Protecting Michigan State's Material Culture
By Madelyn McKinney and Andrew Kracinski The Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory (MAC Lab) has, for many years now, explored the uses of radiography (the imaging technique that produces x-rays) in archaeological artifact curation, conservation, and research. Available online, Sarah Rivers Cofield and Nichole Doub’s An …
This Firday, March 30th, MSU’s Council of Graduate Students (COGS) is hosting the annual Graduate Academic Conference (GAC). The goal of the conference is to showcase current research that has been completed or is currently being done by graduate and professional students from MSU and …
I am currently working on an individual research project for the annual University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum (UURAF). My project focuses on how we could use ceramics to understand MSU’s past.I first had to read basic information determining the different types of artifacts that are commonly found on sites and in this context. The next step is to analyze the ceramics based on type collections. By the time that my research is completed, I should be able to develop interpretations about those who lived here based on the different types of ceramics they’ve used and what they were used for. I hope to be able to equate my findings with topics such as socioeconomic status and specialized purpose ceramics.
Right now, I am sorting through different types of ceramics found during last year’s Campus Archaeology Program’s summer field school. These ceramics pieces were found where College Hall was once located. College Hall was MSU’s first building, built in 1856. The building then collapsed in 1918 due to poor construction. (It’s where Beaumont Tower stands today.) These last few weeks I have been generally sorting through about 15 different bags and have been determining minimum number of individuals (MNI) or the fewest number of complete vessels in the anthropology lab. Then, I have been analyzing the ceramic pieces and have been writing down detailed notes about their appearances and their textures. I then organize my notes into a spreadsheet database on the computer. On the spreadsheet, I have columns such as the labeling of the number per item, paste fineness, the unit it was found in, etc. During this process I identify the ceramic types best to my knowledge, using the help of Prudence Rice’s Pottery Analysis and by using some online sources as well. Many of the ceramics I have identified to be whiteware, porcelain, stoneware, earthenware, and rockinghamware. Each ceramic type though found in different pits, appear to be able to fit together as one MNI. I still have a lot more to analyze and record before April.
This is a very long process because I have to sort, note, record and identify every single ceramic piece. Most of the bags so far, has had over one hundred pieces. It is interesting to work with these ceramics pieces, I enjoy being able to put the broken pieces together. It gives me a better idea about what they were once used for. Some pieces’ shape indicate possible parts of edges, rims and bottoms of various products. It is also interesting to find pieces with prints or a maker’s mark on them. These prints could give us a better idea about the context of these pieces. If a whole print is found we could directly find its maker. Some pieces appear to have been burnt. Things like this can give me an idea about what happened to these pieces or where they were made. The ceramics most likely belonged to the students and professors who once attended College Hall and my guess is that the majority of those pieces are from products that were once from laboratories and possibly were once dining dishes as well.
Soon, I will be able to further my analysis on my collected data and be able to interpret them. I’m hoping to be able to associate them with socioeconomic status. For example, professors might be owners of ceramics that have more worth than those that may have belonged to students. I will also talk about their former purpose, who used them, and why they were found at College Hall. I look forward in completing my research, sharing my findings and presenting them at the UURAF. Learning about the MSU’s past is one thing, but engaging myself in research is a whole new experience.
Author: Circe
Here at Campus Archaeology we collect a lot of nails. They come in varying sizes and shapes, and can be found across the historic campus. Often nails found from the 19th century are coated with rust after years of sitting in the ground. This can …
Digital learning day was started by the Alliance for Learning, and in partnership with the National Writing Project. “Digital Learning Day will celebrate innovative teaching practices that make learning more personalized and engaging and encourage exploration of how digital learning can provide more students with more opportunities …
An archaeological survey is the method by which archaeologists search for archaeological sites and collect information about the location, distribution and organization of human activity in the past. On MSU, this means that we survey in order to find the historic campus sites as well as any prehistoric cultural material. Since construction has the potential to destroy archaeological material, we conduct an archaeological investigation any time that there is construction on campus.We cannot do a full archaeological excavation for every single construction project, and many areas are just too big. By conducting a survey, we can get a representative sample of the site to see whether there is anything that would warrant a fuller excavation or whether there isn’t any material, in which case the construction can continue.
The first step before we survey is to determine whether the area has the potential for archaeological material. Areas with a high probability will have a more detailed survey, whereas large areas without a high probably of finding something are going to have a less detailed survey. The difference is that we will dig more holes closer together if we think we might recover something. To determine if there might be something in the area, we look to the archives for information on campus history. The MSU archives and historical records has maps, diaries and photographs starting from the beginning of MSU in 1855. We use this information to determine whether there may be any historic material in the area we are surveying. The next step is to look at previous construction work or archaeological survey to see whether anything has been found in that area before. If we know the area has a lot of material we may survey it again in order to collect more, or do a full excavation. Finally, we look at the GIS to see whether the area has the potential for prehistoric materials. Prehistoric sites are usually recovered on flat, dry ground that is close to water. There are a number of areas on campus which are more likely to have prehistoric materials and need to be carefully surveyed.
After we have done our background research we can begin the actual survey. We survey an area in large squares known as sweeps. Each sweep is divided into evenly spaced rows which are 5 meters apart (10 meters for low probability areas). Within each row we will excavate a small shovel test pit (about 1 foot wide and 3 feet deep) to look for archaeological material. Along the row, the shovel test pits are 5 meters apart. By covering the entire area with test pits that are evenly spaced, we are able to take a representative sample. If a pit has a lot of material we may do more pits in the near vicinity or open the pit into an excavation unit.
Based on the survey we can determine whether the area has a lot of information and needs to be protected from construction or fully excavated. If there isn’t any historic or prehistoric material we will allow construction to move forward. All artifacts found during a survey are taken back to the lab for a full analysis.
Here at CAP we are currently preparing for a number of surveys to begin this Spring. We are in the research and planning phase at the moment. This will help us design a survey plan for the work that needs to be completed prior to summer construction.
Author: Katy Meyers Emery
This semester we have been hard at work on a number of projects. Here are the updates from our graduate research team. Jen and Amy This semester, we worked on a grant proposal entitled, “Green from the Beginning: An Archaeological and Ethnohistorical Approach to Understanding …