Occam's Trowel, Sifting archaeological fringe to get to archaeological fact.
Last post I touched on the concept of Orientalism and how it’s used in a lot of Lovecraft’s writing. This post I want to focus on something specific, mainly Lovecraft’s use of religion and superstition in his stories. When we talked about Orientalism, I also brought up the idea of cultural exoticism, which is the... Continue Reading →
Context, as we know, is Queen, much like the GPS is God. When you chose to ignore context, you can make up anything you want and probably find something out there to support it. That doesn't make it true or correct, and the refusal to see that is just insulting at best. I've lost count of how many times I've seen or read some fringe theorists spouting off about how they know more about what a Native tradition "really meant" than the living decedents of that tradition. What's more is by trying to force traditions that aren't yours to fit your favorite story, you're missing out on actual information that is being conveyed via these rich and varied traditions.
The concept of convergence isn't a new one to the multiple fields of science. In it's most basic definition it describes the tendency of unrelated species to evolve superficially similar characteristics to deal with similar environmental issues. One of the best examples of this are wings. Bats have wings, as do birds, some lizards, and even some squirrels, not to count all flying insects in the world. These different types of wings are all... Continue Reading →
This is a topic that's been bothering me since I started watching America Unearthed. Though to be fair, it's not the first time I've seen the term misused, it's just the point that drove the issue home for me. What I want to do here is give people a working idea of what the concept of Archaeoastronomy is.... Continue Reading →
*In the long absence created by my return to school, I thought I'd finish migrating my old posts to this site. So, enjoy!* "This impatience with ambiguity can be criticized in the phrase: absence of evidence is not evidence of absence." ~ Carl Sagan The first time I heard this quote was in field school.... Continue Reading →
This is another term I assume people know and understand. I'm not talking about the study of Cults and how they work, I'm talking about those that mimic the process of science. Very much like a Cargo Cult, Cult Science goes through all the motions without knowing what they all mean. Things like the Discovery Institute, with... Continue Reading →
Archaeological Fantasies 