As chronicled in your researcher's journal as I researched my history of early lifestyles in South Asia...
Well, I feel disillusioned. A favorite writer of mine on archaeology and history, who shall as usual here remain unnamed, at least in the 1960s when excavating a site gave only a perfunctory report, saying things like "we found a few dishes with the usual accompaniments." All the hundreds of other archaeological reports I've read say what the so-called usual accompaniments are, recognizing that every site has some uniqueness and that the careful student wants to be shown that such an assumption is correct and wants all the details she can get. Many archaeologists also present wonderful photographs and drawings to make it even clearer, and they state why they sometimes have retrieved less information than they would have liked. The writer also makes the assumption that any site that changes styles is because of an entirely new population -- what does the writer think of people who can afford to completely redecorate their homes? Are they no longer themselves? -- I'm sure that'd be news to them. But it's also a tiny bit comforting, because even brilliant people now well known for rational presentations were not always that way...though it also reminds me I can't completely accept everything even a respected scholar says, and makes me glad I've always been of the "show-me" school.
Current time travel apparatus location: New Delhi, India
