This
hoax held back research on human evolution for 40 years until debunked in
the early 1950s.
Scientists had to account for it.
The past is powerful.
For some it may seem of little consequence, but for others it is their very identity as a people. For most it is compelling at some level
- story of my own entry into archaeology: the point
- story of Alejandro and the Aztec Calendar Stone in the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City
- the material connection to the past as a focus
For many, it is simply just interesting and a source of entertainment.
Others manipulate it to serve purposes ranging from supporting nationalism and consciousness-raising, to their religious causes.
Most do not understand the limitations of archaeology, with its emphasis on the use of material culture as a way of interpreting cultures, their adaptation and evolution.
Claims unsupported by scientific evidence, but which claim scientific support, use science terminology, or claim scientific validity can be called Pseudoscientific.
When these relate to the past, they can be called cult archaeology or fantastic archaeology
When they attach religious beliefs attacking evolution or using scientific evidence to promote a religious belief in creation, they are called creationism.
We need to understand these things, in order to understand how people process their own pasts, and to some degree, as Michael Shermer discusses in his book title Why People Believe Weird Things.
Example of what I mean that are mostly harmless, most of them built around misinterpretations of science:
Fossil Heart
Microportraits of Arayan aristocrats.
Aren't most of these cult archaeology "episodes" pretty harmless?
No, they aren't. Not at all.
Dowsing may seem harmless, but it's potentially costly- 4-H Cemetery cleaning example, well-drilling, finding archaeology sites
A major distraction from research-Stephen Jay Gould
Political agendas-Creation science and control of the classroom
Aryan supremacy notions underscored the use of archaeology as propaganda (See Bettina Arnold's "The Past as Propaganda," Archaeology, July/August 1992).
A case of archaeologists lying about the past.
The case of Massada and its uses by the Israelis to support nationalism.
Story of Jews under siege in a hilltop agreeing to commit suicide rather that submitting to the Romans
Used in until recently as a place to which Israeli army members were taken to swear their oath.
Likely didn't happen the way the historian Josephus recorded it. (See Neil Asher Silberman's chapter in Between Past and Present: Archaeology, Ideology, and Nationalism in the Modern Middle East. 1989 ).
Saddam Hussien in Iraq before and during the Gulf War using the ancient past of the Fertile Crescent and its many empires to build support among his people for his plans of expansionism in the Middle east.
Much of it is simply fabrication; people have a right to have a greater approximation of reality presented to them.
Classic case of the problems is Piltdown Man where scientific nationalism ran amuck-Actually shows the strength of science.
Some excellent Piltdown sites are the Talk Origins site and the BBC Piltdown site.
Scientists had to account for it.
Why does cult archaeology exist, often in spite of the existence of good scientific information about the past?
Fun and fantasy- Tabloid Archaeology
There is also money to be made in it! Big money!
Poor science training
Simple rule of Occam's Razor-"entities are not to be multiplied beyond necessity"- roughly translated-"the simplest explanation is the best."
One good example-Ancient Astronauts and Carl Sagan's "Has the Earth Been Visited?"
It turns out that the total mass of half a million stars has to be processed and all their metals extracted to get one space ship here the first time (gets easier after that)!
Something that seems easy on the surface, may be profoundly difficult, if not impossible.
Political Agendas
May be simple as in case of Piltdown and nationalism
May be complex as in the case of the Moundbulider Myth in the US and Manifest Destiny
May be insidious as in the case of Nazi archaeology or creation science
Racism may be at the root of some
Root cause may simply be underestimating the potential of our species, or certain groups within our species to accomplish what it has.
It also seems linked to our ethnocentrism--that somehow only people of our time could have such knowledge or that people of certain cultures could have such abilities (example: building the pyramids).
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