You wipe your brow, and blink against the sun. Pushing yourself up from the bottom of the boat, you see the beaches of Watson's Holm fast approaching. The isle is dotted with acacias, and you can see the smoke of a distant fire rising into the sky. Several men on the beach busy themselves cracking open crates of supplies.
"Good morning, Dr. Dawson!"
You shift awkwardly to look behind you. Your assistant, Nathan, lifts his oars out of the lake. You watch droplets of water gleam in the morning light.
"I could have used some conversation on the journey, but nice to see you're finally awake!" Nathan grins. "No matter, I suppose you needed a good long rest before we get to work. But let's get at it now, the Kingdom of the Pangolin awaits!"
//What do you say?//
[["My apologies, the ride yesterday was just so tiring."]]
[["I do hope I won't have to deal with your insubordination for the entire length of our stay."]]"Oh, I know," Nathan says, "Spending all day on horseback isn't for everybody. You've been holding up remarkably well, really, if I may say!"
You search for your hat as laughter echoes from the beach ahead. You sit up, adjusting the hat to block the sun.
The keel of your boat skips off of some rocks, and slices into the sand.
[[Go talk to the curator]]Nathan shrugs, and begins rowing again.
You hear laughter from the beach as a few of the men hired by the museum drop their tools into the sand and open up their canteens.
The keel of the small boat slices into the sand.
[[Go talk to the curator]]
When you find Saunders he is just laying a fresh box of cigars out on a little table, propped up awkwardly in the grass.
"Ah, Dawson, old boy! Come, come, have a seat."
You catch the eye of one of the servants setting up a tent for Saunders. He stoops down to leave his hammer on the ground, and hurries over to find you a chair.
"Well that's the hard part done," Saunders says with a broad smile, "and now all of the work begins! Ready to get digging?"
//What do you say?//
[["Quite excited, actually. I'm sure there's more to uncover than we can imagine."]]
[["Well, I would appreciate some time to get settled."]]"That's the spirit, old bean!" Saunders slaps his knee and puts a cigar to his lips. His cigar cutter flashes, and he places it back on the table with a clatter and a flourish.
"When old Watson came through here he certainly saw some intriguing things, and I'm hoping we get to the bottom of some of it in our work together."
He strikes a match. Someone hands you a glass of water.
"Of course", Saunders says, puffing at the cigar. "Watson wasn't a man of science like you and me, accomplished explorer though he was. Oh! But where are my manners"
Saunders extends the cigar case towards you.
[[Take a cigar]]
[["No, thank you"]]"Ah yes," Saunders says, "but I'm afraid we've got to crack on now, old bean! Lots of investors back home waiting on results, and we can't make the British Museum look bad, now can we?"
He lops the end off of a cigar and reaches for a book of matches. Someone hands you a glass of water.
"I'm hoping we can sort out some of what old Watson spotted when he came through here. Not to disparage the man, accomplished explorer that he was, but it takes a keen scientific mind to truly uncover the mysteries of the past. Oh!"
Saunders stops puffing on his cigar.
"I do apologize, where are my manners"
He extends the box of cigars to you, struggling to get up from his small couch.
[[Take a cigar]]
[["No, thank you"]]Saunders lights the cigar for you.
"I do hope you can give some context to all those lovely pieces Watson sent back to England," he says. "I can't imagine we'll crack the whole mystery on our first outing here, though who's to say. If you're half as good as I hear, you'll be able to tell me the whole history of the primitive sort who lived here backwards and forwards by the time you're done. "
Saunders chuckles. "I'm expecting you'll have the whole place packed up, and all the lost tribes of Israel sorted out before the month is out! Ah, but it seems it's time to hop to it."
You turn to see Nathan handing you a rucksack.
"Best be on our way, doctor," he says, "only so much daylight to burn."
[[Explore the ruined temple]]"Suit yourself, they really are lovely, though. Well, as I was saying, I do hope you can give some context to all those lovely pieces Watson sent back to England. It's one thing to have interesting bits and bobs like that on hand, but just looking over those treasures can only get you so far. If we can get enough of the stuff collected and shipped back, maybe we can really get a grasp of the history hidden here."
The servants seem to have finished setting up Saunder's tent. They look towards him expectantly, but shuffle off when they fail to catch his eye.
"I expect you'll have a good handle on the history of whichever primitive kingdom ruled here, by the time you're done. Ah well, suppose it's time for you to be on your way already, here's your man now."
You turn to see Nathan climbing the small, grassy hill from the beach. He drops a rucksack in front of you, and hefts another pack over his shoulder.
"Best be on our way, doctor," he says, "only so much daylight to burn."
[[Explore the ruined temple]]Saunders gives you a little wave with his cigar. Nathan draws a machete and eyes the forest ahead. A few hired workmen assemble behind the two of you, shovels and picks in hand.
