Historical Archaeology

OMEKA Project for Archaeological Lab Methods Course

This project included the analysis of ceramic shards and glass vessels from various orientations. Incorporating knowledge learned from the course, I examined 6 artifacts, 3 ceramic shards and 3 glass vessels, for distinctive characteristics. After examination, I calculated the date range of each artifact based on patterns, material, and makers marks. Not only did this assignment give me hands-on experience, but allowed for an extensive analysis of examples of glass and ceramic throughout multiple periods of time. Below are examples of shards and vessels apart of the assignment:

Example of a whitewater ceramic sherd with a decorative, dark blue transfer print.
Whiteware ceramic sherd deriving from either a bowl or cup, with a decorative, dark brown transfer print.
Enclosed bottle made of brown glass with unknown substance inside.
Identification of bottle’s manufacturer and potential purpose, due to no evident branding, the bottle is classified as medicinal.
Identification of a cobalt blue Vicks Vaporub glass artifact.

Analysis of the Number of Artifacts in Various Areas

This assignment allowed me to set up and research my own idea to discover archaeology in the world. The topic chosen consisted of exploring various regions of middens: in a river, along the riverside, along trails, and embedded into a wooded area. The public park utilized for the study contained many trails, a river, and fishing spots. The perspective middens were more prevalent along trails and the river. Those artifacts documented within the woods were mostly along a small fishing trail, but the correlation and amount of artifacts reflected a possible residence dating to the 1930s and 1940s. However, I found no documentation of a house in that region, reflecting a higher chance of the site being a midden dating to the mid-twentieth century. Those artifacts found along and in the river spread across the early twentieth to 21st centuries. The immediate trail access to portions of the river allowed for the accumulation of material culture across many decades. Although the newer material culture likely arose from fishermen and park goers, I believe those artifacts of older dates either washed ashore from somewhere else or were dumped long ago. My conclusions discovered the correlation of time artifacts were deposited with the region they were abandoned. As seen in the graph below, there were fewer items recently deposited along trails and the riverside. Therefore there had been a greater prevalence of historic artifacts spread across the park.