Erich Von Däniken died two days ago. I read his book Chariot of the Gods? soon after it came out many years ago. With an undergrad major in anthropology I was both intrigued and appalled by the book. He managed to turn his fanciful look into ancient structures and their construction into a cult following.
Von Däniken tried to explain events over the past five thousand years as beyond the skills and knowledge of humans and that they must have been influenced, helped or actually built by aliens from some unknown “mysterious” place in the Universe.
One place that he was interested in also was a place that I was interested in – Palenque, Mexico.
The ruins at Palenque are spectacular to say the least. I have spend many days at these ruins during my time leading natural history tours in Mexico. The wildlife and food here are as spectacular as the ruins.
One of the structures on the upper left contains the sarcophagus of Pakal the Great, ruler of Palenque who lived from 603-683. I have the pleasure of being able to descend into the temple and see the actual sarcophagus. In fact I have a piece of leather with the structure illustrated on it hanging on a wall in out living room.
This is the sarcophagus cover that is one of the ancient structures that Von Däniken has used as a “fact” in “proving” that ancient aliens had visited Palenque.
Regardless of whether you can still see the inside of this temple (which I believe is now closed to the public) it is well worth visiting. There are nearby hotels that can allow you to walk to the ruins. If not it is a short drive. I can remember seeing howler monkeys in the tall oaks at the ruins and saw my first tapir there.
Regarding Von Däniken this is not meant to be a repudiation of the man or his writing because he was a good writer and everybody is allowed to present their hypotheses regarding anything. Currently, his hypothesis is unsupported, but who knows this might change in the future.
More later…
Michael's Place 
I totally forgot about von Daniken! I believe I read the book also (I was an anthropology and English major), I have never been to Palenque, but those photos are stunning. All of those temples, all over the world–are they always a signature of oppression and brutality and slavery? A great price to pay for civilization ( I would have to include the cathedrals, etc including St. Peter’s, across the board).
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