This post is guest-authored by MA Student Roberto Rios, who presented a talk at the Clyde Public Library in early July, 2026. His unique background in archaeology made him the perfect fit to discuss The Raiders of the Lost Ark. We thank the Clyde Public Library for hosting this event, and Roberto for taking the time to share about his talk with the History Department.

As an archaeologist, I was asked to present on the film/novel Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, to discuss the accuracies of the representation of an archaeologist throughout the film. While the movie portrays the life of an archaeology professor as one of nonstop action and adventure, it may not be an accurate representation for the career field as a whole. However, a fun fact I led with to draw the audience in was that Jones stated that he had worked for the Office of Strategic Services. The OSS was later dissolved into what we currently know as the Central Intelligence Agency. According to the CIA, “Many real-life archaeologists worked in the field of intelligence during WWI and WWII.” 

Considering the broad story line of any Indiana Jones movie or novel his job is to keep artifacts from the hands of Nazis. While the villain of the Indiana Jones franchise does not work directly for the Ahnenerbe [the Nazi archaeology team] or the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR) [the organization that seized artifacts in German held territory during the war], he is ordered by Hitler to find specific artifacts, and Jones is tasked with preventing the theft of the artifacts by collecting them first. This parallel has been seen in real life during WWII with the Allied effort named the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFAA) program, more widely known as the Monuments Men. The Monuments Men were a group of men and women who were experts in fields such as archaeology, curation, history, and historic preservation, who were organized to protect and recover artifacts from being looted by the Nazis. 

In addition to highlighting these interesting facts about Indiana Jones, and similarities in the archaeology world during the time of WWII, I also brought in the tools of the trade. Tools such as brushes, a compass, levels, measuring equipment, and trowels were displayed in front of a poster that had dozens of photos from archaeological expeditions across the United States that I have participated in. Although the tools and photos drew the attention of the audience, a small collection of artifacts that I have were displayed and quickly became the central topic of discussion when the presentation concluded. Nearing the end of my presentation, I left them with a quote from the franchise “If you wanna be a good archaeologist you gotta get out of the library.” -Indiana Jones.