I dread the day when future archaeologist's come across some of my
concealment practices as a kid growing up ..yes indeed im a guilty as
can be for hiding anything and everything I could find on New house
build site's. in the walls or any another place I could sneak an object
into that is where it was left for all time.

Based on the evidence I left hidden(empty beer bottles and hand
tools)one could possible from   the future conclude that the workers on
that building sites were in fact alcoholic's and were so drunk at times
that they forgot where they placed their tools or this was a ritual
practice of construction worker's at every house they constructed.

I want to add that I did change my ways!



-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ron
May
Sent: Wednesday, October 20, 2004 1:20 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Ritual concealment or other causes

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.


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