Online Journal in Public Archaeology

Transcription

ISSN: 2171-6315
Volume 2 - 2012
Editor:
Jaime Almansa Sánchez
www.arqueologiapublica.es
AP:
Online Journal in Public Archaeology
AP: Online Journal in Public Archaeology is edited by JAS Arqueología S.L.U.
AP: Online Journal in Public Archaeology
Volume 2 -2012 p. 24-54
FORUM
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This forum responds to the controversy generated after the invitation of
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Was it convenient? Did it ‘hurt’ in some way archaeology? Could it
be helpful to understand certain alternative approaches? And social
perspectives towards the past? What is our role towards these issues?
After a contextualization of the topic by Tera Pruitt, four professionals
will raise their opinions about the event. Finally, Cornelius Holtorf and
Jacob Hilton analyze the consequences of the lecture.
INVITATION
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The Bosnian Valley of the Pyramids in Context
Time: 18 October 2011, 2.00 – 4.00 pm
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The lecture will also be broadcast from Room Plato, Campus Vaxjo
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around the world and in relation to tourism and heritage in Bosnia.
Although most scholars dispute the existence of any such pyramids in
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oldest pyramids in Europe and the largest pyramids in the world in
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Bosnian pyramids received global media coverage and the relations
among the media, archaeological research and cultural heritage in
Bosnia and beyond.
More information at
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Free entry! All welcome!
)2580 Is Public Archaeology a menace? - 25
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pseudo-archaeologist since the pyramids he claimed to have found in
Bosnia are, in all probability, natural, geological formations. In spite
of that, he has received large attention in the global media, and his
activities in Bosnia have attracted many tourists to a poor country
that has obviously had a strong own need, and also a demand by
tourists, for a sensational cultural heritage.
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“We invited him not because we take his interpretations
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his activities and its outcomes. The Bosnian pyramids have
affected not only tourism and the perception of cultural
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in society more generally. Can invented heritage have the
same (or greater) power than genuine cultural heritage?
What are tourists really looking for when they visit cultural
heritage sites? How does one present archaeology and
heritage to the global media so that they will be covering it?
How does Osmanagiühimself see his critics among academic
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working in Bosnia?”
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Aardvarchaeology:
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Archaeological Haecceities:
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The story is quite simple: an alternative archaeologist in BosniaHerzegovina claims that he has discovered the oldest and largest
manmade pyramids in the world. Most professional archaeologists
strongly disagree; they call his project pseudoscience, arguing that
the ‘pyramids’ are simply straight-edged mountains, in a naturally hilly
landscape formed by glacial movements and natural erosion. Despite
this seductively simple narrative, the socio-political tale behind the
Bosnian Pyramids project, which has held a great deal of power and
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an archaeologist; he was a business owner and alternative historian,
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riverbeds full of ‘mysterious stone balls’, an a labyrinth of underground
tunnels, and includes the largest and oldest manmade pyramid in the
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Bosnia-Herzegovina.
(This is a freely distributed image)
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historians, geologists, Egyptologists and archaeologists, as well as an
eclectic mix of alternative historians and paranormal energy specialists
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runs a circuit of media performances and institutional presentations
to promote the site and its importance. Previous stops on this circuit
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The Bosnian Pyramids project has a strange dynamic between
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internationally recognized level will yield a successful realization of the
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However, hidden underneath the project’s veneer of science is
an equally intense New Age sensationalism and endorsement of
‘mysterious energies’ that drive the pyramid mythology. Many, if not
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fringe, supernatural, extraterrestrial and conspiratorial theories in their
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pyramids’ esoteric side. For example, the headlining picture on the most
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tourism and by giving the country a positive and sensational past worth
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the discipline of archaeology is democratized, and where any person
can be involved in a positive message and positive economic change.
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Our wish is that Bosnia and Herzegowina [sic] becomes a
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raise and infrastructures will be built.2VPDQDJLF
He has often implied that the discipline of archaeology, as it
is professionally practised now, is an undemocratic and exclusive
operation, bordering on a conspiracy, which ‘hides the truth’ about the
real past from the public.
