artifacts left by 19th century chicagoans unearthed from the site of a recently demolished building

long after a heavily modified 1870's-era two-story building was demolished last month, the excavators rolled in to begin laying the foundation for yet another new structure that is devoid of character. sure enough, shortly after the backhoe began digging, pockets of artifacts left long ago by 19th century chicagoans were pulled from the mud.

for an entire week i would sporadically visit the dig site to either check-in with the progress made, dig myself or pick up bottles and fragments the machine operator set aside for me after i worked out a deal with him.

looking back, the only defining moment of discovery was a massive pile of clam shells i found in the southeast corner of the lot. there must have been at least a couple hundred shells. in past digs i've come across several animal bones (mainly pig and cow) with the occasional clam shell, but this mountain of shells was a sight to behold. i immediately thought that a restaurant or grocery store may have occupied the site - likely during the 1870's, since surrounding glass shards and complete bottles provide an approximate date.

with four houses, a brick storefront and a stable all built on two adjoining lots, i was convinced there would be quite a few artifacts to collect and study. however when the excavator had finished "grading" (approximately 7 feet below street level) and the cement trucks began lining the streets, i was a little disheartened that there wasn't more trash left behind.

i did find a few incredibly thick pine wood privy vault floors, a handful of william h. hutchinson and sass and hafner quart-sized bottles, hayes blobtops, paneled base sodas, medicine bottles, and to my delight -- a diminutive porcelain doll head known as the "frozen charlotte". the doll part was no doubt my favorite find from the site, although the "black glass" w.h.h. quart bottles were nice to come across intact and without damage.

refinished privy floor fragment for future study

2 1/2 inch thick wood privy floor sample removed from the site

detail of wood privy vault floor segment with sass & hafner quart bottle fragment (also discovered at the site in the vicinity of the privy floor)

as for an in-depth interpretation of who occupied the site and a more thorough analysis of the "rubbish", well, that will have to be revisited some other day (an inescapable mantra i tend to end every post with). since writing this, i've already visited four other dig sites and two demolitions to gather data; i can only do so much. terabytes of imagery, piles of period advertisements, and shelves filled with boxes of artifacts are in safe storage, but when this treasure trove of data will be sifted through and converted into a collection of meaningful narratives is unforeseen.