ArchyFantasies Returnes!

Aliens in the Closet

I've recently fished Erich Von Daniken's most recent book History is Wrong. Let me say, as a sci-fi / conspiracy novel, it was fantastic! It had all the required elements; mythology, religion, government conspiracies, individual persecution, missing artifacts, and betrayal. The pacing was a bit slow in places, but the plot was great...oh wait the plot was that Von Daniken believes all this is real and true.

I really want to break his book down, line by line, and rebut everything he wrote. But other than being a good exercise in rhetoric, I suspect it would get me no where. Still, there is a great deal that needs to be addressed in his book, namely his evident disdain for the academic community.

Von Daniken's grudge against the educated masses seems to stem from their ability to consistently prove him wrong. They also tend to not believe him when he starts shouting "evidence!" because often his 'evidence' goes missing when its time to reveal it.

This lack of evidence is addressed in his new book, mainly in the form of "The scientists/archaeologists don't understand and they wont let me play in their games." He even at one point gives the longitude and latitude location for a mysterious cave in South America where he supposedly heard from a guy who allegedly said he'd gone there and saw plates of gold foil stamped with a mysterious language.

Never mind that if you talk to the alleged discoverer he'll deny the cave, never mind that the 'plates' have never been seen by anyone. According to Von Daniken, even if you try to go to the cave, you can't, because the government wont let you. So don't try...really...

He also goes on to beat the Nazca Lines to death and to poo-poo the scientific explanation for them. He still wants to point out that the Nazca lines could really be landing strips made by primitive man as a form of Cargo Cult.

The Cargo Cult is something I'm going to address on my You Tube channel. It's just the first in a series that I'm starting on the Alien Astronaut phenomena. In it I will be addressing several popular ideas and forms of evidence given by the Alien Astronaut community. It's shaping up to be pretty interesting and entertaining. I encourage you to check it out.

George Boxley, The Underground Railroad and the Discussion of Race

There have been a lot of good articles lately in the dealing with the Underground Railroad. Recently, Timbuctoo was recovered in New Jersey by Temple U. and is currently under extensive survey. It’s a great find because of what Timbuctoo was, and what it came to be. As more is released about Timbuctoo the more we’ll learn about early free black communities.

The Underground Railroad is no less significant as a moment in history. The Whites who ran the Railroad abhorred slavery, many viewed Blacks and Whites as equal long before there was ever an equal rights movement. These people risked their own lives, their families, their properties, and broke laws left and right in order to free slaves.

The Railroad itself is both real and mythical today, you could probably find thousands of “stops” and many have been verified, some have not. Whether or not a stop is real or not isn’t an issue, it’s both amazing and hearting that people want their properties to be part of the Railroad. The ultimate goal of the Railroad was to free those who were enslaved and guide them to places where they could live free and un-harassed.

George Boxley fit into all of this because he was one of the first abolitionists. His views on equality caused him constant strife in his life, climaxing when he personally guided two slaves to freedom. His action were found out and after escaping prison the day before his execution, he escaped Virginia by way of the very Underground Railroad he’d used earlier to save the now former slaves.

George Boxley’s life reads like an action movie. After escaping he is perused by his lifelong rival all the way to Boston, helped along the way by old war buddies and new friends made by saving their lives. When he finally reunites with his family he is still perused across the Midwest till finally he is found by a bounty hunter, who falls ill and is revived by Boxley. In his gratitude for being saved, the Hunter tells Boxley that he’ll return and tell all that George Boxley is dead and not to look for him anymore.

While on the run Boxley still found time to write several pamphlets against slavery, free a few slaves, and educate the youth of a still young nation.

In his twilight years Boxley did some very strange things, and apparently he and his wife parted ways. Still he’d made an impact on the communities he’d lived in and possibly continued his crusade for equality with his own stop along the Railroad.

So what does the current discoveries and research into the Underground Railroad have to do with Racial Discourse today? Quite a bit.

Often archaeology finds things that allow for difficult discussions to start, especially in Urban and Historic archaeology. Evidence is evidence, and when what the archaeologist find contradicts the current world view, this opens up a chance to talk. The work with the Underground Railroad is no different.

The Railroad shows us that even at the earliest times of our country Whites and Blacks struggled and fought together for a common goal that was seen to better all of us. Southern and Northern Whites risked life and limb to free slaves and keep them safe, and in turn those Blacks returned to help free more. In situations like Boxley, Blacks worked to keep their White partners safe.

The Underground Railroad is a triumph in American History. Perhaps we’ll never know the true routes or identify all the stops, but we will continue to look because it’s important to keep the Railroad in the minds of our people. It shows that when push comes to shove, we can and do see each other as equals. When we need to rely on each other the most, we can. It shows that when all men are not treated equal, we will rise up as a nation and find ways to make it so.

Keeping this in mind, is there really a racial issue we can’t work though?

