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Winter 2002:
Farida Abdalla of URS labeling artifacts from Site 28Mi84 (Lot 20). When the artifacts come into the laboratory from the field, the bags are checked against a list to make sure that all are accounted for. The artifacts are then washed individually and, when they are dry, they are each labeled with the particular site number and provenience where they were found.
Click for larger view Cheryl Esposito of URS mending bottles from a well on Site 28Mi84 (Lot 20). Artifacts from undisturbed features (wells and privies in particular) are often more intact than those from more exposed contexts such as yards. Mending helps the analysts determine how many vessels were deposited in the features as well as when these artifacts were made and how they were used.
Brenda Springsted of URS inventorying artifacts. After the artifacts are washed and labeled, their descriptions, including information about their composition, function, and dates of manufacture, is entered into a computer inventory system. The inventory is in an Access database program and will be available on the Web.
Some artifacts, especially metal ones, are in need of conservation after they are excavated. This pewter porringer from 28Mi84 (Lot 20) has been sent to Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, for treatment. The English style of the handle is recognizable even under the layers of corrosion. Eighteenth century pewter makers in New York and New England copied English examples for the home market.
Now that inventorying of the artifacts is almost completed, the archaeologists can begin to study the assemblages and make comparisons between sites. Straight pins have been recovered from all of the sites and from many different types of deposits at Raritan Landing. In the eighteenth century, pins were made of tin-plated brass with round heads that were made by wrapping a separate piece of wire around the end. Pins are usually used for sewing or to fasten clothing, but they were also used to hold papers together in merchant's offices.

Summer-Fall 2001
Spring 2002
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