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If you are trapped in ancient time, what would you take?
"Mike" wrote in message
ink.net... wrote in message ... Let's say, through the act of god, or whatever, that you've been transported back through time for a few thousand years. [SNIP] Aspirin. And, in my case, ergotamine. The one modern thing I'd really hate to be without. Otherwise, as a one time archaeologist, I'd be having a ball. Peter |
#2
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If you are trapped in ancient time, what would you take?
"Jimmy Smith" wrote in message
... If you brought any advanced technology you would have been killed for witchcraft. No matter how hard you tried you would not be able to convince them otherwise. Jimmy Not in every culture, but in quite a few that's what I've always imagined too, when day-dreaming about it. Peter |
#3
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If you are trapped in ancient time, what would you take?
"Big Bill" wrote in message
... On Mon, 21 Jun 2004 17:48:42 +0000 (UTC), wrote: Let's say, through the act of god, or whatever, that you've been transported back through time for a few thousand years. Would you've preferred that you have a digital camera? Or a film camera? There are reasons that technological breakthroughs come when they do; supporting technology must also be possible. What would you do with any film you exposed? Did you also backpack your chemicals? How would you *view* your pics? Did you also pack in your papers? How about a darkroom? With digital, how do you view the pics? Even just getting *water* will be a problem; there's a reason everyone drank beer & wine: the water was really bad. I seriously doubt that film, if unprocessed would last to today, *if* it were discoverd in some dig. Best bet would be to stick it in a slow moving glacier. A Compact flash card? It's plastic; plastic lasts a long time, but not *that* long. Some years back there was a debate about how to label high level radioactive waste in ways that would appropriately warn people "Do not dig here or you will die!" and would last the necessary 20,000 years. Language is not too tricky: a skull and cross-bones suggests death to any human regardless of cutural context - the problem is the material. Most things that really last are also intrinsically valuable or useful. Gold - nah, people would actively dig it up. Plastics wouldn't last long enough. Even glass makes excellent flaked cutting tools, and who is to say that in 20 millenia man won't be back to the stone age. In the end someone had the sense to ask archaeologists, and the concensus answer was pottery. Lasts easily for that length of time, and is not very intrinsically useful: break it and there are no sharp edges, it can't really be shaped in any worthwhile way. Make it rounded, so you can't build with it. Bury enough at the site that they have no rarity value and that anyone digging there will run into them, but not so many that they are worth exploiting as a raw material (to ballast a boat, say, or to grind up to make grog tempered earthenware.) I always thought this was a fascinating exercise. Then, as others have pointed out, technology, if sufficiently advanced, is indistinguishable from magic. However, let's say you could keep your magic private; digital, with a laptop and a solar recharging unit, would be *far* easier to use than film. Film just requires too much technology that wouldn't be availabe to you; as I said, even clean water will be a problem. A source of reliable, white light would be another problem. As for hoping that your pics will survive a thousand years or so isn't, IMO, a reasonable hope. Imagine: you've found some way to, say, package your film (laptop) so that it actually survives. Can you imagine the howls of laughter from other archeologists when someone announces the find? I once dug on a late mediaeval site where we had a student who thought he knew everything. One day we got a football and painted half of it matt black and burried it - black half up - in some loose soil (of course we didn't disturb the real stratigraphy - we were all archaeologists, after all...) in the area he was digging. Much excitement from him at uncovering this 'cannon ball', followed by careful cleaning to reveal it, then incredulity turning to fury as he got beyond the paint and found what it really was, followed by the rest of us falling about laughing and him throwing the ball at someone's head. Peter |
#4
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If you are trapped in ancient time, what would you take?
"skymuffins" wrote in message
... [SNIP] Use the history book to predict events here-and-there, so that they know you're serious... Enjoy the world like a god! Actually, all you need in most cultures and times would be an astronomical almanac. Predicting eclipses and so on would get you all the respect you needed. Still, the history book could be handy - any wars coming up, it would be nice to sure you were on the winning side... Peter |
#5
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If you are trapped in ancient time, what would you take?
