Forbidden Archaeology

Forbidden archaeology is a topic that was recognized after the publication of a book known as “Forbidden archaeology: The Hidden History of the Human Race”. The book was published in 1993, and many groups of the researchers presented their reviews regarding this controversial topic. Still there is a large crowd that supports forbidden archaeology especially the Hindu community.

The Book “Forbidden Archaeology : The Hidden History of the Human Race”:

The book “ Forbidden archaeology: The Hidden History of the Human Race” was written back in 1993 by Michael A. Cremo and Richard L.Thompson. This book was written in collaboration with the Bhaktivedanta Institute of ISKCON. The main objective of the book revolves around the theory that in the ancient times, million of the years before, the present modern man was living or was co-existing along with the ape man. One thing that has to be cleared before going deep into this topic, that Cremo was a Vedic archaeologist, because he had his believe in the stories that are narrated in the Vedas. That is the reason that the Hindu community got more attracted to this book. Cremo says about the forbidden archaeology that knowledge filter is the cause of its supersession, and that the scientific establishment has suppressed the extremely important human antiquity. This book got fame among some mainstream scholars and also in some Hindu creationists and the Paranormalists. But majority of the mainstream scholars have reviewed this book as a pseudoscience.

What is the Vedic Literature?

Vedic literature is composed of a group of some old scriptures that were written in the ancient times by the Hindu India; in circa 1500-1200 BCE and some in circa 1200-900 BCE. There are basically main four books of the Vedas. They are namely;

  1. Rigveda
  2. Yajurveda
  3. Samaveda
  4. Atharvaveda

There are further four books of each of the Vedas. All in all, these are the books that have the knowledge about the rituals, ceremonies, sacrifices, some contain commentaries on the rituals , discussions on meditation, philosophy and also the spiritual knowledge.

Bhagavata Purana :

Bhagavata Purana is a vedic book, in which it is mentioned that men and women have lived on earth for a long period of time which is called as the day of Brahma. This day of Brahma is composed of a thousand yuga cycles. Further each yoga cycle lasts for 12,000 years.

Other Academic Analysis:

Jo Wodak and David Oldroyd Reviews:
In the “Social Studies of Science” Jo Wodak and David Oldroyd have described that early paleoanthropologists in the nineteenth and early twentieth century have gathered the information about the existence of the humans in the Tertiary period {about 65.5 million to 2.6 million years ago} but in the 1930s; the paleoanthropologists said that the humans actually evolved in the later period, that is the Pleistocene era [2.6 million to 11,700 years ago]. They further added that the idea presented by Cremo and Thompson was never shown bad. And that they have just combed the early literature in a great impressive way.

Colin Groves:

Anthropologist Colin Groves is of the view that the antiquities that were found in the 19th century, were dug out by the armatures. So this they are not recorded properly and thus they are lacking proper contextual information. So the dates that are given to them are also in doubts. He concluded that the book Forbidden archaeology is superficially scholarly.

Marylene Patou-Mathis :

Paleontologist Marylene Patou- Mathis, wrote in a French journal L’anthropologie, that the book forbidden archaeology is a provocative work that raises the problem of the influence of the dominant ideas of a time period on scientific research. She said that the evidences of the Cremo and Thompson are not always convincing, and this work is more of a sociological nature than the scientific.

Kenneth L.Feder:

Kenneth L.Feder wrote in the “Geoarcaheology” that “ the work in the forbidden archaeology is not antievolutionary in form, content or style.

Tim Murray :

Tim Murray writing the reviews in the “British Journal for the History of Science”, that Forbidden archaeology is designed to demolish the case for biological and chemical evolution and to advance the case for a Vedic alternative.

Summary:
Feder , Wodak and Oldryod are on the same view that this book has attacked the current picture of the human evolution . But there is no other theory that had been put forwarded by these analysts. And they have the view that the authors have hoped to avoid a detailed discussion of their own beliefs, and they have not suggested any paradigm in the place as they have tried to deconstruct a well accepted paradigm.Instead they promised in the book that the paradigm will appear in the forthcoming volume. Furthermore it is also noted that both the Cremo and Thompson are neither archaeologist or paleoanthropologist, due that they are found fail to give credit to the advances in the technique, that distinguish science from the techniques that were available in the nineteenth century.

