06-16-2009, 11:21 AM
Some of the cultural residue--chariots--may have been in the form of ideas as much as hardware. That Gildas used it when he was looking for powerful metaphors indicates he at least thought his readers would understand the image he reported. I bow to the knowlege of others on archeological evidence.
Geneologies have always been tricky, especially since even legitimate ones can get telescoped (leaving out generations) or repetitive (due to errors and/or common names). But, for some people at some times, geneologies have been important repositories of community and continuity.
When we shift the refuse piles of history, some of what we recover is based on the pattern and fineness of our grid as much as what's in the pile. To capture everything important we risk capturing a lot of irrelevant trash.
Geneologies have always been tricky, especially since even legitimate ones can get telescoped (leaving out generations) or repetitive (due to errors and/or common names). But, for some people at some times, geneologies have been important repositories of community and continuity.
When we shift the refuse piles of history, some of what we recover is based on the pattern and fineness of our grid as much as what's in the pile. To capture everything important we risk capturing a lot of irrelevant trash.
"Fugit irreparabile tempus" (Irrecoverable time glides away) Virgil
Ron Andrea
Ron Andrea
