‘Dream Not of Today’: Archaeology in Star Trek: The Next Generation
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 28/03/2019

As the study of past cultures and the study/assumed stories of humanity’s future, archaeology and science fiction are far from being mutually exclusive. In fact one wonders what would an archaeologist of the future do? Would he excavate our own planet, Earth, or would human archaeologists travel to and work on other planets to study and help excavate alien cultures? The ‘What If’ train of thought (or should that be ‘starship of thought’?) is endless. True to Star Trek’s canon of future staff organisation, efficiency, research, and learning, every Starfleet vessel is allocated its own so-called ‘A&A Officer’ in the 23rd century (which would be, truth be told, my ideal job): this is a specialist researcher in the fields of archaeology, anthropology, and ancient civilizations. Galaxy-class starships, such as the Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) even have their own archaeology lab. However, just like in today’s world, there is also a darker side to archaeology: the exploitation of ancient sites, human and alien, and the illicit trade of antiquities, either for reverence or money. While in the Star Trek canon, the human ‘archaeologist’ and former member of the Federation Archaeology Council, Vash, portrays the ‘dark side’ of archaeology, i.e. the illicit trade and exploitation of sites without much conscience or care for present cultures and their right to ownership of their own past, Picard and his crew are bound to the Prime Directive which of course prohibits meddling with cultures and stealing artefacts for profit. However, even Picard, when helping at a dig on Marlonia during a holiday away-trip, was allowed to take away some cookware found at the site – one can’t help but wonder if he had to apply for an export license! This paper will explore how archaeology is looked at by TV series created to give us an idea of our future. The paper will discuss how archaeologists of both human and alien cultures might fare, hypothetically, using examples from Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. 

Dot Boughton (Tullie House Museum)