You were worried that the hike would be strenuous. But in the end you only have to push aside a few branches and travel for a few minutes into the woods to find yourself standing beneath the stones of the ruined temple.
You find a promising spot underneath one of the largest collections of stacked stones. The bottom half of a cracked obelisk catches your eye, and you spend a few minutes sketching. Under your instruction, Nathan soon has the site measured out. He hands you a spade.
[[Start digging]]To your dismay, most of the day is spent shovelling large deposits of dirt aside. Well, you can't have expected immediate success - whatever this place was, it's certainly been untouched for centuries.
By the time Nathan hands you your canteen and calls you away to have something to eat, the most promising things you have discovered are a few shards of pottery. As you wait for some hard tack to soak in your tea, you turn them over in your free hand. It's as you thought: these shards look remarkably similar to the bits of pottery you saw in the markets on your way here.
"What have you got there, then?"
Nathan saunters up, sipping from his own little metal mug. You look back to the bits of pottery. This place was once the seat of a great kingdom, why would the pottery here merely look the same as what the locals around the lake can produce now?
//What do you say?//
[["I was afraid of this. The site has been contaminated by local occupation."]]
[["I'm not sure yet, if I'm being perfectly honest. Let's keep digging"]]Nathan raises his eyebrows.
"Thought you were supposed to be the expert here, doctor." He takes a long sip of tea.
"Well, now that I think about it, that's a respectable enough position to have. Can't jump to conclusions, eh? Those bits of clay look like plenty of pots we've seen before, but who knows how old they are. Wonder what that could mean."
You sit for a moment, nearly crack your teeth on the bread, and think. A secretary bird gazes down at you from atop a tree before disapearing back among the leaves.
[[You keep digging]]"Hmmm," Nathan says, sympathetically, "I know you were worried about that before we left. Well, we have our work cut out for us then, if the Kingdom really did degenerate faster than you were hoping."
He sips at his tea and gives a slightly self-satisfied smirk.
"See doctor, some of the terminology really is sticking to my brain. I'm not going to be a complete burden. Well, perhaps this stuff is getting in the way, but Watson certainly thought there was more going on here"
With another little pang of dissapointment, you drop the pottery shards off to the side. Perhaps some administrator in the colony will be interested in them simply because of their age, but you doubt it.
The locals certainly couldn't have built this place, and there has to be some proof of that just under the surface.
[[You keep digging]]Nathan turns out to be quite the excavator, moving shovelfuls of dirt without any visible signs of fatigue. By the time the sun starts to dip towards the horizon and he's forced to start packing up your tools, you have almost an entire little antechamber of the temple complex revealed. The rest of the workmen trudge back to camp, and you pick through your finds by the light of a small oil lamp.
Unfortunately, the rest of the day has brought similar confusion. No matter how far down you go, you just can't seem to get free of bits of pottery which really do look like they could have come from the market just a few miles away. The impressions in the clay look almost identical, and the scaps of glaze that you can see look to be much the same colour.
[[Pick up the final object]]As Nathan returns and crouches down next to you, you pick up the most intriguing object of the day - finally, something unique, something that really must point to the kingdom that once put the great stones into place.
The figurine is missing an arm, but is otherwise remarkably intact. It stands on a hefty pedestal, and is made of a dark grey stone. The eyes shine - they seem to be semiprecious stones which have weathered the years without cracking. The head is scaly and long, and the figure seems to be some combination of man and armoured animal - a pangolin.
"There's something then, Dr. Dawson," Nathan says. "Can't say the whole day was a bust, now can we?"
//What do you say?//
[["This really does make up for things, though I wish we didn't have to deal with so many more recent objects"]]
[["You know Nathan, I'm not so sure our assumptions were correct..."]]Nathan nods sympathetically.
"You're right, doctor. From what you've told me, it sounds like the locals must have come in here at some time or another and left their rubbish around. What do you propose we do about it?"
[["Keep the shards of pottery for now, maybe they could still prove useful."]]
[["Bury the shards again, they're far too simple to have come from a kingdom that could build a palace like this."]]Nathan tilts his head.
"What exactly do you mean, doctor?"
[["It's just that we've found so many bits of pottery so deep down. Could the people who built this place be the same as those who live around it, after all?"]]
[["Oh, nevermind. Let's make our way back."]]Nathan nods, and hands you a pack of tools.
[[You pick your way through the woods and return to the camp]] Nathan rises again.
"Fair enough, doctor," he says, "you never really can tell I suppose. Maybe there's more to be learned from them than we expect. Best be getting back now, though, before we manage to get lost in the woods."
[[You pick your way through the woods and return to the camp]]Nathan searches your face for a second, but nods.
"Suppose you're right, I'll get them out of the way so we don't confuse ourselves."
