Construction and excavation both end the same way: absolute destruction of the dig site. This is why modern archaeologists are reticent to dig. Artifacts may survive, but the site itself, and all its valuable secrets, are lost forever - the soil layers jumbled, the timeline out of order. This is also why history is never completely retrievable - if at all - because the very act of excavation destroys it. The soil, the context - gone. No way to rebuild without contaminating the site; our hopes and desires, our need for particular narratives, get mixed in with what was there (and the jars and spear points, the arrows and blankets and skulls, are also nothing more or less than signs and symbols for hopes and dreams, the need for particular narratives, of people long lost).
I wish developers were reluctant to dig, too.
A small patch of grass in the middle of Portland, gone. Another small field, once overgrown with wildflowers and weeds, just a few blocks from here, now surrounded by security fences, the grass dead, several square pits dug into the soil.
Comments (1)
If you haven't heard of flash mobs, they are large groups of people that show up in a public place at a specific moment and perform synchronized actions for a short period of time, then quickly disperse. The intention of this is simply to have fun and make passersby stop and go, "Wait, what was that?" If you would like to be part of the first known flash mob in Portland, please go to this site http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PDXFM and join the group. You will receive further information by way of email through the group so join using a valid e-mail address and check it often. Please send this message to everyone that you know. As the media is catching on to flash mobs, we intend to do this before weeks end so join quickly please.
Posted by flash mobber | August 12, 2003 3:53 PM
Posted on August 12, 2003 15:53