Damn fools (was Re: Dell "Oldest PC" winner on zdnet)

From: Philip.Belben_at_pgen.com <(Philip.Belben_at_pgen.com)>
Date: Wed Aug 25 08:13:54 1999

> Well, archeology was, and still _is_ about value, and I'm not
> talking about anything beside money. Just look at your news.
> If theres a stupid pile of roman silver, it's top news and
> it gets a lot of attention. The historic value is zero, but
> it's silver - on the other side, it needs a earth shaking
> discovery (like the Keltic statue two years ago) just to
> have a few lines...


Non sequitur, I think. I agree that the news coverage bears this out well, but
I don't agree that this is the opinion of _any_ serious archaeologist, amateur
or professional, of my acquaintance.

I think that news coverage is about money. The money mentality that pervades so
much of our society means that the newspapers measure the importance of
_anything_ they don't actually understand by the amount of money involved.

Money is as relevant to archaeologists as it is to the rest of us, but I don't
think it is the main driver for most, or even many, of the people who do
significant work in this field.

Philip.

PS I don't recall hearing about this Celtic statue - can you point me to more
detail?
Received on Wed Aug 25 1999 - 08:13:54 BST