When Egyptian archaeologists announced the discovery of a “lost golden city” near Luxor, Egypt, in 2021, headlines erupted around the world: Treasure. Revelation. A once-in-a-century find.

For archaeologists, however, the most notable feature was not the gold that had yet to materialise, but how quickly the story became framed as adventure. Years of survey, stratigraphic mapping and ceramic analysis barely registered.

Archaeology is one of the rare disciplines where popular culture does not simply reflect public understanding, but actively produces it. Many people encounter archaeology not through excavation reports or museum catalogues, but through a man in a fedora cracking a whip in a torchlit tomb.

In my discussions on archaeology and popular culture at the University of Tübingen, this becomes immediately clear. Students rarely arrive with expectations shaped by site reports or specialist literature – they arrive with Indiana Jones.

Archaeology as adventure

The idea of archaeology as adventure predates the discipline itself. It grew from 19th-century colonial exploration, when the past was treated less as knowledge than as loot. Ancient sites were framed as reservoirs of exotic objects to be extracted and displayed. Even earlier, in the 17th century, travellers like Cornelis de Bruyn returned from the Levant as minor celebrities.

Victorian adventure literature – most influentially H. Rider Haggard’s King Solomon’s Mines (1885) – presented distant landscapes as backdrops for hidden wealth and lost civilisations. Even as archaeology became an academic discipline, it remained entangled in this narrative. Museums displayed artefacts as spectacular fragments of vanished worlds, frequently detached from their archaeological context.

Popular writing extended this logic. C.W. Ceram’s Gods, Graves and Scholars (1949) translated archaeological research into a sequence of dramatic discoveries. He invited readers to experience excavation as a series of moments of revelation. In doing so, he helped stabilise a particular narrative form: archaeology as heroic encounter with the past, driven by exceptional individuals and spectacular finds.

Cinema has amplified and standardised this. From The Mummy (1932) to Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and later Tomb Raider (1996) and Assassin’s Creed (2007), archaeology became a recognisable genre defined by hidden chambers, booby traps and solitary heroism.

The persistence of the adventure narrative is not difficult to explain. Archaeology deals in inherently compelling material: objects, ruins, human remains. Popular media selects its most cinematic moments – the uncovered tomb, the deciphered inscription, the glittering artefact – and presents them as the story itself.

In the Indiana Jones films, knowledge arrives through revelation. A hidden chamber opens. A mystery resolves. The past appears to have been waiting to be discovered. But real archaeology works almost in reverse.

Beyond Hollywood

Years spent documenting crumbling walls, fragile ceramic shards and faint traces of settlement rarely produce moments of spectacle. Fieldwork often takes place under difficult conditions, in heat, dust or mud and proceeds through measurement, recording and interpretation. Knowledge constructed, not discovered, and then argued over, revised and sometimes abandoned. The adventure narrative erases this process.

The so-called “lost golden city” of Aten illustrates this tension. Announced as one of the most significant discoveries in Egypt in decades, it generated global headlines before substantial analysis had been published. The “golden” label itself remained unexplained. The revelation circulated widely; the knowledge production that followed remained slow and ongoing.

The adventure model also carries ethical implications. Questions of ownership, restitution and Indigenous heritage sit uneasily within a framework that treats artefacts as objects to be found rather than evidence embedded in living cultural and political contexts. The figure of the lone western excavator recovering lost pasts has a colonial genealogy that contemporary archaeology continues to confront.

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Digital platforms intensify these dynamics further. Instagram and TikTok privilege visual immediacy and reward moments of uncovering over long-term interpretive labour. Algorithmic visibility tends to favour spectacle, not process.

And yet the adventure myth is not simply an error to be corrected. To dismiss it entirely would be to misunderstand its cultural function.

Archaeology and the public imagination

Without Indiana Jones, many people would rarely think about the deep human past at all. Museum attendance, research funding and student interest are all, in part, sustained by a cultural imagination in which archaeology matters enough to be exciting.

In teaching, this dynamic is familiar. Students often arrive drawn by cinematic archaeology, but many leave engaged by something else entirely: the realisation that the most unassuming fragment of a broken pot or worn object can reshape historical understanding.

There is also a reflexive dimension to this story. Archaeologists themselves participate in constructing the narratives that circulate about their work. Press releases announcing “lost cities” or “once-in-a-century discoveries” are not authored by Hollywood. The tension between public communication and scholarly precision is internal to the discipline.

Most people will never read an excavation report. Their understanding of archaeology is shaped through stories, not technical documentation.

Indiana Jones would struggle to obtain a modern excavation permit. Most archaeological breakthroughs occur far from collapsing temples – in comparative analysis, in computational reevaluation of legacy datasets, in the slow refinement of scholarly consensus. But accuracy alone does not determine cultural influence.

The adventure myth compresses a complex, distributed and often invisible process into a narrative that can be recognised at a glance. It obscures much of what archaeology is, but it also sustains its place in public imagination.

The more difficult question is what archaeology chooses to do with the attention it generates – and what kinds of stories it tells once the door has been opened.

Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, a minister closely associated with Maduro’s authoritarian rule, called the interim president’s meeting with Trump “a great triumph of the diplomacy of peace”.

But opposition voices expressed their disapproval over the meeting, viewing it as a snub of their calls – that the US has previously endorsed – for swift elections.

Pedro Mario Burelli, a former Venezuelan state oil company executive and opposition commentator, called the two world leaders “the shameless puppet and her unscrupulous and undignified puppet-master”, adding: “Little has changed in Venezuela under Washington’s clumsy and selective oversight.”

Venezuela’s last elections, held in 2024, in which Maduro was declared the winner, were widely disputed as rigged. Opposition tallies suggested their candidate, who stood after Machado was barred from running, had won by 70% of the vote.

Despite this, the Trump administration backed Rodriguez, Maduro’s former vice-president, as his successor rather than opposition leader María Corina Machado after Maduro was seized and put on trial on drug charges in January.

Analysts at the time cast this decision as the US choosing short-term stability in Venezuela until elections could be held.

Rodriguez used her UN General Assembly speech on Thursday to reiterate that there “will be elections in Venezuela”, without specifying when.

Magic Motorfest, held at Farnworth Cricket Club today (September 27), was the inaugural event organised by Farnworth-based charity Speed of Sight, which provides driving experiences for people with disabilities, including those who are blind or who have been told they will never be able to drive due to another disability, such as epilepsy.

John Galloway, co-founder of Speed of Sight, said: “Today is about several things: the community coming together to support Speed of Sight and other amazing organisations around here.

The race cars and buggies used by Speed of Sight (Image: NQ)

“We are the only charity, believe it or not, in the world that does what we do.

“We provide incredible driving experiences in real racing cars for people who have been told they will never, ever be able to drive a car.”

The festival featured around 170 cars on display, each making a donation to take part, with vehicles ranging from high-performance models to personalised designs, classic cars and a retired army vehicle.

Some of the cars at the Convoy (Image: NQ)

A convoy of cars, organised by Bolton Convoys, set off from The Southfields pub in Great Lever and made its way to the cricket club as part of the day’s festivities.

Bolton Convoys organises professional car convoys to ensure the events remain safe.

Mr Galloway explained how the charity’s work changes lives, offering a driving experience to people who may be blind, have autism, Down syndrome, brain injuries, or complex physical disabilities.

Classic cars at the festival (Image: NQ)

He said: “We hoist them into these racing cars.

“The two steering wheels are connected, and under instruction from one of our instructors, they drive the car together as a team.

“It’s a full, immersive driving experience that they have been told they would never be able to have.

RRG Toyota in Bolton made a ‘generous’ donation and attended the event (Image: NQ)

“That is truly life-changing.”

Speed of Sight offers experiences for children as young as seven, and its oldest participant so far was a 102-year-old blind World War Two veteran.

Mr Galloway said the event was designed to raise awareness of the charity’s work and connect with people in the area who may not have heard of Speed of Sight before.

He said: “People were coming up to us saying, ‘We’ve never heard of Speed of Sight.

Some of the cars at the festival (Image: NQ)

“‘You guys are amazing.’

“So I thought, ‘You know what? Why don’t we do a car festival to celebrate car enthusiasts who love cars, and get them to bring their hundreds of cars today?’”

Mr Galloway also explained how the charity wants to make the festival a yearly event and urged local businesses and people to reach out to him to take part via his email: john@speedofsight.org

The event was made possible thanks to the support of Farnworth Cricket Club and key volunteers.

An army vehicle at the festival (Image: NQ)

Mr Galloway said: “We have to thank Farnworth Cricket Club, because they were the first people to come to the table and say, ‘You know what?

“‘We love what you guys are doing. We’ll let you use the whole of the cricket fields to do what you do and advertise you.’

“Shane Molton has been a titan in helping to organise and get cars here today.

Some of the cars at the Convoy (Image: NQ)

“And also Beverly Moore—she’s been able to get all of the community together.”

The festival also featured food stalls, community group displays, and entertainment, with Bolton FM at the event.

Two car dealerships, Chery in Farnworth and RRG Toyota, also made donations to support the charity.

Mr Galloway said: “It’s about trying to support one another and hopefully have bikes, cars, and everything you could wish for.”

