Novel Approaches to Historical Assemblages

Session Hosting Format: 
in-person session
Organizer(s): 
  • Tracy Martens, Royal Saskatchewan Museum
Contact Email: 
tracy.martens@gov.sk.ca
Session Description (300 word max): 

Historical archaeologists rely on written documents to provide contextual information on broadscale trends in resource consumption and the availability of materials. Often, this is the only approach applied to historical assemblages and subtle variations in technologies, resource procurement, reuse or raw materials procurement are not captured. While still rare in historical archaeology, analytical methods commonly used in archaeological science are beginning to fill this gap, particularly in colonial contexts where populations were establishing themselves in unfamiliar landscapes without access to stable, familiar resources. We invite papers for this session focused on analytical, novel and rare approaches to historical assemblages that go beyond associated historical written documentation and contribute to our understanding of these assemblages.

Presentations
SHERD-entification: Examining the Viability of Applying Ultrasonic Technology for the Identification of Historical Archaeological Ceramics
Presentation format: In-Person
Author(s):
  • Corvin Mak - David Thompson Secondary School
  • Katherine Brent [PRESENTER] - Western University Department of Anthropology and School of Biomedical Engineering

Innovative analytical techniques in archaeology are borne from a variety of contexts, including collaborations between community members and archaeologists. Consequently, this paper discusses the results of research performed by a high school student under the mentorship of a doctoral student in anthropology. The study uses inexpensive and accessible ultrasonic technology to quantitatively classify ceramic sherds from historic contexts through gauging their ultrasonic velocity signatures. Using a single-transducer ultrasonic thickness gauge, the velocities at which ultrasonic waves passed through sixteen different classifications of historically recognized sherd types found in the Thames Estuary in England were measured. The study ultimately found that ultrasonic testing may be a viable way forward for clay body identification, as material velocity values were found to be significantly different (p<0.001) between clay body types. This is likely due to the fact that different material compositions between clay body types affect the way in which ultrasonic waves pass through a given sherd. Future research should work to establish expected material velocity ranges for different clay bodies from different contexts. Ultimately, this pilot study demonstrates the overall applicability of using ultrasonic technology as an inexpensive quantitative method for the archaeological classification of ceramic sherds of unknown clay body type.