Raiders of the Lost Ark Map Room

The ultimate in antique 3-D maps has to be the map room from the first Indian Jones movie. Building Collector reader Scott D. reminded me of the scene in "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark" when College professor and antiquities collector Indiana Jones, played by Harrison Ford, searches for the location of the Ark of the Covenant in the Egyptian desert. During the dramatic scene, Indy sneaks into the underground map room containing a precisely-detailed miniature of the city. Using a headpiece to the Staff of Ra, wooden staff of precise length and alignment of the sun, he identifies the location of the Well of Souls…and location of the Ark. The 1981 film won 4 Oscars that year which, as building collectors know, can only be attributed to Steven Spielberg’s inclusion of the miniature buildings. The new film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull opens May 22. Will miniature buildings be included again?