"Real Archaeologists Don't Wear Fedoras"

I just had to comment on this rather dyspeptic op-ed by archaeologist Neil Asher Silberman in the Washington Post earlier this week. Silberman whines that the popular Indiana Jones movies give the world a false view of what archaeologists really do and that he has "a problem with the entertainment tail wagging the archaeological dog."

Well, us professional archaeologists and the thinking public know this is escapist fiction and don't worry much about it. Anyone who knows about professions portrayed in entertainment media (lawyers, crime scene investigators, police etc.) recognizes that what you see on the screen bears little resemblance to reality. If Indy takes this to an extreme extent, so what?

Actually, it sounds like Silberman has more of an issue with what this does to his relationship to the public: "Whether I'm sitting on a plane, waiting in an office or milling around at a cocktail party, the casual mention that I'm an archaeologist inevitably brings up Indiana Jones" or "And please don't ever ask me about my fedora and bullwhip again."

Most of us recognize these as good-natured attempts to start conversation. Most of us have also worked on a list of good-natured replies to keep the conversational ball rolling - "Oops, I left my bullwhip in my checked luggage!"

So, ignore Silberman. I'd guess 99.9% of archaeologists are perfectly content to bask in the reflected glory of the fictional imperfect archaeologist Indiana Jones. Most professions don't even get to do that. I mean, there must be thousands of people who wish there was an "Indiana Jones" of accounting or urban planning.