Field Notes the Bosnian Pyramid Phenomenon

Field Notes The Bosnian Pyramid Phenomenon

Olav Hammer and Karen Swartz Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/nr/article-pdf/23/4/94/385414/nr.2020.23.4.94.pdf by guest on 27 May 2020

ABSTRACT: The Bosnian town of Visoko has in recent years become a New Age pilgrimage site. Several formations in the landscape have been branded as ancient pyramids and tunnels. These purported monuments from bygone times are administrated by a private foundation led by the Bosnian American entrepreneur Semir Osmanagic´. His claim is that the structures at Visoko were built tens of thousands of years ago by an advanced civilization that mastered a technology that enabled the concentration of healing energies. This controversial assertion is supported by invoking the supposed scientific proofs for the existence of these energies and by prominently displaying various legitimizing visual and material props. The prospect of coming into contact with the mysterious powers emanating from the site attracts numerous visitors and has led to the commodification of the pyramid and tunnel complex.

KEYWORDS: Bosnian pyramids, alternative archaeology, New Age, religious entrepreneurship, religion and science, legitimation of religion

he city of Visoko, located in central Bosnia and Herzegovina, is roughly a 45-minute trip by car from the country’s capital, T Sarajevo. It lies in the midst of a spectacular mountainous landscape and attracts tens of thousands of visitors every year. They are, however, less drawn there by the breathtaking views than they are by the so-called Bosnian Pyramids and the Ravne Tunnels.1 We chose to adorn the previous sentence with a cautious “so-called” because, as will

Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions, Volume 23, Issue 4, pages 94–110. ISSN 1092-6690 (print), 1541-8480. (electronic). © 2020 by The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. Please direct all requests for permission to photocopy or reproduce article content through the University of California Press’s Reprints and Permissions web page, https://www.ucpress.edu/journals/reprints- permissions. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/nr.2020.23.4.94.

94 Hammer and Swartz: The Bosnian Pyramid Phenomenon soon become apparent, opinions about the nature of these sites differ wildly, and various positions regarding the authenticity of these massive, and massively expanding, structures have been fought out in bitterly polemical language. Visoko has in recent years morphed into a New Age Mecca, and this Field Notes essay considers the ways in which the site is branded, legitimized, and commoditized. In late September 2019, we had the opportunity to visit Visoko and experience some of what is on offer first-hand. This exploratory journey turned out to be exceptionally fruitful and has inspired us to make plans to return in the near future for a more substantial field trip. Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/nr/article-pdf/23/4/94/385414/nr.2020.23.4.94.pdf by guest on 27 May 2020 There is an obvious nationalistic potential lying in wait in a story that casts Bosnia and Herzegovina as the site of the world’s oldest and largest pyramids. For a recently war-torn country (1992–1995), this was appar- ently a very attractive message. The nationalist (and occasionally aggres- sively chauvinistic) discourse surrounding the Visoko complex has, however, been documented and need not concern us further in what follows.2 What is perhaps most striking for the present-day visitor to the Visoko area is the way in which the so-called pyramids and tunnel com- plexes have morphed into New Age pilgrimage sites. Rather than attempting to convince a skeptical academic audience of the veracity of his archaeological claims or persuade visitors that Bosnia and Herzegovina is the cradle of human civilization, Osmanagic´andhis supporters now principally brand the complex as a place of meditation, healing, and spiritual development.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE BOSNIAN PYRAMIDS AND RAVNE TUNNELS

In 2005, Semir Osmanagic´ (b. 1960), a Bosnian American business- man who had made a career in the import-export and metal manufacturing sectors, visited Visokoanddeclaredthattwohillssitu- ated on the edge of town are in fact pyramids. He returned the follow- ing year and began exploring the two locations of interest, which he subsequently dubbed the Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun and Pyramid of theMoon.Landatthesitewaspurchased and excavations were begun largely carried out by volunteers. Financed by private funds, portions of land continue to be procured and excavated to this day. These and other activities occurring at the site are managed by the Foundation of the Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun, a non-profit organization established by Osmanagic´ in 2006 for which he continues to serve as executive director.3 The Visoko area, according to Osmanagic´’s current understanding of it, is home to several other ancient structures as well. In addition to the aforementioned Pyramid of the Sun and Pyramid of the Moon, he claims

