Archaeology on the screen

Abstract

This chapter discusses how archaeology is interpreted and presented in movies and television. The authors describe, discuss, and contrast their experiences with the media industry around the world, how different topics are approached for filming, and generally what are felt to be the appropriate levels of detail? In particular, the authors discuss to what extent and where is dumbing down necessary in the presentation of archaeology in these formats - the need to balance what the authors personally find interesting and what will sell vs. what is anticipated to be of interest to the public? The authors conclude by discussing things that they would like to see in the world of film and archaeology that just do not seem to be possible and why this is so.