In message <[log in to unmask]>, Automatic digest processor
<[log in to unmask]> writes
>I am thinking brick size is cultural and over-generalization can get
>one into trouble.

Hi Ron,

I'm  not quite sure what you mean by 'cultural'.

Over-generalization about the meaning of variation lead to many people
rejecting bricks as a source of information.  What Pat Ryan's work on
Essex suggests is that we were working on too big a scale, and when one
gets down to the level of the English county (possibly only in England -
but perhaps this holds true elsewhere) generalisations about
size/texture/manufacturing process, etc., permit close dating of bricks.

Bricks are great for thinking about ethnicity, group definition,
orthodoxy, orthopraxy, world systems and so on.  It's just a pity they
take up so much room in stores - they'd get far more attention if they
were the size of postage stamps.

Best wishes,

Pat
(who refers fellow brickies to the archaeological ceramic building
materials group, online at [log in to unmask])
--
Pat Reynolds
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   "It might look a bit messy now, but just you come back in 500 years time"
   (T. Pratchett)