Over the weekend I had a conversation with a good friend about the way we – as a society, not you specifically – has become… well… weird. everything has to be taken in context, of course, and as a wise man once said, Tempora mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis. That is usually misattributed to Ovid, and also misapplied, but taken in its literal context, there is a lesson for us. What was once the norm, has been changed by the passage of time, not always for the better, but not always for the worse.

The job of archeologists, anthropologists and even paleontologists, is to put their findings into the context of the times. Like a favorite song from long ago, the meaning seems to change in the minds of the public even if the words do not. Those old enough to remember it find ourselves wondering if things are better, worse, or just different?