In collaboration with John Feliks, Editor-in-Chief of Pleistocene Coalition News.

Engineer Ray Urbaniak’s discovery of the Pleiades star cluster depicted in Native American petroglyphs marked a pivotal moment in rock art research. His striking comparison between these ancient markings and the famed Nebra Sky Disk of Germany challenged long-held assumptions in mainstream anthropology — particularly the idea that sophisticated celestial knowledge was exclusive to early European cultures.

This breakthrough gained even greater significance through a complementary discovery on the other side of the world by researcher Abdulrahman Albalawi, confirming that the Paiute Reservation's petroglyphs were far more than coincidental. These findings ignited a wave of support and inspired other researchers in the Pleistocene Coalition to come forward with related evidence, further amplifying Ray’s impact.

For over two decades, Urbaniak has documented rock art across the American Southwest, revealing vivid depictions of both living and extinct Ice Age animals. His work strongly contradicts outdated claims that early Native Americans lacked representational skill — instead showing detailed, species-level illustrations of now-extinct fauna.

Ray’s research, along with contributions from Chilean engineer Juan Crocco, supports the idea of an ancient and global tradition of astronomical observation. From Saudi Arabia and Morocco to the U.S. and Chile, similar depictions of the Pleiades suggest that advanced sky-watching knowledge existed far earlier — and in far more places — than previously acknowledged.

These insights challenge conventional narratives and underscore the need to re-examine the cultural and scientific achievements of non-European prehistoric societies.

Explore these articles featured in the Pleistocene Coalition Newsletter to dive deeper into Ray Urbaniak’s Pleiades discoveries and their ongoing influence:

• Revisiting The Pleiades, March/April 2024, page 7

• Ireland petroglyphs: Further support for a Nova in the Pleiades, July/Aug 2022, pages 15-18

• Pleiades rock art evidence from yet another continent, May/June 2022, pages 16-18

• The Pleiades rock art enigma and its growing International Context, May/June 2022, page 16

• Pleiades saga: Alternative orientations of the Saudi Arabian and Moroccan glyphs, March/April 2022, pages 18-19

• The Pleiades rock art saga continues, Jan/Feb 2022, pages 14-15

• Saudi panel—Part 2 of the Pleiades rock art saga, Sept/Oct 2021, pages 11-13

• The Pleiades rock art saga; New evidence and implications, July/Aug 2021, pages 15-16

• Sequel to Pleiades articles, PCN Sept/Oct 2019, pages 20-21

• The Pleiades 1600 BC, PCN July/August 2018, pages 15-16