Speaking as someone who was part of TTA and studies archaeology documentaries.... the three day time limit is for our archaeological team, not for the project. Unlike most UK TT shows, we did not find sites in someone's backyard and walk away. Instead, we visited field school sites and long term research projects. We left each site director thousands of dollars worth of remote sensing data for them to follow in the future. Also, 3 day archaeology projects are more common that you think.....and you can learn something with the first spade full of soil. Admittedly, Time Team America was not a home run, but it is better than other archaeology documentaries out there and the first one that actually showed the public the PROCESS of archaeology.
The bottom line is that TV archaeology is not real archaeology and never will be. The Time Team formula is a successful format that balances what is important to archaeologists and what is needed to attract an audience. Most importantly, it educates the public about the process of archaeology and shows that even soil stains and just crumbles of artifacts are important. In fact, some of the criticisms from TTA documentary execs and the audience are the lack of shiny pretty things and too many soil stains...this is unfortunate, but expected.
I think the criticisms about Time Team America and other archaeology documentaries are important. Although we are not going to change how Hollywood packages archaeology for mass consumption, we can keep the more reputable networks like PBS focused on education and concerned about the ethical delivery of archaeology.
Julie
--
Julie M. Schablitsky, Ph.D., RPA
University of Oregon
Museum of Natural and Cultural History
1680 East 15th Avenue
Eugene, OR 97403
(503) 319-5777
Home Page:http://home.teleport.com/~julschab/
On Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:22:55 -0700, Christopher Fennell <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Many thanks to Tim Scarlett for a concise statement of the high value
> of the Time Team America program. I worked with the program at the
> New Philadelphia site, which is now a National Historic Landmark based
> on its archaeological significance, and found them highly professional
> and always focused on doing good science. They try to make clear to
> their audience that the three-day format is undertaken because they
> are working within the protocols of a long-term research project and
> they are contributing by addressing a specific question or challenge
> within that larger-scale project.
>
> Chris Fennell
> Assistant Professor
> Department of Anthropology
> University of Illinois
> 109 Davenport Hall, MC-148
> 607 S. Mathews Ave., Urbana, IL 61801
> www.anthro.illinois.edu/faculty/cfennell
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