Odp: Tolos & Kurgan

> Hello Piotr,
> Thank you for providing me with the correct spelling for "tholos". I
> will immediately make the change in the manuscript.

P: I would've done that before but it was only after I read Alekseev's
longer description of tholoi that I realised what was meant by "tolos"
(despite the fact that the Polish spelling is -- also tolos; I simply
didn't expect it in an English context).

Gerry: Which spelling "tholos" or "tolos" should be used in the ms?
Alekseev used "tolos"; perhaps since that was what he selected and since
it's a legitimate spelling (although Polish) I should leave it as is.

>G: QUESTION: what is a living tholos? Did folks use the same structure for
> both burial and house? I am also recalling one of the excavations in
> the Altai where a "house-like" structure was unearthed. The report was
> entitled Scythian Tombs at Ak-Alaka and Kuturguntas and it was a
> translation I did with Raisa Tarasova of an excavation report written by
> Polosmak. The tombs were carefully constructed with interlocking
> timbers and contained human burials, grave goods, and remains of
> horses.

P:A "living tholos" (I'm just using Alekseev's phrase) is simply a kind
of mud-brick hut (not unlike an old-fashioned beehive). the same kind of
structure was used as a family grave. Nothing new, in fact; in many
cultures there are "houses for the dead". Kurgans often contain a
symbolic "house" like the one described above.

Gerry: OK. So now you concur that the same structure can be both a
house and a grave. I don't think John Croft agrees with this point but
since it appears to be "debatable" then I'll leave the Ms in tact.

>G: You are correct when you state that there were no living kurgans, and
> no, Alekseev never made that claim. Thanks for your etymology of the
> word *mogyla* or earth mound. The term is used today in skiing parlance
> for a "snow mound" or bump.

P:How nice. And nobody (except for a handful of linguists) realises that
it means "magic mountain".

P:Hope you don't feel being undermined yet :)

Gerry: I don't understand what you mean? Please explain.




--

Gerald Reinhart
Independent Scholar
(650) 321-7378
waluk@...
http://www.alekseevmanuscript.com