Indiana Jones: Myth, Reality And 21st Century Archaeology

Our series on Archaeology and Relevance has unique applications to the very real issues of contemporary conflict and war. The 21st Century was ushered in by the horrific events of 9/11 in New York City. Subsequent disasters including the tsunami in the South Pacific and the London bombings drew the attention of archaeologists whose traditional and not-so traditional approaches offer unique perspectives for optimizing data recovery at disaster sites. Initiatives to examine the archaeology of Holocaust era concentration camps and mass graves in Eastern Europe and Iraq underscore the unique contributions that our field has to make in adapting site formation (and destruction) studies to locations that highlight the darkest side of the human condition. Our special guest is Dr. Richard Gould, Professor Emeritus of Archaeology at Brown University, who had the perspicacity to mobilize the first and only systematic excavations at the World Trade Center site immediately after the tragedy.