Inspired by Indiana Jones, I was an archeology major for about 10 minutes at the start of my freshman year in college. Of course, many real archeologists can’t stand Indiana Jones, according to science journalist Erik Vance:
Every archeology site in the world is littered with rugged people in wide-brimmed hats talking about long dead civilizations. Tulane archeologist Marcello Canuto, for instance, prefers the khaki, floppy variety. Walking back to camp with after a long day at one Northern Guatemalan site, I can’t help but make the obvious comparison.
“Oh God,” he groans, “Don’t even go there. Indiana Jones is not an archeologist….”
“That first scene, where he’s in the temple and he’s replacing that statue with a bag of sand – that’s what looters do,” Canuto says, grinning. “[The temple builders] are using these amazing mechanisms of engineering and all he wants to do is steal the stupid gold statue.”
