Olive Jars, Chimney Tiles, and Smoking Pipes, oh my! The Excavation of Dusty File Cabinets and Bags of Artifacts Can Breathe New Life into the Collections of Colonial Brunswick Town

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Boxed but not Forgotten Redux or: The Importance and Usefulness of Exploring Old or Forgotten Collections" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Between 1958 and 1968, archaeological pioneer Stanley South excavated a total of 13 colonial era primary households and associated structures at the ruins of 18th century Brunswick Town.   Catalogs of the hundred thousands of artifacts South completed, and the remainder were completed after 1968.  The catalogs rested in dusty file cabinets, and the artifacts in paper and non-closure sandwich bags in cardboard boxes.  Beginning in the mid 1990s, new studies of artifacts from these collections have become useful for comparison within households and more recently excavated sites at Brunswick, as well as contemporary sites outside of Brunswick Town.  This presentation will begin with a brief discussion of the collections checked past, and then refocus on three more recent studies of artifacts that will highlight navigations through bags and boxes, problems matching the original catalog counts, and deeper interpretations from literature that are giving a new life to these old collections.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Boxed but not Forgotten Redux or: The Importance and Usefulness of Exploring Old or Forgotten Collections   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2022

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology