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'''Graham Bruce Hancock''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|h|æ|n|k|ɒ|k}}; born 2 August 1950) is a British non-fiction author and journalist who promotes <!--This is NPOV. Do not change it to softer words (e.g., unconventional) or it will be reverted.-->[[Pseudoscience|pseudoscientific]]{{Sfn|Fagan|2006|pp=xvi, 27-28}}{{sfn|Defant|2017}} theories involving ancient [[civilization]]s and [[lost lands]].<ref name="synop">{{cite web |year=2000 |title= Atlantis Reborn Again {programme synopsis} |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2000/atlantisrebornagain.shtml |work= Science & Nature: Horizon |publisher=[[BBC]] |access-date= 1 September 2009}}</ref> Hancock's work speculates that a [[prehistoric]] progenitor civilization gave rise to the ancient cultures of [[Egypt]], [[Mesopotamia]], and [[Mesoamerica]].<ref>"...the belief of Hancock and other writers in a lost civilisation that passed its wisdom on to ancient Egypt or the Maya repeats the theme of ''Atlantis: the antediluvian world'' popularised by [[Ignatius Donnelly]] from 1882." Kevin Greene, Tom Moore, ''Archaeology: An Introduction'', page 252 (Routledge, 2010 edition). {{ISBN|978-0-203-83597-5}}</ref>
'''Graham Bruce Hancock''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|h|æ|n|k|ɒ|k}}; born 2 August 1950) is a British author and journalist who promotes <!--This is NPOV. Do not change it to softer words (e.g., unconventional) or it will be reverted.-->[[Pseudoscience|pseudoscientific]]{{Sfn|Fagan|2006|pp=xvi, 27-28}}{{sfn|Defant|2017}} theories involving ancient [[civilization]]s and [[lost lands]].<ref name="synop">{{cite web |year=2000 |title= Atlantis Reborn Again {programme synopsis} |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2000/atlantisrebornagain.shtml |work= Science & Nature: Horizon |publisher=[[BBC]] |access-date= 1 September 2009}}</ref> Hancock's work speculates that a [[prehistoric]] progenitor civilization gave rise to the ancient cultures of [[Egypt]], [[Mesopotamia]], and [[Mesoamerica]].<ref>"...the belief of Hancock and other writers in a lost civilisation that passed its wisdom on to ancient Egypt or the Maya repeats the theme of ''Atlantis: the antediluvian world'' popularised by [[Ignatius Donnelly]] from 1882." Kevin Greene, Tom Moore, ''Archaeology: An Introduction'', page 252 (Routledge, 2010 edition). {{ISBN|978-0-203-83597-5}}</ref>


Born in [[Edinburgh]], Hancock studied sociology at [[Durham University]] before working as a journalist, writing for a number of British newspapers and magazines. His first three books dealt with [[international development]], including ''Lords of Poverty'' (1989), a well-received critique of corruption in the [[Aid|aid system]]. Beginning with ''[[The Sign and the Seal]]'' in 1992, he shifted focus to speculative theories about human [[prehistory]] and ancient civilisations, on which he has written a dozen books, most notably ''[[Fingerprints of the Gods]]'', ''[[The Message of the Sphinx]],'' and ''[[Magicians of the Gods]]''. His theories have been the subject of an episode of [[BBC Horizon|BBC ''Horizon'']] (1999) and the [[Netflix]] documentary series ''Ancient Apocalypse'' (2022), and Hancock makes regular appearances on the podcast ''[[The Joe Rogan Experience]]'' to discuss them. He has also written two [[fantasy]] novels and in 2013 delivered a controversial [[TED (conference)|TEDx]] talk promoting the recreational use of [[ayahuasca]].
Born in [[Edinburgh]], Hancock studied sociology at [[Durham University]] before working as a journalist, writing for a number of British newspapers and magazines. His first three books dealt with [[international development]], including ''Lords of Poverty'' (1989), a well-received critique of corruption in the [[Aid|aid system]]. Beginning with ''[[The Sign and the Seal]]'' in 1992, he shifted focus to speculative theories about human [[prehistory]] and ancient civilisations, on which he has written a dozen books, most notably ''[[Fingerprints of the Gods]]'', ''[[The Message of the Sphinx]],'' and ''[[Magicians of the Gods]]''. His theories have been the subject of an episode of [[BBC Horizon|BBC ''Horizon'']] (1999) and the [[Netflix]] documentary series ''Ancient Apocalypse'' (2022), and Hancock makes regular appearances on the podcast ''[[The Joe Rogan Experience]]'' to discuss them. He has also written two [[fantasy]] novels and in 2013 delivered a controversial [[TED (conference)|TEDx]] talk promoting the recreational use of [[ayahuasca]].

