Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology

by Feder, Kenneth

• ISBN13: 9780078035074
• ISBN10: 0078035074
• Edition: 8th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2013-04-15
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education

Summary

Committed to the scientific investigation of human antiquity, Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology uses interesting archaeological hoaxes, myths, and mysteries to show how we can use science to learn things about the past. By placing wildly inaccurate claims within the context of the scientific method, this indispensable supplementary text demonstrates how science approaches questions about human antiquity and, in doing so, shows where pseudoscience falls short.

Table of Contents

1 Science and Pseudoscience

2 Epistemology: How You Know What You Know

3 Anatomy of an Archaeological Hoax

4 Dawson’s Dawn Man: The Hoax at Piltdown

5 Who Discovered America?

6 Who’s Next? After the Indians, Before Columbus

7 The Myth of the Moundbuilders

8 Lost: One Continent—Reward

9 Prehistoric E.T.: The Fantasy of Ancient Astronauts

10 Mysterious Egypt

11 Good Vibrations: Psychics and Archaeology

12 Old-Time Religion, New Age Visions, and Paranormal Predictions

13 Real Mysteries of a Veritable Past