Loadingā¦
4
My cousin's kid asked me why we dig up old stuff and it made me pause
I was visiting family in Tucson last month and my 8-year-old cousin asked me, 'Why do you care about broken plates from a thousand years ago?' I started giving my usual answer about learning history, but then he said, 'But isn't it just trash they didn't want anymore?' That hit different. It made me think about how I got into this field, chasing big finds and cool artifacts. Now I realize the real story is in the everyday things people left behind, the broken pot someone tried to fix, the worn-out tool. It's not about treasure, it's about understanding regular people. It's a lot more humble than I used to think. Has anyone else had a simple question totally shift how you see your work?
2 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In2 Comments
evayoung6mo ago
Maybe it's just trash. People have always thrown things away, and we're the ones putting meaning on their garbage. Sometimes a broken plate is just a broken plate.
6
abby_martin286mo ago
But a broken plate in an old trash pit tells us how they lived.
2