In the 1930s, archeologists discovered an ancient Roman fort in England. Using historical records, they calculated that the fort was built in the year 43 AD, almost 2,000 years ago!
They found rusty helmets and swords, some broken pottery and iron wheels– all pretty normal things to find in a fort. But they also found something unusual, some very thin “slices” of wood.
Using infrared technology, scientists were able to scan the wood, and realized there was faded writing scratched on it. Linguists were able to translate the writing, and discovered the piece of wood was a 2,000 year old shopping list!
“Beans, chickens, apples, eggs, fish sauce, and olives” were the main items to get from the market. Amazing how two millennia later we are still writing things down and buying pretty much the same stuff.
Imagine it is the year 4000. Archaeologists excavate your house and find a Post-It with your grocery list on it. Your sticky note will sit in a museum where thousands of people marvel at your chicken-scratch handwriting. “Chicken, apples, eggs, olives! Wow, they ate just like we do!” they will say.
History really does repeat itself.