ANTH question
Q3 AND Q5
3. The lifetime (in hours) X of a certain electrical component follows an exponential distribution with parameter = 0.001. Three of these components operate independently in a system. The system fails if at least two of the components fail. Find the probability that the system operates for at least 200 hours without failure.
5. The heights of male students entering the University of Hong Kong, X, are normally distributed with a mean of 170.4 cm. It is known that about 2.5% of the students are taller than 190 cm.
(a) What is the standard deviation of X?
(b) What is the proportion of male students at the University of Hong Kong with a height of 160 cm or less?
(c) What is the probability that the mean height of n = 4 randomly selected male students exceeds 175 cm?
(d) Male students are randomly selected one after the other. What is the probability that the fifth selected student is the second selected student with a height below160 cm? Archaeological Hoaxes
Recap
In archaeology (and life), context is everything
Science is slow, gradual, cumulative
Science is hard, fiction is easy
The Nacirema
Nacirema = American
Make the exotic familiar and the familiar exotic
Rules of Hoaxing (Feder):
Give them what they want
o Confirmation bias
o Context is key (mid-19th-early 20th centuries)
Dont be too successful
Learn from your mistakes
Confirmation bias
Archaeological Hoaxes:
The Cardiff Giant
October-December 1869
Cultural Context:
The Second Great Awakening
Burned Over District, NY
Cultural Context: Bible as Historical
Issue in Scientific Thinking:
Theory influences observation
AKA: Confirmation bias
Discovery: October 16, 1869
William Stubb Newell Farm
(Cardiff, NY)
Theory and Science Combine to
Create Pseudoscientific Explanation
Petrification:
– bones
– wood
– NOT skin and muscle
An Economic Opportunity
“The roads were crowded with
buggies, carriages, and even
omnibuses from the city, and with
lumber-wagons from the farms–all
laden with passengers.”
Some Significant Numbers
First week of exhibition: $7000 ($132,000)
Investors stake share: $37,000 ($701,000)
25-50 cents/person ($10-20 today) : 300-500 people daily
P.T. Barnum makes an offer
$60,000 = $1.1 million today!
“There’s a sucker
born every
minute.
– David Hannum,
partial owner of
the Cardiff Giant
The Move to Syracuse
Rumors
Othniel C. Marsh
(1831-1899)
John F. Boynton
(1811-1890)
Experts Weigh In
It is positively absurd to
consider this a fossil man.
Boynton, 1869
It is of very recent origin, and
a most decided humbug
Marsh, 1869
George Hulls Confession (Dec. 1869):
A Hoax 3 years in the Making
Why they did it, why people believed it
Belief/faith
Confirmation bias
What do people believe today and why?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
hvl0Ee3yvDw
Recent Giant Hoaxes
https://www.designcrowd.com/community/?search=archaeological
https://www.designcrowd.com/community/?search=archaeological
Lack of scientific knowledge
Why they did it, why people believed it
Big Foot: Another American Giant
Cryptozoologists – pseudoscience
focusing on proving the existence of
animals from folklore
Distribution of reported Bigfoot sightings in the United States and Canada
Prominent Sightings
Crew and Wallace
(1958)
Gimlin and Patterson
(1967)
Scientific Facts Regarding
the Existence of Bigfoot
Aside from hoaxers, no actual evidence
Apes do not inhabit temperate climates
No fossils of apes in North America
Breeding population would create
more sightings
DNA Studies
Bigfoot: A Watershed in Pseudoscience
The Piltdown Hoax (1912-1949)
The Piltdown Hoax (1912-1949)
Watch the BBC video on Panopto
Read Chapter 4 of your textbook
Lets discuss!
Class Project 3
Find and discuss 2 archaeological hoaxes
Find and discuss 1 non-archaeological hoax Archaeology 101
Research report prompt is up on Canvas
Day 1 slides and lecture recording are also up
Please watch all class videos (these are required)
Great job on the discussion boards! Be sure to check
out and/or use the open-ended board as well!
