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{{short description| |
{{short description|Pseudoarchaeological hypothesis}} |
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[[File:Grafton Elliot Smith Cultural Diffusion Map from Egypt.jpg|thumb|Grafton Elliot Smith: Map of Hyperdiffusionism from Egypt, 1929]] |
[[File:Grafton Elliot Smith Cultural Diffusion Map from Egypt.jpg|thumb|Grafton Elliot Smith: Map of Hyperdiffusionism from Egypt, 1929]] |
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'''Hyperdiffusionism''' is a hypothesis |
'''Hyperdiffusionism''' is a [[pseudoarchaeological]] hypothesis<ref>{{Cite book |last=Moshenska |first=Gabriel |title=Key Concepts in Public Archaeology |publisher=UCL Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-911576-43-3 |pages=122–137 |chapter=Alternative archaeologies |doi=10.2307/j.ctt1vxm8r7.13 |jstor=j.ctt1vxm8r7.13}}</ref> that postulates that certain historical technologies or ideas were developed by a single people or [[civilization]] and then spread to other [[culture]]s. Thus, all great civilizations to engage in what appear to be similar cultural practices, such as the construction of [[pyramid]]s, derived them from a single common progenitor.<ref name="Fagan">{{Cite book |title=Archaeological Fantasies |publisher=Routledge |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-415-30593-8 |editor-last=Fagan |editor-first=Garrett G. |location=Oxford, England |pages=362–367}}</ref> According to proponents of hyperdiffusion, examples of hyperdiffusion can be found in religious practices, cultural technologies, [[megalith]]ic monuments, and lost ancient civilizations. |
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The idea of hyperdiffusionism differs |
The idea of hyperdiffusionism differs from [[trans-cultural diffusion]] in several ways. One is the fact that hyperdiffusionism is usually not testable due to its [[Pseudoscience|pseudo-scientific]] nature.<ref name="Williams">{{Cite book |last=Williams |first=Stephen |url=https://archive.org/details/fantasticarchaeo00will/page/224 |title=Fantastic Archaeology: The Wild Side of North American Prehistory |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year=1991 |isbn=0-8122-1312-2 |location=Philadelphia |pages=224–257}}</ref>{{rp|255-56}} Also, unlike trans-cultural diffusion, hyperdiffusionism does not use trading and cultural networks to explain the expansion of a society within a single culture; instead, hyperdiffusionists claim that all major cultural innovations and societies derive from one (usually lost) ancient civilization.<ref name="Williams" />{{rp|224-32}} Ergo, the [[Tucson artifacts]] derive from [[ancient Rome]], carried by the "Romans who came across the Atlantic and then overland to Arizona;" this is believed because the artifacts resembled known ancient Roman artifacts.<ref name="Williams" />{{rp|246}} One common hyperdiffusionist hypothesis states that the similarities among disparate civilizations were inherited from the civilization of a lost continent, such as [[Atlantis]] or [[Lemuria (continent)|Lemuria]], which has since sunk into the sea. Egypt is also commonly featured in hyperdiffusionist narratives, either as an intermediate civilization that inherited its culture from such a lost continent and in turn passed it on to other civilizations or as a source of hyperdiffused elements itself. |
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== Some key proponents == |
== Some key proponents == |
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=== Frank Collin, also known as Frank Joseph=== |
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===Charles Hapgood=== |
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{{Excerpt|Frank Collin|hat=yes|paragraphs=1}} |
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===Grafton Elliot Smith=== |
=== Grafton Elliot Smith === |
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The so-called Heliolithic Culture hypothesized by [[Grafton Elliot Smith]] includes a wide range of hyperdiffused cultural practices such as [[megalith]]s and [[sun worship]] (the name was coined by Smith himself from ''helios'', "sun", and ''lith'', "stone") and the similar designs and methods of the construction of such pieces are described as having a linear geographical distribution.<ref name="Smith 1929">{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=G. Elliot |title=The Migrations of Early Culture |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=1929 |location=Manchester |oclc=1868131}}</ref> These heliolithic cultures can refer to religious customs that share distinctive practices, such as the worship of a [[Solar Deity]]. As this trope is seen in numerous belief systems, Smith believes that it is diffused from one ancient civilization.<ref name="Smith 1929" />{{rp|132}} |
