August 2, 2011
Editor
Archaeology
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Re: retraction, explanation, and apology requested for statements and omissions made by "Archaeology" regarding Bosnian archaeology

To the Editor:
Will Archaeology be printing a retraction of its categorical denials of Bosnian pyramids, which were made in its April 27, 2006 online feature article, "The Bosnia-Atlantis Connection"?

In Mark Rose's 2006 article, we find the following categorical denials of pyramids in Bosnia:

1) "Frenzied reporting of supposed pyramids in the Balkans ignores the truth and embraces the fantastic."

2) "Construction of massive pyramids in Bosnia at that period is not believable."

3) "His [discoverer Semir Osmanagić's] ideas of early pyramids in Bosnia, which is simply not possible, has been accepted as a major discovery. How could this happen?"

4) "[T]he 'Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun' is no such thing." 
Such categorical denials have no place in scientific publications, unless compelling evidence accompanies them.

Rose's article also includes statements completely outside the realm of the science, such as: "[T]he term "pyramidiot" has been applied to those obsessed with pyramids and who offer strange interpretations of them on websites and in books and television programs." Why is this sort of language necessary, and why has Archaeology not apologized for
publishing it?

It may be noted that, in subsequent years after Archaeology's outright dismissal pyramids in Visoko, Bosnia, the discovery of the Bosnian pyramid complex and of numerous artifacts, labyrinthine tunnels, and ancient inscriptions failed to make any of your publication's Top Ten Discoveries lists in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010. Perhaps a
rethinking of your lists, and an honest look at extra-scientific agendas at your publication, may be in order.

When an official retraction of the categorical denial of Bosnian pyramids is made in both your paper and online publications, Archaeology will have the opportunity to regain its estimable position as a work of science and not a work promoting secret agendas or slander.

In your retraction, it may be useful for your readers if you reference your three update articles, two of which were published in June 2006 under the titles "More on Bosnian 'Pyramids,'" and "Bosnian 'Pyramids' Update," and one of which was published in July/August 2006 under the title, "Pyramid Scheme."

It may also be useful to reference, explain, and apologize for your publication's half-decade (August 2006-August 2011) boycott of Bosnian archaeology.

I have cc'd Professor Anthony Harding, Professor of Archaeology at University of Exeter, who has written on this subject as well, and I have also cc'd the complete staff of Archaeology and the majority of the staff at the Archaeological Institute of America, as it is not unthinkable that their livelihoods may depend on your publication's dedication to the
scientific process, a process that includes objective reportage, an absence of premature conclusions, and -- it should go without saying -- an absence of name-calling.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,

Jock Doubleday
25378 Fitzgerald Ave.
Stevenson Ranch, CA 91381
U.S.A.
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cc:
Professor Anthony Harding
Professor of Archaeology
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