Psychic Archaeology, Reality TV and Pop Culture

How do archaeologists know where to dig?

- ground penetrating radar

- surveys

- oral history

- geographical references

- ruins, artifacts

- aerial photos

- test pits

Benedictine Abbey of St Mary in Glastonbury, UK (Frederick Bligh Bond)

- "contact" w monks from 1700s told him where to dig (rlly used regular tactics)

- 70 seances

- mediums, ghost hunters, etc. capitalized

- well in Glastonbury now deemed a curative

Stefan Ossowiecki (1930s)

- psychic archaeologist

- "read" artifacts

- "read" explicit description of neanderthals doing it (ok what the hell)

Norman Emerson (UofT prof)

- taught courses on psychic archaeology (intuitive archaeology)

- hired psychic George McMullen help find sites (who could just stand by the site and know everything)

- began as skeptic tho

Dowsing

- divination type to locate ground water, metals, ores, gems, graves and other objects without scientific apparatus

- walk around (rod moves toward object when near it)

Farmington Watershed, Connecticut (Case Study)

- predicted groups of ppl used streams and that evidence of presence takes more than understand settlement patterns

- used testing pit (50cm each side, 10m apart)

- goal: representative coverage

- found stone tools (spear points, knives, etc.)

- other finds found thru screening

Walter Landgraf Soapstone Quarry, Connecticut (Case Study)

- habitiation site where soapstone quarriers lived

- 1996: Andrea Rand and Walter Landgraf discovered soapstone source used to carve bowls by inhabitants

- radiocarbon date: 2730+30 bp

- found quartzite quarry tools

Ground penetrating radar

- broadcast, signal into ground to detect ancient features (buried walls, infilled pits)

Magnetometry

- fluxgate gradiometer

- roll over field in cart

- measures irregularities in magnetic field

Junction Group (Case Study)

- Jared Burks used gradiometer

- able to map out magnetic shadow of earthworks

- Heartland Earthworks Conservancys owns field

- uses mowingf to show pattern

Lidar

- light detection and ranging

- removes forest canopy to show ruins below (ex. Tikal)

Lidar in Guatemala (Case Study)

- mapped more than 800 miles of maya bio reserve in Guatemala

- ruins include 60000 houses, palaces, highways. etc.

Lost Hollywood and Archaeology

- Peter Brosnan heard story of remains of Egyptian buildings near LA

- actually remains of The Ten Commandments (1923)

- director threw dynamite at it to bury it in sand (no 1 else could benefit from vision)

Archaeology in Media

- set in past

- involves archaeology/archaeologists

Movies abt the Past

- filmmaking subjective

- archaeology objective

- movies shape ppl's impression

The Dig (Movie)

- dramatized true story

- based on book of same name

- landowner hires archaeologist to investigate mounds on property

- 1939 anglosaxon ship burial excavated

Canyon del Muerto (2022)

- canyon significant to Navajo nation

- recounts Ann Axtell Morris and Earl Morris

- Earl Morris inspo for Indiana Jones, father of southwest archaeology

- abt earl's acclaim and ann's struggle in the field

Legends of the Lost with Megan Fox (TV Show)

- celeb emphasis

- scripted narrative

- balance of fact and entertainment

Digging for the Truth (TV Show)

- death defying stunts

- archaeological sites become stages

American Digger (TV Show)

- sale of artifacts

- history as commodity

Diggers and the Detectorists (TV shows)

- amateur metal detecting

- accessible to public

- after airing, metal detecting increased

Nazi War Diggers (TV Show)

- excavated ww2 graves in poland + latvia

- "preserve history museums dont care abt"

- lawful but not ethical excavations

Time Team (Tv Show)

- speciaized equipment

- scientific techniques

- education outreach

Unearthed (Tv Show)

- good archaeological approach

- legit experts used

- ignores local ppl (oop)

Reality TV and Archaeology

- profitability

- program access

- past stewardship

- prevent commercialization of artifacts

- infotainment replaces documentary