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Scientists begin dig at Bosnian ‘pyramid’
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Pyramid or PR stunt? Critics blast Bosnian find
Amateur archaeologist dismisses controversy, says he'll be proven right
By Heather Whipps
Updated: 8:10 p.m. ET May 4, 2006
It's either one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of our time, or man has made a giant pyramid out of a molehill.
In the wake of recent news that evidence of colossal pyramids had been found in the small Bosnian town of Visoko, many in the archaeological community are speaking out and dismissing both the discovery and the man who made it, businessman Semir Osmanagic.
Some critics have gone as far as to call the pyramid an absurd publicity stunt.
But Osmanagic stands by his claim.
"They are jealous," Osmanagic told LiveScience in a telephone interview. "These people are going crazy because they've been teaching students that these [Bosnians] were cavemen, and all of a sudden they are finding complex structures here."
Osmanagic first noticed the irregularly shaped hills on a trip to the town, located 18 miles north of Sarajevo, in April of 2005. Preliminary digging uncovered mysterious slabs in a stone not native to the immediate area. Further excavation of the hills in April of this year, along with the incredible announcement that one would be much larger than the great pyramid of Cheops at Giza, Egypt, prompted the most recent news release.
Satellite images, thermal analysis and radar studies have been performed at the site, all independently confirming the existence of pyramid-shaped architecture, according to Osmanagic. More importantly, he said, the tests suggest that the layout could not have been man-made.
Photos released by the media and made available on Osmanagic's website show a series of stone plates buried just beneath the top layer of soil and vegetation. Despite the tests and pictures, some archaeologists aren't convinced by his claims.
"Clearly there are voids or something similar in the rock, but that is a long way from saying these are man-made," said Anthony Harding, president of the European Association of Archaeologists.
The pyramids could be upwards of 12,000 years old, Osmanagic has deduced, based on geological knowledge of the area. That is a main point of contention for specialists concerned with the archaeology in the Balkan region.
"Europe was in the late Upper Paleolithic at this point and no one was building anything except flimsy huts," Harding said.
Workers at Visoko are spending this dig season sending twelve probing wells into different spots on the hill. Radiocarbon dating on organic material taken from the site may be performed as early as this fall, Osmanagic said.
Critics blast Osmanagic's background
Whatever the outcome of the tests, critics also charge that the media did not do enough research into the background of Osmanagic, who has no formal archaeological training.
"A self-described archaeologist, who believes the Maya and others are descended from Atlanteans ... has been accepted as a legitimate researcher by many news outlets," writes Archaeology magazine online editor Mark Rose, in reference to Osmanagic's somewhat unorthodox interpretation of the Mayan culture found in his book, "The World of the Maya" (Gorgias Press, Euphrates imprint, 2005). The Bosnian spent fifteen years studying pyramids throughout the world and much of that time was in Mexico and Central America.
Many of those conducting the fieldwork at Visoko are local volunteers, not professionals. Experts worry that the often arduous scientific process is being eschewed in favor of some quick publicity for the country of Bosnia-Herzegovina, which has been hungry for good press after years of civil conflict dogged it in the 1990s.
"It adds insult to injury when rich outsiders can come in and spend large sums pursuing their absurd theories (the construction of a colossal pyramid so large that it dwarfs even those of Egypt or Mesoamerica? 12,000 years ago?), in ways that most other countries would never countenance," Harding wrote in an April 25 letter to the editor of The London Times.
Work is slated to continue at Visoko through at least 2010, by which time Osmanagic believes the research will have vindicated his theories. Meanwhile, he isn't worried that what he's found does not mesh with current thinking.
"We laugh at the people who said that the world was flat, and they laughed at Galileo," he said. "The history books will just have to be rewritten from scratch, that's all."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12635805/from/RL.2/
Amateur archaeologist dismisses controversy, says he'll be proven right
By Heather Whipps
Updated: 8:10 p.m. ET May 4, 2006
It's either one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of our time, or man has made a giant pyramid out of a molehill.
In the wake of recent news that evidence of colossal pyramids had been found in the small Bosnian town of Visoko, many in the archaeological community are speaking out and dismissing both the discovery and the man who made it, businessman Semir Osmanagic.
Some critics have gone as far as to call the pyramid an absurd publicity stunt.
But Osmanagic stands by his claim.
