Archaeology and Comedy

It is time to look at humorous representations of archeologists. 

The first video is a short clip from the British sketch comedy "That Mitchell and Webb Look."

In this clip, archaeologists unearth what they believe to be an ancient Roman videotape. Then, after some analysis back at the lab, they meet with several other archaeologists to verify the legitimacy of the find. The archaeologists are portrayed as being absorbed in their own areas of expertise and out of touch with reality. 

Although the goal of the sketch is clearly not to represent archaeology with complete accuracy, some aspects of real archaeology are included. For example, the excavation site was set up with a square grid, and the archaeologist uses a brush to dust off the discovery. 

A second example of archaeological satire is the "Monty Python" sketch, Archaeology Today.

It begins with an interview of two archaeologists by the host of a television show. The interview quickly falls into chaos. The setting then changes to Egypt, where the excavation of an archaeological site is taking place. 

There is no practice of true archaeology during this excavation. The archaeologist in charge, even as he stands in a knee-deep hole in the ground, is wearing a dress suit and bow-tie. He is also singing with happiness, pausing only to pick up an unbroken piece of ancient Sumerian pottery that must have been lying on the ground. The men he is in charge of are using shovels to dig holes which seem to be randomly placed.

Comedy may not place a lot of importance on accurate facts, but it could be used as a valuable tool for conveying archaeology to the public. There are many inapt stereotypes of archaeologists and misconceptions about what it is that they do. Comedy has the potential to counter some of these misconceptions by using humor to highlight the inaccuracies.

What's right?: In the 1st video, there is actually an excavation grid set up. The rest is ridiculous, but obviously so. The audience is not meant to believe what they watch, only to enjoy. No misconceptions about archaeology stem from these two videos.

What's wrong?: Literally every single thing (except for the 1st two seconds of the 1st clip) is inaccurate. It is difficult to learn about what archaeology is by watching comedy.

Letter grade: B+