Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology - Softcover

"Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries is the only textbook for a course of this sort, which I think should be offered at every institution of higher education."--Curtis Runnels, Boston University

"Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries takes things that everyone is fascinated by--aliens, Atlantis, the curses of Ancient Egypt--and packages them in a way that is entertaining, but also shows how the scientific method works. It helps students to think critically about many of the so-called 'documentaries' on television."--Christa Abdul-Karim, Lewis-Clark State College

"I very much enjoy this text and the writing style; I appreciate Feder's humor and the way he explains things. Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries is accessible to students because it isn't dry and stuffy. This is a great topic--students are interested--and the book is written in a way that is easy to read and enjoyable."--Kristy Miller, Estrella Mountain Community College

Frauds, myths, and supposed mysteries about humanity's past are moving targets for anyone committed to the scientific investigation of human antiquity. It is important for anyone interested in the human past to know, for example, that there is no evidence for a race of giant human beings in antiquity and no broken shards of laser guns under Egyptian pyramids. Debunking such nonsense is fun and useful in its own way, but more important is the process by which we determine that such claims are bunk.

Now published by Oxford University Press, Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology, Ninth Edition, uses interesting--and often humorous--archaeological hoaxes, myths, and mysteries to show how we can truly know things about the past through science. It is not just a book about how we know what isn't true about the human past--it's also about how we know what is true.