Popular Fictional "Archaeologists"
The following is a list of popular fictional archaeologists from around the world who have appeared in a movie, or two or more TV shows. Although there are many different forms of archaeology that are practiced today, it is very likely that no one ever uses the "techniques" employed by this curious bunch !! So after a hard days' toweling in some cold, wet and muddy trench, put your feet up and have a laugh at how the movie industry portrays the role of an archaeologist..... and in the words of Dr Indiana Jones (from Last Crusade in 1989) "Archaeology is the search for fact, not truth ...... we do not follow maps to buried treasure and 'X' never, ever marks the spot".
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Bonekickers was a BBC drama about a team of archaeologists, set at the fictional Wessex University. There was an element of science, conspiracy theories and there's a big underlying mystery that goes through the whole six-episode series - a mix of CSI and Indiana Jones. Archaeologist Mark Horton from Bristol University acted as the series' technical consultant. Reviews were poor, including complaints from the academic community around accuracy. The BBC did not commission a second series. |
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Garibaldi returns to Babylon 5 after an 18-month tenure as CEO of Edgars Enterprise. The purpose of Garibaldi's arrival is a conference with archeologist Dr. Robert Bryson, who claims to be on the verge of discovering the secret of eternal life. Alas, the immortality-granting alien artifact discovered by Bryson actually belongs to the Soul Hunters, who will stop at nothing to retrieve the sacred relic. Martin Sheen was originally offered the role of Dr. Bryson but after reading the script, he asked to play the Soul Hunter instead. |
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An English archaeologist/librarian called Evelyn 'Evy' Carnahan wants to start an archaeological dig at the ancient city of Hamunaptra, with the help of adventurer Rick O'Connell, after rescuing him from prison. A group of American explorers are also intent on finding treasure at Hamunaptra. discover a box containing the black Book of the Dead, accompanied by canopic jars carrying Anck-su-Namun's preserved organs. At night, Evelyn takes the Book of the Dead from the Americans' tent and reads aloud, accidentally awakening Imhotep. Both groups return to Cairo, but the mummy hunts down the Americans who opened the box, slowly regenerating with each person he kills. |
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British archaeologist and adventurer Lara Croft first appeared in 1996 in the Square Enix (previously Eidos Interactive) video game series Tom Raider. She is widely known as the most recognised female video game character In the first film Tomb Raider, Croft (played by Angelina Jolie) encounters the Illuminati, a group searching for a relic able to control time. The sequel depicts Croft in search of Pandora's box in competition with a Chinese crime syndicate. |
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Unorthodox American archaeologist Prof. Sydney Fox is a globe-trotting "relic hunter," looking for ancient artefacts to return to museums and/or the descendants of the original owner. She is aided by British linguistic assistant Nigel Bailey and her secretary Claudia. At the start of each episode, there is a short flashback in which a relic or artieact is used or abused in its original time before being lost, stolen or hidden. |
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In the two National Treasure films, actor Nicholas Cage plays Benjamin Franklin Gates, a historian and amateur cryptologist searching for lost treasures and precious artefacts. In the first outing, Gates believes that a coded map on the back of the US Declaration of Independence points to the location of the "national treasure", that was accumulated into a single place by looters and warriors over many millenia. In the second film, with the help of 18 missing pages of John Wilkes Booth's diary, Gates sets out to prove the innocence of his great-great-grandfather, thought to be conspirator and architect of the Lincoln assassination. |
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Part 1: The film begins with Jack stealing a stone tablet from a French museum... Young archaeologist Jack Hunter planned only to take a picture of a cuneiform tablet from once unsurpassed Mesopotmian metropolis Ugarit in present Syria, but is caught and has to steal it from a private museum in France. He refuses to join his mentor, professor Frederic "Freddie" Shaffer, who believes the poem is a coded treasure map, on a relic hunt, until his friend is murdered to steal it. Obvious suspect is Syrian artifact trader Ali, so Jack flies to Damascus. There he must accept working with local, US-educated colleague Nadia and her driver Tariq. Their lives are threatened during the long relic quest, for one by common nemesis Albert Littman, but another secret lurks too. Part 2: Akhenaten, a pharoah who raided Ugarit, stole its treasure and the second piece of the Star of Heaven. If Jack and his team find the tomb, they will find the treasure and the Star. Loads of action and mystery await. Part 3: The final piece of the puzzle and final chapter in the mini-series. It seems the Romans got to Akhenaten's Tomb first. The race is onto see if Jack and his friends can find the treasure and recover the Iris back from Littmann and the Ru |
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Dr. Daniel Jackson (played by James Spader in the 1994 film) and a small group of US troups use an ancient alien 'stargate' device to transport themselves to a distant planet called Abydos, after Jackson uses his knowledge of ancient Egyptian languages to make the device work. In the popular TV series Stargate SG1 (1997-2007), Dr. Jackson was played by Michael Shanks.
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Everyone's favourite archaeologist, Colonel Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., Ph.D. is a fictional character of the Indiana Jones franchise, created by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg in homage to the action heroes of 1930s film serials. Played by actor Harrison Ford in all four films and by River Phoenix as Young Indy in the Last Crusade, the series also produced a TV show called The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, which was designed as an educational program for children. Various video games and even Lego figures have been created in tribute to the probably the greatest movie archaeologist of them all. |
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Captain Jean-Luc Picard (played by Patrick Stewart) is the Commander of the United Federation of Planet’s flagship, the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701D), who served during the latter half of the 24th century. Jean-Luc's interest in history and archaeology began in 2313, when he entered a small parish church to escape the torment of his brother. During his early career, Picard seriously considered pursuing archaeology on a professional level with the help of his teacher, noted archaeologist Richard Galen. His academic training in archaeology is mentioned in numerous TNG episodes - in "The Chase," Picard has to deal with a Laura Croft type tomb raider. He continues to pursue archaeology as a hobby, occasionally publishing scientific papers on the subject and also as a keynote speaker at the Federation Archaeology Council in 2367. |
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Dirk Eric Pitt is a renowned adventurer of a series of 21 best selling adventure novels written by Clive Cussler. Pitt works as a marine engineer of the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA), an oceanographic research organisation headed by Admiral James Sandecker. He made made numerous important shipwreck discoveries. Played by Richard Jordan (left) in Raise the Titanic and Matthew McConaughey in Sahara. |
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River Song is an archaeologist from the future who keeps getting into trouble and knows the Doctor can help her get out of it. Because River Song is a time traveller herself, her adventures with the Doctor occur out-of-synchronisation; their first meeting (from the audience's perspective) is his first and her last. She first meets the Doctor on the planet of The Library and her journal is packed with information the Doctor feels he should not know about yet. River knows the Doctor's real name and she even has a sonic screwdriver of her own that she claims he gave to her. She even knows how to fly the TARDIS. |
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Dr. Helena von Lahnstein is a fictional character of the German soap opera Verbotene Liebe (Forbidden Love). She studies archaeology at the University of Heidelberg and has the title - Countess of Lahnstein. Helena is the daughter of Madeleine and Ludwig von Lahnstein, one of their four children. She is currently working for the family business Lahnstein Enterprises.
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