Psychic archaeology
Encyclopedia
Psychic archaeology is a loose collection of practices involving the application of paranormal
phenomena to problems in archaeology
.
Practitioners of psychic archaeology utilize a variety of methods of divination ranging from pseudoscientific
methods such as dowsing for Electromagnetic Photo-Fields to traditional occult
methods such as channeling
. Some psychic archaeologists engage in fieldwork while others, such as Edgar Cayce
(who claims to have had access to ancient Akashic records
), exclusively engage in remote viewing
. Fredrick B. Bond's research at Glastonbury Abbey
is one of the first documented examples of psychic archaeology and remains a principal case in many discussions of psychic archaeology.
It is difficult to test scientifically, since archaeological sites are relatively abundant, and all of its verified predictions could have been made via educated guesses. It is not considered part of mainstream archaeology.
digs, or describe context of artifacts
. Psychic archaeology is alluring for several reasons, respective to the type of psychic archaeology employed. For instance, surveying techniques such as dowsing are less costly in terms of time and equipment than conventional noninvasive surveying techniques such as Ground Penetrating Radar
or magnetometery surveys while providing more detailed information. Techniques for locating sites and test pits
such as automatic writing
and various scrying
techniques are attractive as they prevent wasted labor. A major attraction of psychic archaeology is that many of its techniques address lives of the past directly. Whereas accepted archaeologists make inferences about lives of the past based on material culture
, some psychic archaeologists say they have visions of non-material aspects of the lives they study.
in psychic archaeology can take on many forms. One of the better publicized methods and the subject of psychic archaeologist Karen Hunt’s 1981 masters thesis at Indiana University involves dowsing for Electromagnetic Photo-Fields (EMPF) using two L-shaped [Ferrous] coat hangers bent about 17.8 cm from the end as electromagnetic photo sensors. Hunt stated that the electromagnetic photo sensors detect EMPF similar to a proton magnetometer detecting magnetic fields. Crossed dowsing rods indicated the crossing of an EMPF, which are said to be three-dimensional patterns generated by man-made objects left in place for at least six-months.
There are other methods of dowsing employed in psychic archaeology with less inherent scientism than EMPF. Often conventional dowsers will offer their services to archaeologist with varying explanation for their methods.
Straddling the border of dowsing and channeling
is a technique known as map dowsing, in which a medium or psychic dangles a pendulum
over a map of the area of a potential dig to divine ideal locations for test pits or excavation.
An example of psychometry in psychic archaeology occurred at 17:45, 22 October 1941 when Professor Stanisław Poniatowski of the University of Warsaw
handed Polish psychic Stefan Ossowiecki
a projectile point from the Magdalenian
culture. After holding the artifact Ossowiecki stated that it was a spear point from France or Belgium, belonging to round house dwelling people with brownish skin, black hair, short stature, large hands, feet and hips wearing skins. He describes a funeral pyre
, burial, and two domesticated dogs. Jeffrey Goodman, author and psychic archaeologist, considers Ossowiecki’s psychometry validated for the following reasons: large hipped women are observed in Magdalenian Venus figurines
, bone needles associated with Magdalenian culture may have been used to sew skin clothing, and the bearded man on the funeral pyre “may have been one of the bearded Magdalenians who are found represented in Magdalenian cave art.”
, an eccentric explorer who concentrated on Maya
sites in the northern Yucatan Peninsula
, was an early practitioner of psychic archaeology. In 1877, Juan Péon Contreras, director of the Museo Yucateco in Mérida
, noted that Le Plongeon's discoveries of sculpture at Chichén Itzá
resulted from the application of "abstruse archaeological reasoning and... meditation
.". R. Tripp Evans refers to this as "psychic archaeology," noting that Le Plongeon's wife Alice Dixon Le Plongeon
had an avid interest in mesmerism, séance, and the occult
. Helena Blavatsky, a co-founder of the Theosophical Society
, regarded the work of the Le Plongeons as proving the validity of "metaphysical
archaeology.". However, professional archaeologists regard Le Plongeon as an obvious crank
.
