The Motel of Mystery

In Motel of the Mysteries, archeologists from the future find the remains of a motel which they then use to make sense of life in the 20th century of an "ancient civilization".

A small piece of the story

This is one of the funniest books ever written about how Archaeology - could go wrong - in interpreting what they find at an archaeological site.

"The Motel of the Mysteries is a wonderful send up of the fields of archaeology and history. It's aim is doubtless to entertain, at which it's vastly successful, but over and above that the book makes quite clear what archaeology legitimately can and cannot do."

Hilarious

by David Macaulay

ISBN 978-0395284254

[edit on 5/8/08 by Hanslune]

Originally posted by Hanslune
In Motel of the Mysteries, archeologists from the future find the remains of a motel which they then use to make sense of life in the 20th century of an "ancient civilization".



A small piece of the story

This is one of the funniest books ever written about how Archaeology - could go wrong - in interpreting what they find at an archaeological site.

"The Motel of the Mysteries is a wonderful send up of the fields of archaeology and history. It's aim is doubtless to entertain, at which it's vastly successful, but over and above that the book makes quite clear what archaeology legitimately can and cannot do."

Hilarious

by David Macaulay

ISBN 978-0395284254

I DEFINITELY have to get this one. To hear archeologists tell it, our ancestors didn't have time, nor the inclination, for anything except worshiping and f.......... well, let's just say "relations".

[edit on 5-8-2008 by sir_chancealot]

reply to post by Hanslune


Curiously, I was thinking about this story just yesterday. READER'S DIGEST published a piece of it in the early 80's. The 'interpretation' of the toilet, complete with the 'SANITIZED FOR YOUR PROTECTION' strip was a hoot.

Yep I remember an illustration with that being a head band associated with the toilet seat. I read it on a dig in Cyprus, hilarious stuff. What was really funny was we were picking out similar language from some of the more pompous publications coming out of the French and Cypriote teams.