Have they been found?  You don’t know how badly I want to say they were inside Noah’s ark and now brought forth by the Chinese team. 🙂  (You do now). A link to this article was sent to me today (thanks to Doug in Colorado). Here’s my favorite part of...
LoreBunk & Hist-eria
Clay Figurines of Real Dinosaurs with Humans?
I was reminded of the (in)famous Acambaro (Mexico) clay dinosaurs this weekend by a list of famous archaeological hoaxes / conundrums sent to me. In case you had not heard of these before (see pictures below), you can get a nice overview on Wikipedia . Unfortunately,...
Nail From Jesus’ Cross, Suggests Journalist
Oh, those wacky, coherence-challenged archaeo-journalists write the darnedest things! The Bad Archaeology blog has a nice write up this latest archaeo-buffoonery. And I love the term for this sort of journalism in the first paragraph: “churnalism.”
2012 Mythology for Dummies
A nice explanation of where all the 2012 silliness comes from. Editor's note: as outdated at this post is, it's a good exercise in seeing how people will see patterns and get married to a view of eschatology and end times and prophecy.
Why There is a Publishing Process Known as “Peer Review”
For all the ancient astronaut "researchers" out there - a wonderful illustration of why peer-review of your material is important (otherwise known as the nuttiness filter). Publisher's note: Adding in a resource here. I was at this presentation at DEF CON 26 and was...
The 2012 Phenomenon: New Age Appropriation of an Ancient Mayan Calendar
Such is the title of this sixteen page academic essay from Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions. It is very worthwhile reading. The author discusses, among others, John Major Jenkins’ ideas about 2012.  Here’s the abstract:...
Ark of the Covenant to be Revealed in Ethiopia — Really?
So says this news report from World Net Daily. My opinion? Prepare for disappointment. Now, I'm not saying that the "Ethiopian view" of what happened to the ark of the covenant is complete PaleoBabble. It actually has some circumstantial evidentiary power (key word...
Prepping For More Dan Brown Nonsense About Solomon’s Temple
I’m sure we’ve all heard the earth-shattering news by now, that Dan Brown’s sequel to The DaVinci Code (hereafter DVC) is due out on September 15. I’m relieved that he got it to us before 2012. Brown’s sequel is now entitled, The Lost...
Pseudo-History in the Classroom
This is the title of another old article I found prepping for teaching. It was written in 1975 -- amazing how much PaleoBabble has been put out since then! Editor's note: Excerpt from the article below: ARE WE descendants of ancient astronauts? Was the flaming...
Irrationality and Popular Archaeology
This is the title of an old (1984) journal article I recently came across. The article is from American Antiquity 49:3 (1984): 525-541. Here is the abstract: An important aspect of archaeology is communicating the significance of data and research results to a fasci-...
Are There Nazi Occult Symbols and a Swastika Carved into the Ground Due East of Roswell, NM?
Someone sent me the picture below (actually, this is a better one, taken from Google Earth - I got the original in Google maps - put in the coordinates yourself and have a look: 33.206278, -103.584820). Certain bloggers have duly claimed that the image is the result...
More Noah’s Flood Nonsense
This is Paleobabble on several levels. Editor's note: content from the link reproduced here:From The Biblia Hebraica Blog: "Proof" of Noah's Flood Discovered ... Again, originally posted on Dec. 10, 2008: "Proof" of Noah's Flood Discovered ... Again Great news,...
Replica of Noah’s Ark Completed
Kind of interesting – a full-scale model of Noah’s ark according to the biblical dimensions (and assuming an 18-inch cubit) built by a guy in the Netherlands. The link leads to the BBC story, but you can view additional pictures here. If you are familiar...