October is Pennsylvania Archaeology Month! To celebrate the Philadelphia Archaeological Forum is hosting two great events that are free and open to the public. The first event, Part 1: Life in the City and Beyond, will be held Saturday, October 13th at the National Constitution Center, Kirby Auditorium. The second event, Part 2: Life Along the River, will be held Saturday, October 20th at Independence Seaport Museum. Both events promise to be exciting and informative! Be sure to stop by to learn about Philadelphia's buried past!I will be presenting at the first event on October 13th. My presentation is scheduled for 1:45pm and will focus on research I conducted as a Pennypacker Fellow this past spring. Though my talk will not directly cover material from Elfreth's Alley, the research I will be discussing largely informs and contextualizes the finds from the Alley. Below is the title and presentation. I hope to see you there!
Marbles, Buttons, & Pipes: Objects of Identity
Small personal items–marbles, buttons and tobacco pipes– possess great power in archaeology due to their direct connection to persons living in the past. Individuals consciously purchased, used, and discarded these objects and, as a result, they can reflect elements of their owners’ identity. Drawing upon artifact collections recovered from three Philadelphia archaeological sites, this talk demonstrates how such small everyday items reveal bigger personal histories.