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Photo 1: View of Visoko and the reputed Pyramid of the Sun, 13 July 2014. Courtesy of TheBIHLover and Wikimedia Commons. that two other similar structures have been discovered; these have been dubbed the Pyramid of Love and the Pyramid of the Bosnian Dragon. References are also made to various tumuli, a Temple of Mother Earth, and a vast system of underground tunnels. According to his reports, the entire complex is very ancient. Suggestions for dates of construction have been pushed back in time gradually over the years. At first, Osmanagic´ stated that the structures are 12,000 years old.4 In 2013, however, a text published online by the foundation claimed that the purported pyramids had been built 29,000 years ago, plus or minus 400 years.5 Another estimate was offered in 2018 when the newspaper Dnevni avaz printed an article in which Osmanagic´ is quoted as saying that the Pyramid of the Sun was constructed 32,000 years ago.6 The discovery of a number of large spherical boulders found at Podubravlje, another site in central Bosnia and Herzegovina managed by the same foundation, similarly requires, according to Osmanagic´, that the timeframe be pushed back, here to a vaguely formulated “tens of thousands of years” ago.7 The insistence that the Visoko hills are actually pyramids that are both much larger and much older than the Egyptian ones at Giza has, to put it mildly, not stood unchallenged.8 Geologists who have visited the area, for instance, have declared that the hills are completely natural formations that resemble any of the numerous other vaguely pyramid-

96 Hammer and Swartz: The Bosnian Pyramid Phenomenon shaped features that dot the Bosnian landscape.9 Well-understood and completely mundane processes of sedimentation, erosion, and tectonic activity have, according to these experts, created the hills, and material that Osmanagic´ identifies as an extremely durable and resistant con- crete made by an ancient civilization is dismissed by them as instead being a natural conglomerate produced by sedimentation over vast stretches of time. Mainstream archaeologists and historians similarly dismiss Osmanagic´’s claims that the Ravne tunnel complex was constructed by the same ancient civilization and that it was filled up with debris roughly 5,000 years ago by another, slightly less ancient, culture Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/nr/article-pdf/23/4/94/385414/nr.2020.23.4.94.pdf by guest on 27 May 2020 from bygone days. The conventional explanation is that the tunnels are in part mineshafts that were used from the Middle Ages until relatively recently by locals and in part the natural result of the digging carried out by Osmanagic´’s volunteers.10 Concerned voices have been raised about the risks that the excavations pose to genuine paleontological and archaeological material.11 For example, perched on the summit of the purported Pyramid of the Sun are the ruins of the fourteenth-century Visoki castle, an important structure linked to what is documentable Bosnian history. Quite unsurprisingly, Osmanagic´ and various others involved in the excavations have their own interpretations of the resistance they face from mainstream archaeologists and geologists. We experienced this first-hand at the site of the Pyramid of the Sun when we, while huddled under our flimsy umbrella, listened to our local guide eloquently reproduce three key elements of insider discourse about those who criticize the pyramid project. For instance, we were told that the antiquity of the pyramids and tunnels is disputed by people who have a vested interest in protecting the Egyptian tourist industry. Shortly afterwards, he asserted that the prospect of having our current view of history completely rewrit- ten makes conventional archaeologists blind to the facts. Additionally, before being escorted to the next point of interest on our tour, we were told that although the ruins of the Visoki castle currently serve as an obstacle standing in the way of a complete excavation of the Pyramid of the Sun, given enough time, money, and effort, it will one day in an admittedly distant future be fully unearthed. It is not our aim here to attempt to disprove Osmanagic´’s claims (an activity undertaken numerous times on various websites), but instead to discuss a particular case of what recent literature increasingly refers to as alternative archaeology. In short, one could regard the genre of alternative archaeology as a series of modern-day myths about the ancient past. The myth-like characteristics of these narratives are readily apparent if one compares the accounts of the past constructed by alternative archaeologists with such classical understandings of myth as those formulated by American folklorist and anthropologist William A. Bascom.12 Prototypical myths, according to this view, describe a time