Revision as of 17:20, 18 November 2022

Graham Hancock
Born
Graham Bruce Hancock

(1950-08-02) 2 August 1950 (age 73)
Edinburgh, Scotland
NationalityBritish
Alma materDurham University
OccupationAuthor
Known forThe Sign and the Seal
Fingerprints of the Gods
The Message of the Sphinx
Magicians of the Gods
America Before: The Key to Earth's Lost Civilization
SpouseSantha Faiia
Websitegrahamhancock.com

Graham Bruce Hancock (/ˈhænkɒk/; born 2 August 1950) is a British author and journalist who promotes pseudoscientific[1][2] theories involving ancient civilizations and lost lands.[3] Hancock's work speculates that a prehistoric progenitor civilization gave rise to the ancient cultures of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Mesoamerica.[4]

Born in Edinburgh, Hancock studied sociology at Durham University before working as a journalist, writing for a number of British newspapers and magazines. His first three books dealt with international development, including Lords of Poverty (1989), a well-received critique of corruption in the aid system. Beginning with The Sign and the Seal in 1992, he shifted focus to speculative theories about human prehistory and ancient civilisations, on which he has written a dozen books, most notably Fingerprints of the Gods, The Message of the Sphinx, and Magicians of the Gods. His theories have been the subject of an episode of BBC Horizon (1999) and the Netflix documentary series Ancient Apocalypse (2022), and Hancock makes regular appearances on the podcast The Joe Rogan Experience to discuss them. He has also written two fantasy novels and in 2013 delivered a controversial TEDx talk promoting the recreational use of ayahuasca.

Hancock's theories about prehistory are considered pseudoarchaeology[5] or pseudohistory[6] because he cherry picks and/or misrepresents evidence to fit a preconceived conclusion and ignores the historical context of finds and documents.[7] His writings have never undergone scholarly peer review or been published in academic journals.[8]

Early life and education

Graham Bruce Hancock was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He moved with his parents to India at the age of three, where his father worked as a surgeon. Having returned to the UK, he graduated from Durham University in 1973, receiving a First Class Honours degree in sociology.[9][10]

Career

As a journalist, Hancock worked for many British papers, such as The Times, The Sunday Times, The Independent, and The Guardian. He co-edited New Internationalist magazine from 1976 to 1979, and was the East Africa correspondent of The Economist from 1981 to 1983.[9]

Prior to 1990, Hancock's works dealt mainly with problems of economic and social development. Since 1990, his works have focused mainly on speculative connections he makes between various archaeological, historical, and cross-cultural phenomena.[citation needed]

His books include Lords of Poverty, The Sign and the Seal, Fingerprints of the Gods, Keeper of Genesis (released in the US as Message of the Sphinx), The Mars Mystery, Heaven's Mirror (with wife Santha Faiia), Underworld: The Mysterious Origins of Civilization, and Talisman: Sacred Cities, Secret Faith (with co-author Robert Bauval). In 1996, he appeared in The Mysterious Origins of Man.[11] He also wrote and presented the documentaries Underworld: Flooded Kingdoms of the Ice Age (2002) and Quest for the Lost Civilisation (1998)[12] shown on Channel 4.

