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Are there lost pyramids in Bosnia? Probably not.
For several years now, European archaeologists have been in a furor over a supposed lost civilization in Bosnia that built the biggest pyramids in the world. Scholars have dismissed the claims, made by Bosnian-American businessman Semir Osmanagic, as pseudoscience, yet he's getting funding from the Bosnian government and was just granted permission to excavate over the objections of the country's archaeological establishment.
Osmanagic is convinced a large hill overlooking the town of Visoko near the Bosnian capital Sarajevo is a pyramid from an lost civilization dating to about 12,000 years ago, when the region was experiencing the Ice Age. The hill is indeed roughly pyramid-shaped, at least the half that faces the town. The other half is a bit lumpy. In fact, if you look at it with Google Earth, it doesn't look like a pyramid at all. Geologists say it's a natural formation and that there are several like it in the region; Osmanagic says many of those hills are pyramids too.
To prove his point Osmanagic set up the "Archaeological Park: Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun" and since 2005 has been fighting for permission to excavate. The permit was granted, but then it was revoked for fear the excavations could damage an existing archaeological site on the top of the hill. This is a medieval fort with Roman foundations built atop a Neolithic settlement. Now permission has been granted again and the work will continue.
A victory for independent science against the narrow vision of academia? Not necessarily.
Looking at the photos on Osmanagic's website on the pyramids in Bosnia, I don't see anything indicating there's a pyramid there. Most of the supposedly worked stone looks like other natural formations I've seen, the so-called "secret tunnels" could be from any era, and the few examples of obviously worked stone could just as easily be medieval. In fact, Byzantine records say there was a town here in the Middle Ages and it has not been found. The Bosnian pyramid team may be destroying a real archaeological site in order to create a fake one.
Some of Osmanagic's actions seem a bit fishy too. He claimed to have assembled a team of experts to work on the site and give him advice, including famous Egyptologist Dr. Zahi Hawass, but many of them said they had never agreed to work on the site. Some of them said Osmanagic never even contacted them.
In an angry letter to Archaeology Magazine, Dr. Hawass wrote, "The discoverer of the "pyramid" in Bosnia, Semir Osmanagic, who claims that a hill near the Bosnia River is a man-made structure built before the end of the last Ice Age, is not a specialist on pyramids. His previous claim that the Maya are from the Pleiades and Atlantis should be enough for any educated reader."
The claim has certainly created a tourist industry in the previously sleepy town, and it's sparking interest in Bosnia's past. So where's the harm?
In an article in Science, Bosnian archaeologists lamented that funding and attention were going to the fanciful pyramid theory while the nation's real heritage remains underfunded and underprotected. Some have even reported being threatened for speaking out against the project. The Bosnian Pyramids have become a matter of national pride for a nation still feeling the wounds of the bitter war of the 1990s. Osmanagic has made Bosnia the cradle of civilization, or as he terms it, "supercivilization".
This is the sort of nationalistic chest-thumping that got the Balkans into trouble in the first place. Osmanagic is playing with fire.
In an angry letter to Archaeology Magazine, Dr. Hawass wrote, "The discoverer of the "pyramid" in Bosnia, Semir Osmanagic, who claims that a hill near the Bosnia River is a man-made structure built before the end of the last Ice Age, is not a specialist on pyramids. His previous claim that the Maya are from the Pleiades and Atlantis should be enough for any educated reader."
The claim has certainly created a tourist industry in the previously sleepy town, and it's sparking interest in Bosnia's past. So where's the harm?
In an article in Science, Bosnian archaeologists lamented that funding and attention were going to the fanciful pyramid theory while the nation's real heritage remains underfunded and underprotected. Some have even reported being threatened for speaking out against the project. The Bosnian Pyramids have become a matter of national pride for a nation still feeling the wounds of the bitter war of the 1990s. Osmanagic has made Bosnia the cradle of civilization, or as he terms it, "supercivilization".
This is the sort of nationalistic chest-thumping that got the Balkans into trouble in the first place. Osmanagic is playing with fire.