97 Nova Religio when key cultural elements were instituted by beings who differ from us in decisive ways. For instance, Erich von Da¨niken (b. 1935), one of the best-known writers within the alternative archaeological genre, provided just such a narrative of the past when he suggested in his best- selling book Chariots of the Gods (1969) that space aliens visited the Earth long ago and provided the impetus behind some of the major high cultures of our past.13 Osmanagic´, as we shall see, attempts to rewrite history by insisting that, at a time when conventional archaeologists believe only bands of hunter-gatherers populated Europe, an advanced culture flourished and was capable of building vast monuments using Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/nr/article-pdf/23/4/94/385414/nr.2020.23.4.94.pdf by guest on 27 May 2020 technology that contemporary mainstream science does not under- stand and is unable to replicate. Writing, a cultural advance conven- tionally dated to ca. 3200 B.C.E., was supposedly known to this ancient civilization. According to our guide at the site, they had carved petro- glyphs in a “proto-runic language” into large boulders found by Osmanagic´’s crew when excavating the Ravne tunnels. First-time visitors, when entering the complex, are expected to pay for the services of a guide who has been appointed by the foundation, but after this initial visit one simply pays a fee (currently 20 Euros for a one-day pass) and enters alone.14 The initial guided tour is presented as a safety measure. However, since the staff of the foundation has no way of ascertaining whether visitors have actually been at the site before, all who enter the tunnels are required to wear hard hats, and as numerous signposts indicate the way to the exit, safety issues seem reasonably under control regardless of whether or not such tours are made compulsory. In fact, we were abandoned by our own guide who left the tunnel without checking on our whereabouts when we lagged behind for several sec- onds so we could take a photograph before moving on to the next stop on the tour. An alternative interpretation for the requirement to be accompanied on a first visit is that the detailed stories told by the guides provide at least a bare-bones shared narrative describing what the site is and what the beneficial effects of spending time there are. Within this framework, passageways that to an outside observer might give the appearance of being at least in part the result of the efforts of the many volunteers who have excavated the Ravne complex over the last years are redescribed as tunnels that were constructed by an unknown civilization roughly 30,000 years ago. Stone blocks located on the floor of the tunnel that do not seem to differ in any obvious way from the other rocks found there are presented as objects built by this ancient civilization that serve to concentrate vital energies from the earth by means of quartz crystals embedded in them. Scratch marks decorating the surfaces of some of these rocks are, as mentioned above, narratively defined as signs made by the same civilization, so-called proto-runes. The construction of a minimal shared narrative about the signifi- cance of the site is also promoted by the behavior of other visitors.

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Photo 2: Rocks in the Ravne tunnels are treated as altars where personal items can be “charged” with purported healing energies, 26 September 2019. Courtesy of Olav Hammer.

When we visited the tunnels, we happened upon small-scale healing rituals taking place at various locations offering enough room for a number of participants to be seated. We sometimes encountered individuals engaged in such activities, and upon entering other spaces we would find small groups sitting on benches or on the ground, often around large rocks. Some people adopted postures associated with meditation: lotus position, palms facing upwards with thumbs and index fingers touching. The monoliths were treated as altars upon which people had placed various objects ranging from dream catchers to assorted personal mementos for the purposes of “charging” them with the energy that is said to be concentrated by the boulders. All of these gestures provide newcomers to Ravne with indications regarding both the types of beha- viors considered appropriate as well as the interpretations seen as being reasonable. Our guide to the site also contributed to this attempt to include us as visitors into a minimally coherent interpretive community. For instance, we were asked at one point during our visit to put our

99 Nova Religio hands on one of the rocks and pause for a moment in order to feel what the rock did to us. The guide then summarized a number of what were considered to be typical reactions people had but posed no questions about our own experiences (perhaps in the interests of precluding an anticlimactic response such as a lack of feeling anything other than the slightly cold surface of what appeared to be a completely unremarkable rock). The two modes of visiting the tunnels easily clash. We repeatedly had the uncomfortable feeling of being voyeurs, since our decision to take the tour meant that we inevitably intruded upon the religious activities of others because we were led through the tunnels by a guide who Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/nr/article-pdf/23/4/94/385414/nr.2020.23.4.94.pdf by guest on 27 May 2020 kept up a running commentary on what we were seeing. In addition to such individualized small-scale encounters with the purported spiritual and bodily effects invoked by the place, there are collective activities held at significant times of the year. Solstices and equinoxes, in particular, are marked by gatherings that combine religious motifs with entertainment and what is billed as scientific exploration. For example, the festivities arranged to mark the summer solstice of 2019 included a lecture entitled “Pyramids around the World and Bosnian Pyramid Energy” by Osmanagic´ (his name sandwiched by the academic titles Dr. and Ph.D.), but also featured concerts and even stand-up comedy. The music and entertainment presumably attract visitors, but, as we will see, the trappings of science play a crucial role in giving the entire alternative archaeological project legitimacy.

