Archaeologists have learned much about daily life in the twenty-first century from this fragment of a catalog found in New York City that dates back circa 2010. Though the hard data this catalog offers is woefully inadequate, we can perhaps find the answers to some of our questions in the photographs.

Life must have been quite harsh, because there are no adults to be found in the entire catalog. The children pictured range in age from newborn to preteen, leading researchers to project an extremely brief lifespan. In what seems like a flagrant violation of child labor laws, the boys spent most of their time assembling weapons using miniaturized, standardized hardware known as Lego blocks. Perhaps answering our question about the abbreviated life span are the numerous pictures of young boys battling dinosaurs that, while small, were apparently quite vicious. In these pictures, the boys stoically bear their fate, fighting these brightly-colored beasts with short, blunt-tipped spears or foam-bullet air blasters that, quite frankly, would have offered pathetic protection against these beasts.

The outcome of these battles is easily seen in the paleontological record. Lots and lots of fossilized bones, but nothing from the tiny dinosaurs.

While today we have clearly defined castes to which one is assigned at birth, during this epoch every female was apparently a princess. Some researchers guess that perhaps the middle- and lower-class females were sacrificed to the tiny dinosaurs to win respite from their attacks. While today it might strike us as relatively comic to see a parade of princesses wandering the streets, all those tiaras must have served as a tearful reminder of the plight of the lower class.

Due to the absence of a support staff, however, the princesses bore the responsibility of running the castles themselves. This princess -- her name and lineage aren't given -- bears her responsibility with a smile, clearly telegraphing how much stronger children were in the past than they are today. With no parents or indeed any adults to assist them, they had to push their food in tiny carts around their kitchens, and -- in clear contrast to today's royalty -- had to get all the meals on the tables themselves. That's assuming their spouses weren't killed by the ever-present miniature dinosaurs.

As for those tables, they were oddly inexpensive at the time, but today they would be worth a king's ransom. This one, for instance, appears to bear extensive amounts of inlaid semi-precious gems, cloisonné, and gold leaf that must have kept an atelier of artisans busy for many years. In a highly-publicized auction today, it might retail for close to a million yen.

Of course, to our eyes this style seems dated, if not laughable. With the pink castle motif running from tiny cupboard to table to chair, one can guess what the aristocratic toilet looked like.