Carol and all,

        Some of the Toulouse dates have been questioned, but this is the first time I
have head anyone having trouble with this one.  The two other main manufacturer's
mark date sources (Peterson [can't remember the year right now] and Giarde 1980)
both agree with that date range.

        I have occasionally run into the same problem, but I do not think I have a pat
answer.  In one case, Toulouse's source was a bit shakey, and I disagree with his
dating of the F-in-a-hexagon mark (should be about two to four years sooner).  In
another one, there was probably some turbation of the site that accounted for the
odd date.  I will check at home and see if I can find any more discrepancies.

Bill

> Does anyone have any other (more recent?) documents/references that
> give a date different than Toulouse (pg 264) for the "I in a diamond"
> mark...which he dated to 1916-1929. ???  This is the only mark (on 3
> bottles) that does NOT fit in our date range for a dump deposit...with
> a TPQ of ca. 1914.   HELP!!!
>
> Oh...almost forgot about the ceramic mark with the same "problem"...
> It's marked: IONA (inside a line drawing of a pitcher) / China / 5 23
> (which supposedly equates to the date).  It was made by Taylor, Smith
> & Taylor...and DeBolt dates it to 1923 (pg 143).  Yikes!
>
> Is it common to find such aberrant artifacts in assemblages??  Or do
> their existence mean some of these researched data is wrong...???
>
> Thanks for ANY help you can provide me.
>
> Carol Serr
> San Diego
>

Bill Lockhart
New Mexico State University
Alamogordo, NM
(505) 439-3732