Will the Logos, Signs, and Trademarks of our times, be misinterpreted by future archaeologists?

Question

Wondering about archaeological digs in the future, say 2000 years from now.

If future archaeologists found symbols of McDonald's everywhere, and since the symbols are so prevalent all over the world, would they think it was a WORLD RELIGION?

Would future archaeologists see company names like, "Mercury" or find police badges with the star (pentagram) on them and determine that we still worshipped pagan gods, 2000 years after we supposedly stopped? Would the police badge be seen as a petition for protection from a pagan god?
I do understand there are neo-pagans (whose spirituality I respect) but most people of Western civilization identify with the Christian religion (for the record, I do NOT).

Would they be in a heated debate over whether Christianity completely wiped out the "old gods", or would the overwhelming symbolism that is still in existence in our culture, be seen as a sign of the survival of their worship with more prevalence than it actually is?

Answer 1

The biggest question is whether archaeologists or historians are going to be studying our civilization 2000 years from now.

For example:
Historians today more than archaeologists study the 19th and 18th century in Europe, because there are numerous written records dating from that period available for research.

Archaeologists today more than historians, study the Mayas, because there are very few written records from that period and most information is gathered by studying ruins and artifacts.

If our current civilization suffers a big natural disaster or widespread calamity such as an epidemic or nuclear war, and most of our written (and electronic) records are either destroyed or the people that understand them (we) die, then future archaeologists are the ones that (probably) will be unearthing our cities and studying our artifacts and reaching conclusions.

If on the contrary, civilization manages to survive in a more or less continuous way during the next 2 millenniums, then probably historians of the future are the ones that will study our times and customs. Maybe only experts would understand our language and our writing, just like only experts can read today a 12th century medieval manuscript, because language will surely have changed by then as well as writing.

Answer 2

Who knows ---historians tend to believe what they want to believe, and certainly edit out things they don't agree with. But comparing archeologists of the future to those of the present, there will be a really big difference. We document almost everything today, whether in print or electronically, so much of that supporting documentation would be available in 2000 years. This is as opposed to 2000 years in the past, where there was very little written documentation, and much of that existed in only one record--so if that one record was destroyed, that history is gone. Today, there are probably over a billion copies of the bible and Koran, and millions of copies of many other documents so the odds of all of them being destroyed are unlikely.

I think the conclusion of an archeologist 2000 years from now would be that we don't really worship any gods given all of our other supporting documents--the news media. Instead, we would seem to worship ourselves and money.

Answer 3

It's difficult for us, as people completely immersed in our culture, to see what's weird about our lifestyle. Who knows what archaeologists will think of us in the future? Although, heh, you have hit on something with the religion thing. It's a bit of a joke in the field that, if you don't know what something is, then it must be ceremonial.

Considering the shere number of churches just in the US, I doubt they'll have any difficulty figuring out which religion the majority of us followed. What I do wonder is how they'll know anything about us. The ancient Egyptians were largely a mystery until we were able to decipher their hieroglyphs. Well, we usually don't write on stone anymore. Paper doesn't last all that long, even in landfills, and it will be impossible for them to read information off of our computers and cds. Even if they have what will be to them ancient technology, there's no way the cds and memory cards will survive. They're going to have a bear of a time of it. Those signs you mention will probably be just as confusing for them as Linear B is to us.

Answer 4

Who knows? I doubt it. My response only represents my theory of the future. When industry and greed have depleted our earth's resources, the privileged will abscond to a human created satellite providing an environment required for human survival. Humans relegated to remaining on our planet will be the only true representatives of our species. Even though the artificial satellite has the necessary constituents for supporting human life, the nuances of life sustaining dynamics will not exist. Evolutionary specialization required for adaptation, will result in the development physiological changes that will result in, a not exactly, human. I love this planet. Hopefully I will be one of the earth bound residents.

Answer 5

That's a really interesting thought. I've wondered if humanity will go through a regression (sort of like the one in Anthem) and we'll look back and be shocked about things from the past. If this even made any sense.

Answer 6

I'm thinking of a "Barbie fertility cult." After all, just LOOK at those exaggerated breasts and hips! :)

The pointed toes were obviously designed to fit into a special holder that would be placed on a "shrine." (like the Chalcolithic figurines)

Answer 7

WOW! I answered another question about an hour or so ago on this same theme!

Answer 8

They will certainly pontificate their latest theory.