Jay, any thoughts or observations? We've discussed some of these things in detail privately, and I've said some things here that I hoped my pique your interest and spark some debate (like my assertions regarding origins and time frames of development)

Most of all, I'd like to see your perspective in a broader sense how unique some of these concepts really are -they may have analogies in other cultures, even if such is not to be found among their close neighbors.

I'm very fond of the designs of these timber frames -so very logical, and I can look at them and easily figure out exactly why things were done the way they were, and why things evolved from one form to another. Every aspect of the design can be connected directly to an adaptation to changes in resources, climate (as people migrated out of the mountains onto the plains, or vice versa) and technology. I'm fascinated as to the whys in regards to timber framing techniques, and tend to discard ideas that I can't connect to a logical impetus. This drives my own notion that there has to be a good 'why' to the things that I do. I am a great admirer of the old archaic building forms, for example, but also concede that they are not the most practical way of going about things with access to modern technologies.