National Geographic’s semi-hysterical press release on recent discoveries in eastern Honduras sets a new standard for bad journalism.

The site in question may or may not have been documented by prior archaeological projects in the area (unknown to or ignored by the writer); the description is too vague to tell. If it is, the project will (presumably) contribute to the slowly improving archaeological record of the region. It will not have discovered a lost civilization. The precolumbian people of the region don’t yet have a label known to the public; but they are not unknown. We have no way of knowing whether the archaeologists involved tried to temper National Geographic’s relentless pursuit of public attention.

The moderator of the Aztlan listserv called the story “largely fraudulent.” Hard words, but baseless sensationalism — especially when it involves the pretense that the project being hyped is the first study of an unknown region — is dishonest. The sorry affair does at least remind us forcibly that archaeologists cannot leave the public representation of their work in the hands of front men for institutions that value only publicity.