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Quiz about The Lost Tale  Cartographers to the Incas
Quiz about The Lost Tale  Cartographers to the Incas

The Lost Tale - Cartographers to the Incas Quiz


This is the first in a series of quizzes based primarily on the book 'The Fingerprints of the Gods' by Graham Hancock, wherein he presents strong and often indisputable 'evidence of the lost civilization' - a book to beat the inertia of the mind.

A multiple-choice quiz by ace_sodium. Estimated time: 6 mins.
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Author
ace_sodium
Time
6 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
203,654
Updated
Jul 23 22
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
6 / 10
Plays
649
- -
Question 1 of 10
1. The Cartographer must know it all. In the opening chapters of the 'The Fingerprints of the Gods', Hancock examines the mystery of a very famous map - first created in 1513. Named after the Turkish admiral who 'compiled' these maps from varied sources, they are a source of mystery as they accurately describe the sub-glacial topography of the Antarctic region. Even the U.S Armed forces were perplexed by this as the technology for such accurate cartography was not invented even in early days of the 19th century. By what name are these maps known? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Charles Hapgood, searching for maps of Antarctica (at the Library of Congress, Washington DC) during the 1950s found one which was particularly remarkable. Compiled from various sources, it dated back to 1531 - seemingly impossible as Antarctica wasn't discovered till much later, let alone explored and mapped! However, this map showed a land with almost no ice - of mountains, rivers and estuaries. Yet the last time that Antarctica was ice-free would have to be around 4000 B.C. This makes these maps more intriguing for the earliest known human civilisation was around 3000 B.C. and it seems plain absurd to credit the origins of these maps to the apes! Whose maps did Hapgood discover? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. In the 18th century, an eminent French cartographer cum geographer published a map of Antarctica. The features shown in this map, if accurate, would have predated similar maps (of 1513 and 1531) by at least 1000 years. In fact, it showed a waterway dividing the continent into two regions. Whose maps, published in 1737, were verified during the 1958 seismic survey of Antarctica? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Hancock believes in the transition from the Cartographer to the hinterlands of the Pampas. So this quiz will also take that route. If there is anything that intrigues the "It's out there" crowd more than anything else, it is the Nazca lines. These lines are remarkably 'impossible' for an uncivilised culture to have made. Yet these lines are not drawn to scale - the hummingbird is bigger than the monkey; the lizard is bigger than the condor. Maybe the most popular is the 'Spider'. The extensive study of Dr. Phillis Pitluga (Adler Auditorium, Chicago) showed that the spider was a terrestrial diagram of which constellation? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. The legend that binds the peoples of the Andes is their belief in the Viracocha - the most revered deity after Inti, the Sun God. It is generally believed that Viracocha was responsible for the Nazca lines. He is believed to have come during a time of great turbulence and chaos - teaching the 'primitive' men love, engineering and sciences! Ironically it is this unshaken belief of this legend that finally led to the collapse and destruction of South American empires. Though there are various versions of how Viracocha looked like, they are similar in many aspects. Which of the following is not one of them? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Where there is a historical mystery, can Egypt be far behind? Hancock, during the course of his research, found that there were similarities between many things in Ancient Egypt and the South American civilisation. Which is *not* one of them? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Just how old the city of Tiahuanaco is a mystery which time may never be able to tell. When the early Spanish travellers asked the natives whether the Incas built the city, they were rebuked and told that this city was constructed a long time before the Incas. Considering the Kalasasaya as an ancient calendar temple, Prof. Arthur Posnansky used the principle of 'obliquity of the ecliptic path of earth' to determine the age of the city. By this method, when was the city built? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. Hancock suggests that an important feature of the Tiahuanaco was their agricultural skills, which in some respects can beat even modern practices. These include the detoxification of highly poisonous, yet otherwise edible, high-altitude plants and the use of alternating raised and low fields. The latter is still practiced in modern day Bolivia and is so successful that it 'is now under test in many other parts of the world'. What do the natives call this method of farming? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. Moving on to Central America ... Almost all civilisations here before the Spanish conquest practiced human sacrifice rituals - offering of the heart and blood to the Gods. Many Spanish writers have mentioned the grotesque details. The primary reason for this was to prevent the 'Armageddon' or the end of the world due to the passing of the Fifth Sun. Only the Mayas had calculated the exact date of the 'end of the world'. Which date? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Coming to the end of the first part, I will leave you with a simple question. What was the name of the Aztec God remarkably similar in appearance and other characteristic to that of the 'Viracocha' God of the South American natives? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. The Cartographer must know it all. In the opening chapters of the 'The Fingerprints of the Gods', Hancock examines the mystery of a very famous map - first created in 1513. Named after the Turkish admiral who 'compiled' these maps from varied sources, they are a source of mystery as they accurately describe the sub-glacial topography of the Antarctic region. Even the U.S Armed forces were perplexed by this as the technology for such accurate cartography was not invented even in early days of the 19th century. By what name are these maps known?

