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Rick Veitch

Richard Veitch (born May 7, 1951) is an American comics artist and writer who has worked in mainstream, underground, and alternative comics.

Biography
Rick Veitch is a native of the small town of Bellows Falls, Vermont. One of six children, he was raised Catholic. One of his elder brothers was the writer Tom Veitch, his first collaborator in comics. In an interview, Veitch recalled visiting the [WPA] muralist Stephan J.Belaski to ask his advice on becoming an artist. "He just said, 'Don't do it, kid.'" Winning honorable mention in a "draw a monster" contest hosted by Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, for Drag Cartoons when he was in seventh grade reassured him that he was on the right path.

Today, Veitch lives in West Townshend, Vermont with his wife Cindy. His sons Ezra Veitch and Kirby Veitch are also artists, contributing to Eureka Comics.

Early career
While still in high school, Veitch and his brother Tom created the comic strip Crazymouse, which ran regularly in The Vermont Cynic. He made his professional debut in 1972, illustrating the underground comix horror parody Two-Fisted Zombies published by Last Gasp and written by Tom. This one-shot was excerpted in Mark James Estren's 1974 study, A History of Underground Comix. According to Veitch, it also proved to be his ticket to admission to The Kubert School.

Veitch enrolled in the Kubert School in 1976,. Studying under veteran cartoonists Joe Kubert, Ric Estrada and Dick Giordano, he was part of the school's first graduating class in 1978, along with his future long-time collaborators Stephen R. Bissette and John Totleben. While still at school Veitch began his professional career in mainstream comics, contributing over a dozen short stories to DC’s combat title, Our Army at War.

Out of school, Veitch contributed to Heavy Metal. next major project was an adaptation of the Steven Spielberg film 1941 with Bissette.

During the 1980s, Veitch became known as a distinctive fantasy artist and writer for Marvel's Epic Comics line, for which he created three graphic novels, Abraxas and the Earthman serialized in Epic Illustrated; Heartburst published as a standalone graphic novel; and The One.

During this period Veitch contributed numerous short comics to Epic Illustrated. He also worked with Alan Moore on Miracleman, published by Eclipse Comics. He illustrated the story that graphically depicted the birth of the superhero's child in Miracleman #9 (July 1986). With Moore and Bissette, Veitch collaborated on the original version of The Mirror of Love, published in an 1988 anthology by AARGH (Artists Against Rampant Government Homophobia). Moore later revised the text and published it with new illustrations by José Villarrubia.

The One
Originally published as a six-issue comic book limited series, The One was an ambitious and bizarre fantasy-adventure involving monstrous superheroes, the Cold War, and spiritual evolution. Published between 1985 and 1986, The One presaged both Alan Moore's The Watchmen (1986–1987) and Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns (1986) in its revisionist approach to superheroics. As Moore would later write:

"The One ... is a kind of landmark; a pulling together of obsessions and ingenious storytelling ideas into a coherent whole ... Its revisionist superheroics, while conceived at roughly the same time, predate Watchmen and Dark Knight in terms of publication, as does its packaging. Its political and humanist preoccupations were voiced before such sentiments became chic. Its deranged, culture-conscious humor offers an alternative and an antidote to today's rather gloomy trend of pessimistic, post-modern ultra-humans... Whatever it is that the comic books of the 1980s turn out to be remembered for, The One was right there in the thick of it, carving out a niche in the mainstream for dangerous ideas long before dangerous ideas became box-office certainties."

Swamp Thing
Veitch's highest-profile title in the 1980s was DC Comics' Swamp Thing. His friends Totleben and Bissette had both illustrated the series since Alan Moore took over as writer. Veitch joined the team for issue #37 (cover dated June 1985), in which Moore's popular character John Constantine was introduced, and appeared regularly after issue #50.

When Moore left the Swamp Thing series after issue #64, Veitch took over as writer, dividing art duties with Alfredo Alcala. His Swamp Thing stories took a similar approach to Moore's, combining horror-fantasy, ecological concerns, and an encyclopedic knowledge of DC Comics fantasy characters; he gradually turned his attention from the DC Universe to history and mythology. Veitch concocted a plot device—a mystical piece of amber called The Claw of Aelkhund that gives him the power of time travel. This allowed Veitch to introduce his hero to a variety of legendary figures, from Jonah Hex, Bat Lash, and Tomahawk, to Sgt. Rock and Etrigan the Demon. While thrilling to many readers, this approach ultimately hit a bump that derailed the series.

Personally inclined towards metaphysics, Veitch submitted a script for issue #88 titled "Morning of the Magician" that moved DC to censorship. Set in Jerusalem, the principal characters include three evil Magi, several demons, the Holy Grail, Mother Mary, Joseph of Arimathea, and Mary Magdalene, here imagined as an active prostitute whose clients include the DC Silver Age hero Golden Gladiator. At the climax of the story, Swamp Thing meets Jesus Christ.

Although DC initially had approved Veitch's initial script for "Morning of the Magician," the story was scrapped by DC President, Jenette Kahn, who deemed it too inflammatory. "The subject was handled with integrity and respect," she wrote. "but we believe that the story concept itself would be offensive to many of our readers." When the story was cancelled at the last minute, Veitch quit and vowed never to work for DC until the story saw print. The story arc has never been published.

The King Hell Heroica
After leaving DC, Veitch turned to the alternative comics field, where the success of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) had provided the impetus for a black-and-white independent comics boom. After doing a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles storyline for Mirage Studios, "The River", he began creating his own titles again, published by the Mirage spin-off Tundra Publishing. Tundra was edited by TMNT creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. Another friend Dave Sim, had found success publishing his own comics featuring Cerebus the Aardvark. Veitch decided to follow suit, creating his own publishing imprint, King Hell Press.

Operating without the editorial restraint he encountered at mainstream publishers, Veitch used his new imprint to published a series of graphic novels. The first of these was Brat Pack (1990–91), a dark satire on superhero sidekicks. A precursor to The Boys, Brat Pack was the subject of a 400-page work of cultural analysis.

Veitch followed Brat Pack with The Maximortal (1992), a phantasmagoric riff on Superman. He returned to the latter character with a new series inaugurated in 2017, Boy Maximortal. The series has been called his masterpiece. In a 2020 interview, Veitch calls Maximortal "kind of the illegitimate love child of S. Clay Wilson and Curt Swan.". Veitch has since reprinted these graphic novels along with other revisionist works under the collective title, The King Hell Heroica.

Rare Bit Fiends
Also for King Hell Press, Veitch created a series of strips centered on dreams titled Roarin' Rick's Rare Bit Fiends, a reference to Winsor McCay's classic newspaper comic, Dream of the Rarebit Fiend. The series first appeared as backup features in other comics. In 1994 King Hell inaugurated a Rare Bit Fiends comic series, with contributions by Neil Gaiman, Dave Sim, Don Simpson, Moebius, Paul Pope, and others. The original series also reproduced dream comics submitted by readers. King Hell published 21 issues of Rare Bit Fiends. The trade paperback reprint editions, collected in volumes, also include essays by Veitch speculating on the nature of dreaming. In 2016, Veitch launched Sun Comics to publish new issues of Maximortal and Rare Bit Fiends.

Dave Sim paid homage to Veitch's fascination with dreams in his Cerebus comic. In the story arc Guys, Veitch (here named "Roaring Rick") appears to Cerebus in a dream to deliver a surreal monologue on the nature of dreams, lucid dreaming, and kindred matters.

The New Millennium
During the 1990s, Veitch became interested in the Internet as an alternative to traditional comics distribution. In 1998, with Steve Conley, he created the "online convention" site Comicon.com, a combination message board, news portal, and web host for comics creators. Sold to Dynamic Forces in 2012, Comicon.com remains a vital site, which its editors liken to a perpetual comic book convention.

In the early 2000s, Veitch became a regular artist on Moore's America's Best Comics line published by Wildstorm, co-creating and then illustrating the graphically innovative "Greyshirt" serial. Debuting in Tomorrow Stories, and later spun off as an independent series, Greyshirt was an homage to Spirit, created by Will Eisner.

When Wildstorm was sold, both Veitch and Moore found themselves working indirectly for DC again, despite both having long-standing conflicts with the publisher. Reconciling with the company, Veitch scripted story arc for DC's relaunch of Aquaman (2003), and a mini-series reimagining DC-owned Charlton Comics character The Question as a self-trained urban shaman.

In 2006, Vertigo published his 352-page graphic novel, Can't Get No, a psychedelic road narrative about a failed businessman finding himself after the World Trade Center attacks. Eschewing dialogue, the novel juxtaposes Veitch's art with stream-of-consciousness free verse poetry loosely relating to plot developments. On the tenth anniversary of the destruction of the World Trade Center, he wrote and penciled on The Big Lie, a comic book in which the protagonist – a physicist widowed on September 11, 2001 – travels back in time to attempt to save her husband. The book takes the position that the towers' destruction was a controlled demolition. Inking on The Big Lie was by Gary Erskine, who had collaborated earlier with Veitch on the satirical comic Army@Love (Vertigo, 2007–2009).

Recent Work
In 2013, Veitch teamed up with Steve Conley, the creator of Astounding Space Thrills, The Middle Age, and other webcomics to found Eureka Comics, specializing in creating comics for learning and literacy. Clients include PBS, Wired, Vermont Folklife Center, University of Quebec, the University of Vermont, and the International Monetary Fund. For McGraw Hill Education, Eureka Comics produced The Outliers, a three book series, pioneering the use of modern graphic novel storytelling techniques to teach math to middle schoolers.

In 2016, Veitch launched Sun Comics, utilizing print-on-demand publishing to release new issues of Maximortal and Rare Bit Fiends. He also began a new series, Panel Vision. Titles so far include Spotted Stone (nominated for an Eisner Award), Otzi, Redemption, Super Catchy and Tombstone Hand.

In 2020 Veitch was named Vermont’s official Cartoonist Laureate for his "singular career that includes groundbreaking genre work for the big superhero companies, his own creator-owned graphic novels, educational comics, and explorations into the subconscious." He is the fourth artists to hold that honor, following James Kochalka, Ed Koren, and Alison Bechdel.

