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Archaeologists Unearth 3k-Year-Old Wishing Well in Germany

smithsonianmag.com

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Re: Archaeologists Unearth 3k-Year-Old Wishing Well in Germany

#2
Ancient Celtic culture was really into the practice of casting valuable objects into bodies of water - apparently this was a central religious practice for them.

So what did the Romans do when they conquered Celtic territory?They would auction off the rights to dredge a captured lake and keep its treasure, Storage Wars style. Truly a pioneering capitalist civilization!

Re: Archaeologists Unearth 3k-Year-Old Wishing Well in Germany

#4
post #2

Ancient Celtic culture was really into the practice of casting valuable objects into bodies of water - apparently this was a central religious practice for them. So what did the Romans do when they conquered Celtic territory?They would auction off the rights to dredge a captured lake and keep its treasure, Storage Wars style. Truly a pioneering capitalist civilization!

Wow, I never heard anything about this before and I love reading about Roman history. Humans don't really change much, do they?

Any additional reading you might recommend?

Re: Archaeologists Unearth 3k-Year-Old Wishing Well in Germany

#6
post #4
post #2

Ancient Celtic culture was really into the practice of casting valuable objects into bodies of water - apparently this was a central religious practice for them. So what did the Romans do when they conquered Celtic territory?They would auction off the rights to dredge a captured lake and keep its treasure, Storage Wars style. Truly a pioneering capitalist civilization!

Wow, I never heard anything about this before and I love reading about Roman history. Humans don't really change much, do they? Any additional reading you might recommend?

Read SPQR

The Romans are really… familiar. They invented the blueprint for western civilization and there are lots of things about the people that feel very modern. With a few tweaks and lucky chances, the Industrial Revolution could have happened more than 1000 years earlier.

To get a sense of this go look up translations of Roman graffiti, especially at Pompeii.

Re: Archaeologists Unearth 3k-Year-Old Wishing Well in Germany

#8
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, I never heard anything about this before and I love reading about Roman history. Humans don't really change much, do they? Any additional reading you might recommend?

Read SPQR The Romans are really… familiar. They invented the blueprint for western civilization and there are lots of things about the people that feel very modern. With a few tweaks and lucky chances, the Industrial Revolution could have happened more than 1000 years earlier. To get a sense of this go look up translations of Roman graffiti, especially at Pompeii.

The idea that the Roman Empire was on the verge of an Industrial Revolution on par with the 19th and 20th centuries is a bit overblow: https://acoup.blog/2022/08/26/collections-why-no-roman-indus...

Re: Archaeologists Unearth 3k-Year-Old Wishing Well in Germany

#9
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, I never heard anything about this before and I love reading about Roman history. Humans don't really change much, do they? Any additional reading you might recommend?

Read SPQR The Romans are really… familiar. They invented the blueprint for western civilization and there are lots of things about the people that feel very modern. With a few tweaks and lucky chances, the Industrial Revolution could have happened more than 1000 years earlier. To get a sense of this go look up translations of Roman graffiti, especially at Pompeii.

When you think about it, that's not so surprising. I imagine that set up would be the optimal one for a good of unknown but probable high value. It'll always be more work than it's worth for the army, and yet by auctioning off the unknown treasure they could capitalize on it. I wonder if this was employed anywhere else in the ancient world, if others came to the same conclusion in similar situations.

Re: Archaeologists Unearth 3k-Year-Old Wishing Well in Germany

#10
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, I never heard anything about this before and I love reading about Roman history. Humans don't really change much, do they? Any additional reading you might recommend?

Read SPQR The Romans are really… familiar. They invented the blueprint for western civilization and there are lots of things about the people that feel very modern. With a few tweaks and lucky chances, the Industrial Revolution could have happened more than 1000 years earlier. To get a sense of this go look up translations of Roman graffiti, especially at Pompeii.

> They invented the blueprint for western civilization

Ahem.

The debate between Mary Beard and Boris Johnson convinced me it was the Greeks.

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