Making Waves through Play: A Historical Archaeological Examination of Archaeogaming and the Global Impact of Video Games on the Field of Archaeology

Part of: Society for Historical Archaeology 2023

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Making Waves through Play: A Historical Archaeological Examination of Archaeogaming and the Global Impact of Video Games on the Field of Archaeology," at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

The study of archaeogaming examines three main facets at the intersection of video games and archaeology: the representation of archaeology within video games, the conducting of archaeology within the digital, built landscape of a given game, and the examination of the material culture associated with all aspects of creating and playing such games. With over 3 billion individuals playing video games globally, many conceptions of archaeology are formed - and perpetuated - through gameplay. This session examines the ways in which video games treat with archaeology's colonial legacy - including slavery, warfare, migration, and expansion. These papers discuss archaeological representations within games, while also highlighting the increasing interconnectivity of the digital and non-digital landscapes within the field. To that end, this session also discusses the ways in which the intersection between archaeology and video games connects current excavation techniques with innovative strategies in digital heritage management and virtual learning.  

Other Keywords
Archaeogaming • digital archaeology • Migration • Historical Archaeology • Contemporary Archaeology • Settler colonialism • decolonizing methodologies • Accessibility • community stakeholders • Media Archaeology

Geographic Keywords
global • United States (broadly)

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-5 of 5)

  • Documents (5)
Documents
  • The 4x Model Game and the Archaeology of Movement, Migration and Settler Colonialism (2023)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Michael Zimmerman.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Making Waves through Play: A Historical Archaeological Examination of Archaeogaming and the Global Impact of Video Games on the Field of Archaeology", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Reaching mainstream popularity in the 1990s, the 4X model of video game involves building a colonial empire through turn-based or real-time strategy. The 4X genre stands for eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate. A number of...

  • Arcanum: Of Steamworks And Magick Obscura – How I Fell In Love With Industrial Archaeology (2023)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only João Luís Sequeira. Susana Pacheco.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Making Waves through Play: A Historical Archaeological Examination of Archaeogaming and the Global Impact of Video Games on the Field of Archaeology", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Arcanum is a steampunk fantasy role-playing game (2001). The gameplay allows the player to interact with NPCs. It has a vast world, multiple choices, and tons of dialogues regarding dualities such as science and religion, or...

  • Digital Archaeology in Pandemic Times: Pedestrian Survey in The Elder Scrolls Online (2023)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Krystiana L. Krupa. Sara M. Head. Bill Auchter.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Making Waves through Play: A Historical Archaeological Examination of Archaeogaming and the Global Impact of Video Games on the Field of Archaeology", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Accessibility in archaeology and archaeological training have been growing concerns for some time, and this issue was wildly exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Digital archaeology offers the potential for real, skill-based...

  • Paper Title: Controller of the Narrative: Archaeology, Community Engagement, and Cultural Patrimony within The Elder Scrolls Online (2023)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Megan R Victor.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Making Waves through Play: A Historical Archaeological Examination of Archaeogaming and the Global Impact of Video Games on the Field of Archaeology", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Historical archaeology acknowledges the crucial nature stakeholder engagement and community-driven archaeological projects. Ethical, well-considered archaeology draws on narratives of the past that are co-produced, rather than...

  • What Lasts of Us: Implicit Archaeology through Environmental Storytelling (2023)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Rhianna M. Bennett. Krystiana L. Krupa. Kate Minniti. Alexander Vandewalle.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Making Waves through Play: A Historical Archaeological Examination of Archaeogaming and the Global Impact of Video Games on the Field of Archaeology", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. The Last of Us (2013, Naughty Dog) and its 2020 sequel transport players to a post-apocalyptic version of the United States, twenty years after the outbreak of a deadly virus. Gameplay is set in the remnants of what was once a...