Leave It Alone– ITS Ancient!!

Objects of Controversy

The future should be about change, new experiences, and a better world. This new world should be filled with amazing creations that stem from advancing technology and brilliant minds of the present generation; however, why are people obsessed and concerned with artifacts of the past? I believe artifacts in the past should remain in history. In other words, a person should hold no monetary or sentimental value to past artifacts; one should focus on creating better objects for the future.

Objects that were apart of a person’s and community‘s life in the past should remain there and be left alone. There are many reasons as to why past objects should remain ancient, and the most important of these reasons is that most objects are useless to the advancement of today’s society because they are only put aside to viewed. Most of the collected objects are not even used because they are fragile and deemed too important. Many people disagree because they find these objects, like the ancient Indian artifacts, valuable and historically memorable. However, there are alternative ways for collectors to uphold and value historical objects, such as books and pictures, rather than looting grave sites and paying outstanding amounts of money for them. 

The controversy over ancient artifacts is the argument of rather to preserve or collect. In Utah, Indian artifacts are buried under Puebloan ruins and date back to 500-700 A.D.. Some of the artifacts include Indian tools, pottery, and jewelry that are traditionally buried with the dead ( Hurst, Winston pgr 7). Many people, or collectors, go there and dig up the artifacts, sell them for profit, or keep them for memorabilia. Collecting from this region is common because it is rich with artifacts. However, collecting remains from these grave sites is not recommended because the 1906 Antiquities Act made it illegal for people to loot grave sites and  provided penalties for people taking artifacts. 

The majority of objects are useless to the advancement of today’s society because they provide no significant importance or function. If we continually worry about ancient artifacts, how are we planning and making beneficial objects for the future? I say let the past remain the past! We should focus on building new tools, more elaborate and fancier jewelry, and creating clothes that people in the present generation are wearing. Although these ancient objects hold sentimental value to the people and families that created them, overall the artifacts will not create better futures for children, or wealth for the poor. The important thing is that with the advancement of today’s technology, we could manufacture millions of these same artifacts in a day. Although it is not the same as the real thing, advancing technology allows the same artifacts to be created faster and with better materials to perform more efficiently. Even the cosmetic appearance could be positively altered; from clay and rocks of the past to metal and/or synthetic materials of the future. People should stop collecting ancient artifacts altogether.  

Some collect for hobbies and others find owing vintage objects a major achievement. An example of this can be seen on the Antiques Road Show website and program. Here, museums and people showcase their objects and art through pictures and text highlighting its historical importance, but at the end of the day, they expect a person to place a price value on the object. Yes, these objects may be old and rare, but that also means they will not be able to provide us with helpful functions to perform everyday activities with which the world could benefit. The majority of artifacts will just sit in a person’s home collecting dust or in a glass box in a museum.  I see no difference between letting the object remain buried versus collecting dust sitting in a persons’ home.  

Also to advance the world, society must think and work as a whole and not have a few individuals focus on their connections with useless objects of the past. Usually it is a select few who have the most power, influence, and wealth that admire and are willing to pay substantial amounts of money for ancient artifacts. However, these people could be the ones who could easily use their money and influence to benefit the world by creating new technology and artifacts. Objects of the past should remain in the past!

Many people believe the old saying, “you can not know where your going until you know where you came from”. However, there are alternate ways for people to value historical objects. Instead of collecting these artifacts we can learn about them from ancestors, take pictures of them, or read about them in books. Most people do not read in today’s society because they focus on material objects, but books and pictures are more informative sources of information than having the real artifact because of the text providing its importance, the reasons for its creations, why and how it was used , and how it should be handled. Pictures are a great thing to have because they can be handled in any way. One does not have to worry about dropping or breaking it. Even though that is far from owning the real thing, taking pictures, reading books, and talking with ancestors bout history is much more affordable. One would not have to care about spending millions of dollars for an artifact with which they owned a picture.  I understand but do not condone the fact that many people have sentimental value to these objects and would pay anything to have these artifacts in their home. There are many other ways of cherishing the past and upholding history that does not involve looting grave sites. 

Many objects that have important significance, history, and sentimental value to some like, Indian artifacts, are less valuable and important to others. So let the past remain in the past. They may hold importance to some because they are objects from ancestors, they may contain great memories, or look remarkable because of their age and historical significance. Although this is all true, we as a society must focus on the future by advancing objects with the advancement of technology. Again, let the past remain in history. One should focus on today’s generation and create new objects/ artifacts that are going to be beneficial to the future society. One can limit there connection with ancient artifacts by reading and talking about them. So we should use our new and advancing technology for the world’s benefit, get our heads out of the past and look into the future because everybody has an ancestor and at some point has/had an historical impact on the world. There is no need to be obsessive and try to preserve and collect the past because we, as a society already, own it.