Politicized Archaelogy

[drscott]

Discussion at dinner brought up a subject I used to pay a lot more attention to: evidence of prehistoric voyages and settlement of the New World by various European and Asian groups. I have visited some of the better-known sites, including mysterious (possibly Viking) stone towers in Boston and Newport, R.I., and Mystery Hill, a very convincing multi-acre hill fort and/or ceremonial astronomy center just north of the border with Massachusetts which may -- or may not -- have been evidence of early Carthaginian / Phoenician - influenced settlements.

The battle has been raging for decades between Conventional Wisdom archaeologists, who don't want their simple models of New World settlement disrupted and see most of these anomalies as hoaxes or axe-grinding by interested parties like the Mormons -- and indeed, there have been many hoaxes and much axe-grinding -- and the proponents of Diffusionism, who think prehistoric peoples got around much more widely and influenced each other more than we have recognized. And yet much of the evidence resists dismissal, and more holistic study of technology, language, and Native American culture is finding more evidence for some of these early intrusions.

A fine article on the topic: The Diffusionists Have Landed.

Comments

[tmaher.livejournal.com]

Guns, Germs, and Steel is my current favorite big-picture human history book, and deals with this extensively, not just eastern hemisphere influencing western hemisphere, but just cross-cultural interaction in general.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

That's a good one. Another is Nonzero by Robert Wright.

[excessor.livejournal.com]

This is a very fun topic.

One of my very favorite books is Europe: A History, by Norman Davies. Part of the book describes the many migrations across Europe, many of which are unacknowledged in standard texts. It is completely and utterly fascinating.

Watching CW archaeologists defend against Diffusionists and their evidence makes science so much fun.