Speed of Sight was co-founded by Bolton-born Mike Newman, an eight-time Guinness World Record holder who was born completely blind.

High performance cars at the festival (Image: NQ)

Mr Newman has set records for the fastest speeds achieved on land, water, and in the air, including becoming the first blind person to drive solo at more than 200mph.

The charity has been based in Farnworth for nearly 14 years but operates its driving experiences at circuits outside Bolton.

Mr Galloway said: “We believe giving people with disabilities an amazing driving experience helps them change the way they see themselves, and it also helps people change their perception of disability.”

There have been reports of “intrusive and inappropriate searches” at Wales’ UEFA Nations League match against Portugal. The game took place at José Alvalade Stadium in Lisbon, with hundreds of Welsh fans travelling to watch the match live.

Female fans have said that when attending the game in Portugal they felt “violated, intimidated and unsafe” when security staff were conducting searches.

A woman from Cardiff, who has asked to remain anonymous, told Wales Online about her experience in Lisbon. She explained that like many other women at the stadium she felt “violated” by the female security guards who searched her. For the biggest stories in Wales first sign up to our daily newsletter here

She said: “The whole experience was awful. We went into the stadium and they asked to search your bag. So, the woman searched my bag, and all I had in my handbag was my phone, my inhaler, my makeup brush, blusher, lipstick, money, and a little fan to go on my phone.

“She searched my bag, and she searched me. It was completely inappropriate, literally all the way down, touched my breasts and down below.

“There was no need for it. There was completely no need. My boyfriend saw it, he went, ‘Are you all right?’ and I said, ‘No, it’s disgusting.’

“I was just violated, it was just awful, and this other woman was next to me and she’d experienced the same thing. I said, ‘it wasn’t just me, was it’ and she said, ‘No, I feel exactly the same’. It was just completely inappropriate.

“I can’t even put it into words to be perfectly honest. I’m just gutted. Not just for me, but for the other women that have experienced the same thing.”

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The Scottish Challenge Cup played out in remarkable fashion this weekend, with one team running out to a 14-0 victory in ruthless fashion

Ross County broke a 33-year-old club record on Saturday, as they demolished Hearts II in a 14-0 win in the KDM Evolution Trophy. The Young Jambos saw six put past them in the first-half, with a Robbie Flockhart red card opening the doors for further embarrassment.

Kieran Phillips managed a quartet of goals in the first 45, with Ricco Diack also bagging a brace before the half-time break. On the other side of the interval, Phillips bolstered his tally to five, while Diack completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot.

Chris Hamilton also managed three of his own in the second-half, while Luke McCarvel found the back of the net twice. Jamie Lindsay’s solitary strike made the overall score 14-0 in a day to quickly forget for Hearts’ B side.

It came as County’s fourth win of the KDM Evolution Trophy, skyrocketing them to second in the league standings. At the time of writing, the club trail Clydebank by just a single point, with a goal difference of +22.

However, they also broke a 33-year club record in the process of their hellish 14-0 win over Hearts’ B team. That’s because until Saturday, the club’s highest win had came in the form of an 11-0 win over St Cuthberts Wanderers in 1993.

Should Ross County have any hopes of breaking the overall record for the highest margin of victory, however, they still have work to do. That’s because Abroath managed a staggering 36-0 win ove Shotts Bon Accord back in 1885.

Up next for County in the Scottish Challenge Cup in a final league phase fixture with Forfar Athletic come Tuesday, October 13.

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And while many a head coach will have been elated with Saturday’s win, Stuart Kettlewell didn’t let the scoreline get to his head.

Speaking in the aftermath of the match, he said: “I think my biggest focus, as always, is my team. I think that they treated the game exactly how it should be treated.

“Fully professional performance. Obviously, it seems a bit bizarre at the number of goals that were scored in the game.

“The fact that Hearts go down to 10 men, I think it was at four at the time, they just continued to do what I asked them to do, which is play the game at fast pace, play to go and score goals, play to go and get the ball into wide areas to look to get crosses in.

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“There was a lot of good quality from within the game, of course, from our side. But as I say, my focus goes onto our team. If we come here and start stroking the ball about and killing a bit of time, and wasting people’s time here today that have come to try and see us score some goals and win a game of football, then I think, again, we’re kidding people on.

“So the players have approached that absolutely how I wanted them to do so. But I can’t say I’m surprised, because I feel like I’m saying that to you almost every single week.

“In terms of what it means for the competition, it’s another win, another three points on the board for us. And significant confidence, it would have to be said, towards a lot of individuals in our team, to be able to get onto the scoresheet and to be able to perform well, yet again.”

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