Day By Day

Sunday, January 16, 2005

Ivory towery

One more example of the stunning, imbecilic, cluelessness of the ivory tower. Remind me again, just what is it that archaeologists do that is likely to contribute anything to the ultimate well-being of the Iraqi people? And on what basis do they claim to be "scientific?"

"As the US prepared to hand back the ancient ruins of Babylon to Iraqi authorities at the weekend, a leading British archaeologist claimed US-led troops had "irrevocably contaminated" a site that dates to the dawn of history.

John Curtis, curator of the British Museum's ancient near-east department, said the coalition, which had used the old city as a base since invading Iraq in 2003, had seriously compromised future scientific research at the site."

Read the whole thing here.

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