Archaeology, film, and digital media: From film archaeology to media archaeology

Abstract

This article on the relationships between archaeology and film seeks to show various aspects of this issue using historical, comparative, and anthropological methods. Aside from cinematic fantasies about archaeology, accurate depictions of archaeology in fiction film have been exemplified; they are even more perfect in documentaries. The visualisation of archaeological monuments goes beyond the framework of classical cinema. It falls within the scope of digital technologies and three-dimensional digitalisation of archaeological features. The utmost subtlety of these relationships lies in the archaeological metaphor of the past in the media and film. Comparing  all the analysed situations, we arrive at the conclusion that our approach has been based on the hermeneutic circle model that leads to a pre-understanding of the relationships between archaeology and film in popular culture, explaining of the rank of these relations in archaeological documentaries, and digital imaging of archaeological artefacts, ending with a correct understanding of the relationship of  archaeology and film in contemporary concepts of media archaeology.

The furthest thing is the (not) obvious archaeological metaphor of the past of media and film. The furthest thing is the (not) obvious archaeological metaphor of the past of media and film. Comparing all the analysed situations, we come to the conclusion that our procedure was based on the formula of the hermeneutic circle, leading from pre-understanding the relationship between archaeology and film in popular culture, explaining the importance of these relationships in archaeological documentaries and digital imaging of archaeological monuments, to a proper understanding of the relationship archaeology and film in contemporary concepts of media archaeology.