Ashley Cowie

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Ashley Cowie
Born	Inverness, Scotland
💼 Occupation	Explorer Filmmaker Author Adventurer Television Presenter

Ashley Lambie Cowie is an author, historian, explorer, filmmaker, television presenter and producer. He has filmed, produced, presented and has been featured in several historical documentary series with networks such as Discovery Channel, History Channel, BBC, PBS, SYFY Universal, Travel Channel and Scottish Television STV.

Biography

Ashley was born in 1973 in Inverness, Scotland, and he grew up in the fishing town of Wick in the county of Caithness, in the north of Scotland, where he attended Wick High School. He moved to Glasgow in 1991 to study photography, filmmaking and audio visual communications and he later returned to Caithness where he established a number of fish and seafood business. A March 16 2015 article in the Daily Mail featuring Ashley’s parent’s highly-awarded seafood restaurant, Captain’s Galley, in Scrabster, Caithness, says “Ashley, a TV host dubbed “Scotland's Indiana Jones” is also a director of the company who controls all marketing and online functions.”

Beginning in 1993, Cowie explored the landscapes of northern Scotland and over the following decade he discovered many prehistoric artefacts including Mesolithic & Neolithic flint scatters. Cowie was involved in field walking projects in Caithness which revealed lithic scatters around the shores of Loch Watten and Yarrows, which was new evidence of early prehistoric settlement in Caithness. He went on to discover some of the first flint tools from the Mesolithic lithic scatter at Oliclett in the Yarrows basin which became one of the most significant archeological digs in modern Scottish history, managed today by the Caithness Archeological Trust.

Beginning in 2004 Cowie began presenting his research on the astronomical and geodetic alignments, orientations and place determination considerations underlying Neolithic monuments, in a series of lectures at the International Science Festival in Orkney. In Matthew Butler’s 2004 Master of Arts dissertation “The Landscapes of Eynhallow,” submitted to the Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Arts, Bristol University, the author describes Cowie’s lecture at the Orkney Science Festival, 2004, where he discussed his theory that the diamond patterns which decorate some of the Neolithic pottery from Skara Brae are carefully chosen and crafted angles – “of 37 degrees” – recording Orkney’s latitude. After his 2006 lecture “The Rope Age” Cowie was elected as a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and his work was subsequently featured in several Scotsman newspaper features. An 11 May 2006 article in the Scotsman discussing the Castle of Mey, in Caithness, which at the time was owned by the Queen Mother, featured Cowie’s private research project that led to his discovery of a hidden tunnel, or sea-gate, leading from the castle to a nearby local beach, that was confirmed by historical archivist, Barbara Hiddle.

Books and Articles

Between 2002 and 2009, Cowie was privately commissioned to conduct research projects at various historic locations for clan societies. During this time his discovery of an “ancient mapping system” on the crypt wall in Rosslyn Chapel was analyzed in Bradford University and the results were published in Dr. Robert Lomas and Christopher Knight’s internationally best selling book “The Book of Hiram.” Cowie’s theory is subjected to a ‘null-hypothesis’ experiment and his conclusion was given “a 1:128 chance of being incorrect,” thus he is credited by the authors as having “discovered one of the earliest mapping systems known to archaeology.” In Cowie’s first book, “The Rosslyn Matrix,” Stuart Publishing, Kilmarnock, (2007). Cowie argues that the collection of lines he studied on the crypt wall of Rosslyn Chapel represents: “a 15 degree stereoscopic projection, “resembling” the underlying matrix upon which sea charts and terrestrial maps are built.” However, he concluded, “the carving was not a chart or map, but more probably a cartographical or navigational teaching tool.” Notwithstanding, the authors of “The Book of Hiram” were convinced Cowie had discovered an early carved sea chart. In his “The Rosslyn Matrix” Cowie provided evidence that the authors of “The Book of Hiram” had miss-calculated a key astronomical angle in their analysis of the mapping system and he suggested their subsequent conclusions were incorrect.

