Painted, Printed, Preserved: A Comparative Analysis of Historical Ceramics in a Nineteenth-century Company Town

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Come, Tell Us How You Lived: 50 Years of Research at Catoctin Furnace, Maryland", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Phase III archaeological excavations at the Forgeman’s House and Hoke House sites in the Catoctin Furnace Historic District (Thurmont, Maryland) have yielded significant, contemporaneous ceramics assemblages that provide insight into the lived experiences of early nineteenth century furnace workers. The subject sites date to c. 1820 and represent the exigencies and realities of company housing at Catoctin Furnace during this time. This paper will engage in a comparative analysis of representative ceramic vessels to investigate the lives and labors of furnace workers at the turn of the nineteenth century and beyond.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Come, Tell Us How You Lived: 50 Years of Research at Catoctin Furnace, Maryland   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2025

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow