Fear of Kossinna distorts comparative mythology as well. In The Origins of the World's Mythologies Michael Witzel argues that creation myths share a global, common root deep in the past. This is most naturally ~40,000 years ago in Eurasia, or ~100,000 years ago in Africa. He supports the latter timeline by showing Australian, Melanesian, and African cosmologies are simpler, and therefore likely dispersed in the first migration out of Africa. This moves the root to a more comfortable place, but then opens his book up to other criticisms. One of his colleagues made a Goodreads account to post:
"The work is not academically valid, but rather a recycling of racist notions common in German scholarship before World War 2, on which the author largely relies."
Another published in the Journal of Asian Ethnology: “Let me make clear that I do not take Witzel himself to be racist. Rather, I believe he has written a seriously flawed book whose conclusions carry racist implications.”
Witzel is tenured at Harvard and will be fine. Successfully sends a message to those without such security not to engage
Book Review: The Origin of the Germanics
Fear of Kossinna distorts comparative mythology as well. In The Origins of the World's Mythologies Michael Witzel argues that creation myths share a global, common root deep in the past. This is most naturally ~40,000 years ago in Eurasia, or ~100,000 years ago in Africa. He supports the latter timeline by showing Australian, Melanesian, and African cosmologies are simpler, and therefore likely dispersed in the first migration out of Africa. This moves the root to a more comfortable place, but then opens his book up to other criticisms. One of his colleagues made a Goodreads account to post:
"The work is not academically valid, but rather a recycling of racist notions common in German scholarship before World War 2, on which the author largely relies."
Another published in the Journal of Asian Ethnology: “Let me make clear that I do not take Witzel himself to be racist. Rather, I believe he has written a seriously flawed book whose conclusions carry racist implications.”
Witzel is tenured at Harvard and will be fine. Successfully sends a message to those without such security not to engage
Truth and integrity are worthy sacrifices on the altar of egalitarian globalism.