In his new Netflix “documentary” #AncientApocalypse, Graham Hancock has declared war on archaeologists
His rhetoric sows distrust in experts, and #Atlantis conspiracy theories promote white supremacy
Buckle up, it’s time for a full-throated #ARCHAEOLOGY THREAD 🧵
/1
This thread will examine:
1) The rhetoric Graham Hancock uses to cover for a lack of evidence
2) How Hancock’s narrative recycles 19th century ideas on #Atlantis
3) How to identify similar conspiracy theories
/2
Why trust me?
No idea. I’m just a dude who won’t pay for a checkmark on #Twitter and is now on #Mastodon
But I am a real #archaeologist. I’ve excavated at sites spanning tens of thousands of years of human #history and #prehistory
Trust my credentials or don’t. But I’ll present actual evidence why #AncientApocalypse is not worth your time
/3
The first lines of #AncientApocalypse define Hancock’s all out assault upon real #archaeology
And he doesn’t stop sneering. It is total war against “mainstream” archaeologists, “so-called experts,” who are “defensive, arrogant, and patronizing,” & “utterly confounded”
/4
Why is Graham__Hancock so aggressive against archaeologists?
Apparently, it’s because my colleagues have been calling him a "pseudoarchaeologist” for decades
That hurts his feelings
/5
Despite writing multiple books about archaeology and hosting a show on Netflix that is labeled a “docuseries” and covers archaeology, Graham__Hancock says he is not an archaeologist
He calls himself an “journalist” who investigates “human prehistory”
/6
That’s an odd claim. Journalists investigate events happening today. They interview living people. They examine documents & accounts to reveal ongoing or recent events
Prehistoric humans can’t give interviews. It wasn’t till historical times that humans left documents behind
/7
The real reason for Graham Hancock’s aggressive rhetoric against archaeologists & historians is because it sells. It’s attention grabbing. It starts Twitter feuds. It fits with conspiracy thinking
It’s also a sleight of hand that covers up his lack of evidence
Let’s dig in
/8
Hancock’s claim is there’s a MYSTERIOUS & ADVANCED Ice Age civilization that spanned the globe
This lost civilization was destroyed in an APOCALYPTIC flood. Its few survivors taught Stone Age humans the secrets of agriculture, architecture, and other advanced technologies
/9
Why isn’t this civilization found in textbooks?
1. It mostly vanished in the flood leaving few traces behind
2. Humans have “amnesia” and forgot about it
3. Archaeologists refuse to investigate it because it threatens their theories
/10
I used to laugh at this kind of argument because it’s ridiculous if you know the evidence
But, more and more people believe in conspiracy theories today, whether they be QAnon types, Ancient Aliens, or #Atlantis (which Hancock thinks this Ice Age civilization is)
/11
If you look closely, Hancock doesn’t ever present any real evidence. Just a range of negative evidence: endless possibilities and suppositions, untested claims, and many explanations for why there isn’t evidence
We can walk through a few examples
/12
In the final episode, Hancock & Randall Carlson suggest the flood that ended this worldwide Ice Age civilization was caused by a comet impact that melted the glaciers
Why is there no crater? Because it landed in a glacier. Proof both of floods and the fact that there is NO EVIDENCE
/13
One of Hancock’s favorite type of evidence comes from remote sensing. Tools like metal detecting or ground penetrating radar (GPR) that help archaeologists get a sense of what is underground or not visible
But these tools are not foolproof and need “groundtruthing”
/14
Think about it like this. You have a metal detector and decide to do some remote sensing. You walk across a field and pick up some magnetic signals
Do you automatically conclude without excavation that it’s a hoard of treasure?
/15
Same thing with magnetometry, LIDAR, or ground penetrating radar. GPR pulses radar underground and measures the reflected signal
There can be lots of explanations for a reflected signal, and so archaeologists always “groundtruth” their results by excavating a sample
/16
You can read the thread below about groundtruthing our magnetometry survey at #Histria in Romania. While the hotspot was a kiln, what the GPR missed were the many graves (including a monumental one)
It was half right/half wrong and needed groundtruthing. Groundtruthing is standard #archaeology methods
/17
https://twitter.com/FlintDibble/status/1116012524762275840
In Hancock’s presentation of GPR evidence, none have been groundtruthed. No voids at Gunung Padang etc
He’s basically picked up a confusing signal on a metal detector and made a multi-million dollar Netflix show about how it must be Smaug’s treasure from the Hobbit
/17
If you’re wondering why these sites haven’t been excavated, they have!
Hancock makes claims about some of the most famous archaeological sites in the world
Every single site he highlights has been intensively investigated. Archaeologists know a lot about them. We've published numerous books, articles, and more on them
/19
The most important argument that Hancock needs to prove to be right is that all these famous monuments like Cholula or Poverty Point or Ggigantija date to the Ice Age
He presents a wide variety of arguments based on negative evidence for why he must be right
/20
One of his most common arguments is archaeologists themselves have found new evidence showing occupation at some of these sites is older than previously thought
But in no case does this evidence match his argument. They almost all date thousands of years after the Ice Age
Instead he uses circular reasoning to show why they date to the Ice Age
/21
@FlintDibble huh, guess if I follow you, I’m seeing them all. (Newbie here, so still figuring things out)
But yeah, just once I’d like to see one of those documentaries open with something like “Chartres Cathedral. A stone temple, a pilgrimage site. Perfectly aligned towards Jerusalem. Yet how did its pale tribal builders in an isolated corner of the planet manage such a feat hundreds of years before Tenochtitlan and the Forbidden City? Stay tuned for the MYSTERIES OF THE GOTHS”
@FlintDibble @kalany THAT IS BECAUSE STONE ONLY APPEARS IN CHINA AND NOWHERE ELSE -haha
Seriously, so much can be explained by these two seemingly contradictory facts:
- Because all human brains are similar, people come up with similar solutions to similar problems
- Even in ancient times, people were able to travel, share ideas, and learn from each other
@MisterWells yeah not sure... doing threads on Mastodon isn't as convenient as Twitter (partly because unlisted toots show up in everyone's timelines, partly because you have to publish one at a time, partly because notifications are different, etc)
and yes, mysteries of the Goths would rock it, esp showing how awesome Tenochtitlan and the Forbidden City are!
@FlintDibble Well dang, I saw that on Neflix and was like "omg this documentary looks like brain candy!"
I am disappoint. But also very glad to have come across this thread! Thank you!
@FlintDibble My book, 'The Memory Code', is often placed with Hancock's on book sites, which does not please me at all. I even get emails from his mob asking me to endorse his books and now, to endorse this series. It is total rubbish. I rely on archaeologists reports - and on science!
Lovely to see such a thorough rebuttal. Thank you!
@FlintDibble I loved it.
Especially where he wheeled out Joe Rogan (of all people!) to lend the show an air of gravitas.
ESPECIALLY when I realized that I’d seen all of his talking points before…in Tomb Raider: Underworld.
Are you saying it wasn’t meant to be a spoof documentary like This Is Spinal Tap?
Dr Ellie Bennett
Flint Dibble
legraLeGra
Erik
A Shiny Blue Thing
David Wells
kalany
Aurelia Fenderson-Peters 🏳️⚧️
Sergio Bastos
Sean Captain
Ariel Kroon
Socar Myles
Thesiswhisperer
Anitranot
isnochys 
Sue
𝕎𝕖𝕣𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕞
Lynne Kelly
Yet Another Dave Brown
Jason Haar 
MostlyTato
Ruth Callaghan
GATEKEEPER