Monette Bebow-Reinhard

Historian, Copper Artifact Analyst, Novelist, Actor

feb_2020_can-2.pdf (1.2 MB)

My other random February newsletter.

feb_2019_can.pdf (1.87 MB)

COPPER ARTIFACT NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2019

Read Past Newsletters

Refer to this photo on bottom of newsletter

APRIL 2020 COPPER NEWSLETTER

Etowah and the 3 phases of its construction, plus connections to Mesoamerica (bi-lob) and Southwest (d-shape) and their input on palisades came after invention of the bow/arrow.

From an Etowah article by … Cobb and King, "Reinventing Mississippian Tradition at Etowah," Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, Vol. 12, No. 3, September 2005 (C 2005) DOI: 10.1007/s10816-005-6927-y

Keyes and Archaeology (A Bill Green article)

There was a key figure in Iowa archaeology – Charles R. Keyes. He was not a trained archaeologist. Here's how he was described: "Keyes commanded national respect for his rapid acquisition of an encyclopedic knowledge of Iowa archaeology, despite having no formal training in American archaeology -- he knew literally everything anyone at the time could know on the subject. His stature arose also from his organizational abilities, reflected by his creation of the Iowa Archaeological Survey." (William Green, CR Keyes & Iowa Archaeology, 81).

Similarly, I'm learning all I can on the fly and, too, am creating also an archaeological survey. I face a lot of criticism in my work, in part, I'm sure, because I have to work with both collectors and museums at a time when there is friction between the two. Collectors once created archaeology. Now they're looked down on. I would enjoy having a role in bringing the two into a kind of symbiotic relationship once again, where trust is the key element.

Keyes devised a detailed research plan and survey of artifacts in Iowa to date in 1922, so I'm sure much of what's been turned up in the CAMD is due to his efforts. If possible I will need to find the Keyes' Collection, which houses 108,000 artifacts, and helped implement preservation of various sites around the state (82).

Green's full article can be found here:

https://scholarworks.uni.edu/jias/vol99/iss4/7/?utm_source=scholarworks.uni.edu%2Fjias%2Fvol99%2Fiss4%2F7&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPages

Is there no end to the mysteries of the ancient world? Michael Ruggeri, Chicago Archaeological Society, shared a new discovery at Poverty Point.

https://www.bnd.com/news/nation-world/national/article241821501.html

A response received on his list is interesting:

The fired clay "balls" found at Poverty Point have been a matter of considerable speculation as to their function. One time Jeffry Coe showed me a drawer full of them in the Archaeology Lab at Chapel Hill. What is known about them so far: approximately 20,000 of them have been found; most have been recovered in cooking areas or in deposits of domestic trash; they date to about 1,200 B.C.; not all are balls; some are square; some seem to be wads of clay squeezed between the fingers before firing; some look like Mesoamerican spindle whorls but often the hole does not completely traverse the ball; many are decorated with incised lines. One theory is that they were heated and used for "stone boiling". I know of no counterpart to them in the Formative of Mexico. Surprisingly Mesoamerican-like, however, is the great number of prismatic blades struck from prepared cores that have been recovered at Poverty Point. Also of interest, not too long ago Berle Clay discovered remnants of one or more "woodhenges" at the site.

By Joe Mountjoy, who also wrote the following:

There is nothing better than consulting with an archaeologist who has done a lot of investigations at Poverty Point, so I contacted my friend Berle Clay and this is what he wrote to me about the subject of the small fired clay pieces.

Good to hear from you...yes they are definitely fired...having done much magnetometry at Poverty Point I can attest that ppo fragments are a major source of background magnetics! They are not temporally restricted to Poverty Point culture but occur at later dates. They seem to be restricted to the major alluvial plains (like the Mississippi/Yazoo) where other stone that might be used for cooking is simply not available. However, at major Poverty Point sites they occur in abundance, not so elsewhere. Obviously they are making a statement about food preparation. I know in New Ireland where Brenda and I worked hot rocks were used both for "earth oven" cooking and boiling in surface containers. I have seen someone bring water to boil in about a minute by dropping hot rocks in...removing them...and adding more. At Poverty Point they did get somewhat creative in the forms of ppo they produced...including a range of simple "sculptures" of human and animal forms.

I've often suspected there was some Mesoamerican influence and this dialogue tends to agree with that.

This find in an off-archaeology newsletter struck a chord with me:

"First of all, knowledge is never free. It is the product of years of labor in writing and research. Nobody in this society works for free, nor should authors alone be expected to, particularly since we are one of the few professions Congress is empowered to protect in the Constitution." Scott Turow, "Knowledge is not Free," Authors Guild newsletter, April 2020

I've met people who think I should just give all my research away, make it free to anyone who wants it.

