Lives in Ruins
Archeologists and the Seductive Lure of Human Rubble
Ratings2
Average rating3
15
Archeologists and the Seductive Lure of Human Rubble
Ratings2
Average rating3
Examines "the lives of contemporary archaeologists as they sweat under the sun for clues to the puzzle of our past. Johnson digs and drinks alongside archaeologists, chases them through the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and even Machu Picchu, and excavates their lives. Her subjects share stories we rarely read in history books, about slaves and Ice Age hunters, ordinary soldiers of the American Revolution, children of the first century, Chinese woman warriors, sunken fleets, mummies. What drives these archaeologists is not the money (meager) or the jobs (scarce) or the working conditions (dangerous), but their passion for the stories that would otherwise be buried and lost"--Amazon.com.
Reviews with the most likes.
Pretty standard review of mostly female archaeologists working in various capacities.
Overall, an enjoyable read, although more of a personal memoir and less of a book on archeaology.
I was certainly put off by her statement that James Cook's ship Endeavour “became the first Western vessel to sight New Zealand” (page 110) when it was Abel Tasman in 1642, not Cook in 1769, who was the first. Perhaps by “Western” the author means English speaking.
This mistake did tarnish the book somewhat for me, otherwise I would have given it 4/5 stars.
