>Has anyone investigated the practice of sweeping the yard around a
>house? The recently-published report of a house site at Manssas NBP,
>Virginia,  mentions the practice. Artifacts were virtually absent around
the
>house, but were found more than fifty feet away, probably because the
yard
>was swept. Has this phenomenon been noticed in the archaeological record
>elsewhere?
 
>From _Three Years and a Half in the Army: Or History of the Second
Colorados_
(Ellen Williams 1885 Fowler & Wells, NY).
 
"The two companies, A and B, were assigned to garrison duty, a regular
officer
who was in command there appeared to take eminent delight in giving them
duties
to perform, which would lessen them as men; for instance, to clear away
the slop
and garbage which accumulated around the officer's quarters, and sweep
the dirt
from their doors" (p32)
 
Not an archaeological occurrence, but this passage seems very reflective
of
analogous behavior.
 
_________________________________________
Bryan P. Howard, PhD               [log in to unmask]
http://members.tripod.com/~MARRS7
MARRS - Material culture research and replications.
 
 
 
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