The Year of Pseudo-archaeology

In the last year, there have been a few stories that presented some bad archaeology and, since this is the last Four Stone Hearth of the year, I thought it might be useful to recap these stories with a summary of each that includes the primary assumptions and faults they rely on. I’ve included some [...]

Bosnian Pyramid Loses Funds!

Not a pyramid at all but rather a “natural formation,” says the Bosnian Culture Minister, Gavrilo Grahovac. So they’re pulling the plug on self-proclaimed, “amateur archaeologist,” Semir Osmanagic, who, for a little over a year now, has claimed that the geologic formations as Visoko, Bosnia are pyramids built by people in antiquity. If true, the [...]

Pseudoarchaeology: ABC’s Nightline Demonstrates Journalistic Gullibility

On Friday night’s broadcast of Nightline (October 27, 2006), ABC once again demonstrated it’s lack of journalistic intelligence in its reporting of the Bosnian “pyramid” nonsense. In spite of many genuine archaeologists publicly denouncing Semir Osmanagic as a fraud who is putting genuine archaeological resources at risk. The Nightline segment, reported by Nick Watt, called [...]

Pseudoarchaeology: The "Bosnian Pyramid" is a Natural Formation

Afarensis commented a couple of days ago about a report that UNESCO is sending a team to Bosnia to inspect the alleged pyramid, a.k.a. Visocica hill, which has been heralded by Semir Osmanagic, a self-described amateur archaeologist. “Self-described” is the term best used because his qualifications are dubious. The story originates it would seem from [...]

Bosnian Pseudo-archaeologist pulls wool over media eyes…

Bosnian Pseudo-archaeologist pulls wool over media eyes… …and perhaps even my own, to some extent. I commented recently on the “Bosnian Pyramid” story with, perhaps, more optimism than skepticism a few days ago. But at least I was in good company. It seems that major media outlets were willing to print headlines like, “Scientists begin [...]

Pyramids in Bosnia

Pyramids in Bosnia A Bosnian-American archeologist, Semir (Sam) Osmanagic, has begun a project to explore a 2,120 foot triangular mound in Visoko. The mound is called Visocica by the locals and excavations have uncovered what appears to be a network of human built tunnels. The pyramid has been dubbed, “Bosanska Piramida Sunca (Bosnian Pyramid of [...]