I'm still curious about the prevalence of childrens' shoes. The few shoe
caches I have seen or heard of from the Hudson Valley have been adult,
but that's hardly a statistically significant sample!

Another charm  regarding fairies (from a different part of England) was
intended to keep them away from an infant so that they would not steal
it and provide a "changeling" in its place. It was felt that if an
article of the father's clothing were placed in the room at night, it
would keep the fairies away, presumably by providing a protective
representative "presence" of the father. This sounds more like what you
are suggesting, Ron. Especially with your "soldier in the chimney." I
was merely suggesting that the use of old or single shoes or children's
shoes might have a practical material cause rather than a magical one.
Probably not, but maybe.  

Which, of course, brings up a methodological point for us
archaeologists to consider. I was just discussing this subject with a
colleague who seemed to think that the fact that archaeologists study
technologies absolves him from the necessity of understanding beliefs. I
pointed out that magic IS a form of technology.  It is a technology for
dealing with the unknown, a need which is, to most traditional cultures,
an urgent one and a part of everyday life as real your foot. I always
think of an article I once read (whose reference is now lost in the
mists of early grad school), about a Peace Corps woman who, in order to
relieve a serious food shortage in her village, was trying to induce the
people to grow a strain of rice used by some neighboring villages in a
nearby valley . Their response was that they knew it would be helpful,
but they could not grow it because they didn't know the gods. She
eventually succeeded in getting someone to teach them the proper gods
and rites and they were then "able" to grow the rice. That is technology
as much as the tools for planting and harvesting. 

In a traditional culture, from which most of our ancestors came only a
couple of generations ago, magical practices are as common as refuse
deposits. It would be amazing if no physical evidence of such beliefs
could be found in historical archaeology.  We would find more if so many
charms were not carried on the person, like rabbit's feet, lucky coins,
trasured jewelry, or simply in the form of behavior like lucky numbers
used in the lottery. And, of course, if archaeologists were not so ready
to dismiss it when they do see it. 

Marty Pickands




>>> [log in to unmask] 08/31/06 2:29 PM >>>
I find it significant that the concealed shoes are old and worn. While
some  
might say these are the most expendible, I suspect it has more to do
with how  
long the wearer sweated and seeped body cells into the leather. Old
leather 
is  the key.
 
Ron May
Legacy 106, Inc.