Brien Foerster Accuses Me of Libel, Says Puma Punku Stones Came from Outside "Fenced Area" at Site4/14/2014 This morning in a comment on my blog Brien Foerster accused me of libeling him for, essentially, taking him at his word. (The comment came from an email address associated with Foerster’s business, so I believe he was in fact the author.) In reporting that the Purdue Rare Isotope Measurement Laboratory refused to conduct destructive testing on a sample of rock allegedly from Puma Punku, I said that Foerster had chipped fragments from some of the stones at the site and had removed them from Bolivia. Foerster accused me of making false and libelous statements: No artifacts were chipped from, nor were they taken from the Puma Punku site, as in, within the fenced area. Your allegations are both false and libelous... In my first post on the subject, I suggested that he had more likely picked up broken fragments from the ground, and I regret not including that same caveat in my second post, though I did link to the initial discussion in my follow-up post. I have corrected the second post to acknowledge this error. Brien Foerster is a public figure since he is an author, television personality, and advocate for the existence of a lost civilization. As such, for me to libel him I must not only be wrong but have shown a reckless disregard for the truth. The fact that I examined his project and compared it to a wide range of cultural heritage laws demonstrates that I was hardly reckless in applying his project’s own words and statements to the applicable laws. On the Indiegogo.com page devoted to raising money for the failed project, David Swenson and Brien Foerster wrote the following: “This project will be carried out to support the work of Brien Foerster, of Cusco [sic] Peru, who has been involved in the study of ancient people and their associated megalithic buildings. Samples of andesite stone from Tiwanaku and Puma Punku that have come from the megaliths will be shipped from Peru.” On the site’s “updates” page, David Swenson provided photographs of Brien Foerster at Tiwanaku and Puma Punku examining the “flat surface” of the stones, and he then stated that he had three samples including one of the flat surfaces that had been removed from Bolivia to Peru for shipment to the United States, and he posted a request from George Bayer suggesting that Foerster obtain an additional sample of polished rock for further testing. Since Foerster was resident in Peru and the only figure involved in the shipments to be in Peru, the obvious implication is that he was the party sending the samples. I inferred from such discussions and statements that Foerster had obtained the samples himself directly from the megaliths at the Bolivian site. Foerster now suggests that it is libelous to make this inference from his fundraising website’s published material. The only way to collect samples, of course, would be to remove them from the rock intentionally or to collect samples that broke off naturally or through earlier vandalism, unless he purchased them from a dealer, which is a whole different level of problematic. No matter how they were obtained, Foerster and Swenson claim that the rock samples are in fact part of the megaliths in the Tiwanaku area. Therefore they fall under the U.S.-Bolivian bilateral agreement on the importation of pre-Columbian artifacts, which has been in effect since 1989 and currently is renewed through 2016. It states, in part: Further, it was found that the archaeological evidence necessary to interpret the early history of Bolivian culture is in jeopardy from pillage. The pillage is widespread, on-going, and destroying the archaeological record of Bolivia. […] The restricted archaeological materials range in date from approximately 10,000 B.C. to A.D. 1532, and include objects of ceramic, textile, featherwork, metals, stone, shell, bone, wood and basketry; as well as human remains. […] Bolivian objects of types described in the Designated List may enter the U.S. only if they have an export permit issued by the Bolivian government, or documentation that they left Bolivia prior to the effective date of the restriction: December 7, 2001. Megalithic fragments from Tiwanaku would prima facie fall under the pre-1532 stonework restrictions. I suppose it is possible that Foerster has been sitting on the samples since before 2001, but he would have needed to provide that documentation to the U.S. State Department in order to import the objects. Bolivia, however, has laws dating back decades that restrict export, and the country does not typically issue export permits to amateur researchers. Peru and Bolivia have a separate agreement with each other and Peru also with the United States, and he did not indicate that he followed either of these export requirements either. The agreement with Peru, enacted in 1997 and renewed in 2012, forbids the importation into the U.S. of pre-Columbian objects from Peru without an export permit. (Note: It also explicitly forbids the export of deformed or elongated skulls or parts thereof.)
Instead, Foerster claims that he did not break any Bolivian or international law because he obtained the rock samples from “outside the fenced area” at the Tiwanaku archaeological site. This admission confirms that Foerster takes responsibility for the collection of the fragments. Pursuant to the U.S.-Bolivian bilateral agreement, such rocks are pre-Columbian artifacts subject to import restrictions no matter whether they were found inside or outside the fence surrounding the main archaeological site. I can’t claim to be a lawyer, and it’s possible that Foerster followed the law and legally exported the items. But he hasn’t provided any evidence that this is the case, and PRIME did not receive any documentation to this effect either. Given all of the documentation I did find from Bolivian, Peruvian, and American treaties and laws, I fail to see what other conclusion I could have reached. But if Foerster would like to pursue a libel claim against me, he had better start by showing the export permits or the documentation that his samples were removed from the site in accordance with Bolivian law and imported into the United States in accordance with U.S. law.
