Archaeologica.org

(1) What are the dynamics that seem to place all "old" finds way underground. entire cites, boats, whole civilizations that are buried several feet underground. Where does all the ground that covers them come from. How do entire builds, to include, ceilings, end up underground.

(2) What are people 2000 years from now going to find. Are we going to be one of the dark ages of archaeology. All the stuff we dig up is stone. Now days most structures are made of organic materials. Related is the issue that 2000+ years ago people seemed to abandon entire cities and just move someplace else. That can't happen anymore. So will future scientists have no place to dig but in the sellers and basements of existing cities in the year 4000?

Good technical question!
In answer to the first one, there are several mechanisms responsible; earthquakes, floods, geological & natural processes generally. One of the most basic belongs to the earthworm; these little guys can cause local surface levels to rise by an inch every two years simply by bringing earth to the surface. Add that to natural decay of abandoned buildings, leaf shedding, wars etc and it's not too many centuries before something falls down and is buried.
With regard to modern towns/cities, remember when Montserrat was buried under a volcanic eruption a few years ago? The islanders had to be evacuated en masse to another island. New Orleans last year was another great example; don't think that modern cities can't be abandoned if something bad enough happens. Look at pictures of Berlin etc c. 1945; something straight out of an apocalypse movie.
Remember too that modern building materials are stronger than anything mankind has used previously, so the chances are that our urban infrastructure will still at least look the part in 2000 years, if only from the point of view of leaving ruins which couldn't be anything else.
That said, I still love the scene from Planet of the Apes when Charlton Heston realises the "ancient ruins" he's standing in are actually the remains of Times Square station, and then he sees what's left of the Statue of Liberty!

I agree to point. but I should have qualified my statement. ABSENSE some calmity like a nuclear holocaust or some horrific natural disaster; I don't see entire cities or civilizations packing up and moving. for one thing, there is no place to move to. Seems like absense the above mentioned calamities, future archaeology will be done in existing places.

Excellent questions.

In addition to what RK said, there is also the human tendency to keep building over the same spots. Troy has multiple levels and this web site on Megiddo claims 18 separate levels over the course of several millenia.


http://www.mazzaroth.com/ChapterFour/My ... izedek.htm

Excavations by the University of Pennsylvania, in 1921-33 date it to 3500 B.C. with 18 levels of debris and ruined houses

As far as #2 goes, I've joked here before that in 10,000 years archaeologists will find Mount Rushmore and conclude that it is a statue to our 'gods.' Then they will find the foundation of the Mount Rushmore Gift Shop and Snack Bar and conclude that it was the Mortuary Temple to those 'gods.'

The rushmore comparison is very good; and makes you wonder about how rediculous some of our current "conclusions" are about places like Equip.

I'm guessing that in 500 years or so, some new great building methods will be developed and Los Angeles will be leveled and rebuilt. Then 2500 years in the future somebody will be "digging up", in their basement, were we live today marveling at that plastic flooring matterial with all the wonderful designs on it

The tendency of archaeology to attribute everything they do not immediately understand to 'ritual' has always annoyed the living hell out of me. We have stone-age peoples in remote places today in New Guinea and the Amazon and they do not spend all their time praying to gods or building temples....they are too busy trying to stay alive.

Don't forget our tendancy to tear down old buildings, those that haven't been designated as being of historical importance, and paving them over with parking lots. We can only hope that somebody forgot to dig deep enough to get rid of any GOK left behind.

Some cities were buried intentionally when they were built over by a subsequent population or conqueror.

If a place is in a valley, it stands to reason that it would eventually be covered up by erosion.

In a lot of the middle east, the climate is very dry, so
blowing sand would eventually fill in city walls and pile up like snow drifts.
This is still happening in Egypt, I think.