FOOD ARCHAEOLOGY WAS (AND POETRY) Here's a new section of our site - FOOD ARCHAEOLOGY WAS.  There are so many connections with food and archaeology that we have to have something about it. The anthropologists when studying culture must get into this main element of Man...food. What did he or she eat?  How did they get it?  How did they prepare it? How did they trade or sell it?  How did they store it? How nutritious was it?  This is a vast subject and highly fascinating. The archaeologists are constantly running into something about food.  Then, too, archaeologists out in the field have to eat too.  What do they eat?  The field archaeologist must be a quartermaster supply sergent and cook.  "An archaeologist runs on his stomach," to paraphrase Napoleon.  Feeding the shovel-hands is quite an event.  I recall one time out in the field we were "dieing Egypt dieing," as my Grandmother used to put it. We would poop out quickly. This was quite a problem.  Then, someone decided to have pancakes for breakfast along with eggs and bacon. Voila!  That did it. Dr. Albrecht the famed soils scientist, nutritionist, philosopher at Mizzou would have known what to do. He described it thus:  One not only needs grow food...protein...but also go food...carbohydrates.  What did the Native Americans eat? What did the Osage eat to make them seven feet tall? Then, the ancient history of food is a great vast story. And all of this can help us today, and one of our objectives of this site is practical archaeology.  We like to help.  During the recent high water of Table Rock Lake - a little gourd - a round ball not quite as large as a tennis ball washed up on shore a few feet from our WAS HQ. This is the famed Ozark Wild Gourd. Experimental farmers of the Ozarks 4 thousand years ago commenced with this little gourd and as ancient Luther Burbanks - and over the centuries - developed this gourd into many of the summer squash we have today. The various varieties were traded all over the U.S. and each tribe did their own experimenting (Smithsonian Research Reports). One reason they kept the original gourd around was that  the seeds were rich in protein. But they had to have noticed "sports," and re-planted them and traded sports.  The warted Hubbard Squash (winter variety)came from Mexico. Seeds have been found in dry Ozarks Bluff-shelters. (Harrington's Ozark Bluff-dwellers).  I recall a paper in the Springfield, Ill. Museum Journal telling about finding seeds of the Acorn Squash (another winter variety) at the Koster site dig, above St. Louis along the Mississippi. . The level was dated back 7,000 years.  The experimental farmers were always working away. They were sharp and liked to trade.  You know they liked to trade, for the squash alone are found all over the country...not to mention the same thing for corn...which started out as little nubbings down in Mexico. And corn must have Man to get it out of the husk or it won't propagate itself! Totally dependent on Man. Are we good custodians? But, ancient plants had wings and as corn are children of Man!! Speaking of the Ozarks Bluff-shelters, seeds of the wild green - Lambs Quarter (pig weed) have been found. (Harrington's Ozark Bluff-dwellers -- Heye Foundation). And, here is something I will add to that - from some of my Ozark ethno studies. WAS Newsletter and Opinion Page weekly columns - on general subjects - in Branson Tri-Lakes News.  Lamb's Quarter must be cooked.  This means pots! (unless for medicine...or they figured out some way to make it edible...maybe something on the order of the way Native Americans prepared acorns?). By the way, Lamb's Quarter is delicious and a delicacy. I believe it is better than spinach. Pick leaves and stems when about one foot tall.  Farmers pull up tall plants and give to the pigs. A rough guess is that eating Lamb' Quarter goes back four or five-thousand years...plus or minus a thousand years or so.  Not too exact am I. Anyway, we know who the foody is around here!!  Eatingly Yours.... Ron - May 31, and June 3rd '11 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - FOOD DISCOVERY!  A GEM OF A CAFE i GET A KICK OUT OF DISCOVERING GREAT LITTLE EATING PLACES.  i AM IN ARCHAEOLOGY, AND FINDING SUCH EATERIES IS MUCH AS FINDING A GREAT ARTIFACT AT THE DIG OR DOING SURFACE SURVEYS LOOKING FOR SITES AND PLACES TO DIG.  THE BRITISH CALL IT: "PROSPECTION IN ARCHAEOLOGY."  AND ARCHAEOLOGISTS ARE ALSO FOODIES AS YOU CAN PROBABLY TELL.  PICKING AND SHOVELLING AT THE DIG, OR SURFACE SURVEYING IN THE BOTTOMS OR CLIMBING BLUFFS,  WILL DO IT!  AND, TOO, FOOD IS A CULTURAL THING.  