The non-fiction story Lucy and Her Friends is about how the field of archaeology found many historical things by pure chance and miracle. For example, Lucy, was found in a gully, by Donald Johnson and Tom Gray when a bone was exposed by a flood. If they had waited a couple years longer the bone would probably be washed away. If they had come a couple years earlier, the bone would be still buried. Another example of this is when Richard Daughtery was trying to find more about the abandoned coastal village named Ozette which was once supposedly occupied by the Makah Indians. He was told that a mudslide had buried the whole village. but he had no proof of this. Then one night a storm washed away a bank to reveal many artifacts that proved that the Makah Indians had once lived there. The final example of the field of archaeology being blessed by miracle and chance is when 2 hikers, Helmut and Erika Simon, when off trail and accidentally found a corpse from 3300 BC. A lot of events had to fall in place for this to happen. One, when he died, he had to have been covered in snow. Two, a glacier covered him and buried, normally a glacier would have ripped the body apart but luckily his body was in a rock hollow. Finally, the ice would have melt just as some hikers were passing by. Lucy and Her Friends are proof that the archaeological field has been extremely lucky with some finds.
To answer the question of what Mother Nature's impact on archaeology is, I think that finding the remains of various animals that have changed our perspective on the earth were all by chance. As they said, Mother Nature is completely in control, "five years earlier, she would still have been buried. Five years later, she would have been gone" says Donald Johanson on the skeleton of Lucy, the hominid female that was found in Ethiopia. Clearly, weather and conditions have a lot to do with our archaeological successes and failures, due to the fact that bones can be swept to other places or buried too far out of reach under sand. Mother Nature can easily be quite an enemy to archaeologists.
The non-fiction story, "Lucy and Her Friends" is about Archaeology and how Mother Nature has opened and closed the door for different explorations and discoveries in the past. Take for example Lucy. Lucy was found in November 1974, by Donald Johanson and his graduate student, Tom Gray, inside of a gully. Lucy was found because the bones of the body were covered in volcanic ash and sediment. This proves my point about how Mother Nature can help and hurt archaeologists, especially in this field of study. There have been plenty of discoveries found every day because Mother Nature decided to open up, but we know that there are so many discoveries still covered by rock because Mother Nature didn't open up.
"Lucy and Her Friends" by Laura Lee, from the collection Models for Writers, argues that archaeology has thrived greatly due to nature. In three examples of crucial archaeological findings revealed by Mother Nature, Lee shows that miracles of nature play an important role in discovering human history. The sheer will of nature and copious amounts of luck unearthed Lucy's bones, the Makah Indian's belongings, and Ice Man. With this evidence Lee states that "[t]he entire field of archaeology owes a debt to Mother Nature," (76). However, is the relationship between humans and the earth so simple? While these artifacts were brought to the surface by natural means, they easily could have been destroyed the same way. In paragraph four on the discovery of Lucy's bones there is a quote by Donald Johanson, "'[i]f I had waited another few years... the next rains might have washed many of her bones down the gully..." (76). Although Mother Nature had fortunately unearthed Lucy, Johanson was reliant on his own luck to find her. How many crucial unknown pieces of archaeology could Mother Nature have shown and swallowed before someone found them? As with anything, nature's relationship with archaeology has its pros and its cons, and neither side should be ignored. Claire
In this selection, Laura Lee states that archaeology owes a large "debt" to Mother Nature because many archaeological discoveries would not be possible without the help of some random flood. She goes on to provide 3 examples of how this has happened. The most prominent one was a fossil called "Lucy". The fluke of a flood happening at that exact time lead archaeologist to reconsider the reasons of anthropomorphism. All these curious and history changing finds were able to be found thanks to a little push from Nature. Although I generally agree with what she's saying, Laura neglects the multiple times that Mother Nature may have interfered with our discoveries. A tide may have destroyed an underwater city or a rock tumble may have crushed valuable artifacts, none of which we knew or ever will know existed. Despite this, we cannot simply ignore the contribution to paleontology and archaeology in the past. A famous fossil known as "Fighting Dinosaurs" was created when two fighting dinosaurs were caught in a mudslide, preserving their bones for us to dig us later. These two exchanges cancels out the "debt" and we can simply regard Mother Nature as a neutral force, acting in both ways. No one is expecting us to pay up anyways.
