Originally Posted by noise

the lack of evidence against the existence of something by no means constitutes evidence for it. but the reverse is also true. i'm not saying interstellar travel cannot exist, i'm simply saying that because our current understanding of the universe makes its existence extremely improbable, it is prudent not to use it as the foundation for our interpretations of the past (which, after all, is the topic at hand).

besides, the whole idea operates on a fallacious assumption that ancient art should always be interpreted literally, that 'what you see is what you get'.

if this is true, then we have no choice but to assume that crocodiles and hippos roamed the American Southwest around 5,000 years ago:

Frolicking Animals on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

or wait - maybe those are aliens too!