Finding Out What Happens After the Digging is Done

Silas Hurry

At the December 1 CCAS meeting, Silas Hurry talked about what archaeologists do with artifacts after the excavations are finished and how these artifacts can tell us about the past.  There were examples showing how looking at the artifacts can tell us about the date of the site, what was at the site, e.g. where a doorway was located,  or how the material culture changed over time, e.g. the increased use of individual drinking vessels.

Like many other archaeologists, Silas said that much has changed in archaeology in the past thirty years.  He showed several rusted iron blobs as well as the X-rays indicating the objects hidden within.  This was just one of the examples indicating the importance of conserving artifacts for the future when new technologies may become available to analyze the objects.

Silas Hurry is the Curator of Collections at Historic Saint Mary’s City.
For more about archaeology at Historic Saint Mary's City see www.stmaryscity.org/Archaeology.html

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Below are the winners of the raffle for the Archeological Society of Maryland, Inc classic t-shirts.

       

Sami

  

Alex