I have tremendous sympathy for University of Massachusetts archaeologist Stephen Mrozowski. He was invited to appear on a History Channel program about “local mysteries and stone structures,” but what he ultimately found himself involved with was the Search for Lost Giants. Needless to say, Mrozowksi does not support the premise of the show. In a post on the Fiske Center blog he writes — “The search for giants is a long-standing and familiar tradition of denying indigenous histories by promoting absurd alternate explanations. In North America the notion of such a race of giants is one of a list of explanations used to deny the accomplishments of Native Americans.” But now he is on TV giving credibility to a ludicrous notion that he emphatically does not support. I’ve been there and done that. Mrozowksi has written a couple of blog posts about the experience in an effort to make it clear that he does not support the silliness with which he is now associated and also, perhaps, hoping to turn this embarrassing debacle into a teachable moment. They say there’s no such thing as bad publicity — as long as they spell your name right. Well, check out the screenshot on his blog post. The History Channel didn’t even spell Stephen’s name right.

Here are links to Mrozowski’s blog posts:

Who said anything about giants?

The History Channel’s Giant Problem

Brad Lepper