Anthropology Commons^™

Thunder And Powder: May They Never Meet! Lightning Conductors At The Esplanade Powder Magazine, Quebec City, Pierre Drouin

Northeast Historical Archaeology

Archaeological excavations carried out at the Esplanade powder magazine in Quebec City have revealed the remains of three successive lighting conductor systems. These 19th-century remains are closely examined in the light of contemporary literature and compared with the military instructions concerning the subject. Their presence highlights the efforts made by military engineers of the time to safeguard contents, buildings, and people from the hazards inherent to the storage of explosive materials in powder magazines.

The Orphanage At Schuyler Mansion, Lois Feister

Northeast Historical Archaeology

Doll parts, toy tea set fragments, and other toys were excavated from the late 19th-century through early 20th-century occupation layers at the Schuyler Mansion State Historic Site in Albany, New York. Their occurrence raised questions about the orphans hosed their during that time period. Archival research and archaeological analysis resulted in increased understanding of the care received by homeless children during that period.

A Retrospective On Archaeology At Fort William Henry, 1952-1993: Retelling The Tale Of The Last Of The Mohicans, David R. Starbuck

Northeast Historical Archaeology

Fort William Henry was a British frontier fort constructed on the orders of Sir William Johnson in September of 1755 at the southern end of Lake George in upstate New York. After its destruction by a French army under the leadership of the Marquis de Montcalm in August of 1757, at which time many of its defenders were "massacred", the outline of the fort lay exposed until 1952 when archaeological excavations began to expose the charred ruins of the fort. Regrettably, while this was one of the largest excavations ever conducted on a site of the French and Indian War, …

Is Archaeology Destructive Or Are Archaeologists Self-Destructive, Pierre Beaudet, Monique Elie

Northeast Historical Archaeology

The conducting of archaeological excavations for the purpose of research without the justification of eminent destruction is often referred to, in cultural resource management literature and elsewhere, as a destructive practice- one to be avoided whenever possible. The following pages discuss the validity of a such deferral approach to archaeological research both in reference to resource conservation and to understanding the past.

Art, Ideology, And Politics At El Achiotal: A Late Preclassic Frontier Site In Northwestern Petén, Guatemala, Mary Jane Acuña

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

This dissertation focuses on the study of a pyramidal mound housing multiple construction phases spanning the Late Preclassic Period: ca. 400 BCE - 250 CE) at the ancient Maya site of El Achiotal, in northwestern Guatemala. The foundation for my arguments relies principally on the documentation and analysis of archaeological materials and iconographic programs, primarily associated with two construction phases in the sequence, Structure 5C-01-sub 4 and -sub 2. The theoretical frame of reference I employ is that of early states, emphasizing archaeological variables used to study the processes and structure of complexity and the institutions forming the Late Preclassic …

Promising Neighborhoods Program (Fa 645), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 645. This collection features information and documentation gather for the Promising Neighborhoods Program as part of the Improving Rural Appalachian Communities initiative. The Kentucky counties included in this project were Owsley, Clay, and Jackson.

World Fest - Louisville, Kentucky (Fa 644), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 644. World Fest is a celebration held annually in downtown Louisville that showcases unique cultures from around the world. The festivals documented in this collection were held in 2006 and 2007. The festival features music, food, crafts, and ceremonies celebrating the various cultures represented in the city.

Book Review: The Jeffersons At Shadwell By Susan Kern, Laura J. Galke

Northeast Historical Archaeology

The Jeffersons at Shadwell, by Susan Kern, 2010, Yale University Press, New Haven, 384 pages, 56 black-and-white illustrations, $30.00 (cloth).

Book Review: Excavating The Sutler's House: Artifacts Of The British Armies In Fort Edward And Lake George By David R. Starbuck, Richard Veit

Northeast Historical Archaeology

Excavating the Sutler's House: Artifacts of the British Armies in Fort Edward and Lake George, by David R. Starbuck, 2010, University Press of New England, Lebanon, New Hampshire, 132 pages, 161 illustrations, 4 half-tones, 157 color, $24.95 (paper).

Book Review: Beneath The Ivory Tower: The Archaeology Of Academia Edited By Russell K. Skowronek And Kenneth E. Lewis, David R. Starbuck

Northeast Historical Archaeology

Beneath the Ivory Tower: The Archaeology of Academia, edited by Russell K. Skowronek and Kenneth E. Lewis, 2010, University Press of Flordia, Gainesville, 352 pages, 115 illustrations, $59.95 (cloth).

Book Review: The Archaeology Of American Labor And Working-Class Life By Paul A. Shackel, James A. Delle

Northeast Historical Archaeology

The Archaeology of American Labor and Working-Class Life, by Paul A. Shackel, 2009, The American Experience in Archaeological Perspective Series, University Press of Florida, Gainesville, 160 pages, 20 illustrations, $69.95 (cloth), $19.95 (paper).

