Investigating pre-Columbian contact, lost races, ancient astronomy,
navigation, and migration, cultural oddities, associated diffusion evidence
and the truly unexplainable. Oh, and the odd musician, band, or comedian may
stop by. Some are really odd…



Hello Loopers, Yoopers, and Scoopers







In this issue:



This Week's Show:



Op/Ed: See Possum Holler News, A Chink in the Armor



This Day in History: 27 November, 8 B.C. - Roman poet Horace died.



Possum Holler News:



Other news: Video A Tribute to Fred Rydholm



Events: Send your organization's events to oz@...





Last week's show: Scott Marlowe & Lloyd Pye, Giants, Pygmies, & Hobbits,
Oh My!





Next week's show: Crystal Trickle, Alignments and Inscriptions in the
Heartland



Jan. 15: Jerry Smith, Secrets of the The Holy Lance



Site of the week : http://www.scientificmethod.com/





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This Week's Show:








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Op/Ed: See Possum Holler News, below





This section is for you, the audience. You are welcome to contribute to it.
Submit your "stuff" to

oz@...




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Today in History - Nov. 20

8 B.C. - Roman poet Horace died.

1095 - Pope Urban II declares the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont.


1807 - The Portuguese Royal Family leaves Lisbon to escape from Napoleonic
troops

1863 - American Civil War: Confederate cavalry leader John Hunt Morgan and
several of his men escape the Ohio Penitentiary and return safely to the
South.

1868 - Indian Wars: Battle of Washita River - United States Army Lieutenant
Colonel George Armstrong Custer leads an attack on Cheyenne living on
reservation land.


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Possum Holler News
It's been a beautiful day here.
I began by winterizing the lawn mower, cleaned gutters, and other sundry
outdoor tasks today. Pat helped a lot, but was cooking most of the day.
Thanksgiving dinner for her family is like feeding an army. Or maybe a herd.

We went to Louisville Sunday and attended the Ancient Kentucky Historical
Association meeting, where Lee Pennington reported on our visit to Welsh
Caves and the AAPS Conference. I wanted to keep him honest. Actually, Lee
does a wonderful job at such things. I really just wanted to see the images
from Welsh Caves and fill in some things if needed. He didn't really need
me, but we had fun. I want to ghostwrite his autobiography...and write the
screenplay.


The View from Possum Holler,
A Chink in the Armor

When, in the overall process known as "the scientific method", a paper is
submitted for peer review, it is dissected to the nth degree. A misspelling
or mistaken word usage will be noted simply. But an error in planning, data
collection, data reduction, or a farfetched conclusion, no matter how well
supported by the data, will be met with resistance at best and derision in
the middle, with character assassination held as an ace in the hole. Any
paper that doesn't provide the first parts, i.e., hypothesis, observations,
tests, data, methods of verification, alternatives, and predictive
conclusions will be met with derision or be completely ignored. Credence of
an idea in these settings depends entirely on having each and every duckling
marching smartly in its place.

Einstein stated, "A problem properly defined is often half solved."

I am investigating a site on a tall, steep, and very rocky hill. I'm pretty
sure it is the former site of on over-shot wheel mill. All that remains,
however, is most of the dry-laid stone mill pond dam. The landowner brought
it to my attention in March of 2007 because of an article I did about old
walls and fortresses. Well, this site certainly appears to be old. The
stonework is mostly naturally surfaced with only the notch for the sluice
and a few of the larger stones showing signs of having been hewn. The local
histories have no mention of a mill here, though, and "history" and
"settlement" in this particular area is not much older than about 1820 and
earliest recorded exploration in 1792. Sites of other, "historic" mills in
the area have been researched and verified.

A fast flowing, clear, and cold spring erupts from a small cave in the
hillside at the right level to fill the mill pond and the stream from it
matches the size of the aqueduct or "sluice" notch very well. Other wall
segments are also on this property and a mound is very close by. Natural
features with names like "Devil's Elbow", "Old Man's Nose", and "Norman's
Bend" (named for an early settler family) are also close by as notable
features on the navigable river a half mile from the site. But this hill, as
I mentioned is very rocky, tall, and steep, so it wouldn't be easy to haul
grain up it to be milled. This bothered me for the better part of 18 months.
Why would anybody build a grist mill up there? It's too hard to get to it
and the good farmland is too far from it. If not a grist mill, then what?

So I started researching mills.

