Flint DibbleHi all, my piece critiquing Graham Hancock's #AncientApocalypse has just been published in The Conversation
Give it a read and a toot!
@histodons
@antiquidons
@archaeodons
and, weird enough, my Mastodon thread critiquing Ancient Apocalypse is longer than the article. so, if you want more details on logical flaws with the hypotheses presented in the show, and some more primary evidence, check it out
Tony Petrangelo@FlintDibble did they choose the Akrotiri fresco for the main image?
@tonyangelo it was a negotiation. they wanted to use the promo image from the show and i was against that. we eventually settled on this image
and nope, I don't think Akrotiri is Atlantis!
@FlintDibble I didn’t think you did, and it has nothing to do with anything Hancock’s done, which is why I was curious.
The fresco does show a city surround by a ring of water and multi-colored brick houses though! 😉
John Faithfull🌍🇪🇺🏴🧡 ✊🏼✊🏿@FlintDibble @histodons @antiquidons @archaeodons Well said. The corruption and cynicism of media organisations making + marketing this stuff is horrific 😭🤮
Cédric Salvador@FlintDibble The thing that struck me the most is how two-faced Hancock's rhetoric is.
In Ancient Apocalypse he can tell you that "mainstream archeology" doesn't respect our ancestors' abilities, and then 5 minutes later he goes "Surely hunter-gatherers were too dumb to build that so it had to be created by Atlantis survivors".
In Ancient Apocalypse he can tell you that "mainstream archeology" doesn't respect our ancestors' abilities, and then 5 minutes later he goes "Surely hunter-gatherers were too dumb to build that so it had to be created by Atlantis survivors".
Coprolite9000@FlintDibble Thanks for that - I'd seen brief, despairing reactions to Ancient Apocalypse, but hadn't known the specifics of just how incredibly dismal it was.
* sigh *
Karel P Kerezman@FlintDibble OK, so when I saw the promo material for that show and felt like it was leaning a bit pseudo-science-y, my gut was telling me good things for once. Nice.
resipiscent@FlintDibble @histodons @antiquidons @archaeodons Well done even if it does bury the lede!
"Like many forms of pseudo archaeology,, these claims act to reinforce white supremacist ideas, stripping Indigenous people of their rich heritage and instead giving credit to aliens or white people.
Hancock even cites Donnelly directly in his 1995 book Fingerprints of the Gods"
Kara Fortier@resipiscent @FlintDibble @histodons @antiquidons @archaeodons
I was just about to attempt to write some variation of this but you said it perfectly!
Annabell Satterfield@Karafortier @resipiscent @FlintDibble @histodons @antiquidons @archaeodons
Something I find annoying is when the descendants of advanced ancient civilizations are stripped of their heritage....as if there are no descendants of the Aztecs or the Mayans for example.
Somehow we are taught as children that those people "disappeared" into the historical mist. The word "disappeared" gets used a lot. That somehow these impressive ancients and the people living there now are completely different.
@Karafortier @resipiscent @FlintDibble @histodons @antiquidons @archaeodons
...
It makes it easier for people exposed to racist ideas to think these modern descendants have a different capacity.
Christopher Rose@als355 @Karafortier @resipiscent @FlintDibble @histodons @antiquidons @archaeodons
yes, exactly. I asked my (85% Mexican American) students a couple of weeks ago how many of them had learned that the Maya “disappeared” and nearly all of them raised their hands.
@als355 @Karafortier @resipiscent @FlintDibble @histodons @antiquidons @archaeodons
Also, can I plug this new open source Nahuatl language material? Not mine, but it’s definitely going into my world history course.
@khowaga @Karafortier @resipiscent @FlintDibble @histodons @antiquidons @archaeodons
I'm so glad you're setting the record straight with your students. Thank you for being a good teacher.
@als355 @Karafortier @resipiscent @FlintDibble @histodons @antiquidons @archaeodons
I’d say “my pleasure” but it’s really “my responsibility.” Students know that the Texas State Board of Education wants them taught a specific version of history, and they *want* to know what they weren’t told in high school. I can only hope colleagues elsewhere are doing the same for their minority students.
I’d say “my pleasure” but it’s really “my responsibility.” Students know that the Texas State Board of Education wants them taught a specific version of history, and they *want* to know what they weren’t told in high school. I can only hope colleagues elsewhere are doing the same for their minority students.
