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Author Topic: Archeology  (Read 527 times)
alwaysnight
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« on: February 18, 2008, 12:10:56 PM »

A couple of nights ago, I was watching Bone Detectives on TV. This is a show about a man who travels around the world digging up bones from centuries past, to determine the cause of death.
As I was watching him and some Archaeologists dig, I began to wonder if this was right. Who did these people think they were? I mean they were digging up the dead and removing gifts and relics placed at the burial site.
I know in this age we consider this to be for learning purposes. To look into the past and try to understand and learn what happened to the civilizations before us. Maybe keep some of the same things from happening to us.
Anyway, all this was happening at a Mayan Civilization the had been wiped out by some unknown incident. And the boned that were dug up landed up being a Mayan warrior who was of higher Archy in the community. This man was buried a special way and given many gifts at his grave. As he was being dug up I couldn't help but think of what these people might be doing to him. Even though he is dead could their be a reason he was buried different (east to west rather than north to south)  and his bones scattered throughout the temple? What if this brings out some sort of awakening in spirits by digging them up? The dig just felt totally wrong to me.
So much was going through my head watching it. I got really upset and angry with the archaeologists. I thought about it all weekend and finally had to share my thoughts with you. I guess my morals go a little deeper than I thought!!

Sorry I had to vent  Roll eyes
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Poppy
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« Reply #1 on: February 18, 2008, 01:23:11 PM »

I can tell you that it feels totally wrong to many Native peoples too.  Many American Indians are trying to stop this kind of thing.
They question how Non-Indians would feel if their ancestors were being dug up for study by another group of people.
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OdinsEyes
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« Reply #2 on: February 18, 2008, 04:01:49 PM »

I personally become literally sick if I am around death. My cat killed a bird the other day and I felt horrible the rest of the day after "disposing" it. I became ill after the wake of my grandfather years back. I think that burial, creamation, etc, is done for very good reasons, reasons that go beyond what most people are aware of in this day. I also feel that remains, whatever the person's stature in society was while they were in the body, are meant to stay buried. Traditional Navajos have strong beliefs around death. If a person dies in their hogan, they and the entire hogan are burned. Sometimes dying relatives are even taken to die in hospitals so the home will remain free of the entities that corpses may attract.

I feel that the knowledge gained by archaeological investigation is miniscule in comparison to the sanctity of a burial site.
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undead_elf
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« Reply #3 on: February 19, 2008, 09:52:26 AM »

In many ways it is wrong to desecrate someone's burial place, but also we want to learn from them and what their civilization underwent and make sure the same thing doesn't happen to us.

I think if we are going to dig things up, we need to put them back the way they were. Then again, somethings should never be dug up. I remember not to long ago on the news, someone in England was digging and later that week became ill. The person released the plague from the soil and got sick.
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Water Rose
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« Reply #4 on: February 19, 2008, 10:26:43 PM »

While yes, archeology does stir incredible amounts of controversy as the ethics sometimes, are you aware of how often bones are actually found in an archaeological dig?

While yes, you hear about the graves more often, that's because finding bones and remains of people past is more exciting to a public and it's what gets people attention.

Take the site of Troy for instance.   From what I understand, no bodies/remains were ever found.   It was Troy...big deal.   So Mythos was proven to be fact.   But it didn't get half the attention that Pompei did.   Pompei had...well...had a rather gruesome grave for the dead.   But what kid in school hasn't heard about Pompei?   How many of you learned about Troy being found let alone that it was real in grade school?

Human beings are creatures of intense curiosity, emotion and habit.   If one skeleton can bring attention to one dig site, then it will to others.


(I studied Archeology for a long time...but the school I was going to told me that because I was female, that I couldn't do it properly.   Yeah right.)
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Sacredsin
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« Reply #5 on: February 20, 2008, 11:10:15 PM »

As an aspiring archaeologist, I see nothing wrong with digging up old graves in order to learn from them.  I see it as they've had their burial long enough, now its time for us to learn from them.  And yes as others have said, you don't find bones as often as you find other things. Call me cold, but its what I want to make a career out of.
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Nicholas
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« Reply #6 on: February 20, 2008, 11:31:21 PM »

Archaeology is one of those fence sitting occupations, it is sometimes difficult for one morally to think about disturbing one from their resting place. I can see this argument from both a moral and scientific stand point. I myself like Sacredsin am an aspiring Archaeologist and I feel that the knowledge that can be contained within these burials could be essential pieces of history and would benefit everyone better if they were studied rather than lost forever.
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alwaysnight
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« Reply #7 on: February 21, 2008, 06:29:01 PM »

Yep, we can sure learn a lot from the past. But now at this point in my life I tend to see things like this a little different than before. I don't know if it's just past experiences with spirits and such that has made me a little more sensitive to these situations? But I understand the scientific side as well as the moral side. I wanted to be an Archaeologist when I as small but never pursued it. Now I know it was just not meant to be. It takes a special person to do the job. As for me I would hate to have to deal with the emotional aspect of the dig. I think the past would come back to haunt me. I pick up energies and emotions so easily that I couldn't deal with it.
I wish you both, Nicolas and Sacredsin all the best in your endeavor. I'm sure you will have plenty of interesting adventures out there and make wonderful Archaeologists  Grin
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BobbyT
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« Reply #8 on: February 21, 2008, 06:38:10 PM »

Another way to look at this. With the Earth as old as it is, every part of it could potentially be the final resting place for people and animals. There are potentially ancient civilizations we have not even discovered. So anyone could potentially be living on burial space of some sort. Which also could explain hauntings in places where there is no history to explain it. And entities that we don't understand. Not trying to turn this into a paranormal discussion. That is just how I see the Earth. There could be civilizations which are ancient to the oldest people we are aware of.
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alwaysnight
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« Reply #9 on: February 21, 2008, 06:43:43 PM »

Hey that is so true Bobby. I never thought of that. I don't think I would like to know what might be below my floors!! Yikes!
But I could defiantly see how that could happen.
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