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12th March 2007, 02:11 PM
http://www.dailyinterlake.com/articles/2...umns01.txt
Quote:quote:Sounds far-fetched to a generation raised to think of archaeologists as bull-whip-wielding Indiana Joneses, but to anyone who has ever spent any time studying archaeology, it makes perfect sense. The fact of the matter is that archaeologists and anthropologists are some of the most boring people in the world.
Ss this how many perceive archaeologists to be??
What can archaeologist do to improve their image??
Gary
http://www.ukdfd.co.uk
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OUR heritage for future generations.
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12th March 2007, 02:38 PM
Quote:quote:Originally posted by garybrun
What can archaeologist do to improve their image??
Polish their boots and wear striped ties instead of jumpers. [:p]
D. Vader
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12th March 2007, 02:51 PM
Well, it's the perception of a former undergraduate about his own university teachers in America - probably (?) doesn't apply to people in UK commercial archaeological units.
I think the general public's perception of archaeologists in the UK (derived from TV) is as a bunch of cartoon-caricatures with strange haircuts/beards/sweaters/accents, filled with an almost pathological degree of over-exitement about very little. A bit like minor characters out of a TinTin book.
Non-archaeologists who deal with us professionally (e.g. developers, construction contractors) see us rather differently - often as a bunch of hippies/new-age travellers using their money to pursue our own hobby, while breaking as many of their health-and-safety rules as we can.
None of those perceptions is fair, of course, but they all hold a tiny grain of truth.
1man1desk
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12th March 2007, 03:00 PM
Quote:quote:Originally posted by garybrun
What can archaeologist do to improve their image??
Get yer bleedin' hair cut, and wear regulation flash jackets at all times.
We could even consider colour-coded hard-hats, like the fire brigade, or wear nhice grey suits on site with tan rigger boots, like the architects do when they come out to patronise us
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12th March 2007, 03:04 PM
Quote:quote:Originally posted by 1man1desk
they all hold a tiny grain of truth.
..in a pair of tweezers and say "Wow Tony, come and have a look at this!"
D. Vader
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WSIs do not concern me, Curator. I want that site, not excuses
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12th March 2007, 03:10 PM
My other half has always maintained that archaeologists (she not being one) are freaks - and not necessarily excluding me from that.
I wouldn't mind, but her day includes being elbow deep in horse manure, getting very excited over purple-sprouting broccoli and flinging cider around with bearded wassailers in orchards.
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12th March 2007, 03:13 PM
Ill-informed drivel from someone who takes 'Biblical Archaeology' seriously.
Quote:quote:
Instead of writing a paper on the significance of the lizard motif in some obscure tribe in South America, for instance, I would write about apparent cross-cultural influences between ancient Chinese dragon symbols and pottery glyphs found in Chile.
Sub-Dan Brown level twaddle.
Did this person graduate, I wonder?
Standards may be falling at 'The Daily Interlake (serving Northwest Montana)'.
'In the busy market there are fortunes to be won and lost, but in the cherry orchard there is peace'.
Chinese proverb
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12th March 2007, 03:30 PM
Couldn't agree more Tom. In fact, I've always thought that people who go on and on about the bible are some of the most boring in the world. :face-confused:
If archaeologists want to improve their image they could start with periodically standing up and roundly denouncing this sort of rubbish. Oh yeah, and getting a sensible haircut and a decent set of clothes would probably help too.
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12th March 2007, 04:06 PM
I'd like to remind Gary that in 1989 archaeologists were voted the second most sexy Londoners (after cycle couriers) by readers of Time Out magazine. (I guess we might even make it to number one if a similar poll was held by The Big Issue). So boring we may be, but still waters could well run deep....
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12th March 2007, 05:56 PM
in 1989 archaeologists were voted the second most sexy Londoners
Whoohooo, that's when I was working in London!!! Damn I was sexy, it was the muddy, green, ex-army boilersuit and steel toecap boots that did it!!!