Hopkins Archaeological Site



Hopkins Archaeological Site

Hopkins Site Report

A. Methods and Techniques

1.

The methods that were used to date this site was Antebellum historic farmstead. This site was occupied from about 1814 - 1940. It gives archaeologists and historians an understanding of the early settlement period in Montgomery County and the life ways of farmers before the onset of the Civil War, during reconstruction and later(Elbert, 1982).

2.

Following are the details of tools, sampling techniques, and methods were used in digging this site: A site datum was established at the Southwest corner of the standing chimney. It is a way that archaeologists preserve context on paper is through the use of the rectangular grid, or Cartesian coordinate system. The first step in the excavation process is to establish a grid. A site datum is set at an arbitrarily chosen location and is designated as (0,0). Two perpendicular axes or lines intersecting at the site datum are then established and a rectangular grid is superimposed over the entire site(Fagan, 1996). Each square on the ground is marked with numbered stakes in the corners, so that each square or grid unit has a unique “name” referred to by its coordinates. The coordinates indicate the distance of a given point north, south, east, or west from the site datum(Brown, 1971). Additionally, A grid of transects was laid out and shovel test pits were laid at 10 foot intervals throughout the grid. This is approach to testing is called a systematic survey.

B. Interpretations

In recent decades, archaeological excavation and analysis of more recent historical sites has increased. Urban, or industrial archaeology focuses on artifacts produced during and after the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, most especially those sites associated with manufacturing or related urban neighborhoods. (Barber, 1901) Many artifacts recovered from these sites have decorations, maker's marks, or shapes that are easily identifiable because they are documented in the historical record or resemble something still used today. For example, historic archaeologists of the modern period sometimes rely on antique guides, old photographs, or factory archives to identify and date an object. While more definite because of the wealth of collaborative material, this type of analysis is still a form of typology.

2.

There were various kinds of artifacts that we found in the Hopkins site. These were divided into following groups: Personal Group Artifacts, Domestic Group Artifacts, Architectural and Agricultural tools, Some Faunal Group Artifacts, Agricultural Equipment Group, Arms Group, Furniture and Hardware Group & Refuse Group - Melted glass from the fire. The artifacts like Architectural and Agricultural tools & Personal Group Artifacts represents the way Hopkins & his family lives(Lyman et. al 1999). It reflects the creativity and highest standard of living at that point of time. As a group, the items suggest a middle-class standard of living, not an impoverished, bland existence often portrayed in historical accounts. Archaeology along Front Street aimed at a better understanding of the living conditions of Hopkins family during that time period. Hopkins family had agricultural ...