A cross-disciplinary author and researcher with six books published, who tries to discover what is falling through the cracks between the academic disciplines. He primarily researches ancient history and legends applying scientific methods but is equally critical of both pseudo-science and slavish academic adherence to text book theories.
He also publishes under the name Third-Millennium Publishing since 1995 and the books are available via his website: www.third-millennium.co.uk.
Links to further research are also available via the (draft) document here: https://www.academia.edu/110778334/Catastrophism_in_Prehistory_an_Online_Research_Source
Prehistory Papers Volume IV, pending for 2025, 2024
The island at the centre of the weather map is something that anyone in Britain or Ireland will s... more The island at the centre of the weather map is something that anyone in Britain or Ireland will see on their TV screens each day, but most mainlanders seldom give it a thought. Even less may we think of the stormy sea that surrounds it. Often the Isle of Man is obscured on the weather map by the Belfast temperature, or by a wind-arrow! Although called the ‘Irish Sea’ it is on three sides enclosed by Britain with its deepest parts in the west towards Ireland. Here, with a focus on the coastlines that the ancient mariners would have seen, is a pictorial exploration of the coastal views from the island and the legends of the sea that surrounds it. Click on the pictures and links for more views.
There has been renewed interest in the geomorphology of the Irish Sea, since the growing evidence that people were living on the submerged North Sea land bridge during early post-Ice-Age times. Irish and Welsh legends would suggest that the Irish Sea may hold similar potential.
Prehistory Papers, Volume IV pending for 2025, 2024
In a 2005 book Under Ancient Skies I briefly explored the connection between Hindu cosmology and ... more In a 2005 book Under Ancient Skies I briefly explored the connection between Hindu cosmology and its belief in a world cataclysm at the opening of the Kaliyuga epoch (around 3102 BCE) when compared with similar beliefs from other regions of the world. In particular, the Hindu concept of destruction by fire and flood suggested a wobble of the Earth’s axis and a pole shift. In such a scenario the rotation of the planet must behave in a mode known to modern geophysicists and it must obey the laws of physics; these would suggest that a transient wobble and a nutation, in combination with the annual seasons, would set up a seven-year rhythm of ‘long-seasons’ that would have consequences for agriculture over subsequent generations. The Chandler wobble and the Core wobble are today vanishingly small motions that are barely observable. Since 2005 however, the geophysical research has further refined their calculated periods to be closer to a 432-day cycle – a number that is prominent in Hindu cosmology. This opens up the possibility that astronomers in ancient India were observing a real motion while it was extant and that they attempted to incorporate its rhythm into their calendar. Since the nutation is transient it has long-since decayed to rest and been forgotten. The Hindu cosmology may now be the only place where its former existence is remembered.
Prehistory Papers, Volume IV pending for 2025, 2024
Catastrophism in prehistory is a subject that the present author has researched since the late 19... more Catastrophism in prehistory is a subject that the present author has researched since the late 1980s, returning periodically to evaluate new discoveries as they emerge in specialist fieldwork and published papers. It is the author’s position that the current consensus on Holocene climate change relies on too many circular arguments; and that most of the climate events, sea level variations and related anomalies during the Holocene epoch can be better explained by a combination of the transient variations in the Earth’s rotation and the known geophysics that defines them. These influences, when combined with the forced Milankovitch astronomical cycles, offer a cause for the shorter period fluctuations in the climate during and since the Ice Age that have so far defied explanation.
These conclusions are based on the cross-disciplinary pattern of paleoclimatic evidence and published research explored here. The supporting clues may be pursued to a deeper level by following the hyperlinks and references cited in the text.
In discussing the myth of Atlantis in Plato’s Timaeus and Critias, we may typically term it ‘Plat... more In discussing the myth of Atlantis in Plato’s Timaeus and Critias, we may typically term it ‘Plato’s Atlantis’ – but this can be misleading. He only published details from some poetic notes left by Solon. More correctly, the description recalls a conversation between the Greek sage Solon and an Egyptian priest of Saïs named Sonchis. Most modern scholars will neglect this detail and treat the story as a fiction or pseudo-fiction invented to support Plato’s own philosophy. Probably that was the motivation for his unfinished narrative, but the torturous preservation that the story took in order to reach him leaves many points where misinterpretation and imagination could have misused the original facts. Here I shall consider the details as Sonchis, the wise Egyptian, gave them to Solon around 590 BC. We may then compare that core-narrative with modern science and archaeology to see how well it stands-up. The conclusion is that the description of Atlantis is that of a very ancient place and a memory of a real ancient catastrophe – but not quite as old as Sonchis himself believed! So how may we be confident that Solon did actually bring back to Greece a true Egyptian historical description?
Dunbavin, Paul (2023) Dismissing the Venerable Bede – Part II, Prehistory Papers III, Third Millennium Publishing, ISBN: 978-0-9525029-6-8 ., 2023
The origins and ethnography of the Picts of Scotland, together with the earlier prehistory of the... more The origins and ethnography of the Picts of Scotland, together with the earlier prehistory of the British Isles remains a subject that is open to debate. There is a degree of overlap between the available Pictish history and that of earlier pre-historical cultures in Scotland. It is particularly important now, as opinions are rapidly evolving along with the ongoing revelations from DNA science, which have challenged the older assumptions from archaeology and linguistics. However, these single-subject specialists, and sometimes teams of specialists, all have one thing in common – they are not historians. Although the historical sources for the Proto-Picts and the Iron Age tribes of the North may be sparse, we do actually have more history and ethnography about the Caledonians and other northern tribes from the Roman historians than we have from further south – if only the specialist researchers would respect it. A new investigation of Pictish DNA in 2023, the first to focus directly upon Pictish DNA, is in danger of making the same errors as the earlier research and for all the same reasons. It is important to build our knowledge of the past as a historian would do it – from the oldest contemporary historical sources forward – rather than citing a chain of modern scientific and academic papers.
