ANCIENT STONES Continued from Page 31
sedimentary rocks. Limestone is mostly CaCO3, or calcium carbonate, made up of ac- cumulations of the shells of marine organ- isms, including shellfish, some of them ex- ceedingly tiny, and coral. It often contains some silica (SiO2) in the form of chert, flint, or jasper. The crystals may be in the form of aragonite or the more common and stable form of calcite, which forms trigonal rhom- bohedral crystals, with much variation. These crystals can cause double refraction, or bifringence. Most of the crystals in lime- stone are tiny and imperfect, and many are broken. Also, bear in mind that limestone is often chosen because it is abundant, easily worked, and fairly durable. Sandstone is typi- cally made up mostly of SiO2 and feldspars, which are often present in various forms of clay as well. Sedimentary rocks are solidified by a variety of changes under the general headings of diagenesis and consolidation, and sandstone grains are typically cemented by calcite, clay, or more silica. As with lime- stone, most of the crystals are small, imper- fect, or broken. Incidentally, the country rock beneath Stonehenge and much of the Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire is mostly chalk…a soft limestone. The Giza Plateau is limestone, and much of coastal Yucatan
where many Mayan ruins are located, is limestone as well, with innumerable caves, underground rivers, and sinkholes, or ce- notes.
The third major category of rock is met- amorphic. Obviously, sedimentary rocks have undergone a kind of metamorphosis, changing from sand or layers of shells into solid rock; but what really defines metamor- phic rocks is recrystallization due to chem- ical change, or, more commonly, heat and pressure. Not only sedimentary but also ig- neous rocks can be metamorphosed. Marble, chosen for its beauty, is metamorphosed limestone. Sandstone can become quartzite. Northeast of Mexico City is the ancient site known as Teotihuacan. The complex in-
Mica
cludes an avenue heading 15.5 degrees east of north, the Pyramid of the Sun and the smaller Pyramid of the Moon, and several smaller structures, platforms, and flat-topped pyramids. Under the Pyramid of the Sun is a man-made cave with four chambers arranged rather like a four-leaf clover. In fact, there are a number of tunnels under Teotihuacan. The Pyramid of the Sun was probably begun around 2,200 BP and finished about 300 years later, but it was built atop earlier struc- tures; so the site, like Stonehenge, may have been in use far earlier. The design is called “talud-tablero,” consisting of a series of sloping walls alternating with vertical sec- tions. It may have been constructed by the Totonac Indians, possibly influenced by the Olmecs, and, judging by the carvings, the builders apparently (like the Mayans and others) worshipped the feathered serpent. The pyramid has base dimensions almost identical with those of the Great Pyramid, but it is only about half as high, and the stonework is not as precise. It is mostly com- posed of a reddish igneous rock, probably rhyolite, which is a felsic extrusive equivalent of intrusive granite. Could it somehow have harnessed the chi energy, despite being lower, different in shape, and less precise than the Great Pyramid? A clue may lie in the fact that, when the pyramid at Teoti- huacan was first excavated and partly recon- structed by Leopoldo Batres in the early twentieth century, he found layers of mica, said to be from Brazil (this would indicate
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