In Hancock's book Talisman: Sacred Cities, Secret Faith,[13] co-authored with Robert Bauval, the two put forward what sociologist of religion David V. Barrett called "a version of the old Jewish-Masonic plot so beloved by ultra-right-wing conspiracy theorists."[14] They suggest a connection between the pillars of Solomon's Temple and the Twin Towers, and between the Star of David and The Pentagon.[15] A contemporary review of Talisman by David V. Barrett for The Independent pointed to a lack of originality as well as basic factual errors, concluding that it was "a mish-mash of badly-connected, half-argued theories".[16] In a 2008 piece for The Telegraph referencing Talisman, Damian Thompson described Hancock and Bauval as fantasists.[15]

Hancock's Supernatural: Meetings With the Ancient Teachers of Mankind, was published in the UK in October 2005 and in the US in 2006. In it, Hancock examines paleolithic cave art in the light of David Lewis-Williams' neuropsychological model, exploring its relation to the development of the fully modern human mind.[citation needed]

In 2015, his Magicians of the Gods: The Forgotten Wisdom of Earth's Lost Civilization was published by St. Martin's Press.[citation needed]

His first novel, Entangled: The Eater of Souls, the first in a fantasy series, was published in the UK in April 2010 and in the US in October 2010. The novel makes use of Hancock's prior research interests and as he has noted, "What was there to lose, I asked myself, when my critics already described my factual books as fiction?"[citation needed]

Pseudoarchaeology

In Archaeological Fantasies Garrett G. Fagan points out that pseudoarchaeologists cherry pick evidence and misrepresent known facts. When apparently factual claims in their works are investigated it turns out that "quotes are presented out of context, critical countervailing data is withheld, the state of understanding is misrepresented, or critical archaeological information about context is ignored".[17] Fagan gives two typical examples from Hancock's book Fingerprints of the Gods (1995):[18]

  • Hancock wrote that "the best recent evidence suggests that"[19] large regions of Antarctica may have been ice-free until about 6,000 years ago, referring to the Piri Reis map and Hapgood's work from the 1960s. What is left entirely unmentioned are the extensive studies of the Antarctic ice sheet by George H. Denton, published in 1981, which showed the ice to be hundreds of thousands of years old.[20][21]
  • When discussing the ancient Bolivian city of Tiwanaku, Hancock presents it as a "mysterious site about which very little is known"[22] and that "minimal archaeology has been done over the years",[22] suggesting that it may date to 17,000 years ago. Yet in the years prior to these statements dozens of studies had been published, major excavations were conducted and the site was radiocarbon dated by three sets of samples to around 1500 BC.[23]

Orion correlation theory

Main article: Orion correlation theory
Representation of the central tenet of the OCT – the outline of the Giza pyramids superimposed over a photograph of the stars in Orion's Belt. To achieve this concordance the pyramids have been rotated and scaled to suit. The validity of this match has been called into question by Hancock's critics, as noted in the text.

One of the many recurring themes in several of Hancock's works has been an exposition on the Orion correlation theory (OCT),[24][25] supported by Belgian writer Robert Bauval and then further expounded in collaborative works with Hancock, as well as in their separate publications. OCT posits that there is a correlation between the location of the three largest pyramids of the Giza pyramid complex and Orion's Belt of the constellation Orion, as intended as such by the original builders of the Giza pyramid complex.[citation needed]

BBC Horizon programme

BBC Two's Horizon TV series broadcast a programme, Atlantis Reborn, on 4 November 1999 that challenged the ideas presented by Hancock. It detailed one of Hancock's Archaeoastronomomical views that the arrangement of an ancient temple complex was designed to mirror astronomical features and attempted to demonstrate that the same thing could be done with perhaps equal justification using famous landmarks in New York. It also alleged that Hancock had selectively moved or ignored the locations of some of the temples to fit his own theories (see below).[3]

