I think the "older" article Bill Henry is looking for is:
Wilson, John S.
1990 We've Got Thousands of These! What Makes a Historic Farmstead
Significant? Historical Archaeology
24(2):23-33.
This discusses the potential of 19th-20th century farmstead sites for
National register potential, resulting in a recommendation for studies
of high-focus, short-term occupation, single-family farmsteads. That's
a bit restrictive, but it is an early antidote for the idea that we can
give up on these "thousands" of sites (since the 19th- and
20th-centuries are now over, sites from these centuries will decline,
from thousands, to hundreds, to dozens, to....), because we have some
written records. Census records for northern New York do tell you how
much maple syrup a farm family produced in a census year (one every five
years, if the records for that year exist), but they do not tell you
what size of an evaporator they used, how much effort they put into such
production, how many trees they tapped, etc. Interpreting these
records, along with the archaeological evidence from sugarbushes and
maples syrup processing sites should (I certainly hope!) provide at
least partial answers to these questions. And, the National Register
does not discriminate for or against classes or types of sites that are
over 50 years of age (1955, this year; personally, I will myself
qualify, next year). As archaeologists, neither should we.
D. Babson.
-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Claire Horn
Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2005 10:52 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: excavation justification
One good article on this topic in NY state is LouAnn Wurst, Douglas
Armstrong & Elizabeth Kellar 2000 "Between Fact and Fantasy: Assessing
Our Knowledge of Domestic Sites" in Nineteenth- and Early
Twentieth-Century Domestic Site Archaeology in New York State, edited by
John Hart & Charles Fisher, New York State Education Department, Albany,
NY.
Claire Horn
Anthropology Department
Binghamton University
-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
William & Irene J. Henry
Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2005 8:12 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: excavation justification
With Sanborn maps, directories, land records, tax records, newspapers,
journals and a
host of other historical documentation readily available over the
internet it is
becoming harder and harder to justify Phase II and Phase III
excavations,
especially of late 19th and early twentieth century sites.
How many 19th/early 20th century farmsteads or urban houses need to be
excavated,
and what new information can they provide?
I was asked this question by a historian friend of mine and
was just curious to hear comments and opinions from the list members. I
was told
that an article appeared several years ago on the subject but
unfortunately I
have no source.
Bill Henry
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