A-ha - I see. I mistook the previous discussion of Spike's American Diggers with NatGeo's Diggers. I thought they were one and the same. Mike On 3/22/2012 1:35 PM, [log in to unmask] wrote: > > > > > From: NASA (National Association of State Archaeologists) > [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Doershuk, John F > Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2012 12:19 PM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: [NASA] Report on Spike TV's "American Diggers" > > Dear Colleagues: > I watched the premiere episode of Spike TV's "American Diggers" broadcast > yesterday evening. Happily, it was just a 30-minute episode, which they > immediately repeated. I scanned ahead a bit on the channel guide and it > appears Spike typically reruns shows heavily, so the same episode aired at > midnight and will run again every day this week. This episode was shot in Alaska, > next week’s program was shot in Detroit. As is the case with most TV these > days it was chock full of ads (more on these, below), so I doubt there > was more than 18 minutes or so of content, especially since they repeat prior > bits after an advertising block to remind the viewer of the storyline. The > intro segment to the show describes the intent of the series, and it is > unabashedly as the Internet advertising indicated: find historical objects, > ignore context, sell for profit. Very entrepreneurial and a premise that is > hard to argue with, after all, isn't a basic principle of America the right > for all to exploit everything they can to earn a living? > The cast of "American Diggers" includes a crew of four headed by Ric > Savage, who was center stage throughout, with the other three really filling > minor roles. Savage is an ebullient larger-than-life character but no fool. > Interestingly, one of his crew, identified only as "Bob," was labeled as a “ > battlefield historian” while the other, younger crew members were simply > muscle. Otherwise, they were all self-styled “diggers” with "let's dig!" > being their byline. In this first episode they limited themselves to using > metal detectors and hand tools (they were exploiting Alaska gold rush-era > camps) but the intro segment shows that backhoes, jackhammers, and even high > explosives will be used in future episodes. Savage and his crew joke around > some, but the buffoonery that characterized Natl Geo's "Diggers" was > missing. Savage is portrayed as a man in serious pursuit of his passion – i.e., > digging up and selling historical objects. He claims his passion is finding > history and holding it in his hands, but as with "Diggers," "American > Diggers" falls well short of communicating any sort of "discovery rush." > Unfortunately, the "rush" provided by the show was most evident when Savage sells > the items recovered at the antique mart and "the past" gets translated into > cash. True to his word, Savage shared the take with the property owner > (70/30 split with the landowner getting the smaller amount)—and the producer > made sure the camera caught the enthusiasm blossoming in the face of the > landowner when Savage handed over the money. You could literally see the wheels > turning—that's a landowner who will never think of cultural resources on > their property as something to preserve. So even though Savage and the > "American Diggers" crew came and went relatively quickly, that landowner (and > everyone he talks with in the area) will be thinking $$ for objects. > There was zero mention of archaeology or science, and no effort made at > all trying to legitimate this activity as anything remotely educational or > additive to general knowledge. The term "artifacts" was used as Savage > characterizes his firm as an "artifact recovery company." The recent New York > Times article published March 20 on the show indicates that Rita Savage, Ric's > wife, researches "the historical record of an area, compar[ing] period > maps with contemporary maps" but this activity (and Rita) did not make it into > the program. Savage did describe the gold rush-era landscape they were > interested in from an informed perspective and had a good idea about where to > target his metal detecting. Given the lack of concern the show has for > documenting findings, it is in my opinion just as well the archival research > efforts were not portrayed and I’m glad there was no attempt made cast the > show as science of any sort. > As I noted for "Diggers," the most damaging thing about "American Diggers" > is that no effort is made to document where anything came from and there > is no discussion of associations—each discovered item was handled > piece-meal. "The past" and "history" were repeatedly invoked as cool and > interesting, but ultimately, simply a source of cash. And cash, in the end, is what > this show is about, just as with “Diggers.” With “American Diggers,” Savage > is about finding thousands of dollars’ worth of objects whereas the Natl > Geo guys were happy with recovering just hundreds of dollars. Spike TV is, > of course, involved because of advertising revenue. Here's the "American > Diggers" advertiser list: Subway, DQ, Chilis, Red Robin, Red Lobster, Arbys, > Taco Bell, Best Western, GEICO, Esurance, Quaker State, Reeses, Cheetos, FOX > Channel, other Spike TV shows, Nintendo, several current movies, and > Internet Explorer 9. Quite a mix (and as noted, volume), but notably no cell > phone companies, upscale cars, or premium beer (in fact, contrary to my > expectations, no beer ads at all which amply demonstrates the target audience is > not archaeologists), so rather different that the Natl Geo “Diggers” > advertising clientele. > Here's the most ironic—and telling—observation I can offer: Savage > recognizes that linking an object to its broader historical context increases > collector interest and the monetary value of items his crew recovers. For > example, he knows a Civil War sword is more valuable than a sword with no > period or conflict association and that a Confederate Civil War sword has even > more value, and particular battlefield or officer association would really > up the ante. However, he does not participate in recording any contextual > detail for the finds he makes. Thus, he uses—and profits from—the accrued > historical knowledge base that has built up through time about these objects > but doesn't in turn contribute. Rather, he tears individual items out of > context and then injects them into a collector market where he excitedly > discusses probable age, maker's marks, and condition with the buyer but there > is no effort made to communicate the locational details of the discovery or > associations between items or the landscape from which they came. So just > as the value of a newly purchased car diminishes as soon as one drives off > the lot, the items Savage recovers diminish in potential cash value (and > knowledge value) as soon as he sells and the scant contextual details are > eroded or lost. Exclamations of “this is really rare!” fail to trigger in > Savage’s mind thoughts of “we should learn all we can about this context as we > destroy it recovering this item.” The show certainly doesn’t attempt to > prompt such thinking by its viewers. Each subsequent buyer of these items > knows less and less as there are no accompanying data communicated about where > and with what the item was found. So the big problem with the “American > Diggers” approach is that artifacts rapidly become mere collectibles, not > necessarily without cash value, but in fact "worth" far less than they might > be if their full contextual story was recorded and transmitted/preserved > from seller to buyer. > Dick (and others receiving this report), if you are so inclined, please > feel free to use whatever portion of this information you like to continue > conversations—now informed rather than speculative—with Spike TV (and send > to Fred Limp at SAA and others if you like); I'll be sharing this report on > the ACRA list. > John Doershuk > State Archaeologist (Iowa) > > > > ACRA-L is a public listserv supported by the American Cultural Resources > Association (ACRA), a non-profit trade association, for the use of the > cultural resource management community. You do not need to belong to ACRA to > subscribe to this list. As a result, opinions expressed on the list do not > necessarily represent the views of ACRA or of its members. For more > information on the list and to unsubscribe use the links below. > _______________________________________________ > acra-l mailing list > [log in to unmask] > http://lists.nonprofit.net/mailman/listinfo/acra-l > This email sent to: [log in to unmask]