Hancock said he was misrepresented by the programme, and he and Robert Bauval made complaints to the Broadcasting Standards Commission against the way Horizon had portrayed them and their work. Eight points were raised by Hancock, two by Bauval (one of which duplicated a complaint of Hancock's).[26] These included the complaint that:

The programme had created the impression that he [Hancock] was an intellectual fraudster who had put forward half-baked theories and ideas in bad faith, and that he was incompetent to defend his own arguments. Adjudication: [The Commission] finds no unfairness to Mr Hancock in these matters.[27]

The BSC dismissed all but one of the complaints. Overall, the BSC concluded that "the programme makers acted in good faith in their examination of the theories of Mr Hancock and Mr Bauval".[28] The complaint which was upheld was that

The programme unfairly omitted one of their arguments in rebuttal of a speaker who criticised the theory of a significant correlation between the Giza pyramids and the belt stars of the constellation Orion (the "correlation theory").[29]

which the Commission did find to be unfair. That speaker was the astronomer Edwin Krupp. Krupp argued that Bauval had fudged the maps of Orion and the Pyramids by placing them upside down in terms of stellar directionality to make the theory work.[3] The BBC was not obligated to do more than broadcast an apology for the single point of unfairness but made a decision to modify the Orion sequence to demonstrate that the overall argument of the film remained intact.[citation needed]

In Atlantis Reborn Again, shown on 14 December 2000, Hancock and Bauval provided further rebuttals to Krupp and argued that the ancient Egyptians had made the Pyramids correlate with the three stars of Orion's Belt. However, the documentary as a whole continued to present serious doubts about Hancock's views, demonstrating as an example how, by using his methods, the constellation of Leo may be discovered among landmarks of modern Manhattan, concluding: "As long as you have enough points and you don't need to make every point fit, you can find virtually any pattern you want."[30]

Ancient Apocalypse (2022)

Hancock's theories are the basis of the Netflix series Ancient Apocalypse, which was released on 10 November 2022. At Netflix, Hancock's son Sean is "senior manager of unscripted originals".[31] This series incorporates ideas from the Comet Research Group (CRG), including the controversial Younger Dryas impact hypothesis, which attributes climate change at the end of the Pleistocene to a massive impact of extraterrestrial objects.[32]

According to Courrier international, it is dubious that Hancock's assertions are never questioned on screen: in Ancient Apocalypse, he calls the archaeologists "pseudo-experts" and repeats that they treat him patronizingly, but he never quotes their names nor their arguments.[33] A journalist from The Daily Telegraph, says that the theories presented by Hancock in the series do not fully convince him, and he recalls that they are judged "implausible" by the academics. He points out that "The conventional account of our deep past [...] is almost certainly wrong. But that doesn’t mean Graham’s alternate account is therefore true."[34]

Other media appearances

Hancock gave a TEDx lecture titled "The War on Consciousness", in which he described his use of ayahuasca, an Amazonian brew containing a hallucinogenic compound DMT, and argued that adults should be allowed to responsibly use it for self-improvement and spiritual growth. At the recommendation of TED's Science Board, the lecture was removed from the TEDx YouTube channel and moved to TED's main website where it "can be framed to highlight both [Hancock's] provocative ideas and the factual problems with [his] arguments".[35]

Hancock has appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast several times.[36]

In popular culture

In 2009, Roland Emmerich released his blockbuster disaster movie 2012, citing Fingerprints of the Gods in the credits as an inspiration for the film,[37] stating: "I always wanted to do a biblical flood movie, but I never felt I had the hook. I first read about the Earth's Crust Displacement Theory in Graham Hancock's Fingerprints of the Gods."[38]

Works

Books

  • Hancock, Graham (1985). Ethiopia: The Challenge of Hunger. London: V. Gollancz. ISBN 0-575-03680-X.
  • Hancock, Graham; Enver Carim (1986). AIDS: The Deadly Epidemic. London: V. Gollancz. ISBN 0-575-03837-3.
  • Hancock, Graham (1989). Lords of Poverty: The Power, Prestige, and Corruption of the International Aid Business. Boston: Atlantic Monthly Press. ISBN 0-87113-253-2.
  • Hancock, Graham (1992). The Sign and the Seal: The Quest for the Lost Ark of the Covenant. New York: Crown. ISBN 0-517-57813-1.
  • Hancock, Graham (1995). Fingerprints of the Gods: The Evidence of Earth's Lost Civilization. New York: Crown Publishers. ISBN 0-517-59348-3.
  • Hancock, Graham; Robert Bauval (1996). The Message of the Sphinx: A Quest for the Hidden Legacy of Mankind. New York: Crown Publishers. ISBN 0-517-70503-6. Published in the United Kingdom as Hancock, Graham; Robert Bauval (1996). Keeper of Genesis: A Quest for the Hidden Legacy of Mankind. London: Heinemann. ISBN 0-434-00302-6.
  • Hancock, Graham (1998). The Mars Mystery: A Tale of the End of Two Worlds. London: Michael Joseph. ISBN 0-7181-4314-0.
  • Hancock, Graham; Santha Faiia (1998). Heaven's Mirror: Quest for the Lost Civilization. New York: Crown Publishers. ISBN 0-517-70811-6.
  • Hancock, Graham; Faiia, Santha (2001). Fingerprints of the Gods: The Quest Continues (New Updated ed.). New York: Crown Century. ISBN 0-7126-7906-5.
  • Hancock, Graham (2002). Underworld: The Mysterious Origins of Civilization. New York: Crown. ISBN 1-4000-4612-2.
  • Hancock, Graham; Robert Bauval (2004). Talisman: Sacred Cities, Secret Faith. Tisbury: Element Books. ISBN 0-00-719036-0.
  • Hancock, Graham (2005). Supernatural: Meeting with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind. London: Century. ISBN 1-84413-681-7.
  • Hancock, Graham (2010). Entangled: The Eater of Souls. New York: The Disinformation Company. ISBN 978-1-934708-56-9.[39]
  • Hancock, Graham (2013). War God: Nights of the Witch. Coronet. ISBN 978-1-444734-37-9.
  • Hancock, Graham (2015). Magicians of the Gods: The Forgotten Wisdom of Earth's Lost Civilisation. Coronet. ISBN 978-1444779677.
  • Hancock, Graham (2019). America Before: The Key to Earth's Lost Civilization. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 9781250243737.

Video

  • Michael Palin's Pole to Pole – Crossing the Line (EP 5) (1992)
  • Quest for the Lost Civilization – Acorn Media (1998)
  • Atlantis Reborn Again – BBC Horizon (2000)
  • Earth Pilgrims – Earth Pilgrims Inc. (2010)
  • "The War on Consciousness" – TEDx (2013)

