29th December 2012, 02:46 PM
Quote:If archaeologists’ interpretations of ancient societies vary with whatever occupies our interest today...
I don't think it's so much about "whatever occupies our interest" as "this topic is saturating the media so it readily comes to mind as a possible interpretation for evidence recovered through archaeology." Archaeologists will, to a certain degree, always interpret the evidence based on what they know and are thinking about, but so long as they're not applying an interpretation that isn't supported by the evidence, what does it matter? If they're doing the job right, then the evidence will be recorded for alternate interpretations anyway.
Quote:...then I think we should pack it in as a scientific discipline and just call ourselves miners of ancient art for museums.This part's just rubbish.
The problem really lies with the media reporting (and possibly whoever writes the press releases).