-
Recent Posts
Visit our Facebook Page
Categories
tags
1/16" Alexandria artifacts beads brick drain capacity Colchester consumer revolution copper alloy dairy dining excavation Facebook fashion flotation Gallaudet University George Washington Glassford and Henderson Henderson interns landscape maker's marks mansion maps Martha Washington midden milk pans Mount Vernon Ladies' Association mugs Nottingham stoneware orders and invoices parasol tip photography probate inventories small finds south grove straight pins tea tobacco economy tobacco pipes umbrella tip water screen white saltglazed stoneware wine bottles wine bottle seal
Category Archives: Artifacts
Cheers to the Mystery Midden!
By Eleanor Breen / Project Manager, Archaeological Collections Online To commemorate the midden excavations in 1992, Mount Vernon’s archaeologists designed canned drink cozies. They were so popular, the sold out almost immediately to staff, volunteers, and fellow archaeologists at our … Continue reading
Posted in Artifacts
Tagged brick drain, copper alloy, denier gauge, hinge, mugs, wine bottle seal
Leave a comment
The Archaeology of Pins
By Eleanor Breen / Project Manager, Archaeological Collections Online If you excavate a domestic feature on a historic site and use waterscreening and floatation to recover small finds, you are likely to find plenty of straight pins. This is especially true … Continue reading
Pinning it down
By Eleanor Breen / Project Manager, Archaeological Collections Online Our research strategy for studying artifacts from the South Grove Midden usually follows a consistent pattern. We begin by cataloguing the artifacts into our database and do some initial research using secondary … Continue reading
Parasol Tip: Case Closed!
By Eleanor Breen / Project Manager, Archaeological Collections Online After some additional research, we believe the case of the mystery artifact is solved! In an earlier blog edition, we introduced you to the case. Was a small copper alloy artifact a … Continue reading
Posted in Archaeology, Artifacts, History
Tagged copper alloy, Diderot, Ferry Farm, Oxon Hill Manor, parasol tip, umbrella tip
Leave a comment
Pin Sheath or Parasol Tip: The Case of the Unidentified Artifact
By Eleanor Breen / Project Manager, Archaeological Collections Online Here at Mount Vernon Mystery Midden Headquarters, we have an important case on our hands – that of a mystery artifact. Originally, I identified this small copper alloy, cone-shaped artifact as an … Continue reading
Posted in Archaeology, Artifacts
Tagged aglet, copper alloy, mystery, parasol tip, pin holder, umbrella tip
Leave a comment
Fanning the Flames of Fashion
By Eleanor Breen / Project Manager, Archaeological Collections Online On August 6th, 1768, George Washington recorded the weather of that day: “Exceeding hot – & still till the Evening.” Sound familiar? Whether you visited Mount Vernon today or in the … Continue reading
Posted in Archaeology, Artifacts
Tagged artifacts, bone, fan blade, fashion, Martha Washington, orders and invoices
Leave a comment
Thunder Bowls and Piss Pots
Abby Cliff/Graduate Student/SUNY Binghamton It is a truth universally acknowledged that in polite conversation, whether in the eighteenth century or the twenty first, one does not talk much about chamber pots, privies, or any related topic. Chamber pots were an … Continue reading
Around the Artifact in 80 Seconds!
By Lara Howerton / Classics & Medieval Studies Major / 4th year/ University of Virginia Animated GIF. Two little words that stir up fear in the heart of any internet denizen. Well, not really fear, but at least memories of … Continue reading
Posted in Archaeology, Artifacts
Tagged 360 degrees, animated GIF, artifacts, photography
2 Comments
“I should be glad to have a label…”: George Washington’s Trunk Plate
By Laura Tancredi / Archaeology Laboratory Manager One of the most exciting finds from the South Grove Midden was a small brass trunk plate inscribed “Genl Washington”. Personally-attributable artifacts are hard to come by in archaeology, so this trunk plate … Continue reading
Beads, Beads, BEADS!
By Eleanor Breen / Project Manager, Archaeological Collections Online We found 240 beads in the South Grove Midden! Of these, 224 of were complete and 16 were broken. Remember the blog about soil processing methods? Archaeologists pay lots of attention … Continue reading
Posted in Archaeology, Artifacts
Tagged 1/16", artifacts, beads, color, fine screen, flotation, typology, water screen
Leave a comment