Bandicoot wrote: "skymuffins" wrote in message ... [SNIP] Use the history book to predict events here-and-there, so that they know you're serious... Enjoy the world like a god! Actually, all you need in most cultures and times would be an astronomical almanac. Predicting eclipses and so on would get you all the respect you needed. Assuming you really knew the time and date. |
#6
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If you are trapped in ancient time, what would you take?
Phil Wheeler wrote: Bandicoot wrote: "skymuffins" wrote in message ... [SNIP] Use the history book to predict events here-and-there, so that they know you're serious... Enjoy the world like a god! Actually, all you need in most cultures and times would be an astronomical almanac. Predicting eclipses and so on would get you all the respect you needed. Assuming you really knew the time and date. The almanac idea might work. The history book might provide some surprises. How well do we really know history that far back? Phil |
#7
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If you are trapped in ancient time, what would you take?
On Thu, 24 Jun 2004 02:24:26 GMT, Phil Wheeler
wrote: Phil Wheeler wrote: Bandicoot wrote: "skymuffins" wrote in message ... [SNIP] Use the history book to predict events here-and-there, so that they know you're serious... Enjoy the world like a god! Actually, all you need in most cultures and times would be an astronomical almanac. Predicting eclipses and so on would get you all the respect you needed. Assuming you really knew the time and date. The almanac idea might work. The history book might provide some surprises. How well do we really know history that far back? Phil And I would *NOT* use an almanac to be sure I was on the winning side in a war - I'd use it to make sure I was no where close. War was *really* hell back then. Bill Funk Change "g" to "a" |
#8
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If you are trapped in ancient time, what would you take? M1A1 Abrams, lots of Fuel and AMMO!!!
M1A1 Abrams, lots of Fuel and AMMO!!!
"Big Bill" wrote in message ... On Thu, 24 Jun 2004 02:24:26 GMT, Phil Wheeler wrote: Phil Wheeler wrote: Bandicoot wrote: "skymuffins" wrote in message ... [SNIP] Use the history book to predict events here-and-there, so that they know you're serious... Enjoy the world like a god! Actually, all you need in most cultures and times would be an astronomical almanac. Predicting eclipses and so on would get you all the respect you needed. Assuming you really knew the time and date. The almanac idea might work. The history book might provide some surprises. How well do we really know history that far back? Phil And I would *NOT* use an almanac to be sure I was on the winning side in a war - I'd use it to make sure I was no where close. War was *really* hell back then. Bill Funk Change "g" to "a" |
#9
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If you are trapped in ancient time, what would you take?
In rec.photo.equipment.35mm Big Bill wrote:
And I would *NOT* use an almanac to be sure I was on the winning side in a war - I'd use it to make sure I was no where close. War was *really* hell back then. That has only marginaly changed. But sure - not being anywhere near a larger conflict would be good. Problem is, most of the "minor" ones aren't really known about so its goingto be very hard to do either. Bill Funk Change "g" to "a" -- Sander +++ Out of cheese error +++ |
#10
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If you are trapped in ancient time, what would you take?
In article ,
"Bandicoot" writes: Aspirin. And, in my case, ergotamine. The one modern thing I'd really hate to be without. Otherwise, as a one time archaeologist, I'd be having a ball. Waterproof matches, Imodium A-D and a small salt shaker. Overseas travel taught me that chronic dia rrhea can weaken you so that you can't light a match. And without salt water the Immodium A-D flows through you so quickly that it is ineffectual. I am not qualified to provide medical opinions, but I survived chronic dia rrhea. "All Rights Reserved"? If I 'right' must I reserve? I got no problems. Other people got problems. 00: 21 _8 02 03/35 06 09 Richard Ballard MSEE CNA4 KD0AZ -- Consultant specializing in computer networks, imaging & security Listed as rjballard in "Friends & Favorites" at www.amazon.com Last book review: "Guerrilla Television" by Michael Shamberg |
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