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According to G. Elliot Smith, [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]] was the sourceofcivilization for Asia, India, China, and the Pacific, and eventually, it was the source of civilization for America.<ref name="Smith 1929" />{{rp|45}} Smith sees [[Mummification]] as a prime example of how religious customs prove the diffusion of a single ancient culture.<ref name="Smith 1929" />{{rp|21}} He believes that only an advanced civilization, such as Egypt, could create such a peculiar belief, and thatitthen spread by way of ancient mariners.<ref name="Smith 1929" />{{rp|133-34}} |
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⚫ | Early Man Distribution refers to Smith's belief that Modern Manis derived from "six well-defined types of mankind," which comprise the sources of Earth's population.<ref name="Smith 1931">{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=G. Elliot |title=The Evolution of Man |publisher=Ernest Benn Limited |year=1931 |location=London |pages=13–47 |oclc=637203360}}</ref> The six types of mankind are the [[Aboriginal Australians]], [[Negro]]es, [[Mongols]], and the [[Mediterranean race|Mediterranean]], [[Alpine race|Alpine]], and [[Nordic race|Nordic]] races.<ref name="Smith 1931" />{{rp|15}} |
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=== Carl Whiting Bishop === |
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⚫ | [[Carl Whiting Bishop]] in the 1930s and the 1940s produced a series of articles arguing hyperdiffusionism in explaining the expansion of technology into China. Among the scholars influenced by Bishop were [[Owen Lattimore]], who was intrigued by Bishop's emphasis on geography as a shaping factor in Chinese civilization and his emphasis on field work rather than library research.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Newman |first=Robert P. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_3q55sf6X2UC&q=Carl+Whiting+Bishop&pg=PA24 |title=Owen Lattimore and the 'Loss' of China |publisher=University of California Press |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-520-07388-3 |page=24}}</ref> |
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These |
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=== Charles Hapgood === |
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⚫ |
[[Carl Whiting Bishop]] in the 1930s and the 1940s produced a series of articles arguing hyperdiffusionism in explaining the expansion of technology into China. Among the scholars influenced by Bishop were [[Owen Lattimore]], who was intrigued by Bishop's emphasis on geography as a shaping factor in Chinese civilization and his emphasis on field work rather than library research.<ref>{{ |
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⚫ | In [[Charles Hapgood]]'s book ''Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings,'' he concludes that ancient land formations gave way to hyperdiffusionism and the diffusion "of a true culture."<ref name="Hapgood">{{Cite book |last=Hapgood |first=Charles H. |title=Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings |publisher=Chilton Company |year=1966 |location=Philadelphia |pages=193–206}}</ref> This culture could have been more advanced than that of Egypt or Greece because it was the foundation of a worldwide culture. Hapgood also suggests that the [[Three-age system]] of archeology is irrelevant due to [[primitive culture]]s co-existing with modern societies.<ref name="Hapgood" />{{rp|193-94}} |
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== Popular culture == |
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According to Hapgood, the pyramids in South America and Mexico may be indicative of cultural practices which the builders of them shared with ancient Egyptian civilization.<ref name="Hapgood" />{{rp|200}} He theorized that the ancient Maya were strongly influenced by the diffusion of ancient Egyptian social and political cultures,<ref name="Webster">{{Cite book |last=Webster |first=David |title=Archaeological Fantasies |publisher=Routledge |year=2006 |editor-last=Fagan |editor-first=Garrett G. |location=Oxford |pages=129–154 |chapter=The Mystique of the Ancient Maya |id=978-0-415-30593-8}}</ref> and that they became a civilized culture due to the migration of citizens from Atlantis after that island sank.<ref name="Hale">{{Cite book |last=Hale |first=Christopher |title=Archaeological Fantasies |publisher=Routledge |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-415-30593-8 |editor-last=Fagan |editor-first=Garrett G. |location=Oxford |pages=235–59 |chapter=The Atlantean Box}}</ref> For example, he says "How did the [[Mayans]] achieve such precise results...the knowledge may have, of course, been derived by the [[Babylonians]] or the [[Egyptians]]".<ref name="Hapgood" />{{rp|198}} It is also said that Mayan artifacts resemble those of a classical culture, possibly Greece.<ref name="Fagan" />{{rp|147}} This plays into [[Atlantis#Plato's dialogues|Plato's Account]] of the ancient battle for [[Atlantis]], which led to the downfall of the civilization. |
