Recent discoveries have uncovered three more-recent Families of Homo who lived at the same time - Cro-Magnon, Neanderthal, and Denisovan - thereby making our view of ourselves more complex. The mystery that these Families present to us is how they interacted with each other. Did They ignore each other, make war with each other, or intermarry? ( Read more... )

EARLY HUMAN FAMILY

Long ago, the Earth was populated by many kinds of humans. Today, we modern humans (Homo sapiens) are alone on the Earth (except perhaps for the “Hobbit” (H. floresiensis) of Indonesia). The development of Humankind from prehistory to modern times is like an orchard of fruit trees. Some of the trees continuously bore fruit, while ( Read more... )

Preparation is the key to traveling safely in “deep time”. By studying a geologic period, you can prepare for the animals that you will encounter. For example, the early Paleogene epoch (65 - 56 mya) saw the rise of temperate and rain forests. It was the “Age of Birds,” when Gastornis and Diatryma (“Terror Birds”) ruled the forests. According to “ ( Read more... )

In his various writings, Ian Corrigan (Archdruid Emeritus of Ar nDriaocht Fein (ADF)) explains how the Celts mapped their universe of “Land, Sea, and Sky”. Corrigan posits that each culture has a basic map of the universe and their place in it. Among the Indo-European cultures, Corrigan states that the Vertical Axis of the World Tree is usually the ( Read more... )

When magickal folks travel to other worlds, they dislike becoming lost. Much like planning a mundane road trip, magickal people will consult a map to decide what route to take. After that, they will decide on interesting sites to see and the necessary rest stops to make. Armed with a plan, they can take an enjoyable and hassle-free journey ( Read more... )

Many of us consider our Ancestors for only a few generations back. Some people do go further back but few will go beyond early “cave” Ancestors. But, why not consider the Ancestors of “Deep Time,” the Ones who lived before Humans? Since as a species, we would not have come into being without Them, We have their lives are encoded in our genes ( Read more... )

The terror of the Cambrian Seas (500 million years ago), Anomalocaris cruised the warm coastal waters hunting for Trilobites. Finding one, this super-predator grabbed her prey with her two appendages, and wiggled the exoskeleton of her victim up and down until it split open. Then, She ate the exposed innards of the unfortunate Trilobite. ( Read more... )

Besides Dinosaurs, Trilobites are also a famous and well-studied species from prehistory. Unlike Dinosaurs, who are two distinct groupings of animals artificially placed in one Superorder, Trilobites occur naturally as Class of Marine Arthropods. This Class of ancient sea animals consists of 10 Orders, 150 families, 5000 genera, and 20,000 (and ( Read more... )

Discovered in Pennsylvania (USA), Hynerpeton altered people’s notions of how Tetrapods (early land animals) lived on the land. This proto-amphibian lived both in the water and on dry land. Hynerpeton spent most of his time in water, but did come on the land for periods at a time. In the Devonian Period (360 million years ago), Hynerpeton spent ( Read more... )

In 2006, an amazing discovery was made in Nunavut, Northern Canada - an ancient fossil of a fish with limbs. Called “the fish that made humans possible”, Tiktaalik demonstrated how Fish transformed Themselves to live on the land. The Nunavut Elders Council named this remarkable animal, “Tiktaalik” which their language means “large shallow-water ( Read more... )