You may have seen this item enthusiastically recently reported on the Ancient Code site: "Scientists: Geological evidence shows the Great Sphinx is 800,000 years old." Ancient Code is a repository of fringe archaeology. Surprise! What Ancient Code doesn't tell you is...
pseudoarchaeology
Medieval Pyramid PaleoBabble Reborn
That's the gist of this informative essay /by Jason Colavito: "Review of Scott Creighton's "The Secret Chamber of Osiris" (2015). As usual, Jason has done his homework and exposes how Creighton (the author) adopts medieval fantasies about pyramids as science.
The Myth of the Smithsonian Archaeological Conspiracy
I've directed readers to Jason Colavito's blog many times before, but I don't believe I've included this specific essay: How David Childress Created the Myth of a Smithsonian Archaeological Conspiracy. Jason makes a good case for the modern origin of this oft-repeated...
Graham Hancock and Bad Archaeology
Professional archaeologist Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews, the force behind the Bad Archaeology blog, recently posted a series of articles detailing the (poor) research techniques and (flawed) argumentation of Graham Hancock. Here are the links to the series: Hancock’s...
Did the CIA Investigate Noah’s Ark on Mount Ararat?
Sure doesn't look that way. The above link takes you to some documentation on this issue posted by Jason Colavito on his website. I happened to come across it a week or so ago. It's interesting for me in that it mentions astronaut Jim Irwin. I heard Irwin speak at...
Why the Piri Reis Map is Neither an Enigma Nor Evidence for Ancient Aliens
This recent post on the Bad Archaeology blog provides a much-needed antidote against the Piri Reis paleobabble contagion. As author Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews notes at the outset: Maps of the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries are a favourite source of information for...
Critiques of Pseudo-Archaeologists Appealing to Many Evangelical Christians
PaleoBabble readers know that I haven't had positive things to say about the work of pseudo-archaeologists like Ron Wyatt and Robert Cornuke. The Bible Places blog recently posted some critiques of the latter. I think readers will find it informative and useful. (And...
Getting to Know Your 2012 Apocalyptic PaleoBabble
I came across this lengthy conversation (from this past August) recently. It's a good article that provides a number of links for understanding the history and past cultural applications of the 2012 Mayan "prophecy" nonsense. It's a good starting point for research...
Canaanites in America?
Some PaleoBabble readers may be familiar with the longstanding controversy over whether certain "inscriptions" found in the United States were written thousands of years ago by ancient Semitic peoples from the Mediterranean (Phoenicians, Canaanites, Hebrews, etc.)....
The Fictional Roots of the Ancient Astronaut Myth
All of those interested in PaleoBabble should be aware of the work of Jason Colavito. Jason has done a lot of work tracing the common ancient astronaut motifs back through science fiction of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His primary focus is H.P. Lovecraft....
Atlantis: The Myth That Keeps on Giving
Ever wondered how a few lines of Plato's Timaeus that mention Atlantis somehow morphed into a myth so bloated that you can fill a library wing with tomes by "authorities" and "researchers" describing the science, technology, religion, and enlightened culture of a...
Ahmed Osman: No Stranger to Revisionist PaleoBabble
Ahmed Osman has authored a number of books promoting fringe revisionist history with respect to ancient Egypt and the Bible (basically, the intersection of the two). His books have apparently sold well (no surprise there). Here are some titles (I love the one with the...
Ancient Planes, Rockets, and Helicopters?
I feel a little embarrassed. I can't believe I forgot to blog this, though I probably intended to redo the page and make it look nice. Oh well. The last time I was on Coast to Coast, I threw this page together (in about an hour - I know, it shows) since I knew people...
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."