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===Atlantis and Lemuria=== |
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⚫ | Hapgood finds evidence of ancient Egyptian "expression" in the writings of [[Hinduism]] and [[Buddhism]]. He notes that in these writings there appear deities that are similar to those worshiped throughout the world. Furthermore, there are myths and creation stories that are said to have a common origin in Egypt.<ref name="Hapgood" />{{rp|204-5}} |
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==== Lost civilizations of the sea ==== |
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* These are two ancient civilizations that hyperdiffusionists hypothesized to be sources for the diffusion of similar cultural practices between societies on opposite sides of the oceans. Just as the people of [[Atlantis]] populated Egypt, according to G. Elliot Smith, Egypt was the source of civilization for Asia, India, China, the Pacific, and eventually America.<ref name="Smith 1929"/>{{rp|45}} [[File:Book map1.jpg|thumb|Book map1]] |
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⚫ | Mystery Hill, or [[America's Stonehenge]], is the site which [[Barry Fell]] refers to as the primary basis of his hypothesis that ancient [[Celt]]s once populated [[New England]].<ref name="Fell">{{Cite book |last=Fell |first=Barry |url=https://archive.org/details/americabc00fell/page/81 |title=Ancient Settlers in the New World |publisher=Quadrangle |year=1976 |isbn=0-8129-0624-1 |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/americabc00fell/page/81 81–92]}}</ref> Mystery Hill, Fell believes, was a place of worship for the Celts and [[Phoenicia]]n mariners.<ref name="Fell" />{{rp|91}} These ancient mariners, called the [[Druid]]s, are said to have populated Europe at the same time. He hypothesizes that they were the ancient settlers of North America. Also, he believes that what he describes as inscriptions on stone and tablet artifacts from this site are in an ancient language derived from common sources of the [[Goidelic languages]].<ref name="Fell" />{{rp|92}} |
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===Mayans=== |
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⚫ | These authors describe hyperdiffusionism as the driving force behind the apparent cultural similarities and population distribution among all civilizations. Hapgood's hypothesis states that one specific civilization is responsible for similar cultural practices in all other civilizations. Smith says that religions are proof of hyperdiffusionism, as similar worship ceremonies and symbols recur in geographically separated societies. Also, Smith believes that the Earth's population is made up of six types of humans, who diffused across the Earth's continents by virtue of their skin color.<ref name="Smith 1931" />{{rp|47-48}} Finally, Fell asserts that ancient mariners, such as Druids and Phoenicians, traveled from Europe and comprised the early population of ancient America. |
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==== Culture ==== |
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*According to Hapgood, the pyramids in South America and Mexico may be indicative of cultural practices shared with ancient Egyptian civilization.<ref name="Hapgood"/>{{rp|200}} He theorized that the ancient Maya were strongly influenced by the diffusion of ancient Egyptian social and political cultures,<ref name="Webster">{{Citation |
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| last =Webster | first =David | contribution =The Mystique of the Ancient Maya | year =2006 |
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| title =Archaeological Fantasies | editor-last =Fagan | editor-first =Garrett G.| pages =129–154 | place =Oxford | publisher =Routledge | id = 978-0-415-30593-8 }}</ref> and that they became a civilized culture due to the migration of citizens from Atlantis after that island sank.<ref name="Hale">{{citation|last=Hale|first=Christopher|contribution= The Atlantean Box |editor-last =Fagan | editor-first =Garrett G.|title= Archaeological Fantasies|year=2006|publisher=Routledge|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-415-30593-8|pages=235–59}}</ref> It is also said the Mayans have a classical culture trait found in their materialistic artifacts that resemble what could possibly be related to that of Greece.<ref name="Fagan"/>{{rp|147}} This plays into [[Atlantis#Plato's dialogues|Plato's Account]] of the ancient battle for [[Atlantis]], which led to the downfall of the civilization. |
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=== Religion and mythology === |
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==== Egypt ==== |
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* [[Mummification]], as believed by G. Elliot Smith, is a prime example of how religious customs prove the diffusion of cultures.<ref name="Smith 1929"/>{{rp|21}} He believes that only an advanced civilization, such as Egypt, could create such a peculiar belief that then spread by way of ancient mariners.<ref name="Smith 1929"/>{{rp|133-34}} |
