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Sex Pistols' Graffiti On Par With Cave Drawings, Archaeologist Argues

Are ancient cave paintings no different than the drug- and drink-influenced wall scrawlings of a pack of teenage punks from the 1970s? While British archeologist Dr. John Schofield isn't making that _exact_ argument, he has come out to say that crude...

Are ancient cave paintings no different than the drug- and drink-influenced wall scrawlings of a pack of teenage punks from the 1970s? While British archaeologist Dr. John Schofield isn’t making that exact argument, he has come out to say that graffiti on the walls of a London flat rented by the Sex Pistols in their early years has as much value for study as prehistoric cave drawings.

According to the Daily Mail, the graffiti was discovered behind cupboards on a two-story 19th century property in central London. The majority of the drawing are by Johnny Rotten, consisting of eight caricatures of himself, the rest of the Pistols, and their manager and friends. Schofield, writing in the journal Antiquity, described the site as ‘anti-heritage’ because the crass graffiti is pretty much the antithesis of what heritage organizations generally try to preserve.

Quoted by the Telegraph, Schofield said that his research team feels "justified in sticking our tongues out at the heritage establishment and suggesting that punk’s iconoclasm provides the context for conservation decision-making. Our call is for something that directly follows punk’s attitude to the mainstream, to authority; contradicting norms and challenging convention."

As much as it smacks of some sort of misguided attempt at ‘punk rock archeology’, Schofield raises a fascinating question: who deems culture worthy of heritage status? Sure, wall doodles at punk houses are a dime a dozen. But their very popularity is perhaps argument enough that representative examples from the early years are deserving of preservation.