Introduction
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Exact details of the used image templates can be found here.
Some reports on this website are based on previous ones. So it is extremely important to read the reports in chronological order.
Details can turn up that were probably already been analyzed in detail. If you are new here and you directly start reading the
recent reports without prior knowledge, then it could happen that the required context is not recognizable.
You do yourself and us a favor when you first start with the oldest reports.
This report directly refers to structural anomalies within the Gusev crater. We recommend that you first review the previous reports,
if you have not read them yet.
These include the following documents:
An Artificial Stone Hill within the Gusev Crater
It has already been mentioned in the previous report that NASA reacted strangely concerning
the discovery of an unusual stone mound structure. A very impressive image of the Mars rover Spirit on Sol 728
shows the striking structure at the top in the center of the image. The hill is already so close that parts of the surface structure
is clearly visible. The last shot, showing this hill, is from Sol 730. The recorded route suggests that the rover has moved up
closer to this stone hill, but there are no images that show this anomaly. This could have been geologically a very revealing object
of study, but instead it was passed over in silence. One might assume that this hill may have been overlooked,
but more than 2 Sol weeks before the hill can be already seen from distance. That would mean that far more than a dozen times
the researchers, which were directly involved in the mission, must have constantly overlooked the ever-growing hill.
Click on image in order to get a new filtered view
One could now speculate that it probably was initially not clear that the structure should prove to be an artificial stone construction.
It is also the only discovery of its kind ever made by a Mars rover. Accordingly, the significance of this discovery become clear during
direct approach to this structure, around Sol-time 730. The situation was judged wrong and the already published images could not be withdrawn,
so they had only the option to embezzle further data concerning this stone hill structure.
Comparison with Terrestrial Counterparts
Stone hill constructs such as the one on Mars can be also found on earth. There are structures which are referred to as so-called cairns.
The term "cairn" is derived from the English-speaking world and represents an artificially created mound of stones. The exact origin of the word
comes from the Scottish Gaelic language. The term they used (carn; plural: cairn) stands for a carved stone monument.
The shape of a cairn is variable. So there are cairns of different sizes. Consisting of a handful of stones, up to
bigger stone hills. Structurally, many structures are cone-shaped piles of stones, but there are also well-balanced
sculptures, reminiscent of a stylized representation of a person. In the German language there exists a separate term
for cairns, called Steinmann
(translated: stone man).
These cairn constructions are one of the prehistoric cultural features, which can also be found worldwide. It may be that an archetypal idea
is enshrined here, which may explain why these constructs were built in the most remote places in the world. A conical heap of stones
is still the simplest form. In this particular case we are particularly interested in those constructs that correspond in its shape to the cairn
on Mars. A rounded construction with a flat central part and relatively steep running sides.
A small selection of relevant examples have been incorporated in the following image bar. The individual segments are clickable and
do show the image in a larger format. The image description also contains information about the location, and the estimated age
(if this is known).
To enlarge click on one of the images
The Martian Meaning
With the discovery of a cairn inside the Gusev Crater, the question arises concerning its meaning.
In terms of terrestrial cairns most of them were obviously used as landmarks, as it is the case today.
However, it requires no elaborate constructs just to build some kind of landmarks, and therefore these markers are usually made quite simple.
In case of the Mars cairn, it seems to be a very carefull design. Based on the traverse map, an areal map showing the route
of the Mars rovers, however, it is not clear whether the position of Mars cairns takes a prominent position in its environment.
As part of a sepulchral culture, cairns are an expression of how a funeral was conducted.
In this context, they represent grave constructions, which are also comparable with so-called tumuli
.
In English the term "barrow" is used for such burial mounds.
Here, instead of a pure stone construction, a mound of earth is piled up, which is sometimes also supported by several stone pieces. The
underlying corpse was buried on a variety of ways. Starting from simple inhumations up to cremations.
The earliest examples can be already found in the Stone Age and has been practiced occasionally in this way up into the Middle Ages.
Landmark or burial site - more than that can not be determined at the moment and with the present data situation.
Based on the images the Mars Rovers have taken, the age can not be deduced. Thus, there remains only a series of speculations.
Possibility for a Natural Geological Structure
In exceptional discoveries of this kind, it is equally important to clarify whether such a structure can be the
result of natural geological processes. Which natural structures on earth can be compared with the present
Mars structure and how did they originate?
The prospective geomorphic processes must show the same characteristics in the final result, as shown in the example of the Mars stone hill.
To enlarge click on one of the images
The shown examples have only in part parallels with the discovered structures on Mars. Either the naturally occurring
rock formations are much to large, have no upward flattened dome shape or they possess a visibly different texture.
Much more impressive are the artificially created mounds of stones, which are commonly referred to as cairns. Size, shape
and surface structure show conformities in a large number of examples from different parts of the world.
Conclusions
The seemingly casually recorded cairn represents clearly a structural anomaly. Terrestrial examples of similar appearance to the
stone hill constructs on Mars suggests that this is an artificially created hill. However, as with the terrestrial counterparts, there are
also no other structural abnormalities present in the Martian environment. Cairns are usually isolated in the landscape. Only in
the example of some grave mound structures, which are by definition described as tumuli (mounds), further similar structures are located
in direct neighborhood, just few meters away from each other.
On the officially available images of Spirit, other significant abnormalities can be found in the concerned region and the relevant period.
It is a stand-alone construct whose meaning can be probably traced to something very simple and basic, such as a land mark or a grave.
What it really is, can only be resolved by local investigation.
It may not be a particularly spectacular discovery, apart from the fact that it is another example in the list of amazing Mars anomalies,
but possibly this is a very impressive example to suggest that similar customs were practiced on Mars, as once here on earth.
This cairn is possibly just a relic from the early days of the 'busy' Martian history. Did the cultural history on earth has developed in
parallel to that on Mars? What other similarities do we share beyond that?
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