I would love to see your work. I'm looking at "ditch camps" associated with
a hydroelectric system. To think of these as work camps is not at all
appropriate. These were really year-round residences, albeit somehwat
isolated, and often occupied by single families. The man would work along a
certain section of ditch called a "beat". It sounds like it may be similar
to your section camp. Please contact me off-line at [log in to unmask]
Thanks :)
-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Efstathios I. Pappas
Sent: Thursday, July 20, 2006 9:35 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Railroad Camps
One question that I would ask regarding your railroad camp is whether it
was associated with construction or maintenance activity. I personally have
just finished field work on a Virginia and Truckee Railway section camp of
Scales (maintenance camp) which is part of my ongoing research for my
dissertation. Section camps are very different environments than
construction camps, particularly in terms of ideological indoctrination,
shifting ethnic identities over time, relative degrees of isolation, as well
as the time depth associated with maintenance activity. For instance, Scales
was inhabited for almost 40 years. In addition, the dominant ethnicity was
Italian and families were present at the site. This presence of domesticity
at section camps was very common throughout North America and complicates
interpretations of ethnic identity, camp life, and gender dynamics
associated with these sites. It is also important to note the degree of
corporate control in the section camp environment as these camps were part
of an engineered and didactic linear landscape. I have done a great deal of
theoretical context building regarding these types of camps and if you would
like any more information please feel free to ask.
Stathi Pappas
______________________________________________________
Efstathios I. Pappas, MS
Doctoral Student
Department of Anthropology/096
University of Nevada, Reno
Reno, NV 89557
(775) 323-5730
-----Original Message-----
From: [log in to unmask]
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Thu, 20 Jul 2006 8:50 AM
Subject: Re: Railroad Camps
Smoke,
From some of the responses I've been getting, I'm leaning towards Italian
immigrant railroad workers as the possible source of the oven at the site.
To
be able to assign a structure or artifact to a particular ethnic group is
very
interesting and something that is usually difficult to do. Perhaps this
case
will prove to be the exception.
Thanks,
Kent
Smoke <[log in to unmask]> wrote: When I worked on the Kootenai Forest,
we
had them along the Northern
Pacific railroad. Local had called them "Chinese Ovens" for years.
Research had showed them to be along many of the railroad lines in the
western states. They are known in the northern Mediterranean from
Spain, France, Italy, the Balkans, and Greece.
If anyone wants so see what one looks like, the Early Arkansas
Reenactors Association has built one at the Historic Site of Cadron
Settlement along the Arkansas River. This one was built with a base
since so many of us are "getting on in years" and it is easier than
bending over. We use it a LOT. Mostly for Pizza but for bread, pies
and cobbler, too.
http://www.arkie.net/%7Eeara/Building%20a%20Wood%20Fired%20Oven.html
Smoke.
On 7/19/06, Kent Taylor wrote:
> In doing an archaeological survey in Wisconsin, one our crews came
> upon what they described as a railroad camp that included the ruins of
> a beehive-shaped stone cooking oven and a great deal of faunal
> material, especially bovine. Has anyone else come across a similar
> situation? And how was it explained. Thanks.
>
>
> Kent Taylor
>
--
Smoke Pfeiffer
Absence of Evidence is NOT Evidence of Absence
Kent C. Taylor, M.A., RPA
Project Archaeologist
Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group, Inc.
Phone (248) 362-3038
Fax (248) 362-3038
E-Mail [log in to unmask]
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