The Quandary

I recently saw a really good movie titled "The Dig".  If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.  The movie is based on a true story of a remarkable archeological find in Suffolk, England at the start of WWII in 1939.  

The property was purchased by Edith Pretty and her husband in 1926.  They were aware of the mysterious mounds that were located throughout the property and in 1937 Mrs. Pretty hired Basil Brown to start a dig on a mound that appeared to be the most promising.  After 2 years of painstaking work, they uncovered an 80' long Anglo-Saxon ship that was used as a burial site.  The ship was dated to early 600 AD, 1400 years old!  Eventually 236 artifacts were uncovered in the burial chamber and were donated by Mrs. Pretty to The British Museum of London. And there they reside today.

Fast forward a couple of weeks from seeing the movie.  I am once again reading another Craig Childs book, this one Finders Keepers: A Tale of Archaeological Plunder and Obsession.  In this book Childs explores the question, "To whom does the past belong?"  Is an archaeologist who excavates a tomb a hero - or a villain?  If someone steals a relic from a museum and returns it to where it was found, is he a thief?  

Interesting questions.  Childs explores the moral ambiguities that come from exposing long-hidden worlds.  While watching the movie I was totally caught up in the thrill of their discoveries and wanted to immediately go to both The British Museum and Sutton Hoo, site of the dig.  Then, I'm reading the book and questioning my moral compass.  I can easily see both sides of the coin.  The thrill of the find!!  Learning further of long-lost civilizations and their cultures.  On the flip side, what right do we have to plunder a burial site? I completely understand Childs’ empathy for the sacredness of not only burial sites, but cultural centers, villages, and home sites.  And I agree…what right DO we have to plunder these sites either for our private collections or to add to the already voluminous museum collections that exist in back-room storage areas around the world. 

The closest I’ve ever come is finding fossils at French Park.  I’ve never been on an archaeological dig nor had to confront these questions first-hand…. but I think I know which way I lean. 

A Major Regret

 

I’ve written about Craig Childs before.  He became my favorite author after reading his book The Animal Dialogues: Uncommon Encounters in the Wild.  I’ve fallen in love with his writing style and topics.  What has caught my attention now is his journey as a writer. 

I so wish I could sit down with him and discuss his journey as a writer.  I want to know how his focus changes with each book.  I’m on his 7^th book and this one is so different in style from all the others.  It feels like I’m reading the writings of some ancient, ethereal spirit.  The book, The Way Out tells of his 16-day hike of less than 5 miles wandering through the southwest’s labyrinth of canyons, chasms and slopes, not sure where he is heading, seeing no other life, animal or plant, and contemplating if this is his ruin or his survival. 

I taught an OLLI class based on his book Apocalyptic Planet, also fascinating, based on his travels around the world studying natural cycles of the planet and man’s impact on those cycles.  I remember so clearly one of the participants in the class saying Craig Childs was crazy.  Crazy because he lived some truly amazing adventures that most of us cannot even imagine, much less think of taking on.  I countered her remark with the comment that he is not crazy, rather he is a man with knowledge and experiences that none of us in the room have.  That each of his remarkable experiences has prepared him for the next.  Most of us cannot imagine such a life because we do not take the risks or learn the skills that are required to survive. 

My next Childs book is Stone Desert: A Naturalist’s Exploration of Canyonlands National Park.  This book was published in 1995 and is the earliest published that I’ve read so far.  While I haven’t started reading it yet, I have looked it over.  And what I noticed immediately was the perspective of the book….it is much more straightforward, not nearly as poetic.  He was 28 when he wrote this book, so I am not at all surprised that his style has matured as much as it appears. 

I kind of feel like I’m addicted to this author.  The impact of his storytelling on me is that I would give anything to live my life over.  I want to live his life (sans the alcoholic father), know intimately my world and live on its edge.  I could have done it this time around, but I didn’t.  A major regret.