In his second book, “The Rosslyn Templar,” (2009), Luath Press, Edinburgh, Cowie debunked all possible mediaeval connections between the Clan Sinclair, Rosslyn Chapel and the activities of the Knights Templar in Scotland. He presented new research concentrating on the symbolism of R.T. McPherson's 1836 painting, “Templar Knight at Roslin Chapel” and concluded that this painting is “the earliest material evidence linking the Knights Templar to Rosslyn Chapel.” Cowie's third book, “The Super Star - America's Royal Secret” (2011) and fourth book, “Secret Viking Sea Chart” (2016) Alchemy Publishing, delve further into the cartographical system in Rosslyn Chapel presenting a Norse navigational meridian in the Scottish Landscapes. His fifth book, “A Twist in Time” (2016) Alchemy Publishing, presents evidence that many of the so called ritual and ceremonial items discovered in Neolithic Orkney have been “misinterpreted, and they are tools of cordage production and rope building crafts”.

Since 2019 Cowie has been an archaeology and science writer for the “Ancient Origins” history and archaeology platform and he is credited on MudRack with over 1000 published news, research and archaeology themed articles.

University and Teaching

In 2012, Cowie lectured MA degree students “Filmmaking and Television Presenting” at the University of the West of Scotland’s “School of Media, Culture & Society”. In April 2013 Scottish screenwriter and actor Stewart Hepburn, known for Taggart (1983), A Love Divided (1999) McCallum (1995) In Plain Site (2016) LINK received the University Of The West Of Scotland Student’s Association “21st Century Teaching Award” for innovation in teaching and the use of the new technologies. Hepburn thanked Ashley Cowie on his Creative Space Blog for his “continued help and support.”

Television and Filmography

Cowie’s first television appearance was as the Resident Historian on Scottish Scottish Television’s (STV’s) “The Hour Show” (2009) on which he researched, wrote and presented a series of eight live episodes on the origins of Scottish superstitions, traditions, festivals and associated food rituals. With Scottish television celebrities Steven Jardine and Michelle McManus Ashley was interviewed “on the couch” with comedian Sean Hughes and actress Phyllida Law, and it was at this time Michelle McManus and the Scottish media branded Cowie “The hunky Historian,” This was expanded upon in 2011 when New York blogger, Gotham Girl, voted Cowie as her “Hump Day Hotty” and described him as being like “Michael Douglas’ character in Romancing the Stone but hotter and Scottish!”.

Cowie’s next credited television appearance was as a Historian on History Channel's “Holy Grail in America” (2009), produced by Committee Films, which explored the idea that the Knights Templar might have sailed to America one hundred years before Columbus's voyage. Cowie has since stated several times in press interviews that he believes the Templars “did not sail to America,” and that the Holy Grail is no more than “an archetype of mythology, and not a physical artifact.” LINK. Cowie then appears as a Skeptical Historian on Sky Living TV's “Paranormal Investigation Live” (2010), broadcast live on 30 and 31 October from Castle Menzies in Perthshire, Scotland. Cowie analyzed “apparently” supernatural occurrences and debunking them with logic and reason.

In 2011 Cowie was credited as writer, producer and host of NBC Universal's action-adventure documentary series, “Legend Quest.” This co-production from BASE Productions' John Brenkus and Mickey Stern, and Universal Networks International, premiered on Syfy Channel on 13 July 2011 “attracting 1.2 million viewers, boosting SyFy's ratings by 19%,” and in the UK on SyFy Channel on 23 April 2012. Legend Quest aired on Universal Networks in Canada, Australia, Asia and Europe, and the series is currently available on Apple Television. This fast-paced, cinematic, adventure television series series followed Cowie, and his co-host and field producer Kinga Philipps, traveling the world in search of history's greatest and most mysterious artifacts. Each of the six one-hour episodes includes Indiana Jones-type adventure, and Da Vinci Code-style puzzle solving, as Cowie hacks through dense jungles in Peru, dives in volcanic lakes in the Philippines, treks through forbidding deserts in Jordan and explores some of the highest mountain caves in the Peruvian Andes. On March 12, 2012, TVWise reported that the series has been cancelled by Syfy.

