Dr Tess Machling

Ok folks, bit of serious stuff. Anyone watching the new Graham Hancock Netflix series may not realise he is part of wider, nasty, class of pseudo-archaeology underpinned by notions of white supremacy & disregard for established, & proven, archaeological method.

This entertaining lecture by brilliant Steph Halmhofer picks this apart. Well worth watching.

Long & short is archs aren't hiding anything- anyone who says they are, don't know archaeologists!! šŸ¤£

#Archaeology

https://youtu.be/QHmw51kjPjw

Know Ancient: Pseudoarchaeology Unveiled

YouTube
Nov 23, 2022 at 5:03pmWeb
Show threadThanasis KiniasNov 23, 2022
@tess_machling is Steph on here yet, BTW?
Show threadDr Tess MachlingNov 23, 2022
@tkinias she is indeed! @Cult_archaeo !!
Show threadThanasis KiniasNov 23, 2022
@tess_machling @Cult_archaeo yay!
Show threadDr Tess MachlingNov 23, 2022
@tkinias @Cult_archaeo I'm guessing she's been having a busy few weeks, shall we say, so didn't tag her in directly in my post.
Show threadThanasis KiniasNov 23, 2022
@tess_machling @Cult_archaeo LOL, understandable!
Show threadSteph HalmhoferNov 23, 2022
@tess_machling @tkinias This has been me for the past couple of weeks šŸ˜…
Show threadDr Tess MachlingNov 23, 2022
@Cult_archaeo @tkinias thought it might be!! And I'm never entirely happy about tagging people in if it could get difficult!! Here , come join the fracas, whether you want to or not!! šŸ¤£
Show threadThanasis KiniasNov 23, 2022
@tess_machling @Cult_archaeo
At least some of the instances on here specifically ban conspiracy theory stuff, and I think Fediverse in general has a pretty low tolerance for such BS, so there should be less fracas than Twitter!
Show threadDr Tess MachlingNov 23, 2022
@tkinias @Cult_archaeo that is very true... had I posted this elsewhere, were it not for my long curated block list, there would have been trouble... do I dare to post the ultimate just to test the defences??? Cheddar mannnnnnnnnnnn!! šŸ˜³
Show threadDan FalkNov 23, 2022
@tess_machling At least his Wiki entry (correctly) says that he does pseudoscience.
Show threadDr Tess MachlingNov 23, 2022
@danfalk perfect!!
Show threada millennial named chelseaNov 23, 2022
@tess_machling I was so disappointed when I saw that show on my feed
Show threadDr Tess MachlingNov 23, 2022
@frankenturtle really grim and it's gaining traction, sadly.
Show threadDio9sysNov 23, 2022
@tess_machling
I tried watching the show to see if it would at least be funny to dunk on and had to stop after episode 2. The man manages to make a layer cake of bullshit with zero fun parts. I've never seen such a dry and boring conspiracy theory doc
Show threadDr Tess MachlingNov 23, 2022
@Dio9sys that's the thing... real archaeology is wonderful. We don't need conspiracy to make it fascinating!
Show threadInterstelarLANov 23, 2022
@tess_machling @Dio9sys I find that academics are less saavy at using media for this very reason: they donā€™t need flash to make these incredible discoveries fascinating. But I would really like to see the real thing better represented in documentary form
Show threadDr Tess MachlingNov 23, 2022
@jaskot @Dio9sys I think we all would........ the trouble is getting it commissioned! There's folks out there who'd be well up to the job, but blockbuster sells... an articulate story doesn't.
Show threadInterstelarLANov 24, 2022
@tess_machling @Dio9sys there are grants for documentaries. I think itā€™s just a matter of connecting the right people. Itā€™s not expensive to tell a good story, just time consuming
Show threadTom HusbandNov 23, 2022

@tess_machling Fascinating. It would be sort of hilarious if it wasn't so frightening.

I can remember as a young man back in the 60's reading and being influenced by a book called Chariots of the Gods promoting the same stuff.

