Today we talk with Dr. Holly Walters about sacred Salagrama Fossils in the Hindu religion. What are these beautiful Fossils? How are they incorporated into the Hindu religion? And what weird powers has the American New Age assigned these religious artifacts? Dr. Walters gives us a fantastic break down of the three major religions in... Continue Reading →
Unlucky Mummies Get a Bad Wrap.
On episode 52 of the Archaeological Fantasies Podcast we talk about Mummies! We all think we know about the story of King Tut, but a lot of it was embellishment at the time, as well as confusing the story of Tut's discovery with stories of other mummies at the time. Ken, Jeb, and I... Continue Reading →
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The Importance of Myth and Oral Traditions
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.
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What is Convergence in Archaeology?
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 →
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What is Archaeoastronomy?
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 →
Andy White, Podcasts, and Debunking Roman Swords.
Pulitzer claims that he's found a Roman sword that is "100 per cent confirmed (Gadd 2015, Zolfagharifard 2015)" and that is "the smoking gun to his theory (Gadd 2015, Zolfagharifard 2015)". He says that the sword was discovered in a shipwreck just off the coast of Oak Island, and apparently made this announcement on the History Channel's show Curse of Oak Island (Gadd 2015, Zolfagharifard 2015). It doesn't take long for this claim to start unraveling though, and unraveling in such a spectacular way at that.
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Tiny Plastic Indiana Jones Would Blog and the Blogging Archaeology Wrap-up.
Since I missed the February question for the Blogging Carnival I figured I should try and make the March one…who cares if it’s actually April? Doug asks us a question this month that reaches into the future of archaeology in the digital world. He asks; “Where are you/we going with blogging or would you... Continue Reading →
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Debunking, Blogging, and Public Outreach: Blogging Archaeology Carnival 2014!
Sadly, I won't be making the SAA's in Texas next year. Neither will my friend Doug over at Doug's Archaeology, but he came up with a great idea for those of us who can't make, something called a blogging carnival and he's hosting the first round of questions for November (Which is also Movember, so get to growing... Continue Reading →
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Absence of Evidence
*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 →
