[Flick Lives]

But as it turns out, this historically significant settlement of northern Russia is also home to around thousand personal ‘tomes’ that are inscribed on bark of birch trees and are almost preserved in perfect condition. In fact, historians hypothesize that there are 20,000 similar specimens still waiting to be salvaged from the conducive anaerobic clay soil layers of the city environs.

What a wonderful treasure trove waiting to be uncovered. It is also unusual to have documents like these scribbling from a young boy. Often, the only thing that survives from the past, perhaps because paper or writing medium in the past was generally precious, are official documents. It would be like having the IRS tax code survive the next 1,000 years, and nothing else. How dreary would that be for a future historian!

[Sawdring]

It kind of reminds me of Braveheart when they are pretending to throw rocks at the English.

[seowulf]

It would be like having the IRS tax code survive the next 1,000 years, and nothing else.

I have this horrible feeling the IRS tax code will be the only thing to survive the next 1000 years.

But seriously, people are essentially the same today as they were 10,000 years ago. Read historical documents, read Homer, and you will find the same emotions, the same vices, and the same virtues you will always have.