Difference between revisions of "3129: Archaeology Research"
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Metalworking requires some knowledge of ores and often (depending upon the metal) how to maintain and control high temperatures. The era of mass-produced metal objects heralded the waning of the {{w|Stone Age}} and eventually led to the {{w|Bronze Age}}, by way of the copper-using {{w|Chalcolithic}}, in some parts of the world. Once copper arrowheads were produced, in any given region, the practice of flint arrowheads largely died out. | Metalworking requires some knowledge of ores and often (depending upon the metal) how to maintain and control high temperatures. The era of mass-produced metal objects heralded the waning of the {{w|Stone Age}} and eventually led to the {{w|Bronze Age}}, by way of the copper-using {{w|Chalcolithic}}, in some parts of the world. Once copper arrowheads were produced, in any given region, the practice of flint arrowheads largely died out. | ||
| − | It seems that Cueball was tasked to look at details of active {{w|Paleolithic}} culture (the "Old Stone Age"), in the era that extended until not quite 10,000 BCE, but has accidentally 'discovered' the developments (from around 6,500 BCE to 5,000 BCE) that actually superseded the practices that he was supposed to be studying, initially with lumps of copper nuggets being taken and cold-hammered | + | It seems that Cueball was tasked to look at details of active {{w|Paleolithic}} culture (the "Old Stone Age"), in the era that extended until not quite 10,000 BCE, but has accidentally 'discovered' the developments (from around 6,500 BCE to 5,000 BCE) that actually superseded the practices that he was supposed to be studying, initially with lumps of copper nuggets being taken and cold-hammered into awls, chisels, ornaments and spear heads, later learning to use heat to soften it and after that to be able to melt and cast it. |
The caption below the comic tells us that Cueball has based his entire {{w|dissertation}} on the false proposition that an archaeologist's job is to recreate history rather than revealing it. This would be disastrous for Cueball, as dissertations take a large amount of time and effort to complete, and he may have used the effort to effectively reengineer several thousand years of human development, leading away from the original subject. | The caption below the comic tells us that Cueball has based his entire {{w|dissertation}} on the false proposition that an archaeologist's job is to recreate history rather than revealing it. This would be disastrous for Cueball, as dissertations take a large amount of time and effort to complete, and he may have used the effort to effectively reengineer several thousand years of human development, leading away from the original subject. | ||
Revision as of 08:26, 16 August 2025
| Archaeology Research |
 Title text: The academic archaeology establishment is suppressing my breakthroughs because of the disruption it would bring to their prepared-core flake-based toolmaking industry. |
Explanation
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This is one of 52 incomplete explanations:
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In this comic, Cueball is presenting an improvement over the stone arrowheads used by early humans. Stone arrowheads are produced by shaping flint by expertly knocking flakes off a suitable raw piece of stone. By contrast, once the use of metals is developed, a far more scalable industry can eventually cast smooth copper arrowheads as depicted in Cueball’s presentation.
Metalworking requires some knowledge of ores and often (depending upon the metal) how to maintain and control high temperatures. The era of mass-produced metal objects heralded the waning of the Stone Age and eventually led to the Bronze Age, by way of the copper-using Chalcolithic, in some parts of the world. Once copper arrowheads were produced, in any given region, the practice of flint arrowheads largely died out.
It seems that Cueball was tasked to look at details of active Paleolithic culture (the "Old Stone Age"), in the era that extended until not quite 10,000 BCE, but has accidentally 'discovered' the developments (from around 6,500 BCE to 5,000 BCE) that actually superseded the practices that he was supposed to be studying, initially with lumps of copper nuggets being taken and cold-hammered into awls, chisels, ornaments and spear heads, later learning to use heat to soften it and after that to be able to melt and cast it.
The caption below the comic tells us that Cueball has based his entire dissertation on the false proposition that an archaeologist's job is to recreate history rather than revealing it. This would be disastrous for Cueball, as dissertations take a large amount of time and effort to complete, and he may have used the effort to effectively reengineer several thousand years of human development, leading away from the original subject.
The title text claims that his 'discoveries' are unappreciated not because they are useless (in a completely different context, they might be an exciting academic pursuit), but because the academic 'establishment' has a stranglehold on the arrowhead industry and too many vested interests in flint-knapping to allow the disruptive innovation that this new change to copper weaponry might herald. This is a humorous mashup of two classes of conspiracy theories, those of academia suppressing "the TRUTH" (according to pseudo-historians) and of oil, pharmaceutical, or other industries suppressing "free energy" or other such "innovations".
In addition, "industry" is a term used in archaeology to describe specific types of tools made with the same methods- Cueball's technique would, technically, be its own new industry.
