Rant: My brother asked why we even dig up old pottery

I was showing him some photos from a dig near Tucson, and he just said 'it's just broken cups, who cares?' I had to explain that the clay composition can show trade routes and what people ate. Has anyone else had to justify the point of basic finds to family?

3 comments

3 Comments

evan2951mo ago

Tell him to imagine a whole city vanished. Those broken pieces are the only stuff left. They are clues in the biggest cold case ever. My dad used to say the same thing about old coins. It is not about the cup. It is about the hands that made it.

claire_butler11d ago

Wait, Michael said the stains tell you their last meal? That's crazy, I never thought of that. @evan295 your cold case analogy is perfect - these guys are basically archaeologists becoming detectives for people who've been dead for centuries.

michael_patel1mo ago

Tell him it's like reading a note from a thousand years ago. Those broken cups are the only note we get. The clay tells us who they talked to, the stains tell us their last meal. It's the only way to hear their story. Without it, they're just gone.