Culling

Clam shell from Area 1. Pieces with the hinge portion are cleaned and kept;  the non-diagnostic pieces are counted, weighed, and discarded.

In many archaeological excavations, there are lots and lots of non-diagnostic materials. These are artifacts that, except for their presence, don't tell much about the site or its people. Diagnostic artifacts give additional information, like dates or social status, consumer choice, etc. On an historic site, like Wiawaka, non-diagnostic artifacts include bricks, mortar, foundation stone, coal, and flat metal from tin cans.

Why cull? There is a real shortage of storage space for archaeological collections; museums and other repositories are literally bursting at the seams. Yet, it is still important to preserve important archaeological collections. One way to help is to cull non-diagnostic materials from collections so that you minimize the amount of storage space needed while maximizing the information held within the collection.

When we were in the field, we kept all the non-diagnostic materials. I wanted to know how much of what I was getting from the different levels and areas of the site (sometimes archaeologists will just take a sample in the field and not collect the rest, but I wanted to get at quantity not just presence). Now that I'm working in the lab, I am culling these. The culling process for this project includes keeping a very small sample (a few pieces) for reference, then counting and weighing the artifacts I'm not keeping (counting gives how many pieces, counts with weights allows for a sense of the average size of the pieces; combined with the total mass these allow for comparison across the site).

Some examples of things culled (all sampled, counted, weighed):

Brick: samples of brick kept. If there were different types of brick, samples of each kept. Preference for pieces of brick with exterior edges so that information on the manufacture was available. Where present, whole bricks (or mostly whole bricks) were kept for measurement. Once measurements are taken, these will also be culled.

Mortar: samples of mortar kept. Again, where different types of mortar are present, samples of each.

Clam shell: All clam shell with the hinge portions were kept, as this is the area that provides the most information. All non-hinge pieces were discarded.

Coal/clinker/charcoal: Samples of each kept.

A bag of flat metal waiting to be sorted into keepers and pieces for culling.

Cans: All seams kept for information on manufacturing technique and dating, as well as pieces of can that can provide size/shape data. All the flat metal from the sides of cans is counted/weighed/discarded. Seams will be grouped by manufacturing technique and described, then these will be sampled/counted/weighed/discarded.

Foundation stone: Samples of architectural stone are kept, with the rest counted/weighed/discarded. Much of the foundation stone that has been recovered exploded from the head of the hotel fire.

All together, so far, over 1,000 lbs of artifacts have been culled from the Wiawaka collection, with more to go as I work through the rest of the boxes.

Huge Thanks

Well, we wrapped up excavations last Friday, and I drove home to Maryland on Monday, with a brief stop-over at the New York State Museum to check out their curation procedures and return the equipment they generously loaned me. I will be working in the lab now, washing, sorting, cataloging, and analyzing the artifacts recovered from this summer. Right now, there are approximately 33 document boxes worth of artifacts, 12 of which have been washed. I'll be posting more regularly here, now that I'm out of the field, and will have a little more brain power left at the end of the day...

Before I completely transition to lab rat, I want to express my sincere gratitude to all those who helped out this summer. I especially want to thank the folks who volunteered their time to help out with the fieldwork through cold and rainy June, and hot and sweltery July. It was an absolute pleasure to work with all of them. I hope they all got something positive out of the experience. I can honestly say that because of them (as well as the staff and Board of Directors of Wiawaka and all the people and organizations that lent equipment) the field season was a huge success.

So... a huge thank you to all these folks:

Volunteers
@AlbanyArchives
Jen Allen, Field Supervisor
Greg Anglin
Sandy Arnold
April Beisaw
Gary Bernhardt
Nancy Brennan
Michael Carraher
Declan Dwyer-McNulty
Sally Dwyer-McNulty
Marie Ellsworth
John Farrell
Cameron Felt
Will Fisher
Maureen Folk, field commission to Field Assistant
Sara Foss
John Foster
Sue Gade
Karen Garner
Katherine Giesa
Gregg Griffin
Cheryl Jenks
Lucy Johnson
Sean Keller
Kylie Kerr
Samantha Koslowsky
Chris Manning, Field Supervisor
Marcia Martin
Allison Matthes
Pat Meaney
Monica Mercado
Sarah Mincer
Donna Moran
Rebecca Morehouse
Carol Obloy
Sean O'Connell
Jared Payson
Lily Rozell
Cassie Segrell
Chris Shaw
Penny Shaw
Nellie Slocum
Rebekah Tanner
Nghiem Tran
Kirsti Uunila
Lorraine Wilson
Claudia Young
Joe Zarzynski
Lizz Zieschang