Lucy was the oldest female hominid found (three thousand b.c.). She was found by Donald Johanson and his assistant Tom Gray. They were fossil-hunting in Ethiopia and happened to find two hundred bone fragments belonging to Lucy. Ötzi the Iceman was a three thousand three hundred b.c. year old human. Two hikers, Helmut and Erika Simon were hiking and saw a man preserved in ice. They immediately thought he was frozen recently, but to their surprise he was over one thousand years old. The Iceman was found perfectly preserved in a glacier with old tools and supplies nearby. I truly believe that Laura Lee’s thesis was slightly flawed. Instead of Archaeology owning a great deal of debt to mother nature, I feel as though it should have been a debt to circumstance or coincidence. Donald and Tom elaborated on the very slim chance of finding Lucy. They could have not seen her, or had the bones washed away by the rain. Again they talk about coincidence/circumstance in the case of Ötzi the Iceman. He coincidentally was in a rock hollow and covered in snow to ward off predators. In short, her thesis was correct--but it could have been better.
The short essay, “Lucy and her Friends” by Laura Lee describes three major discoveries that involved a lot of luck. Lee mentions that Mother Nature could be a threat to archeology. For instance, when Donald Johanson and Tom Gray were looking for fossils, they found a bone that existed millions of years ago. Afterwards, they found hundreds of more bones, all belonging to the hominid later named Lucy. “If I had waited another few years...the next rains might have washed away many of her bones down the gully...”(76) wrote Johanson. This shows that eventually, Mother Nature would’ve sent rain pouring down, which wouldn’t left Lucy to never have been found. Another example explained was the discovery of Ötzi, or “The Ice Man”. A corpse was discovered by two hikers, Helmut and Erika Simon who were just taking a walk in the mountains. They came across a dead body and found that it was from 3300 B.C. “Over the past five thousand years the chance of finding the Ice Man existed for only six days.”(77) Mother Nature worked on this for over five thousand years, only leaving as short as six days with the ability to find Ötzi. Based on these occurrences, sometimes luck is needed in archeology since Mother Nature could potentially be a rival.
The story, Lucy and Her Friends is about an anthropologist named Donald Johanson, and one of his graduate students, Tom gray, were in Hadar, Ethiopia looking for fossils of any sort. After three weeks they had finally found something, and it was several hundred pieces of bone belonging to a primate female, in which they named "Lucy." Lucy's skeleton was dated back to about three million years ago, and Johanson said that if he had waited a few more years to look in that area, the rain might have washed many of Lucy's bones down the gully. Another example of something similar to this happened was when Richard Daugherty of Washington State University had been exploring an abandoned coastal village named Ozette. He slowly tried to piece together the the history of the Makah Indians who had once lived there. Supposedly there had been a huge mudslide that completely buried the entire village. Finally, two hikers named Helmut Simon and Erika Simon, had stumbled upon a corpse supposedly from 3300 BC. It had been preserved in ice, until a fall from the Sahara along with an unusual heat spell which caused it to melt the ice in 1991. This brought the "Ice Man" back to surface, and he was named Otzi, because he was found in the Otztal Alps. The story, Lucy and Her Friends shows that not only scientists and archaeologists can find rare artifacts, but normal people just like you and I can!
The story should start by saying, "The story, Lucy and Her Friends is a collection of stories about archaeological finds. The first story is about an anthropologist..." My mistake, and I can't delete it.
