From my dim past recollection I remember a fascinating study of the 
role of oral tradition in the engineering of sawmills from memory by 
backwoods designers based upon  books they had once seen- traced the 
trial and error evidence of getting the construction design to work. See 
1970s  literature a conference paper I believe..

Conrad Bladey

Robert L. Schuyler wrote:

> 1976    Robert L. Schuyler and Christopher Mills
>           The Supply Mill on Content Brook, an Example of Recent 
> Historic Sites. JOURNAL OF FIELD ARCHAEOLOGY
>            Vol. 3, pp. 61-95
>
>         [This is a traditional sawmill archaeological site now 
> completely abandoned. Covers the 19th and early 20th centuries and 
> a     transition from water power to machine (gasoline) power. Located 
> in Eastern Massachusetts.]
>
> At 02:05 PM 3/24/2010, you wrote:
>
>> Hello!
>>
>> =20
>>
>> We are trying to assemble a comparative study on sawmills for a
>> treatment plan and excavation of a early 20th century (possibly late
>> 19th) sawmill in Washington state.  It has been a challenge finding
>> reports that discuss the excavation of PNW sawmills-not much work has
>> been done at the data recovery level.  We are hoping to discuss
>> different types of deposits that have been excavated elsewhere (feature
>> types and methods), what research questions have been addressed and  how
>> others have interpreted their sawmill remains.
>>
>> If anyone has reference suggestions, or reports they would be willing to
>> share, dealing with the excavation of sawmill sites I would greatly
>> appreciate it.  Any region of the country (or world) would be welcomed.
>> I need to compile a list (and ideally a stack) of sources by Monday, so
>> sources that are relatively easy to access online or through journals
>> would be helpful.=20
>>
>>
>>
>> Thank you to everyone, in advance.  J
>>
>> =20
>>
>> Sincerely,=20
>>
>> MERIS MULLALEY | Historical Archaeologist | 503.525.6161 |
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>>
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>>
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>>
>> =20
>
>
> Robert L. Schuyler
> University of Pennsylvania Museum
> 3260 South Street
> Philadelphia, PA l9l04-6324
>
> Tel: (215) 898-6965
> Fax: (215) 898-0657
> [log in to unmask]
>