Extraterrestrials helpe

d the ancient Egyptians build the pyramids at Giza. The remains of a human-alien hybrid baby prov

es intelligent life exists out in the universe, and has visited Earth. And 12-foot-tall people once roa

m

ed the earth in abundance.

These are a few of the outlandish theories touted by practitioners of pseudoarchaeology, and the subject of a Paideia class titled Pse

udoarchaeology: Why Should

I Care? led by Prof. Thomas Landvatter and technologist Beth Platte.

The internet is swarming with fanciful pseudoarchaeo

logical images. There’s an entire subgenre of “giant skeleton” photos, for example, which

rely on clever doctoring to produce powerful—but false—impressions.

Landvatter, assistant profess

or of classics and humanities, and Platte, an instructional ://technologist with Reed’s educational technology center, outlined the biz

arre claims, rhetorical strategies, and underlying ideology of pseudoarchaeologists in their talk.

The class had to be moved to a larger classroom before it started because of an unexpected

ly large student turnout. Originally o

nly planning for a dozen or so attendees, Platte and Landvatter were surprised when more than 30 people showed up in Vollum.

They began the class by asking students to try to distinguish pseudoarchaeology from other forms of pseudoscience. After a few examples,

Platte pointed

out that “people who are doing pseudoarchaeology are using objects that do exist, but th

e identification of the object or history around the object” is where much of the fantastical theorizing comes in.

Reliance on actual historical objects and a

rchaeological material is part of what gives pseudoarchaeology credence amongst its proponents. Other rhetorical tactics include: appeal to authority and reason, conspiracy theory, argument from lack of evidence, and questionable logical leaps.