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Profile of Semir Osmanagic ( Bosnia’s Indiana Jones) www.semirosmanagic.com

 

Semir Osmanagic, who describes himself as Bosnian American, is becoming known as the person who discovered the existence of pyramids in the Bosnian town of Visoko. But this is only the latest enigma that has attracted the attention of the explorer. Osmanagic has spent a lifetime travelling to and researching ancient sites around the world.

Osmanagic is Bosnian and was born 1960 in Zenica (‘Iron Town’) and grew up in Sarajevo. For the last 15 years he has lived in Houston with his wife and son. He trained initially in Political Science and also Economics at the University in Sarajevo. He has also read Sociology and has a Masters in International Economy. He is currently researching for his PhD, The Maya Civilisation, in Sarajevo.

Regions Osmanagic has visited and researched include Central and South America – where he spent a year exploring the ancient Mayan cities in Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras - and he has also studied and explored the ancient Peruvian sites.

Osmanagic has been involved in research in Europe, too, studying the mysterious stone balls that are found in locations across Bosnia, and archaeological sites from the pre-Illyrian era in Dalmatia and Herzegovina (Bosnia).

It was in 2005, during his first visit to the town of Visoko, that Osmanagic first noticed the unusually geometrical shape of the hills in the region. He wondered if there might be more to it and undertook some initial work to establish whether this shape was, indeed natural - or not. Once he realised that the symmetrical sides of the hills were aligned to the points of the compass – north, south, east and west – he decided that the site merited further exploration. Trial excavations, begun in August that year, confirmed the existence of stone tiles across the site and evidence of a manmade structure.

His work has continued at the site, to prove the existence of ancient manmade structures and a culture that he believes could date back to the Ice Age. Further exploration in the region has indicated that up to five pyramids may have been built in this valley.

Osmanagic has established a foundation, Archaelogical Park: Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun, to continue the work, although he remains heavily involved as the person guiding the project and the international involvement.

Osmanagic expects to spend about two months at the excavations in the Bosnia Valley site during 2006; the work itself is expected be ongoing for nearly seven months. He sees his role as significant only in the initiation of the project, to prove the existence of the pyramidal complex and to give the Archaeological Park a solid foundation by establishing expert teams to progress the work.

Once the project is firmly underway, Osmanagic expects to return to his explorations in the Pacific, Africa and Middle Asia.

Osmanagic is also president of a small production company and describes himself as an ‘independent explorer’, funding his explorations, writing and travelling by himself. He started writing about his explorations in the mid 1980s and since then has written several books including World of Maya, based on his exploration of 50 towns in Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras

(http://gorgiaspress.com/bookshop/p-55584-osmanagich-sam-the-world-of-the-maya.aspx)

He has published several other works in Bosnia, including the Mystery of Anasazija, based on his research in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona, and Alternative History, based on his travels in Peru, Middle America and Europe. There is also a book about the Bosnian pyramid, Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun.

www.semirosmanagic.com

 

 

Links:

Recent interview 2006

 

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BOSNIAN PYRAMID - The first European Pyramid discovered in BOSNIA

 

 

 

 

Map Of Bosnia's Valley of The Pyramids
Map of Visoko Valley

 

 

Tunel Ravne skica
Tunel Ravne interactive map