Aardvark-Vanaheim

 * Cerebus #126, 137, 180–182 (writer/artist) (1989–1994)

Awesome Comics

 * Supreme #49–51, 52a, 52b, 54, 56 (1997–1998)
 * Supreme: The Return #3–6 (1999–2000)

Clifford Neal

 * Dr. Wirtham's Comix & Stories #2 (1976)

DC Comics

 * 9-11: The World's Finest Comic Book Writers & Artists Tell Stories to Remember, Volume Two (writer) (2002)
 * Aquaman vol. 6 #1–12 (writer) (2003–2004)
 * Aquaman: The Waterbearer collected edition ISBN 978-1401200886
 * Aquaman Secret Files and Origins 2003 #1 (writer) (2003)
 * DC Comics Presents #85 (Superman and Swamp Thing), #97 (Superman and the Phantom Zone criminals) (penciller) (1985–1986)
 * DC Special Series #13 (writer/artist) (1978)
 * G.I. Combat #218 (inker) (1980)
 * JLA #77 (writer) (2003)
 * JLA/JSA Secret Files and Origins #1 (writer) (2003)
 * Jonah Hex #53–54 (penciller) (1981)
 * Mystery in Space #117 (penciller) (1981)
 * Question vol. 2 #1–6 (writer) (2005)
 * Saga of the Swamp Thing #31, 37 (penciller) (1984–1985)
 * Secret Origins vol. 2 #23 (writer) (1988)
 * Sgt. Rock #311, 316, 320–321, 329–330, 332–335, 338–339, 347, 355–356 (artist); #320, 330, 332–333 (writer/artist) (1977–1981)
 * Swamp Thing vol. 2 #50–52, 54–59, 61, 63–64 (penciller); #62, 65–76, 79–82, Annual #3 (writer/penciller); #83–87 (writer) (1986–1989)
 * Swamp Thing: Regenesis collected edition ISBN 978-1401202675
 * Swamp Thing: Spontaneous Generation collected edition ISBN 978-1401207939
 * Swamp Thing: Infernal Triangles collected edition ISBN 978-1401210083
 * Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #18 (Phantom Zone entry) (artist) (1986)

America's Best Comics

 * ABC: A-Z, Greyshirt and Cobweb #1 (writer/artist) (2006)
 * ABC: A-Z, Top 10 and Teams #1 (artist) (2006)
 * Greyshirt: Indigo Sunset #1–6 (writer/artist) (2001–2002)
 * collected edition ISBN 978-1563899096
 * Tomorrow Stories #1–12 (artist) (1999–2002)
 * Tomorrow Stories Special #1–2 (artist) (2006)

Vertigo

 * Army@Love #1–12 (writer/penciller) (2007–2008)
 * Army@Love Vol. 1: The Hot Zone Club collected edition ISBN 978-1401214746
 * Army@Love Vol. 2: Generation Pwned collected edition ISBN 978-1401218324
 * Army@Love vol. 2 #1–6 (writer/penciller) (2008–2009)
 * Can't Get No graphic novel (writer/artist) (2006) ISBN 978-1401210595
 * Unknown Soldier vol. 4 #21 (artist) (2010)

Eclipse Comics

 * Bedlam #1–2 (writer/artist) (1985)
 * Miracleman #9–10 (artist) (1986)
 * Scout #10 (one page) (1986)

HM Communications

 * 1941, the Illustrated Story graphic novel (artist) (1979) ISBN 0930834089
 * Heavy Metal #v3 #1, 9; #v4 #4–5, 8–9, 11; #v7 #3 (writer/artist) (1979–1983)

Image Comics

 * 1963 #1, 3, 5–6 (artist) (1993)
 * The Big Lie #1 (2011)

King Hell Press

 * Abraxas and the Earthman graphic novel (writer/artist) (2006) ISBN 978-0962486487
 * Bratpack #1–5 (writer/artist) (1990–1991)
 * collected edition ISBN 978-0962486449
 * Bratpack / Maximortal Super Special #1–2 (writer/artist) (1996–1997)
 * The Dream Art of Rick Veitch
 * Volume 1: Rabid Eye graphic novel (writer/artist) (1996) ISBN 978-0962486418
 * Volume 2: Pocket Universe graphic novel (writer/artist) (1996) ISBN 978-0962486425
 * Volume 3: Crypto Zoo graphic novel (writer/artist) (2004) ISBN 978-0962486463
 * The Maximortal #1–7 (writer/artist) (1992–1993)
 * collected edition ISBN 978-0962486470
 * The One: The Last Word In Superheroics graphic novel (writer/artist) (2003) ISBN 978-0962486456
 * Roarin' Rick's Rare Bit Fiends #1–21 (writer/artist) (1994–1996)
 * Shiny Beasts graphic novel (writer/artist) (2007) ISBN 978-0962486494

Kitchen Sink Press

 * 50's Funnies #1 (1980)

Last Gasp

 * Two-Fisted Zombies #1 (1973) (writer/artist) (first published work)

Marvel Comics

 * Amazing Adventure #1 (artist) (1988)
 * Captain America vol. 3 #50 (penciller) (2002)
 * Epic Illustrated #1 (colorist), #2 (writer), #4–6, 8, 10–17, 19, 25, 28–29 (writer/artist), #34 (artist) (1980–1986)
 * Marvel Graphic Novel #10 "Heartburst" (writer/artist) (1984) ISBN 9780939766826
 * Marvel Preview #18 (inker) (1979)
 * Marvel Super Special #16 (letterer) (1980)
 * The One #1–6 (writer/artist) (1985–1986)
 * Timespirits #4 (artist) (1985)
 * What If: Daredevil #1 (writer) (2006)

Maximum Press

 * Supreme #43–48 (artist) (1996–1997)

Mirage Studios

 * Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #24–26, 30 (writer/artist) (1989–1990)

Spiderbaby Grafix & Publications

 * Taboo #3 (1989)

title: Rick Veitch


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Richard Jefferson

Richard Allen Jefferson Jr. (born June 21, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who played small forward. He played for eight teams in his 17-season career in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Jefferson played college basketball for the Arizona Wildcats, and was selected with the 13th overall pick in the first round by the New Jersey Nets in the 2001 NBA draft. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team following his first season. Jefferson played seven seasons for the Nets, reaching the NBA Finals in each of his first two seasons. He later played for the Milwaukee Bucks, San Antonio Spurs, Golden State Warriors, Utah Jazz, Dallas Mavericks, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Denver Nuggets. He won an NBA championship with the Cavaliers in 2016 and a bronze medal as a member of the United States national team in the 2004 Summer Olympics. Jefferson retired from the NBA in 2018, becoming a basketball analyst for ESPN in 2019.

Early life
Jefferson was born in Los Angeles and was raised in Phoenix. His mother and step-father were both Christian missionaries, and he moved around frequently growing up. He attended Moon Valley High School in West Phoenix, where he was an integral part of the varsity basketball team that won the 4A State Championship in 1998.

College career
Jefferson played college basketball at the University of Arizona, under Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson from 1998 to 2001. During his 84-game career (77 starts), Jefferson averaged 11.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. He capped his career by being part of the Arizona team that advanced to the 2001 national championship game where the Wildcats fell to Duke. Along the way, Jefferson was an all-Midwest Regional and all-Final Four selection. He was inducted into the Pac-12 Basketball Hall of Honor during the 2012 Pac-12 Conference men's basketball tournament, March 10, 2012.

New Jersey Nets (2001–2008)
Jefferson played seven seasons with the New Jersey Nets and was a key element of their back-to-back Eastern Conference Championship teams of 2002 and 2003. He played in the NBA Finals with the Nets in each of his first two seasons. In addition, Jefferson was a member of the USA Men's Olympic basketball team in the 2004 Summer Olympics. Jefferson competed in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest in 2003.

Jefferson began his career as a substitute small forward for Keith Van Horn and showed great defensive skills and all-around ability. Because of his potential, and Van Horn's conflict with power forward Kenyon Martin, the Nets traded Van Horn to the Philadelphia 76ers and trusted Jefferson as a starter. Jefferson blossomed in the role, becoming a good mid- and long-range shooter in addition to his slashing ability. On August 13, 2004, Jefferson signed a six-year, $78,000,000 contract extension with the Nets.

Jefferson missed the majority of the 2004–05 regular season after rupturing a ligament in his left wrist, an injury he claimed occurred when Detroit Pistons guard Chauncey Billups purposely undercut him on a layup attempt during a game on December 27, 2004. Jefferson ended up missing 49 games, but returned to action for the first round of the playoffs against the Miami Heat. Prior to suffering the injury, he had missed only five games in his three NBA seasons. Jefferson had been enjoying his best professional season, averaging 22.2 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game. Through the 2005–06 season, Jefferson continued to perform at a high level and established himself as one of the NBA's most versatile players. On January 21, 2007, Jefferson decided to have ankle surgery. After missing around six weeks, he was back in the lineup. His absence proved to be a major setback for the struggling Nets, who surged back into playoff contention once Jefferson returned.

In August 2007, Jefferson pledged $3.5 million toward the University of Arizona's then-planned basketball and volleyball practice facility, which was eventually named in his honor.

Jefferson started the 2007–08 season in the best form of his NBA career. In the first 7 games, he averaged 26.9 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists, while also notching up 1.3 steals, 97.1% in free-throws and 49.1% in field-goals. On October 31, in a game against the Chicago Bulls, Jefferson injured his right wrist slightly, thumping his chest following a clutch three-pointer. The Nets went on to win the game in overtime. On December 4 he passed Kerry Kittles to become the Nets' second all-time leading scorer.

Milwaukee Bucks (2008–2009)
On June 26, 2008, Jefferson was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks for Yi Jianlian and future teammate Bobby Simmons. He was not happy with the trade at first because he planned on being a Net until retirement. However, he later expressed enthusiasm about playing alongside Michael Redd.

San Antonio Spurs (2009–2011)
On June 23, 2009, Richard Jefferson was traded to the San Antonio Spurs for Bruce Bowen, Kurt Thomas, and Fabricio Oberto. On June 30, 2010 Jefferson opted out of his contract with San Antonio and became an unrestricted free agent. On July 23, 2010, Jefferson re-signed with the Spurs.

Golden State Warriors (2012–2013)
On March 15, 2012, the Golden State Warriors traded the newly acquired Stephen Jackson for Jefferson, along with a conditional first-round pick.

Utah Jazz (2013–2014)
On July 5, 2013, the Warriors reportedly agreed to trade Jefferson, along with teammates Brandon Rush and Andris Biedriņš, as well as two first-round picks and two second round picks, to the Utah Jazz in a three team deal, in which they received Andre Iguodala from the Denver Nuggets. The trade became official on July 10.