He takes the little box of shards and digs a small hole, covering the pieces with dirt and ashes from the campfire.
[[You pick your way through the woods and return to the camp]] When you make it back to the camp, the curator waves you over.
"Ah," Saunders says, "got a bit of dirt under your fingernails, eh wot? No matter, come and join me for supper, I'm not about to make you stand on ceremony out here."
[[You take a seat]]"Well Dr. Dawson," says Saunders, tucking a napkin into his collar, "how was your first intrepid journey?"
You relate what you've found to the curator, as he tucks into a bowl of stew. When you've finished your summary of the day's work, Saunders wipes at his mouth and smacks his lips.
"Not a total loss then, my good man, nice to hear that. Let me see that queer little statue you found."
[[You hand it to him as he wipes grease from his fingers.]]Nathan's eyebrows flick upwards.
"You're saying all those little villages we passed through on our journey here might really be connected with this place? Anything's possible, I suppose. But the way the professors at the university were talking, it sounds like they must have degenerated quite a ways, if that's the case. Imagine going from crafting these great stones to rooting around in the dirt, putting little pots together."
Nathan trails off and glances up at the darkening sky.
"Best be on our way back, doctor."
[[You pick your way through the woods and return to the camp]] "Interesting little fellow isn't he?" the curator squints at the figurine and prods at its eyes.
"Probably of some religious significance, some old pagan god or other they must have held in high regard. Of course, the craftsmanship is just a little coarse, but not at all bad considering the stage of development this place must have reached in its heyday."
Saunders passes the figurine off to a waiting workman, who wraps it in paper and places it in a little wooden box. When he's finished securing the treasure, he retreats. The curator sips at his brandy.
"I know an oil man from America who keeps a small collection of such curios. Of course, someone at the museum will have the chance to look it over first, but passing it along will give us a bit of extra pocket money when we need to fund your next dig."
He finishes his drink.
"Well, best be getting to bed. Lots more to do tomorrow!"
[[You find your tent]]
Nathan is sitting by a small campfire when you find him. The tent is already up, and he's sipping beer from his little metal cup.
"Nice chat with Saunders, then?" he inquires.
[["Sounds like we'll have some more funding for our next expedition"]]
[["Nice enough, but I don't think he understands that we're here to get at the truth."]]"Always good to hear," Nathan says, "I certainly won't complain if we have better rations on our next journey - assuming you still want me along, that is!"
He stares into the campfire. You take a seat across from him and listen to the crackling flames.
"Now I might have missed something in my studies back home," Nathan begins, "I'm not about to claim that I was a perfect student. But I did think the consensus was that we shouldn't be able to find things all mixed up together like this. Bits of old, simple pots down with a lovely little statue like that, all in the middle of a great palace - or whatever it was - that would have taken ages to build. It just looks like it's all over the place."
He finishes his little cup of beer.
"Can you make any sense of it, doctor?"
[["Well you see, those bits of pottery are so simple, they could only have come from later occupation of the site. The kingdom that was here before was clearly much more developed than that."]]
[["What if it just isn't that simple?"]]"Ah well, perhaps he'll come around. I'm sure you'll be able to handle him, anyway."
You stare out to the lake for a moment. The fire crackles between you.
"Now I might have missed something in my studies back home," Nathan begins, "I'm not about to claim that I was a perfect student. But I did think the consensus was that we shouldn't be able to find things all mixed up together like this. Bits of old, simple pots down with a lovely little statue like that, all in the middle of a great palace - or whatever it was - that would have taken ages to build. It just looks like it's all over the place."
He finishes his little cup of beer.
"Can you make any sense of it, doctor?"
[["Well you see, those bits of pottery are so simple, they could only have come from later occupation of the site. The kingdom that was here before was clearly much more developed than that."]]
[["What if it just isn't that simple?"]] With a hint of exasperation, you explain: The stonework, and even that relatively crude figurine, must have meant that the people who lived on this isle centuries ago were not, at least, simple savages. If they were able to raise these stone structures, that means that they must have accheived at least some significant development. Based upon that alone, you deduce, they must have developed horticulture and kept animals, and must have made it beyond simplistic animism in their spiritual beliefs.
Nathan nods along.
"I see," he says when you've finished, "I do recall most of that, yes. It must have taken quite some doing for all of that simple pottery to wind up down there though. It sounds like whoever built this place must have used much more advanced techniques to make everyday things, if they had all of that complicated stuff figured out."
Nathan stands up and stretches for a moment.
"I'll see you in the morning then, doctor. It's a shame that locals dug down so far at some point and left their measly bits of pottery mixed in with the real treasures here. But it sounds like you know what you're talking about, and I'm sure you'll have it all figured out by the time we leave."
He trudges off to his tent on the opposite side of the camp.