Forbidden Archaeology’s Impact on Scientific Community:

  1. Hindu Evolutionary Theory:

Just like the Christian creationists, who have associated science with the bible, similarly Cremo and Thompson are the Hindu creationists that harmonize science with those sacred Vedic scriptures. The paleoanthropologists, who already were facing the Christian antievolutionists who were forcing to the Biblical authority, now had to face the Hindu evolutionary theory supporters. As the Hindus had now started attacking the evolution by their support of the cyclical kalpas, manvantaras, and yogas. According to them, paleoanthropologists are the followers of the temple of the Darwin theory of evolution and the metaphysical materialism.

2.References from the Obscure Literature:

Furthermore allegations that were imposed on the authors of the forbidden archaeology are that, that they have bombarded the readers with the useless data. In almost 400 pages of this book, such a group of the stone tools are discussed that were depicted in the obscure literature in the past 150 years. This is terrible as these specimens no longer exist.

3.Anti-Darwin Model:

Darwin theory of evolution is comprised of the biogical scientific analysis. Not on the finds of the stone tools. There are many solid reasons on the basis of which the scientists accept to the theory of evolution. Because the arrival of the primates, like reptiles and other creatures, fish vertebrates or other animal were evolved first. These creatures have actually passed through evolutionary stages comprised of the million of the years to develop their form. So before the evolution of the primates, the presence of the modern human on earth, 600 million years before seams senseless.

Also it is quit impossible that a modern man was surviving on earth that was living in an oxygen- starved atmosphere. Moreover there were not enough food sources available to survive on at the time when the first arthropod was arrived on earth.

Major Blunders in the Forbidden Archaeology:

1.Use of Wrong References:

Instead of quoting the archaeological examples the authors of the forbidden arcaheology have made major mistakes in giving some references of the ancient discoveries. Like their reference to the Venus of Willendorf was referred by them as a work of Neolithic time art instead of the Paleolithic time art. They also have made a mistake in identifying the stone blade from Sandia Cave as “Folsom point”.

2.Their Identification of a fossilized Partial Shoe Sole:

Cremo has discussed to a weathered rock which is more than 200 years old, to which he identifies as a fossilized partial shoe sole. According to them they have shown the “micro photo magnifications” of the fossilized stitches, which according to them show the minutest details of the thread twist and wrapped. But they failed to present the magnified images. Instead they reproduced some blurred photograph, which in any case does not resemble to the shoe sole.

  1. Fossilized Foot Prints:

Cremo and Thompson have also discussed some fossilized foot prints that were discovered at Laetoli. According to the authors of the book, these are the foot prints of a modern man. But here again they failed in presenting some authenticity of this proof. They said these foot prints are not found with the shoes that were according to the archaeology had been invented more than 296 million years earlier.

  1. Miocene Fossil Bone:

According to the authors of the forbidden archaeology they have found a Miocene fossil bone which is incised with the tools, which according to them shows the existence of tool making humans in the Miocene era. They tried to support this claim with the help of the simple drawings. The researchers later raised many queries against this claim.

  1. Finds of the Paleolithic Tools:

They claim of the discovery of some Paleolithic tools, from the extremely old deposits.In this sense they are supporting the idea of the presence of the tool making human in the time much earlier than it is thought.

  1. Presence of the Ape- People on Earth:

The authors of the forbidden archaeology are found strongly supporting the idea of the presence of the ape-people or wild men. This is again their desire to attach the theory of co- existence of the hominids with the modern man. If we look in the past, there have been stories or the folklore all around the world in many cultures about the giant man, snow man or the Yeti. The authors here seem more inspired by this folklore.

Review on Forbidden Archaeology by an Indian Researcher Durtakarma Dasa:

In a review published online in Karishna.com on forbidden archaeology Mr. Durtakarma Dasa, has supported the theory presented by Cremo and Thombson .

He analyzed that at Kanaoi , Keneya in 1965, archaeologists found modern humerus (upper arm bone), that was dated back to four million years old. The researchers suggested that the humerus was hardly distinguishable from that of modern man.

Further he writes that in 1913 at Olduvai Gorge situated in Tanzania Africa, a German scientist Hans Reck found a complete skeleton of a human. This is autonimacally similar to a modern man. The skeleton was recovered from a stratum that is more than one million years old.