Digging the Boxley Dig pt 1

We're finally at the site, with three four day weekends to dig. Looks like we'll have quite a few volunteers to help us out too. My hope is the weather will hold and we won't lose any days to rain (I think that's the first time I've uttered that).

The site is in a lot better shape than I expected, keep in mind there are three recorded episodes of habitation here, Boxley himself, Boxley's third youngest son, and some random people who basically swindled the aged Boxley descendants out of their land.

Boxley's cabin is a lot smaller than I expected, not sure if they just rebuilt it wrong or if I was being hopeful. The apparent footprint of the mansion built by his son is massive in comparison, but still relatively small.

Basically, I've spent the day marking depressions of interest, and later today we'll bring out the tools and lay out a grid. With luck I will survive the blood loss due to the armada of mosquitoes, up side is, it's overcast enough I don't need goopy sunscreen. Small victories right?

When I get to a better computer I will uplode more pictures, stick around for more!

Dr. Mann Absolved ...Climate Change Still Real...

Not that he needed to be, but apparently the actions of a few hyper-reactive people demand political absolution.

I don't really want to rant to often here, though I know I have in the past, but the actions and accusations made against Dr. Mann are shameful and abhorrent. Those who took and made these accusations against him are malicious liars and gullible fools.

Still, with all the trained monkeys shouting and throwing poo, just like their handlers wanted, Dr. Mann has been the victim of countless emails threatening his job, his life, and his legacy.

What irks me the most in all of this is that the thievery that "reveled" the 'hacked' emails was never questioned. The source of the reveled emails were never looked at skeptically. Those who wanted to disbelieve in climate change just took the headlines and ran with them, never once questioning the source. Even when it was shown that the emails were horribly out of context and even chopped up an rearranged to make them seem more damning then they were, the deniers kept shrieking and tossing turd-bombs at Dr. Mann.

So, since science is now politics, Dr. Mann, his research, and his associates had to be brought under investigation because a few morons couldn't be bothered to do basic research. We didn't need an inquiry into the validity of Dr. Mann's work, every other reputable climate scientist in the world backs up his claim, and all the screaming and lying done by the denier's won't change that. Their deceptive practices won't change solid facts and observable changes that any school child could identify.

It's nice to have Dr. Mann's integrity restored by this inquiry,

The panel of inquiry, led by former U.K. civil servant Muir Russell, found that the scientists “rigour and honesty as scientists [is] not in doubt.” The report went on to say that they “did not find any evidence of behaviour that might undermine the conclusions of the IPCC assessments.”

And Dr. Mann is pleased to have this all behind him. Still, this is a chilling example of the power of lies and misdirection, two major tools of any group of deniers. We should all be prepared for future attacks on valid science, for the chaos caused here by stolen and specious documents can be chalked up as a win for the Climate Deniers.

George Boxley from Grant to Dig Pt..2: Preliminary Survey

I have gotten the dig dates, which will be the last two weeks in July, and we have the students we'll be working with all signed up. They appear to be a great group of kids, I honestly can't wait to get them in the field and see what they're capable of.

So, Monday we will be heading up to the site to do the initial surface collection. In the CRM world we call this a Phase I, Pedestrian Survey. We'll be calling this a pedestrian survey as well, but we already know there is stuff here, we're just looking for the best place to dig so we don't waist our short two weeks. The kids and my mentor will be going back Tuesday, but I have to work at the museum. Hopefully well find all the cool stuff the day I'm there!

Only one downer, all my dig tools got stolen this weekend. I miss my trowel, it was my first, and I had it for five years...sad. I'll get a new one, but it won't be the same...still I am looking forward to getting dirty again.

I'll post again after Monday, and see if I can't put up some nice pictures. Stay tuned!

George Boxley from Grant to Dig

Recently I was given the opportunity to assist with a dig from the ground up. Which means, assisting in the grant writing phase as well. Assisting may be the operative word here, but any experience is good.

What this also means is that I have a new obsession, a charming man by the name of George Boxley (fear not, this entry will be edited soon.) Probably the best resource for Mr. Boxley's life is a very intresting account published by the Sheridan Historical Socoity titled "A Man with a Price on His Head: The Life and Times of George Boxley."

Boxley is important in that he was an every day man, who did something purposeful when it could have cost him his life. He was an early Abolitionist who truly stood up for his beliefs. To add to my personal attraction, he was quite the intellectual. He championed education and was an early Humanist, and skeptical of God. His life story reads like some kind of movie script, and the details may have been embellished a bit, but it still portrays a remarkable man who may have had just a touch of genius.

Obviously I'm a bit biased, he is the current focus of my life, still, I plan to share him with the rest of you as I learn more. Also, I thought this particular journey of mine might be of some interest for those who have wondered how an archaeological dig gets up and running.

Stick with me as I venture into the world of red-tape and golden-trowels...