@jens2go Can I just say that I *hate* how many of us have accepted their label of "mainstream archaeologist" without a fight? Hancock and his ilk AREN'T archaeologists at all -- we should not be ceding ANY legitimacy to them by giving them even an inch on that front.

These people are basically all either grifters and/or tinfoil-hat-wearing wackos, and we should absolutely refuse to benefit their cause by labeling them as anything more "serious" than that.

(I'm an extremist on this one, but I don't even think we should gift them the term #pseudoarchaeology -- it's yet another term we use that confuses non-specialists who don't know we mean "bullshit pretending to be archaeology" because we clothe the term in needlessly ostentatious Latin. Just call them the "absurd bullshit" they are and leave it at that, don't give them anything more.)

#archaeology

@Aecernist @jens2go In what way is it "gatekeeping" to say that these fraudsters are not archaeologists and are not doing archaeology? Is it "gatekeeping" to say that a passenger on an airplane should not be calling themselves a "pilot" if they don't do shit to help fly the plane?

If Hancock actually had a role on a dig, helped out on some survey, or worked in a lab or something then it'd be one thing; at least he'd have *some* claim to being actively involved in the field. But as it stands I fail to see how it's "gatekeeping" to say that the guy isn't an archaeologist when he literally does nothing to contribute to the study of the past except profit off of racist "ancient aliens" bullshit.

@Aecernist One more thought: I'm all for having valuable discussions about gatekeeping in the field as a rule... when you're not talking about bad actors like this. But Hancock and these other shitbirds who are masquerading as "archaeologists" to sell racist narratives about the past are a different matter.

If it's "gatekeeping" to tell those racist motherfuckers with no actual archaeology background that they're not welcome to steal the trappings of legitimate research in order to sell dangerous narratives that fuel the anger of the global far-right white supremacist movement and give the fascists a fantasy version of the human story to latch onto, then I'm perfectly okay with keeping that particular gate, thanks. Those people can go fuck themselves.