Message(s) in a Jar: Mason Jars, Archaeological Narratives, and Contemporary Fascinations

Author(s): Kim Christensen

Year: 2015

Summary

Mason jars, as workhorses of home food preservation beginning in the late nineteenth-century, have functioned both as indicators of social and economic status within archaeological contexts and currently as objects of fascination in the DIY marketplace. This paper parses out the various discourses within which mason jars have been placed historically and contemporarily by their users, promoters, and archaeologists, and seeks to understand how gender, race, class, and nostalgia continue to inform their uses and interpretation.

Cite this Record

Message(s) in a Jar: Mason Jars, Archaeological Narratives, and Contemporary Fascinations. Kim Christensen. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Seattle, Washington. 2015 ( tDAR id: 433969)

Spatial Coverage

min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 203