Open Letter about Tara

national | environment | opinion/analysis Tuesday July 20, 2010 11:42 by Sean Keir Moriarty

Dear Prime Minister Cowen,

Over the course of the past three (3) years, I've written you, Mr. Gormley, the members of Dáil Éireann, the Meath County Council, archaeologists at NUI Galway, UC Dublin, UC Cork, The Heritage Council, The Discovery Programme and the OPW on numerous occasions regarding my research paper, 'Orthostat, the Mound of the Hostages'.

http://www.knowth.com/tara-pdf.htm

The purpose for doing so was to convince The Heritage Council, The Discovery Programme & OPW to complete the geo-physical mapping of Tara, which I have no doubt will confirm the hypothesis set forth in my paper, that the symbols carved on Orthostat L2 within the Mound of the Hostages, constitute a map of the Hill of Tara, as it existed during the Neolithic Age. ( ca. 3200 BC)

The response I received from The Discovery Programme was that "no one here is compet

ent enough to interpret the images", i.e. the symbols on the orthostat, as compared to the Lidar and Magnetic Gradiometry images that The Discovery Programme got back from their previous survey of Tara. Further, that they turned such matters over to the archaeologists at NUI Galway, as they're experts on Tara. However, they stated that they too weren't competent enough to interpret the images.

That said, if these individuals are not "competent enough" then it begs the question, why are they conducting another geo-survey of Tara? That's nothing more than a waste of taxpayers money, an issue that could have been solved, had they taken up the offer by an international geo-sciences firm to contribute their expertise and potential funding for the project. (see below) I find it far to coincidental that after three (3) years of ignoring my repeated requests, that three (3) months after making NUI Galway, The Discovery Programme and the OPW aware of the offer.

"The Discovery Programme and N.U.I. Galway will undertake further geophysical survey at Tara over the last two weeks of July. To coincide with this a number of walks and talks are offered in collaboration with the Office of Public Works."

Having few other options to get Tara mapped, I contacted NASA/JPL, requesting their assistance in mapping Tara. While they were unable to do so, they did respond as follows with regards to the images I submitted:
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"Your idea that the orthostat is an early map of Tara is very interesting and certainly looks to me as if the features [symbols] line up with the terrain visible in the lidar image[s] and aerial photos."

"Let me give you some idea of my background: I am an expert in mapping radar systems, of some 27 years experience. One of my interests over the years has been radar archaeology, and while I am not an archaeologist, I have worked with a couple in the past."

"For the radar, we do have an airborne capability at JPL, but no near-term plans to deploy it to Europe (in which case it would be easy to tack on some flights over Co. Meath). But, JPL developed an interferometric radar called GeoSAR a few years ago, which has the sort of characteristics I think you need, and is now operated by a commercial company."

At NASA's suggestion, I submitted a written proposal to The CEO, COO and Board Members of the geo-sciences firm. Based on NASA's response and the images I also submitted to them, their Chief Operating Officer responded as follows:

"First, my apologies for the delayed response as I needed a little time to check into the facts of the matter before getting back to you. Also, let me say that I appreciate your interest in Tara and your endeavours to have its historic importance recognised by UNESCO so as to preserve this site for future generations."

"Our recommendation would be that you contact the appropriate agencies in Ireland such as the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government, or the Department of Communication and Natural Resources or the Office of Public Works, to see if one or more of these agencies would be prepared to take the lead in undertaking a geophysical survey at Tara. If there is a willingness by one or more Irish Government agency to undertake further surveys at Tara, we would be willing to contribute to the preparation of a survey specification document and may be in a position to contribute to the actual survey work itself."

In a further effort to confirm my hypothesis, I applied it to the two (2) panels on Orthostat 8, Site 14 at Knowth, in particular the rear panel.

http://www.newgrange.com/petroglyphs-pdf.htm

Upon completing ‘Petroglyphs, the Bend in the Boyne’, I submitted both papers to Dr. George Nash, a preeminent Prehistoric rock art specialist, as well as several other archaeologists outside of Ireland. Following are his responses.

Dated: Sat. 5/29/10 2:11 PM

“I have been through both web-papers and I think that what you are saying is worthwhile, especially the idea of mapping each of the Neolithic landscapes - incidentally this is something I have been barking on about since 1997 with my work in Galicia and Southern Sweden. The ideas you promote are as valid as anything else that I have read.”

Dated: Mon. 5/31/10 1:19 PM

“Concerning your web papers. Although you consider yourself not an archaeologist, it should not deter you from spreading your word through the academic community and therefore I would urge you to have a go - your ideas and discussion points for each web paper are as valid as the next person, including those academics who have researched these areas previously. The mapping theory opens up potentially a whole new world, turning sites into landscapes.”

Regards,

George

Dr. George Nash
Archaeologist & specialist in Prehistoric and Contemporary art,
P/T @ Department of Archaeology & Anthropology,
University of Bristol,
43 Woodlands Road,
Bristol,
BS8 1UU

Associate Professor at the Faculty of Architecture, Spiru Haret University , Bucharest , Romania and
Senior Researcher at the Museum of Prehistoric Art (Quaternary and Prehistory Geosciences Centre), Macao, Portugal

Email: (deleted)
Email: (deleted)

Telephone: (deleted)

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Mr. Prime Minister, if my hypothesis is confirmed, it would mean the following:

1) The stones represent the oldest maps in the world, predating the Soleto map by nearly 3,000 years.

2) It would enable archaeologists not merely in Ireland, but Britain and parts of Western Europe to identify heretofore unknown sites, as well as monuments within existing sites that are no longer visible in the landscape or overlooked during excavation.

3) Then there are then tens of thousands of remains and artifacts to be excavated from those sites, which would rewrite the archaeological, cultural and even religious history of those sites.

Sir, with all due respect, the mapping of Tara should not be left to individuals who are not "competent enough" to interpret the data. By teaming up with the geo-sciences firm, it would cut the cost of the survey, the mapping would be done based on my research and the data interpreted competently.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing from you regarding this matter.

Kind regards,

Sean Keir Moriarty