North America (Geographic Keyword)
3,301-3,325 (3,468 Records)
This is an abstract from the "Research Hot Off the Trowel in the Upper Gila and Mimbres Areas" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Archaeology is a scientific profession critical to understanding the story humans have written on the world over the course of our history. However, unlike many areas of scientific study, the “subjects” of that scientific inquiry are ultimately people, leading to a complex system of ethics surrounding the treatment of...
Visibility and Accessibility: Performing Archaeology at the Presidio of San Francisco (2016)
The Presidio Archaeology Lab is in its second year of a long-term research excavation located in the heart of the Presidio of San Francisco, a national historic landmark district and national park. Employing an open-site approach, visitors are invited to witness archaeologists at work and learn about the archaeological process at the site of El Presidio de San Francisco. The project also includes a robust volunteer program for those who wish to be more involved in discovery, offering the...
A Vital Legacy Enriching Future Generations of Americans: Some Reflections on Contributions of Stephen R. Potter, PhD. (2016)
The future of Historical Archaeology, cultural resource management, and the National Park Service are richer because of the contributions of Stephen R. Potter including his encyclopedic knowledge, robust research and syntheses, indefatigable energy, and his ability to partner, share, and support growth of the field, individual researchers, and public experiences and understandings. Beneficial outcomes of his NHPA Section 110 management studies along the C&O Canal include his support of...
Voices Amid the Stone Trees: Historic Era Rock Art and Inscriptions of Petrified Forest National Park (2018)
Petrified Forest National Park is recognized for its rich fossil deposits, stunning vistas, and Ancestral Puebloan archaeological sites. Almost lunar in appearance, the arid landscape is often depicted and perceived as a primordial wilderness frozen in time. However, recently archaeologists have recorded and researched a range of historic era inscriptions and petroglyphs in the park’s backcountry. Despite documenting the presence of a diverse array of peoples upon this landscape, historic...
Voices in Conversation: Assessing 36 Years of Demographics in a Professional Archaeology Newsletter (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Documenting Demographics in Archaeological Publications and Grants" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Academic research is comparable to a conversation. As in all conversations, certain voices are amplified while others are underrepresented. Much of this academic conversation happens in peer-reviewed journals and academic books, but informal conversations outside of these arenas are often overlooked. We are studying the...
Voices of a Community: How Oral Histories Can Guide Japanese American Archaeology (2018)
Archaeological research on the Japanese diaspora has grown considerably in the last decade but there is still plenty of room for broadening studies to understand and explore the importance, depth, and influence of the Japanese American experience. Oral histories of the Japanese American community reveal what is important to them and help us discover new perspectives that can guide and inform a much needed archaeological expansion of this field. Oral histories lead archaeologists to the people,...
Waders and Snake Chaps: Targeted Exploration and Ground Truthing in the Great Dismal Swamp (2016)
The Great Dismal Swamp of Virginia and North Carolina was home to disenfranchised Native Americans, enslaved canal company laborers and maroons who lived in the wetlands temporarily and long term ca. 1660-1860. This paper discusses recent and ongoing research to identify mesic islands, likely sites of maroon occupation, in the interior of the Swamp. In the past decade, the Great Dismal Swamp Landscape Study (GDSLS) has intensively investigated a few maroon and enslaved labor sites, leaving...
The Wagner-Case Site: Pharmaceutical Historical Archaeology on the Western Frontier (2016)
Examination of the site of a 19th century drug store (ca. 1877-1889) at Silver Reef, a ghost town in southwestern Utah, involved excavations in both the ground and in the archives. Established and run by Julius Wagner (1877-1882) and then taken over by Charles H. Case (1884-1889), the site was the primay pharmacy for this mining community. Excavation under the floor of this former false-fronted, wood frame building recovered a small but informative assemblage of pharmaceutical items.. Many years...
Wagons, Trains, Trucks, and Bottles: Transportation Networks and Commodity Access in Castroville, Texas. (2017)
Transportation networks greatly influence the movement of commodities into a community. This paper uses a model of commodity flow developed by Pred (1964) and elaborated on by Adams and colleagues (2001) to analyze glass bottle assemblages from Castroville, Texas. The model suggests that a combination of commodity value, shipping costs, and distance from the North American manufacturing hub influence the movement of goods around the country ca. 1880-1950, creating regional differences in market...
