From Stonehenge To Las Vegas ─ Archaeology As Popular Culture

Using wide-ranging examples and compelling images to support his often controversial theses, including the assertion that the past is a "renewable resource," Cornelius Holtorf merges archaeological and cultural theory to take readers on an erudite tour of these intersections. Deliberately blurring the borders between past people and present meanings, this ambitious project seeks no less than the redefinition of the term "archaeology." Equal parts amusing, infuriating, provocative and thought-provoking, this work will interest students and teachers in archaeology, anthropology, cultural studies and human geography, as well as professionals in heritage management and museums.

Cornelius Holtorf (born 1968) is assistant professor in the Institute of Archaeology and Ancient History at the University of Lund, Sweden. He gained his doctoral degree from the University of Wales with a study of the life history of megalithic monuments in Northeast Germany. After stints as an academic teacher and researcher at the University of Wales (Lampeter), Goteborg, and Cambridge, and a two-year Marie Curie Fellowship at the Swedish National Heritage Board in Stockhom, he moved to his current post at Lund. His research interests include the portrayal of archaeology in popular culture, excavations investigating the life history of megaliths at Monte da Igreja in southern Portugal, and the archaeology of zoos. He is the author of many academic papers and the "living" electronic monograph Monumental Past(2000-2004), and coeditor of Archaeology and Folklore (1999) and Philosophy and Archaeological Practice (2000).