“Lucy and Her Friends”, written by Laura Lee, explains a story regarding Mother Nature and her ability to assist archeologist with unovering the most hidden, influential fossils and artifacts. She begins by explaining that often times, although the weather is responsible for the original burying, it is also what allows the artifacts to be unearthed once again. Her first of example of a situation like this is Lucy, a hominid skeleton capable of walking upright far before scientists had ever predicted. She was discovered by Donald Johanson and Tom Gray due to repeated rain bringing her up to the surface. Next, she discusses the discovery of the buried remains of a Makkah Indian village by Richard Daugherty. Artifacts from the village were brought back up from the mud due to tidal waves, allowing for archeologists to confirm the tales long discussed by Natives. Finally, Laura Lee recounts the “warm spell” that thawed the Otzal Alps just enough for archeologists to discover the most well preserved skeleton (now named Otzi), dating all the way back to 3,300 B.C. All three of these miraculous discoveries help solidify her point: that Mother Nature is a force all archeologists should be thankful to have around.
According to the passage, archaeology owes a debt to Mother Nature. It is later found that because of a flash flood, Donald Johanson and Tom Gray were able to discover Lucy, a three million year old hominid skeleton, a scientific phenomenon. Mother Nature blessed them with a miracle since had they waited another year, more floods might have washed the bones away, and if they came earlier, the bones may still have been buried. Another example in which Mother Nature has helped contribute to our knowledge of archaeology was when Richard Daugherty began excavating at Ozette village, studying the Makah Indians. Later, Mother Nature sent storm tides, uncovering many ancient artifacts in the soil, proving the civilization of the Makah Indians. The luckiest find assisted by Mother Nature were by two hikers, Helmut and Erika Simon in 1991. On their hike in the mountains on the Austrian-Italian border, they uncovered a frozen body, thinking it was a modern mountain climber. With further investigation, they discovered that the body dated back to 3300 B.C., to the Stone Age. The ice has preserved the body for five thousand years, yet finding the body was at a 0.12% chance. His given name was Otzi, since he was found in the Otztal Alps. His discovery helped contribute to the knowledge of his lifestyle and culture. This was considered one of the luckiest discovery because of the past circumstances were able to preserve him in the ice for so long, and kept predators away. Because of these lucky circumstances, this proves that Mother Nature has contributed to many archaeological findings.
In Laura Lee’s essay, Lucy and Her Friends, she makes a claim that archaeology owes a debt to mother nature due to its help with weather. She gives an example of a fossil that was found named Lucy. Lucy was the oldest hominid female found at the time. She then discusses how important timing was when she found the fossil. If she had looked a bit earlier or later Lucy would have been gone due to mother nature. Richard Daugherty later found another fossil because of the helping hands of mother nature. He made his discovery when a storm washed up a bank in the village of Ozette. When the bank was washed up Daugherty found many artifacts from when Columbus found the New World. The most amazing discovery was of a man’s body that was from 3300 B.C. The man, who was named Otzi, was brought back to the surface when the ice above him melted in 1991. This was again thanks to mother nature. The artifacts found with him helped scholars gain knowledge about his culture. Mother nature was key in being able to identify Otzi. If it weren’t for correct timing and the glacier that covered him, Otzi might never have been discovered. Shishira
In “Lucy and Her Friends,” Laura Lee, a ballet education producer and writer, endeavours to illuminate how weather affects archaeological research, and she asserts that archaeology is indebted to the vicissitudes of Mother Nature. To demonstrate this, Lee first uses the discovery of the skeleton of the hominid called ‘Lucy.’ Her discoverer, anthropologist Donald Johanson, credits the unearthing of Lucy in Ethiopia to an unexpected flash flood that exposed her bones in a gully. Then, Lee explains how researcher Richard Daugherty made a breakthrough in his examination of the Makah Indians. Daugherty was stationed at a village called Ozette that was formerly occupied by the Makah People. However, it had been consumed by a prior mudslide. Yet, a stroke of luck occured for Daugherty when a strong storm washed away a bank to the sea in Ozette, which allowed him to find new artifacts that were critical to his research. The author’s final example of how weather can sometimes be a boon to archaeological discoveries is the uncovery of the “Ice Man.” The Ice Man, a man who died at least five thousand years ago and was found in the Otzal Alps, was located after an unexpected thaw in the mountain’s thick ice. Due to the snow and ice that had covered the Ice Man after his death, his skin and clothes had been unusually well-preserved. He could never have been found without the sudden warm spell. Laura Lee uses a simple yet effective structure in the essay: her thesis is followed by three examples chosen to support her claim. Her contention, in narrow terms, is nearly irrefutable--weather, as shown by the examples, is often an aid to archaeology. However, Lee ignores the immense difficulties that weather can create for archaeology. Indeed, much of archaeology itself is a set of techniques designed so that artifacts are not destroyed by the volatility of Earth’s atmospheric conditions. Moreover, because the author passes over how archaeology is systematically conducted, as occurs in most instances, her essay could be interpreted as supporting the popular, and false, myth that archaeologists are a group of quixotic explorers wading through quicksand and piranha-infested waters and come across sensational treasures of ancient times by chance. In sum, Lee’s thesis is correct, but the author should more emphatically assert that archaeology is a science, and that weather can be a foe to research just as it is sometimes a friend.
