There was a time when most fiction about archaeology had a swashbuckler like Indiana Jones for its hero. Today, archaeology fiction has morphed from being mainly treasure-hunting adventures into mysteries where protecting ancient sites and artifacts are at the core of a suspenseful plot. Twenty-first century archaeologists are now "the Heritage Police."
Professor Cornelius Horltorf of the University at Lund conducted a recent study on the meaning of archaeology in contemporary popular culture. He cites movies like Lara Croft, Tomb Raider. "That genre is growing fast," he says. "Similarly, in Deborah Cannon’s thriller The Raven’s Pool (2004), the archaeologists are getting embroiled in a battle with a ruthless developer who could not care less about an important ancient site." Nadine Gray, a PhD student at the University of British Columbia and an instructor at Simon Fraser University Kamloops, says in a review of the same novel, "The book is a blend of current issues in archaeology . . ."
Likewise, about the second novel in this series, columnist Liz Pogue of the Victoria Times Colonist writes, "White Raven weaves myth and archeological fact with a battle between environmentalists and logging interest."
Getting across the idea that archaeological sites are at risk for extinction is one of Deborah Cannon’s personal crusades. As a young archaeologist in the late 1970s and 80s she worked on several salvage projects in British Columbia where sites such as the Crescent Beach, Pitt River and St Mungo Cannery sites were threatened by development.
Her latest release, Ravenstone, continues the saga of her hero Jake Lalonde, a brilliant young archaeologist and protector of ancient sites. In this third installment of her Raven series, Jake and his girlfriend Angeline travel from Canada’s Queen Charlotte Islands to the South Pacific kingdom of Tonga to investigate a rare archaeological relic, the Ravenstone. The black bird etched on the stone is a dominant figure in British Columbia’s Haida mythology. Jake’s goal in visiting Tonga is to discover how a Haida art symbol ended up on a stone of execution half a world away on a sunbaked tropical island where no ravens have ever existed. The symbol carved on the stone is indistinguishable from an image engraved into a granite cliff off BC’s rugged coast. A mysterious art dealer, who unexpectedly appears in Tonga at the same time that Jake and Angeline arrive, holds the key to the riddle of the identical stones.
These archaeologists are protectors of ancient sites and artifacts. They staunchly stand up to commercial development, clear cut logging of ancient sites, and the illicit sale of artifacts.
References:
Holtorf, Cornelius, Archaeology is a Brand! The Meaning of Archaeology in Contemporary Popular Culture, Left Coast Press, 2007
Gray, Nadine, The Midden, Archaeological Society of British Columbia, Vol.38, No.4, 2006
Pogue, Liz, Self-published Stories Written or Set Locally, Victoria Times Colonist, Sunday February 25, 2007
Deborah Cannon has been writing archaeological fiction for six years. Her short stories are published at fictionwise.com and in the Canadian Authors Association, Toronto Branch anthologies. Her novels are available from Trafford Publishing and all major on-line bookstores. Signed and personally illustrated copies are available from the author.
