Expert: John J. Shea - 8/24/2008

Question
I have this question on my mind and with your expertise, perhaps you can clear this one up. I have been reading on the net about a twelth planet/drawf star called Nibiru.  Sources claim that Summerian texts have referred to it and the Mayan calendar predicts its return.  Its also theorized that it can cause the Earth's pole shift, resulting in environmental destruction.  I have 3 questions: 1) Have you ever found proof that the Earth's pole have shifted in the past, based on achaeological evidence? With planetary gravitational pull being its cause?; 2)Other than the Mayans, are there any other cultures around the world who interprets 2012 as an end date? If so are the interpretations the same?; and 3)If a pole have shifted in the past, on Earth - for the civilizations that lived - how did they live and survive?  Please do not take this question as trite.  I am very serious in finding out the answer to this to help make sense from nonsense.  Thank you for your time.

Answer
Dear Bernadette
This Nibiru is a mish-mash of "lunatic fringe" readings of Maya and Sumerian literature.  These ancient peoples had only a rudimentary understanding of astrophysics (eg., treating stars, planets, and galaxies as basically the same thing because to the naked eye they appear to be the same size).  Taking their predictions about astronomical events  seriously is like asking a five-year-old about stock options.
I know of no other ancient culture that was particularly anxious about the year 2012 AD.
The Earths physical pole has not shifted in the past.  However the alignment of the MAGNETIC FIELD (and thus magnetic North/South "poles") has shifted many times in the past.  Such shifts had no obvious detectable effect on those aspects of human behavior preserved in the archaeological record or on the human fossil record.
Sincerely
John Shea