I learned something tonight. Many thanks.

Show threadDr Tess MachlingNov 23, 2022
@thusband yup... Von Daniken is very much his muse, I think... but yes, it seems funny, crackpot etc... and then you realise what lies beneath and it suddenly becomes so much less innocent...
Show threadAlex Galt šŸ§„Nov 23, 2022
@tess_machling @thusband That show is SO pernicious. I watched a little out of morbid curiosity and I can see how people might find it compelling. I used to work with people in their late teens early 20s and some of them (all men) had really taken the ancient aliens claptrap seriously. This is a shade less ridiculous and easier to swallow, and much more dangerous in how it denies agency to indigenous peoples and denigrates actual science.
Show threadDr Tess MachlingNov 23, 2022
@alex_galt @thusband yup, the stats in Steph's lecture are genuinely alarming, but thanks to great work by Steph and others we're starting to get a handle on it.
Show threadJust KatieNov 24, 2022
@tess_machling @thusband Thatā€™s really grim. šŸ˜¬ I thought it was bad enough that they could be so patronising about the abilities of ancient people (as in ā€œthese people couldnā€™t be so precise therefore it must have been extraterrestrialsā€). But them being actual white supremacists makes it even worse.
Show threadDr Tess MachlingNov 24, 2022
@justkatie808 @thusband I'm not sure many would admit that, but it's the basis - superior cultures.
Show threadAviel RoshwaldNov 23, 2022
@tess_machling @ninawillburger If archaeologists arenā€™t hiding anything, how come all their work is underground?
Show threadDr Tess MachlingNov 23, 2022
@avielroshwald @ninawillburger it isn't! Ha gotcha!! šŸ˜
Show threadAviel RoshwaldNov 23, 2022
@tess_machling @ninawillburger Darn!
Show threadCatherine RWNov 23, 2022
@tess_machling my first thought about that was Netflix jumping on the "Ancient Aliens" racist bullshit wagon...
Show threadSapNov 23, 2022
@tess_machling Anyone who believes archaeologists en masse could be capable of marshaling the singularity of vision and competence required to create and maintain a global hoax has clearly never tried to settle up in a restaurant after an archaeologists' night-out.
Show threadDr Tess MachlingNov 23, 2022
@MrPDaniel or keeping their mouths shut about a grand theory that would make their name!! šŸ¤£šŸ¤£
Show threadJim ParkinNov 23, 2022

@tess_machling @MrPDaniel see also global warming conspiracy theories.

Imagine being a climate scientist who finds evidence that you don't need to worry about fossil fuels.

Not only would you make your career but you'd have oil companies queuing to throw money at you.

Show threadSteve TeuluNov 23, 2022
@tess_machling I read Flint Dibbleā€™s article regarding the programme. I watched the first episode and anyone who has Joe Rogan as a contributor is definitely on dodgy ground. You might as well be informed about archaeology from watching ā€˜Indiana Jones and the kingdom of the crystal skullā€™ and ā€˜stargateā€™ #archeology
Show threadCetorhinusNov 23, 2022
@tess_machling interesting to hear
Show threadSteph HalmhoferNov 23, 2022
@tess_machling Thank you for sharing this, Tess!
Show threadDr Tess MachlingNov 23, 2022
@Cult_archaeo honestly, it's such a good lecture and places the current furore in context - you know your stuff and are the best person to share on this topic! šŸ˜Š
Show threadMike BurdickNov 23, 2022
@tess_machling smart people can tell heā€™s a knob. Itā€™s the others we need to worry about.
Show threadJim ParkinNov 23, 2022