Quick announcements
Logical fallacies and South Park
Kyle of DeVry Institute
Detecting baloney
Always search the claimant/author/source
Some conspiracy theories have been true
Our personal biases, things to keep in mind:
Culture
Religion
Economic status/upbringing
Political views
Class discussion and Project 1
From Greek
anthropos human beings
logia the study of
The study of human diversity, through time and space
Anything that humans are or were, can do or have
done is fit for study
What is Anthropology?
Specific qualities about anthropology
Holistic
Puts together all that is known about human beings into one
discipline
Comprehensive
Comparative
No single culture defines humanity
Examine differences and similarities
Ethnology
Comparison, analysis, and interpretation
of data about different cultures/societies.
The Anthropological Perspective
Evolutionary
Change is constant
Studies how we got to where we are today
Adaptive
Flexible
Culture as the means to adapt
The Anthropological Perspective
Scientific or humanistic?
It can be both
Follows scientific methods for data collection
Studies people
Example: ethnoarchaeology
the most scientific of the humanities,
and the most humanistic of the sciences.
The Anthropological Perspective
The (Main) Subfields
Anthropology
Linguistics
Biological
Applied
Cultural
Archaeology
Archaeology
Prehistoric, historic, contemporary
Artifacts
Fieldwork
Studies culture from material remains
The Tucson Garbage Project
Video from the early 90s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObYwvpDKWIo
The Fundamentals of Archaeology
Context is key
Archaeology is a science
Systematic
Based in testing hypotheses
Archaeology is not like other sciences
Not always replicable (field work)
We study people, and people are messy
Archaeology The Process
Like all science, it should start with a question, in our case about humans
How did war affect tributary city-states
in the Maya area?
Ancient Maya Game of Thrones
Ancient Maya Game of Thrones
Finding sites
Survey
Mapping: Tape and compass
Mapping: EDM
Mapping: LiDAR
Excavation
Excavation
Artifacts
Features
Lab analysis
Copan, Honduras
Copan, Honduras
Copan, Honduras
10J-45 at Copan, Honduras
10J-45 Acropolis
eastwest
10J-45 at Copan, Honduras
10J-45 at Copan, Honduras
10J-45 at Copan, Honduras
10J-45 at Copan, Honduras
10J-45 at Copan, Honduras
10J-45 at Copan, Honduras
10J-45 at Copan, Honduras
Archaeological Analysis
What we do with the things we find
Reseach Report
Archaeological Context
Chronological Context
Use Context
Spatial Context
The Artifact
10J-45
Archaeological Context
Where did we find it?
Archaeological Context: Offering
Chronological Context: Epigraphy
How old is it?
Yuri Knorosov
Chronological Context: Ceramic Seriation
COPAN
TEPEU 1 Late/
TEPEU 2 Early
TEPEU 2A
TEPEU 2B
POST-
CLASSIC
Chronological Context Absolute dating
475 AD
650
700
750
800
830
1000
AD 562
Spatial context
What was it found associated with?
Use context
What was it used for?
Use context
What was it used for?
So what is this thing?
Jade pectoral
Symbol of kingship
Found in secondary royal tomb
outside city center
AD 562 peak of Tikal-Calakmul war
= Copan was affected
Archaeology: Synthesis
Study of material culture
Begins with a question
Survey, mapping, excavation, analysis
Emphasis on contexts
Whats missing?
What happens to the stuff? Collections
Project 2 The Archaeology of Everyday Life
1. The premise: Youre an archaeologist 400 years in the
future, exploring a room that was rapidly abandoned
following a cataclysm. You wish to understand that
rooms inhabitants
2. Pick 2 artifacts in that room
3. Describe their contexts
a) Archaeological Context
b) Chronological Context
c) Spatial Context
d) Use Context
4. Create a brief presentation with your interpretations.
Have fun!
Whats a scholarly or academic source?
1. Written by experts
People who are trained in X discipline/method
People who collected primary data
2. Peer-reviewed
Reviewed by other experts in discipline/method
Sometimes reviews are based on replication
Google Scholar
https://login.proxy.libraries.smu.edu/
Where do I find academic sources?
https://login.proxy.libraries.smu.edu/
Where do I find academic sources?
