Graham Hancock

by the sudden onset of the Younger Dryas and by the fact that it is accompanied 12,800 years ago by a distinct layer in the earth. You can see it most clearly at Murray Springs in Arizona, for example. You can see it's about the width of a human hand. And there's a drawer there that's been cut by flash flooding at some time. And that drawer has revealed the sides of the drawer.

And you can see the cross section. And in the cross section is this distinct dark layer that runs through the earth. And it contains evidence of wildfires. There's a lot of soot in it. There are also nanodiamonds in it. There is shocked quartz in it. There is quartz that's been melted at temperatures in excess of 2,200 degrees centigrade. There are carbon microspherules.

And you can see the cross section. And in the cross section is this distinct dark layer that runs through the earth. And it contains evidence of wildfires. There's a lot of soot in it. There are also nanodiamonds in it. There is shocked quartz in it. There is quartz that's been melted at temperatures in excess of 2,200 degrees centigrade. There are carbon microspherules.

And you can see the cross section. And in the cross section is this distinct dark layer that runs through the earth. And it contains evidence of wildfires. There's a lot of soot in it. There are also nanodiamonds in it. There is shocked quartz in it. There is quartz that's been melted at temperatures in excess of 2,200 degrees centigrade. There are carbon microspherules.

All of these are proxies for some kind of cosmic impact. I talked a moment ago about the extinction of the dinosaurs. Lewis and Walter Alvarez, who made that incredible discovery, Initially, their discovery was based entirely on impact proxies, just as the Younger Dryas is. There was no crater. And for a long time, they were disbelieved because they couldn't produce a crater.

All of these are proxies for some kind of cosmic impact. I talked a moment ago about the extinction of the dinosaurs. Lewis and Walter Alvarez, who made that incredible discovery, Initially, their discovery was based entirely on impact proxies, just as the Younger Dryas is. There was no crater. And for a long time, they were disbelieved because they couldn't produce a crater.

All of these are proxies for some kind of cosmic impact. I talked a moment ago about the extinction of the dinosaurs. Lewis and Walter Alvarez, who made that incredible discovery, Initially, their discovery was based entirely on impact proxies, just as the Younger Dryas is. There was no crater. And for a long time, they were disbelieved because they couldn't produce a crater.

But when they finally did produce that deeply buried Csikszentmihalyi crater, that's when People started to say, yeah, they have to be right. But they weren't relying on the crater. They were relying on the impact proxies. And they're the same impact proxies that we find in what's called the Younger Dryas boundary layer all around the world.

But when they finally did produce that deeply buried Csikszentmihalyi crater, that's when People started to say, yeah, they have to be right. But they weren't relying on the crater. They were relying on the impact proxies. And they're the same impact proxies that we find in what's called the Younger Dryas boundary layer all around the world.

But when they finally did produce that deeply buried Csikszentmihalyi crater, that's when People started to say, yeah, they have to be right. But they weren't relying on the crater. They were relying on the impact proxies. And they're the same impact proxies that we find in what's called the Younger Dryas boundary layer all around the world.

So it's the fact that at the moment when the Earth tips into a radical climate shift, it's been warming up. for at least 2,000 years before 12,800 years ago. People at the time must have been feeling a great sense of relief. You know, we've been living through this really cold time, but it's getting better. Things are getting better.

So it's the fact that at the moment when the Earth tips into a radical climate shift, it's been warming up. for at least 2,000 years before 12,800 years ago. People at the time must have been feeling a great sense of relief. You know, we've been living through this really cold time, but it's getting better. Things are getting better.

So it's the fact that at the moment when the Earth tips into a radical climate shift, it's been warming up. for at least 2,000 years before 12,800 years ago. People at the time must have been feeling a great sense of relief. You know, we've been living through this really cold time, but it's getting better. Things are getting better.

And then suddenly around 12,800 years ago, some might say 12,860 years ago, There's a massive global plunge in global temperatures, and the world suddenly gets as cold as it was at the peak of the ice age. And it's almost literally overnight. It's very, very, very rapid. Normally, in an epoch when the Earth is going into a freeze, you would not expect sea levels to rise.

And then suddenly around 12,800 years ago, some might say 12,860 years ago, There's a massive global plunge in global temperatures, and the world suddenly gets as cold as it was at the peak of the ice age. And it's almost literally overnight. It's very, very, very rapid. Normally, in an epoch when the Earth is going into a freeze, you would not expect sea levels to rise.

And then suddenly around 12,800 years ago, some might say 12,860 years ago, There's a massive global plunge in global temperatures, and the world suddenly gets as cold as it was at the peak of the ice age. And it's almost literally overnight. It's very, very, very rapid. Normally, in an epoch when the Earth is going into a freeze, you would not expect sea levels to rise.

But there is a sea level rise, a sudden one, right at the beginning of the Younger Dryas. And then you have this long frozen period from 12,800 to 11,600 years ago. And then equally dramatically and equally suddenly, the Younger Dryas comes to an end and the world very rapidly warms up.

But there is a sea level rise, a sudden one, right at the beginning of the Younger Dryas. And then you have this long frozen period from 12,800 to 11,600 years ago. And then equally dramatically and equally suddenly, the Younger Dryas comes to an end and the world very rapidly warms up.

But there is a sea level rise, a sudden one, right at the beginning of the Younger Dryas. And then you have this long frozen period from 12,800 to 11,600 years ago. And then equally dramatically and equally suddenly, the Younger Dryas comes to an end and the world very rapidly warms up.

And you have a recognized pulse of meltwater at that time as the last of the glaciers collapse into the sea called Meltwater Pulse 1b, round about 11,600 years ago. So this is a period which is very tightly defined. It's a period when we know that human populations were grievously disturbed.