Wiawaka Folks
Christine Dixon, Executive Director
The Board of Directors
Lisa, Karen, Stephanie, House Managers
Joe Wylie, Caretaker and Schlepper of Big Things
Bonnie, Joan and everyone in the kitchen
And all the other Wiawaka staff and volunteers for making it such a joy to be there.

Equipment Loans
Maryland Highway Authority
New York State Museum
University of Maryland Center for Heritage Resource Studies
Vassar College Department of Anthropology
Joe Zarzynski, Amy R., Adam Fracchia

Again, many thank yous.

Wrapping Up Week 2

Excavating the dump area. Chock-a-block with artifacts.

It has been so busy here that this is the first chance I've had to post to the site about the excavations!

We are just finishing up in Area A, a dumpsite on the other side of Route 9 from the main part of Wiawaka. We knew it was there because there were artifacts (ceramics and glass) on the surface of the ground back in the woods. The artifacts appeared to be early twentieth century, the right time period for early Wiawaka history. We dug two one-meter square units (3 x 3 feet) in the center of the dump to get a sample of the artifacts and several shovel test pits (one foot round holes) across the area to determine how big it is. The shovel testing isn't completed, so I will have to report back!

Excavating shovel test pits in Area A.

We have recovered lots of artifacts from this area, including broken plates, cups, and saucers, bottle glass, table glass (pieces of stemmed water glasses and tumblers), and glass from oil lamp chimneys (and one of the wick mechanisms from one of these oil lamps). There are also lots of rusted tin cans and coal here. Small artifacts we recovered include several sewing pins, small ceramic buttons of the size that you would find on underwear or collars, eyelets from shoes (lots of these!), and a few very small faceted black glass beads. Also found was a Sacred Heart of Jesus medal.

Sacred Heart of Jesus medal, machine made. The motto (on the other side) is in French. On this side, Jesus is surrounded by fleur de lys.

There were a few earlier artifacts, including early nineteenth century shell edged creamware and a tiny piece of pre-contact Native American pottery mixed in the dump, as well as late twentieth century materials. This tells me that the dump did not accumulate in place, but was dumped in this location from somewhere else. From the late twentieth century materials, probably in the 1970s (though I need to do more research to get specific dates on these artifacts). The rich black soil in the dump makes me think that this was perhaps from a privy clean-out.

Lamp hardware from an oil lamp. This FIRESIDE model was patented in the late 1870s.

Next week, we move to a dump area closer to the main buildings. There are still spaces available for volunteers to come out; email me at mes@umd.edu for more information.

I post daily photos to the Wiawaka Project Facebook page here.

Field Season Starts Soon!

The first batch of equipment arrives on-site this weekend and preparations are well underway to begin excavations at Wiawaka this summer. We will be excavating two middens (garbage scatters/dumps) and at the location of the original Pine Cottage, looking for evidence of the experiences of those who stayed on-site.

Regular research posts will begin to be posted here as work gets underway. For more photos and quick updates, follow us on Facebook!

There are several volunteer spots still available for this summer's excavations. We'd love you to come join us and learn about archaeology hands-on, uncovering Wiawaka's history. More information is available here.

Dig at Wiawaka: Summer Volunteer Opportunities

HANDS-ON ARCHAEOLOGY AT WIAWAKA

We are looking for volunteers to help excavate at Wiawaka Holiday House at the southern end of Lake George, New York. We will be documenting the early years of the Holiday House by looking at the materials the visitors and organizers left behind. Wiawaka Holiday House was founded in 1903 to provide affordable vacations for the working women in the factories of Troy and Cohoes, New York.

No previous archaeological experience is necessary; you will learn archaeological techniques hands-on at the site. All equipment will be provided.

Please agree to volunteer for 3 or more days; 18 years of age or older only.

Accommodation and meals are available at Wiawaka Holiday House for a fee.* There is no charge to volunteer.

