Public Education about Archaeological Practice with…Spaceships?: An Archaeologist Writing a Science Fiction Novel

Summary

This is an abstract from the "From Tomb Raider to Indiana Jones: Pitfalls and Potential Promise of Archaeology in Pop Culture" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Archaeologists have always found popular culture a bit lacking in terms of realistic and ethical representations of their realm of study, from process to ethics to the actual subjects of the archaeological research. Even as modern archaeology progresses through improved technology and increased diversity among archaeologists, a question emerges: how to better represent archaeologists and archaeology to a public, the pop-culture consuming audience. This presentation centers on my experience as an archaeologist and novelist writing a science-fiction story involving archaeology. In my novel I attempt to represent archaeological process and practice realistically and accessibly while maintaining loyalty to the genre, and while also being mindful of the marketability of the novel. In order to do this, I have considered the feedback of my non-archaeologist peers, the existing limited realm of archaeology-based novels and popular culture, and the potential of archaeological technology and abilities in the future. The ultimate goal is to create a vision of archaeology that takes advantage of the already existing adventurous and captivating public view of archaeology, while embracing the exciting future of archaeology, and still maintaining an accessible, accurate, and realistic presentation of archaeological practice, research, and ethics to a non-archaeological audience.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• From Tomb Raider to Indiana Jones: Pitfalls and Potential Promise of Archaeology in Pop Culture   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 24855