» "Bad Archaeology is the brainchild of a couple of archaeologists who are fed up with the distorted view of the past that passes for knowledge in popular culture. We are unhappy that books written by people with no understanding of real archaeology dominate the shelves at respectable bookstores. We do not appreciate news programmes that talk about ley lines (for example) as if they are real."
"In short, we are Angry Archaeologists."
"The aim of this site is to explore the main strands of thought within the 'fringe', to explain how and why they are different from orthodox archaeology. Although much of what we have written is aimed at debunking the misconceptions and distortions of the past promoted by fringe writers, we are always open to the idea that they may be able to tell orthodox archaeology something of value. The fringe is interesting and entertaining in its own right; this site can only scratch the surface of such a huge area of human endeavour but we will continue to dig away, exposing Bad Archaeology wherever we find it." [ 09/18/07 ]
» Stonehenges all around us. Tracing the patterns of neolithic architecture through our modern cities. (via dm) [ 02/20/07 ]
» Neat. A college professor at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota sent his World Prehistory class out into the snow to "explore the labor and leadership requirements of monumental architecture" by building a mound. (via afarensis) [ 01/24/07 ]
» Have you read 1491 yet? Here's an article about a new archeological find of a previously unknown city of the Chachapoya, the Cloud Warriors, high in the mountains of Peru. The picture of the mummy with its hands over its face is unlike anything I've seen before. "[A]ll the walls have a slight bulge to them like the side of a barrel, which I think is a fault in their engineering that they adopted and made a feature — an aesthetic choice resulted from engineering accident." Keith Muscutt, a researcher with the University of California Santa Cruz. [ 01/22/07 ]
» A recently discovered Andean Pyramid has proven to be a cosmic "farming clock" that helped ancient farmers time the planting and reaping of their crops in Lima 4000 years ago. [ 05/30/06 ]
» New discoveries at the site of ancient Pyramids in Guatamala are giving researchers glimpses into a previously unknown—and highly advanced—Preclassic Mayan culture. It seems the paintings were found accidentally. "We are entering a golden age of Preclassic study. [The discipline of Maya research] will be marked by a time before the discovery of these paintings in the jungle of Guatemala, and a time thereafter." Stephen Houston, of Brown University. (via dm) [ 05/24/06 ]
» Since reading 1491, this doesn't surprise me as much as it once would have: Amazon Stonehenge found in Brazil, possibly 2000 years old. [ 05/19/06 ]
» The discovery of corn and arrowroot in a 3600 year old home in the Andes confirms that ancient cultures in Peru cultivated corn 1000 years earlier than thought, and — perhaps more importantly — that they had contact with lowland cultures. [ 03/08/06 ]
