Calling All Indiana Jones Fans!™

Have you seen the May/June 2008 issue of DIG? It’s a must-look if you like archaeology and ever wondered what’s real and not real in the Indiana Jones movies. In the issue we included a great interview with Frank Marshall, the producer. Here we have included an interview with Heidi Cuzzone, who has a Master’s degree in archaeology from Yale University and was one of three scholars chosen to answer questions about how Indy’s daring exploits have their roots in reality. Here’s DIG’s exclusive interview with Heidi Cuzzone:

1. How did you become involved with the new Indiana Jones movie? What input did you have?

Yale University was the location set for Marshall College and while filming on location this summer, Lucasfilms asked Yale archaeologists if the Indiana Jones movies are representative of real archaeology. After being interviewed by Lucasfilms, they requested that I be available for further interviews geared towards newspapers and kids' publications, both in the U.S. and internationally. Other than that, I did not have any input into the actual movie. However, when I heard that kids would be involved, I was right on board. I worked the past three summers with students from the Yale Peabody’s Bones and Stones Archaeology Camp Program. Students ages 10-14 studied archaeology for the week and worked as field archaeologists at a local site where I was the Primary Investigator. They told me the best part of the week was the excavation. The students were fantastic. Their excitement for adventure and enthusiasm for discovering artifacts made and deposited by man some 4,000 years ago is shared not only by Indy, but all archaeologists.

2. What do you think of Indiana Jones as an archaeologist? Do his methods reflect his time period?

Archaeologists are professional scholars who study the human past through its physical remains such as artifacts, ecofacts and features. Most archaeologists are affiliated with colleges, universities, and museums where they teach about different cultures, conduct research, and use the results to reconstruct the past. Indy portrays an archaeologist and teaches his students the importance of research and the need to preserve antiquities from looters and collectors who do not seek to reconstruct the past but loot and sell object for their monetary value.

Of course, an archaeologist would not destroy an archaeological site, such as the church in the Holy Grail or use human remains to make a torch, or a skull to prevent a stone door from closing. In the same respect, I doubt that ancient booby traps existed or that they would work after thousands of years. But, of course, this is Hollywood’s interpretation of the adventurous archeologist.

Indy’s archaeological methods do reflect the time period he worked. In the 1930s, archaeology was not the well-established science it is today. Archaeologists excavated in foreign countries and transported artifacts back to their own country for study. Many of the artifacts were not returned to the country or culture where they were found. Today, there are a number of rules, regulations, and laws that govern archaeological excavations, as well as the recovery and analysis of archaeological remains. Today, permits for excavation are granted by other countries and our current laws and regulations allow archaeologist to study artifact in other countries.

When Indy attempts to recover the Cross of Coronado, a fictional artifact, from the looters, he believes that objects such as these should be in a museum, but which museum?

Today, we believe that artifacts should remain within the county and culture that produced them and be preserved under the auspices of local governments. Artifacts that were removed by archaeologists in the early 1900s are now being returned to the country of origin through repatriation laws.

3. What can aspiring archaeologists learn from Indy?

We learn from Indy that archaeology is an exciting profession, full of adventure and discovery, and that it is academically and physically challenging. Archaeology touches on every scientific discipline—among which are biology, chemistry, geology, and even physics. Before they even begin excavating, archaeologists learn about a site by studying the the prehistory, history, culture, language (both written and spoken), religion, and technology.

4. What have you learned from your involvement with the new Indy movie?

Although many of the artifacts may be fictional, such as the Cross of Coronado from Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, or the golden idol from Raiders of the Lost Ark, others are real or based on myths and folklore.

As for the new movie, the crystal skull remains an enigma. While crystal skulls exist in museum collections such as the British Museum of London and the Trocadero Museum in Paris, little is known about their origin or even how they were manufactured, or by whom. The writers of the new movie researched the historical and archaeological background of the crystal skulls, and it will be interesting to see how the meaning of the crystal skull is interpreted.

5. Is there any moment when you have been on a dig or leading another group on a dig that has made you think of Indy and his adventures?

The character of Indiana Jones, especially his hat, has become a symbol of archaeology. It has been my experience that when the press covers an archaeological dig, it is the archaeologist wearing this hat that often makes the paper. Periodically, I hear an archaeologist hum the theme song of Indiana Jones, while excavating. Indy also epitomizes a sense of adventure and excitement about discovery, characteristics that all archaeologists have when they are excavating the past.

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