[Regia-NA] Re: [Regia] Re: documentation and misunderstandings

[J. Kim Siddorn]

Hi Michelle,

Firstly, thank you for understanding that nothing that any of us said was
intended to wound or hurt, only help.  That is the trouble with this form of
communication, it is all to easy to take offence where none is intended and
for the jocular remark to be taken amiss. Some people are more forthright
than others and all the visual cues that come across in conversation are, of
course, missing..

The exchange we have just witnessed should come as no surprise to any of us.
Lori, trained in the social customs and mores of the SCA, has most valiantly
attempted to fit into an organisation based in another country where the
whole thrust of what we do is different from that of the SCA. I applaud her
effort and pride in her achievements, I really do. There must have been many
occasions in the past where people like her have been taken aback by our
vociferous attitude in Regia, brought about by a history of uncompromising
attention to detail, individual and corporate experimentation and a - it
must be said - an insular attitude to "other societies".

One real difference I perceive is that rank in the SCA is observed and
accepted as an important part of society life but in Regia Anglorum, rank is
of virtually no account whatever. Experience and commitment are rarely
rewarded here and officers frequently dress down on site so they can get
their hands dirty! Wearing the clothes to which their "rank" entitles them
would mean that they could only sit about and look important, not to our
taste at all ;o))

In all this, it occurs to me that we decided over ten years ago that in
respect of colour in dyes and pigments, we would only accept our own
research as a baseline. Painted and dyed remains from the archaeological
record are not reliable and extant examples are changed by both the passage
of the years and variable storage conditions after excavation. There
followed an extensive and intensive research programme over a period of
years which utilised available water, plants and mordents gathered at events
and resulted in colours actually produced on site during public shows. Thus,
we discovered (for instance) that the "hardness" of the water and other
imponderables made frequently considerable differences of shade. Although
made available at the time, access to this research did not really survive
the membership of the co-ordinator, despite good will on both sides. New
hands have now duplicated and expanded that research, ably forwarded by
Hazel Uzzell, a stalwart lady who carries the semi-official title of
"Textiles Co-ordinator", when in all conscience her efforts should have been
well rewarded by recognition if nothing else.

We suffer badly from proportionate numbers. I believe the SCA has some
65,000 members across the world  and over 10,000 in California alone. Regia
barely scratches around five hundred. There are immense advantages in having
so many committed souls working towards a common aim - just think what we've
achieved ourselves! A real problem Regia has is lack of published documents,
mainly because we lack the money to be able to pay people to publish their
research. Where it is done - as in the case of Hazel Uzzell's excellent book
on paint and pigment - it is done virtually despite our efforts rather than
because of them.

I thoroughly support Tom Sweeting's efforts in getting together a baseline
document but the fact that one person is doing it as a personal initiative
is an indication of the problem.

Regards,

Kim Siddorn

"Spring in the air?"
"Spring in the air yerself !"


----- Original Message -----
From: <MicheleAsbury@aol.com>
To: <regia@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, March 10, 2003 10:42 AM
Subject: [Regia] Re: documentation and misunderstandings


> Hi all,
>
> I realise that the discussions between Lori and the group are not directly
> any of my business but as someone who likes to see people getting on, I
found
> it quite distressing to see misunderstandings arising over this issue.
>
> I did not interpret any of the responses to Lori's questions from members
in
> the UK  as  'snipes' or 'jibes' - (at least not that appeared on list) -
but
> I have met some of the people that responded and can therefore put faces
to
> the names and from my experience of them I know that they would not be
trying
> to be insulting - on the contrary, they would be being genuinely helpful.
> Personally, I have only ever encountered well meaning advice and support.
>
> The amount of time and effort invested by people in their hobby and the
quest
> for 'authenticity' can however, make it a very emotive issue.  As a new
> member myself I can appreciate this and I am equally sure that every other
> member has experienced it.
>
> What I would like to ask is if there is in existence a single link that
lists
> all current archeological data and resource materials on every aspect of
> Regia's time period that people could be directed to when these kind of
> issues come  up.  At least it might be a good idea to have a listing of
all
> the research materials that Regia refer to.  This might take the issues
> raised from the personal and provide people with a starting point for
> understanding the stance taken on issues by Regia.  I appreciate that
> experimental archeology is a very important part of Regia's purpose, and
that
> this can bring into question 'conventional' interpretations of data, but
> before one can experiment, there has to be an original source.
>
> Personally, I am on the bottom rung of the ladder with regards to
research,
> but I know that many members of Regia have read vast amounts of material;
> would it be possible, or would it be a logistical nightmare, if members
who
> have found information, sources etc or who have experimented with various
> aspects, could add their findings to a central listing on a Regia page so
> that members can access this.  Then if anyone has data that could give a
> slightly different slant as to possible interpretations, they could enter
> into debate without it spiralling to a level where people feel isolated
and
> personally attacked.
>
> Does such a list exist?  Does anyone else feel that this would be a good
> idea?  A definite adjunct to the work that Tom is doing in compiling a
> photographic resource!
>
> Michele
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
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