James Galvin

Archaeology magazine think so. I was pleased to hear of this article, which I thought would shed some light on the history of the era, and prove or disprove the likelihood of there being a pyramid in Bosnia. Instead they have opted to attack the man himself, rather than the project.

But time and again the media reports say that Osmanagic has spent 15 years studying the pyramids of Latin America. What is not included in the reports is how Osmanagic interprets those structures and the cultures that built them. Had anyone bothered to investigate, they would have found rather bizarre notions in Osmanagic’s book The World of the Maya (Gorgias Press, Euphrates imprint, 2005; $29.95). I had a look at the online edition of it (accessible on Osmanagic’s “Alternative History” website at www.alternativnahistorija.com).

The beardy archaeology nerds are up in arms, collectively sneering with disdain for the crackpot Osmanagic. As I said in my last post on the topic, its very easy to be cynical here. Anyone could scoff at the seemingly absurd notions, but you would expect a more professional stance from a major archaeological publication. These are the guys who are supposed to sift the fact from the fiction and perhaps even come up with a theory as to what exactly it is this guy is digging up.

Instead, they pat each other on the back, as Sarejevo’s Enver Imamovic, a former director of the National Museum in Sarjevo says “this is the equivalent of letting me, an archaeologist, perform surgery in hospitals.”
No, Enver Imamovic (if that is your real name), it is not. It is the equivalent of a surgeon with 15 years experience of surgery performing surgery in hospitals. He might be an insane surgeon, but please, lets be truthful.

I will thank this petition for clearing up a few issues, and stating that “Visoèica is a Roman-fortified and somewhat paved hill”. Am I the only one who thinks that a 700 foot Roman-fortified hill with a temple on top would be really cool too? Why not excavate that anyway? Sounds like theres a lot of politics behind this, and I’m sure its not the last we’ll hear on the matter.

Experts Find Evidence of Bosnia Pyramid according to Yahoo today. Turns out this is old news, but the first I have heard of it.

The three hills, named the pyramids of the Sun, Moon and Dragon, come complete with ancient pre-Illyrian temple and labyrinth of tunnels.

Osmanagic believes the structure will prove to be 722 feet high, or a third taller than Egypt’s Great Pyramid of Giza. The huge stone blocks discovered Wednesday appeared to be cut in cubes and polished.

The discovery, which could turn out to be the first pyramid found in Europe, was initially raised last October. It was met with some skepticism at the time on blogs such as Unjournaled, and Orbis Quintus. Turns out there is even a website dedicated to the enigma. Looking at some of the pictures on that site of the large pyramid-sized hill which is shaped exactly like a pyramid, I would ask questions about the locals as to why it took them so long to make the “discovery”

BBC’s article says that work will continue for around six months, with the first results expected in the next three weeks. They give a small bit of archaeological background on the area:

According to anthropologists there is evidence of 7,000-year-old human settlements in the valley. German archaeologists also recently found 24,000 Neolithic artefacts one metre below ground.

Mr Osmanagic says the hill is a classic example of cultures building on the top of other cultures. The town was Bosnia’s capital during the Middle Ages, and a medieval fortress used by Bosnian kings sits atop Visocica. The fortress was built over an old Roman Empire observation post, which in turn was constructed over the ruins of an ancient settlement.

Bosnia was at the heart of much of European history and even if this pyramid turns out to be nothing more than a few slabs on the side of a pointy hill, all the discussion on pre-Illyrians and 27,000 year old temples has already kindled my interest in the archaeology of the area. I was thinking of touring Eastern Europe this summer, I will definitely be keeping an eye on this story.