeps the reader totally engaged and hooked, right from the beginning. Graham Hancock manages to connect catastrophic global events of the past, which scientists agree occurred about 10,500 years ago B.C. to the ancient monuments and ruins that are still standing. There are predictions that similar catastrophic events may again occur ... unless mankind changes their behavior on a global scale.