Answer: Piri Reis Maps

Piri Reis was an admiral in the Ottoman Navy, the author of the 'Kitabi Bahriye'. He contributed a lot towards the development of the navy with his extensive research. However he had a rift with the authorities and was beheaded in 1555. The Piri Reis Maps were checked by the U.S. Air force, at the request of the John Hapgood who was researching the mystery of the technical superiority of many ancient maps.

As for Piri Reis, he had never seen many of the lands and so could not have drawn them from direct observation.

He admitted that he had merely copied and compiled his maps from a series of ancient maps. So the question remains 'how were these ancient maps so accurate'?
2. Charles Hapgood, searching for maps of Antarctica (at the Library of Congress, Washington DC) during the 1950s found one which was particularly remarkable. Compiled from various sources, it dated back to 1531 - seemingly impossible as Antarctica wasn't discovered till much later, let alone explored and mapped! However, this map showed a land with almost no ice - of mountains, rivers and estuaries. Yet the last time that Antarctica was ice-free would have to be around 4000 B.C. This makes these maps more intriguing for the earliest known human civilisation was around 3000 B.C. and it seems plain absurd to credit the origins of these maps to the apes! Whose maps did Hapgood discover?

Answer: Oronteus Finaeus

This map also showed the pre-glacial features of Antarctica. Yet it is not possible for this land to have semi-tropical climate unless the whole land was further to the north. This, most amazingly, has been portrayed in a few other maps i.e. was Antarctica shown more to the north than its present parking place. Certain geologists did oppose this saying it is not possible for the land to move so much in so short time. (Hapgood's theory, however, got strong support from the Man himself - Einstein).
3. In the 18th century, an eminent French cartographer cum geographer published a map of Antarctica. The features shown in this map, if accurate, would have predated similar maps (of 1513 and 1531) by at least 1000 years. In fact, it showed a waterway dividing the continent into two regions. Whose maps, published in 1737, were verified during the 1958 seismic survey of Antarctica?

Answer: Philippe Buache

1958 was the International Geophysical year. The study confirmed that this map was possible if Antarctica was free of any ice. This is because Antarctica is not one just gigantic landmass but 'a series of archipelagos of large islands with mile-thick ice packed between them and rising above sea level'. An interesting aspect of the Reis and similar maps is their amazingly accurate longitude measures.

It was declared by Newton himself (in 1714) that a chronometer to accurately measure longitude hadn't been discovered.

It was not until John Harrison perfected the chronometer that longitude could be accurately measured. So how did these men at least two centuries before accurately measure longitude? Another important point is that some of these maps show islands that don't exist now. Could it be that these maps were based on maps drawn before the Ice Age and the melting ice caps submerged many of these islands? The Tsunami of 2004 showed that this needn't be such an illogical thought.
4. Hancock believes in the transition from the Cartographer to the hinterlands of the Pampas. So this quiz will also take that route. If there is anything that intrigues the "It's out there" crowd more than anything else, it is the Nazca lines. These lines are remarkably 'impossible' for an uncivilised culture to have made. Yet these lines are not drawn to scale - the hummingbird is bigger than the monkey; the lizard is bigger than the condor. Maybe the most popular is the 'Spider'. The extensive study of Dr. Phillis Pitluga (Adler Auditorium, Chicago) showed that the spider was a terrestrial diagram of which constellation?

Answer: Orion

The Nazca spider is actually a spider of the genus 'Ricinulei' - yet the question arises, 'How did they know about the species in the Amazon forests?' Even if that is accepted as an insight got by a traveller, how do the whale and the monkey fit in this grand scheme? Why are certain human forms shown 'enclosed in halos of radiance'? Too many questions, too few answers!
5. The legend that binds the peoples of the Andes is their belief in the Viracocha - the most revered deity after Inti, the Sun God. It is generally believed that Viracocha was responsible for the Nazca lines. He is believed to have come during a time of great turbulence and chaos - teaching the 'primitive' men love, engineering and sciences! Ironically it is this unshaken belief of this legend that finally led to the collapse and destruction of South American empires. Though there are various versions of how Viracocha looked like, they are similar in many aspects. Which of the following is not one of them?

Answer: He was a young man

Many of the folk tales depict as a man past his prime. Hancock does bring, quite strangely, a Christian connection. Viracocha literally meant 'the foam of the sea'. (Cf. Greek Mythology and Aphrodite). According to most legends, he came from the Titicaca Lake, after the great deluge. The Great Deluge, mentioned in the literatures across the world, has many things in common. It was used by the Gods to remove the non-believers and it sends the world into a chaos, among other things. It is definitely not a coincidence that the same overtones are present in the Old Testament, Vedas et al.
6. Where there is a historical mystery, can Egypt be far behind? Hancock, during the course of his research, found that there were similarities between many things in Ancient Egypt and the South American civilisation. Which is *not* one of them?

