Questions 1-10 refer to the following information.
Social Science—Technological Eurocentrism in the Cult of Ancient Astronauts
In assembling a chronology for the development of the world's ancient cultures, there
are, invariably, anomalies to the artifact record—unusual, misfit pieces that refuse to
conform within the emergent puzzle that is a culture's accepted historical profile. Predictably,
such artifacts tend to attract unprecedented public attention, along with the
05 profusion of theories—from the evidentiary to the ludicrous—that so often accompany
history's famed enigmas. Very few of these so-called "out-of-place-artifacts" carry much
academic weight within the archeological community; many are the result of hoaxes,
of mistakes in archeological dating, or are discovered under circumstances too obscure
for authentication; and the notorious "science-fiction" status attached to many of these
10 artifacts by a startlingly large coterie of imaginative laymen compels most historical
anthropologists to dismiss the pieces—and their potential historical consequences—
altogether.
Easily the most ubiquitous and outrageous popular culture response to curiosities
such as ancient Egyptian orthopedic surgery, Han dynasty seismology, and the Mesopotamian
15 galvanic cell is the claim of extraterrestrial origin. It should be mentioned that
our purpose here is not to prove nor disprove the legitimacy of these artifacts; nor to
debate the possibility of intelligent life existing on extrasolar planets. The vulgar popularity
of the idea that "ancient astronauts" produced these technologies is outrageous
not because it is absurd to think that extraterrestrial beings may exist, but because
20 of what it implies about Western civilization's sociopsychological attitude toward the
sophistication of preexisting and independent world cultures. And the engineering
capabilities of ancient, non-Western civilizations are perhaps nowhere more freely and
consistently dismissed than in those indigenous to the Americas.
It is, to a shockingly large sector of society, more ridiculous to suggest that the Nazca
25 lines—the remarkably intricate and expansive 2,000-year-old geoglyphs in southern
Peru—indicate a need to reform our understanding of the technological, mathematical,
and—dare we say—scientific sophistication of ancient American civilizations than it is
to suggest that, because the pre-Columbian cultures were so primitive, another—any
other—explanation for their construction must be sought. This egregiously irrational
30 pattern of thought is likely rooted in the social narrative of Western progress. It would
perhaps not be too bold to say that there is a penetrating, subconscious attitude in the
Euro-American world that understands technological innovation and science as solely
Western novelties at best, and evidence of extraterrestrial encounters at worst.
In 2006, Dr. Joe Nickell—an English professor at the University of Kentucky known
35 for debunking paranormal theories—managed to recreate large portions of the Nazca
lines with a precision exceeding that of the originals using only simple, wooden tools,
some basic surveying equipment, and rudimental calculations—all of which, there is
ample reason to believe, were available to the ancient Nazca. The obdurate notion that
American cultures could not have developed even the most basic of applications for
40 arithmetic prior to the arrival of the Europeans demonstrates a sordid and persisting
tradition of cultural arrogance.
As a control in our little social investigation, let us consider another, slightly lessknown
"out-of-place-place-artifact" dating from nearly the same period as the Nazca
lines of Peru. The Antikyethera Mechanism—discovered in an ancient shipwreck off the
45 Greek Isles—is an astonishingly sophisticated scientific calculator and astronomical
clock, the likes of which did not reappear in Europe until the 14th century. Its mechanical
complexity and accuracy is remarkable to the extent that it has often been referred to
as the first known analog computer. What's more, it is the only one of its kind; the artifact
record contains no other fragments or references to such technologies in the Hellenistic
50 period.
The Mechanism, one might venture, should be an ideal target for the proponents
of "ancient astronaut" technology—it is unique, sophisticated, concerns the celestial
bodies, and incongruous with our concept of the limits to ancient Greek engineering.
And yet, no such "cult of the extraterrestrial" surrounds the Mechanism. The public
55 response—quite simply and quite rationally—has been instead to expand its opinion
of Hellenistic technology. It should not, in some sense, be surprising—the narrative of
Western technological exceptionalism derives from the Greek and Roman tradition,
and even today Western science proudly traces its lineage to the rationalism of ancient
Greece.