Distinctly Montana Magazine

71 w w w . d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m of popular author Graham Hancock. His legions of fans include Keanu Reeves, who sums up Hancock's un- orthodox view thusly on season two of Netflix's Ancient Apocalypse program: "As a kid, I always thought the timeline was off." The time- line, that is, of human history. Forget crawling around in the mud—prehistoric man was building massive megalithic structures using ad- vanced methods now forgotten. Long ago, these now lost civilizations had knowledge far beyond the primi- tives we have believed they were. They had remarkable and profound understanding of masonry and the prin- ciples of architecture, science, and the decorative arts. But at some point around 10,000 years ago they were ef- fectively wiped out by a mega-catastrophe big enough to boggle understanding—maybe an asteroid impact, or a gigantic flood like that described in the Bible (and a number of other mythological texts, including Gil- gamesh). In his book Fingerprint of the Gods, Hancock articulates the beginnings of his controversial theory, and in subsequent books like Magicians of the Gods and America Before: The Key to Earth's Lost Civilization he has developed (and sometimes rewritten) the theo- ry to account for an ever-widening array of potentially anomalous structures he or his disciples and converts have brought to the world's attention. Some, like the sometimes 90-degree angles of structures off the Bimi- ni Islands of the Bahamas or what appear to be car ruts through the island of Malta, seem to argue that they were the products of man, and that Keanu, God bless him, is right and everything we know is wrong. Or maybe the story begins on episode 2316 of the Joe Ro- gan Experience, one of the most popular podcasts in the world, which some talking heads cred- ited with helping to elect Donald Trump for his second term. At minimum it is a show listened to and watched by millions of people the world over. On that partic- ular episode, Mr. Rogan hap- pened to be discussing those very Maltese cart tracks when he pivoted. WHITEHALL Sage Wall owner Chris Borton

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