In the story of Lucy and Her Friends, author Laura Lee claims archaeological findings happen because of luck. In addition, Lee believes luck is an important factor. Lee's first example is the unveiling of the Lucy skeleton. The book describes the lucky timing of Donald Johanson and Tom Gray by their quote, "the next rains might have washed many of her bones from the gully... What was utterly fantastic was that she had come to the surface so recently, probably in the last year or two. Five years earlier, she world still have been buried. Five years later, she would have been gone." Similar to the discovery of Lucy, Richard Daugherty's exposition relied on the luck of nature. Daugherty's exposition began slow paced by piecing together the history of the Makah Indians. Then unexpected luck was shown when, "A storm sent tides raging up the beach at Ozette and washed away a bank. Under the soil was a vast deposit of artifacts dating around the time of Columbus's arrival in the New World." Finally, Lee uses the example of two German hikers. Helmut and Erika Simon luckily stumbled across the body of a man from 3,300 B.C.E. Luckily, the body was preserved in ice and snow, prohibiting rotting and being eaten by predators. In conclusion, the benefaction of Mother Nature's inconsistencies played a large role in the discovery of the past. -Jonah Bahr
The non-fiction story Lucy and Her Friends is about how the field of archaeology found many historical things by pure chance and miracle. For example, Lucy, was found in a gully, by Donald Johnson and Tom Gray when a bone was exposed by a flood. If they had waited a couple years longer the bone would probably be washed away. If they had come a couple years earlier, the bone would be still buried. Another example of this is when Richard Daughtery was trying to find more about the abandoned coastal village named Ozette which was once supposedly occupied by the Makah Indians. He was told that a mudslide had buried the whole village. but he had no proof of this. Then one night a storm washed away a bank to reveal many artifacts that proved that the Makah Indians had once lived there. The final example of the field of archaeology being blessed by miracle and chance is when 2 hikers, Helmut and Erika Simon, when off trail and accidentally found a corpse from 3300 BC. A lot of events had to fall in place for this to happen. One, when he died, he had to have been covered in snow. Two, a glacier covered him and buried, normally a glacier would have ripped the body apart but luckily his body was in a rock hollow. Finally, the ice would have melt just as some hikers were passing by. Lucy and Her Friends are proof that the archaeological field has been extremely lucky with some finds.
ReplyDeleteTo answer the question of what Mother Nature's impact on archaeology is, I think that finding the remains of various animals that have changed our perspective on the earth were all by chance. As they said, Mother Nature is completely in control, "five years earlier, she would still have been buried. Five years later, she would have been gone" says Donald Johanson on the skeleton of Lucy, the hominid female that was found in Ethiopia. Clearly, weather and conditions have a lot to do with our archaeological successes and failures, due to the fact that bones can be swept to other places or buried too far out of reach under sand. Mother Nature can easily be quite an enemy to archaeologists.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe non-fiction story, "Lucy and Her Friends" is about Archaeology and how Mother Nature has opened and closed the door for different explorations and discoveries in the past. Take for example Lucy. Lucy was found in November 1974, by Donald Johanson and his graduate student, Tom Gray, inside of a gully. Lucy was found because the bones of the body were covered in volcanic ash and sediment. This proves my point about how Mother Nature can help and hurt archaeologists, especially in this field of study. There have been plenty of discoveries found every day because Mother Nature decided to open up, but we know that there are so many discoveries still covered by rock because Mother Nature didn't open up.
