hall.jenny•12d agoProlific Poster

I was at the museum in Boston and a kid asked me something that made me see an old pot differently

I was looking at this plain clay pot from a dig in Turkey, maybe 3000 years old, and a boy next to me, maybe 8, asked his dad if the person who made it was left-handed. The dad said he didn't know, but it got me thinking about the tiny fingerprints still in the clay. I mean, I always look for the big story in finds, but now I look for the person. Has anyone else had a small question change how you see an artifact?

3 comments

3 Comments

henryt1812d ago

Yeah, that bit about the fingerprints... that gets me. I had a moment like that with a broken comb at a local history display. Some kid asked if the person missed it when it snapped, and now I can't look at those everyday things without wondering about the bad day they might have had. It totally flips it from a thing in a case to a real person's life.

pat_murray5312d ago

Ever try writing down those questions? Helps keep the feeling from just fading away.

mason_reed4712d ago

Totally, that's the best part. It makes you wonder what they were thinking about while making it, like if they were worried about dinner or just happy the sun was out.