PSA: My brother-in-law at Thanksgiving dinner said archaeology is just 'glorified digging'

We were in his kitchen in Phoenix and he was carving the turkey when he said, 'You guys just find old junk and write papers about it, right?' I mean, I tried to explain about the new LiDAR survey that found over 60,000 Maya structures in Guatemala last year, but he just shrugged. Has anyone else had to deal with family who just don't get what we actually do?

2 comments

2 Comments

ray7231d ago

Oh man, that's a perfect example of something I see all the time. People reduce any skilled job to its simplest, dirtiest part. It's like saying a chef is just a glorified stove lighter, or a surgeon is just a glorified cutter. They miss the whole point of the knowledge and care that goes into it. That thinking shows a real lack of respect for any kind of expert work. It must be so frustrating to have your life's work dismissed like that over turkey.

val_cooper1d ago

Tell him next year's turkey is just glorified chewing. Maybe he'll get the point...