full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Sarah Kurnick: "Aliens built the pyramids" and other absurdities of pseudo-archaeology

Unscramble the Blue Letters


It's comomn to hear pseudoarcheologists claim that groups like the aicennt eantigyps or the ancient Maya accomplished incredible things, but only with the help of outside groups, like aliens or people from Atlantis. What you rarely hear is pseudoarcheologists claiming that, say, rmanos had help building the Colosseum or that Greeks had help building the Parthenon. Why is that? For pseudoarcheologists Europeans could have accomplished their feats on their own, but non-Europeans must have had outside guidance. Claims like these are not just outrageous. They are offensive. Here and in so many other itenacnss, pseudoarcheology sustains myths of white srucepamy, disparages non-Europeans and discredits their ancestors' achievements.

Open Cloze


It's ______ to hear pseudoarcheologists claim that groups like the _______ _________ or the ancient Maya accomplished incredible things, but only with the help of outside groups, like aliens or people from Atlantis. What you rarely hear is pseudoarcheologists claiming that, say, ______ had help building the Colosseum or that Greeks had help building the Parthenon. Why is that? For pseudoarcheologists Europeans could have accomplished their feats on their own, but non-Europeans must have had outside guidance. Claims like these are not just outrageous. They are offensive. Here and in so many other _________, pseudoarcheology sustains myths of white _________, disparages non-Europeans and discredits their ancestors' achievements.

Solution


  1. romans
  2. ancient
  3. common
  4. supremacy
  5. instances
  6. egyptians

Original Text


It's common to hear pseudoarcheologists claim that groups like the ancient Egyptians or the ancient Maya accomplished incredible things, but only with the help of outside groups, like aliens or people from Atlantis. What you rarely hear is pseudoarcheologists claiming that, say, Romans had help building the Colosseum or that Greeks had help building the Parthenon. Why is that? For pseudoarcheologists Europeans could have accomplished their feats on their own, but non-Europeans must have had outside guidance. Claims like these are not just outrageous. They are offensive. Here and in so many other instances, pseudoarcheology sustains myths of white supremacy, disparages non-Europeans and discredits their ancestors' achievements.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
ancient maya 3
public monuments 3
erich von 2
maya area 2
ancient aliens 2


Important Words


  1. accomplished
  2. achievements
  3. aliens
  4. ancient
  5. atlantis
  6. building
  7. claim
  8. claiming
  9. claims
  10. colosseum
  11. common
  12. discredits
  13. disparages
  14. egyptians
  15. europeans
  16. feats
  17. greeks
  18. groups
  19. guidance
  20. hear
  21. incredible
  22. instances
  23. maya
  24. myths
  25. offensive
  26. outrageous
  27. parthenon
  28. people
  29. pseudoarcheologists
  30. pseudoarcheology
  31. rarely
  32. romans
  33. supremacy
  34. sustains
  35. white