The project’s sudden popularity has certainly had an impact on
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a much-needed economic boost. The region has bloomed with new
stores selling handmade pyramid souvenirs, new paved roads, new
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has undeniably been a great stimulus and inspiration to the Bosnian
people.
Figure 2.
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of tourists.
This restaurant advertises
with a large brick pyramid
on its front lawn.
(Photo by Tera Pruitt)
)2580 Is Public Archaeology a menace?
The project has also created a much-desired new history: a Bosnian
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native places and homes, shattered dreams, insecurity, disappointment,
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bolster the pride and morale of nations or ethnic groups. It is probably
strongest amongst peoples who feel politically threatened, insecure or
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civilisation’ provides a positive symbol for a country still divided over
its own national identity. It provides a town in recession with a muchneeded economic boost.
The only problem, one might argue, is that the ‘pyramids’ are
completely invented.
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the Bosnian Pyramids. In many ways, the project is ‘classic’
pseudoscience; it blurs the line between material reality and wishful
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promises, disparaging academia while, simultaneously, appealing
to academic authority, a dogged adherence to outdated theoretical
models, presenting selective and distorted images of the site, basing
interpretations on logical fallacies and inconsistencies, and having an
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a team of Bosnian geologists led by professor Sejfudin Vrabac at the
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simply natural geological formations made of clastic layered sediments
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No genuine, uncontested ‘pyramid’ archaeology has been found
at the site. No archaeological tools or any clear signs of settlement for
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alterations of the landscape date from much later periods of time: some
evidence of nomadic Neolithic activity, some Iron Age settlements,
but most archaeology in the region dates from the Medieval to the
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attributed to ‘pyramid builders’ are controversial at best, dubious at
worst. Most ‘pyramid artefacts’ that I have personally seen have been
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attributed, even by the employed site archaeologist, to the Iron Age or
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Figure 3.
Project volunteer proudly
showing off a ‘pyramid
artefact’ marked with a
record number.
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test his own assumptions or build explanations based on found
evidence, but rather he constructs ‘proofs’ of monumental architecture
after the fact to verify his pre-established theories. His excavations
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photographs and reports carefully angle and construct a reality that
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things and collecting radiocarbon results, but it is a performance with
no substantive evidence.
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archaeologist employed by the pyramid team. These samples were
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series of events.
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evidence to suggest humans ever came in contact with the carbonized
material found in the tunnels and radiocarbon dated. Even the trained
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leap of logic. To the public, however, the series of events seemed
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often thought to simply ‘reveal truth’, even though they require constant
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at drawing on reputable institutions and credentialed people to bolster
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around the world wonder, how did this happen?
Professional Archaeology and the Bosnian Pyramids
Since the beginning of the project, many professional archaeologists
have responded critically, even hostilely, to both the creators and
the supporters of the Bosnian Pyramids. Professional archaeologists,
with genuine concern for Bosnia’s heritage, have called the Bosnian
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such as the Ficticious Pasts: A Danger for European Archaeology session
at the European Association of Archaeologists meeting in Malta in 2008.
Pleading media and academic reports have been published, criticisms
have been lodged in Bosnian television, and frustrated articles have
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operate, and for a while it even received government funding despite
academic opposition in Bosnia.
Archaeologists are genuinely concerned about the implications
of allowing pseudoarchaeology to thrive. The Bosnian Pyramids team
is rewriting history with an invented past, and for many people in
Bosnia this has become a preferred account of history. Worse still,
the amateur team has undeniably destroyed genuine archaeological
material, plowing right through layers of history-rich stratigraphy, in
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the supportive Bosnian public have seemed unmindful of the heavy,
complex socio-politics that sustain the Bosnian Pyramids narrative.
It is a fact that the project has brought real economic change to
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public support does not arise from concern over what ‘is’ or ‘is not’
archaeology, but rather results from complex social processes: positive
impact on economics, social welfare, pride in the past and nationalism.