Glastonbury Abbey
was a Catholic religious complex located at Glastonbury, UK until 1539, when it was destroyed by edict of King Henry VIII. According to Frederick Bligh Bond
the Abbey was founded in 166 CE
, although this founding date is disputed by historians; the commonly accepted date is in the 7th Century when, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
King Ine of Wessex
established a minster at Glastonbury. On November 17, 1907 F. Bligh Bond had his friend Captain John Bartlett (Given the Pseudonym
John Alleyne in The Gate of Remembrance ) engage in communicating with spirits via Automatic writing
for the purpose of learning about Glastonbury Abbey’s past. Captain Bartlett's communication with spirits produced two sketches of the abbey’s layout signed by "Gulielmus Monachus." The layouts showed a chapel to the east of the abbey that was unknown to F. Bligh Bond, he asked that Captain Bartlett’s source provide more information about this building. Accordingly, Captain Bartlett wrote that the chapel had been erected by Abbot Beere
, completed by Abbot Whiting and named in honor of King Edgar.
F. Bligh Bond began excavation at Glastonbury in the summer of 1909. While excavating he demonstrated the accuracy of Captain Bartlett’s sketches discovering Edgar Chapel in the location indicated by Captain Bartlett.
Bond didn't reveal that he was using psychic powers until 1917, when he had already presented his results. The Church of England officials were so embarrassed that they fired him.
Mainstream archeaologists are far from nonplussed about the discovery, reminding people that F. Bligh Bond was an expert in medieval church architecture, that most of the site have already been dug out, and that the location of the chapel could be easily guessed from the existing data. Archaeologist Stephen Williams
said that "Culture is a patterned behavior, and medieval cathedrals are some of the most patterned pieces of construction in our culture... All he had to do was turn to almost any nearby structure, such as Salisbury Cathedral
, less than fifty miles to the east, and see its Trinity Chapel behind the main altar and guess that Glastonbury would have one too."
archaeology believe that at best it possesses the power to answer questions about the lives in the past not answerable using the archaeological record
, and also to locating prime archaeological site
s. They believe that, at worst, psychic archaeologists can locate and excavate important sites that may not be excavated without the motivation of psychic guidance. Skeptics
, on the other hand, usually question the existence of psychic abilities, ascribing the occasional apparent successes of psychic archaeology to fallacious thinking on the part of practitioners and cite phenomena such as coincidence
, confirmation bias
, cherry picking or outright trickery
. Skeptics compare psychic archaeologists to psychic detective
s.
It is difficult to test psychic archaeology empirically, since archaeological discoveries are relatively abundant; anyone can predict the location of a site, using only a bit of archaeological knowledge and common sense. The same applies for finding objects inside an already identified site. Also, some sites, like the Alexandria harbor, are so rich in objects that one can dig in any random place and find at least one object. Predictions about the lifestyle of ancient civilizations can't be verified due to the lack of written records.
Paranormal
Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
phenomena to problems in archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
.
Practitioners of psychic archaeology utilize a variety of methods of divination ranging from pseudoscientific
Pseudoscience
Pseudoscience is a claim, belief, or practice which is presented as scientific, but which does not adhere to a valid scientific method, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, cannot be reliably tested, or otherwise lacks scientific status...
methods such as dowsing for Electromagnetic Photo-Fields to traditional occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
methods such as channeling
Mediumship
Mediumship is described as a form of communication with spirits. It is a practice in religious beliefs such as Spiritualism, Spiritism, Espiritismo, Candomblé, Voodoo and Umbanda.- Concept :...
. Some psychic archaeologists engage in fieldwork while others, such as Edgar Cayce
Edgar Cayce
Edgar Cayce was an American psychic who allegedly had the ability to give answers to questions on subjects such as healing or Atlantis while in a hypnotic trance...
(who claims to have had access to ancient Akashic records
Akashic Records
The akashic records is a term used in theosophy to describe a compendium of mystical knowledge encoded in a non-physical plane of existence. These records are described as containing all knowledge of human experience and the history of the cosmos...
), exclusively engage in remote viewing
Remote viewing
Remote viewing is the practice of seeking impressions about a distant or unseen target using paranormal means, in particular, extra-sensory perception or "sensing with mind"...
. Fredrick B. Bond's research at Glastonbury Abbey
Glastonbury Abbey
Glastonbury Abbey was a monastery in Glastonbury, Somerset, England. The ruins are now a grade I listed building, and a Scheduled Ancient Monument and are open as a visitor attraction....
is one of the first documented examples of psychic archaeology and remains a principal case in many discussions of psychic archaeology.
