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635: Basement #007: Hugh Newman | Giant Skeletons, Sumerian Myths, and Megaliths

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Mar 16, 2026

Guest

Hugh Newman

Hugh Newman, author, explorer, and founder of the Megalithomania conference, surveys ancient megaliths worldwide. He talks about Göbekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe, buried sanctuaries, solstice alignments that light carved heads, and advanced stone engineering. He explores metrology, global site correlations, subterranean cities, and controversial giant and monumental-quarry discoveries.

02:45:23

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ADVICE

Bring Multidisciplinary Science To Megalith Research

Use multidisciplinary teams to interpret megalithic sites instead of relying only on pottery and burial specialists.
Newman runs Megalithomania to bring archaeologists together with acousticians, astronomers, and mythologists to test broader hypotheses.

insights

INSIGHT

Paleolithic Cave Alignments Prefigure Megalith Astronomy

Evidence shows Paleolithic peoples deliberately chose cave entrances to create seasonal light effects, aligning paintings and carvings to solstices and equinoxes.
This continuity links Paleolithic astronomy to later constructions like Göbekli Tepe and Carahan Tepe.

insights

INSIGHT

Derinkuyu May Contain Much Older Carved Levels

Cappadocia's multi-level underground cities may include very ancient carved levels; lower layers show metal-tool work, upper layers more intricate natural-tool carving.
Investigators found paleolithic tools in riverbed spoil suggesting much older quarrying activity than previously accepted.

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Founding Megalithomania and multidisciplinary approach

01:43 • 1min

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Academics, gatekeeping, and collaboration

02:57 • 4min

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Tomb of the Birds and secret Giza caves

06:40 • 6min

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Giza subterranean discoveries and SAR scans

12:30 • 3min

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Who built the pyramids and Sphinx questions

15:40 • 2min

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Is the Sphinx a leopard not a lion?

18:00 • 3min

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Göbekli Tepe discovery and Klaus Schmidt's work

20:30 • 2min

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Burial, deliberate decommission, and site preservation

22:40 • 2min

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Site engineering: floors, terrazzo, and water features

25:02 • 3min

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Excavation pace, WEF funding controversy

28:20 • 5min

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The Testepela 'super civilization' concept

33:35 • 4min

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Metrology evidence and quarry traditions

37:42 • 3min

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Paleolithic antecedents and ritual astronomy

40:52 • 5min

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Underground cities and Derinkuyu origins

46:01 • 4min

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Karahan Tepe winter solstice discovery

50:15 • 7min

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Details of the solstice illumination alignment

57:10 • 9min

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Ritual use, water symbolism, and sacraments

01:06:38 • 6min

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Anthropology of hunter-gatherer elites and secret societies

01:13:00 • 8min

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Geometry and the megalithic yard echoes

01:21:30 • 4min

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Ancient metrology and harmonic measurement systems

01:25:15 • 23min

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Global alignments, distances and site correlations

01:48:21 • 8min

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Baalbek, huge stones, and builders' legacy

01:56:07 • 7min

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Regional site survey: Saybirch, Navali Churi, and more

02:02:40 • 12min

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Navalichori innovations and early engineering

02:14:21 • 6min

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Iyanla Hoyek and more Tepe mounds

02:20:15 • 1min

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Giants: records, scepticism, and US mound evidence

02:21:20 • 9min

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Stonehenge deeper antiquity and solstice traditions

02:29:52 • 12min

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Global seafaring, diffusion, and unanswered questions

The view over Atlantis

John Michell

John F. Michell

John Michell's 'The View Over Atlantis' synthesizes research on megalithic monuments, sacred geometry, and prehistoric cosmology to propose a coherent ancient tradition across Eurasia. Michell investigates measurements, alignments, and mythological motifs to argue that ancient societies shared a body of technical and spiritual knowledge. The book connects archaeological features with agricultural calendars, astronomical alignments, and esoteric symbolism. It influenced subsequent generations of researchers interested in ley lines, earth energies, and megalithic science. Though controversial among mainstream archaeologists, it remains a seminal work in alternative archaeology.

Christopher Knight and Alan Butler's 'Uriel's Machine' proposes that prehistoric monuments and myths encode awareness of astronomical cycles and catastrophic geophysical events. The authors analyze alignments, calendrical systems, and mythic traditions to argue for a deliberate transmission of astronomical knowledge by ancient priestly elites. They explore how structures like stone circles and tombs could function as observational and computational devices for tracking solar, lunar, and planetary cycles, including Venus. The book connects archaeoastronomy with cultural responses to past catastrophes and has influenced thinking about prehistoric timekeeping. While controversial, it stimulated renewed interest in interrelationships between monument construction and celestial events.

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Ancient Metrology

John Michell

John Michell's 'Ancient Metrology' investigates the presence of standardized measurement units in prehistoric monuments and megalithic constructions. The book argues that ancient builders used consistent units—such as the megalithic yard—and that these measures encode cosmological and geodetic knowledge. Michell examines stone circles, temples, and other archaeological features to demonstrate regularities in dimensions and spatial relationships. He explores how measurement systems relate to myth, astronomical observation, and sacred geometry. The work has been influential among researchers examining the mathematical and metrological underpinnings of prehistoric architecture.

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A Tradition of Giants

Ross Hamilton

Ross Hamilton's 'A Tradition of Giants' surveys historical reports, newspaper accounts, and folklore concerning unusually large human remains and giant traditions in North America. The book compiles documented cases, examines regional patterns, and explores how giant stories feature in indigenous and settler narratives. Hamilton places these accounts in a broader cultural and archaeological context, considering how such reports were recorded and preserved. He aims to separate hoaxes from documented reports and highlight the scope of the giant tradition in historical sources. The work has become a reference for researchers interested in anomalous human remains and related folklore.

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• Mentioned in 2 episodes

Göbekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe

The World's First Megaliths

Dan Lish

Hugh Newman

This book delves into the mysteries of Göbekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe, ancient temple complexes in Turkey that challenge conventional historical timelines. Hugh Newman presents original research and illustrations to shed light on these enigmatic sites, which are significantly older than Stonehenge and the pyramids.

Hugh Newman is an author, explorer, and ancient mysteries researcher who has spent over two decades investigating megalithic sites around the world.

He is the founder of the Megalithomania Conference, now in its 20th year, which brings together academics, archaeologists, and independent researchers to examine ancient sites from multiple disciplines.

He co-authored the book Gobekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe: The World's First Megaliths and has written extensively on giants, earth grids, and ancient metrology.

Hugh has conducted fieldwork at sites across Turkey, Egypt, Malta, Peru, and Britain, and regularly leads research tours to locations most people never get access to.

He appears on Gaia's Ancient Civilizations series and runs the Megalithomania YouTube channel, where he documents new discoveries as they happen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25q2-hP6NgU&t=1s

HUGH NEWMAN SOURCES & LINKS

Website: www.megalithomania.co.uk
Youtube: www.youtube.com/MegalithomaniaUK
Patreon: www.patreon.com/megalithomania
Facebook: www.facebook.com/MegalithomaniaOfficial/
Instagram: megalithomania1, hughnewman1
X: https://x.com/MEGALITHOMANIA
Merchandise: https://megalithomania.dashery.com
Tours/Travel: www.megalithomania.co.uk/tours.html

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