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Littlestone
Littlestone
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John Preston: The Dig
May 19, 2007, 11:51
Apologies, a little off topic I'm afraid but The Dig* by John Preston may be of interest, and perhaps relevant in the wider context of archaeological digs. The novel is based on the excavation of the Sutton Hoo burial mound in Suffolk in the summer of 1939.

"The book begins when Sutton Hoo landowner Edith Pretty hires Basil Brown, a self-taught local archaeologist, to excavate the burial mounds on the field by her house. Her husband, who had died suddenly in 1934, always felt there was something inside them: now, as the end of the world draws near, she wants to know if he was right. Brown slowly digs over the field, finding nothing. He almost gives up. Then, in a moment of revelation, he makes a discovery that will change his life - for better or worse.

"Great archaeological finds, however, are as much a reminder of what gets lost as they are of what endures. Inevitably, Sutton Hoo prompts thoughts of death and of our own insignificance. 'All this talk of decay, of obliteration, of any human imprint being swept away, had left me quite unfit for company,' one of Preston's narrators confesses."**

More here at http://www.eadt.co.uk/content/eadt/features/story.aspx?brand=EADOnline&category=Features&tBrand=EADOnline&tCategory=features&itemid=IPED17%20May%202007%2010%3A14%3A46%3A520

* The Dig by John Preston. ISBN 978-0-670-91491-3. pp231. £16.99.

** http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/generalfiction/0,,2078288,00.html
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