Indiana Jones a bad influence on archaeologists, says expert

London, May 24 : If he had been real, Indiana Jones' reputation would have been in tatters among archaeologists for his unethical and possibly illegal behaviour, according to the head of the World Archaeological Congress.

"In pursuit of 'fortune and glory' Jones ignores international treaties, treats human remains as weapons, and destroys archaeological sites in a bid to escape from potential entombment and other worrisome possibilities," the Telegraph quoted Professor Claire Smith of Australia's Newcastle University as saying.

She said that though 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' was expected to promote interest in archaeology, the acts of Harrison Ford's character in the film were worth criticism.

"Archaeologists are concerned with preserving the past, not making a profit from it, and sometimes Jones seems more finely tuned to the commercial value of an artefact than the information it can give us about past peoples," she said.

"This impression is reinforced by occasional references to him as a grave robber," she added.

Claire further said that the film contained an imperialist assumption that artefacts in far-flung parts of the world needed "protection" by Westerners.

"The native people who hinder Jones in Crystal Skull are, in fact, descendants of the people who made the artefacts that Jones seeks and the contemporary cultural custodians of the site," she said.

While Claire termed Indiana Jones' methods cavalier, she agreed that he succeeded in making "a pedantic and exacting science appear exciting".

ANI