We Are the Mutants is a blog about pop culture history, covering retro sci-fi, video synthesizers, 1980s futurism, and vintage artwork.
HN commenters link it for its write-up of David Macaulay's Motel of the Mysteries, called the model for funny archaeology of the present, and for retro art articles.
Debate about whether or not artifacts are for ritual purposes always reminds me of a wonderful book by David Macaulay called "Motel of the Mysteries." [1] The publisher's description gives a good sense of it:
"It is the year 4022; all of the ancient country of Usa has been buried under many feet of detritus from a catastrophe that occurred back in 1985. Imagine, then, the excitement that Howard Carson, an amateur archeologist at best, experienced when in crossing the perimeter of an abandoned excavation site he felt the ground give way beneath him and found himself at the bottom of a shaft, which, judging from the DO NOT DISTURB sign hanging from an archaic doorknob, was clearly the entrance to a still-sealed burial chamber. Carson's incredible discoveries, including the remains of two bodies, one of then on a ceremonial bed facing an altar that appeared to be a means of communicating with the Gods and the other lying in a porcelain sarcophagus in the Inner Chamber, permitted him to piece together the whole fabric of that extraordinary civilization."
[1] Some images here: https://wearethemutants.com/2017/12/06/david-macauleys-motel-of-the-mysteries-1979/
This is the 2nd of a series of 3 articles:
Part 1: https://wearethemutants.com/2018/07/03/days-of-the-dolphin-cetaceans-in-cold-war-science-and-science-fiction-part-one/
Part 2: https://wearethemutants.com/2018/07/18/days-of-the-dolphin-cetaceans-in-cold-war-science-and-science-fiction-part-two/
Part 3: https://wearethemutants.com/2018/07/19/days-of-the-dolphin-cetaceans-in-cold-war-science-and-science-fiction-part-three/
As an aside, for those interested : this sort of "paleo-contact" ideas were proposed by Erich von Däniken. Aztec lines are space-ports, the flaming angel from the bible is a landing space craft, etc.
Someone even made a sci-fi cartoon about it, that 8-year-old me enjoyed =) It can't be that hard to find a PDF somewhere.
https://wearethemutants.com/2020/04/30/ancient-astronaut-comics-the-gods-from-outer-space-1978-1982/
"Some sources cite [James] Cameron as the brains behind the glider navigation sequence..."
https://wearethemutants.com/2017/02/14/the-glider-navigation-sequence-in-escape-from-new-york-1981/#:~:text=Escape%20from%20New%20York%20was%20John%20Carpenter’s%20most,with%20Ray%20Harryhausen%20on%20Clash%20of%20the%20
Clip from the film:
https://youtu.be/xxYmMRxnEic
Here's another good article on the phenomenon. I think the underlying theme is more about the fact that 'worlds of the imagination' is a tricky subject for religious evangelists of any stripe.
https://wearethemutants.com/2016/10/25/jack-chick-was-right-how-dungeons-dragons-made-me-an-occultist/
See also David Macaulay's 'Motel of the Mysteries:
https://wearethemutants.com/2017/12/06/david-macauleys-motel-of-the-mysteries-1979/
An extract:
http://sultanaeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Motel-of-the-Mysteries-Macaulay.pdf