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== Critiques == |
== Critiques == |
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=== Alexander Goldenweiser === |
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===Ethnocentrism and racism=== |
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==== Pigeonholes and continuums ==== |
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* [[Michael Shermer]] states that using racial [[Taxonomy (general)|taxonomy]] in order to make abstract observations of racial superiority is another expression of ethnocentrism.<ref name = "Shermer">{{cite book |last1=Shermer |first1=Michael |title=Why People Believe Weird Things |date=1997 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8050-7089-7 |edition=2002}}</ref>{{rp|248}} He asks, "how can we 'pigeonhole' blacks as permissive or whites as intelligent when such categories...are actually best described as a continuum?"<ref name ="Shermer"/>{{rp|250}} Shermer claims that the belief that one race and/or culture is superior to another defeats the purpose of cultural evolution, and that we cannot dismiss evidence of [[blending inheritance]] among all cultures.<ref name ="Shermer"/>{{rp|247-51}} Shermer uses [[The Bell Curve]] by [[Richard Herrnstein]] and [[Charles Murray (political scientist)|Charles Murray]] as an example of [[pigeonholing]]; Herrnstein and Murray tried to pigeonhole civilization into racial categories based on flawed measures of intelligence.<ref name ="Shermer"/>{{rp|242-44}} |
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===[[Pseudoarchaeology]]=== |
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⚫ | [[Alexander Goldenweiser (anthropologist)|Alexander Goldenweiser]] in ''Culture: The Diffusion Controversy'' stated that there are reasons for believing that culture may arise independently rather than being transmitted. In addition, Goldenweiser insists that behavior is primitive and that cultural similarities may arise simply because they are reflections of adaptive traits that all human beings have evolved. Goldenweiser disagrees with the theory of hyperdiffusionism, stating that "culture is not contagious"<ref name="Goldenweiser">{{Cite book |last=Goldenweiser |first=Alexander |url=https://archive.org/details/culturediffusion00smitrich |title=Culture: The Diffusion Controversy |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |year=1927 |location=New York |pages=99–106 |oclc=1499530 |url-access=registration}}</ref>{{rp|104}} and that the data fails to support the theory.<ref name="Goldenweiser" />{{rp|100-106}} |
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==== Fantastic archaeology ==== |
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=== Stephen Williams === |
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=== Hyperdiffusionism versus Independent Invention === |
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⚫ | [[Stephen Williams (archeologist)|Stephen Williams]] uses the phrase "Fantastic Archaeology" to describe the archeological theories and discoveries which he defines as "fanciful archaeological interpretations".<ref name="Williams" />{{rp|12}} These interpretations usually lack artifacts, data, and testable theories to back up the claims made. |
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==== [[Ideology]] ==== |
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In his chapter "Across The Sea They Came," Williams introduces a few hyperdiffusionists, their discoveries, and how they "tested" artifacts, beginning with [[Harold S. Gladwin]] who made his "fantastic" discoveries at an Arizona Pueblo site, [[Gila Pueblo Archaeological Foundation]]. Gladwin favored the diffusion theories which later influenced his methodologies for dating the artifacts at the site. This belief led him to ignore the data that was found at the [[Folsom site]] in his chronology as it made his "Man descended from Asia into the New World" theory impossible.<ref name="Williams" />{{rp|230}} The section continues with Cyclone Covey and Thomas W. Bent, specifically their publications on the [[Tucson Artifacts]] and their theory that ancient Romans traveled to Arizona. Williams pokes fun at this theory in his book ''Fantastic Archaeology'', and criticizes the authors for failing to explain exactly how and why these artifacts were found in Arizona, and focusing their attention instead only on the artifacts themselves and their similarities to Roman artifacts.<ref name="Williams" />{{rp|240}} Concluding, Williams points out in the chapter how hyperdiffusionists fail to recognize solid archaeological research methods and/or ignore conflicting data and contextual evidence. They are "tailoring their finds with any similar chronology or in-depth linguistic analysis that fits into their scenarios".<ref name="Williams" />{{rp|255-56}} |
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===[[Culture]]=== |
