Name That Year

Someone I'm aware of is writing a book on archaeologists. This, I suspect, has put them in touch with people who throw the time reference of B.C.--before Christ--around like Frisbees. The plates they unearthed are said to be from 450 B.C. The other plates they dusted off are from 200 B.C.  The closer the number comes down to zero, the closer in time the item or people, or event comes to being coincident with the year 1, the year considered to be the first year of Christ's life. Bigger B.C. numbered years are further back in time from the birth of Christ, being even older items or events.

This isn't too hard to understand. But what I've never understood, how did anyone alive when that plate was newly made in 450 B.C. know that they were then 450 years away from the birth of Christ? And after the earth spun around the sun one more time, that they were then 449 years away from the birth of Christ? They couldn't have. Looking back, we assigned that year to that point of time. Which of course explains why there were no warranties and guarantees in that era. You couldn't tell anyone what year you bought the plates, only perhaps how old they were. Thus, caveat emptor.

I happen to know that the plates we use in our house for everyday meals were new in 1998. This of course is A.D., anno domino (after death of Christ, as I learned it). It is now 2014, so the plates have held up well, and are now 16 years old. I'm not concerned about any warranty, or guarantee. But I am able to state what year the plates are from, something someone back in the B.C. era couldn't do.

This is good news for us, and bad news for companies. As much as General Motors may not like it, consumers are able to tell them when they bought the defective car and that they're responsible for it.

Time marches on, even if at some point it was recorded backwards.

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