26
Heard a tour guide in Rome call a broken pot 'the ancient world's Tupperware'
I was at the Palatine Hill last month and the guide was pointing at a pile of terra cotta shards. He said, 'This wasn't trash, this was their storage system. They'd just patch it with wax and keep using it.' It made me laugh, but also think about how we define 'disposable' now versus then. What's the most relatable ancient object you've seen that made you think like that?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
henrycooper19h ago
Man that's so true. It's like we're always hunting for the fancy stuff in museums but the real story is in the beat up everyday things. That worn step @blake691 mentioned is a perfect example, it's just a thing that got used to death. I see it with my own kitchen stuff, a favorite mug with a chip I keep gluing instead of tossing. We act like we're so different now but we still fix what matters to us, we just use super glue instead of wax. The stuff that lasts isn't always the shiny treasure, it's the thing that was quietly useful every single day.
7
That "ancient Tupperware" idea is spot on. Saw a simple bone needle in a museum once. Just a tool someone used every day, like my tape measure. Makes you realize how much basic human stuff stays the same.
6
blake69114d ago
My buddy saw a worn down stone step in an old castle, smoothed by centuries of feet. He said it hit him that some guy in armor once scuffed his boot on that same spot, just trying to get home after a long day. It's the same wear you see on a modern apartment building's front step.
2