The Archaeology of Pokemon

So there I was, absentmindedly flicking between TV channels, when it happened...I discovered the future of archaeology. As with all things, the future appears to be Japanese.

 

The programme, a (very) short documentary, focused upon the pioneering work of one Professor Cedric Juniper, currently engaged in the archaeological examination of the White Ruins, a site I cannot place using Google Earth (other geographical search engines are (not) available), but which I guess must be somewhere deep inside Japan.

Juniper, a man with rather distracting tastes in facial furniture (like half an Easter Egg strapped to his chin) and a Tin Tin-esque quiff proved to be a classic example of the archaeo-boffin, a literal 'Egg-head' possessing a tricky relationship with Real People and the Real World (TM) and an archaic mode of speech that made his conversations (and chain of thought) rather difficult to follow. 

 

He also appears to have a worrying degree of control over his field team, all of whom are kitted out in designer archeo-uniforms, a strict dress code of khaki paramilitary style shirts, shorts and pith helmets being enforced upon all members of the expedition. 

 

This rather eccentric attitude seems, however, to be forgiven by the relevant heritage authorities given Juniper's undoubted success in the use of robotic excavation and survey equipment,

 

large amounts of rubble being cleared (scientifically) in a matter of minutes,

 

allowing Juniper and his team to directly access the main burial chamber of the monumental tomb without having to spend days mindlessly recording anything.

 

In fact all kind of 'traditional ' recording tools (cameras, context sheet, plans, sections, notebooks) seem to be unnecessary and are entirely dispensed with under the new Juniper-regime of robotic excavation. To say that the documentary left me 'gob-smacked' is an understatement. The whole nature and ethos of archaeological examination has been completely overturned by Professor Juniper's pioneering research and I await to see how soon his methods of survey, excavation and recording are adopted in the UK.

 

OK so, having got to the main burial chamber, the Professor managed to unleash a powerful supernatural nasty with the power to eradicate humanity.... 

....but hey, nobody's perfect.