Beyond Stone and Bone » Hadrons, Rap and Holes in the Ground

Hadrons, Rap and Holes in the Ground
by Heather Pringle
September 12, 2008

Like many other people, I was fascinated this week by the massive news coverage of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the $9 billion-dollar atom smasher designed to replicate forces in the universe a split second after the Big Bang.Â Â What might otherwise have been a story suitable only for scientists interested in the origins of matter became a huge media event.Â Reporters reveled in all the angles:Â the quest for the brilliantly branded â€œgod particle;â€ the colorful doomsayers who predicted the LHC would create a black hole capable of swallowing Earth; the staggering scale of the project which involved something like half the worldâ€™s physicists; and the heated controversy between famous scientists, including the media-savvy Stephen Hawkings.Â The LHC even generated a clever rap song, posted on You Tube.Â

As I thought about this, I found myself wondering why archaeologists have failed to capture the public imagination in quite the same spectacular way.Â If number-crunching, pocket-protector physicists can figure out how to turn one of their experiments into a huge buzz among everyone from young rappers to jaded newspapers editors, why canâ€™t archaeologists do the same?Â

Some might scoff, but this is no idle question.Â Â The new mediaâ€”where many people increasingly get their newsâ€”place a huge emphasis on what is happening now, in the present tense.Â To many teenagers and young adults, events that took place even 50 years ago now seem dull and irrelevant. Â Â This, of course, is very bad news for archaeologists, who need public funding and public interest to keep expensive digs going.Â

Perhaps itâ€™s high time they take a page from the book of the physicists.Â Instead of keeping their noses to the ground and designing only small excavations, how about a massive new archaeological project, something that will combine the efforts of hundreds of researchers and engage the imagination of the public?Â Lord knows, archaeologists have wonderful material to work withâ€”real human beings as opposed to subatomic particles.Â Â And there are no lack of big questions out there: Who were the first modern humans and where did they come from?Â How did modern humans migrate across the face of the earth and colonize even the harshest ecosystems?Â How has humanity adapted to extreme climate change in the past?Â Â

The new mediaÂ are rapidly changing how people view the world, and Iâ€™d hate to see archaeologists left behind.Â Black holes have nothing on excavators’ holes in the ground.Â Letâ€™s find a project that will set even the rappers rhyming.Â Â

This entry was posted by Heather Pringle on Friday, September 12, 2008. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

Comments posted here do not represent the views or policies of the Archaeological Institute of America.

10 comments for "Hadrons, Rap and Holes in the Ground"

Reply posted by Wilbur Moser (September 12, 2008, 3:27 pm):
Right on, Heather. I have been involved in digs off and on since 1994. The only people that hear about it, get it by word of mouth or by reading Archaeology materials. keep up the good work!
Peace
Wilbur

Reply posted by Heather G. (September 13, 2008, 2:01 pm):
In the case of Archaeology, I’m not sure that bigger is better. However, I think that one of the best ways that we can get the public involved and interested is through living history and recreations.

For example, we could teach the public about Ancient Greek Culture by re-creating a living model of the Agora as a way of showing how economies operated, how we can learn from the past as a way of solving problems about the future. In this example, it would be possible to show the viability of using locally grown produce as a way of reducing pollution created by the long distance transportation of food. If this experiment was reconstructed near the site of a real Agora, it could garner a great deal of excitement.

Other topics that we could expand on are the role of the Agora in Ancient Greek Culture vs the role of modern shopping centers. In a way, the people who are involved in the Society for Creative Anachronism have it right. By experiencing the past in some tangible way, it is easier to see how it has influenced us and why our history is important.

Heather G.,
Anthropology Student
Freelance Writer

Reply posted by dregawd (September 14, 2008, 6:00 am):
Thats because most archaeology is boring and MOST people think your just bullshitting your way thru it. Wow another piece of pottery that tells us that some ass backwards tribe 4000 years ago stored food, how fascinating. If you find Atlantis, let us know, we will find that very interesting. Until then, stfu, archaeology is boring as hell.

