Lives in Ruins: Archaeologists and the Seductive Lure of Human Rubble

 

Summary (from the publisher): The author of The Dead Beat and This Book is Overdue! turns her piercing eye and charming wit to the real-life avatars of Indiana Jones—the archaeologists who sort through the muck and mire of swamps, ancient landfills, volcanic islands, and other dirty places to reclaim history for us all

Pompeii, Machu Picchu, the Valley of the Kings, the Parthenon—the names of these legendary archaeological sites conjure up romance and mystery. The news is full of archaeology: treasures found (British king under parking lot) and treasures lost (looters, bulldozers, natural disaster, and war). Archaeological research tantalizes us with possibilities (are modern humans really part Neandertal?). Where are the archaeologists behind these stories? What kind of work do they actually do, and why does it matter?

Marilyn Johnson’s Lives in Ruins is an absorbing and entertaining look at 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.

 

Review: I received an uncorrected proof copy of this book from HarperCollins.

 

Lives in Ruins examines the lives of modern archaeologists. Archeology is a demanding profession; required skills include trekking through rough terrain, learning multiple languages, making do on a bare bones budget, cataloging, researching, writing, presenting, negotiating legal details, and managing volunteers. And that doesn't even include the comprehensive historical and field expertise required for a professional archeologist to do their job in the field. Marilyn Johnson has traveled to multiple areas of the globe to research and interview several archaeologists to uncover what a life in the archaeology field is truly is like.

 

Johnson spent more time than I would have liked looking at archeology in popular culture. She seems to spend a great deal of time talking about the well-known Earth's Children series, about a lost Homo sapiens girl adopted and raised by Neanderthals, a series praised for its research and work with archeologists. Likewise, she takes time to discus Indiana Jones and the movies' legacy on the profession.

 

That being said, I learned a lot in this book. Archaeology isn't just the stereotypical image of someone digging in a remote historical site. It also includes forensic archeology (including ones working on the 9/11 wreckage), contract archaeologists or compliance or salvage archaeologists who are hired by owners and developers to survey sites proposed for construction, and even archaeologists working with the Department of Defense who attempt to save important sites threatened by war and conflict. Furthermore, it's clear from the book that the "future of archaeology lies underwater" (104) due to the rising of sea level with the melting of the glaciers. Future findings of early sites will likely mostly happen underwater. Aspiring archeologists would do well to add scuba diving to their list of accomplishments.

 

Johnson does a good job of trying to portray a well-rounded portrayal of the lives of archeologists. She shows them unemployed and overqualified, unable to retire because they lack benefits, archeologists without health insurance, others choosing to not have children. But she also shows their passion and shares sneak peeks into their research: graves of Revolutionary War soldiers, a ship once captained by James Cook, slave burial grounds, the remains of ancient alcoholic beverages. However, although I appreciated the balance, I would have liked to learn more about the details  of the research and work of each archeologist described.

 

In the end, archaeologists are wise enough to know that they should "leave part of each excavation untouched for the people who will follow them, with greater knowledge, superior tools, and maybe more funds" (142). While archeology is very much about human history, it's also limited by the scope of current knowledge, and the future dictates what more we can one day know. That's a tantalizing conundrum to operate under. As is the knowledge that even as we wait, for funding, for time, for advances in technology and knowledge, history could be slipping away forever. After all, as much as we know thanks to archeologists' work, "much important history has been lost forever" (26).

 

Stars: 3