Europe where History comes from.

My friend John recently returned from his first visit to Scotland. He was in search of his roots. Sometimes a visitor to a country, city or area knows more about the environment than the locals.  Everything is new to the visitor who is motivated by curiosity.  The locals take most of what they see on a regular basis for granted.

So it was with my friend John.  He was able to find so many more things of interest in places that would have seemed mundane by local standards. He was most fascinated by the ancient monuments, some nothing more than carvings on a rock.  It seems that civilization has been in the area of Scotland for a very long time.  There were carved rocks and stone henge's that date back to 4000 BC.

We have a tendency to think that there was nothing going on when Egypt ruled the world outside of the Middle East. In reality there was a thriving culture in China and Scotland 2000 years before the Egyptians were considered the center of the universe.  There could be even more cultures around the world that thrived but left no trace of their own existence.  

I suppose to out live the mortality that we all face as humans we try to leave behind something that says "I was here." It is why people leave money to organizations in their own name or build buildings and monuments with their name attached. Headstones are made of granite which stands the test of time.

John took pictures of some of the stone carvings he found, some no more than stick figures etched on the side of a rock. They were very interesting.

The ancient Ventura Monument

However,  I found yesterday that such archaeologically fascinations are not restricted to Europe where history comes from. These monuments are all around us.  We just have to keep our eyes open and pay attention.  Take for example this monument I found recently in the San Fernando Valley.

Located near the corner of Firmament and Ventura Blvd, in Sherman Oaks/Encino, CA, you can see that this monument has been carved in stone.  It is decades old left by pioneers who were first to define the path across this fertile inland desert.

We know there tools were not as sophisticated as they are today, and we are unsure of their methods. It can not be determined who actually caved this monument but it is most certainly not Malcolm himself. Other carvings in the same area were more crudely drawn with less sophisticated tools. It is obvious that these early monument makers were aware of mathematics using the " + " sign between the names of Bill and Susan. 

While they may not be as old as the stone carving my friend found in Scotland, the stone carvings I found were no more than a dog walk away from my house.  

As you were,

Jay