RE: Archaeological problems

>There was a famous Mad magazine article on what a future archaeologist would think of a modern house. The toilet bowl was a ceremonial/ritual bowl. The seat was a collar worn by the priest. It was a real hoot.<

You may be thinking of David Macaulay's Motel of the Mysteries, an account of the excavation of the Toot 'n Come on Motel, with an undisturbed "funerary room" complete with Do Not Disturb seal. (20th century US was obliterated and buried when the post office lowered the junk mail rate.)

A more serious publication making a similar point observed that a kid playing with trash arranged it into various patterns. Such arrangements of objects would probably get all sorts of symbolism read into it if found in an archaeological excavation. I think I read it in junior high, though, so I don't have an exact citation.

    Dr. David Campbell
    Old Seashells
    University of Alabama
    Biodiversity & Systematics
    Dept. Biological Sciences
    Box 870345
    Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0345 USA
    bivalve@mail.davidson.alumlink.com

That is Uncle Joe, taken in the masonic regalia of a Grand Exalted Periwinkle of the Mystic Order of Whelks-P.G. Wodehouse, Romance at Droitgate Spa
                 
Received on Tue Feb 24 21:40:29 2004