Full Circle is about a young man, a shepherd who discovers a bone in a cave while searching for his lost lamb. It turns out the bone is from a long lost branch of ancient humans about 34,000 years ago. The cave is real, the ancient humans are real. They were discovered in a cave in southwest Siberia in 2010. The cave has been occupied by humans almost continuously for millennia. The most recent occupant was a hermit called Dennis. This new branch of humanity is named after him they are the Denisovans.
The rest of the story is fiction. The young man Ivan trains as both a shaman and an archaeologist. His mentor Sonja encourages his to study so he qualifies as an archaeologist. He finds out about the ancient people through shamanic travelling and then goes on to excavate in the 21st century.
Although this technique sounds far fetched it is finding its way into orthodox academic work as it has proven to be cost effective, a bonus in these cash strapped times. What I thought of as outrageous is now real.
Evidence relating to the book First Circle
A quote from an archaeologist from the cave said. “The collection of personal adornments and artefacts suggestive of symbolic behaviour from the Early Upper Paleolithic deposits of Denisova Cave, Altai, is one of the earliest and the most representative of the Upper Paleolithic assemblages from Northern and Central Asia. Especially important is a fragment
of a bracelet of dark-green chloritolite, found near the entrance to the eastern gallery of the cave in the upper part of stratum 11. The estimated age of the associated deposits is ca 30 thousand years. According to use-wear and technological analysis, techniques applied for manufacturing the specimen included grinding on various abrasives, polishing with skin, and technologies that are unique for the Paleolithic – high-speed drilling and rasping. The high technological level evidences developed manual skills and advanced practices of the Upper Paleolithic cave dwellers.”
Even more exciting is the results of further testing date this to more than 60,000 years ago. The story in the book won’t change though.
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