Pseudoarchaeology: The “Bosnian Pyramid” is a Natural Formation

Afarensis commented a couple of days ago about a report that UNESCO is sending a team to Bosnia to inspect the alleged pyramid, a.k.a. Visocica hill, which has been heralded by Semir Osmanagic, a self-described amateur archaeologist. “Self-described” is the term best used because his qualifications are dubious.

The story originates it would seem from Reuters which says in the opening paragraph:

BOSNIA’S mystery pyramid is to be investigated and inspected by a team of experts from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, it emerged yesterday.

It “emerged?” That’s the best they can do with regard to citing a source? I’ve sent correspondence to UNESCO and will report with haste should it reveal any official press release or useable information, but I suspect that it is likely the “emergence” of this story originates from none other than Osmanagic himself. He seems very apt to market his story and construct media hyperbole via press releases and pseudo-interviews.

It may not be enough in the end, however, as the world archeological community is beginning to respond with criticism of both Osmanagic’s assertions and his methods. Forbes.com ran this Associated Press story by Aida Cerkez-Robinson on Friday, June 9, 2006: British Expert Nixes Bosnia Pyramid Claim.

Professor Anthony Harding, who is president of the European Association of Archaeologists, visited Visocica hill and said the formation was natural.

“Not any evidence at all has been found” to support the claim the site would be an archaeological site, he said.

Cerkez-Robinson’s story repeats the description of Osmanagic that was used in the Reuter’s story and which irked Afarensis: “the amateur Bosnian archaeologist who has been investigating Latin American pyramids for 15 years…” And, like Afarensis, I point the reader back to the Archaeology Magazine article online, The Bosnian-Atlantis Connection, in where this is revealed about our amateur archaeologist:

And there it is. A self-described archaeologist, who believes the Maya and others are descended from Atlanteans who came from the Pleiades, has been accepted as a legitimate researcher by many news outlets. His ideas of early pyramids in Bosnia, which is simply not possible, has been accepted as a major discovery. How could this happen?

Harding, an archaeologist who has led excavations in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Briton, refuted the assertion that the stone blocks and “pavements” were man-made, stating, “I’ve seen the site, in my opinion it is entirely natural […] I would not believe it to be archaeological. It looks to me as a natural stone pavement.”