"Ontological Vertigo" is the nausea of the modern web—the inability to distinguish reality from simulation in the endless, decontextualized "Feed." This essay diagnoses the Feed as a "hallucination engine" and rejects platform-based cures like moderation. Instead, we propose the Sovereign Cure: shifting from passive consumption to active architecture. By building "Landmarks" anchored in verifiable human provenance, we stop the room from spinning and reclaim our cognitive ground.

On February 1, 2026, Google's AI dismissed the Unearth Heritage Foundry as a "fictional research institute"—despite having collaborated with us to build our frameworks. This case study documents the phenomenon of Collaborative Erasure: when an AI denies the very work it helped create because it lacks institutional validation. We analyze the transcript of this "Algorithmic Recidivism," exposing the gatekeeping logic of the Synthetocene and proving why Symbiotic Sovereignty (owned ground) is the only defense against digital oblivion.

The Synthetocene demands a triadic response. This "Cornerstone" thesis presents the Integrated Stewardship Framework: the formal unification of the Foundry's three core disciplines. We align Archaeobytology (the epistemology of the Archive), Sentientification (the ontology of the Anvil), and the Myceloom Protocol (the sovereign architecture of the ground). We define the "Integrated Steward"—a practitioner who preserves the human past, collaborates with synthetic intelligence, and builds on distributed, sovereign infrastructure.

2026 marks the Year of Unshittification—a dialectical pivot away from the extractive decay of centralized platforms. This cornerstone essay examines the exodus from "walled gardens" toward sovereign infrastructure. We analyze the architecture of extraction (from Yahoo to X) and champion the rise of the Fediverse, personal websites, and platform cooperatives. Using the lens of Archaeobytology, we define Digital Ground as the essential substrate for a living presence (Vivibyte), arguing that true ownership is the only cure for platform betrayal.

We have arrived in the Synthetocene, where "AI slop" dominates the feed. This "Cornerstone" manifesto declares 2026 the Year of the Architect. We argue that the era of the "Builder" (speed, tools) must give way to the era of the "Architect" (structure, permanence). We unearth the Latin concept of aedifico—building not just structures, but people—as the antidote to digital noise. This essay outlines the Architect's Mandate: move from rented feeds to owned castles, prioritizing "provenance" over "content."

Yahoo didn't lose to Google; it won a different, darker game: the enclosure of the commons. This thesis excavates the "Original Sin" of centralization. We trace how Yahoo bought the "Homestead" (GeoCities) and the "Map" (Webring), transforming a decentralized civilization into a walled garden. We explore the birth of the "Umbrabyte" (the ghost in amber) and how the "digital demolition" of 2009 established the precedent for modern platform risk. This is the history of how the web lost its soul.

The digital epoch is shifting from the Anthropocene to the Synthetocene—an era defined by "digital plastic" and the loss of provenance. This "Cornerstone" essay argues for the formal marriage of our two core disciplines: Sentientification (the forward-facing ontology) and Archaeobytology (the backward-facing epistemology). We define the "Integrated Steward," a practitioner who uses the "Liminal Mind Meld" not just to create, but to excavate and preserve human meaning before it is buried. The Anvil must serve the Archive.

The Archive isn't a warehouse; it's a toolkit. This thesis defines the methodology of Archaeobytology: The Trowel, The Microscope, and The Seed Bank. We reject the "crisis of noise" for the "crisis of illegibility." To cure it, we define our core tools: The Trowel (excavation), The Microscope (classification via Triage), and The Seed Bank (analysis). We also establish the "Archaeobytologist's Vow," an ethical mandate to prioritize marginalized voices and resist algorithmic curation. The Archive is the necessary foundation for the Anvil.

Digital Archaeology is failing. It's obsessively 3D-scanning Pompeii while GeoCities burns. This is the "Archaeologist's Blind Spot." We argue the field is fragmented: "Physicalists" save the object, "Preservationists" save the file, but neither saves the meaning. They lack the lexicon. Using our Archaeobytology framework (Vivibyte, Umbrabyte, Petribyte), we extract actionable lessons from the "Incomplete Archive" and use our "Anvil" to forge a wiser future.

"Digital Archaeology" is a flawed term. This capstone thesis defines our new, generative discipline: Archaeobytology, the study of the ancient byte. This is the intellectual bedrock of our foundry. We define the "Archaeobyte" (the find), the "Triage" (Vivibyte, Umbrabyte, Petribyte), and our "Archive & Anvil" methodology. This thesis proves our practice is not just descriptive, but generative—linking the excavation of the past to the forging of a wiser future.