Friday, February 4, 2011

Would that I could have Grave Goods

What items are important enough to myself to include in my grave? Damned good question. The more I've thought of this the less I discover anything that I'd want. Not to go on a ramble, but we're so consumed with items of little value -- to the broad scheme of things -- that we honestly don't invest into items as we did before. With that said, I think the only two things I would want in my grave would be my footy cleats and ball. Sorry, three. Footy cleats, football, and a bottle of Talisker, the ten year would be just fine, sealed with wax. In this way the very respectful archaeologists finding my remains could raise a cup in my name, if nothing else. I suppose there would have to be a note to endorse the drinking of the scotch.

With that all said and done, I think I'd prefer to be cremated somewhere in the wild, a nice, small glen somewhere perhaps. Or I'd like to be buried encased in salt, or baking soda, or whatever other similar preservative. So grave goods become even more interesting in that context, as the preservative would be a grave good. So would the urn.

What does that say about me? I think other people are more able to diagnose that. However, I'm wondering in terms of future archaeologists what they might think. Imagine it yourself, as an archaeologist:

So you begin this exciting new dig. Sleeping in tents on the site, perhaps, maybe it's close enough to a town to drive. Anyway, you or your team find the remains, perserved and mummified with a bottle of scotch, a note to drink it, and footy gear. I think most people would think him one cheeky bastard.

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