This nicely wrought, even poetic book about archeological excavation and the variety of people who are passionate about the past and its artifacts will fascinate everyone from high school students to professional archaeologists digging in the field.
I enjoyed this, even though it wasn’t quite what I thought it would be, and if you’re interested in old stuff, museums or archaeology it’s worth a read.įollow Boudica Marginalia on WordPress."Reads almost like a thriller, chock-full of vendettas, suicides and large scale criminal enterprises dedicated to the multimillion-dollar trade in antiques."- NPR, "Weekend All Things Considered", Reads almost like a thriller, chock-full of vendettas, suicides and large scale criminal enterprises dedicated to the multimillion-dollar trade in antiques., "This is a delightful account of the complicated world of archeology by an author who loves (one might say is borderline obsessed with) the past. But this view is based on feeling and he struggles to articulate why that is the right thing to do, so the reader is left to make up their own mind if they can. In the end, Childs’ view is that artifacts should be left where they are found, in context. He tells his own stories of his experience of making archaeological finds and what he has done with them, as well as the stories of people involved at various levels of the antiquities trade. There are no easy answers to these questions and Childs presents a range of views in an objective and non-judgemental way.
Should it go back to the culture it came from? Are artifacts art or information? Should they be displayed for aesthetic enjoyment or catalogued for posterity? Should they be owned by private collectors or held by governments and public insitutions? Who should have it? Does it belong in museums where it can be studied? Lots of the stuff in museums has been obtained unethically, especially in the top institutions.
I expected a more scholarly approach to the complex and ambiguous question of what we should do with old stuff. Archaeologist was one of my many answers to the question ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?’. The book isn’t quite what I thought it was. The book is an exploration of the ethics of archaeology and I was attracted to reading it because I have a love for the artifacts of the past.
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