Pseudoarchaeology
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'''Pseudoarchaeology''' (also called "fantastic archaeology" or "cult archaeology")<ref>S. Williams, ''"Fantastic archaeology: What should we do about it?", in Francis B. Harrold and Raymond A. Eve, ''Cult Archaeology and Creationism" Pseudoscientific Beliefs About the Past'' (University of Iowa Press) 1987.</ref> is [[pseudoscientific]] [[archaeology]], the [[scientific method|unscientific]] interpretation of material remains and sites (whether genuine or not). Archaeological theories, sites, site excavations and publications which do not conform to standard accepted archaeological methodology are generally considered to fall under the category of pseudoarchaeology. The collections of uninformed ideas of "folk archaeology" include "transoceanic voyages, sunken continents, lost kingdoms, forgotten languages rediscovered through hitherto unrecognized inscriptions, and old hoaxes reassessed" Michael G. Michlovic stated in 1990,<ref>Michael G. Michlovic, "Folk Archaeology in Anthropological Perspective" ''Current Anthropology'' '''31'''.1 (February 1990:103-107) p 103 </ref> adding that "Folk archaeology represents a challenge to archaeology's monopoly on interpretation of the past, and it is to this that archaeologists are responding", in part as a result of their dependence on government-funded support.
Pseudoarchaeology can be practised intentionally or unintentionally. [[Archaeological forgery|Archaeological frauds]] and [[hoax]]es are considered ''intentional pseudoarchaeology''. Genuine archaeological finds may be unintentionally converted to pseudoarchaeology through unscientific interpretation. (cf. [[Confirmation bias]])
Pseudoarchaelogy is frequently motivated by [[nationalism]] or a desire to prove a particular [[Religion|religious]] (cf. [[Intelligent design]]), [[Pseudohistory|pseudohistorical]], [[Politics|political]] or [[Anthropology|anthropological]] theory. In many cases, an [[A priori and a posteriori (philosophy)|a priori]] conclusion is established, and fieldwork is undertaken explicitly to corroborate the theory in detail.
Practitioners of pseudoarchaeology often rail against academic archaeologists and established scientific methods, claiming that conventional science has overlooked critical evidence. [[Conspiracy theory|Conspiracy theories]] may be invoked, in which "the Establishment" colludes in suppressing evidence.
Folk archaeology may have wide support: "American archaeologists' reaction to demands of [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] for reburial of prehistoric skeletal remains illustrates the manner in which an impassioned public may sway professional opinion and behavior," Michlovic observed.<ref>Michlovic 1990:103 note 2.</ref>
==Examples==
===Nationalistic/chauvinistic pseudoarchaeology===
*[[Piltdown Man]], which was possibly forged to ensure that the earliest hominid was English.
*The theory, commonly held by European settlers, that the [[mound builder (people)|mound builders]] were a long vanished group.
*The [[Bosnian Pyramids]] project, which has projected that natural geological hills in Visoko are ancient man-made pyramids
===Religiously-motivated pseudoarchaeology===
*Repeated "discoveries" of [[Searches for Noah's Ark|Noah's Ark]] on [[Mount Ararat]] or neighboring mountain ranges.
*Use of questionable artifacts such as the [[Los Lunas Decalogue Stone]] as proof for the presence of a pre-Columbian Semitic culture in America.
===Pseudoarchaeology due to unconventional/scientifically suspect methodology===
*[[Thor Heyerdahl]]'s [[Kon Tiki]] expedition.
*The published work of [[Barry Fell]].
*Dr. [[Virginia Steen-McIntyre]]'s circular dating of [[Hueyatlaco]] spearheads.
*[[Lost Lands|Lost continents]] such as [[Atlantis]], [[Mu (lost continent)|Mu]] or [[Lemuria (continent)|Lemuria]], which are all contested by mainstream archaeologists and historians as lacking critical physical evidence and general historical credibility.
*The [[ancient astronaut]] theory regarding Mayan ruler Pacal II.
*The theory that the [[Ancient Egyptians]] flew manned aircraft millennia before the innovations of the [[Wright brothers]] based on the discovery of the [[Saqqara Bird]].
*Supposed Viking artifacts found on mainland North America ([[Kensington Runestone]] and [[Viking Altar Rock]]).
*Speculation regarding [[Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact|pre-Columbian contact]] between [[Egypt]] and the [[Maya civilization|Maya]].
