Time team was regularly programmed on Discovery Channel a few years ago.
The last few months saw some reruns on Sunday morning as well as some
previously unknown/new series.
Discovery Channel is located on (almost) all cable providors in the
Netherlands. My non-academic collegues have all heard of this programme
and because they know I am an archaeologist refer to these series as
well as other programmes on Discovery Channel and the National
Geographic Channel on a regular basis.
One of the things that come up in conversations with my collegues each
time is the fact that the draw conclusions from very little clues and
are able to determine age from a small piece of pottery; while the
second can be easily explained to 'laymen' the first is much more
difficult: ... what they can do in three days, normally takes a much
longer time. It is a nice series, with some characters and some humor
... only occasionally there is the mud, dirt and frustration.
Programmes such as 'Tussen kunst en kitsch' a Dutch adapt of The
Antiques Roadshow has a much higher impact with the general public as
the interest of non-archaeologists is still much more driven by the
VALUE of TREASURES. [Do you know of the BBC series on archaeological
TREASURES (most of which were found by metal detectorists) last year?]
There was an educational series on archaeology with the TELEAC
(something like the Open University) some time ago in which a wide
variety of problems, topics and techniques were discussed and
illustrated. This programme had a very good tv audience.
Hope it helps,
Eric Olijdam,
Part-time PhD candidate Department of Archaeology of the University of
Durham (UK).
correspondence address:
Adriaan Butijnweg 1,
NL-4411 BT Rilland.
The Netherlands.
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-----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
Van: Archaeological theory and associated fields of interest list
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] Namens Cornelius Holtorf
Verzonden: Wednesday, March 17, 2004 11:09 AM
Aan: [log in to unmask]
Onderwerp: Time Team
Dear archaeology friends (and a few others) in different parts of the
world,
[sorry, friends in the UK: this is for you only if you have knowledge
about TV schedules abroad]
I am trying to assess the impact of the British TV programme 'Time
Team' on world-wide perceptions of archaeology. Channel 4, who produces
the programme, sent me a list according to which rights to the programme
have been sold to pretty much all countries around the world.
However, even in Germany I keep meeting people (even archaeologists)
who have never heard of it. So how influensive has this programme really
been outside the UK where it has arguably revolutioned the image of
field archaeology over the past decade?
Would you please let me know if Time Team has been shown in your
country (if yes: national TV or Discovery Channel?) and whether you
think that Time Team has had any noticeable impact on the perception of
archaeology in your country. Please also let me know if you do not have
a clue what I am talking about since Time Team means nothing to you at
all!
Please forward this message to any of your own contacts in other parts
of the world!
thanks very much for your help
Cornelius
Cornelius Holtorf
Riksantikvarieämbetet, Stockholm
http://members.chello.se/cornelius/
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