The Importance of Myth and Oral Traditions

Context, as we know, is Queen, much like the GPS is God. When you chose to ignore context, you can make up anything you want and probably find something out there to support it. That doesn't make it true or correct, and the refusal to see that is just insulting at best. I've lost count of how many times I've seen or read some fringe theorists spouting off about how they know more about what a Native tradition "really meant" than the living decedents of that tradition. What's more is by trying to force traditions that aren't yours to fit your favorite story, you're missing out on actual information that is being conveyed via these rich and varied traditions.

The 10 Most Not-So-Puzzling Ancient Artifacts: Giant Stone Balls of Costa Rica

Here perhaps is the only true puzzler on the list. Probably not for the reasons you think, but it does give me a moment to explain why Context is so important in archaeology. Lets start with what we do know about the Balls. The earliest reports of the Balls began in the late 1800's, but...

The 10 Most Not-So-Puzzling Ancient Artifacts: The Ica Stones

As we move on down the line of the 10 most not-so-puzzling ancient artifacts, we come to the Ica Stones. These are perhaps the most perplexing to me, since I don't understand how anyone can look at these and think they are real. These little gems range in size from cobbles to boulders, and depict a wide variety of images...