Step 4: Laboratory Processing & Analysis
The Wells: Feature 1 | Feature 3
The Trash Pit: Feature 4
Faunal FindsMore About Step 4:
Archaeology:" A Step-by-Step Process
A Pictorial Guide to Site Selection and Background ResearchAlthough the discovery of artifacts is exciting, it is important to remember that the archaeologist is not just looking for individual objects. As strange as it may seem, one or two spectacular artifacts are not regarded as any more "valuable" than the other hundreds or thousands of objects uncovered during the excavation. Interesting artifacts are frequently displayed in exhibitions to provide information and insight into the culture the archaeologist is studying. The artifacts, however, are not regarded as antiques and given a monetary value. The value is what the entire collection or assemblage can tell the archaeologist about the site and the events that happened there through time. The thousands of artifacts recovered from the Apothecary were washed, sorted and marked by volunteers. Each artifacts was then catalogued and analyzed with others found in the same context. The following results and interpretation was presented.
The 480 glass fragments and 45 ceramic sherds found in this well dated from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They these crossmended into 80 glass and four ceramic vessels. A newspaper fragment dated 1914 was found on the surface of the trash deposit. The small number of artifacts in this feature indicate that they might have been disposed of during a clean up of the shop in 1914 (the date of newspaper found on the surface), or shortly thereafter, rather that gradual disposal over the 30-40 year period during which most of the artifacts were manufactured. Almost all of the artifacts were storage vessels.
Thousands of artifacts were recovered from Feature 3. The upper levels contained turn-of-the-twentieth century artifacts similar to those from Feature 1. These upper levels went to a depth of 120 centimeters (nearly four feet). This portion of the well contained late nineteenth and early twentieth century stoneware jugs, glass bottles and corks as well as a few late eighteenth century artifacts which may have been found in the basement during cleaning or minor building renovations. After a soil level containing few artifacts, the nature of the artifact assemblage changed. Most of the artifacts recovered from the lower levels were pharmaceutical and cosmetic bottles from the 1880s. There were also a few eighteenth century bottle fragments, and ceramic ointment pots, metal syringes, glass measuring beakers and other shop-related objects.
A large quantity of plain creamware teabowls* and saucers had been discarded into the pit along with fragments of several plain creamware plates, the spout of a teapot, portions of two delft punchbowls an earthenware bowl, a fragment of German porcelain, a glass wine bottle and a flask. The feature was dated to before 1774 because there was no pearlware, an English ware first manufactured around 1775.
* In the 18th and early nineteenth centuries, tea was served in small bowls without handles.
Six hundred and fifty animal bones were recovered from the two wells and the basement floor. Many of the bones were probably the scraps of the shop workers' meals, and included beef, chicken, sheep and pork bones. Several rabbit, turkey and fish bones and one bone each of raccoon and muskrat were recovered. The majority of bones recovered from the cellar floor and top levels of the wells were those of rats. Rats were not a food source for the shop, but were common inhabitants of early Alexandria. One human molar was found in a cellar floor test pit. Leadbeater was known to have extracted teeth in his Apothecary, and the molar provides archaeological confirmation.
Follow The Five Steps Through A Case Study:
