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As ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ turns 45 this summer, an archaeologist separates fact from fiction
['Ron Mackovich-Rodriguez']
UCLA
Forty-five years after its June 1981 release, “Raiders of the Lost Ark” is a cinematic treasure sealed in amber.
Although she has never been chased by a boulder and doesn’t carry a bullwhip, UCLA archaeology professor Lara Fabian is a real-life version of the main character, Indiana Jones.
“I didn’t see it until I was in grad school, already on the path to becoming an archaeologist,” Fabian said.
“This is a myth about archaeologists: That we want to find shiny gold things.
A garbage pit is way better than a shiny gold bowl, because I can find out from a garbage pit what people were eating, what they were throwing away, what their households looked like.”