Bored Panda reached out to anthropologist and archaeologist Carl Feagans to talk all things unique artifacts and anything else that you can unearth from our lovely planet Earth.

Feagans originally had a dream of becoming an astronaut one day. That, unfortunately, did not work out, but instead of looking up into the vast skies and the cosmos beyond, looking at the ground turned out to be as exciting as space.

After 12 years of service in the military, Feagans took advantage of his benefits and went to study at the University of Texas at Arlington. One leftover handout about archaeology and a subsequent shift in majors later, Feagans became a full-blown anthropologist with a focus on archaeology. Oh, and he also runs a blog about archaeology that will blow your mind.

“Now, when I mention I'm an archaeologist in a crowded room, I’m instantly one of the more popular people to speak with. At least until an astronaut shows up,” joked Feagans in our interview.

Just like history is much more than an implement for humanity to learn from its mistakes, archaeology is more than just digging up bones and stuff lost to time. But how much more is it is also hard to say.

“It is. Much more. And it's hard to put a finger on it. Most people don't realize that archaeology is a sub-discipline of anthropology, which is essentially the study of people. In turn, that makes archaeology the study of people through the material past,” elaborated Feagans.

“Often, these are people that are long dead, which makes them an abstract thing. I think the struggle of most archaeologists is to humanize and, as much as is possible, individualize these people. It's rare that we can individualize people of the past in a manner that's respectful to that person's potential descendants in the present, but when it's done it's quite magical.”

“An example is finding the footprints of a small child alongside her mother in modern-day Whitesands, New Mexico. Footprints that currently date to over 23,000 years ago! This isn't just evidence of a population of people, it's evidence of an individual! One who carried her child for a bit, set her down to walk beside her for a bit…”

Now, with a subreddit like r/UniqueArtifacts, you’d probably guess that the stuff found here—one-of-a-kind stuff—is probably absolutely expensive or flat-out priceless. But there’s much more nuance to the price than just numbers.

Feagans explained that artifacts can absolutely have a price put on them. In fact, there are cases when you have to. The Archaeological Resource Protection Act (ARPA) regulates fines and restitution based on an archaeological object’s commercial price that, say, gets stolen from public land.

But that’s just the practical, material side of the coin. What actually brings value to the object is its context. Like the answers to questions where was it found? What was its position in relation to other artifacts? What were its features? Was it discarded or lost? Was it part of a burned-down habitation?

“Archaeological sites are non-renewable resources. Once they're gone, they're gone. Forever. In fact, so many archaeological sites have been inadvertently damaged and destroyed in the last 100 years alone that we could never count them,” continued Feagans on the real price of archaeological artifacts. “Even the act of excavating a site necessarily involves destroying the site as the artifacts and features of the site are recorded, documented, photographed, and collected.”

“There are times when we archaeologists choose *not* to dig or excavate or to collect. Part of the reason is because of the destructive nature. Sometimes it's to adhere to the wishes of descendant communities or tribes. Sometimes it's so we can leave something behind for archaeologists with better methods in the future. Sometimes it's because we realize curation alone is a problem: there are only so many places you can store the past.”

Now, if you wanna get super nerdy on archaeology, we asked Feagans to highlight some of the most exciting unearthings in recent history, so you’re welcome:

“I'd say the Whitesands, NM footprints I mentioned earlier are definitely in the top 10 for the last few years. What a phenomenal find! It very neatly gives us confirmation that people made it to North America prior to Ice Free Corridor, probably by boating or rafting around the kelp highway from Alaska to California and beyond.”

“Another exciting find was that of the Endurance, which was possible by the unfortunately low levels of sea ice. The 28-man crew including Sir Ernest Shackleton abandoned the ship in 1915 when it became stuck in the sea ice. It sits in nearly 10,000 feet of water and in remarkably good condition.”

“Another recent discovery that stands out for me is from an excavation in the Andean highlands at Wilamaya Patjxa where a 9,000-year-old burial directly challenges the idea that men are hunters and women are gatherers. This burial has a hunting toolkit and the bones were consistent with that of a young adult female!”

Lastly, we asked Feagans about the one thing he wishes more people knew and understood about archaeology. Here’s what he had to say:

“Aside from the fact we don't do dinosaurs, I think I'd like people to know that archaeology is about understanding people. People of the past and people of the now. It isn't the silly stuff we see on Ancient Aliens or in Graham Hancock's books. It's really about understanding who people were, why they made the choices they did, how they lived day to day, and what we can learn from their successes as well as their mistakes. Ultimately it's about telling their stories as best we can. As respectfully as we can.”

You can check out more about and from Feagans on his website. But before you do that, why not share some of your insights into whatever you see in this list, or share some artifacts that should have made it up here!