Discoidal from Peck 2

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

Today’s animation is a crude discoidal that was excavated sometime between from March 2 and May 18, 1937, as part of work relief archaeology at the Peck 2 site, a Monongahela village in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.

Excavators at Peck 2

It is now within the archaeological collections of The State Museum of Pennsylvania (TSMP). It appears to be unfinished and its final form may have been intended to be a chunkey stone, such as this one from the Fort Hill site, another village excavated by work relief archaeologists.

Pottery Fragment with Carbonized Residue from Peck 1

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

 

Today’s animation is a pottery fragment recovered archaeologically from the Peck 1 site, a Monongahela village site located in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. It was excavated by a Work Projects Administration (WPA) crew from October 13, 1936 to January 29, 1937 and under the direction of Edgar E. Augustine.  This artifact is now in the collections of the  Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

Scanning at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History

This particular sherd was radiocarbon dated as part of an effort to determine the ages of Monongahela villages excavated by the WPA in Somerset County (Means 2005, 2007).  The research potential of museum collections is shown by what we have been able to learn from this otherwise mundane fragment of a ceramic vessel.

Means, Bernard K.

2005 New Dates for New Deal Excavated Monongahela Villages in Somerset County.  Pennsylvania Archaeologist 75 (1):49-61.

2007 Circular Villages of the Monongahela Tradition.  The University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa.

Deer vertebra from Peck 1

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

Today’s animation is a deer vertebra recovered archaeologically from the Peck 1 site, a Monongahela village site located in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. It was excavated by a Work Projects Administration Crew from October 13, 1936 to January 29, 1937 and under the direction of Edgar E. Augustine.

This artifact is now in the collections of Carnegie Museum of Natural History where it was 3D scanned.

Shark Vertebra from Jamestown

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

 

Today’s animation is a shark vertebra recovered archaeologically by Jamestown Rediscovery. It was scanned on September 9, 2015  at the Jamestown Rediscovery laboratory. It was scanned and later printed within two weeks of its discovery.

Animation of the Day: Smoking Pipe with Masonic Symbol from James Madison’s Montpelier

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

Today’s animation is a clay smoking pipe with Masonic symbol that was recovered from James Madison’s Montpelier.This object was scanned in the archaeology laboratory at Montpelier on July 8, 2015.  As James Madison himself was not a Mason, Dr. Matthew Reeves, director of archaeology at Montpelier, notes there are two possibilities for the origin of this pipe: 1) it may have belonged to one of Madison’s guests, or 2) it may have to a member of the enslaved community at Montpelier, as suggested by descendants of this community that helped recover the smoking pipe.

Animated Object of Today: Theropod Claw from Maryland’s Dinosaur Park

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

Today ‘s animation is a theropod claw from Prince George’s County’s Dinosaur Park. Theropods are a type of dinosaur and those found at the Dinosaur Park include ornithomimids and dromaeosaurs

Animation of the Day: Daub with Finger Impression from Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest

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

Today’s animation is a fragment of daub with finger impressions recovered archaeologically at Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest and was scanned in their archaeology laboratory. According to Jenn Ogborne, the Archaeology Laboratory Supervisor at Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest, “The daub is from the Tomahawk quarter farm at Poplar Forest, specifically in the plowzone above a two-room structure defined by postmolds, with a subfloor pit in both rooms. There are two other structures nearby. It was likely occupied about 1790 to 1812 (when Jefferson had the occupants moved to another location).” Jenn also provides these pictures of the daub alongside a 3D printed replica created in the Virtual Curation Laboratory.  The replica will be painted to resemble the original.

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Animated Object of Today: Clay Aztec Stamp Creates Bird Impression

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

Today ‘s animation is a clay Aztec stamp in the collections of the  Virginia Museum of Natural History (VMNH). It was scanned while on loan from VMNH. The stamped image is that of a bird.

Impressions made in clay with a 3D printed version of the 3D scanned Aztec Stamp

Animated Object of the Week: Bootherium bombifrons cranium and the Virginia Museum of Natural History

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

 

Today ‘s animation is a Bootherium bombifrons cranium, from an extinct musk ox-like animal, scanned by the Idaho Virtualization Laboratory to be 3D printed by the VCU for an exhibit to open later this year at the  Virginia Museum of Natural History (VMNH).

Animated Object of Today: Hydrocortisone Ointment Tube from Martinsville, Virginia

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

 

Today ‘s animation is a 20th century ointment tube now in the collections of the  Virginia Museum of Natural History (VMNH). It was excavated at the Baldwin Block Site under the direction of VMNH Curator of Archaeology, Dr. Elizabeth Moore.  The Baldwin Block Site includes the location of the first drugstore operated in the town of Martinsville by an African American merchant.