Janet Kaiser on sun 30 sep 01
I say, everyone...!! If you don't subscribe to National
Geographic and are already gob-smacked into a state of
awe, you should buy, beg, steal or borrow the October
2001 issue...
What a wonderful article on the tomb of Qin Shi Huang
Di, China's First Emperor... Never heard of him? Well,
when you think the Terracotta Army is just a teeny
weeny part of his burial site...
My favourite images in this absolutely fascinating
article are pages 50-51showing front and back of a
body... Although headless (vandals from the past) it
gave me goose bumps... I know people who look just like
this!
Then the dig on page 60... WOW! Anthony Gormley eat
your heart out... A veritable Noah's Ark... Sheep,
pigs, dogs, goats... All awaiting (shut your eyes
Martin!) the butcher in the after-life...
There are apparently more images to see at
http://nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0110.html (I have not
looked yet)
Mind you, I disagree with the article making moral
judgements and sociological comments using modern terms
and indices... "An exploited peasantry" in 200 B.C.?
Maybe when archaeologists look at us in 2000 years
time, they will say the same about us... After all we
also pay taxes, and when you add up the 30% income
tax/social/medical dues out of a pay-packet with an
additional employers contribution, 17.5% VAT, duties on
alcohol, cigarettes, house sales, rates, etc. etc. then
we are not short of the 50% this "exploited peasantry"
paid!
If these finds (including the Terracotta Army) are
anything to go by, this must be the greatest ceramic
archaeological site we could ever dream of finding.
Certainly the most significant to date and hardly going
to be surpassed in the future, even if some of you guys
are working on shard piles of your own! :-)
Janet Kaiser - usual disclaimers... I just subscribe to
National Geographic... One of those little luxuries in
life...
The Chapel of Art . Capel Celfyddyd
HOME OF THE INTERNATIONAL POTTERS' PATH
Criccieth LL52 0EA, GB-Wales Tel: (01766) 523570
E-mail: postbox@the-coa.org.uk
WEBSITE: http://www.the-coa.org.uk
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