Came across a nice (and fairly lengthy) article on Egyptomania today. A nice sketch. For those PaleoBabble faithful who want solid academic material on the wacky things people think and have thought about Egypt (including pyramidiocy and the "true" symbolic meaning of...
pseudoarchaeology
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,...
Graham Hancock’s Magicians of the Gods: A Review
I encourage all of you to read Jason Colavito's lengthy review of Hancock's latest tome devoted to alternative history. But if you want the short version, Colavito offers this summary thought: Speaking as someone who found Fingerprints of the Gods to be entertaining...
Hoaxing Ancient Documents Isn't New
Quite an interesting post from Prof. Larry Hurtado's blog today. The post focuses on an out-of-print book by Edgar J. Goodspeed (Famous Biblical Hoaxes, or, Modern Apocrypha). It was originally published in 1931 (repr. 1956). Hurtado's post sketches a litany of...
Another Blow to Fundamentalist Ancient Alien Theorists
As if they had any sort of coherent ammunition anyway! Here's a bit of commentary regarding the growth of scientific knowledge with respect to so-called "junk-DNA." It's becoming increasingly apparent that it isn't junk. Ancient alien theorists, as readers know, have...
How the Pyramids Were Built: Aliens Not Needed Once Again
What a shock! Check out this recent post from Archaeology Daily News (you may have to scroll down to see the actual story). Pretty sweet explanation for how correct stone orientation and placement was achieved -- very simple and very clever. The architect's theory...
Howard Carter Missed the Aliens
Pretty cool news from the Griffith Institute at Oxford, a Mecca for Egyptology: They have digitized all of Howard Carter's handwritten notes (3500 handwritten cards) taken about King Tut's tomb and put them online. The online database also includes over 1000 photos. I...
Guide to Ancient Astronaut PaleoBabble
I'll be on Coast to Coast AM this evening. This time I decided to do something that will help listeners follow the discussion more easily. I've created a sort of quick guide to my basic responses to a range of ancient astronaut paleobabble. It's a one-stop reference...
Did the Egyptians Need Alien Technology to Build the Pyramids?
No. There are a number of interesting theories as to how the Egyptians could move the stones of the pyramids vertically and from the place they were quarried. The coolest involves simple physics. Check out the website (with video) of this retired construction worker...
The Columbian “Genetic Disk” Fraud
The aptly-named Archaeological Fantasies blog has a lengthy discussion of the so-called genetic disk. As you might guess, this disk is supposed to be proof of advanced biological knowledge in the ancient world. It's bunk.
Some Chips in the Lolladoff Plate
Most readers have probably not heard of the Lolladoff Plate. It's for serving paleobabble (note the image of the alien on it). Supposedly it's 1200 years old. Here's a picture: I recently came across a couple of good critique of the plate that succeeds in sending it...