Here’s a link to an interesting article about recent archaeological research in the village that housed the pyramid builders. It focuses on the evidence for large settled herds that generated food and served as a food source. Why is it on Paleobabble? Well,...
Megaliths
Easter Island and Ancient Aliens
Those readers who have watched the three-hour documentary debunking the History Channel’s Ancient Aliens series know that part of the documentary is devoted to debunking an extraterrestrial explanation for the statues at Rapa Nui – Easter Island. I came...
Ancient Astro-Nuttiness, Al-Maqrizi, and Giorgio Tsoukalos’ Pseudo-Research
Jason Colavito has called Giorgio Tsoukalos’ bluff — precisely what needs to be done to all ancient astronaut BSers. The research they produce is impressive only to non-specialists and those who never check their work. It’s pure paleobabble....
Those “Incredible” Inca Walls: A Matter of (Photographic) Perspective
Jason Colavito recently posted a picture worth a thousand of von Daniken’s words over at his blog. A good illustration of some photographic sleight of hand that draws in the gullible when it comes to ancient astronauts. Check it out at “Are Inca Walls Too...
Transporting the Trilithon Stones of Baalbek: It’s About Applied Physics, Not Ancient Aliens
PaleoBabble readers know that ancient astronaut theorists suffer from a fixation on megalithic construction. The “impossibility” of moving stones of great size and tremendous weight appears to them as proof of alien assistance. This argument of course is simply...
Ancient Construction: No Aliens Needed
Yeah … scholars are so overwhelmed by the building projects of the ancients that they just have no idea how it was done. They’re so frightened by the clarity of the ancient alien visitation idea that they remain silent. There’s just no way to explain...
Unknown Pyramid Complexes Discovered Using Google Earth
Pretty neat; check this link (with pictures). The interesting thing is that they seem to have the same diagonal arrangement as the pyramids of Giza. I can hardly wait to see what Graham Hancock and Robert Bauval come up with as to how that would fit in the Orion...
“We Couldn’t Build the Great Pyramid Today” – We Could Do Better
I’m nearly finished with the book by David McCullough, The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914. I don’t ever want to hear any such nonsensical statement again about how the Great Pyramid is beyond modern reach. Ever. To not...
Megalithic Quarrying Techniques
I came across this article today (“Megalithic Quarrying Techniques and Limestone Technology in Eastern Spain“) and thought I’d share it with readers. I get lots of questions about the “impossibility” of quarrying huge stones for...
The Sirius Mystery: You Don't Need Columbo For This One
[[UPDATE: Talk about good timing! I guess the person who wrote this article, dated today, does need Columbo; –MSH]] I’m hoping my reference to the venerable TV detective doesn’t date me too much here! Way back in 2009 I wrote the only post on this...
Update on "Hieroglyphs" Inside Pyramid Shaft
Sorry — no alien symbols. Turns out they are hieratic numbers. I’ve never had a class in hieratic (nor wanted to). It’s (crudely) like cursive hieroglyphs (if you’ve ever seen shorthand of English you get the idea). The numbers total 121...
Animation Video of Recent Djedi Robot and the Pyramid Shafts
News of the recent discovery of marks in one of the shafts has been circulating like wildfire on the web (“Graffiti behind Gantenbrink’s Door“). Honestly, it’s not that big of a deal. Very likely mason’s marks. It will be a big deal if...
Building the Pyramids – It’s Not a Mystery
Well, it’s that time of year again. The Ancient Egypt class that I teach at the local university is set to begin on Wednesday. I devote a full week to pyramids. The articles below are part of the readings. Two of these have appeared on this blog before, but...
Using Google Books to Combat PaleoBabble
I mentioned a while back that I was reading a book called Building in Egypt. It’s about construction and masonry techniques in ancient Egypt. I’m still hitting it (among other books) a few pages here and there. But the thought struck me today that I could...
New Evidence for Concrete Pyramid Blocks
This is pretty cool . At the risk of repeating myself, my view is that there is no *one* theory that accounts for all the pyramid construction methods. I see no reason why Houdin’s internal ramp theory cannot be working alongside a counterweight method,...