Lyle,
I would say that the inference is (again) strongly toward a literacy
cause; [English] illiteracy was higher among ALL immigrants, including
Germans. Consequently the greater incidence of "backwards letters" on
German gravemarkers is simply a reflection of the higher incidence of
[English] illiteracy among the immigrant population (not likely an
indicator of some mystical practice ;)
Regards,
Bob
On 2/24/2017 3:34 PM, Lyle E. Browning wrote:
> The Cyrillic alphabet has numerous “backwards" letters while the German has none. How does one explain that?
>
> Lyle Browning, RPA
>> On Feb 24, 2017, at 4:09 PM, Bob Skiles <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>> Sticks & Stones: Three Centuries of North Carolina Gravemarkers
>> (Margaret Ruth Little, 1998)
>> <https://books.google.com/books?id=wb7fAAAAMAAJ&q=%22backward+letters%22+tombstone&dq=%22backward+letters%22+tombstone&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiRvu2HwanSAhVIYyYKHSX7D2YQ6AEIOTAF>
>>
>> p151 "Clodfelter is the only German stonecutter in North Carolina known to have signed a/gravestone/. ... Furthermore, the misspelling and/backward letters/are typical of the lettering on many German stones throughout the county."
>>
>>
>> On 2/24/2017 12:52 PM, Linda Derry wrote:
>>> Pete,
>>>
>>> I'd put my money on illiteracy, but here is another idea you could
>>> research since Maryland was an entry point for many Germans. Part of my
>>> family came into America through Maryland and settled in Virginia and moved
>>> west through Pa., Ohio, Illinois, Iowa and so forth. Some of my early
>>> ancestors practiced German folk magic or medicine. Something often called
>>> "Pow-wow." There are many old Pow-Wow practice books reprinted and
>>> available today (even some in English) so you could look there for
>>> something on backward writing.
>>>
>>> This, of course is a long shot, because O'Neal is not a very German
>>> sounding name, but you never know who might have married into the family!
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Linda Derry
>>> Site Director, Old Cahawba Archaeological Park
>>> Alabama Historical Commission
>>> 9518 Cahaba Road, Orrville, AL 36767
>>> park: 334/ 875-2529
>>> [log in to unmask]
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, Feb 24, 2017 at 6:12 AM, Pete Regan <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Does anyone out there have information on the potential meaning of
>>>> backward characters on gravestones? I have a crudely carved gravestone in a
>>>> nineteenth century, family plot that was part of a central Maryland farm,
>>>> with all of the D's, N's, J's, and 1's carved backward. Plenty of folks
>>>> have suggested dyslexia or partial illiteracy as potential explanations,
>>>> but I have a few archaeologist/historian colleagues who seem to recall that
>>>> backward orthography can have specific meanings on gravestones. For what
>>>> it's worth, here's the text as it appears on the stone (again, picture the
>>>> aforementioned letters backward):
>>>>
>>>> WM ONEAL
>>>> DIED.JAN
>>>> THE.1.1893
>>>> AGE.72.
>>>>
>>>> The stone appears as the final photo in the larger site's state
>>>> registration form, located here: https://mht.maryland.gov/
>>>> secure/medusa/PDF/Howard/HO-1109.pdf
>>>>
>>>> For some physical context, two adjacent stones (1906 and 1917) are
>>>> professionally carved marble markers without any "incorrect" writing. The
>>>> remainder of the graveyard consists of partial lines of unmodified,
>>>> vertical slabs of fieldstones located west of the carved stones, presumably
>>>> as markers for the graves of servants, the enslaved, or the poor.
>>>>
>>>> Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!
>>>>
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