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The pyramids of Egypt, great tombs of ancient pharaohs such as Khafre and Khufu - the largest, the Great Pyramid of Giza, originally reached over 480 feet. The Nazca lines of Peru are made up of over 700 artistic impressions in the earth, depicting monkeys, birds, trees and flowers. Puma Punku in western Bolivia, several gateways located in Tiwanaku - where, according to Ancient Incan tradition, the world was created. The Moai statues of Rapa Nui , the monolithic statues carved after deified ancestors.
All are beautiful archaeological feats, but what else do these sculptures from across the globe have in common? They’re all the subject of fringe, pseudoarchaeology theories, which assert that since these cultural monuments are too great or advanced to have been built by ancient humans, specifically ancient indigenous populations, they must have been built by aliens. Aliens.
Attributing the achievements of non-European ancient civilisations to extraterrestrials, or advanced races which have long been sent underground, is typically regarded as harmless fun, if obviously untrue. At first glance, you might not expect that edgy American tv shows like Ancient Aliens or TikTok conspiracy videos set to slowed down ‘creepy’ music, which claim the Nazca lines were in fact landing sites for aliens, or that aliens helped build the ruined city of Great Zimbabwe, were actually signs of a greater issue, so, why is it a problem?
When the achievements of South American and African cultures are regarded as impossible, regardless of historical evidence to the contrary, whilst advanced architectural feats attributed to civilisations in Greece and Italy are rarely questioned, it perpetuates, as researcher in paleontology Julien Benoit put it, the “racist notion that only Europeans - white people - ever were and ever will be capable of such architectural feats” - devaluing not just the ingenuity of ancient peoples, but also the creativity and capability of their descendants today.
As well as how seriously harmful this ideology is, pseudoarchaeology has also been linked to acts of vandalism at key archaeological sites. In 2013 alone, two German ‘amateur archaeologists’ faced charges in Egypt after smuggling pigment samples from the Great Pyramid of Giza to prove that the pyramid could not have been built by ancient Egyptians, but rather aliens (or Atlanteans, the people of Plato’s fictional sunken city). It might seem small, but these acts are expensive for already under-funded conservation efforts and can lose us important monuments in history (- just look at Henriech Schliemann to see the damage that can be done by those desperate to prove their 'alternative histories').
And of course, it is no surprise that these conspiracy theories end up clouding actual archaeological research into how ancient peoples actually constructed these sites. In 2017, research from the ScanPyramids project identified a large cavity above the ‘Grand Gallery’ (a narrow passageway leading to the burial chamber) in the Great Pyramid and the most common theory is that it would have helped distribute the weight of the stone above the gallery. Discovered by a French archaeological team in 2013, a logbook from an inspector called Merer who was working on the construction of the pyramid describes the massive logistics effort of transporting limestone from Tura by boat, and researchers from Yamagata University have recently suggested that the Nazca lines were made to communicate routes between settlements. Archaeologists have also suggested that ancient Rapa Nui used ropes to "walk" the Moai to their positions.
So, whilst we might not know exactly how or why all of these structures were built, follow along with the fascinating work being done by actual archaeologists, and don't get swept up in the dangers of conspiracy.
Frankie Cobell
26/02/2025
All are beautiful archaeological feats, but what else do these sculptures from across the globe have in common? They’re all the subject of fringe, pseudoarchaeology theories, which assert that since these cultural monuments are too great or advanced to have been built by ancient humans, specifically ancient indigenous populations, they must have been built by aliens. Aliens.
Attributing the achievements of non-European ancient civilisations to extraterrestrials, or advanced races which have long been sent underground, is typically regarded as harmless fun, if obviously untrue. At first glance, you might not expect that edgy American tv shows like Ancient Aliens or TikTok conspiracy videos set to slowed down ‘creepy’ music, which claim the Nazca lines were in fact landing sites for aliens, or that aliens helped build the ruined city of Great Zimbabwe, were actually signs of a greater issue, so, why is it a problem?
When the achievements of South American and African cultures are regarded as impossible, regardless of historical evidence to the contrary, whilst advanced architectural feats attributed to civilisations in Greece and Italy are rarely questioned, it perpetuates, as researcher in paleontology Julien Benoit put it, the “racist notion that only Europeans - white people - ever were and ever will be capable of such architectural feats” - devaluing not just the ingenuity of ancient peoples, but also the creativity and capability of their descendants today.
As well as how seriously harmful this ideology is, pseudoarchaeology has also been linked to acts of vandalism at key archaeological sites. In 2013 alone, two German ‘amateur archaeologists’ faced charges in Egypt after smuggling pigment samples from the Great Pyramid of Giza to prove that the pyramid could not have been built by ancient Egyptians, but rather aliens (or Atlanteans, the people of Plato’s fictional sunken city). It might seem small, but these acts are expensive for already under-funded conservation efforts and can lose us important monuments in history (- just look at Henriech Schliemann to see the damage that can be done by those desperate to prove their 'alternative histories').
And of course, it is no surprise that these conspiracy theories end up clouding actual archaeological research into how ancient peoples actually constructed these sites. In 2017, research from the ScanPyramids project identified a large cavity above the ‘Grand Gallery’ (a narrow passageway leading to the burial chamber) in the Great Pyramid and the most common theory is that it would have helped distribute the weight of the stone above the gallery. Discovered by a French archaeological team in 2013, a logbook from an inspector called Merer who was working on the construction of the pyramid describes the massive logistics effort of transporting limestone from Tura by boat, and researchers from Yamagata University have recently suggested that the Nazca lines were made to communicate routes between settlements. Archaeologists have also suggested that ancient Rapa Nui used ropes to "walk" the Moai to their positions.
So, whilst we might not know exactly how or why all of these structures were built, follow along with the fascinating work being done by actual archaeologists, and don't get swept up in the dangers of conspiracy.
Frankie Cobell
26/02/2025
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