Heribert Illig (born 1947 in Vohenstrauß , Germany) is a German historian and the leading proponent of the so-called "phantom time hypothesis" which asserts that the Dark Ages did not exist and that the approximately 300 years between 614 and 911 are an invention. This means that our world is not living in the early 21st century, but the early 18th century. Thus the year 2000 was actually the year 1703 in Illig's hypothesis.
The basis of Illig's claims is the paucity of archaeological evidence that can be securely dated to this period; perceived inadequacies of radiometric and dendrochronological methods of dating this period, and the over-reliance of medieval historians on written sources. One consequence of Illig's hypothesis is that Charlemagne never existed but is a fictional character.
Because none of Illig's work has been translated his thesis has received little attention in the English-speaking world.
Books by Heribert Illig
See also
New Chronology, a proposal by Russian mathematician Anatoly Timofeevich Fomenko, makes a similar claim, but asserts a far larger gap in conventional dating on the order of a full missing millennium. It is not generally taken seriously.
Less fanciful, but still controversial, is the revised chronology of ancient Egypt proposed by Eygptologist David Rohl.
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