The response over on Paul Barford’s blog was predictable. I had promised myself not to respond to his ridiculous dribble, but I just cant help myself.
Gaining an accurate understanding of our past involves many disciplines working over long periods of time. I would compare it to putting together a very large puzzle, each piece we lock into place gives us a clearer picture. Sometimes it takes other pieces to be put into place before you realize that one piece fit but really did not belong. In fact, the puzzle has barely been started and those that have worked on it in the past and those that are currently working on it will not get to see it completed within their lifetimes.
For Barford to write “Is our “knowledge of the past” entirely dependent on knowing which Torre, Dicke or Harthacnut briefly claimed deo-gratia kingship in Northumbria or thereabouts in the 890s before succumbing to a rival’s axe at the next territorial punch-up ?” begs the question- Why are you interested in archaeology?
In response to his blog post- each individual piece of a puzzle may not important on it’s own. But each piece that we get to put into place gives us a clearer view of the entire picture. On it’s own it has little importance, but as part of the bigger picture it may help us understand the history of the region and may lead to understanding past and future discoveries. This information may not be of use right now, for that matter, it may not be of use during my lifetime. But every piece of data we have makes the overall picture that much clearer.
Finally- what new discoveries can Barford claim to have made in his lifetime? From where I sit, a lay person with a metal detector has made a larger contribution to our recorded historical record by chance than a supposed professional archaeologist has done in decades of trying.
While the work of accurately recording our past will not be completed during our lifetimes, it still brings great satisfaction and enjoyment to see glimpses of a bigger picture. If you ever worked on putting together a mega puzzle, you understand the satisfaction you can get from just completing one small corner. But obviously Barford does not, nor will he ever “get it”.