Shame on them. This is research that took a lot of time and energy, and what makes anyone think

should do it for free? If someone can explain this to me, or why there are collectors and/or museums who don't see the value in adding their materials to the database, I'd love to have it explained.

Refer to photo of Michigan Copper found in this source:

In 1862 Charles Whittlesey called this a bodkin. Anyone know what a bodkin is? If you look it up online it's referred to as a needle. I'm not at all sure why this looks like a needle. Any ideas?

April 13, 2022

BITS

You can only do so much. Others have to pitch in, too. It's called teamwork. Photo shows my version of teamwork - the theater!

When you don't have family, friends will have to do. When you don't have friends, be a writer and make them up.

Is there anywhere in the world where people live allergy free? I asked my doctor if I can find out what allergies I have. The last one said, what do you need to know that for?

PIECES

I feel weak and drained, incapable of doing much, but I have two more days of work, today and tomorrow. I bring The Last Curtain along, to give me something to toy with. I read MSN.com a lot. I thought of something productive I can do today but I'll ask first. I know now for a fact they are not going to ask me back next year. If nothing else, they're making sure I won't want to come back. True enough though, at our opening banquet the boss lady told me they hired someone to take my place, and work there year round. Younger than me, of course, and she says it's great because she just lives down the street. Well, they had her start working as a tax assistant but in the meantime she made arrangments to move thirty miles away. And then she finally gave up working, saying they didn't have enough for her to do. I have so many reasons not to do this job again. The main one is it is so inflexible, and my health suffers because of the diet I'm forced on to eat at my desk over the dinner hour. I'm sure hopeful I can find better things to do.

The Last Curtain is a play with a social message, or two. How do we do that without sounding preachy? The two issues I tackle are abortion and transgender. The way we do it is to show opposing sides, and not loudly protest or vehemently showing support for either side. It's an acknowledgement of issues in today's world by human beings who are living there. The other issue is, of course, ageism. How we treat the elderly.

I've been weighing vacation packages as a way to use this money and also do something that adds to my writing career so at least part is tax deductible. Of course Germany and Greece are on the list. But I think the best use is a "Tour of the Ancients," in New Mexico and into the four corners, where I can use the information in my New Mexico & AZ resource manual. I decided to blend the two, and perhaps even add in CO and UT. That could be the manual i work on after Illinois, which is up as soon as Northern Wisconsin is done. I'm still waiting for some information from two places but editing is proceeding.

PENSAUKEE: Voice of a Landscape is now available in print at Amazon. It starts with a pristine land, and adds a look at what native cultures were like on contact with Europeans. I would only be making guesses what they were like before that, based on my copper research. But I add enough to make it clear how the Europeans came to claim land AND resources, not just to live but to conquer. You'll get the voices of the times, too, the way they talked, and thought, about what they were doing. And then how nature conquers Pensaukee, first by fire and then by tornado. There's also a focus on fishing and its conservation practices.

Buy either print or Kindle at https://lnkd.in/d5nPJvub

I've finished reading 'Mystic Fire' and I totally love the book. I laughed, I cried, I got angry (very angry) ...... and I wanted more... Monette, it was amazing... if you have not yet read the book, you have to – Eva Mayer, Canada

[Monette] has a gift of capturing your attention with suspense and makes U not want to put either book down. It gets so thrilling U just want to know what will happen next. --Jean in Wisconsin

Very thought provoking, being a history buff myself and especially the Civil War, I found all the twists and turns very compelling. In the end I was so glad you got my Ben and his boys home together just a little tattered, really I very much enjoyed this as I did the first. Thanks for sharing your talent and knowledge of a complex time in our history together with the Cartwrights. --Cheryl/Sadiespinner

Dancing With Cannibals

Two young Belgian prisoners are sent by King Leopold to the Congo in 1906 as part of his conquest of the territory, to be colonists to control the natives and harvest their resources. Simon, former murderer, sees great opportunity and wants nothing more than to be an officer in the Belgian Army. Jean, former thief, had a disturbing dream that tells him not to kick the dog that's eating the dog. The novel follows their adventures to show two dramatically different styles of conquest -- by rape and torture, or by assimilating and conquering from the inside. Dicho Disashi's research of this horrific time period will give readers insights as to reasons for the current state of the Congo today. But readers will also find love, adventure and inspiration, as they come to see cannibals as human beings.

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