IT IS FASCINATING TO STUDY DIFFERENT TYPES OF FOOD IN DIFFERENT LOCALITIES...AND, TOO, AT DIFFERENT LEVELS OF STRATIGRAPHY. So, armed with my foodology background, and hungry enough to eat the proverbial "tent peg" and travelling south on Hwy. 7 from Overland Park, Ks (next to Kansas City, Mo.)...and headed for Hollister, near Branson, Mo., I amazingly found a great little cafe: Old Cedar Inn at Garden City.  The turnoff is not very spectacular, although there is a little state sign with "gas & food."  But my antenna did spot the "food," so, I thought I would turn right and see what I could find.  Turning right again, a short distance from the turnoff one finds a stop sign.  Then, I turned left, and a short distance on the right is Old Cedar Inn.      Yes, there is something to ESP that led me along to this little place.  It was late morning, but I was thinking something in the egg breafast category.  There in the menu supplied by the friendly waitress was an item that stood out: Ham and Eggs.  I ordered, and the waitress asked if I also wanted the biscuit and gravy.  I said yes, and also ordered hash browns. While waiting a short time, I noticed they had their standard guy club meeting going nearby. How great! This reminded me of our "Liar's Club" monthly meeting, a group of old Hollister grads.  We have lunch at a different place each month. The gals do the same thing, also at a different place.  We Ozarkians have to stick together with the onslought of civilization arriving en masse to the Branson area! (seven million visitors last year... plus many retired folks and migrant workers).    When the breakfast arrived I almost fell out of my booth!  On a big platter was this complete cut of smoked ham - a big round piece, not a little quarter or even a half but the entire slice.  Also there were the two eggs, and the hashbrowns on this oversize platter.  And, separately, was the biggest biscuit I have ever seen and a bowl of gravy!  This biscuit reminded me of the big biscuits Mrs. Holderby made for our Mizzou archaeology crew when doing exploratory salvage archaeology, " prospection" on the Table Rock Basin while the dam was under construction.  What blockbusters! Now, I commenced the ancient time-honored procedure of "diving in."  How great!  I wasn't half done, and the waitress asked if I wanted a go box?!  At the time I thought I might whittle away on it a little longer, but shortly I had had it!  The waitress was right.  She knew me better than I knew myself, and no doubt she was coming from long experience in such gastronomical situations there at Old Cedar Inn.  So, I flagged her down and got the go box, the contents of which would provide me with two more meals. So, if you are ever driving along south (or north) on Hwy 7 not far south of Harrisonville, which is not far south of the K.C. area...or if you are going north of Clinton, this Inn provides a nice stop.  Garden City is a great little farming community.  The town is a welcome relief from crowded hyper-civilization.   I would call Garden City "a great American city."  And, when visiting, be sure and bring an appetite!  Eatingly yours, Ron Miller - June 1, 2011.  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - NOTE: If anyone wants to help with our research on Food Archaeology WAS, gifts appreciated. Make them out to Ron S. Miller....and send to 120 Lakewood Drive, Hollister, Mo. We figure this is a little bit better than crying for alms outside of the city gate of old Jerusalem. We at least do some research work.  And, thinking as Cicero of ancient Rome, the past is important in the whole life continuum...the past, present and future.  Unfortunately, archaeology is one of the poorer sciences...even before the present crisenflop. An old editor of "Stones and Bones Newsletter" (of the Alabama Archae. Soc.),  Dan Josselyn pointed this out.  Great archaeological excavations of life!  RM. POETRY Following is a little section reserved for poetry. The reader new to archaeology/anthropology and history might be surprised to find that there is quite a body of poetry present in our related fields. Some is fun, and some is very serious. The WAS has for a long time had fun with a poetic character called: "Karl Sandblast." He is an intrepid soul trying everything to get his material published. But we have also published some serious pieces as well. Poetry has a knack of getting to the heart of the human condition better than any other method. So, we will add it to our web site knap sack along with whisk broom, trowel, grapefruit knife, ruler, notes, etc. If any readers would like to contribute, don't hesitate to send it in. Serious or fun; all is great. Maybe we can find some poetry gems dancing around in our sifting screen? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Following is a little poem "A Prayer For Those With a Virus" run in a series of my columns on the subject of Ozarks Folk Medicine. Perhaps this would qualify some way in the specialized field of medical anthropology (just barely...ha!). And with the flu shot problem, the reader might find of particular interest: A Prayer For Those With a Virus I first noticed a little tickle, That got me in a pickle. A problem with my noseolla, That's totally out of controlla. Yes, the drippin' from my sneezer Has totally fouled up my wheezer. And I am using tissues by the boxes And sneezing right out of my sockses I ache and I tend to moan, To relieve the misery with a groan. I'm mad at this thing called "viral," That's got me in a downward spiral Not only that but my fever is roarin' And to friends and relatives I'm borein' So, God I fervently ask That you perform a much needed task. Please stop this infernal curse... So I don't have to call on the nurse. And I ask in the name of Jesus. That you heal my stupid wheezes! (column by RM Jan. 13, '04, Opinion Page, Branson (MO) Daily News). - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Following is a verse from the WAS Newsletter No. 7, May 28, 1973 - It has been re-published a couple of times. Unusual Doctors Will the patient live? I doubt it. I doubt it, I really do. For, you see, the Dr. is weird, He must be missing some sort of screw. His medical tools are strange, And I fear for the patient's life. Instead of a razor sharp scalpel, He's using a grapefruit knife! And the nurse, a coed, in dirty jeans, Who would otherwise look sorta nifty... Just handed the Doc a paper sack, Shouting...."We found it in square R-50!" But, nevertheless, the Dr. works on... He's dedicated, you'll have to know. For, after all, his patient died... Some 5,000 years ago! Yes, someone finally told me, Or I would have scratched my head all day. This man is an archaeologist... A Doctor in an ancient way. RM - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - This poem was first published in the Springfield, Mo. News Leader, May 1972...and re-printed in our W.A.S. Newsletter No. 7, May 28th, 1973...then, subsequently published in the Branson Mo. Daily News, n.d. A Road in the Hills There is a road in the hills marked "History," That winds through the valleys of the past. It is an interesting trail by the river and dale, A path that is made to last. See what you will, the good and the bad, Along this storied way, People, places, events and things, They all have something to say. Learn as you travel this winding path, It leads to a land called "Now," Where your travel experience will be needed To help with the problems of how. Pick from the patches called "Scholarship," Tasty fruit by the side. But caution is the word for knowledge And beware of a sign marked "Pride." Follow the map of the Creator, And see behind the scene, The final authoritative source, The ultimate superior Being. Go enjoy the road in the hills That winds through the valleys of the past. It is an interesting trail by the river and dale, A path that is made to last. RM - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - This one is from the same newsletter as above. Time has passed with jet like speed, and here I sit and wonder - Where the blazes did I find that point - the one I forgot to number?!?!? RM - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -	KITCHEN IMPLEMENTS OF ANTIQUITY.  This is such a big subject, Kitchen Implements of Antiquity, because for one reason, it goes so far back in time - millions of years in fact. Most of the early implements were very functional of course and simple.  Dr. Leakey of Olduvai Gorge fame in Africa and who found the very ancient proginators of Man also found crude stone tools called "Pebble Tools."  These were flint or chert nodules (eroded out of limestone layers over the millenia and usually ending up in creek beds) that were whacked a few times with another hard stone, to form an edge.  It is an interesting fact that chert or flint if you will, freshly knapped has a razor sharp edge, and it holds well too.  The edges of these tools also were serrated, which gives a saw effect.  So, they had a sharp edge and serrated at that.  Modern eye surgeons have experimented with freshly knapped flint flakes instead of scalpels doing their surgery, and the flints have worked fine.  