This article updates the author's earlier paper: 'Dismissing the Venerable Bede' (2020) also available via Academia website, following the publication of DNA research in 2023.
The evolution of the Egyptian Field of Reeds: (Sekhet Aaru) over three millennia is examined here... more The evolution of the Egyptian Field of Reeds: (Sekhet Aaru) over three millennia is examined here together with the Greek references to the Elysian Fields and Elysium. It will offer a cross-disciplinary view, looking across academic boundaries, without preconception to either Egyptology or Greek scholarship. It may also assist other researchers as a convenient summary and entry point to the various papyri and historical sources. So often these have to be sought as references to ‘spell 110’ within the extensive literature about the Egyptian Book of the Dead or among the papyri in the Museum catalogues. Specific analysis of the Elysian Fields and their landscape therefore tends to be obscured and lost within complex analysis of the hieroglyphic inscriptions and funerary customs. The vignettes of the Field of Reeds are discussed here along with an accompanying drawing or photograph, together with links to the best image sources available. As an article for the general reader or cross-disciplinary researcher the specialist terms drawn from wider Egyptology are held to a minimum and explained where necessary.
Since the 1960’s archaeologists have somewhat grudgingly accepted that many solstice and equinox ... more Since the 1960’s archaeologists have somewhat grudgingly accepted that many solstice and equinox alignments are evident at Neolithic stone circles and temples. We also find spiral decoration and motifs on some of these monuments and on other artefacts worldwide; most of these date from the third millennium BC (or between about 3100 BC and 1500 BC).
This article is a work-in-progress and was originally published as a page on the author’s website in 2019 (hence the format). It was intended to serve as an introduction and a source to aid research into the significance of spiral art. Additional links may be available on the author’s website at www.third-millennium.co.uk. This update as of August 2024 adds the Llanbedr Stone and the earlier update adds more references and pictures.
Prehistory Papers III, Third Millennium Publishing, ISBN: 978-0-9525029-6-8 , 2023
The possibility of an eclipse reference recorded in the Bible [Isiah 38:5-8] has attracted consid... more The possibility of an eclipse reference recorded in the Bible [Isiah 38:5-8] has attracted considerable interest in the past, but the discussion seems to have generated more heat than sunlight. However, it is only one among many references from historical sources that can be investigated to verify the stability of the Earth’s rotation and the length of day back into the first millennium BC. In theory the circumstances of any eclipse can be retro calculated to a precise date and time of day that could tie the historical chronology to the Julian calendar. Much of the older discussion is now moribund since the realisation that tidal slowing affects where the moon’s shadow would actually fall on the surface of the earth. Whereas other ancient eclipses, both before and after this period, have been shown to correspond to retro-calculations, this one has ‘gone missing’.
The motions of the Earth's rotation axis today (the transient wobbles) are tiny – just a few metr... more The motions of the Earth's rotation axis today (the transient wobbles) are tiny – just a few metres on the ground – but if excited by an event to a greater amplitude than the crustal earthquakes of today, they could explain most of the catastrophic phenomena that we find in ancient myths and legends. When in the 1980’s I began to investigate the Earth’s rotation as a likely cause of catastrophism in prehistory the information available was scant and highly confusing. Today, one may find numerous excellent research graphics and animations on the internet to illustrate the Chandler Wobble and the other motions for the benefit of the baffled general reader, who just wants to know what all the complex maths and jargon actually means. Here in this article are some of the latest source-links that illustrate the motions pictorially far better than I could ever describe them.
This article is a work in progress and will be loaded here as part of the consolidation of the author's articles from the publisher's website to the Academia platform. More up to date versions may be available on the website: www.third-millennium.co.uk. The final article is due for publication in Prehistory Papers Volume 3 in late 2023/4, ISBN: 978-0-9525029-6-8. Alternatively researchers can just ask the author to send the latest version as a pdf.
Prehistory Papers II, ISBN: 978-0-9525029-4-4, 2022
The following combines two articles that were originally published as webpages to illustrate the ... more The following combines two articles that were originally published as webpages to illustrate the possible source of high-energy phenomena from space that would have the potential to change the Earth’s rotation axis – yet without leaving any physical scar on the surface. The articles are not primarily written for astronomers (although I hope they would find the discussion of interest) but for the interest of the general reader and the catastrophist researcher. The articles build on the concepts touched-upon in my 2006 book: Under Ancient Skies. I hope that the discussion here will give some answer to those nineteenth-century academics who declared that pole-shifts and axis-tilts cannot happen; negative pronouncements that even today hold back discussion by modern science.
The first article concentrates primarily upon the dangers posed by fast supernova ejecta, while the second also briefly explores other high-energy phenomena recently discovered by astronomers. Thanks to new space-based telescopes, the discoveries are coming so fast that they appear in publication faster than one can write about them.
