Occam's Trowel, Sifting archaeological fringe to get to archaeological fact.
The first thing to look at any time you start a new project is the history of the topic. Our topic is practically as old as the field of archaeology itself, some might argue even older (Card 2018). The reason for this is that before the field of archaeology ‘professionalized’ there was a time of… Continue Reading →
In this episode we look at the Mound Builder Myth in some detail. We discuss the history of the myth, the alternative explanations for the mounds, how Cyrus Thomas proved the mounds were built by Native Americans, and why the idea that the mounds were built by Europeans still persists today. Also, we highly encourage… Continue Reading →
If you follow this blog or podcast for any amount of time you’ve probably noticed that a lot of the things we cover can be traced back to 19th-century ideas. I’m not saying we should blame the Victorians for everything dealing with pseudo-archaeology, but I’m not saying we shouldn’t either. What was going on during… Continue Reading →
Ever wonder how all the bits and bobs of pseudoarchaeology fit together time wise? Well take a look at this timeline and things start to get a little more clear. *Note: Timeline is being updated and expanded, please be patient.* Pseudo Timeline: I. Mound Builder Myth 1800’s II. Walam Olum 1830 III. The Skeleton in… Continue Reading →
In January we launched the Archaeology Fantasies Podcast over at the Archaeology Podcast Network. It’s Co-hosted by Sara H. and Dr. Kenneth Feder, who is the author of Dubious Archaeology and Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries, and they deconstruct a variety of pseudoarchaeology topics. It’s been two months now and the show just continues to get better, if I may say so myself. Seeing that we’ve got several episodes in the can, I wanted to recap them and let all of you get a chance to get caught up.
So far we have talked about the co-evolution of pseudoarchaeology and archaeology to the point where archaeology isolated itself for the better part of 30 years, giving alternative archaeology fertile ground to grow and take hold. Now we’re caught up to the modern day, well the 2000’s anyway. Two things happened in the early 2000’s… Continue Reading →
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… Continue Reading →
Serra, Ken, and Jeb talk about the myths and misconceptions surrounding some of the most important archaeological sites around the world. Downloads Special Offer for Ken’s Book Links Ken’s book https://www.amazon.com/Ancient-America-Fifty-Archaeological-Yourself/dp/1442263121/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1485043211&sr=8-1&keywords=ken+feder https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781442263123/Ancient-America-Fifty-Archaeological-Sites-to-See-for-Yourself Stony Brook University anthropology program Phil Weigand http://www.saudicaves.com/mx/weigand/index.html http://www.guachimontones.org/ http://archive.archaeology.org/0501/abstracts/turquoise.html Cahokia UNESCO World Heritage Cahokia and the Ancient Mississippians Pauketat Joya de Ceren… Continue Reading →
Archaeological Fantasies 