Seika Groves is a Canadian/UK reformed archaeologist, forward-thinking historian, engaging TV presenter, and unique public speaker who currently resides in Ontario, Canada. She has appeared as an expert on documentary and factual TV shows speaking on dark history, the occult, human origins, ancient architecture, planets, and stars used in prehistoric culture, as well as topographic features, and weather patterns that affect ancient sites.
As a child she spent a great deal of time at the Royal Ontario Museum, intrigued by the thousands of artifacts housed within the walls. At age eleven, as part of a “social studies” class project, Seika created a book of drawings and accompanying text that questioned Darwin’s beliefs on mankind having evolved from apes. She instead outlined the possibility that Homo sapien sapien and modern Homo sapien had developed along a separate branch of the primate tree that may have had contact or relationships with other bipedal hominins such as Neanderthal. Big thoughts for an eleven-year-old that saw her insight receive a failing grade for “nonsense”. The following year she created a diorama of Neaderthal man hunting mammoth, and living as a family unit in a comfortable cave that included a separate sleeping area, a communal hearth, and midden, and artwork adorning the walls. The response was only slightly more favourable with her grade seven science teacher commending her on having an imagination, but felt the artwork, and separate sleeping area were not in line with primitive “cavemen”.
While in university studying to be an archaeologist, Seika once again challenged mainstream beliefs and pressed her professors for real answers, and observations. They viewed her as argumentative, and constantly told her as a “student of archaeology” she should stop questioning everything, and follow proven data, and methods of application. One teaching assistant even went as far as to say “if she wanted a career in the field she best get in line with the process.”
Never one to back down from a challenge, Seika finished her degree, and eventually moved away from formal archaeology. She now uses investigative science and modern methods of GPR, drones etc. to further understand how topography, the stars and weather patterns may have led ancient humans to choose specific site locations over others. While “mainstream” and “outdated” thoughts still prevail in the field, Seika continues to move forward along with other “reformed” archaeologists, and historians who are joining forces and speaking out to expand on old concepts, ideas, and Victorian viewpoints.
When not investigating ancient sites, Seika speaks at museums, historical events/conferences, and appears on TV shows such as Phantom Signals, Secret Nazi Expeditions, In The Shadows: Secret Societies, Mysteries Of The Ancient Dead, Inner Space and others.
Expanding our view on who we are as a species goes beyond studying artifacts, and digging holes in the ground. As a reformed archaeologist, Seika uses more than artifacts to tell the story. Topography, weather conditions and oral histories also play a major role in determining the importance of a site. Using investigative techniques that go beyond the academic, there is always something intriguing to uncover. Some of the fascinating sites she has worked on include: Ek’ Balam (Yucátan, MX), (War of 1812 locations (Canada, USA), Bannockburn (Scotland), Agincourt (France), Stamford Bridge (England) and other locations associated with Viking Invasions as well as the Crusades.
Her additional background in Museum Programming/Docent/Interpreter, Historical Costuming, Broadcasting (TV & Radio) and Theatre all lend to Seika’s eclectic persona and make her a popular choice as a lecturer and presenter.
An ongoing project is unravelling the history of her father’s traveller culture. The project began in 2006 with a base in experimental archaeology, test cooking recipes that span the past thousand or so years in various areas of the UK and Europe. The project took a turn when she discovered oral recipes that had been passed down through her own Romany (UK) family members, and amongst the GTR people. Today this project contains almost 400 recipes and is still growing. Seika has experimented with each one, using original ingredients, techniques and utensils when possible, and while not all fall into the GTR demographic, each recipe is accompanied by a story of its origin, original ingredients, test results, and in some cases how the dish has evolved over the years.
Her new “historical” project aims to expand on ancient food knowledge and challenge the perceived foods that early humans are believed to have consumed. Will she be able to answer the age-old mysteries of diet, ritual, and culture of hunter gather cultures across the globe all those years ago?
Stay tuned for updates and funding for this project.