Indiana Jones: Myth, Reality And 21st Century Archaeology

Miss the SHA conference this month? Join our host Dr. Joe Schuldenrein and recently elected president of the Society for Historical Archaeology Dr. Charles Ewen as they discuss Public Archaeology and the importance of communicating what we do as archaeologists with the general public. Everyone agrees that engaging the public to make archaeology relevant to society and promote stewardship of the past is a good idea, but how we go about it is a different matter. On the one hand, many criticize academics for talking over the heads of a general audience; on the other, many archaeologists feel that popularizing archaeology with shows like National Geographic’s Diggers compromises our ethics. The task of finding a balance between the two is a challenging one. As we come up on the 50th anniversary of the National Historic Preservation Act, what do we have to show for the billions that have been invested in Cultural Resource Management? What do we have to show that the general public will think was worth it?