Some of the most impressive buildings and cities ever made by humans can be found in Africa: the ruined city of Great Zimbabwe, Mapungubwe in South Africa, Kenya’s Gedi Ruins, and Meroe in Sudan. Perhaps the most awe-inspiring of these is the last remaining of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Great Pyramid of Giza, in Egypt. It should come as no surprise. As far back as 3.3 million years ago, the first stone tool was made in what is now Kenya, a region in Africa with a rich archaeological heritage. Its cultural diversity and complexity are well known; it contains some of the world's oldest art pieces. It is also the birthplace of modern humans' ancient ancestors, Homo sapiens. In spite of all this evidence, some claim that no one from Africa (or anywhere in the developing world today) could have created and constructed the Giza pyramids. However, they think ancient astronauts, extraterrestrials, or time travelers were the real builders.

What's the big deal?, you may ask. Who cares if relatively few people don’t believe the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids? What’s the harm? First, these people travel the world to prove their theories and desecrate ancient artifacts. Additionally, they perpetuate the racist notion that only white people - Europeans - are capable of such feats. In 2014, two German pseudo-scientists set out to "prove" that academics hid the "real" origin of the Giza pyramids. To do so, they cut off a chunk of one of the pyramids without authorization, in order to conduct an analysis. In early 2017, scientists from the South American World Congress on Mummy Studies posted a message to their Facebook page to draw attention to the raiding of Nazca graves for the Alien project, a supposed pseudo-scientific research program. The book insists aliens, not ancient Peruvians, are behind the Nazca Lines, despite all the evidence to the contrary. These incidents illustrate threats to developing nations' cultural heritage. Conservation authorities worldwide must spend a great deal of money protecting and restoring unique heritage pieces and guard them against vandalism. For instance, the most recent overhaul planned for the Giza site – back in 2008 – was estimated at a cost of USD$45 million. These are not wealthy nations, as a rule, and it costs money they often don’t have to repair the damage done by, among others, pseudo-scientists.
Racism and colonial attitudes


---

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/creative-habits/message
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/creative-habits/support