Book Review: Death In The New World: Cross-Cultural Encounters, 1492-1800, By Erik R. Seeman, Richard Veit

Northeast Historical Archaeology

Death in the New World: Cross-Cultural Encounters, 1492-1800, by Erik R. Seeman, 2010, Early American Studies Series, University of Pennsylvanie Press, Philadelphia, 384 pages, 28 illustrations, $45.00 (cloth), $24.95 (paper).

Book Review: Ethnographies And Archaeologies: Iterations Of The Past, Edited By Lena Mortensen And Julie Hollowell, Christina J. Hodge

Northeast Historical Archaeology

Ethnographies and Archaeologies: Iterations of the Past, edited by Lena Mortensen and Julie Hollowell, 2009, Cultural Heritage Studies Series, University Press of Florida, Gainesville, 288 pages, 9 illustrations, $69.95 (cloth).

Book Review: Ceramic Makers' Marks By Erica S. Gibson, Patricia Samford

Northeast Historical Archaeology

Ceramic Makers' Marks, by Erica S. Gibson, 2010, Guides to Historical Artifacts, Left Coast Press, 147 pages, 253 black-and-white illustrations, indexes, $89.00 (cloth), $24.95 (paper).

Assumptions About Consumption In The Archaeology Of Late Nineteenth-Century Farmsteads, Niels R. Rinehart

Northeast Historical Archaeology

Farming is typically associated with rural environments. The Dubois Site in Albany, New York, however, presented an opportunity to look at a farmstead close to a growing urban center during the second half of the 19th century. The excavations of the Dubois Site are discussed and the results are compared to the more rural Porter Site, a contemporary 19th-century farmstead. The comparison examines how the different contexts might have impacted consumption and production at the two farms, as well as the treatment of the farmstead landscapes. The two New York sites are then contrasted with four contemporary farm sites in …

Archaeology At The 1777 Ebenezer Story Site: The Household Economy Of A Family Of Fishermen-Farmers On The Thames River, Preston, Connecticut, Ross K. Harper, Bruce Clouette

Northeast Historical Archaeology

This paper uses data from a colonial-period maritime household site to expand understanding of the economic and subsistence practices of fisherman-farmer families. The site is the 1777 homestead of Ebenezer Story on the eastern bank of the Thames River in Preston, Connecticut, about 12 miles from Long Island Sound. Like many New England Yankees, Story had a diverse household economy: he practiced subsistence farming, fished and shellfished, and owned a saltworks, boats, and cider mill in common with his family. During the Revolutionary War, Story leased part of his land for the construction of the Continental frigate Confederacy, and he …

Growing Things "Rare, Foreign, And Tender": The Early Nineteenth-Century Greenhouse At Gore Place, Waltham Massachusetts, Christa M. Beranek, J. N. Leith Smith, John M. Steinberg, Michelle G. S. Garman

Northeast Historical Archaeology

Excavations and ground penetrating radar at Gore Place in Waltham, Massachusetts, uncovered part of an early 19th-century greenhouse (ca. 1806 to the early 1840s) constructed by Christopher and Rebecca Gore. Documentary, archaeological, and geophysical data suggest that the greenhouse was a formal space intended to display exotic plants and that it was built in the relatively new lean-to style, with a tall back wall and a short front wall. The artifact assemblage included tools and small finds related to the greenhouse operation, as well as the remains of at least 149 planting pots. The greenhouse was constructed during a period …

Patriots, Tories, Inebriates, And Hussies: The Historical Archaeology Of The Abraham Staats House, As A Case Study In Microhistory, Richard Veit, Michael J. Gall

Northeast Historical Archaeology

To modern suburbanites, life on a farm may seem hopelessly boring or, alternatively, charming and idyllic. Excavations at the Abraham Staats House in New Jersey’s Raritan Valley, just upriver from New Brunswick, provide a revealing glimpse of the dynamic and contentious lives of 18th- and 19th-century farmers. The Staats family, part of the early 18th-century Dutch migration to the Raritan Valley, saw their lives transformed by the Revolutionary War, the arrival of turnpike roads, the construction of the Delaware and Raritan Canal, the emancipation of slaves, the growth of the temperance movement, and family squabbles of Shakespearean proportions. Excavations at …

The Mother Of The Father Of Our Country: Mary Ball Washington's Genteel Domestic Habits, Laura J. Galke

Northeast Historical Archaeology

The year 1743 brought hardship to the Washingtons as their family patriarch, Augustine, passed away unexpectedly. At that time, a young George Washington inherited the family’s home plantation in Fredericksburg, known today as Ferry Farm. Augustine’s will stipulated that George’s mother, Mary Ball Washington, manage the plantations of their four young boys until they came of age. Between 1743 and 1772, Mary enjoyed the personal agency that widowhood allowed her; she was responsible for the management decisions of the Washington household and the surrounding farm. Mary’s choices reflect an ambitious woman determined to participate in the genteel society her family …

