Animation of the Day: Coffee Pot Spout

By Ashley Perry,  VCU student intern with the Virtual Curation Laboratory.

Today’s animation is a metal coffee pot spout recovered from the Bladensburg Battlefield site (51NE44) in Washington, D.C. It is currently unknown whether this artifact is from the War of 1812, or whether it was deposited a bit later during the Civil War, as it is something that would have been used at both times. The spout was scanned by Digital Curation Specialist Mariana Zechini and intern Zac Hudson on January 28th, 2014.

Animation of the Day: Pierced Bear Tooth

by Bernard K. Means, Director of the Virtual Curation Laboratory (VCL)

Today’s animation is a pierced bear canine recovered archaeologically from the Hatfield site, a Monongahela village excavated by members of the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology’s Allegheny Chapter in Washington County, Pennsylvania. This pierced bear tooth was likely worn as part of a necklace.

Animation of the Day: Chipped Stone Drill from Ferry Farm

by Bernard K. Means, Director of the Virtual Curation Laboratory

Today’s animation chipped stone drill recovered archaeologically at George Washington’s Ferry Farm.  This chipped stone drill was scanned on site at Ferry Farm.

Animation of the Day: Smoking Pipe from the Kirshner Village Site

by Bernard K. Means, director of the Virtual Curation Laboratory

Today’s animation is a  Late Prehistoric smoking pipe found at the Kirshner village site near West Newton, Pennsylvania.  It was loaned to the Virtual Curation Laboratory by archaeologist William C. Johnson.

Animation of the Day: Dovetail Point from West Virginia

by Bernard K. Means, director of the Virtual Curation Laboratory

Today’s animation is a Dovetail point from Hancock County, West Virginia.  It was loaned to the Virtual Curation Laboratory for scanning by archaeologist Robert Maslowski. It was scanned by Virginia Commonwealth University alumnus (then a student) Clinton King in February 2012.

Animation of the Day: Side Notched Point from West Virginia

by Bernard K. Means, director of the Virtual Curation Laboratory

Today’s animation is a side notched point from Hancock County, West Virginia.  It was loaned to the Virtual Curation Laboratory for scanning by archaeologist Robert Maslowski. It was scanned by Virginia Commonwealth University alumnus (then a student) Courtney Bowles in February 2012.

Animation of the Day: Paste Gem from the Fairfield Foundation

by Bernard K. Means, director of the Virtual Curation Laboratory

Today’s animation is a paste gem from the Fairfield Plantation site. The gem was provided to the Virtual Curation Laboratory by visitors from the Fairfield Foundation, which is located in Gloucester, Virginia.  This particular object was challenging to scan because it was clear and small, but a liberal coating of a neutral white powder enabled us to create a digital model and we subsequently were able to print a plastic replica.  The digital model itself needs some further editing to remove imperfections created by the powder coating.

Anna Hayden of the Fairfield Foundation holds a greatly enlarged replica of the paste gem in her right hand.

Animation of the Day: Wine Bottle Seal of Nathaniel Burwell

by Bernard K. Means, director of the Virtual Curation Laboratory

Today’s animation is a wine bottle seal for Nathaniel Burwell loaned  to the Virtual Curation Laboratory by the Fairfield Foundation, which is located in Gloucester, Virginia.  The Fairfield Foundation recovered this 1710 wine bottle seal archaeologically at the Fairfield Foundation.  Further details on this wine bottle seal can be found here.

Animation of the Day: Coatrack Fragment from Ware Neck Store

by Bernard K. Means, director of the Virtual Curation Laboratory

Today’s animation is a coatrack fragment from the Ware Neck Store that was scanned by Ashley McCuistion and Victoria Garcia on September 5, 2012. The coatrack fragment was provided to the Virtual Curation Laboratory by visitors from the Fairfield Foundation, which is located in Gloucester, Virginia.  The Fairfield Foundation is working to preserve the history of the Ware Neck Store.

Ashley McCuistion prepares the coatrack fragment for scanning.

Animation of the Day: Groundstone Discoidal

by Bernard K. Means, Director of the Virtual Curation Laboratory (VCL)

Today’s animation is a groundstone discoidal found in 1939 or 1940 by a Work Projects Administration (WPA) crew laboring at Fort Hill, a multi-component Monongahela tradition village site located in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. The flat, raised area on one face represents adhesive from a very early attempt to display this artifact in a public setting. It is now within the archaeological collections of The State Museum of Pennsylvania (TSMP). This particular object was scanned on January 20, 2012 in the VCL as part of a loan from the TSMP and with funding support from the Department of Defense (DoD)’s Legacy Program. Details on that DoD Legacy Program-funded project (11-334) can be found here.

Excavating at Fort Hill in 1939 or 1940.