Response 1 of 6: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Aug 20, 2002 (21:50) * 3 lines As soon as I get my CuteFTP reinstated (pay for it) I will post things archaeological about America instead of burying them in the world-wide archaeolgy topic. Watch for me. I'll be right back!! Thanks, Don! You suggested the perfect title. *HUGS* Response 2 of 6: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Tue, Aug 20, 2002 (22:16) * 1 lines so what is american folksways? duh! marcia, you just told us above! *laugh* maybe we oughta have topics for specific areas or continents? whatdaya think? Response 3 of 6: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Aug 20, 2002 (23:10) * 1 lines Rob had New Zeland. Julie has the Cascades. John has topics for his research. Absolutely, if anyone is interested, please create a useful topic to which you are willing to contribute. I cannot know everything so I wish to learn from your interests. That is a great idea, Wolfie! Response 4 of 6: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Aug 21, 2002 (23:04) * 1 lines Please do not think I am departing Geo for other topics. I can find something of nature in just about anything. Geology and folkways? Absolutgely Yes. I will shortly work on posting grave houses. They are made of things mined from the Earth. Ever see a cast Zinc headstone? I managed to find 5 different styles in one cemetery in Indiana a few days ago. They look brand new! It was with great astonishment that I found they had been in the ground as long as the people whose lives they marked. More to come! Response 5 of 6: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Sep 20, 2002 (07:16) * 41 lines This perhaps falls under archaeology - and what really does not?! English armour found at old US base An armour breastplate has been found which could date from earliest days of English presence in what is now the US. It was found at the site of a fort built when the Jamestown settlement was founded in 1607. It was found in a well which archaeologists have been excavating for weeks. The brick-lined well, found earlier this summer, also is thought to date from the early period of Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America. The armour was found sitting upright about three feet below the surface and was in remarkably good condition, said William Kelso, director of archaeology for the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities and a leader of the Jamestown project in Virginia. Evidence suggests the well was used as a rubbish dump after it outlived its usefulness as a water source. The armour and other artifacts recovered from the well may help paint a picture of life for early settlers. "The English found themselves in a strange new land," Kelso said. "Some of the equipment they brought was useful and some was obsolete. They had to adapt to their environment. "What we're discovering is the process by which Englishmen became Americans." Story filed: 17:32 Thursday 19th September 2002 http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_674246.html?menu=news.scienceanddiscovery.archaeology Response 6 of 6: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jul 28, 2003 (11:10) * 47 lines This article I am posting because this practice still exists in the more rural areas of the US. Question: Why do we place pebbles on grave stones? by Rabbi Tom Louchheim Answer: There is no clear answer to this question. We can only guess as to the origins of this tradition. 1. An early Midrash Lekah Tov (also known as Pesikta Zutra) 35:20 relates that each of Jacob's sons took a stone and put it on Rachel's grave to make up Rachel's tomb. Here and elsewhere we learn that by placing stones on the grave one participates in building the tombstone. We do not find any direct connection with our present practice, but we might ask if this is an ancient memory of this tradition. 2. We learn in the Tosefot to Tractate Sanhedrin 47b (in the Babylonian Talmud), that Rabeinu Tam interpreted the "golel"; as a large stone slab that they place on the grave as a marker and this is called the tombstone as is written (in Genesis 29:35) "It is the tombstone of Rachel's grave." Rabeinu Tam, the grandson of Rashi, goes on to explain that there were smaller stones that were set under the sides of the large stone that rests on them so that it will not bear down too heavily on the deceased. These smaller stones are called the "dofek" (upright stones upon which the large stone rests). To these smaller stones it was a custom to attach a marker until a large slab is found, lest the place of the grave be lost. 3. Rabbi Solomon B. Freehof quotes the book Ta-amey Ha-Minagimim (The Reasons for the Customs, pp. 470-471) of late nineteenth century author, Ithak Sperliing: "We put grass and pebbles on the grave to show that the visitor was at the grave. It was a sort of calling card to tell the deceased that you have paid him a visit." (See also Orah Haim 224:8). Furthermore, we find in the Shulhan Arukh Yoreh Deah 376:4 : Now it is practiced after the grave is covered to pluck up grass or pick up a stone and put them on the gravestone, which is only for the honor of the deceased that the grave was visited. (See Freehof, Reform Responsa for our Time, 1977, pp. 291-293). A contemporary respondent, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, confirms this custom, relying on Eliyahu Rabba 224:7 as his source (Responsa YabiaOmer IV, Yoreh Deah 35). In former days one did not mark a grave with marble or granite with a fancy inscription, but one made a cairn of stones over it. Each mourner coming and adding a stone was effectively taking part in the Mitzvah of matzevah ("setting a stone") as well as or instead of levayat ha-meyt ("accompany the dead"). Of course, the dead were often buried where they had fallen, before urbanization and specialization of planning-use demanded formal cemeteries. Nowadays one can no longer bury a relative in the back garden, or on their farm, nor may a deceased traveler be interred by the roadside. Therefore in our day one tends to stick a pebble on top of the tombstone as a relic of this ancient custom, and it is still clear that the more stones a grave has, the more the deceased is being visited and is therefore being honored. Each small pebble adds to the cairn - a nice moral message. This has become slightly spoiled by the cemetery authorities clearing accumulated pebbles off when they wash down the gravestones and cut the grass. There is a custom of plucking grass from the cemetery. The Chief Rabbi of Safed, Moshe ben Yosef Trani, (1500- 1580) stated that we pluck the grass after the burial as a reminder of the resurrection. The idea stems from Psalm 72:18: They shall spring up as the grass of the field. If you prefer, there is a psychoanalytic explanation of this custom. Dr.Theodor Reik explains: People in different parts of the world believed that the soul of the deceased haunts the grave for a long time. On account of that continued fear, prehistoric men rolled great rocks in front of to graves, so that boulders should prevent the dead from escaping and plaguing living relatives. If so, what is the role of the small stones? Reik elucidates: The many small pebbles form a substitute for the one big boulder. It is as though the survivor who had visited the grave of a relative and so exhibits his piety to the dead, protects himself from their envy or hostility by putting those stones in their abode, preventing the dead from escaping. (Theodor Reik, Pagan Rites in Judaism, 1964, pp. 44, 48.) My colleague, Rabbi Andrew Straus offers the following explanation: Ritual is a way of expressing our emotions and spiritual needs. We need physical acts to express these things for us, to make them concrete. Placing a stone on a grave does just that. It works in several ways: 1) It is a sign to others who come to the grave when I am not there that they and I are not the only ones who remember. The stones I see on the grave when I come are a reminder to me that others have come to visit the grave. My loved one is remembered by many others and his/her life continues to have an impact on others, even if I do not see them. 2) When I pick up the stone it sends a message to me. I can still feel my loved one. I can still touch and be touched by him/her. I can still feel the impact that has been made on my life. Their life, love, teachings, values, and morals still make an impression on me. When I put the stone down, it is a reminder to me that I can no longer take this person with me physically. I can only take him/her with me in my heart and my mind and the actions I do because he/she taught me to do them. Their values, morals, ideals live on and continue to impress me - just as the stone has made an impression on my hands - so too their life has made an impression on me that continues. http://www.templesanjose.org/JudaismInfo/time/Life_Cycle/pebbles.htm

