Monday 31 December 2007

Can You Dig It?


I've always thought that in another life I might have been an archaeologist! Not the "Time Team" archaeologist type with knitted jumper, wellies and a ponytail. More like an Indiana Jones or a Jack West character, as in "Seven Ancient Wonders" by Matthew Reilly. At the moment I'm reading "The Alexander Cipher" by Will Adams, concerning a quest to discover the long lost tomb of Alexander the Great. So far, so good. I like the idea of an individual making a discovery that not only alters everyone's perception of the past, but has an affect on the future of the World too. Like in "The Last Testament" by Sam Bourne, where a Sumerian clay tablet looted from a museum in Baghdad turns out to be the last will and testament of Abraham the patriarch.

With me so far, thought not, but let me continue anyhow! I like to revisit themes, so let's imagine for an instant that your understanding of history is fatally flawed, that what you believe to be true is fabrication and in some instances the reality might possibly be very difficult for you to believe. I particularly suspect that the chronology of events might be particularly faulty, because there are inherent problems with carbon dating which have never been properly addressed. This has a knock-on effect on theories of evolution and definitely on human evolvement.

I have posted before regarding my suspicions that perhaps mankind has achieved similar peaks of civilization to the one we're at right now. Perhaps many millenia ago, a civilization not so unlike ours reached a similar juncture and blasted itself back into the Pre-historic. Think about it, if every technological item you had was taken from you, being so reliant on mass production for everything you have, how long would it take for you to revert to a primitive existence? How long would it take you to abandon every aspect of education and knowledge beyond what was required to survive day-to-day? Not long I suspect, and especially so if there were very few survivors.

On that note, have a very Happy New Year!