1996_12 Insight December 1996

              Lifestyle
DECEMBER 11. 1996 1
Ragtime Festival
may leave Fresno
by Joanne de Rozario
Staff Writer
3 Tom Bothwell, who has served
s director of the festival for the past
ight years, said their volunteer base
An 10-year tradition of ragtime   in Fresno has gotten low.
music may have sounded its last      'They've given so many hours
note in Fresno. . and don't want to work that many
Every year, ragtime greats such   hours anymore." Lcla Bothwell
as Richard Zimmerman. Scott   said.
Kirby and John Armin have con-_ Volunteers, most of them in their
verged at the Fresno Hilton, the" 40s and 50s. work up to 30 hours a
event's headquarters. week lining up talent, scheduling
But the 1996 West Coast Ragtime   performances, advertising the event
Festival Nov. 22 through 24 may   and keeping musicians updated,
have been the last time the world's      "We try. in a sense, to be evange-
largest ragtime event will be held   lists for this music." said Camaria.
in Fresno. "We love the music so much we
Ragtime is America's first origi-   want the average person to know
nal music. Known for its entranc-   what ragtime means. It's so much
ing syncopated rfiythms, the height   more than just Joplinand rinky-tink
of iis popularity was from the late   bar pianos."
1890s until World War I.
Tony Camaria. director of piano   Teens dig it, too
pedagogy al the Eastman School of
only audience to enjoy ragtime.
Fourteen-year-old Dalton
Ridenhour from Missouri learned to
play the piano when he was 8. He
was introduced lo ragtime when his
father requested he learn lo play
"Tlie Knlcrtaine" by ragtime pioneer Scon Joplin.
Ridenhour found lhe music hard
lo learn, bul after a while began lo
like it. His first public performance
was in 1991 at the Sedalia Festival,
of pianist Bob He has since been lo ragtime fesli-
Darsh, who has been plav ing ray- vals in Buffalo and Montreal and on
ime for 50 years. cruises that have taken him to Casa
More couples danced to a Brit- Del Mexico and Key West. Fla.
sh brass band behind the double Although he enjoys rock and al-
Joors of the dimly lit grand ball- lernative music. Ridenhour said he
iHim while others escaped to con- plays ragtime at home all Ihe lime.
lerence rooms to watch clips from "It's really relaxing, but it can
. image movies or leam lo play the   also lift you up because !
Music al the University of Roche;
ler in New York, described the music as terribly contagious, exuberant and intoxicating in its energy.
The "incredible unbridled happiness." Camaria said ragtime leaves
its audiences was in evidence al lasi
month's gaja.
Next year: Sacramento
In lhe foyer, elderly couples
:d and reminisced, listening to
ashboaid.
Unfortunately, plans are un
.say to take the West Coast Rag
upbeat and some of it is nice and
soft." hc said.
He said the variety of ragtime
Rocks, tools, debris tell story
of California's ancient peoples
■ Artifacts go back
7,000 years to Ice
Age inhabitants   m
by Julie Normart
Staff Writer
Fresno Stale's self-proclaimed
Indiana Jones made a groundbreaking discovery thai will rewrite
California history.        '
An excavation project led by
Anthropology professor John Pryor
40. is being touted one of the most
extraordinary finds in the nation's
history.
Named alter the
abandoned gold
mine that once-
stood in the
Central Sierra
mountain range
near Sonora.
Skyrocket has
offered far more
toCalifomians
than nuggets of
gold.
Skyrocket has
led archaeologists
to question information disputing
the mobility and living conditions
of ancient Indians.
"Whal is so amazing about this
site is the rich picture it provides.'
Pryor said.
In 1987 Pryor and other archaeologists were asked to survey the
land lhat contained rich iron ore
deposits.
They siHin uncovered an ancien
burial site containing hundreds of
pieces of bone, tools and beads.
This discovery led Pryor and hi:
team to excavate the area.
They dug through each layer of
clay-like sediment until they
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reached six feel below.
"At six feet we saw a blackened
layer that was full of very old
materials. It was a mixture of the
Palco-Indian ice age and the
archaic age." Prypr said.
These findings allowed Pryor to
establish a time line thai dates back
6.000 B.C.
"Since we had a good working
relationship with thc Indians in thc
area, we could analyze the remains
and keep bits of bone to use in our
study." Pryor said.
During the excavations. Pryor
found a 10-foot by 10-foot stone
platform extending into the marshes
so that people could stay dry when
using the marsh
lands.
Archaeologists
were able to date
the platform,
which was
composed of
diverse rocks and
minerals, back to
9.000 to 7.000
In.ltfrt photo VyRy»n McKee   years ago.
The dig uncovered stones     "There is no
chipped into scraping tools.      P|ace else in
northern America
where there is something this big
and this old. This constructed
platform is full of hundreds of
pieces of old milling equipment,"
Pryor said.
Il is apparent by looking at the ancient tools that the people who made
them invested great time and effort
into their production.
"Working thc edges of the stone
to the center and chipping away a
fluted channel, the tools became
very sharp and thin." Pryor said.
The tools were indirect evidence
of the type of game the Indians
hunted thousands of years ago.
"Flinsing knives were used for
hunting large Ice Age creatures lhat
arc still around today like elk and
buffaloes." Pryor said.
Evidence of plant processing was
Insight Photo by Ryan McKee
Handcarved tools discovered at the Skyrocket excavation headed
by Professor John Pryor may change current theory.
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also found among the artifacts.
"Mono rocks show the wear
patterns of seed and plant processing. Pine nuts and others were
ground in a back-and-forth motion
while cucumber seeds were
crushed." Pryor said.
Pryor also discovered shifts in climate thai led to shifts in technology.
Until 1.000 years ago. the
landscape was dry and infertile
because of a severe drought that
had persisted 1.000 years.
Conditions were so bad during
this time that people were left with
very little water and food. They
were forced to become mobile in
order to hunt smaller game.
"Smaller knives and tools made
out of obsidian were found which
represent mobility." Pryor said.
During California's Spanish
mission period, many Native
Americans began trading nuts and
seeds for shell beads and metals
from the missionaries.
Many native Americans moved
from their villages to the missions
or disappeared.
"The Indians experienced a
cultural trauma during the mission
period. Infectious diseases were
introduced by the foreigners thai
killed many of ihem." Pryor said.
New burial rituals were instituted
within the native American culture
al lhat time as well. More females
were buried or cremated than ever
"The amount of wealth that
people were buried vv ith denoted
their status. It was almost as if they
knew they couldn't leave it to other
generations so they asked to be
buried with it." Pryor said.
Pryor is writing a series of
children's books that will describe
the lives of children who lived
thousands of years ago.
He is also planning his next
project, which will be conducting
field classes for the first time in the
school's history. .
"I hope this really gel students
involved in the learning process.
After all. lhe data belongs to them."
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