In class we talked about the authenticity of the bone box that was inscribed with “Jesus brother of Joseph son of James.” The ossuary was found on the antiquity market and not dug up through proper methods of excavation and documentation. I was reminded of sci-fi media that focuses on archeology like Tomb Raider and Indiana Jones. We talked about the necessity of credentials when unearthing items like these, because it’s crucial for proper documentation to happen for the history of items like these to be correctly theorized. Indiana Jones is a professor of archeology, but throughout the movies, he does little to properly document his finding, and sometimes his actions are rarely done through legal channels. Lara Croft from Tomb Raider is more of a professional grave robber than an archeologist. In the Tomb Raider games, the adventures and findings of Lara Croft are all secret and unofficial, so the history of what she finds is usually lost.
Categories