ReplyDeleteConnor Lee
Delete"Lucy and Her Friends" by Laura Lee, from the collection Models for Writers, argues that archaeology has thrived greatly due to nature. In three examples of crucial archaeological findings revealed by Mother Nature, Lee shows that miracles of nature play an important role in discovering human history. The sheer will of nature and copious amounts of luck unearthed Lucy's bones, the Makah Indian's belongings, and Ice Man. With this evidence Lee states that "[t]he entire field of archaeology owes a debt to Mother Nature," (76). However, is the relationship between humans and the earth so simple? While these artifacts were brought to the surface by natural means, they easily could have been destroyed the same way. In paragraph four on the discovery of Lucy's bones there is a quote by Donald Johanson, "'[i]f I had waited another few years... the next rains might have washed many of her bones down the gully..." (76). Although Mother Nature had fortunately unearthed Lucy, Johanson was reliant on his own luck to find her. How many crucial unknown pieces of archaeology could Mother Nature have shown and swallowed before someone found them? As with anything, nature's relationship with archaeology has its pros and its cons, and neither side should be ignored.
ReplyDeleteClaire
In this selection, Laura Lee states that archaeology owes a large "debt" to Mother Nature because many archaeological discoveries would not be possible without the help of some random flood. She goes on to provide 3 examples of how this has happened. The most prominent one was a fossil called "Lucy". The fluke of a flood happening at that exact time lead archaeologist to reconsider the reasons of anthropomorphism. All these curious and history changing finds were able to be found thanks to a little push from Nature.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I generally agree with what she's saying, Laura neglects the multiple times that Mother Nature may have interfered with our discoveries. A tide may have destroyed an underwater city or a rock tumble may have crushed valuable artifacts, none of which we knew or ever will know existed. Despite this, we cannot simply ignore the contribution to paleontology and archaeology in the past. A famous fossil known as "Fighting Dinosaurs" was created when two fighting dinosaurs were caught in a mudslide, preserving their bones for us to dig us later. These two exchanges cancels out the "debt" and we can simply regard Mother Nature as a neutral force, acting in both ways. No one is expecting us to pay up anyways.
Lucy was the oldest female hominid found (three thousand b.c.). She was found by Donald Johanson and his assistant Tom Gray. They were fossil-hunting in Ethiopia and happened to find two hundred bone fragments belonging to Lucy. Ötzi the Iceman was a three thousand three hundred b.c. year old human. Two hikers, Helmut and Erika Simon were hiking and saw a man preserved in ice. They immediately thought he was frozen recently, but to their surprise he was over one thousand years old. The Iceman was found perfectly preserved in a glacier with old tools and supplies nearby.
ReplyDeleteI truly believe that Laura Lee’s thesis was slightly flawed. Instead of Archaeology owning a great deal of debt to mother nature, I feel as though it should have been a debt to circumstance or coincidence. Donald and Tom elaborated on the very slim chance of finding Lucy. They could have not seen her, or had the bones washed away by the rain. Again they talk about coincidence/circumstance in the case of Ötzi the Iceman. He coincidentally was in a rock hollow and covered in snow to ward off predators. In short, her thesis was correct--but it could have been better.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe short essay, “Lucy and her Friends” by Laura Lee describes three major discoveries that involved a lot of luck. Lee mentions that Mother Nature could be a threat to archeology. For instance, when Donald Johanson and Tom Gray were looking for fossils, they found a bone that existed millions of years ago. Afterwards, they found hundreds of more bones, all belonging to the hominid later named Lucy. “If I had waited another few years...the next rains might have washed away many of her bones down the gully...”(76) wrote Johanson. This shows that eventually, Mother Nature would’ve sent rain pouring down, which wouldn’t left Lucy to never have been found. Another example explained was the discovery of Ötzi, or “The Ice Man”. A corpse was discovered by two hikers, Helmut and Erika Simon who were just taking a walk in the mountains. They came across a dead body and found that it was from 3300 B.C. “Over the past five thousand years the chance of finding the Ice Man existed for only six days.”(77) Mother Nature worked on this for over five thousand years, only leaving as short as six days with the ability to find Ötzi. Based on these occurrences, sometimes luck is needed in archeology since Mother Nature could potentially be a rival.
