science

‘Ancient Apocalypse’ and ‘Unknown: Cave of Bones’ circulate unverified science, many archaeologists say. Filmmakers defend their storytelling.

Two recent Netflix documentaries have ignited a firestorm among members of the scientific community who have challenged the credibility of the work.

The popular shows are “Unknown: Cave of Bones,” which explores what could be the world’s oldest graveyard, and “Ancient Apocalypse,” about an advanced civilization hypothesized to have gone extinct around the last ice age. Each made the Netflix global top 10 list when they debuted in July 2023 and November 2022, respectively.

But many archaeologists and anthropologists—in critiques published in scientific journals, academic and professional websites, YouTube videos, and a letter to Netflix—argue the shows promote theories that don’t represent a scientific consensus and shouldn’t be labeled as documentaries.

Netflix declined to comment.

The conflict raises questions about the responsibility media companies have for the content they commission and distribute and about the influence that content has on the public’s evolving understanding of science. Filmmakers and stars of the shows defend the productions, saying the established research community is too wedded to the peer-review framework as a means of communicating science.

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