Lives in Ruins, Marilyn Johnson
Lives in Ruins, Marilyn Johnson
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Lives in Ruins
Archaeologists and the Seductive Lure of Human Rubble

Author: Marilyn Johnson

Narrator: Hillary Huber

Unabridged: 9 hr 2 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 12/02/2014


Synopsis

Pompeii, 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 and treasures lost. Archaeological research tantalizes us with possibilities (are modern humans really part Neanderthal?). Where are the archaeologists behind these stories? What kind of work do they actually do, and why does it matter?

Marilyn Johnson's Lives in Ruins 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, and chases them through the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and even Machu Picchu. Her subjects share stories about slaves and Ice Age hunters, ordinary soldiers of the American Revolution, Chinese woman warriors, sunken fleets, and mummies. What drives these archaeologists is not the money (meager), the jobs (scarce), or the working conditions (dangerous) but their passion for the stories that would otherwise be buried and lost.

About Marilyn Johnson

Marilyn Johnson is the author of This Book Is Overdue!, about librarians and archivists in the digital age, and The Dead Beat, about the art of obituaries and obituary writers. The Dead Beat was chosen for the Borders Original Voice program and was a finalist for the Barnes & Noble Discover Award. Marilyn lives with her husband in New York's Hudson Valley.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Amy H. on December 20, 2014

Marilyn Johnson has achieved the unthinkable. Given the opportunity to meet cutting-edge and trend-setting archeologists, observe and take part in their work, and journey to some of the most promising digs and stimulating gatherings in the field, she has produced a shallow, vapid, and downright anno......more

Goodreads review by Carlos on December 09, 2016

It was nice to read a book about archaeology after a long time , but while it was nice to go down memory lane , this was not a book about actual archaeology but the experiences the author has after interviewing a couple of archaeologists, while is good that an author is generating interest in the fi......more

Goodreads review by Caroline on May 28, 2024

Indiana Jones may be the modern-day patron saint of archaeologists (Harrison Ford is even on the board of directors of the Archaeological Institute of America) but there are no such swashbuckling adventures in these pages. The heroes of Marilyn Johnson's book are thoroughly unacknowledged, unrewarde......more