@tess_machling

It's one of many gateway drugs to far right conspiracy theories

Show threadDr Tess MachlingNov 23, 2022
@ParkinJim exactly that.
Show threadJšŸ©hn FĆ¼nkNov 23, 2022
@tess_machling Boosting for awareness. The more people who know this guy is a dangerous quack, the better.
Show threadJšŸ©hn FĆ¼nkNov 23, 2022
@tess_machling (Replying to my own comment to add: If anyone our there reading this thread is interested in a REAL ancient apocalypse, look into the Bronze Age Collapse. It was ancient, it was apocalyptic, it really happened, and it's fascinating.)
Show threadTexan in CanadaNov 23, 2022
@tess_machling I watched 3 episodes. Interesting scenery, but no actual proof of his hypothesis. Nothing there.
Show threadJustathoughtNov 23, 2022
@tess_machling
Thank you! 'Could it be that..." Argh... Sigh...
Show threadPaul SchoonNov 23, 2022
@tess_machling I watched all eight episodes and found them thoroughly entertaining, just in the same way I enjoyed the language in the Wolf Hall trilogy but accepted that it wasnā€™t historically accurate. I have been surprised at the reaction of the archaeological community who seem to be giving it a level of credence and seriousness I had not anticipated. Bogeymen are being seen that I am not sure exist.
Show threadDr Tess MachlingNov 23, 2022
@paulschoon look deeper into the subject and trust me, they are there. This isn't the first time archaeology has faced this kind of thing and it is wearing - a subject that many study hard to become accomplished at, and with secure methodologies and practices is dismissed, just like that... and that's before we even get into the darkness that lies beneath these ideas and what they connect to. Seriously, this isn't harmless fun.
Show threadInterstelarLANov 23, 2022
@paulschoon @tess_machling I felt the same way as far as just escapist entertainment, but the lecture makes some very sobering points about ties to racist terrorism
Show threadDr Tess MachlingNov 23, 2022
@jaskot @paulschoon mmmm.... it's there, certainly. In bird place & in my work over the years (I also work for The Prehistoric Society & moderate their Facebook group) I have come across this time & time again. It all boils down to a kind of unpleasant racism where a white guy (& it always is) can't comprehend how he'd do it - knows zero about the archaeological method - therefore thinks anyone in his eyes who's 'primitive' couldn't do it & therefore must be super-race, giants, aliens etc etc...
Show threadInterstelarLANov 23, 2022
@tess_machling wow that was very enlightening. As someone who edits reality TV for a living, I can tell you that the only motivating factors are 1. To keep the audience engaged for the duration of the program, especially through ad breaks, and 2. To get high enough ratings for the networks to justify bank rolling another season.
Show threadLorrieNov 23, 2022
@tess_machling Awwww, really? I was so excited to see some history on Netflix and added it to my list. Ah well. Thought it was too good to be true. Admittedly, this bloke had not pinged my radar before.
Show threadDr Tess MachlingNov 23, 2022
@TwistedWhimsy yeah sorry.....šŸ˜”
Show threadLorrieNov 23, 2022
@tess_machling Ahh, well. I have lots of history stuff downloaded and stuff on Amazon. Might rewatch Michael Wood's The Story of China as my hubs bought me the accompanying book recently.
Show threadDr Tess MachlingNov 23, 2022
@TwistedWhimsy yup... also look out Digging For Britain if you want to know what day to day life as an archaeologist in the UK is like. There's some great stuff in there.
Show threadLorrieNov 23, 2022
@tess_machling Oh, I've watched Digging for Britain in the past. Pretty much will eat up in archaeology programmes if I can find them.
Show threadTodd ElsenNov 23, 2022
@tess_machling my brother said I had to watch it because itā€™s just ā€œso goodā€. Iā€™ll have to watch it just to see what you are referring to. It doesnā€™t surprise me heā€™d say it was good, heā€™s a Trump leaning Republican.
Show threadDewiNov 23, 2022

@tess_machling
According to the Guardian:

"If you donā€™t like Hancockā€™s story about the super-intelligent advanced civilisation being wiped off the face of t
he planet, hereā€™s another that might explain how Netflix gave the greenlight to Ancient Apocalypse: the platformā€™s senior manager of unscripted originals happens to be Hancockā€™s son. Honestly, what are the chances?"