Chapter 1 Investigating the meaning of archaeology in popular culture; Chapter 2 A travel log; Chapter 3 Archaeology in the mass media; Chapter 4 What people are thinking about archaeology; Chapter 5 The archaeologist in popular culture: key themes; Chapter 6 Chapter 6 Strategies of engagement; Chapter 7 Public archaeology reconsidered;
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).
"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
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