A cynic would say that the archaeological evidence shows primarily how buildings met the ground, not how they really looked. In fact, the most ardent archaeologists today may be not the professionals going by this noum, or the paleontologists or anthropologists. The modern builders, engineers and architects are. For sure they will add countless mummies and sherds, decades or even centuries after they have completed their buildings.

In the end, in spite of or because of the Bidens and Putins of this world, we will leave only symbols of an era that will remain in the dark past, forever unintelligible —as it is already now; yet as long as these symbols remain they will be, century after century, ineffable reminders of the glory, the mystery, the joy and the sadness of life.