David Macaulay wrote Motels of Mystery to inform all of us. Have you ever wondered how an archeologist figures out what the artifacts he or she discovers are, and how they were used those many centuries ago? David Macaulay wrote Motels of Mystery to inform all of us.

He imagines that in 4022, a mediocre amateur archeologist fell into a sink hole while he was running behind in the 116th Cross-Continental North American Catastrophe Marathon. (The country of USA with its people called Yanks had long since disappeared).

Howard Carson realized that he had landed in front of a North American burial site. He knew it was tomb because of the sacred seal, which he had read about in a recent article of National Geographic.

The seal was obviously placed on the door to protect the tomb and read “Do Not Disturb.”

Howard and his companion Harriet were beside themselves with excitement; they assembled a team and began digging. Over the following years many volunteers came to help excavate the Motel of the Mysteries.

After the Great Sign was discovered the site became a showplace and pilgrims would come to see the lighting and listen to the music and read “Toot’n’C’mon Motel- Salesmen Welcome- Remote TV”. Here are some of their findings…