Dallas Mavericks (2014–2015)
On July 21, 2014, Jefferson signed with the Dallas Mavericks. He was the last Maverick to wear #24 before it was retired in honor of Kobe Bryant.

Cleveland Cavaliers (2015–2017)
On August 5, 2015, Jefferson signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers. On October 27, he made his debut for the team, posting ten points, one assist, and one steal in a 95–97 loss to the Chicago Bulls. The Cavaliers finished the regular season with a 57–25 record and reached the 2016 NBA Finals with a 12–2 playoff record. In the third Finals of his career, Jefferson played in every game of the series, including two starts in place of the injured Kevin Love. In Game 3, Jefferson gave the Cavaliers a boost in 33 minutes, scoring nine points with eight rebounds as the Cavaliers cut the Golden State Warriors' advantage in the series to 2–1 with a 120–90 win. Despite falling into a 3–1 deficit, the Cavaliers completed the historic comeback to take the series in seven games, winning Jefferson his first and only championship.

After initially considering retirement following the championship win, Jefferson re-signed with the Cavaliers on July 28, 2016, reportedly on a two-year, $5 million contract. The Cavaliers returned to the NBA Finals in 2017, but fell short in their quest for back-to-back titles, losing in five games to the Warriors. In his final game with the Cavaliers, Jefferson logged four points and two rebounds in a 120–129 loss to the Warriors.

On October 14, 2017, Jefferson was traded, along with Kay Felder, two future second-round draft picks and cash considerations, to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for the rights to Sergiy Gladyr and Dimitrios Agravanis. He was immediately waived by the Hawks.

Denver Nuggets (2017–2018)
On October 19, 2017, Jefferson signed a one-year, $2.3 million contract with the Denver Nuggets.

On October 13, 2018, Jefferson announced his retirement from professional basketball.

Broadcasting career
On October 16, 2018, Jefferson joined the YES Network as the Nets' game and studio analyst. He has also appeared as a basketball analyst on FS1 and the Pac-12 Network. Jefferson joined ESPN in 2019 as an NBA analyst.

During the 2017 season, Jefferson began co-hosting the podcast Road Trippin' alongside former Cavaliers sideline reporter and Lakers host Allie Clifton and teammate and close friend Channing Frye. Many of the podcast's first shows featured Jefferson's Cavs teammates and were recorded while on road trips.

Personal life
Jefferson dated dancer and cheerleader Kesha Ni'cole Nichols for five years. Jefferson and Nichols were engaged to be married on two occasions, but Jefferson broke off the engagement both times. The couple was scheduled to be married on July 11, 2009 at the Mandarin Oriental; however, Jefferson called off the wedding the night before it was scheduled to occur.

On July 11, 2022, the NBA announced that Jefferson would be a referee for the second quarter of the Knicks–Blazers game at the 2022 NBA Summer League.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Richard Jefferson


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Dock Boggs

Moran Lee "Dock" Boggs (February 7, 1898 – February 7, 1971) was an American old-time singer, songwriter and banjo player. His style of banjo playing, as well as his singing, is considered a unique combination of Appalachian folk music and African-American blues. Contemporary folk musicians and performers consider him a seminal figure, at least in part because of the appearance of two of his recordings from the 1920s, "Sugar Baby" and "Country Blues", on Harry Smith's 1952 collection Anthology of American Folk Music. Boggs was first recorded in 1927 and again in 1929, although he worked primarily as a coal miner for most of his life.

He was rediscovered during the folk music revival of the 1960s and spent much of his later life playing at folk music festivals and recording for Folkways Records.

Early life
Boggs was born in West Norton, Virginia, in 1898, the youngest of ten children. In the late 1890s, the arrival of railroads in central Appalachia brought large-scale coal mining to the region, and by the time Dock was born, the Boggs family had made the transition from subsistence farming to working for wages and living in mining towns. Dock's father, who worked as a carpenter and blacksmith, loved singing and could read sheet music. He taught his children to sing, and several of Dock's siblings learned to play the banjo.

In an interview with Mike Seeger in the 1960s, Boggs recalled how, as a young child, he would follow an African-American guitarist named "Go Lightning" up and down the railroad tracks between Norton and Dorchester, hoping the guitarist would stop at street corners to play for change.

Boggs's version of the ballad "John Henry" was based in part on the version he learned from Go Lightning during this period. He also recalled sneaking over to the African-American camps in Dorchester at night, where he first observed string bands playing at dances and parties. He was enamoured of the bands' banjo players' preference for picking, having previously been exposed only to the "frailing" style of his siblings.

Around the time he began working in coal mines, Boggs began playing music more often and more seriously. He learned much of his technique during this period from his brother Roscoe and an itinerant musician named Homer Crawford, both of whom shared Dock's preference for picking. Crawford taught him "Hustlin' Gambler," which was the basis for Boggs's "Country Blues." He also picked up several songs (such as "Turkey in the Straw") from a local African-American musician named Jim White. Boggs probably began playing at parties around 1918.

Early career, 1927–1931
In the mid-1920s, various record companies sent representatives to southern Appalachia to hold auditions in hopes of finding new talents. Around late 1926 or early 1927, Boggs tried out at one such audition, held by Brunswick Records at the Norton Hotel. Although he played on a banjo borrowed from a local music store and needed whiskey to calm his nerves, he played well enough to gain a contract to record several sides in New York later that year. He recorded only eight sides for Brunswick, however, as he deemed their payment sufficient for only that number.

Boggs's records sold moderately well, and he returned to the mining areas of southwestern Virginia and eastern Kentucky, where he began to play at parties, gatherings, and mining camps. Around this time, his brother-in-law Lee Hansucker, who was a Holiness preacher and singer, began teaching him religious songs from the Holiness and Baptist traditions. Boggs also learned a large number of songs from listening to Hansucker's vast record collection. By 1928, he was making enough money to quit working in coal mines and focus exclusively on music. He bought a new banjo and formed a band known as "Dock Boggs and His Cumberland Mountain Entertainers". At one point, he was earning three to four hundred dollars a week.

While Dock was experiencing a moderate amount of success, the life of a travelling musician often left him at odds with his religious neighbors, who considered such a life sinful. His wife, Sarah, whom he had married in 1918, despised secular music and was opposed to his earning a living by playing music. The constantly moving mining camps were fraught with excess and violence, and Boggs was consistently engaging in drunken brawls that often left him or an opponent badly injured. The stock market crash of 1929 and the subsequent Great Depression hit southern Appalachia particularly hard, and few people had the means to pay musicians to play at gatherings or buy records.

In 1929, Boggs travelled to Chicago to record four sides for Lonesome Ace Records. However, with the onset of the Great Depression, he was unable to profit from these recordings. In 1930, he travelled to Atlanta, where OKeh Records had set up a live audition on radio station WSB. Because of stage fright, however, he performed poorly. He was offered several other recording auditions over the next three years, but he could not raise enough money to cover his travel expenses. He eventually pawned his banjo and gave up hopes of making a living playing music.

Rediscovery
In June 1963, at the height of the folk music revival in the United States, the folk music scholar Mike Seeger sought out and found Boggs at his home near Needmore, Virginia. Seeger was delighted to learn that Boggs had recently repurchased a banjo and had been practicing the instrument for several months before his arrival. He persuaded Boggs to play at the American Folk Festival in Asheville, North Carolina, later that year. With Seeger's help, Boggs began recording again, eventually recording three albums for Folkways Records. Throughout the 1960s, he toured the United States, playing in clubs and at folk music festivals, including a performance before an audience of 10,000 at the Newport Folk Festival.

In the early 1970s, Boggs's health began to deteriorate, and he died on his 73rd birthday. In 1968, his protégé Jack Wright started the Dock Boggs Festival, which is still held annually in Boggs's hometown of Norton, although it is now known as the Dock Boggs & Kate Peters Sturgill Festival.

He was buried in Norton, Virginia.

Technique
While Boggs was familiar with the clawhammer style, or "frailing", he typically played in a style known as up-picking, which involves picking upwards on the first two strings and playing one of the other three strings with the thumb. He played several songs in a lower D-modal tuning. His technique, which Seeger considered "a style possessed by no other recorded player," was adapted to fit previously unaccompanied mountain ballads.

Boggs learned traditional mountain songs from his siblings, including, "Sugar Baby," from his brother John; "Danville Girl," which he learned from his brother Roscoe; and "Little Omie Wise," which he learned from his sisters. Lee Hansucker, his brother-in-law, taught him various religious songs, including "O Death", "Little Black Train", "Prodigal Son", and "Calvary". Along with "Turkey in the Straw" and "John Henry", he learned songs such as "Banjo Clog" and "Down South Blues" from African-American blues musicians. The song "Wise County Jail", written by Boggs in 1928, was inspired by an incident in which he had to flee to Kentucky, after attacking a lawman who tried to break up a party at which he was playing.

title: Dock Boggs


text: User talk:66.168.185.229

title: User talk:66.168.185.229


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Kendall College of Art and Design

Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University (KCAD) is a college of art and design located in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Founded in 1928 as a private art academy, the college merged with Ferris State University in 2000. Offering bachelor's and master's degree programs encompassing design, visual arts, decorative arts, art history, and critical theory, KCAD is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, and the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

Rankings
According to U.S. News & World Report, KCAD's Master of Fine Arts program in Studio Art is ranked #110 in the United States, tied with those of California State University, Chico, and California State University, Long Beach.

Programs
The college's primary offering is its four-year undergraduate program, which combines general-education courses based on a model it calls Pathways, common foundational subjects, and a concentration of courses specific to each area of study, usually with a heavy studio focus. Kendall offers degrees in: Art History: Studio (BA), Art History: Academic (BA), Art History (AA), Collaborative Design (BFA), Design Studies (AFA), Digital Art and Design: Entertainment Arts (BFA), Digital Art and Design: Multimedia Design (BFA), Drawing (BFA), Fashion Studies (BFA), Graphic Design (BFA), Illustration (BFA), Interior Design (BFA), Life Sciences and Pre-Medical Illustration (BFA), Painting (BFA), Photography (BFA), Product Design: Furniture Design (BFA), Product Design: Industrial Design (BFA), Product Design: Metals/Jewelry Design (BFA), and Sculpture/Functional Art (BFA). Spring 2022, enrollment is 562.

