We have recovered several pieces of bone from which circular buttons had
been cut out, in a workshop context at the 19th century Shaker community of
Pleasant Hill in central Kentucky. Bone buttons are common in most contexts
at this site also.
Kim A. McBride, Ph.D.
Co-Director, Ky Archaeological Survey
1020A Export Street, UK
Lexington, KY 40506-9854
(859) 257-5173 or 233-4690
FAX (859) 323-1968
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mary C. Beaudry" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, January 09, 2003 3:04 PM
Subject: Bone buttons - understudied artifact?
> Hello, all,
>
> I have been writing about bone artifacts in another context, and have
extracted
> the tiny bit I wrote about bone button making in case the list of
references
> would be of use or interest to anyone (though to my regret, I've never
seen the
> article that Paul Courtney is seeking). I'm writing about the artifacts
of
> needlework and sewing, and buttons are not included in this category (they
are
> more accurately grouped with artifacts of personal adornment), though
> manufacturing evidence is a wholly different matter. Most of the bone
"buttons"
> found on historical sites are in fact button blanks or button backs that
would
> have been covered with some sort of fabric, though not necessarily in all
cases.
> I think that the fact that sometimes the button making evidence seems to
be at
> the level of small-scale home industry indicates there was likely some
sort of
> commercial outlet for this work. But as I said, I have dealt with this
topic
> only tangentially. One object lesson in studying bone working is that no
one
> should ever assume that a slaughterhouse site would necessarily contain a
great
> deal of bone waste or wonder where the bones got to if they are not
present.
>
> Mary C. Beaudry
> A few notes on bone buttons
> Extract from a manuscript in preparation, on a different topic!
>
> Evidence for manufacture of bone buttons or button blanks,
consisting of the
> artifacts as well as manufacturing waste (most commonly flat portions of
cattle
> bone, though other mammal, and even reptile bone was used at times), is
often
> found in contexts associated with plantation workshops or with the living
> quarters of enslaved Africans (e.g., at Brimstone Hill in St. Kitts, WI,
at
> Monticello in Virginia) as well as at the encampments and villages of free
or
> self-emanicipated Africans (e.g. Fort Mose in Florida) (Klippel and
Schroedl
> 1999; Kelso 1997; MacMahon and Deagan 1996: 19). This has given rise to
the
> interpretation that African craft workers fashioned these items, which
they
> undoubtedly did in some contexts, but similar deposits of manufacturing
debris
> have been found in Europe at both medieval and post-medieval sites as well
as
> from a number of late 18th-century British and American military sites in
North
> America (Klippel and Schroedl 1999: 228?229). Such waste is also found at
> almshouses and other institutional sites. Quantities of button backs and
blanks
> as well as debris at the site of New York City?s first almshouse (ca.
1730)
> suggest that "button making may have been on of the tasks required of
Almshouse
> residents" (Cantwell and Wall 2001: 276, Figure 15.9).
> Bone button-making made use of flat portions of animal bone that
would otherwise
> have been discarded as butchery waste, as did scale-making, that is, the
> production of scales or side-plates for knife and fork handles. In Britain
more
> attention has been given to the working of cattle horn cores (for a
summary, see
> Robertson 1989;) than to manufacture of objects from long bone (but see
Armitage
> 1982, MacGregor 1985). Horn was another material used for making scales,
> although the horn had to be rendered flat after it was softened; large
deposits
> of horn cores are often cited as evidence of the initial steps in this
process
> (See, e.g., Armitage 1982: 98, 102?104; Robertson 1989; West 1995: 31).
>
> References
> Armitage, Philip L. 1982. Studies on the Remains of Domestic Livestock
from
> Roman, Medieval, and Early Modern London: Objectives and Methods. In
> Environmental Archaeology in the Urban Context, ed. A. R. Hall and H. K.
> Kenward, pp. 94?106. Research Reports 43. Council for British
Archaeology, London.
> Cantwell, Anne-Marie, and Diana diZerega Wall. 2001. Unearthing Gotham:
The
> Archaeology of New York City. Yale University Press, New Haven.
> Kelso, William M. 1997. Archaeology at Monticello: Artifacts of
Everyday Life
> in the Plantation Community. Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation,
> Charlottesville, Va.
> Klippel, Walter E., and Gerald F. Schroedl. 1999. African Slave
Craftsmen and
> Single-hole Bone Discs from Brimstone Hill, St Kitts, West Indies.
> Post-Medieval Archaeology 33: 222?232.
> MacGregor, Arthur. 1985. Bone, Antler, Ivory and Horn: The Technology
of
> Skeletal Materials Since the Roman Period. Croom Helm, London.
> MacMahon, Darcie, and Kathleen A. Deagan. 1996. Legacy of Fort Mose: A
> Florida Marsh Yields the Remnants of Colonial America?s First Free Black
> Settlement. Archaeology 49:54?58.
> Robertson, J. C. 1989. Counting London?s Horn Cores: Sampling What?
> Post-Medieval Archaeology 23:1?10.
> West, Barbara. 1995. The Case of the Missing Victuals. Historical
Archaeology
> 29(2):20?42.
>
>
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