When people feel it necessary to pray for pyramids, when they have a
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Where Do We Go From Here?
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success than real archaeologists and scientists who are desperate to
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to the country through his own ingenuity and design. However, it is also
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and his team have constructed a theatre and performance of science
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institutions, presenting and publishing technical reports, conducting
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that the pyramid project has already destroyed genuine archaeological
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So far, archaeologists have tried to approach alternative history
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the early days of the Bosnian Pyramids case, this was a common gut
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archaeology and hope it goes away. Many professional archaeologists
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against the project but then receiving harsh reactions and even threats
from the public, many archaeologists from the National Museum at
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A third approach, which is the most complex and multifaceted,
has been to actively engage with and study pseudoarchaeology so
that we can better understand why such cases persist. In the case of
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engaged with members of the project and with the public in the region,
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Bosnian Pyramids today.
The questions around Holtorf’s invitation are complex. By inviting
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we, as archaeologists, do not engage with alternative archaeologists
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This journal issue opens up a much-needed debate in the
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here?
Figure 4.
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a press release.
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5200-years cycle in the Mayan calendar, as well as the completion of
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changes foreseen by the Maya. Today’s age of transition and chaos
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precession of the equinoxes of almost 26,000 years when a supposed
alignment between the earth, the sun and the galactic center occurs on
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made his own contribution by inventing pyramids in Bosnia through
what can best be described as terraforming.
Similar to other 2012ers, he is very eclectic and connects dots
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not surprise us to learn that Maya was the name of Buddha’s mother.
The Veda tells us that Maya was the name of a great astronomer and
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stars of the Pleiades constellation. Mayab is also the name of the seat
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and Maya words and concepts that ultimately are used to show that
the ancestors of the Maya actually were aliens and that they came
from the Pleiades.
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believed to be part of a greater complex that originated from outer
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they created an advanced civilization. The building of temples in the
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the interior of the Earth, because the pyramids were erected on energy
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from outside the Earth was maintained longer and was more intense in
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versions of diffusionism, which is the dominant explanation for cultural
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burden” to spread civilization.
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a reproduced and partly expanded version of The World of the Maya.
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Maya culture”. One of these supposedly sanctioned facts is that the
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claims this. The Neolithic is a time period based upon the prevalence
of stone tools and an agricultural and sedentary life-style in Europe.
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Osmanagic believes.
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existence of the Maya after the 10th century AD. This goes against the
massive amount of archaeological, ethnohistorical, and linguistic data
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languages.
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he has not studied the Maya in any great detail. Only if one has a limited
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are far from indisputable examples. The quartz heads were made in
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comparative parameters such as civilizing goals, wisdom, love as a
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is followed by several parameters related to territory. His goal is to
compare the Maya and the West by determining if they had or have
reached the desired level of civilization, were or are on the path to the
desired level of civilization, or if they are or were on the negative level
of civilization. This teleological view of cultural evolution is not exactly
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most BA-theses.
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some of the many contradictions facing those of us engaged in research
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to non-archaeologists. Final authority resides with the professional
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and the general, non-archaeological, public. The ‘multi-vocal’ approach,
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humans and material culture, and the subjectivity involved in these
differing interactions between material culture, groups and individuals
that is both historically situated and in the present. This critical
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the socio-economically and politically marginalised and archaeological
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meaning. This is the approach that Holtorf, and myself, amongst many
other Public Archaeology researchers worldwide, have adopted.
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and ethical responsibility of, archaeologists involved in the presentation
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interpretations of the past by non-professionals, without the imposition
of ‘correct’ interpretational methods. Archaeology is also a subject that
is in a constant process of negotiating dialogue with itself, and the
past. The gathering, processing and re-examination of old and new
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as a discipline examines the relationship between these past human
activities and contemporary society. It critiques the process and
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limits and exposes the relationships between the past, present and
future. It must be politically engaged to understand the creation and
application of associated theory and the examination and analysis of
Public Archaeology in practice. The conceptual and ethical paradigm
of Public Archaeology is, therefore, the renegotiation of power and
control through communication, dialogue and participation between
archaeological professionals and non-professional members of the
general public.