Now that I will be posting the real information and posting pictures I took, I wanted it spelled right.

And, when one dedicates a whole topic to someone special, it should ne a perfect as I can possibly make it. *;)

Here is a post about the Tennessee Pygmies as promised. Tennessee �Pygmies� The folklore relating to an extinct race of �pygmies� in central Tennessee�s Cumberland River Valley appears to have been solidly in place as early as about 1800 and later spread into western Kentucky and southeastern Missouri as Tennessee residents moved to these areas. This legend grew as increasing numbers of once commonplace prehistoric stone box graves were discovered as a result of farming and land clearing activities in and around present day Nashville. These elongated rectangular graves were lined with readily available slabs of roughly shaped limestone and capped with two or three additional slabs. Typically, the uppermost slabs were placed but a few inches below the surface and were easily snagged by plows. More recent research has associated these graves with the Mississippian-era Cumberlandia chiefdom (also called the Middle Cumberland Culture) dating from about AD 1050-1450. Why would such graves have been interpreted as the remains of �pygmies�? In simple terms, the infant (defined as those fi e years or younger) mortality of this early group ran about 25% of the population. Such an abundance of diminutive skeletons were contrasted to the remains of adults which, not surprisingly, were called giants. In contrast, examination of the skeletons of the adults has shown that 40 years of age would have been considered elderly. But a few of the early authors who studied these remains include John Haywood, Moses Fiske, Charles Wilkins Webber, Gerard Troost, Joseph Jones, Frederic Putnam, Robert Stoddart Robertson (one time Lt. Governor of Indiana), and Union Gen. Gates P. Thruston. The only known fictional account of the �leetle people� appeared in Mary Noailles Murfree�s 1891 �local color� novel entitled In the �Stranger People�s� Country. This fascinating aspect of Tennessee archaeology is the subject of a forthcoming book by Donald B. Ball entitled Chiefdom on the Cumberland: The History and Evolution of Middle Tennessee Archaeology. The reality of the society which constructed these graves is considerably more interesting than the folklore which grew up around them. But an incomplete inventory of the remains associated with the Cumberlandia chiefdom reveals that in addition to literally tens of thousands of the graves for which they are best known they also constructed in excess of 160 mounds and erected palisaded walls (and sometimes dry moats) around a number of their later (ca. AD 1250-1450) villages. The sometimes elaborate artifacts associated with this society clearly indicate participation in the pan-regional Southeastern Ceremonial Complex and trade relations with groups far removed from Tennessee. This chiefdom level society was contemporaneous with cultural groups centered at the Etowah Mounds in northern Georgia, Moundville in central Alabama, Angel Mounds in southern Indiana, and Cahokia Mounds in western Illinois. The demise of this society appears to have been brought about by increasing inter-group warfare and there is s me evidence of violent death and scalping in the late period of their existence. It has been theorized that this population migrated to southeastern Tennessee and established what is archaeologically termed the late prehistoric Mouse Creek phase and were the ancestors of the Yuchi, one of the regions lesser known small tribes. Submitted by Donald B. Ball, Louisville, Kentucky

