by Amy Simpson | May 21, 2021 | Archaeology, Arrowhead, Arrowheads, Artifact, Delaware, Prehistoric, Projectile Points, Tools
By: Andy Martin Today we’re talking about one of the less-discussed pieces of the Native American/pre-contact tool kit…the knife. There has been seemingly endless amounts of ink spilled about projectile points and axes and pottery but believe me (I’ve looked) there’s...
by Amy Simpson | Feb 12, 2021 | Archaeology, Consumption, Fredericksburg, Glass, Medicine Bottles, Nineteenth Century
Featured Fragment –“Poppin’ Medicine Bottles” By Katie Merli Medicinal, pharmaceutical, and chemical bottles have a distinctive look to them, even today. Informative labels, child-proof closures, and even the well-known “Mr. Yuk” stickers from our youth set these...
by Amy Simpson | Dec 18, 2020 | Archaeology, Artifact, Coins, Fredericksburg, Nineteenth Century, Penny
By: Joe Blondino Most of the artifacts that archaeologists find don’t give us an exact date for when they were used or deposited on a site. Typically, artifacts are assigned a “type”, and each type has a date range that is generally accepted based on previous...
by Amy Simpson | Nov 20, 2020 | Alexandria Archaeology, Archaeology, Architecture, Artifact, Brick Foundation, Rosary
By: Kerry S. González In recent excavations in the City of Alexandria, Dovetail recovered a portion of a rosary, specifically the crucifix and a section of the antiphon. Rosaries are used in Catholicism as a form of meditative prayer, and each rosary contains three...
by Amy Simpson | Sep 23, 2020 | Archaeology, Artifact, Delaware, Dutch, Kookpot, Seventeenth Century
Featured Fragment –A Kookpot from Casimir By William Liebeknecht Our story starts in 1651 with the construction of Fort Casimir, a colonial fortification built by the West India Company in what is now New Castle, Delaware. The four-sided fort was only lightly equipped...
by Amy Simpson | Aug 21, 2020 | Archaeology, Artifact, Cemetery, Nineteenth Century, Stafford County
By Kerry S. González and Sara Rivers Cofield In the late winter of 2020, PQ (Pre-Quarantine), Dovetail conducted an archaeological excavation of a family cemetery associated with a branch of the Embrey family in Stafford, Virginia. The small plot contained the graves...