Deep Down

[lillyphant]

I hope this isn't already posted. 
So fascinating that we are finding and gaining knowledge from these inner womb like sacred sites,  yet in a way intrusive.

http://news.yahoo.com/good-heavens-oldest-known-astrologers-board-discovered-135402881.html

A research team has discovered what may be the oldest astrologer's board, engraved with zodiac signs and used to determine a person's horoscope.

Dating back more than 2,000 years, the board was discovered in Croatia, in a cave overlooking the Adriatic Sea. The surviving portion of the board consists of 30 ivory fragments engraved with signs of the zodiac. Researchers spent years digging them up and putting them back together. Inscribed in a Greco-Roman style, they include images of Cancer, Gemini and Pisces.

The board fragments were discovered next to a phallic-shaped stalagmite amid thousands of pieces of ancient Hellenistic (Greek style) drinking vessels.

But what nobody knew at the time was that the cave had a section that had been sealed off more than 2,000 years ago. Forenbaher's girlfriend (now his wife) burrowed through the debris, discovering a wide low passageway that continued in the dark for nearly 33 feet (10 meters). Forenbaher described going through the passageway as "the unique King Tut experience, coming to a place where nobody has been for a couple of thousand years."

that would be a bonding experience, eh? 

Wow,  so they suppose nobody was there for a couple of millennium, Incredible!

When the archaeologists investigated they found the phallic-shaped stalagmite, numerous drinking vessels that had been deposited over hundreds of years "In the course of that excavation these very tiny bits and pieces of ivory came up," said Forenbaher, "we didn't even realize what we had at the time."

It's possible that an astrologer from one of the Greek colonies came to the cave to give a prediction. A consultation held in the flickering light of the cavern would have been a powerful experience, although perhaps not very convenient for the astrologer.

Ya think?

[lillyphant]

Sorry for the tiniest of type.   Went back to increase size but didn't work by changing font size.

Ah well............

[burntheships]

Luci,

I tried my hand at changing the font larger...hope you like it.

What a story? I have wondered what it must be like to find
treasures of old like this...

We are but blades of grass...time is so much bigger than us.

[Somamech]

Here's a site with some pics. 

http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/14542

According to Stašo Forenbaher, a researcher with the Institute for Anthropological Research in Zagreb whose former girlfriend (now wife) tunneled her way into the sealed-off chamber in 1999, the broken artifacts around the stalagmite suggest the chamber was a sacred space which the locals used to sacrifice to a deity.

[sky otter]

..great links
and here's one for the photos
http://www.livescience.com/17920-oldest-astrology-board-gallery.html

i have studied astrology for a bit and just reading this the other day made me look some stuff up
i'm not saying it isn't astrology but it makes me wonder what the heck it was doing in a cave
and with the drinking cups..just seems an odd  combination to me..unless an astrologer was part of the drinking party..or maybe the pieces were a decoration on a cup or two

so i was trying to put it together

first off crotia is on the adriatic sea..so the crab and the fishes could have had a different  context..other than astrology, i mean..perhaps a decoration..and ivory..from where..they say elephant and dating to 2200 years old ..and the cave is hidden for 2000...


here's the cave..







the phallas symbol cracked me up.....and after 2000 years i wonder if it was even there when the cups were all left



stalatites are in limestone  caves and if you have ever seen one ..they all look like some wierd type of phallus symbol..so i am just crossing that off the list as any part of anything..




now the drinking vesses.....that is interesting
and they all appeared to be the same type..not different ages
perhaps the natives amping up to go fight the invaders or a celebration to the fertility gods
or..a cult  or who knows..really.

my impression is that the guys finding this stuff are good at digging but not so great at interpretation and that this is more a mish-mash than anything else..
but hey..just my opinion

i think it would be grat if we could put all this info together in the context it was left instead of guessing


thanks Luci for an opportunity for me to toss out my forever questions




and if i could speel i wouldn't have to keep modifying posts..sigh