===Legitimate archaeological sites which have been the subject of pseudoarchaeological speculation===
*[[Stonehenge]]
*The [[Great Pyramid]]
*The [[Sphinx]]
*[[Etruscan language|Etruscan inscriptions]]
*Alleged pre-Columbian European relics in the Western Hemisphere
*[[Easter Island]]
*[[Teotihuacan]]
*[[Palenque]]
*[[Chichen Itza]]
*The [[Nazca lines]]
*The [[stone spheres of Costa Rica]]
==Relativist and post-modern responses==
Researchers accused of pseudoarchaeology often respond to such allegations by noting that many scientific truths are frequently ridiculed when they are first proposed.
Archaeologists schooled in [[Marxism]] and [[Critical Theory]] argue that scientific thought can support contemporary ideology by taking advantage of scientists' status as 'experts'. Incorporation of [[postmodernism]] into archaeological theory has led some archaeologists (e.g. [http://www.uwm.edu/~barnold/resume.html Bettina Arnold], [[Bruce Trigger]]) to explore the role of archaeology in state formation and to reexamine archaeologists' status as professedly neutral investigators of the past. The growth of [[Cultural Resources Management]], wherein archaeology is used to guide political decisions, does little to refute these ideas.
Most archaeologists attempt to distinguish their research from pseudoarchaeology by pointing to differences in research methodology, including recursive methods, falsifiable theories, peer review, and a generally systematic approach to collecting data. Few see themselves as unwitting cogs in a wider conspiracy, and many strive to make their work relevant to contemporary society. Though there is overwhelming evidence of cultural connections informing folk traditions about the past,<ref>D. Lowenthal, ''The Past is a Foreign Country'' (Cambridge University Press) 1985.</ref> objective analyses of folk archaeology, in [[anthropology|anthropological]] terms of the cultural contexts from which they emerge and the cultural needs to which they respond have been comparatively few: R. Silverberg located the Mormon's use of [[Mound builder (people)|Mound Builder culture]] within a larger cultural nexus<ref>Silverberg, ''Moundbuilders of Ancient America'' (Greenwich: New York Graphics Society) 1968.</ref> and the voyage of [[Madoc]] and "Welsh Indians" was set in its changing and evolving sociohistorical contexts by G. Williams.<ref>Williams, ''Madoc'' (Oxford University Press) 1987.</ref>
==History==
Though the archaeological report given by the fifth-century [[Socrates of Constantinople]] in his ''Ecclesiastical History,'' of St [[Helena, mother of Constantine the Great|Helena]]'s discovery of the [[True Cross]] may make her the patron saint of pseudoarchaeology to sceptics, it is clear that the manipulation of archaeological sites and "finds" to assist propaganda and [[pseudohistory]] is not a phenomenon simply of modern historicist culture. In the mid-2nd century, those exposed by [[Lucian]]'s sarcastic essay [http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/lucian/lucian_alexander.htm ''Alexander the false prophet''] prepared an archaeological "find" in [[Chalcedon]] to prepare a public for the supposed oracle they planned to establish at [[Abonoteichus]] in [[Paphlagonia]]:
:"in the temple of Apollo, which is the most ancient in Chalcedon, they buried bronze tablets which said that very soon [[Asclepius]], with his father Apollo, would move to [[Pontus]] and take up his residence at Abonoteichus. The opportune discovery of these tablets caused this story to spread quickly to all [[Bithynia]] and Pontus, and to Abonoteichus sooner than anywhere else."
At [[Glastonbury Abbey]] in 1291, at a time when [[Edward I of England|King Edward I]] desired to emphasize his "Englishness" a fortunate discovery was made: the coffin of [[King Arthur]], unmistakably identified with an inscribed plaque. Arthur was reinterred at Glastonbury in a magnificent ceremonial attended by the king and queen.
==See also==
* [[Nationalism and archaeology]]
* [[Nazi archaeology]]
* [[Archaeology and the Book of Mormon]]
* [[Out-of-place artifact|OOPArt]]s
* Artifacts widely believed to be [[hoax]]es
** [[Aluminium wedge of Aiud]]
** [[Piltdown Man]]
* Artifacts and sites commonly discussed in pseuchoarchaeology (see [[Anachronism]])
** [[Antikythera mechanism]]
** [[Baghdad Battery]]
** [[Great Pyramid of Giza]]
** [[Mount Ararat]]
** [[Phaistos Disc]]
** [[Stonehenge]]
** The [[Sphinx]]
** [[Troy]]
** [[Bosnian pyramids]]
*''[[Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology]]'' (book)
* [[Pathological science]]
** [[Ancient astronauts]]
** [[Phantom island]]s
** [[Pyramid inch]]
* [[Protoscience]]
* [[Pseudoscience]]
==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}
==External links==
'''Pseudoarchaeological sites'''
*"''[http://www.grahamhancock.com Graham Hancock]''": Pre-eminent pseudoarchaeologist [[Graham Hancock]].
