The hypothesis that pyramid building was introduced into Egypt by either aliens or by citizens from Atlantis, Lemuria, or any other lost civilization would have to have specific evidence to support itself against scrutiny in academia. The archaeological record would look dramatically different than what it actually does if this were true. The archaeological record shows people in Egypt slowly working to build structures that resemble the Great Pyramids, like the bent pyramid or any of the other smaller pyramids on the Giza Plateau. The archaeological record that would support this hypothesis, however, would contain no evidence of pyramid building before or after the intervention of aliens or Atlantians or some other lost civilization’s citizens. We would only see the Great Pyramids in Giza, and that is it, none of the smaller pyramids. We also would not have records of ancient Egyptians building the pyramids when we very obviously do. There are many well known and understood documentations of the reasons and methods used to build the pyramids, from the small, earlier ones, to the Great Pyramids on the Giza Plateau. To support this hypothesis, we would most likely just see documentation about the travelers to Egypt, or documentation about aliens or Atlantians building them, or no documentation at all. But none of these are what the archaeological record actually holds, therefore it is rather obvious that ancient Egyptians built the pyramids.
The hypothesis that Atlantian culture diffused to the Maya and ancient Egyptians would also need specific evidence in the archaeological record to support it against academia’s scrutiny. The archaeological record would have to have a few different things in it. Firstly, it would need evidence of Atlantis actually existing, not just a metaphorical document from Plato or wild conspiracies from pseudoarchaeologists like Ignatius Donnelly. This would include literal instead of metaphorical historic documents that account for Atlantis like one of Plato’s dialogues. Secondly, we would need archaeological evidence of the diffusion to the Americas and to Egypt and the Mediterranean. This could look like either ancient boats or other transportation methods, roads, or documentation. This kind of record, however, does not exist. We see no evidence or documentation of diffusion out from Atlantis or any other ancient, advanced culture in the archaeological record. Finally, we would need to see very strong similarities in the archaeological record for the ancient Maya and the ancient Egyptians. While many pseudoarchaeologists try to draw similarities between these two cultures and their archaeological record – from their writing systems, to their architecture, to their material culture – these similarities aren’t based on anything other than purely wishful thinking. Pyramids are a rather common structure and wouldn’t be that hard for either culture to deviate and create. Their writing systems, while both are glyphic, are entirely different syntax-wise and barely coordinate beyond both being human languages. And their material culture is exactly what you’d expect to see from these cultures during this time, no hyperdiffusion necessary.
Hi Mia! In regards to your post, I loved reading it. It is very eloquent and well thought out. With the first hypothesis, though, I think you definitely could have expanded more on the lack of documentation that would be in support of these claims. With the deconstruction of the second hypothesis, I found it very helpful. It put into perspective a few points I missed while writing my blog post! Including the idea of linguistics is not something a lot of people take into consideration when there’s a lot of blatant archaeological findings (artifacts or sites) that prove otherwise. Overall, I tend to grasp more information on readings and lectures through reading the interpretations and ideas of fellow peers, and your post really did just that for me! Thanks for putting your thoughts out there and breaking them down so well, it will be fun to read more from everyone in the future!
Hey Mia! I really enjoyed your post and thought it was thoughtful and had a lot of good points. I think one of the key points you make about time is very crucial. Pyramidiots and hyperdiffusionists love to claim that things happened immediately: that the pyramids were built all of a sudden or that we all of a sudden diffused from a certain culture. This claim is very wrong obviously because the evidence we have says otherwise. The archaeological evidence reveals that all of these processes were gradual, that the pyramids were built over a very long period of time and that the development of technology and the migration of cultures was not only independent in each culture and different from other cultures, but it was also a very gradual process with explanations other than their civilization was wiped out by a volcano or sank into the ocean and they were forced to migrate to other places throughout the world, like the tower of babel. It’s obvious that not only do people ignore the evidence that is already there, but they can deny its validity and claim that people are covering up the truth for whatever reason. You make a good point about scrutiny from academia. The claims made by Pyramidiots and hyperdiffusionists are accepted without first being scrutinized, backed up by evidence, or taking a run through the scientific method. This is because all of these claims would easily be debunked if they were given the most basic amount of academic scrutiny.