Archaeologist Andrew Reinhard has dug through humanity’s past among ancient ruins in Greece. These days, though, he digs a little closer to home.
There’s a great interview on Motherboard with Reinhard—who has a Masters in archaeology from University of Missouri-Columbia—where he talks about how he’s moved his work into video games, in what’s becoming known as “Archaeogaming”.
Some examples of his studies: the coins of Elder Scrolls, how Destiny’s removal of Peter Dinklage has ancient precedence and a general sense of HYPE for the archaeological potential in No Man’s Sky.
“As I see it”, he says, “video games are human creations, and are thereby artifacts in and of themselves, but also contain a wealth of story and objects that lend themselves to archaeological thinking.”
“I’m staking what some might consider to be an insane claim: that there is no difference between cultures in either real or virtual environments.”