What would we learn from this site that already has not been discovered?
I certainly believe we should preserve ancient sites that would add to our fundamental knowledge of the Roman empire we don't know.
I find it sort of bizarre that people in 4,500 AD would find Tampa, Fl or any other city so interesting as to want to preserve it.
2006...New Orleans.
How can we say up front what we'd learn about a dead civilization? That's a kooky premise from the git-go.
We have plenty of records from our civilization. Typing is a lot easier than etching into stone. There are not all that many records of what the Romans were like, let alone actual physical artifacts.
I think the key thing here is that it should have been fully excavated before the decision was made to trash it. I can understand the Mayor and CC not wanting an excavation in the town square for decades, but a realistic timeframe would probably have led to an economic bonanze in the area as well as giving us a chance to look for key info.
After all, think of how many of the key wars and intrigures started in or centred around SPain. Their records of Carthaginian contacts alone would be interesting since they had the most direct contacts (As major colonies) with them for a long time other than Sicily.
Bottom line is, if we excavate and it turns out to be a unique wonder of the ancient world, keep it.
If it isn't unique, retrieve everthing that can be grabbed, then pave it.
Sending the dozers in without proper excavation to ensure you get to park your cars faster is an act of wanton vandalism the Taliban would have admired.
"I find it sort of bizarre that people in 4,500 AD would find Tampa, Fl or any other city so interesting as to want to preserve it."
Made me think of this:
In Florida, workers discovered the remains of an ancient city while digging a canal between Lake Dora and Lake Eustis. The city exists far below sea level and was reported in Scientific American. Ref. 1, pp. 8384
I guess we'll never know now.
We've lost so much history due to ignorance, greed and bureaucratic incompetence and impatience, you'd think that by now, we'd be a little more supportive these days, especially when you run accross something that is as well preserved as they say this site was.
I certainly believe we should preserve ancient sites that would add to our fundamental knowledge of the Roman empire we don't know.
But sometimes its the little things that one discovers that can alter our fundamental understanding of things, or support a theory that had no corresponding evidence before. Who knows what they could have found there.
If the world were thrown into a cataclyism that destroyed everything and several thousand years pass and the surviving people run accross a burried but preserved Tampa, they may very well find it interesting.