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Review: Avatar by James Cameron
Science
& Conquest: What Have We Learned?
Commentary
By Tim McGuinness, Ph.D.,
December 20, 2009What to say about Avatar? Why am I even commenting on this
Science Fiction? It's not archaeology, right?
It's simple. This is one of the most breath-taking movies
ever made! And it deals with one of the most fundamental
tenets of Archaeology. It also has much to teach us
about Science ethics and out future.
Read More
»
Review: 2012
The Maya & Hollywood Got It
Wrong! Though If You Have A
€1,000,000,000 Why Not Buy A Seat!
Commentary On The Movies
By Tim McGuinness, Ph.D.,
November 22, 2009
Wow, this one is a
real thrill ride! The new release from Sony, 2012, is the disaster
movie that puts all disaster movies to shame! Regardless of anything
else, this is worth seeing for the imagery.
But why am I writing about a
disaster movie? For two fundamental reasons: It's based upon a false
notion that the Maya (and other cultures) get to say "Told You So!"; and that
this regularly happens (ever hear of Noah?).
Read More »
Review:
Lara Croft - Tomb
Raider
& The Cradle of Life
Commentary
By Tim McGuinness, Ph.D.,
November 9, 2009
Time really
flies. It has been forever since I watched this pair
of action/adventure/science fiction & archaeology gone bad
movies. It's been almost a decade since these hit the silver
screen, and the public perception of archaeology has never
been the same.
In a strange twist,
though, the Lara Croft character, has done much for women's
participation in archaeology. Though frankly, some of the most
amazing archaeologists were women, going back almost a century.
Read More »
Review:
Battlestar Galactica
Science Lost In A
Neopolitical Era
Commentary
By Tim McGuinness, Ph.D.,
April
21, 2009
Now
that the excellent remake of Battlestar Galactica is over,
there is time to reflect on what we saw, the stereotypes
displayed, and on the series ending.
What you may ask, does
this have to do with Archaeology? Actually several
things!
In the series, we are lead
to believe from the beginning that this is a "parallel"
civilization. This is critical so that we set aside
our natural skepticism and disbelief. There are so
many things that defy possibility in their similarity, but a
parallel allows for these.
Read More »
Rant: Harrison
Ford Given Award By AIA!!?
Commentary
By Tim McGuinness, Ph.D.,
October 25th, 2008
HARRISON FORD HONORED BY THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF
AMERICA - Ford to Be Presented with First-Ever Adolph
Bandelier Award for Public Service at Organization’s 2009
Gala! What exactly has he done to deserve this?
Read More »
Rant:
What is
Archaeology?
Commentary
By Tim McGuinness, Ph.D.,
August 8th, 2008
Archaeology, archeology, or archæology (from Greek
archaios, meaning primal, ancient, or old; and logos,
meaning to study) is the science that studies human cultures
through the recovery, documentation, analysis and
interpretation of material remains and environmental data,
including architecture, artifacts, features, biofacts, and
landscapes. Because archaeology's aim is to understand
mankind, it is a humanistic endeavor.
The goals of archaeology vary, and there is debate as to
what its aims and responsibilities are...
Read More »
Review:
Indiana Jones And The
Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull
Commentary On The Movie
By Tim McGuinness, Ph.D., May 26, 2008
I recently had the pleasure? of watching the latest
installment in the Indiana Jones saga: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom
of the Crystal Skull. I am the first to admit it was a good
adventure movie in the tradition of past Indiana Jones movies from
Steven Spielberg and George Lucas.
The irony in this for me, was that I was contacted
by a staffer at Lucas a couple of years back about my expertise on
the subject of Crystal Skulls, and on Peru. I agreed to
participate, and suggested several other archaeologists as specific
experts in several subject areas. I never heard from them
again! However, I am left
to guess at the reasons why they did not use credible archaeologists
in the conceptualization of this movie. I assume that they
knew they were going to go way over the top, producing a total false
story, and that if they shared
the plot line, no one would have helped them.
Read More »
Review: Numbers Gets It
Wrong
Commentary On The TV Series "Numbers"
By Tim McGuinness, Ph.D.,
August 17th, 2008
I recently
watched an episode of the TV series
"Numb3rs" produced by Tony Scot, called "The
Art Of Reckoning"
In this
episode, one of the steady characters, named "Larry" had
just returned from to trip to the International Space
Station aboard the Space Shuttle. While in orbit,
Larry occupied his mind creating a Kipu. He proceeds
to tell the character Charlie about it. He describes
it as an Aztec creation, "use to hide information from the
conquering Spaniards"!
Is there no
one in Los Angeles on the production company that knows
anything about history?
Read More »
Review: The Mummy
Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor
(or
The Mummy Movie With The Same Formula As Before
Except In China And Without Any Mummies.)
Commentary On The Movie
By Tim McGuinness, Ph.D.,
August 13th, 2008
Here we go
again, with another Mummy Movie!
While I
really didn't expect much reality from this production
company, and while it was a generally entertaining farce,
here again Hollywood doesn't even bother to try to get
anything right.
Read More
»

Differences Far
Outweigh the Similarities between "Reel" and Real
Archaeology!
Indiana
Jones has some things in common with NSF-funded
archaeologists, but relic hunting isn't one of them.
Visit
Their Website
»
Review:
Spartans Overwhelmed
at Thermopylae, Again
Commentary by Eugene N. Borza,
professor emeritus of ancient history at Pennsylvania State
University, from Archaeology Magazine, March 22, 2007
A technically
exciting videogame of a film, 300
loses touch with a critical and moving event in Greek
history.
Herodotus, the “Father of
History,” told many good stories, but there are few tales in
his repertoire that surpass his narrative of the last-ditch
stand of the Greeks against numerically superior forces at
the pass of Thermopylae in August, 480 B.C. A huge military
force led by Xerxes, the Persian King of Kings, crossed the
Hellespont from Asia into Europe, intent on the subjugation
of Greece. Whether Xerxes intended this invasion as revenge
for the Athenian victory over the Persians at Marathon a
decade earlier or whether his expedition had been planned
all along as the natural extension of Persian rule into
Europe is still a matter of debate among modern historians.
The Greek city-states were aware of the movement of Asian
land and naval forces through the areas north of them. Greek
representatives met and attempted to plan a defense against
an army that may have numbered hundreds of thousands
(precision in numbers is impossible). A dispute among the
Greeks regarding their best defense was resolved thus: the
Peloponnesians, led by Sparta, would build a wall across the
Isthmus of Corinth in order to protect the cities of
southern Greece. Athens, which was vulnerable, would be
evacuated, and the powerful Athenian fleet would be used to
engage and destroy the Asian naval forces, thereby depriving
Xerxes of necessary support. But time was short, and an
attempt to delay the relentless advance of Xerxes' army was
necessary to enable the Athenians to abandon their city and
the Peloponnesians to build their defensive wall.
Read The Review
In Archaeology Magazine
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