Late reply but, if you have the time, do check out The Origins of the World's Mythologies by Michael Witzel. It's also controversial, like everything, but it's fascinating, and it's by a respected scholar - probably far above the stuff Hancock peddles.
Loved it James! When ancient apocalypse was released I wrote something similar in which accusing Hancock of racism diluted arguments against his poor scholarship. In fact he popularized many of the archaeological sites which otherwise aren’t featured in everyday media. We can acknowledge that and criticize his theories. Love the title of “hypersiffusionism champ “
Thanks! I’ll have to check that piece out. I’m a big fan of your writing on prehistory. And that’s very true-he does play an interesting role in that he’s both a “gateway” for people to further explore the subject while also being a frustrating source of misinformation and stereotypical thinking. He’s probably here to stay though, so I think providing a solid counter to his theories that is rooted in scholarship while at the same time acknowledging the wonder and mystery of prehistory is important
The Hancock book is definitely not! But the other ones I would say all represent credible academic research, all written by experts in their field with the possible exception of the Sea Peope one(I can’t remember if that author is a scholar or not but it seemed like a good overview). I f I think of some other ones, I’ll let you know
There’s also some more general popular science ones like Jared Diamonds’ Guns Germs and Steel or Graeber and Wengrows The Dawn of Everything which are both somewhat controversial for different reasons but I think both are good for kind of an overview of anthropology theory in the last couple decades
Thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed it. Even though I’m basically trying to debunk him here, Hancocks Fingerprints of the Gods is kind of a fun read,he’s not a bad writer, but it’s pretty sensational
As far as PIE stuff I would recommend The Horse, The Wheel and Language by David Anthony and Who We are and How we got Here by David Reich(this one is about ancient DNA and how it solves questions about prehistoric migrations around the world)
For Mesoamerica and the Aztecs specifically, Fifth Sun by Camilla Townsend is an excellent look at their history
For Polynesia, I enjoyed Sea People by Christina Thompson
Late reply but, if you have the time, do check out The Origins of the World's Mythologies by Michael Witzel. It's also controversial, like everything, but it's fascinating, and it's by a respected scholar - probably far above the stuff Hancock peddles.
Sounds interesting, thx
Loved it James! When ancient apocalypse was released I wrote something similar in which accusing Hancock of racism diluted arguments against his poor scholarship. In fact he popularized many of the archaeological sites which otherwise aren’t featured in everyday media. We can acknowledge that and criticize his theories. Love the title of “hypersiffusionism champ “
Thanks! I’ll have to check that piece out. I’m a big fan of your writing on prehistory. And that’s very true-he does play an interesting role in that he’s both a “gateway” for people to further explore the subject while also being a frustrating source of misinformation and stereotypical thinking. He’s probably here to stay though, so I think providing a solid counter to his theories that is rooted in scholarship while at the same time acknowledging the wonder and mystery of prehistory is important
The Hancock book is definitely not! But the other ones I would say all represent credible academic research, all written by experts in their field with the possible exception of the Sea Peope one(I can’t remember if that author is a scholar or not but it seemed like a good overview). I f I think of some other ones, I’ll let you know
There’s also some more general popular science ones like Jared Diamonds’ Guns Germs and Steel or Graeber and Wengrows The Dawn of Everything which are both somewhat controversial for different reasons but I think both are good for kind of an overview of anthropology theory in the last couple decades
Thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed it. Even though I’m basically trying to debunk him here, Hancocks Fingerprints of the Gods is kind of a fun read,he’s not a bad writer, but it’s pretty sensational
As far as PIE stuff I would recommend The Horse, The Wheel and Language by David Anthony and Who We are and How we got Here by David Reich(this one is about ancient DNA and how it solves questions about prehistoric migrations around the world)
For Mesoamerica and the Aztecs specifically, Fifth Sun by Camilla Townsend is an excellent look at their history
For Polynesia, I enjoyed Sea People by Christina Thompson