Archeology and the Law Anonymous

As sweat dripped down my nose and mixed with the dirt, I yelled, "I found glass!" Glass is considered a rare find, and upon hearing my announcement the excavation team stopped digging. Later, as I sat under the overhang on the laboratory roof patiently brushing dirt off a pottery shard and reconstructing a pot from the shard, I realized that archaeology parallels the process of producing a paper, piece by piece and note-card by note-card. I came to Mallorca, Spain because of my passion for Egyptology and archaeology. I was determined to excavate, and although Mallorca is not Egypt, this was my opportunity to do so. I love solving puzzles — discovering pieces, analyzing their importance, uncovering relationships and then utilizing the information to produce a final work. An archeologist discovers an object; draws on knowledge of the culture, materials available, and history to analyze the object; deciphers its role and determines its value. Writing, research, legal study, and legal practice share this process with archeology. Instead of finding a pottery shard in soil, the discovery is information and requires research and analysis.

The challenge of researching and analyzing an unknown subject is the most enjoyable part of...