Nation Building and Social Signaling in Southern Ontario: A.D. 1350–1650
Pottery is a mainstay of archaeological analysis worldwide. Often, high proportions of the pottery recovered from a given site are decorated in some manner. In northern Iroquoia, late pre-contact pottery and early contact decoration commonly occur on collars—thick bands of clay that encircle a pot and extend several centimeters down from the lip. These decorations […]
Planning for Ontario’s Archaeological Past: Accomplishments and Continuing Challenges
Over the past 35 years, the practice of archaeology in the province of Ontario, Canada has witnessed a number of very important and dramatic changes that have resulted in a vigorous archaeological consulting industry as a response to societal concerns for the conservation of heritage values and environmental protection. Pre-development archaeological assessments are required as […]
Stamped
This decoration is created by dabbing colour onto the vessel with a cut sponge or root vegetable. Designs included stars, diamonds, scrolls and daggers, flowers, various geometric shapes, eagles and other animals. From around 1845, it became common to see painted wares in which at least part of the motif was applied with a color-filled […]
Chinese Export Porcelain
In the Ontario archaeological timeline, Chinese porcelain is associated with some of our earliest Euro-Canadian sites dating to the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Exporting porcelain was a huge industry in China with a long rich history, but by the time Chinese porcelain was making its way to Ontario, production was in decline. By […]
Transfer Print: Juvenile
Juvenile transferprint motifs are found on vessels, such as small plates and mugs, that were made for children’s use. These ceramics were often smaller in size and had child appropriate decoration depicting moral lessons, nursery rhymes, educational themes or, images of children at play. Juvenile motifs can frequently be identified by the inclusion of text as well […]
A Delightful Odor to the Breath: Toothpaste in Nineteenth-Century Toronto
The Bishop’s Block site in downtown Toronto contained the foundations of four townhouses constructed between the 1830s and 1860s, which were occupied as private residences into the early twentieth century. From this site came a ceramic container of “Atkinson’s Celebrated Parisian Toothpaste,” a commercially prepared product developed in the late 1850s to appeal to people […]
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? […]