Answer: Dialect

That these two civilisations built pyramids is quite well known (and we could also add the Far East to the "pyramid constructing" civilizations). Hancock found that the ancient boats used by the Pharaohs on the Nile, as depicted in the hieroglyphic paintings in Egypt, were remarkably similar to the traditional boats made in the Suriqui Island near Lake Titicaca.

A version of the 'Viracocha' tale told here - Viracocha is known as 'Thunupa' in this tale - is quite similar to the Egyptian Osiris story. Of course, I am ignoring the all too obvious heliocentric theology (Ra and Inti). Hancock also presents us the mysterious case of Lake Titicaca and the city of Tiahuanaco [Note that this is the place from Viracocha was supposed to have made his entry]. Though Tiahuanaco was a port, presumably on the coasts of Lake Titicaca, it is now 12 miles south of the Lake. Geologists point it to either of the possibilities - either the water level of Lake Titicaca fell or the Altiplanos rose.
7. Just how old the city of Tiahuanaco is a mystery which time may never be able to tell. When the early Spanish travellers asked the natives whether the Incas built the city, they were rebuked and told that this city was constructed a long time before the Incas. Considering the Kalasasaya as an ancient calendar temple, Prof. Arthur Posnansky used the principle of 'obliquity of the ecliptic path of earth' to determine the age of the city. By this method, when was the city built?

Answer: 15,000 B.C.

15,000 B.C. is a little hard to digest for many as the earliest known civilisations came to being only around 3000 B.C. According to the principle of Obliquity, 'during a cycle of 41,000 years, the obliquity [of the earth] varies from 22.1 to 24.5 degrees'.

The sequence of angles can be determined by equations, plotted on a chart created by the International Conference of Ephemerids [Paris, 1911]. Using this chart, Posnansky stated, in his book 'Tiahuanacu: The Cradle of American Man', that the city was present during 15,000 B.C. (the angle at the point of constructing of the Kalasasaya was 23 degree 8 minutes and 48 seconds).

His statement was independently checked by eminent scholars, who have admitted that there have no been calculation errors and so there is a possibility that Posnansky was correct.

In more damning evidence, Hancock suggests, with illustrations in his book, that some of the animals drawn on the walls include the Toxodon and a Proboscid figure - both becoming extinct by 11,000 B.C. (Incidentally Kalasasaya could be broken into Kala and Saya, which in certain Indian and and other Asian languages means 'Black Shadow').
8. Hancock suggests that an important feature of the Tiahuanaco was their agricultural skills, which in some respects can beat even modern practices. These include the detoxification of highly poisonous, yet otherwise edible, high-altitude plants and the use of alternating raised and low fields. The latter is still practiced in modern day Bolivia and is so successful that it 'is now under test in many other parts of the world'. What do the natives call this method of farming?

Answer: Waru-Waaru

Another feature that Hancock suggests, to prove the superiority of the Tiahuanaco residents, was the language. The natives of the area speak Aymara - which was easily transformable into a computer algorithm for the purpose of translation. Was Tiahuanaco residents, escaping the floods caused by the rising Lake Titicaca, the 'Viracocha' people? They might have passed on their superior knowledge to the other races in the South and Central America.
9. Moving on to Central America ... Almost all civilisations here before the Spanish conquest practiced human sacrifice rituals - offering of the heart and blood to the Gods. Many Spanish writers have mentioned the grotesque details. The primary reason for this was to prevent the 'Armageddon' or the end of the world due to the passing of the Fifth Sun. Only the Mayas had calculated the exact date of the 'end of the world'. Which date?

Answer: 23rd December, 2005 A.D.

This prediction was obviously inaccurate. Nonetheless, the ancient civilisations believed that there had been four suns (or "ends of the world") before this. The fifth sun is the most dangerous as it involves the Sun God himself. The details of the various Suns can be found in a collection of Aztec documents called 'The Vaticano-Latin Codex'. For more information on the Mayan Calender, refer to http://www.civilization.ca/civil/maya/mmc06eng.html.
10. Coming to the end of the first part, I will leave you with a simple question. What was the name of the Aztec God remarkably similar in appearance and other characteristic to that of the 'Viracocha' God of the South American natives?

Answer: Quetzalcoatl

The Quetzalcoatl figure was also present in other Central American Civilisations, known by various names such as Kukulkan, Gucumatz, Itzamana, Votan etc. Quetzalcoatl was bearded, pale skinned and expected to visit the people from the seas. In the second part of the quiz, I shall focus on more of the Central American mysteries. Hope you are intrigued!
Source: Author ace_sodium

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
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