LEGITIMIZING STRATEGIES

Visitors to the Ravne tunnel complex and to the pyramids are con- fronted with the many ways in which Osmanagic´ attempts to support his claims that the sites have extraordinary properties. They are echoed, for instance, in the way in which local guides discuss the healing effects of spending time in the tunnels, the signs posted in various parts of the complex, the promotional materials available in the shop, and the abun- dance of online texts and images circulating that inform visitors of the numerous scientific inquiries that purportedly have been carried out in order to discover the nature of the site. Such sources speak of samples that have been taken, tests that have been conducted, the various laboratories that have been involved in documenting the antiquity of the tunnels, the extraordinary (and mysterious) technology to which its builders had access, and the nearly miraculous effects that being in the complex have on various ailments. Some of the references made are to specific tests carried out by particular laboratories, but it is often the case that such statements are constructed in vague terms. One example can be found in the form of a large billboard perched on the slope of the Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun proclaiming that various unnamed

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“[p]hysicists and electrical engineers from Croatia, Serbia, Finland, France and Italy have detected and measured electromagnetic and ultrasound beams of 28 kHz frequency” on the top of the pyramid.15 As is often the case with new religious movements, the science that is invoked ranges from mainstream science to terminology and concepts that make sense only within the cosmology of religious insiders. Examples of the former include prominently displayed signs that inform visitors of the amount of negative ions in the tunnel air.16 Far less mainstream are references to the Schumann resonance of 7.83 Hz, a number one encounters in various alternative or New Age contexts, and which Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/nr/article-pdf/23/4/94/385414/nr.2020.23.4.94.pdf by guest on 27 May 2020 a billboard mounted on the incline of the Pyramid of the Sun links to “physical, menthal [sic] and spiritual human development.” Schumann resonances also exist as a mainstream scientific concept, but in that context denotes electromagnetic waves caused by lightning.17 Toward the very end of the spectrum of reported scientific findings in which the terminology only makes sense within the local religious cosmology are references to a “Bovis scale.” The tunnels are rated at 25,000 on this scale while a healthy human being weighs in at 7,500. The use of this scale appears to be a way of providing seemingly exact figures for spiritual status since the same billboard notes that Tibetan temples register at 14,000 on that scale. Beyond the numbers listed, no explanation is given at the site and thus one needs to be pieced together from other sources. Such an investigation reveals that the Bovis scale is named after Antoine Bovis, whose name and exploits entered the cultic milieu18 via one of the most widely sold books of the emerging New Age scene, Psychic Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain. In this book, Bovis makes his appearance in a chapter on pyramid power.19 The scale named after him was developed further by a French engineer, Andr´e Simoneton, who presented it in his 1945 book Radiovitalite´ des aliments: hypothe`ses sur la vie et la sante´.20 Dowsers who refer to the Bovis scale do so based on the assumption that one can detect the correct value by thinking of a particular item and having a pendulum swing towards the corresponding number on either a circular chart where numbers are printed around the circumference or a linear scale. The method can thus be described as a divinatory ritual that has been associated with a set of specific values in a quasi-rationalistic rhetoric that fits the cultural preoccupations of the modern age. It can be noted that Bovis charts found via online searches have a distinct occultist flavor and in particular a Theosophical one since they include some of the staples of Theosophical cosmology. For instance, besides attributing a value of 14,000 to Tibetan temples, they place Atlanteans and Lemurians at around 24,000 to 25,000.21 Another claim at the same end of the spectrum of scientific rationales concerns the alleged healing qualities of water that has accumulated in the tunnels. Pricey—even from our guide’s point of view—bottles of it

