Motel Of The Mysteries Essay

Curiosity is mankind’s rudimentary drive. Humans possess a natural desire for knowledge, craving to learn and understand. This is illustrated in David Macaulay’s novel Motel of the Mysteries when in the year 4022, Howard Carson, an amateur archeologist, finds himself at the bottom of a shaft, which he soon realizes is the entrance to a still-sealed burial chamber. Howard Carson and Harriet Burton’s diary of artifacts from the twentieth century displays Macaulay’s theme that humans construct theories in the absence of answers, but often fall victim to inaccuracy.
People have a tendency to overestimate the significance of unfamiliar, ordinary items and practices. For example, after Howard Carson stumbled upon the buried tomb, he and his team

began to investigate their surroundings. Through the excavation, Carson’s companion, Harriet Burton, described their findings in her diary (Macaulay 22-39). It quickly becomes apparent that many of the uncovered items are labeled as “sacred” or “ceremonial”, despite only having a practical use. Even so, excitement over ordinary items is frequently felt during excavations. Dr. Ruth Tringham, a professor of Anthropology at the University of California, discusses her experience as an archaeologist. She explains, “Although I don’t consider myself a big ‘artifact’ person, the thrill of finding something, turning it over and knowing that you are the first person to see that surface after x-thousand years is one that always remains in my memory. I’m not one of those people blessed with ‘archaeologist’s luck’ but I still have a lot of such memories…[One] was when I turned over an unspectacular piece of burned clay rubble at Opovo, and saw the vitrified remains of a piece of 6000-year old cloth” (SCA). Both the piece of cloth and burned rubble held little to no value. Tringham even went as far as to label the rubble as “unspectacular”. Although many of the artifacts that she had uncovered were trivial, Tringham still considered them to possess significance. This, as well as Howard Carson’s situation exemplify the tendency to overestimate significance in standard, yet unfamiliar, items and practices.
So, unable to explain a phenomenon, people often reason through religion.

Near the beginning of the novel, Macaulay writes: “Evidence unearthed at several widely scattered sites indicates the entire continent was covered by a complex network of grey and black stripes” (Macaulay 10). Through this statement, the reader can easily recognize that Macaulay is referring to a system of highways. However, he continues to describe these highways through the perspective of those living in the year 4022, explaining: “Until the development of the high-altitude infrared draftsmanship, the intricacy of this network was unknown. Becauses the various patterns can only be fully appreciated from the air, the German scholar Heinrich Von Hooligan believes the stripes were planned either as landing strips for extraterrestrial craft or as coded messages from the inhabitants of the continent to their many powerful gods” (Macaulay 10). So, because of the mystery behind this network, Hooligan theorized through religion, generating a correlation between the highways and the “many powerful gods” of the inhabitants of Usa. This type of reasoning can also be seen in real life. For example, an article on ScienceDaily described a project led by a group of archaeologists from the British Museum and University of Leicester that revealed how the first generations of Europeans who arrived in the Americas engaged with native peoples and their spiritual beliefs. The article explained, “A large collection of

early colonial inscriptions and commentaries written by named individuals within a cave system of pre-existing indigenous spiritual iconography provides dramatic new insights into the tone and personal context of this momentous time of encounter” (“Cave Discoveries Shed Light on Native and European Religious Encounters”). Faced with a new discovery, the archaeologists deducted that the cave inscriptions were spiritual. Accordingly, people possess a tendency to explain situations through religion.
Moreover, people tend to allow themselves to be consumed by exciting ideas.

For example, in Motel of the Mysteries, the effects of the archeological excavation on Carson are described as such: “Driven by an overwhelming sense of responsibility to the past along with a burning desire to contribute significantly to the future, Carson soon lost control of the present...His original schedule...soon gave way to the frenzied and exhausting pace of an eight-hour day...It was also said that during the day, Carson would chat quite freely with either or both of the skeletons, which, in one of his more lucid moments, he had nicknamed Dembones and Dozebones for quicker identification” (Macaulay 34). Carson, having just uncovered his first significant discovery as an archeologist, became absorbed in the thrill of the ancient findings. However, he was not the only archeologist to have been influenced by the excavation. Macaulay describes Burton’s experience as well, stating: “Not surprisingly, Harriet, too, began to feel the strain. In her only recorded outburst, she kicked her way into the lab and insisted that she be allowed to wear some of the priceless treasures” (Macaulay 36). It becomes clear that she, too, became consumed by the excitement encompassing the excavation. These two incidents clearly illustrate people’s tendencies to be absorbed by compelling

ideas.
Alas, man’s desires often stem from human curiosity. This thirst for knowledge and understanding is meticulously illustrated throughout David Macaulay’s Motel of the Mysteries. Through Carson and Burton’s diary of artifacts, Macaulay effectively exhibits the human tendency to theorize in the face of what is unknown, however, often ensuing inaccuracy in the end.