"They are jealous," Osmanagic told LiveScience in a telephone interview. "These people are going crazy because they've been teaching students that these [Bosnians] were cavemen, and all of a sudden they are finding complex structures here."
Osmanagic first noticed the irregularly shaped hills on a trip to the town, located 18 miles north of Sarajevo, in April of 2005. Preliminary digging uncovered mysterious slabs in a stone not native to the immediate area. Further excavation of the hills in April of this year, along with the incredible announcement that one would be much larger than the great pyramid of Cheops at Giza, Egypt, prompted the most recent news release.
Satellite images, thermal analysis and radar studies have been performed at the site, all independently confirming the existence of pyramid-shaped architecture, according to Osmanagic. More importantly, he said, the tests suggest that the layout could not have been man-made.
Photos released by the media and made available on Osmanagic's website show a series of stone plates buried just beneath the top layer of soil and vegetation. Despite the tests and pictures, some archaeologists aren't convinced by his claims.
"Clearly there are voids or something similar in the rock, but that is a long way from saying these are man-made," said Anthony Harding, president of the European Association of Archaeologists.
The pyramids could be upwards of 12,000 years old, Osmanagic has deduced, based on geological knowledge of the area. That is a main point of contention for specialists concerned with the archaeology in the Balkan region.
"Europe was in the late Upper Paleolithic at this point and no one was building anything except flimsy huts," Harding said.
Workers at Visoko are spending this dig season sending twelve probing wells into different spots on the hill. Radiocarbon dating on organic material taken from the site may be performed as early as this fall, Osmanagic said.
Critics blast Osmanagic's background
Whatever the outcome of the tests, critics also charge that the media did not do enough research into the background of Osmanagic, who has no formal archaeological training.
"A self-described archaeologist, who believes the Maya and others are descended from Atlanteans ... has been accepted as a legitimate researcher by many news outlets," writes Archaeology magazine online editor Mark Rose, in reference to Osmanagic's somewhat unorthodox interpretation of the Mayan culture found in his book, "The World of the Maya" (Gorgias Press, Euphrates imprint, 2005). The Bosnian spent fifteen years studying pyramids throughout the world and much of that time was in Mexico and Central America.
Many of those conducting the fieldwork at Visoko are local volunteers, not professionals. Experts worry that the often arduous scientific process is being eschewed in favor of some quick publicity for the country of Bosnia-Herzegovina, which has been hungry for good press after years of civil conflict dogged it in the 1990s.
"It adds insult to injury when rich outsiders can come in and spend large sums pursuing their absurd theories (the construction of a colossal pyramid so large that it dwarfs even those of Egypt or Mesoamerica? 12,000 years ago?), in ways that most other countries would never countenance," Harding wrote in an April 25 letter to the editor of The London Times.
Work is slated to continue at Visoko through at least 2010, by which time Osmanagic believes the research will have vindicated his theories. Meanwhile, he isn't worried that what he's found does not mesh with current thinking.
"We laugh at the people who said that the world was flat, and they laughed at Galileo," he said. "The history books will just have to be rewritten from scratch, that's all."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12635805/from/RL.2/
foreigngirl
New member
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12619302/from/RL.1/
FEATURE-Controversial dig sparks pyramid mania in Bosnia
By Daria Sito-Sucic
Updated: 8:00 a.m. ET May 8, 2006
VISOKO, Bosnia - Pyramid or publicity stunt? Archeologists can't agree but for the people of Visoko, the debate is almost irrelevant: They believe there's a pyramid under the hill near their town and they are already cashing in.
Visoko is booming, boosted by a controversial dig that aims to prove that the nearby Visocica hill is a pyramid built 12,000 years ago by the ancestors of the Illyrians, said to be the first inhabitants of the Balkans
visitors have flocked to the top of Visoko's hill, some 18 miles north of Sarajevo, making the ascent by car, motorbike and even horse-drawn coach.
On a sunny April day, lines of people clambered up the 2,300-foot-high hill while models from Sarajevo Fashion Week walked around the dig, waving paper Bosnian flags.
"We read about the pyramid on the Internet. It would be great that something so grand happens to Bosnia," said tourist Senada Wiitigen, who came to Bosnia from Germany on holiday.
Nearby, the manager of a food factory was flogging "Bosnian Sun Pyramid" pralines. Hawkers sold hastily printed T-shirts and brandy in pyramid-shaped bottles while craftsmen turned out pyramid souvenirs.
