‘Keep that which is committed to thy trust’: Buried Treasure and Supernatural Guardians in Three Archaeological Ghost Stories
Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: This paper explores a specific motif in archaeological ghost stories: the search for hidden treasure, and encounters with ghostly or demonic treasure guardians. It traces the deep-rooted connections between treasure and the supernatural in European folklore, and attempts to distinguish the archaeological ghost story from the better-known but broader ‘antiquarian’ category. The paper takes three early twentieth-century ghost stories as examples to illustrate the diversity within the category of treasure guardian stories, as well as the notable degree of structural similarity. The stories in question are by famed horror author M. R. James and his friends E. G. Swain and A. C. Benson. The analysis of these stories highlights a number of common narrative elements, structures, and themes. These include the popular perception of archaeologists as disturbers of the dead, and the common trope of a rationalist scholar scorning a supernatural warning. The final part of the paper considers how ghosts are portrayed as anti-archaeologists or guardians of ancient sites and artefacts, and considers the value of ghost stories in crafting public archaeological narratives of objects, time, and place.
Source: Public Archaeology
Author: Gabriel Moshenska
Language: English
Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4409238169