New archeology section needed?

[str8thinker]

I'd like to see a section of the forum dedicated to archeology including stuff like:

evidence of ancient egyptians migrating to americas and Australia
use of sophisticated tools (doesn't have to be something handed to them by aliens)
"forbidden archeology" like Michael Cremo's books.
discussion of Zachariah Sitchin's theories, etc.

I'm not sure that UFO contacts is the best place for this stuff. Maybe a crypto-archeology section is needed. Any suggestions?

[Bill Ryan]

I'd like to see a section of the forum dedicated to archeology including stuff like:

evidence of ancient egyptians migrating to americas and Australia
use of sophisticated tools (doesn't have to be something handed to them by aliens)
"forbidden archeology" like Michael Cremo's books.
discussion of Zachariah Sitchin's theories, etc.

I'm not sure that UFO contacts is the best place for this stuff. Maybe a crypto-archeology section is needed. Any suggestions?

Noted, and I agree this is a good idea. Crypto-archeology is the perfect label.

[The One]

You might not be intersted in this str8thinker i posted this last week

Xenoarchaeology is a hypothetical form of archaeology concerned with the physical remains of past (but not necessarily extinct) alien cultures. These may be found on planets or satellites, in space, the asteroid belt, planetary orbit or Lagrangian points. http://www.physics.montana.edu/faculty/cornish/lagrange.html

Xenoarchaeology is currently only hypothetical science that exists mainly in science fiction works and is not practiced by mainstream archaeologists. Although some fringe theories of alien archaeology exist, and several attempts at observing extraterrestrial structures at common Lagrangian points in our solar system have been made, most serious archaeological work has been in refutation of it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenoarchaeology

Xenoarchaeology is the study of past alien cultures from their physical remains. The prefix xeno- is from the Greek xenos, stranger.

Alien, in this instance, refers to members of any species other than that of the hypothetical xenoarchaeologist. A human studying martian ruins is a xenoarchaeologist, as is a martian studying human ruins.

The term alien always sounds a little pejorative to me (how about non-human person), but I use it here instead of ‘extraterrestrial’ which could be taken as a spatial designation, and because in the future there could conceivably be terrestrial nonhuman cultures (say, from uplifted animals or artificial intelligences). Despite its connotations, the word alien conveys the otherness of the culture to be studied.

If xenoarchaeology is the study of past cultures from species other than one’s own, and if you define ‘human’ in a narrow sense to refer to modern Homo sapiens, then archaeologists who study other hominids are already conducting a sort of xenoarchaeology.

Interpreting human, and perhaps hominid, minds and cultures is one thing, in fact we all do it in our everyday lives. But a special set of skills will be needed to study alien cultures without anthropomorphising them.



Xenoarchaeology fascinates me.

[Louis]

Very good idea....
There are so many historical mysteries ....
- the 14th century runic stone (viking) unearthed by a farmer in Minnesota in the 1800's.
- the discovery of a Phenician wreck in the Ohio river....
-etc....

[The One]

hope this is useful

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBoQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fkeelynet.com%2Funclass%2Fcanyon.txt&ei=a0kGTdKcM47tsgb1xvjvCQ&usg=AFQjCNG4PpUqSEKw-WtPQm11MK5-_nqUaA

[Richard]

This is a great idea, let's do it. I personally prefer the Xenoarchaeology label myself. I'm adding a expiring poll to get opinions. The new sub forum will be under the Ufology, Extraterrestrial Contact forum once the name is decided. :)

[str8thinker]

Thanks everyone for your feedback and Bill for your support. Crypto-, xeno- both have their merits but mean different things. Crypto ("hidden") to me indicates kinda off the mainstream. Xeno (alien) definitely is about aliens, so would IMO tend to exclude posts about humans who, say, migrated from A to B. Not all archeology is crypto or xeno, either. A general Archeology section would enable others to submit posts about new, great, mainstream archeology discoveries. This section could contain subsections named Crypto-archaeology or Xeno-archeology. That would probably keep everyone happy. ;)

[Richard]

:bump:
added 3rd poll option :)

[MorningSong]

My thoughts:

If the forum's new section is to be called “crypto-anthropology” which means hidden (crypto) study (logia) of humanity (man) that could be pretty cool! As we all know, there are so many mysteries to discuss...

I Googled the word “crypto-anthropology” and found out it already truely exists to some degree and the application of the term ranges from “fun house freak shows” to forum sections to discuss Bigfoot as a hominoid to “not established (human) history”.

So, it appears to me, anything with the prefix “anthropo” should have to do with humans as we (think we) know them on Earth.

I don't understand why this new section, as Richard has announced, would be filed under Ufology (the study of unidentified flying objects)/ Extraterrestral contact (humanoid or non).

As for the name “xeno-archeology”, this is a Wikipedia insert:

“Xenoanthropology (also known as extraterrestrial anthropology) is an appalling oxymoron. It is a misguided attempt to name the equivalent extraterrestrial field to the study of human cultures - anthropology. The term anthropology, however, derives from the Greek word for human, rendering it inappropriate for referring to non-humans. A more appropriate term might be something like sophontology.
The term is used in Marion Zimmer Bradley's book, The Ruins of Isis (). “

Although Answers.com gives this little support:
“[xeno- + anthropology] the study of alien cultures. Also xenanthropology. Hence xenoanthropologist.
1966 A. Budrys Galaxy (Oct.) № 155/2: Anderson's is about xenathropology, politics and moral courage.
1987 F. Pohl Adeste Fidelis D.G. Hartwell Christmas Stars (2004) № 16: He was neither a xenoanthropologist nor a xenobiologist, nor did he have any of the special skills that made the lives of the survivors fairly tolerable.
1994 S. Hawke Patrian Transgression № 18: Secretary Wing [...] completed her graduate studies summa cum laude at Princeton, with a doctorate in xenoanthropology.
2000 N. Kress Probability Moon № 57: When he returned to Princeton, he would be an instant star in the small, fierce, fiercely coveted world of xenoanthropology.”