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=== Alice Kehoe === |
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[[Alice Beck Kehoe]] says that diffusionism is a "grossly racist ideology".<ref name="Kehoe">{{Cite book |last=Kehoe |first=Alice Beck |title=Controversies in Archaeology |publisher=Left Coast Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-59874-062-2 |location=Walnut Creek, CA |pages=140–172}}</ref>{{rp|144}} Although she agrees that diffusion of culture can occur through contact and trading, she disagrees with the theory that all civilization came from one superior ancient society.<ref name="Kehoe" />{{rp|148}} |
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==Methods== |
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⚫ | Kehoe explores the "independent invention" of works and techniques using the example of boats. Ancient peoples could have used their boat technology to make contact with new civilizations and exchange ideas. Moreover, the use of boats is a testable theory, which can be evaluated by recreating voyages in certain kinds of vessels, unlike hyperdiffusionism.<ref name="Kehoe" />{{rp|158}} Kehoe concludes with the theory of transoceanic contact and makes clear that she is not asserting a specific theory of how and when cultures diffused and blended, but is instead offering a plausible, and testable, example of how civilizational similarities may have arisen without hyperdiffusionism, namely by independent invention and maritime contact.<ref name="Kehoe" />{{rp|169}} |
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* [[Stephen Williams (archeologist)|Stephen Williams]] in his chapter "Across The Sea They Came" introduced a few hyperdiffusionists, their discoveries, and how they "tested" artifacts, beginning with [[Harold S. Gladwin]] who made his "fantastic" discoveries at an Arizona Pueblo site, [[Gila Pueblo Archaeological Foundation]]. Gladwin favored the diffusion theories which later influenced his methodologies for dating the artifacts at the site. Consequently, this caused him to legitimately ignore the data that was found at the [[Folsom Site]] in his chronology as it made his "Man descended from Asia into the New World" theory impossible.<ref name="Williams"/>{{rp|230}} |
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* The section continues with Cyclone Covey and Thomas W. Bent, specifically their publications on the [[Tucson Artifacts]] and Romans traveling to Arizona via hyperdiffusionism theory. Williams pokes fun at this theory in his book ''Fantastic Archaeology'' but does state that Covey and Bent failed at hypothesizing exactly how and why these artifacts were found in Arizona; rather, they focused their attention on the artifacts themselves and what makes them like true Roman artifacts.<ref name="Williams"/>{{rp|240}} This gives way to Michael Shermer's fallacy Theory Influences Observation in his book [[Why People Believe Weird Things]] and how "theory in part constructs the reality and the reality exists independent of the observer".<ref name ="Shermer"/>{{rp|46}} |
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* Concluding, Williams points out in the chapter how hyperdiffusionists fail to recognize solid archaeological research methods and/or ignore conflicting data and contextual evidence. They are "tailoring their finds with any similar chronology or in-depth linguistic analysis that fits into their scenarios".<ref name="Williams"/>{{rp|255-56}} |
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==See also== |
== See also == |
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*[[Burrows Cave]] |
* [[Burrows Cave]] |
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*[[Panbabylonism]] |
* [[Panbabylonism]] |
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* [[Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact theories]] |
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== Notes == |
== Notes == |
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{{Reflist |
{{Reflist}} |
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[[Category:Hyperdiffusionism |
[[Category:Hyperdiffusionism| ]] |
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[[Category:Cultural history]] |
[[Category:Cultural history]] |
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[[Category:Archaeological theory]] |
[[Category:Archaeological theory]] |
Hyperdiffusionism is a pseudoarchaeological hypothesis[1] that postulates that certain historical technologies or ideas were developed by a single people or civilization and then spread to other cultures. Thus, all great civilizations to engage in what appear to be similar cultural practices, such as the construction of pyramids, derived them from a single common progenitor.[2] According to proponents of hyperdiffusion, examples of hyperdiffusion can be found in religious practices, cultural technologies, megalithic monuments, and lost ancient civilizations.