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heritage in Bosnia is desperate, with museums closed, staff unpaid
and the National Museum about to have its electricity cut off due to
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the face of this cultural crisis is disastrous. Why is it acceptable to offer
a platform to a man who is so clearly deluded and dangerously wrong?
Is it right for a respected Swedish institution to concern themselves
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‘sociological’ research, when archaeological funding is so scarce? Or
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Archaeology contains deep intra-disciplinary divisions alongside
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sociology, anthropology, forensic science, geography and geology,
amongst others. The emphasis within this elitist discipline is, as Henson
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the archaeological resource´ LELG 3XEOLF $UFKDHRORJ\ LV SDUW
of this porous subject. Its role is to question the dominant position
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of both archaeology and its pseudo-archaeology, which can be an
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sanctioned by the profession, it meets understandable hostility, anger
and condemnation from professional archaeologists. But we, as Public
Archaeologists, want to understand how ‘expert-amateur’ discourse
is constructed and legitimised, how we regulate, maintain and assert
authority over wider archaeological narratives, indeed, how the impact
of heritage tourism can develop and sustain nations and communities
with entrenched poverty and mass unemployment. A conversation is
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the comments thread, down from the blog, and out of the pages of
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public arena, face-to-face. To understand these issues, we have to get
our hands dirty.
Beatriz COMENDADOR REY
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pyromania, we can identify the following features:
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himself as Houston’s answer to Indiana Jones, searching for the
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charismatic role.
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refuses to recognise: that Bosnia was the cradle of the oldest
of the ancient high civilizations, with the greatest technological
achievements. He presents a glorious past for Bosnia, stressing
time and again the unique nature of the Moon Pyramid, a world
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built”.
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a mass phenomenon and a collective business.
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heritage.” This past represents them in the present, becoming an
element of identity. The denial of this past implies the denial of the
role of Bosnia in the global stage, a national minimalisation.
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With even more rejection and denial, and the absence of dialogue,
Osmaganic’s popularity increases.
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merchandising.
The following two passages from a video on this topic are
enlightening:
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Why on earth in Bosnia? Because we deserve it...
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God and no one has ever seen Him. Here we have three or four
stones placed together. Why not believe in the pyramids?! If
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factor is his own personal gain, although I imagine that the feeling of
being a national hero is also far from unwelcome.
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Cornelius Holtorf’s proposal seems to me not only appropriate, but
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forum, with the objectives of social analysis which have been presented,
allows a direct and unmanipulated dialogue.
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emotion can often win out over reason, facts and the complex arguments
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false convictions in any justice system. Science should not be a circus,
or a popularity contest.
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show slides of his last vacation, for all it matters, because he could go
away and use the fact of the event – the fact that he had been invited
to address academic archaeologists in another country – as providing
proof that he is respected by his peers and has a standing within the
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vici.
So my response was based on an assumption that – no matter
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attention to his advantage. It would be naïve on Cornelius’s part to
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a mutual acquaintance of Cornelius and myself, suffered the same
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Some may try to frame this as an issue of free speech. This is a false
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under no obligation to return the favour if we do. I may be cynical, but
I somehow do not expect he will convene an international conference
any time soon, or open his site up to international oversight. This
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happen.
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free speech are what annoy me, because there is that sort of naïve
belief that if we play fair with him, he will play fair with us, or that the
truth will all out in the end, etc. But that belief seems to be based on
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playing the same game, by the same rules. It may even be that any
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So maybe the problem is that some archaeologists are too honest,
too trusting, too optimistic and naïve. After all, it is only relatively
recently that we have started to become more serious and effective in
using the press to our own advantage. Every large excavation seems
WRKDYHDSUHVVUHOHDVHOLQNHGWRWKHSXEOLFDWLRQRIVLJQL¿FDQWUHVXOWV
for example. But that does not mean we are able to go up against
big investors who still reap a lot of political support by claiming that
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colleagues. It Could be argued to what degree they represent academic
navel-gazing, a clear manifestation of ivory tower elites out-of-touch
with the real world, playing games with relativism and so on. Whereas
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pressing issues as budgets and timetables and database design, or
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and safety regulations because they can: the regulatory agencies are
not interested in protecting – and no one wants to stir up trouble for –
just a few archaeologists.
