2

How great was tonight's film, "The Mystery of Chaco Canyon"? Accented by mystifying background music and all (to enhance our experience, of course), I thought it was incredibly intriguing. I always just figured, oh, there's some kind of relation between astronomy and ancient civilizations which I'm not very interested in. However, the attention to the great powers of the Sun and the Moon is what really caught my attention. The precision in which these ceremonial buildings were built in accordance to the phases of celestial bodies was surprising. I have to admit, I don't give people of the past much credit. I understand why someone would continue to return to that canyon for research; it seemed like there was something new to discover every time about those buildings and roads. It's amazing how humanity has, since very early on, been able to give order to our Earth and space, our universe, by utilizing physical objects, buildings, the Chaco Canyon, to map out nature's course, day and night, solstices' and all.

So, here are some notes I took for the first set of readings. Just some things to record for use later on. Each article encompasses the overarching theme of the public's misunderstanding of what an archaeologist looks like/does, etc.:

Metaphors We Dig By, DeBoer:

- stereotypical image of an archaeologist, drawings

- therefore, the general public does not know much about the job of an archaeologist or anthropologist

Popular Culture and Archaeology, Holtorf:

- archaeology largely perceived in flattering terms in pop. culture

- adventurer, detective, profound revelations, taking care of ancient sites and finds

- exotic lands

- indiana jones - most enduring image of an archaeologist

- core of discipline - archaeological fieldwork

+ can be adventurous

- D theme - professional detectives of the past

+ "sherlock holmes" cliche

- correspondence between criminology or scholarship and archaeology

- a messiah - R Theme

- C theme - archaeologists have become the heritage police

- vulnerable romantic

- what matters most are various aspects of the process of doing archaeology, not the actual results

Digging Holes in Popular Culture, Russell:

- archaeologists are obsessed with context

- pop. culture stereotypes, especially TV

1) mad archaeologist who will unleash curse

2) archaeologist driven by a personal greed

3) gun-toting hero motivated by great discovery

4) plain, comical academic

- archaeologist - adventurer, mild eccentric

- archaeologist as intrepid explorer

- nutty professor

- tomb raiders, doom bringer, villians

- pop. culture archaeologist suffers from a sever lack of modern technology

- weapons + alcohol

- 98% of population does not encounter an archaeologist and therefore cannot defeat the stereotypical image

The Celluloid Archaeologist, Membury:

- celluloid archaeologists - resolute character who challenges evil, romantic, a dark past

- fascination with Egypt

- man obsessed with work, to distraction

- young celluloid archaeologist - unwitting hero, romance, combat supernatural powers

- old archaeologist - unflappable eccentric

- The Mummy

- preoccupation with treasure

- Aborigines as lower life forms

- early female celluloid archaeologist as a sympathetic suffragette figure

+ honey trap for heroic men

- early 19th century - golden age in archaeology

- conclusion: modern image is chivalrous individual with a strong moral sense willing to break professional code, on a quest

Romancing the Stones, Hall:

- portrayals unsatisfactory but positive conclusion to understand narrative drive of pop. fiction

- popular film is a dialogue

- what it means to be human

+ making past familiar in terms of human behavior

- ignore deeper concerns about archaeology

- Western culture, imperialism

- some culture mentioned (in comparison to Western presence)

Now in quest for a movie to investigate!