Have you seen these in museums, etc?

Don's response: (He is Very busy working on the books about to be published) Any errors in the following post are due to my lack of clerical skills and not to his lack of editing. There are three main collections open to the public. The best and most notable is the Gen. Gates P. Thruston collection at the Tennessee State Museum in Nashville. This consists for the most part of ceramic vessels and other artwork collected from the late 1870s into the early 1890s . A second and smaller collection is available at the Travellers Rest site, an early 19th century inn built on top of a fortified Cumberlandia village and cemetery. A third collection consists of a series of over 30 elaborate chipped flint artifacts found in Humphreys County, TN in the 1890s. Among these flint items are ceremonial blades over 2 fee long. This material is on display at the Frank H. McClung Museum on the campus of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Three Cumberlandia sites are now being developed for public display as part of the TN state park system. The largest of these is Mound Bottom - containing 34 mounds - in Cheatham County near Nashville. This park is not yet open to the public. A second site is the Sellars Village near Lebanon in Wilson County southeast of Nashville. The third site open to the public is Castilian Springs in Sumner County, TN.

marcia, please let us know when they are published!! they will be an interesting read!! *HUGS*

I scribbled response 6 because it was a dupe of response 7. Do don't get mad at me ok? And this answers the question I asked in the previous topic. Excuse my impatience.

Shameless plug (warning) http://austinblogger.com/wordpress/ (plug complete, thank you)

Apparenly there is more trouble posting here than I thought. Mitten discovered it and now I have had my "double" post erased. There was one? !!! I'll let you know the particulars of his books when they are available. Oddly enough he is a very readable scholar, and this makes it so much more pleasant to work with him.

Great! When I hear Mitten I think of the three little kittens.

me too :-)

I guess that makes it unanimous. Me too !

from http://www.childrenstory.org/cscom/rhymes/indexkitns.html a website prototype I'm working on.

That is wonderful. How great when you have little ones to have story readers available whenever you need them. Fantastic idea, Terry !

Gravehouses: They are structures built directly above inground interments. They do NOT contain human remains. They are constructed to protect graves over with they are erected. Gravehouses have been reported in Indian settlements on the upper peninsula of Michigan - L'Anse and Vieux Desert Indian Reservation in Baraga County. Other examples (all are associated with Indian tribes) in the western Great Lakes area are known. (Thank you DB) Further photos and information: http://www.tngenweb.org/darkside/index.html If you scroll down on the above link you come to a citation of the resident archaeologist :) "OBSERVATIONS ON THE FORM AND FUNCTION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE GRAVEHOUSES", Donald B. Ball, Tennessee Anthropologist, Tennessee Anthropological Association II(1):29-62. 1977.

I'll check out the photos.

There are even better places with more ephemeral houses. I'll hunt up the sites and post the links. The one that amazed me was a one-of-a-kind according to DB as far as he knew. It is a full sized house rather than a little sheltering structure and had window curtains and carpets but with headstones inside of four children. Oh dear !!! Very distressing.

