Many people would question
what kind of relationship can exist between archaeology and popular
culture. After all, the common perception of the discipline of
archaeology is “the study of
ancient people through their material remains, usually as discovered
by excavation”.i
As will be seen though, archaeology and popular culture, coexist in
a very complex relationship.
Consider
where in popular culture one can find archaeology. It is is in movies
(Indiana Jones, Tomb Raider), books (Martin Mystere), the news, theme
parks (Jorvick, Disneyland's Indiana Jones Adventure Ride), and so
on.ii
Archaeology is all around us and is intrinsically part of our
everyday lives.
In
fact, it could be argued that “archaeology, in all its various
manifestations, does not offer a perspective from which our own
present can be understood in the light of its past. Instead,
archaeology offers a perspective from which the past and its remains
can be experienced and understood in the light of our present”.iii
It is our present which affects how we understand what comes to light
with archaeology. When an archaeologists excavates, and find the
remains of an ancient culture, the immediate questions to be answered
centre around what the artifacts found were used for, who used them,
and why. To answer these questions archaeologist and experts have to
use interpretation. The ideas they use to make these interpretations
are influenced by what they have learned in present day society. They
are therefore influenced by the popular culture of today’s society.
They create a theory for the artifact using these influences and then
present it to society who accepts it even though there is no way to
prove it as valid, as we were not present when the artifact was used
or created. Society accepts it caused the theory was created using
the popular ides and beliefs of the culture.
Another
way that this relationship can be seen is in how popular culture
presents archaeology, and how in turn this affects and changes
archaeology. As a discipline, archaeology is controlled by a large
amount of ethical and legal policies which must be followed.iv
Yet, according to popular culture, archaeologists are carefree
treasure hunters and heroes. They carry around whips and wears
fedoras. They go on adventures to exotic places and always win in the
end. Unlike real life archaeologists, they never have to worry about
the laws of the country they are treasure hunting in, or how the
nearby people and environment will be affected. They do not have to
hand over artifacts to the people who have legal possession of them.
In fact, they can plain out disregard laws and ethics and do as they
wish. Popular culture has, and still is,creating stereotypes of
archaeology as a fun and adventurous experience, while disregarding
the academic and ethical side of it.
It
is not to say that this has had a purely negative effect of
archaeology. In fact, the effect has been largely positive. Due to
the influence of popular culture, interest in archaeology has
increased, resulting in larger amounts of funding. This results in
more sites and artifacts being documented and preserved. More people
are going into archaeology and the discipline is growing.
This
presentation of archaeology is also beneficial to society. By
presenting archaeology as a fun, adventurous experience, tourism
industries have grown. People are interested in participating in a
real archaeological experience. So parks such as Disneyland have
created rides to provide this. There are even parks, such as Jorvick
Viking Centre, which are completed centred around this experience.v
Las Vegas is perhaps where one can most easily see this relationship.
In Las Vegas one can find replicas of Egyptian pyramids, of roman
coliseums, and the Sphinx. The replicas are not exactly like their
originals, but nonetheless, tourist come to see and experience them.
They appreciate them as though they are the real deal.
Through
the creation of stereotypes, to the use of archaeology as an
experience in tourism, one can see that the relationship that exists
between archaeology and popular culture is very complex.
iDrewett,
Peter (2011). Field Archaeology: An Introduction.
New York: Routledge. pp. 1
iiHoltorf,
Cornelius (2005). From Stonehenge to Las Vegas: Archaeology as
Popular Culture. Walnut Creek,
CA: AltaMira Press.
iiiHoltorf,
Cornelius (2005). From Stonehenge to Las Vegas: Archaeology as
Popular Culture. Walnut Creek,
CA: AltaMira Press. pp. 14-15.
ivVitelli,
Karen and Chip Colwell-Chanthaphonn (2006). Archaeological
Ethics. Oxford: AltaMira Press.
vJorvick
Viking Centre. “Take Hold of the Past”. Retrieved February 12,
2012. <http://www.jorvik-viking-centre.co.uk/>