SMU Catalog
https://www.smu.edu/libraries/fondren
https://www.smu.edu/libraries/fondren
Through our librarian!
Where do I find academic sources?
How good is Wikipedia?
Actually a good starting point!
How do I use academic sources?
Summarize ideas/arguments using
your own words
Avoid direct quotes unless absolutely
necessary
When in doubt, cite
Rule of thumb once per paragraph if using ideas
from the same source
What are citation styles?
Consistent ways of acknowledging the
work of others
The key is others need to be able to find
that source
Two styles to keep in mind
In-text citations (Figueroa 2020)
References cited
The key is to be consistent and thorough
A tip/shortcut The Piltdown Hoax
Found by an amateur scientist (Charles Dawson)
Supported by a committee of scientists
What was at play
Nationalism
Reputation
Confirmation bias
40 years until debunked
Science eventually self-corrected!
The Wild Side of North American
Archaeology
Native (North) Americans
1. Who visited America (besides Columbus)?
2. Who built the big mounds??
Main points
How do we detect foreigners/visitors?
Native American achievements have a long history
The Discovery of America
Columbus (1451-1506)
What Europeans saw
1. Different people
2. Different animals
3. Different plants
Early Biblical
Explanations
Geography and Biblical Theory:
Jose de Acosta, 1590
People and animals came over
after the great flood
If they migrated it means both
worlds are connected
Most likely place NE Asia
Bering Strait discovered in 1850!
The First Peoples
Visitors Before Columbus
How do we identify cultures in the
archaeological record?
Hernando de Soto, 1539-1543 C.E.
Gavin Menzies: Chinese in 1421
Gavin Menzies
Former submarine commander (UK)
2002
Admiral Zheng He (AD 1371-1433)
Menzies Chinese Voyages
Menzies Evidence
Chinese left their artistic
influence in Native American
cultures (Mexico)
Menzies Evidence
Chinese left jade artifacts, and
jade is not found in the Americas
What does the Archaeology say?
Menzies Chinese Voyages
Actual Chinese Voyages
The Evidence
Voyages in 1421-1423
The Aztec were the largest group in Mesoamerica
The Evidence
There are jade sources in Mesoamerica
The Evidence
Artifacts are cherry picked
Maya jade mask
AD 680
Olmec jade art
1500 BC
Tlatilco art
1200-400 BC
The Latest from Menzies
New book out in 2013
The Chinese discovered America
in 40,000 BC and again in 1417
He found a map from 1417
Lessons to keep in mind
1. Its easy to invent, hard to present evidence
What should be there if outsiders were somewhere?
2. Its easy to make comparisons, hard to contextualize
Context is everything in archaeology and anthropology
Whats the harm?
1. Discovery of new lands is a bad term
Whats the harm?
1. Saying achievements, art, technology are not local
implies locals are not advanced enough = racism
2. Who benefits from these claims of visitors?
A Quick Tale:
Vikings in the New World
Viking Sagas
Stories and histories common in Scandinavian societies
Vikings (8th 11th centuries AD)
Eirik Thorvaldsson (Erik the Red):
AD 985-986 Settled Greenland
Known settlements in
Greenland
Bjarni Herjolfsson (AD 985-986)
Spotted a new land out
west
Leif Eriksson (AD 1000)
Travels west, establishes a
base camp from where to
explore
Thorvald Eriksson (AD 1000-1022)
Skraelings
(They who wear pelts)
Continues exploring, meets
Thorfinn Karlsefni (AD 1022)
Norse Presence: Archaeological Data
Maine Norse penny pendant, Norse flint
Ellesmere Island armor, rivets, plane, balance
Baffin Island arctic hare fur, technique
Viking sites Native American culture
LAnse aux Meadows, Newfoundland
Helge and Anne Stine Ingstad
https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=gn1SUV5vaI4&t=247s
Visitors and Visitors
Before Columbus
People carry stuff and leave it behind
Stuff will tell us who was there and when
Norse arrived in Newfoundland, ~ AD 1022
No unequivocal evidence for many groups
The Mysterious Moundbuilders
Where does the mystery come from?
