Unless you undergo cremation upon death, there’s a possibility that someone might find your remains 90 centuries from now, submit them to archaeological and genetic review, and make you a celebrity. You will be known as “The Ancient One.” People will flock to a museum to see your display, marvel at the techniques long past that were used in your burial, and hypothesize about your life on the basis of artifacts found in the grave. The mysteries of your daily existence will be subject to scholarly papers, and there will be arguments centered on desecration.
So, now, Kennewick Man has been reburied on the Columbia River Plateau.* From what we can gather, he had some difficulties in his life as all humans have. His included some injuries to skull and hip, the latter by means of a spear. Rough times 9,000 years ago for the 38-year-old.
And you some nine thousands years hence? Hopefully, there will be no evidence of blows to your head or stab wounds to your hip, but, hey, it’s a tough planet, what with all the violence, accident, disease, and natural disaster. The future will find you just as we found Kennewick Man, purposefully buried, revealing a sign of culture if not of respect.
Start making your list. What do you want people to find when they discover your remains? Leave a clue to their meaning because, if history is any guide, today’s languages will morph into some other languages, maybe leaving only hints for translation, something that a new Jean-François Champollion will decipher.
What? Depressing? This stuff about you 90 centuries from now? Or, maybe a sign that like Kennewick Man, once buried and now reburied, you, unlike all the other animals on the planet, belong to a species that shows reverence to the departed? Someday, you will be The Ancient One, the ancestor of ancestors. We can speculate about how you will be treated, but then that might be as difficult as those nine thousand years ago understanding those living today.
What do we have in common with an ancient people? What commonality lies in our humanity? What have we inherited that we will pass on? Kennewick Man probably had knowledge of family and tribal history. We live in the Age of History. We have knowledge of more than family and tribe. We have all written history plus the artifacts we have uncovered. Will that knowledge make it through the next 9,000 years? Possibly, but just as possibly not. Will anyone know the context of your life? Let’s say so. Now, realize this. Kennewick Man represents all of the people who lived in northwestern United States 90 centuries ago. You, the new Ancient One, will represent all of today’s humanity.
If you are going to be treated with reverence, astound them.
* http://www.archaeology.org/news/5322-170221-washington-kennewick-man-reburied
http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/tribes-bury-remains-of-ancient-ancestor-also-called-kennewick-man/
So, now, Kennewick Man has been reburied on the Columbia River Plateau.* From what we can gather, he had some difficulties in his life as all humans have. His included some injuries to skull and hip, the latter by means of a spear. Rough times 9,000 years ago for the 38-year-old.
And you some nine thousands years hence? Hopefully, there will be no evidence of blows to your head or stab wounds to your hip, but, hey, it’s a tough planet, what with all the violence, accident, disease, and natural disaster. The future will find you just as we found Kennewick Man, purposefully buried, revealing a sign of culture if not of respect.
Start making your list. What do you want people to find when they discover your remains? Leave a clue to their meaning because, if history is any guide, today’s languages will morph into some other languages, maybe leaving only hints for translation, something that a new Jean-François Champollion will decipher.
What? Depressing? This stuff about you 90 centuries from now? Or, maybe a sign that like Kennewick Man, once buried and now reburied, you, unlike all the other animals on the planet, belong to a species that shows reverence to the departed? Someday, you will be The Ancient One, the ancestor of ancestors. We can speculate about how you will be treated, but then that might be as difficult as those nine thousand years ago understanding those living today.
What do we have in common with an ancient people? What commonality lies in our humanity? What have we inherited that we will pass on? Kennewick Man probably had knowledge of family and tribal history. We live in the Age of History. We have knowledge of more than family and tribe. We have all written history plus the artifacts we have uncovered. Will that knowledge make it through the next 9,000 years? Possibly, but just as possibly not. Will anyone know the context of your life? Let’s say so. Now, realize this. Kennewick Man represents all of the people who lived in northwestern United States 90 centuries ago. You, the new Ancient One, will represent all of today’s humanity.
If you are going to be treated with reverence, astound them.
* http://www.archaeology.org/news/5322-170221-washington-kennewick-man-reburied
http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/tribes-bury-remains-of-ancient-ancestor-also-called-kennewick-man/
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