Pseudoarchaeology vs Archaeology : A Series

Hey everyone, today we’re starting a new section on the blog, namely a more academic look at what pseudoarchaeology is, it’s history, and why it’s so damn successful at getting its message out there and sticking around.

I’ve covered a lot of little bits and pieces of this on the blog before, but I’ve never really done a deep dive into the topic breaking things down for you. I figured it’s probably time we look at the timeline of pseudoarchaeology and see how it’s developed from its somewhat religious roots to the full-blown mega phenomena it is today. Maybe by examining it this way and understanding where Archaeology missed opportunities to address it professionally, we can better understand what it’s going to take to correct the misinformation of the modern movement.

There’s going to be a few parts to this series, and you may have already noticed the Pseudoarchaeology Timeline in the blog menu, I’ll be updating that as I find reliable dates for things. Also, there is now a section for Terms and Concepts, I’ll be putting brief discussions there to link to when we talk about things like, what’s mythic time, and who was Ignatius Donnelly, hopefully, that will make it easier to find important topics later. Lastly, I’ve added a Reading List full of books I’ve read and suggestions from my co-hosts and special guests on the show. I’ll still have resources and citations inside the blog posts as usual, because citing source not only proves I’ve done the work but that I’m not making things up.

All that laid out, this section will be an ongoing work, probably done in phases, and definitely updated as I get new resources. When I started this project I had a respectable collection of books and articles I was able to read, and discovered through them a larger number of things I didn’t have the time to read or even access too. As that changes and I get access to things, I’ll be updating the blog to reflect it, as any good researcher should.
That all said, let’s get going!

List of articles in this section:

1. The History of Pseudoarchaeology: The Moundbuilders Myth
2. From Engagement to Isolation.
3. The Re-Engagement of Professorial Archaeology with the Public
4. The History of Pseudoarchaeology: Pseudoarchaeology and the Modern Era of Public Engagement.