Absence of evidence verses evidence of absence

Just a little joke....

After having dug to a depth of 10 feet last year, British scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 200 years and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 150 years ago.

Not to be outdone by the British, in the weeks that followed, an American archaeologist dug to a depth of 20 feet, and shortly after, a story published in the New York Times:

"American  archaeologists, finding traces of 250-year-old copper wire, have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech communications network 50 years earlier than the British".

One week later, Australia's Northern Territory Times, reported the following: "After  digging as deep as 30 feet in his backyard in Tennant Creek, Northern Territory, an amateur Australian archaeologist, reported that he found absolutely, sod-all.  He, has therefore, concluded that 250 years ago, Australia had already gone wireless."

[Your call!  The old archaeological conumdrum: evidence of absence or absence of evidence..........].

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