Pseudoarchaeology (Other Keyword)

DOCUMENT Citation Only Lauren Bussiere.

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. As an archaeological repository, the University of Texas at Austin’s Texas Archeological Research Laboratory is simultaneously a public-facing entity and a gatekeeper, standing between the public and a massive corpus of sensitive archaeological evidence in the form of held-in-trust archaeological collections and records. It is therefore not surprising that...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Katie Biittner.

This is an abstract from the "Interactions with Pseudoarchaeology: Approaches to the Use of Social Media and the Internet for Correcting Misconceptions of Archaeology in Virtual Spaces" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Archaeologists are frequently represented in comic books as caricatures, where adventure and profit are exaggerated and the interpretation of finds is oversimplified. In this paper it is argued that these misrepresentations of how and...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Meredith Wismer-Lanoe. Zachary Nelson.

Supposedly originating from pre-Columbian Mesoamerican sites, the crystal skulls are one of the most iconic sets of fake artifacts which have graced museum shelves and the public’s imagination. The first crystal skulls appeared in collections during the late 1800’s, and well-known specimens are housed today as modern fakes at the Smithsonian and British Museums. Most media coverage of the skulls has revolved around the privately owned, so-called "Skull of Doom", claimed to be of Mayan origin and...

DOCUMENT Citation Only John Hoopes.

The history of archaeology is replete with assertions about lost tribes, sunken continents, and ancient aliens in the context of failed hypotheses, deliberate hoaxes, and intentional frauds. Williams chronicled these, in the process helping others hone skills in critical thinking. New technologies proliferate spurious explanations of the past that archaeologists must continually address. As the Talmud says, "It is not your responsibility to finish the work of perfecting the world, but you are...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Jane Baxter.

The Atlantis Resort is a formidable presence on the landscape and a tourist destination that overshadows other Bahamian resorts.  The Atlantis theme has made the resort a popular topic in archaeological discussions of pseudoarchaeology, and the exhibit named "The Dig" in the lower level of the resort makes this artificial past widely accessible.  Attending ten tours through "The Dig" in the summer of 2011 facilitated an analysis of how the Atlantian past is presented to tourists, and how...