Random Thoughts on Archaeological Adventure Books, Movies and TV

History is the ultimate subject, for a historian can study anything man has ever thought or done.


I have always had this affinity for the past. My degree is in history with minors in geography and archaeology. I love to dig in the past both figuratively and literally. This shows in my love of adventure stories, movies and main characters who are historians and archaeologists.

So I would like to share a few of my favorites here.


Book Series

• Amelia Peabody (Historically based, starting in the late 1800's. The author Elizabeth Peters studied Egyptology and you can tell by all of the historically accurate facts in her books. Amelia is a typical Victorian lady, very proper with an unladylike love of archaeology and a perchance for getting into trouble.)
• Sam and Remi Fargo (Modern treasure hunters, Sam and Remi are a husband and wife team that have unlimited resources so no adventure is too remote. Their hunt for treasure is purely for the love of the hunt and the discovery of the past, but there is always someone trying to get to the treasure before them. The series is written by best selling author Clive Cussler.)
• Sean Wyatt (this is a new to me series by Ernest Dempsey, I have just finished the first book. Sean works for an archaeological institute that again has unlimited resources. Being a former spy he has the skill to fend off multiple bad guys and in this book there were many who had no qualms about killing anyone who got in their way. Faced pace the author incorporates many archaeological facts with his archaeological fiction)

Movie examples

• Indiana Jones (eye candy and adventure, no brainer)
• The Librarian (movies, magical artifacts and exotic travel)
• Lara Croft (strong, modern woman)
• The Mummy (I am proud of what I am. I am a librarian)
• National Treasure (both movies, love the American history tie ins)
• Sahara (another nod to American history, with the surprise twist of having a civil war ship in the African desert)
• Fool's Gold (tropical paradise and sunken treasure)
• Into the Blue (because you can never have too much tropical paradise and sunken treasure)
• The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec  (this fanciful adventure is a French film.  I first watched it with my sister who speaks French so we watched it in French with English subtitles. I enjoyed it even with reading subtitles. I re-watched it in English but found that I really liked the quirkiness of having it in French and subtitled.  The main character, travel writer Adèle, gets tangled up in adventures with both mummies and a pterodactyl.) 

Television

• The Librarians (TV series expands the movie base with new librarian role models)
• Warehouse 13 (again loving the magical artifacts and how it ties in with history and literary references. And the fact that the warehouse is just so darn steampunk is awesome)
• Hooten and the Lady (traditional archaeologist teams up with a treasure hunter) 

Thanks for stopping by

~Huggs~
     Iantha

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