In 2014 Cowie featured in the documentary series “Great Estates Scotland, Rosslyn” with Lady Helen Roslin, which aired on PBS in the U.S. and on History Channel around the world. This four-part series takes an in-depth look at the workings of some of Scotland’s most magnificent country estates through the eyes of the current owners, the ghillies, the gardeners and the housekeepers, not forgetting the paying guests who frequent these stunning country estates. The series, filmed entirely in Scotland, tells the fascinating stories behind these magnificent buildings.

On October 22, 2015, Scottish actor and writer Anthony Robert McMillan OBE, known professionally as Robbie Coltrane, probed the history of James Bond's Scottish roots and explored the life and influences of author Ian Fleming in a BBC 4 documentary. Interviewing biographers, historians, adventurers and even Ian's own nephew Fergus Fleming, Cowie recounted the story of his own grandfather, John Lambie, who was a founder member of Ian Fleming’s 30 Assault Unit. In 2016 Cowie teamed up with BBC journalist Sarah Mack to present three new series of STV’s “The People's History Show” which premiered on 6 September 2016. . Filming at popular historical location all over Scotland the pair of historical investigators, Cowie and Mack, presented the stories that make up Scotland's people's history. The first episode covered the tragic story of Benny Lynch, Scotland's greatest boxer, the grisly tale of Aberdeen's 19th century body-snatchers, and the bizarre death in Edinburgh of one of the world's great illusionists. Presenter Ashley Cowie meets historians and metal detectorists in Stirling who claimed to have found the real location for the Battle of Bannockburn, and travels to Orkney to Investigate the Churchill Barriers. Some of Cowie’s own archaeological discoveries are featured in various episodes. His discovery of a “Holy Stane” or “Holy Stone” at an alleged 13th centuries “wizard’s grave” was featured in Season 4, Episode 4, in which Scottish historian George Gunn explained the supernatural nature of the artifact discovered by Cowie.

On March 30, 2017, The Sunday Post interviewed Ashley about his travels around the world, and when he was asked what his most bizarre experience was outside the world of history and films, he replied “Spending a weekend with Robbie Williams and British band Take That in Paris, who were there on a Brit Awards tour while I was photographing”.

On May 1 2019, Cowie featured with American television explorer Josh Gates, on Season 6, Episode 4, of Discovery Channel’s “Expedition Unknown” in an episode titled “Lost Scottish Gold.” Following new clues presented in Cowie’s 2017 research article, “Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Highland Gold” about the lost Jacobite treasure of Loch Arkaig, Cowie takes Gates to meet a map specialist in the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, where Cowie presents Gates and the professor with an anomaly on an 18th-century map. The two explorers embark on a treasure hunt in the Scottish Highland’s looking for lost Jacobite gold, and unearthing an unmapped Jacobite era building they suspect of being Cluny McPherson’s legendary hide-out where he protected Prince Charlie’s gold, they metal detect and dig up several 18th century hunting artifacts and coins.

On July 24. 2019, Cowie featured with Egyptologist Ramy Romany and Dr Zahi Hawass, Egyptian archaeologist, Egyptologist, and former Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs, on Season 1, Episode 7, of Discovery Channel’s “Mummies Unwrapped” in an episode titled “Human Sacrifice in the Sky.” Exploring volcanic cave systems in the Argentinian Andes Cowie and Romany track the last steps of three mummified Inca children who trekked more than a thousand miles to their tragic demise.

