Occam's Trowel, Sifting archaeological fringe to get to archaeological fact.
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 →
NOTE: In an earlier version of this post I mentioned that I had been unsuccessful at contacting Dr. Vera M. F. Hammer to get her comments on the Genetic Disk. After this post was published, and through the wonders of twitter, I was able to get in contact with her and she gave me some... Continue Reading →
This week we have another puzzler, unlike the Wisconsin Viking Horse Skull, we know these artifacts are real. The question becomes, how did they get here? In 1930 or 1931, a gold prospector named James Edward Dodd was prospecting just south of the Blackwater River (Elliott 1941a:254.) Dodd says while prospecting he blew up an old... Continue Reading →
So here is an interesting puzzle for us to consider. Not because there is any evidence that the artifact was left by Vikings, but because of the controversy over if the artifact is the real fake one or not. A little background is required here: Back in 1935 and 1936, Ralph Linton and W.C. McKern,... Continue Reading →
As we move on down the line of the 10 most not-so-puzzling ancient artifacts, we come to the Ica Stones. These are perhaps the most perplexing to me, since I don't understand how anyone can look at these and think they are real. These little gems range in size from cobbles to boulders, and depict a wide variety of images... Continue Reading →
Archaeological Fantasies 