Applying Experimental Archaeological Methods to Differentiate Chinese Celadon Glazed Ceramics from 19th-century Archaeolgoical Sites in the American West

Summary

This is a poster submission presented at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Thousands of Chinese immigrants labored skillfully to complete the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad in the American West during the 19th-century, bringing with them mementos of home, relying on an international supply chain, reaching across the Pacific Ocean, home to China, for foods, material goods, and support. Much of the archaeological assemblage from railroad and mining sites is composed of ceramics, likely used every day by laborers, produced in mass in Chinese kilns. We are interested in learning more from this assemblage in northern Utah but are beginning with the basic descriptive questions. In this illustrated poster, we present our findings from using portable X-ray fluorescence (PXRF) analysis of a series of contemporary ceramic disks constructed from known percentages of clay materials by altering the silica, alumina, and iron contents along with various glaze constructs. Our results illustrate that the percentage of iron in the surface glaze differentiates archaeological samples.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2020   •
• 2020 SHA Poster Submissions

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 995