As I began to read the introduction to this book, I admit to being quite skeptical. Historically, scholars from the Western world have analyzed other cultures incorrectly by making assumptions based on Western understanding. To project meaning onto objects from a foreign society and create a historical narrative based on our own interpretation is dangerous, which the author admits.

Reading on, I found several concepts discussed which helped bolster the author’s authority in studying objects from other cultures. First, a quantity of items lends credence to an analysis. The discovery of numerous pottery shards on the east coast of Africa as a group was evidence of trade throughout the Indian Ocean; it would have been impossible to reach this conclusion with only one item, or with several shards from different time periods.

The use of new technology in reinterpretting an object is also significant. DNA evidence is being analyzed to identify mummified bodies by scientists today to glean historical information about the ancient world. The identification of the exact boulder in Italy from which an axe found in England was made is a fascinating example of how an object can convey information about early trade routes among diverse societies.

Most important, in my opinion, is the author’s idea of interpreting past cultures through the eyes of people living in the same places today, such as the feather helmet found in Hawaii by British Captain Cook. Asking native islanders about the object’s meaning and significance can shed more light on the truth than any Western interpretation.

Reading the introduction makes me want to read the rest of the book, and since I found it in my local library system, I’ll be able to do so. I think that knowing how these 100 objects were analyzed will help with the remaining work in this class.