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Out-of-place artifact

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File:Antikythera Fragment A (Front).webp
Gear of the Antikythera mechanism, a mechanical computer from the 2nd century BCE showing a previously unknown level of complexity

An out-of-place artifact (OOPArt or oopart) is an artifact of historical, archaeological, or paleontological interest to someone that is claimed to have been found in an unusual context, which someone claims to challenge conventional historical chronology by its presence in that context. Some people might think that those artifacts are too advanced for the technology known to have existed at the time, or that human presence existed at a time before humans are known to have existed. Other people might hypothesize about a contact between different cultures that is hard to account for with conventional historical understanding.

This description of archaeological objects is used in fringe science such as cryptozoology, as well as by proponents of ancient astronaut theories, young Earth creationists, and paranormal enthusiasts.<ref name="Olshin2019">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Salon"/> It can describe a wide variety of items, from anomalies studied by mainstream science to pseudoarchaeology to objects that have been shown to be hoaxes or to have conventional explanations.

Critics argue that most purported OOPArts which are not hoaxes are the result of mistaken interpretation and wishful thinking, such as a mistaken belief that a particular culture could not have created an artifact or technology due to a lack of knowledge or materials. In some cases, the uncertainty results from inaccurate descriptions. For example, the cuboid Wolfsegg Iron is not a perfect cube, nor are the Klerksdorp spheres perfect spheres. The Iron pillar of Delhi was said to be "rust proof", but it has some rust near its base; its relative resistance to corrosion is due to slag inclusions left over from the manufacturing conditions and environmental factors.<ref name="NewInsights">Template:Cite book</ref>

Supporters regard OOPArts as evidence that mainstream science is overlooking huge areas of knowledge, either willfully or through ignorance.<ref name="Salon">Template:Cite news</ref> Many writers or researchers who question conventional views of human history have used purported OOPArts in attempts to bolster their arguments.<ref name="Salon"/> Creation science often relies on allegedly anomalous finds in the archaeological record to challenge scientific chronologies and models of human evolution.<ref name="StrombergOthers2004a">Template:Cite journal</ref> Claimed OOPArts have been used to support religious descriptions of prehistory, ancient astronaut theories, and the notion of vanished civilizations that possessed knowledge or technology more advanced than that known in modern times.<ref name="Salon"/>

Unusual artifactsEdit

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> If Vikings did indeed visit Maine, a much greater number and variety of Viking artifacts might be expected in the archaeological record there.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Of the nearly 20,000 objects found over a 15-year period at the Goddard Site, the coin was the sole non-native artifact.Template:Cn

File:Tamilbell1.JPG
The Tamil Bell is a broken bronze bell used as a cooking pot by Māori women of New Zealand.
  • The Tamil bell is a broken bronze bell with an inscription of old Tamil. The bell is a mystery due to its discovery in New Zealand by a missionary. Although nobody knows for certain how the bell came to New Zealand, one possible theory suggests that it was left by Portuguese sailors who had acquired it from Tamil traders. Prior to being discovered by the missionary, local Māori had used it as a cooking pot. Given that it was supposedly discovered generations earlier, the artifact's exact origins could not be identified. The bell is now located at the National Museum of New Zealand.<ref name="TamilBellTheory">Template:Cite journal</ref>
  • Coins from Marchinbar Island: Five coins from the Kilwa Sultanate on the Swahili coast discovered on Marchinbar Island in the Northern Territory of Australia in 1945 alongside four coins from 18th century Netherlands. The inscriptions on the coins identify a ruling Sultan of Kilwa, but it is unclear whether the ruler was from the 10th century or the 14th century. A similar coin, also thought to be from the Medieval Kilwa sultanate, was found in Australia in 2018 on Elcho Island.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
  • Traces of cocaine and nicotine found in Egyptian mummies, which have been variously interpreted as evidence of contact between Ancient Egypt and Pre-Columbian America or as the result of contamination.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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|CitationClass=web }}</ref> The intricated engravings of the lens also led to speculation over the use of other magnifiying lens by Assyrian craftsmen.<ref name="BBC News">Template:Cite news</ref>

File:Turin shroud positive and negative displaying original color information 708 x 465 pixels 94 KB.jpg
The Shroud of Turin: modern photo of the face, positive left, digitally processed negative image right
  • The Shroud of Turin contains an image that resembles a sepia photographic negative, established by radiocarbon dating to have been produced between the years 1260 and 1390.<ref name="Radiocarbon Dating, Second Edition">Template:Cite book</ref> Mention of the shroud first appeared in historical records in 1357. The fact that the image on the shroud is much clearer when it is converted to a positive image was not discovered until Secondo Pia photographed it in 1898. The actual method that resulted in this image has not yet been conclusively identified; hypotheses about a medieval proto-photographic process, a rubbing technique, natural chemical processes or some kind of radiation have not convinced many researchers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> All hypotheses put forward to challenge the radiocarbon dating have been scientifically refuted,<ref name="Radiocarbon Dating, Second Edition" /> including the medieval repair hypothesis,<ref name="R.A. Freer-Waters, A.J.T. Jull 2010">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="freeinquiry1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="jAsd9">Template:Cite book</ref> the bio-contamination hypothesis<ref name="Gove 1990">Template:Cite journal</ref> and the carbon monoxide hypothesis.<ref name="c14.arch.ox.ac.uk">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It has traditionally been believed that the cloth is the burial shroud in which Jesus of Nazareth was wrapped after crucifixion.

Questionable interpretationsEdit

File:Ironie pile Bagdad.jpg
The three components of the Baghdad Battery

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Alternative interpretationsEdit

File:QtubIronPillar.JPG
The iron pillar of Delhi

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  • Sabu disk: a disk of notable precision apparently from ancient times in Saqqara. Its purpose is unknown.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Natural objects mistaken for artifactsEdit

File:Eltanin Antenna.jpg
Eltanin Antenna

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Erroneously dated objectsEdit

Modern-day creations, forgeries and hoaxesEdit

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File:Babylonokia.jpg
Babylonokia
  • Babylonokia: A clay tablet shaped like a mobile phone and created as an artwork in 2012. Fringe scientists and alternative archaeology proponents subsequently misrepresented a photograph of the artwork as showing an 800-year-old archaeological find. The story was popularised in a video on the YouTube channel Paranormal Crucible and led to the object being reported by some press sources as a mystery.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Ica stones: Depict Inca dinosaur-hunters, surgery, and other modern or fanciful topics. Collected by Javier Cabrera Darquea, who claimed them to be prehistoric. Later revealed to be a forgery created by a local farmer.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Kensington Runestone: A runestone purportedly unearthed in 1898 in Kensington, Minnesota entangled in the roots of a tree. Runologists have dismissed the inscription's authenticity on linguistic evidence, while geologists disagree as to whether the stone shows weathering that would indicate a medieval date.<ref name="White">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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See alsoEdit

Authors and worksEdit

ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

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