American Digger on Spike TV and Diggers on Nat Geo.

Hello Everyone,

logo for National Geographic Channel (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

      I have remained silent on the subject of the tv shows, American Digger on Spike TV and Diggers on National Geographic Channel and only wanted to tackle the subject after some careful thought. For the past 15 years of my life I have sworn to protect archaeological sites and remains. I have seen the consequences looting can have on Native American as well as historical sites throughout Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The moonscapes left behind by someone with a shovel digging holes to find arrowheads and pottery. They dig through layers of soil, cultural debris, and sometimes even burials to find objects they consider "precious" or "valuable". In a post I wrote some time ago entitled "What is it Worth?" I talked about the value of archaeological remains.

Spike (TV channel) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

      Value in archaeology is a tricky word. It implies money, market value, trade, dollar and euro signs. Many archaeologists, wanting to avoid an esoteric discussion on worth, will often say an object is invaluable. Sure it is. I'm looking at two prehistoric flakes made by a Native American when he or she was crafting a tool. I can tell the coal company execs that these two flakes are "invaluable" and that their project worth millions needs to get held up for another month. My value and their value are slightly different. In order to understand why American Digger is the most awful show on tv next to Jersey Shore let me explain "value" as an archaeologist.

      Cultural value, the worth placed on an artifact, can fluctuate like a real money market. However, from my experience, the cultural value of an artifact increases over time. Let's use your grandmother's wrist watch as an example. She bought it from the 5 and Dime fifty years ago for pennies. It keeps decent time in it faux gold case and she often leaves it about or wears it washing dishes. To her, the watch is simply a devise to tell time, functional. Eventually, your dear grandma enters the great beyond, and watch falls into your mother's ownership. Your mom paid nothing for the old watch, it holds an intrinsic value as it was her mother's. Her memories as she looks at the watch makes her recall her childhood, seeing it on her mother's wrist. When your mom passes, the watch becomes yours. You value it because of its history, especially because it's tied to your family. You keep it with you because you want that connection with your grandmother. Maybe you didn't know her, but holding that watch in your hands brings you closer to understanding her. Maybe it's the style of watch, you can look it up in a book and tell when it was manufactured, you can envision her at a certain age buying the watch and what close were in style. You can even research the political environment during that time period and understand the landscape your grandmother lived in. All from just examining a simple watch.
     Let's do the right thing here. Write a letter, turn the channel, do something to show your disdain for this uninformed show. It is not productive and values greed over knowledge. Many of the professional organizations here in the States have denounced this show as devaluing our cultural heritage. The Society for American Archaeology (SAA), the American Anthropological Association (AAA), and even the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology have all voiced their opinions of the dangers of this show to cultural resources and artifacts. I will keep all of you posted as we travel though these dark days for American archaeology.  
       

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• 'Diggers' are to archaeology as pro-wrestling is to sports: fake (ahotcupofjoe.net)
• Archaeologists Protest 'Glamorization' of Looting on TV (ipadarchaeology.wordpress.com)
• Spike's 'American Digger' Draws Concern From Scholars (nytimes.com)