NOTICES
Museum Program Explores
10,000 Years of Gaming
While excavating at Gordion, Tur
key, in the summer of 1994. archae
ologist Jeremiah Dandoy came across
groups of sheep and goal astragali,
often called knucklebones. Some were
shiny from apparent use and a few’ were
incised with initials or names of gods.
Turkish workers told him that chil
dren played games with such bones and
men played games of chance with
them. This information led him to dig
further (pun intended) and he was fas
cinated by what he unearthed about
these bones.
Astragali, or knucklebones, are
ubiquitous as non-food culture items.
They have been used for at least I ().()()()
years as divination tools, gaming
pieces, personal adornments, “worry
beads,” and dice.
Their presence has been docu
mented throughout the world, from the
Middle East to Africa. Europe, and the
Western Hemisphere, including use by
American Indians.
Astragali have been depicted in a
variety of art forms, replicated in natu
Jeremiah Dandoy records hones following an excavation.
Learn About Global Warming and
More at Sustainability Summit
The Lincoln County Sustainability
Summit will be held Oct. 6-7 from 8 a.m.
to 6:30 p.m. at the Atonement Lutheran
Church next to the Lincoln County PUD
office, which is across the street from
Rite Aid and Safeway in Newport, Ore.
This event is being organized by
the Lincoln County Sustainability Coa
lition and is co-sponsored by OSU
Extension. Oregon Tilth, the Solar En
ergy Association of Oregon, and sev
eral local businesses and private indi
viduals in Lincoln County.
This is a free event and everyone
is welcome to attend all or part of the
summit. Pre-registration is not required.
Topics will include global warm
ing, solar energy, supporting our local
farmers and other local food produc
ers, raising your own food, local con
servation and restoration projects,
ecotourism, and the economic value of
our natural resources and viewsheds.
There will be in-depth panel dis
cussions with audience participation,
informative talks with an emphasis on
practical information, interactive ex
hibits. prizes, and a pledge drive to re
place incandescent bulbs with fluores
cent bulbs to save energy and reduce
global warming.
Food served al the summit will be
collected from local Lincoln County
sources, including farmers, fishermen,
gardeners, community gardens, and wild
foods such as mushrooms and berries.
Students from the Angell Job Corp and
other volunteers will prepare and serve
this food to summit participants.
Lincoln County kids from several
schools will make significant contribu
tions to the summit. Please come and
support their efforts.
Several homegrown Lincoln
County-based sustainability projects
are being developed that promise to
have a far-reaching long-lasting impact
on our community. Information on
how people can get involved with the
Lincoln County Sustainability Coali
tion and contribute to these practical
sustainability projects will be an
nounced at the summit.
As an immediate follow-up to the
summit, on Oct. 8. the Lincoln County
Sustainability Coalition also is co
sponsoring the first Lincoln County
Solar Tour & Habitat Restoration Tour.
This will give participants an opportu
nity to visit places in our county that
use solar equipment, ask questions, and
observe firsthand how habitat restora
tion is accomplished.
For more information and a com
plete agenda, please visit the Lincoln
County Sustainability Coalition's Web
site at www.LincolnCountySustain
abilityCoalition.org.
Volunteers also are needed for the
summit. If you are interested, please
call Cindy Ashy at 541-270-0588.
ral and man-made materials, and found
singly and in large groupings in living
quarters, temples, sanctuaries, tombs,
simple graves, and people's pockets.
The bones have been ground, pol
ished. drilled, painted, dyed, incised, and
filled with metal. In games, the bones'
sides have symbolized social strata, been
used to tell fortunes, and provided
choices for gambling. In short, the as
tragalus. in its many forms and uses,
reflects societal changes over lime.
Since 1990, Dandoy has been
digging, writing, and speaking about
early forms of gaming. On Oct. 7 at
I p.m., he will do a presentation at the
North Lincoln County Historical Mu
seum titled 10.000 Years of Gaming
Using Knucklebones (Astragals). The
presentation will include photo, stories,
and examples of knucklebones from
his digs.
The museum is located at 4907 SW
Highway 101 in Lincoln City, Ore. Call
Anne Hall, 541-994-6698, for more
information or directions to the museum.
UPS Foundation Provides
Education Grants
UPS Foundation Education
Grants fund high-impact philan
thropic programs that raise the level
of educational instruction, family
learning opportunities, and school in
volvement projects.
Maximum Award: varies. Eligi
bility: 501(c)(3) organizations.
Deadline: N/A.
For more information, visit
www.community.ups.com/phi la n-
thropy/grant.html.
Stan van de Wetering and Brett Blundon check on some of the oysters.
Oysters, con’t from page 1
The resultant juveniles were taken
to the Oregon Oyster facility and reared
for a few months alongside the Netarts
group. In early August, tribal person
nel began to place the two groups
(Netarts and Yaquina) of juveniles al
six different sites across Yaquina Bay.
These young oysters will be moni
tored monthly for their ability to feed and
grow at a given site, their ability to com
pete with other organisms for space,
and their susceptibility to predators.
At the end of the year, an analysis
will be completed to help determine
where current habitat conditions might
best allow for native oyster restoration.
From there, the tribe will look al ob
taining a second grant that will allow it
to move forward with a larger-scale
restoration project with a specific fo
cus on certain sites where good sur
vival rales are expected.
October 2006
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Siletz News
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