I actually have a whole slide show I use the first night of Intro class on

"THE AMAZING ADVENTURE OF ARCHAEOLOGYTHE AMAZING ADVENTURE OF ARCHAEOLOGY" or "EVERYTHING I NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED FROM
INDIANA JONES"

Using images from the movies I show how Indy illustrates:(its much better with the images...)

"Survey and mapping skills are a must"

"You must be able to speak in front of public gatherings (classes) and share the results of you investigations"

"You may well get to travel – sometimes to exotic places – and you will see sights that not everyone gets to see – AND – you will have to be able to direct large crews of workers"

"You will have to learn how to interact with the local population – to be able to communicate with them and gather their support for your work"


"You will often share ideas and information in social settings – much of archaeology is sharing, discussing and arguing over interpretations"

"You may find yourself in less than comfortable work environments –
I have actually been in a similar position, mapping notches in a sheer rock face 40 feet above the stream below (an old mill washed away by floods)"

"It is important to interview locals who may have infromation that will prove significant in your evalaution and analysis
Chances are many of these local informants will be elderly - almost seeming to be ancient themselves"

"You will need to learn how to handle a wide variety of tools – inlcuding machetes – for Bushwacking and whips – for uhhhh, ….."

"The working conditions are not always what one would call favorable -
Hmmmmm…."

"Okay – so not everything Indy does is comparable….
But you may get the chance to get up close to the remains of long dead individuals…… "

Wish I could share the images
DM

Raiders was the first exposure I ever had to archeology and the movie definitely inspired me to become an archeologist. Much like the notebook with Bob (still my favorite scene in any of the movies, down in the Well of Souls), I was very interested in how knowledgeable Indy was about so many ancient cultures and artifacts. Obviously ficticious, but the whole idea of being a rennaissance archeologist really appealed to me. That and discovering history, not just reading about it.

Interestingly enough, there is an article on msnbc entitled "Indiana Jones would make a bad archaeologist" :lol: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24595365/

A few excerpts:

LOS ANGELES - Indiana Jones managed to retrieve the trinket he was after in the opening moments of "Raiders of the Lost Ark." He pretty much wrecked everything else in the ancient South American temple where the little gold idol had rested for millennia.

Though he preaches research and good science in the classroom, the world's most famous archaeologist often is an acquisitive tomb raider in the field with a scorched-earth policy about what he leaves behind. While actual archaeologists like the guy and his movies, they wouldn't necessarily want to work alongside him on a dig.

Wow!

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"It is rather adventurous in a way, because for the most part, you're going to some exotic country and delving into their past. But it's not an adventure with a whip and chasing bad guys and looking for treasure," said Bryant Wood, an archaeologist with Associates for Biblical Research.

"You're working at one site tediously, probably for many, many years and spending more time processing the finds and writing reports than you do actually digging at the site. But that wouldn't make for a very good story, spending 70 percent of the time in a library."

Doesn't look like they interviewed anyone who works in CRM for this article...

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The most exciting thing that happens to many archaeologists in the field might be battling dysentery or coping with a lemon of a Land Rover.

What!? A Lemon of a Land Rover? I almost spit out my coffee when I read that! I wish all of the modern vehicles I've owned and driven were as reliable as my 38 year old Land Rover... *sigh* :roll:



Jennifer

I know many that share the same opinion. We also have a Discovery (actually it's our 3rd one). It has been a good vehicle to us, but in my opinion there are too many bells and whistles in the new LR models, and things to break. The old Rovers did just fine without power windows, power seats, heated windshields, electronic traction control, etc. I'm fond of vehicles that can still be tinkered with by your average weekend mechanic. There is also something to be said for the elegance of simplicity. 8-)

Jennifer

I grew up watching the Indiana Jones flicks... while I enjoyed them, the movies were not what inspired me to become an archaeologist! For me it was a high school research paper. We had to choose a topic to research for the semester, and I decided to check out the ancient peoples of the american southwest and mesoamerica. Needless to say, my paper was a bit unfocused - but after that I knew I wanted to be an archaeologist when I grew up! :D

I decided to change my major to Anthropology in 1985 because of Boy Scouts.

