November 11, 2022, Netflix released a new eight-episode documentary featuring journalist and author Graham Hancock traveling around the globe attempting to find evidence to support his pseudoarchaeological hypothesis about ancient civilizations dating back to the first Ice Age. 

Although this documentary is produced very well, the problem lies with Hancock promoting the ideology of pseudoarchaeology instead of correct, accurate archeology. Pseudoarchaeology is not encouraged because, unlike real archeology or anthropology, it encourages large unrelated topics to be misinterpreted or misrepresented and allows claims to be made on faulty bases. 

Hancock has been known for provoking historians with his pseudoscientific theories since 1995 with his most notable novel release, Fingerprints of the Gods. Since then, Hancock has released several books, been a part of many documentaries, and welcomed onto an assortment of podcasts. 

Although, his most recent media appearance has struck up quite the controversy—an eight-episode Netflix documentary that was released on November 11, 2022, and has caused an uproar in the archeological community, Ancient Apocalypse. 

This new piece of pseudoarchaeology displayed through media is dangerous because it twists factual anthropological evidence and convinces modern society that ancient civilizations weren’t capable of doing anything without extraterrestrial assistance. 

As well, Hancock’s entire evidence he uses throughout the documentary is based on unjustified slights in the archeology field.

“[If everyone is] willing to look back beyond the artificial horizons that archeology sets, then the myth at once begins to make sense, not as a fanciful account of imagined events,” Hancock said,

Also, he uses myths and legends from multivarious cultures to try to aid his hypothesis.

“Folk stories, legends, myths,” Hancock said, “These for me are all important evidence,” 

Furthermore, it should be reiterated that Hancock is only a journalist, and continues to remind his audience of that.

“If you look me up on Wikipedia, you’ll find that I am described as a pseudo-archaeologist or a pseudoscientist.” Hancock said, “I find this frankly absurd, I’m an investigative reporter.” Proving that while Hancock’s theories are captivating and thought-provoking, they hold no true merit due to his lack of expertise within the field 

From this, it can be determined that even though Hancock’s documentary series argues in favor of pseudoarchaeology, because of his unresolved hypothesis that an advanced society was wiped out by the Great Flood during the time of the Ice Age. 

As well, as his constant use of inconclusive evidence and uneducated guesses of how this mythical progressive culture lived, where they resided, and what they cherished in their community. 

Moreover, it is indisputable that Hancock’s argument is fully pseudoarchaeology and holds no value due to his lack of knowledge and experience with the archaeological field.