Re: Now then .... | Forum — The Modern Antiquarian

non-Mega image outlets ? A cry from many hearts

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Earthstepper Apr 24, 2004 08:45:52

Replying to FourWinds

The big issue for me is "continuum". Prehistory doesn't cease because literate Romans took over a part of Britain and wrote something down which we regard as "history" The ever so temporary Roman occupation was an interval during the ongoing Iron Age. What exactly do we mean by "megaliths" - big stones? What is the consensus view of the purpose of standing stones - waymarkers, boundary posts, memorials? Didn't they evolve into Pictish slabs and Christian crosses? Aren't they megaliths also?

I believe that the cut off point is just too early and much of interest is lost and so slips in through the back door eg Romano-British settlements often called "Celtic" villages, medieval mottes justified because there might be an earlier barrow inside, these odd currick cairns of which I know nothing but what I have read on TMA - are they not medieval or modern? Contributors are clearly pushing against the restraints and something has got to give sooner or later.

Holy McGrail Apr 24, 2004 09:17:46

Replying to Earthstepper

I don't know what you hope to gain by documenting every old thing between the Romans and 1066, Earthstepper, but I'm fairly sure it'll be of no relevance to this site.

And that's the crux of it really, if you don't like the subject matter here, go some place else for your fix of 'other' stuff. We're never going to extend the reach of the subject matter on TMA. It won't do Romano-British stuff, and it won't do knitting patterns either (celtic designs or otherwise).

TMA isn't interested in stuff just because it is old and made out of stone. I'm sorry you and a few other people have such a problem with this but the way I see it is it's your problem and not TMA's because you want it to be something other than that which it is. I appreciate there is often a crossover between people who are into megalithic stuff and people who are into Roman, Dark Ages & Medieval sites etc. but we will NOT facilitate that crossover here.

Regards,
H.

FourWinds Apr 24, 2004 09:57:08

Replying to Earthstepper

I find it odd too. If you go and buy a book on Neolithic Britain do you write to the authors/publishers complaining that it didn't have any Roman Villas in it? Of course you don't!!!!!!

What do you want next? Dinosaurs?

Like books, websites can have boundaries. They can have limits. People seem to confuse A Website with The Internet. The internet is limitless. A website is just one small part of it and whoever owns or looks after it decides what can and can't go on it. There is a need for a site to cover the post TMA stuff that's out there and this is what I was talking about. If it happens then stuff like GeoURLs can do the interlinking. Could you imagine how shite a website would be that covered The History of the World

When I started looking for a website to put up my Irish sites there wasn't one. TMA hadn't stretched that far then, so I got off my fat arse and made a site of my own. It's an option that's there for anyone and everyone.