As I was thinking about how fun it would be to have a job where you solve puzzles in the world, it struct me that media never depicts archeology in a real light. My short search seemed to confirm my thoughts. Most ancient sites are not guarded by elaborate traps or secret riddles to get in. From what I’ve found there were some crossbows here and there. Some rare hidden rooms with a lot treasure, but again, no traps.
That we know of.
Yeah, maybe we should look into archeologists that never returned
Well the pyramids at Giza were said to be cursed. Turns out, it was just gross occupational safety violations, but the effect was largely the same. If you breathe a thousand year old pathogens, you’re going to get sick.
This is 100% survivorship bias
Eh, the terracotta emporer from China almost definitely has booby traps that are likely still functional after 2,000.
We don’t know, because the absolutely insane amount of open mercury in the tomb would have filled it with toxic gases, although it’s likely that wasn’t the intent.
But yeah, most “ancient” tombs were pillaged centuries ago. What little happens now is entirely black market and people probably die all the time.
I know Kim Kardashian took a booty selfie with a sarcophagus at the MET Gala a couple years ago, and one of the illegal tomb raiders recognized it. And because he never got his cut, he snitched to local authorities. So it still happens, we just don’t hear about the vast amount. Just the very careful government sanctioned ones.
I’m surprised there hasn’t been a modern day person that buried their fortune with them under puzzles and traps.
We have a modern version of the deadly temple:
This place is not a place of honor… no highly esteemed deed is commemorated here… nothing valued is here.
Tbf there’s that one tv show about that one island in canada or something that had buried treasure and a bunch of traps but then it turned out the treasure had already been found and they think a freed slave found it when he bought the island back in the day or something like that.
Admittedly I’ve only seen one episode, a friend who watched it filled in the details on where it went lol.
That’s what shell companies are for. Legally burry who owns the assets
Would that make lawyers modern day archeologists?
More like financial investigators, or whatever their official title is supposed to be.
Have I got a book series for you! Forensic accountant uncovers layers of bullshit in silicon valley by none other than our own @pluralistic@mamot.fr
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60784417-red-team-blues
@DrBob @stephen01king
Just ordered it today!
Probably meant forensic accountants. Tracking the people that we are least know to have plundered these places.
The reason we don’t have more mummies is that the aristocracy back in waiting w were literally eating them.
No, forensic lawyers and accountants who unpick it would be the archaeologists.
The ones with the traps succeeded in protecting their secrecy.