HOPKINS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE WRITING ASSIGNMENT

HOPKINS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE WRITING ASSIGNMENT

Assignment Directions:

1. View the Hopkins Site Power Point. Pay attention to the artifact types, history and field methods.
2. Answer the five questions, under sections A., Methods and techniques and B., Archaeological Interpretations, in the Hopkins Site Report. Type the answers into a word file. Each question response should be at least one paragraph in length (one and a half pages). Identify your paragraphs by the section and the number of the question.
3. Complete the census record interpretation below. Use the census data to describe what their lives may have been like in Montgomery County at the time. (one full page).
4. Select a ceramic artifact from the artifact photographs in the power point, for example transfer printer whiteware. Using the museum websites below, do some research. Provide a description of your artifact type, including how it was manufactured, where it was made, the time period it was produced, and what it was used for (one full page). Don’t forget to cite the web sources

 

 

Here are the museum sites for the ceramic artifact research:

 

http://virtual.parkland.edu/lstelle1/len/archguide/documents/arcguide.htm

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/histarch/gallery types/

https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/typeceramics/browse/

 

 

 

 

HOPKINS SITE REPORT

1. Methods and Techniques:
2. What methods were used to date this site (i.e. to find out what time period it was occupied)?
3. What tools, sampling techniques, and methods were used in digging this site?
4. Archaeological Interpretations:
5. What type of artifacts were found most frequently?
6. What artifacts from the Hopkins Site would provide an archaeologist with the most information about the way the family lived?
7. What do you believe is the historical significance of this site?

Census Record Interpretation

Not only do archaeologists excavate sites, they have to describe the lifeways of the site occupants. This process is called archaeological interpretation.  Review the Power Point and the census records below. What do the artifacts say about the farm and farm activities? Were the Hopkins wealthy or poor? Provide an interpretation of the site relating the census data to the artifacts recovered. Do the artifacts found at the site support the information found in the census records? (one page minimum).

1850 General Census, 2^nd District, Montgomery County

James Hopkins (head) 40        Farmer            Value of real estate $1,500.00

Ellen Hopkins (wife)    41

Uriah                           19

Margaret                     16

Catherine                    12

Lemuel                        10

Richard                       3

Elvira                           3

Hanson T.                    infant

1880 Agricultural Census, Montgomery County

Hopkins Farm             100 acres tilled, 71 wooded

Value of farm $3,500.00

Value of implements $200.00

Value of livestock $644.00

Value of all farm products $803.00

Sold 300 pounds of butter in 1880

10 cows total, six milk cows

7 pigs

20 chickens

Lambs (not counted)

100 bushels of rye, 4 acres

10 acres of wheat

One-half acre of potatoes