Archaeology and What We Do. One of the brightest points of the New Year in our side of the hobby has been people volunteering to organize vetted resources for us. Ill see if I can gather together some further links to archaeological reports; it might take a while since they need some sort of introduction to archaeology of our era. Most sites were occupied before and after our era, so although they contain great artifacts for us to use, they also contain items that might have been long out of use or not invented yet. A few sites are rich, but of shorter period of occupation. Forts tend to be good for this (military and civilian artifacts included) since at least the period of occupation may be easily identifiable. Identified shipwrecks are nearly pure, but those close to shore in particular are subject to having later rubbish dropped or washed onto them, etc. So it takes a bit of cross-referencing to get the hang of how to read the artifacts. In older reports, the artifacts themselves are often as good as ever; but more recent collected data may make the old interpretations out-dated. There is an opportunity of course, to collect reports and create a reference database of similar artifacts from various sites, enabling the best, most up-to-date interpretations. This of course would be a massive undertaking that honestly, would make a better graduate student thesis than anything I could tackle. But indications are that we will be surprised to see how many artifacts turn up at widely separated sites. And what artifacts are believed to be of the era that /dont appear at all, anywhere/, including the written record of the era. On the whole, there really is no better resource for many artifacts than those actually found at sites of our era; that is what the people we represent actually used. Who wouldnt love to be able to say that a good part of their kit is based on artifacts that are unquestionably what was actually used? A small but growing number of our craftspeople are making increasing use of such artifacts to provide quality reproductions /for us/. Our investment can be both historically sound and put funds into the pockets of the /right people/ so their business can thrive. Lets make the most of this! It should be said too, that many near-identical (mass-produced) items used in everyday life are found from Canada to Florida and far inland into the frontiers, forming an array of goods likely to be found in nearly every household or fort. They make for a line of goods that can be useful to nearly everyone on a wide scale. These too, will become evident if the interest of the reader carries them forward to study a number of reports. There are great opportunities for us to improve and grow in the New Year. Thank you to everyone who has shown their interest and support!
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 16:21:07 +0000
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