If you think the legions of Nazi archaeologists that we know as the common antagonists of the Indiana Jones franchise are pure fantasy, you might be surprised to learn that there actually were prominent Nazi archaeological expeditions. In fact, some high-ranking officials within the Third Reich were what we might call amateur archaeology buffs -- though they were prone to entertaining bizarre, unsupported theories and had a poor standard of evidence. For example, Heinrich Himmler, who was the head of the Gestapo and the Nazi SS under Hitler's command, was a Holy Grail legend enthusiast who funded and promoted the doomed Grail-hunting expeditions of a now-discredited German archaeologist named Otto Rahn [source: Preston].

In most cases, however, the motivations behind Nazi-funded archaeological digs were not pure scientific curiosity or academic interest. They were blatantly political. The main reason the German Nazi Party was so interested in archaeology was because Adolf Hitler, among others, believed that through excavating ancient sites, he could prove that the German people were descendants of the original Aryan "master race." They also used archeology to make a case that Germany had the right to invade surrounding countries because Germans had lived there first.

When Hitler and his associates came to power in 1933, they instituted a massive revamp of German public services and institutions. This included universities and academic research institutions, the archaeological projects of which were thereafter beholden to leaders who held fast to the Aryan race myths and other problematic assumptions. Also, in 1935, Himmler and several other Nazi leaders founded the Ahnenerbe, also known as "The Ancestral Heritage Research and Teaching Society." The Ahnenerbe sent teams of archaeologists to Iceland, where the Nazis claimed the Aryan race originated. The team did find a cave it claimed was a place of worship for ancient Aryans, but later it was proven that the cave was uninhabited before the 18th century. The United States and England blocked any further excavation in the area, and the project failed to produce any of the proof the Nazis desired.

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