Kendall offers graduate programs in several disciplines: Architecture (MArch), Certificate in Design and Innovation Management (MBA), Painting (MFA), Visual and Critical Studies (Certificate), and Design (MA).

It offers dual-enrollment programs through several area high schools, in which students receive both high school and college credit. These classes are taught either on Kendall's campus or at high schools.

History
David Wolcott Kendall was a nationally known furniture designer, during Grand Rapids' heyday as "Furniture City". The David Wolcott Memorial School was established in 1928 by the will of Helen M. Kendall, his widow. The school opened in 1931, offering a two-year program in design, with 35 students. The school was located at 145 Fountain Street, at the western edge of what is now Heritage Hill.

In 1947, growing from an influx of students following World War 2, the school's name was changed to Kendall School of Design. In 1961, having outgrown the Heritage Hill site, it relocated to 1110 College Avenue NE in the Highland Park neighborhood. In 1977, Kendall began offering baccalaureate degrees, and in 1981 was accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. It moved again, to the seven-story Manufacturer's Building at 111 Division Avenue North (on the corner of Fountain Street, a short distance from the original site) in 1984.

The name of the school was changed in 1987 to Kendall College of Art and Design. As part of a merger with Ferris State University, the college bought the adjacent Interstate Building in the 1990s, constructing an atrium which became the combined structures' main entrance at 17 Fountain Street NW. In 2000 the school became formally Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University, and it continued renovating the new space for studio and classroom use. After the Grand Rapids Art Museum moved out of the Federal Building to the north, the university took ownership of it and reopened it as the Woodbridge N. Ferris Building in 2012 as part of the Kendall campus. In 2013, the college merged with the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, which had recently relocated to a new facility a few blocks to the south, which operated as an arts organization until its closure on March 3, 2023.

Facilities
The college occupies two historic structures in downtown Grand Rapids, between Division and Ionia Avenues and Fountain and Lyon Streets. The seven-story main building contains most of the college's classroom, studio, and office space. The Woodbridge N. Ferris Building contains exhibition space, additional classrooms, and office space.

Facilities include black-and-white darkrooms, photo studios, a library, galleries, an historic furniture collection, sculptural wood- and metalworking shops, a metalsmithing/jewelry design studio, digital fabrication contemporary technology such as wide format inkjet printers, laser engraving/cutting systems, 3D scanners, rapid prototyping/3D printers, CNC milling machines, printmaking equipment, life drawing studios, audio recording booth, and student studios.

Notable alumni

 * Ray C. Anderson, founder and chairman of Interface Inc., one of the world's largest manufacturers of modular carpet for commercial and residential applications and a leading producer of commercial broadloom and commercial fabrics.
 * Ted Bell is an American author of suspense novels such as Hawke and Assassin, Pirate, Spy, Warlord, Phantom, and Overkill.
 * Børns, American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, known for his collaborative single, God Save Our Young Blood with Lana Del Rey.
 * Denise Fleming, children's book illustrator.
 * Rebecca Green, artist and children's book illustrator.
 * Vladimir Kagan, American furniture designer.
 * Maynard James Keenan, lead singer and primary lyricist of the rock bands Tool (band) and A Perfect Circle.
 * Laurie Keller, American children's writer and illustrator.
 * Steven Kolb, chief executive officer of Council of Fashion Designers of America.
 * Daniel Morris Monroe, American illustrator known for his illustration Dennis the Wild Bull, a children's book written by Dennis Rodman.
 * Keith Parkinson, American fantasy artist and illustrator known for book covers and artwork for games such as EverQuest, Guardians, Magic: The Gathering.
 * Reynold Weidenaar, American draftsman and printmaker.

title: Kendall College of Art and Design


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Pyknosis

Pyknosis, or karyopyknosis, is the irreversible condensation of chromatin in the nucleus of a cell undergoing necrosis or apoptosis. It is followed by karyorrhexis, or fragmentation of the nucleus. Pyknosis (from Ancient Greek πυκνός meaning "thick, closed or condensed") is also observed in the maturation of erythrocytes (a red blood cell) and the neutrophil (a type of white blood cell). The maturing metarubricyte (a stage in RBC maturation) will condense its nucleus before expelling it to become a reticulocyte. The maturing neutrophil will condense its nucleus into several connected lobes that stay in the cell until the end of its cell life.

Pyknotic nuclei are often found in the zona reticularis of the adrenal gland. They are also found in the keratinocytes of the outermost layer in parakeratinised epithelium.

title: Pyknosis


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User:Ericspenguin

I'm Eric. I'm presently working in Tokyo. I haven't edited much lately.

Elsewhere
Meta and Japanese, ostensibly.

Left over reference
Be bold (but not reckless) in editing! Assume good faith, remember that there are No Angry Mastodons Avoid weasel terms Manual of Style Manual of Style (Japan-related articles) Wikipedia policies Tutorial Help pages Template help Village pump Navigation popups Humor and Bad Jokes Userboxes Disavian's user boxes and The German Solution My userboxes and sandbox

title: User:Ericspenguin


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Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

This is a duplicate page. see: Immigration_and_Customs_Enforcement. This page has all the appropriate information and more suited for wikipedia. Jeffrey Rea
 * Entirely redundant - redirect to United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement. No merging needed. -Sean Curtin 02:15, 16 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * duplicate articles are handled by the Duplicate articles process, not VfD. Oh, and please sign your comments. -- Finlay McWalter |  Talk 01:36, 16 Aug 2004 (UTC) [moved from main vfd]
 * Merge U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (not sure which title is better) and make the other a redirect. Somebody already made Immigration_and_Customs_Enforcement a redirect to United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement because they were truly identical (other than the latter having more wikilinks), but U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has some info neither of those have. I've listed them on Duplicate articles, and put merge tags on each. Should I take the vfd tag off? Niteowlneils 03:08, 16 Aug 2004 (UTC)


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U.S. Route 259

U.S. Route 259 (US 259, US-259) is a north–south spur of U.S. Route 59 that runs for 250 mi through rural areas of northeastern Texas and southeastern Oklahoma. The highway's southern terminus is near Nacogdoches, Texas, at an interchange with its parent route, US 59. Its northern terminus is in the Ouachita Mountains, approximately 15 mi south of Heavener, Oklahoma, where it reunites with US 59. For most of its length, US 259 lies 30–50 mi to the west of its parent route.

Texas
US 259 begins at an intersection with its parent, US 59 (future Interstate 69), on the north side of Nacogdoches, Texas. The highway continues due north, passing through Mount Enterprise, and around the eastern side of Henderson and Kilgore. In Kilgore, Texas, US 259 is known as the Charles K. Devall Memorial Highway, as named by the Texas Legislature. It then has a concurrency with Interstate 20 of about 6 mi, then continues north around the eastern edge of Longview along Eastman Rd. The highway continues due north, crossing Interstate 30 in northern Morris County, and crossing into Oklahoma in northwest Bowie County.

Oklahoma
After crossing into McCurtain County, Oklahoma, US-259 immediately meets State Highway 87, and continues north through Harris. Maps indicate that US-259 and SH-87 overlap to Idabel, but officially, this is not the case, and ODOT signage does not reflect a concurrency.

US-259 bypasses Idabel to the south and east, concurring with U.S. Highway 70 Bypass. East of Idabel, the bypass route ends, and US-259 begins a concurrency with mainline US-70 and SH-3. The three highways continue north to Broken Bow, where US-70 splits to the east toward DeQueen, Arkansas, and SH-3 splits to the west, bound for Antlers. US-259 continues north alone, taking a winding path through the Ouachita Mountains of southeastern Oklahoma. The route passes Broken Bow Lake on its west side, with State Highway 259A serving as an access loop to the lake and Beavers Bend State Resort. Near the lake, US-259 crosses through the Ouachita National Forest for the first time. Near Smithville, the highway serves as the western terminus of State Highway 4.

North of the SH-4 junction, US-259 crosses into Le Flore County. The U.S. route then serves as the eastern terminus of SH-144 near Octavia. US-259 reenters the national forest north of this junction, and intersects SH-63 at Big Cedar. It then has a junction with SH-1, the Talimena Drive. The highway reunites with US-59 about 10 mi south of Heavener, reaching its northern terminus.

History
In Texas, the highway was designated in 1962 and assumed the entire route of a previous iteration and alignment of State Highway 26, which was then cancelled. (The SH 26 designation has since returned, on another roadway elsewhere in the state.)

Prior to 1985, US 259 between Kilgore and Longview followed the current route of Texas State Highway 31. It entered Longview from the southwest at the intersection of South Street and Spur 63. It then followed Spur 63 to US 80. US 259 then ran concurrently with US 80 to Eastman Road. At the US 80/Eastman Rd. intersection, the previous alignment of US 259 turned left to go north on Eastman. In 1985, US 259 was rerouted to its current route along Interstate 20 to Eastman Road, then left to go north, along the eastern edge of Longview, bypassing the central business district.

Kilgore business route
US-259 has one Business route in Texas. In 2006, a new bypass was completed around the eastern side of Kilgore. The bypass had been proposed as early as 1965, but funding did not become available until the late 1990s. The new bypass was designated as US-259, while the previous route through the Kilgore business district was designated as a business route. The new business route was approved by the AASHO in September 2006.

Idabel bypass
Formerly, US-259 continued into downtown Idabel, and the southeast portion of the Idabel bypass was double-designated as US-70 Bypass and US-259 Bypass. On 6 March 2000, the bypass route was decommissioned, and mainline US-259 was moved onto the bypass. However,, some bypass signage is still in place, including signage indicating the former terminus of Bypass US-259 at US-70/SH-3.

SH-259A
SH-259A, an Oklahoma state highway, is a 10 mi loop to Broken Bow Lake and Beavers Bend Resort Park north of Broken Bow, Oklahoma. It lies partially in the Ouachita National Forest and is occasionally signed as a U.S. highway.

Related routes

 * U.S. Route 59
 * U.S. Route 159

title: U.S. Route 259


text: Category:National parks of India

title: Category:National parks of India


text: Category:National parks of Slovenia

title: Category:National parks of Slovenia


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U.S. Route 360

U.S. Route 360 (US 360) is a spur route of US 60. The U.S. Highway runs 225.3 mi, entirely within the state of Virginia, from US 58 Business, Virginia State Route 293 (SR 293), and SR 360 in Danville east to SR 644 in Reedville. US 360 connects Danville, South Boston, Keysville and Burkeville in Southside Virginia with the state capital of Richmond. The highway connects Richmond with Tappahannock on the Middle Peninsula and the eastern Northern Neck, where it serves as the primary route through Northumberland County. US 360 is a four-lane divided highway for almost all of its length.

