As the work for the project winds down for the summer, the time has come for another blog post. This summer has been a very productive time for us and we were able to make a great start with the collection.

Personally, this has been a very rewarding project to be involved in. Being exposed to such an amazing and rich collection is really a dream come true for any archaeology student. My knowledge of Petun cultural artifacts has expanded immensely over the course of the summer.

One of my favourite things about archaeology is the exhilaration that occurs when you find something that no one has touched for hundreds of years. This project definitely evoked the same feelings in me. Whenever I would start on a new site, and open a new box, I had no idea what I would encounter and I would inevitably come across some really amazing artifacts.

For me the most interesting aspect of the collection is the evidence of localized production. Artifacts such as pre-form stone pipes, stone bead blanks, or a ceramic pipe stem with marks in the interior. For example, a pipe stem from the collection was broken in half at some point, and because of that we can see the impression of braided grass or twine which was used to form the stem. Aspects like this really let us visualize the way the pipe was made and even who had made it. 

The project is almost halfway completed and I am very happy that I was able to work on it for 6 weeks. We will also be posting some photos of interesting artifacts from the collection, so be sure to keep an eye out for those!

-Katie Anderson