ReplyDeleteThe story, Lucy and Her Friends is about an anthropologist named Donald Johanson, and one of his graduate students, Tom gray, were in Hadar, Ethiopia looking for fossils of any sort. After three weeks they had finally found something, and it was several hundred pieces of bone belonging to a primate female, in which they named "Lucy." Lucy's skeleton was dated back to about three million years ago, and Johanson said that if he had waited a few more years to look in that area, the rain might have washed many of Lucy's bones down the gully. Another example of something similar to this happened was when Richard Daugherty of Washington State University had been exploring an abandoned coastal village named Ozette. He slowly tried to piece together the the history of the Makah Indians who had once lived there. Supposedly there had been a huge mudslide that completely buried the entire village. Finally, two hikers named Helmut Simon and Erika Simon, had stumbled upon a corpse supposedly from 3300 BC. It had been preserved in ice, until a fall from the Sahara along with an unusual heat spell which caused it to melt the ice in 1991. This brought the "Ice Man" back to surface, and he was named Otzi, because he was found in the Otztal Alps. The story, Lucy and Her Friends shows that not only scientists and archaeologists can find rare artifacts, but normal people just like you and I can!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThe story should start by saying, "The story, Lucy and Her Friends is a collection of stories about archaeological finds. The first story is about an anthropologist..."
DeleteMy mistake, and I can't delete it.
“Lucy and Her Friends”, written by Laura Lee, explains a story regarding Mother Nature and her ability to assist archeologist with unovering the most hidden, influential fossils and artifacts. She begins by explaining that often times, although the weather is responsible for the original burying, it is also what allows the artifacts to be unearthed once again. Her first of example of a situation like this is Lucy, a hominid skeleton capable of walking upright far before scientists had ever predicted. She was discovered by Donald Johanson and Tom Gray due to repeated rain bringing her up to the surface. Next, she discusses the discovery of the buried remains of a Makkah Indian village by Richard Daugherty. Artifacts from the village were brought back up from the mud due to tidal waves, allowing for archeologists to confirm the tales long discussed by Natives. Finally, Laura Lee recounts the “warm spell” that thawed the Otzal Alps just enough for archeologists to discover the most well preserved skeleton (now named Otzi), dating all the way back to 3,300 B.C. All three of these miraculous discoveries help solidify her point: that Mother Nature is a force all archeologists should be thankful to have around.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the passage, archaeology owes a debt to Mother Nature. It is later found that because of a flash flood, Donald Johanson and Tom Gray were able to discover Lucy, a three million year old hominid skeleton, a scientific phenomenon. Mother Nature blessed them with a miracle since had they waited another year, more floods might have washed the bones away, and if they came earlier, the bones may still have been buried. Another example in which Mother Nature has helped contribute to our knowledge of archaeology was when Richard Daugherty began excavating at Ozette village, studying the Makah Indians. Later, Mother Nature sent storm tides, uncovering many ancient artifacts in the soil, proving the civilization of the Makah Indians. The luckiest find assisted by Mother Nature were by two hikers, Helmut and Erika Simon in 1991. On their hike in the mountains on the Austrian-Italian border, they uncovered a frozen body, thinking it was a modern mountain climber. With further investigation, they discovered that the body dated back to 3300 B.C., to the Stone Age. The ice has preserved the body for five thousand years, yet finding the body was at a 0.12% chance. His given name was Otzi, since he was found in the Otztal Alps. His discovery helped contribute to the knowledge of his lifestyle and culture. This was considered one of the luckiest discovery because of the past circumstances were able to preserve him in the ice for so long, and kept predators away. Because of these lucky circumstances, this proves that Mother Nature has contributed to many archaeological findings.
