ABSTRACT
Scholarship that focuses on the accuracy of Hollywood's portrayals of past events, places, and people is short sighted and ineffective at encouraging film producers to historical truths. Today's Hollywood productions are savvy, the sets are impressive, and the wardrobes are impeccable. Movie producers take time and allocate funding to hire historical consultants and employ prop masters to fine tune their sets. Before the film begins to roll, the actual setting is visited by production personnel; photos are taken, historical documents are copied, and historians and/or archaeologists are consulted. When professional archaeologists are called on, they are used for specific aspects of the movie such as the reconstruction of lost languages. As a group of archaeologists who study the physical evidence left behind by people who lived hundreds of years ago, the chapter proposes to step beyond the current debates by culture historians on berating Hollywood or congratulating moviemakers. Schablitsky demonstrates how archaeological findings illuminated an international culture of hard-working people.
