Kudos to dropzone for the well-written and entertaining Were ancient tombs really booby-trapped? Staff Report. I especially liked the throwaway at the end about Scrooge McDuck and Carl Barks. I thought it should have been in the references, though.
I do have to take issue a bit. A friend who’s an archeologist with the NC DOT tells me he has to fight Nazis all the time.
I’ve never seen him handle a bullwhip, though.
Never read it so I couldn’t put it in the bibliography, could I? I mean, I’m not in college anymore.
Anyway, I only mentioned it because Dex wouldn’t have allowed me to submit the article without it. I’ve dealt with Barks fans before and they’re an obsessive lot. I was more of a Wally Wood’s Total War type.
Isn’t it The Prize of Pizarro that is usually credited as the Carl Barks duck story that inspired the temple scene in Raiders, not The Seven Cities of Cibola? Not that I’ve read either of them, mind.
Ok, so they didn’t have booby traps, but what about switch puzzles?
But if you eat all of the cookies, Emily Teeter won’t get any. Doesn’t she deserve some?
the above link is for an article from a local Chicago professor of anthropology and archeology has developed and taught a course where Indiana Jones is part of the curriculum…
further research for you…
I can think of at least one (fictional) instance of booby-trapped tombs (sort of) that predates Hollywood. In the novel King Solomon’s Mines , by H. Rider Haggard published 1885, the heroes gained entrance to an ancient treasure vault that was sealed by
And then once they were inside, the treacherous Gagool sealed them in, apparantly doomed. If you want to know how they got out, read the book.
FTR, I am an archaeologist and I have never encountered a boobytrapped tomb.
This is what drove me crazy about Indiana Jones. I mean, they got so many things dead-on like the constant Nazi threat, the ever-present bullwhip and pistol, the mandatory fedora, damsels in distress, etc. but they totally screwed up on the boobytraps. C’mon, it makes the movie totally unrealistic.
A very well written, informative and thoroughly enjoyable article, dropzone. Nice work.
Wow! One can now download PDFs of that magazine (complete except the ads) for free! 
Not the most recent issue, but most archaeologists aren’t in the business of “recent,” anyway.
Yes, indeed she does, and something better than pecan sandies, but Ed refuses to change it back to the chocolate chips she requested. Cecil must be on vacation because Ed seems to think he can get away with murder.
(gently taking Lumpy aside so I can knock him upside the head without witnesses) This article was an investigation into the reality of booby traps and novels, by definition, ain’t real. :smack: On the other hand, it’s a freebie at Gutenberg. It’s the very essence of the “ripping yarn” and comes highly recommended. For a Victorian novelist Haggard writes clear prose a modern reader can read without making any adjustments.
Just in case you hadn’t noticed, dropzone is now a full-fledged member of the Straight Dope Science Advisory Board (SDSAB) with all the honours and apparitions that appartain theretohereinunder.
Congrats, dropzone, on another well-done Report, and on your promotion!\
And it was definitely the Seven Cities of Cibola, not the Prize of Pizarro. I’m a fan, I have them all.
For you anaphobes I still recommend King Solomon’s Mines. There is not one duck in it.
I only knew about it myself because of CalMeacham’s articles in teemings. I do miss that pub.
In this case, you should change the “Guest contributor dropzone” at the end of the staff report in question.
And yes, congratulations dropzone on this promotion.
I know that! But the original staff report went into the question of where the “booby-trapped tomb” cliche originated (if not in reality, that is). So I thought that an example that preceded Hollywood script writers by decades was relevant.
(pulling myself up to my full height, which causes my pants to fall down)
I, sir, am a scientist this week and pay no attention to folderol like novels and comic books. Check back next week, when I will revert to my old, geeky self. 
By the way, Dex forwarded some emails about this column before it was published. How do people find these columns before they have been linked on the front page? If it’s by searching on, in this case, “booby” that guy who emailed from his religious college account may have some splainin’ to do if he gets caught. :eek:
Not that I disagree with the article, but it does seem like they should add a postscript:
Ok, I inserted the Texas chainsaws part. But what are, “Sliding portcullis blocks”? They sound scary to me. Are you sure they’re not disguised booby traps? Huh? Huh?