Fortune and glory

Enjoys a lively introduction to the story of archaeology that digs up plenty of tales of derring-do

A Little History of Archaeology by Brian Fagan Yale University Press, 288 pages, £14.99

Indiana Jones is the most famous archaeologist ever. He’s not real of course, but there are actual figures in the history of archaeology who have a touch of Indy about them. The circus strongman turned pharaoh-hunter Giovanni Belzoni, the Homeric enquirer Heinrich Schliemann, and the desert explorer Gertrude Bell all had adventures worthy of a Spielberg film.

In a book about the story of archaeology, it would be easy to fill the pages with tales of digging derring-do from such big personalities. Brian Fagan, the noted prehistorian, does not disappoint in that regard, but neither does he provide a narrative of just one remarkable discovery after another. Yes, you get Howard Carter seeing “wonderful things” as he breaks into Tutankhamun’s tomb, and the dog falling down a rabbit hole to show us Lascaux’s prehistoric cave paintings, but Fagan also offers a fascinating interlude, for example, on Christian Thomsen’s drier – but equally important – research that led to the three-age dating system.

The author’s approach is broadly chronological. He charts the story from 19th-century treasure-hunting among the ruins of ancient Egypt, up to today’s professional, multi-disciplinary, scientific approaches. His short chapters focus on key discoveries over the years, and introduce most of the major archaeological sites and famous archaeologists.

Much of his story tells of colonial-era Europeans (men, mainly) taking often colonial attitudes to non-western cultures. Yet we are carried on a global journey, with chapters revealing how discoveries in the Americas, Africa and Asia have shaped archaeological practice today.

This is a cracking read, with the stories beautifully told, and many great insights into how the discipline has developed along the way. Some things are missing; British readers may wonder why Sutton Hoo doesn’t get a mention. And although the author cites the importance of publicity and self-promotion to early excavators, he doesn’t devote much time to modern media archaeology. The impact of TV programmes such as Time Team, or indeed blockbuster films featuring fictional archaeologists, on public perception of the subject would surely have been worthy of inclusion – perhaps Indiana Jones should have been in this book after all.

David Musgrove is content director of BBC History Magazine and has a doctorate in archaeology