ARCHAEOLOGY IS A BRAND!

What impact is there on the field to recognize that archaeology is a regular feature in daily life and popular culture? Based upon the study of England, Germany, Sweden and the USA, Cornelius Holtorf examines the commonalities and peculiarities of media portrayal of archaeology in these countries, and the differences between media presentations and audience knowledge and attraction to the subject, In his normal engaging, populist style, Holtorf discusses the main strategies available to archaeologists in engaging with their popular representations. Possessors of a widely recognized, positively valued and well underpinned brand, archaeologists need to take more seriously the appeal of their work.

Possessors of a widely recognized, positively valued and well-underpinned brand, archaeologists need to take more seriously the appeal of their work and its relationship to society and popular culture.

“Cornelius Holtorf’s book, Archaeology is a Brand!, is an entertaining enquiry into the meaning of archaeology in contemporary popular culture, investigating what is absorbed into the popular fabric, the image archaeologists project, and the role the archaeological profession plays in the shaping of popular perceptions…. I enjoyed reading the book, the prose is clear, ‘on message’ without being too patronising.” —Madeleine Hummler, Antiquity

“Holtorf is correct: archaeology is a ‘brand’ and very much a part of popular culture. His analysis of archaeological themes in the media of Sweden, Germany, and Great Britain offers themes that appeal to broad audiences. In short, archaeology has become an integral part of the ‘experience economy.’ Highly recommended.” —C. S. Peebles, CHOICE Magazine

“When Holtorf says that archaeologists have come to terms with the popularity of their subject—the archaelogist is not digging up things, or even people, but dreams—he may be onto something…. The bibliography will be much used in archaeology and media courses.” —Mike Pitts, British Archaeology

“Scholars talk in toon to fight rise of jargon. Have you ever struggled to make it through the often turgid language of traditional academic papers and monographs? Two academics frustrated by the impenetrable nature of the some colleagues’ work have launched a unique challenge to ‘academic conventions’ Their book…is the first scholarly tome to tell stories though moving cartoon images.” —Chloe Stothart, The Times Higher Education Supplement

“Holtorf (archaeology, U. of Lund) is objective in his examinations of how the trendiness of archaeology gets in its own way in the media. He examines television shows from Germany, Sweden and Great Britain (with a sideswipe at the newspapers), common perceptions such as ‘archaeologists dig up things’ and the pleasure amateurs take in the discipline, the role of the archaeologist in the mass media (adventurer, detective, maker of profiound revelations, and caregiver of ancient sites and finds, the archaeologist’s clothes, strategies of engagement with the public (education, public relations and democratic), and the benefits of reconsidering public-view archaeology.” —Book News, Inc.
“Smartly published using a comic font and cartoons produced by the hilarious hand of Quentin Drew of Lampeter University, Wales, Archaeology Is A Brand superficially resembles a light-hearted romp through the past in the present. But do not be hoodwinked by the author’s cunning intelligence: this is a very serious reflection that ‘typologises’ archaeologists—turning the tables on our artefact-cataloguing obsession—to predict future trends.” —Sean Kingsley, Minerva
“Like Holtorf’s previous book, Archaeology is a Brand! suffers from the same problem in terms of academic credibility in that it’s a pleasure to read. Despite this is it a good book? For me a good book is one which brings to light new information, new ideas or new questions. If you’re interested in the public perception of archaeology, then by that measure this is a good book.” —Alun Salt, Archaeoastronomy.wordpress.com
“It is hard not to imagine that Cornelius Holtorf spends his time in some kind of secret lair trying to come up with ever more inventive ways to drive mainstream archaeologists up the wall. Archaeology is a Brand! plays with every perception of what an archaeological text is supposed to be like.…Archaeology is a Brand! has interesting things to say about the ways in which archaeology is presented in popular culture and how the public, in turn, experiences archaeology…Archaeology is a Brand! is an interesting and thought-provoking book, well worth reading for the questions it raises, even if the reader does not agree with the answers Holtorf suggests.” – James Holloway, Archaeological Review from Cambridge
In this high-spirited examination of archaeology’s public image, Cornelius Holtorf sets out to illuminate current themes that mark the public understanding of archaeology as a scientific enterprise…These chapters make interesting inroads into the question of the nature and scope of the public presentation of archaeology, and will perhaps make the discipline of archaeology more appealing as a topic for scholars in sociology and history, who tend to focus on scientific subjects at the top of the disciplinary hierarchy (physics and laboratory biology). …Holtorf raises serious questions that deserve serious consideration by the scientific community, if we are to think of scientific knowledge as belonging to all. -Katherine Pandora, Public Understanding of Science
In the past, I admired Cornelius Holtorf’s research on megalithic monuments. Now he has shifted his research to the interrelation between archaeology and popular culture and produced a survey on how people view archaeology and archaeologists. The book is aimed at professional archaeologists and students…I enjoyed this book. Holtorf provided a useful survey of how archaeologists and archaeology are viewed by the general public. I recommend this book to all archaeologists and students who are interested in this subject. Read the complete review at: http://wings.buffalo.edu/ARD/cgi/showme.cgi?keycode=3163 -Sarunas Milisauskas, Anthropology Review Database

Cornelius Holtorf is Assistant Professor in the Institute for Archaeology and Ancient History at University of Lund, Sweden. Holtorf is currently concentrating on the Monte da Igrega excavation project in Portugal and on a joint network project, The Archaeology of Zoos. He recently published From Stonehenge to Las Vegas: Archaeology as Popular Culture (2005, AltaMira Press).