And mind you, the eye is one of the toughest muscles!  Well, the ancients used these flint tools to cut up meat, and also as hide scrapers to scrape off flesh and fat from inside of freshly butchered meat.  The ancients found that they could refine the design of these crude tools a little better and use that particular implement as a full-fledged hide-scraper. They would model the tool some more.  But the old old cultures still used big heavy tools for hacking and as fist picks and hand axes.  They needed to whack bones hard to get at the marrrow; many today consider a delicacy, and they probably did too.  Also they needed to get at the animal's brain both as a food source and also used for the tanning of hides.  I have found big heavy fist picks (pointed tools) here on the Long Creek Arm of Lake Table Rock in southwest Missouri that could be lost in Achuellian fist pick levels of Europe.  The problem here in dating is that our Ozark soil is very "residual" so termed by soils scientists.  This type of soil is very rocky shallow "hard pan" (a common term)...and hard to study levels.  It is possible though someday to date the stone itself using new nuclear chemistry methods.  So, there is much research to be done here. My finds could go back millenia, however, it is also known that simple stone scrapers were common in many ancient cultures. See: Floyd Painter's "The Chesopiean"  Floyd was interested in the very old flint material. And, so were the archaeologists of the Alabama Archaeological Society. They even came out with a publication on Pebble Tools.  Yes, they also found them here in America.  Also, the late Tom Lee of Canada found such crude tools that were once below a glacier up there and dated by geologists at 20.000 years. The site was controversial, but the geologist's finding were and are hard to deny. (see Tom Lee's writing on "The Shequianda Site" in his old The Anthropological Journal of Canada),   So, here we have these ancient ancient tools both in America and the Old World. One would think that the African finds are much much older, but who knows what dates might pop up someday here in the "New World!"  Archaeologists always have to keep open minds. There has been much crow eaten by scholars locked into regimented thinking. "Crow", by the way,  must be one of the earliest foods eaten by Man...and Woman...and Child! (entered June 11, 2011 - RM). - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - THE FIRST KNIFE. As the reader may have guessed from the above discussion, the flakes knocked off or knapped from the above crude tools became the first knives. The two side edges were very sharp.  Archaeologists examine these edges very closely with magnifying glasses and can often see tiny pebble like scars indicating that the ancients did indeed use them for knives. And every ancient culture used these flake knives. And this use went on for thousands of years until the discovery of the metals, copper, bronze and iron.  And, can you imagine all the flakes produced from the manufacture of stone points and scrapers? These flakes littered the camp site area. Archaeologists today looking for sites always look for these flakes. Interestingly, curio collectors often walk right over such debris in their quest for more exciting artifacts. But, if they would only look closely at these flakes they would find that many of them were actually flake knives! The ancients had knives all around them.  They weren't in nice wooden knife-holders, of course. However, some of them were probably carried in skin bags tied to a belt or put in a knap sack. Another type of stone knife. Sometimes the ancients went to great length to neatly chip out stone knifes. The ancients in Denmark got very good at making these daggerlike knives. Here in southwest Missouri, inside of what is now the city limits of Branson the big entertainment center, I found the neatest stone knife with the classic blade shape. It was no doubt halfed to a wooden handle.  The flake scars were very polished, no doubt caused by weathering for thousands of years in the ground ...and also  possibly from being kept in a greasy leather bag by the owner...and possibly even a long line of owners. The edges of such tools, and projectile points too,  can be re-sharpened with a little fine chipping.  This particular knife was made of white chert and is about 4 and one half inches long.  Interestingly, the artifact was found in a field (at the time) very close to the big Skaggs Hospital complex...one of the best such facilities in the country.  