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archaeology or for studying history. Yet, despite such clear examples as
the many conferences which have examined archaeology and politics
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and how easy it is to manipulate the well-intentioned who fail – or
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The history of archaeology shows a general move away from
being a hobby enjoyed by a small elite towards attempting to be a
serious science. The fact that we are not there yet is highlighted by the
fact that archaeology continues to be under-funded, and developers
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legislation but also laws intended to protect heritage. In that context,
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Obviously there is a role for the public in archaeology, and obviously
science thrives on discourse and informed, critical debate. But that
does not mean that all opinions are equally valid, or that we need to
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receive heart surgery from a surgeon or a plumber, for example; or
whether you want to elect a pilot form amongst the passengers next
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Before archaeologists can attain the professional status of heart
surgeons or airline pilots, we need to be serious and present a more
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, WU\ WR DUJXH WKDW P\ ZRUNHUV QHHG WR KDYH ZDWHU RQ VLWH VR WKDW
after digging through mediaeval latrines all morning, they can at least
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bronze age burial mound or late stone age settlement is nowhere near
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Learning about the past from the Bosnian pyramids?
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and the local radio station had reported about it a few days in advance.
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attendance was one reason why the controversy on the internet that
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WKRXJKWLWKDGEHHQDJRRGLGHDWRLQYLWH2VPDQDJLüWRVSHDNDWDOO
Two days after the lecture, a letter to the editor appeared in
Barometern, a local newspaper, in which the author criticized the
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an open-minded academic fashion, and that is why we were more than
happy to promote and contribute to the present exchange of views in
this international journal.
An interesting question to consider initially is why was there not
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have in recent years been something of an international media
phenomenon, yet it appeared that in Sweden few current students and
generally few non-archaeologists had ever heard of the controversy
around these astonishing revelations from Bosnia. On the same trip
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lectures in connection with the local Bosnian communities, and among
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attracted bigger attention.
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the Bosnian pyramids and to persuade the students of their merit, the
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the lecture was to investigate the role of alternative archaeologies and
invented heritage. When a project such as this one has garnered such a
wide response of criticism and support from all over the world despite the
evidence against it, it is worthwhile to consider how it can be sustained.
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LQGHHGRWKHUGLVFLSOLQHVWREHFRQIURQWHGZLWKDOWHUQDWLYHGLVFRXUVHV
and practices that do not follow all existing academic conventions. It
was a chance for them to engage and to communicate with somebody
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one particular aspect of the relationship between archaeology, cultural
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While it may be bad science, there may be something to learn from
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be his standard one. It consisted of the astonishing number of 201
PowerPoint slides. After more than an hour of presentation, when
he was gently reminded to come to the end, it became clear that
he had believed that the entire two-hour slot was for him to present
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rather than the ones he claims to have discovered. In fact, his lecture
was largely a criticism against the current academic understanding of
the history of the pyramids, their construction, their structural aspects
and their meaning and function.
The lecture followed in some way a narrative which the infamous
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much of what the mainstream scientists had been arguing thus far. The
huge stones of which pyramids have been built, and the sophisticated
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of ancient Egyptians or any other ancient people. He pointed to certain
contradictions that he had noticed, for example how the Egyptian
pyramids could have been built by the pharaohs as their monumental
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or that ceramics found in the step pyramid of Saqqara was dated to
5,700 years ago which predates the conventionally assumed date
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concluded that we are still at square one in explaining the pyramids,
even though Egyptologists have been around for nearly two hundred
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pharaohs”.
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anecdotes made plain, he had travelled to many if not all of these
places himself – very much in the style of an explorer entering new
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After all, the pyramids showed amazing similarities which are plain for
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on their tops, they contain passageways and underground tunnels, and
they are usually part of large sacred geometries within the surrounding
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not only about constructing perfectly geometrical forms but also about
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Having established himself as a global pyramid expert pursuing
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his home country, Bosnia. What are these pyramids that Osmanagic is
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pyramids. The project has been attracting hundreds of volunteers from
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The Bosnian pyramids are supposedly the oldest and largest in
the world, and they are placed in the world’s biggest Valley of the
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is the largest and oldest among them. It is not only about a third taller
than the Cheops pyramids in Egypt, but with a cited age of around
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has reportedly revealed that the Bosnian pyramids were constructed
of concrete superior in hardness, water absorption and durability to
anything we use today. According to the dating methods applied,
the use of such materials preceded the invention of concrete by the
Romans by many millennia. As for the pyramids’ spatial orientation
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12 seconds of error. Other structural aspects include passageways and
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with many carved symbols. Around the site there is what Osmanagic
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in the landscape, best studied on maps.
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of the right buttons. He stresses that all the results of his project
are openly available to be shared with everybody and that all he
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of collaborators investigates everything from building material and
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methods, referring to a historical responsibility to preserve the site for
future generations.
As the lecture came to an end, the students were welcomed to
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studies, rather overwhelmed by the long lecture and not too eager to
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that at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter if the pyramids were
real or not as the project has done so much for the people of Bosnia in
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scientists around the world, he stated that he would not accept this as
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project hoping that he would eventually be proven right. He also made
something of a pity appeal to the audience for their support to allow
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the considerable opposition he faced by various authorities even within
Bosnia and Hercegovina.
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Foundation”).
In sum then, the event itself – although controversial before it
happened – did not cause any major splash anywhere. In retrospect,
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had made an informed decision in this case based on having read
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also directly consulted some of the relevant experts in advance of the
invitation, there is no need for him to have any regrets. The reasoning
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mentioned on a Bosnian webpage1 including two photographs showing
the poster announcing the lecture and the institutional sign outside our
building. Should we be concerned about this? Hardly. Whatever some
of our colleagues in their contribution to the present discussion may
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a nationalistic agenda or any other discernible purpose. We do not
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+ROWRUIKDGWDNHQWKHVLPSOHSUHFDXWLRQDU\VWHSQRWWRDJUHHWRDMRLQW
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In welcoming a lecture about the Bosnian pyramids we consider
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or by any other public funds – and all that can be claimed is that
Holtorf had the personal pleasure to invite the discoverer of the
Bosnian pyramids for lunch – arguably this lecture provided a greater
RSSRUWXQLW\WROHDUQVRPHWKLQJDERXWWKHVLJQL¿FDQFHRIWKHSDVWDQG
cultural heritage in present-day society than many other lectures that
would not have caused any frowning by anybody.
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References
$%&³%RVQLDQ3\UDPLG$%&+RXVWRQ&RYHUDJH´<RX7XEH
FRPRQOLQHYLGHR5HWULHYHG0D\IURPKWWSZZZ
\RXWXEHFRPZDWFK"Y []'<(%Y&E8
Bohannon, J. 2006a. Mad About Pyramids. 6FLHQFH 0DJD]LQH,
1718-1720.
Bohannon, J. 2006b. Researchers Helpless as Bosnian Pyramid
%DQGZDJRQ*DWKHUV3DFH6FLHQFH0DJD]LQH, 1862.
%RKDQQRQ-³7KH0DQ:KR:HQW8SD+LOODQG&DPH'RZQ
a Pyramid.” 'LVFRYHU0DJD]LQH, online. Retrieved 20 January,
IURPKWWSGLVFRYHUPDJD]LQHFRPQRYWKH
man-who-went-up-a-hill-and-came-down-a-pyramid
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Oldest Pyramid Complex.” Philip Coppens, online. Retrieved
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