[[You rest for the night]]You wonder aloud about what you've seen so far: the shards of pottery you've found are very simple, they must have been from little pots crafted by hand, much the same as the litle pots in the markets you had seen on your journey here. But the figurine and the great ruins of the temple look quite complex - there must have been a great deal of specialized labour involved, and an immense amount of organization to put the whole thing together.
"What if," you hazard, "we're going about this the wrong way? What if this kingdom might have had some difficult things figured out, but not others?"
Nathan looks at you over the dying flames.
"Is that possible?" he asks, "I thought each of those things was inseparable from the rest."
[["Maybe that's what you've been taught, but what if there's another explanation?"]]
[["I suppose I must have missed something, you're right - a kingdom like this couldn't have such advanced buildings, and yet have lived so simply otherwise"]]"What if they were wrong?" you say, hesitantly, "Tylor and Morgan and all the rest? What if things just don't progress quite so cleanly?"
"What do you mean?" Nathan sits forward on the grass.
"What if we can't simply sit back in our armchairs and figure out what a whole society would have looked like by seeing the one piece of it?"
"I have always thought that was a bit odd," Nathan remarks. "Why would it be, though, that a kingdom which could raise a temple and come up with all sorts of gods, yet stick to such simple ways of living otherwise?"
[["Perhaps not everybody thinks quite the same way, and perhaps their needs were a bit different than what we might expect"]]
[["I suppose I must not see the full picture yet. I must be mistaken"]]Nathan purses his lips, lost in thought. Then he stands, and starts to collect his things.
"Well, Dr. Dawson, it's certainly a puzzle. But you're right - it's too bad all that simple pottery is mixed in with the good stuff, it must have come from some local group or other later on. Well, I suppose we have quite a bit of time to work it all out, and I'm sure you'll know where everything is meant to go by the end."
Nathan trudges off to his tent on the other side of camp. You duck into your own tent with a sigh.
[[You rest for the night]] Across the lake, the sun disapears below the horizon. You douse your lantern and try to settle your mind.
[[The next day, you get back to work]]Nathan looks pensive.
"So maybe it isn't that every society goes through the same stages in quite the same way. Interesting enough."
"Yes," you exclaim, "who's to say that, simply because something is more complicated, it must be a better way to do something? Can we stand here and say that our way of living is the pinnacle, the ultimate expression of what's come before? It could well be that we don't see a need for one thing, or have felt the urge to move on from another, but that other groups wouldn't have seen it that way at all. What could we be missing by refusing to shift from that thinking?"
Nathan meets your eyes, you realiize that you'd been getting more excited than you meant to let on.
"There are some gaps there, certainly," Nathan says, "plenty to think about. I wonder if, while we're out here, we can sort through some of it and come up with something a little closer to the truth."
He stands.
"In any case, doctor, lots to get on with tomorrow. Good night!"
Nathan makes his way across camp to his tent.
[[You rest for the night]]
"That's all right, doctor," Nathan says, "I'm sure it will all line up eventually. Those great thinkers surely have it almost right, perhaps you just need to help them work out the details."
Nathan makes his way to his tent, and you turn in as well.
[[You rest for the night]] The following day, you and Nathan pace out the next section of your work. Next to the antechamber, partly covered by an enourmous fallen stone, there seems to have once been another room. The hired workmen spend most of the day tugging at it with ropes and pulleys, and eventually the thing gives way.
It takes your group a few days, in total, to delve deeper into the temple complex. In that time, you have quite a few moments to ponder what this place must have been. There were priests here once, and there must have been quite a few worshippers to drag these stones across the island and prop them up here. Could they, perhaps, have even come from across the lake? What sort of kingdom could move mountains, but relied on such simple manifestations of daily living.
[[Then you find the iron]]Metalworking, you had thought, was entirely unknown to the inhabitants of this place and the surrounding lands. While you were travelling towards Watson's Holm, you certainly saw the locals making use of European tools. But you have not seen any evidence at all of local forges or smithies.
So when your spade strikes something hard under the earth with a sharp clink, it comes as a bit of a shock.
Pushing aside the surrounding debris, you draw forth a little iron knife.
There wasn't supposed to be iron here. These people had barely domesticated cattle, they had only ever known stone tools and simple weaponry. Isn't that right.
[[You pocket it and keep digging]]
"I believe so, doctor," Nathan says, holding the little knife up between the two of you. "The handle has almost entirely decayed, but it's certainly in the same style. Do you think the lost people that built this place could really shape metal like this? Could they have passed on some of that knowledge?"
[["It can't have come from around here. It must have been brought from outside"]]
[["Maybe they really could have made it themselves."]]"Oh, of course," Nathan exclaims, "I believe I've heard of things like this happening. There has to be a logical explanation of course, and that does seem to make sense."