Where does the mystery come from?
Native Americans in the 1700-1800s
The Mysterious Moundbuilders
1. Native Americans too primitive
2. Mounds are older than Native Americans
3. Native Americans dont build mounds
4. Stone tablets with Old World writing
5. Metallurgy is too sophisticated
Five Components of the
Moundbuilder Myth:
Indians too primitive
Mounds are older than Indians
Vicomte de Chateaubriand
(1801)
Rev. Manasseh Cutler (1786)
Stone Tablets
Grave Creek Stone, WV
Newark Decalogue, OH
Newark Keystone, OH
Indians dont build mounds
Metal technology too sophisticated
Previous Theories
Vikings
Egyptians
Atlantis
Eden
Early Archaeology
Thomas Jefferson, 1784
Caleb Atwater, 1820
Made by Hindoos
Squier and Davis, 1848
Ephraim Squire
Edwin Davis
Excavated ~200 mounds
Made by more advanced cultures in
Mesoamerica and South America
BAE: Powell and Thomas
John Wesley Powell
(1834-1902)
Cyrus Thomas
(1829-1910)
Funding for solving the moundbuilder myth
Excavated ~2000 mounds in 21 states
Report contradicted all previous arguments
FALSE: Indians too primitive
Hernando de Soto
(1496-1542)
5000-6000 people per town
Miles of cultivated fields
FALSE: Mounds are older than
Indians
Some mounds are actually very recent
Newark Decalogue, OH
Grave Creek Stone, WV
Newark Keystone, OH
FALSE: Stone Tablets
Terribly executed hoaxes
FALSE: Indians dont build
mounds
Hernando de Soto (1496-1542)
Eyewitness accounts of mound building
FALSE: Metal technology is too
sophisticated
Rationale for Mystery:
Comforting the Conquerors
Credo consolans
The Moundbuilders
Native Americans built the mounds
Traditions extend as far back as 5,500 B.P.
Watson Brake, LA
The Moundbuilders
Local cultures and traditions
Agricultural revolutions
Sunflower Marsh elder
Amaranth
The Moundbuilders
Large and extensive trade networks
Cahokia, IL
Class Project 4
Other visitors and Foreigners
Pick one other supposed visitor to the Americas
Research and describe the claim made and
evidence presented
Has this claim been depicted in the media?
What do archaeologists say?
Who benefits and who is harmed by this claim? Lost Cities, Continents, and Civilizations
Major elements of a lost city myth
A non-falsifiable hypothesis
Not found = not found yet
Perseverance (obsession?) is key!
Based on mystery, adventure, danger,
and a romantic view of the past
Lost cities become spiritual beliefs
If found, they lose their value
Atlantis
Possible Locations of Atlantis
Where did it come from?
Genealogy of Greek Philosophers
Socrates
(469-399 BC)
Plato
(428-348 BC)
Aristotle
(384-322 BC)
Platos Academy and Dialogues
The School of Athens by Raphael
Are Dialogues Transcriptions of Real
Conversations?
Plato born ~428 BC
Dialogues written between 355 and 347
Conversations supposedly took place 421
428-421 = Plato was 7 years old!
Dialogues of Timaeus and Critias
The Dialogue (fictional story)
Focuses on a discussion of the perfect
republic (Athens)
Critias talks about a war
between Athens and Atlantis
Athens wins, and Atlantis
is destroyed by floods and quakes
Critias dialogue was unfinished
The Atlantis Game of Telephone
Egyptian Priests
Greek Sage Solon (590 BC)
Critias the Elder (grandfather, 90, Fools Day)
Critias the Younger (421 BC)
Plato (355 BC)
Supposed location:
Straits of Gibraltar: Pillars of Heracles
Atlantis City Plan
Atlantis Destroyed
Atlantis as Rhetorical Device
Large, evil empire (Atlantis) vs. small,
peaceful republic (Athens)
Not convinced?
No accounts of this war in Greece or
Egypt (both within realm of influence of
Atlantis)
Where did Plato get the idea?
Minoan Civilization: The Real Atlantis?
