Indiana Jones And The Raiders Of The Lost Ark: A Hero's Argument

The 1981 Blockbuster film Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (Indiana Jones) opened a window for the average person into the work of Archeologists, it also however exaggerated, distorted and fabricated aspects of the study. The characters in the film both succeed and fail, at various points, to uphold the ethical principles of Stewardship and Accountability set forth by the Society for American Archeology (SAA).

The film opens with our hero (Indiana Jones) navigating a temple, facing a creative array of traps in order to reach the temples heart and find an idol made of gold, after escaping the temple the hero finds that he was being followed by a rival archeologist (René Belloq) outgunned the hero runs and escapes narrowly with

The first principle states “It is the responsibility of all archaeologists to work for the long-term conservation and protection of the archaeological record…” , the hero and villains of this film fall squarely on opposite sides of this principle. The villains and rival Archeologist reject this principle and proceed to try and manipulate and exploit archeology in order to benefit personally from the artifacts. On the other hand our hero wishes to preserve the integrity of the artifacts in order to study them and so that they may be enjoyed by all, though the hero’s methods can on occasion by some definitions cross the line and be harmful rather than beneficial to the history of the artifact and the Archeological Record. The second principle, Accountability, states “Responsible archaeological research, including all levels of professional activity, requires an acknowledgment of public accountability and a commitment to make every reasonable effort, in good faith, to consult actively with affected group…” , by this definition both sides of the film operated in a grey space as they had aid and guidance from local peoples but the artifact were of no particular significance to them, and neither side made an effort to understand the long-term impact this would have on the local population. The film rationalizes these oversights as acts meant to preserve the artifacts or acts to prevent a far worse