A critical Analysis of Archaeological News Headlines on Social Media

A critical Analysis of Archaeological News Headlines on Social Media

“The Oldest Story Ever Told Is Painted on a Cave Wall in Indonesia” is an article by The Independent newspaper. Although the heading is catchy, it is not misleading since its arguments are supported throughout the article in question. The article itself talks about a recent discovery of paintings on a cave wall located in Indonesia. The paintings are a depiction of the supernatural beings hunting wild animals. It is believed that the paintings were made by people inhabiting the Island of Sulawesi as early as 44,000 years ago (The Independent). The article does not jump into unjustifiable conclusions. This is because the conclusions made by The Independent newspaper are the same as those reached at by other scholars cited in this article. At the same time, the article avails its readers with adequate reasons that the conclusions it has made are justified. For example, it cites studies that have revealed that the cave paintings discovered from Chauvet Cave in France date back 30,000 years (The Independent). This information justifies the conclusions made by The Independent pertaining to the age of the paintings of supernatural beings in Sulawesi cave in Indonesia being the oldest story ever told. This paper argues that the article titled “The Oldest Story Ever Told Is Painted on a Cave Wall in Indonesia” has provided persuasive and significantly credible information to its social media readers.

The most important piece of information missing from the article in question pertains to the arguments of those who do not support the assumption that the paintings discovered from the Sulawesi caves in Indonesia provide the oldest story ever told. This detail would enable the readers make a more informed conclusion pertaining to the paintings from the Sulawesi cave in Indonesia. At the same time, information pertaining to the tools or materials used to make the paintings in question is missing.

In addition to missing important details, the article in question does not have an author. Instead, it was authored by The Independent newspaper. This means that it is impossible to confirm or challenge the credibility of the person responsible for writing this article. Also, it makes one wonder why no person wanted to take credit for the information contained in this article. On the positive side, the article is recently published since it is dated 2019. The goal of the article in question was to persuade the readers to adopt the opinions already held by The Independent newspaper.

The article in question incorporates many elements that make it appealing to the social media audience. Firstly, the article does not include references. Instead, The Independent newspaper tries to incorporate the sources of its information within the article without following any specific format. Additionally, the article has not used complicated diction. It addresses a very complicated issue that is normally associated with complicated archaeological terms and phrases. Additionally, the article has made sure that it has offered brief explanations of some of the complex phrases or terms it has used to convey its message. For instance, it has provided a definition for the term anoa (The Independent). Many readers may not know what anoa means. As such, the article has made some deliberate efforts aimed at ensuring that its social media readers do not get lost in the intricate details of the field of archaeology.

There is a lot of missing information from the article by The Independent that could be used to strengthen it.  Many of the readers of this article may find the information provided in it adequate or even more than enough. However, there are a few readers who may be interested in getting more information pertaining to various comments made in this article. As such, the article would be more efficient if it incorporated ways for readers to make follow-up researches. Throughout its article, The Independent has highlighted several words that are supposed to enable readers to get further information on various comments. Some of these highlighted words include “Archaeology,”  “Indonesia,” and “Cave art” (The Independent). Clicking these highlighted words does not direct a person to useful websites or sources. The article could have been more effective if it highlighted sections that are very relevant to the message it is conveying. One of these sections involves the mentioning of a study published in the Nature journal (The Independent). The Independent should have made sure that it incorporates a way for readers to access the journal or article it is referring to for any follow-up questions the latter may have. At the same time, the article makes references to numerous recent discoveries of art pertaining to humanoid figures. For instance, it talks about the discovery of a humanoid figure of a woman, which is believed to date back more than 35,000 years ago (The Independent). The article in question should have made sure it incorporates ways for the readers to do follow-up researches on such discoveries.

When it comes to the missing information, the article’s headings should have made it clear that only the existing evidence points to the paintings discovered in Sulawesi cave in Indonesia. It is common for new evidence to be discovered, and which challenges earlier-held assumptions pertaining to the history of various aspects of human beings. As such, it is possible that future discoveries may bring to the attention of the scientific community the presence of story forms that predated the paintings in the Sulawesi cave.

In conclusion, the article under review explores the recent discovery of paintings that are believed to contain the oldest story ever. Although the article is published in a popular newspaper, it contains verifiable facts and is very persuasive. However, it had been manipulated to make it easily readable by social media audiences, for instance, with the use of a simple diction.

Works Cited

The Independent. “The Oldest Story Ever Told Is Painted on a Cave in Indonesia.” The Independent, 29 De. 2019, https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/archaeology-cave-art-drawings-indonesia-palaeolithic-animals-a9248886.html/. Accessed on March 17, 2020.