America Unearthed

I watched the episode about the Medieval man in the Arizona desert. I would love if some reputable program would do stories on things like "Kennewick Man" and other archaeological finds that upset the establishment. There should be NO place in science for political-correctness. Having said that, this corn-ball scripted reality completely detracts from any scientific validity a find they may exhibit. The host pretending to get a phone call from a rune analyst telling him things (in the same day!) about his analysis of images is just silly. Also, the presumptuous nature of the "questions" posed by the host to the people with him is like watching a lawyer ask and answer his own questions. One funny scene was when the one fellow said to dig in an area you need a qualified archaeologist to be attached to the project, implying that the host, a self-titled "forensic archaeologist" isn't what he seems. I have no idea if he is qualified. Lastly, the manipulative music is overbearing and aimed at simpletons to get them interested.

I give this show a 3 just for some entertainment value, but maybe I should give it something lower for being so misleading. History and archaeology are full of mysteries and conflicting theories, as they should be and all of these should be examined openly. I have the most OPEN of open minds and am willing to belief that civilization is FAR older - by thousands, if not tens of thousands of years, than is currently believed.

That said, I watched the show last night about an alleged "Englishman" being buried in the desert with a runic gravestone and all the furor Wolter created around this. Pure codswallop. I know something about runes, not enough to read the inscription itself, but enough to know that these were probably not Anglo Saxon runes, but Nordic runes, and even if they were Anglo Saxon - Englishmen had stopped using runes in favor of the Latin alphabet by the 12th century (after the Norman conquest. No one would have used these. If someone had gone to all the effort of carving out that inscription (his buddy was carrying a chisel around with him?), it would have been in Latin alphabet (as we use now) in Old English or in Latin (Latin most likely as it was the universal tongue).

And then to go to England to allegedly hunt down this Hurech was ridiculous - there was no evidence tying Peter de Hurech to some alleged body in the American desert. While some Englishmen did use surnames at that time (my own family has an ancient surname in Yorkshire), most people did not and just went - as someone said, by Christian names or nicknames.

The episode presented no proof of any of the allegations and was as realistic as Tolkien's hobbits. It is a shame that the HISTORY channel is presenting this bunk under its auspices and giving the merest conjecture and speculation, the lustre of legitimate archaeology. This is especially bad as so many young people watch these shows and don't know any better. We need to re-learn the value of PROOF.

I am a scientist, with degrees in both geology and biology, with some dabbling in marine chemistry. And I am so saddened by this show. It is just awful.

Sorry annaeyes12, he is no Bretz or Wegener. But his name may be considered as damning to science as Schliemann's for the damage he causes with shoddy work like this. And I am not an "angry, white men who think they know everything tell you it's not a good program". It is not a good program because it is not good science. We live and die by our reputations. Just ask Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons. Or more recently Hwang Woo-suk.

I'm not saying that there are no curiosities in the worlds, there are. And I do believe in an open mind, I have to as a scientist. We often begin an inquiry (or even just an enquiry) due to some observed phenomenon. But it takes a long time to "prove" something. Lots of digging, searching, and testing. Then having someone, or many people, retest, to validate our own work. To check us. To try to prove us wrong. THAT is the scientific method... TRYING to prove it wrong. Over and over and over and over. We (scientists) have to be EXTREMELY careful to not get too cozy with our own hypothesis. And we can't throw out random thoughts without confusing some people - look at "Global Warming" renamed as "Climate Change" - too many confused people.

This is on the HISTORY channel, which some people will assume to be reputable. Sounds reputable. (Well, until you read their program lineup.) People will believe this crap. And some of it really is crap. But maybe I am too hard on him. I remember a lot of pseudoscience as I grew up, and I enjoyed it, so maybe it will inspire some kid to be into real science someday... Maybe this should be aired with the kids cartoons? Nah, I am really not too hard on him. We live in a world where we are ignored or outright attacked about our warnings of climate change, derided and attacked about endangered species and pollution, and... wait for it... PROSECUTED FOR NOT PREDICTING EARTHQUAKES! No. I am not kidding. It happened. Italy, last year.

As long as ignorance and fantasy are held up as reality and good, things will keep declining. These pseudoscience shows are harming the real thing, and I don't like it.

While there are a fair amount of people who watch this show who aren't scientists, and accept conjecture and speculation as fact, I argue that there is a larger percentage of those who watch who are educated and understand that what is presented ISN'T fact, and instead theories. I don't think you're garden variety "e-tard" is going to watch a show about archaeology or archaeoastronomy on the History Channel, so most of the people watching will understand that whatever topic is presented is simply another theory to perhaps answer some of those questions that are still out there.

I don't remember Scott Wolter coming out and saying "This is ALL fact, and that I've discovered the holy grail!" He's simply presenting new theories and ideas, and trying to connect them to already existing thoughts on the various topics. I don't think he thinks he knows it all, or that he is discovering these grand items, and that he will be the next Howard Carter.

What he thinks he is, is someone who has a sincere interest and appreciation for the sciences, and that instead of answering some lingering questions, is asking some new ones. With our understanding of the sciences growing at an almost exponential rate, there are questions we didn't even realize we had until some new discovery has been made, leading us to formulate newer and updated ideas.

So in the end, lay off people. Scott Wolter is doing some amazing work, and deserves the accolades he receives - maybe not for the work he's presenting, but for asking more questions than he answers, and bringing history alive. There are a great many people who are now that just little bit more educated about archaeoastronomy, runes, underwater archaeology, history of DC or a great deal of other things.

I do understand that H2 has to sell this as " entertainment " and this will undoubtedly anger the " science " community, too bad.... You ( the science community , can poke holes at the ideas presented, but you have admit to the prevailing answer he receives with nearly every site he goes to. NO NO NO !!!!! You can not go ( fill in the blank ) or you can NOT do any digging or further investigation. If there is nothing there, then it wouldn't hurt for him, under proper guidance, to look a bit deeper. However, if there is something there, that's when the " brothers and sisters of science " band together and belittle or tear down ANY hypothesis other than what is collectively accepted as " fact "... Before science, religion has the same view ( I mean EVERYONE knew the earth was flat ), it wasn't until explorers and global expeditions proved them wrong and even then they denied their findings.. It is human nature to mock what we don't know and science is no different. If an individual without a degree finds something he is a footnote in history, but the scientist he told usually will get all the credit, I think that's called ego. After all, with all that publicity the funding will surely follow and then the university will love you...

The show is based in discovery and exploration, but it is also a form of entertainment. Take it for what it is, sit back enjoy a wonderful show and if you are from the science community.... Turn the channel!!!