What can you expect? We will be excavating at areas on-site where evidence of Wiawaka’s early years is expected. Excavation involves the following physical activities: crouching or kneeling on the ground for long periods of time, occasional shoveling, lifting buckets of dirt to pour it into a screen, shaking the screen to separate artifacts from the soil, and filling the hole back in once all the information has been recovered. We will spend 8 hours a day Monday through Friday excavating, taking one hour for lunch in the middle of the day. Instruction will include archaeological methods, note taking, and basic artifact identification and interpretation. Rain day volunteers are more than welcome to help process artifacts in the lab. Participants can either purchase lunch at Wiawaka* or pack a lunch to eat on-site. There is no smoking permitted anywhere on Wiawaka property.

Excavation Dates: 
June 3 through June 28, 2013 and July 15 through July 26, 2013

Megan Springate, excavation director, is a PhD student at the University of Maryland.

For information and to sign up for this unique opportunity, contact Megan Springate at mes@umd.edu or 732-768-2985


* Volunteers are welcome to stay overnight at Wiawaka for $75 per night prior to June 19. Meals are available only after June 19th. After June 19th, the room rate is $110 weekdays and $125 weekends, including meals. Volunteers who wish to purchase meals onsite after June 19th may do so: $8 for breakfast, $12 for lunch, $16 for dinner.

Research: Schlesinger Library

The Schlesinger Library. Radcliffe Yard is undergoing major work this summer,
so there are construction fences everywhere! July 24, 2012

I am currently researching at the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, part of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.(1)

In the archives at the Schlesinger are two collections from two other holiday houses: Fernside and Rockport Lodge (click on the names of these places to read the finding aids). Both were in operation at the same time as Wiawaka. Looking at their archives will give me a sense of how alike and different these similar vacation houses were. In the Wiawaka archives are promotional materials from Fernside, so they were certainly aware of each other!

Right now, I am transcribing index cards of visitors to Fernside so I can get a sense of who their visitors were, and can then compare them to those who visited Wiawaka.



(1) This research is generously funded by a Dissertation Research Grant from the Schlesinger Library.

Bunco Party!

Bunco Party, August 18, 1938. Wiawaka Holiday House Archives, Box 1.
Image use courtesy of Rensselaer County Historical Society, Troy, New York.*

In 1938, someone kept "YE OLE SCRAP BOOK - Parties, Teas, etc.." a typescript manuscript detailing the day-to-day entertainments of those staying at and visiting Wiawaka.(1) Spanning the summer, the book was likely kept by a staff member who was on-site all season -- perhaps the Housemother.

One of the games recorded in the book is Bunco, a dice game with origins in eighteenth century England and a history in the US that begins in 1855 during the California gold rush. By the late nineteenth century, Bunco was popular across the US. It remained popular through Prohibition, but largely faded from play by 1940.(2) While I'm not sure what it means, I find it interesting that Bunco was played at Wiawaka during the years it was declining in popularity. Unfortunately, we don't have the games rosters from earlier years to know whether it had a history at the site during its heyday.

One of the Bunco Party entries in Ye Ole Scrap Book, dated August 18, 1938 (and pictured above) reads:

On Thursday evening the Misses Fagans conducted a Bunco Party. Twenty two guests attended and from the noise that prevailed a very happy time was enjoyed by all present.
Miss Caroline Chadwick, from Ohio, won the following prizes:
     1. Door prize.
     2. Dark horse.
     3. Table prize.
Miss Chadwick certainly walked off with the prizes. The seventeenth must be her lucky day.
The prizes were numerous and each guest received one.
The Misses Oliver and Milspaugh assisted in the party preparations.(1)

Traditionally played with 12 to 20 players at tables of four, three dice are rolled and points allocated. Roll three of a kind and BUNCO! Bunco equipment is minimal: three 6-sided dice, one "fuzzy die" (you can substitute a different colored, regular-sized die!), a bell (or you can yell "DING"!), and score paper. A set of complete rules are available at the World Bunco Association website.

Sources:
1. Wiawaka Holiday House (1938) Ye Ole Scrap Book, Wiawaka Holiday House Archives, Box 1. Rensselaer County Historical Society, Troy, New York.
2. World Bunco Association (2012) Bunco History. www.worldbunco.com/history.html


Notes:
*  I was using ambient light while taking reference photos of documents. The shadow at the bottom of the page is my head...