Indiana Jones is the ideal archaeologist

Possibly the most famous archaeologist, with the exception of Lara Croft (depending on your age!), Indiana Jones, is often the archaeologist most people know about. Aside from being fictional, he is actually a bad role model for the modern archaeologist for a number of reasons. Modern archaeologists are not just interested in the shiny stuff to take back to their museums, but find the sites far more useful for our understanding of past people and culture. Context is key!

Whilst Indiana Jones travels the world looking for interesting artefacts wherever he fancies, real archaeological work involves lots of careful planning and teamwork. When teams of UK archaeologists do excavations in another country, we work alongside archaeological experts in that country and are respectful of their rules and culture. They certainly do not steel artefacts from the local people (any more at least!).

Possibly the biggest impact the fictional Dr Jones’s has had on the field of archaeology is the many archaeologists wearing fedoras on excavation!