Top of the Heap!

What's more fun than finding buried treasure? Not much, that's for sure. We opened up the discussion this week with Monday's Riddle. Lizzy reviewed, Misfortune Cookie by Sara Linton, which wove a fun mystery into the discovery of ancient treasures. Today, we're shouting out to some of the artifacts that helped map the human story. So, buckle up, because we're taking a quick trip back through time...

This week's top of the heap: Most interesting archeological finds!

Fairday: I cannot explain why, but, for me, it has to be the Dead Sea Scrolls. First of all, I'm fascinated by the Dead Sea itself, add in eons old mystery scrolls, and you've got a winner. I have no idea what their spiritual meaning is, but they really are very interesting! It's amazing to draw up an idea of was happening at the time when they were written, then hidden away in caves to keep safe. The fact that they are legible shows you how stories can just glide through time, riding on the back of language and communication. It's like opening a window into the past and peering through it to see what was really going on. ~ F

Here's a bit of the story behind the Dead Sea Scrolls:

The story of the Dead Sea Scrolls begins in 1947, when – so the tale goes – a Bedouin shepherd found a collection of apparently ancient scrolls in a cave above Khirbet Qumran, near the north end of the Dead Sea. Over the course of the next year, seven scrolls from the cave reached scholarly hands. When examined by experts, the importance and antiquity of the find was quickly understood... read more 

Here's a bit about the Dead Sea:

The Dead Sea in Israel is the lowest place on the planet and the biggest spa on the face of the earth. The Dead Sea is globally famous for its unique ability to heal many illnesses and solve many health-related problems... how cool is that- plus, there's nothing but brine shrimp and salt deposits at the bottom, which look like an over- turned Atlantis- very, very mysterious : )  

Lizzy: Archeology is such an amazing field.  New images of the past are always being discovered, allowing us to learn more about the people and cultures that came before us.  It was hard to decide which find was my favorite, but I have been reading a lot about Colonial America lately and find this time period fascinating. Learning about the hard life the settlers had everyday makes me realize how much our world has changed. All of the historical fiction I have been reading steered me toward the inscribed slate found in Jamestown in 2009 as the best find.  Archeologists believe the slate is from 1611 and it was preserved in an old well that was used for garbage since it stopped providing clean water. I love that it includes drawings and clues to life at that time.  Sorting through the past helps us to think more clearly about the present. I can’t wait to see what we dig up next!  ~L

Read about the mysterious Jamestown Slate