i dunno: i can hold a sherd in my hand, i can hold bones, i could even hold 
a bag of pollen
i cannot hold the things texts or pictures represent...
think the reference to the "memory hole" should have tipped you off; or else 
i've been thinking too much of winston smith's glass paperweight of late

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2006 5:44 PM
Subject: Re: sanitizing history?



>
> another minor ethical dilemna; i sometimes look at archaeology as being a
> means for providing concrete evidence of "facts" that might otherwise
> disappear down the "memory hole"
>
> Archaeology provides "...concrete evidence of facts...?
>
> Since when?
>
> This is an interesting statement to ponder.
>
> Based upon what I've learned in arch classes, what winds up being 
> deposited
> or preserved in the archaeologcial records, whether it be what folks 
> decide
> to selelctively discard or what the depositional environment allows to be
> preserved, could hardly be considered as "...providing concrete evidence 
> of
> fact..."
>
> Perhaps I read the statement to literally.