Met a retired archaeologist at a diner in New Mexico

He pulled out a flint scraper from his pocket, said he found it near Chaco Canyon in the 70s. Had me hold it too - crazy to think someone used that tool 1,000 years ago. Anyone else ever get to touch an artifact like that?

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jordan_henderson135mo ago

Man that's awesome, just tell future folks to make sure and ask first before touching stuff like that.

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paige_robinson245mo ago

The thing nobody talks about is how that kind of casual interaction is getting rarer and rarer. Most archaeologists today would never hand a random stranger an artifact, way too worried about legal stuff or damaging it. But back then, that guy probably figured a regular person holding a scraper for ten seconds would leave a bigger impression than any museum display ever could. You basically got a time travel moment that the professionals have now locked behind glass cases and liability forms. Kinda depressing when you think about it, but at least you got the real experience.

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grant.olivia5mo ago

Read a piece a while back that argued archaeologists are basically scared of their own shadow now, worried a tourist will drop a pot shard and sue them. Reminds me of that old saying about how you can't just trust people with nice things anymore.

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