The Skeptics Society & Skeptic magazine

A major theme running throughout Ancient Apocalypse is Graham Hancock‘s persecution complex. Archaeologists are picking on him, he says, because “I am trying to overthrow the paradigm of history.” Hancock fails to understand that “just asking questions” is unlikely to create a scientific revolution. Especially when he appeals to a hypothetical comet catastrophe that violates the laws of physics, contradicts astronomical data, ignores the geological record, and defies logic. When scientists ask to see data, it’s not persecution. It’s science.

Michael Shermer speaks with anthropologist Elizabeth Weiss about woke archaeology and erasing the past, based on her book Repatriation.

Michael Shermer speaks with anthropologist Elizabeth Weiss about woke archaeology and erasing the past, based on her book Repatriation.

Archaeologists believed that construction of megalithic monuments were beyond the capabilities of hunter-gatherers until they discovered Göbekli Tepe, a 12,000 year old site in Turkey. Is it proof of a lost civilization, or is there another answer?

After his appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast # 961 with Graham Hancock and Randall Carlson, Michael Shermer devoted a special issue of Skeptic magazine (22.3) to Hancock’s theory that an ancient lost civilization predates by tens of thousands of years all other known ancient civilizations. The follow is Dr. Shermer’s account of the show and a refinement of his notes for why he is skeptical of Hancock’s theory.