Of all the types of fiction that have been influenced by archaeology, perhaps none have been so heavily influenced as the mystery...
and science fiction:
This actually makes perfect sense, since archaeology has always been about uncovering things, both literally and figuratively:
This sort of fiction has always been heavily influenced by major archaeological finds. An enormous amount of such fiction appeared in the decade after Carter's find of Tut, as well during the decade after the Boy King's artifacts made its first major tour of the New World (1970s).
A number of writers manage to make a pretty decent living penning mysteries that are tied to archaeological pursuits, including a fair number who pen series. Sarah Wisseman, for example, writes the Lisa Donohue series of archaeological mysteries. Wisseman is herself a practicing archaeologist, and her recent fiction reflects well on both her "day job" and her increasing skill as a crafter of fiction:
The best known practitioner of this sort of series archaeological fiction, though, probably is Elizabeth Peters, whose durable fictional archaeologist Amelia Peabody has been featured in 18 titles:
Peters (one of the pseudonyms of writer Barbara Mertz) is well regarded for the accuracy of what she writes, a trait she attributes to the research skills she picked up training to be an Egyptologist:
Positions in Egyptology were few and far between, and in the post-World-War II backlash against working women, females weren't encouraged to enter that or any other job market....
It has taken me over a quarter of a century to realize that I love to write, and that this is what I should have focused on from the beginning.... The research skills I learned can be applied to any field; I have used them to collect background material for novels that deal with the Peasants' Revolt, Etruscan archaeology, vintage clothing, the Risorgimento, the chartist movement, and innumerable other subjects. Accuracy is very important to me as a novelist; not only does my own professional pride demand it, but I have many readers whose expertise in various fields is at least as great as my own. They can and do chastise me when I make mistakes. To err is human, but to err through carelessness or laziness is inexcusable....
Another popular author of this sort of series fiction is Mary Anna Evans, whose mixed-race fictional archaeologist Faye Longchamp allows Evans to explore with some empathy the distrust that some folks have of archaeologists' intent:
Evans, who holds degrees in both physics and engineering, turned to fiction after the birth of her third child. A good move, since she has since won a slew of awards for her fiction.
Although she writes for adults, Evans' titles have found a particularly receptive audience among educators:
[her books are] being used to teach non-literature subjects like social studies, math, and science. The social studies link was no surprise to the books' author, since her protagonist is an archaeologist, but she swears that she never once purposely included math or science in her stories. (And her readers have never once complained that the laws of physics operate properly in her books). Learning that she's done this unconsciously has been an inarguable example of the axiom that writers write about who they are....
Archaeology-themed science fiction also is quite popular, especially since archaeological discoveries usually revolve around ancient alien civilizations (a hypothetical form of archaeology known as Xenoarchaeology):
As with mysteries, much of this fiction is penned as part of a series:
Folks interested in pursuing this type of fiction more avidly may find the titles below useful....
Recent Comments