And other such things:  Tom Wheaton is right!  Having had the opportunity to
work closely with restoration carpenters on many a genuine "this old House"
belonging to SPNEA, I have learned to keep my eyes open about all sorts of
things that builders and carpenters get up to.  It has been very instructive
about how to interpret the archaeological evidence.  On the other hand,
watching This Old House, even in its current incarnation without the dreaded
egomaniac who used to host it (I worked with him once, too, but he thought the
archaeology would steal his thunder so he refused to let it be featured!), is
just too depressing for the average archaeologist--after the yard has been
back-hoed to death looking for places to put the septic field, and all sorts
of other things dug up, there isn't much left in the way of undisturbed
archaeological deposits.  Aargh!
 
Cheers & greetings of the season to all!
Mary Beaudry
Winterthur Museum
<[log in to unmask]>
/