Wow, Jeff, I think therapy might be needed for you to deal with this.  We could just dispense with the artificial construct we call time, and insist that everything does happen simultaneously.  Which should make archaeology a little easier.

Jake

On Aug 19, 2011, at 02:44 PM, "Boyer, Jeffrey, DCA" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Jake, your answer provides no more clarity than the "turn of the century" phrase. What year did the 20th begin or the 19th end? Are they the same? If so, how does that work? If not, why not? What about the period of time, however brief it might have been, between them? Is time, if it exists, actually continuous and therefore only awkwardly amenable to division? What's shorter than a nanosecond, can we measure it, and does it matter, if it exists?
> Meli has occasioned a deeply existential and metaphysical discussion, the kind that usually is best dealt with in the evening after a long day of mostly dull papers at a conference. If we are to discuss the topic without the benefit of . . . ummm . . . exhaustion and lubricants, we must think carefully before presenting alternatives that are no stronger than the original term.
> By the way, can you contact me off-list, because I've lost your post-NPS e-mail address?
>
> Jeff
>
> Jeffrey L. Boyer
> Supervisory Archaeologist/Project Director
> Office of Archaeological Studies, Museum of New Mexico
>
> * mail: P.O. Box 2087, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504
> * physical: 407 Galisteo Street, Suite B-100, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501
> * tel: 505.827.6387 fax: 505.827.3904
> * e-mail: [log in to unmask]
>
> "This is no time for archaeologizing . . ." - Amelia Peabody Emerson (The Curse of the Pharoahs, Elizabeth Peters)
>
> ________________________________________
> From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Jake Ivey [[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Friday, August 19, 2011 3:21 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Phrase Turn of the Century
>
> I don't see a graceful way of using the phrase at all -- I'd say "At the beginning of the twentieth" or "At the end of the nineteenth," and stay away from a locution that's so, I don't know, last century.
>
> Jake
>
> On Aug 19, 2011, at 01:58 PM, Melissa Diamanti <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> > I have a question about terminology or usage.The period around 1900 Ad used to be referred to simply as "the turn of the century." Now that we have turned another century, it is necessary to specify which one.So, would the time around 1900 Ad be the turn of the 19th century or the turn of the twentieth century?
> > This question is apparently unclear to many. For example, the wikipedia entry on this topic is still being hashed out. So what do the historians/historical archaeologists on this list recommend?
> > Meli Diamanti