Discoveries and Media Interviews

On 17 September, 2009, the Daily Mail asked Cowie what to expect from “The Lost Symbol,” Dan Brown's long-anticipated follow-up to The Da Vinci Code? Cowie, said: “Washington is about to be lambasted with a fictionalized history of America that many will read as fact. But it’s simply not.” Cowie's research was featured in the Scottish Sun 's 2012 “Lost Treasure Week,” where his searches for various lost treasures were featured, including the discovery of a carved letter “T” on cliffs overlooking the river North Esk at Rosslyn. Cowie concluded that the solitary sword “identifies a special location in the glen - the scene of Scotland’s biggest victory over the English,” where on February 24, 1303 AD, 8,000 Scots, led by John Comyn, faced a 30,000-strong English army in the Battle Of Roslin. Outnumbered almost four to one it ended in victory for the Scots, and gave new hope for independence from England, and I believe the caved sword is most probably a memorial of sorts.”

In 2013, Deadline Scotland, quoted Cowie describing author Dan Brown as “a magician” and he said Brown’s new book The Lost Symbol, released on September 15, 2013, “twisted history”.

In 2015 Cowie discovered a “Norse witches' stelle" (carved stone), near Stone Lud, a Neolithic megalith in Caithness, details of which he published on ashleycowie.com. In 2016 The Scottish Sun quoted Cowie discussing Season 3 of The People’s History Show and he said “Scotland has long bred a culture of 'liberation and feminism’ and I am going to explore these aspects of our cultural history.” On 16th August 2006 a Scotsman reporter asked Cowie about the connections between Rosslyn Chapel and the Knights Templar and he debunked the idea saying “There was not a knight in sight. I challenge anybody to show me a Templar symbol in there. Yes, I went down all the usual roads and got involved with all the esoteric stuff, Knights Templar included. I've come out the other end with my feet now firmly on terra firma.”

In 2016 Cowie published the results of his 12 year long research project in which he amassed the world's largest photographic and topographical collection of stonemasons' marks. Cowie personally walked over 12,000 miles photographing kerbstone symbols and he generated maps of London and Glasgow featuring over “6,000 photographs of stonemason’s marks,” and he traced the individual symbols back to gangs of craftsmen and specific quarries. On 1 November, 2017, Dr Von Klaus Schmeh, an encryption technology consultant at Cryptovision, a specialist cryptography and electronic identity solutions company, published a research article on “Science Blogs” titled ”The London kerbstone code mystery.” In this article Cowie’s research is described as ”The most comprehensive study to date.”

On March 8, 2017, Mike Drolet of Global News in Canada interviewed Cowie on a live news broadcast about a BBC news article claiming a cave “once said to have been used by the Knights Templars” had been discovered in England. Cowie told anchorman Drolet “It's 2017 and being asked to swallow this twaddle is tiring. It’s classic fake news. Let me ask the question on the tongue of hundreds of thousands of historians and rational-minded people across the world: "once said, by whom, exactly?" He concluded that the cave “had nothing to do with the Templars whatsoever,” and that the BBC “were cashing in on Templar hysteria.”

In a March 21, 2019, Blue Marble GeoTalks YouTube presentation, U.S. Remote Viewing Technology Scientist, Walter Payne, presented several drone films and orthostatic maps with his and Cowie’s archaeological discoveries in Colombia. Included, is a three-leveled indigenous “platforma" (hilltop leveled for astronomical and geodetic observation) and a possible Muisca temple site dating to 900-1500 AD.

In the Feb 2020 issue of America’s longest standing treasure and metal detecting monthly, “Western and Eastern Treasures” Cowie’s 2020 research paper, “Rediscovering Colombia’s Moon Goddess of El Dorado” is credited with having presented the key archaeoastronimical and geodetic alignments that led to the discovery of a rare tumbaga (gold, silver and copper) statuette of the Chibcha goddess of the Moon, Chia.

In a Feb 02, 2021, Smithsonian Magazine article titled “Archaeologists Unearth 600-Year-Old Golden Eagle Sculpture at Aztec Temple,” writer Isis Davis-Marks discussed the discovery of a carved eagle beneath the Templo Mayor, or Great Temple, (the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán) dating to the reign of Moctezuma I (1440–1469 AD). Cowie is credited with having observed that the artifact was buried beneath the “central axis of a chapel devoted to sun and war god Huitzilopochtli and a monument honoring moon goddess Coyolxauhqui.”

Independent Documentaries

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