Research Suggests Machu Picchu Was Purposely Built on Top of Intersecting Fault Lines - Smithsonian

The Incas apparently built their cities where possible on the intersections of fault lines, according to Brazilian geologist Rualdo Menegat. And he's got a practical and possibly compelling explanation for this surprising finding. Jason Daley gives the basics of this argument, which ties together facts about the Andean water cycle and the availability of granite chunks for building closely-fit structures without mortar. Daley also reports on modern threats to Machu Picchu that include over-tourism. A sickening example of dangers moderns pose to ancient sites comes in America's Stonehenge Vandalized. A stone tablet at the possibly 4,000-year-old Salem, New Hampshire, site was incomprehensibly defaced, as related by Tim Binnall. Micah Hanks covers a more pleasant mystery in How a Set of Odd, Humanlike Fossil Footprints Caused a 19th Century Controversy. It's a variation on that favorite theme of Giants in most-ancient North America, with proof that such actually existed--though not of the human kind. You'll also likely make your first acquaintance with the term "paleoichnology," a seven-syllable term certain to enhance one's conversational prowess. Speaking of communicating powers, Graham Hancock must be reveling in the news that a Platinum Spike Points to Devastating Asteroid Impact 12,800 years Ago. Michael Irving reports on further evidence supporting a cause for the Younger Dryas period about 12,800 years Before Present. This "mini ice age" may have contributed to the extinction of numerous large animals, including (Spoiler Alert!) those Giant Sloths Micah Hanks mentions. And maybe even to the demise of some nascent human civilizations? (WM)

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from THE ANOMALIST http://bit.ly/2opjK6i