Filed under: History, Learning, Europe, Bosnia-Herzegovina
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
allen Jan 22nd 2012 11:31PM
ICE AGE REFUGE MATERIAL
Taff Jan 24th 2012 11:47AM
If this is a real Pyramid and the seat of a real supercivilization then obviously a great deal of desk-based work and non-intrusive survey will need to be done before the first spade is sunk into the ground. If it is being funded, then such work will reveal details of real archaeology as well. It is a shame though that the powers-that-be have decided that a charlatan is more worthy of support than those who really know their beans.
Despite the circumstances - not long out of a terrible conflict, need to attract tourists and their money etc - this is incredible. The year is 2012. The science of archaeolgy is well grounded. This schmuck Osmanagic just wants to dig holes. Go and play in your sand pit and don't come out until you are grown up.
dave Jan 27th 2012 4:17PM
let them dig. why is acedemia (and opinion piece writers) so narrow minded. if there is nothing there, let them dig. its odd so many people would rather sit around and discuss that this scientist said this, this one said that, no one ever wants to get off their butt and find out the truth. if it is a medival fort or something they will find that out as well. i could go on and on but i will just go ahead and prove me point, go google the images of some of the mayan pyramids before excavation, look alot like normal hills but when they did some work they found structures and in that case entire pyramids. a great example is the mayan pyramid of the moon, check out the before and after pictures.
P T M Apr 30th 2012 6:18PM
Are there lost pyramids in Bosnia? No, seems to me they have been found. For instance, consider the ridicule. Schopenhauer would say we have at least reason to believe these pyramids are real. Sure, there are natural pyramids, but they don't look like the picture above, not at all. So, my question to the author and the naysayers: any proof to back up your ridicule and and can you offer even one decent reason for your total lack of professionalism? Instead of investigation, instead of scientific inquiry, we get statements like, "The Bosnian pyramid team may be destroying a real archaeological site in order to create a fake one." So wait, there could be something there BUT it can't be what it looks like? That is a seriously bigoted statement.
I don't care who likes it and who doesn't, the empirical evidence that these pyramids are real is mounting; the onus is on the people who say it's not man-made to present evidence that backs up their claims; statements like this "This is the sort of nationalistic chest-thumping that got the Balkans into trouble in the first place. Osmanagic is playing with fire." Proves nothing, adds nothing, but aside from it being total garbage, it's completely contradictory to another preposterous statement, "Bosnian archaeologists lamented that funding and attention were going to the fanciful pyramid theory while the nation's real heritage remains underfunded and underprotected."
So who is playing with fire? because it sounds to me the Bosnian archeologist's statements are the "the sort of nationalistic chest-thumping that got the Balkans into trouble in the first place," Definitely more than calling people who built perhaps largest stone structure (which moden civilization cannot reproduce) a super-civilization.
Mark Jun 4th 2012 5:03AM
Unfortunately for the author of this article, I actually did some real research into the subject of these Bosnian Pyramids. Youtube as usual proved to be a fantastic resource. After seeing the documentary and physical proof of these Pyramids it became clear that many nay sayers around the world simply lack the credibility to understand the concept that there are pyramids all over our planet. These being the latest discovery to rewrite modern science and therein lies the rub....rewriting history. I suspect that the author of this article simply doesn't want throw away his misled belief system in favor of actually using some common sense. So do us all a favor before dismissing something and investigate before coming to poor conclusions.
Mark Sep 17th 2012 2:09AM
Interesting difference a few months make...
Swedentruth Oct 4th 2012 6:56PM
I have a strong feeling, (well it's not just a feeling anymore) that science and SCIENTISTS are in it for the money. I have done some armature research in different kinds of fields and found out that they will hold on to their findings year after year, even long after their initial thesis have been proven wrong. They just change the "direction" and start all over again. This is obvious in Life science/biotech companies.
And recently i have found the same pattern in other fields of science to! Remember that they are payed by someone to prove something that the "someone" earns big money on!
"Seeing is believing" is unfortunately not a true saying anymore! Fraudulent movies are very common and you only need to do a quick search at Patents to understand that ther's programs and hardware sinc 90s where it's almost impossible to see what is fact or fiction!
