British writer Graham Hancock may seem to some a cockerel and to others a visionary, but without sympathizing with either camp, perhaps we can all agree that the topics he raises are thought-provoking. He has already published several books, initially focusing on issues such as corruption in the British social welfare system, then branching out into human prehistory and ancient civilisations. At the same time, his findings in these works, especially regarding antiquity, have been repeatedly refuted by experts, and his interpretations of archaeological evidence and historical documents have been called pseudo-archaeology and pseudo-history – because he selects from among the available evidence, ignoring some of it, It is not considered that the entire context is viewing
However, Hancock presents himself as a kind of cultural hero who combats the dogmatism of academics, claiming that his work is more authentic than that of professional archaeologists. Although his work has never been subject to scientific peer review, nor has it been published in scientific journals – not by coincidence. In light of all this, it is worth treating his claims with reservations, of which there have been few in recent decades. These days the writer is in the Daily Mail I mentioned And an article in which he discussed his theories, albeit in passing, giving enough myths that he himself saw reason for them.
First, let's start with Hancock's factual statements, which are actually supported scientifically. The aforementioned article mentioned the migration of the Earth's magnetic poles, which is a real phenomenon, and we wrote more about it here. Although scientists expect, according to him, that the next reversal of magnetic poles will occur in 2030, it is difficult to find an authentic source for this. However, the writer concludes from this that a disaster of some kind may strike the planet. Hancock also believes that by creating the wonders of the world, including the Pyramids of Giza or the Sphinx, our ancestors wanted to send a message to future generations. As he adds, perhaps they were trying to draw our attention to the fact that “the periodic, recurring and almost complete extinction of humanity is an integral part of life on Earth.”
By the way, paleontologist Henry Gee also talked about this earlier, pointing out that by 2100, fewer people will live on Earth than currently, so the problem will really be population decline. According to him, Homo sapiens It has been on Earth for about 315,000 years. At the time, it was considered a rare creature and near extinction, but it eventually swelled into the billions. It also means that we are all very similar, which is not good for our chances of survival. It is also problematic that the quality of human sperm cells has been deteriorating for decades for unknown reasons, leading to decreased fertility, he added. At the same time, the paleontologist believes that the most threatening phenomenon for humanity is the religion of extinction, that is, all animal species die sooner or later as a result of habitat loss. As he points out, it is also possible that “man is a mortal being” because of all these things.
Wasn't there ice in Antarctica?
Although Hancock's theories about the extinction of humanity are already a step closer to the ideas scientists believe, some of his positions are actually considered pure madness. For example, the author defends the fact that most of Antarctica was not covered in ice until 6,000 years ago. He bases all of this on the opinions of Ottoman cartographer Piri Reis and Professor Charles Hutchins Hapgood – whose claims that the Earth's magnetic pole will change will be catastrophic have been labeled pseudoscience. Although Hancock supported his statements with the fact that recent evidence also points to this, he forgot to mention that geologist George Denton had already published studies on the Antarctic ice sheet in 1981, which showed that the ice there was hundreds of thousands of years old. The years are old.
Hancock also sparked controversy when he wrote about Tiahuanaco in Bolivia, which reached its peak between 400 and 900, during which it developed from a small agricultural settlement into an imperial capital. At the same time, the writer described the city as a mysterious place, about which little is known to this day, and where almost no archaeological excavations have been carried out. In contrast, dozens of studies on Tiahuanaco have already been published, and large excavations have been carried out here. Among the collections of specimens found, the oldest were found BC. It can be dated back to around 1500.
Intelligent ancestors
Perhaps the author's most controversial theories include hyperdiffusion, which posits that certain technologies or ideas associated with one people later spread to other cultures. According to Hancock's idea, a civilization in the Ice Age was almost wiped out by a catastrophe – which in geology means a geohistorical catastrophe – but the survivors traveled around the world and passed on their knowledge, and thanks to this, the oldest known societies were created. The main basis for his claims is an 1882 claim by politician Ignatius Donnelly Atlantis: the world before the flood Based on his book, which is also considered a pseudo-archaeological work lacking concrete evidence. Hancock believes Plato's story of the sunken island of Atlantis may also be based on a civilization that survived the Ice Age. Arguing that they may have been Native Americans – although many of his findings are tied to outdated race science.
Agreeing with part of the scientific community, Hancock also claims that the climate change known as Younger Dryas, which occurred about 13,000 years ago, was caused by a meteor shower. Opinions are divided in this regard, but the fact is that during this period the average annual temperature in North America and Europe decreased by more than 5 degrees in a few decades. As a result, nature tried to adapt to the conditions, leading to the extinction of some species, including the woolly mammoth and the saber-toothed tiger, and may also have played a role in the extinction of Neanderthals.
