Book: Spooky Archaeology: Myth and the Science of the Past

Jeb J. Card, Spooky Archaeology: Myth and the Science of the Past

Abstract
Outside of scientific journals, archaeologists are depicted as searching for lost cities and mystical artifacts in news reports, television, video games, and movies like Indiana Jones or The Mummy. This fantastical image has little to do with day-to-day science, yet it is deeply connected to why people are fascinated by the ancient past. By exploring the development of archaeology, this book helps us understand what archaeology is and why it matters. In Spooky Archaeology author Jeb J. Card follows a trail of clues left by adventurers and professional archaeologists that guides the reader through haunted museums, mysterious hieroglyphic inscriptions, fragments of a lost continent that never existed, and deep into an investigation of magic and murder. Card unveils how and why archaeology continues to mystify and why there is an ongoing fascination with exotic artifacts and eerie practices.

Contents
1 Time, Memory, and Myth: The Foundations of Spooky Archaeology
2 Supernatural Relics
3 Occulted Archaeologists
4 Hieroglyphs, Magic, and Mummies
5 Myth and Protohistory
6 The Creation of a Lost Continent
7 Relic Hunters and Haunted Museums
8 Time Detectives and International Intrigue
9 Digging Up Witches and Murder
10 Cthulhu and Cosmic Mythology
11 The Revenge of Alternative Archaeology
Chronology

Jeb J. Card is a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at Miami University. He is the coeditor of Lost City, Found Pyramid: Understanding Alternative Archaeologies and Pseudoscientific Practices.