I think the story referred to was about the little red hen who baked a cake, but
I'll leave that for the folklorists to research.  ;)

Geoff Carver wrote:

[snip]


>         the problem was we had a lecture by a prominent historian the other
> week, discussing the founding of the city of dresden, something we have been
> dealing with in several excavations over the past 100 or so years - and he's
> still relying wholly and solely on the written sources, which we've disproven in
> our publications, and... it still goes on, and the investors are trying to get
> out of having to pay for any excavation whatsoever, and someone else the other
> day was explaining about how he really found erich von daniken's books really
> fascinating...

Here's a simple, direct solution:  make yourself a pest.  :)  No, really.  Every
time this sort of thing happens make a point of standing up afterward and
confronting the speaker with something to the effect of "You may be interested in
some 'recent' literature by archaeologists that show [blah blah blah] ..., and I'd
be only to happy to provide any intersted parties with citations."  You may end up
with a reputation as a 'surly grouch' or a 'trouble-maker,' but you'll be getting
your point across.  I believe that *most* scholars will be willing to explore new
subjects and literature if it deals with their topic.

There is always the chance that you will meet people who are beyond reach; who
simply do not trust data from other disciplines.  In that case, one way to confront
entrenched, unyielding views is to make your own point-of-view as well known, if not
moreso.  Write books on the archaeology of Dresden for children and lay adults as
well as fellow archaeologists; visit grade schools; give free talks at community
centers; get on t.v.; or in other words, do whatever you can to get your message
'out there.'

In other words, don't preach to the choir.  Preach to the unitiated and proselytize
the uncoverted.


I think that's about $0.02 worth of advice.  :)

Marty Perdue
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