You lay out the possibilities. The people who once called this island home, and who once worshipped at this temple, may have acquired this piece of metal through trade. That is, of course, the most likely possibility, as otherwise they would have had to produce it themselves. And could they really have learned to work iron on their own, without otherwise advancing?
Of course not. And if this iron did not come through trade, then it surely must have been produced using techniques that came from outside of the society in question. Perhaps this knowledge had reached them through diffusion, through contact with some other, greater group. And perhaps that greater, far more sophisticated group was truly the one that built this place. That's who you've got to find out about!
[[Nathan has been turning the knife over in his hands while you talked.]]
Nathan weighs the chipped piece of iron in his hand.
"You really think so? It's possible, perhaps we missed something in getting here. It's not as if we spent much time talking to people in getting here. I know I don't even speak any of the language at all."
Some of the workmen call out to him and he turns from you, holding the scrap of iron back in your direction.
"An intriguing possibilty doctor, let's discuss it when we get back to camp."
[[You don't find anything else of note until a few days later]]An hour later, you lean against a stone pillar and wipe the dirt from your face with a damp cloth.
"Anything interesting, Dr. Dawson?" Nathan trots up to you.
"I might just have something," you say. You reach into your pack and produce the little iron knife. Your assistant takes it gingerly from your hand.
"Curious," he says, "almost like the one I saw that market woman wearing some days ago."
[["What do you mean, you've seen this iron before?"]]
"I suppose that does make a bit more sense than what I had in mind at first, doctor. Thanks very much for clearing that up. I know I've got lots to learn."
He passes the knife back to you.
"Where do you think these ancient people got the idea of making iron, then?
[["Some other nearby culture must have come up with it first - maybe there's an even more impressive kingdom yet to be discovered!"]]
[["If such an idea can only be passed from place to place, then there must have been some ultimate originator! Human beings are not as imaginative as we like to think. I'm sure we're on the cusp of finding some ancient, lost tribe - the progenitors of all such technological acheivement!"|ultimate originator]]
"Yes, the idea must have diffused through these lands, but of course the working of iron might have arisen in several places at different times," Nathan agrees.
"Still plenty that we can get done today, before the rest of the men tire. I'm sure that this find alone will be most encouraging for Dr. Saunders, as well."
[[You don't find anything else of note until a few days later]] Nathan doesn't try to keep the shock from his face.
"Do you really think that's possible?" he exclaims.
The two of you watch the men across the field, shovelling great piles of dirt out of a pit. There is so much useless sediment between you and your goal - under all of that dead earth must be some ultimate truth, something that points to the people who spread scraps of civilization through these lands.
"You would know better than I would," Nathan says. He looks pensive, still mulling over the visions that you have shared with him. Eventually he shifts from where he has been leaning against the wall.
You stare at the knife, and feel like this might be the start of a greater journey towards the truth than you first thought.
[[You don't find anything else of note until a few days later]] What you thought was the main temple complex turned out to merely be a sort of side passage - perhaps a room for the preparation of bodies? You push the speculation from your mind, there simply isn't enough to go on yet.
You sit in the shade, trying to mend a small tear that's just appeared in one of your trouser legs.
[[That's when one of the workmen approaches with a piece of stone clutched in his hands]]The bas relief depicts a figure seated in what you can only imagine to be a throne. A stylized image of the blazing sun looms above him. At one edge of the tablet, there looks to be a disembodied foot - part of a once-connected panel.
"Are there more of these?" you ask. It's difficult to take your eyes off the thing. When you do, you see the labourer nodding emphatically. He calls out to his fellows, and leads you back towards the worksite.
[[There are more than a dozen of them.]]Laid out in a pile, some fragmented, and others in nearly-pristine condition, are a collection of these stone tablets. Some scenes are difficult to make out, but others are clear and vibrant. There are many sorts of people depicted here - kings and farmers, priests and masons.
Nathan is dusting one off with a small brush. He blows the dirt away and looks up towards you.
"The walls were covered in them!" he shouts, "they came right down, too, once we got the crowbars out. Saunders will have a lovely time looking these over, don't you think?"
[["Well done! I'm certain he'll be pleased."]]
[["Why in the world would you rip them out of the walls like that?"]] Nathan finishes his work on the first of many tablets lying at your feet.
"I knew you would be happy to see what we'd found for you, doctor."
Kneeling, [[you inspect the reliefs]] Nathan's face falls.
"Well, Dr. Dawson, I'm sorry, but that's just the way things are done, isn't it? If I'd known that you wanted to take a look at them before we took them down I would have talked to you first."
"I'd certainly say you should have consulted me," you say.
"I'll know better next time," Nathan responds, "though I can't very well see how we're to ship them back to England if they're affixed to a stone wall all the way over here!"
