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AsassinX t1_iwpdxk1 wrote

Reply to comment by UnicornHorn1987 in Hundreds of mummies and pyramid of an unknown queen unearthed near King Tut's tomb by IslandChillin

Incredible. This made me sad to read though: >“When Xin Zhui’s preserved body was discovered, it was instantly compromised, and her body began to deteriorate. As a result, the photos we see now don’t do justice to the first finding.”

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Griffin_da_Great t1_iwpjezw wrote

Just makes me wonder why archeologists don't just leave these mummies where they lie? They were doing good for thousands of years! Why compromise the integrity of the specimen?! Or, if you're feeling ethical, the wishes of the long dead?

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DHFranklin t1_iwpxjr6 wrote

Because that isn't what archeology is for.

Archeology is the study of past human behavior through artifacts. If we leave those artifacts including anthropological ones where they are we can't study them. We can't learn from them and us.

That doesn't mean you can't put it all back when everything is recorded. However, that's your answer.

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redness88 t1_iwq0zek wrote

Archeology is destructive. You usually only get one shot at it. I mean. Did you read on how they "found" the city of Troy?

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DerWaechter_ t1_iwqb2rt wrote

It used to be destructive in the early days, because it was essentially just a way of committing "totally not grave robbery"

Modern day archeology is extremely conscious about the potential to destroy uncovered pieces, and will handle them with care. The priority is to not destroy things in the process

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DHFranklin t1_iwqrnz6 wrote

Any time you go to a museum and learn something from the artifacts, you yourself are doing archeology.

I think we would all agree that the cool roman mosaics and other art buried under long forgotten farm houses need to be excavated.

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IgotCHUbits t1_iwpvjac wrote

Because it might have been full of gold…. We had to check, for science.

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