{"product_id":"lives-in-ruins-archaeologists-and-the-seductive-lure-of-human-rubble-paperback","title":"Lives in Ruins: Archaeologists and the Seductive Lure of Human Rubble - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eMarilyn Johnson\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe author of \u003cem\u003eThe Dead Beat\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThis Book is Overdue \u003c\/em\u003e turns her piercing eye and charming wit to the real-life avatars of Indiana Jones--the archaeologists who sort through the muck and mire of swamps, ancient landfills, volcanic islands, and other dirty places to reclaim history for us all.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePompeii, Machu Picchu, the Valley of the Kings, the Parthenon--the names of these legendary archaeological sites conjure up romance and mystery. The news is full of archaeology: treasures found (British king under parking lot) and treasures lost (looters, bulldozers, natural disaster, and war). Archaeological research tantalizes us with possibilities (are modern humans really part Neandertal?). Where are the archaeologists behind these stories? What kind of work do they actually do, and why does it matter?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMarilyn Johnson's \u003cem\u003eLives in Ruins\u003c\/em\u003e is an absorbing and entertaining look at the lives of contemporary archaeologists as they sweat under the sun for clues to the puzzle of our past. Johnson digs and drinks alongside archaeologists, chases them through the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and even Machu Picchu, and excavates their lives. Her subjects share stories we rarely read in history books, about slaves and Ice Age hunters, ordinary soldiers of the American Revolution, children of the first century, Chinese woman warriors, sunken fleets, mummies.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhat drives these archaeologists is not the money (meager) or the jobs (scarce) or the working conditions (dangerous), but their passion for the stories that would otherwise be buried and lost.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eFront Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMarilyn Johnson, the author of two acclaimed books about quirky subcultures-\u003cem\u003eThe Dead Beat\u003c\/em\u003e (about obituary writers) and \u003cem\u003eThis Book Is Overdue!\u003c\/em\u003e (about librarians)-brings her irrepressible wit and curiosity to bear on yet another strange world, that of archaeologists. Who chooses to work in ruins? What's the allure of sifting through layers of dirt under a hot sun? Why do archaeologists care so passionately about what's dead and buried-and why should we?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJohnson tracks archaeologists around the globe from the Caribbean to the Mediterranean, from Newport, Rhode Island, to Machu Picchu. She digs alongside experts on an eighteenth-century sugar plantation and in a first-century temple to Apollo. She hunts for bodies with forensic archaeologists in the vast and creepy Pine Barrens of New Jersey, drinks beer with an archaeologist of ancient beverages, and makes stone tools like a caveman.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBy turns amusing and profound, \u003cem\u003eLives in Ruins\u003c\/em\u003e, with its wild cast of characters, finds new ways to consider what is worth salvaging from our past.\u003c\/p\u003e--\u003cb\u003eLibrary Journal (starred review)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMarilyn Johnson, the author of two acclaimed books about quirky subcultures-\u003cem\u003eThe Dead Beat\u003c\/em\u003e (about obituary writers) and \u003cem\u003eThis Book Is Overdue!\u003c\/em\u003e (about librarians)-brings her irrepressible wit and curiosity to bear on yet another strange world, that of archaeologists. Who chooses to work in ruins? What's the allure of sifting through layers of dirt under a hot sun? Why do archaeologists care so passionately about what's dead and buried-and why should we?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJohnson tracks archaeologists around the globe from the Caribbean to the Mediterranean, from Newport, Rhode Island, to Machu Picchu. She digs alongside experts on an eighteenth-century sugar plantation and in a first-century temple to Apollo. She hunts for bodies with forensic archaeologists in the vast and creepy Pine Barrens of New Jersey, drinks beer with an archaeologist of ancient beverages, and makes stone tools like a caveman.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBy turns amusing and profound, \u003cem\u003eLives in Ruins\u003c\/em\u003e, with its wild cast of characters, finds new ways to consider what is worth salvaging from our past.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 304\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.8 x 7.9 x 5.2 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e November 10, 2015\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47467967906045,"sku":"9780062127198","price":25.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/3414\/0157\/files\/Sm55YWIrVjRIM1Y5bGFSMmNTeHBUZz09.webp?v=1777281689","url":"https:\/\/booktolia.com\/products\/lives-in-ruins-archaeologists-and-the-seductive-lure-of-human-rubble-paperback","provider":"booktolia","version":"1.0","type":"link"}