Reply posted by dregawd (September 14, 2008, 6:08 am):
And on atlantis, it is most likely siting under 2km of ice in antartica, due to a polar shift about 10,600 years ago. What surprises me is that no one is looking for it.
Im sorry if i said that archaeology is boring but unless it offers is a paradigm shift (and I mean a real big one) it will not get media attention on the scale of the LHC.

Reply posted by Sharon (September 15, 2008, 9:31 am):
I just wanted to make a quick response to Heather G.’s recommendation of living history/first-person cultural interpretation.

Ten years ago, I would have agreed with you; I’m a reenactor. Nowadays, though, the quality of historical reenactments has decreased mightily … and with it, the amount of work that some reenactors are willing to do. I had someone tell me once that since guests came to Renaissance faires in day-glo running shorts, that she shouldn’t have to do any research to know how her character lived. She was there to party.

Now, that may be an attitude that is prevalent only amongst Renaissance/Tudor era reenactors nowadays; I cannot say for certain. I do know that the Victorian reenactors with whom I work take a far more serious attitude.

Unless and until all reenactors take a page from Plimoth, Williamsburg and the like, I fear that it’s an uphill battle.

Reply posted by Kristen (September 16, 2008, 12:38 pm):
I guess I’m surprised at this post.

I think the emphasis on Hadron is unwarranted. It was a big splash now. But once the physicists start their work, we won’t hear much for quite a while. Remember nanotubes? Nanotechnology? Buckyballs? Hot topics at the time, now quiet (or maybe so ubiquitous we don’t notice it anymore). The brief glamor of the physicist will be replaced with the next rapper tune about the next cool thing.

And this emphasis forgets all the other physicists/scientists/engineers around the world working in their own labs, doing their own projects, all of which we laymen will not hear about, even as those things contribute to our lives (who these days really can name the person who invented the transitor?)

Archaeology has made splashs in the past and will in the future. Eqypt is certainly at the forefront of this attempt – witness the latest attempts to identify Hatshepsut. Archaeology had a pop song (again, thanks to Egypt) Steve Martin’s “King Tut”. But do we want people to only think that archaeology is just the hunt for Tut? I thought we wanted to fight that?

Physics is not just the hunt for the small particle. And not every person studying to be a physicist today will, or thinks they will, ever get to see or use the Hadron.

I agree that perhaps archaeology needs to make sure it reminds the laymen of the importance of understanding the past to help us with the future. I was actually struck recently by the usefulness of the Archaeology magazine article about Amazonian farming. But I’m a little leery of a call to focus on the splash just for the sake of the splash.

Reply posted by Debbie Tewes (September 16, 2008, 5:31 pm):
I think in order to get the most people excited about an archaeological project is to focus on current problems/ issues and address how ancient societies solved or attempted to solve these same issues. I believe most of the ancient societies faced similar if not the same issues today and that they have something to teach us. Bigger or grandeur is not always better. Sometimes the best solution is the most simple solution. Right now we face an enery and health crisis. Maybe an extended study into ancient Egypt health practices can be focused on and these practices be put to a test. A real homeopathic approach. As far as energy, it has been suggested that they must have had know about electricity since the granite sarcophogus (not sure of spelling) in the great pyramid is so smooth that it would be hard to duplicate the carving. If they did not have electicity, what did they have and why don’t we have today. I’m a little biased as I believe ancient Egypt has MANY secrets and were the forefathers to many ancient and modern day practices, but certainly not the only great civilization. But I would stay focused on modern day problems and issues for the greatest impact.

Reply posted by Heather (September 17, 2008, 7:43 am):
Really interesting comments here! I definitely agree that archaeologists should not be looking for a large, high-profile project just for the sake of a fleeting publicity “splash,” as Kristen put it so well. And I certainly don’t think that this big new project needs to cost anywhere near $ 9 billion. But I really do believe that the archaeological community would profit enormously from developing and working together on a major new research initiative — a kind of Manhattan project for prehistory. Debbie T. has raised an interesting point about the types of questions that she herself would like to see answered. Any other thoughts about big research questions out there?

Reply posted by Granite (January 30, 2009, 8:37 am):
Very interesting post you wrote. Glad I have stumbled upon it. Cheers!

Reply posted by Jenny (August 18, 2009, 7:38 pm):
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