101 Nova Religio are sold in a shop at the site. The water is said to have a kind of memory that makes it possible to pour a small amount of it into a full bottle of ordinary water and by doing so transform the entire quantity so that all of it will possess the same outstanding properties. The claim that Ravne water has a remarkably different quality compared to tap water is supported in materials displayed at the site that refer to the research of the Japanese author Masaru Emoto (1943–2014). In books such as The Hidden Messages in Water,22 he outlined his ideas regarding how emotions influence matter: for example, he stated that water that was exposed to loving emotions formed more aesthetic crystalline patterns when frozen Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/nr/article-pdf/23/4/94/385414/nr.2020.23.4.94.pdf by guest on 27 May 2020 than did water that had been bombarded with hateful thoughts and words. Here it can be noted that Emoto’s work became popularized not least by being summarized in the 2004 film What the Bleep Do We Know!? It has, however, been roundly rejected by the scientific community as being pseudoscientific. The references to science and technology at the Visoko pyramids are so ubiquitous that they ultimately frame in starkly mechanistic terms what has become a center of religious practices and conceptions. The boulders that we as scholars of religion experienced as foci of ritual activities are presented as machines that concentrate energy. Even the pyramids themselves are described as being gigantic energy-focusing machines, supposedly akin to the cutting-edge inventions of Nikola Tesla (1856–1943), who has, among many New Agers, gained iconic status. One of the local guides remarked to us that this ancient culture, in contrast to its modern high-tech counterpart, must have counted innumerable Teslas among its people.23 Although the secular and scientific terminology takes center stage in the legitimating discourse, several elements of visual and material culture are also used as legitimating props. One can, as an example, look to the person of Osmanagic´ and his importance in promoting the site. His credentials play a significant role in texts published on various websites and in printed materials in which his academic titles are prominently displayed and frequent references are made to them.24 It is, however, his visual appearance that instantly brands him as “the real deal.” Due to the immense popularity of the Indiana Jones franchise, the maverick clad in the stylish yet rugged garb of an affluent adventurer has become a clich´ed image of what an archaeologist is supposed to look like. Osmanagic´ has chosen to brand himself accordingly and countless videos and pictures feature him wearing a high-crowned wide- brimmed Indiana Jones-style fedora. The hills that have been redefined as pyramids may indeed look like human artefacts to an observer sufficiently willing to suspend disbelief, but the promotional material adds significantly to this narrative. The logo of the foundation struck us as if a classically shaped Mayan pyramid had been reworked as an element of a painting by Hilma af Klint and

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Photo 3: Dr. Semir Osmanagic´ at the site of the Bosnia Pyramid Valley, 28 August 2018. Courtesy of Sasˇa Nadfeji and Wikimedia Commons. had been given a kind of halo in the form of a half-circle of light around the summit. Photographs of the main hill have been enhanced by add- ing an “energy beam” shooting out from the top.25 Images of the site differ greatly from reality as experienced on the ground: even ordinary photographs of the Pyramid of the Sun are taken from angles that promote the impression of it being a deliberate construction. Our own walk up the incline, on the other hand, felt very much like a trek up a hill overgrown with vegetation and dotted with stone slabs.

THE COMMODIFICATION OF THE VISOKO SITE

Money changes hands frequently at the home of the Bosnian Pyramids. At least two factors contribute to the commodification of the Visoko complex: 1) the lack of funding by any outside body; and 2) the potential in an economically depressed area for making a profit from the influx of visitors. One can note that the local tourist board presents the site in a way that fully supports Osmanagic´’s controversial claims: “Visocica Mountain, home to the medieval Bosnian fortress, is now believed to be a man-made, perfectly symmetrical structure—namely a pyramid. Archeological digs have given great legitimacy to this claim as experts and media from around the globe continue to keep their eye on this most miraculous discovery.”26

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Photo 4: Billboard showing an aerial view of the “Bosnian Valley of the Pyramids,” 29 April 2012. A beam of light shooting up from the top of the Pyramid of the Sun has been added as an iconographic element supporting Osmanagic´’s claims. The foundation’s logo consisting of a pyramid with golden aura is in the bottom left-hand corner of the billboard. Courtesy of CJ and Wikimedia Commons.

This commodification was a striking feature of our short visit. The foundation naturally needs income to function, and many of the activities at the site generate funds. Both visits on one’s own and guided tours carry price tags.27 Prices at the time of writing range from a modest 2.50 Euros to access the tunnels on one’s own for one hour to 35 Euros for a two-day tour of several sites. In the souvenir shop run by the foundation, one can find items such as books by Osmanagic´, t-shirts, stones, and assorted trinkets. Many of these have little discernible connections to the tunnels and pyramids at the site and can perhaps be more aptly characterized as general New Age paraphernalia. For instance, a broad range of dream catchers was on display during the time of our visit. Independent small- scale entrepreneurs also attempt to make a profit from the influx of visitors. The narrow street where the foundation’s shop is located is dotted with makeshift booths selling similar items as well as refreshments, giving the place a multiday music festival or flea market vibe. At the pricier end of the items and services for sale, there are promotional materials that advertise pyramid-themed tours led by Osmanagic´. Interestingly, some of these commercial ventures are labeled conferences. Hence, a series of meditations and visits to Bosnian pyramid-related sites held on 4–11 May 2019 was marketed as the Second Global Pyramid Energy Conference. Participation would set one back a total of 900 Euros, a price that included a shared double room in a five-star hotel.

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Photo 5: The street where the foundation’s shop is located is lined with stalls selling New Age paraphernalia, 26 September 2019. Courtesy of Olav Hammer.

