Tuesday, 31 January 2012

What would I want in my grave?

I hate to admit it, but I have really neglected this blog lately. A couple of midterms last week (already!) coupled with some issues with the email I use to log into this blog have kept me away. But I'm back! And I will try to do better from now on.
What would I want to have in my grave? This is a tough one. The fact is, I don't want to be buried at all. I want to be cremated. AND if I were to be buried I don't think that I would want anything in the coffin with me. I have a thing for simplicity, and that is definitely something that I would like to carry forward into death. I don't like things too cluttered.
That being said, if I knew that in hundreds of years someone were to be identifying me based on the material culture in my grave, maybe I could reconsider. For starters I would want to be wearing jewelry. Lots of it. And this would serve a double purpose. It is rare for me to wear jewelry that doesn't have some sort of meaning to me. Either it was given to me by someone I love, or I got it in a place that I would really like to remember, or something like that. I don't wear jewelry just cause (even though I do think it looks pretty). I mostly wear it because it represents something important to me. And so I would like to have it with me in death.
Also, I would like to be wearing jewelry to show the future that I am a female. I know men often wear jewelry as well, but I would like to be wearing enough of it, and enough feminine pieces to prove that I am a girl. Being female is a big part of my identity, and I would like to future to know that much about me.
If I were to have any objects in my grave with me I would want to be a book. I am a student (obviously), and a reader, so books are a pretty big part of my life. Maybe "Catcher in the Rye" or "The Road".... Two of my favorites. A book would have the same dual purpose as the jewelry. One, it would be something important in my life that I could take into death. And two, it would give the future archaeologists an idea of who and what I was. I like to think of myself as something of a learner or scholar, and so maybe if they found the remains of a book, they could piece that together.
Other than that I cant really think of much. I think I would want my coffin uncluttered and simple. I'm not bringing any baggage into the next life!

Just for something a little different...
Here is an article about a possible tomb (which might not be a tomb), that was found in Egypt. What's interesting about it is that no body was found inside. Only grave goods. Talk about material culture sending a message to future archaeologists. This is also the article I am doing my article assignment on, and I found it pretty interesting!

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=10&hid=125&sid=a19d92fb-5e48-4e6d-8423-3e5ca742ce57%40sessionmgr113&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=aft&AN=504895529

Wednesday, 4 January 2012

Introduction

Well, here we go...
My name is Katie, and I am actually a psychology major. At the end of my second year I decided to switch my area of study from anthro to psyc, and while I am very happy with that decision, I am still super interested in archeology. I registered for this course because I liked the name and after going to the first class it seems like it was a good decision. I am really looking forward to this semester, and REALLY looking forward to the summer after it!