 |
 |
We can always build new motorways (& they might as well be
designed & built by factories, anyway), but how many authentic, pristine
bronze age burials can still exist?
I think the word used now in development is “sustainability”;
I also presented a couple of papers arguing that globalization was
self-contradictory: travel halfway around the world to eat at Pizza Hut in
Rome, drink at Starbucks in Vienna?!? archaeology – and heritage in
general – can & should be used to accentuate what is unique about any
given place, in part to fight the corporate blanding of everything
From: Discussion list of
Archaeologists for Global Justice [mailto:] On Behalf Of Rebecca Roseff
Sent: July 27, 2008 20:52
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: sign letter to Irish Times?
It could be argued that archaeologists should view all
developments as equally interesting and worthy of study and preservation, so
there is no reason we should put a higher value on a medieval or prehistoric
landscape than a new motorway, supermarket or housing development. So
there is no reason per se to object to 21st century development obliterating
heritage. However 21st century techniques remove things far quicker and
more thoroughly than was ever the case before, so we are losing things at a far
greater rate. Landscapes and heritage that have survived and slowly
adapted for thousands of years are gone in an instant. All for the
present day benefit.