It is difficult to test scientifically, since archaeological sites are relatively abundant, and all of its verified predictions could have been made via educated guesses. It is not considered part of mainstream archaeology.
Description
Psychic archaeology is the use of extrasensory perception to locate sites for archaeologicalArchaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
digs, or describe context of artifacts
Artifact (archaeology)
An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...
. Psychic archaeology is alluring for several reasons, respective to the type of psychic archaeology employed. For instance, surveying techniques such as dowsing are less costly in terms of time and equipment than conventional noninvasive surveying techniques such as Ground Penetrating Radar
Ground penetrating radar survey (archaeology)
Ground penetrating radar survey is one of a number of methods used in archaeological geophysics. GPR can be used to detect and map subsurface archaeological artifacts, features, and patterning.- Overview :...
or magnetometery surveys while providing more detailed information. Techniques for locating sites and test pits
Shovel test pit
A shovel test pit is a standard method for Phase I of an Archaeological survey. It is usually a part of the CRM methodology and a popular form of rapid archaeological survey in the United States of America and Canada.It designates a series of A shovel test pit (STP) is a standard method for Phase...
such as automatic writing
Automatic writing
Automatic writing or psychography is writing which the writer states to be produced from a subconscious and/or spiritual source without conscious awareness of the content.-History:...
and various scrying
Scrying
Scrying is a magic practice that involves seeing things psychically in a medium, usually for purposes of obtaining spiritual visions and less often for purposes of divination or fortune-telling. The most common media used are reflective, translucent, or luminescent substances such as crystals,...
techniques are attractive as they prevent wasted labor. A major attraction of psychic archaeology is that many of its techniques address lives of the past directly. Whereas accepted archaeologists make inferences about lives of the past based on material culture
Material culture
In the social sciences, material culture is a term that refers to the relationship between artifacts and social relations. Studying a culture's relationship to materiality is a lens through which social and cultural attitudes can be discussed...
, some psychic archaeologists say they have visions of non-material aspects of the lives they study.
Methods
There are several common methods employed by practitioners of psychic archaeologists including:Dowsing
DowsingDowsing
Dowsing is a type of divination employed in attempts to locate ground water, buried metals or ores, gemstones, oil, gravesites, and many other objects and materials, as well as so-called currents of earth radiation , without the use of scientific apparatus...
in psychic archaeology can take on many forms. One of the better publicized methods and the subject of psychic archaeologist Karen Hunt’s 1981 masters thesis at Indiana University involves dowsing for Electromagnetic Photo-Fields (EMPF) using two L-shaped [Ferrous] coat hangers bent about 17.8 cm from the end as electromagnetic photo sensors. Hunt stated that the electromagnetic photo sensors detect EMPF similar to a proton magnetometer detecting magnetic fields. Crossed dowsing rods indicated the crossing of an EMPF, which are said to be three-dimensional patterns generated by man-made objects left in place for at least six-months.
There are other methods of dowsing employed in psychic archaeology with less inherent scientism than EMPF. Often conventional dowsers will offer their services to archaeologist with varying explanation for their methods.
Straddling the border of dowsing and channeling
Mediumship
Mediumship is described as a form of communication with spirits. It is a practice in religious beliefs such as Spiritualism, Spiritism, Espiritismo, Candomblé, Voodoo and Umbanda.- Concept :...
is a technique known as map dowsing, in which a medium or psychic dangles a pendulum
Pendulum
A pendulum is a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced from its resting equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate it back toward the equilibrium position...
over a map of the area of a potential dig to divine ideal locations for test pits or excavation.
Psychometry
University of Warsaw
The University of Warsaw is the largest university in Poland and one of the most prestigious, ranked as best Polish university in 2010 and 2011...
handed Polish psychic Stefan Ossowiecki
Stefan Ossowiecki
Stefan Ossowiecki was a Polish engineer who was during his lifetime promoted as one of Europe's best-known psychics. Two notable persons who credited his claims were pioneering French parapsychologist Gustav Geley and Nobel Prize-winning physiologist Charles Richet, who called Ossowiecki "the most...
a projectile point from the Magdalenian
Magdalenian
The Magdalenian , refers to one of the later cultures of the Upper Paleolithic in western Europe, dating from around 17,000 BP to 9,000 BP...
culture. After holding the artifact Ossowiecki stated that it was a spear point from France or Belgium, belonging to round house dwelling people with brownish skin, black hair, short stature, large hands, feet and hips wearing skins. He describes a funeral pyre
Pyre
A pyre , also known as a funeral pyre, is a structure, usually made of wood, for burning a body as part of a funeral rite...
