Paul Huey and I are preparing a conference paper on 18th-century bottle seals from the northeastern United States.  Bottle seals or crests are one of the more intriguing categories of artifacts recovered from historic archaeological sites.  Small blobs of glass, applied to the necks or shoulders of bottles, they were embossed with initials, shields, and other insignia.  They bear dates, the initials and names of individuals and families, as well as taverns, vineyards, schools, merchants, and military organizations.  Archaeologists seriating blown glass bottles from colonial sites in North America have employed them as index fossils.  They have also been interpreted as status markers.  Although we have carried out an extensive literature review, we are concerned that our data may be distorted by the fact that some areas, e.g. Virginia, are better represented in the published archaeological literature.  To that end we ask for your help.  If you are aware of bottle seals from archaeological sites in the Northeast please send us an e-mail.  The more detailed the information the better.  At a minimum it would be useful to know the site where the seal was found, any published or gray literature references to the seal, and a brief description of what is embossed upon the seal.  All sources will be acknowledged.  Thanks in advance for your assistance.
Richard Veit [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
and
Paul Huey


Richard Veit, Ph.D., RPA
Monmouth University
Director, Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
Faculty Athletic Representative
Professor of Anthropology and Program Coordinator
Department of History and Anthropology
400 Cedar Ave.
West Long Branch, NJ 07764-1898
732-263-5699
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