Ceramics and the Study of Ethnicity: A Case Study from Schoharie County, New York

Summary

Excavation of the Pethick Site in Schoharie County, New York first began in the summer of 2004 with a field school organized by the New York State Museum Cultural Research Survey Program and the University at Albany. The resulting research has largely been dominated by the study of prehistoric ceramics and stone tools. Like the Native Americans, early European settlers in the Schoharie Valley were draw to the Pethick Site’s proximity to the Schoharie Creek, which is one of the major tributaries of the Mohawk River. Until this point in time, relatively little research had been done on the Pethick Site’s historical inhabitants. Using the Pethick Site’s collection of historic ceramic sherds as a data sample, this research investigates any connection between material culture and the ethnicity/nationality of the historical occupation of the site. This leads to a larger discussion about the practices in historical archaeology used to study ethnicity.          

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2016   •
• The Production and Archaeological Analysis of 18th and 19th Century American Ceramics

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 815