Athens is a coolly frenzied mix of past surviving tangentially with the present. People swarm past monuments and marble columns as if they are parts of everyday life, which in fact they are. It was interesting and disheartening for me to hear that Byzantine period remains were few and far between because they were bypassed for the sake of older material. On a practical standpoint this unfortunately makes sense in a world where the late 1700’s is quite modern. Living in the United States, our perspective of what is valuable is tinted by our brief historical existence. Pioneer, industrial, and historical archaeology, which are increasingly focused upon fields in America, are dwarfed by the giant that is Classical archaeology in Greece. What remains should be collected? When archaeological remains are so vastly abundant, what do you do with them? This is still a question being debated in the United States, even though the material record is often time 1/10th that of other countries. However important, most artifacts are analyzed, bagged, and placed in warehouses where they will most likely live out the rest of their existence without ever being viewed again. Like a prison, these facilities cost time and money to maintain. It seems that the Greeks have found a stable compromise; appreciate what remains you can by making them part of the living culture.
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