Megalithic America?

[Boreades]

How about the megalithic stone sites on the American continent? Not very well-studied by the TAs (Traditional Archeologists), as it's a bit career-threatening

[hvered]

Why are American megalithic sites 'career-threatening'? Isn't there a new generation of archaeologists eager to make their mark?

[Boreades]

Sorry, I didn't explain that very well.

Here in the UK, maybe because we've been invaded so many times the gene pool is so jumbled it's hard to find any living "original native population" and we don't have to be very sensitive. But in some countries (like the US and NZ), there is often a real and heavy dose of poliical correctness on any discussion about history before the recognised native population. What discussion there is can become highly polarised and unhappy. e.g. .

[hvered]

The inappropriateness of labels like 'Megalithic America' or New Zealand or wherever is very pertinent to The Megalithic Empire which starts off with analysing what megaliths were for, never mind who built them. Everything points to the 'who' being sea-traders.* The problems besetting archaeology, very clearly summarised in the article you referred to, seem to partially arise from these questions.

* The earliest megalithic structures are found along the North African littoral but tend to be overlooked since north-west Europe better fits various agendas, sorry theories.

[Mick Harper]

[Boreades]

Listening to the BBC News today on the "American" Elections made me realise me how silly I've been. I should of course have said "Megalithic USA" as there are an awful lot of megaliths in Mexico and all places further south on the American Continent.

In fact, the Megalithomania Conference 2013 will be in Mexico
http://www.megalithomania.co.uk/mexico2013.html

[Jools]

[Malmaison]

[Penny]

Tim Severin re-enacted St Brendan's legendary voyage across the Atlantic, in a hide-covered currach. He sailed to Newfoundland via the Faroes, Iceland and the coasts of Greenland and Labrador.

His voyage was proof that the Irish could have reached north America 800 years before Columbus. It reminded me that Basque and Portuguese fishermen have been cod-fishing off the coast of Newfoundland since forever (salt cod is the national dish) and if the geneticist Stephen Oppenheimer is to be believed there is a high percentage of Basque genes among the Irish.

[Jools]