We may never know who the Nephilim were, but geological evidence now allows us to reference the time frame in which they first appeared. The fact is—there was a great flood. Earth’s last ice age was the culprit, the event dating back some 115,000 years. At the time, massive glaciers covered most of the northern and southern hemispheres, advancing and retreating, eventually peaking some 17,000 years ago. Most of Europe was buried under an ice cap two miles thick. Glaciers in North America pushed as far south as the Mississippi Valley and down to the 37th parallel.

It was the time of Homo sapiens neanderthalensis, Neanderthal Man. It was also around this time in our ancestors’ history that the mysterious “fallen ones” arrived.

Perhaps the clans of early Homo sapiens did little to impress these men of renown. Perhaps the Nephilim felt it best that early man return to the evolutionary drawing board. Whatever their response, all we know is that miraculously, and quite suddenly, the world started melting.

It happened fast, triggered by some unknown, cataclysmic development. Millions of cubic miles of ice that had taken more than 40,000 years to advance suddenly melted in less than two millennia. The sea rose 300 to 400 feet, engulfing the land. Sections of Earth, once weighed down by billions of tons of ice, began rising, causing terrible earthquakes. Volcanoes erupted, spewing enormous amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, increasing global warming. Great tidal waves uprooted jungles, wiping out animals and devastating the land.

The planet became a very hostile place.

By 13,000 BC to 11,000 BC, most of the ice had melted, the climate stabilizing. And emerging from this muck and mire was a new subspecies, Homo sapiens sapiens—modern man.

Evolution or the Bible’s story of creation—wherein lies the truth of modern man’s rise? As a scientist, I am compelled to believe in Darwinism, but as an archaeologist, I also recognize that truth is often concealed within myths passed down over millennia. The prophecy foretold by the Mayan calendar falls into the same category. As mentioned earlier, the calendar is a precise scientific instrument that utilizes advanced principles of astronomy and mathematics to derive its calculations. At the same time, the calendar’s origins are centered around the most important legend in Mayan history—the Popol Vuh—the Mayan book of creation.