Occam's Trowel, Sifting archaeological fringe to get to archaeological fact.
When AiPT! asked me to review the new six-part Science Channel series, America’s Lost Vikings, I was apprehensive, but a little hopeful. First, it was on the Science Channel; that’s safe, right? Also, it’s headed by two archaeologists, Blue Nelson and Mike Arbuthnot. I don’t know either man, so I did a little digging. Blue Nelson... Continue Reading →
This week we have another puzzler, unlike the Wisconsin Viking Horse Skull, we know these artifacts are real. The question becomes, how did they get here? In 1930 or 1931, a gold prospector named James Edward Dodd was prospecting just south of the Blackwater River (Elliott 1941a:254.) Dodd says while prospecting he blew up an old... Continue Reading →
Even though I’m only going to focus on one of the American Runestones (of which there are several), to date, none are thought to be authentic by anyone who is knowledgeable of such things. This doesn't stop the conspiratorially minded however. Probably the most popular of the American Runestones is the Kensington Runestone. Named for... Continue Reading →
Vinland Map. The Vinland map is an interesting artifact, one that captured my attention as a child. Frankly, I think the evidence points to the map being a fake, but there are a some who still fight for it to be real. The Vinland map first surface in 1957 glued inside the of the cover of a bound volume of Hystoria Tartarorum (Feder 2006:119,... Continue Reading →
In our first installment of this series we looked over the actual factual, evidence of both Christopher Columbus and Leif Eiriksson discovering the Americas. Arguably, you could say Columbus discovered South America, and Leif the North. I would say, simply touching a rock on one park of a massive continent complex doesn't equal discovering both bits of America, but that's my opinion on the matter. Apparently some folks agree... Continue Reading →
Anne Stine Moe Ingstad was born in 1918 in Lillehammer, Oppand county, Norway. Her parents were attorney Eilif Moe and Louise Augusta Bauck Lindeman. Before achieving her MA in Scandinavian Archaeology from the University of Oslo she married she married Helge Ingstad In 1941. Instead of impeding her academic career, her marriage turned out to... Continue Reading →
Archaeological Fantasies 