What Should Be Buried With You?

I've been reading articles and watching documentaries about archaeology, and when I was a librarian, I also looked into creating a time capsule. This all sparked the question behind today's post: what would you want to have buried with you, specifically to tell a story about yourself?

We know we can't take anything with us to the afterlife, this is a message which may one day be found by strangers. Whatever it is, it would need to withstand time. A casket isn't a time capsule, so paper is a poor choice. Textiles and leather are much more durable. Steel may rust, but can also survive for centuries. Coins are an easy idea, and modern cupro-nickel alloys won't inspire grave robbers like silver or gold would. Glass and ceramics are arguably the most durable materials in common usage, so perhaps that might spark a thought. Anything plastic could last almost indefinitely, depending on its type, and if protected from ultraviolet light.

Technology might seem tempting at first, but even a USB thumb drive can quickly become corrupted over time, so old-fashioned magnetic tape would be better for data archiving. What if your history on HIVE were saved as a reel of tape? Then again, maybe not.

Comment with a few items you think might tell your story to an archeologist in 500, 1000, or even 5,000 years? Assuming humanity survives that long, of course.

I'll go first with a few ideas:

• My Leatherman multi-tool. It's made from stainless steel, so it should be quite durable. Imagine an archaeologist trying to discern the purposes of its various parts!

• A single American Silver Eagle bullion coin, mainly as a marker of time. Silver needs sulphur to tarnish, so it should also last a long time. I also prefer depicting Lady Liberty to dead presidents.

• The tin dwarf miniature I painted as my first Dungeons & Dragons model, despite the chance it may be mistaken as a religious talisman of some kind. It's a thing I played a small part in creating.

I don't know what would communicate my religious and philosophical ideas across the ages. Languages become forgotten, and even modern English could vanish despite its current dominance. How would you preserve an echo of something so ephemeral? Then again, for those of us who are Christians, we store our real treasures in heaven according to how we live, so perhaps this whole question isn't important. But it seems like the kind of discussion to have over a few beers in a pub anyway, so I open the floor to you.