Upon the release in Nature in April 2019 of the DNA research by Brace et al: “Population Replacem... more Upon the release in Nature in April 2019 of the DNA research by Brace et al: “Population Replacement in Early Neolithic Britain" we were treated to sensational headlines in the popular media and online. One headline boldly states: "Stonehenge builders came from as far as modern-day Turkey, DNA suggests" [ITV]. Another declared: "Stonehenge was built by descendants of Neolithic migrants, DNA study shows" [NBC]. Although the authors of the report were quick to distance themselves from such spectacular claims, these headlines soon become fixed in the readers' minds. Our first reaction should really be: "so what's new?"
This short article was originally released as a web-page in May 2019
The history of Holocene sea level changes along the eastern Irish Sea coast continues to be negle... more The history of Holocene sea level changes along the eastern Irish Sea coast continues to be neglected even as those of the North Sea belatedly attract attention from archaeologists seeking drowned Mesolithic sites. There is no reason why the Irish Sea should not offer equal potential for submerged archaeology-but for the preconceptions that have accumulated in the underlying sciences. Two recent articles (2022) in scientific media offer an opportunity for some renewed scrutiny and criticism of what has gone before. One is a detailed survey of early Holocene footprints at Formby Point near Liverpool and the other, a new view on the legend of Cantre'r Gwaelod and 'lost islands' off the coast of Cardigan Bay. These are both specialist academic studies, but they need to be put into a wider context and some of the assumptions and omissions of earlier investigators reexamined .
Between 1999 and revised up to 2018 a series of papers proposing the Planet-Z Hypothesis were pub... more Between 1999 and revised up to 2018 a series of papers proposing the Planet-Z Hypothesis were published by a group of physicists and astronomers, including the eminent astronomer Willy Woelfli; these would seek to revise and augment the ideas of Immanuel Velikovsky with more realistic physics. This article seeks to constructively compare and contrast the strands of enquiry to date. The Planet Z hypothesis is granted a greater degree of scientific credibility and exposure than it might otherwise attain, due to the eminence of the authors and its presence on the Cornell University online archive. Physics professors can perhaps cite Velikovsky without risking credibility but no-one else could expect to have similar work published on such prestigious platforms.
Prehistory Papers Vol II, pp 47-58, Third Millennium Publishing, Beverley ISBN: 978-0-9525029-5-1 , 2021
Chinese mythology offers us a myth of the earliest times that is quite different from that found ... more Chinese mythology offers us a myth of the earliest times that is quite different from that found in western mythologies. Rather than a memory of a great flood at the dawn of time, we find instead a memory of a time when the sky leaned over, and rivers changed their courses. Typically, this is treated as a creation myth, or as primitive cosmology, rather than as recording a real event. This article will investigate the astronomy associated with the ancient event as it is described; how it may be coordinated with the western myths; and suggest an approximate calendar date for the cosmic event based upon modern evidence of archaeology, climate and sea-level changes in East Asia. This event may also be equated with the emergence of Pacific islands and the dispersal of the Polynesians from the China coast.
Prehistory Papers, pp 71-84, Third Millennium, ISBN: 978-0-9525029-4-4, 2020
In his retirement up to 1959 the Australian astronomer George Frederick Dodwell conducted extensi... more In his retirement up to 1959 the Australian astronomer George Frederick Dodwell conducted extensive research to check whether the standard formula for the secular variation of the obliquity of the ecliptic could be proven by ancient observations of the sun at the solstices. He came to a conclusion that the formula could not be proven; and that in fact the data showed the likelihood of a catastrophic event around 2345 BC, which he equated with the Flood of Noah. His work was never published, but it continues to be cited in all sorts of contexts despite being based upon science that is now (2005) half a century old. This article will examine how well his conclusions stand up after fifty years of new discoveries. This version is revised and formatted as at 2020 to include Dodwell's own graph, which is now in the public domain.
In the historical and geographical accounts of the classical authors we find various accounts of ... more In the historical and geographical accounts of the classical authors we find various accounts of cannibalism and burial customs from Ireland, Britain and from the Baltic regions that are so surprisingly congruent that it stretches the bounds of coincidence. This article will examine these customs and their likely origins; and compares them to the known evidence of burial practices stretching from the proto-Pictish era back to the Neolithic. The parallels would suggest a very ancient link between Baltic seafarers and the people of northern Britain. (updated 2022)
Prehistory Papers Volume III (2023) ISBN: 978-0-9525029-6-8, 2023
The oft-maligned ancient historian Diodorus Siculus who lived in Sicily during the first century ... more The oft-maligned ancient historian Diodorus Siculus who lived in Sicily during the first century BC, leaves us numerous references to pre-historical events that survive from no other source. These can now be compared to the ever-improving record of archaeology and earth sciences. Among them is an account of the flooding of the Bosphorus strait and Dardanelles from the Black Sea, together with a foundation myth for the city of Troy. However, his version does not quite fit the model of flooding for the Black Sea since the Ice Age that specialists now accept. Of course, it is always the mythology that is dismissed by the modern specialists! Although modern geology denies the possibility of a ‘Great Flood’ event in human history there remain glaring inconsistencies in the sea level science that are glossed over. The following is a review of a few of those anomalies and a critique, which argues that we should look deeper into the geography and events recorded by ancient human witnesses.
