Historic Artifacts Flashcards

1
Q

What are artifacts, and what do they do? (3)

A
  • known broadly as ‘material culture’
  • anything made or modified by conscious human action
  • provide information about the past
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2
Q

What are the three basic types of ceramics?

A
  • earthenware: fired at 650C
  • stoneware: fired at 1200C
  • porcelain: fired at 1200-1450C
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3
Q

What were the earliest forms of English household tableware? (2)

A
  • slipware (1580-1795)

- tin-enameled ware (1600-1740)

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4
Q

What sort of tradeware ceramics were there? (3)

A
  • Spanish olive jars, 1500-1850
  • Chinese export porcelain, 1574-1830
  • tin-enameled ware-majolica, 1400s-present
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5
Q

Describe the three types of German stoneware.

A
  • Rhenish 1550-1700
  • Westerwald 1650-1775
  • North Italian Marbled Slipware 1610-1660
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6
Q

What are the four types of transitional wares (1740-1765)?

A
  • white salt-glazed stoneware plates, 1740-1805
  • whieldon wares, 1740-1780
  • jackfield ware, 1740-1780
  • english porcelain, 1745-present
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7
Q

What are the three types of creamware (1765-1770)?

A
  • deep yellow creamware, ca. 1762-1780
  • overglaze enameled hand-painted, ca. 1765-1810
  • light yellow/cream-colored, ca. 1775-1820
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8
Q

What are the six types of pearlware (1770-1820)?

A
  • undecorated, 1780-1820
  • edge-decorated, 1780-1830
  • annular, 1790-1820
  • underglaze blue painted, 1720-1820
  • underglaze polychrome, 1820-1840
  • blue transfer-painted, 1795-1840
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9
Q

What are the eight types of whiteware (1820s-1900s)?

A
  • finger-painted polychrome slip, 1820-1900
  • flow blue, 1820-1900
  • engine-turned, 1820-1900
  • spongeware, 1830-1900
  • ironstone, 1800-1840
  • white granite ware
  • white porcelaneous ware, 1820-present
  • yellow ware, 1820-1900
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10
Q

What are the four types of glass found in archaeological settings?

A
  • soda-lime glass
  • lead glass
  • vessel glass
  • flat glass
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11
Q

Describe the composition of soda-lime glass. (3)

A
  • 70% silica
  • 15% soda
  • 9% lime
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12
Q

Describe the properties of lead glass. (3)

A
  • lead replaces calcium
  • high refractive index
  • aka ‘crystal’
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13
Q

What does vessel glass refer to, and what is it used for? (3)

A
  • includes all glass containers
  • food and household chemical bottles and jars, beverage bottles, and canning jars
  • glass service wares such as drinking glasses and dishes
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14
Q

What is flat glass used for?

A

window panes

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15
Q

What can glass color indicate?

A

age or use

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16
Q

What sorts of colorless glass has been common from the 1870s? (3)

A
  • lead glass
  • ‘purplish’ hue, pre WWI
  • ‘straw’ hue, 1915-1930
17
Q

When was white milkglass common?

A

1870s-1950s

18
Q

What glass colors can often be assigned an age? (4)

A
  • aqua ca. 1750-1920s
  • olive green, more common pre-1900
  • purple ca. 1840s-1870s
  • black, early 17th c.-1880s
19
Q

What glass colors cannot usually be assigned an age? (3)

A
  • green
  • amber or brown
  • cobalt blue
20
Q

What are the characteristics of cobalt blue glass? (2)

A
  • often associated with pharmaceuticals

- less common in general than previous glass colors discussed

21
Q

What are the characteristics of hand-blown glass? (4)

A
  • generally not symmetrical
  • no mold seams, embossing, decorations
  • no hard corners or sharp lines
  • heel or base tends to be thickest
22
Q

What are the characteristics of molded glass? (4)

A
  • symmetrical
  • mold seams always present, sometimes embossing or other decorations
  • can have sharp lines or hard corners
  • thickness may be unevenly distributed
23
Q

What features are common in the base of a glass bottle? (2)

A
  • ‘kick’ or ‘push-up’

- pontil scars

24
Q

Name one disadvantage and one advantage of glass in archaeology.

A
  • dating is not precise

- tons of resources for historic glass research