06-29-2006, 02:21 PM
Often, I read news about ancient history or archaeology that clearly has a political undertone. For example, excavations on the Temple Mountain or Macedonia. Or this topic.
Or it is about money: much archaeological news is too spectacular to be true, and is clearly meant to raise attention and money. The excavators of KV-63 understand the ancient Egyptian proverb "Never seek publicity once if you can also announce the same results twice".
Sometimes, press releases are clearly meant to discredit people; some of you may have noticed how I was fooled by this news.
I think these subjects are important to discuss. Scholarship is never objective and we must be aware of bias; if we can discuss hidden agendas, we might be able to improve the quality of our knowledge and our understanding of the past.
I also think that RAT is a very serious community. We have once discussed the Macedonian question, and we all are still on speaking terms. So I propose that we open a subforum to debunk archaeological claims and to discuss biases. After all, we are grown up people.
Or it is about money: much archaeological news is too spectacular to be true, and is clearly meant to raise attention and money. The excavators of KV-63 understand the ancient Egyptian proverb "Never seek publicity once if you can also announce the same results twice".
Sometimes, press releases are clearly meant to discredit people; some of you may have noticed how I was fooled by this news.
I think these subjects are important to discuss. Scholarship is never objective and we must be aware of bias; if we can discuss hidden agendas, we might be able to improve the quality of our knowledge and our understanding of the past.
I also think that RAT is a very serious community. We have once discussed the Macedonian question, and we all are still on speaking terms. So I propose that we open a subforum to debunk archaeological claims and to discuss biases. After all, we are grown up people.
