[Sca-cooks] Images of Dining in Ireland 1581

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Aug 22, 2006, at 10:05 AM, Sue Clemenger wrote:

> Hmmm....in some cases, all we've got is the archaeological  
> evidence, but I
> get the feeling you don't mean that?

Nope. I have no issues whatsoever with archaeological evidence, as  
such, and if that's all we have, all the more reason to rely on it.

> Are you referring to people who draw erroneous conclusions from
> archaeological evidence, especially when it may contradict other  
> (textual)
> sources, but back it up by referring to the A.A.?  Like someone  
> saying "We
> never find chicken bones in middens, so that means medievals hated  
> chicken
> dishes?" (to create an example out of thin air)

Nah, I'm talking about using the phrase "archaeological evidence" to  
justify using... oh, I dunno, Entennman's marble pound cake in a  
feast, and then not producing any archaeological evidence for it --  
using it as a place-holder for documentation, because people know how  
impressive it sounds.  Obviously, there are some quite serious  
students who use it all the time, with good effect, but I'm not  
talking about that.

Adamantius