In message <[log in to unmask]>, Automatic digest processor <[log in to unmask]> writes >I am thinking brick size is cultural and over-generalization can get >one into trouble. Hi Ron, I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'cultural'. Over-generalization about the meaning of variation lead to many people rejecting bricks as a source of information. What Pat Ryan's work on Essex suggests is that we were working on too big a scale, and when one gets down to the level of the English county (possibly only in England - but perhaps this holds true elsewhere) generalisations about size/texture/manufacturing process, etc., permit close dating of bricks. Bricks are great for thinking about ethnicity, group definition, orthodoxy, orthopraxy, world systems and so on. It's just a pity they take up so much room in stores - they'd get far more attention if they were the size of postage stamps. Best wishes, Pat (who refers fellow brickies to the archaeological ceramic building materials group, online at [log in to unmask]) -- Pat Reynolds [log in to unmask] "It might look a bit messy now, but just you come back in 500 years time" (T. Pratchett)