Pyramid Review: Dangerous Places: Health, Safety and Archaeology

Pyramid Review

Dangerous Places: Health, Safety and Archaeology

Published by Greenwood Publishing Group

Edited by David A. Poirier and Kennith L. Feder

Bergin & Garvey, Westport Connecticut, 2001

264 pages; $22.00 softback

Archaeology is a prime adventuring career. In fiction and gaming, archaeologists discover powerful ancient artifacts, are blessed by long-entombed gods, keep evil empires from plundering the magic of the past, unearth monsters best left buried, and discover any number of things man was not meant to know. Yet for all that we gamers make use of archaeology, we really don't know that much about its real threats. At least not according to authors of Dangerous Places: Health, Safety and Archaeology, a collection of essays detailing the real threats that contemporary archaeologists face in the field. Several of the authors open their essays by pointing out that the layman's ideas of archaeological hazards are wrong, and then present legitimate dangers that would make even the most hardened Cthulhu investigator think twice about entering the field.

The book is split into two parts: "Biological Hazards," and "America's Colonial and Industrial Legacy."

Part One details biological hazards faced by North American archaeologists at the end of the 20th century. Anyone interested in using archaeology as a starting point for adventure from the Victorian era forward should find this section a handy reference and inspirational guide. While the data is geared . . .

This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.



Article publication date: July 13, 2001

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