Voices from the Dust
Coe brings past civilizations back to life. Archaeology is a fascinating field. It is the forensics science of past civilizations. It's amazing what archaelogists can discover by digging and studying pollen in tree rings. Trees are living witnesses of what went on, especially when it comes to crop successes and failures, which caused people to move from one location to another while the soil recovered. Coe's book provides us with insights into what daily life was like during the various phases of Mayan history. It's especially interesting to study their diet and to realize that it hasn't changed much in our day. It seems to me, and I mention this as an observation, that these indigenous people that change over to today's fast food diet tend to develop health problems that lead to diabetes and heart disease, so I am an advocate of stressing to these people that they should keep their old diet as a basis, and add anything else that won't hurt them. In other words, they should stick to a low carb diet.
It's too bad that most of their records were burned; they could have taught us a lot. It is true that some things are better left buried, but not in all cases. There were certain practices and rituals that are unaceptable today in Western society; they still go on in our world, but we can learn from the mistakes and successes of past civilizations. They speak from the dust.
