Indiana Jones is a fictional archaeologist and adventurer created by George Lucas. He was born in 1899 in Princeton, New Jersey and traveled the world as a child with his parents. He studied archaeology at the University of Chicago but preferred adventure over teaching. As an archaeologist, he has traveled to many historic sites and locations to obtain rare artifacts, though his methods are not always approved of by real archaeologists. The upcoming fourth Indiana Jones film will provide more details about his character.

1. Who is Indiana Jones? (so far)
By Tish Wells
McClatchy Newspapers May 15, 2008
As the Army intelligence officerin the
movie "Raiders of the Lost Ark"
describeshim: "Professorof
archeology, expert on the occult, and,
uh, how does one say it? Obtainer of
rare antiquities."
That's about right, but there's more.
Filmmaker George Lucas created a
complicated flawed fictional hero in
Indiana Jones, and the three movies
that he dominates are studded with
clues to his identity.
More biographical details are embeddedin "The Young Indiana
Jones Chronicles," Lucas' TV series now available on DVD, and in a
bottomlesstrove of Jonesiana.
The fourth movie, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal
Skull," which opens May 22, will doubtless bring more clues, but
here's the Jones boy's dossierthus far:
Henry "Indiana" Jones Jr. was born on the cusp of the new century —
July 1, 1899,in Princeton, N.J., according to his enterprising
biographer, James Luceno. Luceno ought to know: He ransacked the
world of Indiana Jones novelizations, comics,game books and other
materials for his book, "Indiana Jones:The Ultimate Guide."
As a child, Indiana traveled around the world with his father, Henry
Jones,and mother, Anna, on a lecture tour. As a youth, he survived
the trenches of World War I to return to the United States to study
archeology at the University of Chicago, disappointing his father so
much that they didn't speak for decades.
Indiana's professorat Chicago, Abner Ravenwood, later commented

2. that Jones was "the mostgifted bum he (Ravenwood) ever trained,"
according to Marion Ravenwood, Abner's daughter — and Jones'
love interest in "Raiders of the LostArk" — whom he seduced and
abandoned, vanishing for 10 years. No wonder she slugged him
when he resurfaced in "Raiders" and needed her help in searching for
the Ark of the Covenant.
Most ladies have a softspot for Indiana Jones.One female student in
his archeology class painted "I Love You" on her eyelids,startling him
in mid-lecture.J. W. Rinzler, author of "The Complete Making of
Indiana Jones," said you "see the students having crushes on him,
both male and female."
But his family relations are rocky. Estranged from his father,
ProfessorHenry Jones,in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,"
Indiana summed up their relationship as "what you taught me was
that I was less important to you than people who had been dead 500
years in another country, and I learned it so well that we've hardly
spokenfor 20 years."
His father's retort: "You left just when you were becoming
interesting." Indiana's mother, Anna, a major influence in "The Young
Indiana Jones Chronicles," is mentioned in "Last Crusade" as an
unresolved family issue.Despite their past history, father and son
reconciled by movie's end.
Indiana's teaching takes a second place to adventuring. When Irene,
his secretary at Barnett College in "Last Crusade," handed him a pile
of unmarked papers as he prepared to enter his office,our man
escaped his duties, and clamoring students, by slipping out a window.
In contrast, his father, by Indiana's description,was "a teacher of
medieval literature. The one the students hope they don't get."
But is Indiana a good role model? Even "Raiders" fictional museum
director, Dr. Marcus Brody, dryly commented while waiting for
Jones's latest grave-robbing haul: "I'm sure that everything you do for
the museum conforms to the International Treaty for the Protectionof
Antiquities."

3. Real-life archeologists love the image, but hate the inaccuracies.
Professorof ArchaeologyGil Stein, directorof The Oriental Institute
at the University of Chicago (Indiana Jones' alma mater, class of
1922),says: "Archaeologistshave two reactions at the same time. On
the one hand, they just love it that archeology has become so well-
known and associated with this kind of heroic image ... but at the
same time they're kind of appalled. No real archaeologistwould do
the essentially tomb-robbing that Indiana Jones does."
ArcheologyprofessorKarol Chandler-Ezell of the Stephen A. Austin
State University in Texas agrees.Jones,she says, is "the dream icon
many of today's anthropologists were actually modeling when they
romanticized the field. The hat, the jacket, those khakis. ... Bookish
reader and mild-mannered professor with the round wire-rimmed
glasses.An office fullof teetering piles of papers and books.Cool
knickknacks from around the world ... and all of that anthropological
knowledge actually being useful!"