Archaeologists love Space and Aliens: The Stargate Series
If you are a fan of science fiction, then there is a very good chance that you have seen something from the Stargate series, whether it is the movie or one of the many television shows. Daniel Jackson is one of the main characters, and he is an archaeologist, or more specifically, an Egyptologist. He has the belief that the pyramids were built by aliens, and this is what leads him to get involved with the U.S. government and their investigation into the Stargate, or an intergalactic portal device that was unearthed in Egypt. Daniel then joins the government team on their intergalactic mission, and becomes interested in alien archaeology.
This concept is very interesting for a fictional series, but there are actually people who believe that there has been alien contact on Earth. Unfortunately, these believers generally tend to ignore tested scientific facts, and only believe in their fringe theories that are based out of context. Archaeologists of today do not concern themselves with “alien archaeology” because there is no proof that is what it is; just because it cannot be explained by what we know today does not mean it has extraterrestrial origin. This form of archaeology is “hypothetical science involving the study of the remains of extraterrestrial civilizations” called Xenoarchaeology (1). It mainly exists in science fiction, like Stargate, and is not practiced by mainstream archaeologists.
The idea of alien archaeological remains on Earth was perpetuated by the writings of scientific writer, H. P. Lovecraft, whose stories inspired many modern fringe theories (these will be discussed in detail in the Pseudoscience section of this website) (1). The fact that many of the xenoarchaeology theories come from fictional writings already prove that there is not much merit in this form of “hypothetical science”.
Proponents of xenoarchaeology believe that “a special set of skills will be needed to study alien cultures without anthropomorphizing them” (2). The problem with this belief is that there is no solid incontrovertible proof that this “special set of skills” will ever be needed, or that they are indeed the needed skills if proof of alien life was discovered and validated.
There are some who are skeptical xenoarchaeologists, and these “anthropologists” take claims of extraterrestrial influence on Earth and try to validate them by today’s scientific archaeological standards. According to author Jason Colavito, “to date, no incontrovertible evidence of alien influence or an advanced lost civilization has withstood skeptical scrutiny” (1). I am sure that skeptical xenoarchaeologists want to believe in the otherworldly claims by other xenoarchaeologist peers, but even they cannot validate these claims. In short, xenoarchaeologists are the only “archaeologists” who want to study aliens or their presence on Earth, and even then, I’m really not sure if you can call them real archaeologists.
Sources:
(1) Colavito, Jason. "What is Xenoarchaeology?" JasonColavito.com, n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. <website>
(2) Wilson, Steve. "Xenoarchaeology and the Hierarchy of Exclusion." Space Archaeology, 30 Apr. 2010. Web. 13 Apr. 2012 <website>
This concept is very interesting for a fictional series, but there are actually people who believe that there has been alien contact on Earth. Unfortunately, these believers generally tend to ignore tested scientific facts, and only believe in their fringe theories that are based out of context. Archaeologists of today do not concern themselves with “alien archaeology” because there is no proof that is what it is; just because it cannot be explained by what we know today does not mean it has extraterrestrial origin. This form of archaeology is “hypothetical science involving the study of the remains of extraterrestrial civilizations” called Xenoarchaeology (1). It mainly exists in science fiction, like Stargate, and is not practiced by mainstream archaeologists.
The idea of alien archaeological remains on Earth was perpetuated by the writings of scientific writer, H. P. Lovecraft, whose stories inspired many modern fringe theories (these will be discussed in detail in the Pseudoscience section of this website) (1). The fact that many of the xenoarchaeology theories come from fictional writings already prove that there is not much merit in this form of “hypothetical science”.
Proponents of xenoarchaeology believe that “a special set of skills will be needed to study alien cultures without anthropomorphizing them” (2). The problem with this belief is that there is no solid incontrovertible proof that this “special set of skills” will ever be needed, or that they are indeed the needed skills if proof of alien life was discovered and validated.
There are some who are skeptical xenoarchaeologists, and these “anthropologists” take claims of extraterrestrial influence on Earth and try to validate them by today’s scientific archaeological standards. According to author Jason Colavito, “to date, no incontrovertible evidence of alien influence or an advanced lost civilization has withstood skeptical scrutiny” (1). I am sure that skeptical xenoarchaeologists want to believe in the otherworldly claims by other xenoarchaeologist peers, but even they cannot validate these claims. In short, xenoarchaeologists are the only “archaeologists” who want to study aliens or their presence on Earth, and even then, I’m really not sure if you can call them real archaeologists.
Sources:
(1) Colavito, Jason. "What is Xenoarchaeology?" JasonColavito.com, n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. <website>
(2) Wilson, Steve. "Xenoarchaeology and the Hierarchy of Exclusion." Space Archaeology, 30 Apr. 2010. Web. 13 Apr. 2012 <website>