Variability in Shops and Raw Materials in Delmarva’s Shell Button Industry, 1930-1990

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

The Smithsonian Environmental Archaeology Laboratory explores the growth and decline of factory-scale shell-button making in portions of Delaware and Maryland. Discovery of two new sites provides a more comprehensive view of the short-lived industry and supports hypotheses concerning the scale of the activity and the shift in raw materials suggested by finds at two previously reported sites. Accumulating data suggest increasing use of species that yielded suitable material, but more challenging geometries that diminished productivity.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SHA 2022 General Sessions   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2022

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology