Concerns at Home, Concerns Abroad: Irish and English Political Ephemera in Southern Ontario
Four unusual artifacts reflecting an unambiguous connection with a particular politician or political movement have recently been recovered from archaeological sites in Southern Ontario. These items reflect socio-political issues from the homelands of immigrant families. Politically charged items carry meaning for the user and also serve to forge bonds and create divisions within the community. […]
Removes All Obstacles: Abortifacients in Nineteenth-Century Toronto and Beyond
Exploring the biographies of small artifacts from archaeological contexts is an endeavour that can expose unrealized or forgotten historical and cultural meaning at local, regional, national, and international levels. The recovery of a small glass bottle embossed with the name “Sir J. Clarke’s Female Pills” from a site in Toronto has drawn together the production […]
From Goose Drops to Spec Ops: A Pinfire Shotgun Shell from Fort York
In 2011, during a salvage excavation at the Fort York National Historic Site, Archaeological Services Inc. (ASI) recovered a pinfire shotgun shell cartridge. This unique small find tells a story of the ebb and flow of the firearms technology used by armed forces around the world. It also shows how the pinfire shotgun was likely […]
Introduction to Small Finds, Big Implications: The Cultural Meaning of the Littlest Artifacts
Why do the smallest artifacts found during the excavation of a site elicit the most visceral response from those who find them and study them? Is it because they are portable items that can be tied to people, such as coins, smoking pipes, and children’s toys, or is it because often they are visually appealing? […]
Pearlware
Many ceramic identifications are related to decoration, but when analysing historic ceramics we also look at the matrix of the vessel. White ceramics have evolved over time, and the changes in consistency, colour and glaze can do as much to help us identify a piece as decoration. Pearlware is one of the earlier types of whiteware […]
Lice Combs
Whether rich or poor, rural or urban, all people in the nineteenth century struggled with lice. Just over a hundred years ago, dealing with lice was a commonplace, unremarkable irritant. In fact, the lice comb is one of the most common personal artifacts that we dig up from Ontario historical sites. We find lice combs […]
Canary Ware
Canary ware is a refined whiteware with a glossy bright yellow glaze, which ranges from pale to deep yellow. The yellow in the glaze comes from antimony, which is toxic in certain forms. Potters who manufactured canary ware often developed blisters on their skin. Canary ware often has showy decorative motifs, including transfer printed mottos […]
Transfer Print: Olde Blue
Olde Blue is a style of transfer print where the image is almost a “negative,” the major elements are white or light and the background is dark blue. The shade of blue is very distinctive; it is a very dark cobalt, much darker than the blue used in later transfer prints. Unlike later transfer prints, […]
Queen’s Wharf Station Site
The 2011 Queen’s Wharf Station Site excavations documented the 1850s land making process that led to the original formation of the majority of the property, along with the remains of portions of the 1855-1856 Grand Trunk Railway engine house, the contemporary Garrison Creek channelization structure, and the Queen’s Wharf that extended into the project area.
Factory Slip: Mocha
In the nineteenth-century, these flowing designs were sometimes referred to as “seaweed.” The designs were supposed to resemble moss agate, which is also known as “mocha stone” (Priddy 2004:171). The artist used a brush to release drops of a “mocha tea” solution, with a combination of tobacco, stale urine and turpentine. The design spread instantly into a tree-like pattern […]