Danville to Keysville
US 360 begins at a four-way intersection on the north side of the Dan River, across from downtown Danville. Main Street heads south across the river into downtown Danville as SR 293, and north as SR 293 and SR 360 (SR 360 is a two-lane highway, the old alignment of US 360 from Danville to northeast of South Boston). The west leg of the intersection is Riverside Drive, which is followed by US 58 Business. US 360 heads east along four-lane divided River Street with US 58 Business, and passes under Norfolk Southern Railway's Danville District rail line. The highway's name changes to South Boston Highway on crossing Fall Creek and veering away from the Dan River. US 360 reaches the eastern end of its concurrency with US 58 Business and joins with US 58 at the highway's cloverleaf interchange with US 29 (Danville Expressway). US 360 and US 58 leave the city of Danville after passing along the north side of Danville Regional Airport.

US 360 and US 58 meet at the northern end of SR 62 (Milton Highway) in eastern Pittsylvania County before entering Halifax County. The highway's name changes to Philpott Road and it crosses the Dan River. US 360 and US 58 pass through the hamlets of Delila (where the U.S. highways meet the northern end of SR 119 (Calvary Road)) and Turbeville before reaching the crossroads community of Riverdale on the south side of the Dan River opposite downtown South Boston. The U.S. Highways have a grade crossing at Norfolk Southern's Durham District rail line and then intersect US 501 (Huell Matthews Highway), where the highways begin to follow Bill Tuck Highway. A short distance east of US 501, US 360 and US 58 diverge, with US 360 turning north onto the James D. Hagood Highway. The highway crosses the Dan River, its floodplain, and Norfolk Southern's Danville–Richmond rail line via a 2,000-foot-long bridge. On entering the town limits of South Boston, the highway follows John Randolph Boulevard and has intersections with the eastern ends of SR 304 (Seymour Drive) and SR 34 (Hodges Street).

After leaving South Boston, US 360 becomes James D. Hagood Highway again, and heads northeast past South Boston Speedway and William M. Tuck Airport. The U.S. Highway crosses the Banister River at Terrys Bridge and meets the coincident termini of SR 360 (Bethel Road) and SR 344 (Scottsburg Road) near Scottsburg. US 360 crosses over the Danville–Richmond rail line and meets the western end of SR 92 (Clover Road) south of the town of Clover. It crosses the Roanoke River into Charlotte County and follows Kings Highway, which intersects SR 92 (Jeb Stuart Highway) again and US 15 (Barnesville Highway) at Wylliesburg. US 360 and US 15 run concurrently north through Crafton Gate, where the highways intersect SR 47 (Craftons Gate Highway). South of Keysville, at the southern end of US 15 Business and US 360 Business (Old Kings Highway), the highway becomes a freeway that bypasses Keysville. US 15 and US 360 cross over the Virginia Southern Railroad and have a partial interchange with the business routes. Just east of the town of Keysville, the U.S. Highways have a diamond interchange with SR 40 (Lunenburg County Highway). US 15 and US 360 pass under the Virginia Southern rail line before diverging at a partial-cloverleaf interchange that also marks the northern end of their respective business routes and the end of the freeway section of US 360.

Keysville to Richmond
US 360 briefly runs atop the Prince Edward – Lunenburg county line before fully entering Prince Edward County, where the highway parallels the Virginia Southern Railroad to the south and Norfolk Southern Railway's Blue Ridge District to the north. It passes around the community of Bruceville and through the town of Meherrin, where the highway crosses to the north side of the Blue Ridge rail line. As US 360 passes through Meherrin, the highway briefly enters into Lunenburg County before reentering Prince Edward County, although no signs mark the county line there. US 360 begins to parallel the two rail lines at Green Bay, where the road temporarily becomes undivided. It parallels both rail lines to Burkeville, in the southwestern corner of Nottoway County, where the road's name changes to Patrick Henry Highway. US 360 crosses over the Farmville Belt Line, a part of the Blue Ridge District that serves Farmville and joins the main Blue Ridge line in Burkeville. Just north of the rail crossing, the highway has a partial-cloverleaf interchange with US 460 (Colonial Trail Highway) and US 360 Business and US 460 Business, which parallel the rail line into town as 2nd Street. US 360 and US 460 bypass the town to the north and receive the eastern end of their respective business routes before diverging at a partial interchange. There is no direct access from westbound US 360 to eastbound US 460 or from westbound US 460 to eastbound US 360; those movements are made via SR 723 (Lewiston Plank Road) or SR 49 (Watsons Wood Rd).

US 360 parallels Norfolk Southern's Richmond District rail line northeast from Burkeville. The highway meets the northern end of SR 49 (Watsons Wood Road) before entering Amelia County. West of Jetersville, the highway intersects the eastern end of SR 307 (Holly Farms Road), which connects to US 460 northwest of Burkeville. US 360 continues to Amelia Court House, which is directly served by US 360 Business (Goodes Bridge Road). North of the county seat, the highway crosses the rail line and has a partial-cloverleaf interchange with its business route before receiving the northern end of the business route west of Winterham, where the highway and railroad diverge. US 360 has a junction with SR 153 (Military Road) between Winterham and the Appomattox River, where the highway enters Chesterfield County. US 360 becomes Hull Street Road and passes through the village of Skinquarter before entering the suburban area surrounding Richmond. The U.S. Highway expands to eight lanes through Woodlake and crosses Swift Creek just downstream from the dam that holds back Swift Creek Reservoir west of the highway's cloverleaf interchange with SR 288.

US 360 continues northeast as a six-lane highway through additional suburban areas before its partial-cloverleaf interchange with SR 150 (Chippenham Parkway), where the it enters the city of Richmond and reduces to four lanes. The U.S. Highway crosses CSX's North End Subdivision and becomes Hull Street at its intersection with SR 161 (Belt Boulevard). US 360 heads into the Manchester section of Richmond as a four-lane undivided highway that has intersections with SR 10 (Broad Rock Road), Midlothian Turnpike, and US 1 and US 301, which head south toward Petersburg as Jefferson Davis Highway and north toward their James River crossing as Cowardin Street. US 360 passes the Art Works artist colony before passing over Norfolk Southern and the James River on the Mayo Bridge, which crosses Mayo Island in the middle of the river. US 360 reaches the north side of the river just west of the Triple Crossing; it passes under the east–west viaduct of CSX's Rivanna Subdivision and has a grade crossing of Norfolk Southern's Richmond District. US 360 passes under SR 195 (Downtown Expressway) and follows 14th Street into the Shockoe Bottom neighborhood, where US 360 turns east onto Main Street, which carries US 60 and the GRTC Pulse rapid-transit bus line. The two highways pass under I-95 (Richmond–Petersburg Turnpike) and CSX's Bellwood Subdivision and by the Main Street Station serving Amtrak's Northeast Regional trains during their four-block concurrency.

Richmond to Reedville
US 360 turns northeast onto 18th Street at Mason's Hall to pass along the west edge of the Church Hill neighborhood. At Grace Street, the highway splits into a one-way pair; westbound US 360 follows 17th Street. US 360 meets the eastern end of US 250 (Broad Street), then curves north and passes under the Leigh Street Viaduct, which carries SR 33. The two directions of US 360 come together one block before the highway turns east onto Fairfield Way. US 360 turns north onto four-lane undivided Mechanicsville Turnpike and has a partial-cloverleaf interchange with I-64 before exiting the city of Richmond as a six-lane divided highway. US 360 passes through the Henrico County community of East Highland Park, where it intersects Laburnum Avenue, which leads to Richmond Raceway. The highway crosses the Chickahominy River into Hanover County, where it reduces to four lanes at the southern end of Mechanicsville's US 360 Business. While on the Mechanicsville Bypass, US 360 has a diamond interchange with SR 156 (Cold Harbor Road). The movement from westbound US 360 to SR 156 is provided at the northern end of the bypass, which occurs a short distance south of US 360's cloverleaf interchange with I295.

Northeast of I-295, US 360 gradually transitions from suburban to rural surroundings. The transition is complete by the time it crosses the Pamunkey River into King William County, where the highway's name changes to Richmond–Tappahannock Highway. US 360 passes through Manquin and Central Garage, where it intersects SR 30 (King William Road). At Aylett, the site of Zoar State Forest, US 360 crosses the Mattaponi River into King and Queen County, where it meets the western end of SR 14 at the community of St. Stephens Church. US 360 enters Essex County at Miller's Tavern, where the highway crosses the watershed divide between the York River tributaries and the Rappahannock River. US 360 is named Richmond Highway northeast past Tappahannock-Essex County Airport to Brays Fork, where the highway meets US 17 (Tidewater Trail) at a directional intersection. The U.S. highways run concurrently into the town of Tappahannock. Within the town, US 17 and US 360 cross Hoskins Creek and become a four-lane undivided highway. On the north side of the downtown area, US 360 turns east onto two-lane Queen Street and crosses the Rappahannock River on a high-level two-lane bridge.

US 360 expands to a four-lane divided highway on arriving in Richmond County. It heads east as Richmond Road past the historic plantation Mount Airy to the town of Warsaw. In the center of town, through which US 360 is an undivided highway, the highway runs concurrently with SR 3 Business from Main Street to SR 3 (Historyland Highway). US 360 expands to a divided highway at the hamlet of Indian Field and passes through Haynesville before entering Northumberland County at Village. The highway veers northeast at Luttrellville and meets the eastern end of SR 202 (Hampton Hall Road) in Callao. At SR 202, US 360 turns east onto Northumberland Highway, which is two lanes within the unincorporated village. US 360 briefly expands to a four-lane divided highway but is two lanes through Lottsburg. US 360 has another divided-highway section before reducing to two lanes through Heathsville, where it passes St. Stephen's Episcopal Church and intersects SR 201 (Courthouse Road). The highway passes through Claraville, Horse Head, and Downings Corner before reaching its junction with SR 200 (Jesse DuPont Memorial Highway) at Burgess. US 360 has its final four-lane divided section between Folly and Lilian. At Beverlyville, it curves south toward Reedville. At SR 657 (Fleeton Road), US 360 follows Main Street south to its eastern terminus at the intersection of Main Street and Reed Avenue, which are both part of SR 644.

Keysville business route
U.S. Route 360 Business in Charlotte County is the westernmost of several business routes of US 360. The highway, which runs 5.93 mi between junctions with US 360 and US 15 south and north of Keysville, is entirely concurrent with US 15 Business.

Burkeville business route
U.S. Route 360/460 Business (US 360/460 Bus.) is the shared business route of US 360 and US 460 in Nottoway County. The highway runs 1.13 mi between junctions with US 360 and US 460 west and east of Burkeville. US 360/460 Business begins at the partial-cloverleaf interchange where the two highways begin to run concurrently west of Burkeville. There is no direct access from the westbound bypass to the eastbound business routes. The business routes pass through the town as 2nd Street before rejoining US 360 and US 460 a short distance west of their eastern divergence point.

Amelia Court House business route
U.S. Route 360 Business (US 360 Business) is the business route of US 360 in Amelia County. The highway runs 2.94 mi between junctions with US 360 west and northeast of Amelia Court House. US 360 Business is called Goodes Bridge Road and runs parallel to Norfolk Southern Railway's Richmond District along the northwest side of the village center, where the highway meets the western end of SR 38 (Virginia Street). Northeast of the village, the business route has a partial-cloverleaf interchange with US 360 before reaching its northern terminus at the mainline U.S. Highway.

Mechanicsville business route
U.S. Route 360 Business (US 360 Business) is the business route of US 360 in Hanover County. The highway runs 0.78 mi between junctions with US 360 west and east of Mechanicsville. The business route begins as a one-way westbound ramp to westbound US 360. US 360 Business gains an eastbound lane and heads east as Mechanicsville Turnpike to an intersection with SR 156 (Cold Harbor Road) and SR 638 (Atlee Road). The business route continues a few more blocks before again becoming a one-way westbound ramp from westbound US 360. This westbound ramp is used to access SR 156 from westbound US 360 because there is no direct ramp in US 360's diamond interchange with SR 156.

title: U.S. Route 360


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Wrestling mask

A wrestling mask is a fabric-based mask that some professional wrestlers wear as part of their in-ring persona or gimmick. Professional wrestlers have been using masks as far back as 1915 and they are still widely used today, especially in Lucha Libre in Mexico.

History
At the 1865 World's Fair, Theobaud Bauer debuted the mask, wrestling as "The Masked Wrestler" in Paris, France. He continued wrestling using the mask throughout France as part of a circus troupe in the 1860s before moving on to the United States in the early 1870s.

In 1915, Mort Henderson started wrestling as the "Masked Marvel" in the New York area making him the first North American wrestler to perform with such a gimmick. In the subsequent years many wrestlers would put on a mask after they had been used in an area, or territory, that their popularity and drawing ability diminished, it would be an easy way for a wrestler to begin working in a new area as a "fresh face". Sometimes workers wore masks in one territory and unmasked in another territory in order to keep their two identities separate.

The mask in the US and Canada
Many wrestlers have had very successful careers while masked such as The Destroyer/Dr. X, Mr. Wrestling, Masked Superstar and the Spoiler. In the days where professional wrestling was more regional, with less national television coverage, it was not uncommon for more than one person or team to use the same gimmick and mask, and there have at times been several masked "Interns", "Assassins" and "Executioners" working simultaneously. Tag team wrestling has seen more masked teams, using identical masks to create unity between wrestlers. Successful masked teams include the Masked Assassins, Blue Infernos and the Grapplers.

One of the best-known North American masked wrestlers was Big Van Vader, who was also known for his in-ring agility despite his large frame during the 1980s and 90s. Other notable examples are Rey Mysterio, Mankind, Kane, Doom, Edge & Christian as 'Los Conquistadores' & Owen Hart as 'Blue Blazer'.

Today, masked wrestlers are not a common sight in the United States and Canada, but masked wrestlers have a long history in that region, dating back to 1915. A mask sometimes will be used by a well known wrestler in a storyline where they must get around various "stipulations" or betray a trust without revealing their true identity. For instance wrestlers who are suspended in a storyline return under a mask under another name, usually with it being very obvious who is under the mask. Examples of this include: Hulk Hogan as Mr. America, Dusty Rhodes as The Midnight Rider, André the Giant as Giant Machine, Brian Pillman as The Yellow Dog, The Miz as The Calgary Kid, Dan Marsh as Mr. X and Bo Dallas as Mr. NXT. Jimmy Valiant once returned under a mask as Charlie Brown from Outta Town after losing to Paul Jones in a "Loser Leaves Town" match (a stipulation where the loser of the match must resign from the organization for which he worked). Mickie James also revealed to be under the mask when she returned to WWE as Alexa Bliss's partner.

The mask in Lucha Libre

When I put on the mask, I'm transformed. The mask gives me strength. The mask gives me fame. The mask is magical. When I remove the mask, I'm a normal human who can walk right by you, and not even get a "hello". Usually with the mask on, everything is positive. Without the mask I'm a normal being who has his problems, who cries, who sometimes suffers. I could tell you that I really admire El Hijo del Santo. But do you know who I admire more ? The human being. Thanks to him, El Hijo del Santo has a life. And this human being sometimes sacrifices a lot to give this other identity life.

It is a common misconception that masks in lucha libre spring from the Aztec or Mayan tradition, but the mask, or "máscara" in Spanish, was first introduced in Mexico when a promoter saw American wrestler "Cyclone" McKey working in Texas and decided to bring McKey to work for his promotion, Empresa Mexicana de la Lucha Libre (EMLL). After seeing a wrestler using a "Masked Marvel" gimmick in the United States, McKey told Martinez that he wanted to use the Masked Marvel gimmick in Mexico and asked for a "hood, something you can put on, tie on, like the Ku Klux Klan or something like that." It alluded not to the ritual practices of indigenous Mexican communities but to the Ku Klux Klan. Masks were traditionally used in ritual performances that mocked powerful figures or in forms of ritual combat. The Mexican fanbase quickly took to the mystery of the masked man and soon after, Mexican wrestlers themselves started wearing masks, becoming "enmascarados". Early masks were simple with strong, basic colors designs that could be recognized even in the back row of the arena. Over the years, the masks evolved to become very intricate and colorful, drawing on Mexico's rich history. Unlike in other parts of North America, the popularity of masked wrestlers has not waned over the years, with souvenir masks being sold at events and online. In modern lucha libre, masks are colorfully designed to evoke the images of animals, gods, ancient heroes, and other archetypes, whose identity the luchador takes on during a performance. Most wrestlers in Mexico start their career wearing a mask, but over the span of their careers, a substantial number of them will be unmasked. Sometimes, a wrestler slated for retirement will be unmasked in one of his final bouts or at the beginning of a final tour, signifying loss of identity as that character. Sometimes, losing the mask signifies the end of a gimmick, with the wrestler moving on to a new gimmick and mask, often without public acknowledgement of the wrestler's previous persona.

The wrestling mask is considered "sacred", so much so that the intentional removal of a mask is grounds for disqualification. If a wrestler is unmasked during the match, his top priority is to cover up his face and they usually get help from people at ringside to do so. Most masked wrestlers wear their masks for any and all public appearances, using the mask to keep their personal life separate from their professional life; because of the mask, most Mexican wrestlers enjoy a higher degree of anonymity about their personal lives. Some wrestlers become larger-than-life characters, such as El Santo, one of the most popular cultural icons who always wore his mask in public, revealing his face only briefly in old age, and was even buried in his trademark silver mask.

Luchas de Apuestas
In lucha libre, the highest achievement is not winning a championship but winning the mask of an opponent in a luchas de apuestas, a "bet fight" where each wrestler bets their mask. The luchas de apuestas is usually seen as the culmination of a long and heated storyline between two or more wrestlers, with the winner getting the "ultimate victory". It is customary for the loser of such a match to reveal his real name, where he's from and how long he has been a wrestler before taking the mask off to show his face. Unmasked wrestlers will wager their hair instead, risking having his or her head shaved bald in case of defeat. There can be several reasons to book a luchas de apuestas beyond the obvious purpose of elevating the winner. If the loser is a younger wrestler, then the loss of the mask can sometimes lead to a promotional push after unmasking, or the wrestler being given a new ring persona. Older wrestlers often lose their masks during the last couple of years of their career, often for a big payday depending on how long and successful a career they've had; the more successful the wrestler that's unmasked, the bigger the honor for the winner.

The first luchas de apuestas match was presented on July 14, 1940 at Arena México. The defending champion Murciélago was so much lighter than his challenger Octavio that he requested a further condition before he would sign the contract: Octavio would have to put his hair on the line. Octavio won the match and Murciélago unmasked, giving birth to a tradition in lucha libre. High-profile luchas de apuestas include El Santo winning the mask of Black Shadow, Los Villanos winning the masks of all three Los Brazos (El Brazo, Brazo de Oro and Brazo de Plata), Atlantis winning the mask of Villano III, La Parka unmasking both Cibernético and El Mesias, Villano V taking Blue Panther's mask and Último Guerrero winning the mask of Villano V. Some wrestlers have made a career by the volume of masks they have won rather than the general quality of their opponents—wrestler Super Muñeco claims to have won over 100 masks, with at least 80 verifiable luchas de apuestas wins, while Estrella Blanca is said to have the most luchas de apuestas, with over 200 masks won.

The mask in Japanese wrestling
The Destroyer, an American, was the first masked wrestler to work in Japan during the 1960s but remained a novelty with very few Japanese wrestlers choosing to wear a mask. The first Japanese masked wrestler is considered to be Shozo Kobayashi, who briefly competed under a mask as Fukumen Taro ("Masked Taro"). In the 1970s Mil Máscaras became the first Mexican Luchador to work on a regular basis and became very popular with the fans. The original Tiger Mask, Satoru Sayama was inspired by Mil Máscaras to create the masked "Tiger Mask" persona. After the success of Tiger Mask several wrestlers have adopted the mask, mainly lighter wrestlers who like Sayama had a more high flying and flashy style. The wrestling mask is held in more regard by the Japanese fans than the North American fans but isn't as "sacred" as the Mexican mask, meaning that the wrestler can perform both masked one day and unmasked another if he so wishes. Famous Japanese masked wrestlers include Jyushin Thunder Liger, Último Dragón, El Samurai, The Great Sasuke, Dragon Kid and Bushi.