, burial, and two domesticated dogs. Jeffrey Goodman, author and psychic archaeologist, considers Ossowiecki’s psychometry validated for the following reasons: large hipped women are observed in Magdalenian Venus figurines
Venus figurines
Venus figurines is an umbrella term for a number of prehistoric statuettes of women portrayed with similar physical attributes from the Upper Palaeolithic, mostly found in Europe, but with finds as far east as Irkutsk Oblast, Siberia, extending their distribution to much of Eurasia, from the...
, bone needles associated with Magdalenian culture may have been used to sew skin clothing, and the bearded man on the funeral pyre “may have been one of the bearded Magdalenians who are found represented in Magdalenian cave art.”
Others
- Remote viewingRemote viewingRemote viewing is the practice of seeking impressions about a distant or unseen target using paranormal means, in particular, extra-sensory perception or "sensing with mind"...
- Automatic writingAutomatic writingAutomatic writing or psychography is writing which the writer states to be produced from a subconscious and/or spiritual source without conscious awareness of the content.-History:...
- Precognitive dreaming
- ChannelingMediumshipMediumship is described as a form of communication with spirits. It is a practice in religious beliefs such as Spiritualism, Spiritism, Espiritismo, Candomblé, Voodoo and Umbanda.- Concept :...
Chichén Itzá
Augustus Le PlongeonAugustus Le Plongeon
Augustus Le Plongeon was a photographer and antiquarian who studied the pre-Columbian ruins of America, particularly those of the Maya civilization on the northern Yucatán Peninsula. While his writings contain many eccentric notions that were discredited by later researchers, Le Plongeon left a...
, an eccentric explorer who concentrated on Maya
Maya civilization
The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
sites in the northern Yucatan Peninsula
Yucatán Peninsula
The Yucatán Peninsula, in southeastern Mexico, separates the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico, with the northern coastline on the Yucatán Channel...
, was an early practitioner of psychic archaeology. In 1877, Juan Péon Contreras, director of the Museo Yucateco in Mérida
Merida
Places of the world named Mérida or Merida include:*Mérida, Spain, capital city of the Spanish Community of Extremadura*Mérida, Yucatán, capital city of the Mexican state of Yucatán*Merida, Leyte, a municipality in Leyte province in the Philippines...
, noted that Le Plongeon's discoveries of sculpture at Chichén Itzá
Chichen Itza
Chichen Itza is a large pre-Columbian archaeological site built by the Maya civilization located in the northern center of the Yucatán Peninsula, in the Municipality of Tinúm, Yucatán state, present-day Mexico....
resulted from the application of "abstruse archaeological reasoning and... meditation
Meditation
Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....
.". R. Tripp Evans refers to this as "psychic archaeology," noting that Le Plongeon's wife Alice Dixon Le Plongeon
Alice Dixon Le Plongeon
Alice Dixon Le Plongeon was an English photographer, amateur archaeologist traveller, and author. Together with her husband Augustus Le Plongeon she spent eleven years living and working in southern Mexico and Central America photographing and studying the ruined cities of the pre-Columbian Maya...
had an avid interest in mesmerism, séance, and the occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
. Helena Blavatsky, a co-founder of the Theosophical Society
Theosophical Society
The Theosophical Society is an organization formed in 1875 to advance the spiritual principles and search for Truth known as Theosophy. The original organization, after splits and realignments has several successors...
, regarded the work of the Le Plongeons as proving the validity of "metaphysical
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
archaeology.". However, professional archaeologists regard Le Plongeon as an obvious crank
Crank (person)
"Crank" is a pejorative term used for a person who unshakably holds a belief that most of his or her contemporaries consider to be false. A "cranky" belief is so wildly at variance with commonly accepted belief as to be ludicrous...
.
Glastonbury Abbey
Glastonbury Abbey
Glastonbury Abbey was a monastery in Glastonbury, Somerset, England. The ruins are now a grade I listed building, and a Scheduled Ancient Monument and are open as a visitor attraction....
was a Catholic religious complex located at Glastonbury, UK until 1539, when it was destroyed by edict of King Henry VIII. According to Frederick Bligh Bond
Frederick Bligh Bond
Frederick Bligh Bond was an English architect, illustrator, archaeologist, and psychical researcher.-Early life:...
the Abbey was founded in 166 CE
Common Era
Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...