A collection of the author’s smaller webpages and articles on the subject of Atlantis in the Iris... more A collection of the author’s smaller webpages and articles on the subject of Atlantis in the Irish Sea 2017-2020. In 1995 the author published The Atlantis Researches, later republished in UK and USA as Atlantis of the West. These more recent articles extend that earlier work and fill some of the gaps. Central to the theories was the case that indicators of time and place (based on a comparison of the ancient sources and modern science) pointed towards a location for Plato’s lost city in the eastern Irish Sea; following a pole shift event that occurred towards the end of the fourth millennium BC. This event submerged the low-lying plains around the British coast ‘in a single day and a night’. The submergence is related to the memories of an Otherworld beneath the sea in Irish mythology and the Annwn of equivalent Welsh myths.
A summary and links to other pages may be found in my article 15 Years on from Atlantis (of the West).
The three articles combined below are:
1) R. K. Gresswell and the Irish Sea Coast
2) Patterns on the Irish Sea Floor
3) Plato’s Impossible Plain.
recently added:
4) The Isle of Man Legends and Sea Views
Prehistory Papers Volume II , pp 17-34, ISBN: 978-0-9525029-5-1, 2022
Two papers published in recent academic media reveal a transformation in the attitude of archaeol... more Two papers published in recent academic media reveal a transformation in the attitude of archaeologists towards the concept of astronomical alignments at Stonehenge and other Neolithic monuments. It may be worthwhile to look back at why it has taken them so long to reach this consensus. Part of the problem lies in the theological divide that persisted for half a century between field archaeologists and archaeoastronomers; but also, the dogma about 'Iron Age Celts' which held that there could be no connection between the Druid astronomy described in classical sources and the earlier 'pre-Celts'. Now that DNA science has removed this artificial barrier we may see that Neolithic people were far more competent astronomers than was previously supposed.
The Joseph Story as found in the Bible and Koran is not the only version of a seven-year famine i... more The Joseph Story as found in the Bible and Koran is not the only version of a seven-year famine in antiquity. The others may be less well known but offer additional detail for us to examine. Do all these stories have a common source? Or do they each independently record a real ancient climate phenomenon? Here is a brief review of some of the sources and the related science that may explain how a seven-year climate rhythm could be created and when it most likely occurred.
Prehistory Papers Volume IV, pending for 2025, 2024
The island at the centre of the weather map is something that anyone in Britain or Ireland will s... more The island at the centre of the weather map is something that anyone in Britain or Ireland will see on their TV screens each day, but most mainlanders seldom give it a thought. Even less may we think of the stormy sea that surrounds it. Often the Isle of Man is obscured on the weather map by the Belfast temperature, or by a wind-arrow! Although called the ‘Irish Sea’ it is on three sides enclosed by Britain with its deepest parts in the west towards Ireland. Here, with a focus on the coastlines that the ancient mariners would have seen, is a pictorial exploration of the coastal views from the island and the legends of the sea that surrounds it. Click on the pictures and links for more views.
There has been renewed interest in the geomorphology of the Irish Sea, since the growing evidence that people were living on the submerged North Sea land bridge during early post-Ice-Age times. Irish and Welsh legends would suggest that the Irish Sea may hold similar potential.
Prehistory Papers, Volume IV pending for 2025, 2024
In a 2005 book Under Ancient Skies I briefly explored the connection between Hindu cosmology and ... more In a 2005 book Under Ancient Skies I briefly explored the connection between Hindu cosmology and its belief in a world cataclysm at the opening of the Kaliyuga epoch (around 3102 BCE) when compared with similar beliefs from other regions of the world. In particular, the Hindu concept of destruction by fire and flood suggested a wobble of the Earth’s axis and a pole shift. In such a scenario the rotation of the planet must behave in a mode known to modern geophysicists and it must obey the laws of physics; these would suggest that a transient wobble and a nutation, in combination with the annual seasons, would set up a seven-year rhythm of ‘long-seasons’ that would have consequences for agriculture over subsequent generations. The Chandler wobble and the Core wobble are today vanishingly small motions that are barely observable. Since 2005 however, the geophysical research has further refined their calculated periods to be closer to a 432-day cycle – a number that is prominent in Hindu cosmology. This opens up the possibility that astronomers in ancient India were observing a real motion while it was extant and that they attempted to incorporate its rhythm into their calendar. Since the nutation is transient it has long-since decayed to rest and been forgotten. The Hindu cosmology may now be the only place where its former existence is remembered.
Prehistory Papers, Volume IV pending for 2025, 2024
Catastrophism in prehistory is a subject that the present author has researched since the late 19... more Catastrophism in prehistory is a subject that the present author has researched since the late 1980s, returning periodically to evaluate new discoveries as they emerge in specialist fieldwork and published papers. It is the author’s position that the current consensus on Holocene climate change relies on too many circular arguments; and that most of the climate events, sea level variations and related anomalies during the Holocene epoch can be better explained by a combination of the transient variations in the Earth’s rotation and the known geophysics that defines them. These influences, when combined with the forced Milankovitch astronomical cycles, offer a cause for the shorter period fluctuations in the climate during and since the Ice Age that have so far defied explanation.
These conclusions are based on the cross-disciplinary pattern of paleoclimatic evidence and published research explored here. The supporting clues may be pursued to a deeper level by following the hyperlinks and references cited in the text.
