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 →
So there’s a few unifying threads when it comes to certain pseudoarchaeology ideas — one of which being the concept of the Transoceanic Traveler.
Have I mentioned I’m doing my thesis lately? I feel like maybe I haven’t… What this really is, is an excuse for is so that I can read all these books I have piling up in more depth. I’ve put them in some order, ish, and I’ve decided to share my thoughts with you all... Continue Reading →
Well, I finished reading America Before by Graham Hancock. I know there's already been several reviews about this book, and I'll be getting around to a much more in-depth one. (Because as I keep telling people, this is part of my thesis, and I may as well kill two birds with one stone). But if... Continue Reading →
Someone left a comment on my last post, about how somehow Native American Oral traditions are "double reverse racism". Then there’s the double reverse racism of self-proclaimed experts who say “Archaeologists MUST listen to the Native American oral tradition”, the implication being that “the oral tradition” is perfect, accurate, and unchanging and further that “the... Continue Reading →
I repeat, Pseudoarchaeology is aware of racism. They're not entirely sure when something is racist, or why archaeologists call them out on it constantly, but they know it's a thing that exists and it's probably bad. Why do I say this? The two most visible personalities in alternative archaeology/history right at this moment are probably... Continue Reading →
Would you believe I get asked a lot of questions? A lot of them kinda fall into the category of repeat things. "Have you seen X? What about Y lost civ? I found Z, is it real?" and "XYZ religion believes this thing, is it true?" There's always outsiders, but these are the categories... Continue Reading →
I think many people who interact with pseudoarchaeology have similar origin stories. We all come to archaeology through a lense of curiosity, that was kindle in some part by the pseudo-information that was out there when we were growing up. I've spoken about my roots in role-play, especially D&D, but I also had a decent... Continue Reading →
In his most recent episode of America Unearthed, Scott Wolter came to my new home state of Pennslyvania. I'll admit, I got a little thrill from seeing the state being showcased, especially since the images he used were really cute and complementary. It did strike me though, I live in the oldest continuously occupied city in the United... Continue Reading →
One of the things my professor said offhandedly in class one day that still sticks with me was "The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there." It took me a while to find out that the quote was from a 1953 novel by L.P.Hartley. The impact of that quote on me... Continue Reading →
Archaeological Fantasies 