Why would I think archaeology is dangerous?
It's not the snakes, or the heat, or the farm dogs, or the barbed wire fences, or the ticks, or the chronic diseases you can pick up or even the potential for curse-inflicting. It's the ethical line that archaeologists walk in their day-to-day lives, making the ethnic differences between us measurable. Can we do our jobs without privileging one set of material culture over another? I don't really think that's possible.
And if that ain't dangerous, I don't know what is.
Photo by John Moore / Getty Images
Comments
What a thoughtful and thought-provoking post and article. Thanks, Kris! For myself, exploring various expressions of self, society and social structure open doors to explore my own journey as a person and as an artist. This has been the fuel behind my own interest in archeology. But you are ever so right. Many do and will use whatever means at their disposal to ignore, denigrate, or destroy the “other”. It is truly an ethical quandary.