The idea of hyperdiffusionism differs from trans-cultural diffusion in several ways. One is the fact that hyperdiffusionism is usually not testable due to its pseudo-scientific nature.[3]: 255–56 Also, unlike trans-cultural diffusion, hyperdiffusionism does not use trading and cultural networks to explain the expansion of a society within a single culture; instead, hyperdiffusionists claim that all major cultural innovations and societies derive from one (usually lost) ancient civilization.[3]: 224–32 Ergo, the Tucson artifacts derive from ancient Rome, carried by the "Romans who came across the Atlantic and then overland to Arizona;" this is believed because the artifacts resembled known ancient Roman artifacts.[3]: 246 One common hyperdiffusionist hypothesis states that the similarities among disparate civilizations were inherited from the civilization of a lost continent, such as AtlantisorLemuria, which has since sunk into the sea. Egypt is also commonly featured in hyperdiffusionist narratives, either as an intermediate civilization that inherited its culture from such a lost continent and in turn passed it on to other civilizations or as a source of hyperdiffused elements itself.
The so-called Heliolithic Culture hypothesized by Grafton Elliot Smith includes a wide range of hyperdiffused cultural practices such as megaliths and sun worship (the name was coined by Smith himself from helios, "sun", and lith, "stone") and the similar designs and methods of the construction of such pieces are described as having a linear geographical distribution.[9] These heliolithic cultures can refer to religious customs that share distinctive practices, such as the worship of a Solar Deity. As this trope is seen in numerous belief systems, Smith believes that it is diffused from one ancient civilization.[9]: 132
According to G. Elliot Smith, Egypt was the source of civilization for Asia, India, China, and the Pacific, and eventually, it was the source of civilization for America.[9]: 45 Smith sees Mummification as a prime example of how religious customs prove the diffusion of a single ancient culture.[9]: 21 He believes that only an advanced civilization, such as Egypt, could create such a peculiar belief, and that it then spread by way of ancient mariners.[9]: 133–34
Early Man Distribution refers to Smith's belief that Modern Man is derived from "six well-defined types of mankind," which comprise the sources of Earth's population.[10] The six types of mankind are the Aboriginal Australians, Negroes, Mongols, and the Mediterranean, Alpine, and Nordic races.[10]: 15
Carl Whiting Bishop in the 1930s and the 1940s produced a series of articles arguing hyperdiffusionism in explaining the expansion of technology into China. Among the scholars influenced by Bishop were Owen Lattimore, who was intrigued by Bishop's emphasis on geography as a shaping factor in Chinese civilization and his emphasis on field work rather than library research.[11]
InCharles Hapgood's book Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings, he concludes that ancient land formations gave way to hyperdiffusionism and the diffusion "of a true culture."[12] This culture could have been more advanced than that of Egypt or Greece because it was the foundation of a worldwide culture. Hapgood also suggests that the Three-age system of archeology is irrelevant due to primitive cultures co-existing with modern societies.[12]: 193–94
According to Hapgood, the pyramids in South America and Mexico may be indicative of cultural practices which the builders of them shared with ancient Egyptian civilization.[12]: 200 He theorized that the ancient Maya were strongly influenced by the diffusion of ancient Egyptian social and political cultures,[13] and that they became a civilized culture due to the migration of citizens from Atlantis after that island sank.[14] For example, he says "How did the Mayans achieve such precise results...the knowledge may have, of course, been derived by the Babylonians or the Egyptians".[12]: 198 It is also said that Mayan artifacts resemble those of a classical culture, possibly Greece.[2]: 147 This plays into Plato's Account of the ancient battle for Atlantis, which led to the downfall of the civilization.
