So what else does Google tell us about archaeology?
Well the first website you come to when you enter "archaeology photos" into Google is, http://archaeologyphotos.com/.
A GIANT structure, that's not even falling down!
This image to the left and those below all seem expansive and amazing.
So, If these are what we expect of archaeology because its the most common images why was it hard for my Professor of archeology to pinpoint his most exciting find.
Maybe the media had hyped up the finds to a level unattainable.
Professor Van Kueren at the University of Vermont had to be questioned multiple times before he finally found an answer to the question his most interesting find. In the end he discussed a bowl with a sort of optical illusion inside it. This is an amazing find but nothing like the pictures we see above. A Bowl is beautiful but it is not an entire structure right before your eyes.
The general public would probably not find a simple bowl to be amazing because they are used to images like those above! That just does not seem realistic!
Over exaggeration has become all too common in archaeological photos. This has led to a skewed perception of reality and could in fact harm researchers who find "less remarkable" artifacts that are actually more helpful for understanding the past. These researchers may somehow see these useful but not splendid discoveries as not "as good".
We need society to realize small finds can mean big things.
The general public would probably not find a simple bowl to be amazing because they are used to images like those above! That just does not seem realistic!
Over exaggeration has become all too common in archaeological photos. This has led to a skewed perception of reality and could in fact harm researchers who find "less remarkable" artifacts that are actually more helpful for understanding the past. These researchers may somehow see these useful but not splendid discoveries as not "as good".
However, in all reality each artifact and discovery is important even if it is not GRAND.
We need society to realize small finds can mean big things.
If we are supposed to learn from photographs then shouldn't they show us the truth not such an over exaggerated version of it?
I think so.
I agree that media, particularly photography, has made archaeology to be a field full of treasures and amazing finds. The most common photos are of such beautiful artifacts, but in all reality, these are not at all common discoveries, they are one in a million. Professor Van Keuren is the only archaeologist I know, and the fact that he was unable to identify something as awesome as what I see above brings to light the fact that those are not the ordinary but rather the extraordinary. But to the public, anything less than this is boring.
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