GAZİANTEP ZEUGMA MOZAİK MÜZESİ

ich von Daniken’in arkeoloji
ile ilgisi, üniversite
yıllarında bazı antik kutsal
metinleri incelemekten
ibaretti. Ama arkeoloji
üzerinden dünyanın en ünlü ismi olmayı
başardı. Kitap üstüne kitap yazdı. Onlarca
dile çevrilen o kitaplarla heyecan dalgası
yarattı. Buluntuları kah uzaylıların
dünyaya gönderdiği ‘arabalar’ diye
yorumladı... Kah piramitlerden uzaylı
atalarımıza giden yolu keşfetti! Pek
çok filme ya da ‘gizem’ programlarına
ilham kaynağı oldu.
Elbette bütün bu ‘eğlence’, arkeolojiyi
turistik malzeme değil bir
‘bilim dalı’ olarak görenler için değildi.
Bilim insanları, Daniken gibi isimlere aşinaydı.
Gerçi hemen hiçbiri onun kadar uzak mesafelere
uçmamıştı! Yine de birkaç yılda bir, kimisi
çıkıp örneğin “Nuh’un Gemisi’ni bulduk”
diye ortalığı ayağa kaldırırdı. Kayıp ülke
Atlantis’in yerini keşfedenlerin sayısı
da az değildi doğrusu!
Arkeolojinin ‘sandık odası’ böyle nice
sahtekarlıklar, skandallar, kirli çamaşırlar
saklıyordu. Üstelik, onların sonuncusu
daha birkaç yıl önce dünyanın
gözleri önüne serildi. Hem de kameranın
tanıklığında, yani inkar edilemeyecek
kanıtlarla.
Olayın odak noktasında, ‘amatör’ bir arkeolog
olan Japon Shinichi Fujimura vardı.
Amatördü belki ama değme uzmanlara taş
çıkartan başarılara imza atıyordu. Bulduğu
arkeolojik parçalar baş döndürücüydü. Dahası,
1990’lı yıllarda ‘Japonya topraklarındaki ilk
insan izleri’ konusunda önemli bir mesafe
katetmişti. Bu çalışmalarla kendisi de bir ‘ilk’
gerçekleştirdi. Amatör olmasına rağmen, Tohoku
Paleolitik Enstitüsü’nün başına getirildi.
Japon basınının deyişiyle Fujimura’nın ‘sihirli
elleri’ mucizeler yaratıyordu. Öylesine bir
sezgisi vardı ki, buluntuları sanki elleriyle
gömmüş gibi ortaya çıkartıveriyordu.
‘Elleriyle gömmüş gibi’ mi? Bir süre sonra
bu soru bilim dünyasının da Japon medyasının
da ciddiye aldığı bir şüpheye dönüştü.
2000 yılında bir haber ekibinin çabası da
Fujimura’nın foyasını ortaya çıkardı. Haber-
Schliemann için Almanya’da basılan pullar
(üstte), Schliemann Truva hazinesini bulduğu
zaman, mücevherleri ilk önce eşine takmış ve
onu böyle fotoğraflamıştı (altta).
German Postage stamps honouring Schliemann
(above). Schliemann adorned first his wife with
the golden jewellery found in Troy and
photographed her (below).
Erich von Däniken’s interest for archaeology was limited to
studying certain sacred ancient texts during his years at
university. But he managed to gain a worldwide fame
through archaeology. He published several books
translated into various languages which provoked
a wave of curiosity amongst the public. He
described some archaeological findings as
evidence of the ‘Chariots of the Gods’ sent to
earth by extra-terrestrial beings... He claimed
having discovered the way leading from the pyramids
to our ancestors from outer space! He inspired
numerous films and ‘mystery’ oriented esoteric
productions.
All this charivari was far from being fun for those who
consider archaeology a real scientific discipline. People
like Däniken were always there. But no one before him had
the audacity to travel that far! Certainly, every now and
then someone was claiming to have discovered Noah’s Ark,
others pretending to have located lost city Atlantis!
Many a forgery, scandal and dirty laundry are to be found in
archaeology’s ‘storage room’. The last one was staged
publicly a few years ago, in front of the cameras, with full
proof evidence.
At centre stage was the so-called ‘amateur’ Japanese archaeologist
Shinichi Fujimura. Although an amateur, he already
called his own a series of achievements to make professionals
jealous. The archaeological artefacts he discovered were
amazing. Over and above, he made great strides, in the
1990’s, in the field of ‘‘first human settlements’ traces in
Japan’’. Thanks to his accomplishments, he was assigned,
although an amateur, to the post of Director of Tohoku
Palaeolithic Institute, as a first in the institution’s history.
In the words of the Japanese media, Fujimura’s ‘magic
hands’ were creating miracles. He was blessed with such
great instinct that he discovered the artefacts as if he
buried them with his own hands.
After a while, the sentence “as if he buried them with
his own hands”, turned out to become a seriously
questioned suspicion in the science world, as well as
a frequently asked question by the Japanese media.
In 2000, a bold news team finally ended up unmasking
Fujimura’s doings. They succeeded in shooting
Fujimura red-handed while he was burying some
previously carved or chiselled stones into ground.
Unaware of that, Fujimura was presenting, in the
following days, his so-called new findings to the
press as 570 thousand years old historical artefacts.
He and his team were so happy and proud about
their new discovery. But their joy and happiness did
not last very long. In the aftermath of that press
conference, the daily newspaper, Mainichi Shimbun,
published on 5 th November 2000 the photos of the
scandal showing clearly, without the trace of any
doubt, Fujimura during his burying activity.
Fujimura did not deny his fraud. He accepted it and
apologized. He declared that he was doing all this
because of a “passion beyond his control”. Fujimura’s
career came to an end. But there was more to it, the
168 excavations he performed earlier proved to be
fake as well and that put the Japanese archaeological
community in panic, because it meant that all the
findings and artefacts, believed for 15 years to be
related to the history of the Palaeolithic Age in Japan,
were “manufactured” by Fujimura and would have to
be entirely discarded.
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