A trip to Turkey with Osmanagic´ as guide, to be held 13–23 May 2020, costs 1,996 Euros per person with a double room occupancy. Commodification in a broader sense can involve not only spending money but also contributing one’s time and labor. Those who wish to help excavate the site have the opportunity to work as volunteers and can essentially purchase the opportunity to dig in the Ravne tunnels. Money issues in general figure prominently in the narratives of people involved in the project: we were repeatedly told of the slow pace of the excavation due to the unwillingness of politicians to fund the project and of the need to attract a volunteer work force to the site.

CONCLUSION

The many references to existing New Age or fringe topics, from Schumann resonances via water memory and energy beams, to the Bovis scale, show how Osmanagic´ and people around him actively construct narratives about the Visoko site through a well-known modality of

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Photo 6: A tongue-in-cheek space alien restroom sign, 26 September 2019. Courtesy of Olav Hammer. mythological innovation: bricolage. Interestingly, several fringe elements that have been part of Osmanagic´’s personal interests play no role or are only hinted at. Osmanagic´ has a long-standing interest in the Maya, on whom he has written a book and a doctoral dissertation. In his writings, he has supported the New Age theory that the Maya had extraterrestrial origins.28 As noted, the logo of the foundation looks like a heavily stylized Mayan pyramid, but the signs on site and the introduc- tion to the site by foundation guides do not mention any Mayan con- nection. The extraterrestrial theme is, rather surprisingly for a group that takes its claims very seriously, alluded to in a joking sign indicating the whereabouts of the restrooms. Next to the usual iconography showing the way to the women’s and men’s bathrooms there is a prototypical image of a fantasy alien, with its disproportionally large head and almond-shaped eyes. The innovative combining of existing elements in order to construct an alternative past is, of course, not a unique feature of Osmanagic´’s project. His indefatigable lecture and tour circuit includes quite a few events carried out in cooperation with a small network of other entre- preneurial figures within the field of alternative archaeology. For instance, his tours to archaeological sites in Africa are carried out with

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Michael Tellinger, an alternative archaeologist inspired in part by Zecharia Sitchin’s theory of the visit to Earth made by the prehistoric Anunnaki race from outer space.29 It may be symptomatic of Osmanagic´’s own journey that he has recently chosen to collaborate with Tellinger, who promotes conspiracy theories (“Everything we have been told is a lie”)30 and has launched the theory that the Blaauboschkraal stone ruins in South Africa, understood by mainstream archaeologists as territorial markers dating from the sixteenth century,31 are a 300,000- year-old calendar constructed by space aliens. Osmanagic´’s association with Tellinger illustrates one of the many remarkable aspects of his pro- Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/nr/article-pdf/23/4/94/385414/nr.2020.23.4.94.pdf by guest on 27 May 2020 ject, something that begs for further exploration and inquiry, namely the fact that a set of ideas that not only differ from those promoted by experts, but do so in such a spectacular fashion, attracts so many people. To summarize, Osmanagic´ has been singularly successful in rede- scribing what geologists and historians consider to be mundane hills and mineshafts at Visoko and Ravne as prehistoric pyramids and tunnels. This Field Notes essay has surveyed the most important legitimizing strategies deployed by Osmanagic´ and his crew. Repeated references to science provide an image of the sites as high-tech machines built by an advanced ancient civilization. Visual props such as Osmanagic´’s Indiana Jones-like appearance on photos and videos brand him as an adventurous archaeologist. The narratives of local guides and the behavior of other visitors promote the interpretation of the sites as places of meditation and healing. Together, these efforts have created a shared minimal narrative regarding the structures at Visoko that draws large crowds of visitors.

ENDNOTES

1 The Bosnian newspaper Dnevni avaz quoted a figure of 50,000 visitors pro- jected for 2017, but it needs to be noted that this represented Osmanagic´’s own estimate. See Delvin Kovacˇ, “Pozitivan Primjer: Visoko vrvi od turista, svi dobro znamo zasˇto, ali vlast to ne zanima,” Dnevni avaz, 25 August 2017, https:// avaz.ba/vijesti/teme/294495/pozitivan-primjer-visoko-vrvi-od-turista-svi-dobro- znamo-zasto-ali-vlast-to-ne-zanima. 2 This part of the “Bosnian pyramid” saga is documented in Colin Woodard, “The Mystery of Bosnia’s Ancient Pyramids,” Smithsonian Magazine, December 2009, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-mystery-of-bosnias- ancient-pyramids-148990462/. 3 “Archaeological Park; Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun Foundation,” Idealist, https://www.idealist.org/en/nonprofit/367378f39f4a44d094520152059b6001- archaeological-park-bosnian-pyramid-of-the-sun-foundation-sarajevo, accessed 21 February 2020. 4 Woodard, “Mystery of Bosnia’s Ancient Pyramids.”

