[patton]

I read a book years ago, about the remains of an ancient civilization that were unearthed - it went on at length, about the significance of the religios shrine at the heart of the ruins..

As the story progressed, it eventually became clear that the shrine, complete with glass alters, etc, was the men’s room at Union Station...

[CzarNicky]

There was a book in a similar vein called “The Motel of the Americas” that detailed a future archaeologist discovering an ancient tomb, which we know is a motel room, and goes on to classify all the objects completely wrong.

[norton]

I remember that - except for the title, author, etc.

IIRC, they determined holiness of the objects because they were made of the most durable materials(?)

PS: It is true that our long after the fact or geographically remote attitudes make for convoluted interpretations of many artifacts.