Last week a leading newspaper published what is most
likely an archeological
fraud, enter:
The world's oldest and largest “pyramid
found in Bosnia”? The story indeed swept the media, from the Associated Press
and the BBC, from papers and websites in the U.S. to those in India and Australia.
Too bad that it is not a credible story at all. In fact, it is impossible. Who
is the "archaeologist" who has taken the media for a ride? Why did
the media not check the story more carefully?
Semir (Sam) Osmanagic, a
Houston-based Bosnian-American contractor American contractor (seen above
right) first saw the hills he believes to be pyramids last spring. He is now
digging the largest of them and plans to continue the work through November,
promoting it as the largest archaeological project underway in Europe. (His
call for volunteers even slipped into the Archaeological Institute of America's
online listing of excavation
opportunities briefly
before being yanked.) He claims it is one of five pyramids in the area (along
with what he calls the pyramids of the Moon, Earth, and Dragon, plus another
that hasn't been named in any account I've seen). These, he says, resemble the
1,800-year-old pyramids at Teotihuacan, just north of Mexico City. Osmanagic maintains that the largest is bigger than the
pyramid of Khufu at Giza, and that the Bosnian pyramids date to 12,000 B.C.
Construction of massive pyramids in
Bosnia at that period is not believable. Curtis Runnels, a specialist in the
prehistory of Greece and the Balkans at Boston University, notes that
"Between 27,000 and 12,000 years ago, the Balkans were locked in the last
Glacial maximum, a period of very cold and dry climate with glaciers in some of
the mountain ranges. The only occupants were Upper Paleolithic hunters and
gatherers who left behind open-air camp sites and traces of occupation in
caves. These remains consist of simple stone tools, hearths, and remains of
animals and plants that were consumed for food. These people did not have the
tools or skills to engage in the construction of monumental architecture."
But time and again the media reports say
that Osmanagic has spent 15 years studying the
pyramids of Latin America. What is not included in the reports is how Osmanagic interprets those structures and the cultures that
built them. Had anyone bothered to investigate, they would have found rather bizarre
notions in Osmanagic's book The World of the Maya
(Gorgias Press, Euphrates imprint, 2005; $29.95). I had a look at the online
edition of it (accessible on Osmanagic's
"Alternative History" website at www.alternativnahistorija.com).
A couple of brief passages will convey
the gist of Osmanagic's beliefs:
Ordinary watchmakers repair our watches
and put them into accordance with Earthly time. It is my theory that the Maya
should be considered watchmakers of the cosmos whose mission it is to adjust
the Earthly frequency and bring it into accordance with the vibrations of our
Sun. Once the Earth begins to vibrate in harmony with the Sun, information will
be able to travel in both directions without limitation. And then we will be
able to understand why all ancient peoples worshipped the Sun and dedicated
their rituals to this. The Sun is the source of all life on this planet and the
source of all information and knowledge. ...And with a frequency in harmony,
the Earth will, via the Sun, be connected with the center of our Galaxy. These
facts become exceptionally important when we realize that we are rapidly
approaching December 2012, a date which the Maya have marked as the time of
arrival of the Galactic Energy Cluster which will enlighten us.
The descendants of the Maya, the Lacandon Indians in Chiapas were discovered in the
mid-twentieth century. This isolated community showed a surprising similarity
to the Basque and Berber peoples (most probable descendants of the natives of
Atlantis).... In the sacred Mayan book, the Popul
Vuh, there are descriptions of cosmic travelers, the use of the compass, the
fact that the Earth is round, and knowledge of the secrets of the universe....
The Mayan hieroglyphics tell us that their ancestors came from the Pleiades...
first arriving at Atlantis where they created an advanced civilization.
Many cultures around the world, from
India, Sumeria, Egypt, Peru, the Indians of North and
Central America, the Inca and the Maya, call themselves the "Children of
the Sun" or the "children of light." Their ancestors, the
civilizations of Atlantis and Lemuria, erected the first temples on energy
potent point of the Planet. Their most important function was to serve as a
gateway to other worlds and dimensions.
And there it is. A self-described
archaeologist, who believes the Maya and others are descended from Atlanteans
who came from the Pleiades, has been accepted as a legitimate researcher by
many news outlets. His ideas of early pyramids in Bosnia, which is simply not
possible, has been accepted as a major discovery. How could this happen?
