History - the publics interest levels

[Megas]

Hi

This got me thinking recently. I'm a bit of a Time Team addict and the other night I was watching the excavation of a Roman town by the Time Team in a corn field somewhere miles from no where. I forget where the town was (I will come back to this later) and I sat and watched intensely as the geofizz showed amazing structures and the dig itself revealed all manner of things of interest to me the viewer and the archeologists as well as the millions of people that watch the programme.

So, myself and millions of others get our hour or so history 'hit' and then the programme ends. Likewise, the excavation is shut down, the field returned to its pre dig state and the Archaeologists write up thier notes and somewhere this info is stored ready for the academic world to study and draw conclusions.

All that is left for the public is a bare field. for 99% of people, it is and will always be a bare field. There must be many many sites across the country like this. The knowledge has been disseminated and stored away but out of reach of the general public as it would be all the minute detail that the public aren't interested in but the main detail, the part the public are interested in is covered back up again.

So, the point is, do the general public just see history as this short term, 1 hour ephemeral 'hit' and nothing more? I can't even remember where this dig was so that says a lot and i'm a history buff FGS.

Do the public want the BIG part of history only and want it NOW as a form of televised entertainment? Has history for the masses become just that? entertainment? My guess is that it has, history is now part of the entertainment industry in my opinion.

Discuss.................

[AlanS]

Interesting thoughts. I have several friends who know little about history, and even less about our pre-Roman heritage, but they all enjoy Time Team. In a 'it's not something they'd schedule to watch, but if it's on they wouldn't necessarily turn over to watch something else' kind of way.

Some of these friends, I've encouraged to come along with me to visit some sites, and they have all, without question, enjoyed the trip. But again, only because I'd invited them along - it's not something they would do for them selves.

I guess those of us that get a buzz out of being 'amongst the stones' must be wired slightly differently from the rest of society! It won't stop us trying to persuade others to care though...

BTW, that picture on your sig is a bit of a cracker, but it's also a bit large - lots of screen space taken up for those of us using Netbooks and mobile devices - any chance of reducing it to something more manageable please?

[Megas]

What is interesting is that if you dig a hole for whatever reason, people come and look into it whether it is an archaeological dig hole or a services contractor digging up a high street. If you have a site of a Roman villa and part of the excavation is left exposed then people come and see it. Cover it up and people have to use their imagination even if there are the same signboards up describing what lays underneath. Most people can't be bothered to use thier imagination.

It begs the questions Is this why Megaliths are so revered because they are above ground and observable (and dare I say it touchable). If they were covered and even if we knew what was under the ground, would they hold the same interest for us?. I very much doubt it.