Can anyone help Jim? You can e-mail him directly or to the list, and I'll
pass it on.
 
>Date:    Mon, 5 May 1997 14:10:42 -0500
>From:    James Carucci <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Coffin Hardware:  Estimated Age, Please
>
>I appreciate any and all help on this.  I am cross-posting to ACRA-L
>
>Last week I was asked to evaluate an eroding historic burial.  The site is
>now lakeside, but was originally a community cemetery which was
>relocated in the early 1960s.  Records of those interred indicate that the
>cemetery, prior to relocation, had been used for about 100 years; from
>the 1850s to 1958.
>
>At the site, I collected a small number of human leg and foot bones, and
>an array of what appears to be coffin hardware.  In my letter report to
>the state, I would like to be able to suggest how old the burial was based
>on the coffin hardware.
>
>DESCRIPTION OF THE COFFIN HARDWARE:
>
>The bottom of the coffin appears to be tongue-and-groove oak [or similar
>wood] planks about 10 inches wide.  The planks lie cross-wise so that a
>number of short pieces were placed side-to-side, ladder-like, to form the
>coffin bottom.
>
>On the beach, near the coffin, was a long, twisted strip of fairly soft
>formed lead channel or beading.  This appears to be the edging that may
>have gone around the bottom of the coffin, tieing the planks together.
>
>Also on the beach was a large number of large, thin pieces of "tin" or
>similar metal.  The local coroner identified these pieces as the remains of
>the tin liner used in coffins, which allowed ice to be used to cool the
>body, and which kept water and ice from leaking out.
>
>Six pieces of thin, clear [green-tint] glass which appears similar to
>window glass, but several pieces have a circular or oval edge.  Again,
>the helpful county coroner said that the broken glass was from a round
>porthole or window that would have been on top of the coffin.
>
>Coffin handle hardware which is heavy, possibly an alloy of lead, and
>which may have been hinged to snap out from the box at a 90 degree
>angle, or snap back flat against the side of the coffin.  The handle plates
>holding the hinge pieces were connected to square wooden handles
>about 1 by 1 inch, which had metal end pieces.
>
>Possibly associated with this coffin was a silver metal anchor about five
>or six inches long, which had a larger than normal top cross piece
>making the anchor look like a catholic [or other religion??] cross.  No
>filigree or rope or anything else on the anchor shank or ends.  I assume
>that this item would have been applied to the top of a coffin.
>
>Can a probable date, between 1850 and 1958, be established based on
>these items?  With the exception of the metal cross, could all of the other
>hardware items originate from the same coffin?
>
>Any comments, references, or suggestions concerning the dating of the
>coffin hardware would be appreciated.
>
>Thanks.
>
>jim
>
>
>James Carucci, Ph.D.
>Archaeologist, Environmental Planning Branch
>CELMS-PD-A
>St. Louis District, Corps of Engineers
>1222 Spruce Street
>St. Louis, MO  63103-2833
>
>phone: (314) 331-8820
>e-mail: [log in to unmask]
>
Anita Cohen-Williams
Information Specialist
Auto Club of Southern California
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