NeAlTen@als355
I was just having this discussion with my kids regarding the cultural-religious heritage of the Aztecs and some movies we watched, like Coco and The Book of Life
I was just having this discussion with my kids regarding the cultural-religious heritage of the Aztecs and some movies we watched, like Coco and The Book of Life
Thaiis Thei 𓁟@als355 @Karafortier @resipiscent @FlintDibble @histodons @antiquidons @archaeodons
100% this. I grew up think Tasmanian aboriginals were extinct. Then I moved to Tasmania. Imagine my surprise when I encountered indigenous Tasmanian aboriginals!
@Oozenet @als355 @resipiscent @FlintDibble @histodons @antiquidons @archaeodons
I love all of this! I live in Los Angeles. I grew up believing California history started when the missions moved in. I’m on my own mission these days to learn more about the indigenous groups that make up a good portion of the city. It came to light recently when our city council racism was made public. There will always be soooo much to learn!
I love all of this! I live in Los Angeles. I grew up believing California history started when the missions moved in. I’m on my own mission these days to learn more about the indigenous groups that make up a good portion of the city. It came to light recently when our city council racism was made public. There will always be soooo much to learn!
@Karafortier @Oozenet @resipiscent @FlintDibble @histodons @antiquidons @archaeodons
I also grew up in California, and I remember a fourth-grade project where we were to recreate dioramas of the missions with sugar cubes.
Only last year did I find out the horrible things that happened in those missions. That the school system decided to focus on the benefits of the mission system of all things is dumbfounding. We were literally sugarcoating cultural genocide.
Ivy is Skeptical@als355 @Karafortier @Oozenet @resipiscent @FlintDibble @histodons @antiquidons @archaeodons My granddaughter is in the 5th grade, but last year she was able to explore the harmful effects the missions had on native peoples. So missions are still a part of the curriculum, but changes in the view are arising. She attends a Catholic school, btw. What a surprise!
@Rubidoux68 @Karafortier @Oozenet @resipiscent @FlintDibble @histodons @antiquidons @archaeodons
Oh wow, that's great to hear! Thanks for sharing this update
@Rubidoux68 @Karafortier @Oozenet @resipiscent @FlintDibble @histodons @antiquidons @archaeodons
I was googling around- and look what I found! This is an actual 4th grader's California mission diorama and report.
Kids are awesome.
@als355 @Karafortier @Oozenet @FlintDibble @histodons @antiquidons @archaeodons
Checkout titles from #HeydayBooks and #NewsFromNativeCA
Malcolm Margolin's Ohline Way and his newest "Deep Hanging Out" are a solid starting point.
https://www.heydaybooks.com/catalog/deep-hanging-out-wanderings-and-wonderment-in-native-california/
@FlintDibble @histodons @antiquidons @archaeodons Wengrow & Graeber's "Dawn of Everything" ought to inspire a generation of archeologists and anthropologists. They offer an oustanding novice framework of material facts badly in need of further investigation *beyond Europe's caves or pilgrims, and they ask questions more relevant & compelling than Aquaman comics or whatever.
Clipper Chip 
Martin Dennehy@FlintDibble @histodons @antiquidons @archaeodons
Ancient Apocalypse is the second time I've come across this idea in the last few months
You're absolutely right, the cognitive dissonance in "hunter gatherers were both much more sophisticated than mainstream archaeology says and also completely incapable of building megaliths" is a hell of a trip
Jim Wald@FlintDibble @histodons @antiquidons @archaeodons Sad that we even need to dignify this utter nonsense by responding to it--but thank you!
@FlintDibble @histodons @antiquidons @archaeodons
BTW I am always looking for accessible pieces such as this to use in an introductory course that I teach about historical method and debate: e.g. how can we distinguish between idiocy (aliens built the pyramids; the Holocaust did not happen) and legitimate debate (did the Vikings reach America before Columbus? Is the Vinland Map real?)?
Ulla Rajala@FlintDibble @histodons @antiquidons @archaeodons now I just wonder if I should watch the said series... 🤔😉
Andy@UllaMR @FlintDibble I was thinking the same but I don't want to boost their viewing figures. We don't need them commissioning a second series.
Ronald Visser@FlintDibble @histodons @antiquidons @archaeodons
Great read! The strange thing is that I now wonder if I should watch this fiction series....
Great read! The strange thing is that I now wonder if I should watch this fiction series....