Retiree Rasim Kilalic turned his weekend home near the dig into a cafe. "Please God, let them find a pyramid," he said, rushing to serve crowded tables.
But many established archeologists believe the theory behind Visoko's mini-boom is nonsense.
"Even the slightest acquaintance with archeology would tell anyone that the only things being built in Europe at that time were flimsy huts, and a lot of people were still living in caves or rock shelters," said Professor Anthony Harding, president of the European Association of Archeologists.
"Even if we assume these people have the date wrong by several millennia, and they are actually nearer in date to the Egyptian pyramids, the idea that people in Bosnia at that time were building pyramids of any sort, let alone enormous ones that dwarf even the Great Pyramid at Giza, is pure fantasy."
SUN AND MOON
Osmanagic calls the two hills forming a gate into the Visoko valley the Sun and Moon Pyramids, named after pyramids he saw in Central America. He named a smaller hill the Dragon Pyramid.
"Visocica hill has almost three perfect triangle sides, each pointing towards cardinal points," said Osmanagic, who often wears an Indiana Jones-style trilby hat.
"This and its pyramid shape were enough for me. Nature simply could not build such perfect objects."
Last year, during a dig at the base of Visocica hill -- Osmanagic's Sun Pyramid -- geologists on his team said they found polished sandstone slabs, which may have formed the pyramid's floor. They found another building material, also not native to the area, which they think was used for the stairs.
In the second week of digging, they found stone blocks that Osmanagic said were pyramid walls. Over the next few months, he aims to unearth what he believes are stone stairs and explore 2.4 miles of tunnels that he says connect the hills.
Pyramid-shaped structures were built by many ancient peoples and used as temples, tombs or royal monuments. Some of the best preserved are Egypt's pyramids, built around 4,500 years ago. Step pyramids exist in Mexico and modern-day Iran and Iraq.
Greece and Egypt have said they will send experts to the Bosnian site in the coming months, but closer to home there are fears the ad-hoc dig could destroy the remains of a medieval Bosnian town at the top of Visocica hill.
"This is the equivalent of letting me, an archeologist, perform surgery," said Enver Imamovic, professor of history and former director of the Sarajevo-based Regional Museum.
VALLEY OF PYRAMIDS
Osmanagic plans to open the "Bosnian Valley of Pyramids" as an archeological park in 2008. His project is supported by Visoko council and has raised hopes that the area could become a major tourist attraction in a country slowly winning back visitors after a devastating war in the 1990s.
"We should absolutely allow the research here," said Senad Hodovic, the director of the Visoko Historic Heritage museum.
"This isn't about whether there are pyramids or not ... But it's important to create a climate for research, also of the medieval town of Visoki, which has never been explored."
Nearby mine and rescue associations have offered their services for the exploration of the tunnels. Universities in Sarajevo and Tuzla have pledged their expertise and firms in Visoko are donating products and services.
The volunteer diggers are mainly unemployed men from Visoko.
Osmanagic believes the site was chosen in the belief that it was a focal point of energies, like Giza in Egypt. That, he says, could explain the local claim that no one was killed in the three-pyramid area during the 1992-95 war.
"The pyramid saved them," he said.
For now, Osmanagic is financing the dig himself. To continue his research this year, he will need some 200,000 Bosnian marka ($125,550), which he hopes to get from Bosnian authorities.
"The history of civilization has to be rewritten," he said. "Bosnia will become a giant on the world archeological map."
FEATURE-Controversial dig sparks pyramid mania in Bosnia
By Daria Sito-Sucic
Updated: 8:00 a.m. ET May 8, 2006
VISOKO, Bosnia - Pyramid or publicity stunt? Archeologists can't agree but for the people of Visoko, the debate is almost irrelevant: They believe there's a pyramid under the hill near their town and they are already cashing in.
Visoko is booming, boosted by a controversial dig that aims to prove that the nearby Visocica hill is a pyramid built 12,000 years ago by the ancestors of the Illyrians, said to be the first inhabitants of the Balkans
visitors have flocked to the top of Visoko's hill, some 18 miles north of Sarajevo, making the ascent by car, motorbike and even horse-drawn coach.
On a sunny April day, lines of people clambered up the 2,300-foot-high hill while models from Sarajevo Fashion Week walked around the dig, waving paper Bosnian flags.
