Archaeologica.org

Have at it.

Way cool, Min.

One question, though.

Are we the Lion, the Witch, or the Wardrobe?


John

I don't know.

I never read it.

About hyperdiffusion........



"He who borrows the Medusa's eye

resigns to the empirical lie,

the knower petrifies the known,

the subtle dancer turns to stone."


- W. Blake -


And from a latter source...........

"It was raining from the first
And I was dying there of thirst
So I came in here
And your long-time curse hurts
But what's worse...is this pain in here
I can't stay in here...ain't it clear...

That I just don't fit
Yes, I believe it's time for me to quit
When we meet again...introduced as friends
Well please don't let on that you knew me when
I was hungry...and it was your world"


- B. Dylan -


And, infinitum .........


"If you do not expect it, you will not
find the unexpected,
for it is hard to find and difficult."

- Heraclitus -



Hoka hey

John

As john has demonstrated there are many kinds of diffusion and hyperdiffusion. Literature, chemistry, cultural, etc., are all examples.

I'm want to tread lightly on this issue at first. This very word in archaeology/anthropology circles will get a person called various names like racist. And I am not a racist.

To start, here is a reference on the heretic that is credited with early hyperdiffusion philosophy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grafton_Elliot_Smith

My personal views differ from his, and I'll explain them and invite others to share their own views.

Being Monday, I must return later in the day. Even retired people have things they have to do.

Monk and Min jumpstarted this thread in FOTG. Interesting too. Why not pick it up from there and I'll post occassionally about the general topic.

WTF is this about?

Rokcet Scientist wrote:WTF is this about?

This basically is the idea that ancient advanced culture(s) existed (probably with knowledge of astronomy, engineering, etc) and some of them popped up at various places around the globe, imparted their knowledge and then over the centuries the knowledge was eventually lost.

For example, if egypt was the super culture, certain ones, may have travelled around and then built imitations of pyramids in, say Mexico, or Sumeria. Eventually the keepers of the secrets diffused or died out.

The controversial part Beags is mentioning, may stem from the fact that a lot has been published lately which indicates the advanced culture may have existed in Africa and so many afro-centrists promote the idea.

Generally hyperdiffusionism is disputed in any case.

Is this a fair summary?

The controversial part Beags is mentioning, may stem from the fact that a lot has been published lately which indicates the advanced culture may have existed in Africa and so many afro-centrists promote the idea.

Close Monk, and thanks for lending your thoughts here. You're referring to the assertions by Clyde Winters I think. Indeed this would be a part of hyperdiffusion but it's mostly afro-centrist. Centrist viewpoints are what gives the entire topic such a bad name.

I'll follow up with a wiki link about post LGM changes. I don't think you're referring to any previous thoughts that Marduk posted, but just in case, anything I post never has or ever will take his views into consideration.

I'll be right back, I think this next post is interesting.

Even retired people have things they have to do.

Yeah, but nothing we can't put off til later.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10th_millennium_BC

This is just a plain old Wiki post. But notice as you scroll down, there is a list of events.

Please notice everyone, how often the words start, begin, end, extinct, first, etc. occur.

This period was one of stark change. How humans started over is what this thread is all about.

Minimalist wrote:

Even retired people have things they have to do.

Yeah, but nothing we can't put off til later.

Yeah, for the most part.

Beagle wrote:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10th_millennium_BC

This is just a plain old Wiki post. But notice as you scroll down, there is a list of events.

Please notice everyone, how often the words start, begin, end, extinct, first, etc. occur.

This period was one of stark change. How humans started over is what this thread is all about.

That Wiki link looked like a nice, neat summing up at first. Then I got the feeling there are a lot of omissions. But the clincher that really makes it a very iffy contribution – imo – is "Homo floresiensis, the human's last known surviving close relative, becomes extinct.", when afaik 'Homo Floresiensis' has in the meantime been discounted as a separate species and been relegated to an expression of island dwarfism.

Oh, and thanks for clearing that up for me, Monk. 'Preciate it.

Beagle wrote:You're referring to the assertions by Clyde Winters I think. Indeed this would be a part of hyperdiffusion but it's mostly afro-centrist. Centrist viewpoints are what gives the entire topic such a bad name.

... I don't think you're referring to any previous thoughts that Marduk posted, but just in case, anything I post never has or ever will take his views into consideration.

I was not specifically refering to any one, and particularly not Dr. Winters. Whenever a new subject comes up, I'll do a web refresher to see what the latest thinking is and I noticed a lot of articles oriented toward african super-cultures. I assumed you also did and hence your statements about racism.

As for the second part of your quotation, my comments have nothing do with what transpired between you and any other poster on this forum, past or present. (*geesh* sounds like a legal disclosure.)

Now let's get on with it.

Well, since we don't have shekels or talents anymore, we can't 'follow the money'.
But we can follow the DNA! At least that is what I have a lot of expectations of. Over time sequencing technologies will develop, improve and refine. Especially the analysis and interpretation – the 'reading' – thereof!
This could of course also reveal the migrations, and their timelines, and origins, of American indians.
However, I'm not aware of any major or concerted 'DNA mapping' effort being under way anywhere. Do any of you know about any such initiative?