If you want to categorize this farce, it
seems a standard-issue "amateur/maverick confounds establishment with
great discovery" story, which no doubt makes it appealing to uncritical
reporters looking for a big story. This kind of tale is a staple of the pseudoarchaeology or fantastic archaeology genre. And the
term "pyramidiot" has been applied to those
obsessed with pyramids and who offer strange interpretations of them on
websites and in books and televsion programs. (See
"Seductions of Pseudoarchaeology: Far Out Television").
Such stories infuriate serious scholars
like Runnels. "These reports are irresponsible on the part of
journalists," he says. "These claims are completely unsupported with
any kind of factual evidence, such as artifacts or photographs of the alleged
architectures. They have not been confirmed by archaeologists who have the
training and competence to evaluate them. The person making the claims appears
to have no training in archaeology and has not presented his finds in a way
that would allow them to be scrutinized by trained experts. This is simply
sensationalism and grandstanding and the journalists who have reported on these
claims, without first fact-checking the stories with professional
archaeologists, should be ashamed of themselves. People who believe these
stories, especially when they are presented without evidence, are fools."
Some in the academic establishment have
spoken out. They maintain that the kind of project Osmanagic
is running is far worse than just misleading the gullible public. Following a
report about Osmanagic in the London Times, Anthony
Harding, president European Association of Archaeologists, wrote the editors,
"The situation of professional heritage management in Bosnia-Herzegovina
is, since the Bosnian war, in a poor state, with a tiny number of people trying
to do what they can to protect their rich heritage from looting and unmonitored
or unauthorised development. It adds insult to injury
when rich outsiders can come in and spend large sums pursuing their absurd
theories (the construction of a colossal pyramid so large that it dwarfs even
those of Egypt or Mesoamerica? 12,000 years ago?), in ways that most other
countries would never countenance, instead of devoting their cash to the
preservation of the endangered genuine sites and monuments in which Bosnia-Herzegovina
abounds."
Others fear that Osmanagic's
excavations will damage real sites (the hill he calls the "Pyramid of the
Sun" is said to have medieval, Roman, and Illyrian remains on it). In one
of the few critical accounts of the Bosnian pyramid story, which appeared in
the Art Newspaper, the University of Sarejevo's Enver Imamovic, a former director
of the National Museum in Sarjevo, is quoted as
saying, "This is the equivalent of letting me, an archaeologist, perform
surgery in hospitals."
There is public outcry within Bosnia,
and an online
petition that seeks to shut
down Osmanagic's project. But he apparently has
backers within the federal government and the Sarejevo
city government. Whether he is allowed to continue or not is unresolved for
now, and his website makes no mention of any controversy. And even when
the mainstream media catch up and realize that the "Bosnian Pyramid of the
Sun" is no such thing, it will have entered the annals of fantastic
archaeology and will have a multitude of believers and defenders, for other
examples, read on.
The Mother of all Theocratic States: Lemuria
The Secret Doctrine, the foundational narrative for modern occultism, claimed
to be a commentary on the "Archaic Records" contained in the Stanzas
of Dzyan. As occult place making gathers momentum
over the course of the century, other such fantasies of Lemuria's landscape
follow. Although they lack the intimacy of the ancestral homeland of the Tamil
devotee in Sri Lanka.
September 2004, Cult Archeology: Civilization
One Book (excerpt)
Megalithic pint, anyone? Although it is
true that peoples had contacts through trade, and therefore the sharing of
ideas, however megalithic structures on Malta most likely are not connected to
the British Isles and vice versa. Instead Christopher Knight and Alan Butler
create a new myth: ”Like the British Isles and Brittany, Malta and Israel have
Megalithic structures scattered across them and the Old Testament gives
detailed evidence of how the Canaanite rituals were adopted for king-making.
The memory of these prehistoric secrets was transmitted by the remnants of the
Order of the Knights Templar who took their rituals to Scotland at the
beginning of the 14th century.”
