Ever heard of the show Diggers on the National Geographic Channel? I know some of you have seen it, but for those of you who don't know what the show is about, here's a brief synopsis and a link to their Nat Geo show page:
"Hobbyist metal detectorists “King George” Wyant and his buddy Tim “The Ringmaster” Saylor travel the country looking for lost relics of history. Their enthusiasm is contagious, their humor quirky, and their vocabulary... one of a kind. “KG” and “Ringy” are kids at heart, driven not by money, but the thrill of not knowing what their next dig will unearth. They understand that every item has a story to tell, and Diggers brings history to life through graphics and historical context. They are invited by landowners, historians and archaeologists to go on a quest, and in their own way, a crusade, to unearth history that would have otherwise been forgotten."
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/diggers/
Translation:
"Two guys with metal detectors and mildly annoying/over-the-top mannerisms are invited by landowners, historians and archaeologists to look for artifacts on various properties and do really bad 'archaeology' during which the context of the found artifacts is destroyed in a matter of seconds."
Allow me to elaborate and clarify. I am not the only person who has this opinion. Plenty of archaeologists, historians, and anthropologists share my views on this show, and National Geographic has received plenty of grief about it. For people who just don't know what archaeologists do on a dig, what goes on in this show appears to be exciting and harmless fun. And though there is a section on their website (further down the site's page) about how archaeologists dig, and how to be a responsible metal-detectorist, it feels simply obligatory. I mean, honestly, how many people are going to go on to their website, scroll down past all the "cool" stuff and actually click on anything in the Awareness section?
What's really going on here? Unfortunately, the guys on this show end up encouraging looting/treasure hunting, which is NOT what archaeologists do. The Diggers do not openly encourage this kind of stuff, but to the average public audience watching TV, it is easily interpreted that way.
These are the basic steps of the archaeological process:
Questions/Hypotheses
Survey--After archaeologists find a site they want to examine, they do a survey. One of the ways they do this is to walk as a group across the site in a straight line, looking for artifacts on the ground. If they spot artifacts on the surface, they flag them. THEY DO NOT MOVE IT. This is one of the very serious offenses the Diggers commit. Moving the artifact destroys the context.
Excavation--The site is often divided into a grid. When archaeologists dig, they dig slowly and methodically, taking care not to overlook anything and to document what is found in each layer. I'm talking maps, photos, notes, drawings. THEY DO NOT USE A GARDENING SHOVEL TO DIG INTO THE DIRT AND PROMPTLY YANK OUT AN ARTIFACT. Diggers, I'm looking at you. Context is everything; context refers to the relationship that artifacts have to each other and the situation in which they are found (soil layer, next to other artifacts, etc). You'd be surprised about how much this can tell an archaeologist. Please, please click the link above to see what I'm talking about in more detail. Long story short, once the object is moved, the context is ruined.
Screening
Object and Artifact--what is it, what is it made of, how is it used, etc
Preservation
Cataloging
Analysis
Reporting
All of these steps are VERY important. For a more detailed explanation for all of the steps, click on "archaeological process" above. I can't go into all of it because then this post would be ridiculously, but justly, long.
So, now that I have given you a very brief overview of what good archaeology is, here is the reason I'm even writing about all of this! The Diggers episode, "Gold Rush", features three mines in the West. One of these is the Matchless Mine in Leadville, CO.
The project I am currently working on is using the artifacts they found to create educational kits to be used as hands-on learning tools during a lecture given by the curator about the mine. I've submitted my proposal for it, and I am in the middle of refurbishing the old cases that the Matchless artifacts will go in. It'll all be done on Thursday, so keep an eye out for another post about my refurbishing process and to see the artifacts themselves! I'm really excited about the final product!
Mercifully, you'll only need to watch about the first five minutes to see them at the Matchless. Here's the link to the episode:
http://www.imdb.com/video/
There's plenty I didn't mention for the sake of not making this post twice as long as it already is. Please leave comments on this post about your opinions on the matter! I'm interested to hear what you have to say! Do you think the show is harmless? What are these guys missing in the archaeological process that is important?
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