In discussing the myth of Atlantis in Plato’s Timaeus and Critias, we may typically term it ‘Plat... more In discussing the myth of Atlantis in Plato’s Timaeus and Critias, we may typically term it ‘Plato’s Atlantis’ – but this can be misleading. He only published details from some poetic notes left by Solon. More correctly, the description recalls a conversation between the Greek sage Solon and an Egyptian priest of Saïs named Sonchis. Most modern scholars will neglect this detail and treat the story as a fiction or pseudo-fiction invented to support Plato’s own philosophy. Probably that was the motivation for his unfinished narrative, but the torturous preservation that the story took in order to reach him leaves many points where misinterpretation and imagination could have misused the original facts. Here I shall consider the details as Sonchis, the wise Egyptian, gave them to Solon around 590 BC. We may then compare that core-narrative with modern science and archaeology to see how well it stands-up. The conclusion is that the description of Atlantis is that of a very ancient place and a memory of a real ancient catastrophe – but not quite as old as Sonchis himself believed! So how may we be confident that Solon did actually bring back to Greece a true Egyptian historical description?
Dunbavin, Paul (2023) Dismissing the Venerable Bede – Part II, Prehistory Papers III, Third Millennium Publishing, ISBN: 978-0-9525029-6-8 ., 2023
The origins and ethnography of the Picts of Scotland, together with the earlier prehistory of the... more The origins and ethnography of the Picts of Scotland, together with the earlier prehistory of the British Isles remains a subject that is open to debate. There is a degree of overlap between the available Pictish history and that of earlier pre-historical cultures in Scotland. It is particularly important now, as opinions are rapidly evolving along with the ongoing revelations from DNA science, which have challenged the older assumptions from archaeology and linguistics. However, these single-subject specialists, and sometimes teams of specialists, all have one thing in common – they are not historians. Although the historical sources for the Proto-Picts and the Iron Age tribes of the North may be sparse, we do actually have more history and ethnography about the Caledonians and other northern tribes from the Roman historians than we have from further south – if only the specialist researchers would respect it. A new investigation of Pictish DNA in 2023, the first to focus directly upon Pictish DNA, is in danger of making the same errors as the earlier research and for all the same reasons. It is important to build our knowledge of the past as a historian would do it – from the oldest contemporary historical sources forward – rather than citing a chain of modern scientific and academic papers.
This article updates the author's earlier paper: 'Dismissing the Venerable Bede' (2020) also available via Academia website, following the publication of DNA research in 2023.
The evolution of the Egyptian Field of Reeds: (Sekhet Aaru) over three millennia is examined here... more The evolution of the Egyptian Field of Reeds: (Sekhet Aaru) over three millennia is examined here together with the Greek references to the Elysian Fields and Elysium. It will offer a cross-disciplinary view, looking across academic boundaries, without preconception to either Egyptology or Greek scholarship. It may also assist other researchers as a convenient summary and entry point to the various papyri and historical sources. So often these have to be sought as references to ‘spell 110’ within the extensive literature about the Egyptian Book of the Dead or among the papyri in the Museum catalogues. Specific analysis of the Elysian Fields and their landscape therefore tends to be obscured and lost within complex analysis of the hieroglyphic inscriptions and funerary customs. The vignettes of the Field of Reeds are discussed here along with an accompanying drawing or photograph, together with links to the best image sources available. As an article for the general reader or cross-disciplinary researcher the specialist terms drawn from wider Egyptology are held to a minimum and explained where necessary.
Since the 1960’s archaeologists have somewhat grudgingly accepted that many solstice and equinox ... more Since the 1960’s archaeologists have somewhat grudgingly accepted that many solstice and equinox alignments are evident at Neolithic stone circles and temples. We also find spiral decoration and motifs on some of these monuments and on other artefacts worldwide; most of these date from the third millennium BC (or between about 3100 BC and 1500 BC).
This article is a work-in-progress and was originally published as a page on the author’s website in 2019 (hence the format). It was intended to serve as an introduction and a source to aid research into the significance of spiral art. Additional links may be available on the author’s website at www.third-millennium.co.uk. This update as of August 2024 adds the Llanbedr Stone and the earlier update adds more references and pictures.
Prehistory Papers III, Third Millennium Publishing, ISBN: 978-0-9525029-6-8 , 2023
The possibility of an eclipse reference recorded in the Bible [Isiah 38:5-8] has attracted consid... more The possibility of an eclipse reference recorded in the Bible [Isiah 38:5-8] has attracted considerable interest in the past, but the discussion seems to have generated more heat than sunlight. However, it is only one among many references from historical sources that can be investigated to verify the stability of the Earth’s rotation and the length of day back into the first millennium BC. In theory the circumstances of any eclipse can be retro calculated to a precise date and time of day that could tie the historical chronology to the Julian calendar. Much of the older discussion is now moribund since the realisation that tidal slowing affects where the moon’s shadow would actually fall on the surface of the earth. Whereas other ancient eclipses, both before and after this period, have been shown to correspond to retro-calculations, this one has ‘gone missing’.
The motions of the Earth's rotation axis today (the transient wobbles) are tiny – just a few metr... more The motions of the Earth's rotation axis today (the transient wobbles) are tiny – just a few metres on the ground – but if excited by an event to a greater amplitude than the crustal earthquakes of today, they could explain most of the catastrophic phenomena that we find in ancient myths and legends. When in the 1980’s I began to investigate the Earth’s rotation as a likely cause of catastrophism in prehistory the information available was scant and highly confusing. Today, one may find numerous excellent research graphics and animations on the internet to illustrate the Chandler Wobble and the other motions for the benefit of the baffled general reader, who just wants to know what all the complex maths and jargon actually means. Here in this article are some of the latest source-links that illustrate the motions pictorially far better than I could ever describe them.
