This is the OTP presented by Farm Bureau Health Plans. Get a quote at FBHP.com, Farm Bureau Health Plans, celebrating 76 years of providing Tennesseans with high-quality health coverage at an affordable rate. With Amy Wells, I'm Mike Keith, and we're joined in the Snickers Hot Seat today by the newest member of Titan's Radio, Ramon Foster. Welcome. Thank you. Thank you both. Welcome to the Snickers Hot Seat. I see them over my left shoulder. I was wondering where they real, where they real, they are 100% real. If I want to grab one like Amy did last week, I could. Yeah, you could. I could. You should. I should. I think that there should be more eating and less talking on this show. Show. Yeah. That's your policy? That's my policy. Well, but we want to talk to Ramon Foster because we're excited to have him as part of Titan's Radio. Absolutely. How has he done in his first three games on the sidelines? How would you grade him? Oh, phenomenal.  Really, truly, it's been fantastic to listen to.  And the insights that Ramon has are so interesting. He sees the game in a completely different way than I have ever seen the game. However, then I would think a lot of people see the game. Just the things that you notice on the sidelines are so different than what I notice. And it's really interesting to listen to and your voice just fits in very well with the group. And that's a real thing. That is a thing. It fits. I appreciate that because I knew there was a lot of pressure. Amy has held it down.  Just get Amy's approval, okay, after game one. And a part of everything that I've done so far has been because our conversation we had was really good before I took the sidelines for the first time. But you guys might keep you, Coach Mack, Brad, just everybody involved, Phil Noel, Brad, everybody's just been a part, have welcomed me in to make me feel that comfortable to where I could just do my thing on the sideline and see those things that you guys maybe up top don't see. And it's been a real cool experience so far. I appreciate that. You played 11 years for the Steelers. You're only four years removed from being an active player. How different is the sideline view as a quote unquote member of a radio team compared to being on the sideline as a player? It is slightly different. Just because I have the opportunity to see everything now, the defense makes a mistake, I can see that more clearly now. The conversations between the coaches and the players on the sideline is something that you don't see because you're so locked in as a player. So getting an opportunity to always wonder what that was like and actually being able to do it now on the sideline is the reason why I'm so engaged. I have to tell myself sometimes talking to Philip in my ear, I gotta shut up because I'm calling out everything that you guys are already talking about because I'm so into the game because as a player, you was always told if you're not actually playing, watch what's going on at the field so that you can digest stuff and so that you can communicate what the coach is something they may miss. So my first year in NFL reserve role for the most part. So watching the right tackle and the left tackle at the same time was always something that was on my hit list to make sure that we didn't miss anything. So now I'm being able to watch the floor of the game or understanding blown down and distant situations. Well, they're probably more likely to throw the ball right here or looking at the way the stances of players are. I can tell when they're going to run the ball. I can tell when they're going to pass the ball and just being alert for that, especially in a matchup situation. I'm watching Danico Autry this past weekend and seeing the way the tackle set against him or the way he set his feet up. I figured it was going to end up being a pass rush and it was. Or third and one and watching Danico attack the tight end split and split both of them for TFL. Like I enjoy watching the process of a play developing, which is why I want to lend my expertise to you guys. One of the things that's so interesting to me is that five different people can watch a football game and they all see completely different things. And it depends on the perspective that you're coming from. So I watch a lot of football with Mike Keith, obviously, because we work so close together. And the way that you watch a play develop or the way that you watch a football game is very wide because you are used to calling a game. And so you see the whole field when you watch with a former player. A lot of times you see that position and they are so locked in in the intricacies of how a certain position or a certain side of the ball plays. When you watch with a coach, you get more not strategy, but you get almost more minutia when it comes to a specific play or like that broke down or this guy was supposed to go there. And they see in a very different way. It's so fascinating to me. And it's one of the things about sports that I think is so cool. And I think is kind of unique to football in that there's so much happening on a single play. There's so many things to digest. I just think that that's an incredible thing. And being able to have that on Titans Radio, having the coach's perspective, the player's perspective and the overall perspective of what's happening in a game. I mean, what more could you want? And that's fascinating you say that. And I've always communicated with you guys where I'll be at on the field. I like to watch the team that I'm reviewing the type from behind the offense, put me behind the offensive line. That's my lane right there. So I can see this team go down the fence because that's always how I played the game. If I'm watching the defense, I get behind the defense. That way I can see the front line. First, the linebackers make their plays. And if something happens on the back end with the secondary, always my perspective. And you're right. Coach Meck watches this from an up top view. And when he breaks it down, he'll see the entire field. I'm seeing it by phase. Front line, secondary line, and then the back end. And it's always fascinating to see what I see first. It usually starts up front. And then I watch the linebackers make a play. And then the safety's come down. Offensively, if it breaks down up front for the O'Lale, then I'm going to know it immediately because that's where I start to work my way back and outside. With that, you're 100% correct. It's different watching the game from that perspective. Keith Bullock, we had on recently. And he watches it from the linebacker position first to the D line to the secondary. It is a different perspective that way. Ramon Foster, the challenge, at least one challenge for the Titans in this camp, has been trying to pull the offensive line together to make them a cohesive unit. In terms of how you do that, what are the intricate parts that have to go on and the things that you have seen as they have tried to develop that? I would say this, and it's gonna sound weird saying it, but failure, you have to have some bad moments. And those bad moments, it forces us to communicate. What do I need to do to service you better? What do you need to do to help me out better? That's always gonna play a part as far as developing a group. If it was all peaches and cream from the get go, guess what? We wouldn't have an opportunity to talk about anything because everything is perfect. And we know the game of football is too many moving pieces for it to ever be a perfect game. So that's where I would start. And then having those guys communicate on the sideline, hey, in this situation, I saw this guy tip his hand or I saw the linebacker say a word to him. Anytime we hear this, let's do it. It's always a small finite things that really builds a team up. And the inner moving of players too always plays a part in it. We've seen some reserved guys come in in these preseason games and of course a breakdown will happen. And you say to yourself, well, this is why we're more successful with this group as opposed to the second group that we had in because you see what works in those situations. It is a beautiful process to watch five guys work at one. It's the only position on the field where five individuals have to be on the same page discussing levels as far as protections, discussing run blocking, whether I'm going, if I'm stronger going to my right as opposed to my left than knowing that I have to ask for help also. That's always a big part of offensive line play. You're known as big dudes that are super tough but you always ask for help because me talking to you about what I need helps us as a group be better. I've seen the offensive linemen and I've been a part of a group. All five of us are wrong as far as the play goes. But as far as the assignment and completing it with no sacks, 100% right on it. And you score in plays like that because from left to right, as long as you're on the same page, you're gonna be more right as far as the outcome of the play than not. So in terms of developing the cohesion of say who's going to be the starting five for the Tennessee Titans at the beginning of the regular season, it was actually really good per Ramon Foster that throughout the preseason we saw some different kind of phases of this offense develop. So in the first preseason game, we saw them come out. They did played what a series, two series, something like that. One series. One series. That was it, yeah. Right down the field. And then they were done because it was a great opening drive to start the game. In week two, they played for an entire quarter because there was a lot of three and outs there in that first quarter. What you're saying is that something like that is really good. That's the natural flow of the game right there. Everybody, every offensive coordinator has a script and that script is beautiful until you get punched in the mouth. In Minnesota, that crowd was loud. It was an on the road environment indoors. And it was a little hot. Even though it was indoors, you felt the heat presence of it too. And also having noticed that it was going to be Malik's game. So now they have an opportunity to hone in on the quarterback and that makes your job a little bit harder too, specifically because we had to figure out what Malik was going to be capable of at the quarterback position. They made it their job early on to stop the run, which is why they had to go three and out and back on the field. Those types of situations are always good because not every game is going to be perfect. You can't average, and they did later on in the game, you can't average 10 yards of carry in the first quarter more times and not just absolutely no possible way that's going to be the case for offensive line in four teams who in preseason. So seeing them go for a quarter and go to the sideline and finally pick it up. They chipped at the rock until Tajé got the big run and that right there built that cohesion, that belief that, look, even if it's not working early, let's just keep doing our job. And they did and finally had that big break with Tajé. Continue with Ramon Foster on the OTP momentarily after we remind you it's always game on with Duncan. So grab a coffee and kick off the action, whether that's drinking a cup of coffee on your way to the game or grabbing one to go before watching the game at home. Duncan is always there to help you get your game on just like the pros like Ramon Foster. We need to be at our best come game time, which is why Duncan is the most important part of your game day ritual because it's always the best call for football. America runs on Duncan. Two part question Ramon Foster as we continue about Aaron Brewer. It has been said by several people who know ball that he is a better center than he is guard. A, do you believe that? And B, if so, why? Do I believe that? Yes, I do. Just size doesn't really matter a whole lot, but it's certain body frames and types that work better at certain positions. I could play tackle in the NFL, but I'm better off as a guard. Body type fits it, arms, thighs, all those things matter. I look at Aaron Brewer and said this, this trace as far as being a starting center in this league, most of them are not really big. They hold between as far as being six, two, six, one, all the way up to six, four. I wouldn't put a six, six center in the game at all. I know there's one around the NFL. I wouldn't do that, just the height difference of it. You know, as far as the quarterback seeing him and leverage too, he's strong, he's quick. He moves well side to side. He can pull around trash is what we've seen, not trash, but around the guard tackles and tight ends. We've seen him do those things and he doesn't have to carry the blunt of having a one-on-one each and every play. Most times he line up, he will have a shade or he'll be uncovered. The, his biggest task that he's gonna get is having a linebacker trying to run through his face or if they go a solid five down, meaning they'll have a man over him and two guys over at both center, I mean, both guards. That's his only adversity he's ever gonna have to have and just he's smart, that always plays a part. And the center probably has to be the second smartest guy on your team, aside from the quarterback. He should know almost everything that the quarterback does except for the wraps potentially. Shelves, coverages, defenses, strong weak, seeing safety shift down.  He may be one of the five best overall athletes on this team. Does that make a big difference in his success at that position? He does.  When I saw that, I pointed to people at my job in the morning show and said without Aaron Brewer, this play is dead because that tackle is gonna, that D tackle was going to tackle him.  Those types of things is what make you great. Let's go to Kelsey in Philadelphia. He's a guy that we rave about because why he's great in space and he's quick and he's tough. You have a guy just like that in Nashville and Aaron Brewer and I say this, I'm cautiously optimistic about what he could be because all it takes is the way we get noticed often as a lineman is being good in space. If Derek or Tannenhill or Traylin or DHOP have a screen down the sideline and he's running up the sideline making blocks, that's where the conversation is, this guy's a stud, which we'll know that but the rest of the world will see that and that's when he starts to get in the conversation of Pro Bowl and top centers in the league and that's where you get noticed when you play a position like that. So yes, Mike, his athletic ability is gonna do nothing but great things for this team considering, of course, staying healthy, keeping his strength and staying on top of his game. Well, Andy can do a back flip. Well, that's what I'm talking about. It's crazy. I mean, they utilized him at one point in the backfield when he first got here because he does have some unusual skills. Let me ask you about Peter Skoronski. When the Titans took him at number 11, the whole world said massive win for the team. He's gonna be here for however many years. He's gonna be, he has the potential to be a Pro Bowl type player. What you've seen so far of Skoronski, does he meet the hype? You know the best thing about Peter Skoronski? Okay. We hadn't heard a word about him. Yes, he does. Mike, to get around that question, yes. He has to pedigree the smarts and the poise. I've watched him on the sideline, nothing excites him, which is good. He doesn't seem like he's a dear in the headlights whenever he lines up and he finishes and understand the game. Watching him and Andre Dill at work with each other, you can tell communication's been at an all-time high but not just at the confidence of it, too. He's going against somebody who's an all-pro here in Nashville and Jeffrey Simmons. That is, by far, one of the best tests any offensive lineman can have in his league is to battle him every day in practice of most days. I like what I see out of the young guy.  Just to test him, just to see what he's capable of. But everything that I've seen so far in the pre-season, they've tried that and he's pushed back. And he is a name that you don't hear during our games, right? You don't mention him. And that's the best possible thing you can do. But this is also the case. His run blocking has been well, and his pass pro too. They run efficiently on left and right sides of the ball because that interior, that Brewer, Bronskill, and Peter, they have held their own up the middle. And I would say the young fella's a big part of that. You know, you touched on something that I was gonna mention, which is, the Titans are done with training camp now. They're getting into the flow of what a regular season's going to be like.  And there's a lot of strong defensive linemen on that side of the ball. How beneficial is that to them for their preparation, especially when you're developing that cohesion? You've got a lot of new faces. And you're going up against some dudes on the defensive side of the ball. And you're gonna see some in week one in New Orleans too. That is a very underrated defense. It is very underrated. They have outside, Russia's and guys up the middle that can get to the quarterback. It's on top of some, one of the best linebackers in the NFL too. But that's good though, Amy, on the status of, I know there was a lot of trash talking. I know they knew that they had to go push and fight and get the most out of this bunch. You gotta think of it. Other than Aaron Brewer, everybody on this offensive line is new or have low experience here in Nashville on how they play. And I know a challenge was probably pushed out to them. Hey, go make those guys tough. As far as from the defensive line, and they did. We heard early, of course, Dillard versus Arden Key being a thing. We, Jeff and Peter Skaransky going at it. It's not an easy day when Brewer has to take on Thierre. You know, all those things, and I feel like they've answered the call as far as this training camp suggests. Battle tested is one thing in practice. We've seen some of their fruits of the labor in these pre-season games. I'm confident that this group can be, can be the reason this offense is successful. Are they blocking things differently in the run game from what you've seen in the Tim Kelly offense so far than what you've seen them do in the past? What I've seen from this group is this, and I'm not sure if many people paid attention to it, their double teams are solid. The way I've seen Daniel Bronzko and Chris Hubbard engage to move a guy to the second level or watching Peter Skaransky and Aaron Brewer block on a backside zone plate. I don't think we've paid enough attention to the way their combination blocks have been up front. It's funny because we always send the NFL, you're not blowing people off the line of scrimmage. I've actually seen this group move the line. Coaches need one yard. I've seen sometimes in the run game, these guys get a yard and a half, two yards. Like the line of scrimmage moves forward and I didn't want to believe it because I'm like, this can't be possible in the NFL. You don't move bodies like this. You don't move the line of scrimmage. That's been one consistent phase that I've watched this group that I hadn't seen in years past, and maybe it's because Mike, Amy, those dudes are trying to prove themselves. Think about the way this group is set up. Sign Chris Hubbard early in the training camp. Andre Dill is on a prove it deal and essentially to be a starter. You've got a rookie who's got a lot of pressure on him, a center with a lot of pressure on him. On a franchise tag. On a franchise tag. And then you got Brown School coming from another team trying to prove himself too. It's fit to where you put a T-bone in the middle of a pack of dogs and say, y'all better eat. And they seem to be catching up to eating and making other teams pay for it. What's your concern that hangs out there as you've seen this group now for over five weeks together? It's always the first live game, the first two or three live games, wondering how you can protect the quarterback. We've seen them do it in a good fashion for the most part. Some leakage here and there. But making sure that Ryan Tannehill stays up right, it's always gonna be the biggest question for almost any offensive line. But specifically for this one, they hadn't gone an entire game with doing that. You always worry about until you see it. And that's my only contingency when it comes down to this offensive line. Them seeing the stunts and games up front, that doesn't bother me. It is the finish of the play. If Ryan Tannehill wants to hold on to the ball or if he starts to scramble outside of the pocket, can you protect them long enough? But you're confident from what you've seen that this offensive line, barring injury, is going to be better than last year's Titans offensive line. Yes. I'll definitively say that. I do think they'll be better. And you know why? It's because you have that five that's kind of gone into that fox stand together to say this offense lies on our shoulders as far as us being successful. You have the running backs. You have the addition of DeAndre Hopkins. You have the same quarterback. Chick, we expect to be so much better this year too with some help. It falls on their backs, but I'm a firm believer that they can get this job done. More with Ramon Foster momentarily after we remind you that Seat Geek is now the official ticketing partner of the Tennessee Titans. If you haven't heard the name yet, get used to it because you'll be hearing it a lot more this season. Whether you're buying or selling tickets to Titans games or to any live event in Nashville, Seat Geek is the place to do it. Seat Geek, the new official ticketing partner of the Tennessee Titans. So Titans fans, Ken fan. Well done, Amy. Thank you. Ramon Foster, I guess we call it a bye week before week one. What do teams get done during this week? Small spurts of this week of the actual game plan. Week one issues that have to be hashed out. Look at the tendencies that New Orleans had last year. See what's the bread and butter that they're gonna go to. You get an extra jump on film study, which film is always big for pros. How can I watch those trench monsters that they have on the other side of the ball offensively? You probably go back and look at Las Vegas film to see what Derek Carr is all about. What kind of pressures did he fall victim to? Having the ability to figure out what packages will they use as far as what their offense could be. And it's really just breaking down the bread and butter and finding the tendencies and getting as much film as you possibly can this week before that pressure of week one open or jumps on you. How excited are you for week one? You don't understand how excited I am. I got in retirement and was like, I am done, y'all, I don't wanna do this football thing. And I find myself, thanks to you guys, being knee deep into paying attention to what the NFL is all about. And I am excited. I say all the time, we get four seasons throughout the year, right? Summer, spring, fall, and winter. Football should be included in that because it's that fun. And imagine how this city is gonna be when it's week one. Love it. And for you, do you almost appreciate your career more now based on the fact that you're doing this job, doing radio on 104.5, joining us for Titans Radio, doing sidelines. Does it make it even more, say, wow, I did that? And you know what? I had that thought in Minnesota because I was like, there's so many people on the sideline, I need room. But then I had to realize, there's a business outside of what I did that happens on the sidelines. And I'll even say this too. My pathway into which I got those 11, being undrafted, so I can appreciate the guys, you know, like Aaron Brewer. I can appreciate all those guys that's fighting for roster spots right now. Reggie Roberson's, I get their struggle. I get what's happening. And I just try to view it from that standpoint, literally from the bottom of the bottom as an undrafted guy to being a star in his league for double-digit years. Yeah, I get excited for the process of what this season is all about. That's awesome. He's pretty good. He's really good. He's pretty good. Now, Pittsburgh Week, I'm not sure what we're gonna do with him. Oh, he can't go. He can't even go. I don't, sorry. Sorry. He's not even gonna be allowed to go. I just don't have to put anybody on the sideline. You'll have to take a grey hand bus to... You know what? I'm getting threats on both sides of this. I might have to take, I've got people in Pittsburgh talking. I got people here. Well, I got news for you.  I know. We are, yes. We are so glad to have you as part of our team and so much fun to just talk ball with you. Have a Snickers. You've done a fine job in the Snickers, I see. You have earned it. Snickers really satisfies. It does. And he's handing one to Amy. I got to. How nice. I know. How nice. For Ramon Foster and Amy Wells, I'm Mike Keith. Thanking you for joining us for the OTP.


This is freaking awesome. Oh my god. You can look around Dude, look at the paint. Look at the walls. What is that blood bro? I don't know. It says can't hide them I'm always watching can't hide always watching can't hide okay. That's kind of creepy. I lied in my head Okay, somebody's definitely got insane in here. What is oh my god? Look at Amanda. Look at her long freaking monstrous arms It's too late for me. Sorry. I'm sorry for what I've done. What do you mean by that, bro? What do you mean by that huh? Do not watch I hear things. I'm being watched okay That's kind of creepy man. Is that all that we're is that all we're made how many are there? Okay, so we don't know how many tapes there are who made this series it goes up to 813 so there might be like 20 plus tapes we don't freaking know man and we only got into like the fourth Tape I believe or fifth one. What does this mean? I see these everywhere. What was this doing in my attic? Do not watch okay, so they found a box of tapes in the radical family All right, so let's go ahead and put the first tape first episode inside the TV Okay, that looks different Hi, I'm Amanda and I'm really and I love Apple. Do you like Apple? Yes, we love apples Amanda. I'm allergic to apples. I forgot what it was allergic to apples. That's the case. You should never be afraid to try something new, but we don't even know where the store is Do you know where the store is? We're just gonna play through it to see what's new. Okay, the store. Yeah, that's right. Let's go. We're at the store It sure looks crowded And look there are apples. Can you see apples? Apple Okay, we all know there's like a decoded message in there. You have to like Ripped it. I forgot what it says. It's been a long time. Okay, so now it is spit out the tape. Oh wait, there's another one What just popped up on the couch? Hey, that is kind of strange ghost demon entity. I don't know.  Okay, guess since we're on episode two the number two lit up. That's kind of sick All right, that's where that shadow looks like a person. Okay. It's not it's nothing. Okay. Let's put it in here. Oh You okay, we don't have much. Yeah, Willie's trying to warn us Hi everyone, I'm Amanda. I'm Willie Today we're going to get meeting for grandma Grandma Grandma's dead, bro. I'm pretty sure grandma's dead. I don't freaking know Okay, let's right here. Let's go. Yeah, forget it gets kind of creepy here with the butcher We need lamb Hey, we need some meat bro pause. All right. Give us a meat All right, there we go reaching for the meat bro, why why is he job it like that? Why does Amanda look at Amanda's face?  Okay, wait, what this one's like episode is scratched off Okay, so is there like a number three somewhere? No Okay, I think that's a secret tape actually. What does this say? Oh that one scratched off too Okay, so it's either between this one or this one and then number two still lit up. I don't know why I Don't know what that oh wait zero two. Maybe it's a code Okay, maybe we have to decrypt some sort of code out here. Okay, let's put this one Amanda That fit Willie Doodle, okay, is that where they buried Willie or what? What was that that was a new tape, right? I don't think I've ever seen that before Okay episode three wait, there's another secret tape here. Let's put this one in You're right. The treasure map said the woods. Let's go I think we're close to the treasure now aren't you excited Willie? Willie's like heck not bro I'm talking about Oh, yeah, right Yeah, but we still don't know where the treasure is Willie's out of it bro Can you see where the X is? The X is where did we press something else? Circle Circle again Some trees came out, okay How are we supposed to get at it under all the dirt? Luckily I brought some tools to help with our adventure I brought a crowbar a rope and a shovel We already used the crowbar for the door. We used the rope for And now we only have the shovel What tool should we use to dig up the treasure?   Anyone I think this is part of the last update Found that mistaken Oh, that's some demon stuff Oh, he's gonna burn the tape? Burn baby burn Wait, what do we type here? What can we type?  What are we supposed to type? Jesus We need Jesus right now Okay, I don't know what we're supposed to be typing here but Watch? Bro, I was typing something else and they put watch Yeah, we're gonna die because you're gonna watch the tape Yeah, hey Yeah, no, I found it Yeah, I found the place It was just off the highway Yeah, not too far, I Yeah, I know they're all Hold on, what? They're like, hello? No, I don't think so Who would be following me? Amen No, nobody was there, it was just me Yeah, no, the tapes are all destroyed too They're gone Bro, you're straight capping bro We see the tapes right there Yeah, no problem Listen, it's getting late I really need to get home I got work tomorrow So I'll call you when I get back home, okay? I'm gonna go home and watch the tapes I'll talk to you soon Oh man Alright, we're missing one of the tapes Okay, we're waiting like two, three Two? Okay, so this one popped out first Zero, two I don't know which one came I think it was zero, three, two I think it was this one, that one And the three And the two Maybe I have to put that in one of the things Wait, what? Nothing? Am I missing a tape? Okay, there you go I'm gonna grab it Okay, that is episode three It's dark out, let's go home Oh no Knock on the door She gets all crazy, bro There she goes It's in the nae nae Zero What was it? Zero, two, three, two No Didn't let me put anything That's it Again? Heck no man, I ain't trying to die Okay guys, so the numbers actually spell out the year 2023 So we're gonna put it right here And then we're supposed to get like a secret message or something 2023, there you go Right, so this just might be like a little easter egg You know, they're letting us know that the next update will come in 2023 I assume that's what it is, I mean it makes pretty much sense, right? Right guys, that makes more sense Alright, well that's Now you have it, that's what you do with the Coated mess numbers on the wall And uh, pool update And wait for the next update It's obviously gonna be 2023 Like it said on here And yeah, thank you for watching and I'll see you guys in the next one


Oh hoi hoi, I'm Dr. Sumerian, not a real doctor, and today I am testing out some of the animation assets that I bought, and showing them off to the channel, because why not? I have no idea how well this is going to work. I, uh, I keep looking back at the screen over there, so it may, uh, may look like if I look over here, I think the head changes. Oh, thanks. My eyes are closed. I have to figure out a, yeah. Okay, that's actually closed. That's open. Closed. Open. Gotta keep my eyes open. Okay, so. This is something that I've been working on for quite some time. I, uh, I paid a decent chunk of money for this particular art asset, and I'm going to use it in, or as I learn this program, and this is part of what I'm doing right now, as I learn this program, I'm going to get better and better at it, hopefully. And eventually, I'll be able to create animated content. I'm a little disappointed.  I see this, his tie moves. That's a really nice touch. I sent in a request to my artist to make it so that the individual eyebrows can raise on their own instead of at the same time. Apparently that's something I could do on my end, but he said he would do it for me. Regardless, this is just a test of the system. It keeps thinking my eyes are closed. That's a problem I'm going to have to work out. It could just be the fact that I have his is sort of flat, minor, not, or I could just keep... Anyway. But as I, as I learn this program, and I figure it out, I'll be able to do more, uh, more animated style content, and I'm going to get other characters, obviously, so that I can actually have a series in mind with an overarching plot and everything. Anyway, just wanted to show this stuff off and also get a chance to test some stuff and do some editing with it and see how it works. So thank you very much for watching. If you enjoyed the video, please hit the subscribe button and then hit the notification bell next to that so you're notified when I upload new videos. And then head on over to patreon.com forward slash D. Cimmerian and pledge at any level, like everybody here on the screen already has, including Dr. J redacted and Sinjeriki. You have both pledged at $100. It's nice to know that I'm not alone out here and I will see you all again on Tuesday.


The 60s. A period of time when society seemed to be bribing most everything to the limit. In terms of cars back then, the limit was often too far. Generally, cars back in the 60s were heavier, bigger, and far more dangerous. But there have been marked safety improvements over the years. Take this 1966 GTO for instance. It was a fast, sporty, and beautiful car in its day. It still is, for that matter. But, as was the case with many cars in those days, when rubber left the road, the scene was entirely different. Now here we have a late model Firebird. It too is a powerful car. But there are considerable differences between this car and the 66 GTO. Seat belts, for example, at most, were an option in the GTO. But in the Firebird, the shoulder harness and lap belt have become a standard safety requirement. The dashboard in the GTO is metal, not designed with safety as a top priority. But as you can see, the new dash is padded with no dangerous protrusions. Also, the Firebird is equipped with an airbag, a safer braking system, unibody construction, improved steering, and more. These and other changes are the result of a traffic safety program spearheaded in the mid-60s. Many of these improvements have proven to be lifesavers. But aside from the obvious automobile design changes, many of you may not be aware of other, less obvious life-saving changes. Not only was there a call for safer automobiles, but also for safer highways. During the 60s, the Federal Highway Administration and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials began a program for creating safer highways and road sites. And that's what this presentation is all about. The guidelines, policies and procedures used to create a safer roadside. The ultimate objective? To eliminate fixed roadside obstacles. Giving errant drivers a chance to come to a safe stop. The Department of Transportation's goal is to remove, replace with breakaway designs or safely shield roadside obstructions. To give drivers the edge if they should leave the edge of the roadway. But achieving these goals has not been financially easy for the DOT. In the beginning, priorities were set to deal with obstacles creating the greatest problems for errant drivers. Then, as additional money became available, the other roadside problems were addressed. Since the mid-60s, the DOT has been continually making safety improvements to Washington's highways. Rockout crops on the outside of curbs were shielded. Trees located close to the roadway were removed. Signs and luminaires were either relocated or designed with a breakaway system. Spearing guardrail ends were replaced with new breakaway designs or buried. Exposed bridge rail ends were safely shielded. And where possible, roadside slopes were flattened to eliminate the need for guardrails. In intersections, signal poles, signal control cabinets and utility poles subject to being hit by large trucks and buses making turns were relocated. These improvements have resulted not only in safer highways, but in highways that are more aesthetically appealing. These changes have reduced injuries and saved lives. But the last obstacle to be addressed in the safer roadside effort was the unforgiving utility pole. A car came up this roadway trying to make a left curve. Instead, the vehicle, because of its excessive speed, spun broadside and struck this pole behind me. As a result of it, the passenger suffered severe mental and physical disabilities to this day. In my opinion, if this pole hadn't have been there, this accident would have been less severe and the injuries would have been less severe. Since 1970, 231 people have been killed or disabled from striking your utility pole on Washington's highways. 8,726 people have been injured. In 1990, vehicle utility pole accidents were the number four cause of deaths involving fixed roadside objects on Washington state highways. Just three years earlier, these types of deaths ranked number two. Not only has this issue been important to the state of Washington, but it has been of major concern nationally. Because of this common interest, the Department of Transportation has in place a comprehensive program to address the problem. It started in 1984 when the Washington state DOT launched phase two of its safer roadside campaign. DOT officials began creating what is now called the control zone policy. The urgency of this policy was spurred by a proposed federal mandate on the subject. This mandate was later adopted as a final rule in the May 1985 federal register. The control zone is the area within the highway right-of-way in which placement of above ground utility objects will be controlled. The intent of the state's control zone policy is to provide a safer roadside while reasonably accommodating utilities. The new program was not intended to force utilities off the highway right-of-way. Instead, it was established to work with the utility companies in determining when, where, and how poles within the control zone could be safely accommodated. But DOT officials recognized that utilities are funded by the public. Changes in utility accommodations would affect the public's pocketbook, and in convenience, the DOT wanted to avoid. So the Department of Transportation contacted the Washington Utilities Coordinating Council, or WUCC. A joint committee called the Aerial Utility Advisory Board was formed. This board, made up of representatives from power and telephone companies and DOT, is an example of a good working relationship between the private sector and a state agency. The control zone guidelines developed by this board are in full accordance with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the National Research Council, the Federal Highway Administration, and the Washington State Department of Transportation Philosophy. Key terms used by the advisory board to describe the roadside include the foreslope, which is the slope extending from the highway to the bottom of the ditch, the backslope, which is the slope extending from the bottom of the ditch away from the highway, a utility object, which is defined as a utility facility that exists above ground and is located within the state highway right of way, and the control zone, as mentioned earlier, is the area within the highway right of way in which placement of an above ground utility object is controlled. This roadside area is carefully defined by the control zone distance table. The table takes into account the posted speed limit, average number of automobiles traveling that area each day, and the grade of the backslope. It is based on the fact that low traffic volumes and low speed equal low risk. High traffic volumes and high speed equate to high risk. All of the factors just mentioned, combined, determine the width of the control zone. For example, the posted speed limit along this stretch of highway is 55 miles per hour. The average daily traffic is 8,550, and the backslope is 4 to 1. Using the table, we find that this particular control zone should be 21 feet from the white fog line. It is the Department of Transportation's desire to eliminate all obstructions within the control zone, or at the very least, minimize the number of objects remaining. An obstruction-free control zone is the ultimate safe roadside, the ultimate goal, a roadside made as safe as possible for all traffic at all times during all conditions. The control zone guidelines classify all utility objects into three categories. Location 1, location 2, and location 3. Location 1 objects are the most critical. These obstructions are most likely to be hit by a motorist. Location 1 objects can be found in the foreslope on the outside of curves where the advisory speed limit is 15 or more miles per hour below the posted speed limit. They are also objects located within the turn radius area of public intersections. Barriers, embankments, rock outcroppings, ditches, or other roadside features that are likely to direct a vehicle into a utility object are normally considered location 1 objects. And finally, any object closer than 5 feet beyond the edge of the usable shoulder is also a location 1 object. Location 2 utility objects are less likely to be struck by an automobile. They're still within the control zone, but they are farther off the roadway. Location 3 utility objects are located outside and sometimes inside the control zone. When found inside the control zone, they're shielded by a barrier placed in an area normally inaccessible to vehicles or they utilize a breakaway design. The aerial utility advisory board's first priority was to eliminate location 1 objects, which are the most likely to be struck. As previously mentioned, since utilities are a public service, funds to pay for such a change would indirectly come from the public. The challenge facing the advisory board was to devise a plan for safely accommodating utility facilities in a cost effective and fair manner. They needed to maximize safety for motorists, yet minimize the impact on utility companies and the rate paying public. Through the collective efforts of the board and the DOT, the following control zone guidelines were adopted. These guidelines can be found in the Department of Transportation's Utilities Accommodation Policy and Manual. First, the utility and DOT will establish the number of utility objects that the utility will relocate or mitigate in a given year. This number is called the annual mitigation target or AMT. The AMT is based on the following formula. M equals the number of miles of utility-owned above-ground facilities located within the highway right-of-way. N equals the utility's average span length in feet, in other words, the average distance between poles or other support standards. Z equals the percent of utility-owned objects estimated to be location 1 and 2. Y equals the number of years required for total compliance. 50 years is the maximum. A utility shall make every effort to achieve its AMT. If it fails to achieve its AMT in a given year, the number shall be increased for the following year. This will allow the average number of objects relocated or mitigated over time to equal its AMT. If a utility exceeds its AMT, the utility may reduce the number of objects in the following year. This too will allow the average number of objects relocated or mitigated over time to equal its AMT. The utility will report its number of relocated or mitigated objects to the DOT for tracking the utility's progress in meeting its AMT. In some cases, the AMT may be recalculated. To do so, the utility must demonstrate that there are fewer objects to be moved or mitigated because of changed conditions or the reclassification of location 2 objects. A utility can meet its AMT plan by addressing existing objects during DOT highway projects and utility reconstruction. To meet that portion of the AMT not addressed through highway improvements or utility reconstruction, each utility will establish a program for systematically studying its control zone objects. Under this program, the utility will establish a yearly plan for achieving the balance of the AMT, giving special consideration to highway average daily traffic and accident data. If it is determined through an engineering analysis that a location 1 object cannot be moved to location 3 or mitigated, a variance may be granted. If a location 2 object cannot be moved to location 3 or mitigated, a reclassification will be considered, if justified, through an engineering analysis and the application of the cost-effective selection procedure. The cost-effective selection procedure is a rational method developed by AASHTO for comparing roadside improvement alternatives. The control zone policy lists the processes for obtaining a variance or a reclassification. Qualifying for a variance or a reclassification is not easy, but under the right circumstances, when moving a utility object is just not practical, a variance or reclassification can be very helpful to a utility company. As you've seen, highway safety has come a long way since the 60s. As automobiles have changed, so have our roadways and road sides. Perhaps the evolution toward a safer roadside has not been as obvious as the improvements in vehicle design. But records show that removing roadside obstacles is reducing injuries and saving lives. The control zone policy fulfills state and federal goals by providing an acceptable approach and timeline to achieving an obstacle-free roadside. It is an aggressive, yet fair approach to establishing a safer roadside. The joint cooperation between the utility industry and the Washington State Department of Transportation is proof that industry and government can effectively work together. As times change, so do people, places and things. As long as there are automobiles out there on the road, there will be the continuing effort by the DOT and the utility industry to make our highways safe for everyone.


Dear EAA members, dear virtual annual meeting participants, I would like to welcome you to the last keynote in this conference, which at the same time will conclude this meeting. I am very happy to introduce to you Maria Wunderlich, a very promising young scholar who has agreed to share her thoughts and research with us. I would like to give you a few words on her biography. Currently, Maria is a lecturer and research fellow at the Institute of Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology at Kiel University. Since 2020, she has been involved in the research of the CRC 1266, Scales of Transformation, Human-Environmental Interaction in Prehistoric and Archaic Societies. In her MA thesis, she focused on the inventory, the multifaceted use of a passage grave in northern Germany during the phases of the middle Neolithic. During her PhD, between 2014 and 2018, she was a research assistant in the DFG project Equality and Inequality. Social differentiation in northern Central Europe 4300 to 2400 BC, also at Kiel University. In her PhD, she focused on the relation between monumental architecture and development of social systems. She has conducted ethno-archeological research on Sumba in Indonesia and in Nagaland in northeast India. Her thesis, which she concluded only in 2018, she was awarded the travel grant of the German Archaeological Institute in 2020. Being interested in social archaeology and comparative analysis, she combines different theoretical approaches with material data derived both from recent and prehistoric contexts. She is author of the book, Megalithic Monuments and Social Structures, Comparative Studies on Recent and Funnel Beaker Societies. And she has co-edited volumes on Megaliths societies' landscapes, early monumentality and social differentiation in Neolithic Europe, and also archaeology in the Sita-Vabeli, the LBK and Ciellovoge settlement site of Ravel. Her research is focused on the intersection of archaeological and cultural anthropological questions with an emphasis on the Neolithic of Central and Northern Europe. Please, Maria, speak to us. Thank you so much, Sophie, for this kind introduction. So I would like to start with expressing my gratitude for this opportunity to speak here today and would also like to thank the whole organization team for their efforts in making this organization possible despite the circumstances. Now, in the following talk, I will focus on the question you can see here on the title of the first slide, and I would do so from a kind of specific perspective, namely perspective of an anthropologically informed archaeology. And in order to somehow approach this kind of question, I would like to start with two statements. The first of the statements is that archaeology, in my opinion, requires the willingness to include different worldviews and also possibly altering translations of overarching ideas. Secondly, especially features we might conceive as profane and utility-oriented might, in fact, be often of multilayered meaning. Now, from these two statements, I think we can conclude that we are indeed in need of diverse and variable ways of understanding and also of different angles of interpretation. And I would like to first approach this question on a quite specific example. And this example is concerned with the broader topic of water and waterscapes and more specifically with the implications of artificial water sources. And the reason why I choose this example, you can see here a statement by two cultural anthropologists from 2010 who called water a total social fact. And this kind of statement was a statement. Sorry, it's actually derived from Marcel Mose, who in his famous work on the gift called Exchange a Total Social Phenomenon. And what he's meaning with this is that a phenomenon, also archaeological phenomena, in my opinion, might be including multiple meanings and mechanism which are somehow pooling together in them. So there might be giving expression to, for example, religious, moral, economic, or also political aspects of the societies we are talking about. And I will talk about this kind of example on the basis of my own as an archaeological research. So this will be the first case study I will present to you. And I will also offer a glimpse into the archaeological record. But I would like to start very briefly with a kind of notion on the theoretical frameworks of archaeological interpretation, which I see as a subject to intermingling meanings. And I would like to just briefly point to what three different aspects which are in my own research very important and which also are, in my opinion, gaining more increasing momentum in at least the last 10 years. First of all, these are bottom-up perspectives. And with bottom-up perspectives, I also mean increasing focus on non-elites and also the application of diverse theoretical frameworks, such as, for example, anarchist theory. And the very good thing, in my opinion, about these kind of frameworks and theoretical approaches, they are indeed trying to give them or talk about the choices people do in the very grounding mechanism of the societies involved. Now, the second aspect, which is very much in the heart of any kind of archaeological interpretation, is the aspect of analogical reasoning. And the notion of archaeology as an anthropology is, of course, rather old, but it's still a topic of major importance, not only in archaeological approaches. We can, for example, also see in more current approaches like agent-based modeling that also these kinds of methods are very much relying on analogical inferences. And lastly, I would like to point towards the massive importance of reflective approaches or perspectives. So we saw lively debates on the question of determinism within the archaeological frameworks, and we can also see how important the reflection of our epistemological basis is. And lastly, we also can see how the urges to establish post and anti-colonial archaeologies are also gaining more prominence. And since I myself, from the context of archaeological research, I would like to go a bit more into detail of this subject, and I would like to start this by, first of all, saying that, in my opinion, one of the major advantages of ethnarchological research is that they are indeed offering global perspectives. So although ethnarchology is derived from this new archaeology context and also from an American point of view, so to say, of research, we can see various independent schools of research which developed, and in the last years, different approaches to ethnarchology, for example, in Asia, in the Americas, in Russia, and so on. So ethnarchological research is indeed offering many false perspectives. But of course, regardless of the context that we are talking about here, one of the major problems lies in the issue of direct analogies. And what I mean here is that there is an extensive critique, still lasting critique, on the direct transfer of anthropological models onto archaeological case studies. And this is very much concerned, especially with this very complex and very concrete, but also very specific models or examples of human social organization. For example, topologies of societies who probably only all know these examples, for example, big man societies achieve them. And I think when we are simply using these kind of models to explain the archaeological record, we are in danger of actually using variability. So I do agree with a lot of the critique which was concerned at the direct use of analogies. And what's the dangers? I'm shown here, I mean, for example, the loss of variability, because in my opinion, we have to assume that in the past there is a sheer endless possibility of different forms of social organization. So if we now focus too much on this very big and broad and ever all explaining models, we are in danger of losing this kind of variability. And we also might search for the present in the past. But of course, there are alternatives to this kind of direct analogies. And I would like to point here towards an approach which is focusing more on particular traits or particular phenomena. So we are, of course, able to compare specific phenomena in the recent examples. And of course, it's also necessary to contextualize these kind of examples. But they might be used to construct frames of reference. And these frames of reference might in turn be used to be tested for their validity in the archaeological record. But most of all, they can be used to broaden our understanding of possibilities in the past. So this is very much, very much not about search for similar causal mechanism. But this is how analogical reasoning might be used in its explanatory potential of archaeologically invisible aspects. And from this kind of notion, I think a lot of potentials are deriving. For example, I think we should always ask ourselves which presumptions are still influential within our frames of interpretation. For me, an example might be how do we actually perceive complexity? So do we see complexity as being concerned? For example, social hierarchization and social inequality and also economic factors. Or do we have a much broader picture of what complexity might mean? So this is very much concerned with the variability of human material relationships. And it's also concerned with the try to go beyond ethnocentric and eurocentric views. And also due to the lasting critique and also massive critique, I think that many ethno-archological approaches nowadays are very much concerned with integrating reflective approaches. But of course, I'm not saying here that ethno-archology or a notion of archaeology as anthropology is somehow the solution to all our problems. This is indeed not the case. And this can only be one note within this kind of networks of reasoning and interpretation. And because of this very fragmented state of the archaeological remains, we have to use all these different methods, all these different approaches, or effective approaches, diverse theoretical frameworks, but also of course, archaeological science and so on, in order to construct holistic understandings of the past. And now, with giving this kind of broader framework of my theoretical framework, I would like to start and present you the ethno-archological case study, which is situated in Naganand in India. And what I'd like to show you somehow or what I will come up with at the end of this case study is this kind of scheme. And in the following, I will try to explain to you how I came up with this kind of concept, how artificial water sources are embedded in a specific network of meaning in the case of Naganand. But maybe first, a very short introduction. So Naganand is located in the north-eastern part of India. You can see here on the left, the different ethnic groups being presented, not only in Naganand, but also in neighboring states. So maybe you have seen it already on the photo I showed you, it's a mountainous and hilly landscape, and the diversity of ethnic groups is quite high in this region. On the right side, you can see a second map, and here you can see the study area where I'm working in, within the cooperation of the University of Naganand and Keer University. So this area is the southern part of Naganand and the communities which are living there are communities of Angami and Chakasang Nagan. So this is the case study or the context I will be talking about. But before I start with the data itself, so to say I would like to very briefly point towards the fact that indeed, in this kind of scientific background of Naganand, archaeology and anthropology are indeed seen as part of one overall perspective. So what we can see here in this scientific tradition is very much the urge to decolonize archaeological practice, to develop community-based approaches within archaeology and also to connect, for example, for Kloge with archaeology. So this is very much this