Welcome to the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory’s Diagnostic Artifacts in Maryland web site. This site has been created to provide an introduction to some of the most significant types of artifacts recovered from archaeological sites in Maryland. Our goal is to assist the professional archaeologist, and anyone else with an interest in Maryland archaeology, to recognize the objects typically found here, and to become familiar with the descriptive terms commonly used in this area. But many of these artifacts have a far broader geographical range than just Maryland, so we hope the web site will be of use to a wide audience.

Whenever possible, we have taken definitions and descriptions from standard published references. Each section presents multiple images of artifacts to facilitate correct identifications. Bibliographic sources and glossary terms are also provided. A Site Map is included for easy access to all areas of the web site.

The Diagnostic Artifacts in Maryland web site project was initiated with generous support from the National Park Service’s National Center for Preservation Technology and Training. We started with two sections: Prehistoric Ceramics and Colonial Ceramics. The Prehistoric Ceramics pages provide a brief description of Maryland’s early cultural history, a general introduction to the physiographic regions located in the state, and ware definitions and images for most of the types of Native American pottery found here. The Colonial Ceramics pages cover the most common ware types imported into this region between the time of initial European settlement and the American Revolution.

A later addition to the web site was Small Finds. These are the “miscellaneous” artifacts typically recovered in small numbers on archaeological sites. Because published information about these objects can be difficult to find, they are often glossed over in archaeological reports, with little beyond mere descriptions included in these documents. Our goal is to provide details about their chronology, function, manufacture, etc., so that these artifacts can be more fully used in site interpretation. We have begun the Small Finds category with Leather Ornaments (the decorative metal pieces commonly used on leather accessories or horse tack), Bodkins, Smoker’s Companions, and Sleeve Buttons (cufflinks). As time permits, we plan to add other Small Finds objects.

The latest addition to the web site is Post-Colonial Ceramics. Produced with grant funding from the Maryland Historical Trust Board of Trustees, this section focuses on the decorative motifs found on 19th-century pottery to provide a tool for dating these often-confusing wares. Associated essays examine topics such as the 19th-century ware types commonly used by archaeologists, vessel manufacturing techniques, etc.

In the future we will add other artifact categories, like glassware, stone and bone tools, smoking pipes, etc.
We hope this will make the Diagnostic Artifacts in Maryland web site an even more useful resource for scholars and the public.