Archaeology Either Love it or Hate it

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So I was parked in front of the TV at 4am (as usual) and I came across this advert which got me thinking. I forget now what the advert actually was except that it was advertising some archaeology documentary starting up next week. So let’s talk. Archaeology?!  Don’t really know what to think about it! I’m not gonna completely dismiss it because it maps the origins of the world we live in today. It’s all very important I’m sure.

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But sometimes it’s like, seriously?!?! My problem with archaeology is two-fold:

1. Are you actually trying to tell me that some scratches you found in some old bone show you how people lived like a million years ago?
2. Does anyone really care what the great pharaohs or Shaka Zulu drank their tea in?

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I’m not trying to hate on history. Far from it. But anything before 200 years ago and I’m not bothered. It’s not that archaeology is completely useless. I’m sure there is some stuff to learn from old bones and pottery and scraps. But my point is, how much can it really tell you? I kid you not, I’ve seen documentaries where the experts go into some in-depth analysis on a single bone. What’s wrong with that I hear you say? Nothing. But then when you try and make farfetched claims about how these small indentations are probably signposts for cannibalism, that’s where you’ve lost me. How in the hell can you look at a miniscule little mark and tell me a human bit into it??

I love science but I’m much more in favour of anything current and futuristic. Go back too far and you’ve lost me. Sure, at times I’m curious – I was all up for watching The Da Vinci Code (lol) – but for the most part I’m best left to watching Megastructures. I know that science needs history to move forward but I think archaeologists take it a bit far! I mean think of the millions spent on them dudes with the shovels!  Money that could definitely be better spent what with the recession and world hunger and all.

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Haha maybe I’m a bit of a hypocrite ‘cause I buried a time capsule back home in Zimbabwe when I was a kid. I guess at that age, the idea of people finding your photos hundreds of years from when you put them in the ground seems so cool.

Anyone else think like me? Or maybe some of you can change my mind?

Selby