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5 Administrator, “Confirmed the Accurate Age of the Bosnian Pyramid Sunce (Sun),” The Archaeological Park, 11 September 2013, http:// piramidasunca.ba/eng/latest-news/item/8822-confirmed-the-accurate-age-of- the-bosnian-pyramid-sunce-sun.html. 6 “Bosanska piramida Sunca stara je 32.000 godina,” Dnevni avaz, 19 November 2018, https://avaz.ba/vijesti/bih/432543/bosanska-piramida-sunca-stara-je-32- 000-godina. 7 Djani Behram, “Dr. Semir Osmanagich Talks about the Bosnian Stone Spheres,” 22:37 mins., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v¼QuGSAgxv-AY, accessed 21 February 2020. 8 For a very detailed and thoroughly documented effort at debunking the com- Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/nr/article-pdf/23/4/94/385414/nr.2020.23.4.94.pdf by guest on 27 May 2020 plex of stories surrounding the Visoko site, see Le site d’Irna: Enqueˆte sur les pyramides de Bosnie et quelques autres cas de pseudo-arch´eologie, https:// irna.fr/, accessed 21 February 2020. 9 An early example of this critique, published in 2006, is Robert M. Schoch, “The Bosnian Pyramid Phenomenon,” Robert M. Schoch: Research Highlights, https://www.robertschoch.com/bosnia.html, accessed 21 February 2020. Even a cursory search online will locate numerous debunking articles on the Bosnian pyramids. 10 See “Light at the End of the Tunnel?” Le site d’Irna, 18 August 2011, https:// irna.fr/Light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel.html, for a detailed discussion of evidence that the Ravne tunnels are mines. 11 On the destruction of paleontological remains, see Robert M. Schoch “The Dangers of Pyramid-Mania,” Science 314, no. 5801 (November 2006): 925; on the destruction of genuine archaeological remains, see “Archaeology at Visoko: The Real Thing,” Le site d’Irna, 16 September 2017, https://irna.fr/ Archaeology-at-Visoko-the-real-thing.html. 12 William A. Bascom, “The Forms of Folklore: Prose Narratives” Journal of American Folklore 78, no. 307 (January-March 1965): 3–20. 13 For details on the “ancient aliens” or “ancient astronauts” theme in alternative archaeology, see Olav Hammer and Karen Swartz, “Ancient Aliens,” in Handbook of UFO Religions, ed. Benjamin E. Zeller (Leiden: Brill, forthcoming), a chapter that also comprises a discussion of how the field of alternative archaeology can be delimited in terms of four parameters: its topics, methods, social setting, and emplotment. Introductions to alternative archaeology with different approaches include Pia Andersson, “Alternative Archaeology: Many Pasts in Our Present,” Numen 59 no. 2–3 (2012): 125–37; Jeb J. Card, “Archaeology and New Religious Movements,” Nova Religio 22, no. 4 (2019): 5–12; and Joseph Laycock, “Perspective: Religious Aspects of Pseudoarchaeology,” Nova Religio 22, no. 4 (2019): 89–95. 14 “Info Center Ravne,” The Archaeological Park, http://visit.piramidasunca. ba/pricelist/, accessed 21 February 2020. 15 The vagueness of the claim, one can note, is compounded by the reference to both electromagnetism and ultrasound with the same numerical value. One wonders how physicists and engineers would react to the fact that the two kinds of waves supposedly emanating from the hill are of entirely different kinds: VLF radio waves and mechanical waves propagating through the air, respectively.