Transcript
- [Cueball stands in front of a roll-down projector screen, pointing to it behind him as he looks forward. The screen depicts two arrowheads: On the left is an arrowhead hewn from stone with the subtitle "Stone (traditional)". On the right is a smoother arrowhead with the subtitle "Copper (my method)"]
- Cueball: In the process of analyzing Paleolithic stone toolmaking, I've stumbled on an improved technique for producing points and blades.
- Cueball: Instead of stone, my method is based on the heating and shaping of copper ore...
- [Caption below the panel:]
- Too late, I realized that my entire archaeology dissertation had been based on a colossal misunderstanding.
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? Caliban (talk) 14:44, 15 August 2025 (UTC)
- Cueball has misunderstood the purpose of archaeology as being to study things in order to devise improved versions of them. As a result, he has ended up 'inventing' Bronze Age technology. 82.13.184.33 15:13, 15 August 2025 (UTC)
- And in the title text, he imagines the reason everyone dismisses it is because 'Big Knap' is conspiring to stop him destroying their profits. 82.13.184.33 15:27, 15 August 2025 (UTC)
- I think the joke is misunderstanding "archaeology research" to mean doing research to extend ancient technology. 2601:18E:C380:4FC0:D4F5:8EE1:51F6:82AF 15:12, 15 August 2025 (UTC)
It's the kind of research project I can easily imagine my university Classics prof, Trevor Hodge, being on board with. He was very keen on students trying to reproduce ancient tech for themselves, with an eye towards them appreciating the challenges involved and that those people were intelligent and knowledgeable. One of his grad students was an acquaintance of mine, doing a thesis along the lines of "The Two-Bladed Bronze Axe in the Aegean: Tool or Weapon?", and I'd be astonished if the project didn't include constructing one. BunsenH (talk) 14:47, 15 August 2025 (UTC)
Possibly referencing new copper tools in Minecraft? 104.28.205.246 15:35, 15 August 2025 (UTC)
- I doubt it. But hey, you play Minecraft too? RadiantRainwing (talk) 19:48, 15 August 2025 (UTC)
My understanding of the joke is that archaeology enthusiasts are obsessed with using traditional tools. Consequently, Cueball revealing there are other methods of manufacturing tools, would disrupt the entire archaeology enthusiasts community and the surrounding industry. In retrospect, I am probably wrong. Aqua-chestnut (talk) 16:07, 15 August 2025 (UTC)
- Alternatively, the joke might be that the event is taking place in the Paleolithic age, and Cueball's discovery of copper would advance it to the Neolithic, consequently disrupting the Paleolithic economy. In retrospect, this is also wrong because copper first appeared in 5000 BC according to Wikipedia Aqua-chestnut (talk) 16:18, 15 August 2025 (UTC)
My own take on this is that, as a Practical Archaeologist, he's actually gone to live the life of a stone-age toolmaker (a thing that some people do) to rediscover the and test theories about the culture of that era. But, obviously some of the real stone-agers may have been transitioning into early metal-working and the were at the cusp of the bronze-age. His back-to-basics attempt at recreating their lives has accidentally strayed into independently re-inventing the stage after the era that he had intended (or been asked) to study, thus instead reinventing human history. - Of course, this would also be rather interesting to know about (perhaps help understand the rather fuzzy changeover that happened in our own real history), but missed the point of the original target of study which was more the nature of the mature stone-implement industry than its decline and replacement by waves of 'new-tech' metal-working. 82.132.238.109 16:37, 15 August 2025 (UTC)
The reference at the end to industry suggests to me that this is commentary on ways that some industries suppress better technology in order to maintain profits. There’s a well documented case of Colgate suppressing technology that would significantly reduce cavities because it would eat into their own premium toothpaste market. Arguably, the same thing is going on right now with the fossil fuel industry (for example, the resistance to widespread adoption of heat pumps for heating in the United States). It’s silly to think that archaeologists might do so to protect industry interests. Why isn’t it silly that we allow corporations to do the same thing? 2a04:4e41:5c01:6100::40d3:2100 (talk) 17:01, 15 August 2025 (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
In North America there is a tradition of copper working that did not require smelting. KingPenguin (talk) 22:57, 15 August 2025 (UTC)
"He even calls the process he uses "my method", perhaps implying/claiming that it is a personal innovation with no historical standing." Brings to mind Tai's Model.163.116.254.50 14:07, 18 August 2025 (UTC)
If Cueball steps his research up, he might reach bronze and that would be a Colossal understanding! 2A01:540:2658:4C00:EC51:2098:CF78:55A7 21:40, 18 August 2025 (UTC)
God damn this explanation is too freaking long! 2603:800C:1200:596A:536F:4ACD:2A93:BEC8 20:50, 19 August 2025 (UTC)
If TL, then DR. 2600:4040:5761:5a00:7dc6:c522:ef06:6fbe (talk) 17:35, 22 August 2025 (please sign your comments with ~~~~) Add comment
