Ancient Heritage Tourism

Generally speaking, we may all be aware of travel and tourism in the sense that it is visually connected to holidays and the beach. However, to those who study travel and tourism, a stronger awareness of different types of travel and tourism sectors, topics, and research come to mind. Moreover, we often see links between multiple travel and tourism related studies or topics and discuss their relevant connections among those involved in the tourism industry or beyond.

In regards to Heritage Tourism, otherwise known as cultural heritage tourism (Garrod & Fyall, 2001). This may be described as an area which celebrates and acknowledges a location's past, present or immerging cultures, traditions and multiple identities (Moufakkir & Pernecky, 2014). This can be expressed through events, festivity, hospitality, and a combination of various tourism related occurring experiences or activities that reveal the uniqueness of a culture (Hollinshead, Kune & Alajmi, 2015).

Many of these locations around the world carry so much global historic value and therefore become historical preservation sites according to the National Trust. Such historic sites of cultural heritage therefore play a huge role in travel and tourism to offer opportunities for people from around the world to experience connections with artifacts, feeling a sense of belonging to places, and actively taking part in the celebrations or discoveries of cultural heritage.

In light of this form of tourism, many particular heritage sites such as the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, the Great Wall of China, the Colosseum of Rome, or India's Taj Mahal are all globally accepted sites which have been identified in relation to the historic, cultural, and perhaps religious or spiritual values of a country and its people with a mainstream given explanation regarding its origin and where it fits into humanity's time-line of history.

However, upon closer inspection of some of these sites, especially those which belonged to a much older culture or almost lost society, such as G?beklitepe in Turkey which is estimated to be over 12,000 years old according to radiocarbon dating (Schmidt, 2010). This makes the site 5,000 years older than the first known Sumerian civilization in Mesopotamia. Overall, the given mainstream explanation in relation to humanity's time-line either cannot be established accurately or is simply wrong and misunderstood based on uncomplete theories, unexcavated sites and years of compiled yet accepted assumptions on our ancient past (Bauval & Gilbert, 2001; Pettitt & Bahn, 2003; Osmanagi?, 2006; Hancock & Bauval, 2009).

These claims and statements supported by years of credible research about mainstream explanations of heritage sites being wrong or not fully explored are becoming more prevalent. As technology develops and the access to utilize new methods of discovery such as ground penetrating radar or drone laser scanning analysis become widely available, new insights and clearer understandings of our ancient past are discovered and celebrated.

One 720 feet tall example of this new insight of ancient heritage can be seen in the small valley of Visoko Bosnia. The discovery of multiple pyramids in the area was made by Dr. Sam Semir Osmanagi? in April 2005 and has since welcomed archeologists, historians, scientists, Egyptologists, engineers, and researchers from many different disciplines and backgrounds. The origin of this site is still unknown regarding who the ancient builders were. However, this discovery was confirmed by Professor Nabil Mohammed Swelim Egyptology researcher from Cairo University to be the world's oldest and largest man made pyramid structure dating back more than twelve thousand years old. Multiple discoveries of tunnels, artifacts and scientific data surrounding the site was also found according to Hoyel (2019) which predominantly links the site to ancient lost heritage. Below, you can see megalithic blocks which have been examined by Dr. Ali Barakat who wrote extensively on the archeology of Egyptian pyramids and concluded that the Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun is a man made Pyramid in his report of 2006. The materials of these blocks have also been scientifically confirmed as man-made concreate (Moon, 2014).

Ultimately, in regards to travel and tourism, people from around the world are coming to see the Bosnian Pyramids in the small city of Visoko with great interest and enthusiasm. This level and type of tourism is not new but it is increasing year by year and forming a new variation of tourism which I would describe as Ancient Heritage Tourism or even Lost Ancient Heritage.

The challenges faced by this new emerging form of tourism is its lack of acknowledgment from mainstream archeology because if the site was acknowledged and given full support to excavate the area further, the threat of changing the history books comes into question. The conflict arises due to mainstream archeology promoting narratives that advanced culture, heritage and civilization emerged from the ancient Egyptians, Mayans, and Sumerians, who were meant to be the builders of such wonderous structures. The problem in this mainstream given time-frame of human history is its depictions of advanced ancient societies who are meant to represent the birth places of human civilization and yet their technological capabilities do not match the perfection seen in the complex construction of these ancient sites. In other words, when reviewing the given mainstream human time-line of civilization in terms of cities and advanced culture, they emerge suddenly from a pre-historic primitive setting into an advanced and most complex society who supposedly built huge megalithic structures using inferior tools (Dunn, 1998; Osmanagi?, 2009).

Were there advanced lost civilizations who were capable of building the pyramids and ancient sites before the Egyptians, Mayans and Sumerians? According to mainstream archeology and history there were not, and even when such evidence is found to suggest otherwise, the methods of building such structures are not fully explained.

With this mystery out in public and open for discussion, Ancient Heritage Tourism or Lost Heritage has generated a new kind of tourism which has re-ignited interest, wonder, visitation, celebration and exploration of these un-answered questions left by mainstream archeology. This new form of tourism is becoming so prevalent that now other well-known ancient heritage sites across the world are visited, appreciated and explored with new perspectives towards their origins. Well known ancient sites such as the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, Stonehenge in England, and Puma Punku in Tiahuanaco Bolivia, as well as many others globally are being re-visited and re-explored from a totally new set of eyes after the Bosnian Pyramids were discovered.