The Walhain-Saint-Paul Project: Bringing new ideas and generations to the archaeological table since 1998. (2016)
Since 1998, the Walhain-Saint-Paul Project has connected the next generations of archaeologists on a global scale via a strong partnership between Eastern Illinois University and Belgium’s Archaeological Research Center (UCL, Louvain-la-Neuve). Through the excavation of our 13th century castle site, we have also engaged the local community, providing them with new ways to understand and protect their heritage. Our student’s backgrounds encompass a variety of subjects, making this project...
A Walk on the Waterfront: Interpreting Pensacola’s Maritime Heritage for Passersby (2018)
In recent years, the downtown Pensacola waterfront has undergone a revival: new restaurants, stores, and investments in beautification have encouraged a bustling pedestrian thoroughfare. The National Park Service’s 2014 National Maritime Heritage Grant Program awarded a grant to the Florida Public Archaeology Network, the University of West Florida (UWF) History Department, and UWF Historic Trust in support of a series of interpretive panels along this high-traffic waterfront. This Pensacola...
Walls Have Ears, Bottles Have Mouths (2017)
Material culture can generally be interpreted using three broad perspectives that view objects as historical documents, commodities, or ideas. The analysis of glass bottles from historic archaeological contexts provides an especially compelling example of the utility of this approach. Bottle manufacturers often kept detailed records of changes in design, decoration, and style. As a result, glass bottles encode a wealth of information and can often be used to gauge the degree of connectedness...
Wanted: Cheap Labor. Livings of Working Class European Immigrants in an Iron Furnace (2018)
Immigrants have always played a crucial role in America, and ironworkers were among them. Beginning in the early 19th century, many people emigrated from their countries of origin, bringing with them their traditions, customs, identities, and established households. Populations from Ireland and Germany, accounted for many of the known workers. While census data and tax assessments provide basic information such as name, address, age, and property, the availability of the surviving store and...
War On Our Doorstep: U-boats Off The Mid-Atlantic Coast (2018)
More than any other place in the United States, coastal Virginia and North Carolina serve as a uniquely accessible underwater museum and memorial to WWII’s Battle of the Atlantic. Since 2008, NOAA’s Monitor National Marine Sanctuary and partners have documented and surveyed this unique collection of WWII Allied and German vessels. NOAA’s goal is to protect these fragile historic resources for future generations, and to preserve the memory of the brave Allied service men and U.S. merchant...
War on the Chesapeake: Artifact Analysis of a War of 1812 Flotilla Ship (2016)
This paper examines and evaluates the material culture recovered from the suspected USS Scorpion, a War of 1812 flotilla ship that served in the Chesapeake Bay.The shipwreck is designated site 18PR226 and has previously been believed to be that of Jashua Barney's flag ship for the Chesapeake Flotilla. This paper uses a preposed model for material culture study developed from archaeologists E. M. Fleming's model for studying artifacts in an attempt to discover the function of the vessel. This...
War on the Homefront: National Division and South Africa's Battle of the Atlantic 1939-1945 (2018)
In 1939, the Union of South Africa was caught unprepared for war. Lacking a servicable navy, the Union Defense Force was neverthelss tasked with protecting Allied supply lines through the Southern Ocean. Despite establishing a series of coastal defenses and RADAR stations to this end, Allied merchants rounding the Cape continued to suffer heavy casualties. As these losses mounted, competing ethnic, cultural, and political factions within the Union began using the U-boat war as fuel for their...
War-time Metal Production, Reappropriation, and Use: Spatial Patterning and Metal Technology at an early Seventeen Century Pequot Village (2016)
Site 59-73 is believed, based upon its location and archaeological assemblage, to be the location of several wigwams burned down during the English retreat after the Mystic massacre on May 26, 1637 as described in John Mason’s A Brief History of the Pequot War (1736:32). This village is believed to have been a response to the impeding war with the English. As such, its assemblage and spatial patterning provide a unique perspective into the use and reuse of metallic trade objects during the...
"The Ware is in Perfect Order": Reassessing the Transferprint Color Chronology using Period Newspaper Advertisements (2017)
As an artifact category, ceramics, especially those decorated with transferprints, represent one of the most ubiquitous pieces of material culture in historical archaeology. While a substantial amount research has been conducted on the origins and development of the transferprint technology, there is still considerable confusion regarding the introduction and popularity of specific transferprint colors, especially in the North American market. Despite recent refinements to the chronology, the...
Wares of Venus: The sensoriality of sex for purchase at a 19th-century Boston brothel (2018)
The archaeological examination of brothel spaces has expanded significantly in recent decades to include compelling interpretations of these sites within the framework of embodiment, sexuality, and urbanization. By incorporating the sensory experiences of the individuals living, working, and seeking entertainment in places of prostitution, archaeologists have an opportunity to examine these spaces in terms of the fantasy experiences being sold. In terms of this paper’s case study, the 27/29...
Warwick in the Context of 17th Century Sail (2013)
This paper examines rigging elements from the 1619 Warwick shipwreck in the broader context of 17th century sailing technology. Warwick's crew would have committed the majority of their efforts to maintaining the ship's rig and interacting with her sails. Although only a small assemblage of rigging elements survived the wrecking process, they provide important clues to how the ship's rig was designed and operated. Warwick's assemblage of rigging elements contains several varieties of three-hole...
The Warwick Plain Scale: An Early Seventeenth-Century Navigational Instrument (2013)
One of the most intriguing artifacts recovered from the Warwick, is a wooden, mathematical instrument called a plain or ‘plaine’ scale. Plain scales were small, wooden instruments used by ships in the early-17th century. The plain scale allowed pilots and navigators to determine a ship’s position with dividers and the graduated markings on the scale. This paper examines the history of plain scales, the use of the plain scale for navigational and astronomical purposes, and how the Warwick...
The Warwick Project (2013)
The Warwick which carried the new governor, settlers, their possession, tools, and provisions across the Atlantic to the nascent Bermuda colony in 1619 sank during a hurricane while at anchorage in Castle Harbour. Over the course of four field seasons, a team of archaeologists, students, and volunteers from the Atlantic World Marine Archaeology Research Institute, the Institute of Nautical Archaeology and the Center for Maritime Archaeology and Conservation at Texas A&M University, the National...
"Washington Began To Make The Highways Around Philadelphia So Unsafe With Parties From His Fortified Camp:" The Strategic Importance Of The Valley Forge Winter Encampment—A Historical, Archaeological, And Landscape Perspective (2016)
The now infamous site of the Valley Forge winter encampment consists of the location where roughly 12,000 soldiers of the Continental Army camped during the winter of 1777-1778. Valley Forge is located just twenty miles northwest of Philadelphia. This position enabled the Continental Army to be close enough to the city to maintain pressure on the occupying British forces as well as being far enough away in a high-ground position just outside the city to avoid the immediate threat of attack....
Washington's Board of Public Works and the Burial of Herring Hill in Georgetown, District of Columbia (An Archaeology of Municipal Infrastructure). (2015)
A dramatic investment in the infrastructure of Georgetown followed the establishment of a single municipal government for the City of Washington in 1871, and the abolishment of Georgetown’s charter as an independent municipality. Establishing new street grades in this context resulted in the near-burial of homes in an African-American section of Georgetown called Herring Hill, which became an unofficial dump for fill excavated during infrastructure work. Beginning in February 2011, The District...
Water and Wood Landings can leave a Mark: Ship Graffiti as Evidence of Visitation to Cocos Island, Costa Rica (2018)
With the rounding of Cape Horn in the late eighteenth century, pelagic whalers forever altered the landscape of the Pacific Ocean. The vast whale populations they found led to an exponential growth in ships exploiting the rich hunting grounds and exploring for sources of fresh food, water, and firewood. Locations of islands offering reprovisioning opportunities spread among whalers and visits were incorporated into seasonal movements. One such place that became well known for abundant sources...