This article is a work in progress and will be loaded here as part of the consolidation of the author's articles from the publisher's website to the Academia platform. More up to date versions may be available on the website: www.third-millennium.co.uk. The final article is due for publication in Prehistory Papers Volume 3 in late 2023/4, ISBN: 978-0-9525029-6-8. Alternatively researchers can just ask the author to send the latest version as a pdf.
Prehistory Papers II, ISBN: 978-0-9525029-4-4, 2022
The following combines two articles that were originally published as webpages to illustrate the ... more The following combines two articles that were originally published as webpages to illustrate the possible source of high-energy phenomena from space that would have the potential to change the Earth’s rotation axis – yet without leaving any physical scar on the surface. The articles are not primarily written for astronomers (although I hope they would find the discussion of interest) but for the interest of the general reader and the catastrophist researcher. The articles build on the concepts touched-upon in my 2006 book: Under Ancient Skies. I hope that the discussion here will give some answer to those nineteenth-century academics who declared that pole-shifts and axis-tilts cannot happen; negative pronouncements that even today hold back discussion by modern science.
The first article concentrates primarily upon the dangers posed by fast supernova ejecta, while the second also briefly explores other high-energy phenomena recently discovered by astronomers. Thanks to new space-based telescopes, the discoveries are coming so fast that they appear in publication faster than one can write about them.
Upon the release in Nature in April 2019 of the DNA research by Brace et al: “Population Replacem... more Upon the release in Nature in April 2019 of the DNA research by Brace et al: “Population Replacement in Early Neolithic Britain" we were treated to sensational headlines in the popular media and online. One headline boldly states: "Stonehenge builders came from as far as modern-day Turkey, DNA suggests" [ITV]. Another declared: "Stonehenge was built by descendants of Neolithic migrants, DNA study shows" [NBC]. Although the authors of the report were quick to distance themselves from such spectacular claims, these headlines soon become fixed in the readers' minds. Our first reaction should really be: "so what's new?"
This short article was originally released as a web-page in May 2019
The history of Holocene sea level changes along the eastern Irish Sea coast continues to be negle... more The history of Holocene sea level changes along the eastern Irish Sea coast continues to be neglected even as those of the North Sea belatedly attract attention from archaeologists seeking drowned Mesolithic sites. There is no reason why the Irish Sea should not offer equal potential for submerged archaeology-but for the preconceptions that have accumulated in the underlying sciences. Two recent articles (2022) in scientific media offer an opportunity for some renewed scrutiny and criticism of what has gone before. One is a detailed survey of early Holocene footprints at Formby Point near Liverpool and the other, a new view on the legend of Cantre'r Gwaelod and 'lost islands' off the coast of Cardigan Bay. These are both specialist academic studies, but they need to be put into a wider context and some of the assumptions and omissions of earlier investigators reexamined .
Between 1999 and revised up to 2018 a series of papers proposing the Planet-Z Hypothesis were pub... more Between 1999 and revised up to 2018 a series of papers proposing the Planet-Z Hypothesis were published by a group of physicists and astronomers, including the eminent astronomer Willy Woelfli; these would seek to revise and augment the ideas of Immanuel Velikovsky with more realistic physics. This article seeks to constructively compare and contrast the strands of enquiry to date. The Planet Z hypothesis is granted a greater degree of scientific credibility and exposure than it might otherwise attain, due to the eminence of the authors and its presence on the Cornell University online archive. Physics professors can perhaps cite Velikovsky without risking credibility but no-one else could expect to have similar work published on such prestigious platforms.
Prehistory Papers Vol II, pp 47-58, Third Millennium Publishing, Beverley ISBN: 978-0-9525029-5-1 , 2021
Chinese mythology offers us a myth of the earliest times that is quite different from that found ... more Chinese mythology offers us a myth of the earliest times that is quite different from that found in western mythologies. Rather than a memory of a great flood at the dawn of time, we find instead a memory of a time when the sky leaned over, and rivers changed their courses. Typically, this is treated as a creation myth, or as primitive cosmology, rather than as recording a real event. This article will investigate the astronomy associated with the ancient event as it is described; how it may be coordinated with the western myths; and suggest an approximate calendar date for the cosmic event based upon modern evidence of archaeology, climate and sea-level changes in East Asia. This event may also be equated with the emergence of Pacific islands and the dispersal of the Polynesians from the China coast.
Prehistory Papers, pp 71-84, Third Millennium, ISBN: 978-0-9525029-4-4, 2020
In his retirement up to 1959 the Australian astronomer George Frederick Dodwell conducted extensi... more In his retirement up to 1959 the Australian astronomer George Frederick Dodwell conducted extensive research to check whether the standard formula for the secular variation of the obliquity of the ecliptic could be proven by ancient observations of the sun at the solstices. He came to a conclusion that the formula could not be proven; and that in fact the data showed the likelihood of a catastrophic event around 2345 BC, which he equated with the Flood of Noah. His work was never published, but it continues to be cited in all sorts of contexts despite being based upon science that is now (2005) half a century old. This article will examine how well his conclusions stand up after fifty years of new discoveries. This version is revised and formatted as at 2020 to include Dodwell's own graph, which is now in the public domain.
