05-11-2016, 03:30 PM
(This post was last modified: 05-11-2016, 03:49 PM by Dan Howard.)
Maybe you should read the actual article and not the comments
But David Stuart, an archeologist who is also famous for his Mayan discoveries as a teenager, described the discovery as "false".
"The whole thing is a mess - a terrible example of junk science hitting the internet in free-fall," said Dr Stuart who is the David and Linda Schele Professor of Mesoamerican Art and Writing at the University of Texas at Austin.
"The ancient Maya didn't plot their ancient cities according to constellations. Seeing such patterns is a Rorschach process, since sites are everywhere, and so are stars.
The square feature that was found on Google Earth is indeed man-made, but it's an old fallow cornfield, or milpa," he said.
Dr Stuart avoided blaming William, saying he was "clearly smart and enthusiastic about archaeology and the Maya", and had talent worth nurturing.
Instead he criticised so-called experts who had publicised his discovery.
"What steams me most here is the irresponsibility of 'experts' who sought the media exposure," he said on his Facebook page.
It is great that this kid is enthusiastic about archaeology and that he came up with a neat testable hypothesis. It doesn't matter whether it turns out to be wrong. What matters is the irresponsible reporting about it. There is no discovery of an ancient city. All we currently have is a satellite photo of what appears to be a man-made structure. The people who went running to the media should have waited till an investigation determined what the structure is.
But David Stuart, an archeologist who is also famous for his Mayan discoveries as a teenager, described the discovery as "false".
"The whole thing is a mess - a terrible example of junk science hitting the internet in free-fall," said Dr Stuart who is the David and Linda Schele Professor of Mesoamerican Art and Writing at the University of Texas at Austin.
"The ancient Maya didn't plot their ancient cities according to constellations. Seeing such patterns is a Rorschach process, since sites are everywhere, and so are stars.
The square feature that was found on Google Earth is indeed man-made, but it's an old fallow cornfield, or milpa," he said.
Dr Stuart avoided blaming William, saying he was "clearly smart and enthusiastic about archaeology and the Maya", and had talent worth nurturing.
Instead he criticised so-called experts who had publicised his discovery.
"What steams me most here is the irresponsibility of 'experts' who sought the media exposure," he said on his Facebook page.
It is great that this kid is enthusiastic about archaeology and that he came up with a neat testable hypothesis. It doesn't matter whether it turns out to be wrong. What matters is the irresponsible reporting about it. There is no discovery of an ancient city. All we currently have is a satellite photo of what appears to be a man-made structure. The people who went running to the media should have waited till an investigation determined what the structure is.
Author: Bronze Age Military Equipment, Pen & Sword Books
