The book is an interesting experiment focusing on the way that archaeology and the various arts have cross-pollinated each other. 19 essays from different authors all over the world cover the ways archaeology has been integral to writing fiction and plays, movies, painting, music, sculpture, indigenous peoples arts, and the Internet, as well as public education. A CD is included with images and short movies. The book/CD set is potentially useful as a text in the humanities and interdisciplinary studies, as well as the arts, writing, and perceptions of archaeology in the public arena. The essays include:



1. More Than Just "Telling the Story": Interpretive Narrative Archaeology

2. The Archaeologist as Playwright

3. Archaeology Goes to the Opera

4. Archaeology in Two Dimensions: The Artist's Perspective

5. Art and Imagery as Tools for Public Interpretation and Education in Archaeology

6. Archaeology as a Compelling Story: The Art of Writing Popular Histories

7. Poetry and Archaeology: The Transformative Process

8. Reflections on the Design of a Public Art Sculpture for the Westin Hotel, Palo Alto, California

9. Pompeii: A Site for All Seasons

10. Evoking Time and Place in Reconstruction and Display: The Case of Celtic Identity and Iron Age Art

11. Art and Archaeology: Conflict and Interpretation in a Museum Setting

12. The Archaeology of Music and Performance in the Prehistoric American Southwest

13. Archaeology's Influence on Contemporary Native American Art: Perspectives from a Monster

14. From Rock Art to Digital Image: Archaeology and Art in Aboriginal Australia

15. Archaeology in Science Fiction and Mysteries

16. RKLOG: Archaeologists as Fiction Writers

17. Capturing the Wanderer: Nomads and Archaeology in the Filming of _The English Patient_

18. Is Archaeology Fiction? Some Thoughts About Experimental Ways of Communicating Archaeological Processes to the "External World"

19. Crafting Cosmos, Telling Sister Stories, and Exploring Archaeological Knowledge Graphically in Hypertext Environments



The accompanying CD contains:

1. Images and clips from the stage production of the opera "Zabette"

2. Interpretive art paintings and sketches, color image scans

3. Examples of archaeological interpretive art images and educational posters, color image scans

4. Popular histories and other online volumes of the Southeast Archeological Center, National Park Service

5. Color photos of public art sculptures

6. Book covers and comments on "Spirit Bird Journey" and "National Treasure"

7. Video: "Is Archaeology Fiction? Some Thoughts about Experimental Ways of Communicating Archaeological Processes to the 'External World' "

8. Multimedia hypertext: Sample reading of "Crafting Cosmos: The Production of Social Memory in Everyday Life among the Ancient Maya"