, although this founding date is disputed by historians; the commonly accepted date is in the 7th Century when, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...
King Ine of Wessex
Ine of Wessex
Ine was King of Wessex from 688 to 726. He was unable to retain the territorial gains of his predecessor, Cædwalla, who had brought much of southern England under his control and expanded West Saxon territory substantially...
established a minster at Glastonbury. On November 17, 1907 F. Bligh Bond had his friend Captain John Bartlett (Given the Pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
John Alleyne in The Gate of Remembrance ) engage in communicating with spirits via Automatic writing
Automatic writing
Automatic writing or psychography is writing which the writer states to be produced from a subconscious and/or spiritual source without conscious awareness of the content.-History:...
for the purpose of learning about Glastonbury Abbey’s past. Captain Bartlett's communication with spirits produced two sketches of the abbey’s layout signed by "Gulielmus Monachus." The layouts showed a chapel to the east of the abbey that was unknown to F. Bligh Bond, he asked that Captain Bartlett’s source provide more information about this building. Accordingly, Captain Bartlett wrote that the chapel had been erected by Abbot Beere
Richard Beere
Richard Beere was an English Benedictine abbot of Glastonbury, known as a builder for his abbey, as a diplomat and scholar, and a friend of Erasmus.-Life:...
, completed by Abbot Whiting and named in honor of King Edgar.
F. Bligh Bond began excavation at Glastonbury in the summer of 1909. While excavating he demonstrated the accuracy of Captain Bartlett’s sketches discovering Edgar Chapel in the location indicated by Captain Bartlett.
Bond didn't reveal that he was using psychic powers until 1917, when he had already presented his results. The Church of England officials were so embarrassed that they fired him.
Mainstream archeaologists are far from nonplussed about the discovery, reminding people that F. Bligh Bond was an expert in medieval church architecture, that most of the site have already been dug out, and that the location of the chapel could be easily guessed from the existing data. Archaeologist Stephen Williams
Stephen Williams (archeologist)
Stephen Williams is an archaeologist at Harvard University, currently holding the title of Peabody Professor of North American Archaeology and Ethnography, Emeritus....
said that "Culture is a patterned behavior, and medieval cathedrals are some of the most patterned pieces of construction in our culture... All he had to do was turn to almost any nearby structure, such as Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England, considered one of the leading examples of Early English architecture....
, less than fifty miles to the east, and see its Trinity Chapel behind the main altar and guess that Glastonbury would have one too."
Point Cook
Point Cook Australia 37°55′33.6"S 144°47′30.7"E was the location of a psychic archaeological survey by Karen A. B. Hunt M.A. in 1981. Hunt employed dowsing rods to detect Electromagnetic Photo-Fields (EMPF). Hunt mapped the locations of 129 buildings or cultural points including the house, outbuildings, a windmill, a tank stand, the fences and gates of the homestead. While the location of the windmill and tank stand match established facts, skeptic Mark Plummer considers Hunt’s survey dubious for several reasons, including architectural style, which he and a team of architects find more indicative of 1870-1900 American architecture than Australian Colonial architecture.Validity
Advocates of psychicPsychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
archaeology believe that at best it possesses the power to answer questions about the lives in the past not answerable using the archaeological record
Archaeological record
The archaeological record is the body of physical evidence about the past. It is one of the most basic concepts in archaeology, the academic discipline concerned with documenting and interpreting the archaeological record....
, and also to locating prime archaeological site
Archaeological site
An archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved , and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological record.Beyond this, the definition and geographical extent of a 'site' can vary widely,...
s. They believe that, at worst, psychic archaeologists can locate and excavate important sites that may not be excavated without the motivation of psychic guidance. Skeptics
Skepticism
Skepticism has many definitions, but generally refers to any questioning attitude towards knowledge, facts, or opinions/beliefs stated as facts, or doubt regarding claims that are taken for granted elsewhere...
, on the other hand, usually question the existence of psychic abilities, ascribing the occasional apparent successes of psychic archaeology to fallacious thinking on the part of practitioners and cite phenomena such as coincidence
Coincidence
A coincidence is an event notable for its occurring in conjunction with other conditions, e.g. another event. As such, a coincidence occurs when something uncanny, accidental and unexpected happens under conditions named, but not under a defined relationship...