Trying to contain your annoyance, [[you inspect the reliefs]] As you look over the stone tablets in front of you, you start to feel that this ancient society is laid out before you. Each person depicted in these reliefs is performing a role - ruler or soldier, potter or prohet. This was no small community of hunters, with everyone fulfilling essentially the same duties day in, day out.
Viewed from above like this, it reminds you of looking at charts you'd seen at the university - the human body laid open to the eye, with each of its organs performing a particular role, contributing to the overall health of functioning of the body.
Nathan has been scribbling away in his notebook next to you. He sees you gazing thoughtfully at the tablets.
"What's on your mind, Dr. Dawson?"
[["Look at the institutions that these people built - everyone had a part to play"]]
[[ "Look at the ages their kingdom endured - everything had a function"]]
"Look at how large this kingdom must have been," you say, pointing to an engraving of farmers toiling in vast fields. "Look at how they had to depend on one another. With everyone playing their part, it's no wonder that they survived and built this place."
You cast your eyes over the immense steps and pillars around you. They are cracked and weathered, but still stand, monuments to the temples and palaces that filled this clearing.
"People ruled here, got married, built trade and went to war. These were real parts of their lives - there before they were born and still there after they died."
"It's certainly hard to see how things that grand and solid could change very quickly," Nathan agrees.
[[ "They all had to do their duty." ]]Your eye has landed on a depiction of a small shrine, with prostrate worshippers before it. Standing on the shrine are more of those little figures with animal heads. Some kind of priest of shaman seems to be directing the ceremony.
"What do you think they were for?" Nathan wonders aloud.
"They must have had some meaning to these people," you say. "Even if we don't understand this ritual or what it was for, it must have served some function. It must have helped these people through their lives, or kept them all together in one way or another."
"I suppose with some more time, we might come to understand more about who these people were," says Nathan. He looks up towards the sky. "But now, doctor, it's time for supper."
[[ "I suppose we should wrap up for the day." ]] "Each of them had someting to do in passing those institutions along. Each generation depended on the one that came before."
Nathan nods. "Feels like you could figure it all out just by looking at it from here, doesn't it?"
[[ "And look, even those figurines must have had a function." | "Look at the ages their kingdom endured - everything had a function"]]
[[ "I suppose we should wrap up for the day." ]]You have a simple supper in your tent, pondering the discoveries of the last few days. Some of the workmen are playing cards near the fire outside, and though you feel it might be entertaining to join them, you don't think they've been too eager to have you around, for some reason...
You hear a great splashing sound from the lake, followed by a string of blustering curses.
[[What could that be?]]Stepping outside to investigate, you find the curator struggling back onto the beach from the middle of the lake. He still holds a fishing pole.
He catches your eye and waves, before spitting up another mouthful of lake water.
"Dawson, old boy, get down here and give me a hand, would you?"
You slide down the sand to meet Saunders, and haul him out of the water.
"Was hoping something would bite," he says, "but didn't think it would nearly drag me under!"
He lowers himself to the sand with a massive sigh.
"Now then, be a good chap and fetch us some brandy, would you?"
[[Go get a bottle for him]]
[["Actually, sir, I've been meaning to talk to you about the expedition.]]You hurry back up the hill, and return with one of the curator's favourites, along with a pair of glasses.
"Ah, marvellous, thank you ever so much." Saunders pours a sizable portion for himself. "Now then, how would you say the excavations are proceeding? Your assistant tells me you had quite the haul earlier today."
[["They're going quite well, really. What a fascinating place this must have been in its heyday, simple though these people were"]]
[["Well..."]]"Oh, well, can't it wait until the morning, old chap?"
Saunders wipes lake water from his eyes and looks at you expectantly.
[[Go get a bottle for him]]
[["We can't rip the site apart like this - we don't even understand what we're destroying"]]"Understand?" Saunders sputters, "By God, what's there to understand, Dawson? These people were primitives, the same as any we've seen, anywhere in the world!"
"That may be what you believed when we got here, sir, but can't you see that it simply can't be the case?"
"I thought I brought you here becase you knew what you were talking about," Saunders says, struggling to his feel again. He braces himself against the sand with his fishing pole.
[["I've had some time to think, and this place must have been more complex than we imagined"]]"That's what I like to hear, old sport, that's just what I like to hear!"
Saunders celebrates by filling your glass to the brim, before turning the bottle around and sloshing the brandy into his own.
"Yes indeed," you say "I'm sure your investors and the museum itself will be quite pleased."
"Oh, most assuredly!" Saunders exclaims. "You know, being out here reminds me of my military days, some of the best times of my life, I tell you! Did I ever relate the tale of the of the time we were surrounded in the desert..."
You spend the rest of the evening nodding along to the stories of Saunders' military exploits.
