PseudoArchaeology and Human Remains

Pseudoarchaeologists and their concern (or lack of it) on ethical issues connected with the handling of human remains:

Fredrik Trusohamn,
'How Pseudoscience Exploits Human Remains for Alien Theories'
Digging up Aliens January 9, 2025 by

Early Hancock

Graham Hancock gets upset that it is often noted that hyperdiffusionist interpretations of the past like his have roots in some kinds of supremacies or -centrisms. In this context, it is worth noting also one of his earlier books exhibits this (Aaron Rabinowitz, 'Netflix’s Ancient Apocalypse with Graham Hancock: from alien conspiracies to antisemitism' The Skeptic 15th February 2023)

Things go from outlandish to disturbing when you get to Hancock’s book The Master Game: Unmasking the Secret Rulers of the World, coauthored by Robert Bauval and originally released under the name Talisman: Sacred Cities, Secret Faith. Hancock’s website claims the book reveals a “secret religion that has shaped the world”, and if you’re a regular reader you know exactly where this is going. However, I need to be careful, because The Master Game really puts the (((J))) in JAQing Off. As David Barrett puts it in his review of the book, the incoherent mess of an argument culminates in the authors promoting “the old Jewish-Masonic plot so beloved by ultra-right-wing conspiracy theorists”.

The Talisman squeezes in a whole lot of mumbo-jumbo from 'esoteric' claptrap popular at the time, but seems to owe a large deal to the 1982 book by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln: "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail", in turn borrowing ideas from the 1967 book L'Or de Rennes by Gérard de Sède, with the collaboration of document forger Pierre Plantard (they both also lie behind the equally fictional 'Da Vinci Code' by Dan Brown). From amazon.pl

Keeping an Eye on the Goalposts

After the Hancock-Dibble debate on the Joe Rogan Experience in April (and indeed towards its end) Graham Hancock started to deny that he'd said a number of things about his hypothetical lost civilisation that it seems he had in fact claimed he had "evidence" for. Unpicking this gaslighting would require going through all of his writings to reference where he'd claimed this or that, and how those claims shifted. It seems to be that since his (Hapgood's and Donnolly's) basic source was Plato's text, it might be worth trying to extract from that text what Plato thought would be the archaeology that we would be looking for IDF he imagined this polity existed. To save time, and get a more "mechanical" and not subjective review, I asked the Grok AI programme: " Can you please take Plato's full description (https://www.ascendingpassage.com/plato-atlantis-timaeus.htm) of Atlantis and write me what the material culture would look like? What kind of economy did they have, what kind of tools would they  have used, did they mine and work metals? What other materials did they produce and use? Thanks".

Based on Plato's description in "Timaeus" and "Critias," here's an analysis of the material culture of Atlantis:

Economy:
• Agriculture: Atlantis was described as having fertile soil and abundant water sources, suggesting a strong agricultural economy. The use of irrigation systems ensured great

Book: Spooky Archaeology: Myth and the Science of the Past

Jeb J. Card, Spooky Archaeology: Myth and the Science of the Past

Abstract
Outside of scientific journals, archaeologists are depicted as searching for lost cities and mystical artifacts in news reports, television, video games, and movies like Indiana Jones or The Mummy. This fantastical image has little to do with day-to-day science, yet it is deeply connected to why people are fascinated by the ancient past. By exploring the development of archaeology, this book helps us understand what archaeology is and why it matters. In Spooky Archaeology author Jeb J. Card follows a trail of clues left by adventurers and professional archaeologists that guides the reader through haunted museums, mysterious hieroglyphic inscriptions, fragments of a lost continent that never existed, and deep into an investigation of magic and murder. Card unveils how and why archaeology continues to mystify and why there is an ongoing fascination with exotic artifacts and eerie practices.

