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The Daily Wildcat

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The Daily Wildcat

The Daily Wildcat

 

    “On the Spot: John Olsen, Regents professor of anthropology”

    Most interesting archaeological discovery?

    Oh my god, see I work in the Paleolithic, which is the Stone Age, so there’s no golden idles, there’s no mummies, so I only dig up stone tools. So what excites me is probably not going to sound very exciting. But every time we excavate an artifact that you know nobody’s touched for 100,000 years you really get this electric charge that says, “”I’m the first person to see this in 100,000 years,”” or something.

    How would you feel about being compared to a modern-day Indiana Jones?

    I would hate every part of that statement because Indiana Jones is not an archaeologist, Indiana Jones is an antiquarian, goes around the world stealing other people’s cultural heritage and what he does really is nothing to do with archaeology so I would rail against being accused, in any way, resembling Indiana Jones.

    Do you like the ride at Disneyland though?

    Of course! Not because it reminds me of archaeology.

    Tell me about your first love.

    Wow, that’s getting a little personal. My first love is the same as my current love, which are dogs. I totally like dogs. I like big dogs.

    Greatest life discovery?

    Just how similar people are all around the world no mater where you go, no matter how much cultural variability there is, people basically have the same kinds of dreams and desires and goals, and it surprises me as an anthropologist.

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