*"''[http://www.daniken.com Erich von Däniken]''": Another pre-eminent pseudoarchaeologist [[Erich von Däniken]].
*"''[http://www.answersingenesis.org Answers in Genesis]''": A pro-[[creationist]] website that seeks to prove, among other things, the limitations of [[carbon-14 dating]].
*"''[http://www.eridu.co.uk Alan Alford]''": "''Independent researcher''" pushes the idea that ancient [[Egypt]]ian, [[Greece|Greek]], and [[Mesopotamia]]n religions were "exploded planet cults" and have something to teach us regarding "eternal life in the other world".
*"''[http://www.flem-ath.com Rose Flem-Ath]''": Official website for Canadian couple Rand and [[Rose Flem-Ath]], authors of ''[[When the Sky Fell: In Search of Atlantis]]'' and ''[[The Atlantis Blueprint]]''.
*"''[http://www.sitchin.com Zecharia Sitchin]''": Analyzes the tale of [[Sodom and Gomorrah]] as a [[nuclear weapon]] attack in 2024 B.C. that wiped out "a [[spaceport]] in the [[Sinai Peninsula]]".
*"''[http://www.piramidasunca.ba/ Archaeological Park: Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun Foundation]''"
===Sceptics===
*"''[http://www.ramtops.co.uk Archaeological/Skeptical Resources, Critiques of cult archaeology, Roman Britain links]''": Doug's Skeptical Archaeology site with articles and links to sites that refute some popular pseudoarchaeology.
*"''[http://members.cox.net/pyrophyllite/wildside.shtml The Wild Side of Geoarchaeology Page]''" : [[Paul Heinrich]]'s case against "alternative [[geology]]", including the impossibility of [[pole shift]]s and the artifact "from an advanced ancient race" that happens to be a [[spark plug]].
*"''[http://www.antiquityofman.com The Antiquity of Man]''": Some of the latest research in authentic [[paleoanthropology]] and [[Hominidae|hominid]] [[evolution]].
* "''[http://www.hallofmaat.com The Hall of Ma'at]''". [[The Hall of Ma'at]].
* "''[http://www.badarchaeology.net Bad Archaeology]''" Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews and James Doeser point out examples of Pseudoarchaeology.
==References and resources==
* Gregory, Timothy E., "''[http://isthmia.ohio-state.edu/teg/hist306/lec31.htm Pseudoarchaeology]"''.
* Carroll, Robert Todd, "''[http://skepdic.com/pseudohs.html Pseudohistory]''". The Skeptic's Dictionary.
* "''[http://cgi.sfu.ca/~museum/landarch/index.cgi?pseudo The Territory of Pseudoarchaeology]''" SFU museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.
* Feder, Kenneth L., "''[http://www.worldagesarchive.com/Reference_Links/Combating_Pseudoarchaeology.htm Archaeological Institute hosts workshop session on Combating Pseudoarchaeology]''". Skeptical Inquirer, May, 2002.
* "''[http://www.s8int.com/hueyatlaco.html Hueyatlaco Site -"Extreme Dating Controversy"]''": Dr. Virginia Steen-McIntyre and dating of Hueyatlaco spearheads.
* West, John Anthony, "''[http://www.grahamhancock.com/forum/westJohn_archeaologyMag.php An Open Letter to the Editors of Archaeology]''". Archaeology, May/June 2003. [Special Section]
* Zimmerman, Larry J., and Richard A. Fox, Jr., "''[http://www.usd.edu/anth/cultarch/cultindex.html Fantastic Archaeology]''".
* "''[http://www.hallofmaat.com/maat/index.php Hall of Maat]''": Weighing evidence for Alternative History, pseudohistory, and pseudoarchaeology. Ma'at is the ancient Egyptian principle of justice and balance.
* "''[http://www.hallofmaat.com/modules.php?name=Articles&file=article&sid=97 Archaeological Fantasies: How pseudoarchaeology misrepresents the past and misleads the public]''"
* "''[http://www.badarchaeology.net Bad Archaeology]''" Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews and James Doeser provide resources for debunking the claims of pseudoarchaeology.
[[Category:Pseudoscience]]
[[Category:Pseudoarchaeology| ]]
[[cs:Pseudoarcheologie]]
[[it:Archeologia misteriosa]]
[[lt:Pseudoarcheologija]]
[[ro:Pseudo-arheologie]]
[[fi:Näennäisarkeologia]]