Did Lost Civilizations Really Exist? An Archaeologist Explains
The Michael Shermer Show
Michael Shermer
4.3 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 2 November 2025
⏱️ 99 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Archaeologist Ken Feder sheds light on how archaeology separates evidence from wishful thinking and entertaining storytelling. He explains what rock art, radiocarbon dating, and DNA can really tell us about the first peoples of the Americas, and talks about the different theories about ancient human migration and the impact of European contact on Native American populations. He also shares what we know about Atlantis, the Lost Tribes of Israel, and what to make of Graham Hancock's visions of an ancient apocalypse.
Kenneth L. Feder is professor emeritus of anthropology at Central Connecticut State University. His new book is Native America: The Story of the First People.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're listening to The Michael Shermer Show. |
| 0:15.5 | Hey, everybody, it's Michael Shermer. |
| 0:17.1 | It's time for another episode of the Michael Shermer show. |
| 0:18.8 | My guest today is Dr. Kenneth Fedder, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Central Connecticut State University. |
| 0:26.8 | His books include frauds, myths, and mysteries, science and pseudoscience and archaeology. |
| 0:33.2 | You can see already why he's on the show here. There we go. He's showing our cover there. The past in perspective, an introduction to human prehistory. Go ahead, |
| 0:43.9 | Ken, you got the cover of that? No, that's over behind me. No worries. And Native American |
| 0:48.5 | archaeology in the parks, a guide to Native heritage sites in our national... |
| 0:52.3 | I've written so many. It's really hard to keep track, for God's saying. This is the new one here. This is it. It's called Native America. The story of the first people has got a nice picture there that he probably took of one of the cliff dwellings. Is that Mesa Verde? That is Mesa Verdi, that is Cliff Palace. |
| 1:12.5 | And that's, look at that. |
| 1:13.1 | I don't think that is my photograph in effect. I have lots of photographs of the place. I know, it's great. Yeah, no, no, it's so good to see you. Thanks for, thanks for coming on, Ken. Oh, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely, Mike. Yeah, no, it's been a very long time. |
| 1:26.2 | Years and years ago, I submitted a couple of pieces to skeptic. |
| 1:30.4 | Yeah. |
| 1:30.7 | And we just sort of, no. It's been a very long time. Years and years ago, I submitted a couple of pieces to skeptic. |
| 1:30.5 | And we just sort of, with no particular reason, we've kind of haven't spoken to you in a long time. |
| 1:34.9 | But that's life, right? |
| 1:36.8 | Life takes us in various directions. |
| 1:38.1 | That's right. |
| 1:38.5 | Well, our world's intersecting periodically with the alternative archaeology subject. |
| 1:43.5 | There's that, yes, absolutely. |
| 1:46.0 | And so just to ask the general question, yeah, with these, how do you know what these things |
| 1:51.1 | represent? |
... |
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