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Archaeocryptography
Archaeocryptography (from Greek ἀρχαῖος, arkhaios, "ancient"; κρυπτός, kruptos, "hidden, secret"; and γράφειν, graphein, "writing") is a pseudo-science based on, parasteganography, the art of seeing sciences that are not really there. The "science" of Archaeocryptography also referred to as Archaeocartology or "The Code", was created and popularized in the late 1970s by American author and retired US Air Force colonel, Carl Munck. Practitioners of this science claim that it is the study of decoding prehistorical mathematical expressions beneath the proportions, size, and placement of ancient monuments or structures to find any repetitive or unusual data in respect to that which is being studied. Due to a lack of accredited information and scientific proof, it is not a well respected archaeological practice.

Description
Archaeocryptography derives from Archaeology, the study of human activity in the past, and Cryptography, the study of mathematical techniques related to aspects of information security such as confidentiality, data integrity, entity authentication, and data origin authentication. Archaeocryptography attracts adamant participants because the borderland between the known and the unknown is the most fascinating field of human knowledge to study, and statements about times and places for which no real history exists are hard to disprove. Munck's archaeocryptographic theory claims that megalithic monuments, like the pyramids, include a code showing their geographical position. Geographical positions are given in conventional longitude and latitude coordinates; however, in Munck's findings, the prime meridian does not run through Greenwich, but through the Great Pyramid in Giza. Archaeocryptography contends that this system was known long before Columbus. This assertion is considered outlandish by historians, who believe that Native Americans before 1500 were not knowledgeable of the Pyramids in Egypt nor the practice of dividing a right angle into 90 degrees.

History
Archaeocryptography is a relatively new area of study that began in 1982 when Carl Munck read an article by Edgar Cayce, a controversial self-proclaimed physic, regarding the Great Pyramid. This lead Munck to develop a heightened interest in cartographic material which lead him to the formula he believes monument architects used to place and design various temples. Since he began his research, Munck's theory has become highly popularized, and among practitioners Archaeocryptography has become known simply as "The Code". It asserts that the ancient numerology system known as Gematria is used in the manipulation of the numbers to other key locations, mathematical consonants, and positions of the sights themselves given in the geometry of their construction. He began what he deemed his sacred journey in a famous archaeological mound sight called Cahokia in Illinois because Munck felt the arithmetical arrangement of the mounds was too coincidental to be coincidental. After Cahokia, Munck continued to observe mounds and monuments until he published a book entitled The Code in 1997, followed by a series of videos on YouTube. Although the theory lacks approval among archaeologists and scientists as well as a presence in academia, believers maintain that through the code we get factual, mathematically provable evidence that all ancient sites and natural formations across the face of the globe are precisely located on a global coordinate system.

Elements of the System


In order to "break the code" of sacred sites, one must first base the Prime Meridian where archaeocryptographers believe is located upon Giza in Egypt. The hidden number believed to be consistently found among sites is derived by multiplying degrees, minutes, and seconds representing the site's longitude relative to the Prime Meridian at Giza. For example, if a monument were found at a longitude of 49° 1 minute and 1 second away from Giza, one would expect to find the exact number 49 (49 × 1 × 1) "hidden" among that sight somewhere. These hidden numbers are then considered discovered once broad coincidences are considered proof. For instance, in the previous example of the location 49 ° 1 minute and 1 second, if a series of seven stones are found with one in the circle that is perfectly square the equation 7 × 7 = 49 is assumed. A step pyramid at that longitude could be perfectly square at the base with seven tiers on each side. This considerably simple archaeocryptographic calculation illustrates what practitioners view as precise data and what critics view as over broad and outrageous coincidence. According to believers in Archaeocryptography, Munck has "decoded" 270 monuments or sacred sites on Earth.

Methods
Archaeocryptograhers use various mathematical formulas to find underlying correlations in respect to what is being studied or decoded. Certain factors taken into consideration when decoding include geolocation, astronomical alignment, incorporation of grids, and the use of numerical ordering, and Gematria. Popular examples illustrating this theory include the Orion correlation theory, Geomathetmatics, and theories of Cydonia on Mars. The basic "numbers" for an object to be deciphered are acquired by simply counting its visible features such as: faces, stairs, sides, and terraces. The actual shape and structure of the object itself gives its crucial coordinate numbers. Once this is done, the numbers are combined with some basic and obvious form of addition, multiplication, subtraction or division, and then combined with a special "constant". This forms a larger number that Munck calls the "Grid Point Value." It is this number that provides the key to the coordinate position, which Munck and self-proclaimed Archaeocryptographers claim is equivalent to mathematical operations performed on latitude and longitude coordinates.