26 Comments
Cathleen Anderson
4/14/2014 06:24:09 am
As you indicate, he must first prove the claims are false. Should he fail to produce that info, you might want to look at accusing him of defamation.
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RLewis
4/14/2014 06:34:13 am
I guess he's kind of OK when you call his theories crazy and bizarre, but just don't comment about his research methods.
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KIF
4/14/2014 06:58:57 am
It's always best to address the subject matter without names attached, if at all possible - if names are used it's best to quote someone
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4/14/2014 07:03:03 am
You'd like this to read like Page Six? "Sources say one top ancient astronaut theorist who lives in Peru is shipping pieces of Puma Punku back to America but hasn't shown anyone an export license!"
RLewis
4/14/2014 07:22:13 am
"Rumor has it that deranged rock enthusiast challenges history-insiders' authority to question unsubstantiated claims".
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Only Me
4/14/2014 08:07:48 am
I guess Foerster's theme song is "It Wasn't Me" by Shaggy.
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Dan
4/14/2014 10:38:07 am
Foerster is never going to answer your question about how the stones were removed because either answer implicates him. Regardless of this "fenced in" nonsense, anything removed from the site is criminal. He can't directly admit to that. If the stones are not from PP, then he's committed fraud upon the people who contributed to this project.
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Judith Bennett
4/14/2014 06:39:01 pm
There's a highly amusing thread on this subject in the Megalithomania Facebook group. The admin of said site is Hugh Newman, whom I'm sure we all know and love from Ancient Aliens. Anyway, here's what Brien had to say on the subject over there:
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Beata Van Berkom
4/14/2014 06:24:20 pm
You seem so biased. It really hurts your credibility.
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Judith Bennett
4/14/2014 06:30:57 pm
Threatening people with lawsuits is an old tactic of Brien's. Given that his understanding of libel is on the same level as his grasp of the scientific method, I'd say you're safe.
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Eric Stewart
4/15/2014 12:05:58 am
First Foerster said DNA results were released with "astonishing results".
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4/15/2014 12:24:29 am
That's the problem, isn't it? To prove that the fragments are what he says they are is to apparently admit to exporting artifacts without an export permit--or at the very least refusing to provide this documentation to relevant parties. I took him at his word that these were in fact megalith fragments from Puma Punku, and he got upset at the consequences of that claim.
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Mandalore
4/15/2014 02:00:53 am
Perhaps the Peruvian embassy should be made aware of these activities.
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Mark L
4/15/2014 02:46:40 am
I've mentioned this several times on here, now, but in case anyone's new to Jason's blog: during the actual timespan of the Indiegogo campaign, I wrote to Indiegogo and said "there's laws against what he's saying he's doing, unless he has the right permits. He's not mentioned having those permits".
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Kal
4/15/2014 09:23:35 am
This person who is threatening you with a lawsuit is full of it. No lawyer in the land is going to take his word, or a case like that, so you're not going to be sued. More likely this person does not even have any artifacts, real or not, and is covering his hide.
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I agree w/ Mark L's last sentence, either BF is lying, or he broke the law.
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Only Me
4/18/2014 06:53:34 pm
What's really amazing about Foerster being willing to "procure" samples from Puma Punku, for testing the age of the site, is the fact he must either not be aware of the following news story or chooses to ignore it.
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Muriell
8/30/2014 02:54:20 am
Yes, this is exactly the way to fight agains someone who is dangerous for the stablishment, to use the weapons created to sustain the stablishment, such police . Easier than help him to find enough money to investigate in order to get final answers wich seems not to be interesting for those so called scientific minds.
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Rob
9/29/2015 01:30:51 am
Interesting that people appear to be more interested in mocking Mr. Foerster's findings and seeing that he gets busted for presumably exporting artifacts out of Peru and Bolivia illegally than actually lending a hand toward much needed research. Could it possibly be that the lack assistance from within the scientific community has driven him to the extreme (if illegal) measures of trasporting these artifacts out of country for deeper analysis?
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John
10/29/2015 03:42:11 pm
Hi JC, Don't worry, this is the typical Fringe response to those who don't imm. accept them @ their word. (SC tried it on me, but ALL were empty threats.) Keep up the good work.
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7/24/2016 01:26:53 pm
seriously, don't you have anything better to do with your time? Try being less confrontational, you'll find lif a lot less stressful and much more enjoyable.
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randy
3/24/2017 01:46:50 am
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AuthorI am an author and researcher focusing on pop culture, science, and history. Bylines: New Republic, Esquire, Slate, etc. There's more about me in the About Jason tab. Newsletters
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