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!
>>>