The mask in British wrestling
Although at live shows, masked wrestlers were as prolific in British wrestling as its American counterpart, they were largely kept off ITV's television coverage until the late 1960s. Successful masked wrestlers up until this point included Count Bartelli (Geoff Condliffe), the White Angel (Judo Al Hayes) and Doctor Death (promoter Paul Lincoln as the top villain of his own major independent promotion). Masked wrestlers were frequently disparaged by top promoters during this period as a symptom of the allegedly "anarchic" conditions in American wrestling - indeed the first masked wrestler on ITV, The Outlaw (Gordon Nelson) was announced as being an American.

The most famous masked wrestler in British history, Peter Thornley, the original British version of Kendo Nagasaki, made his professional debut - complete with masked Samurai gimmick - in 1964 but did not appear on television until 1971. Nagasaki's first big victory was a win over mentor (and real life trainer) Bartelli in a 1966 mask vs mask match. His own mask was pulled off by opponent Big Daddy during a televised match in December 1975, an important turning point in Daddy's rise in popularity. Nagasaki later voluntarily unmasked in a ceremony in the ring on TV in December 1977. By 1986 he was back under the mask and was the top villain of All Star Wrestling from this point until his second retirement in 1993.

Another successful masked wrestler from the 1970s was blue-eye martial artist Kung Fu, played by Eddie Hamill, who lost his mask after a 1976 televised defeat by Mick McManus but continued to wrestle unmasked still as Kung Fu, winning the British Heavy Middleweight Championship in 1986.

At Christmas 1979, Big Daddy defeated and unmasked Mr. X on television. Subsequently, during the 1980s in Joint Promotions, masked wrestlers were generally built towards being fodder for Big Daddy to defeat, unmask and humiliate in headline tag matches on ITV, such as the Spoiler (Drew McDonald) King Kendo (aka Red Devil), Battle Star, El Diablo, the Black Baron, the Masked Marauders tag team and The Emperor. Meanwhile in All Star Wrestling - apart from Nagasaki - they were mostly treated as short lived reflections of recent fads in popular culture. In 1995, All Star shows were frequently headlined by a masked tag team based on the Power Rangers franchise, until the copyright owners intervened. In the 21st century, El Ligero wrestled successfully for both the traditional and American-style promotions.

The mask in French wrestling
Bauer as the Masked Wrestler of Paris in the 1860s, would be followed by more masked wrestlers in his home country. A wrestling mask was known in France as a "cagoule" (hood) and fans would often chant "he he la cagoule" to encourage the babyface to unmask a masked heel. Doing so, however, was banned under French wrestling rules - if unmasked, a wrestler would crouch on the mat face-down until the referee restored his mask.

One of the earliest successes of televised wrestling in France was the feud between babyface masked wrestler L'Ange Blanc, and black clad heel masked wrestler Le Bourreau de Bethune Another successful masked heel of the 196os was L'Homme Masqué (The Masked Man). Spanish wrestler Angelito initially wore a silver mask in France before taking it off midway through a 1971 televised match with Jacky Richard. Another Spaniard, Oscar "Crusher" Verdu, who wrestled under a mask as Der Henker, would win the French Heavyweight Championship in 1983. British wrestler Dave Larsen wrestled in France under a mask as Zarak. In the 1980s, masks were primarily worn as a component of more outlandish characters such as the tag teams Les Piranhas and Les Maniaks (a team of evil masked clowns) and Mambo Le Primitiv, based on the film character of King Kong. This tradition continued in the early 21st century with Cybernic Machine, a masked wrestler playing a "computer virus" character, who was a successful heel in France.

Anatomy of the wrestling mask
The original wrestling masks were often masks attached to a top that snapped in the groin making it very uncomfortable for the people wearing it. If the masks were not attached to the top, then they were made from uncomfortable material such as brushed pig skin, leather or suede. In the 1930s, a Mexican shoe maker called Antonio Martinez created a mask on request from Charro Aguayo that became the standard for wrestling masks created since then. The basic design consists of four pieces of fabric sewn together to create the basic shape that covers the entire head. The mask has openings for the eyes, nose and mouth with colorful trim around the open features, this trim is known as "Antifaz" in Spanish. The back of the mask is open with a "tongue" of fabric under laces to keep it tight enough to not come off accidentally during a match. The first variation in style came when the jaw and mouth area was removed from the mask to expose the skin. Other masks have solid material over the mouth, nose, eyes or all three, in the case of fabric covering the eyes a stretched fabric that is see through up-close is used.

Originally being made from fabric masks have evolved and are now made from a variety of materials from cotton to nylon to various vinyl polymers in many different colours and patterns. Several additions have been made to the mask decorations over the years with the most prevalent and visually striking being foam horns and artificial hair attached to the mask. Mock ears are also commonly used, especially if the mask has an animal motif such as a tiger and other animals.

title: Wrestling mask


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Fort Ancient

The Fort Ancient culture is a Native American archaeological culture that dates back to c. 1000–1750 CE. Members of the culture lived along the Ohio River valley, in an area running from modern-day Ohio and western West Virginia through to northern Kentucky and parts of southeastern Indiana. A contemporary of the neighboring Mississippian culture, Fort Ancient is considered to be a separate "sister culture". Mitochondrial DNA evidence collected from the area suggests that the Fort Ancient culture did not directly descend from the older Hopewell Culture.

Material evidence also suggests that the Fort Ancient peoples introduced maize agriculture to Ohio, and other evidence connects this culture to the Great Serpent Mound. In 1999, an archaeological study by Brad Lepper and Tod A. Frolking used radiocarbon testing to show that the Alligator Effigy Mound in Granville also dates to the Fort Ancient era, rather than the assumed Hopewell era. Both the Serpent and Alligator Mounds, first understood as burial locations, have been shown to be Fort Ancient ceremonial effigy sites.

Name
Although the name of the culture originates from the earthworks site at Fort Ancient, Ohio, this site is believed to have been built by the Ohio Hopewellian people and only occupied later by the Fort Ancient culture. The site is on a hill above the Little Miami River, close to Lebanon, Ohio. Despite the name of the site, most archaeologists do not believe that Fort Ancient was used as a fortress by either the Ohio Hopewell culture or the Fort Ancient culture. It is believed to have been a ceremonial location.

Chronology
In about 1000 CE, terminal Late Woodland groups in the Middle Ohio Valley adopted maize agriculture. They settled in small, year-round, nuclear family households and settlements of up to 40-50 individuals. These scattered settlements, located along terraces that overlooked rivers and occasionally on flood plains, would be occupied only briefly before the groups would migrate elsewhere.

By 1200 CE, the small villages had grown into settlements of up to 300 people. These settlements were occupied for up to 25 years. The houses were designed as single-family dwellings during the Early and Middle Fort Ancient periods. Later, Fort Ancient buildings became more extensive and could house multiple families. Settlements were rarely more permanent than one or two generations, as inhabitants generally migrated once natural resources surrounding the village had been exhausted. Villages were arranged around an open oval central plaza, surrounded by circular and rectangular domestic structures facing this plaza.

The arrangement of buildings in Fort Ancient settlements is believed to have served as a solar calendar, marking the positions of the solstices and other significant dates. The occupants also built low platform mounds for ceremonial purposes, and many villages added defensive palisades to their boundaries. The plaza served as the focal point of village life, hosting communal activities such as ceremonies, games (such as the hoop and stick game Chunkey), and other significant social events.

The Late Fort Ancient period from 1400 to 1750 CE was the protohistoric era of the Middle Ohio Valley. During this era, the formerly dispersed populations began to coalesce. The Gist-phase villages (1400 to 1550 CE) became more significant than during the preceding period, with populations as high as 500. Archaeologists have speculated that the larger villages and palisades are evidence that after 1450, warfare and inter-group strife increased, leading the people to consolidate their villages for better protection.

Increased contact with Mississippian people also likely occurred in this era, some of them may even have migrated to and been integrated into Fort Ancient villages. The Madisonville horizon of artifacts after 1400 CE include relatively high proportions of bowls, salt pans, triangular strap handles, colanders, negative painted pottery, notched and beaded rims, and some effigies. These items and styles are usually associated with the Mississippian cultures of the Lower Ohio Valley, at sites such as Angel Mounds and Kincaid Mounds. These sites were abandoned during this time.

During the Montour phase (1550 to 1700), villages were occupied year-round, although less densely in the winter than in the summer months. This may indicate that during the winter, family groups and hunting parties may have returned to the regions previously occupied by their ancestors. Such a pattern was observed during historic times, for example, among the Miami and Potawatomi. Through trading activities, the Fort Ancient people gained access to European trade items such as glass, iron, brass, and copper. These materials have all been found as grave goods at sites such as Lower Shawneetown and Hardin Village. Such artifacts appeared and were used in the area before the arrival of European explorers or settlers.

Although the inhabitants of Fort Ancient did not encounter European settlers at this time, they, like other groups in the interior of the continent, may have suffered high fatalities from their diseases, transmitted among Native Americans by trade contacts. The next-known inhabitants of the area, who were encountered by French and English explorers, were the historic Shawnee tribe. Scholars believe that the Fort Ancient society, like the Mississippian cultures to the south and west, may have been severely disrupted by waves of infectious disease epidemics from the first Spanish explorers in the mid-16th century.

After 1525, at the Madisonville site, the type site for the Madisonville phase, dwellings were built on a smaller scale and in fewer numbers. This change indicated the culture was less attached to agriculture and a sedentary life. Scholars generally believe that similarities in material culture, art, mythology, and Shawnee oral history link the historic tribe to the Fort Ancient people. However, there is also evidence that the Algonquian Shawnee culture may have been more of an admixture or intrusion to the site, which may have previously been Siouan occupied.

Early phase (approx. 1000–1250 CE)
During this period, the Fort Ancients were several poor, sedentary societies. They lived in non-palisaded villages and had slight regional variances. The locals farmed primarily corn, beans, and sunflower—the latter being a plant first domesticated as a food source in Ohio. Most homes were what is known as a pit house, created by digging several feet into the ground and covering over the top of the resulting hole with a wooden frame roof covered in bark. Carbon dating has shown that Fort Ancient lands in West Virginia did not begin to be conquered until the middle phase.