ReplyDeleteIn Laura Lee’s essay, Lucy and Her Friends, she makes a claim that archaeology owes a debt to mother nature due to its help with weather. She gives an example of a fossil that was found named Lucy. Lucy was the oldest hominid female found at the time. She then discusses how important timing was when she found the fossil. If she had looked a bit earlier or later Lucy would have been gone due to mother nature. Richard Daugherty later found another fossil because of the helping hands of mother nature. He made his discovery when a storm washed up a bank in the village of Ozette. When the bank was washed up Daugherty found many artifacts from when Columbus found the New World. The most amazing discovery was of a man’s body that was from 3300 B.C. The man, who was named Otzi, was brought back to the surface when the ice above him melted in 1991. This was again thanks to mother nature. The artifacts found with him helped scholars gain knowledge about his culture. Mother nature was key in being able to identify Otzi. If it weren’t for correct timing and the glacier that covered him, Otzi might never have been discovered.
ReplyDeleteShishira
(Ryan Clark)
ReplyDeleteIn “Lucy and Her Friends,” Laura Lee, a ballet education producer and writer, endeavours to illuminate how weather affects archaeological research, and she asserts that archaeology is indebted to the vicissitudes of Mother Nature. To demonstrate this, Lee first uses the discovery of the skeleton of the hominid called ‘Lucy.’ Her discoverer, anthropologist Donald Johanson, credits the unearthing of Lucy in Ethiopia to an unexpected flash flood that exposed her bones in a gully. Then, Lee explains how researcher Richard Daugherty made a breakthrough in his examination of the Makah Indians. Daugherty was stationed at a village called Ozette that was formerly occupied by the Makah People. However, it had been consumed by a prior mudslide. Yet, a stroke of luck occured for Daugherty when a strong storm washed away a bank to the sea in Ozette, which allowed him to find new artifacts that were critical to his research. The author’s final example of how weather can sometimes be a boon to archaeological discoveries is the uncovery of the “Ice Man.” The Ice Man, a man who died at least five thousand years ago and was found in the Otzal Alps, was located after an unexpected thaw in the mountain’s thick ice. Due to the snow and ice that had covered the Ice Man after his death, his skin and clothes had been unusually well-preserved. He could never have been found without the sudden warm spell.
Laura Lee uses a simple yet effective structure in the essay: her thesis is followed by three examples chosen to support her claim. Her contention, in narrow terms, is nearly irrefutable--weather, as shown by the examples, is often an aid to archaeology. However, Lee ignores the immense difficulties that weather can create for archaeology. Indeed, much of archaeology itself is a set of techniques designed so that artifacts are not destroyed by the volatility of Earth’s atmospheric conditions. Moreover, because the author passes over how archaeology is systematically conducted, as occurs in most instances, her essay could be interpreted as supporting the popular, and false, myth that archaeologists are a group of quixotic explorers wading through quicksand and piranha-infested waters and come across sensational treasures of ancient times by chance. In sum, Lee’s thesis is correct, but the author should more emphatically assert that archaeology is a science, and that weather can be a foe to research just as it is sometimes a friend.
In the story of Lucy and Her Friends, author Laura Lee claims archaeological findings happen because of luck. In addition, Lee believes luck is an important factor. Lee's first example is the unveiling of the Lucy skeleton. The book describes the lucky timing of Donald Johanson and Tom Gray by their quote, "the next rains might have washed many of her bones from the gully... What was utterly fantastic was that she had come to the surface so recently, probably in the last year or two. Five years earlier, she world still have been buried. Five years later, she would have been gone." Similar to the discovery of Lucy, Richard Daugherty's exposition relied on the luck of nature. Daugherty's exposition began slow paced by piecing together the history of the Makah Indians. Then unexpected luck was shown when, "A storm sent tides raging up the beach at Ozette and washed away a bank. Under the soil was a vast deposit of artifacts dating around the time of Columbus's arrival in the New World." Finally, Lee uses the example of two German hikers. Helmut and Erika Simon luckily stumbled across the body of a man from 3,300 B.C.E. Luckily, the body was preserved in ice and snow, prohibiting rotting and being eaten by predators. In conclusion, the benefaction of Mother Nature's inconsistencies played a large role in the discovery of the past.
ReplyDelete-Jonah Bahr