[[Another week later, you make your most significant discovery]]"Well? Out with it, man, you must agree that we're making splendid progress!"
Saunders empties his glass.
[["They're going quite well, really. What a fascinating place this must have been in its heyday, simple though these people were"]]
[["We can't rip the site apart like this - we don't even understand what we're destroying"]] You've discovered several small houses buried under the earth, and have spent the past few days pulling up more bits of pottery, and even a few more iron utensils. Nathan has been welcome company during the work, and you have found him more and more engaged in your conversation as the work has proceeded.
"Now doctor," he says as he empties out a wheelbarrow, "you've been telling me that you believe this kingdom functioned like some great machine, like a body with different parts performing different functions."
"That's more or less the way I've come to see things, yes."
"And everyone had a part to play here, yes."
"They must have, otherwise how could the whole thing have kept going?"
Nathan shakes the last of the dirt from the wheelbarrow.
"It sounds," he says, "like everyone got along splendidly. But that's not like any city I've ever been to. Sure enough, most people get on with their day-to-day. But someone always bucks the trend, what about them?"
[["There would have been plenty of ways to put people back in line"]]"I've seen the bigger picture now," you say, "every part of this society must have served a purpose. There were grand institutions here, and each would have played a part in keeping this culture alive."
Saunders scoffs. "I don't know what you're on about, old boy, but I can't say such grandiose language makes much sense around here."
"But it's true," you continue, "we were confused at first because it seemed that everything had to advance together. But now I can see that change can occur in one part of a culture, and it can affect the others, but advancement doesn't work through the whole thing at once.
"I don't think you're making much sense, my good man." Saunders squints at you. "Are you saying that they were more civilized than we thought, or are you saying they stumbled into things?"
[["They didn't advance by mistake, but it's also not so simple."]]Saunders puffs his cheeks out and lifts his eyes to the sky.
"Well then, make me understand it, doctor, because at the moment I'm having quite a hard time seeing the sense in anything you have to say!"
Your jaw clenches.
"I don't think a culture like this can be boiled down to civilized or not, not really, wherever their advancement came from. But it does seem to have all functioned together, with different changes happening at different times. In fact, it's hard to see how change in one area could have been isolated - it would have had to affect the others."
Saunders starts walking back towards the camp.
"It simply sounds like you're agreeing with me now, without wanting to admit it!"
"But sir, it's just not that easy to-"
Saunders raises a hand to cut you off. He departs, dripping.
[[Another week later, you make your most significant discovery]] "Yes," Nathan says, "but you can't tell me that it would have worked perfectly, not all the time."
"Of course not, but well enough, I suppose."
Nathan pauses in his work. "It does still sound, doctor, as though this society you're describing had to have been more or less perfect, though, doesn't it? Unchanging?"
"Well, at least for a while..."
"You think people could go along with the way things are for centuries? Even if it didn't suit them?"
[["Yes, really, I think people are mostly the instruments of institutions."]]
[["Maybe not... perhaps human beings are more individualistic than that, more inclined to buck trends"]]Nathan leans against his shovel, driving it into the dirt. He smacks his lips and wipes a dust-covered sleeve across his brow.
"Not an especially generous view of mankind," he says. He looks out over the field, at the workmen toiling to lift a stone back into place. "But perhaps I can't fault you for thinking that way..."
[[And under the hot sun, you keep digging]]"At the very least," Nathan says, "I think it would be going too far to say that people are only the tools of the powers around them."
He shrugs.
"Or maybe I just don't want to be that pessimistic."
[[And under the hot sun, you keep digging]] You pull the cowrie shells from the earth first. Just one or two to start, drifing through the soil as you pass it from your spade. But then a fragile thread appears, and there are dozens of shells still attached to it.
"What have you got there doctor?" Nathan has caught your expression of renewed fascination. He rushes over.
You begin to pull an elaborate headdress from the earth.
[[And you see the bones it once covered]]"I don't understand," Nathan says as you stare down at them. "This doesn't look anything like a cemetary."
And it doesn't. You had thought you were excavating a small dwelling - still an important part of what you've been thinking of as a temple complex, but certainly not a graveyard.
"Maybe we don't understand exactly what we're looking at," you ponder aloud.
"Well, I certainly know that there's a skull under here," Nathan says, brushing dirt away.
"No," you say, "I mean..."
[["We still don't understand the history of this place. We don't know how these people thought."]]Nathan pauses.
"I thought we were getting some idea together."
"We have some insight into what this place was," you say, "but then again, we've only scratched the surface. Can you read the writing on any of those tablets we pulled up? Do you know anyone who could?"
"Can't say that I can..."
"Then I don't think we understand the history at all. And without understanding where this place came from, how can we understand what it was? More to the point, how can we understand the people who live here now?" You gesture accross the lake, and from there look to the faces of the workmen. They have turned towards you, and you realize that your voice has become more animated than you realized.
