Robert Schoch on Alleged Bosnian Pyramids

Excerpts for the Daily Grail
By Robert Schoch

Hello, this is Colette.

I have moved this post from Earthling “Back to the Original Issue” so Dr. Schoch could post some comments. Here are some excerpts from some of his writings. This will be all he will post at this time. Dr. Schoch and I also had explicit conversations with Semir before he left for Croatia and upon his return. We did speak with him about what was going on with what we had seen and learned, but there was no need to speak to him about reporting news to the Daily Grail.

Other news websites have written words that Dr. Schoch had not spoken, and were written to make it look like Dr. Schoch either supported the pyramids or that he was challenged with a geological explanation. Those news sites were writing falsely about Dr. Schoch as well. He hopes this to be the last of the arguing and untruthful comments made about us until he can complete his report and I complete mine. We feel all of the forums that create controversy are just a distraction from the real research and it is all nonsense what most people have written and taken out of context. We were there, we do not plant individuals inside forums to create confusion and hype. Please understand Dr. Schoch is submitting this for the Daily Grail only to continue on with our reporting. He will not comment further on this post and I will not either.

Ok, thanks,

Colette

“back to the original issue”
Submitted by earthling on Sat, 26/08/2006 - 4:33pm.
The original question was if the pyramid-like hills in Bosnia were man made, or natural hills of some sort.

From what I have seen here, and elsewhere, it seems these things are not man made.

Is that not correct?

Earthling

Excerpts for the Daily Grail

By Robert M. Schoch

“The supposed pyramids formed the stuff of heated debate at other websites (most notably, perhaps, that of the
Archaeological Institute of America, chat-rooms, and blogs across the Internet.”

“Were they really man-made pyramids, perhaps dating back thousands of years? (Some advocates placed them as much as 12,000 or 14,000 years in the past.) Now covered with soil, trees, and other vegetation, Bosnian pyramid buffs argued that the “pyramids” needed to be excavated to reveal their glory and prove that Bosnia, of all places, was the virtual origin of, well not just pyramids, but perhaps even civilization.”

“Having more than a casual interest in ancient pyramids (after all, I am the author of two books focusing on pyramids: Voyages of the Pyramid Builders, and Pyramid Quest), I wanted to see first-hand what all the pyramid fuss in Bosnia was about. If there really was a huge pyramid, larger than the Great Pyramid of Egypt, in Bosnia, then I wanted the opportunity to study it. On the other hand, if there were no pyramids in Bosnia, that would be important to know too.”

“Osmanagic and I were apparently seeing different things, perhaps viewing an entirely different world. Where he saw concrete blocks and human intervention, I saw only perfectly natural sandstones and conglomerates that had broken into larger or smaller blocks due both to tectonic stresses and gravity slumping. For a week and a half this seemed to be the dominant theme: Osmanagic and others who worked with and for him insisting that this or that feature can never occur in nature, and thus must be artificial and human-made, versus me finding a perfectly reasonable geological explanation for each of the same features.”

“The geology around Visoko is incredibly rich, and I suggested to Osmanagic that, in lieu of “pyramids,” he might redefine his “Archaeological Park” as a “Geological-Archaeological Park” and focus more on the geology. Visocica Hill (the one dubbed “Pyramid of the Sun”) and Pljesevica Hill (“Pyramid of the Moon”) are composed of layers of sandstone, clay, mudstone, siltstone, and conglomerates apparently deposited in an ancient lake and river system during Miocene times (about 5.3 to 23 million years ago). The rocks have been tilted and bent due to tectonic stresses. The tectonic forces plastically deformed the clays and mudstones, but the sandstones and conglomerates broke into semi-regularly shaped pieces that Osmanagic and his team have excavated in numerous places, interpreting them as “pavements,” “terraces,” “concrete blocks,” “foundation stones,” and so forth. Interestingly, and tellingly, the sizes of the sandstone and conglomerate blocks found are a function of the thickness of the original rock layers. Thin sandstone layers, stressed tectonically, broke into small blocks while thick and durable conglomerate layers broke into massive blocks. This is exactly the pattern expected among natural rock formations. The sandstones also typically preserve various sedimentary and depositional features, such as ripple marks and the traces of ancient burrowing animals. These same rocks are also rich in paleontology. In some of the sandstone layers, and in many of the mudstone layers, I found large accumulations of fossil leaf debris and even some fairly complete Miocene fossil leaves. I believe that the real treasure of Visoko may be a huge fossil biota just waiting to be uncovered, not some imaginary pyramids.”

“I continued to hope against hope that I could find some “truth” underlying the “pyramid mania” that has gripped the region. One last possibility might be the evidence of the reputed tunnels found in the area that supposedly connect one pyramid to another. We had the opportunity to explore one tunnel that is currently open; to put it mildly, I was disappointed with what I saw.”

“The much-touted “ancient inscriptions” seem not to be ancient at all. I was told by a reliable source that the inscriptions were not there when members of the “pyramid team” initially entered the tunnels less than two years ago. The “ancient inscriptions” had been added since, perhaps non-maliciously, or perhaps as a downright hoax.”

“So, no pyramids, but there are many fascinating and genuine archaeological wonders in Bosnia. On the summit of Visocica Hill, which overlooks Visoko, are the remains of a medieval fort built on top of Roman ruins, and there is also evidence of Neolithic occupation of the hill, dating back perhaps 5,000 years.”

“Despite my failure to validate the Bosnian pyramid dreams, Bosnia is a beautiful country with amazing scenery and a rich history. The people are extremely friendly and hospitable, and Bosnia exhibits a wonderful mixture of Western (Austro-Hungarian) and Eastern (Turkish and Islamic) traditions. Even in the absence of pyramids, it is certainly a country worth visiting.”

Robert Schoch