| The
Bluffer's Guide to Archaeology |
| By
Paul Bahn |
| |
| Extracts
from the book | |
| |
| A
fiendish jigsaw |
| Archaeology
is rather like a vast, fiendish jigsaw puzzle invented by the devil as an instrument
of tantalizing torment, since you don't know how many pieces are missing. |
| |
| Special
qualities |
| It
takes very special qualities to devote one's life to problems with no attainable
solutions and to poking around in dead people's garbage: words like 'nosy', 'masochistic'
and 'completely batty' spring readily to mind. This is why eccentricity is a hallmark
of the profession. |
| |
| An
ideal subject |
| Archaeology
is an ideal subject in which to become an accomplished bluffer because much of
the evidence is so patchy that anyone's guess is as valid as anyone else's. People
tend to think that archaeologists spend all their time digging. In fact, not all
of them dig, and only a few dig all the time. The bluffer should explain condescendingly
that processing and analysing the finds usually takes far longer than the excavation
itself, which is therefore just the foreplay, the preliminary stage: the means
to an end, not an end in itself. |
| |
| Blissful
ignorance |
| Diggers
- undergraduates, local convicts or civilian volunteers - are the cannon fodder,
usually providing all the sweaty labour and kept in a state of blissful ignorance
about what they are doing and why. Amazingly, some even pay money to be treated
this way. Their basic task often appears to be to move dirt from one place to
another, occasionally sieving it into different sizes before dumping it. |
| |
| Twaddle |
| Most
archaeologists will wax lyrical about their passion for the past. Don't believe
a word of it: as a good bluffer you should be able to recognize self-serving twaddle
at 20 paces. |
| |
| Reviews |
|
| |
| At
last an archaeological vade mecum has appeared at a price to suit every
pocket. The Bluffer's Guide to Archaeology should be in every archaeologist's
library. This delightful book abounds in ironical insights and wry explanations
of archaeological mystique and jargon. |
|
British
Archaeological News |
| |
This
is a fabulous book! It is one of the few books which made me laugh out loud in
a public library, surrounded by 'silence' notices. Whether you're new to archaeology
and need the low down about how pretentious it can be or whether you know this
already, the bluffer's guide tells many hilarious truths that archaeologists have
tried hard to keep hidden from the public for many years. Time Team it
ain't!
From the opening gambit that archaeology is essentially
a bizarre habit which involves combing through other people's old rubbish to the
(sadly true) revelation that a baffled archaeologist will try and make you think
they know what they're talking about by describing something as 'having ritual
significance' - meaning that they haven't got a clue what it is, but sounds impressive,
doesn't it ? Having been involved in this bizarre pastime for some years myself,
it made me howl with recognition. Buy it! |
|
A
reader from Sheffield, England |
| |
| This
book is hysterical. We found it one night while on a dig in Scotland and it passed
the time at night very nicely. Full of jokes about field workers and interesting
shirt slogans. Great to bring if your going to be with new people to break the
ice. |
| A
reader from Massachusetts, USA |
| |
| Table
of Contents | |
| |
|
Types of Archaeologist
Field Archaeologists
Armchair Archaeologists Archaeology
in the Field
Finding Sites
Excavation
Survey
Rescue
The Specialists
Stone Tool Experts
Pottery Experts
Zoologists
Botanists
Coprolite Analysts Fields
of Specialisation
Egyptology
The Near East
Rock Art
Underwater
Archaeology
Urban Archaeology
Experimental Archaeology
Ethnoarchaeology
Gender Archaeology
Industrial Archaeology and Garbage
Museum Work
Decipherment
Dating
Interpretation
The Outer Limits
Curses
Fakes
Pseudo-archaeology Archaeology
in Print
Ruses Some
Names to Know
Stonehenge Carnac
The Terracotta Army
Nazca Aztecs
and Incas
Easter Island
Australia Famous
Archaeologists
Nabodinus
Heinrich Schliemann
Boucher de Perthes
General Pitt-Rivers
Howard Carter
Henri Breuil
Sir Mortimer
Wheeler
Glyn Daniel
The Leakeys Glossary
|
| |
Fortune
Telling