Hapgood finds evidence of ancient Egyptian "expression" in the writings of Hinduism and Buddhism. He notes that in these writings there appear deities that are similar to those worshiped throughout the world. Furthermore, there are myths and creation stories that are said to have a common origin in Egypt.[12]: 204–5
Mystery Hill, or America's Stonehenge, is the site which Barry Fell refers to as the primary basis of his hypothesis that ancient Celts once populated New England.[15] Mystery Hill, Fell believes, was a place of worship for the Celts and Phoenician mariners.[15]: 91 These ancient mariners, called the Druids, are said to have populated Europe at the same time. He hypothesizes that they were the ancient settlers of North America. Also, he believes that what he describes as inscriptions on stone and tablet artifacts from this site are in an ancient language derived from common sources of the Goidelic languages.[15]: 92
These authors describe hyperdiffusionism as the driving force behind the apparent cultural similarities and population distribution among all civilizations. Hapgood's hypothesis states that one specific civilization is responsible for similar cultural practices in all other civilizations. Smith says that religions are proof of hyperdiffusionism, as similar worship ceremonies and symbols recur in geographically separated societies. Also, Smith believes that the Earth's population is made up of six types of humans, who diffused across the Earth's continents by virtue of their skin color.[10]: 47–48 Finally, Fell asserts that ancient mariners, such as Druids and Phoenicians, traveled from Europe and comprised the early population of ancient America.
Alexander GoldenweiserinCulture: The Diffusion Controversy stated that there are reasons for believing that culture may arise independently rather than being transmitted. In addition, Goldenweiser insists that behavior is primitive and that cultural similarities may arise simply because they are reflections of adaptive traits that all human beings have evolved. Goldenweiser disagrees with the theory of hyperdiffusionism, stating that "culture is not contagious"[16]: 104 and that the data fails to support the theory.[16]: 100–106
Stephen Williams uses the phrase "Fantastic Archaeology" to describe the archeological theories and discoveries which he defines as "fanciful archaeological interpretations".[3]: 12 These interpretations usually lack artifacts, data, and testable theories to back up the claims made.
In his chapter "Across The Sea They Came," Williams introduces a few hyperdiffusionists, their discoveries, and how they "tested" artifacts, beginning with Harold S. Gladwin who made his "fantastic" discoveries at an Arizona Pueblo site, Gila Pueblo Archaeological Foundation. Gladwin favored the diffusion theories which later influenced his methodologies for dating the artifacts at the site. This belief led him to ignore the data that was found at the Folsom site in his chronology as it made his "Man descended from Asia into the New World" theory impossible.[3]: 230 The section continues with Cyclone Covey and Thomas W. Bent, specifically their publications on the Tucson Artifacts and their theory that ancient Romans traveled to Arizona. Williams pokes fun at this theory in his book Fantastic Archaeology, and criticizes the authors for failing to explain exactly how and why these artifacts were found in Arizona, and focusing their attention instead only on the artifacts themselves and their similarities to Roman artifacts.[3]: 240 Concluding, Williams points out in the chapter how hyperdiffusionists fail to recognize solid archaeological research methods and/or ignore conflicting data and contextual evidence. They are "tailoring their finds with any similar chronology or in-depth linguistic analysis that fits into their scenarios".[3]: 255–56
Alice Beck Kehoe says that diffusionism is a "grossly racist ideology".[17]: 144 Although she agrees that diffusion of culture can occur through contact and trading, she disagrees with the theory that all civilization came from one superior ancient society.[17]: 148
Kehoe explores the "independent invention" of works and techniques using the example of boats. Ancient peoples could have used their boat technology to make contact with new civilizations and exchange ideas. Moreover, the use of boats is a testable theory, which can be evaluated by recreating voyages in certain kinds of vessels, unlike hyperdiffusionism.[17]: 158 Kehoe concludes with the theory of transoceanic contact and makes clear that she is not asserting a specific theory of how and when cultures diffused and blended, but is instead offering a plausible, and testable, example of how civilizational similarities may have arisen without hyperdiffusionism, namely by independent invention and maritime contact.[17]: 169
In 1979 Collin's ambition to lead a new Nazi America was thwarted when he was arrested, convicted, and sent to prison on child molestation charges.