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>I'm disappointed that kids smashed a bunch of objects that had ancient significance (by our standards of replacing laptops and phones every few years). Uh, wh

>I'm disappointed that kids smashed a bunch of objects that had ancient significance (by our standards of replacing laptops and phones every few years). Uh, what? Though seasoned by local culture, pottery is just another mundane object in most historical contexts. Heck, in Europe there are even some sizable hills that were created because they ran out of places to discard their pottery. The waterways of cities like London are literally littered with earthware fragments from smoking apparatuses. Most ancient potteries and their fragments hold way more meaning to modern collectors and anthropologists than they ever held for their contemporaries.

smt88 11y ago
You never know what "mundane" objects tell us an enormous amount about the past. There have been many discoveries where the pots themselves told us about when a certain technology was developed, how civilizations traveled/spread, or what they ate/drank.
- sithadmin 11y ago
  You're missing my point; the discussion here is about the level of value objects have to those in their respective periods. I explicitly said that these objects can have a lot of value for those with an interest in research. Akiselev was arguing that ancient pottery was somehow less mundane or disposable than contemporary objects such as laptops and phones, which isn't the case in an overwhelming majority of cases. Most ancient pottery was, to its owners, no different (in terms of significance) than our tupperware or wine bottles.
JoeAltmaier 11y ago
Curiously the amphorae mound (13M amphorae?) at a seaport in Italy contains shards of those used to transport oil and wine, but never garum. Its supposed to be a mystery - where did the garum pots go? Since garum stinks to high heaven I imagine the sailors were required to keep them (after decanting to more manageable local containers) and dump them overboard after leaving port. I'm expecting one day to learn of a huge undersea amphorae mound offshore.
akiselev 11y ago
Sorry, that was awkward wording. I meant that these mundane objects are significant now because they are hundreds of years old in a country (US) where the vast majority of houses are at most several hundred years old, cars last a few decades, and our most common objects like cell phones and laptops get cycled through almost annually.

smt88 11y ago

You never know what "mundane" objects tell us an enormous amount about the past. There have been many discoveries where the pots themselves told us about when a certain technology was developed, how civilizations traveled/spread, or what they ate/drank.

sithadmin 11y ago
You're missing my point; the discussion here is about the level of value objects have to those in their respective periods. I explicitly said that these objects can have a lot of value for those with an interest in research. Akiselev was arguing that ancient pottery was somehow less mundane or disposable than contemporary objects such as laptops and phones, which isn't the case in an overwhelming majority of cases. Most ancient pottery was, to its owners, no different (in terms of significance) than our tupperware or wine bottles.

JoeAltmaier 11y ago

Curiously the amphorae mound (13M amphorae?) at a seaport in Italy contains shards of those used to transport oil and wine, but never garum. Its supposed to be a mystery - where did the garum pots go? Since garum stinks to high heaven I imagine the sailors were required to keep them (after decanting to more manageable local containers) and dump them overboard after leaving port. I'm expecting one day to learn of a huge undersea amphorae mound offshore.

akiselev 11y ago

Sorry, that was awkward wording. I meant that these mundane objects are significant now because they are hundreds of years old in a country (US) where the vast majority of houses are at most several hundred years old, cars last a few decades, and our most common objects like cell phones and laptops get cycled through almost annually.