Contents
1 Time, Memory, and Myth: The Foundations of Spooky Archaeology
2 Supernatural Relics
3 Occulted Archaeologists
4 Hieroglyphs, Magic, and Mummies
5 Myth and Protohistory
6 The Creation of a Lost Continent
7 Relic Hunters and Haunted Museums
8 Time Detectives and International Intrigue
9 Digging Up Witches and Murder
10 Cthulhu and Cosmic Mythology
11 The Revenge of Alternative Archaeology
Chronology

Jeb J. Card is a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at Miami University. He is the coeditor of Lost City, Found Pyramid: Understanding Alternative Archaeologies and Pseudoscientific Practices.

Stone-Cast 5000-year Old Star Chart Bogus Claim

Carson: star map shows cosmic event 5000 years ago...

David Miano @DrDavidMiano · 4h:
"This is Assyrian, not Sumerian. It's a celestial planisphere; a stylized map of the sky divided into eight sections. It represents the night sky of the 3rd or 4th of January 650 BCE over Nineveh. Nothing in it about an impact event. Completely bogus claim. And the one in the photo is a replica.And the one in the photo is a replica".

"Stone-cast tablet"? Where do these people go to school?

An Underground Shaft in the North Caucasus

Jay Anderson - Project Unity @TheProjectUnity · 23h Pre-Historic Underground Megastructure Found in Russia - Who built the Khara-Hora Shaft?

Pre-Historic Underground Megastructure Found in Russia - Who built the Khara-Hora Shaft?
The Khara-Hora Shaft, also known as the Khara-Khoto Shaft, is a controversial and mysterious underground structure found in Russia. Despite its intriguing nature, information about it remains sparse.

The Khara-Hora Shaft is believed to be located in the Khara-Khoto region in the Republic of Tuva in Siberia, Russia. The name "Khara-Hora" itself is derived from the ancient city of Khara-Khoto, located near the Gobi Desert.

The structure is a pre-historic underground megastructure, characterized by its vast and complex network of shafts and tunnels. Some reports suggest that it could be over 100 meters deep, with rooms, chambers, and unknown features that hint at advanced construction techniques.

Here it is. it is not near the Gobi desert or in Tuva Republic. Khara Hora (HaraHora) is in the Kabardino Balkaria region of Russia close to Georgian border. But

1) It's Russian so we can ignore it. Nobody should be taking any interest in Russia or Russian until it gets its army and bombs out of Ukraine.
2) Quite clearly this feature is produced by natural jointing; that it is situated on the northern edge of a folded mountain chain is a bit of a giveaway... though the "looks like" loonies imagine its something else [see Yonaguni] Here's an above-ground one.

*Jay Anderson - Project Unity @TheProjectUnity · 16h
I couldn't say, other than I am supremely confident that there was a previously advanced civilisation on this planet before the Younger Dryas event.

Skinny Willy-holding Across Three Continents

Deity or corpse?

Ancient Hypotheses @AncientEpoch
Over the years we’ve all seen the collages of similar ancient motifs that cross continents, cultures & time span’s. Some of which include fake or misrepresented objects. Well here one that’s 100% factual to add to the list.

Left Statue from Kaharan Tepe. Circa 9,600 BCE

Center from Calakmul Mexico Circa 250 CE

Right Nias Island Sumatra Indonesia Circa 1915 CE

Emaciated “deity” holding his Phallus

3 continents 10,000 years apart.

10:31 PM · Aug 29, 2024 · 326 Views

He later adds:

I think this similar motif across cultures continents and timeframe, between people who had no contact hints at a collective consciousness. And perhaps a “mother culture” that’s roots grew into branches that traversed the globe.

That seems rather a big leap for Eric Graziano ("a tool Design Engineer with 30 years of experience. Questioning the past. #ThinkBig #AncientHistory #MegalithicSites #ArcheoAstronomy") to be making.

Well, if we start with what we know the most about, the context of the Nias figure the third example. This is a warrior society. True, they did erect megalithic stelae and had clan houses (so could be argued to be a parallel to Karahan Tepe - but that seems not to be a warrior society). The figure chosen here to emulate a "connection across time and space" is however utterly atypical of their art styles generally - no match for the majority. Cherry picking !!