# How come archaeological ruins are always underground?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-archaeological-ruins-are-always-underground/631309>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [August 12, 2012, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-archaeological-ruins-are-always-underground/631309 "2012-08-12T22:26:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![racunniff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@racunniff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racunniff)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-archaeological-ruins-are-always-underground/631309/1 "2012-08-12T22:26:49Z")

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Link to original article: [How come archaeological ruins are always underground? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/813/how-come-archaeological-ruins-are-always-underground)

Seems to me, another plausible reason would be selection bias. Ruins / artifacts which are not buried get eroded away, stolen, collected, etc. Mostly, only things which got buried somehow are still around to be discovered.