I'm an Eagle Scout and I wanted to be the guy that could tell you what the natives of Illinois and the Great Lakes region actually wore and lived.

About six months after changing my major I was talking to some of my relatives about it and someone said, "oh, like Indiana Jones?"

I really hadn't even thought about that until then.

I agree the notebook was great. I also liked how he wore a tie in the field.

Actually I took this as a greater inspiration and a challenge:Calvin and Hobbes

I was first inspired to be an archaeologist at a very early age, probably around 6 years old. One of my older brothers came home from school with some textbooks that the teacher was going to throw away. The books were about ancient Sumer, Greece, and Rome. I didn't initially understand some of the terminology, but I was hooked and quickly got everything out of the school library on archaeology and history that I could get my hands on.

In school we were often shown films (yes, actually real filmstrips in the days before VCRs and DVDs...lol) that were made by National Geographic. I still remember the whole series on ancient Egypt. They only reinforced my interest in archaeology.

When I've been called to dig shovel tests in fill on the side of the interstate, I wistfully remember those early inspirations... :wink:

Jennifer

I'm afraid that my fav scene in an Indy movie had nothing to do with archaeology - the one where the big guy with the scimitar comes at him, and Indy shrugs, tosses his whip, pulls out his .38, and ends the discussion. I never really have been able to envision him as an archy - to me he's always epitomized the treasure hunter/looter, his supposed academic position and PhD notwithstanding. 8-)

We all know that the public has a fascination with archaeologists, and some of this likely stems from the Indiana Jones movies. I am surprised that we haven't seen one of those History or Discovery channel reality series (like "Ax Men" or "Deadliest Catch") about archaeologists.

Think of all the possible scenarios, and the potential for drama - The excitement of discovery in a shovel test pit in that roadside DOT survey... Enduring the fumblings of an incompetent crew chief who gives out the wrong maps, and sends everyone to work in a thunderstorm... A disgruntled crew member being forced to share accomodations in Motel Hell with their least favorite fellow employee, and the fisticuffs that ensue... I'm sure following a few CRM crews in their adventures would make for riveting viewing. :D

Jennifer

AH - I remember when that Calvin & Hobbs cartoon came out, it was on the door of every archeologists I knew at the time.

As for my interest in Archeology (and for at least one other professional I know) it all started with the Hardy Boys novel - Mystery of the Aztec Warrior (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mystery_of_the_Aztec_Warrior) when I was about 8 years old.

Unfortunately, the episode in which they find the soda bottle and interpret it as a dinosaur skull is, as they say, "Ripped right from today's headlines" (substitute "forum threads" for "headlines".

I just laughed so hard reading this that I woke up the baby. Thanks! :wink:

A few of my dig partners have told me that I should put all of my stories of field craziness into a book like Swamp!. The only problem is that too many people would think it was fiction...

Jennifer

For me it was in third grade when after reading about Davey Crockett and Wild Bill Cody, the school library displayed this strange black broken rock. A miniature of the Rosetta Stone! I was hooked on the mystery and puzzle of this object from a foreign land. I am still into stones and fufilled the dream of viewing the Rosetta Stone a few years back when in London.

I remember cringing several times when watching Raiders. I guess I was a methodology-geek back then too. But sitting in the Ziegfeld in Manhattan on that crazy Raiders ride was cool!!

[quote:="DesertRat"]I said something like: "Wow, that was incredible. I'm gonna go back to school and be an archaeologist!!" I enrolled at Wayne State later that year, did the world's best (and surely most naked) field school with Cynthia Irwin-Williams in 1983, and in 1984 moved to New Mexico to start my so-called career. The rest is history...prehistory...protohistory...whatever.

Bob

Now I am really jealous, she rocked, and I really wish I could have worked with her...

Richard

[quote:="DesertRat"]So, yeah, I was definitely inspired by Indy. This might sound weird but it wasn't the whip that turned me on. It was the raggedy-ass little rubberbanded notebook he carried. Very cool!