And I learned just how ignorant I really was regarding water powered mills.
Overshot, undershot, and turbine drives (thank you Archemedes), rotating,
reciprocating, and valve and piston "hydraulic" transmissions (that one was
downright ingenious and the forerunner to both steam and internal combustion
engines) are all documented at various times in history. A horizontal wheel
with a vertical shaft is called a Greco wheel and a vertical wheel with a
horizontal shaft is called a Roman wheel (regardless of whether it is
overshot or undershot). The power generated by any of these mill designs
could be used for a multitude of industrial processes, not just grinding
grain. Most water powered sawmills used reciprocating transmissions and an
industrial sized crosscut saw to rip logs into dimension (rough sawn) lumber
and the more sophisticated ones had a rotational power takeoff to finish
(mill) the boards. One type of grist mill used reciprocating action to
"stamp mill" grain rather than grinding it on a millstone. Another
reciprocating design and the piston design were used as hammer mills (very
similar in principle to the "stamp" grain mills, but presumably much
stronger) to break up ore bearing rock.

Hmmm.

The Romans used a number of "reverse" overshot wheels to de-water mines.
Examples have been found in Spain (silver mines, started by Hannibal), in
Wales (gold mine dated to at least 120 years before Claudius claimed
Britain), possibly a coal mine in Germany and, reportedly, a very rich gold
mine in Romania.

Water-powered wheels driving millstones were used for grinding grain by the
ancient Romans in places where ever their aqueducts delivered the water. And
they had a lot of aqueducts. They apparently doubled as a power grid.


Reconstruction of a Roman water lifting machine found during excavations in
Aldersgate Street, London



Back at the mill site.

Old maps of the area show a nearby (seven or eight miles overland), long
abandoned town or place name of "Ironton", but no town (not even a
foundation) exists there now. Nor does any obvious iron ore bearing rock
appear there. There are many large pieces of native, light-colored sandstone
that have a vein of dark, reddish-black material running through them at the
mille site, however. I'll be collecting a sample for assay this weekend.

I will send the sample, wait for the results, then start forming a
hypothesis based on repeatable tests. Then I will devise tests to gauge the
worth of the hypothesis. If the hypothesis holds up to the tests and no
other possible explanations are found, I will make predictions and test the
predictions. If the predictions bear out, I'll have a working theory. Until
then, I have questions. March on, my ducklings.

==================================





Click on the thumbnail to see Lee Pennington introduce "Secrets of the
Stones"






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Other news:


Video A Tribute to Fred Rydholm



Did Asteroid Cause Ancient N.Y. Tsunami?

Ancient Celtic coin cache found in Netherlands

CABAL OF THE WESTFORD KNIGHT - A review


a.. Amateurs' prehistoric find draws top award - 2 days ago
a.. An amateur archaeological team from Datchet (Berkshire, England) have
been presented with a Highly Commended award at the British Museum for
uncovering a prehistoric settlement at Southlea Farm. For t...
a.. Ancient 'treasures' unearthed in Scotland - 2 days ago
a.. A 5,000-year-old axe head, a Bronze Age sword and mysterious carved
stone balls form part of Scotland's annual Treasure Trove, items found by
archaeologists or enthusiasts which have been handed.....
a.. Suffolk 'best for buried treasure' - 2 days ago
a.. Suffolk and Norfolk are among the best places to find buried treasure in
England, a new report has revealed. Hundreds of ancient objects have been
unearthed by metal detecting enthusiasts...
a.. 3,500-year-old weapon found in a Scottish burn - 2 days ago
a.. A Bronze Age spearhead which lay submerged in a burn for 3,500 years has
been discovered and handed to a museum. The spearhead was found wedged in a
rock crevice...
a.. Further details on the massive Welsh fort - 2 days ago
Cloaked by time's leafy shroud, the prehistoric settlement of Gaer Fawr lies
all but invisible beneath a forest in the lush Welsh countryside. Now the
2,900-year-old structure lives again...

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a.. Events: Send your organization's events to oz@...
/|\

Ancient Kentucke Historical Association

Newsletter

Thank you members of AKHA! Thank you Marylin for being such a gracious
hostess. Pat and I attended the Nov.23 meeting and enjoyed it immensely.

Nov. 29th, 2:00 PM Falls of Ohio

Africa

It is one of the great ironies of archaeology that the country thought now
to be the very place where human history began would for many years be
considered to have no real history of its own. From medieval times on, the
spectacular ruins of the southern African kingdom of great Zimbabwe could
not be accepted by European settlers as having been built by Africa’s native
people.

European “experts” proposed instead that Zimbabwe was built by everyone
from wandering Phoenicians to the biblical Queen of Sheba, but certainly not
Africans.

A different story has now emerged not only of the fabulous “lost city” of
Great Zimbabwe, but also of the amazing Swahili Coast, which was a thriving
trade center of gold and ivory until the 16th century.

After centuries of racial prejudice and neglect, the world has come to
realize the extraordinary achievements of Africa’s indigenous people


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a.. Last week's show: Scott Marlowe & Lloyd Pye, Giants, Pygmies, &
Hobbits, Oh My!





Next week's show: Crystal Trickle, Alignments and Inscriptions in the
Heartland



Jan. 15: Jerry Smith, Secrets of the The Holy Lance

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Site of the week: http://www.scientificmethod.com/
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