RR1

                                                            Dolmens here to stay
The concept here is that early humans were certainly as smart, if not smarter, than we give them credit for, but that they were also "Chatty Cathy's."

 Here is an example of a dolmen in which we can see multiple design elements: circles, groups, and stacks.  Circles, in that many were arranged this way during the 3500BCE time frame around England.   The most notorious being that of Stonehenge which we covered in class.  But these dolmen are not exclusive to England, nor the continent of Europe alone, because they can be found everywhere on the earth (minus Australia, as we learned today.)   They can also be classified as groups, simply because of their aesthestic appeal, which certainly is reminiscent of a grouping of trees, reaching vertically.  As well, it is easy to see how they can be considered Stacks, because they are just that, stacked.

As Ching points out, most of these would serve the pupose of a "burial tomb consisting of three or more upright stones and one or more capstones.   Roth explains that these roughly rectangular slabs make up the base, forming something like a gigantic stone box, with an immense stone lid."  But these weren't solely during this time frame, nor, as mentioned before, were they exclusive to one area or even group of people.   These structures can be found in North America as well, and even better, newer versions of them can be found less than 2o miles away.

Here is an example of a different type of Dolmen, believed to have been left by Native Americans, indigenous to this part of North Carolina.   I discovered this area, while I was setting boundary lines during an internship I was doing this summer.   The style is different, in that the design in different, though every authority I presented my findings to, seemed to believe that these were in fact, this type of burial style.   Much has been over grown, and placements have possibly been changed by former farmers surrounding the area, but there are possibly three of these arranged in a circular (inner facing) arrangement.  If the circular pattern is true, then it would uphold all three design styles.  

The most interesting point, to me at least, is the information exchange that must have gone on through the centuries.   We touched on this in class, and I think it is certainly relevant, because though it is possible that some of these symbols might be through their own fruition, it is much more likely that these were passed on or down through the ages.

It is a romantic object, or at least it beckons that romanticism of a lost age.   A portable alarm device, or better known as the travelling alarm clock, seems of course archaic to us now because of our cell phones, but to those that can picture life (or remember it) as it was when computerized devices were merely a drive to the town library away, these were a pretty fancy commodity.  In actuality, these devices predate computers by several decades, but this particular one is only about 40 years old.   It is a sleek-rounded design, with genuine leather wrapping and a velvet liner.   But I think my favorite part, or what I appreciated most as a child (and still do) is how manageably well it folds in on itself.  I find it strangely beautiful to watch it collapse and re-open, and it it so easily stored away.   Nothing about it is very technical or savvy, but it certainly begs the definition of user-friendly.  Of all these things though, the romanticism plays hardest at the simple fact that there once was a time when our production and manufacturing in America went so far as to dress up even the most novelty of items with quality rather than an ulitmate single-minded focus of how to make the casing cheaper and faster, while looking more expensive.   Oh, and if your cell phone has lost its charge, this thing still works, though the bell sounds like crap.