Be Careful What You Ask for …

Saturday, June 18, 2011

I’m reading a paperback edition of Bill Bryson’s “A Short History of Nearly Everything” and in the chapter titled ‘The Mysterious Biped” I read the story of Ralph von Koenigswald, paleontologist, running a team in Java.

He wants bone fragments, right?

“Koenigswald’s discoveries might have been more impressive still but for a tactical error that was realized too late.

He had offered locals 10 cents for every piece of hominid bone they could come up with, then discovered to his horror that they had been enthusiastically smashing large pieces into small ones to maximize their income.”.

Ugly.

But funnily nice.

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