THE STONED AGE

Graham Hancock Believes Human Culture Arose With The Use Of Hallucinogens

Graham Hancock will read from his new book, Supernatural, on Jan. 25
at 7 p.m. at McNally Robinson Booksellers.

When the possibility of interviewing Graham Hancock presented itself,
I wasn't sure if I could do it -- time was tight, there was a
700-page book to read, and I had a host of other commitments.

But, then, as my partner Donna slipped into the hypnagogic state --
that trance-like transition between waking and sleeping -- she
suddenly blurted, "An old woman in a blue dress just popped into my
head and said you should do it."

When Hancock heard this story, he chuckled and commented, "Interesting."

After reading Hancock's latest book, Supernatural: Meetings with the
Ancient Teachers of Mankind (Doubleday Canada. 710 pages, $39.95), I
might be convinced that Donna's vision wasn't entirely random.
Supernatural takes readers on a trip from ancient pre-history to the
present day, seeking the beginnings and tracing the evolution of
human consciousness.

From cave art to DNA, from Amazonian shamans to American psychedelic
drug research, from alien abduction stories to DNA coding, Hancock
searches for clues about how those little people in our heads have
been talking to humans for millennia -- and the possibility that
maybe they're not in our heads at all.

"I'd had the germ of the idea for a book on the mysteries of human
origins for years," Hancock, who is in his 50s, explains over the
phone from Bath, England, where he's preparing for a tour of Canada
to promote Supernatural.

When I started to research it (human origins) seriously," he
continues, "I discovered most of it wasn't interesting or mysterious.
It was incredibly dull for millions of years. It's only after 40,000
years ago, and really rather suddenly, that it starts to get interesting."

This interest in his subject matter drives Hancock. Supernatural is
as much a record of his investigation as it is a synthesis of
archeology, science, and belief. "I wanted to bring my personal
experience to this inquiry. If I'm going to write it, I have to
experience it for myself."

He documents his visions as he ingests the African hallucinogenic
root, iboga, drinks ayahuasca with South American shamans, doses
himself with illicitly obtained DMT, and eats magic mushrooms on a
henge in England. Less psychedelically, he describes what he sees in
his visits to the painted caves and rock shelters of Europe and South Africa.

Indeed, the rock art provides the clues that inspire his
interpretations of the origins of being human. "The great and
dramatic change seems marked by, expressed through the rock and
cave-wall art. In other words, human experiences with altered states
of consciousness and the resultant visions seem to have been
instrumental in the transformation of our ancestors," he says.

"Cave art quite explicitly connects the great change in human
behaviour to visionary experiences, and documents this connection."

Hancock elaborates: "Our ancestors reached full anatomical modernity
at least 200,000 years ago, with fully modern brain size. But what we
would recognize as modern human behaviour -- with all its subtleties
and creativity, with all its powers to conceive of the abstract and
to manipulate symbols -- only shows up in the archeological record
after 40,000 years ago.

"The hardware stayed the same -- homo sapiens had reached full
anatomical modernity, with the modern-sized brain, at least 160,000
years previously. So what changed had to do with the software -- with
the basic programming of human behaviour."

Specifically, he posits that it was altered states induced by
hallucinogens or trance-inducing practices that sparked human culture
as we know it. "Visionary experiences seemed to switch it (consciousness) on."

Hancock's heady mix of adventure-travel, history, archeology, and
speculation has earned him a huge readership. His books have sold
more than five million copies around the world.

"It's the mysteries that are fascinating," he says. The mysteries
that Hancock has plumbed in his work before Supernatural have
included the Ark of the Covenant, the riddles of the Sphinx, and lost
continent of Atlantis.

Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, he spent his early years in India, where
his father was a surgeon, and later graduated from Durham University
in 1973 with first class honours in sociology. He began his writing
career as journalist, working for leading newspapers in the U.K. like
The Times, The Independent, and The Guardian. By the early 1980s, he
was East African correspondent for The Economist.

"In Ethiopa, I came across the claim that the lost Ark of the
Covenant was there, and I met the guardian of the ark," he recalls.

Over the next several years, Hancock followed the story. "I pursued
my investigation of the ark as an investigative journalist." The
resulting book, The Sign and the Seal (1992), was his breakthrough
into bestsellerdom. He switched the direction of his writing, and he
carried on exploring mysteries of lost civilizations for 10 years.

The nature of Hancock's material, and his very unorthodox challenges
to conventional wisdom, have gained him legions of fans and
detractors. Of his methods, he says, "I'm synthesizing a lot of
material. When it's brought together it gains a lot of force." For
some, this kind of synthesis is contrary to scientific and academic
practice. For others, it is a welcome alternative.

Hancock argues that "archeologists and academic historians have
appointed themselves as the spokesmen for and sole interpreters of
the past in the modern world. Often they do brilliant work, but they
can be extremely dogmatic and narrow-minded over certain issues. I
think there is room for alternative perspectives."

Supernatural is unlikely to quell either the enthusiasm for or the
criticism of his work or methods. Chapter titles like The Shabby
Academy, are sure to raise the ire of the orthodox. The detailed
analysis of alien abduction narratives will attract the Area 51 and
Roswell conspiracy fanatics. His voyages into inner space will appeal
to 21st century theosophists.

Hancock remarks that "How readers react and which particular readers
respond to a book is something I can't control. All I can do is write
the best book I can -- which means writing with passion about things
I'm interested in."

Ultimately, Hancock distances himself from the reception of his
books: "I've always written my books for me, about subjects that I
have a special interest in."

Undoubtedly his enthusiasm and no small skill as a journalist and
storyteller help to engage readers.

Supernatural explores fascinating territories of the known and
unknown, perhaps even the knowable and the unknowable. And the next
time a voice pops into your head while you're daydreaming -- well, it
might really be trying to tell you something important. Maybe.