SC - What is "period"?--off topic

[Jeff Gedney]

>  Now I _know_ that this if off-topic, but I can't help it....<sheepish grin> How
> could people _possibly_ think Vikings weren't "period to Western culture?"
> Generations of my western european (Irish, French, English) ancestors would have
> certainly disagreed!

Actually the Term "Western Culture" has usually been interpreted to mean 
"European Culture", so cultures which existed within the boundaries of 
Europe during the SCA period are usually considered the "Central Axis" of 
the SCA.

Many people read this and intrerpret "Western Culture" and extend this term 
to mean "Cultures which are the product of Western Civilization native groups"

Some extrapolate the term "Western Culture " to cover "IndoEuropean 
Cultures" , so this would include Hellenic, Persian, and non-semitic Arabian 
Cultures, as well as strictly European.  Certainly all these cultures 
strongly influenced European culture. (Strangly enough the strongest 
single influence on the Eurpean continent has been a non-IndoEuropean
semitic group, the Judaic, which would include Jews and through the Jews,
both Chrisitanity and Isamic cultures.)

I have no Idea which camp I sit in...
Some days the one, some days another...
Cultures bleed into another and where one stops and another starts is
very hard to say.
I think usually that if it was a "mainstream" cultural aspect in any region
of Europe, including Spain, the Balkans, the Urals, and the Caucasus,
then it is fair grist for the SCA mill.

brandu