Time to reset the great count

I have come to a similar conclusion as Emiliani [1994] in one main point: that marking time from the event of Christ's birth has no significance for many of the world's cultures; indeed, the ubiquitous spread of the common era count is a common error [Volk, 1995]. Thus perhaps Agnew [1994], who believes that “Emiliani is the only person who has trouble with our calendar,” should talk to some Buddhists or Muslims. Agnew, however, does damage Emiliani's proposed solution (to start a new great count at the beginning of the Holocene by establishing the birth of Christ at the year 10,000), which Agnew points out is too arbitrary. And, I might add, Emiliani's suggestion continues the essential cultural error—Christ's birth is now merely offset by a power of ten. This was also noted by Schaffer [1994].