"Decoded" Sites
In Munck's book The Pyramid Matrix he claims to have discovered a Global Grid or Global Matrix encompassing the entire planet, and is specifically connected to tetrahedral geometry. This "grid" claims to connect ancient sites from around the world like:
 * Pyramids of Egypt
 * Stonehenge
 * Avebury
 * Silbury
 * Teotihuacán
 * Machu Piccu
 * Cahokia
 * Yucatan

Validity of the Practice
Advocates of archaeocryptography believe that it was part of an ancient world's science that included accurate global maps with longitude and latitude longitude and latitude, base 10, familiar weights and measures, a 360-degree circle, and advanced architecture and construction techniques, that spanned Europe, Africa, and the Americas, is consistent with the picture emerging of a common, global mother culture, so ancient as to be forgotten, and highly advanced. Because numbers of monuments original coordinates multiplied by Munck's "grid" often differ by very small increments, practitioners assert this as undeniable proof of "the code", not mere coincidence. Archaeocryptographers and members of the field claim that those who deny or the sound mathematical evidence that the code presents are denying a reputable science. Critics against Archaeocryptography argue that there are many numbers involved, which can be arranged in many different formulas and matched against many different values. Therefore, the practice of Archaeocryptography would only be valid with a statistical foundation that proves that his findings are more than merely coincidence. Critics claim Munck has never provided proof of this. Archaeocryptography is considered a part of "Fringe Science" or Psuedoscience among archaeologists, historians, and members of academia. Many claim that the excitement of a prophecy that might appear to be true or the collective rationalization of strange beliefs to others, and that these "shared feelings" only propel their research. Critics assert that the vagaries of Archaeocryptography illustrate the motives and sources both of Atlantism and occultism in general- the urge to distinction by some easy, indirect route; the assumptions of the wisdom of the ancients and the hidden hierarchy that rules the earth. Both advocates and critics believe that those who disagree with their perspectives are merely "well meaning, but grievously misinformed individuals who have based their theories upon superficial archaeological observation and theological speculation, not upon inherent knowledge, clairvoyant, vision, or divine revelation."

Connection to "Lost Civilizations"
Many devout believers in the existence of lost civilizations such as Atlantis and Lemuria credit Archaeocryptography with helping discover their locations. Munck's "Code" is believed to have helped rediscovered the Atlantean planet-wide system of coordinates that parallels the work of other "grid" pioneers such as Richard Hoagland and Bruce Cathie. Archaeocryptographers and theosophists of lost civilizations believe that by using tetrahedral geometry, mathematical coordinates, and various grid systems, ancient sites like Atlantis can be detected. Archaeocryptography and the "science" of discovering lost civilizations are closely connected because data concerning "The Code" supposedly indicates that literally the entire world‘s collection of sacred sites were created and mapped precisely by what had to have been a global culture. Theories and research among these categories are categorized as Pseudoscience, or claims that are presented as scientific but do not adhere to a scientific method. Major speculation regarding the validity of archaeocryptography parallels that of those researching lost civilizations in the twentieth century. American author of science, L. Sprague de Camp, wrote that practices in the field of "fringe" science as well as the search for lost continents enable the bumptious amateur in the sciences to play at being a historian, an archaeologist, or a paleonographer. Archaeocryptography contains similar syntheses of Eastern and Western occultism, complete with Atlantis, Lemuria, and eight-dimensional universe, reincarnation, pyramidology, and the like have been proffered by learned contemporary occultists like Edgar Cayce.

Edgar Cayce
As stated earlier, Munck's work in archaeocryptography was inspired by the work of Edgar Cayce, an American pyschic and channeler, who in the early 1900's affirmed the existence of the lost continent of Atlantis. He asserted that records of Atlantis were left somewhere beneath the Sphinx, on the Giza plateau in Egypt. Munck took this assertion literally, and began his work "decoding" pyramids around the world, concluding that the world‘s collection of sacred sites were created and mapped precisely by what had to have been a global culture.