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Awesome Archaeology

INDIANA JONES AND CO.

 Isabel Soto – dauntless archaeologist and world explorer – is the star of a series of graphic novels published by Capstone Press’s Graphic Library. Titles, variously by Terry Collins and Agnieszka Biskup, include Egypt’s Mysterious Pyramids, Uncovering Mummies, Escape from Pompeii, The Mesa Verde Cliff Dwellers, and Exploring Titanic. (Isabel also occasionally goes farther afield, as in Tracking Bigfoot and Searching for UFOs.) For ages 8 and up.

In David Macaulay’s Motel of the Mysteries (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1979), the year is 4022 and archaeologist Howard Carson is excavating what he believes to be a sacred burial chamber, lying just past a crumbling DO NOT DISTURB sign hung on an ancient doorknob. A clever spoof for ages 12 and up.

Elizabeth Peters’s Crocodile on the Sandbank (Grand Central Publishing, 2013) is the first of an extensive mystery series set in the late 19th century and starring feisty Egyptologist Amelia Peabody. (The author knows her stuff; she herself has a doctorate in Egyptology.) Among the subsequent titles are The Curse of the Pharaohs, The Mummy Case, and Lion in the Valley. Fun and exciting reads for teenagers and adults.

Agatha Christie’s second husband, Max Mallowan, was an archaeologist. See Christie’s Murder in Mesopotamia, set on an archaeological dig in Ur.
“Dr. Indiana Jones is worse at recovering precious items than a magpie stuffed with explosives.” 8 Famous Fictional Archaeologists Who Suck at Their Job is a snarky overview of archaeologists in the movies for teenagers and adults.

Michael Crichton’s Timeline (Ballantine Books, 2003) is a fast-paced thriller that pairs archaeologists, excavations of 14th-century French castles, the Hundred Years’ War, and a time machine. For teenagers and adults.

Like everything else Crichton ever wrote, it was made into a movie. Rated PG-13.
Future archaeology. In outer space. Check out this list of 10 Space Archaeology Novels You Must Read.

MAGAZINES

From Kids Discover, see Archaeology – and many related issues, variously on Mesopotamia, Pompeii, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Persia, and more. For ages 7-13.
Archaeology magazine, published bimonthly by the Archaeological Institute of America, is aimed at adults and has a fairly sophisticated text, but the pictures – all in color – are great for persons of all ages. Each issue includes several feature articles about archaeological discoveries worldwide. An annual subscription costs about $15.

ARCHAEOLOGY ONLINE AND ON SCREEN

In the Science Museum of Minnesota’s Maya Adventure, kids explore prominent Mayan archaeological sites.
In Collapse: Why Civilizations Fall, students explore the fall civilizations in Central America, the American Southwest, Mesopotamia, and western Africa. For ages 12 and up. Also from Science NetLinks, check out many other archaeologically-oriented lesson plans, such as The Science of Mummies and What Can We Learn From Artifacts?
In the PBS series Time Team America, archaeologists race to excavate historic sites around the nation. Visitors to the website can watch full episodes and access lots of helpful supplementary information.
The idea for Time Team America came from the BBC’s reality TV series Time Team. For example, check out Time Team: Unearthing the Roman Invasion, a 12-part archaeological adventure on DVD.
The History Channel’s Digging for Truth series, starring Josh Bernstein, deals with unsolved historical and archaeological mysteries, and each episode – after site visits, interviews with researchers, and investigation – ends with a working hypothesis. Titles include “Hunt for the Lost Ark,” “Secrets of the Nazca Lines,” “Mystery of the Anasazi,” “The Real Temple of Doom,” and “Roanoke: The Lost Colony.” Available on DVD or as Amazon Instant Videos.
From PBS, the Secrets of the Dead series is an exciting mix of forensic science, archaeology, and history. Episode titles include Bones of the Buddha, Ultimate Tut, Caveman Cold Case, and Blackbeard’s Lost Ship. (View online or available on DVD.) Click on “Educators” at the website for lesson plans to accompany the episodes, aimed at middle- and high-school-level students.

Titles from National Geographic’s 12-part Ancient Civilizations series include “Ancient Graves: Voices of the Dead,” “Lost Kingdom of the Maya,” and “Quest for Noah’s Flood.”
NOVA’s five-part Secrets of Lost Empires series includes “Medieval Siege,” “Pharaoh’s Obelisk,” “Easter Island,” “Roman Bath,” and “China Bridge.” The website has online teacher’s guides, background information, and creative activities.
From PBS, First Peoples (2015) is a documentary tracing the 200,000-year-old history of the human race, as we left Africa and migrated around the world.
NOVA’s Mystery of the First Americans explores the discovery and controversy surrounding the 9000-year-old skeleton of Kennewick Man. The website has a teacher’s guide, supplementary information, and “The Dating Game,” an interactive explanation of radiocarbon dating.
Dig-It Games, founded by a professional archaeologist/middle-school teacher, makes archaeology-themed video games for kids, designed to promote puzzle- and problem-solving skills (and some history learning). Titles so far include Roman Town and Mayan Mysteries. For Mac, PC, and mobile devices.
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