Jeffrey,
The insanity of this for me is that there are thousands of very important sites throughout the world. I could think of seven wonders just in New Mexico of the top of my head, and I would have a hard time choosing. I think if each state or country had some kind of similar voting for just their country or area, it would do a lot to raise the awareness of archaeology and historical resources in our back yard. It seems a no-brainer for SHPOs and the voting public to come up with the seven wonders of New Mexico, or say Nebraska. I have no idea what the seven wonders of Nebraska would look like, but I am sure people living there would. Something like that could promote tourism and awareness and preservation.
Victor Gibbs, RPA
Prinicpal Investigator
Zia Engineering and Environmental Consultants, LLC
----- Original Message ----
From: "Boyer, Jeffrey, DCA" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Friday, July 6, 2007 9:00:02 AM
Subject: Re: 7 new wonders of the world
Poo. What made the original "deciders" experts about the old list? Did they fork over money for conservation of the hanging gardens? Why should the world's peoples not get to decide on which sites they think are spectacular? Just because there is a sort of global democracy involved in voting does not mean that countries without spectacular sites are being discriminated against. How friggin' politically correct do we have to be?
The quibbling by UNESCO reminds me of a stream of comments on hist-arch about how archaeology is presented by movies and TV shows. Some folks complained about the obvious and frequent inaccuracies. Other argued that anything that gets the public talking about archaeology gives us openings to engage the public notions and perhaps to correct them when need be.
Jeffrey L. Boyer, RPA
Project Director
Office of Archaeological Studies, Museum of New Mexico
mail: P.O. Box 2087, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504
physical: 407 Galisteo Street, Suite B-100, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501
tel: 505.827.6387 fax: 505.827.3904
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
"It might look a bit messy now, but just you come back in 500 years time." --Terry Pratchett
________________________________
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY on behalf of geoff carver
Sent: Fri 7/6/2007 7:12 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: 7 new wonders of the world
democracy & popularity contests vs. the experts:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/6272956.stm
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