The Fiske Center Blog

Weblog for the Fiske Center for Archaeological Research at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Iron Artifacts from the Sarah Boston Site

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One of the great things about recovering and conserving iron artifacts is the incredible diversity of activities they can represent. From door hardware to cooking utensils to musical instruments, the iron objects from an archaeological site can speak volumes about the people that once used them. When we find iron objects on site, they are often so encrusted with rust and dirt that they unrecognizable as anything at all. It is the conservation process, especially the removal of rust, that allows us to finally see what an object is. Today I thought I would show a few of the interesting iron objects we’ve recovered and conserved from the Sarah Boston Site.

Revolutionary War era ice creepers

In August, Dr. Landon and I identified two mismatched iron shoe fittings, called ice creepers, in the Sarah Boston collection. Ice creepers attached to the bottom of the shoe, just in front of the heel, and provided the traction needed for the wearer to walk stably on ice. One dates roughly to the Revolutionary War period, when soldiers (like Sarah Boston’s uncle Joseph Aaron) were issued ice creepers so they could walk long distances on New England’s frozen waterways. The other one is similarly constructed, but obviously not a match to the Revolutionary War pair. Perhaps Sarah Boston had her own pair made for her winter travels throughout the region!

One of the ice creepers found at the Sarah Boston Site, post conservation.

A diagram showing the holes needed to make a cane seat chair (Ewig 1957)

I also identified not one, but two very specialized drill bits, one large and one small. These “Spoon” or “Chairmaker’s” bits were, “especially suited for boring the holes for cane-seat chairs” (Salaman 1997:79). Native basketmakers in New England in the early 19th century were known to have also sought work re-caning chairs, or making brooms and brushes because their skills as basketmakers made them uniquely suited to these other tasks, as well. As such, these bits represent some of the most definitive material evidence we have to connect Sarah Boston to the industry of Native basketry in the late 18th and early 19th century.

Chairmaker’s bits from the Sarah Boston assemblage

by Heather Law Pezzarossi

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