>If I remember correctly, Steve Hinks did his Master's thesis on
>buttons at William and Mary, sometime in the late 1980s.  It should
>be in the library there.  I think Stan South's research group
>published it as a monograph a few years ago.   Sorry I don't have
>the reference handy at the moment, but if you can find it, I think
>it'll go a long way to answering many of your questions.
>


It is Volume XXXII in the VOLUMES IN HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY series,
available from Stan South at SCIAA
(http://www.cla.sc.edu/sciaa/hapubs.html).

Chris Clement