Hi Megan
I have had a lot of success with the modified dating method used in my book (The Archaeology of Market Capitalism). On late 19th century and later sites it regularly gives time periods of approximately ten year time spans, in WA's northwest mean dates for these time spans were within 4 years of historical dates for events recorded in the archaeology.
It would still work on earlier sites - success hinges not on site date but the amount of datable artefacts and the length of time the artefacts in question were available as it is a statistical method so the more the merrier.
Gaye
-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Megan E. Springate
Sent: Thursday, 20 October 2011 6:27 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Clarification: Foodways artifacts from churchyards?
I'd like to thank everyone who has responded to my query; your suggestions
and input have been very interesting and helpful (I'll send a summary of
responses to the list once they stop coming in).
I did want to clarify a couple of things:
The ceramics and other datable foodways items that we recovered pre-date
the construction of the Chapel, and there is no evidence that anything
existed on the site previous to its construction.
There are no burials associated with the Chapel; by church yard, I mean
the yard area surrounding the building, not a burying ground or graveyard.
On a related note, has anyone had success in identifying an extremely
short-duration event archaeologically (in this case, we didn't find
anything that could directly be tied to the 2-day Women's Rights
Convention)?
I hope this helps,
Megan.
Greetings,
I did some work in the past at the Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls, New
York, site of the 1848 Women's Rights Convention. We recovered a
significant amount of foodways-related artifacts (food remains, ceramic
plates, etc.). Interestingly, the dishes we found generally were older, as
though people didn't bring their best dishes to church.
I am curious if others who have excavated churchyards have found similar
deposits, particularly in the mid-nineteenth century (though I'd be
interested in other examples as well).
Regards,
Megan.
Megan E. Springate, RPA
Doctoral Student
Department of Anthropology
1111 Woods Hall
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
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www.wiawakaproject.com
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