[["Nevermind, I know the curator is expecting us..."]]
[["What I'm saying is, we need more data. We can't make these broad statements."]]You finish the exhumation in silence. Nathan eyes you warily, but continues without complaint.
[[You collect your artifacts, and face the curator]]//What do you do with all that you have collected?//
[[Pack it up and hand it to the curator]]
[[Bury the bones, give him the rest]]
[[Sabotage the curator's shipments]]Nathan nods. "I've been thinking that way for some time. I can't imagine why the museum, and all of Saunders' rich friends, would want everything removed from this place right away. They don't even know what they're buying. I've been thinking about it ever since I took those engravings down from the walls."
"Of course. But it's bigger than that as well. We just can't understand a culture without understanding its history. And we need a different approach."
"What's on your mind?"
[["We need to start small. Maybe then we can work our way back up."]]
[["Nevermind, I know the curator is expecting us..."]] "Or in any case, we need to take a more inductive approach. We started our work believing that we knew what we were doing, and why? Because of men philosophizing about it back in England. We could have just as easily stayed home, sat by the fire, and decided what the world was like, if that's all that we were going to go by."
"And skip the excavations?"
"Why bother uncovering ancient things? Why bother talking to living people? If you're just going to fit them into the boxes you already had prepared, that is. No, we might want general theories of how human beings work, how cultures come together, but we can't get them that way."
"I thought you were supposed to be a man of science," Nathan laughs. He sits back, relaxed, but you catch a pang of concern on his face. "Do you propose to leave us adrift?"
[["Not exactly. But there's much more to understand"]]A few days later, everything is packed up. The expedition is finished.
"Good show, old boy!" the curator shouts as he descends towards the beach. "Not leaving anything behind, I hope."
You shake your head.
"Ah, no matter anyway, I'm sure you'll be back soon enough, what with the treasures you've recovered for us. They may well have to open a new wing of the British Museum for you!"
He laughs and claps you on the shoulder.
"For now though, no more digging, of course. Back we go, friend, job's done, king and country and all that. I'd say you should feel quite accomplished! I hope you don't have any doubts about your performance?"
[[The End]]"I must say, old chap, just a bit dissapointed that your final week or two here hasn't yeilded quite what I'd hoped."
The boat rocks beneath you, in time with the shifting oars of the labourers. The curator fans himself with a broad-brimmed hat.
"We shall certainly have to see what we can do next time, and I suppose I can look to see if there's a place for you on our next expedition. We've broken even and all, and that was our goal, after all."
[[The End]] In the dead of night, you sneak from your tent. The island is quiet and remote, and the curator has not bothered to set a watch. You wake Nathan and make your way to the hastily-built dock on the beach.
[[You take back the pangolin-headed figurine]]You crack open the crate as quietly as the two of you are able, and you draw out the box containing the small stone figure.
[[You put the tablets on a boat]]The two of you just manage to drag the crate containing all of the stone tablets, all that history, onto a small sailboat docked by the shore.
[[You bury everything again]]It's not perfect, none of it is perfect. But you sail the small boat around the island, and stay out of sight as best you can. Nathan has the little iron knives. You hold the bones of the long-dead inhabitant of this island. You reach the other side of Watson's Holm.
[[You keep digging through the night]]You bury the tablets as safely as you can, away from the rain and the sun. You lay the knives on top of them. You even leave your notebook, tucked under the small stone figurine. You don't know how long it will last down there. Maybe long enough.
You don't know how to explain what you've done.
You aren't sure where to go from here.
But you make your way back to camp. On the way, you inter the old bones as well as you can once again, near where you first found them.
Maybe some day you will be back. Maybe you will keep digging.
[[The End]]Have you explored all that you wanted to explore? Or would you still like to [[keep digging?|Welcome to Watson's Holm]]"Without knowing the language, how can we know how these people thought? Are their descendents still here? Could they shed any light on what their ancestors believed, what they dreamed about?"
"I couldn't say..."
"And why aren't we asking these questions? Can we call our studies science if they lead us further and further from the truth, even though what we're doing looks like the work of a physicist or geologist? We need to understand a people from within their own culture as best we can - still being outsiders. And we must seek to understand their history"
"I don't see much point in that, to be sure."
"What we are doing must be the search for fact. Only then can we start to think about the wider truth."
[[There is a brief silence]]"I don't know where to go from here," Nathan says.
The two of you stare at the ancient bones in the dirt.
"Neither do I," you say. "I don't think we'll be finished for a long time. It might take generations before we're on the right track."
Nathan looks to the trees, rustling in the growing wind.
"We should be getting back," he says, "it's getting dark."
"You're right," you say, "it's hard to keep going like this."
[[You collect your artifacts, and face the curator]]