This new perspective of such ancient heritage sites is bringing in thousands of new returning tourists labeled as New Age pilgrims (Lovrenovi?, 2017). This New Age tourism from its outset display proactive consciousness of the environment, culture, health and wellbeing of humanity on Earth. Regardless of how controversial these sites are to mainstream archeology, since their discovery they are re-inventing heritage, re-shaping tourism, and still bringing in thousands of tourists globally (Pruitt, 2007).

No, these are not all just hippies from the 1960s promoting peace and love with flowers in their hair. These are scientists, archeologists, professors, and explorers who are motivated to answer and address un-explained questions of our ancient past.

The joy in this newly emerging form of tourism is its openness and transparency to the public which encourages and welcomes all people from different cultures, societies or professions to see and explore their almost lost ancient past from multidisciplinary view-points.

The Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun in Visoko has initiated this New Age Tourism and is leading the way for other ancient heritage sites to do the same in welcoming tourist and letting them explore their own interpretations about the origins of these ancient heritage sites.

Bosnia, as a country and Visoko as a city has seen thousands of new tourists coming each year from 80 different countries to not only see the pyramids but to experience a fresh new perception of life, culture and overall appreciate a wellbeing of health, peace, and happiness. The economic growth has increased in the area and past traumas of the Bosnian war and violence which occurred in this region between 1992 and 1995 are being healed with love, understanding and global consciousness.

However, it is still important to also know that not all ancient heritage sites are open or made transparent to the global public or even to professional archeological societies. One such site, known as the White Pyramid near the Chinese city of Xi’an is still prohibited to explore due to the Chinese government's supposed decision to maintain close control of its national heritage and cultural identity along with other possible reasons.

This level of censorship and refusal to explore such ancient heritage sites raises questions forward regarding the acceptance of this new age tourism. Will the old mainstream view of the human time-line change? Or will the new perspectives of our ancient past bring completion to the human time-line, to re-structure, replace, and naturally display its claim? By studying tourism and understanding the movements of travel and tourism it is accurate to suggest that new forms of travel and tourism are shaped by such mile stones seen in the Bosnian Valley of Visoko, especially when they welcome tourists and are given public right of access, government funding and transparency to review and discover new archeological, historical and multidisciplinary research based information.

In conclusion, it is also fair to say that the ancient past of humanity on this planet belongs to all of us who stand on earth today and therefore it is our human right to peacefully, respectfully and responsibly explore, appreciate, celebrate, and share in those discoveries as one human family. Moreover, the platform and industry of travel and tourism can therefore play a founding role to sustain such tourism activity and ensure the protection, provision and prolonged access of our ancient lost heritage sites all across the world.

For more information on this topic, you are most welcome to discuss it further with me on LinkedIn and I recommend reading the following research literature, listen to video lectures and visiting the website which is available to the public and physically going to Bosnia to see and experience the ancient sites all for yourself . . .

www.piramidasunca.ba

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References:

Bauval, R., & Gilbert, A. (2001). The Orion mystery: unlocking the secrets of the pyramids. Random House.

Dunn, C. (1998). The Giza power plant: technologies of ancient Egypt. Simon and Schuster.

Garrod, B., & Fyall, A. (2001). Heritage tourism: A question of definition. Annals of tourism research, 28(4), 1049-1052.

Hancock, G., & Bauval, R. (2009).?The message of the Sphinx: A quest for the hidden legacy of mankind. Crown.

Hollinshead, K., Kune, V., & Alajmi, M. (2015) Chapter 2 - Events in the Liquid Modern World: The Call for Fluid Acumen in the Presentations of People, Places, Pasts and Presents: Ideological, social and cultural aspects of events. CABI

Hoyle, R. (2019) Geoarchaeological Summary Report of Ravne3 Tunnels Excavation; Visoko, Bosnian Valley of the Pyramids. Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun Foundation.

Lovrenovi?, M. (2017). Uncanny Landscapes of Memory:“Bosnian Pyramids” and the Contemporary World-Making in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In?Lived Religion and the Politics of (In) Tolerance?(pp. 171-192). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Moufakkir, O., & Pernecky, T. (Eds.). (2014). Ideological, social and cultural aspects of events. CABI.

Moon, T, G. (2014) Bosnian Valley of the Pyramid Foundation; MRAV Research Report investigations and observations, INTERNATIONAL summer Camp.

Osmanagi?, S. S. (2006).?Bosnian Valley of the Pyramids. Mauna-‐Fe Publishing.

Osmanagi?, S. S. (2009) NON-TECHNOLOGICAL MAYAN CIVILIZATION VERSUS MODERN TECHNOLOGICAL CIVILIZATIONS.

Pettitt, P., & Bahn, P. (2003). Current problems in dating Palaeolithic cave art: Candamo and Chauvet. Antiquity, 77(295), 134-141.

Pruitt, T. (2007). Addressing invented heritage: the case of the Bosnian pyramids.?Nepubl. diplomová práce University of Cambridge.(cit. 4. 1. 2021). Dostupné z: https://www. irna. fr/IMG/pdf/Addressing. pdf.

Schmidt, K. (2010). G?bekli Tepe–the Stone Age Sanctuaries. New results of ongoing excavations with a special focus on sculptures and high reliefs. Documenta Praehistorica, 37, 239-256.