In the historical and geographical accounts of the classical authors we find various accounts of ... more In the historical and geographical accounts of the classical authors we find various accounts of cannibalism and burial customs from Ireland, Britain and from the Baltic regions that are so surprisingly congruent that it stretches the bounds of coincidence. This article will examine these customs and their likely origins; and compares them to the known evidence of burial practices stretching from the proto-Pictish era back to the Neolithic. The parallels would suggest a very ancient link between Baltic seafarers and the people of northern Britain. (updated 2022)
Prehistory Papers Volume III (2023) ISBN: 978-0-9525029-6-8, 2023
The oft-maligned ancient historian Diodorus Siculus who lived in Sicily during the first century ... more The oft-maligned ancient historian Diodorus Siculus who lived in Sicily during the first century BC, leaves us numerous references to pre-historical events that survive from no other source. These can now be compared to the ever-improving record of archaeology and earth sciences. Among them is an account of the flooding of the Bosphorus strait and Dardanelles from the Black Sea, together with a foundation myth for the city of Troy. However, his version does not quite fit the model of flooding for the Black Sea since the Ice Age that specialists now accept. Of course, it is always the mythology that is dismissed by the modern specialists! Although modern geology denies the possibility of a ‘Great Flood’ event in human history there remain glaring inconsistencies in the sea level science that are glossed over. The following is a review of a few of those anomalies and a critique, which argues that we should look deeper into the geography and events recorded by ancient human witnesses.
A collection of the author’s smaller webpages and articles on the subject of Atlantis in the Iris... more A collection of the author’s smaller webpages and articles on the subject of Atlantis in the Irish Sea 2017-2020. In 1995 the author published The Atlantis Researches, later republished in UK and USA as Atlantis of the West. These more recent articles extend that earlier work and fill some of the gaps. Central to the theories was the case that indicators of time and place (based on a comparison of the ancient sources and modern science) pointed towards a location for Plato’s lost city in the eastern Irish Sea; following a pole shift event that occurred towards the end of the fourth millennium BC. This event submerged the low-lying plains around the British coast ‘in a single day and a night’. The submergence is related to the memories of an Otherworld beneath the sea in Irish mythology and the Annwn of equivalent Welsh myths.
A summary and links to other pages may be found in my article 15 Years on from Atlantis (of the West).
The three articles combined below are:
1) R. K. Gresswell and the Irish Sea Coast
2) Patterns on the Irish Sea Floor
3) Plato’s Impossible Plain.
recently added:
4) The Isle of Man Legends and Sea Views
Prehistory Papers Volume II , pp 17-34, ISBN: 978-0-9525029-5-1, 2022
Two papers published in recent academic media reveal a transformation in the attitude of archaeol... more Two papers published in recent academic media reveal a transformation in the attitude of archaeologists towards the concept of astronomical alignments at Stonehenge and other Neolithic monuments. It may be worthwhile to look back at why it has taken them so long to reach this consensus. Part of the problem lies in the theological divide that persisted for half a century between field archaeologists and archaeoastronomers; but also, the dogma about 'Iron Age Celts' which held that there could be no connection between the Druid astronomy described in classical sources and the earlier 'pre-Celts'. Now that DNA science has removed this artificial barrier we may see that Neolithic people were far more competent astronomers than was previously supposed.
The Joseph Story as found in the Bible and Koran is not the only version of a seven-year famine i... more The Joseph Story as found in the Bible and Koran is not the only version of a seven-year famine in antiquity. The others may be less well known but offer additional detail for us to examine. Do all these stories have a common source? Or do they each independently record a real ancient climate phenomenon? Here is a brief review of some of the sources and the related science that may explain how a seven-year climate rhythm could be created and when it most likely occurred.
This document holds links to various external research web-page URLs. Good science may also be fo... more This document holds links to various external research web-page URLs. Good science may also be found on such pages written by academics, journalists and by non-academics. The links here are intended to assist anyone wishing to research catastrophism in prehistory, while avoiding the pseudo-science that contaminates such attempts via search engines. It was originally maintained on the author’s website, which will cease, at the latest, by 2025. The list is a work-in-progress and will be updated approximately annually; and any hyperlinks that become defunct removed or noted. Unfortunately, many journalists’ online articles and YouTube videos are ephemeral, but while they are live they offer a good summary of academic papers. This can be a boon for cross-disciplinary research as it avoids paying for pay-walled papers and subscriptions that turn-out to be a waste of reading time! Often, web pages are renamed but not redirected, so it is always worth attempting a keyword search. Redirected links may be slow to appear or may not work on older browsers and Windows versions. If a link doesn’t open then try cut-and-paste directly into a browser or search engine for a partial-url.
Detailed references to published academic papers and to other useful urls may also be found in the author’s research articles and papers available on the Academia webpage below.
PLEASE IF YOU READ THIS NOTE, download and read instead the published version further up in the s... more PLEASE IF YOU READ THIS NOTE, download and read instead the published version further up in the selection menu. I have uploaded here the final version since Academia had put links to the unfinished draft entry.
Unfortunately I can't delete the draft entry or it will mess-up the statistics!
