When most people hear the word “archaeology”, they often imagine booby traps, hidden temples, and dusty treasure maps. However, the field is much more complex than Hollywood leads us to believe.

 

Depiction in Media

The media’s version of archaeology is often sensationalized or romanticized, focusing on treasure hunting, dramatic discoveries, and ancient curses rather than the careful, methodical nature of real archaeological work. Popular portrayals such as Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider emphasize adventure, danger, and lone hero figures, which can misrepresent the collaborative, scientific, and slow-paced reality of archaeology. These depictions rarely show the importance of context, technicalities, or ethical concerns in the field. While such portrayals can inspire public interest, they can also perpetuate stereotypes and misinformation, overlooking the discipline’s commitment to understanding past human behavior through rigorous analysis, documentation, and respect for descendant communities. The following are misleading stereotypes that are often represented in popular culture:

• Treasure Hunting: Movies such as Indiana Jones and National Treasure portray archaeologists as adventurers in search of priceless treasures. In reality, archaeologists seek knowledge, not treasure, and must carefully excavate every single artifact, since even the dirt around artifacts can hold important contextual clues. In addition, artifacts can be small and unremarkable shards of bone, pottery, or charcoal as opposed to grand-looking artifacts made of precious metals as shown in popular movies or TV shows. Even artifacts like these can tell us valuable information about the people who used them in the past.

• The Lone Genius: Archaeology is often shown as a solo venture by a single brilliant explorer, but in reality, it is highly collaborative and organized. Before any excavation begins, archaeologists must obtain legal permissions from governments or landowners. The dig itself requires a coordinated team, including specialists like soil scientists, conservators, and analysts, each contributing their expertise. Meaningful interpretation of a site relies on this kind of interdisciplinary cooperation.
• Ancient Aliens & Lost Civilizations: Pseudoscientific shows such as Ancient Aliens or The UnXplained mislead viewers by promoting sensationalized claims, such as the suggestion that aliens built the pyramids or lost advanced civilizations existed without citing reputable sources. These narratives are not only unsupported by credible evidence, but they often carry colonialist undertones by denying Indigenous peoples the recognition for their technological and cultural achievements.
• Just Digging: Another common misconception is that archaeology is simply digging. While excavation is an important part of the field, much of the work happens off-site in labs and archives. Archaeologists use advanced technologies such as radiocarbon dating, microscopic analysis, and 3D imaging to study artifacts and environmental data. They also spend significant time writing reports and publishing research to share their findings with both academic audiences and the public.

• Sudden Discoveries: Television and films tend to show groundbreaking discoveries happening instantly after finding a single artifact. In truth, major discoveries often unfold over many years through slow, meticulous research and collaboration. A single find usually raises more questions than it answers, and forming a reliable interpretation requires analyzing large amounts of data, consulting experts, and sometimes enduring ongoing scholarly debate without a clear resolution.

 

Processes in Real Life Archaeology

Here are some of the key steps archaeologists follow when excavating and drawing conclusions:

1. Planning and Permits: Archaeologists must first get permission from landowners, local governments, or heritage authorities. They often work with Indigenous or descendant communities to ensure respectful and ethical research.
2. Surveying and Site Selection: After obtaining necessary permission, archaeologists use tools like satellite imagery, historical records, or fieldwalking (systematic surface collection) to identify promising, artifact-rich sites. Technologies like LiDAR, ground-penetrating radar (GPR), and GIS help map sites before actual excavation begins.
3. Excavation: Excavation occurs slowly and systematically. Archaeologists divide sites into grids and work in teams to excavate each grid layer by layer. Documentation is done in detail, with the exact coordinates artifacts are found, the angle they were found at, the soil layer, etc. Even these small details can hold valuable information for archaeologists.
4. Post-Excavation Analysis: After artifacts are fully excavated, they are then taken to a lab. Specialists analyze materials using radiocarbon dating, microscopic analysis, DNA testing, isotope studies, and more. This helps reconstruct what an artifact was used for, who the people who used it were, where they came from, and how they lived.
5. Interpretation and Writing: Finally, archaeologists will write research articles, reports, and books to share findings with scholars and the public. They also often create museum exhibits or educational programs to make their work accessible and engaging.

 

Accurate Depictions of Archaeology

Accurate depictions of archaeology are important because archaeology shapes our understanding of the past and influences how people value cultural heritage. When archaeology is presented as treasure hunting or a fantasy adventure through the media, it can diminish the discipline’s scientific rigor and ethical responsibilities, leading to misconceptions like looting being acceptable or that ancient sites are merely tourist attractions without historical significance. These portrayals can also undermine Indigenous histories by promoting pseudoscientific ideas that deny the accomplishments of past civilizations. On the other hand, accurate representations highlight archaeology’s role in uncovering human history, fostering cultural respect, and informing debates about identity, climate, inequality, and migration. They also encourage responsible public engagement, support preservation efforts, and inspire future archaeologists to approach the field with integrity and cultural sensitivity.

Below are some shows. films, and documentaries I recommend that contain accurate depictions of archaeology:

• The Great Human Odyssey: A TV series that follows archaeological and anthropological work to discover how our ancestors migrated out of Africa and eventually became one of the most successful and prominent species on the planet.
• Secrets of the Saqqara Tomb: A documentary covering a team of Egyptian archaeologists that discover a tomb from the in the Saqqara necropolis, just outside of Cairo that has been untouched for 4,400 years.
• The Dig: On the eve of World War II, a British widow hires a self-taught archaeologist to dig up mysterious formations on her land, leading to a staggering find. Contains fictional and dramatized elements, but still includes some aspects of real archaeological practice.
• The Lost King: In this inspiring film based on a true story, amateur historian Philippa Langley believes she has made the archeological find of the century: the lost burial site of King Richard III. While dramatized, it shows the importance of interdisciplinary work and persistence in real archaeological discovery.