Explain that theory to the National Park System. The Park Ecologist
was very happy to see the photos we provided to him, and to know the
whereabouts of the signatures. In fact, this particular park plans to
have a display in the new visitor's center (currently in the process
of construction) on historic signatures from well-known cave guides. I
would bet that the display will also include the educational info that
nowadays we discourage such graffiti and in fact view it as
defacement. Our cultural values in the 21st century are somewhat
different from those in the past. That does not diminish the
historical value of such signatures and any other debris that was left
behind by previous explorers, including the prehistoric peoples.
Should we also remove the 3,000 year old basket left behind in the
same cave by these explorers, or leave it in place for future
examination? The Park Service has chosen to leave certain artifacts in
situ, if the item is located in an out-of-the way place that will not
be noticed or disturbed by the casual tourist.
By this one-size-fits-all argument, every midden that's discovered on
the surface should be cleaned up and removed, because after all, at
one time it was just an ordinary garbage dump.
Diana
On Sep 25, 2008, at 2:19 PM, Terry Holsinger wrote:
Diana,
That same logic can be applied to "contemporary" signatures.
I believe this is part of the point that Mixon is making, and I
agree with for the most part.
I have been at graffitti cleanups that used the 50 year rule, and
they removed three generations of family signatures leaving only the
oldest (fourth generation) there by reducing the "value" of that one
siganture. That one, and all the others, should have been removed as
well regardless of it's age, as most of it's value was in the
context of the local family visiting this "sacrifice" cave. Graffiti
removal is mostly just an aesthetic reaction to someone else's
aesthetic values. It is a slippery slope when one places ones own
values onto others.
Terry H.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Diana R. Tomchick
Associate Professor
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Department of Biochemistry
5323 Harry Hines Blvd.
Rm. ND10.214B
Dallas, TX 75390-8816, U.S.A.
Email: [email protected]
214-645-6383 (phone)
214-645-6353 (fax)
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