So even if Bosnian pyramids looks convincing i will need to see it with my own eyes before i can really believe it!
But remember that about 500,000 persons have been at the site, and if it was a fraud the truth would surely by now been uncovered!
I know we have a ruling elite that fucks us up all the time, and i also know that 80% of humans have absolute not a clue about what's happening!
I see it every day on the stock market were people throw away their spendings on fraudulent companies every day! And those that are supposed to control this don't do anything to stop it. THEY F.ing PROMOTE IT!!
How ever its an absolute scandal that archeologists and all other scientists have no interest in finding out for them selves if the pyramids are real or no!
And their lack of interest also tells me they are afraid that it might be a real pyramid site we have here!
They are afraid for a number of different reasons!
1 They have invested their reputation!
2 They are a part of the coverup!
3 Their founders puts pressure on them to keep the coverup!
4 They are as fooled of this system that needs to be uncovered so they can't think outside the box!
5 They are afraid of the consequences! We are made slaves!!
I'm sure that we are not getting the truth from officials regarding the human evolution. And it's as false as 9/11 that was a false Flagg operation where the scientific method will prove that the official theory is false!
You only need to research for 3-4 hours to find that out, but most scientist are in the coverup or forced to stay out by the ruling Elite that wants war and misery on earth to keep humans as scared slaves!!
But the Elite is getting worried because of a growing truth movement that will start to gain real attention soon!!
Let's hope it isn't to late and that those that deserve punishment gets it real good!!!
Daniel Oct 7th 2012 10:33AM
You guys are all kidding, right? He has found absolutely no evidence of human habitation during the Ice Age, or even the bronze age for that matter and he's been at it for 6 years.
The only thing he has uncovered are supposed worked stones that seem to make up a street that, like the author has said, could have been built and buried at any time.
And more than that, this is not an archaeologist saying he's found evidence of the world's oldest pyramid in Europe. This is just some business guy. Some business guy who has absolutely no credibility. He has yet to have an expert verify any of his findings, yet he assembled this crack team of them. How come it is that every expert he brings out says they've never been to the site, or even been contacted by him for that matter?
To real archaeologists, this would be the finding of a lifetime (if it were really a finding at all), and regardless of their bias, they would be chomping at the bit to get a chance to verify it. But then again, real archaeologists know what they're doing, and have no reason to believe this is more than a hoax.
We've just barely learned in the last 10 years that humans had massive civilizations during the last ice age. We don't need to go muddling it all up with some crackpot theories about the 4 of the worlds largest (and allegedly oldest) pyramids are found in southeast Europe.
Where is his evidence? Where are his artifacts? Where is ANY evidence that this "super-civilization" ever even existed? A group of people that created the largest stone structures known to man would leave behind SOME evidence that they were there. Where are their homes? Where are their market places? Surely, a culture this advanced didn't sleep on the dirt under the stars.
And more than that, the thing only looks like a pyramid from two angles. I know the media loves to show you the one side that looks like a pyramid so you'll buy into it, but have you ever seen the backside? It's sloped, and uneven, and hilly...like, well, a hill.
Taylor Mar 29th 2013 7:03AM
I love how stupid everyone is, even contemplating that this "isnt" real.... why are human beings so retarded and ignorant? Its not up for debate if it's a hill or a pyramid... whats up for debate is the carbon dating and how old this pyramid is. And what civilization built this beast... because they already have Runes from Norse and Germanic tribes from 4000 yrs ago .... when they closed the tunnels. People wake up and quit being so stupid...lol this thing is here and not leaving. This thing is science, not theory and.... whoever thinks this is a hill is completly ready to pick up their wall-mart shoppers club card to save the world.
daan Apr 27th 2013 2:42PM
The nationalism and superstition in those area's is stunning and a big hinderence to real science. Osmanagic can dig all he want, but should not be state funded. At best he is digging at a mediaeval stone mine on the slopes of these hills.
And if they really are pyramids, they are the most crooked and lopsided pyramids in the world.