intermingling perspectives of archaeology and anthropology. But going back to the communities themselves, both Angami and Chakasang communities are actually known to be, or are quite well known for being very egalitarian societies, which of course are characterized by complexity, but also very permeable hierarchies. And the most important social institutions in this kind of context are the clans. So clans are social groups and they are very important for diverse forms of cooperation, but they are also very important for the political structure of the communities. And kids are not an important social group anymore, so this changed a lot, but they are still an important spatial unit and they can be roughly translated as neighborhoods, so to say. But the importance of clans is in many regards still meaningful, so here some things changed, some other things did not change. And with regard to this kind of complexity and permeable hierarchies, it's important to say that some time ago, so nowadays the situation is also changing a lot, but the most important political unit used to be the village council. And the membership within these village councils was based on achievement and age-based authorities, but only men, so no women were allowed in this kind of village council. Despite of this, you can see here the different persons who had access to this kind of council system or also who had political influence and you can see many of the positions are actually concerned with people who are known for having some achievements and who are known for their skills or other characteristics. And with that, I would like to come to the case study of water and to give a very short side note, so to say, on the relevance of freshwater in Naganand it must be said that in many areas of Naganand, water and freshwater is actually a resource of scarcity. So rivers, streams and also springs might be located in quite a distance to the different villages. Wells are always located outside of the village and they are partly exhibited in quite elevated stone platforms. But in the following, I would not talk further about wells or river streams, but I would instead focus on two examples of purely artificial freshwater sources and how they're embedded within the social structure. And the first of these examples is actually concerned with the most important and very basic practice of these mountain economies we can find in this area. So the most important form of economic practice is wet rice terrace cultivation. What you can see here is an impression of different terrace fields within this context of Angami communities. And it's very important to note that within these contexts, all the different fields without exception are always owned by individual persons. So they're owned by either one individual or by an individual household, but they're not subject to collective land ownership. Those are just other areas, but never these fields. And the example I would like to show you as a reason why I'm showing you this kind of terrace fields is that the terrace fields are subject to quite an interesting secondary way of use. So the first or the primary economic context here is of course wet rice cultivation. So the fields are flooded in order to harvest the rice. And after the harvest is done, the water is usually put out of the fields. But as you can see here in the photos, those are taken during the dry season. So what you can see here is that some of the terrace fields are remained in the flooded status or they are flooded again. And this is concerned with this kind of secondary use. So we have after the rice harvest, the breeding of fishes and sweet water snails within these terrace fields. And the very interesting part of the story is actually that I told you that all these fields without exception are individually owned. But as soon as the secondary context is starting, they are simply shifting to a very different framework. They are used in a common way. They are also seen as collective property or perceived as collective property because the individual landowner actually has no right to deny other persons the excess in this framework of fishing activities and so on. Now the second example I would like to show you is the example of artificial lakes and water ponds. These are occurring only in the southern part of Nagaland, among Angami and Mau Nagan. And all these artificial ponds you can see here on the photo are actually commemorative monuments. And they are actually connected to a social institution which is nowadays not done anymore so it lost its importance completely, but for the social structures it used to be the most important institution in the villages, the so-called Feasts of Merit. The Feasts of Merit constitute feasting activities, so a stage system of a minimum of five different feasts which was organized by an individual feast giver. And the whole goal of the aim of this kind of activity was to achieve social renown in status and also political influence by being a member of the village council. Now the different stages of the feasts were actually materialized by different means. You can see it here on the photos on the top. You can see this kind of house horns made from wood symbolizing the lower stages. Then you can see the stones which are usually signifying the highest stages and then there's this very interesting exception, so to say, the ponds which are symbol for the highest stage of the feast. So there are materialization of the last stage of feasting activities and this also explains that there's a differing number of monoliths and ponds because actually only very few people were able to achieve this kind of life task and also begin a new life which is symbolized by water. And in general this kind of activity was very much influenced, so the feasting activity in general was influenced by economic inequality, competition and these factors. And again we have a very interesting circumstance here. So as soon as the ponds were erected and finished, they again shifted into the common framework of the village. They were open to any kind of use by the village community and they were seen as collective property, but just when they were finished. So that you just have kind of an imagination about this kind of feasting system. Here you can see a seventh stage feasting example of Angami Naga communities and you can see here the different stages on the right side. You can see materialization with the artificial ponds at the very end of this whole system. And I already said it was very hard to achieve this highest stage of the feast and this can be explained by the amount of resources needed. So here you can see how many animals had to be slaughtered, how many cattle and pigs had to be slaughtered for each and every feast and this amount of resources was almost never possibly given by only one household. So what happens here is that actually all the time different clan members were somehow cooperating and it was more of a collective enterprise to enable at least some of the clan members to achieve this kind of high status and also the influence which was going hand in hand with that. But both the stones and also the ponds are not only materialization of competition or status and influence they are also a very important part of constructing a social landscape. So here you can see a very typical outline of an Angami and Chakrasang village in which the village is in the center and surrounding the village we have a space of social reproduction in which monumentality is signified by stones or stone and water. And you can see that this kind of social reproduction area is actually an arena of social reproduction but also of competition and cooperation and it's actually somehow connecting the village and the economic areas themselves. And I think what is quite clearly visible with regard to these artificial water sources is that they are characterized by dielectric aspects. So they are both means of social signalling but they are also symbolizing reciprocity. They are both the materialization of economic inequality and common frameworks both competition and cooperation. And in order to put this kind of artificial freshwater sources within a network of meanings three aspects are of major importance. First of all there's the aspect of temporality and this means that a given feature for example the field or pond is possibly a subject to temporal contextualization. It might be embedded in different networks of meaning and action due to a perceived and or actual role which is in turn depending on the temporal context. So with regard to the terrorist fields this means that we have two temporal contextualizations primary and secondary economic contexts. First of all the primary context is related to rice cultivation. The second one is related to breeding of fish and snakes. But most importantly we can see here a very clear change from strictly individual property towards the perception and also used as common land. Secondly there's the aspect of connectivity. So a given feature might be possibly a bridge between different social arenas and the respective connection towards one or the other arena may experience strong or weaker emphasis due to the situational context. So it's actually an expression of different aspects of the social organization. With regard to the artificial ponds this means that we can see there clearly and first and foremost the materialization of feasting activities. So they're influenced by this by a collective action cooperation but also by competition and economic inequality. Therefore they are bridging these very different but also very influential aspects of the social organization. And deriving from these two different the first two aspects is the aspect of plurality. So a given feature might be a representation of different meanings which is context dependent and also might be a specific translation of overarching ideas. And with reference to the artificial water sources in Nagaland this means that we can see the clear temporal contextualization of different sources. We can see how the emphasis on levels of meaning and action is shifting and we can see how different frameworks are of importance here. And to maybe give you a bit of a better visualization about this here's the example of the terrace fields. So here you can see and I'm using my mouse for that. Here you can see the primary context which is the individualized framework in which surplus production, feasting and so on was important but strictly individual context. And then after this context is fulfilled or this purpose is fulfilled we see a shift, a dramatic shift into a collective framework the field is flooded and used for fishing and then afterwards it's simply changing back and this goes on and on so it's actually an ever-ending story so to say. And this is also how I came up with this kind of visualization so this is this kind of network of meanings you can see here already on this very two very basic kind of features so to say. So what we do see is how artificial fresh water is embedded into this two very important aspects of the social organization namely competition and economic inequality and commonality and cooperation. And the materializations of freshwater sources for example ponds and terraces and so on they are somehow moving within the space they are connected to specific actions such as social signalling and the feast of merit. And all these different aspects are moving within this network and are shifting in their importance so to say. So where to go from here? I hope that I established some kind of frame of reference with regard to the artificial freshwater sources in Nagaland and they are indeed what Marcel Mohls calls a total social phenomenon because they are bridging different social arenas and they are subject to shifting temporal contextualizations. Now the next question of course is what is the explanatory potential here and in order to have a look into this further question I would like to have a look into a very different example so we are making a very big shift now into the context of artificial water sources in the early Neolithic. So the context is more broadly related to water use of the use of freshwater by prehistoric communities but more specifically I would like to refer to very a special kind of feature or category I will refer now to wells in the context of the early Neolithic societies of the LBK. And of course now we might ask ourselves why to take this example of course we might say a well simply a well and of course we also know that there might be some depositions but I think what we still can see is how much certain features might be percepted as rather profane and rather clearly contextualized features. So the questions arriving from this perception of a well as a simple well so it means to fetch fresh water and to support the need of a given community for fresh water leads towards questions which are standing in the foreground which are mostly concerned or might be concerned with efficiency and utility. And this doesn't mean that there's not a debate also on other aspect so I have here some examples and there are many more of course of different colleagues who are very much concerned with the question of social and retrofactors which are connected to this kind of feature but still what I would like to try now is to take this kind of frame of reference I tried to establish before and see where how it might help us to gain a more holistic understanding of this kind of special feature and for that I will come in a second into different examples just very briefly maybe the context so the context are the LBK communities the Lena Banke Ramik in the context of Central Europe you can see here the distribution area of these very early the earliest farming communities in what is nowadays Central and Robo Europe here on this map marked in dark green. So these communities are this phenomenon better to put it is dating between 5500 and 4900 BC and it's actually characterized at this party by quite high degree of uniformity throughout this whole quite vast distribution area for example with reference to house construction and also material culture so what we can maybe assume is that there are indeed some overarching ideas which are shared concerning the social organization of these communities and what is very interesting in this kind of context is that at least for the one example of early neolithic communities there is a comparatively high number of wells known from this context so this is why it's very suitable for the example of wells the earliest example of these wells is possibly dating already to the very beginning of the phenomenon of the LBK but we can see very clear peak and construction activities around 5300 and 5100 BC and what I will do now is simply going through some examples of these wells and I would like to check them for this kind of our reference back to these three different aspects I was referencing to with regard to the case study of Nagaland and the first of these aspects is the question of temporology so this is concerned with the question whether these early neolithic wells were subject to temporal contextualization and whether or not they were embedded in different networks of action and I think that we can indeed very clearly see that we have changing patterns of use with regard to the wells so from all these known examples they are actually very diverse patterns visible so some wells are constructed then used and then we have infillings which contains sediment waste so quite clearly which is not used anymore but then we also have different examples for example this exemplar here this is a well of Al-Cherbet and you can see on the left side the construction of this example and in the middle you can see one of the probably two deposition layers and this upper layer of these two layers contains a high high high high high high high high high layers contains a high amount of pottery but not this kind of fragmented pottery but actually complete vessels so all in all over 10 complete vessels in this kind of layer and you can see also that some of the vessels were already repaired when they were deposited and this kind of practice was taking place quite at the end of the biography of the well but since this kind of composition it's very different and very specific here we can assume that this is reflecting quite a ritual pattern of use sorry but we can also see different temporal contextualization with regards to the question of deposition practices so this is a well of Dalich Proto you can see here that actually two piglets were found within the context of this well and they were not found within this wooden box but they were found within the construction pit of the well and this is quite interesting because this points towards the fact that the deposition of the piglets was safe in place at the very beginning of the lifetime of the well and not at the end so here we have quite different temporal dynamics being at play but we still have this changing or shifting pattern of use probably with that I would like to focus on the second aspect of connectivity so the question whether well as a specific materialization, specific kind of feature might be seen as a bridge between social arenas and in this question I am focusing mostly on the question whether or not that might have been a representation of social inequality or commonality so also two very basic and very important mechanisms in the society and here you can see the site of Niederhülfling so this is the site where several wells were found and some of them are surely dating into LBK context you can see one of those examples in this very nice or very interesting thing here is that the well was positioned or located within very close proximity to a contemporaneous house so you can see the spatial relation between the house and the well is very clear why it might be seen as a representation of social inequality is because a number of houses and a number of wells were found and quite a lot of these wells seem to have been in very close relation to different houses and also seems at least with some caution that it might be the case that the bigger houses were accompanied by single wells while the smaller houses may have been not and if this is really the case then this is I would say is pointing more towards the function of materializing and symbolizing inequality a very different example is the site of Eiter so here we also have an LBK settlement and here you have two wells from the LBK which were probably dating one of the other and you can see a very different kind of spatial layout both wells are marked in red and are positioned in the very center of the village and more importantly they are located in some distance or very clear distance in one case 40 meter in the other case 10 to 6 meter to the next contemporaneous house so they are located in a free space in the center of the village it might have been a subject to sharing activities and common aspects again a different spatial layout so to say this to be seen in the site of Drogstorf here we can see a whole cluster of wells here at least 6 LBK wells maybe due to hydrological reason in proximity to the settlement but not directly added but here is another well again in proximity to the houses but not associated with one single house so again might you have some kind of common framework being at play and this leads towards the last aspect the question of plurality so whether or not we can see context dependence and also altering or different translations of overarching ideas within this kind of feature of wells and I would like to point towards first of all the temporal diversity we can see very clearly being at play here so you can see how we have shifting patterns of views ritual and profane activities going on here but in very different kind of trajectories we can see wells which are constructed in the use for ritual purposes then maybe used then we can see wells which are constructed then used in a profane way so to say and just at the end we have the positions and there might also be examples where the depositions were taking place in between so to say so we can see how different this kind of shared overarching idea that this kind of very elaborate well structures might be a good part or necessary part of village is very it's translated in a very different way and maybe more interestingly even to me at least it's the question of symbolizing different social arena so we can very clearly see that wells might be pointing towards commonality so we can see examples where different houses are sharing a well and in this context I mean sharing in a sense that we can see a combination of autonomy and dependence being at play here but we can also clearly see other examples in which wells are connected to singular houses these examples some caution might date at the very end or later stages of the LBK so in a period in which we can also see social tension arising in different other contexts so all in all I would say it's a very interesting example which is actually showing a lot of diversity and different layers of meaning being united here so it's not a simply profane well which is used as a well but it's indeed something so much more and with that I would like to come to a conclusion and I would like to start this conclusion by rephrasing the question I was asking in the title of my talk so of course it has to be rephrased in a way that we should ask how it is possible to understand the multi-layered character of past human social organization and to me it is time and also necessary to go beyond universal models of social organization and to really talk about what do we actually mean by terms such as complexity social inequality or also chief them so this doesn't mean that we can in no case use this kind of models but we really need to have a closer look and we need to be very specific to talk about which phenomena, which modernizations are we looking at and which kind of social implications are we seeing so which kind of things are expressed within this kind of features and to my understanding an anthropologically anthropologically anthropologically informed ecology is indeed of great help in this rather big task and I would also like to refer to the importance of overcoming dichotomous perception so for example the example of LBK Wells in my opinion showed that this kind of this differentiation between profane and ritual is actually maybe not really important and also not really relevant in this kind of example so it might be actually part of one and the same thing at the end and what my own research in this kind of recent context in Nagaland for example showed me is how even the most profane and most simple features such as a terrace field might actually be filled with a multitude of meanings which are at interplay here and they are expressed by different means by temporality and contextuality and this is all for me it's about the choices of the agency of the communities which are subject to our own research and with that I hope that I might have raised some questions for you and I would like to thank you very much for your attention. Thank you for this fascinating talk to put it together so things go far away but obviously water is the brackets in this and the way how communities interact and have a competition still working together at the same time there are still applause and for your lecture and while we wait for the first questions from the floor maybe a question from me regarding Nagaland you describe this multi stage of feasting the feast of merit and when they slaughter the pigs and the cattle and I immediately this can't be Hindu, this can't be Muslim you know connected and then I know of the Nagaland of course that they have head hunting so this