Middle phase (approx. 1250–1450 CE)
At this time, the cultures became far richer, began to expand, and began to merge into a single, continuous culture. Villages grew larger, became palisaded and pit houses began to be phased out in favor of the style of native dwelling colonial peoples would refer to as a Cabin style. This was a rectangular, peak-roofed home of either an adobe-like or wooden make and covered over by the same style of roof as the pit house.

Elsewhere, the far richer and larger Mississippian culture began shifting its centers away from the Mississippi River and into the American Southeast. Iroquoian expansions to the northeast of the Fort Ancients brought new Algonquian and Iroquoian neighbors into their region. The result of these migrations was Fort Ancients adopting aspects of these cultures. Eastern Fort Ancients began amalgamating a mound burial with Iroquoian techniques of removing the flesh and organs of the dead and urn burials. In western Ohio, there is strong evidence that they took on the Algonquian Green Corn Ceremony, in which part of the immature corn crop was "sacrificed" by burning and its ashes were used to fertilize the fields. Around 1300, however, it appears that mound burials were replaced entirely by the Eastern Siouan tradition of under-the-home burials.

Late phase (approx. 1450–1750 CE)
The late phase of Fort Ancient culture was its zenith. Only one known Fort Ancient tribe has been verified by name in the historical record—the Mosopelea, presumably of southeast Ohio. There is also a chance that a Siouan people called the Keyauwee, who appear alongside the Tutelo (an Eastern Siouan tribe from West Virginia) in North Carolina around 1700 could also have been of Fort Ancient stock. During the time of the French explorers, a Ho-chunk native named Tonti told them that these people had been known as the Chonque. Mosopelea language is marked as being the only known Siouan tongue to use the "f" sound, which is far more common among the Muskogean languages of the Mississippians.

Despite no historical accounts of contact existing, there has been a remarkable amount of European-made goods excavated from Fort Ancient sites—including brass and steel items, as well as glassware. Fort Ancients even melted down old or broken goods and re-forged them into new items. No single gun part has yet been discovered in conjunction with a Fort Ancient site. The Fort Ancients were heavily affected by European disease, as well as the Beaver Wars period. Carbon dating seems to indicate that disease affected the Fort Ancients in waves. The most recent of all surviving sites date from Northern Kentucky alone—those from 1680 onwards. Although French explorers are known to have arrived during that time, they appear to have left no authentic accounts of contact. However, the French did note that most of both sides of the Ohio River Valley were covered in similarly styled villages in various states of destruction or abandonment.

Four foci
The Fort Ancient culture is divided into four distinct local variations known as foci. These are the Madisonville focus, the Baum focus, the Fort focus, and the Anderson focus. Additionally, Fort Ancient culture can be subdivided into at least 8 phases that span different time periods and regions of southern Ohio and adjacent states. There was an increasing similarity between Fort Ancient phases leading up to 1650 CE, characterized by the presence of native artifacts and European trade goods found at the Madisonville site.

Social hierarchy
The rise in socio-political complexity evidenced by the building of substructure mounds and new village layouts may indicate influences from Middle Mississippian cultures down the Ohio River (the north-eastern-most extent of Middle Mississippian was the Prather Complex in the Falls of the Ohio region 95 mi away). The differences in ceramics show that Fort Ancient culture was distinct from that of the Middle Mississippian peoples, lacking Mississippian traits such as political centralization and elite social structures.

Although there seem to have been positions of leadership, the Fort Ancient culture appears to have been egalitarian. Grave goods rarely vary between individuals, which shows that social levels were weakly defined. Scholars believe that their societies were organized into groups based on kinship. If social organization was based on kinship, people likely achieved some status by virtue of personal qualities, such as generosity, charisma, and being a good hunter, as well as their deeds. People of higher status were probably leaders of communities and were potentially responsible for organizing trade, settling disputes among other members of the village, and presiding over ceremonies. Evidence indicates that Fort Ancient leadership was more like that of the historic Iroquois, whose egalitarian obligations left leaders to be buried with no more than others of their age.

Ceramics
Pottery making was primarily the responsibility of women using a technique known as coiling. Potters rolled clay into long, rounded strips, which they used to model the vessel, layering strips on top of each other. The items were then smoothed out internally with a potter anvil (a smooth round stone), and externally with a wooden paddle. Cord-marking and engraving were used to decorate pots in styles according to particular periods and peoples.

At the time, Fort Ancient pottery was known for having thinner walls than preceding Woodland pottery. Common items include large plain cooking jars with strap or loop handles. A hallmark of Fort Ancient pottery is engraved decorations on the rim and neck of the vessels, consisting of a series of interlocking lines, called Guilloché. As this design emerged with the beginning of the Fort Ancient culture in the region, scholars used it as a characteristic to identify the culture.

Mississippian influences
During the Early Fort Ancient period, grit (crushed stone) and grog (crushed pottery) were often used as tempering agents, with ground mussel shells occasionally being used. Over time, women increasingly chose mussel shells or a mixture of mussel shells with other agents as the tempering agent. The use of ground shells as a temper is a feature often associated with Mississippian cultures, and its acceptance spread in Fort Ancient culture, moving north and east from the Ohio River and the direction of the closest Mississippian groups in the southwest.

With the change of temper, different vessel forms and decorations became more prevalent; several of them are also strongly associated with Mississippian cultures. Early Fort Ancient vessels were often jug forms with lug handles. By the Middle Fort Ancient period, bowls and plates were being produced more frequently, and artisans added strap handles. Negative painting (a decoration often associated with the Angel phase sites in the Lower Ohio Valley) and Ramey Incised designs (elite motifs associated with the Cahokia polity in Illinois) have been found on some pots. Others show a blending of different styles, for instance, with the engraved guilloché decoration overlaid with negative painting. Archaeological excavations have found examples of non-local pottery from this period as well. The pieces were made from non-local clay sources, and have designs or vessel forms atypical for local wares. A head pot was discovered at the Madisonville site similar to those produced in the Central Mississippi Valley by the peoples of the Middle Mississippian Parkin and Nodena phases. Archaeologists suggest that the change in pottery styles was a result of increased contact with the Mississippian cultures to the south and west of the Fort Ancient peoples.

Tools

The Fort Ancient peoples made tools from a variety of materials, including stone, bone, horn, shells and antlers. Stone tools have been found more frequently than those of other materials. The culture is known for its distinctive small triangular flint arrowheads and large triangular flint knives. Fort Ancients made hoes for farming from mussel shells. Fort Ancients had also grounded and polished stones into axes to use in felling trees. Most of the flint tools were made from varieties of locally available materials, showing the Fort Ancient peoples either felt no need for it or did not have access to exotic stone varieties through trade routes.

Diet
The Fort Ancient were primarily a farming and hunting people. Their diet was mainly composed of the New World staples that are known as the three sisters (maize, squash, and beans). This diet was supplemented by hunting and fishing in nearby forests and rivers. Important game species included the black bear, turkey, white tail deer and elk. Archaeologists have found evidence at some sites which suggests that turkeys were kept in pens. The average lifespan during this time period decreased from that of their ancestors. The people were smaller in stature and less able to fend off infectious diseases than previous generations. Archaeological investigations of their cemeteries have shown that almost all of Fort Ancient's people showed pathology of some kind, with a high incidence of dental disease and arthritis.

Contemporaries and neighbors
To the northeast in present-day Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Ohio and West Virginia were the peoples of the Monongahela culture, who inhabited the Monongahela River Valley from 1050 to 1635. They had a similar lifestyle to the Fort Ancients; as they were also maize agriculturalists and lived in well laid out palisaded villages with central oval plazas, some of which consisted of as many as 50-100 structures. To the northwest of the Fort Ancients were the people of the Oliver phase who lived along the east and west forks of the White River in central and southern Indiana from 1200 and 1450. Their villages were also circular with palisades. Although their sites began in central Indiana, over the years they spread to the southeast toward the Fort Ancients. The Oliver phase people were part of the Western Basin Tradition which also includes the Springwell's phase, the Younge phase, and the Riviere au Vase phases of Northern Ohio and Indiana. The colder weather of the Little Ice Age may have caused inter-group battles over food and other resources, according to some scholars. The crops did not prosper as well during this colder period, causing food shortages for populations that had grown after their introduction. Some studies show that the culture began failing due to poor health conditions.

These groups, along with others such as the Oneota, were once classified as Upper Mississippian cultures under the assumption that they were either Mississippian peoples intruding into these areas, or they were heavily influenced by the Mississippian peoples to their south and east. Today it is thought that these groups were local in situ developments of Late Woodland peoples.

Located 95 km down the Ohio River to the southwest of the westernmost Fort Ancient settlements were the Middle Mississippian culture peoples of the Prather Complex. This stretch of river was an empty buffer zone, possibly for social or political reasons, although it might possibly have been because the narrowing of the alluvial valley between the Falls of the Ohio region near Louisville, Kentucky and the mouth of the Miami River at Cincinnati, Ohio made it less suitable for the intensive maize agriculture practiced by both societies.

Possible symbolism
Many artifacts have been found associated with the Fort Ancients, the most common being four-handled funerary urns, salamanders and snakes. Possible symbolism of the urn may be a connection to common Siouan religious beliefs. At least one artifact containing the Siouan religious symbol known as the medicine wheel (a cross inside of a circle) has been found. This stands, primarily, for the fact that all life sprung from the same place and returns to that source in the end. The four-handled urns may be to evoke that symbol, more so than having any real, practical use.

Two possibilities of the salamander motif can also be explored. One possibility is that, like in Plains Indian culture, salamanders represented boys and turtles represented girls. Mothers would have a special medicine pouch made for one or the other to represent their children and containing the umbilical cord, which they would wear so long as both still lived. The other possibility comes from the Eastern Siouan's, who express a belief that "when a Salamander barks, someone will soon die." As such, the salamander may have been a sort of death omen to the Fort Ancients or had something to do with the door between the living and dead worlds.

The Serpent Burial Mound was made specifically to mirror a constellation known to many Siouan peoples, known as the Snake. It is depicted as swallowing an egg whole, representing the struggle against overwhelming odds for the sake of the people. Furthermore, some Siouan peoples seem to have believed that the stars seen at night were a mirror of the spirit world itself, each one representing an ancestor at peace. Therefore, this mound may have been a special place to bury those with special honors, in order to anchor such people and their descendants to the earth. This symbolic connection to the Snake constellation suggests that this mound may have been especially significant to the Fort Ancients.

title: Fort Ancient