Christian Arthur Edgar "Tim" O'BrienCBE (9 January 1914 – 17 February 2001) was a British exploration geologist and author. In 1936 he was also involved in the discovery of the Chogha Zanbil ziggurat in Southern Iran. Appointed by BP In 1967, he retired in 1971 as chairman of the boards and general managing director of the Iranian Oil Operating Companies, stationed in Tehran, and was appointed a CBE for services to the oil industry.
O'Brien devoted his retirement to researching prehistory, cuneiform, archaeology, astronomy, archaeoastronomy and the history of religion. His hypotheses have not gained acceptance by the scientific community.
He returned to work in Iran after the war and was also involved in exploration geology in Canada & other countries. His later geological work included a survey of the Rocky Mountains' Boule and Bosche ranges.[1] On 16 October 1958 he married Barbara Joy Kelly.
Post-retirement work
After his retirement in 1970, O'Brien began researching and writing about ancient civilisations, taught himself how to read cuneiform,[2] and published three books on the subject.
O'Brien published several other papers and books. "The Wandlebury-Hatfield Heath Astronomical Complex" described his surveying and discovering what he calls the Wandlebury Enigma or Line A Loxodrome, a claim which has not gained much acceptance.[3][unreliable source?]
"The Megalithic Odyssey" presents evidence for an astronomical complex on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, England, dated no later than c. 2500 BC. In the book he presents his view that 13 stone circles and 86 ridge-top cairns were designed and built for complex observational astronomy by a group of itinerant sages with links to Sumer. A review in the journal Archaeostronomy[4] describes the book as "a mishmash of erroneous statements and poorly conceived and unsubstantiated arguments." The reviewer suggests that O'Brien has misapplied statistical methods and that coupled with a dubious interpretation of the archaeology (e.g. assuming that all the cairns, all badly damaged and with only a few over two to three meters high, would have been over 10 meters high whereas similar sites have few cairns over 10 meters, with some of the 'cairns' possibly not prehistoric) "negates any value" it would have had as a claim for prehistoric archaeoastronomy. He further argues that the suggestion that the Sumerians introduced a calendar which made agriculture viable ignored the fact that agriculture had already existed in the area for over a thousand years, saying that "the book is full of statements which only confirm O'Brien's ignorance of our current knowledge of prehistory."[5]
Positions, awards and accolades
O'Brien was appointed a CBE in 1971 for services to British interests in Iran.[6]
O'Brien, C.A.E., 1953, Salztektonik in Südpersien, Stuttgart.
O'Brien, C.A.E., 1957, Salt Diapirism in South Persia, London and Amsterdam.
O'Brien, C.A.E., 1960, The Structural Geology of the Boule and Bosche Ranges in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, London.
O'Brien, C.A.E., 1975, Thaxted.
O'Brien, C.A.E., 1983, The Megalithic Odyssey, A.C. Wellingborough. ISBN0-85500-188-7
O'Brien, C.A.E. & O'Brien B.J., 1985, The Genius of The Few, Wellingborough. ISBN0-946604-17-7 (Revised edition by Dianthus Publishing 1999)
O'Brien, C.A.E., 1985, The Path of Light, The Deram Beas, India. ISBN0946604274 (Revised edition by Dianthus Publishing 1999)
O'Brien, C.A.E. & O'Brien B.J., 1999, The Shining Ones, Dianthus Publishing ISBN0-946604-20-7 (Revised edition by Dianthus Publishing, 2001)
O'Brien, C.A.E. & O'Brien B.J., 2005, Eastern Odyssey – Experiences of a Young Geologist, E & E Plumridge, Cambridge. ISBN0-9516563-9-2
References
^Geological Survey (U.S.) (1949). Geological Survey bulletin. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Geological Survey; Washington, D.C. pp. 463–. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
^Flem-Ath R, Wilson C (2001). The Atlantis Blueprint: Unlocking the Ancient Mysteries of a Long-Lost Civilization, Delacorte Press (Mar 2001)ISBN978-0-385-33479-2 p.195