Few disciplines are lucky enough to be similarly widely and similarly positively represented in popular culture as archaeology is. The brand of archaeology is associated with so many positive appeals, stories, and dreams that other brands, despite their sometimes vast advertising budgets, could only be envious (see also chapter 1). It is simply not true, as Miles Russell (2002b: 46) claimed that ”the pop culture archaeologist is systematically portrayed as ’the bad guy’.” In fact, one could hardly imagine archaeology’s image to be more favourable than it already is.

Although each of the four themes also has some problematic sides, as I pointed out in my discussion (chapter 5), the archaeologists’ image overall in Western popular culture is extremely flattering. If brands are like persons, then archaeology comes across as a person you would intuitively like to have as a good friend and maybe spend your holidays with. In other words, archaeology can make people enjoy themselves and satisfy some of their innermost wishes and desires. Archaeology’s positive appeal provides also an enormous opportunity for the entire discipline because it helps build a huge support network on which it can rely when needed. There is one crucial condition for all this though.

People everywhere are fascinated by archaeology. Archaeologists know it. We are all familiar with exclamations like ”Oh, how interesting,” or ”How lucky you are,” when a new acquaintance learns of our profession. We are accustomed to fielding questions like ”What’s the oldest (weirdest, most interesting, or most valuable) thing you’ve found?” Each of us has developed a set of polite responses to these questions – responses we hope are not patronizing, misleading, or didactic. Kevin Jones and Julie Longstreth (2002: 187)

Archaeologists will only be able to use the enormous appeal of their own brand if they themselves stand behind it and embrace its various connotations in their work. It simply astonishes me that a fairly large proportion of archaeologists still seem to find nothing more urgent than to distance themselves from popular heroes like Indiana Jones or Lara Croft. It is deeply ironic that nothing seems to be harder for archaeologists to get to grips with in their relations with non-archaeologists than their seemingly limitless public popularity which is unrivalled among academic disciplines.

Figure 7.1 Real archaeologists are not like Indiana Jones… From Johannes Loubser (2003) Archaeology – The Comic. Walnut Creek: Altamira. Page 11.

I have given up counting the number of exhibitions, educational events, and publications (e.g. Robinson and Aston 2002; see Fig. 7.1) that are shouting into the reader’s face that ”the real archaeologist works practically never like Indiana Jones/Lara Croft.” Translated, that means as much as ”If you happen to be interested in archaeology because of Indiana Jones/Lara Croft, then this is not for you!” Archaeology is thus suddenly outed as a different kind of person than you thought (and hoped) it was, and a person that lacks some of the traits you found most appealing. It is the equivalent to Greenpeace beginning a public presentation about its work by stating that ”the real Greenpeace activist works practically never in a small rubber-dinghy fighting illegal whalers.” Although true, this would achieve nothing except alienate an initially favourable audience before it has had an opportunity to hear what it is you actually want to convey.

Figure 7.2: Homepage of the Register of Professional Archaeologists in the United States.

What is smarter is to build on the existing brand appeal of archaeology, including its bodily and emotional dimensions, in order to celebrate, modify or extend its content (see e.g. Ryan 1999). Professional archaeologists can use existing trends and established brand qualities to their own advantage. For example, I was struck by the webpage design of the Register of Professional Archaeologists in the United States (Fig. 7.2). The first association that comes to mind are Stargate and various dimensions of the R theme. Similarly, Archaeology Magazine, published by the Archaeological Institute of America, has long been great at anchoring its stories in the A and D themes. Such deliberate uses of archaeo-appeal is in line with the ”Walker Maxime” which states that professional archaeologists should use the public image of archaeology to their own advantage (as discussed in chapter 5). In a move that John Walker would probably also approve of, a British Professor of Archaeology, Clive Gamble (2001: 1), began his basic introduction to the discipline with the somewhat unacademic statement that ”Archaeology is about excitement.”

By the same token, in an exhibition entitled ”Buried Treasure”, the British Museum deliberately embraced the cliché that archaeology is about treasures and even featured a Lara Croft-like heroine. Likewise referring to the popular tomb raider, National Geographic News recently published an article about new technology used by archaeologists, boldly claiming that ”Lara Croft will have to shop for some better gadgetry if she wants to keep up with her archaeological peers”. In Stockholm, the Museum of National Antiquities created a role playing game in which a battle about history takes place in an entirely fictitious Swedish Museum of National Antiquities: ”There are heroes, villains and innocent bi-standers – all knowingly or unknowingly involved in the ongoing conflict between some secretive and terrifying forces”. In a similar bow to popular trends and preferences, a new archaeological museum in Germany draws the visitor into an imaginative criminal investigation as its central theme (see chapter 5; Derks 2003). All these examples illustrate how it is possible to draw on qualities already associated with the brand of archaeology in a constructive and compelling way.

Let People Dig!

Of course, in many ways the reality of professional archaeology is not entirely different from the stereotypical clichés of archaeology that are so prominent in popular culture. Each theme has at least some relation to what the professionals really do, even to how they see themselves, although there are also many aspects of their work that are not reflected in any of these themes. Archaeologists really do find exciting treasures and their fieldwork really is often exciting enough. Precisely that adventure aspect is central even to how many archaeologists define themselves and how they prefer to work and remember their work (Welinder 1987: 36-8; 2000: chapter 4; Holtorf 2005: chapter 3). Further, professional archaeologists really can reconstruct (parts of) the past from seemingly insignificant clues and learn about the lives of people in the past, using modern scientific methodologies. It has been called (Sebastian 2003: 36) an ”awful truth about archaeology” that:

(it) is exciting because it connects with the past in a way that nothing else can, and sometimes that connection can be stunningly immediate and personal.

Archaeologists can even succeed in providing us occasionally with seemingly supernatural experiences when they bring us in direct contact with people that are long dead. And very occasionally, archaeology really can deliver profound insights about issues like the course of history and the future prospects of the human species. Finally, archaeologists certainly are taking care of ancient remains in and on behalf of society, getting into numerous ’fights’ with adversaries that do not put the same value on the same remains (Welinder 2000: 87). The A, D, R and C themes are thus not entirely fictitious but contain a true core. Just as their popular culture counterparts, archaeologists enjoy the excitement of doing archaeological fieldwork. They love discovering artifacts, investigating questions about past mysteries through meticulous empirical study and scientific analysis, pondering Big Questions about human history on planet Earth, and saving precious information from sites that are doomed to be destroyed. In sum, as Clive Gamble (2001: xiii) informed archaeological novices, archaeology is ”one of the most important and fascinating topics you could ever hope to encounter” and ”nothing is more interesting, more stimulating or more rewarding than the study of archaeology.”

Forward to Outlook: reconfiguring public archaeology

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