John,

You would be wrong to interpret that I see all things buried, embedded, or
stashed in the building fabric as ritual concealment. In fact, I challenged John
Gibbs' buried basement pit because the artifacts were broken. Sure, rats,
mice, snakes and even lazy people are responsible for things in walls. And yes,
association of other objects is important to understanding what you have.

I too am not a kid anymore, by the way. What has that got to do with
anything? I feel that older people with more life experiences and a broader mind to
cultural diversity have a better ability to understand and interpret features in
archaeology. That is, unless personal religious or political beliefs
interfere with an open mind.

American archaeologists in the 1950s-1970s explained everything that was
unusual as "ritual" and were soundly ridiculed in the 1980s and later. This
triggered a knee jerk reaction that virtually nothing could be ritual; rock art was
graffitti, etc. When I first posted the hat and boot feature, the most ardent
critics of ritual concealment were, in fact, archaeologists who had been
"pounded into the sand" by the anti-religious critics. There are also some
fundamental Christians who refuse to believe Americans could practice pagan rituals in
America after the Declaration of Independence; or Australians after the first
immigrant ship arrived.

I have no idea what you saw on TV. It was your broad denial of the whole
concept of ritual concealment that caused me to think you fall into the
anti-religious camp. What you really are, is really of no importance to me. Please dont
take this as personal.

The cat and chicken reported from England were embedded in the wall plaster,
not simply dead inside a cavity. The grotesque facial expressions of the cats
(more than one have been found) were from suffocation and shock. There is good
oral history on the use of animals to keep the spirits of vermin under
control. There is also written history and oral documentation about the beliefs of
shoes as objects that could grow a spirit protector in the walls of a house. My
point was for you to begin reading on the topic so that you could sort
concealment from a trash dump. But, of course, you have to have an open mind and
accept that other people might not believe as you do.

We all come from diverse backgrounds to arrive in archaeology. I came from a
combination of anthropology and public history. Had I been younger, I might
have taken up underwater archaeology, as I worked commercial diving in my youth.
Your background is different. From conference attendance, I find a wide range
of background training that brings people to the field of archaeology and it
is all good. Most of my best crew are people whose degrees and life
experiences were other than anthropology. I just ask that they not judge the cultures we
study by our own standards or openly ridicule them for beliefs that are alien.

I think you can better understand where I am coming from now.

Ron May
Legacy 106, Inc.