Joel Sperry (University College London)

The relationship that we as archaeologists have with television is an interesting and complex one. We view our subject ‘seriously’ and are hopefully passionate about our academic credibility. Maritime archaeology has to - and indeed is - dealing with complex environmental and heritage debates. We clearly see the benefit of what we do and distinguish between what is and what isn’t archaeology and who are and who are not archaeologists. We know that our subject is valuable and that our heritage is valuable. However, when viewed from the broader social context, maritime archaeology and under water archaeologists may be seen in a very different way. I would argue that perhaps or work and maritime archaeology may simply be viewed as entertainment.

The purpose of this presentation is to contextualise and deconstruct how maritime archaeology is represented within- and indeed argue that it is in itself part of -Popular Culture. I will demonstrate common structures and themes that appear within maritime archaeology as Popular Culture and argue that these structures are why we are viewed in the broader context as entertainment. I will evaluate whether this popular culture image is damaging or important to our maritime cultural heritage and finally debate whether we can or should we really do anything about it.