Case Study 1: Cult
Archeology Neo-Paganism |
Editor: Like other ideas
under discussion on this web site also Neo Paganism’s doctrinal and ritual
elements are taken from the most diverse sources. From Mircea Eliade to Carlos Castaneda One of the first
signs of our fascination with all things 'shamanic' in the second half of the
twentieth century, is Mircea Eliade ‘s 1964 “Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of
Ecstasy”. The Truth About Carlos Castaneda "Increasing
speculation, based on mounting evidence, leads me to the conclusion that the
five women who left Los Angeles shortly after Carlos' death have committed
suicide. Daniel Pinchbeck is
not the first who might be responsible for a popularization of mind altering
substances, in fact and earlier "Noble Savage" popularization of
native drugs took place during the second half of the 20th century by Carlos
Castaneda. Reader Comment: The Myth of the Noble Savage J: When I was
running a spiritual type bookstore in a good sized city, Marol Morgan's book
Mutant Message Down under was still a self-published book that was doing
quite well. Although for
example many South American shamans incorporate elements of Catholicism,
astrology, mesmerism, Kardecism, etc. to enhance
their power and authority. |
From N. Pennick to Celtic/Northern Literature Nigel Pennick's work and other similar writers today, give the
impression of presenting a singular 'truth' about the past, but maybe the more
obvious aim of such writers is more concerned with the present than the past,
and how the past can be used to empower current ideas. The Temple of a Nation, Stonehenge Stonehenge has been
a site of political contest. On 25 March 1997, Kevin Carlyon 'illegally'
entered the stones of Stonehenge to raise a Union Jack; he stated this was in
reaction to the suggestion by archaeologists that Stonehenge was built by
migrating people from what is now France 4,500 years ago. Reburial' has been
a central issue for archaeologists and anthropologists in the USA, Australia
and elsewhere where the lobbying of indigenous communities for the
repatriation and/or reburial of human remains and artefacts held by museums
(and other institutions) has met increasing successes. Neo-Shamanists and Pagans Today First, the FSS
portrays its core-shamanism as 'shamanism' to indigenous people, when it is,
as argued, a Western construction - indeed its appeal to 'core' features is
reminiscent of Buhner's universalist approach. |
Case Study : Cult
Archeology, Atlantis |
Numerous attempts
have been made to rationalise Plato's myth and find
a kernal of historical truth in it. Noble attempts to
find this reality have been made by amongst others, J.V. Luce (1969) and
Peter James (1996). All have failed. Atlantis started
with Plato and in his hands it was never a supercivilization of the sort
conjectured by later authors; perhaps in strictly Greek terms it was no
civilization at all but rather a fatally luxurious elaboration of an
essentially barbarian way of life, for all its inception by a god. Earlier the
Theosophical, and next the Nazi ideology, horribly romantic, has been the
most extreme and pernicious expression of the myth of the divinely sanctioned
elite to date, and a far cry you might think from ideas of some secret
brotherhood of wise old priests struggling to carry the torch of learning and
spirituality down all the dark ages of prehistory and history. The Atlantologists frequently present themselves as hurt and
affronted by the rejection - or worse still the indifference - of the
professionals. (Their hurt on occasions can take an oddly childish turn, like
a schoolboy sulking over a low mark.) They put the professionals'
attitude down to, at best, an unadventurous conformism that blinds them to
the insights of the "alternative" camp. |
Cuba's Gateway To Atlantis P.1 The search for
Atlantis will never end. And not all its searchers will wind up in outer
space. Cuba's Gateway To Atlantis P.2: Cocaine For Collins the
considerable distance between the Sargasso and the Bahamas is accommodated by
the suggestion that "in singling out the Sargasso Sea" (which is a
huge assumption on Collins' part since there is nothing at all to suggest
Plato was talking about the Sargasso) Plato was just trying to indicate the
general location of his sunken island. Gateway to Atlantis P.3: Seven Cities, El Dorado There follows in
Collins Gateway to Atlantis, a detour into pre-Columbus legends of Antilia and the Seven Cities, El Dorado and the like. Gateway to Atlantis P.4: Urheimat
der Arier In Collins’ Gateway
to Atlantis an unusual landscape feature of the region, called the Carolina
Bays in the Bahamas, is brought on as possible evidence of some antique
commentary impact, rather like the Tunguska event of Siberia. An October 2002
poll among cult archeologists revealed the majority today, believe that if
Atlantis is not a fictional account by Plato (as historians and archeologists
worldwide claim) it should in the Bahama Banks area. |
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