Queries & Comments

Not Clothed as in the Past

Generations of archaeologists from the past are sometimes pictured in BAR as functioning very well with their clothes on. Now it appears that the new generation of archaeologists are incapable of keeping theirs on, to the extent we see skimpier and skimpier outfits.

Can you explain this?

Aren Maeir responds:

As someone who has been in the field almost 30 years (yikes, that is a long time), actually, I have seen a completely opposite trend from what Ms. McCall has noted. When I was a student, many of us worked in short clothes and often in bathing suits, thinking that it was cool to get a suntan. We never thought of sunscreen, dehydration or melanoma. Nowadays, the overall majority of archaeologists in the field are much more aware of this, and most excavations dig with tarps, and the teams wear hats, high SPF sunscreen, and often (as I do) wear long but breathable clothes.

The court is out, and it’s definitely been decided that melanoma and kidney stones are not fun!