Volume 1, Issue 3
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Volume 1, Issue 3 |
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Archives Random
Thoughts about the Past - and Present Published: October 3, 2003 As is usual for me - I've gone off in another direction! But
I will be continuing with our look at Krete next
week. When I decided to use the name The Anthropogene for this website, I was aware of the
broader implications implied. Is this purely an ancient history site? And
if so, am I merely interested in archeology? www.dictionary.com defines archeology
as: the systematic study of past human life and culture by the recovery
and examination of remaining material evidence, such as graves, buildings,
tools, and pottery. A very strict definition indeed. If an examination of
ancient history does not strictly focus on that, then what I'm doing is
not archeology, especially as I have not physically examined any material
evidence as described. I'm truly an armchair quarterback! Academia still does not, as a whole, embrace the idea of
interdisciplinary approaches. Wherever there is a monopoly, there are
vested interests who want to keep that monopoly (I mean nothing sinister
by that statement - it's human nature.) I also
think that archeology as a whole is a very defensive field - they have had
to define their criteria specifically to protect themselves against
outsiders who have their own agenda. For example, as noted by James and Thorpe in Ancient
Mysteries, when archeologists working at the southern end of the Dead
Sea uncovered what appeared to be five early Bronze Age cities - they made
an initial effort to dispel the image that what they were doing had
anything to do with Biblical confirmation. However, without the Bible,
they never would have been looking for "the cities of the plain" in the
first place! The ancient texts cannot be discounted out of hand. The
discovery of A true systematic study of past human life should be
interdisciplinary, it has to encompass more. Geology, anthropology, psychology, climatology, etc. all
must be factored into our looking glass. What must be factored OUT, are
the biases we bring due to our social, cultural and egotistical
conditioning. Now about those "broader implications" I mentioned in the
first paragraph. It is probably accurate to say that environmental
degradation by poor anthropogenic behavior has and is still happening.
Fear of global warming from the effects of industrialization
resulted in the international community of our present day and age
creating the Kyoto Protocols. If you aren't familiar with the Kyoto
Protocols, they are an attempt to limit greenhouse gases. However, at the World Climate Conference in
If you are interested in more details (a judgemental one) about this underreported event, go
to: http://www.iainmurray.org/MT/archives/000345.html We can and have used our intelligence to alter and
manipulate nature for our needs, but as a fictional character once said
"nature will find a way." And we are part of that nature. Last revised: October 03,
2003
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