, confirmation bias
Confirmation bias
Confirmation bias is a tendency for people to favor information that confirms their preconceptions or hypotheses regardless of whether the information is true.David Perkins, a geneticist, coined the term "myside bias" referring to a preference for "my" side of an issue...
, cherry picking or outright trickery
Hoax
A hoax is a deliberately fabricated falsehood made to masquerade as truth. It is distinguishable from errors in observation or judgment, or rumors, urban legends, pseudosciences or April Fools' Day events that are passed along in good faith by believers or as jokes.-Definition:The British...
. Skeptics compare psychic archaeologists to psychic detective
Psychic detective
A psychic detective is defined as a person who investigates crimes by using their claimed paranormal psychic abilities. A number of people claim they have psychic abilities that have allowed them to assist police in solving kidnapping and murder cases, or locating a corpse...
s.
It is difficult to test psychic archaeology empirically, since archaeological discoveries are relatively abundant; anyone can predict the location of a site, using only a bit of archaeological knowledge and common sense. The same applies for finding objects inside an already identified site. Also, some sites, like the Alexandria harbor, are so rich in objects that one can dig in any random place and find at least one object. Predictions about the lifestyle of ancient civilizations can't be verified due to the lack of written records.
Names in psychic archaeology
- Augustus Le PlongeonAugustus Le PlongeonAugustus Le Plongeon was a photographer and antiquarian who studied the pre-Columbian ruins of America, particularly those of the Maya civilization on the northern Yucatán Peninsula. While his writings contain many eccentric notions that were discredited by later researchers, Le Plongeon left a...
- Frederick Bligh BondFrederick Bligh BondFrederick Bligh Bond was an English architect, illustrator, archaeologist, and psychical researcher.-Early life:...
- George S. McMullenGeorge S. McMullenGeorge B. McMullen was an intuitive archaeologist and forensic remote viewer who has the ability to psychometrize objects and use them to tune into scenes from the past. He used his strong extrasensory perception to locate ancient sites for archaeological digs, or describe context of...
- Stefan OssowieckiStefan OssowieckiStefan Ossowiecki was a Polish engineer who was during his lifetime promoted as one of Europe's best-known psychics. Two notable persons who credited his claims were pioneering French parapsychologist Gustav Geley and Nobel Prize-winning physiologist Charles Richet, who called Ossowiecki "the most...
- Edgar CayceEdgar CayceEdgar Cayce was an American psychic who allegedly had the ability to give answers to questions on subjects such as healing or Atlantis while in a hypnotic trance...
- Karen Hunt (Winner 1984 Bent Spoon AwardBent Spoon AwardThe Bent Spoon Award is an award given by Australian Skeptics, "presented to the perpetrator of the most preposterous piece of paranormal or pseudoscientific piffle". The name of the award is a reference to the spoon bending of Uri Geller...
) - J. Norman Emerson of the University of TorontoUniversity of TorontoThe University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
- Stephan A. Schwartz
- Jeffrey GoodmanJeffrey GoodmanJeffrey Goodman is an independent archaeologist with training in both geology and archaeology. His early career was in oil exploration.-Biography:...
In fiction
- Sophia Hapgood, a character in the Indiana Jones canon, is both a psychic and an archaeologist. Her name is a reference to Charles HapgoodCharles HapgoodCharles Hutchins Hapgood was an American college professor and author who became one of the best known advocates of a pseudo-historical claim of a rapid and recent pole shift with catastrophic results.-Biography:...
, a proponent of pseudoscientificPseudosciencePseudoscience is a claim, belief, or practice which is presented as scientific, but which does not adhere to a valid scientific method, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, cannot be reliably tested, or otherwise lacks scientific status...
pole shift theory.
Further reading
- Bailey, Richard, Eric Cambridge and Dennis Biggs. 1988. Dowsing and Church Archaeology. ISBN 978-0946707133
- Bond, Fredrick. 2010 (Reprint). The Gates of Remembrance. ISBN 978-0548004203
- Jones, David. 1979. Visions of Time: Experiments In Psychic Archaeology ISBN 0-8356-0525-6
- Schwartz, Stephan. 1983. The Alexandria Project. ISBN 978-0595183487