Does Forbidden Archaeology Support Anti-evolutionism:

The authors of the book Forbidden archaeology have admitted their religious affiliation with the Vedic literature, but they have not stated their theoretical outlook. Feder wrote a review in Geoarchaeology, in that he says “like Fundamentalists Christian creationists, they avoid talking about the religious content of their perspective, so we can only guess it.” The authors have complied their views in isolation instead of incorporating multi-disciplinary approach. Then they are strongly convinced that the small flakes were used in the times when there was no human on earth, which is also so doubtful in a means that there are some small stone flakes that occur in the naturally. Secondly they have not mentioned these tools in the context, that when, how and where these tools were used.

Suggestion of the Nuclear Warfare:

The scientists have come to one favoring point regarding the tool descriptions in the forbidden archaeology. The researchers have suggested that there is a possibility of a nuclear warfare thousands of the years ago .Then Vedic literature has also mentioned the use of the weapons that bear striking resemblances to the nuclear weapons; use to devastate population in the ancient time. The book forbidden archaeology is mostly comprised of the about the superiority of the human beings in the past; to which they have associated with construction of the Egyptian Pyramids and the ancient Greek island city of Atlantis.

Further Writings from Cremo:

The author Cremo continued his theme of the forbidden archaeology in his later work. A book he wrote “Forbidden archaeology Impacts” in 1998, than another one “Human Devolution” in 2003. In both of these books he has tried to claim that million of the years before the modern man was existing on earth. As a proof he has cited Meera Nanda , he says “every possible research into the paranormal ever conducted anywhere to prove the truth of holist Vedic cosmology which proposes the presence of a spiritual element in all matter”.

Political Stance of the USA over the Forbidden Archaeology:

Forbidden archaeology is being suppressed in America. The reason is the Native American Graves and Repatriation Act. According to this act, any remains that belong to the Native Americans, if are found during the course of an archaeological excavation should be returned to the Native American board for the repatriation. There was a skeleton of the Kennewick Man that was found near the bank of the Columbia river in Kennewick , Washington USA in 1996. The radiocarbon dates of this skeleton had shown that the Kennewick Man had more similarity genetically with the peoples who are the Native Americans. After a long court battle, the remains were turned over for repatriation.
In Indian magazine Frontline it was said about the authors Cremo and Thompson “the intellectual force driving the Vedic creationism in America.

Finds Associated with the Forbidden Archaeology:

Rock Cutouts in the Peru:

There are some rock cutouts, that are available throughout the Peru’s Sacred valley. These are the result of some highly heavy duty job. Some of the megaliths are found upside down.

Human Footprints in New Maxico:

Some 290 Million years old human footprints were found by paleontologist Jerry Macdonalds in 1987 in New Mexico; along with the foot prints of the birds. According to the supporters of the forbidden archaeology ,this has puzzled the scientists as it is never occurred to find the human footprints from the Permian starta, a time when there were no birds or even the dinosaurs on the planet earth according to the modern science and the scientific thinking.

A 38- centimeters Long Finger:

An abnormal sized human figure was found from the Egypt.The founders/reserchers say that it is authentic and they also provide the x-rays images as a prove of its authenticity. The article on this finger was published in 1988 in one of the Europe’s most leading newspaper BILD.de. The mummified humanoid finger is so huge in size, and is about 38 centimeters in length. The researchers from the Egypt are of the view that this figure has to belong from a creature that was five meters in height.

Summary:
Forbidden archaeology is known for its sensational theories, that ignore the current updated scientific and logical research .The claims mostly made by the proponents of the forbidden archaeology are made mainly to highlight that man had always been superior.

Conclusion:

The book Forbidden archaeology is written by Cremo and Thombson is composed of 914 pages. There have claimed in the book that the modern man was existing on earth billion of the years before. This is not correct according to the modern science. They have completely rejected the human theory of evolution. To support their claim, the authors have work hard in collecting the material that supports to their claim. Even after providing so many details along with the photographic evidences, the modern science seems rejecting their work. But the book is useful as filed data; if the scientists want to know about the growth, folklore or expression of the pseudoscience .

FAQ’s

Following are the frequently asked questions about the forbidden archaeology.

  1. What is Forbidden Archaeology?

It is a book written by Micheal A.Cremo and Richard L.Thompson, back in 1993. The main discussion in this book is about the co-existence of a modern man along with the ape man, million of the years before. So for this reason it is been a controversial book among the great scholars of science. The theory presented by the authors is against the Darwin’s theory of evolution.

  1. What is the Definition of Forbidden Archaeology?

We may define it as “the study that strongly believes in the living of a modern man on earth side by side with the Ape-man million of the years before; mostly driving the inspiration from ancient Vedic literature that is based on system of recreationism .

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