Crete: Minoan Civilization
(3300-1200 BC)
Minoans: Palace at Knossos
Minoan Palatial Period (2000-1200 BC)
4 stories, 1000 rooms in the palace
Height of art and decadence
Eruption on Thera (Santorini) ~1615 BC
Eruption on Thera (Santorini) ~1615 BC
Problems with Minoan Theory
Too small
Wrong location
Eruption too late
Athens had only small towns at this time
Atlantis as a parable not history
(Plato was a philosopher, not a historian)
Civilization continued for 300 years
Atlantis:
The Myth that Never Dies
Graham Hancock
The Bimini Wall
Tessellated Pavement at Eaglehawk Neck, Australia
Atlantis Conclusions
Originated in Platos dialogues
A rhetorical device run amok
No evidence for it anywhere
Geological and archaeological evidence to
the contrary
El Dorado
Origin of the myth
The Muisca of Colombia
Leader covered himself in gold, went to the lake
to pay homage to a goddess
Tales of the golden man reached the Spanish
Lake Guatavita
Sir Walter Raleigh
Founder of Roanoke colony
Undertook expeditions along
Orinoco River
Was beheaded for causing
trouble with the Spanish
Alexander von Humboldt
Avid explorer of South America
Estimated amount of gold in Lake
Guatavita from offerings at $300mill
Estimate was exaggerated to
$1.5bn = a long-lived tale
Lost City of Z and Percy Fawcett
Ciudad Blanca The White City
La Mosquitia (The mosquito coast)
History of the myth
Hernan Cortes talked
about large settlements
Charles Lindbergh thought
he saw something shine
Pech, Tawahka, Misquito
stories of a White House
Theodore Morde
Explorer
Says he found a city
with a giant carving of
a monkey in 1935
King Kong came out
in 1933 coincidence?
The Current Mix
Steve Elkins
Filmmaker with a B.S. in earth science
Becomes fascinated by the Mosquitia
Hears about the White City legend
Convinces (rich) friend Bill Benenson to
create a company (now UTL) and
fund an exploration project
LiDAR Light Detection and Ranging
Dr. Christopher Fisher
Archaeologist, Colorado State U.
Specialist in Mexican archaeology
and the study of complex societies
Hired by Elkins/UTL to follow up on LiDAR data
Fisher et al 2016, 2017
Water management
What was actually found?
Extraordinary claims
A lost civilization
Ballgame
Splendid architecture
With ten large plazas, pyramids, etc.
Surfaces of paved stones, altar stones
BUT
thick vegetation blacked out any sense of
layout or scale of the ancient city
Blowback
What does the archaeology say?
The finds nothing new
Ceramics in 2016 and 1941
Jaguar seat in 2016 and 1941
The finds nothing new
Caches
Altars
Soils work
Stone thrones
Coastal Region
Interior Region
EARLY BASIC
EARLY
BASIC
TRANSITIONAL
Selin Farm
Other sites
Sulaco Polychrome
San Marcos Polychrome
Local NE PolychromeUla Polychrome
Jo
yc
e
1
9
9
3
: 5
9
C
u
d
d
y
2
0
0
7
Yojoa Polychrome
Trade and Exchange
Chichicaste Polychrome
Jo
yc
e
2
0
1
3
: 1
4
Jo
yc
e
1
9
9
3
Jo
yc
e
1
9
9
3
B
e
a
u
d
ry
-C
ro
b
e
tt
e
t
a
l
1
9
9
7
Lost civilization
Why connections to the past matter
Getting the public interested
Why are these things promoted/believed?