"We read about the pyramid on the Internet. It would be great that something so grand happens to Bosnia," said tourist Senada Wiitigen, who came to Bosnia from Germany on holiday.
Nearby, the manager of a food factory was flogging "Bosnian Sun Pyramid" pralines. Hawkers sold hastily printed T-shirts and brandy in pyramid-shaped bottles while craftsmen turned out pyramid souvenirs.
Retiree Rasim Kilalic turned his weekend home near the dig into a cafe. "Please God, let them find a pyramid," he said, rushing to serve crowded tables.
But many established archeologists believe the theory behind Visoko's mini-boom is nonsense.
"Even the slightest acquaintance with archeology would tell anyone that the only things being built in Europe at that time were flimsy huts, and a lot of people were still living in caves or rock shelters," said Professor Anthony Harding, president of the European Association of Archeologists.
"Even if we assume these people have the date wrong by several millennia, and they are actually nearer in date to the Egyptian pyramids, the idea that people in Bosnia at that time were building pyramids of any sort, let alone enormous ones that dwarf even the Great Pyramid at Giza, is pure fantasy."
SUN AND MOON
Osmanagic calls the two hills forming a gate into the Visoko valley the Sun and Moon Pyramids, named after pyramids he saw in Central America. He named a smaller hill the Dragon Pyramid.
"Visocica hill has almost three perfect triangle sides, each pointing towards cardinal points," said Osmanagic, who often wears an Indiana Jones-style trilby hat.
"This and its pyramid shape were enough for me. Nature simply could not build such perfect objects."
Last year, during a dig at the base of Visocica hill -- Osmanagic's Sun Pyramid -- geologists on his team said they found polished sandstone slabs, which may have formed the pyramid's floor. They found another building material, also not native to the area, which they think was used for the stairs.
In the second week of digging, they found stone blocks that Osmanagic said were pyramid walls. Over the next few months, he aims to unearth what he believes are stone stairs and explore 2.4 miles of tunnels that he says connect the hills.
Pyramid-shaped structures were built by many ancient peoples and used as temples, tombs or royal monuments. Some of the best preserved are Egypt's pyramids, built around 4,500 years ago. Step pyramids exist in Mexico and modern-day Iran and Iraq.
Greece and Egypt have said they will send experts to the Bosnian site in the coming months, but closer to home there are fears the ad-hoc dig could destroy the remains of a medieval Bosnian town at the top of Visocica hill.
"This is the equivalent of letting me, an archeologist, perform surgery," said Enver Imamovic, professor of history and former director of the Sarajevo-based Regional Museum.
VALLEY OF PYRAMIDS
Osmanagic plans to open the "Bosnian Valley of Pyramids" as an archeological park in 2008. His project is supported by Visoko council and has raised hopes that the area could become a major tourist attraction in a country slowly winning back visitors after a devastating war in the 1990s.
"We should absolutely allow the research here," said Senad Hodovic, the director of the Visoko Historic Heritage museum.
"This isn't about whether there are pyramids or not ... But it's important to create a climate for research, also of the medieval town of Visoki, which has never been explored."
Nearby mine and rescue associations have offered their services for the exploration of the tunnels. Universities in Sarajevo and Tuzla have pledged their expertise and firms in Visoko are donating products and services.
The volunteer diggers are mainly unemployed men from Visoko.
Osmanagic believes the site was chosen in the belief that it was a focal point of energies, like Giza in Egypt. That, he says, could explain the local claim that no one was killed in the three-pyramid area during the 1992-95 war.
"The pyramid saved them," he said.
For now, Osmanagic is financing the dig himself. To continue his research this year, he will need some 200,000 Bosnian marka ($125,550), which he hopes to get from Bosnian authorities.
"The history of civilization has to be rewritten," he said. "Bosnia will become a giant on the world archeological map."
samoth said:Only $125,550 to continue research? Man, I picked the wrong field to go into, lol.
Well, I suppose the tools used aren't all that complex, comparability speaking...
But still, a grant for that much is petty cash for major universities...
I bet a private investor will pick that up. It would make a great write-off.
foreigngirl
New member
I bet there is no pyramid over there over there. I Read even at "Archeology" magazine that a lot of the Bosnian people have a problem with him digging there, cause there is other old artiphacts from like Roman time that he can get destroyed
http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/osmanagic/
http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/osmanagic/