GRAVEHOUSES -- Merely to elaborate on Marci's comments, I would note that gravehouses are widely distributed throughout the Upland South cultural region of the United States from the Appalachian Mountains westward to the Ozarks and south into Louisiana and eastern Texas. Typically they are constructed of wood, display a gable roof and "picket fence" walls, and cover but a single grave. Variations do exist and I'm aware of examples built of cut stone, brick, poured concrete, and even sheet metal. A few have "shed" roofs and one I've seen had a pyramidal roof. One shed roofed example I saw in the mid-1970s in southeastern Tennessee covered four graves. Many of these structures have been demolished through the years because they feel into disrepair due to a lack of post-construction maintainance. In general, the "hey day" of their construction was ca. 1880-1930 although from documentary sources I'm aware of one constructed as early as 1841 in Middle Tennessee and have seen one of sheet metal erected in the mou tains of eastern Kentucky as late as about 1980. The most elaborate example I have personally seen (1970's) was in a church cemetery in eastern Tennessee. Built in the 1880s over the grave of a six year old girl, it resembled a small child's playhouse with a front door that opened, glass windows, and was equiped with curtains. The reason given for their contruction was to "protect" a grave from rain or burrowing animals. Folklorists and geographers have long debated their origin. Some researchers -- most notably the late Terry G. Jordan of the University of Texas -- thought these structures originated with various Indian tribes and the idea was picked up by early white settlers. D. Gregory Jeane of Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, has suggested they are derived from sizable tomb-house grave covers constructed in Scotland or lych-gates built at the entrance to some English cemeteries. I'm not convinced as to these attributed origins. There is no anthroplogical evidence that Native Americans in the southeastern United States built such structure in the pre-Columbian era and the derivation from British Isles prototypes is unlikely given the wide gap in time from the American Revolution until the era of their greatest popularity beginning ca. 1880. In my opinion, it is more reasonable to interprete them as variations on a wide spread theme of providing full length covers for graves which can be traced back for ce turies in the British Isles and best represented in the 18th century by box graves and table-tombs. These stone grave coverings in turn served as the models for a variety of American folk mortuary structures such as gravehouses, comb graves (consisting of two elongated slabs of stone leaning against one another to resemble a "pup tent"; most frequently found along Middle Tennessee's Highland Rim area), slot & tab graves (a varient of a box grave covering found in a limited area of northeastern Georgia), and a surprising variety of rather massive cut stone block grave coverings variously reported in central Tennessee southward into northern Alabama. Having some knowledge of these early types of grave decoration makes a trip along the back roads of the region all the more enjoyable and interesting. Perhaps some Conference Center readers can comment on where they have seen examples of some of these types of grave decorations.

*Bowing graciously* Many thanks for this wonderful surprise! You posted in our humble Geo !!! My gratitude is boundless. I'd better go charge my camera batteries for tomorrow. We are off to see things and enjoy lunch with a fabulous lady historian who can make hours disappear over even ordinary food. We are looking forward to this and I will report back.

ok, i remember this topic now....and before i think i'm going crazy, was there supposed to be someone telling the story of the 3 little kittens when i clicked this topic?

I know the world authority on The Three Bears , but I can't recall the kittens. If I find it I'll let you know. Periodically I read these posts - they are wonderful.

no, no, when i opened this topic my sound popped up with someone reading the 3 little kittens.......

Fantastic! You have a musical computer. Mine is currently playing Beethoven's "Pastoral" symphony (6th) but it is a separate program. Hmmm...

i reloaded and saw at the bottom that "children's story" url was being utilized...

For some reason (I use Netscape) mine is muta and there is no link on it. Back to American Folkways. Brace yourself for Folk Architecture by someone who is considered an "athority" in the field. It is fun to go to symposia with him and to hear young graduate archaeologists citing him.

cool, that'll be interesting!

This will be from an upcoming paper he is considering presenting. I will tell him we are waiting for his post.

As an update to some "current events," I would note that Marcia and I are currently co-authoring a brief research paper on early (19th century) rock fences along the lesser traveled back roads of rural Middle Tennessee. Although stylistically similar to the better known (and better made) rock fences around various plantations near Lexington in Kentucky's Bluegrass region, these fences appear to have been associated with much less pretentious small farms. In most -- if not all -- instances, these were likely made of minimally shaped pieces of more or less (mostly less) flat fragments of limestone fieldrock. The majority of the fences we have seen thus far are consistently in a state of poor repair and have obviously been neglected for many, many years. Some similar fences wer also built around small family cemeteries. We hope to undertake further fieldwork on these later this year. Marcia can keep you posted on our progress in documenting these.

One other research project on which I have been working is a short study of what are called "tub mills" in the southern Appalachian mountains. The motive force was provided by a wooden "wheel" mounted horizontally rather than vertically. This wheel was typically enclosed in a wooden or stone well which resembled a tub, hence the name of this type of mill. The design of the wheel was basically an early type of turbine. These small mills were built to serve the needs of individual families rather than the larger mills with which most people are familiar which served the needs of a broader market and were commercially operated. One of the better known standing examples of one of these mills is the Alfred Reagan tub mill in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Sevier County, Tennessee. Very similar "one family" mills were at one time built in great numbers throughout the British Isles (for example, the AD 1086 Doomsday Book inventoried over 5,000 of them). Relatively little scholarly attention has been dircted toward these mills and my current work is limited to finding references to them in various 19th century publications. Very few of these mills are now standing.

I'd really appreciate seeing some of these tub mills if they still exist, and I look forward to seeing and photographing thost stone walls in the fields of Middle Tennessee. They are quite impressive even when low and small. Thanks, Don, for your great posts.