Essay Example on Massive misunderstanding as to what it is we do for a Living

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We face massive misunderstanding on the part of greatly of the general public as to what it is we do for a living Funding as mentioned by another responder is a major problem Sexy projects get money as well as attention equally important but less attractive projects may not because they aren't seen as public relations opportunities There is often resistance to survey public salvage archaeology on the part of local residents in an part not just natives especially if undertaking an excavation to for example salvage a site before a highway is built delays the highway project by a few months Archaeologists are often seen as meddlers in local affairs In addition there is a surprising number of individuals who think that most archaeological substance is just garbage anyway or not worth studying at all As well as a remarkable number of individuals don’t think archaeology is a real job There are ongoing problems of site preservation in the face of development see above as well as in the face of looting or robbery There are cases of archaeologists working in certain parts being threatened or in certain cases actually facing physical violence from looters Usually this is because the looters don t want to face either losing their source of objects for sale legal or illegal depending on the part or don t want to face legal repercussions if their actions are clearly illegal Tied into this are the collectors private individuals as well as museums the world over who buy artifacts off the art market either not caring or turning a blind eye to the illegal looting as well as sale of objects They are providing a market for looters a very lucrative market Looting is an extremely damaging exercise Greatly of what archaeological investigation as well as reconstruction is about is context where an artifact was found in relation to other objects buildings features etc 



When somebody simply removes valuable objects from a site for sale we lose that context as well as thus loose certain of the information we could have gained from it As well as the process of digging for those valuable objects destroys other parts of the site It's not as though the guys out there with shovels in the dark are exactly keeping detailed records In addition to losing the context of the object the nation culture to which the object technically belongs is also losing their property While a number of looters steal artifacts to literally feed their families just as many looters do it simply for the money or in certain cases for the thrill as well as the pleasure of putting one over on the stuffy university archaeologists Sort of connected to this problem though generally on a greatly smaller scale are amateur archaeologists or arrowhead hunters especially in the US While these individuals usually have no idea that they re doing any harm or that in certain cases they're breaking the law they're also looting though on a small scale Another challenge is what I ll simply call the crazy individuals The individuals who swear that aliens built the pyramids with help from survivors from Atlantis

These individuals quite simply have no idea what they're talking about They refuse to listen to reasoned arguments from experts as well as frequently condemn professional archaeologists as well as other scholars as being close minded when their new forward thinking ideas are refuted Quite frankly arguing with these individuals is very greatly like arguing with a religious fanatic they're so attached to their ideas that they simply will not let them go no matter how greatly indication contradicting their theories you provide While one doesn t necessarily have to be a professional to make a contribution to the field we professionals have spent years of our lives studying the subject are familiar with the substance as well as are frankly better equipped to evaluate the indication at hand That's why we went to school As well as while archaeology is not a hard science there are standards of research methodology as well as scholastic exercise that the majority of alternative theorists seem to be either utterly unaware of or that they simply ignore They rarely conform to any sort of standard of academic dialogue preferring instead to rely upon ad hominem attacks of either individual scholars or the profession as a whole as well as they seem to adore painting themselves as misunderstood genius martyrs It doesn't help that a number of supposedly educational channels frequently run programs about alternative theories that misleadingly suggest that such theories are seriously supported by any indication or that there really are big huge unsolved mysteries about certain aspects of the past Yes there are still unsolved mysteries but these programs blow them out of proportion usually feature talking heads who have no qualifications to speak of as well as rarely if ever offer mainstream professionals an opportunity to evaluate their theories While I applaud individuals enthusiasm regarding history as well as archaeology I find it very tiresome to have to constantly cope with the same misunderstandings most of which are caused by irresponsible educational programs as well as junk literature In certain cases it's gotten to the point where I tend to avoid mentioning what I do for a living when meeting new individuals until I can be fairly certain that I m not going to be treated to a long diatribe about ancient aliens as well as how I'm part of a vast conspiracy to hide the truth I do enjoy talking about what I do for a living but I don't enjoy the nonsense I occasionally get from individuals up to as well as including threats on occasion who cling to certain pretty weird ideas


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