the reference to new england triggered something in my memory. in the 1970s
and 1980s one dr. barry fell, originally a marine biologist, was
responsible for a series of publications concerned with supposed
inscriptions, found in the americas, but written in ancient languages of
the old world such as old norse, old irish, basque, and phoenician. the
"amazon" catalog lists seven books by fell, all currently out of print,
with titles like *bronze age america*. he also edited a periodical called
*occasional papers of the epigraphic society*, published in arlington,
massachusetts. i don't know whether that society exists any longer.

i once had some correspondence with fell because he quoted me as supporting
his claims. i insisted that he publish a retraction. in general,
professional linguists and archeologists have rejected fell's claims. for a
relevant URL, see www.nativenet.uthscsa.edu/archive/ng/95/0235.html.

at least 3 of fell's books were published by large and reputable american
publishing houses. i wonder if cathy waldman's interest in epigraphy,
specifically in the new england area, is the result of reading something by
fell.

incidentally, there is a "center for epigraphical and palaeographical
studies" at ohio state university, columbus, OH,
www.lib.ohio-state.edu/lib_info/epg.html. there is a "centre for the study
of ancient documents" at oxford university, in england,
www.csad.ox.ac.uk/csad; they held an "epigraphy summer school" in 2000. my
impression is that these organizations are concerned mainly with written
materials from the classical cultures of europe.
--
William Bright
Professor Emeritus of Linguistics & Anthropology, UCLA
Professor Adjoint of Linguistics, University of Colorado, Boulder
Editor, Written Language and Literacy
Editor, Native American Placenames of the United States
1625 Mariposa Avenue, Boulder, CO 80302
Tel. 303-444-4274
FAX 303-413-0017
Email william.bright@...

William Bright's website: http://www.ncidc.org/bright