01989 Society for Scientific Exploration Archaeological Anomalies in the Bahamas

Abstract-Controversial claims have been made for the presence of anom-alous underwater archaeological sites in the Bahamas by a number of in-vestigators. The proponents emphasize extraordinary explanations for the anomalies and tend to bypass the scientific journals in favor of popular presentations with little scientific rigor. The skeptics debunk selected claims for some of the sites, do not adequately address the prominent anomalous aspects, and attempt to fit explanations with which they dis-agree into a general category of cult archaeology. This paper reviews the work of the proponents and skeptics, discusses some of the reasons why they are unable to reach agreement, and addresses the relevance of the controversy to the response of the archaeological community to extraordi-nary claims