Archaeological Controversy. The Bosnian "pyramids". Mr Osmanagic also thinks the findings around the hills of Viscocica will have further repercussions for prehistory. He compared the size of the biggest pyramids in the regions of Egypt and Mexico and st

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Archaeology may in some people’s eyes may seem like an old romantic world of adventure and unending stream of mystery and discovery.  One might even gather from the past the image of some stuffy camel riding, pitch helmet wearing toff giving the native help a ruddy good rollicking and a clout round the ear hole while in the process overseeing the plundering of priceless artefacts, and thus returning home to the applause of the establishment and tea and crumpet with the queen.  Archaeology today has come a long way over the years since images like that.  In the modern age it has become a highly scientific discipline, occupied more with the details of past cultures than some ones idea of a fantastic discovery.  But an air of mystery will always surround archaeology in some people’s minds, often to the point of fixation.  Past mysteries or unexplained circumstances often attract the attention of many people with a taste for science fiction, adventure, and the bizarre or simply with the aim of making as much money as they can and a write up in the National Enquirer. People such as these often create out of this world stories and theories about the past to the benefit their own views.

Such examples involve people from all walks of life including the British journalist Graham Hancock who claimed a civilisation existed under the Antarctic ice sheets 12,000 years ago. His view on this is that colonists spread from here to the rest of the world, colonising areas of Bolivia and have even been responsible for the building of the Sphinx.  Hancock puts this together by using farfetched geological observations and isolated finds of artefacts. Ignoring genuine archaeological arguments, such as where are the traces of these civilisations to be found around the world.  Been an ardent believer in his own theories, Hancock, being a crafty writer, has managed to put out a top selling book that reads like an Agatha Christie whodunit? The butler did, and appealing to those who will always believe in the slightest of slightest possibilities (Haughton 2007, 105).

A more controversial example in recent years is that involving the case of the Bosnian Pyramids in the former Yugoslavia.  The Bosnian Pyramids relate to Visocica Hill and the surrounding area in the Bosnian town of Visoko.  This town was once the medieval capital of Bosnia and has a rich history, covering a range of periods in archaeology and is situated 30 kilometres northwest of the capital Sarajevo (www.natgeo.com).

This first came to the attention of the international media in 2005 following a campaign promoting what many professional experts say was a flawed idea, that the area contains a group of manmade pyramids (www.crystalinks.com).

The person responsible for the controversy is Houston based metal mogul Semir Osmanagic. He has painted a picture of himself among the international media, that he has been independently carrying out studies of the Maya pyramids for nearly 15 years and has managed to put out a book regarding his supposedly 15 year research into the matter named “The World of Maya” in which he states the Maya are descendants of aliens from Pleiades and Atlantis (www.metafysiko.com).

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The 49 year old is so certain that pyramids exist in the Visoko valley that he has managed to secure funding for his claim with the taxpayer footing the bill.  Responding to the growing interest, in 2007 the Federation of BiH gave almost 100,000 Euros to employ a group of experts and workmen, headed by the archaeologist Lidija Fekeza to join the project (www.balkantraveller.com). He also claims because of his sharpened eye for archaeology resulting from his many trips around the world, the structures cannot be a freak of nature (Haughton 254, 2007).

Though the claim of pyramids may seem ...

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