What a comparison, present day surgeons using fine surgical steel scalpels and hospital cooks using stainless steel butcher and paring knives  and the ancients at one time right there using chert....quite a lengthy chronology lasting thousands of years.  The development of knives took a long time!  (RM June 20, 2011). --------------------- USING ONE'S HEAD BY KARL SANDBLAST If the hammer of life keeps banging Upon the anvil of your head.... Remember the following wisdom From the mouth of the wise man who said: "Hammers keep on hammering, true, But anvils are built of more steel. So, you might as well go clanging along, No matter how you feel. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Note: The above was published in two newspapers and also the WAS Newsletter. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - \ A Blessing and a Curse Bless you comma, curse you comma Study you all my life. Whether or not to use you comma That is what causes the strife! Oh, you little devil comma You've got me all abash. For .15 cents I'd stretch out your tail And switch to the laudable dash! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The above has also been republished several times. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Ode to the Gawdknowswhatserwhos Civilization goes chugging along a terrible machine to hear a'clinkin' and a 'clangin' and stripping an occasional gear. And from inside the contraption come the cries of the Gawdknowswhatserwhos, the strnagest bunch of passengers that one could ever choose. The sound of the thing and its vocal crew is an awful noise to hear, It rattles the dishes on the kitchen shelf and fractures the drum of the ear. There are some who try and oil it in the standard spots and ways yet, it just keeps on a'creakin' and goes on for days and days. But, if only the wind from this blusterin' mess could be harnessed for old-fashioned toil, we'd have us a purrin' machine of a world - and could ditch the ear plugs and oil! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The above was published in the WAS Newsletter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Much more serious..... The Night Light of Hope Suspended as a pale golden globe in the cobalt sky is the moon, the night light of hope. This object of fascination and dreams has been placed in the Heaven by God to reflect the rays of the cheery sun...temporarily out of sight when the curtain of night has been drawn. Charmingly, this glowing orb - not too bright to disturb our rest, or too dim to be forgotten - always reminds us, even in our own darkest hour, that brightness, warmth, eternal light and hope are alwsys present. Inagine, our very own night light of hope! Free! What a thoughtful God He is! What an amazing gift! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Out of the Prune Pits! Cheer up dear friend; please keep the faith. Out of the prune pits while there's time! Why waller in the dreery dregs old chap? Why stay in the slithery slime? As disgusted as you may be kind heart... fight on the ancient fight! You must always battle the prune pits of life... and keep striving for the blessed Light! Hang tough disgruntled, beautiful soul, or the prune pits of life will get ye. They'll try and drag you to the depths ofheck... to their stinkin' mess so feelthy. So, keep hangin' on, keep climbin' up. Keep battlin' with all ye'r might. Don't let the prune pits win out ole' pal... Just give 'em one heck of a fight! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Partly Lucky "Bleth my thol!" the ole' gent said as he sneezed and lost his choppers. "But, I'm thil in luck.." he added with a smile, "...for I only loth my toppers!" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The above three were probably run in the WAS Newsletter, but what level they appeared is something lost in time. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Art Art is many things... Pattern, composition-design . Art is colorful... balanced, shaded, toned, intense and subdued. Art is ancient... historical, new and futuristic Art is... pleasing, debateable, confusing, impossible, despised, loved and cherished. Art is exploration... research, experimentation and analysis. Art is... visual, and it is non-visual. It is ink, oil and film. It is movement of body, sound, words, materials...the very art of life itself. Art is the fine expression of one's self in a creative, aesthetic way. Art is many things. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The above appeared in the WAS Newsletter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -