I’m not sure if people are just getting dumber or just being inconsiderate but an 800-year-old coffin in England was damaged after the parents of a child thought it was a great photo opportunity to put their child in it and wound up damaging the coffin.
Honestly, I’m not sure which is worse. The fact that an 800-year-old coffin was damaged or that grown adults thought it was okay to put their child in a coffin in the first place.
Anyway, the coffin itself was located in Prittlewell Priory, about 40 miles east of London. The museum itself is designed with artifacts from past centuries to show people how it’s like. The coffin was discovered near the museum in 1921 and contained the skeleton of who may have been a monk from the 12th century.
Once the coffin was broken, the family made things worse by not telling anybody what happened and simply left the museum before anyone could find out. The museum was able to use closed circuit cameras to tell what happened. Thankfully, the coffin can be repaired and the cost will be minimal. The museum said it’ll cost around $130 to repair the coffin and officials say will likely keep it entirely enclosed from now on.
This isn’t the first time a priceless artifact or artistic piece was damaged because of visitors. The New York Times note multiple recent examples of people falling into things trying to take a selfie or pulling things off the walls or drawing on paintings for some insane reason. Exactly why do people feel this is okay? And when it involves kids who may not know any better, why aren’t parents actually being parents and keeping their kids from doing this?
Maybe people aren’t being dumber or inconsiderate, maybe it’s just that people don’t have common sense and don’t have the sense to think that they probably shouldn’t touch anything that is incredibly valuable or something that has lasted for 800 years. The coffin survived multiple wars and bombings over the past 800 years and now the biggest worry about an 800-year-old coffin being damaged is a parent putting their kid in it. It’s kind of sad when you really think about it.
[New York Times/Photo: Southend-on-Sea Borough Council]
