Queries & Comments

Honest, We Were Only Kidding!

What the devil is “Hell Found Under Siberia” (BARlines, BAR 16:06), doing in BAR? I read your magazine to learn more about a subject that is already sadly filled with myths and misconceptions, not to read an article that would be refused by the National Enquirer as too ridiculous.

I could not believe my eyes when I read the item in BARlines entitled “Hell Found Under Siberia: Screams Scare Scientists” (BARlines, BAR 16:06). I used to say to my students that BAR was to archaeology what the National Enquirer was to responsible journalism. In more recent years I had begun to change my opinion—that is, until this item appeared.

The late classical scholar Sir Moses Finley once wrote that the first thing to ask of a document was who wrote it, and for what purpose? Documents never stand as objective witnesses to the truth, but are products of minds that are set in particular contexts and with special agendas. This goes for the most boring bureaucratic prose as well as the most sensational yellow journalism. Surely you appreciate this!