References

  1. ^ Fagan 2006, pp. xvi, 27–28.
  2. ^ Defant 2017.
  3. ^ a b c "Atlantis Reborn Again {programme synopsis}". Science & Nature: Horizon. BBC. 2000. Retrieved 1 September 2009.
  4. ^ "...the belief of Hancock and other writers in a lost civilisation that passed its wisdom on to ancient Egypt or the Maya repeats the theme of Atlantis: the antediluvian world popularised by Ignatius Donnelly from 1882." Kevin Greene, Tom Moore, Archaeology: An Introduction, page 252 (Routledge, 2010 edition). ISBN 978-0-203-83597-5
  5. ^ Fagan 2006, pp. xvi.
  6. ^ Fritze 2009, pp. 214–218.
  7. ^ Fagan 2006, pp. 27–28.
  8. ^ Regal 2009.
  9. ^ a b "Biography". Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  10. ^ "Durham University gazette, XX". reed.dur.ac.uk. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  11. ^ Thomas, Dave (March 1996). "NBC's Origins Show". Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Archived from the original on 3 February 2007. Retrieved 19 February 2007.
  12. ^ "Quest for the Lost Civilization" – via www.imdb.com.
  13. ^ London: Michael Joseph, 2004. ISBN 0-7181-4315-9
  14. ^ Barrett, David V (19 August 2004). "Talisman: Sacred Cities, Secret Faith". The Independent.
  15. ^ a b Thompson, Damian (12 January 2008). "How Da Vinci Code tapped pseudo-fact hunger". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  16. ^ Barrett, David V (18 August 2004). "Talisman: sacred cities, secret faith, by Graham Hancock & Robert Bauval". The Independent. Archived from the original on 12 August 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  17. ^ Fagan 2006, p. 36.
  18. ^ Fagan 2006, p. 35–36.
  19. ^ Hancock 1995, p. 14.
  20. ^ Denton (1981). The Last Great Ice Sheets. ISBN 978-0471060062.
  21. ^ Fagan 2006, p. 35.
  22. ^ a b Hancock & Faiia 2001, p. xxii.
  23. ^ Fagan 2006, p. 35-36.
  24. ^ Graham Hancock, Santha Faiia.Heaven's Mirror: Quest For The Lost Civilization (London: Michael Joseph, 1998). ISBN 0-7181-4332-9
  25. ^ Glenn Kreisberg (editor), Lost Knowledge of the Ancients: A Graham Hancock Reader (Bear & Company, 2010). ISBN 978-1-59143-117-6
  26. ^ "Horizon: Atlantis Reborn and the Broadcasting Standards Commission". Science & Nature: Horizon. BBC. 2000. Retrieved 1 September 2009.
  27. ^ Broadcasting Standards Commission (2000). "Synopsis of adjudication: Horizon: Atlantis Reborn (November 4th 1999)" (reproduced at BBC Online). Science & Nature: Horizon. BBC. Retrieved 1 September 2009.
  28. ^ Broadcasting Standards Commission (30 November 2000). "Fairness Complaints" (PDF online reproduction). The Bulletin. 37. London: Broadcasting Standards Commission: 1–3. Retrieved 1 September 2009.
  29. ^ "Broadcasting Standards Commission - Synopsis of adjudication. Horizon: Atlantis Reborn (November 4th 1999)". British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  30. ^ Atlantis Reborn Again BBC documentary transcript
  31. ^ Moore, Kasey (17 October 2022). "Ancient Apocalypse: Graham Hancock to Present Netflix Original Docuseries". What's on Netflix. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  32. ^ Ogden, Leslie Evans (1 April 2018). "Hot Theory About Cool Event". Natural History. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
  33. ^ Courrier international, 16 novembre 2022, https://www.courrierinternational.com/article/netflix-a-l-aube-de-notre-histoire-faut-il-croire-ce-que-raconte-graham-hancock)
  34. ^ Sam Kriss, The Telegraph, London (UK), Tuesday, November 15, 2022, "Why Graham Hancock thinks everything we know about human prehistory is wrong", https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/ancient-apocalypse-netflix-why-graham-hancock-thinks-everything/
  35. ^ "News TEDx – Open for discussion: Graham Hancock and Rupert Sheldrake from TEDx Whitechapel", TED Blog, 14 March 2013, retrieved 28 December 2016
  36. ^ "Joe Rogan (Podcast Site)". Joe Rogan (Podcast Site). Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  37. ^ "2012 (2009) – Credit List" (PDF). chicagoscifi.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 March 2012. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
  38. ^ Jenkins, David (16 November 2009). "Roland Emmerich's guide to disaster movies". Time Out. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
  39. ^ "The Big Idea: Graham Hancock". scalzi.com. 15 October 2010.

Works cited

Further reading

External links

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