Review Of: "bosnian Valley of the Pyramids"

"Bosnian Valley of the Pyramids"

Through out this semester we have went over many different types of pseudo-archaeology examples. The final assignment for this class was for us to choose one book that is an example of pseudo-archaeology and review its form and its arguments. After looking through many books, I decided that "Bosnian Valley of the Pyramids" by Sam Osmanagich was the book for me. The reason why I chose this book was because it appealed to me by the sense of the title dealing with pyramids. The Egyptian and Mayan pyramids have always fascinated me, so I figured I would see what he means by Bosnian Pyramids.

To start this paper off, it is common knowledge that the only known pyramids in the world or at least the most widely known pyramids are those that are in Egypt and Mexico. The author states that on the edge of Visoko--in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 15 miles northwest of Sarajevo lies a pyramid that is called the Pyramid of the Moon. Which would be the world's largest and oldest step pyramid. In his book he also claim that looming above the opposite side of town is the so-called Pyramid of the Sun, which is also known as Visocica Hill. That pyramid stands at 720 feet, also dwarfs the Great Pyramids of Egypt. Lastly he claims that not only is there two pyramids but there is a third pyramid, which is located in the nearby hills. However he never states where this third supposed pyramid is.

The main focus of this book is the first of the three pyramids, the Pyramid of the Moon. He includes pictures of the site that he claims is a pyramid, he states that if he had came upon it in a farmers backyard then he would have assumed it to be the foundation of a shed or cottage abandoned by some 19th-century peasant. However since this pyramid is 2,000 years old, at that time much of Europe was under a mile-thick sheet of ice and most of humanity had yet to invent agriculture. So this being a foundation of a farm is impossible. A quote from the book that I found fascinating is:

"Maybe it's a burial site, and maybe it's an entrance, but I think it's some type of ornament, because this is where the western and northern sides meet...you find evidence of the stone structure everywhere. Consequently, you can conclude that the whole thing is a pyramid." (Osmanagich 2006, 4)

Osmanagich's claims have found a surprisingly receptive audience. Even Bosnian officials including a prime minister and two presidents have embraced them, along with the Sarajevo-based news media and hundreds of thousands of ordinary Bosnians, drawn to the promise of a glorious past and a more prosperous future for their battered country. Of course he would get the support of the nations leaders, who wouldn't want to find a reason to restore their nation, especially after your country has gone through what it has.

In early 2006 Osmanagich asked a team of geologists from the nearby University of Tuzla to analyze core samples at Visocica. They found that his pyramid was composed of the same matter as other mountains in the area: alternating layers of conglomerate, clay and sandstone. After hearing this any logical person would realize that this so called pyramid is just an odd shaped mountain, instead he claims that this is just the material that they had available to make the pyramid at the time. In class we went of the issue of seeing what you want to