Spring 2007 Meeting

Program Details:

The Spring NHAS meeting was held on Saturday, April 7, 2007 at the Sargent Center, Hancock, NH

Presentations:

Relics & Ruins: Kids and Research at the Old Job Site.
Presenter(s): David Lacy, with Sheila Charles and Victor Rolando

The 11th Relics & Ruins archeological field school focused on the 19th century mill village known as “Old Job.” This program is designed for kids entering the 5th through 9th grades, and integrates art, history, environmental science, and Archeology into a fun, outdoor learning experience for our campers. In 2005 - the main topic of today’s presentation - our camp was subtitled “Silas Griffith: Millionaire of the Mountains” in deference to the larger-than-life land baron who developed and owned Old Job (among many other acres and assets), a village featuring the remains of mills, charcoal kilns, houses, a boarding house, a one-room school, and more. We emphasize a place-based, hands-on approach; an awareness of multiple ways of re-creating the past; and the notion that past land-use histories can inform us about the changing environment as well as the people who lived there. We look forward to summer 2007 when we will be “Flowing Through Time” – a reference to this summer’s environmental emphasis on the aquatic biota of the Big Branch Stream that flows through the village.

David Lacy is a native of Massachusetts and has been the archeologist for the Green Mountain & Finger Lakes National Forest for more than 20 years. The diversity of site types (Native American loci to CCC-era structures) and responsibilities (mandated field reviews & Forest Planning to data management & public outreach) involved with his job fit his broad interests and ability to multi-task. Dave lives in Pittsford, VT, with his wife Barbara and teenaged son Mackenzie; his older son, Jameson, is an acting student at the NC School of the Arts. Dave is also a Boston University alum, having participated in BU’s field school and subsequent excavation seasons at the New England Glassworks in the distant past (1975-78), under the direction of David Starbuck, Fred Gorman and James Wiseman, while residing and recreating here at Sargent Camp!

Archeology at Sargent Center Thirty Years Ago: Digging a Glass Factory, Building Simulated Archeological Sites, and ‘Getting into Trouble!’
Presenter: Dr. David Starbuck
This will be a retrospective on four years of Archeology that were sponsored by Sargent Center (Sargent Camp) in the 1970s, during which time the author directed excavations at the New England Glassworks in Temple through the auspices of Boston University. The field school diggers were based at Sargent Center each summer, commuting daily to dig at the Glassworks. This talk will include some of the archeological findings but will chiefly stress the more humorous aspects of the project (imagine 20 or more Boston students going wild in the New Hampshire woods!).

David R. Starbuck is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Sociology at Plymouth State University where he specializes in historical and industrial Archeology. His first excavation in New Hampshire (1975-1978) was at the New England Glassworks, and he lived at Sargent Camp during much of that time. His publications include six books published by University Press of New England (UPNE), the most recent of which is The Archeology of New Hampshire (2006). He is now writing British Military Artifacts of the French and Indian War (also UPNE) and America in Conflict: The Archeology of Forts and Battlefields (U. Press of Florida).

Findings: The Material Culture of Needlework and Sewing
Presenter: Dr. Mary C. Beaudry
Among the many small finds that turn up at historical sites are tools and accessories of needlework and sewing. Such items served practical uses but were also potent in the construction of gender, personal identity, and social class. In my talk I provide an overview of the book it took me 12 years to research and to write, outlining its contents and discussing my perspective on the analysis of material culture, especially often overlooked items such as pins, needles, and thimbles.

Dr. Mary Beaudry is Professor of Archeology and Anthropology at Boston University. Since 1980, she has supervised graduate and undergraduate work in historical Archeology and teaches courses in the Archeology of the age of exploration, of colonial and post-colonial America, of the Viking Age, and, for the MET College MLA Program in Gastronomy, Anthropology of Food. Her chief areas of expertise are historical and industrial Archeology of the Americas and British Isles, with research issues in food and foodways, the Archeology of domestic sites, landscapes, gender and minorities, and in material culture studies. She is a member of the steering committee for the Contemporary Historical Archeology & Theory Group, on the editorial board of Post-Medieval Archeology, and is author of Findings: The Material Culture of Needlework and Sewing (Yale University Press, 2006) and with Dan Hicks, co-editor of The Cambridge Companion to Historical Archeology (Cambridge, 2006).

Archeological Study at the B-18A Bolo Bomber Crash Site, Mt. Waternomee, NH
Presenters: Victoria Bunker, PhD, Sheila Charles, MA, and Dennis Howe
An archeological research and mapping project was completed by Victoria Bunker, Inc. in partnership with the White Mountain National Forest, the Upper Pemigewasset Historical Society, and other institutions, to document a World War II B-18A Bolo Bomber Crash Site in the Forest. The site marks the location of a crash which occurred on January 14, 1942. Due to the effects of the crash itself, along with a subsequent fire and explosion of 3 bombs, and other factors in the past 64 years, only a portion of the original aircraft remains at the site. The visible remains of the site include a large debris field and scattered remains such as engines, wing and tail pieces, landing gears and other elements of the aircraft. We believe that the Bomber Crash Site is an important heritage resource which encapsulates an event in history and provides us with a testimonial to the sacrifices made by seven men, rescue teams and their families in 1942. In this presentation, we will tell the story of the aircraft, the flight, the mission, the crash, the rescue, the people involved and the archeological survey.

Victoria Bunker, PhD, Sheila Charles, MA, and Dennis Howe are veteran New Hampshire archeologists and form the core of Victoria Bunker, Inc., Consultants. We have worked at sites throughout the State for 30 years—on sites as old as 10,000 years—and now, with the Bomber project, as recent as 64 years, as well as everything in between.
Sheila Charles is one of the core members of Victoria Bunker, Inc., Archaeological Consultants. Through her historic archeological consulting business over the past 35 years Sheila has connected with numerous archeological projects in New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Ohio and, California. She has been a principal investigator, historic archeological researcher, archeological laboratory supervisor, and cultural resource manager. Sheila holds Bachelor’s and Master’s of Arts Degrees in Anthropology from California State University Northridge, is a board member of the New Hampshire Archeological Society, and the staff archeologist for the Strawbery Banke Museum and James House Museum. Her teaching and outreach experiences include working with all ages, from young pre-school children, college students, AmeriCorps participants, to senior citizen volunteers. She is certified as an “Archaeological Facilitator” through Project Archeology and has directed several successful student enrichment archeological programs combining Archeology, other sciences and art, which are considered a model for multi-age, interdisciplinary, community-based learning.