For me archaeology is not a source of illustrations for written texts, but an independent source of historical information, with no less value and importance, sometimes more importance, that the written sources.
Michael RostovtzeffTags: archaeology
THE BARROW
In this high field strewn with stones
I walk by a green mound,
Its edges sheared by the plough.
Crumbs of animal bone
Lie smashed and scattered round
Under the clover leaves
And slivers of flint seem to grow
Like white leaves among green.
In the wind, the chestnut heaves
Where a man's grave has been.
Whatever the barrow held
Once, has been taken away:
A hollow of nettles and dock
Lies at the centre, filled
With rain from a sky so grey
It reflects nothing at all.
I poke in the crumbled rock
For something they left behind
But after that funeral
There is nothing at all to find.
On the map in front of me
The gothic letters pick out
Dozens of tombs like this,
Breached, plundered, left empty,
No fragments littered about
Of a dead and buried race
In the margins of histories.
No fragments: these splintered bones
Construct no human face,
These stones are simply stones.
In museums their urns lie
Behind glass, and their shaped flints
Are labelled like butterflies.
All that they did was die,
And all that has happened since
Means nothing to this place.
Above long clouds, the skies
Turn to a brilliant red
And show in the water's face
One living, and not these dead."
— Anthony Thwaite, from The Owl In The Tree
Tags: death living burial grave funeral archaeology
I will tell you a little secret about archaeologists, dear Reader. They all pretend t be very high-minded. They claim that their sole aim in excavation is to uncover the mysteries of the past and add to the store of human knowledge. They lie. What they really want is a spectacular discovery, so they can get their names in the newspapers and inspire envy and hatred in the hearts of their rivals.
Elizabeth PetersTags: archaeology
...as my eyes grew accustomed to the light, details of the room within emerged slowly from the mist, strange animals, statues, and gold - everywhere the glint of gold. For the moment - an eternity it must have seemed to the others standing by - I was struck dumb with amazement, and when Lord Carnarvon, unable to stand the suspense any longer, inquired anxiously, 'Can you see anything?' it was all I could do to get out the words, 'Yes, wonderful things.
Howard CarterTags: history archaeology ancient-egypt
The geologist takes up the history of the earth at the point where the archaeologist leaves it, and carries it further back into remote antiquity.
Bal Gangadhar TilakTags: history geology archaeology
Programming went back to the beginning of time. It was a little like the midden out back of his father's castle.
Vernor VingeTags: programming archaeology
Until humans came and made anthills out of these mountains, Diwan Sahib was saying, looking up at the langurs, the land had belonged to these monkeys, and to barking deer, nilgai, tiger, barasingha, leopards, jackals, the great horned owl, and even to cheetahs and lions. The archaeology of the wilderness consisted of these lost animals, not of ruined walls, terracotta amulets, and potsherds.
Anuradha RoyTags: wilderness archaeology himalaya
Where can one buy a lit of that *Right Stuff* bravado required to shrug off the fact that your airplane is now a convertible?
Josh GatesTags: bravery travel archaeology airplanes
Discover how to visit the past and bring yesterday's stories into our lives today
Gillian Hovell, 'Visiting the Past'Tags: history medieval britain roman archaeology stone-age dark-ages bronze-age hovell iron-age
It's interesting to see that people had so much clutter even thousands of years ago. The only way to get rid of it all was to bury it, and then some archaeologist went and dug it all up.
Karl PilkingtonTags: history humour clutter archaeology
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