Assessing Variability Among Quartering Sites In Virginia, Barbara J. Heath, Eleanor E. Breen

Northeast Historical Archaeology

The definition of what constitutes a Virginia slave quarter based on archaeological evidence is evolving. In the 1970s and 1980s, archaeologists developed an informal set of criteria that equated subfloor pits and the presence of "Africanisms" with structures occupied by enslaved people, and these criteria are still widely used. The accumulation of an archaeological and architectural data set of more than 170 Virginian quartering sites over the past 40 years has demonstrated that these sites vary across time and space, has underscored the problematic nature of site definition based on a checklist approach to ethnic or racial criteria, and has …

Transparent Pie Festival - Maysville, Kentucky (Fa 643), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 643. The Transparent Pie Festival has been hosted annually since July 2006 by Magee's Bakery in Maysville, Mason County, Kentucky.

Interview With Saene Garcia (Fa 1098), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Oral Histories

Transcript of interview by Brent Björkman with Saene Garcia about her experience as a park ranger at Mammoth Cave National Park. In 2013, Kentucky Folklife Program Director Brent Björkman received the Archie Green Fellowship from the Library of Congress to look more intimately at the life stories of the working men and women employed by Mammoth Cave National Park. Part of Folklife Archives Project 1098 titled "Rangerlore: The Occupational Folklife of Parks."

Interview With Chuck Decroix (Fa 1098), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Oral Histories

Transcript of interview by Brent Björkman with Chuck DeCroix about his experience as a park ranger at Mammoth Cave National Park. In 2013, Kentucky Folklife Program Director Brent Björkman received the Archie Green Fellowship from the Library of Congress to look more intimately at the life stories of the working men and women employed by Mammoth Cave National Park. Part of Folklife Archives Project 1098 titled "Rangerlore: The Occupational Folklife of Parks."

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project Annual Report, 2012-2013, Michael Nassaney

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

The Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project continued to maintain its high standards in research, teaching, and public outreach in the examination of the fur trade and colonialism in southwest Michigan under the auspices of the Fort St. Joseph Archaeology Advisory Committee. Over the past year (September 1, 2012 through August 31, 2013) Western Michigan University (WMU) students and faculty, along with interested stakeholders and community volunteers, collaborated in both the archaeological investigation of Fort St. Joseph as well as the dissemination of information to an expanding audience. The highlights of the past year include:

• The newly released DVD, "Militia Muster,” …

Interview With Jenny Smith (Fa 1098), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Oral Histories

Transcript of interview by Brent Björkman with Jenny Smith about her experience as a park ranger at Mammoth Cave National Park. In 2013, Kentucky Folklife Program Director Brent Björkman received the Archie Green Fellowship from the Library of Congress to look more intimately at the life stories of the working men and women employed by Mammoth Cave National Park. Part of Folklife Archives Project 1098 titled "Rangerlore: The Occupational Folklife of Parks."

Stearns High School - Stearns, Kentucky - Reunion (Fa 641), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 641. Stearns High School, now McCreary County High School, is located in Stearns, Kentucky. This collection features video documentation of the 2004 Stearns High School Reunion. No other information was provided with this collection.

World Equestrian Games - Lexington, Kentucky (Fa 642), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 642. This collection features information and documentation of the Kentucky Experience Pavilion at the World Equestrian Games held from Septmeber 25 to October 10, 2010 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky.

Interview With Jackie Wheet (Fa 1098), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Oral Histories

Transcript of interview by Brent Björkman with Jackie Wheet about her experience as a park ranger at Mammoth Cave National Park. In 2013, Kentucky Folklife Program Director Brent Björkman received the Archie Green Fellowship from the Library of Congress to look more intimately at the life stories of the working men and women employed by Mammoth Cave National Park. Part of Folklife Archives Project 1098 titled "Rangerlore: The Occupational Folklife of Parks."

Interview With Johnny Merideth (Fa 1098), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Oral Histories

Transcript of interview by Brent Björkman with Johnny Merideth about his experience as a park ranger at Mammoth Cave National Park. In 2013, Kentucky Folklife Program Director Brent Björkman received the Archie Green Fellowship from the Library of Congress to look more intimately at the life stories of the working men and women employed by Mammoth Cave National Park. Part of Folklife Archives Project 1098 titled "Rangerlore: The Occupational Folklife of Parks."

Interview With David Spence (Fa 1098), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Oral Histories

Transcript of interview by Brent Björkman with David Spence about his experience as a park ranger at Mammoth Cave National Park. In 2013, Kentucky Folklife Program Director Brent Björkman received the Archie Green Fellowship from the Library of Congress to look more intimately at the life stories of the working men and women employed by Mammoth Cave National Park. Part of Folklife Archives Project 1098 titled "Rangerlore: The Occupational Folklife of Parks."