Meanwhile, Hancock believes that survivors of the disaster caused by the meteor shower could have fled to Egypt, Mesopotamia and Central America, among other countries, where they exchanged their ideas with local people, who then used the knowledge gained in agriculture and architecture. . And astronomy. Later, the Atlanteans erected monuments that encoded astronomical data, almost as a warning to the future generation, but due to the lack of a standardized writing system, these messages are difficult to decode. According to the writer's theory, the technology possessed by the civilization that lived in the Ice Age was primarily spiritual. As mentioned, the teachings of the Atlanteans were primarily of a geometric, astronomical, and spiritual nature, and were facilitated by the use of psychotropic plants used for passage into the afterlife, allowing them to communicate with spirits.
The writer went so far as to accuse archaeologists of ignoring ancient discoveries that would support all of this. According to archaeologist John Hobbs, Hancock's claims are rooted in the beliefs of the New Age movement. While anthropologist Gibb Card said the man's work was “doomed to failure by the standards of professional archaeology, because his aims are outside the material practice of science-based archaeology.” Additionally, Hancock's motivations are primarily mythological and paranormal in nature.
A series of misconceptions?
Many other statements made by Hancock in the scientific community have already raised the eyebrows of scientists. For example, when he claimed that stones could be shaped and moved with the help of meditation and psychoactive plants. In fact, it is believed that the Great Pyramids of Giza were also created by priestly chants through sonic levitation – something that can be disproven by a whole series of archaeological studies. It also agrees with the idea that:
- The Egyptian Sphinx was eroded by water,
- The Pyramids of Giza were built along the constellation Orion.
- The archaeological site of Gunung Padang in Indonesia is actually a 27,000-year-old Atlantean structure.
- The Maya were only semi-civilized, and although their creations are impressive, they inherited their calendar from a much older and more advanced civilization.
These Hancock beliefs bleed from several wounds, starting with the theory regarding the pyramids of Giza, which says that the relative position of the three pyramids was chosen by the builders to reflect the three stars of Orion's Belt that belong to the constellation Orion. Many astronomers have already objected to this proposal, because the structures do not fit perfectly into the constellation. Regarding the Sphinx, the writer agrees that the deep erosion patterns on its sides were due to heavy rains that continued for thousands of years. In contrast, Egyptology holds that the body of the Sphinx was carved from fibrous rock left between two quarries 4,500 years ago, on the fourth. During the dynasty. Finally he was given a human head, the remaining block of a remaining layer of limestone, and perhaps representing the face of the ruler Hovo or Hafry. Around it, the ground was leveled and sculpted to a horizontal level, and it was surrounded by the vertical rock walls of a quarry. The access road to Haveri lay to the south of the building, the Sphinx Church to the east, and as the access road to the Valley Church skirted the Sphinx, it received a separate church at its feet.
What is known about Gunung Padang in Indonesia is that it is located 885 meters above sea level, covering an extinct volcano, and its buildings were probably built sometime between the 2nd and 5th centuries. Although Indonesian geologist Danny Hillman Natawidjaya previously claimed that Gunung Padang was built as a giant pyramid between 9,000 and 20,000 years ago, volcanologist Sutikno Pronto refuted this, saying that it is located in an ancient volcano. Natawidjaja also published a study in the journal Archaeological Prospection in October 2023, proving that Gunung Padang is the oldest pyramid in the world, dating back 27,000 years ago, but the paper was eventually retracted because the finding was based on an incorrect interpretation.
While it can be said that the Maya civilization was the most advanced culture in pre-Columbian America. They excelled in advanced writing, art, monumental architecture, mathematics, astronomy, and medicine. They were able to accurately measure time and calculate solar and lunar eclipses centuries in advance. They placed a lot of emphasis on astronomy and believed that the universe shapes our daily lives, so they listened to astrology even when they wanted to farm. Realizing this, theories spread that even their cities were drawn in harmony with the stars. For example, the Maya-Toltec pyramid at Chichen Itza, a World Heritage Site, was built to match the position of the sun. Although the Maya civilization no longer exists, their descendants are still alive today. There are more than six million descendants who maintain special traditions, some of which date back to ancient times. The myths that Graham Hancock believes are true seem to be falling apart one by one, so take them with caution in the future if you come across one of the author's theories.
(Cover photo: The Pyramids of Giza on June 16, 2024. Photo: Mohamed Al-Shahed/Anadolu/Getty Images)
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