Spooky Archaeology: Myth and the Science of the Past

424 Pages·2018·3.78 MB·English

by  Jeb J. Card

Spooky Archaeology

SPOOKY ARCHAEOLOGY
Myth and the Science of the Past
JEB J. CARD
University of New Mexico Press • Albuquerque
© 2018 by the University of New Mexico Press
All rights reserved. Published 2018
Printed in the United States of America
ISBN 978-0-8263-5965-0 (cloth)
ISBN 978-0-8263-5966-7 (electronic)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data is on file
with the Library of Congress.
Cover photograph: Tomb, by Keith Yahl, licensed under CC by 2.0
Designed by Felicia Cedillos
Composed in Minion Pro 10.25/14
contents
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS vii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix
1 Time, Memory, and Myth: The Foundations of Spooky Archaeology 1
2 Supernatural Relics 19
3 Occulted Archaeologists 47
4 Hieroglyphs, Magic, and Mummies 71
5 Myth and Protohistory 103
6 The Creation of a Lost Continent 129
7 Relic Hunters and Haunted Museums 157
8 Time Detectives and International Intrigue 183
9 Digging Up Witches and Murder 205
10 Cthulhu and Cosmic Mythology 225
11 The Revenge of Alternative Archaeology 257
CHRONOLOGY 275
NOTES 291
WORKS CITED 325
INDEX 399
v

illustrations
1.1 Theosophical map of Atlantis 14
2.1 Stonehenge as depicted in 1885 18
2.2 The tomb of Maeshowe and its “dragon” 21
2.3 Elf shot mounted in a silver charm 23
2.4 The Luck of Edenhall 25
3.1 Glastonbury Tor 49
3.2 Lead cross marking the alleged burial of King Arthur,
Glastonbury Abbey 49
3.3 The alleged graves of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere,
Glastonbury Abbey 50
3.4 Glastonbury Abbey reconstruction by Frederick Bligh Bond 52
3.5 Map of Glastonbury Abbey created through automatic writing 55
3.6 Searching for the Loretto Chapel at Glastonbury Abbey 59
3.7 Dowsing at Avebury 63
4.1 Inscribed and pseudoglyphic vessels in the National Museum
of Anthropology of El Salvador 74
4.2 The Tazumal inscribed flask 75
4.3 Obelisk from Horapollo’s Hieroglyphica 82
4.4 MacDonald’s aerolite in the New York World 87
4.5 Movie poster for The Mummy 91
vii
ILLUSTRATIONS
4.6 The tomb of Unas 92
4.7 Thoth the divine scribe 93
5.1 Ignatius Donnelly, the master of Atlantis 127
6.1 Original notes on the Mu stones at Miami University 128
6.2 Miami University’s Mu stones 130
6.3 The most intricate of Miami University’s Mu stones 131
6.4 Diego de Landa’s “alphabet” 132
6.5 William Niven digging at Azcapotzalco 137
6.6 Letter from William Niven to Frans Blom 147
6.7 Letter from James Churchward, interpreting
Muvian iconography 155
7.1 Monument to John Symmes and his hollow earth theory 159
7.2 Mitchell-Hedges artifacts from the Bay Islands, Honduras 176
10.1 Appearance frequency of archaeologists in
the New York Times, 1910–1937 237
10.2 Appearance frequency of dead archaeologists in
the New York Times, 1910–1937 239
10.3 Appearance frequency of sunken lands in
the New York Times, 1910–1937 243
10.4 The “Cthulhu” index 246
viii
acknowledgments
The following institutions provided access to sites, artifacts, images, doc-
uments, and other valuable resources that made this volume possible:
Miami University; the Middle American Research Institute (MARI) at
Tulane University; the Glenn G. Bartle Library and Special Collections at
Binghamton University; the Broome County Public Library; the British
Library; Glastonbury Abbey; the Museo Nacional de Antropología
Dr. David J. Guzmán, Secretaría de Cultura de la Presidencia, San
Salvador, El Salvador; the British Museum; the National Trust of the
United Kingdom; the National Archives of the United Kingdom.
A number of individuals provided intellectual, emotional, and other
support for Spooky Archaeology. The Invisible College of Mystery
Investigators includes Ken Feder, Serra Zander, Jason Colavito, Sharon
Hill, and Blake Smith. Each of these intrepid investigators helped in the
discovery or contextualization of some clues in this volume. Chris Begley
has done much of the pioneering work on the historical and social context
of Ciudad Blanca, and his help has been invaluable. April Beisaw and Gabe
Moshenska both led the way in exploring why haunted archaeology is
important. Fellow Tulane graduates David Anderson and Stacy Dunn have
followed their own paths into the history and weirdness of archaeology in
ways that have stimulated the ideas in this volume. In addition to helping
with the Niven correspondence at MARI, Marcello Canuto and Marc
Zender provided valuable feedback and help with various aspects of this
project. Donovan Loucks not only provided the Lovecraft texts underlying
chapter 10, but also showed me the Providence haunts of HPL.
My colleagues at Miami University suffered through my bizarre flights
of absurdity, and also provided solid assistance, suggestions, and support
as I finished this volume: James Bielo, Cameron Hay-Rollins, Linda
Marchant, Leighton Peterson, Mark Peterson, and Homayun Sidky. My
ix