Not that scientists should conduct research based on what the public is looking for, he said, but findings have to be presented in layman's terms with explanations that don't require an advanced degree. "We can be extremely sophisticated in naming things, but if we use titles that turn off the public, then we're missing our mark."

Because interest is so great in legitimate finds, Maeir said the public should be more critical in examining the credentials of those who announce major "breakthroughs" that "prove" something in the Bible.

Those who do so, he said, almost always are not professional archaeologists; have not been published in refereed, scholarly professional journals; and talk of sensational finds in a way that later is proven to be a gross misunderstanding of fact or an outright fraud.

Examples include:

• Mt. Ararat as the site where Noah's Ark was found. "This one happens every five or 10 years," yet nothing has been found to verify the claim.

• The Shroud of Turin. "We know clearly now it was made in the Middle Ages. It has been scientifically tested and dated clearly to the 14th Century."

• The tomb of Jesus' family. Among the most recent "discoveries," the tomb has been the subject of several documentary films and books, but Maeir said what isn't discussed is the commonality of the names found in the tomb. "There's nothing exceptional about having a Jesus and a Miriam and a Jacob" in the same tomb, he said.

• The ossuary of Jesus' brother, James. "It turns out the box was found only with the 'James' part on it. Someone else added the words, 'brother of Jesus."'

Certainly legitimate finds are made, he said, though archaeologists are skeptical — sometimes for years — about declaring something is an ancient document or object until detailed research and methodological studies can be done. A case in point was the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Maeir's work for the past decade has focused on excavating ancient Gath, a large Philistine city believed by many to be the home of Goliath from the biblical story of David and Goliath. Findings include letters on a pottery shard that represent "one of the earliest Canaanite inscriptions we have" that are similar to "how we understand the development of the name Goliath. But this is not Goliath's cereal bowl," he said.

Among his most important tools are meticulous field methods, recording and analysis; an active and critical engagement with the interface between artifacts and the biblical text; a skepticism that precludes "automatic and senseless connections" between what is found in the ground and what the Bible says; and intensive use of multi-disciplinary studies that look at every scientific aspect of what is found.

Using such methods, Maeir said he believes biblical archaeology should continue, with a "very sophisticated but non-parochial viewpoint. There's no reason to be afraid to use archaeological remains to understand the reality embedded in the biblical text, even if it's not popular in the post-modern world."

For information on Maeir's excavations at Tell es-Safi (known as Gath), see www.dig-gath.org.

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E-mail: carrie@desnews.com