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16 While the concept of negative ions is part of elementary physics, their effects on human health are, by contrast, less well established. As even a cursory search on the internet can confirm, the claim that negative ions in the air have a beneficial effect is common in texts promoting alternative therapies. The extent to which such claims reflect views also espoused by the biomedical community is less clear. Negative ions seem to have a mood-lifting effect that has a significant positive impact on Seasonal Affective Disorder. See Michael Terman and Jiuan Su Terman, “Controlled Trial of Naturalistic Dawn Simulation and Negative Air Ionization for Seasonal Affective Disorder,” American Journal of Psychiatry 163, no. 12 (December 2006): 2126–33, available at https://ajp.psychiatryonline. org/doi/abs/10.1176/ajp.2006.163.12.2126. Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/nr/article-pdf/23/4/94/385414/nr.2020.23.4.94.pdf by guest on 27 May 2020 17 “Schumann Resonance,” NASA, https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ sunearth/news/gallery/schumann-resonance.html, accessed 21 February 2020. 18 Colin Campbell, “The Cult, the Cultic Milieu and Secularization,” in A Sociological Yearbook of Religion in Britain, ed. Michael Hill, 5:119–36 (London: SCM Press, 1972). 19 Sheila Ostrander and Lynn Schroeder, Psychic Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1970), 367–68. The original undated report by Antoine Bovis, a French ironmonger from Nice, available at https://www.skeptic.com/downloads/Antoine_Bovis_Booklet.pdf, entitled ExposedeM´ r A. Bovis au Congre`s International de Radiotellurie a` Nice (n.d.), is an attempt to explain dowsing and the action of divining pendulums in terms of a cosmic force that permeates all objects but does so to differing degrees de- pending upon the orientation of the object, its shape, and the proximity of other objects. On pages 3–6 of Expose´, Bovis discusses the pyramids as one of these significant shapes. Since, he writes, he was unable to go to Egypt to study the pyramids firsthand, he constructed cardboard models of them and then set out to see if dowsing could detect some kind of “radiation.” He interpreted his findings as indicating that the geometric proportions of the pyramid allow it to mummify and preserve pieces of fish and meat. 20 Andr´e Simoneton, Radiovitalite´ des aliments: hypothe`ses sur la vie et la sante´ (Largentie`re: Humbert & fils, 1945). 21 See “The Bovis Scale,” Stoneman Energy, http://www.stonemanenergy.org/ BovisScale.htm, accessed 21 February 2020. 22 Masaru Emoto, The Hidden Messages in Water (Hillsboro, OR: Beyond Words Publishing, 2004). 23 The insistence on the technological and machine-like characteristics of the structures at Visoko provides an interesting contrast with the way in which many alternative archaeological interpretations of ancient sites view them within a religious perspective focused on reconnecting with nature. See Phillip Charles Lucas, “Constructing Identity with Dreamstones: Megalithic Sites and Contemporary Nature Spirituality,” Nova Religio 11, no. 1 (2007): 31–61. 24 Osmanagic´ holds a Ph.d. in social science from the University of Sarajevo. 25 The logo can be seen on the homepage of The Archaeological Park website, http://piramidasunca.ba/eng/home-en.html?view¼featured, accessed 21 February 2020. The Pyramid of the Sun with light beam is reproduced on websites such as Ancient Code in the article, “The Electromagnetic Fields and

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Healing Powers of the Bosnian Pyramids,” https://www.ancient-code.com/the- electromagnetic-fields-and-healing-powers-of-the-bosnian-pyramids/, accessed 21 February 2020. 26 “Visoko: Sarajevo Region,” Bosnia and Herzegovina: The Heart-Shaped Land, http://www.bhtourism.ba/eng/visoko.wbsp, accessed 21 February 2020. 27 For a current price list, see “Info Center Ravne,” http://visit.piramidasunca. ba/pricelist/. 28 For a summary of Osmanagic´’s (Bosnian-language) thesis and its relationship to his earlier book on the Maya, see Johan Normark, “Osmanagic´and Mayanism,” AP: Online Journal in Public Archaeology 2 (2012): 35–37. 29 The tour is described in Administrator, “Tellinger and Osmanagic Are Facing Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/nr/article-pdf/23/4/94/385414/nr.2020.23.4.94.pdf by guest on 27 May 2020 the South African Stone Circle Misteria,” The Archaeological Park, 27 January 2019, http://piramidasunca.ba/eng/latest-news/item/13929-tellinger-and- osmanagic-are-facing-the-south-african-stone-circle-misteria.html. Tellinger’s inspiration from Sitchin can be seen on his website Michael Tellinger: Uncovering the Truth, https://michaeltellinger.com/, accessed 21 February 2020. 30 “Everything We Have Been Told Is a Lie,” Michael Tellinger, https:// michaeltellinger.com/lies/, accessed 21 February 2020. 31 Peter Delius, Tim Maggs, and Alex Schoeman, Forgotten World: The Stone- Walled Settlements of the Mpumalanga Escarpment (Johannesburg: Wits University Press, 2014).

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