apocryphal, perhaps ...

My boss [here in this telecom-related hi-tech company] emailed me this story this morning, entitled "Telecom History," and introduced it with the words, "true story." You be the judge:

After digging to a depth of 100 meters last year, Russian
scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 1000 years,
and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a
telephone network one thousand years ago.

Not to be outdone, in the weeks that followed, American
scientists dug 200 meters and headlines in the US papers read:
"US scientists have found traces of 2000 year old optical
fibers, and have concluded that their ancestors already had
advanced high-tech digital telephone 1000 years earlier than
the Russians."

One week later, the Israeli newspapers reported the following:
"After digging as deep as 5000 meters, Israeli scientists have
found absolutely nothing. They have concluded that 5000 years
ago, their ancestors were already using wireless technology.