The oft-maligned ancient historian Diodorus Siculus who lived in Sicily during the first century BC, leaves us numerous references to pre-historical events that survive from no other source. These can now be compared to the ever-improving record of archaeology and earth sciences. Among them is an account of the flooding of the Bosporus strait and Dardanelles from the Black Sea, together with a foundation myth for the city of Troy. However, his version does not quite fit the model of flooding for the Black Sea since the Ice Age that specialists now accept. Of course, it is always the mythology that is dismissed by the modern specialists! Although modern geology denies the possibility of a 'Great Flood' event in human history there remain glaring inconsistencies in the sea level science that are glossed over. The following is a review of a few of those anomalies and a critique, which argues that we should look deeper into the geography and events recorded by ancient human witnesses.
For details of the softback and e-book open the page and select the 'files' tab at top left. The... more For details of the softback and e-book open the page and select the 'files' tab at top left. The link to Google Books will give a partial random preview of text.
Uploads
Papers by Paul Dunbavin
There has been renewed interest in the geomorphology of the Irish Sea, since the growing evidence that people were living on the submerged North Sea land bridge during early post-Ice-Age times. Irish and Welsh legends would suggest that the Irish Sea may hold similar potential.
These conclusions are based on the cross-disciplinary pattern of paleoclimatic evidence and published research explored here. The supporting clues may be pursued to a deeper level by following the hyperlinks and references cited in the text.
This article updates the author's earlier paper: 'Dismissing the Venerable Bede' (2020) also available via Academia website, following the publication of DNA research in 2023.
This article is a work-in-progress and was originally published as a page on the author’s website in 2019 (hence the format). It was intended to serve as an introduction and a source to aid research into the significance of spiral art. Additional links may be available on the author’s website at www.third-millennium.co.uk. This update as of August 2024 adds the Llanbedr Stone and the earlier update adds more references and pictures.
This article is a work in progress and will be loaded here as part of the consolidation of the author's articles from the publisher's website to the Academia platform. More up to date versions may be available on the website: www.third-millennium.co.uk. The final article is due for publication in Prehistory Papers Volume 3 in late 2023/4, ISBN: 978-0-9525029-6-8. Alternatively researchers can just ask the author to send the latest version as a pdf.
The first article concentrates primarily upon the dangers posed by fast supernova ejecta, while the second also briefly explores other high-energy phenomena recently discovered by astronomers. Thanks to new space-based telescopes, the discoveries are coming so fast that they appear in publication faster than one can write about them.
This short article was originally released as a web-page in May 2019
A summary and links to other pages may be found in my article 15 Years on from Atlantis (of the West).
The three articles combined below are:
1) R. K. Gresswell and the Irish Sea Coast
2) Patterns on the Irish Sea Floor
3) Plato’s Impossible Plain.
recently added:
4) The Isle of Man Legends and Sea Views
There has been renewed interest in the geomorphology of the Irish Sea, since the growing evidence that people were living on the submerged North Sea land bridge during early post-Ice-Age times. Irish and Welsh legends would suggest that the Irish Sea may hold similar potential.
These conclusions are based on the cross-disciplinary pattern of paleoclimatic evidence and published research explored here. The supporting clues may be pursued to a deeper level by following the hyperlinks and references cited in the text.
This article updates the author's earlier paper: 'Dismissing the Venerable Bede' (2020) also available via Academia website, following the publication of DNA research in 2023.
This article is a work-in-progress and was originally published as a page on the author’s website in 2019 (hence the format). It was intended to serve as an introduction and a source to aid research into the significance of spiral art. Additional links may be available on the author’s website at www.third-millennium.co.uk. This update as of August 2024 adds the Llanbedr Stone and the earlier update adds more references and pictures.
This article is a work in progress and will be loaded here as part of the consolidation of the author's articles from the publisher's website to the Academia platform. More up to date versions may be available on the website: www.third-millennium.co.uk. The final article is due for publication in Prehistory Papers Volume 3 in late 2023/4, ISBN: 978-0-9525029-6-8. Alternatively researchers can just ask the author to send the latest version as a pdf.
The first article concentrates primarily upon the dangers posed by fast supernova ejecta, while the second also briefly explores other high-energy phenomena recently discovered by astronomers. Thanks to new space-based telescopes, the discoveries are coming so fast that they appear in publication faster than one can write about them.
This short article was originally released as a web-page in May 2019
A summary and links to other pages may be found in my article 15 Years on from Atlantis (of the West).
The three articles combined below are:
1) R. K. Gresswell and the Irish Sea Coast
2) Patterns on the Irish Sea Floor
3) Plato’s Impossible Plain.
recently added:
4) The Isle of Man Legends and Sea Views
Detailed references to published academic papers and to other useful urls may also be found in the author’s research articles and papers available on the Academia webpage below.
Unfortunately I can't delete the draft entry or it will mess-up the statistics!
The oft-maligned ancient historian Diodorus Siculus who lived in Sicily during the first century BC, leaves us numerous references to pre-historical events that survive from no other source. These can now be compared to the ever-improving record of archaeology and earth sciences. Among them is an account of the flooding of the Bosporus strait and Dardanelles from the Black Sea, together with a foundation myth for the city of Troy. However, his version does not quite fit the model of flooding for the Black Sea since the Ice Age that specialists now accept. Of course, it is always the mythology that is dismissed by the modern specialists! Although modern geology denies the possibility of a 'Great Flood' event in human history there remain glaring inconsistencies in the sea level science that are glossed over. The following is a review of a few of those anomalies and a critique, which argues that we should look deeper into the geography and events recorded by ancient human witnesses.