Better yet, I found this deffinition : the study of alien hominoids, which is also obvious.

I can, therefore place my vote of a section in the UFO subforum entitled “Xenoarcheology” as it stimulates my curiosity as to what I might eventually find posted there.

YET! I put my vote with that of Str8thinker! I absolutely concur with Str8thinker on the need for a general Archeology section and then subsequent sub-forum sections... yes, plural.

It would be great to see general Archeology discussed as well as Anthropology (crypto- and xeno). Richard, couldn't we have it all?

[bluestflame]

in the absense of another place to put it and to prevent me misplacing or forgetting to post this link while it's in me sights can i post it here for future reference ?

the red haired referance again peoples with celtic appearance in New Zealand , tombs also

http://www.celticnz.co.nz/mnz_pt1.html

http://www.celticnz.org/images/MegalithicNZ/image010.jpg

[The One]

http://www.philipcoppens.com/newpyramidage.html

http://www.philipcoppens.com/karnak.html

http://www.philipcoppens.com/roadnews01.html

http://www.philipcoppens.com/hawara.html

[The One]

ancient Sumerian cuneiform texts


http://www.ancientscripts.com/sumerian.html

http://www.sron.nl/~jheise/akkadian/cuneiform.html

[Rocky_Shorz]

hey Richard...

how quick could you create another section for archeology?

I'd like the Kensington Rune-stone thread dropped in when it is ready...

[Ahkenaten]

You might not be intersted in this str8thinker i posted this last week

Xenoarchaeology is a hypothetical form of archaeology concerned with the physical remains of past (but not necessarily extinct) alien cultures. These may be found on planets or satellites, in space, the asteroid belt, planetary orbit or Lagrangian points. http://www.physics.montana.edu/faculty/cornish/lagrange.html

Xenoarchaeology is currently only hypothetical science that exists mainly in science fiction works and is not practiced by mainstream archaeologists. Although some fringe theories of alien archaeology exist, and several attempts at observing extraterrestrial structures at common Lagrangian points in our solar system have been made, most serious archaeological work has been in refutation of it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenoarchaeology

Xenoarchaeology is the study of past alien cultures from their physical remains. The prefix xeno- is from the Greek xenos, stranger.

Alien, in this instance, refers to members of any species other than that of the hypothetical xenoarchaeologist. A human studying martian ruins is a xenoarchaeologist, as is a martian studying human ruins.

The term alien always sounds a little pejorative to me (how about non-human person), but I use it here instead of ‘extraterrestrial’ which could be taken as a spatial designation, and because in the future there could conceivably be terrestrial nonhuman cultures (say, from uplifted animals or artificial intelligences). Despite its connotations, the word alien conveys the otherness of the culture to be studied.

If xenoarchaeology is the study of past cultures from species other than one’s own, and if you define ‘human’ in a narrow sense to refer to modern Homo sapiens, then archaeologists who study other hominids are already conducting a sort of xenoarchaeology.

Interpreting human, and perhaps hominid, minds and cultures is one thing, in fact we all do it in our everyday lives. But a special set of skills will be needed to study alien cultures without anthropomorphising them.



Xenoarchaeology fascinates me.

Could the term "Xenoarchaeology" also include a study of who we as humans once were/are by the study of our DNA? Could the topic of DNA, in particular how DNA is influenced and transformed by energetic particles/waves be included under this topic??

[The One]

Iraq is more important than Egypt in world heritage

The U.S. military knew it had to take steps to preserve the archaeological treasure trove that is Iraq. They set out to locate the approximately 10,000 (some estimate 100,000) sites, some going back 7,000 years, and many of which are unexplored. The area around the ancient Mesopotamian city of Ur and the Assyrian city of Ninevah are considered especially important. Archaeologist McGuire Gibson from the University of Chicago and Charles Butterworth of the University of Maryland lead the team that has been passing information to the Pentagon.In addition, several U.S. Government-funded projects are underway at archaeological sites across the country, including the development of a management and conservation plan at the ancient city of Babylon. These efforts reflect the U.S. Government commitment to implementing the U.S.-Iraq Strategic Framework Agreement, by assisting Iraq to preserve its cultural heritage, protect archeological antiquities, rehabilitate Iraqi museums, and assist in recovering and restoring its smuggled artifacts.


http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCgQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fancienthistory.about.com%2Flibrary%2Fweekly%2Faa031903a.htm&ei=AlYPTcWuG8yChQehi6W3Dg&usg=AFQjCNGG0iVMQpzOaDLXw2N7JlM4Ji1O7g

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CDcQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.xfacts.com%2Firaq2003%2F1.html&ei=AlYPTcWuG8yChQehi6W3Dg&usg=AFQjCNEUyZ_rk3oBpx_57I_12F6ZZMySCg

[Richard]

This should cover all areas of interest http://projectavalon.net/forum4/forumdisplay.php?97-Archeology

:)