is also so there are the savages in the mind of the other religions what kind of you never mentioned religion but what kind of religion would they themselves say they have just there? I mean it's a bit of a it's not the easiest topic to be totally honest so they themselves call it an missed religion but it's very much also influenced by the whole process of Christianization so they are themselves referring towards this kind of path with this different form of religion as a dark period rather and then the advent of Christianity as being the light bringing into the societies but there's also some enemies communities and what I can say about this religious context is that it's actually also very diverse so actually in each and every village it's a bit different but it's of course not savage so it is of course connected to this kind of social institutions of head hunting as well so that was of course done in the past but also the feasting activities but it's of course not a savage religion but it's a very diverse form of any missed views on religion yeah still it's still applause but no question really let's see that whether that's yeah maybe just thank you all for this very nice feedback yeah that's great yeah so for the LBK wells you demonstrated kind of the three phases the building phase which could be somebody looking for more merit might be getting people to build it and then it could be the use which might be communal and then and then you showed the position phase in the end when you have the whole vessels go in and actually the bell is not used anymore so it's from that there is a question Maria how do you suggest to understand LBK wells as total social facts perhaps in relation to other for example natural water sources yeah that's of course very interesting so I mean I would understand them as total social facts because I think that we can see how this very different kind of dynamics of society is different institutions maybe all implications are coming together that's why I would understand them as a total social fact and in relation to other sources I would do so because it's quite clearly that I think at least in some examples that it's a question whether they were even necessary so this is how we can see that here quite clearly some kind of maybe believe that this was something you should also have was also coming into play so it was not only necessary or something so we can see how they were kind of supplementing the natural water sources which were also there so the rivers and streams and the springs and so on and the example for example also shows that there were simply not enough for the whole village I mean two wells for or even one well for the whole village is not really sufficient so this is how I would see it it's somehow used in addition but I think that it was also used because it was a means to which was close to the village close to the people and which could indeed be used but in this very different ways so that's how I would see it in this kind of example I hope that this answer is a question Yeah, that was Alexander Gramstadt answer asked that. Here from Katharina Bottich, are there more examples of ritual deposits around wells after they abandoned? Yeah, so we have I mean I don't know the exact number now out of my head but they are a number of wells so it's not only the examples I showed both in LBK context we have different wells in which we have this kind of deposition layers but then we also have different other examples of in the realistic wells where quite clearly some deposition practices are also happening but the problem here very much is of course to differentiate this kind of ritual deposition from simply dumping your sediment waste into the well so that's of course a problem that I admit but this is also why I'm still struggling a bit with this kind of dichotomous perception of profane versus ritual so it's quite a complex question but it's happening I mean not totally irregular in the sense that it's over the half or something but it's happening again and again Yeah, again Hickenbotten is remarking that well is necessary it's a great time server and maybe just for cooking and drinking or other purposes or kind of daily cleansing cleansing prior to certain activities I could contribute from a late iron age in Basel we have actually wells in a late iron age settlement and the settlement is pretty close to the Rhine so people don't need the water they dig the wells for other reasons and the wells are in the end field not only with household material and possible rubbish but they also serve as graves so we have skeletons in them animals and whole people and this is very much ritual and not throwing away I think we really have to see this importance of any kind of feature or part of the society which can somehow develop us in certain contexts I mean there are also other examples at least I know one example from Neolithic context which also was taken place on top of a well so to say in such too far away in terms of time and with reference to ABK wells I think the closest proximity to rivers and other surface water sources is 200 meters and sometimes the wells themselves are 200 meters apart from the village so I think it's at least not only about convenience of course it's practical to have a well in your village but I think this is certainly not the only aspect which is important here and with regard to cleaning activities actually the well of Al-Cherbet it's very clearly showed that they regularly cleaned the well so there is a layer on the bottom which is showing that all the waste so pots which were falling into the well simply because that happens of course they were actually taken out of the well so it's I think this is also an argument why not all of this kind of deposition layers are somehow just in this kind of profane mode but we can clearly see that they were kept in a good shape I'm watching out for a question maybe one more thought coming back to Nagaland and the ponds was this also was this like a well, a freshwater reserve or very different uses and it was at least sometimes used for fishing again so that fish is breeded there because as I said the rivers are sometimes very far away so that's a problem why this kind of fishing activities is not that easy sometimes in Nagaland and but the problem with the ponds in special I was talking someone told me that the problem is that they have a lot of mosquitoes of course and it gets polluted very easily so whether or not it can be really used so it's hard to maintain them in a state that they can be actually used for fishing for example but they were still used as a place to simply be so it's a very special place because this kind of ponds are not in a natural sense natural lakes and so on are not scattered all around so that's also why it's an important place to gather and so on welcome yeah we have a Katalina Portage quickly points out that with heavy rains rivers and streams are not usable for drinking water while wells were reusable and Alexander Anders answering to Katalina in Holger, Hungary, 5th century 5th millennium BC linear NLN there must be a culture I don't know we have the same dual use of well well for freshwater and which are depositioned more than 100 years so this is really a pattern this is in prehistoric Europe it's very so that it could be also kind of closing a well like burying a house burying a whole settlement there were such rituals that we don't really understand today anymore yeah and this kind of behavior of course makes sense in many regards I mean if a community decides to build up a well and construct this kind of really sometimes they're elaborate structures it might be a good reason to somehow have this kind of position practices and so on and we also might see it at the end to close this kind of lifetime of a feature but for me really the most important part is to stop this thinking that we need to put it into one context only because we see it so often in archeological features that are used in so many different ways yeah yeah what I find fascinating what we need to do more is this going out of Europe and looking at these cultures and especially in India which still have the megalithic traditions and they can be much more I know an example from Tamil Nadu where you have megalith type partly serving as burial grounds which are still in use in the early medieval period so they have longer traditions and some of them are still live and to me this is also concerned I heard it also in a session today and I like it a lot that we also have of course some responsibility as scientists who are speaking about the major part of the human past so I think we need to be very careful that we involve many different views on the world and how things might be done and how people tend to organize themselves there's this huge diversity we can also see today in any kind of context I'm not only speaking about some recent context but also nowadays of course I think it's very important that we always try to broaden our understanding or to do somehow just so to say to the case studies we're working with and really trying to keep an open mind and to me this kind of acrobatical approaches are really big help in that but this doesn't mean that I'm saying this is an explanation for everything of course but to me it's really a help to try to step beyond my own kind of socialization my own understanding from outside this is wonderful I can't see questions coming at the moment so we are coming to the end of the conference and I would like to thank you very much and especially also our volunteer and the secretariat who helped us to make this possible and of course the scientific committee the executive board but then also the many people who joined us here online while we had such a big cultural break since the beginning of the year everything changed we had to change we have to think about how we do keel next year everything but he's got us thinking and I'm so happy we are here together and can discuss and try to make it possible but it's not so easy at the moment so thank you for everyone joining Sunday evening so it's very nice of course just thought that there's another question change is the change of the ritual and communal use of the terraces in Nagaland regulated by special personalities or is it a natural change so it's more of a natural change so I mean there's no personality or not at least a single personality who could decide this so there's a village council there was this kind of village council nowadays not it's fading somehow and it's important but that village council wasn't tired to take decisions but in general it's quite simple when the appeals are chosen they are chosen and then they are used in this kind of communal way but there's no strict regulation to this and this is a behavior which is really a pattern so it's also in other regards for example someone decides to erect a stone on the terrors field there's also no one regulating this kind of placement of stones so you can basically erect it on any kind of property so there are specific ways to cut off this kind of individual ownership kind of concepts wonderful


After the performance that he had this week, Devin Witherspoon just might be the frontrunner for Defensive Rookie of the Year, so it's only fair that he's my Defensive Rookie of the Week this week. Between sacking the quarterback, blowing up plays behind the line of scrimmage and taking an interception 97 yards to the house, you really couldn't have asked much more of him this week. And I think once Jamal Adams comes back, having those two on the field at the same time with Terequil and with Quandre Diggs, that secondary is elite. I just don't see where the hole is in this secondary. They can guard all receiver types, all levels of the field. They can make plays in the run game. They can make plays in the screen game, come up and make open field tackle.