[Ansteorra] Can someone confirm/deny for me?

[mikea]

On Wed, Aug 18, 2010 at 04:19:58PM -0700, David Brown wrote:
> I think my point was lost. I know that people have been writing since long 
> ago...but they do not call them the Dark Ages for nothing. A lot of things were 
> lost and I believe that even during the time period we study that most people 
> did not know how to read or write, and if they did, then it was few and only 
> those who could afford to learn. True?

Short answer: the "Dark Ages" weren't. 

Longer, but still incomplete, answer: there was a _LOT_ of scholarship 
going on during the period form, say, 400 AD to about 1000 AD. While
only a small fraction of the populace had their letters, there were
scriptoria across Europe keeping learning alive. 

Things have been getting lost all through history, even in literate
societies, though the probability of something getting lost in a
literate society *AFTER IT HAS BEEN PUBLISHED* is much lower. Secrets,
though, by their very nature aren't published, and so we don't know,
e.g., how Antonio Stradivari got that wonderful tone out of his
instruments. 

-- 
Mike Andrews        /   Michael Fenwick    Barony of Namron, Ansteorra
mikea at mikea.ath.cx  /   Amateur Extra radio operator W5EGO
Tired old music Laurel; Chirurgeon; SCAdian since AS XI