Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?
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Notes -
It's not something Americans have to worry about, but a lot of ancient and medieval history as we know it would look different if we didn't trust the surviving written sources, but only trusted archeology and paleogeography. If any historian tries to challenge some established theory, they will be branded a kook unless they first spend a quarter century establishing their career and slowly accumulating a list of publications that gradually question the established consensus more and more. Then they can finally drop the bombshell and use their authority to weather the storm of counterattacks. It takes multiple such bombshells until the consensus changes enough to be reflected in schoolbooks.
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