SAA

VIDEO GAMES AND ARCHAEOLOGY
Archaeological research is not restricted to virtual spaces that
are copies or representations of real sites. Indeed, it can be
equally valuable to conduct archaeological modeling or to
test hypotheses in fictional spaces. For instance, World of
Warcraft is an MMORPG set in an extensive world with a
large player base. 8 The large number of players, as well as the
complex spaces that they engage in, have provided suitable
conditions for many research projects in the fields of sociology
(Bainbridge 2010), ethnography, and even epidemiology
(Balicer 2005). Video games could prove to be a fertile environment
for archaeological theory testing, for instance into
human interaction with space or exchange networks (Mol
2014).
Conclusion
This article began by showcasing the results from a small
survey about archaeology and video games conducted at Leiden
University’s Faculty of Archaeology. Through this survey,
we were able to observe a paradox in the attitudes of archaeologists
toward video games and their inclusion of archaeological
elements. While the respondents enjoyed archaeology
in these games, they did not find it particularly important.
They noted a number of explanations for this, ranging from
problems of accuracy to a lack of excitement.
The aforementioned examples are only some of a large number
of current practices and developments taking place in the
intersection of archaeology and gaming. They provide a
glimpse of the value this field may hold for education,
research, and society. This potential is currently held back by
the general niche status of gaming as a serious topic to be
tackled by (dedicated) archaeological professionals. On the
other side of the spectrum, well-willing developers often
have no access to archaeological resources and professional
networks, effectively requiring them to explore the archaeological
profession or the period their games take place in by
themselves. In sum, we feel that closer collaborations
between game developers and archaeologists are needed if
video games and archaeology are to be of greater mutual
value. Collaborations will increase public outreach of archaeology
as well as provide new avenues for archaeological
research. At the same time it will enrich video game development
by creating a deeper and more accurate immersion
into the past.
References Cited
Bainbridge, William Sims
2010 The Warcraft Civilization: Social Science in a Virtual World.
MIT Press, Cambridge.
Balicer, Ran
2005 Modeling Infectious Diseases Dissemination through
Online Role-Playing Games. Epidemiology 18:260–261.
Lowe, Dunstan
2013 Always Already Ancient: Ruins in the Virtual World. In
Greek and Roman Games in the Computer Age, edited by Thea S.
Thorsen, pp. 53–90. Fagbokforlaget, Trondheim.
Mol, Angus
2014 Play-Things and the Origins of Online Networks: Virtual
Material Culture in Multiplayer Games. Archaeological Review
from Cambridge 29:144–166.
Morgan, Colleen L.
2009 (Re)Building Çatalhöyük: Changing Virtual Reality in
Archaeology. Archaeologies 5(3):468–487.
Roy, Gilles
2015 APOTHEON: The Action Hero at the Heart of Greek
Myth. February 18, 2015. Play the Past. Electronic document,
http://www.playthepast.org/?p=5104, accessed September 21,
2015.
Tate
2014 Tate Creates Minecraft Worlds Inspired by Art. November
17, 2014. Tate. Electronic document, http://www.tate.org.uk/
context-comment/articles/tate-worlds-minecraft, accessed September
21, 2015.
Notes
1. The questionnaire can be found on VALUE’s website:
http://www.valueproject.nl/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Surveysemi-final-draft.pdf.
2. Question 6: “What do you enjoy most in a video game?” The
respondents could choose multiple answers. The percentage refers
to the amount of respondents who selected this aspect out of the
total number of people who answered this question.
3. These aspects may refer to archaeology as a subject, archaeology
as a profession, archaeological interpretations, or anything else
the respondents considered.
4. Question 10: “Do you think archaeology in video games is
representative of actual archaeology? Why?”
5. You can find our play-through of the game with commentary
here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKbRwyeu6RQ
v7cFpaSAF0u7pOGRvaR-0j.
6. You can see the developing project, or sign up to participate,
on their tumblr: http://museumcraft.tumblr.com/.
7. An extensive write-up of this event can be found on VALUE’s
website: http://www.valueproject.nl/blog-posts/streaming-thepast/recap-of-the-palmyra-re-construction/.
8. Currently, the game has 5.6 million subscribers globally. At
its height in 2010, 12 million people were subscribed to World of
Warcraft, http://www.statista.com/statistics/276601/number-ofworld-of-warcraft-subscribers-by-quarter/.
November 2016 • The SAA Archaeological Record
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