Bob

Indy didnt inspire me, it was field school that suckered me into this business, but certainly the book received notice - the Grail Diary - I have one or two (with a thick, black rubberband), and still keep notes in similar books - fits in the camo's side pocket better than anything else.

[quote:="rkeyo"]I never really have been able to envision him as an archy - to me he's always epitomized the treasure hunter/looter, his supposed academic position and PhD notwithstanding. 8-)

But remember this takes place in the late '30s-early '40s, so the stuffing of museums is the operational paradigm that is in play, at least in some parts of the country.

[quote:="FireArch"]
Indy didnt inspire me, it was field school that suckered me into this business

I was a chemistry major and miserable. I actually saw a show about the Smithsonian and their work on the "Star Spangled Banner" flag and I felt a calling to be a conservator. The closest thing at my school was archaeology. Fast forward 6 months: I was at field school, and there was no going back.

Honestly, Indiana Jones never inspired me to become an archaeologist, but it definitely inspires me to stay an archaeologist (not that I think I'll have such wild adventures!). Plus it makes for a pretty good ride at Disneyland :P

[quote:="DesertRat"]When I'm out in a beautiful dune field in the long light of the late afternoon, or standing on the edge of a mesa taking in a sweeping view few get to see, I think "Man, I can't believe they pay me to do this."

Life is good,
Bob

Amen Brother....

I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark in the theater when it came out and liked it. I still think it is a good and entertaining movie. It didn't have anything to do with me becoming an archaeologist, I don't think I have ever met any others either- at least nobody that said so.

I was 8 years old the first time I saw Raiders, so must have been when it first came out. I loved it, and for me it was the hat and the journal, not the whip. I dreamed of being an archaeologist. Somehow I lost my way and after 6 years of on-again-off again college, I decided to go after veterinary medicine. What the heck I was thinking I have no idea, but I lasted 2 years, and then took a field class for a mental break. It rekindled the flame and the next day I dropped all med classes and threw myself into archaeology and that is that. I think that even though Indy is a looter by today's standards, it is the romance and nostalgia of the era set within the movies, and early archaeology that draws so many of us in. Was he or is he an inspiration? I'd be fibbing if I said no. I think deep down many of us yearn for the adventure and danger-part of the id, or alter ego (maybe? I think), who knows. In reality, I am content to do what I do.

I must confess that the first movie was a pretty decent flick and back then re-enforced my love for finding "stuff" of other people. I liked it; though it was a little stretch for me at first to see Han Solo with a hat and bull whip.

My first inspiration was when I was 7 years old and living in the inner city of Detroit. I was taking a stroll down one of the cities finest alleys and came across some people throw some stuff over the back fence into the alley. I asked them what was going on and they told me that some old man had died and they needed to clear out the flat he lived in. I picked up a big brass bowl and took it back to my Dad. The two of us went back there and he couldn't believe his eyes. We spent the next two days recovering the "old man's stuff". The family went through all of the items; letters ranging from daily events to the Titanic situation, old photos of massive snows up in Michigan's U.P., an urn containing the ashes of an aunt, and many, many other items. Through out the process, my father instilled in me the importance that it was now our responsibility to care for this person's items because "the old man" did not have anyone else to care for them.

Recently, (32 years post) I have been lobbying my mother to inventory these items for donation to the Detroit Historical Museum. Most people around me would get a chuckle when I would say that I would love to be an archaeologist one day. While I will be graduating in 4 weeks with an general anthropology degree, my main formal area of interest during these last 4 years has been archaeology, and will always be. It's interesting that some of those people who chuckled are now very interested when I discuss my work. :)

I think Indy is great entertainment, save for the the "Temple of Doom", but I think that it should be kept in that context. I was very happy to see recently on the Discovery channel that they did a "responsible" show that interspersed things with Indy and the actual field of archaeology and did a fair amount of explanation. Hopefully, archaeologists will continue to make sure that the lay person knows that archaeologists do not receive a bull whip and fedora upon graduation. I look forward to doing my part as well.

Cheers!