Pyramid Marketing Schemes
Rambling Through the Skies Sky & Telescope, February 1997.Copyright (c) 1997 by Sky Publishing Corp.
Year: 2001
Definition of Peer-Reviewed Journals: A Rebuttal to the Lunatic Fringe
A common accusation levelled at academics is that “The Establishment” (false terminology) band together with
Astronomer Tony Fairall and Secret Chamber
In 1998 the South African astronomer, Professor Tony Fairall, launched a show at the Cape
An Analysis of the Quality of Graham Hancock’s Science
Leaving aside the fallacies already well-exposed by the other articles on this site, I would
Myth of the Open Mind
Graham Hancock frequently uses the argument that the academics and scholars that oppose his theories
Age of the Sphinx
Geoarchaeologist Alex Bordeau examines Colin Reader’s argument for an older Sphinx.
The Absence of Evidence
Independent scholar Derek Barnett examines the importance of the primacy of evidence.
Three Basic Principles of Archaeological Research
Archaeology requires evidence to function.
Analysis of Hancock’s Position Statement on C-14
“…Hancock will accept C-14 dates when they suit his case and challenge them (without substantiation, argument, evidence, or analysis) when they do not. “
Robbing Native American Cultures: Van Sertima’s Afrocentricity and the Olmecs
Abstract: In 1976, Ivan Van Sertima proposed that New World civilizations were strongly influenced by diffusion from Africa. The first and most important contact, he argued, was between Nubians and Olmecs in 700 B.C., and it was followed by other contacts from Mali in A.D. 1300. This theory has spread widely in the African-American community, both lay and scholarly, but it has never been evaluated at length by Mesoamericanists. This article shows the proposal to be devoid of any foundation. First, no genuine African artifact has ever been found in a controlled archaeological excavation in the New World. The presence of African-origin plants such as the bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) or of African genes in New World cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) shows that there was contact between the Old World and the New, but this contact occurred too long ago to have involved any human agency and is irrelevant to Egyptian-Olmec contact. The colossal Olmec heads, which resemble a stereotypical “Negroid,” were carved hundreds of years before the arrival of the presumed models. Additionally, Nubians, who come from a desert environment and have long, high noses, do not resemble their supposed “portraits.” Claims for the diffusion of pyramid building and mummification are also fallacious.