Money
Fame
Social/Political reasons
Romantic past
Research Paper Annotated Bibliography
3-5 references
At least 3 need to be scholarly/academic
2-3 sentences on how you will use each reference in your papers
Class Project 5: The Appeal of Lost Cities
Watch at least 1hr of The Lost City of Z
Think about what weve covered in class so far
Feders rules for a hoax
Logical fallacies
Major traits of a lost city myth
How is Z similar to Atlantis? El Dorado? Ciudad Blanca? Ancient Aliens
Aliens in the 19th and 20th Centuries
Alien Theory, 1947 (Roswell, NM)
http://www.csicop.org/si/9507/ros_pic2.jpg
Ancient Aliens Today
Recent (and not so recent) Opinions
The Legitimate Search for Life
It is likely and statistically probable
It is even possible that weve made contact with other
inhabited worlds
BUTthere is no evidence (yet)
Scientists are open-minded, but need convincing
Erich von Dniken
1970
Former hotel owner
Spent 1970 in jail for embezzlement and fraud
29 books, 32 languages, 63mill copies
Von Dnikens Claims
(these are implicit)
Prehistoric depictions of aliens (The Inkblot Hypothesis)
Human evolution cant be explained without alien cross-breeding
(Amorous Astronauts)
Some artifacts are too advanced (Our Ancestors the Dummies)
Von Dnikens Claims
(these are implicit)
Prehistoric depictions of aliens (The Inkblot Hypothesis)
Human evolution cant be explained without alien cross-breeding
(Amorous Astronauts)
Some artifacts are too advanced (Our Ancestors the Dummies)
The Inkblot Hypothesis
Hermann Rorschach
(1844-1922)
You see what you want to see
(Confirmation bias!)
Context doesnt matter
Alien Imagery
Mesoamerica: Early Classic Incensarios (incense burners)
Palenque, Mexico (AD 500-700)
Pakals
Sarcophagus
(AD 615-683)
Pakals Sarcophagus
Nazca: South Coast Peru
(AD 100 700)
Nazca Geoglyphs
6 people can build one in a day
Platforms constructed at the end of
these for observation/direction
Landing Strips? Signs of Welcome?
Occams Razor
von Dniken:
Aliens came
They needed landing strips
Showed humans how to build them
Andwe like some of your critters?
OR
Nazca people created these based on their
knowledge of their environment
Ceque/Procession Paths:
A South American Tradition
Lines refer to routes of
pilgrimage
Associated with offerings
Temple of Hathor: Dendera, Egypt
An Egyptian Light Bulb?
Von Dnikens Claims
(these are implicit)
Prehistoric depictions of aliens (The Inkblot Hypothesis)
Human evolution cant be explained without alien cross-breeding
(Amorous Astronauts)
Some artifacts are too advanced (Our Ancestors the Dummies)
Von Dnikens Claims
(these are implicit)
Prehistoric depictions of aliens (The Inkblot Hypothesis)
Human evolution cant be explained without alien cross-breeding
(Amorous Astronauts)
Some artifacts are too advanced (Our Ancestors the Dummies)
Amorous Astronauts
Von Dnikens Claims
(these are implicit)
Prehistoric depictions of aliens (The Inkblot Hypothesis)
Human evolution cant be explained without alien cross-breeding
(Amorous Astronauts)
Some artifacts are too advanced (Our Ancestors the Dummies)
Von Dnikens Claims
(these are implicit)
Prehistoric depictions of aliens (The Inkblot Hypothesis)
Human evolution cant be explained without alien cross-breeding
(Amorous Astronauts)
Some artifacts are too advanced (Our Ancestors the Dummies)
Our Ancestors the Dummies
Abri Blanchard, 30,000 years ago
Extraterrestrial Archaeology
Equipment constructs results
Why Promote Weird Things? One insight
von Dnikens theme park!
200,000 guests in first 100 days
Closed in 2006 due to low turnout
Reopened in 2009, open every summer
$40 for adults, $22 for kids
Von Dnikens Alien Hot Zones
AKA who needed the most help
Continent # Examples % Examples
Africa 16 31
Asia 12 23
Europe 2 4
North America 11 22
South America 10 20
Ancient Aliens Conclusions
Extraterrestrial life is possible, but
there is no evidence for it so far
Outdated models, observational selection,
hasty generalizations, appeal to ignorance,
etc.
Economic motivation, racist conclusions
Class Project
1. Watch the very first Ancient Aliens episode
2. Identify 3 pieces of archaeological evidence used by
the proponents of Ancient Aliens
3. Assess that evidence based on what weve learned
a) Address logical fallacies
b) Address rules of hoaxing
c) Address why people believe weird things
